Entry 223

Mutation's party AI

2026-09-27volumes

Filescrates/piney-battle/src/party_ai.rscrates/piney-battle/src/affect.rscrates/piney-battle/src/event.rscrates/piney-battle/src/kite.rscrates/piney-battle/src/tables.rscrates/piney-world/src/combat/chat.rstools/volume.pytools/test_battle_party_ai_rs.pytools/test_battle_rs.py

tools/test_battle_party_ai_rs.py passes all 75 of its checks on Mutation: Infection's 73 and two for functions Mutation adds. Infection still passes all of its own. The rework of piney_battle::party_ai took five commits. Each Mutation rule sits behind self.t.volume, so Infection's code paths are as they were.

ccAI's new fields

• +0x24, the attack command's target (Ai::cmd_attack_target). ChatCommand copies targetCCmd into it when it accepts command 11. ChatCommandExecute (11) and Reconnoiter (strategy 4) follow it ([Ctx::attack_cmd_target]). targetCCmd stays at +0x20 and still takes every request's target. Worklog 221 and commit 975c083 put the new int at +0x20; RequestChatCmd's store shows it is +0x24. volume.ai_at now moves Infection's offsets from +0x24 on.
• +0x9a and +0x9c, the biggest recent hit and the biggest hit (hit_recent, hit_max). Both Influence functions pass each hit to an unnamed function (gcmn 0x005c1a60, Ai::note_hit). It caps the hit at half the member's maxHP and raises both fields. A party member's hit is recorded even when it is down; Kite's only when he is up. The rule emits Event::NoteHit, which the field's chat pass applies. ChatCommand clears both at a win. Kite's ReadSysMsg2 clears the recent one and battleFlag.

On later volumes the harness appends the three fields to AI_LAYOUT, and the probe reads and writes them after the message entry.

Modes, strategies and swayed members

• Mode 4 is new: hold. Infection's modes 4-6 become 5-7 (mode_of, Ctx::mode_no, Ctx::inf_mode). A held member acts unless a boss is in (CheckBossEntry(1)).
• Strategy 6 is a standing hold.
  • Most requests turn it back into 3 first.
  • The spells command (14) makes a standing 3 (or 0 or 2 while the strategy is 3) into 6.
  • In battle, command 14 with strategy 6 stops the member and holds it.
  • A refused command turns 6 back into 3, with skillMask 4 and selfFlag.
• Charmed or confused members.
  • Reconnoiter searches for a foe first.
  • SearchTarget takes Kite's target only on the same side.
  • SearchTargetNear has no range limit for the party.
  • In a field, a member closing in for a commanded skill drops the command and fights.
  • A member in battle mode that loses its target stops, in a dungeon too.

Healing and cures

• The heal line is a rate (CheckNeedHealing and CheckHealParty take a float, as fptosi(maxHP * rate / 100)).
• Notes are due sooner. Heal, cure, revive and buff notes are due in 30 frames on the member's first action, then in 1 (plan_delay).
• Items before skills.
  • HealPlzNormalMode and HealPlzBattleMode ask a new function (0x005c1ae0, Ctx::item_first) whether items come first.
  • It answers -1 when the member cannot act, and 1 when it stands alone (0x005c8300, Ctx::live_members).
  • It also answers 1 when every other member is unable, or when every other member is in danger: HP at most its recent hit, or a tenth of its maxHP.
  • HealSPC, ResurrectSPC and both CureOnly functions take the answer.
• Poison and curse. The normal mode's poison cure is a new function (0x005ac400, Ctx::cure_poison_curse_spc). It also cures curse (skill 162).
• Battle-mode order. Paralysis and sleep are cured before the heal.
• ChatCommandHealPlz.
  • A member that has acted looks every tenth frame.
  • A held member heals too.
  • The member must be free to use a skill or an item.
  • Out of battle the strategy comes back only once no one is below full HP.
• ReadSysMsg, kinds 2-0xb (Ctx::read_use_later).
  • A use is skipped unless the patient needs it. A revive needs one down (2-4). Any other use needs one alive; a heal also needs one below full HP, and a cure needs the condition.
  • Item uses announce nothing here (UseItem remarks instead).
  • After a buff or debuff use only a debuff command (17) is done.
  • Kind 0xc and broadcasts 23 and 24 do nothing.

Buffs and debuffs

• The planners take a check argument: 0 plans; 1 reports; 2 reports on the SP alone. They also keep a candidate list (global 0x774730).
• ChatCommandBuffPlz and ChatCommandDeBuffPlz (Ctx::chat_command_plz_later).
  • They look every 35th count, a held member too, and only when it is free to use a skill or an item.
  • Out of battle, with nothing planned, the member goes back to its strategy only if a check finds no one to help. The checks are 0x005c2060 and 0x005c1cc0 (Ctx::plz_check).
  • For buffs, no buff for the member may be on the bus or delivered in the last 37 frames (0x005b42c0).
  • It then says OnlyBuff or OnlyDebuff.
• ChatCommandFulfilCheck.
  • The buff and debuff commands are refused with that remark when the check finds no one and none is on its way (0x005b4020, 0x005b4170).
  • The heal command is taken in battle even when no one needs a heal.
  • The arts-and-spells command (0) accepts attack-spell items.

Commands

• RequestChatCmd writes the target to targetCCmd as Infection does. The arts commands (0, 13) keep a standing strategy 1 or 4.
• ChatCommand has no "same command again" path. Every new command goes through ChatCommandFulfilCheck.
• ChatCommandExecute.
  • Commands 5 and 99 take targetCCmd once and clear it.
  • The Sprite Ocarina's last use says UseLastItem instead of UseOcarina.

Fixes on the way

• piney_battle::tables. Tables held debuffTableIndex and buffTableIndex as [i16; 18], and try_into().unwrap_or_default() turned Mutation's 21 rows into zeros. They are slices now. The other fixed-size tables expect their size, and a test loads all four volumes.
• The harness's bus. Random messages of kind 6 now carry a skill id, and kind 7 an item code. The game read an item code as a skill and ran off RAM in ccSkillCheckType.
• The harness's entry field. It is found by name (AI_AT["entry"]), no longer as the list's last field.