Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
* A bug in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' makes the game {{Unwinnable}} this way: Death has some dialogue immediately after you beat him, and at the end of the dialogue, his "boss beaten" event flag is set. However, if you skip the cutscene, the flag never gets set, so re-entering the room seals the doors just as if you had a boss battle, but the boss never appears; you are locked in the room until you reset the game. Worse yet, if you went back out of the room to take advantage of the nearby savepoint, you can't get ''through'' the room, which is where the rest of the game is, and the only recourse is to restart the file.
to:
* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': Prior to entering The Consortium's ElaborateUndergroundBase, Ann is told she must locate and defeat Castor before venturing further towards the inner area. If Ann proceeds past the PointOfNoReturn without locating Castor beforehand, a [[FissionMailed False Ending]] scenario occurs where [[spoiler:TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]] happens. Otherwise, if Ann finds and defeat Castor first, the Masked Woman appears to fully elaborate on C's main agenda and the truth of [[AncientArtifact The Dypheus' Breath]] before revealing her [[TheWatcher true identity]].
* A bug in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' makes the game {{Unwinnable}} thisway: way. Death has some dialogue immediately after you beat him, and at the end of the dialogue, his "boss beaten" event flag is set. However, if you skip the cutscene, the flag never gets set, so re-entering the room seals the doors just as if you had a boss battle, but the boss never appears; you are locked in the room until you reset the game. Worse yet, if you went back out of the room to take advantage of the nearby savepoint, you can't get ''through'' the room, which is where the rest of the game is, and the only recourse is to restart the file.
* A bug in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' makes the game {{Unwinnable}} this
Changed line(s) 27 (click to see context) from:
* ''VideoGame/{{Soulcaster}}'' and ''VideoGame/SoulcasterII'' make heavy use of event flags for controlling traps, ambushes, monster spawns, and other such triggers.
to:
* ''VideoGame/{{Soulcaster}}'' and ''VideoGame/SoulcasterII'' ''Soulcaster II'' make heavy use of event flags for controlling traps, ambushes, monster spawns, and other such triggers.
Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
** In ''[[VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus Return of Samus]]'' you have to clear a section of the game world of Metroids before the path forward is cleared of purple liquid, allowing you to advance. ''[[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns Samus Returns]]'' changes this to collecting Metroid DNA that is automatically collected from among the drops during the Metroids' death scene.
to:
** In ''[[VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus Return of Samus]]'' Samus]]'', you have to clear a section of the game world of Metroids before the path forward is cleared of purple liquid, allowing you to advance. ''[[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns Samus Returns]]'' changes this to collecting Metroid DNA that is automatically collected from among the drops during the Metroids' death scene.
Changed line(s) 44,55 (click to see context) from:
* On the Famicom Disk System version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', you can use one of these to infinitely acquire the heartpiece in Eastern Hyrule, the one out at sea that requires the bridge. The game delegates one event flag per screen for a heartpiece, which tells the game whether a heartpiece that has been placed by a developer has been acquired or not, and therefore whether or not it should still appear on that save file. By using the flute so the tornado carries you across that specific heartpiece you will grab it, but the game will set the heartpiece event flag ''on the screen you are teleporting to'' rather than the one on this screen. Thus, when you return, the heartpiece will still be there and you can regrab it via this method as many times as you like. When it came time to port the game to the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, the developers had figured this one out and [[ObviousRulePatch tweaked the code so you can't grab a heartpiece while in the tornado]].
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'':
** In the Link Trial dungeon of the Moon, playing the Song of Storms in front of the Gossip Stone before the Iron Knuckle room makes the ladder appear automatically, allowing you to skip the puzzle.
** In the same dungeon playing the same song for the Gossip Stone on the left of the Iron Knuckle room unlocks the door in the next room, allowing you to skip a different puzzle.
** The Owl Statue Warp Glitch relies on this. It involves triggering an out-of-bounds statue that sets one event flag without setting any others[[note]]There is one event flag that is set when you trigger any one statue, which decides whether or not the map will come up or if a generic "you can't warp yet" message will appear. On top of this each individual statue has an identifier event flag that tells the map whether or not that statue can be warped to. The out-of-bounds Owl Statue in Clock Town triggers the first event flag but has no identifier event flag, so the game doesn't know where to put the cursor on the map screen. People have since figured out how to "game" this by placing the cursor at specific places on the pause screen and then playing the song to position the cursor in ways that will allow them to warp to areas they've yet to visit[[/note]], allowing you to basically warp anywhere and [[OpeningTheSandbox frigging obliterate the sandbox]].
** Approaching the fence to Great Bay will trigger a message from Tatl (the one that tells you a horse could jump it), which oddly also sets the flag to plant a Magic Bean in the soil outside the Astral Observatory. Since it gets you inside the observatory it can be useful if you neglected to write down the Bomber's password and don't feel like chasing the little buggers for a second time.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'':
** Partway through the game you're asked to provide a password to get back inside Tetra's pirate ship. However, even if you solve the password riddle perfectly, capital letters and all, the game still won't let you into the ship until you view the correct cutscene where Link overhears the password from two pirates (thus triggering the event flag). It's {{Hand Wave}}d that there is a very specific and precise way the password needs to be pronounced for it to pass, and that even if Link guessed the word he wouldn't know how to pronounce it until he overheard it from the pirates.
