Boys in Blue and Yellow

[BentonGrey]

Howdy guys, does anyone have an interesting herofile for The Spirit?  He's challenging because he's a pulp hero, so there isn't a whole lot to represent in FF, but I'm curious if anyone has some neat ideas.

The same goes for Dick Tracy.  Does anyone have anything for him?

[Deaths Jester]

For the Shadow, I'd consider some gun moves along with melee...might also use a "fog" type attack/teleport...thing smoke cloud disappearing (like magicians).

Tracy is a bit harder...not sure what to do with him.

[BentonGrey]

Thanks DJ, but it's actually the Spirit, not the Shadow I was asking about.   What you described for the Shadow is actually close to what I've got for him.

[Deaths Jester]

Oops...hmmm...the Spirit kinda takes the similair idea too...though I'd dump the smoke effect.  Might consider a "taunt" type move perhaps though..not sure.

Just thought about Tracy and aside from melee and gun type attacks, you might want to do something where he calls in backup via his wrist phone or such.  Is a possibility at the least.

[naitvalis]

well they haven't any special powers but i have 2 suggests to add some salt to this heroes:

1: a "dodge" type active defence with a cool dodge animation , if i am correct if the bullets(for example) don't hit the mesh, the character don't receive any damge, so you don't have to select  any damage type, just choose an animation wich dislocate enough your  character for a short period of time. there is still the possibility the character is hit but  however i found this is more realistic then "pass through".

2: a short acrobatic jump with the sprint special power, however you need to change range, animation and speed.
(don't know if this is possible).

[spydermann93]

I typically make my more agile heroes with passive defenses that allows certain melee and projectile powers to "pass through" them, rather than an active defense.

I like the passive defense a bit more due to it being a constant defense with a chance to dodge without disrupting combat while the active defense, the character "dodges" 100% of the attacks, yet can still attack.

[BentonGrey]

Thanks for the recommendations, guys.  I definitely give my most acrobatic heroes passive defenses with pass-through and a dodge animation.

I like the idea of giving Dick Tracy a connection to support troops.  That's a novel way to account for his wrist-radio.

I'm trying to think of some way to distinguish The Spirit.  I've carved niches for the other heroes already, for the most part.  Kato is a melee beast, obviously, the Green Hornet has all kinds of gadgets.  The Shadow can cloak and has a panicking laugh.  Doc Savage has powerful melee attacks, as well as a rally ability and some equipment like grenades and a "rapid-firer."  Indiana Jones has a variety of melee and pistol attacks, plus the ability to analyze enemies for weak points (genetic damage).  The Phantom has very accurate pistol attacks, stunning damage and solid melee attacks.  Plus, I may give him the sidekick attribute with Devil his wolf set up to be such.  Tarzan will have melee abilities and some rope attacks, I think, but I haven't done anything with him yet.  The Avenger has gun and knife attacks, focusing on stun rather than damage, a panic attack because of his frightening visage, and a blinding grenade.  The Rocketeer is easy enough, as he's the only one who can fly.  So, I want something that will help the Spirit be at least somewhat unique.

[hoss20]

Would the Pheromones or Beautiful attribute be appropriate for The Spirit? A little customization of those attributes might be needed, though.

[JKCarrier]

Would the Pheromones or Beautiful attribute be appropriate for The Spirit?

Female villains were often attracted to him, but that usually didn't stop them from trying to kill him...   
The Spirit was known for his ability to take a beating and come back for more. Maybe give him an extra hero point, or even a low level of invulnerability?

[BentonGrey]

Ohh, now there are two neat ideas.  Good thinking guys.  I like the idea of him having a second heropoint, or maybe the attribute that gives you extra hitpoints.  I think the second heropoint is probably more comic-accurate, though.

[hoss20]

Ohh, now there are two neat ideas.  Good thinking guys.  I like the idea of him having a second heropoint, or maybe the attribute that gives you extra hitpoints.  I think the second heropoint is probably more comic-accurate, though.

After JKCarrier's suggestion, I was thinking Resilient, as well. For a human level hero, though, 30 extra Health points is way too many.

[spydermann93]

Ohh, now there are two neat ideas.  Good thinking guys.  I like the idea of him having a second heropoint, or maybe the attribute that gives you extra hitpoints.  I think the second heropoint is probably more comic-accurate, though.

