Hint Levels/Types

==Hint Documentation==



Hint Levels
Level 0 [No Hints]:
No hints will be enabled.

Level 1 [Gym Signs]:
Only gym signs and default hints will be given hints. Other signs in the game will be hidden.
The only type of hints that will can be displayed at these locations will be 'Barren' or 'Required' type hints.
Gym signs are still prioritised and locked into having a Level 1 type hint, however at every level.

Level 2: [Max one per Location]
Identical type hints to Level 1, but is not limited to only gym signs. Gym signs will be prioritised hints over other locations, but every location that can house a hint will have one -- or if the number exceeds the max number of hints.

Level 3: [More hint types]
Includes one new type of hint, the 'Require' hints.

Level 4: [Hint useless items]
Includes another new hint type, 'In' hints. This level also begins to include 'Critical Trash' hints into the mix. Critical trash items included at this level are hints about items that are always useless in playthroughs, such as the Pokedex, or rods. Note, that enabling some modifiers will also add items into the pool deemed 'Critical'.

Level 5 [Many hints everywhere]
Only change at level 5 is that there may be more than 1 hint within a location. This opens up many more hint signs, as locations with gyms would previously only ever have the gym sign with a hint.

Level 6 [Hints might be more useless than on 4]
Includes a chance of including item hints which have no use whatsoever, which could relate to any possible randomised item. There is a static 50% chance of any hint when being marked as a useless hint when assigned. This level also allows multiple hints about the same item if there are multiple 'required' possibilities.


Hint Types:

Barren-ness:
An area is deemed barren if there are possible items in that location which could be required to progress, but it has not been placed there. This also includes if an unneeded key item is present in that location. There are checks for items that unlock other areas or other checks. These items however will always mark an area as non-barren, due to having to work out complex logic otherwise, or are otherwise useful to the player.

Pass
SS. Ticket
Squirtbottle
Fly
Bicycle
Any Badge [Even if the logic is set to less than 16 badges]

Note that if there is only a singular path to access an area, then the locations will be marked as non-barren, even if they naturally do not contain anything themselves, for example 'Blackthorn City' will be marked as required if there is an item in Dragon's Den, Route 45 or Dark Cave (North). This logic does NOT apply if there are multiple potential routes to access an area, for example: Hive Badge could be TM07 at the Power Plant (which prevents you travelling from Cerulean) but will still potentially mark Rock Tunnel as barren.


Name: 'Flag Barren'
Category: 'Barren'
Format: Fools do {}
Description: Identifies that completing an event is not required that would potentially unlock additional events. Examples include Kanto Power, Saving Radio Tower and Clearing Mahogney Base [Note Rocket Base may still be required]

Name: 'Item Barren'
Category: 'Barren'
Format: {} is a fool's toy.
Description: Identifies an item is not required. Examples include 'Waterfall is not required'

Name: 'Location Barren'
Category: 'Barren'
Format: {} is barren
Description: The listed location contains no items that aide progression. Examples include 'Dark Cave is not required'

Name: 'Flag Required'
Category: 'Required'
Format: Champs do {}
Description: Inverse of 'Flag Barren': indicates the event is required.

Name: 'Item Required'
Category: 'Required'
Format: A champ has {}
Description: Inverse of 'Item Barren': indicates an item is required.

Name: 'Location Required'
Category: 'Required'
Format: Champs go to {}
Description: Inverse of 'Location Barren': indicates one must visit that location.

Name: 'Require'
Category: 'Require'
Format: A champ requires {} to access {}
Description: A particular event or item is required in order to access the listed item. Examples include 'Surf is required to access Clear Bell'. The hint refers to the item given at the location NOT the original item.

Name: 'In'
Category: 'In'
Format: {} is in {}
Description: The item stated is within the area defined. This will extend to some higher level rather than a complete description in some instances, such as identifying many of the extra locations within Goldenrod City simply as 'Goldenrod'.


Hint Numbers;
For reference, you are able to define the number of hints in the interface for the randomiser. This number is then a hard-limit for the amount of hints that will be written. Signs will be hidden from view when not given a hint.

Some signs have extremely small buffers and are extremely likely to always be ignored. They are hidden from the map to make hint checking more consistent.

If the possibilities or the hint options run out, hints will also not be written from that point. Therefore, in some instances, asking for more hints that the logic can provide will not provide the expected name, but the number should not be exceeded.

For Level 1 hints, where gym signs are used, there are actually 3 additional hints used, which are incorporated into that value, which means you should use '19' as the value. Any higher value at Level 1 is also likely to not produce any more hints. The reason for this is that there is a gym sign on both Seafoam and Cinnabar - both in seperate locations, which both get written a hint to -- plus the 2 hints that will always be written:

Static Hints:

- New Bark Town: Writes the name of the configuration chosen within the randomiser to the sign in the center of New Bark Town.
- Pallet Town: Writes the number of badges required to unlock Mt. Silver, outside Oak's Lab. Note, if early Mt. Silver is enabled, this number is the number to spawn Red at Mt. Silver.