I have some interest in running this game too, what with it being a GBA game and all, providing I can find a copy at some point. This will be a lot further down the line mind you, probably next year at the earliest. In the meantime, I can help test random stuff out too, such as... THE PHYSICAL DAMAGE FORMULA!!!!!!!! ...Well, at least for party -> enemy attacks anyway. Each point of enemy Defence reduces damage by 4/3, or 1.3333333333333333333333 etc. For example, if an enemy has 81 Defence, that will reduce the damage taken from a physical attack by 108 damage. Simple! Offence is slightly more complicated. Its multiplier seems to be staggered, such that lower Offence ratings have larger multipliers than higher ones. It hovers at about 5/3 for a rating of 190, and doesn't vary by a large amount- certainly not anything large enough to cause a lower rating to do more than a higher one (outside of random variation obviously). This also means that a charcter's Offence can be lower than an enemies' Defence and still cause more than 1 damage. Despite this, I can't see Duster or Boney doing much damage outside of item use in a speedrun :-\ So, to clarify: Physical Hit Damage = (Offence x variable) - (Defence x 4/3), varying within a +/-10% range. I checked this over a range of values and spent quite a while puzzling over it so I'm pretty sure it's consistent, outside of the unknown factor. Haven't tried SMAAAAAAAASH hits or combos yet. The RNG seems to be seeded (i.e. choose the same actions on a given turn and the exact same thing will happen each time), which could mean that battles could be planned or completely screw you over before even starting them. I'm not sure if opening the menu will make a difference like it does in EarthBound, due to the difference in its design. That's all for now, except that the Reconstructed Caribou is also vulnerable to Wall Staples, so there might not be any reason to get Thunder Bombs for that fight after all.
Hey cool a bump :o Now I can post about how combo damage works! :D I believe these are the multipliers: Hit No. | Dmg% | Total Multiplier 1 |100 | 1.00x 2 | 25 | 1.25x 3 | 15 | 1.40x 4 | 10 | 1.50x 5 | 8 | 1.58x 6 | 7 | 1.65x 7 | 6 | 1.71x 8 | 20 | 1.91x 9 | 5 | 1.96x 10 | 4 | 2.00x 11 | 3 | 2.03x 12 | 20 | 2.23x 13 | 3 | 2.26x 14 | 2 | 2.28x 15 | 2 | 2.30x 16 | 20 | 2.50x These multipliers fit with the combo testing I did, and when I saw that they added up to exactly 2.5 I figured they must be about right. These also vary within a +/-10% range, and each hit (or at least certain ones, I've definitely seen it happen) can also be a SMAAASH hit. Speaking of which, SMAAASH hits multiply damage by 1.5x; a good amount, but nowhere near as much as in Earthbound... aaand they tend to muck up my combo timing if it's the first hit :( I don't know what the chance is because there's no Guts stat anymore. The best length for a combo will depend on the battle in question, based on a) how fast the music is b) how hard it is to combo with, and c) how much damage needs to be done. About 8 sounds right as the max number of combo hits to do at any point; 4 if it can be managed. Hopefully this table should make it easy to find the amount of damage a combo of certain length will do :) Also note that this means early-game combos are actually more effective, because the game rounds up to 1 damage. Next up is probably learning how to work the RNG, when to gain levels for efficient learning of PSI, and also how to heal efficiently because spas take waaay too long most of the time >_>; And good luck for an SS run, the later chapters are either going to be ridiculously hard or require some serious grinding methinks :(
Speaking of, what do we do if there's a glitch that works in the translated version but doesn't in the Japanese?
However, it sounded like the game is haphazardly programmed (according to the translator, the ROM is a mess), so with enough effort, glitches could be found. I just wonder how much glitches could save timewise.
If the patch [...] can be verified nothing has changed except text
What's the big deal on a translation patch? [...] It's just such a stupid rule.
I think it's so stupid considering how many exceptions have already been made for other runs, such as runs using SRAM's to play as bonus characters, hacked roms, etc...
You're just fucking stupid, everyone hates you, sorry to tell you the truth. no one likes you, you're someone pretentious and TASes only to be on speed game, but don't have any hope, you won't get there.
