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character_randomization

Character randomization

This page describes how character placements are randomized in Free Enterprise. For information about other C flags, see Character settings.

You receive two party members at the start of the game. Additional party members can be recruited from:

  • Bringing the Package to burn down village Mist, then completing the boss battle in Kaipo Inn
  • Near the entrance of the Watery Pass (*)
  • The top of Damcyan (*)
  • Using the SandRuby to cure the desert fever in Kaipo
  • The summit of Mt. Hobs
  • Speaking to the Mysidian Elder (two characters) (*)
  • Midway up Mt. Ordeals (*)
  • Defeating the Baron Inn bosses
  • Liberating Baron Castle
  • Trading the Earth Crystal in the Tower of Zot (two characters)
  • During the Dwarf Castle boss battles
  • The end of Cave Eblan
  • The Lunar Palace
  • Completing the Giant of Bab-il

Character positions indicated with a (*) above are considered “free” and are not available when the Cnofree flag is enabled. All other character positions in this list are considered “earned” and are not available when the Cnoearned flag is enabled.

Various C flags are used to randomize which specific characters appear in which positions. There are several ways to customize the randomization, which may sometimes conflict; if the randomizer is unable to find a solution that matches all the requirements after a certain number of attempts, it will settle for the solution that is “close enough”.

Character pool

When assigning random characters, selections are made from a list of eligible characters. By default, this list is all 12 possibilities (Cecil, Kain, Rydia, Tellah, Edward, Rosa, Yang, Palom, Porom, Cid, Edge, and FuSoYa). Characters can be excluded from eligibility using the Cno: or Conly: flags.

When using Cdistinct: flags, characters will be randomly removed from the eligibility list until it only contains as many distinct characters as requested.

The randomizer then decides how many instances of each character will be available by making random selections from the eligible list. It will attempt to include at least one instance of each character, unless Cmaybe is set.

Starting character

The starting character can be controlled using Cstart: flags.

If any specific-character Cstart: flags are specified (e.g., Cstart:cecil, Cstart:kain), then your starting character will be chosen at random from the characters specified, regardless of how other flags affect character availability. Cstart:any is shorthand for including all 12 characters in this pool.

If any specific-character Cstart:not_ flags are specified (e.g., Cstart:not_palom, Cstart:not_porom), then your starting character will be selected as normal according to your other flag settings, except that the none of the specifically-excluded characters will be chosen.

A forced starting character does count towards the distinct character count when using a Cdistinct: flag. (e.g., if you have Cstart:rosa/distinct:5, then there will be five distinct characters in the seed, one of which is Rosa.)

If playing Cvanilla (ie. without randomized characters), using Cstart: will simply replace Cecil.

Partner

By default, the starting character's partner is not subject to any additional logic or weighting. The partner can even be the same as the starting character.

With Cnodupes enabled, the partner will not be a duplicate of the starting character.1)

With Chero enabled, the starting character is removed from the character pool before other characters are placed2), so the partner cannot be the same character.

Placement

Under the standard character randomization (Cstandard), the randomizer will attempt to prevent “restricted” characters from appearing in the following positions:

  • Either starting character
  • Any of the “free” slots (see above)
  • Mt. Hobs
  • Baron Inn

By default, the restricted character list includes Edge and FuSoYa (the strongest early-game characters). If the Crestrict: flag is used, it replaces this list. (e.g., if you have Crestrict:cecil, then Edge and FuSoYa may appear anywhere, but Cecil will be considered restricted.)

Under Crelaxed, there are no restrictions about which character can appear in which positions.

Vanilla characters

Under Cvanilla, the characters you find in each position simply match the character received in vanilla FF4.

If combined with Cstart:, the forced starting character replaces Cecil, who will not be available in the seed.

If combined with Cnofree, you will not be able to find Edward, Tellah, Palom, or Porom.

If combined with Cnoearned, you will not be able to find Rydia, Yang, Rosa, Cid, Edge, or FuSoYa.

1)
Unless other flags force that to be the case, e.g., Cstart:porom with Conly:porom. In this case, you will be unable to take the duplicate character.
2)
Unless the hero is the only character in the pool, or finding the hero character is an objective. In these cases, duplicates of the hero can only be taken if the Cnodupes flag is not enabled. See: Hero Challenge.
character_randomization.txt · Last modified: 2023/12/26 20:45 by A User Not Logged in