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FF power system that is lacking in VTR

Started by Mr. Cogito, December 19, 2025, 03:15:39 PM

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Mr. Cogito

Hello,

I have played and finished  :ffvstr: over 15 years ago. I remember it very fondly.

Being struck with nostalgia I decided to try Freedom Force and was astonishing with it's intelligent implementation of power system and how flexible it was. After that I decided to use GOG version of FFvtr instead of my old copy and try FF classic mod.

In that moment I realized something and quickly switched to FFvtr campaign to check it after so manny years. I was struck with fact of how much three bar system destroyed the whole power dynamic from OG Freedom Force. I remember people complaining many years ago about how  ffvtr has destroyed some part of :ff: legacy and now I have discovered what it was. It's like making DS game without stamina bar and infinite spell casting (costless spells).

Due to it  ffvstr become so easy that I have to switch to Insane difficulty to get at least part of original Freedom Force experience (which even on normal difficulty appear to be really challenging and satisfying). Manny powers and my favorite character mechanic from  :ff:  in  :ffvstr:  become completly useless.

Maybe that was the reason why  ffvtr flopped compared to Freedom Force according to this article.

 https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/06/26/the-past-present-and-future-of-freedom-force

My question is: Is there a possibility to bring back old  :ff: power system (even without changing UI) to  :ffvstr: (the five degrees of power intensity ( the <<, <, O, > and >>)?

Sorry for repeating potential subject from past of this forum.

Have a nice day :)

Epimethee

Hello Mr. Cognito. As far as I know, it's not possible to bring back the original power system to FFvsTTR. The closest you can do is to use the FFX mod's Control Centre app and check the "Overspend EP w/ Stun Risk option".
FFX add-on for FFvsTTR at ffx.freedomforce4ever.com

MarvelHero

For :ffvstr:.

The transition is indeed annoying but it get's better.

Just change your basic attacks to no cost and make them very low in damage.

Or make them no cost and only stun effect.

Their special skills should be medium or high in damage. The same with knockback. The energy consumption is up to you.

It works for me in Custom AI Battles. And it feels like Marvel Future Fight because of the non stop explosive action. :thumbup:
Freedom Force Fan.

BentonGrey

Yeah, I think that the power system is the single greatest weakness of  :ffvstr: .  If I had one wish to change the game, it'd be to restore the classic system.  As MH offers, there are things you can do to mitigate the trouble, but it isn't really the same.
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

MarvelHero

You are right mister Benton. My methods are only for compensation to what was lost. Which was very sad.

If only modern python coders would take a crack at FFVT3R.

MUA and XML2 gets boring real fast for me. I just can't imagine Batman not prowling on the rooftops.
Freedom Force Fan.

Epimethee

Quote from: MarvelHero on December 27, 2025, 08:33:30 AMIf only modern python coders would take a crack at FFVT3R.
If by that you mean modding the game using its Python (version 1.5, the first Python version!) scripting engine, as we did in FFX, it's not possible. The game engine's API only gives access to a limited number of functions. Going beyond that would require much more advanced techniques, such as hacking the in-memory game executable (something modern operating systems make basically impossible, AFAIK).

At this point, this is a quarter-century-old game that was never hugely popular... It's not likely to attract the kind of programming talent and dedication needed to push the envelope much further. With today's great free game engines (Unity, Unreal, Godot) and the rapid evolution of AI-assisted code, creating a new game altogether is probably a more fruitful endeavour, in my opinion – that is, if someone has a few thousand hours available. But then again, there's no guarantee: Dr. Mike's Adventureverse got to the alpha pre-release a couple years ago and then went dark.
FFX add-on for FFvsTTR at ffx.freedomforce4ever.com

Jimaras8

Hey Epimethee is it possible to change the Castle state swap fx for a specific character? The red portal fx is awesome but i need to use castle to Lockjaw and his tp effects are white. Can it be done? I know teleport state swap has that option but i haven't found it for castle

Epimethee

Quote from: Jimaras8 on January 01, 2026, 11:57:21 AMHey Epimethee is it possible to change the Castle state swap fx for a specific character?
Yeah, I should have made that customizable... rookie oversight. If you don't need the default FX for other characters, the simplest solution would be to change the hard-coded FX directly:

1. Back up ffx.py and open it in a pure text editor such as Notepad.

2. Go to the section under def makeroqued(target, source, intensity): (starting at line 19151, at least in my version of the file):
def makeroqued(target, source, intensity):
    MPSendMessage(MP_ROQUE, Object_GetAttr(target, 'ffxMPID'), Object_GetAttr(source, 'ffxMPID'), intensity)
    cshelper.disable(target)
    cshelper.disable(source)
    Object_PlayEffect(target, 'effect_portal_core')
    Object_PlayEffect(source, 'effect_portal_core')
    targetDestination = Get_ObjectPos(source)
    targetDestination = FFQ_tupleToString(targetDestination)
    sourceDestination = Get_ObjectPos(target)
    sourceDestination = FFQ_tupleToString(sourceDestination)
    RegTimer('OnRoque',0.1, 0, target, targetDestination)
    RegTimer('OnRoque',0.1, 0, source, sourceDestination)


3. There are two lines with the function Object_PlayEffect(). Replace effect_portal_core with the exact name of the FX of your choice in both.
FFX add-on for FFvsTTR at ffx.freedomforce4ever.com

Jimaras8

Right, so that would change it for every character in the future who has the castle swap right? It's good that it's a unique ability not many characters would use  :thumbup:. Thank so much much for you the info, i'm always scared to play around with py files

Epimethee

Quote from: Jimaras8 on January 01, 2026, 10:03:45 PMRight, so that would change it for every character in the future who has the castle swap right?
Exact.

QuoteThank so much much for you the info, i'm always scared to play around with py files
My pleasure! And don't be afraid to break things; as long as you back up the files you play with first, start small and check script.log for unexpected errors when things don't work, you should be good.
FFX add-on for FFvsTTR at ffx.freedomforce4ever.com