Patch: Restored Ability Names (Update)

A question and a suggestion.

Question - is 1.1 support possible with this patch, or is there something we can do on our own if applying this patch to a 1.1 rom to make it work properly?

Suggestion - is it possible to move item names up in this menu, so they don't overlap the portraits? I'm not sure if it is, and it doesn't bother me as-is, but just an idea.

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EDIT - Also, encountered a glitch. I applied the patch to a Headered 1.0 .sfc rom I hadn't edited otherwise. In usME, the names for Magitek commands blur together, and trying to open the Magitek menu in battle crashes the game. Here's how it looks in usME, should help the issue. The names even out at Spell 141/142, so definitely is with the Magitek command.

It works fine on a v1.0 ROM, I just tested all the patches to make sure - I think you used a v1.1 ROM because then yes it crashes on the Magitek menu. Open up the ROM in FF3usME to see if it's indeed a v1.0 ROM or a v1.1, it'll show that in the ROM informations window. I'd advise against using a ROM with the .sfc extension for testing or patching etc., that of course stands for Super Famicom, and even if it is in fact the English version that's usually a telltale sign it's going to be the v1.1 ROM.

The Magitek names appearing broken in FF3usME I'm sure is a side effect of the pointers being adjusted to compensate for the longer names, FF3usME does not update that so it's still looking at the previous spot where the names were at, and thus it reads them as garbled. You'll need to edit the names manually with a hex editor and the appropriate table file.

To the first, I used an .sfc rom that usME says is 1.0.

To the second, roger.

EDIT - Doing it again works, and the previous roms say its 1.1. I guess I used the wrong one XD. Thanks.

I'd advise against using a ROM with the .sfc extension for testing or patching etc., that of course stands for Super Famicom, and even if it is in fact the English version that's usually a telltale sign it's going to be the v1.1 ROM.

It depends where you get your ROM from. The NO-INTRO romset, which is a reference set, use the .sfc extension for all its ROMs, so FF3us 1.0, 1.1 and ff6j all have the .sfc extension.

Suggestion - is it possible to move item names up in this menu, so they don't overlap the portraits? I'm not sure if it is, and it doesn't bother me as-is, but just an idea.

Interesting idea. That is definitely one of the sloppier screens in the game.

I'm sure it's possible, though something is telling me there might be some pain involved.
I would also consider it outside the scope of this patch, because vanilla FF3us has the same quirk.

Another idea would be to move the character list window all the way to the left and move the item name & "owned" windows all the way to the right.

Another idea, though much more difficult and maybe not possible - what if the portrait was removed entirely? Could either just leave it out and shorten the menu, or put the portrait(s) in a new window below the "Owned" window. Such a change either way would also let the "Owned" window be shrunk vertically since it would have more room.

EDIT - Another note, as I go into the hex to change my names, I notice "Katon", "Suiton", "Raijin", and "Holy Sword". I assume the first three are Shadow's Skeans and Holy Sword is meant to replace Shock? I don't know about Shock, but the other three don't work, the ability is still named "X-Skean" in battle.

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EDIT X2

Another glitch - the Magitek names show up fine in the menu, but the battle text shows the text currently in Spell 15, which is "Cyclon" in usME. Not sure what I did but yeah.

Another note, as I go into the hex to change my names, I notice "Katon", "Suiton", "Raijin", and "Holy Sword". I assume the first three are Shadow's Skeans and Holy Sword is meant to replace Shock? I don't know about Shock, but the other three don't work, the ability is still named "X-Skean" in battle.

"Holy Sword" should be something like "Ice Storm" or "Snowstorm".
So that is an outright error -- good eye.

"Katon", "Suiton" and "Raijin" here are the enemy abilities, and they ought to match the names of the throwing items in a finished project. But when Shadow throws an item, it just displays the item name. This hack doesn't deal much with item names, so you would have to update those yourself if you want them to match. (Items start at D2/B300)

Another glitch - the Magitek names show up fine in the menu, but the battle text shows the text currently in Spell 15, which is "Cyclon" in usME. Not sure what I did but yeah.

I was able to get a similar issue by applying the "-MS" (Multi-Steal Fix compatibility) variant on vanilla FF3us. Maybe that's the problem?

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This patch is on a "legacy support" track from my perspective, so I do not intend to expand the scope to Item names, etc. However, I think I'm going to do a 2.0 release soon just to put some of this other stuff to bed.


Coming soon:

• No more "Basic" / "Full" variant
  • Main patch will keep class names on the main menu; add-on will remove them
    
  • Other changes from the Full variant will stay
    
• LeetSketcher's Blitz Screen included
  
• MP cost display in upper right corner for the Esper list
  
• Fix lingering name error(s)
  
• Patches for unheadered ROMs
  

Check on the item names, thanks. That's a neat touch.

As to the Multi-Steal fix being the problem, I have no idea what to say to that, I'm not sure what that even means. At this point though what could I do to try and fix it?

It explains about this in the included readme, about the Multi-Steal version of this patch. There are four included patches:
RestoredAbilityNames_basic
RestoredAbilityNames_basic-MS
RestoredAbilityNames_full
RestoredAbilityNames_full-MS

The MS ones are meant for if you had Imzogelmo's Multi-Steal Fix applied already. If you do not, then do not use those ones. It sounds like that might be the issue.

If I applied the wrong one, can I apply the other and it'll overwrite the relevant data that should not have been changed?