Exploring Monster Taming Mechanics in Final Fantasy XIII-2: The Remaining Tables

Continuing this miniseries of exploring the monster taming mechanics of Final Fantasy XIII-2, we'll finish off the remaining database tables that we want for the data relevant to monster taming. In the last article, we filled in a second table of passive abilities and connected those abilities to the monsters that had them through references in the monster table that used foreign keys to the ability table. In the first article, we had identified four tables besides the monster table that we would need as well, these being abilities, game areas, monster materials, and monster characteristics. We did the passive abilities table, but we still need a table for role abilities. In addition to this role ability table, we'll finish off the game areas, monster materials, and monster characteristics tables. These tables are all small, so we should be able to get through them without much effort.

Exploring Monster Taming Mechanics in Final Fantasy XIII-2: Relational Data

In this next installment of the miniseries of exploring the monster taming mechanics of Final Fantasy XIII-2, we'll fill out another database table that we need in order to start connecting all of the monster data together. In the last article, we built the core monster table with hundreds of attributes for each of 164 monsters. In the first article, we had identified four other tables that we would need as well, these being abilities, game areas, monster materials, and monster characteristics. The data in these four tables is all related in one way or another to the monsters in the monster table. We'll start with the abilities table, which will end up being three tables because we actually have passive, command, and role abilities. Once the passive abilities table is complete, we'll see how to connect that data in the database so that we can later make inferences on the data.

Exploring Monster Taming Mechanics in Final Fantasy XIII-2: Data Validation and Database Import

Continuing on with this miniseries of exploring the monster taming mechanics of Final Fantasy XIII-2, it's time to start building the database and populating it with the data that we collected from the short script that we wrote in the last article. The database will be part of a Ruby on Rails project, so we'll use the default SQLite3 development database. Before we can populate the database and start building the website around it, we need to make sure the data we parsed out of the FAQ is all okay with no typos or other corruption, meaning we need to validate our data. Once we do that, we can export it to a .csv file, start a new Rails project, and import the data into the database.

Exploring Monster Taming Mechanics in Final Fantasy XIII-2: Data Collection

The monster taming aspect of Final Fantasy XIII-2 is surprisingly deep and complex, so much so that I'm interested in exploring it in this miniseries by shoving the monster taming data into a database and viewing and analyzing it with a website made in Ruby on Rails. In the last article, we learned what monster taming is all about and what kind of data we would want in the database, basically roughing out the database design. Before we can populate the database and start building the website around it, we need to get that data into a form that's easy to import, so that's what we'll do today.

Exploring Monster Taming Mechanics in Final Fantasy XIII-2

Let's just get this out of the way. I'm a huge Final Fantasy fan. I adore the original game even today, Final Fantasy VI is definitely the best of the franchise, and I've found things to enjoy in every one that I've played, which is nearly all of the main-line games. (I still haven't managed to crack open FFIII, but I plan to soon.) Even each of the games in the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy had something that drew me in and kept me going through the game, wanting to learn more. These games get a lot of flack for being sub-par installments in the Final Fantasy franchise, and some of the criticism is warranted. The story is convoluted, and the plot is as confusing as quantum mechanics.

That debate, however, is not why we're here now. We're here to look at one of the great aspects of FFXIII-2: the monster taming and infusion system.

The Year in Review, Just the Leisure Time

Last January I did a review of how I spent my leisure time the previous year, and I set down a few expectations for the coming year, now past. It's time to look back and see how my actual activities stacked up to my expectations, and maybe learn something for the fresh year to come in 2020. I had big ambitions between reading, blogging, and playing, and not all of them were achieved. But, that's okay because it makes it easier to figure out what I want to do this year—some of what I didn't finish last year, and some new ideas and desires. How I spend my leisure time is very important to me. It should be at the same time relaxing and reinvigorating, enjoyable and enriching, soothing and stimulating. If one thing is obvious, it's that I still love to read because it hits all of those notes, and that is likely to continue in the year(s) to come.

Sharpen Your Programming Tools

Programming is like any other craft, whether that be engineering or woodworking or auto repair. Every craft has its tools that must be learned and maintained in order to do beautiful work and make wonderful things. In the craft of programming, one of the main tools we work with is programming languages. The more languages we know and the better we know them, the more versatile and valuable we can be as programmers and the better our solutions become. Fortunately, it's extremely easy to find websites to help you practice with programming problems and build up your skills with the languages you already know or bring you up to speed on languages you're trying to learn. They're so easy to find that it may be a bit overwhelming to pick one and settle in to actually work on some problems. Here are some of my favorite (free) sites—and why I like them—to help simplify that decision.