=================================================================== =================================================================== ____________ ____________ _____ ____ __________________ \ ____ / \ ____ / \ / \ / \ /\ /\ / | | \/ | | \/ \ \ / / | | | | | | | | | | \ \ / / | | | | | | | |__/| | |__/| \ \ / / | | | | | | | __ | | __ | \ \ / / | | | | | | | | \| | | \| \ \ / / | | | | | | | | | | \ \/ / | | | | | | | | | | \ / | | | | | | | | | | \ / | | | | | | /____\ /____\ \/ /____\/____\/____\ =================================================================== C H O C O B O 'S W O R L D =================================================================== F A Q version 0.95 == March 7, 2000 Final Release ====================================== Final Fantasy VIII: Chocobo's World FAQ [--a final fantasy viii mini-game for the sony pocketstation--] version 0.95, 07mar00, Final Release ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 0. Table of Contents. 1. Intro. 2. Instructions. __From the US FFVIII Instruction Book. 3. The Menu Screen. __Pages 1-7. 4. Fighting. __System. __Damage & Weapons. __Enemies. __Fighting a Chocobo on another Pocketstation (thanks to The Saint) 5. Exploring. __Major Events. __??? Events. __About the 2nd and 3rd Power Up. (thanks to The Saint) 6. Level Data. __Deciding HP. __ID. __Advancing in Rank/Effects of Rank (thanks to The Saint) __Weapons. 7. Item Data. __Items in Chocobo World. (thanks to The Saint) __Recieving Items in FFVIII 8. Misc. __Chocobo World vs. Battle IR protocol (technical specs from The Saint) __Frequently Asked Question. __English/Japanese Differences. __Meanings of Name. __Character Name Reference. __Obtaining a PocketStation. __About the Pocketstation. (thanks to The Saint) __The Pocketstation Manual. (thanks to The Saint) 9. Outro. __Versions. __What I need from you, the reader. __Sources. __Notes. __Legal. __Contact. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 1. Intro. Chocobo's World is a 'solo-RPG' for the Sony PocketStation, and is directly compatible with the Squaresoft Playstation RPG Final Fantasy VIII. In the game, you play a young Chicobo named Boco who sets off to find his friend Mog. Along the way you'll not only find Mog, but also love, action, excitement, drama, and horror... and fishing. Lots of fishing... This document is a look at Chocobo's World in both it's U.S./Canada and Japanese forms. The game is virtually identical in both regions, so all of the data should apply to both versions of the game (as well as the European version and the PC version, which I know nothing about...). This is my last planned release of the FAQ. The only update that will be made is an updated Contributor list. I feel that the FAQ is complete enough, and I have little time to continue with it, so I'm making this the last real update to it. Thanks to all that wrote me about it (and sorry if you didn't get a reply!). ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 2. Instructions. Although it's assumed that if you have access to Chocobo's World you will have the FFVIII instruction book, I have reprinted (and clarified) the instructions for people that may have imported the Japanese version without a full working knowledge of Japanese... Also, some of the wording is a bit off or confusing, so I've tried to fix that... __Instructions from the U.S. FFVIII instruction book.( (changes/clarifications are in [brackets]) page 38 POCKETSTATION (*NOTE: Chocobo World requires the PocketStation person game unit, which may not be available for purchase outside of Japan.) CHOCOBO WORLD After obtaining [a] Chocobo in the actual game, the player will be able to [download] Chocobo World, a mini-game played on the PocketStation* personal game unit. Select on the [Final Fantasy VIII] Menu Screen while the PocketStation personal game unit is inserted into [one of] the MEMORY CARD slot[s]. Boco[, your Chicobo,] will move into the PocketStation personal game unit with the command and return to the FINAL FANTASY VIII game with the command. If the player would like to save in the "Home" mode, it will be necessary to save the game data using the regular save method in FINAL FANTASY VIII. (picture of the PocketStation showing the buttons - the four buttons in the shape of a diamond on the left hand side are referred to up, down, left, and right respectively. The larger button on the right is called the enter button, and the infared communication port is at the very top of the unit.) Boco [or whatever you have chosen to call your Chicobo] - A Chicobo (baby Chocobo) who follows [the] Chocobo [that you ride in the main Final Fantasy VIII game] MiniMog - A lost infant Mog Events Occur when Boco Encounters Friends While moving on the Walking Screen, certain events will occur. Starting with Cactuar [aka. Cactrot] who hands out items, various characters and friends await Boco's appearance in order to help Boco out along his journey. page 39 POCKETSTATION WHAT TO DO Boco embarks on an epic journey. Finding a Chicobo in FINAL FANTASY VIII and saving it to the PocketStation personal game unit will enable the player to enjoy the games listed in the following section. Finding Mog will be the primary objective in Chocobo World. 1. Finding Mod. Try to find the MiniMog who has become lost within the PocketStation personal game unit. 2. Raise the Chicobo Boco, who appears as a Guardian Force (GF) in FINAL FANTASY VIII, can only be raised in the PocketStation personal game unit. For information on how to raise Boco, refer to the section[] "[B]attle & Leveling Up" on page 40. 