Enemy Skills w/ Summon Anim. Enemy Use

[xLostWingx]

Here is what I've done:

Made Aqualung into Blizzard.
Blizzard uses Diamond Dust Animation (without Shiva).
Switched positions of Enemy Skills -> Beta is Blizzard (formerly Aqualung).

Here is what has happened:

Midgar Zolem now *attempts to cast Blizzard.
The first several times I fought the Midgar Zolem he successfully cast Blizzard with no problems.
After playing through the game onto the second continent, I go back and fight the Zolem.
Now when he casts Blizzard, the game crashes everytime.

Here is what I've tried:

Entering 'Blizzard' data into Kernel.bin only.
Entering 'Blizzard' data into Kernel.bin and in Proud Clod where 'Beta' used to be.
Entering 'Beta' data EXCEPT Animation ID into Kernel.bin only.
Entering 'Beta' data EXCEPT Animation ID into Kernel.bin and changing Animation ID in Proud Clod.

So, I don't really understand.  Were the times it worked just a fluke?  Did moving forward in the game have something to do with this (it seems unlikely)?  Was there some other factor that I didn't notice? 

Any input would be appreciated.  Thanks.

 

[Armorvil]

Entering 'Blizzard' data into Kernel.bin only.

Normally, that's all you need to do for the Zolom to use Blizzard instead of Beta, if you overwrote Beta's data with Blizzard's, in the kernel. Note that you mustn't change the attack ID in Proud Clod, or it won't work (Zolom's AI tries to cast kernel spell 54h, so if the spell's Attack ID inside Scene.bin is anything other than 54h, it will crash).

If it still crashes, chances are Zolom's animation, when casting Beta/Blizzard, was altered. It happens to me, too. It's weird, because when it happens, I'm confident I didn't change this enemy's casting animation beforehand. Anyways, sometimes, the animation the 3D model uses when using one of its abilities, reverts to being 'FF' - which will effectively crash the game when the enemy will try to use said spell.

Here is what you can do : in Proud Clod, click the "Animations/Formations" button, and press the Midgar Zolom tab. You'll have a list of all of Zolom's attacks and next to them, you'll find the values for its 3D model animations, when it uses said attacks. Look for the Animation value next to Beta/Blizzard. Is it 'FF' ? If it's FF, there is your problem. Put '08' back in (=the move Zolom does when it casts a magic)(IIRC, typing 08 in won't work, you have to use the scroll bar- but maybe this was with an older PrC), click OK, then save Scene.bin.

If this doesn't fix the problem, then I can't really help you. You might have changed something important, like Beta/Blizzard's ID. Double-check if its Attack ID is still 54h in Proud Clod. This is the only important thing, as all other data related to a "kernel spell" in scene.bin, be it its MP cost, animation ID, element, status, etc - are irrelevant (the game just looks at its attack ID, which leads it to look into the kernel as to how the spell should behave).

Still, if you want an enemy to use another magic / enemy skill, it is definitely easier to edit its AI, instead of rearranging the kernel spell list. Tell me if you want me to explain how to do it

 

[xLostWingx]

Hey thanks for the reply AV.

Well I checked and the casting Animation is still '08'
The Attack ID is still '54'

As far as switching an attack for an enemy: Midgar Zolem (Beta - ID 0054)  Do I just go through the Main Script of the Midgar Zolem's AI and look for the 0054(s) and stick a different number in there?  For example, (Aqualung - ID 0055).

The problem is that I assumed certain Spell Animations would work because when I did some brief testing...They Did Work!  At this point, I am not going to be picky about what the Zolem casts - I just need to be able to obtain the 'Blizzard' Enemy Skill while at the same time making sure that the Zolem casts a Multi-Target Powerful Magic attack.  Tonite I will have to double check that the NEW Beta (replaced Trine) with the 'Hellfire' animation works.  If I have to replace the Spell Animations, so-be-it.  I guess thats what I get for doing things the hard way (I reorganized those spells in the kernel.bin before I had experience with PrC).

 

[Armorvil]

Hey thanks for the reply AV.

Well I checked and the casting Animation is still '08'
The Attack ID is still '54'

Mmm... ...that's odd. I was certain this was the cause 

As far as switching an attack for an enemy: Midgar Zolem (Beta - ID 0054)  Do I just go through the Main Script of the Midgar Zolem's AI and look for the 0054(s) and stick a different number in there?  For example, (Aqualung - ID 0055).

Yeah, that's the jist of it. You'd also need to change Beta's attack ID from 0054 to 0055. More often than not, the AI first checks for the MP needed to perform the spell. I recognize this behavior by those three bytes :

60 0C
86

In this case, it checks the MP of the Confu spell (0C). Then, not long after those bytes, you'll find this :

60 0C
92

This is the actual command that tells the enemy to cast Confu. So, if you wanted to make this enemy use Beta instead of Confu, you'd replace both those 0Cs by 54s (and don't forget to change Confu's Attack ID from 0C to 54, of course). And even if you find those two, it's always a good idea to check the whole AI script, because there are repeats, and if you forget one byte, it's the good old "data error" message.
Oh yeah, and after changing a byte in the AI, don't forget to press the Down arrow on your keyboard. That will allow your changes to be correctly saved (pressing this key will create a blank line just below, but you can safely ignore this).

To find the spell IDs more easily in the AI script, you can also click on the Disassemble button. The attack names will appear in the right window, so you can pinpoint the right ID's location thanks to the address in front of it.

The problem is that I assumed certain Spell Animations would work because when I did some brief testing...They Did Work!

Yes, it works. And I don't see why it wouldn't work now. I did the same thing as you in my FFVII AV Beta, and made the Zolom cast Pandora's Box instead of Beta, also by exchanging their place in the kernel (same method). It worked perfectly. Did you try to check Blizzard's data in the kernel ? Something might be off in there.

 

[xLostWingx]

Hey Armorvil, I replaced 'scene118' in the modified scene.bin with an original 'scene118' and now everything works like a charm.

 

[Armorvil]

Ha, that's great to hear