Freeform Combo Tutorial

[LinktheMaster]

Now, this is essentially just the basics of using Freeform combos. I still haven't even figured out everything with them yet. :P Also, this is for beta 10b. ;)

Sorry for the crude example quest. :P

First of all, I'll go over the freeform combo menu.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform1.gif
You see a lot of options there.
Link To: This links this freeform combo to another. Any movement changes the other combo takes will apply to this one.
X Pos: This is where the combo lies on the X axis.
Y Pos: This is where the combo lies on the Y axis.
X Speed: This is how fast the FF combo goes horizontally.
Y Speed: This is how fast the FF combo goes vertically.
X Accel: This determines if the combo picks up speed or not horizontally.
Y Accel: This determines if the combo picks up speed or not vertically.
A. Delay: This measures how long the FF combo waits before moving.

Here's the flag section of the freeform combo menu.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform2.gif
Draw Over - This places the combo above all layers.
Translucent - This makes the combo translucent or not.
Carry-Over - I unfortunately haven't figured out what this does or not yet.
Chng Next - This changes the freeform combo's combo to the next in the combo list.
Chng Prev - This changes the freeform combo's combo to the previous in the combo list.
I don't know what the other options do yet.

Okay, let's start making some freeform combos. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform3.gif
This is a freeform combo I have set. If you want to know the X and Y coordinates for the freeform combo, I suggest using one of the blue continue squares, and place it where you want the freeform combo. Under the freeform square, it gives you the X and Y positions. You can use this to base where to place you freeform combo. ;)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform4.gif
As you see, I have set the combo for the freeform combo, the position and the speed. Also note that a negative "X Speed" goes left, and a negative "Y Speed" goes up.
If you test it out via the preview mode, this freeform combo simply goes left. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform5.gif
It's hard to see, but I have placed a new freeform combo to the right of the screen. It goes the same speed as the left bush, but what if I want to have the left bush start moving as the right bush passes it?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform6.gif
This is done via the "A. Delay". You pretty much have to test around with it to get it working right, but he, that's what the preview mode is for. To test out Freeform combos, press "X" and then "C". Here I have the A. Delay set to 48. And, when tested it does indeed run parallel to the other bush. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform7.gif
Now, let's test around with how to change our freeform combos. First, make a combo with the combo type "FF Combo Attr. Change". Do note that freeform combos of this combo type are invisible in ZC, so if you want something to mark the change, you will have to place normal combos down via the screen editor.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform8.gif
Here you see the freeform combo I have set for the combo change. I have the positions, as well as a speed. However, this freeform combo itself doesn't move at all. You see, when another freeform combo hits this combo, that other freeform combo will take on the properties of this combo. So, when one of those bushes hit this combo, it will get a X and Y speed of 1.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform9.gif
In this instance, it causes the top bush to go to the bottom right.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform10.gif
Now to use the flags. Some of these flags, such as translucent and draw over, can be placed on any freeform combos and take affect. The bottom flags are only meant for "FF Combo Attr. Change" combos. Again, any flags placed on a FF Combo Attr. Change combo will take place when another FF combo hits it. Here I have selected "Translucent" and "Chng Next" on the FF Combo Attr. Change Combo. Also, I have also placed more FF Combo Attr. Changes with other speeds which make the freeform combo loop around (also, they turn of the Armos' translucency).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform11.gif
This caused the top bush to become translucent, and switch to the next combo in the combo list. Here it was the Armos combo.
Now, you might wonder why moving bushes and translucent armoses are important. Well, they're not. :blah: Freeform combos are great for movement in cutscenes, among other things. Here's an example.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform12.gif
I made 5 combos of Link, each walking in different direction (the last one is Link walking left again). I then set all those "FF Combo Attr. Change" freeform combos to "Chng Next". When the Link combo hits each one, he will change directions and change to the next combo in the list, making it look like he's walking in different directions. Take a look. ;)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform13.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform14.gif

There's one last thing I'ld like to cover, and that's linking freeform combos. It's simple to link Freeform combos. In my example, I want that bush to switch directions along with Link.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform15.gif
Simply change the "Link To:" drop down box to the freeform combo you want it to copy. So, I set the bush to link to the combo which Link is in, which is number 2. However, don't change Link's freeform combo to link to the bush's freeform combo.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/LinktheMaster/ZC/Freeform/Freeform16.gif
As you see, the bush went diagonal along with Link. :)

There. That's pretty much all I know now, but I'll get back to you all once I understand more. If you need the example quest I made, you can access it here (http://expo.purezc.com/LTMStuffs/ZC/Freeform.zip).

[jman2050]

For the love of God people, read this.

Stickied btw

[WindStrike]

Right, with moving platforms over something you can't walk on, like a hole, when you walk on the platform, do you move with it or do you have to move manually?

[Master_of_Power]

I don't think freeform combos can be walked on yet. Let me give it a test, but I would believe that you'd have to walk manually unless you made the freeform combos conveyors

[idontknow]

What does Carry Over do exactly?

