Question on Default Battle Mechanics

[Doc82]

Hi, I'm new to the forums.  I downloaded RPG Maker VX Ace recently and I have been trying to process a lot of the information.  Some things are (to me) extremely intuitive and I've had no struggles at all.  Some other things, specifically the default battling system, are not immediately graspable, as I'll illustrate with my question and hope to have more of this understood.

Overall, I'm surprised by the software and am making great strides.  My impulse is to want to overhaul the battle system, so I'm trying to make an effort to understand it's original intentions, in an effort to reduce the work involved and ultimately, not to break it!  (     ) 

Here's the question:

The skill 'Attack' (001), as it has already been defined, has an effect (Add State - Normal Attack 100%).

What and why?

I don't know how to add a spoiler to a post, I'd rather the next paragraph were in a spoiler, this way people could skip the confusing text coming next.

I understand that the Attack skill contains the Damage number, which is calculated by the formula in the formula box, however, the effects box seems to add status changes to the target?  Is anything in the effects box considered a status to be applied to the player?  To the selected target?  Is it adding 'element' information to the damage number?  The fact that a normal attack needs to have an effect of normal attack 100% added to it seems elusive to me, why does it need to be applied as an effect, especially to a default normal attack?  The reason I ask is because how would you think "Oh, don't let me forget to make sure this attack has a state (whatever that is) ((what is that)) of normal (...) and that it's set to 100% (as opposed to any other percentage because I don't even understand how it's applied).

Really appreciate any insight provided, and thank you so much!

 

[Maliki79]

The Normal Attack element allows the skill to take on the element of the actor using the skill at the time.

So, for example, if you had a skill to enchant your sword with fire, you could use a regular attack to do fire element damage.

And if you wanted to do a lightning spell, since it's element is not normal attack, it would do lightning element damage instead of using the fire element.

I know the name normal attack is a bit confusing. Hope this helped you understand a bit better.

 

[Wavelength]

The normally-good documentation doesn't seem to explain why this hard-coded state exists, but my instinct is that it uses that "Add State - Normal Attack" as a signal to indicate that whatever "Atk State" Effects the character has should be applied when this Skill is used.  So for example, you might have a weapon equipped that has a 25% chance to Burn the enemy.  The Normal Attack will apply this 25% chance to Burn, whereas a different Skill won't.  And I think that's because of the "Add State - Normal Attack" feature.

 

[Andar]

To help you understanding the battles and the skill system, you might want to read this:


http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/4219-rpg-maker-vxace-damage-flow/


The link in my signature will also point you to some additional tutorials and how to learn the entire engine

 

[Doc82]

Thanks for the replies.  I can begin to understand that "Normal Attack" is a needed-to-be-defined mechanic since it seems that it is actually a *weapon* attack.  I'm assuming.  For instance, 008:Fire Breath has no effects added, meaning the only mechanic being applied to the target is the damage formula.

It would seem Normal also applies weapon abilities.  Cool!

Quick question:  There are a number of states that can be applied to a skill, are the states adjustable?  I see Death, Immortal, Poison, Confusion, etc., are these able to be modified, more states added, etc.?

 

[optimum45]

The States Tab allows you to add, remove, or change states as you desire.

 

[Wavelength]

Everything about a skill can be adjusted.  Most things, you can adjust through either the Formula box, the Effects box, or the other settings for the skill.  Some things, you can adjust in combination with other tabs (such as what States do, or what Elements you can choose from).  The final few things that you can't do with either of these, you can adjust in the Script Editor (which requires some knowledge of basic programming and RGSS3 syntax).

 

[Doc82]

The States Tab allows you to add, remove, or change states as you desire.

and @Wavelength

Ahh, the tab that says 'States', in the Database.  </facepalm>

That pretty much sums up those questions.  I'm just having the run of the mill issues of "I want X to happen, and I have A, B, and C as options.  How do I use those options?"

Thanks very much for all the replies..  I really appreciate it and it helped me get a grasp of what more is possible!

 

[Andar]

Please make sure to check the notebox for the default notes before changing the skills #1, #2 and state #1 - those are hardcoded into the engine and their function can only be changed by scripting.

 

[optimum45]

Please make sure to check the notebox for the default notes before changing the skills #1, #2 and state #1 - those are hardcoded into the engine and their function can only be changed by scripting.

I've also had minor problems changing skill #6 Escape with almost every battle script I've ever played with.  I'd add that to the list of "don't mess withs" also.