** Because the game is so linear, any time an item must appear in a cutscene the game simply activates that item's "have" flag, as a fail-safe to ensure the game doesn't crash. Normally you don't notice this, of course, as you should already have the item. However, this can also give you items for free if you're doing a little SequenceBreaking. For example, glitching your way into the battle with Puppet Ganon will give you the fully-charged Master Sword and Mirror Shield.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has the "Back In Time" glitch, which is used to bypass swaths of the game by activating event flags earlier than normal. In a nutshell it basically amounts to falling into a void and soft-resetting with frame-perfect timing to gain control of Link on the title screen. Then jump off the cliff, respawn on the bridge, save, and quit, and voila: you now have the Ordon Sword, Hylian Shield, Hero's Tunic, and Epona unlocked on your save file.
** Its primary use is to bypass the ProlongedPrologue and skip right to when Faron Woods is bathed in Twilight, though another event flag is a problem. When you try to enter the twilight, the game only checks the Wooden Sword and Ordon Shield flags, and so Midna will tell you to "go back and get a sword and shield" even though you already have them. ''This'' can be bypassed, albeit with a ''ton'' of difficulty, by luring an enemy and jump-attacking him to get over the dialogue trigger.
** Its secondary use is to skip a swath of the Forest Temple by using it with a different save file to activate the boss flag for that temple. Since the game "knows" that you will have all monkeys freed when the boss flag becomes active, with this flag active and you enter the final room every monkey will magically appear and form a bridge for you. Quite literally all you need to do is a brief sidequest for the Gale Boomerang.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'':
** In the Link Trial dungeon of the Moon, playing the Song of Storms in front of the Gossip Stone before the Iron Knuckle room makes the ladder appear automatically, allowing you to skip the puzzle.
** In the same dungeon playing the same song for the Gossip Stone on the left of the Iron Knuckle room unlocks the door in the next room, allowing you to skip a different puzzle.
** The Owl Statue Warp Glitch relies on this. It involves triggering an out-of-bounds statue that sets one event flag without setting any others[[note]]There is one event flag that is set when you trigger any one statue, which decides whether or not the map will come up or if a generic "you can't warp yet" message will appear. On top of this each individual statue has an identifier event flag that tells the map whether or not that statue can be warped to. The out-of-bounds Owl Statue in Clock Town triggers the first event flag but has no identifier event flag, so the game doesn't know where to put the cursor on the map screen. People have since figured out how to "game" this by placing the cursor at specific places on the pause screen and then playing the song to position the cursor in ways that will allow them to warp to areas they've yet to visit[[/note]], allowing you to basically warp anywhere and [[OpeningTheSandbox frigging obliterate the sandbox]].
** Approaching the fence to Great Bay will trigger a message from Tatl (the one that tells you a horse could jump it), which oddly also sets the flag to plant a Magic Bean in the soil outside the Astral Observatory. Since it gets you inside the observatory it can be useful if you neglected to write down the Bomber's password and don't feel like chasing the little buggers for a second time.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'':
** Partway through the game you're asked to provide a password to get back inside Tetra's pirate ship. However, even if you solve the password riddle perfectly, capital letters and all, the game still won't let you into the ship until you view the correct cutscene where Link overhears the password from two pirates (thus triggering the event flag). It's {{Hand Wave}}d that there is a very specific and precise way the password needs to be pronounced for it to pass, and that even if Link guessed the word he wouldn't know how to pronounce it until he overheard it from the pirates.
** Because the game is so linear, any time an item must appear in a cutscene the game simply activates that item's "have" flag, as a fail-safe to ensure the game doesn't crash. Normally you don't notice this, of course, as you should already have the item. However, this can also give you items for free if you're doing a little SequenceBreaking. For example, glitching your way into the battle with Puppet Ganon will give you the fully-charged Master Sword and Mirror Shield.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has the "Back In Time" glitch, which is used to bypass swaths of the game by activating event flags earlier than normal. In a nutshell it basically amounts to falling into a void and soft-resetting with frame-perfect timing to gain control of Link on the title screen. Then jump off the cliff, respawn on the bridge, save, and quit, and voila: you now have the Ordon Sword, Hylian Shield, Hero's Tunic, and Epona unlocked on your save file.
** Its primary use is to bypass the ProlongedPrologue and skip right to when Faron Woods is bathed in Twilight, though another event flag is a problem. When you try to enter the twilight, the game only checks the Wooden Sword and Ordon Shield flags, and so Midna will tell you to "go back and get a sword and shield" even though you already have them. ''This'' can be bypassed, albeit with a ''ton'' of difficulty, by luring an enemy and jump-attacking him to get over the dialogue trigger.
