Final Fantasy Hacktics

Time's Scar sounds way better than Those Who Are Shining, but that's just my opinion.

I'm going to stick with Blue Water Blue Sky cuz those guitar riffs make my head noodle tingle.

Blue Water, "Bru Bru Skyyyyy~" #DaytonaUSA

No seriously, Blue Water Blue Sky.

The Innate: Gain EXP Up support on equipment sounds like a nifty idea, but I wouldn't want to make it available early game. It sounds like a decent late game, stat-underrated item to get when the player wants to buy a soldier from the Soldier Office and needs an item to get them up to snuff with the rest of the party.

Regarding Cloud, I have a few ideas in mind on what I'd like to see modified in his skillset, since I was sort of nit-picky about what to do with him in my custom patch. I tried to keep his 'Limit' skillset close to FF7, but also kept in mind the intriguing changes made in the PSP games "Dissidia: Final Fantasy" and "Dissidia 012: Duodecim." When you get around to him, we should talk over irc Celdia.

And about Worker 8: It is imperative that he knows how to Fly. His jetpack animation is just too good to pass up. :v

So far from my tests with CCPv1.931 as an eboot, I've hit a roadblock right before Zeklaus. Every time I try to enter battle, the game hard freezes after the loading screen. The map isn't generated, but the BGM is frozen. This occurs again as I try to enter into a free battle. I "believe" this may be a matter of me resetting like crazy and saving, which in a way I happened to save when the psp's emulator underwent a redundancy cycle that was going to lead to a crash :< At least, that's what I like to believe.

Overall, my general suspicion for the eboot failing is due to the ASM hacks used in CCP, since that was what SentinelBlade here on FFH mentioned a long time ago. I'm pretty sure the first indicator is the ARH ASM, since in the Orbonne Monastery intro battle Agrias and Gafgarion can't use their swordskills even though they have swords equipped and have abilities learned in their respective jobs.

I'll keep beta-testing CCP as an eboot to the best of my abilities, maybe turn off popsloader (though I doubt that would do much tbqh), but as far as I can tell extending this patch into the PSP is looking bleak since CCP is ASM heavy.

edit: Regarding the issue of why some users can emulate and others can't via eboot on their PSPs, and though cfw, plug-ins and popsloader may be an issue as to why this could be the case, hardware can be an issue as well. Do remember that each generation of the PSP each performs differently with differences in the manufacturing of the motherboard, and that different makes of the memory stick could be an issue as well. I think the best way for me to explain this is why SNES emulation (snes_euphoria) is best on the PSP-1000, okay on the PSP-2000 and null&void for the PSP-3000 so on and so forth, is because the programming used for the emulator is still written in a constant, but the matters of the hardware is progressively changing. I believe PSX emulation is similar in this respect, and cfw performance per PSP version as well. /endsidelinecommentray

Regarding weapons, Diil had in mind a scythe, while I mentioned in irc a short pike.

What has me a little worried is that the original Altima sprite has her dual-wielding two short swords. Not sure if a single melee weapon can transmit well depending on the frames, but it's worth a shot imo.

@sobora: Regarding the issue of converting this patch into an eboot, it works. My cfw is 5.00m33 prome-4 that's running on a 2000 series PSP. I believe my popsloader is set on "original flash" for the eboot I created, but the PSX on PSP Compatibility List shows that pops version 3.30 is stable. I converted the eboot with PSX2PSP with zero compression, so that might be the issue. Another issue might be that you patched with a dirty iso, or your cfw is incompatible with running eboots/patched eboots.

So far, I haven't seen any crashes from going past the first battle at Orbonne.

@ Ultros: Yes, but the process in extracting the unit.bin and WLDFACE.bin is different for the WotL version. Instead of CDMage, you use UMDGen. If you have any more questions on how to go about this, please use the search function; there are topics and answers regarding custom sprites in battle and in the formation screen.

edit: Also, Durbs, it helps immensely if you can detail the problem you are witnessing the best you possibly can, step-by-step, so that we can understand what your issue is. I'm banking on the assumption that you have an unclean iso, but it also helps us if you can tell us if you're using an already patched iso, WotL version iso, etc.

Really, truly, emulate with your words and do not leave any one description to the problem with any generalization.

Yes. