EarthBound/Item Properties Table

Item Properties Table
Game	EarthBound
Start Address	0x155200
End Address	0x1578B1
# of Entries	254
Entry Length	39 bytes (0x27)
Total Length	9906 bytes (0x26b2)
Back to the ROM map

The Item Properties Table stores most of the data for items, including the name, type, effect, and help text pointer. The first item is named "Null" and has an index of 0.

Format

Name

• Length: 25 bytes (0x18)
• Offset within entry: 0x00-0x18
• Range of values: String of plain EarthBound text

Name of the item in plain EarthBound text.

Type

• Length: 1 byte (0x1)
• Offset within entry: 0x19
• Range of values: 0-255 (0x00-0xFF)

Type of the item. Affects how these bytes toward the end are interpreted. Uses binary:

COLUMNS      NL MT ST OP (null, main type, sub type, options)
   type 00 - 00 00 00 00 - franklin badge
   type 04 - 00 00 01 00 - teddy bears
   type 08 - 00 00 10 00 - broken item

Equipable items

Weapon - options = [00] bash or [01] shoot
   type 16 - 00 01 00 00 - bash
   type 17 - 00 01 00 01 - shoot
Armor
   type 20 - 00 01 01 00 - body
   type 24 - 00 01 10 00 - arm
   type 28 - 00 01 11 00 - other

Food items - no options
   type 32 - 00 10 00 00 - eatten
   type 36 - 00 10 01 00 - drinks
   type 40 - 00 10 10 00 - condiment
   type 44 - 00 10 11 00 - food for all

Special (healing, battle, and plot) items

Healing - no options
   type 48 - 00 11 00 00 - hand-aid, protractor, ruler - healing items
Battle items - direction [00] = enemy
                         [01] = party
   type 52 - 00 11 01 00 - battle offensive items
   type 53 - 00 11 01 01 - battle defensive items
Plot items - [00] = regular
             [10] = works only in specifc area
             [11] = works only when talking to right Sprite
                     (door, atm, person)
   type 56 - 00 11 10 00 - sound stone, meterornium
   type 58 - 00 11 10 10 - zom paper, hawk eye, bike - Limited area
   type 59 - 00 11 10 11 - keys, ATM, plot items - used at someone
   
   
   type255 - 11 11 11 11 - Null (item #0)

Cost

• Length: 2 bytes (0x2)
• Offset within entry: 0x1A-0x1B
• Range of values: 0-65535 (0x0000-0xFFFF)

Cost of item. If zero, item may not be sold or dropped. Items are sold for half of their cost, rounded down.

Ownership

• Length: 1 byte (0x1)
• Offset within entry: 0x1C
• Range of values: 0x00-0xFF (bit separate, not a number value)

Each bit is a true false flag. The following list shows the hexadecimal of the bit paired with what happens when that bit is set:

• 0x01 = Ness can use
• 0x02 = Paula can use
• 0x04 = Jeff can use
• 0x08 = Poo can use
• 0x10 = Item is the source or target of an item transformation
• 0x20 = "Give" command disabled (cannot move from one character's inventory to another)
• 0x40 = Unknown; all built-in items have 0x80 set the same as 0x40
• 0x80 = Item disappears after use

Effect

• Length: 2 bytes (0x2)
• Offset within entry: 0x1D-0x1E
• Range of values: 0-65535 (0x0000-0xFFFF), but it must be a valid index in the Battle Actions Table

The effect of using the item.

"Strength", "Extra Power Increase", "Extra Power", "Special"

• Length: 4 bytes (0x4)
• Offset within entry: 0x1F-0x22
• Range of values: Varies on item's type

These bytes, with their names listed in the order they appear in the ROM, have different effects depending on the type of the item. The names are not very accurate to what they do, but they have stuck from when the table was first documented. They are abbreviated as STR, EPI, EPW, and SPE in the following list showing their meaning for different types:

Known meanings of bytes 1F-22 for various types. If the type or byte
is not mentioned in this list it is either unknown or unused.
ITEM TYPE NUMBERS ARE LISTED IN DECIMAL.

Type 4 (teddy bears):
STR: NPC Battle AI Table entry

Type 8 (broken item):
EPI: IQ required to fix item
EPW: Index of fixed item

Food Items (types 32, 36, 40, and 44):
EPI: Regular HP recover
EPW: Poo HP recover

Armor Items:
Type 20:
STR: Defence
EPW: Speed
SPE: Protection

Type 24:
STR: Defence
EPW: Luck
SPE: Protection

Type 28:
STR: Defence
EPW: Luck
SPE: Protection

Weapon Items (types 16 and 17):
STR: Offense
EPI: Poo Offense (unsure for type 17)
EPW: Guts (unsure for type 17)
SPE: Miss Rate

Help Text Address

• Length: 4 bytes (0x4)
• Offset within entry: 0x23-0x26
• Range of values: 0x00000000-0x00FFFFFF, but it must point to valid text; may or may not require a pointer to the ROM as opposed to RAM

Pointer to the text shown when you select "help" on an item from the inventory screen.

See Also

• Store Inventories Table
• Timed Item Transformation Table
• Condiment Configuration Table
• Battle Actions Table

External Links

• Items Properties Table doc (basis for this page)
• Item types doc (in type section of this page)