** Its secondary use is to skip a swath of the Forest Temple by using it with a different save file to activate the boss flag for that temple. Since the game "knows" that you will have all monkeys freed when the boss flag becomes active, with this flag active and you enter the final room every monkey will magically appear and form a bridge for you. Quite literally all you need to do is a brief sidequest for the Gale Boomerang.
to:
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** On the Famicom Disk System version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', you can use one of these to infinitely acquire the heartpiece in Eastern Hyrule, the one out at sea that requires the bridge. The game delegates one event flag per screen for a heartpiece, which tells the game whether a heartpiece that has been placed by a developer has been acquired or not, and therefore whether or not it should still appear on that save file. By using the flute so the tornado carries you across that specific heartpiece you will grab it, but the game will set the heartpiece event flag ''on the screen you are teleporting to'' rather than the one on this screen. Thus, when you return, the heartpiece will still be there and you can regrab it via this method as many times as you like. When it came time to port the game to the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, the developers had figured this one out and [[ObviousRulePatch tweaked the code so you can't grab a heartpiece while in the tornado]].
* ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'':
** *** In the Link Trial dungeon of the Moon, playing the Song of Storms in front of the Gossip Stone before the Iron Knuckle room makes the ladder appear automatically, allowing you to skip the puzzle.
** *** In the same dungeon playing the same song for the Gossip Stone on the left of the Iron Knuckle room unlocks the door in the next room, allowing you to skip a different puzzle.
** *** The Owl Statue Warp Glitch relies on this. It involves triggering an out-of-bounds statue that sets one event flag without setting any others[[note]]There is one event flag that is set when you trigger any one statue, which decides whether or not the map will come up or if a generic "you can't warp yet" message will appear. On top of this each individual statue has an identifier event flag that tells the map whether or not that statue can be warped to. The out-of-bounds Owl Statue in Clock Town triggers the first event flag but has no identifier event flag, so the game doesn't know where to put the cursor on the map screen. People have since figured out how to "game" this by placing the cursor at specific places on the pause screen and then playing the song to position the cursor in ways that will allow them to warp to areas they've yet to visit[[/note]], allowing you to basically warp anywhere and [[OpeningTheSandbox frigging obliterate the sandbox]].
** *** Approaching the fence to Great Bay will trigger a message from Tatl (the one that tells you a horse could jump it), which oddly also sets the flag to plant a Magic Bean in the soil outside the Astral Observatory. Since it gets you inside the observatory it can be useful if you neglected to write down the Bomber's password and don't feel like chasing the little buggers for a second time.
* ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'':
** *** Partway through the game you're asked to provide a password to get back inside Tetra's pirate ship. However, even if you solve the password riddle perfectly, capital letters and all, the game still won't let you into the ship until you view the correct cutscene where Link overhears the password from two pirates (thus triggering the event flag). It's {{Hand Wave}}d that there is a very specific and precise way the password needs to be pronounced for it to pass, and that even if Link guessed the word he wouldn't know how to pronounce it until he overheard it from the pirates.
** *** Because the game is so linear, any time an item must appear in a cutscene the game simply activates that item's "have" flag, as a fail-safe to ensure the game doesn't crash. Normally you don't notice this, of course, as you should already have the item. However, this can also give you items for free if you're doing a little SequenceBreaking. For example, glitching your way into the battle with Puppet Ganon will give you the fully-charged Master Sword and Mirror Shield.
* ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has the "Back In Time" glitch, which is used to bypass swaths of the game by activating event flags earlier than normal. In a nutshell it basically amounts to falling into a void and soft-resetting with frame-perfect timing to gain control of Link on the title screen. Then jump off the cliff, respawn on the bridge, save, and quit, and voila: you now have the Ordon Sword, Hylian Shield, Hero's Tunic, and Epona unlocked on your save file.
** *** Its primary use is to bypass the ProlongedPrologue and skip right to when Faron Woods is bathed in Twilight, though another event flag is a problem. When you try to enter the twilight, the game only checks the Wooden Sword and Ordon Shield flags, and so Midna will tell you to "go back and get a sword and shield" even though you already have them. ''This'' can be bypassed, albeit with a ''ton'' of difficulty, by luring an enemy and jump-attacking him to get over the dialogue trigger.
** *** Its secondary use is to skip a swath of the Forest Temple by using it with a different save file to activate the boss flag for that temple. Since the game "knows" that you will have all monkeys freed when the boss flag becomes active, with this flag active and you enter the final room every monkey will magically appear and form a bridge for you. Quite literally all you need to do is a brief sidequest for the Gale Boomerang.
** On the Famicom Disk System version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', you can use one of these to infinitely acquire the heartpiece in Eastern Hyrule, the one out at sea that requires the bridge. The game delegates one event flag per screen for a heartpiece, which tells the game whether a heartpiece that has been placed by a developer has been acquired or not, and therefore whether or not it should still appear on that save file. By using the flute so the tornado carries you across that specific heartpiece you will grab it, but the game will set the heartpiece event flag ''on the screen you are teleporting to'' rather than the one on this screen. Thus, when you return, the heartpiece will still be there and you can regrab it via this method as many times as you like. When it came time to port the game to the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, the developers had figured this one out and [[ObviousRulePatch tweaked the code so you can't grab a heartpiece while in the tornado]].