3. Collecting Items Items found in Chocobo World can be brought back into the world of FINAL FANTASY VIII. There may even be rare items that cannot be found in the actual FINAL FANTASY VIII game. HOW TO PLAY Learn Various Maneuvers There are three different screens in Chocobo World. Refer to the following information to learn how to play on each screen. Playing methods and battle arrangements are explained below. WALKING SCREEN Main Game Screen - Move Boco in any [of the cardinal] direction[s] up button Walk Boco further away (North) down button Walk Boco closer (South) left button Walk Boco left (West) right button Walk Boco right (East) [hold any directional button Make Boco run in that direction] enter button Display Menu Screen MENU SCREEN Confirm status and movement methods. Can also check settings for the optical communication function [as well as display the current time]. up/down button[s] Select/Toggle between displayed menu settings left/right button[s] Scroll through the menus enter button Use the optical communication function, send data to another PocketStation personal game unit. Otherwise, return to Walking Screen. BATTLE SCREEN The screen changes to the Battle Screen upon encountering an enemy, and battle begins. up button Not Applicable down button Not Applicable left/right button[s] By pressing them alternately, the ATB count will reach 0 sooner. enter button Not Applicable BATTLE & LEVELING UP Upon encountering an enemy, the screen will switch to a Battle Screen, and battle will ensue. When the [one of the] numbers displayed in the bottom middle portion of the screen[, the ATB] (the left number is the enemy's, the right number is Boco's) reach[es] 0, [an] attack[] will be waged [by the fighter whose ATB has reached zero. After the attack has hit, both ATB counters will reset]. Upon winning a battle, Boco will receive magic stones. If the stones line up[, either vertically, diagonally, or horizontally], Boco's level will increase [by one]. DEFEAT When [your HPs reach zero, Boko will be] defeated[. Following this,] Boco will [] sleep until [his] HP [are] completely recovered. It is possible to wake Boco up during sleep, but it is best to wait until [he] has recovered completely. - It is possible to fight against a friend's "Boco" using the optical communication function. Select from the Menu Screen. - Hold down the enter button to switch to the CONTINUE/EXIT Menu Screen. It will then be possible to select [(save game and quit to PocketStation main screen)] or {continue game). - 7 memory blocks will be used exclusively for the PocketStation [game, Chocobo World]. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 3. The Menu Screen. As the instructions state, the Menu Screen is accessed by pressing the enter button during Walking Mode (which I'll probably refer to as Exploration Mode). What the instructions don't clarify is how to use the menu screen to your advantage... __Page 1: The Map Screen. The first page that will load up is the map screen. It will show your current location (a flashing dot), locations of the events in the level, your current level, and the current time (not in-game time, but real- world). Not much to really do here, but you'll constantly be checking it for event locations, and how to best navigate the level. __Page 2: The Status Screen. The second page is another page that you'll be visiting frequently. It shows your weapon, your current level (LV), current/maximum hit points (HP), and your ID number. The first few things are pretty obvious, but the ID number is still a bit of a mystery to me... More on this in section 7... __Page 3: The Item Screen. A really basic screen - shows the number of each item (A, B, C, or D) that you have. __Page 4: The Communications Screen. This is only used for communicating with other PocketStations. I've never tried it, so I can't really say much here... __Page 5: The Event Wait Screen. OK. This is a pretty important screen if you want to get through the Mini-Game quickly. While it would make the most sense to leave the Event Wait On, if speed is of the essence, turn it Off. When it's On, the game will wait for you to press the enter button before entering an event. This includes all events - battle, meeting friends, and any other events. So if you want to let the game play itself, it won't. However, to get through the game, maintaining your sanity (and not destroying your PocketStation's left and right buttons), set it to Off so that it will only pause before major events (these happen on levels 20, 50, 75, and 100). __Page 6: The Mog Screen. This is a screen that I didn't touch most of the time. I'm not sure what the purpose of having Mog sleep is, so I always had him on StandBy, so that if Boco was in trouble, he'd come to the rescue... This is only available after you find Mog for the first time (around or on level 20). __Page 7: The Move Screen. This set the amount that Boco will wander from the straight and narrow. If the move is set on 1 (the minimum), he will just keep walking in a straight line. If it's set on 6 (the maximum), he will turn when he sees an event point to his front, left, or right (but not to his back). Of course, this does sometimes backfire, as there can be a point very close to him that he won't see... Anyway, to get the game going as fast as you can, set it to 6. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 4. Fighting. __System. As with any RPG, Chocobo's World has it's fair share of fighting. However, the enemies are all pretty similar... Anyway, the fighting method is simple - each combatant has an ATB gauge, represented by a number from 9 down, that will decrease over time. When the number reaches zero, an attack is dealt, and both ATB gauges reset. You can speed up the ATB gauge by pressing left and right alternately. So how do you not totally destroy your PocketStation's buttons? Well, most of the fights, you can just let the PocketStation fight on it's own. You'll lose more often this way, but it's safer on the system, and your fingers & sanity... A second option is to press the buttons until you are one or two numbers ahead, and then let it time down. Both of the gauges will decrease at an even rate (I believe that this is always true...) if no buttons are being pressed, so once you're ahead, you should be fine. As for always pressing the buttons to get the ATB gauge down as quick as possible, it's really not necessary... __Damage & Weapons. The way that damage is dealt is simple. Your weapon is made up of four numbers, ranging from 0 to 9. One of those numbers will be randomly picked every time that a combatant does damage (your opponent has a similar 4-number weapon of it's own), and that number is subtracted from the other person's HP. First one to 0 loses... As for the weapons