Adding A Barrier

I've been trying for a little while now to create a new skill similar to the Substitute skill that interupts an attack, called Barrier. The Barrier skill as I'd imagined it does exactly what it sounds like it should: Protects the caster from harm. Now of course there are a number of ways you could do this by simply giving the caster a huge DEF buff or the like, but then they're still open to status ailments and a few other things, so it's importan that the attack never connects in the first place.

Maybe I'm overcomplicating things because I'm new to RPG Maker, but it seemed that the easiest way to do this would be to try and copy the Substitute skill and tweak it to my needs. Well... It's not working out so great. This is the mess I've got so far, that seems to do absolutely nothing. <_<

Spoiler

Code:

class Game_BattlerBase

  attr_accessor :bar

  alias initialize_barrier initialize

  def initialize
    initialize_barrier
    @bar = 0
  end

end



class Scene_Battle < Scene_Base

  alias invoke_item_barrier invoke_item

  def invoke_item(target, item)

    if rand < target.item_cnt(@subject, item)
	  invoke_counter_attack(target, item)

    elsif rand < target.item_mrf(@subject, item)
	  invoke_magic_reflection(target, item)

    elsif target.item_bar(@subject, item) > 0
	  invoke_barrier(target, item)

    else
	  apply_item_effects(apply_substitute(target, item), item)

    end

    @subject.last_target_index = target.index
  end


  def invoke_barrier(target, item)
    #if target
    @log_window.display_barrier_held(target, item)
    apply_item_effects(target, item)
  end
end




class Game_Battler < Game_BattlerBase

  #The ID for the invisisble 'Protected' state
  BARRIER_ID = 29

  def item_bar(user, item)
    #debug
	   print "\n" + user.name + "'s current hp: " + user.hp.to_s + "\n"
	   print "\n" + user.name + "'s current bar: " + user.bar.to_s + "\n\n\n"
    return bar
  end

  alias make_damage_value_barrier make_damage_value

  def make_damage_value(user, item)
    value = item.damage.eval(user, self, $game_variables)
    value = apply_variance(value, item.damage.variance)


    #If you have a barrier, and damage isn't 0
    if self.state?(BARRIER_ID) == true && value > 0
	  if value < self.bar
	    self.bar -= value / 3
	    value = 0
	  else
	    value -= self.bar
	    self.bar = 0
	    remove_state(BARRIER_ID)
	  end

	  #Standard functions
    else
	  value = item.damage.eval(user, self, $game_variables)
	  value *= item_element_rate(user, item)
	  value *= pdr if item.physical?
	  value *= mdr if item.magical?
	  value *= rec if item.damage.recover?
	  value = apply_critical(value) if @result.critical
	  value = apply_variance(value, item.damage.variance)
	  value = apply_guard(value)	  
    end

    @result.make_damage(value.to_i, item)
  end


  alias i_e_a_s_n item_effect_add_state_normal

  def item_effect_add_state_normal(user, item, effect)
    i_e_a_s_n(user, item, effect)

    if @result.success == true
	  case item.id

	  when 132 #Level 1 barrier skill ID.
	    self.bar = 500

	  #when 133 #Level 2 barrier skill ID.
	  #  user.bar = 750

	 # when 134 #Level 3 barrier skill ID.
	 #   user.bar = 1250

	  end    

    end

  end

end



class Window_BattleLog < Window_Selectable

  def display_barrier_held(target, item)
    add_text(sprintf(Vocab::BarrierHeld, target.name))
    wait
    back_one
  end

  def display_barrier_shattered(target, item)
    add_text(sprintf(Vocab::BarrierShattered, target.name))
    wait
    back_one
  end

end

If someone could give me a nudge in the right direction - Or, better yet, if you know of an easier way to do this through scripting, eventing or anything else - I'd be very grateful.

EDIT:

Updated the code to a working version. ^_^ Doesn't seem to have any bugs to speak of, and it's working like a charm.

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