Changed line(s) 77 (click to see context) from:
* The first ''[[VideoGame/Rayman1 Rayman]]'' game plays with the concept a little. First of all, event flags only affect the level in which you are. Secondly, the event that sets the flag is just getting into some area; this may mean anything from collecting a powerup through walking a platform up to leap of faith. Moreover, the effects of flag being set are sometimes visible immediately - the game is not above spawning enemies just behind you, and edutainment spinoffs spawn killing obstacles directly into you when you select a wrong answer - but sometimes the only thing you get to know is that you set a flag, due to a distinctive sound - that is, if you play with sound.
to:
* The first ''[[VideoGame/Rayman1 Rayman]]'' ''VideoGame/Rayman1'' game plays with the concept a little. First of all, event flags only affect the level in which you are. Secondly, the event that sets the flag is just getting into some area; this may mean anything from collecting a powerup through walking a platform up to leap of faith. Moreover, the effects of flag being set are sometimes visible immediately - the game is not above spawning enemies just behind you, and edutainment spinoffs spawn killing obstacles directly into you when you select a wrong answer - but sometimes the only thing you get to know is that you set a flag, due to a distinctive sound - that is, if you play with sound.
Changed line(s) 85 (click to see context) from:
* ''VideoGame/RuneFactory 2'' has only a very few of these. Those it lacks often lead to rather humorous conversations where villagers ask what you think about their LoveInterest ''after you've married her''. And you still respond with "i dunno lol".
to:
* ''VideoGame/RuneFactory 2'' ''VideoGame/RuneFactory'':
** ''VideoGame/RuneFactory2'' has only a very few of these. Those it lacks often lead to rather humorous conversations where villagers ask what you think about their LoveInterest ''after you've married her''. And you still respond with "i dunno lol".
** ''VideoGame/RuneFactory2'' has only a very few of these. Those it lacks often lead to rather humorous conversations where villagers ask what you think about their LoveInterest ''after you've married her''. And you still respond with "i dunno lol".
Changed line(s) 88,89 (click to see context) from:
** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' upgraded that engine with a more sophisticated AI system, allowing for more flexible scheduling, conditionals and parameters. There's now quadruple redundancy possible, with event flags set by triggers, spell effects, dialog or AI. A dialog can set an AI flag, which will execute and set a Global variable, which will be checked when a door or object is triggered or a spell times out...and many other possible permutations and chained event flags. Unfortunately, this inconsistency makes it easier to break and harder to debug the chain, which a study of the game in the Construction Set shows many designers have done...
** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has such a sequence trigger only after you progress a certain point in the main quest. [[spoiler: Entering Fort Hagen before you track down Kellogg with Dogmeat and Valentine will see the elevator that normally gets you down to the lower levels of the fort blocked by impassible boards.]]
** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has such a sequence trigger only after you progress a certain point in the main quest. [[spoiler: Entering Fort Hagen before you track down Kellogg with Dogmeat and Valentine will see the elevator that normally gets you down to the lower levels of the fort blocked by impassible boards.]]
to:
* ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'':
** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' upgraded that engine with a more sophisticated AI system, allowing for more flexible scheduling, conditionals and parameters. There's now quadruple redundancy possible, with event flags set by triggers, spell effects, dialog or AI. A dialog can set an AI flag, which will execute and set a Global variable, which will be checked when a door or object is triggered or a spell times out...and many other possible permutations and chained event flags. Unfortunately, this inconsistency makes it easier to break and harder to debug the chain, which a study of the game in the Construction Set shows many designers havedone...
done.
** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has such a sequence trigger only after you progress a certain point in the main quest.[[spoiler: Entering [[spoiler:Entering Fort Hagen before you track down Kellogg with Dogmeat and Valentine will see the elevator that normally gets you down to the lower levels of the fort blocked by impassible boards.]]boards]].
** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' upgraded that engine with a more sophisticated AI system, allowing for more flexible scheduling, conditionals and parameters. There's now quadruple redundancy possible, with event flags set by triggers, spell effects, dialog or AI. A dialog can set an AI flag, which will execute and set a Global variable, which will be checked when a door or object is triggered or a spell times out...and many other possible permutations and chained event flags. Unfortunately, this inconsistency makes it easier to break and harder to debug the chain, which a study of the game in the Construction Set shows many designers have
** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has such a sequence trigger only after you progress a certain point in the main quest.
Changed line(s) 92 (click to see context) from:
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' uses event flags to an insane level. Random people you have to talk to to trigger events miles away, state changes that are never obvious...there are so many GuideDangIt event flags in the game, Nintendo decided to include a guide with the game. Thankfully, the sequel improves massively.
to:
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' uses event flags to an insane level. Random people you have to talk to to trigger events miles away, state changes that are never obvious...there are so many GuideDangIt event flags in the game, Nintendo decided to include a guide with the game. Thankfully, the sequel [[VideoGame/Mother3 sequel]] improves massively.
Changed line(s) 95 (click to see context) from:
* In ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' boss fights and some other events happen using these flags. Examples include:
to:
* In ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', boss fights and some other events happen using these flags. Examples include:
Changed line(s) 99 (click to see context) from:
* In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhMonsterCapsuleGB'', these crop up in-story in the various RPG worlds, signified by a chime.
to:
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** ''VideoGame/YuGiOhForbiddenMemories'': After defeating several of the High Mages, if Yami returns to the card shop, he'll enter a boss fight against Seto to rescue Tea. But if Yami goes to the shop after defeating all of the mages, the fight is skipped and he'll enter Heishin's dark shrine for the final confrontation.