After JKCarrier's suggestion, I was thinking Resilient, as well. For a human level hero, though, 30 extra Health points is way too many.

Yes, +30 is a tad too much.

How about a custom attribute that adds +10 or even +15?

[Deaths Jester]

Didn't The Spirit have a sidekick too?

[BentonGrey]

Good point, gents.  Spyder, that's a good idea, but I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to do that.

DJ, yes, but let's not talk about Ebony White...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebony_White

I was thinking about Tarzan, and it occurred to me that he'd be a perfect candidate for a sidekick, some type of jungle animal.  I'm slightly torn between a lion and a gorilla.  What do y'all think?

[spydermann93]

I can type up a code and tell you how to implement it

And as for Tarzan, how about a Gorilla sidekick named "Terk?"

[hoss20]

Hey, spyder, would adjusting Resilient from 30 HP to 10 be as "simple" as changing the instances of -30 and +30 to -10 and +10 in the code below from the ffx.py file? I realize there may be another adjustment that needs to be made in one of the other FFX files.

########################### RESILIENT #################################################
# Attribute gives character 30 more health points. Done by requested of Mr. Nick Craft of Patriot City.
# This simplistic attribute is obviously designed for campaigns: a low-health character (such as LL) could
# purchase this atribute by gaining experience.

# status: 1.2
# stumpy: added removability (thanks, mate! - Ep.)
# stumpy 2008-02-29: Added freeroam check. See initnimble for note.
def initffqresilient(char,update=0,remove=0):
    if remove:
        if FFX_ObjectGetAttr(char,'ffqresilient'):
            FFX_ObjectSetAttr(char,'ffqresilient',0)
            maxHealth=Object_GetAttr(char,'maxHealth')
            maxHealth=maxHealth-30
            Object_SetAttr(char,'maxHealth',maxHealth)
            Object_SetAttr(char,'health',Object_GetAttr(char,'health')-30)
        return
    if not FFX_ObjectGetAttr(char,'ffqresilient'):
        FFX_ObjectSetAttr(char,'ffqresilient',1)
        # check that this wasn't already changed by FFX in an earlier freeroam map and already lowered
        if ( 'freeroam_bonus' not in sys.modules.keys() )or \
           ( ( 'freeroam_bonus' in sys.modules.keys() ) and ( freeroam_bonus.heroStates==[] ) ):
            maxHealth=Object_GetAttr(char,'maxHealth')
            maxHealth=maxHealth+30
            Object_SetAttr(char,'maxHealth',maxHealth)
            Object_SetAttr(char,'health',Object_GetAttr(char,'health')+30)

I figured since it looks like this will be used in a mod, that Benton wouldn't need to worry about copying this code to make a whole new attribute and could just change the existing one.

[spydermann93]

Yes, that would work perfectly well.

Just be sure to create a new entry of the attribute if you don't want to replace it.

[BentonGrey]

Ahh, excellent!  That should work very nicely, and it gives the Spirit a bit of uniqueness.  So, the Spirit is primarily a brawler, but did he use any other equipment with regularity?

[Deaths Jester]

Ahh, excellent!  That should work very nicely, and it gives the Spirit a bit of uniqueness.  So, the Spirit is primarily a brawler, but did he use any other equipment with regularity?

I think the occasional gun was used by The Spirit but otherwise not much else.

[BentonGrey]

Thanks DJ, I figured as much.  I read a collection of his early tales, but it's been a long time ago.  I've managed to come up with a hero file that I think is reasonably solid, mostly built around melee attacks, but I've given him a decent amount of variety.  He's not going to do as much damage as Kato, but he's a bit more versatile.

[Deaths Jester]

Also went digging through some of my older books about pulp characters and, though I should've remembered this, found that Tarzan, in his first few adventures, wandered around with a gorilla named Kala - who happened to be his adopted mother.  Hope that helps with the sidekick thing for Tarzan.

[BentonGrey]

Thanks DJ, that does indeed help.

[Deaths Jester]

Thanks DJ, that does indeed help.

No prob...if you need any other "Pulp" info just ask and I'll dig through my stuff and see what I can find.

[BentonGrey]

Thanks DJ, I'll definitely take you up on that!