I think there should be a flag where you can make it so that the game remembers the location of the freeform combo after you leave the screen so that when you return, it will be where it left off rather than resetting itself.

[firefly]

What does Carry Over do exactly?

I think there should be a flag where you can make it so that the game remembers the location of the freeform combo after you leave the screen so that when you return, it will be where it left off rather than resetting itself.

Not the flag, but the screen flag makes the FFC loop after it reaches the edge, at least this happened to me.

[LinktheMaster]

The Carry Over flag, as I've recently discovered, forces the freeform combo onto the next screen if there is a warp. ;)


Not the flag, but the screen flag makes the FFC loop after it reaches the edge, at least this happened to me.
You are refering to the FF Combo Wrap-Around screen flag, not the Carry Over. ;)

[Dlbrooks33]

also, the carry over, if you don't have a warp, just continues to run across the whole screen. Btw, i tried making the ff combo a moving platform but it didn't work...

[skateboarder11]

About the moving platforms... Clever use of conveyor combos can make these work, I'd guess... Anyone tried this?

[idontknow]

^Yes, conveyor combos don't work as freeform combos, which sucks!

[Freedom]

They seem to be pretty buggy still, I was wondering weather to even report the bugs, since they are still being implemented.

[Mega Link]

How do you go in preview mode?

[Freedom]

to view what you have set up can be seen in preview mode, press X and then C

[*b*]

regarding the carryover feature, what happens to the combo when it reaches the edge of the map? and, is it possible to link ALL screens on a map together, to have combos travel across the entire map?

[Pineconn]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but...

I've just recently taken up understanding FF combos, and I know them well enough. For fun, I made a Moblin walk in a loop.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/PokeMaster/zelda001.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/PokeMaster/zelda002.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/PokeMaster/zelda003.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/PokeMaster/zelda004.png

Everything works up to this point. When the Moblin reaches its starting location, a problem occurs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/PokeMaster/zelda005.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/PokeMaster/zelda006-1.png

Of course, the Moblin changes to the next direction on the combo list. When it runs out of Moblins, it will, of course, like it should, continue down the list. However, I want it to use only the 4 Mobin combos.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/PokeMaster/moblin.png

Is there a way so that the Moblin will use only the 4 Moblin combos without it going into the Ganon combos (and down the list infinitely)? I've just begun looking at FF combos today, so there might be a really stupidly easy way to fix this. :rolleyes:

[idontknow]

Yes, there is a way to do this: Make a fifth moblin combo, the same as the first (walking left). Then make it cycle to the first moblin combo in the loop.

It works perfectly in the game, however, in preview mode, it may still seem buggy. See, freeform combos *I THINK* can cycle during the game but it doesn't show in zquest's preview mode, therefore appearing to be buggy.

[Pineconn]

... It's obvious that I'm too inexperienced to do so. Let me tell you what I have.

FF Combo 1 (Moblin)
-X pos of 160
-Y pos of 48
-X speed of -1
-no flags

FF Combo 2 (land - FF Combo Attr. Change)
-X pos of 80
-Y pos of 48
-Y speed of 1
-Chng Next flag is checked

FF Combo 3 (land - FF Combo Attr. Change)
-X pos of 80
-Y pos of 96
-X speed of 1
-Chng Next flag is checked

FF Combo 4 (land - FF Combo Attr. Change)
-X pos of 160
-Y pos of 96
-Y speed of -1
-Chng Next flag is checked

(Combo 5 is probably my mistake.)

FF Combo 5 (land - FF Combo Attr. Change)
-X pos of 160.0001
-Y pos of 48
-X speed of -1
-Chng Next flag is checked

This is how I have set them in my post above. How would I cycle to the first Moblin? Sorry that I'm too inexperienced with FF combos to know how to do so. :shrug: Your help would really be appreciated.

[idontknow]

Alright, those freeform combos are fine...but Freeform combo 1 in of itself uses 4 combos (well for now anyway)...one for each direction, also cooresponding with the 4 other Freeform combos (the Freeform Attribute Change combos)

So the 4 combos are lets say left, down, right, & then up, all of them being consecutive combos in the combo table. Make a fifth consecutive combo that has the same animation as the first combo (in this example, it'd be the left facing one) It's 'next' combo (the one it will cycle to) will be the first combo in the series.

Here's a breif rundown of the Moblin combos:

1) Left-Facing: This is what you have the first Freeform combo set as.
2) Down-Facing
3) Right-Facing
4) Up-Facing
5) Left-Facing: Its 'next' combo is the first combo above.

What should happen is the 1st FFC (left facing moblin) will walk over the first Attribute Change Combo (ACC) and then change into the second combo (the down facing moblin) Then it will hit the 2nd ACC, so it becomes the third moblin in the series (right facing). Then it will later hit the 3rd ACC, and this becomes the up facing moblin, which eventually will walk over the 4th ACC, which finally changes back into the original left-facing moblin.

