Action commands

An action command is the button input that makes a move stronger, such as pressing A right before the player lands a jump. Each action command is a C file in battle/action_cmd/, and a move loads and starts it from its EVT script.

The examples on this page make an action command called Quick Press. Use your own action command's name in its place.

Creating the action command

1. In the Filesystem, right-click battle/action_cmd and select New > Action Command.
2. Enter a name for the action command, such as quick_press.
3. Select OK.

The new action command shows the A button, and succeeds if the player presses A within a set number of frames of the button going down. Its functions are:

Function	What it does
init	Runs when a move calls InitActionCommand. Creates the action command's HUD elements.
start	Runs when a move calls StartActionCommand, and reads that call's arguments.
update	Runs every frame, and checks the player's input.
draw	Draws the HUD elements.
destroy	Frees the HUD elements.

If the player hasn't got the Lucky Star, init and start don't show anything, and the action command fails.

Registering the action command

1. In enums.h, add an ID to the end of enum ActionCommand, one higher than the last:

   ACTION_COMMAND_TIDAL_WAVE                = 0x00000017,
   ACTION_COMMAND_QUICK_PRESS               = 0x00000018,

2. In battle/action_cmd.c, add the ID and the file's name to ActionCommandOverlayNames:

   [ACTION_COMMAND_QUICK_PRESS]   = "quick_press",

3. In the action command's file, set THIS_ACTION_COMMAND to the ID:

   #define THIS_ACTION_COMMAND ACTION_COMMAND_QUICK_PRESS

Starting the action command from a move

A move's EVT script loads the action command, initializes it, and starts it when the player should press the button:

Call(ShowActionHud, true)
Call(LoadActionCommand, ACTION_COMMAND_QUICK_PRESS)
Call(InitActionCommand)
// the move's wind-up goes here
Call(StartActionCommand, 10, 15, AC_DIFFICULTY_3)
Wait(30)
Call(GetPlayerActionQuality, LVar0)
IfGt(LVar0, 0)
    // the player succeeded
EndIf

Each action command reads its own StartActionCommand arguments. The new one reads three:

Argument	What it is
1	How many frames to wait before the button goes down and the player can press A.
2	How many frames the player has to press A.
3	A difficulty from AC_DIFFICULTY_0 (easiest) to AC_DIFFICULTY_7 (hardest). The new action command stores it but doesn't use it.

StartActionCommand doesn't wait for the player, so wait until the action command has finished before you read its result. GetPlayerActionQuality gives 1 if the player succeeded, and 0 if they didn't. In a partner's move, use GetPartnerActionQuality instead.

ShowActionHud decides whether the action command shows its HUD at all. To show the player how to do the action command, set the move's actionTip in registry/moves.yaml, such as BTL_MSG_ACTION_TIP_PRESS_WITH_TIMING.

Testing the action command

Start a battle with Battle Select in the debug menu, and use a move that starts the action command. To try it with a new move, see Test the move.