Wanted to let y'all know that I've been
analyzing a series of saved game files, and I
believe that I've I've located the area where
fatigue is saved in Monster Rancher 3.

Unfortunately, due to redundant checks in
saved files, I cannot modify this value (at least
not yet).

If anyone wants to help out with this research,
please feel free to add to this conversation! I
hope to post onto my iDisk my saved files,
what differs between them, etc. etc.

My goal is to put together a formal research
and presentation so my investigation can be
double-verified by others (such as the
scientific approach we took with CD
experiments and analysis). I hope to unlock
how food and items affect creatures, and
perhaps glimpse into the inner working of this
wonderous game.

And my apologies, Doc Shock, if I've posted
this message in the wrong area. ;)

--Cats

wtg cats! any information you can unearth is greatly appreciated.

the current hotbed of mr3 "looking into the game" research is at monster-rancher.com, in the mr3 advanced section, in the form of posts and conversations between the campster and richard ryley.

any thread started by one of the above two has relevance, but here is a sampler that will let you know the current state-of-the-art:

"campster!"

"stress research"

Hey, thanks torey. I read up on that, and it's
interesting, but, well....

...well, let's just say I plan on sharing my
findings, and will encourage others to
participate. But, having said that, I will want
some control over the release of this
information. Lisa and I have talked about this
already.

I'm posting again this morning (morning...ha!
I work the night shift!! It's almost noon!) to
also let y'all know that I think I found the offset
for how many weeks a critter has life for.

Based on my numbers, and given I've got
items that retard stress and fatigue, and I've
only been studying a single creature to this
point, and they've all been in the same
location (except my most recent tests, which
helped locate the f/s/life values) my findings
come close to RR's. The "heavy" drills
increase fatigue almost by 20, and light from
14 to 16. (I haven't focused on the stress yet,
so they don't really come to mind, but it's in the
neighborhood of 4 to 8 for heavy--again,
realize I'm using items that also retard stress
and fatigue)

(Heavy includes the SandSwim, which I didn't
think would affect fatigue as much as the
"heavier" drills, such as the Balance, etc. But
it appears that it does).

Hopefully, I can get some more research done
when I get home tonight, as well as posting
some of my saves and insights.

--Cats

thanks Cats!

I wanted to apologize to you guys 'cause it's
been so long; I made the mistake of NOT
realizing what day it was. (Friday, working in
retail: let's just say that today would have
been my closest bit of "free-time")

I will post those files, along with a detailed
reasoning.

Anyway, thank you all for your patience.

--Cats

Okay, it's not quite what I promised.
Unfortunately, last night, as I was analyzing
the files in-depth, I realized some of my
suspected offsets may not have been correct.
So I need to continue analyzing more saves--
luckily, Tigger (test subject) is currently at the
last weeks of life, so that will give me an
excellent glimpse into lifespan.

My current hypothesis is this: The offset for
fatigue (1 byte) is at $841B, stress (1 byte) at
$841C, and lifespan (1 byte) is at $EE16.
There are other suspected values, and this is
a very early hypothesis. (Lifespan, I suspect,
is per each stage--baby, adolescent, adult,
elder--and lifespan works within each stage).

Once I capture Tigger's most recent saves,
expect a post explaining and defending my
hypotheses.

The saves are currently stored on my iDisk.
You can access them by going to https://
homepage.mac.com/grantguenther/.

Btw, *everyone* is encouraged to participate.
This is very demanding work, and getting the
saves is the most difficult for me, simply
because I must be at home to do analysis
(which, for those who don't know, I'm rarely at
home--long hours, long commute). I ask the
following, if you would like to be a part of this
research:

1) Please state the week the save is in, along
with which location and activity was
performed. (In other words, we want an *
exact* snapshot of the creature as it was
saved).

2) Please limit yourself to one and only one
activity per save--ie don't take an item, eat,
whatever, and then do a drill. Or don't submit
one save, and then perform 3 drills as the
second.

3) Please submit at least 2 saves--a control
and a test.

If you would like to be a part of this research,
please drop me an email with the saves
(please be kind--I've got a dialup at home)
along with detailed information on each save,
and I'll get them posted for others to analyze.

And, if it isn't clear already, everyone is
welcome to analyze these files for yourself
and submit your own theories. I do warn you,
however--do not attempt to upload these to
your SharkPort. They are specially-modified
for data comparison, and will not be seen
correctly by the SharkPort.

Thanks, and happy hunting!!

--Cats, original CD researcher

Heheheh...I just realized that, without a
"packing list", these files won't mean much to
you. So here they are:


Desert-Control.dat: Tigger, week 2, in the
Desert region. Used as a control for next set
of saves.

Desert-Heavy Drill.dat: Performed a heavy
drill--Balance, Rock Push, etc. Unfortunately,
unable to capture exact drill. Week 3.
Desert-Heavy Drill2.dat: Performed a heavy
drill--Balance, Rock Push, etc. Unfortunately,
unable to capture exact drill. Week 3.
Desert-Heavy Drill3.dat: Performed a heavy
drill--Balance, Rock Push, etc. Unfortunately,
unable to capture exact drill. Week 3.

Desert-SuperDrill1.dat: Performed a "super"
drill--Tornado or Real Thing. Unfortunately,
unable to capture exact drill. Week 3.
Desert-SuperDrill2.dat: Performed a "super"
drill--Tornado or Real Thing. Unfortunately,
unable to capture exact drill. Week 3.

Morx-1LightDrill.dat: Went to the forest and
did a light drill (Probably a Block). Week 3.
Morx-2LightDrills.dat: Did another light drill
in the forest (Probably a Block). Week 4.
Morx-2Drills1Heavy.dat: After the two light
drills, did a heavy drill (probably Light Learn).
Week 1. next month.

Morx-RestAfterDrills.dat: After 3 drills in the
forest, rested. Week 2, next month.

Sorry about not knowing the exact drill--it got
lost in the shuffle. However, because of the
important of the *type* of drill, that was what
was noted.

--Cats

What program should I use to view the inside of these files, I'd love to help out