Since each time the moblin hits an ACC, its combo will increase by 1. In order to have the moblin go back to its original combo (the left facing moblin), you must have an extra moblin that the last ACC changes your first FFC into, which will cycle back to the first moblin...its rather complicated to explain but certainly is possible with a little experimentation & trickery.

[Pineconn]

Oh!! Yeah, that makes sense! Tried it and it worked! (As you said, it works in ZC and not in ZQuest. Odd...)

Thanks for your help (and patience ;) ).

:)

[_L_]

I thought I'd go backwards in time to bring you the original definition of the FFC attribute flags, in case you've forgotten:


Draw Over - Draws the FFC between layers 5 and 6 instead of layers 1 and 2
Translucent - Self explanatory
Swap next/Swap previous - (FF change only) When an FFC crosses this combo, the FF change combo will swap it's movement info with the next or previous FFC in the list. So if an FFC crosses over combo #15 with the swap next flag checked, it'll swap it's movement info with FFC #16.
Change Next/ Change previous - (FF chage only) When an FFC crosses this combo, the FF change combo will change the FFC that crossed over it to the next or previous combo definition (not FFC, the combo itself). Can be used to change the combo's appearance and affect when it changes direction.
...
carry-over and change to this(FF change only). carry-over will carry-over that FF combo to the same slot in the next screen when you warp or scroll screens. Change to this is used in FF change combos. When an FF combo crosses over a change combo with this flag, it'll also take on the combo and cset of the change combo. One interesting thing you can do is that you can combine this with the change next and change previous flags. So you could make it so the change combo changes the FFC that crosses it into one combo, whic them immediately getsincremented to the next one all in the same operation. It'll be useful, trust me.

[Russ]

In the newer betas, the "FF Combo Attr. Change" combo, type doesn't show up, and when I opened the example quest with the newer betas, the combo type was set to unused. How is the combo change accomplished in newer betas such as 15 and 16?

[Majora]

I've tried making a guard that walks back and forth, but without success, all i can get to happen is:


A-------------------------------------B


The guard can get from point "A" to "B" just fine, and when he gets to "B", he goes back to "A". The problem, is how to make him keep looping between points "A" and "B" in a permanent loop?

Also, I made 2 combos (not FFC, actual combos) one of him walking left, and another right. Can I make it so that I don't have to make their animations loop? Like, Combo #1 is right, combo #2 is left. I have to make combo 1 animate for X frames before it changes so it looks like hes walking left. Cant I just make it so that, at point "A", walking towasrds "B". his animation is him walking to the right, and as soon as he hits "B", anmiates like hes walking left?

[Zonhin]

So wait wait, let's say I want to make a 2x2 thwomp that cycles up and down repeatedly. is it gonna need scripting or what?

[The_Amaster]

Shouldn't. Set up two changers, one at the top of the apex, and one at the bottom that pass along the relevant values. Make the combo width or whatever 2, and let er loose. I think that might handle it.

[Zonhin]

Shouldn't. Set up two changers, one at the top of the apex, and one at the bottom that pass along the relevant values. Make the combo width or whatever 2, and let er loose. I think that might handle it.

woah, they have width and height?
That's awesome.

[The_Amaster]

Oh yeah, I have a certain...character in my game who's sprite is 3 x 4. Rather than move all those FFCs seperatly, I just make one FFC with the correct width and set the animation skip, and move him as one entity.

[Russ]

Ya, it's a very handy feature. Just remember, the changer has to be set to the same width and height too.

[The_Amaster]

Hey, that raises an interesting question...
Can changers overlap if need be. Like say for example you have a 2x2 Thwomp like he said moving in a 2 x 3 vertical column. Then the two 2 x 2 changers would have to overlap. Would this work?

[Schwa]

I'm tearing my hair out over this. I'm trying to create a 2x2 quicksand pit that moves in a clockwise rectangle pattern; the quicksand pit is animated, and all four directions use the same combo, and other than that its supposed movement is pretty much akin to the other guy's Moblin example back on Page 2. But I absolutely CANNOT make the Changers behave like they should. >_<

I read _L_'s description multiple times, as well as the one on ZCwiki... If my Quicksand Pit is FFC #1, and the first Changer it'll hit is #2 (with "Swap Speed w/ Next FFC" enabled) , that would imply that FFC #1's Speed values will change to #2's values, right? Because that's not what happens. The Quicksand Pit simply freezes its movement completely. The graphical animation works properly, but the movement is completely busted and no matter what I think of to try it WILL NOT do as I command it.

Someone assist this sore and frustrated soul. Please guys. :(

EDIT: b1296, by the way.

EDIT2: Got it to work... Wanna know what I did? Turns out I needed to not set "Swap Speed w/ Next" OR "w/ Prev", and just set the Changers to the speeds I wanted. o_o I was overthinking everything again and it caused stuff to screw up. GEEZ...

So I feel I should ask now, if Changers work completely fine without the "Swap Speed" commands, what good are they? What use do they have or why would you specifically need them?