[Scripting Question] Compiler is deleting data from Pokemon.txt

[Prodigal96]

Hi all! I'm having trouble getting the compiler to work with a new feature I added. I added a new property in Pokemon.txt called ShadowHeartValue (determines how long it takes to purify a Shadow Pokemon). However, when I compile data, the compiler deletes ShadowHeartValue from all Pokemon in the PBS file.

It is defined in the compiler as an optional type.

"ShadowHeartValue" => [59,"w"]

I have the property defined in the compiler, using bytes 59 and 60 and the "w" code. Before I added it in, there were already 2 bytes being allocated to "w". Since ShadowHeartGauge takes up 2 more bytes, I allocated 4 bytes to "w" like so:

when "w" #each property for w uses up 2 bytes
       value = csvPosInt!(secvalue,key)
       bytes = 4 #added 2 more bytes for ShadowHeartValue

Here's the code (created by the awesome Vendily!) in Pokemon_ShadowPokemon that references the compiler.

 def vibecheck # Checks the heart gauge values assigned in pokemon.txt
    dexdata=pbOpenDexData
    pbDexDataOffset(dexdata,self.species,59)
    shadowheart=dexdata.fgetw
    dexdata.close
    return shadowheart
  end

I thought this would be enough to do it, but I guess I'm still missing something. Do I need to create a new DAT file? Is it necessary to also include this is Editor_Screens or Editor_SaveData? Thanks!

 

[Vendily]

Hold on. Why would you change the amount of bytes saved? That could throw off the whole count.
I mean, quickly playing around, I'm not seeing any issues, but still, I'd personally rather not edit the stuff already there because I don't understand it enough yet.

Plus, 2 bytes is a lot already, holding a max of 65536, or maybe 65535 (I can never remember with these things). Whatever, it's big on its own.
If you wanted something bigger, you could define a new letter code, like "d" or something, set that to 4 bytes, and use that instead of "w". Then, in the vibecheck, use fgetdw which pulls 4 bytes instead of 2. (That's like 4 billion though, do you really need a shadow value that big?)

Any way, back to the question, it's getting erased because def pbSavePokemonData hasn't been updated. I never use the in-game editor, so I didn't realize this was a thing for my custom properties. Good to know for the future.

Anyway, I'm tired, and still have things to finish up, so one last thing. new return

return shadowheart>0 ? shadowheart : HEARTGAUGESIZE

makes it so it uses the default value if none is defined. That way, no crashes.

 

[Prodigal96]

Hold on. Why would you change the amount of bytes saved? That could throw off the whole count.
I mean, quickly playing around, I'm not seeing any issues, but still, I'd personally rather not edit the stuff already there because I don't understand it enough yet.
*snip*
Any way, back to the question, it's getting erased because def pbSavePokemonData hasn't been updated. I never use the in-game editor, so I didn't realize this was a thing for my custom properties. Good to know for the future.
*snip*

Thanks again so much! You've been such a big help. I wasn't understanding exactly how the bytes worked, but you cleared that up for me. I kept it at 2 bytes--definitely don't need 4. And I appreciate your wisdom about the editor because I never would have thought that mattered.

Unfortunately, the compiler is still messing with things. At the point I'm at now, every Pokemon in Pokemon.txt was given a ShadowHeartValue of 0, and if I try to change them, it just resets them back to 0 with the next compile. I've spent hours trying different tweaks to the code, but can't figure out exactly how it likes it. Here's what I've done:

I still have ShadowHeartValue saved as a type "w" property in the compiler. Since this is similar to StepsToHatch, I mirrored it with ShadowHeartValue in Editor_SaveData and Editor_Screens. I put ShadowHeartValue directly underneath StepsToHatch. I noticed there were different DexDataOffsets for different properties, so maybe ShadowHeartValue wouldn't have the same offset as StepsToHatch.

In Editor_Screens, I listed ShadowHeartValue as the last property, #39.

data.push(shadowheartvalue)        # 39

Then it refers to property 39 a little further down with allocating the bytes:

savedata[59] = data[39]&0xFF   # ShadowHeartValue - lower byte
            savedata[60] = (data[39]>>8)&0xFF   # ShadowHeartValue - upper byte

My only other idea is maybe listing ShadowHeartValue as a type "f" property, which is for nonzero numbers like height/weight. Type "w" allows for 0, which is maybe why it's defaulting it to 0? Seems like a stretch to me, but it's the only thing I can think of at this point. I'd be super grateful if you had any more ideas! Thanks again!! :)