** In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhMonsterCapsuleGB'', these crop up in-story in the various RPG worlds, signified by a chime.
** ''VideoGame/YuGiOhForbiddenMemories'': After defeating several of the High Mages, if Yami returns to the card shop, he'll enter a boss fight against Seto to rescue Tea. But if Yami goes to the shop after defeating all of the mages, the fight is skipped and he'll enter Heishin's dark shrine for the final confrontation.
** In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhMonsterCapsuleGB'', these crop up in-story in the various RPG worlds, signified by a chime.
Changed line(s) 101 (click to see context) from:
** Justified in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' when you have to learn [[spoiler:Doopliss's]] name, which serves as his weakness. Unfortunately for anyone who already knows the name, you also need the ''lowercase letter P from his hideout'' to use in the name entry screen to fill it out properly. And in case you haven't noticed, in the previous appearances of the Name Entry screen, yes, [[InterfaceScrew you have been missing that one single letter]] [[DevelopersForesight since the beginning of the game]].
to:
** Justified in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' when you have to learn [[spoiler:Doopliss's]] [[spoiler:Doopliss]]'s name, which serves as his weakness. Unfortunately for anyone who already knows the name, you also need the ''lowercase letter P from his hideout'' to use in the name entry screen to fill it out properly. And in case you haven't noticed, in the previous appearances of the Name Entry screen, yes, [[InterfaceScrew you have been missing that one single letter]] [[DevelopersForesight since the beginning of the game]].Chapter 4]].
Changed line(s) 110,113 (click to see context) from:
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has two great exploits involving event flags, one caused by skipping a flag and the other caused by triggering one earlier than usual:
** By abusing tents and saving it's possible to walk past Mist and enter from the right, allowing you to skip the destruction of the town and actually explore it much earlier than usual. The shop there sells mid-game items that can be equipped by Rydia, giving the level 1 Summoner twice the raw attack power of the level 10 Cecil and turning her into a [[CrutchCharacter walking]] [[MasterOfAll nuclear]] [[DiskOneNuke bomb]] for much of the game.
** Casting Warp ''immediately'' after regaining control after defeating Golbez allows you to walk up and "take" the crystal, which triggers the same event flag as taking the next crystal (this is because in the game's code, those two crystals are actually the same object with the same coded properties). With this event flag triggered the Sealed Cave completed event will happen the second you enter, letting you completely avoid one of the game's more annoying dungeons and the [[GoddamnedBoss infernal Trap Doors]] that are found throughout.
* Some early releases of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' had a glitch which allowed for a kind of NewGamePlus; by entering an area you can normally only access once around halfway through the game, it would reset the story back to this point, while retaining all skills and equipment you had obtained. As illustrated in the main article, this also has a risk of breaking the game due to it causing unexpected results; Yuna can crash the game due to being present in a battle she would normally be unavailable for, and it's possible to be permanently trapped by being on the wrong side of a locked door if it was already triggered first time around, since this is stored in a separate flag that isn't reset.
** By abusing tents and saving it's possible to walk past Mist and enter from the right, allowing you to skip the destruction of the town and actually explore it much earlier than usual. The shop there sells mid-game items that can be equipped by Rydia, giving the level 1 Summoner twice the raw attack power of the level 10 Cecil and turning her into a [[CrutchCharacter walking]] [[MasterOfAll nuclear]] [[DiskOneNuke bomb]] for much of the game.
** Casting Warp ''immediately'' after regaining control after defeating Golbez allows you to walk up and "take" the crystal, which triggers the same event flag as taking the next crystal (this is because in the game's code, those two crystals are actually the same object with the same coded properties). With this event flag triggered the Sealed Cave completed event will happen the second you enter, letting you completely avoid one of the game's more annoying dungeons and the [[GoddamnedBoss infernal Trap Doors]] that are found throughout.
* Some early releases of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' had a glitch which allowed for a kind of NewGamePlus; by entering an area you can normally only access once around halfway through the game, it would reset the story back to this point, while retaining all skills and equipment you had obtained. As illustrated in the main article, this also has a risk of breaking the game due to it causing unexpected results; Yuna can crash the game due to being present in a battle she would normally be unavailable for, and it's possible to be permanently trapped by being on the wrong side of a locked door if it was already triggered first time around, since this is stored in a separate flag that isn't reset.
to:
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has two great exploits involving event flags, one caused by skipping a flag and the other caused by triggering one earlier than usual:
** *** By abusing tents and saving it's possible to walk past Mist and enter from the right, allowing you to skip the destruction of the town and actually explore it much earlier than usual. The shop there sells mid-game items that can be equipped by Rydia, giving the level 1 Summoner twice the raw attack power of the level 10 Cecil and turning her into a [[CrutchCharacter walking]] [[MasterOfAll nuclear]] [[DiskOneNuke bomb]] for much of the game.