themselves, they, like most of the things in this game, are randomly generated (to a certain extent). You should start out with a 1-1-1-1, and for your first time through the game, you can end with as high as a 9-6-9-7. The most powerful weapon, a 9-9-9-9, is only obtainable by playing achieving a Rank 1 (more on Rank later). __Enemies. There are a whopping four normal enemies in the game, and a single boss. All of them fight in a similar manner, and aren't really all that different from each other. Gotta love the names, too: Name: Monster A Map: 1-100 HP: LV+6 Descrip: A living shadow. Name: Monster B Map: 10-100 HP: LV+8 Descrip: A winged ball. Name: Monster C Map: 30-100 HP: LV+10 Descrip: A blob. Name: Monster D Map: 70-100 HP: LV+16 Descrip: A large rock monster. Name: Resutobosu Map: ?? HP: 99 Descrip: The shade-looking enemy that stole Koko! __Fighting a Chocobo on another Pocketstation This information was gracionsly provided by The Saint, and is directly in his words. Visit him at http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/ The way this is supposed to work is you and your buddy (someone else who bought this thing and has the Chocobo World game) hold your pocketstations a few inches away, with the tops close to each other. One player puts his Chocobo World in 'Receive Mode', the other sets 'Transmit Mode' and presses 'Enter'. The transmitter will go into the receiver's game and the receiver can fight the chocobo. If the receiver wins, he can copy the ID number from the transmitter. I don't have two pocketstations, so I don't know whether the transmitter fights a battle too. When I send what should be the right codes back to the 'transmitter', it just exits back to chocobo world 'walking mode'. In either case, the game does not transmit anything during or after the battle (so the transmitter is in no danger of 'losing' his ID). ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 5. Exploring. The bulk of the game is taken up by simple exploration via the 'Walking Screen' ('Exploration Mode [or Screen]' would have sounded so much better...). You get a wonderful, never-changing landscape, with the sun contantly blaring down on you, and mile after mile of sandy wastelands. Sounds like fun, eh? Each game is made up of 100 randomly generated levels. Each level will have about 10 (give or take) event points that can be seen via the Map Page of the Menu Screen. These points will occasionally appear (again, randomly), so it's pretty much impossible to clear an entire board. While exploring, Boco occasionally gets bored. He'll do whatever he feels like - sleep, eat, go fishing... You know - the like. This, accompanied by his lack of direction, can make for a very, very long game... __Major Events. At specific levels in the games certain major events will occur. These are events that will create an Event Wait screen even if you have the option turned off. Here's a summary (and I suppose it should be noted that the following contain spoilers, not that this game is huge on story...): Level: Event: Description: 20 Boco meets Koko. Boco, a young, strapping male Chicobo, meets Koko, a pretty young femal Chicobo. Of course, in normal dramatic fashion, she doesn't notice him, while he goes crazy over her. Such a dramatic story, told in grand Shakespearian overtones in wonderous black and white 32x32 pixel glory. 50 Boco's first kiss. (note: event wait must be on) Ah yes, young lovers. It makes the heart flutter, doesn't it? Although I missed this scene, I'm sure that it is full of all of the passion and romance of a dime- store Harlequin novel, and will make all of you stone-hearted gamers melt where you stand... 50 Oops. (note: event wait must be off) Oh, that silly Boco. He fell down a hole and died. Whoops. That's what you get for having the event wait off... Never fear, like any death in this game, he immediately is revived, although a bit sleepy... 75 Sitting 'round Yes, this is what friends are for. Cactrot the fire... (aka. Cactuar aka. Saboteaur) and Moomba sitting around the fire, enjoying each -or- other's company... And our friend Boco? Well, seeing as I barely remember this HURRY UP!, scene, I don't know what Boco is doing. Mode-7 style. Hmmm... Maybe he and Koko are, um, enjoying each others' company? Oh my, and so so young... This screen may also be, or include, Cactrot telling you, in wonderous zooming and scrolling action that is second only to Mode-7, to HURRY UP! Why does the game always have to be screaming at you? 100 Kidnapped! After going through 100 levels of mind- numbing, repetative battle and the same... exact... scenery... you're rewarded with your girlfriend/love interest getting kidnapped? What is this world coming to? ?? Resutobosu Although I have yet to see it, this event involves fighting Koko's kidnapper in a battle to the death... And unfortunately, he has 99 HPs... (have fun!) According to a reader, you can achieve this event by, on Lv 100, setting the Move level to 1, and then hitting an event - every event that you hit will result in a fight with Resutobosu. [note: regarding the above events, there are some that I missed (LV 50- ON) and some that I don't remember what happened when (I decided to write this FAQ when I was on Lv 99), so the above list is pretty much straight from the Ultimania guide, and may be very badly translated (items in question: Lv 50-ON, and Lv 75) - any help/clarifications/etc. would be appreciated] [note2: thanks to Clive Rowland for the info on how to fight Resutobosu] __??? events. Occasionally Boco will get side-tracked and start doing something totally unrelated to the quest. This works the same as sleeping - Boco's HP will slowly be refilled. Boco's other interests include, but aren't limited to: -watching TV -having a picnic -fishing -listening to a personal stereo [aka. a Walkman, but to avoid copyright infringements, I won't call it that :) ] -sitting around the campfire (does this happen normally, or did I just catch this on level 75?) __About the 2nd and 3rd powerup: This information was gracionsly provided by The Saint, and is directly in his words. Visit him at http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/ Visit event dots with 'event wait' on (and possibly mog on standby as well) to get the 2nd and 3rd powerup (random, but won't appear without Event wait on). Maybe it's just me, but both times I got the 3rd powerup I had MV set to 3. I got both powerups within 20 straight battles after fighting the demon king. Each Powerup improves Boko in FF8. When you summon Boko with the Gysahl greens (available as an item in Chocobo World, or buyable from the Choco Kid), he will appear, make an attack and leave. Depending on the number of powerups the attack strength varies: 0 power-ups: ChocoFire (weak fire attack, about as strong as 'Fira') 1 power-up : ChocoFlare (strong fire attack, 5000-9000 damage!) 