SHAPECHANGER

TEMPORARY FORM

Characters with these attributes are able to switch between a variety of shapes. Each form is designed as a separate character in either the FFEdit program or the Character Screen in Greddom Force. The character's normal form is given the SHAPECHANGER attribute and the other forms can be given the TEMPORARY FORM attribute since they are not playable as characters in their own right.
After designing the different shapechanger forms, it is necessary to configure the ffx.py file to tell the game which forms count as the same character. Open it in Notepad or the text editor of your choice and you'll see a section like this:
shapeChangerPairs=[
('custom_template_25','custom_template_26'),
]
For a two-form character simply add the pair of templates in the format shown, e.g.
shapeChangerPairs=[
('custom_template_25','custom_template_26'),
('minute_man','liberty_lad'),
]
would indicate that if Minuteman uses the SHAPECHANGE command he should turn into Liberty Lad and vice versa.
If you are adding these attributes to mod characters, you'll know the templates involved. If you are using custom characters, they always have a template like 'custom_template_'. Find out the templates for your characters by following these steps:
  • Recruit both characters into your team and save the game.
  • Select them both for the mission, and play. You'll see messages in the status bar along the lines of *HERO_3 HAS TEMPLATE CUSTOM_TEMPLATE_23, telling you the name of each character and their template name.
  • The temporary character will enter stasis pretty soon (this is my way of enforcing that people don't use this attribute for the bonus points). Click on the characters you're interested in and select the WHO AM I? command from the menu- this will cause a status bar message to appear again telling you their template. Write down the templates for the characters in question.
  • ALT-TAB out of the game and edit ffx.py as above, putting your template pair into the code. Dont forget the brackets, the commas or the single quotes.
  • Reload your save game and select only the main character for your mission (the one with the SHAPECHANGER attribute).
  • Select that character and choose the CHANGE SHAPE menu item, and watch him change into the temporary form
  • Select CHANGE SHAPE again, and see your character change back! Cool, huh?

    Customisation

    Maybe you don't like the white flash that accompanies your character's transformation. Look in ffx.py for the section entitled FFX_SHAPECHANGE_FX, which should look like this:
    FFX_SHAPECHANGE_FX=[
    ('default','effect_deja_clone'),
    ]
    
    This indicates that the effect named is the default for tranformations. The effect listed is found in the Resources tab of FFEdit. Say you want your character to use shadow's darkness cloud effect to change, add the character's template and the effect to the list, e.g.:
    FFX_SHAPECHANGE_FX=[
    ('default','effect_deja_clone'),
    ('custom_template_21','effect_darkness_cloud'),
    ]
    

    The shapechange attribute can cover a variety of explanations, Maybe its a more accurate description that your character is powering up, setting themselves on fire or growing. To this end Ive added a bunch of standard command descriptions that can be swapped in.
    Command NameMenu textStatus bar description text
    CUSTOM_SHAPECHANGE change shape assume another of your specified forms
    CUSTOM_FLAMEON flame on burst into flame, becoming lighter than air!
    CUSTOM_GROW grow become larger, denser and stronger
    TRANSFORM transform reconfigure your body into another shape

    To change your character's command menu to something more appropriate, add a line to the FFX_SHAPECHANGE_COMMAND section, such as
    FFX_SHAPECHANGE_COMMAND=[
    ('default','CUSTOM_SHAPECHANGE'),
    ('custom_template_21','CUSTOM_FLAMEON'),
    ]
    
    Modders - add your own to the string table as you sit fit.