** *** Casting Warp ''immediately'' after regaining control after defeating Golbez allows you to walk up and "take" the crystal, which triggers the same event flag as taking the next crystal (this is because in the game's code, those two crystals are actually the same object with the same coded properties). With this event flag triggered the Sealed Cave completed event will happen the second you enter, letting you completely avoid one of the game's more annoying dungeons and the [[GoddamnedBoss infernal Trap Doors]] that are found throughout.
* ** Some early releases of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' had a glitch which allowed for a kind of NewGamePlus; by entering an area you can normally only access once around halfway through the game, it would reset the story back to this point, while retaining all skills and equipment you had obtained. As illustrated in the main article, this also has a risk of breaking the game due to it causing unexpected results; Yuna can crash the game due to being present in a battle she would normally be unavailable for, and it's possible to be permanently trapped by being on the wrong side of a locked door if it was already triggered first time around, since this is stored in a separate flag that isn't reset.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has two great exploits involving event flags, one caused by skipping a flag and the other caused by triggering one earlier than usual:
Changed line(s) 115 (click to see context) from:
* In [[GameMaker RPG Maker]], event flags are known as "switches" and are the most basic of all the mechanics one must learn in order to make a functional game. RPG Maker also features a more advanced version of switches called "variables". These are far more versatile as they can be assigned to a pre-determined value i.e characters' stats, items in inventory, money held, play time, etc. Variables are best used along Conditional Branches that grant the game the ability to know if a certain condition is met in order to allow progression.
to:
* In [[GameMaker RPG Maker]], ''MediaNotes/RPGMaker'', event flags are known as "switches" and are the most basic of all the mechanics one must learn in order to make a functional game. RPG Maker also features a more advanced version of switches called "variables". These are far more versatile as they can be assigned to a pre-determined value i.e characters' stats, items in inventory, money held, play time, etc. Variables are best used along Conditional Branches that grant the game the ability to know if a certain condition is met in order to allow progression.
Deleted line(s) 122 (click to see context) :
Changed line(s) 124 (click to see context) from:
* The ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' series is basically built around this trope development-wise, especially beginning with ''VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution'' where part of the reason Instinct was even a feature is because it helped the developers to keep track of NPC movements, and where to set off the right event flags. Beginning from ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'', this takes on the form of "Opportunities", a set path with often more obvious event flags that change how NPC characters react to specific things (tampering with the virus in Sapienza will cause one of the targets; Francesca De Santis, to go and find out what's gone wrong).
to:
* The ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' series is basically built around this trope development-wise, especially beginning with ''VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution'' where part of the reason Instinct was even a feature is because it helped the developers to keep track of NPC movements, and where to set off the right event flags. Beginning from ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'', this takes on the form of "Opportunities", a set path with often more obvious event flags that change how NPC characters react to specific things (tampering with the virus in Sapienza will cause one of the targets; Francesca De Santis, to go and find out what's gone wrong).
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Fixing a sinkhole. Chasing the Bombers isn't a sidequest, it's required to obtain the password when you're in the first three-day cycle
Changed line(s) 49 (click to see context) from:
** Approaching the fence to Great Bay will trigger a message from Tatl (the one that tells you a horse could jump it), which oddly also sets the flag to plant a Magic Bean in the soil outside the Astral Observatory. Since it gets you inside the observatory it can be useful if you neglected to write down the Bomber's password and don't feel like [[ThatOneSidequest chasing the little buggers for a second time]].
to:
** Approaching the fence to Great Bay will trigger a message from Tatl (the one that tells you a horse could jump it), which oddly also sets the flag to plant a Magic Bean in the soil outside the Astral Observatory. Since it gets you inside the observatory it can be useful if you neglected to write down the Bomber's password and don't feel like [[ThatOneSidequest chasing the little buggers for a second time]].time.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* On the Famicom Disk System version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', you can use one of these to infinitely acquire the heartpiece in Eastern Hyrule, the one out at sea that requires the bridge. The game delegates one event flag per screen for a heartpiece, which tells the game whether a heartpiece that has been placed by a developer has been acquired or not, and therefore whether or not it should still appear on that save file. By using the flute so the tornado carries you across that specific heartpiece you will grab it, but the game will set the heartpiece event flag ''on the screen you are teleporting to'' rather than the one on this screen. Thus, when you return, the heartpiece will still be there and you can regrab it via this method as many times as you like. When it came time to port the game to the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, the developers had figured this one out and [[ObviousRulePatch tweaked the code so you can't grab a heartpiece while in the tornado]].
to:
* On the Famicom Disk System version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', you can use one of these to infinitely acquire the heartpiece in Eastern Hyrule, the one out at sea that requires the bridge. The game delegates one event flag per screen for a heartpiece, which tells the game whether a heartpiece that has been placed by a developer has been acquired or not, and therefore whether or not it should still appear on that save file. By using the flute so the tornado carries you across that specific heartpiece you will grab it, but the game will set the heartpiece event flag ''on the screen you are teleporting to'' rather than the one on this screen. Thus, when you return, the heartpiece will still be there and you can regrab it via this method as many times as you like. When it came time to port the game to the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, the developers had figured this one out and [[ObviousRulePatch tweaked the code so you can't grab a heartpiece while in the tornado]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
No circular links, please
Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
Introducing the EventFlag: a condition in game programming that causes a variable to change. Event Flags are set off when certain events take place -- {{Boss Battle}}s, {{Cutscene}}s, [[CharacterLevel leveling up]], {{One Up}}s -- anything that's important to the plot or to your stats. Flags can also trigger anything, from changing a character's status to activating subquests or side-plots to adjusting what sort of RandomEncounters show up. How and when they are implemented, and what they do are purely up to the game developers.
to:
Introducing the EventFlag: Event Flag: a condition in game programming that causes a variable to change. Event Flags are set off when certain events take place -- {{Boss Battle}}s, {{Cutscene}}s, [[CharacterLevel leveling up]], {{One Up}}s -- anything that's important to the plot or to your stats. Flags can also trigger anything, from changing a character's status to activating subquests or side-plots to adjusting what sort of RandomEncounters show up. How and when they are implemented, and what they do are purely up to the game developers.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* Some early releases of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' had a glitch which allowed for a kind of NewGamePlus; by entering an area you can normally only access once around halfway through the game, it would reset the story back to this point, while retaining all skills and equipment you had obtained. As illustrated in the main article, this also has a risk of breaking the game due to it causing unexpected results; Yuna can crash the game due to being present in a battle she would normally be unavailable for, and it's possible to be permanently trapped by being on the wrong side of a locked door if it was already triggered first time around, since this is stored in a separate flag that isn't reset.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 4,5 (click to see context) from:
A condition in game programming that causes a variable to change. Event Flags are set off when certain events take place -- {{Boss Battle}}s, {{Cutscene}}s, [[CharacterLevel leveling up]], {{One Up}}s -- anything that's important to the plot or to your stats. Flags can also trigger anything, from changing a character's status to activating subquests or side-plots to adjusting what sort of RandomEncounters show up.
to:
Introducing the EventFlag: a condition in game programming that causes a variable to change. Event Flags are set off when certain events take place -- {{Boss Battle}}s, {{Cutscene}}s, [[CharacterLevel leveling up]], {{One Up}}s -- anything that's important to the plot or to your stats. Flags can also trigger anything, from changing a character's status to activating subquests or side-plots to adjusting what sort of RandomEncounters show
Changed line(s) 10,13 (click to see context) from:
There are different ways games can implement this. The variables might be stored independently, which would usually be done for side quests, or even simple bits of information such as permanently opening a door or having a conversation with an NPC, though this is not always the case. [=RPGs=] and some other game types also commonly use a story event flag, represented by a number, to store your progress throughout the game. For instance, if you enter the game's second area for the first time with a value of say "7", the game plays a cutscene and you engage in a HopelessBossFight. Do well, and maybe the game sets the flag to "8" which results in some unique dialogue. Do badly, and maybe it gets set to "12" with some different outcome. When you enter this area again, the game checks the story flag, knows you've already encountered the boss because the value is greater than "7", and won't repeat events. Naturally, these are arbitrary values set by the game designers.
Let's say the NoobCave is normally permanently inaccessible after completing it due to a locked door, but it somehow is still possible to enter anyway. Enter the area again and the game sets the story state back to "7". As far as the game is concerned, you never encountered the HopelessBossFight and it will play out again. Where this might be a real problem is if you have to cross a [[BrokenBridge bridge that collapses]] or go through [[LockedDoor a door that locks]], and the game ''still'' remembers these obstacles are now impassable, trapping the player.
Let's say the NoobCave is normally permanently inaccessible after completing it due to a locked door, but it somehow is still possible to enter anyway. Enter the area again and the game sets the story state back to "7". As far as the game is concerned, you never encountered the HopelessBossFight and it will play out again. Where this might be a real problem is if you have to cross a [[BrokenBridge bridge that collapses]] or go through [[LockedDoor a door that locks]], and the game ''still'' remembers these obstacles are now impassable, trapping the player.
to:
There are different ways games can implement this. The variables might be stored independently, which would usually be done for side quests, or even simple bits of information such as permanently opening a door or having a conversation with an NPC, though this is not always the case. [=RPGs=] and some other game types also commonly use a story event flag, represented by a number, to store your progress throughout the game. For instance, if you enter the game's second area for the first time with a value of say "7", the game plays a cutscene and you engage in a HopelessBossFight. Do well, and maybe the game sets the flag to "8" which results in some unique dialogue. Do badly, and maybe it gets set to "12" with some different outcome. When you enter this area again, the game checks the story flag, knows you've already encountered the boss because the value is greater than "7", and won't repeat events. Naturally, these are arbitrary values set by the game designers.
designers, though normally these would be expected to increase as you progress since it simplifies things.
Let's also say the NoobCave is normally permanently inaccessible after completing it due to a locked door, but it somehow is still possible to enter anyway. Enter the area again and the game sets the story state back to "7". As far as the game is concerned, you never encountered the HopelessBossFight and it will play out again. Where this might be a real problem is if you have to cross a [[BrokenBridge bridge that collapses]] or go through [[LockedDoor a door that locks]], and the game ''still'' remembers these obstacles are now impassable, trapping the player.
