Trigger Commands

[Ivan Rosenguard]

While going back and stripping The God Gene of everything I hated about it (I.E.: The entire tutorial level) I decided it wasn't too late to incorporate a new feature I had playing out in the back of my head:

Trigger Commands.

Taking a page from Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts 2, The God Gene will feature several commands available only at certain points during certain battles. You'll know there are Trigger Commands available if Sparky (Sophie's lovable pet dog) is occupying the fourth spot in the party lineup. (If, however, there is a point in the game where a temporary party member is available, that character will assume Trigger Command duties).

Using Trigger commands work like this:
The Trigger Character is armed with the "Trigger Charge" ability. This increases their MP by 1 point. You COULD use it on other party members, but seeing as how it only increases by 1 point, it probably wouldn't do much good. I don't want anyone abusing this feature. Costs for Trigger Commands are low, of course, so it won't take long to charge. Trigger Characters are equipped with the MP Restore and Swift abilities. Trigger Characters have 0 Attack power, so they're useless for anything other than Trigger commands.

Here's an example of the Trigger Command gimmick:

The first round of the boss of the new tutorial level is pretty cut and dry. In other words: He's a pushover. But, like the Chumbawumba song, he gets knocked down, and he gets up again. And you ain't ever gonna keep him down--without some help.

In this round, the boss will pull some hero smiting attacks with very little cost to his MP. Enter Sparky the Dog! Charge his Trigger Gauge and use the "Soothing Song" command to soothe the foes rage, giving him no MP for his couch f***ingly powerful attacks. The boss can still sacrifice some HP to restore his MP (thereby rekindling his rage). Like most "Trigger Command" fights, you'll face an uphill battle at first, but using the Triggers will help you overcome it.

(Please note that Trigger Command characters will not be available if you use NATARAJA to summon an extra ally. This may or may not have an adverse effect on your ability to defeat a boss.)

Any questions?

[hitogoroshi]

So are triggers just strong magics for cheap given to otherwise useless characters? Who also have a 1 MP gain ability? Just making sure I get this here.

[Ivan Rosenguard]

So are triggers just strong magics for cheap given to otherwise useless characters? Who also have a 1 MP gain ability? Just making sure I get this here.

In a few cases, yes, A trigger command is just a strong magic given to an otherwise useless character. Indeed, all temporary characters (such as the ones that will be named after people in the Pav in the Unreal Quest sidequest) will use Trigger Commands rather than the usual attack/charge gimmick that makes up the meat of my game. Often times these abilities do massive damage to a foe that regular characters wouldn't be able to pull off at that point in the game (without some serious training, anyway). But other times (as in the case of Sparky the Dog) the Trigger ability is absolutely necessary to defeat the foe. The tutorial boss will most likely blow your puny characters away with its powerful attacks if you don't use the Trigger Command to "soothe its rage".

Basically, Trigger Commands are special event abilities given to special event characters and are exclusive to that particular battle. You will rarely see the same Trigger Command twice (even if the same Special Event Character appears more than once, they will probably have a different Trigger Command that is appropriate for the fight).

I should also note that Trigger Characters start every battle with 0 MP, so they will have to completely charge their gauge to use Trigger attacks. If they have to use it again, they'll have to charge all over again. (The do have the swift ability, so charging takes less time than you might be thinking).

I hope that helped. Just ask if you're still confused.