2 power-ups: ChocoMeteor (9999 damage!) 3 power-ups: ChocoBuckle (INCOMING! Can do max 65,000 damage) NOTE: That's not a typo, ChocoBuckle can do more than 10,000 damage in a SINGLE ATTACK. It is one of only three attacks that can do that; the others are the Giant Cactuar's level 100 attack (does exactly 10,000 damage) and Eden (also can do 65,000 damage). Plus, it has a short animation time and can be summoned instantly by using an item (which you can buy!). To see the max HP damage, summon ChocoBuckle vs a weak enemy like the geezard. Mostly it does 10,000- 20,000 damage though. To see Eden do 65,000 damage, summon her vs. a weak enemy after casting 'Meltdown' on it. Eden must be at level 100 and have all four SumMag +XX%s and maximum boost. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 6. Level Data. Although most of the game is random, there is one part that isn't - Boco's levels (LV). Boco raises levels through magic stones - you need to get three magic stones in a row, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally (OK, so this is semi-random). Either let the stone stop spinning through the available slots on it's own, or press the enter button to stop it. __Deciding HP. In each game Boco can raise to Level 100. His HP are decided in the following manner: Each rank (see ID section for more info) has a bonus number that is attached to it. This is a contant number, and helps figure what Boco's HP is. This number, added to Boco's current level divided by 4. Confused yet? Refer to the following chart and equasion: Rank: Bonus: Maximum HP (or HP on LV 100): 1 16 41 2 12 37 3 10 35 4 9 34 5 8 33 6 7 32 7 6 31 Boco's HP = Bonus + (Boco's LV / 4) -round down- Example 1: Boco has a HP of 30 on LV 99 a Rank 7. Hence: HP = 6 + (99 / 4) -round down- HP = 6 + (24) HP = 30 Example 2: Upon leveling up to LV 100 at the same Rank, his HP rose to 31. Hence: HP = 6 + (100 / 4) HP = 6 + (25) HP = 31 Sounded harder than it is, right? __ID. ID is upped by battling other Chocobos on other Pocketstation. From what I understand, ID is upped by the person who initiates the battle winning. I can't test this as I don't have any friends within, say, 1000 miles that have the game and a Pocketstation, so this is all from translated data from the FFVIII Ultimania guide. When your ID number is increased, your grade goes up: Rank: ID Number: 1 1 2 3 3 8 4 9 5 9 6 90 7 880 [note: I don't know why Ranks 4 and 5 are both ID:9 - it's quite possibly a misprint in the Ultimania guide] __Advancing in Rank/Effects of Rank This information was gracionsly provided by The Saint, and is directly in his words. Visit him at http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/ As far as I can tell, there is no way to advance your rank in the US version without playing another Chocobo World game. I have discovered that once you beat another Chocobo World game and take it's ID, you instantly become the 'Rank' associated with the ID; your HP adjusts, and every Item event you encounter has different probabilities. Rank Max. Max. Probability of item ID Number - HP - Weapon - A B C D - requirement ---------------------------------------------------------- 1 - 41 - 9999 - 25% 25% 25% 25% - ?? 2 - 37 - 9998 - 5% 35% 30% 30% - ID = 000 3 - 35 - - 4% 10% 46% 40% - ?? 4 - 34 - - 3% 10% 37% 50% - ?? 5 - 33 - - 2% 10% 28% 60% - ?? 6 - 32 - 9698 - 1%? 5% 24% 70% - ID < 880 ? 7 - 31 - - 0% 5% 15% 80% - ID = 001 Note about testing this data; I had ID 397, and at level 100 had 32 HP and ratio of A,B, C and D items in about 0/5/24/70 ratio. However, after leaving the game running for several months, I got 99 of items B, C and D but 0 'A' items. I believe that the other data supported my being at Rank 6, but that there is a 0% chance of getting an 'A' item (at least with event wait off). When I won a battle vs. a 000 chocobo and copied it's ID, I started getting items in about a ratio of 5/35/30/30, and I had 37 hit points. According to the data reported from the Ultimania guide, I *should* have been at rank 1 instead. When I won vs. a 001 chocobo and copied that ID, my HP dropped to 31 (presumably representing rank 7!). I am not sure what IDs represent the other grades. If you have a chocobo at level 100, I'd appreciate it if you would send me what ID you have, how many hit points you have, what your weapon is and how many of each item you have. Note that if you get a good weapon on a low rank, then copy a worse ID you will still keep your old weapon. __Weapons. Here's a short section for you - as Grade 7 your maximum weapon will be 9-6-9-7 (although I only found a 9-6-9-5), but once you reach Grade 1 you can acquire a 9-9-9-9. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 7. Item Data. OK. There's a lot of info that will be added to this section (hopefully) eventually, but for now, it's pretty sparse. When playing through the game, you'll get Items, marked A, B, C, or D, from Cactrot. Your probability of getting s certain item is based on the following chart (see the Rank section above for more info on Rank). Rank: A: B: C: D: 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 2 5% 35% 30% 30% 3 4% 10% 46% 40% 4 3% 10% 37% 50% 5 2% 10% 28% 60% 6 1% 5% 24% 70% 7 0% 5% 15% 80% This doesn't mean that you'll get the items in that proportion. Playing through on Rank 7 netted me 12 Bs, 14 Cs, and 99 Ds. Obviously, I got 0 As that game as they are literally impossible to get. However, by even playing through Rank 6 you should get at least one A (assuming that you recieve around 100 items or more, which I easily did...). A quick note on A items - there are no items in the A category that can't be recieved in one of the other categories as well, so if you aren't able to battle other chocobos and increase your Rank, you're still able to get all of the items. However, the better your Rank is, the better chance you have of getting a rare item. __Items in Chocobo World: This information was gracionsly provided by The Saint, and is directly in his words. Visit him at http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/ There are four categories of items; called, oddly enough A items, B items, C items and D items. When you import back into the FF8game, each A/B/C/D item becomes one or more real items in the FF8 game. D items become cheap stuff like Softs, Antidotes, Rename Cards, Chocobo Tags, Pet Nametags, and some of the junk items that refine into the weakest spells. C items become slightly better stuff, like Potions, Hi Potions, a few of the weaker GF ability items (like Turtle Shells, HGaling Mail, etc..) and some of the stronger junk items. B items become the best GF ability items (including cool stuff like 3-Stars, Rosetta Stns, Curtains), rare items (MalboroTentacles, InfernoFangs), and even unique items (Girl Next Door mag., Solomon Ring, Magic Lamp) and the various power up items (Str Up, Mag Up, etc..). Yup, that's right buckaroos; you can get Solomon's Ring & all the items you need to summon DoomTrain in Disc 2! A items become either several B items or some of better junk items like Shaman Stones. I haven't seen an A item give me anything that a B item didn't though. There might be some special items that only an A item can become, but I haven't seen any. Let's just say that ANY item in the game can be gotten from the Pocketstation. Some items I have never gotten outside of the pocketstation are: - Ribbon: Gives GF the 'Ribbon' ability (immunity to all status changes) - Mog Amulet: Gives GF the 'MiniMog' ability (heals GF during battle) - Friendship: Use item for 'MoombaMoomba' attack; lowers enemy to 1Hp! - Chocobo Tag: Rename the chocobo Some notable really rare items that you can get: - Rosetta Stones (Lots! This might be a 'C' item) - Power Generators, Dark Matter (for Quistis' Blue Magic, 'B' item) - Samantha Soul, Energy Crystal, Gaea's Ring, Diamond Armor ('B' items) - Hero and Hero-Trial ('B' item!) - Holy War and Holy War-trial (It's an 'A' item, though) __Recieving Items in FFVIII. Obviously, your reason for collecting the As, Bs, Cs, and Ds is to exchange them for items in the full FFVIII game. The items that you get is dependant (as far as I can tell) on your Grade and ID, as well as what Chocobo's World items you've collected. There are two tables, each containing a different set of items, that you may get items from - this is how you'll recieve different items depending on your Grade and ID... Of course, which table you get for which Grade and ID I don't know yet... Anyway, each CW item has a set group of FFVIII items that it can become, and a set chance of becoming that item. A rare item will have a chance of 1/64, while a more common item will have up to a 13/64 chance (this only occurs in D, though). A quick glance at the tables shows that the chances for Ds range from 1/64 - 13/64, Cs are either 1/64 or 2/64, Bs are 1/64-3/64, and As are from 1/64-5/64. I'll try to have the table up by the next revision, but I'm not guaranteeing any sort of completeness - again, it's all in Japanese, and contains many unfamiliar Kanji... Plus, those names would then have to be translated to the English version names... __Item Tables This section is thanks to a contributor whose name was lost when Hotmail decided to delete my entire inbox, along with his message. As this person contributed the entire translated item charts, and I would love to give him credit. If you're reading this, please email me so that I can add your name to this FAQ. To prove that it was you, simply tell me why it was so important to translate the charts (I remember, so I can confirm that it was you), although more than likely I'll remember your name when I see it. I deeply apologise for this... A few notes about the tables. It is unknown why there are two charts, but it is notable that Table 1 contains the Mog's Amulet, while Table 2 does not. Also, when reading the charts, due to space limitations I had to abbreviate, as well as split the fractions up. All of the items have a X/64 chance of being recieved. The number next to the item's name is the X in the X/64 fraction. Thus, if the listing is "Hero,1", then you have a 1/64 chance of recieving the item 'Hero.' FFVIII - Chocobo World : Item Table 1 Rank A,#/64 Rank B,#/64 Rank C,#/64 Rank D,#/64 *Friendship,5 Hero,1 Potion,1 Antidote,1 Aegis Amulet,1 Ultima Stone,1 Hi-Potion,1 Soft,1 Elem Atk,5 GysahlGreens,1 X-Potion,1 Eye Drops,1 Elem Guard,5 *Friendship,3 Mega-Potion,1 Echo Screen,1 Status Atk,5 Tent,1 Phoenix Down,1 Holy Water,1 Status Guard,5 Cottage,1 Mega Phoenix,1 Normal Ammo,4 Bomb Spirit,5 G-Hi-Potion,1 Elixir,1 Dark Ammo,4 Hungry Ckpot,5 G-Returner,1 Megalixir,1 Demolition Ammo,4 RocketEngine,2 AmnesiaGrns,1 Remedy,1 AP Ammo,4 Moon Curtain,1 Str-J Scroll,1 Remedy+,1 M-Stone Piece,12 SteelCurtain,2 Mag-J Scroll,1 Shell Stone,1 Magic Stone,13 Monk's Code,1 Spd-J Scroll,1 ProtectStone,1 Wizard Stone,12 Hundred Ndls,2 Aegis Armlet,2 Death Stone,1 Screw,1 Three Stars,5 Elem Atk,1 Holy Stone,1 Mesmerize Blade,1 *Ribbon,5 Elem Guard,1 Meteor Stone,1 Coral Fragment,1 Dark Matter,5 Status Atk,1 Rename Card,2 Arctic Wind,1 Shaman Stone,5 Status Guard,1 Regen Ring,1 Dragon Fin,1 RosettaStone,1 Turtle Shell,1 Poison Powder,1 Magic Scroll,1 Doc's Code,1 Draw Scroll,1 Ochu Tentacle,1 GamblrSpirit,1 Cockatrice Pinion,1 PhoenxSpirit,1 Zombie Powder,1 Hungry Ckpt,1 Lightweight,1 *Mog'sAmulet,1 Sharp Spike,1 StarFragment,1 Screw,1 SamanthaSoul,1 Mesmerize Blade,1 Silver Mail,1 Fury Fragment,1 DiamondArmor,1 Betrayal Sword,1 Giant's Ring,1 Sleep Powder,1 Power Wrist,1 Life Ring,1 Orihalcon,1 Dragon Fang,1 Force Armlet,1 Spider Web,1 Hypno Crown,1 Coral Fragment,1 Jet Engine,1 Cursed Spike,1 RocketEngine,1 Black Hole,1 SteelCurtain,1 Water Crystal,1 Accelerator,1 Missile,1 Hundred Ndls,1 Mystery Fluid,1 *Ribbon,1 Running Fire,1 Girl NxtDoor,1 Inferno Fang,1 Pet Nametag,1 Malboro Tentacle,1 Magical Lamp,1 Whisper,1 HP Up,3 Laser Cannon,1 Str Up,3 Barrier,1 Vit Up,2 Red Fang,1 Mag Up,3 Arctic Wind,1 Spr Up,2 North Wind,1 Spd Up,3 Dynamo Stone,1 Luck Up,2 Shear Feather,1 LuvLuv G,1 Venom Fang,1 Steel Orb,1 Moon Stone,1 Dino Bone,1 Windmill,1 Dragon Skin,1 Dragon Fin,1 Poison Powder,1 Dead Spirit,1 Chef's Knife,1 Cactus Thorn,1 Chocobo Tag,2 Pet Nametag,1 Note: Starred items are exclusive to Chocobo World, and cannot otherwise be found or created in Final Fantasy VIII. FFVIII - Chocobo World : Item Table 2 Rank A,#/64 Rank B,#/64 Rank C,#/64 Rank D,#/64 *Friendship,5 Hero Trial,1 Potion+,1 Antidote,1 Aegis Amulet,2 Ultima Stone,2 Hi-Potion+,1 Soft,1 Elem Atk,5 PhoenixPnion,1 X-Potion,1 Eye Drops,1 Elem Guard,5 *Friendship,2 Mega-Potion,1 Echo Screen,1 Status Atk,5 Pet House,1 Phoenix Down,1 Holy Water,1 Status Guard,5 G-Potion,1 Mega Phoenix,1 Shotgun Ammo,4 Bomb Spirit,5 G-Mega-Ption,1 Elixir,1 Fire Ammo,4 HungryCookpt,5 Rename Card,1 Megalixir,1 Fast Ammo,4 RocketEngine,1 HP-J Scroll,1 Remedy,1 Pulse Ammo,3 Moon Curtain,2 Vit-J Scroll,1 Remedy+,1 M-Stone Piece,13 SteelCurtain,1 Spr-J Scroll,1 Shell Stone,1 Magic Stone,12 Monk's Code,2 Luck-J Scrll,1 ProtectStone,1 Wizard Stone,12 100Needles,1 Elem Atk,1 Aura Stone,1 Healing Water,1 Three Stars,5 Elem Guard,1 Flare Stone,1 Saw Blade,1 *Ribbon,5 Status Atk,1 Rename Card,2 Vampire Fang,1 Dark Matter,5 Status Guard,1 StrengthLove,1 Bomb Fragment,1 Shaman Stone,5 RosettaStone,4 Rune Armlet,1 Fish Fin,1 G.F. Scroll,1 Circlet,1 Silence Powder,1 Item Scroll,1 OchuTentacle,1 Fuel,1 Healing Ring,1 Healing Water,1 Med Kit,1 Cockatrice Pinion,1 Bomb Spirit,1 Zombie Powder,1 Steel Pipe,1 Lightweight,1 EnergyCrystl,1 Sharp Spike,1 Healing Mail,1 Saw Blade,1 Gold Armor,1 Vampire Fang,1 Gaea's Ring,1 Fury Fragment,1 Hyper Wrist,1 Betrayal Sword,1 Adamantine,1 Sleep Powder,1 Magic Armlet,1 Life Ring,1 Royal Crown,1 Dragon Fang,1 Moon Curtain,1 Spider Web,1 Glow Curtain,1 Cursed Spike,1 Monk's Code,1 Black Hole,1 Knight'sCode,1 Water Crystal,1 Three Stars,1 Missile,1 PowerGenratr,1 Mystery Fluid,1 Dark Matter,1 Running Fire,1 Chocobo Tag,1 Inferno Fang,1 Solomon Ring,1 Malboro Tentacle,1 HP Up,3 Whisper,1 Str Up,2 Laser Cannon,1 Vit Up,3 Barrier,1 Mag Up,2 Bomb Fragment,1 Spr Up,3 Red Fang,1 Spd Up,2 North Wind,1 Luck Up,3 Dynamo Stone,1 Shear Feather,1 Venom Fang,1 Steel Orb,1 Moon Stone,1 Dino Bone,1 Windmill,1 Dragon Skin,1 Fish Fin,1 Silence Powder,1 Dead Spirit,1 Chef's Knife,1 Cactus Thorn,1 Fuel,1 Chocobo Tag,1 Pet Nametag,2 Note: Starred items are exclusive to Chocobo World, and cannot otherwise be found or created in Final Fantasy VIII. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 8. Misc. __Chocobo World vs. Battle IR protocol (technical specs) This information was gracionsly provided by The Saint, and is directly in his words. Visit him at http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/ NOTE: This section gets somewhat technical. It explains the details of how the Chocobo World game communicates with other C-W Games to play the Vs. Battle. If you don't care, feel free to skip this section. This section is mostly meant for other programmers who want to mess with their game by writing programs to send different kinds of data to it via IR. Why did I do all this? Well, I am a US gamer who ordered the pocketstation through an importer. Since you can only get the best items by having a low rank, and you can only get a low rank by beating a chocobo with a low ID number (unless you are one of the 0.3% of people with a pocketstation ID that automatically puts you at a low rank!), I needed to find a way to play another pocketstation with a low ID number. Since very few people have one here in the US, I would have had to order an average of 500 more pocketstations to get one with an ID low enough to let me advance in rank. That didn't seem like a good choice to me. On the other hand, I have one of 3Com's handy PalmPilot devices (the Palm 3x), which has an IR port on it, software that can capture and transmit IR signals and an open file format to let you modify and create IR data to send. It was a matter of a weekend to sit down with my wonderful Palm 3x, Chocobo World, my favorite hex editor and some PERL scripts to help me analyze the data. All this data is the result of many hours of testing, checking and analyzing the IR signals the pocketstation transmits. Some of the software I used to accomplish this (and to create the new data to fool my pocketstation into 'fighting' a different chocobo) are: OmniRemote: Learning remote program for the Palm 3 and up (captures and sends IR signals), shareware $25 but its introductory period was more than long enough for me to learn what I wanted from the Pocketstation. PERL: A programming language I used to analyze the data once I extracted it from OmniRemote's data file. The HexTool Binary Editor: Absolutely the best hex editor. By Jon Durward (jon@durward.com), shareware If you have a PalmPilot with an IR port (the Palm 3,3x,5 and 7), you can download my tools and an OmniRemote data file to transmit the appropriate codes to your Pocketstation from my web site at http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/ A note about conventions: When I refer to a hexadecimal number I precede it with an 0x. So the decimal number 16 is 0x10. In order to play against another chocobo world, one pocketstation must be placed in 'receive' mode and the other in 'transmit' mode. I refer to the one in 'transmit' mode as the 'sender', and the one in 'receive' mode as the 'receiver' even though both pocketstations transmit data to each other at some point. When placed in 'Transmit' mode, the pocketstation sends a burst of 28 bytes to the receiving pocketstation. Each '1' bit is send as a series of 10 '1' pulses followed by 4 '0' pulses. Each '0' bit is sent as a series of 5 '1' pulses followed by 4 '0' pulses. This is a bit flexible to allow for other IR noise (a series that is off by 1 or 2 '1' pulses is still OK, so a '1' bit could be sent as a series of 8,9,10,11, or even 12 '1's. The sequence of 4 '0' pulses used to separate the bits could even be 3 or 5). The entire message sequence is preceded by a series of at least 24 '1' bits (sent as mentioned above) followed by 24 '0' bits to annouce that the message is starting. The actual message immediately follows the last '0' in the announce sequence. The message starts with a header block (?) to identify the sender as another 'chocobo world' game. This is 24 bits (4 bytes) and is always the same for each pocketstation. On the messages I have seen, this is always the bytes: "F5 95 99 47" Following the header, the sender sends it's ID number as two bytes, with the last byte first. The ID is NOT sent as it's hex equivalent, but is sent one base-10 number per nybble. The IDs 397, 456, 011 would be sent as: 97 03, 56 04, 11 00 (that's 0x97 0x03, 0x56 0x04, 0x11 0x00 and NOT 0x61 0x03, 0x38 0x04, 0x0B 0x00) After the ID number comes the weapon; also sent as two bytes, last byte first. Again, the numbers of the weapon are not sent as their hex equivalent, but as one base-10 number per nybble. The weapons 9698, 7788, 1020 are sent as 0x98 0x96, 0x88 0x77, 0x20 0x10. After the ID, the sender sends the current hit point total, one byte (not converted to it's hex equivalent). The hit points 7, 32, and 12 are sent 0x07, 0x32 0x12. That is followed by a long break (I have not seen it change); "08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00" (hex values) Then the previous parts of the message may be repeated; ID number is either re-sent or sent as "00 00", Weapon is either re-sent or sent as "00 00", Hit points is either re-sent or sent as "00 00". Next come 3 random bytes (possibly related to the current time) Then the ID number is either re-sent again or sent as "00 00", Next come 6 more random bytes (again, possibly related to the time) Last is sent a 1-byte hex checksum. The message will not be accepted by the receiving chocobo world if the checksum is not correct. The checksum is computed by adding up all the bytes (treated as hex values, even if they represent base-10 numbers: if the hit points were sent as 0x20 (representing 20 hit points) this would still be computed in the checksum as 0x20). Only the last byte of the checksum is sent (so if the message added up to 0x2FF, only the 'FF' would be sent). The checksum can be any number in range 0x00 - 0xFF. The checksum adds up all the numbers in the entire message except for the introduction sequence and the header. So it adds up all the numbers starting from the first bytes of the first time the ID is sent. To summarize the portions of the sender's message: [header][id number][weapon][HP][ break ] [id or '0000'][weapon or '0000'][HP or '00'] [random bytes][id or '0000'][random bytes][checksum] A minimal message to send ID '000', weapon '1111' and HP '1', would be: FF FF FF 00 00 00 F5 95 99 47 00 00 11 11 01 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2B After the reciever gets the whole message, if it parses correctly and the checksum is valid, it sends an acknowlegement burst back. I haven't analyzed this. After the sender detects the response burst, it sends back an acknowledgement. This doesn't seem to change and there is no data in the acknowledgement that has to agree with any other data. Once the receiver picks up the senders acknowledgement burst, it sends a similar short burst back, then begins the game. The sender appears as a chocobo monster on the reciever's pocketstation. It fights with the weapon the sender sent in the first burst, and has the HP that was transmitted as well. There is no exchange of data between pocketstations during the fight. If the player on the receiving pocketstation beats the monster, s/he may take ('inplant') the ID number of the sender instead of the one currently in use. The ID number affects the probability of getting the different items, the maximum HP and the best weapon you can get. __Frequently Asked Question. Yes, there is only one question, hence the singular 'Question.' Q: How do I restart the game? A: You can't. I messed up. This was an error on my part. I thought I had made it clear that I wasn't sure about it, but apparently I didn't. To all of those who emailed me with the question and didn't recieve a reply, I aplogise, but I simply got tired of answering it. __Changes in the Japanese and US versions. There is a single in-game change - the title screen. The Japanese title screen has the name in Katakana, while the US one has it in English with a silhouette of a Chicobo and a Chicobo feather. Aside from that, there are misc. name changes (Chicobos are Kochocobos in Japan, and I'm not sure what Boco's Japanese name is... also Cactuars are Saboteaurs, etc.). The entire Japanese PocketStation game is in English, though, so there's no translation that I'm aware of... Obviously, all of the FFVIII interface has been translated... __Meanings of Names. One will notice that the Baby Chocobos are called different things in the two language versions (ie. Japanese and English). This is for very good reasons, and in the end, they mean similar things. Japanese version: Kochocobo Ko, in Japanese, can mean 'baby', either human or animal, or 'child'. It is also used as a prefix for baby animals. For instance, 'cat' in Japanese is 'neko', and 'kitten' in Japanese is 'koneko', or 'neko' with 'ko-' added. Thus, a Kochocobo is a baby Chocobo. English version: Chicobo Chocobos strongly resemble large chickens, and a baby chicken is called a 'chick'. Thus, a baby Chocobo is called a Chicobo, which is a combination of 'chick' and 'Chocobo'. __How I Refer to Characters in this FAQ. Well, there are two things that I do in this FAQ that may bug some people, so here's an explanation. I always go with default names (or 
almost always - Bartz in FFV will be an exception - Butz all the way!), 
so although your Chocobo may not be named Boco, in this FAQ, he will be. 
Also, since the original Boco from FFV is a male, I refer to the Chicobo 
Boco as such. Plus, he's going after Koko, who is (assumed) to be 
female. If you want to see them in a different light, be my guest.