Let's also say the NoobCave is normally permanently inaccessible after completing it due to a locked door, but it somehow is still possible to enter anyway. Enter the area again and the game sets the story state back to "7". As far as the game is concerned, you never encountered the HopelessBossFight and it will play out again. Where this might be a real problem is if you have to cross a [[BrokenBridge bridge that collapses]] or go through [[LockedDoor a door that locks]], and the game ''still'' remembers these obstacles are now impassable, trapping the player.
Changed line(s) 85 (click to see context) from:
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' is just about run by event flags, ranging from new enemies suddenly appearing based on your level and/or [[ScriptedEvent reaching a certain point in a quest]] all the way to keeping track of what every NPC is supposed to be doing at any given time of in-game day. However, some of these event flags are notoriously prone to glitching, [[GameBreakingBug sometimes with disastrous results]].
to:
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' is just about run by event flags, ranging from new enemies suddenly appearing based on your level and/or [[ScriptedEvent reaching a certain point in a quest]] all the way to keeping track of what every NPC is supposed to be doing at any given time of in-game day. However, some of these event flags are notoriously prone to glitching, [[GameBreakingBug sometimes with disastrous results]]. By entering a normally inaccessible area, it's also possible to complete the main quest in minutes, because this sets the story event flag to the finale.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
Setting off certain Event Flags is necessary for the computer to know when you've won most games. (In the case of a game with MultipleEndings, which Event Flags are set off will usually decide what ending you get[[note]]the main other possible criteria being your KarmaMeter, [[FactionSpecificEndings what faction you're in]], what final level you're playing (some games have more than one), which FinalBoss you're facing (again, quite a few games have more than one), or [[LastSecondEndingChoice which option you picked from the drop-down menu in the penultimate cutscene]] -- and all of these can, depending on the game, [[DistinctionWithoutADifference boil down to a set of Event Flags anyways]][[/note]].) SequenceBreaking in the wrong places can make the game {{Unwinnable}} if a flag that was supposed to be triggered gets stuck in the wrong state.
to:
Setting off certain Event Flags is necessary for the computer to know when you've won most games. (In the case of a game with MultipleEndings, which Event Flags are set off will usually decide what ending you get[[note]]the main other possible criteria being your KarmaMeter, [[FactionSpecificEndings what faction you're in]], what final level you're playing (some games have more than one), which FinalBoss you're facing (again, quite a few games have more than one), or [[LastSecondEndingChoice which option you picked from the drop-down menu in the penultimate cutscene]] -- and all of these can, depending on the game, [[DistinctionWithoutADifference boil down to a set of Event Flags anyways]][[/note]].) SequenceBreaking in the wrong places can make the game {{Unwinnable}} if a flag that was supposed to be triggered gets stuck in the wrong state.
state, or if it results in a combination of event flags that normally would not happen, causing the game to crash or behave strangely.
There are different ways games can implement this. The variables might be stored independently, which would usually be done for side quests, or even simple bits of information such as permanently opening a door or having a conversation with an NPC, though this is not always the case. [=RPGs=] and some other game types also commonly use a story event flag, represented by a number, to store your progress throughout the game. For instance, if you enter the game's second area for the first time with a value of say "7", the game plays a cutscene and you engage in a HopelessBossFight. Do well, and maybe the game sets the flag to "8" which results in some unique dialogue. Do badly, and maybe it gets set to "12" with some different outcome. When you enter this area again, the game checks the story flag, knows you've already encountered the boss because the value is greater than "7", and won't repeat events. Naturally, these are arbitrary values set by the game designers.
Let's say the NoobCave is normally permanently inaccessible after completing it due to a locked door, but it somehow is still possible to enter anyway. Enter the area again and the game sets the story state back to "7". As far as the game is concerned, you never encountered the HopelessBossFight and it will play out again. Where this might be a real problem is if you have to cross a [[BrokenBridge bridge that collapses]] or go through [[LockedDoor a door that locks]], and the game ''still'' remembers these obstacles are now impassable, trapping the player.
There are different ways games can implement this. The variables might be stored independently, which would usually be done for side quests, or even simple bits of information such as permanently opening a door or having a conversation with an NPC, though this is not always the case. [=RPGs=] and some other game types also commonly use a story event flag, represented by a number, to store your progress throughout the game. For instance, if you enter the game's second area for the first time with a value of say "7", the game plays a cutscene and you engage in a HopelessBossFight. Do well, and maybe the game sets the flag to "8" which results in some unique dialogue. Do badly, and maybe it gets set to "12" with some different outcome. When you enter this area again, the game checks the story flag, knows you've already encountered the boss because the value is greater than "7", and won't repeat events. Naturally, these are arbitrary values set by the game designers.
Let's say the NoobCave is normally permanently inaccessible after completing it due to a locked door, but it somehow is still possible to enter anyway. Enter the area again and the game sets the story state back to "7". As far as the game is concerned, you never encountered the HopelessBossFight and it will play out again. Where this might be a real problem is if you have to cross a [[BrokenBridge bridge that collapses]] or go through [[LockedDoor a door that locks]], and the game ''still'' remembers these obstacles are now impassable, trapping the player.