You also may note that I occasionally call Cactuar 'Cactrot.' I'm not 
sure when the name was changed, but from my SNES FF days, I remember him 
as such. Same enemy, different name...

Lastly, although it's not a character, I'll mention it - I hate the name 
'Walking Screen', so I will occasionally call it the much better 
sounding 'Exploration Mode'. 


__How to Obtain a PocketStation.

Well, I live in Japan, so I'm not really much help - I bought mine at my 
local game store...  But... Online game stores that have carried them in 
the past:

NCS (http://www.ncsx.com)
the Rage (http://therage.com)
Tronix (http://www.tronixweb.com)

There are probably others, but these are the only ones that I remember. 
I've only dealt with NCS, and would wholeheartedly recommend them. I've 
heard good things about the other two as well...

Expect to pay a decent amount for a PocketStation, though - they retail 
for 3000 Japanese Yen, which is about US$28. However, I've heard that 
the prices may have settled around US$50-55, so be aware. Also, if 
anyone tells you that they are hard to find or still in high demand, 
they're not. Although they still sell quite a few every week, it is 
very, very, very easy to find them here. This has been the case for 
about 2 months now - the high demand/scarecity factor has all but 
disappeared, but still be careful of people trying to make a fast buck.

As for the probability that Sony will release the PocketStation in the 
US/Canada/Europe/etc, I'd say that it will happen eventually, with the 
key word being eventually. There are rumours of a re-design and re-
launch for the Playstation 2, and all that I've heard says that the 
US/Europe will not recieve the item until then (Winter 2000, probably). 
Basically, don't be scared that Sony will release then in your area 
right after you buy one - it probably won't happen...


____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
9. Outro.


__Versions.

ver.0.95 06.Mar.00
  Final release. Added a plethora of info thanks to The Saint, Cory 
Borg, and another contributor whose name was lost in an undesired email 
deletion (see Sources for more info on this). New sections include 
everthing in the TOC that is preceded by (...The Saint). The translated 
Item Tables were added thanks to the contributor-with-the-lost-name. 
'Grade' was changed to 'Rank', and more importantly, was defined. For 
all of you who emailed me and asked how to start another game, you know 
can read that it is impossible in the newly added FAQ section. 

ver.0.88 00.Oct.99
  Added info on how to encounter Resutobosu courtesy of Clive Rowland. 
  Added a section of what I need contributions on. Added a major note 
  regarding the term 'Grade'. 

ver.0.87 15.Oct.99
  Everything added. First release.


__Sources.

a contributor whose name was lost when Hotmail decided to delete my 
entire inbox. This person contributed the translated item charts, and I 
would love to give him credit. If you're reading this, please email me 
so that I can add your name to this FAQ. To prove that it was you, 
simply tell me why it was so important to translate the charts (I 
remember, so I can confirm that it was you), although more than likely 
I'll remember your name when I see it. I deeply apologise for this...

"The Saint" (http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/) for the 
absolute ton of info that he sent, all in well detailed written form. 
His sections are marked as such in the TOC.


Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania
    ISBN4-925075-49-7
  Primary source, aside from the game, was the excellent "Final Fantasy   
  VIII Ultimania," edited by Studio BentStuff, released by DigiCube, 
  licensed by Square. FFVIIIUlt is a 480 page Strategy Guide/Bible that 
  covers every possible aspect of FFVIII, aside from the actual text 
  (which is available in a different book called 'Final Fantasy VIII   
  Wish You Were Here'). Chapter 8 is devoted to Chocobo, and about 10 
  pages total are devoted to the PocketStation game. All of the charts   
  were copied from this book, as was a lot of the other data. The book 
  is still in print, retails for 1500 Japanese Yen (about $14), and is 
  invaluable even if you can't read Japanese (will 100 pages of maps be 
  enough? How about stats for every enemy, including stats for 
  different levels that the enemy might be at? Oh, there's so, so   
  much...)
    -as a side note, Ultimania are available for SaGa Frontier II (over 
    500 pages) and Seiken Densetsu: The Legend of Mana (over 600 pages)

Final Fantasy VIII Instruction Manual (U.S. version)
  The instruction manual that came with the game. Obviously, most of 
  section 2 is copied directly from it...

Final Fantasy VIII (U.S. version)
  The in-game Chocobo's World tutorial came in use as well, and will 
  eventually make it's way into the doc...

"Clive Rowland" for the info on how to fight Resutobosu and the 
Walkma.., er, personal stereo ??? screen.

"Cory Borg" for some general info on how to increase ID.


__Notes.

Since this doesn't fit anywhere else, it's down here. For those of you 
that are too young to remember (first hand) or otherwise did not get to 
experience the joys of going into that one store in your town that was 
brave enough to carry (gasp!) RPGs to purchase that $72.99 monster known 
as Final Fantasy II, Mode-7 (mentioned in the Major Events section) is a 
reference to an often used feature of the Super Nintendo Entertainment 
System (SNES) that did scrolling & rotating (the feature was called 
Mode-7, and no, no one knows what happened to Modes 1-6...). (whew, that 
was a long sentence, but I believe that it's structured correctly... of 
course, I only teach English for a living, so I may be wrong...). 
Although the PocketStation (obviously) does not have Mode-7, I felt that 
using it fit in the feel of the section (as well as educating the un-
SNESsed masses upon the joys that are, and always will be, Mode-7). BTW, 
Mode-7 is responsible for the Overworld in Final Fantasy III (VI in 
Japan or on the PSX, but I'm not getting into that here...), amongst 
many other things, and no, the Overworld on the PSX version isn't done 
with Mode-7, since only the SNES had it, so if you really want to see 
it, buy a SNES and FFIII and enjoy, and yes, this is a run-on sentence, 
but I don't really care.
 

__Legal.

Square, Squaresoft, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VIII, Chocobo's World, 
Chicobo, Kochocobo, Boco, Triple Triad, Squall Leonhart, Rinoa 
Heartilly, Seifer Almasy, Zell Dincht, Quistis Trepe, Selphie Tilmett, 
Irvine Kinneas, Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, Ward Zabac, Edea, Cid 
Kramer, Fuujin, Raijin, Raine, Ellone, Sant' Angelo di Roma, Balamb, 
Dollet, F.H., Esthar, Timber, Galbadia, Centra, Trabia, Garden, SeeD, 
Ragnarok, GF, Guardian Forces, Ultimania, and any other FFVIII-related 
names/etc. that I haven't listed, but may be applicable, are copyright 
1998-1999 Square Co. Ltd. and/or DigiCube. Sony, Playstation, and 
PocketStation, are copyright Sony. I have no idea whose copyright Family 
Mart is. 7-Eleven is probably copyright 7-Eleven, but I don't really 
know. All other trademarks are copyright of their respective holders. 

This document is copyright J.T.Kauffman 1999 and cannot be reproduced 
for profit in any form. It can be freely distributed over the internet 
as long as it is unaltered and is only distributed on free (i.e. non-
subscription) sites. If you do choose to post this document on your 
site, please email me to let me know. 

All information is provided at your own risk.


__Contact.

J.T.Kauffman
stormwalker@hotmail.com


since 15oct99, 
Shibata, Miyagi, Japan.
jt.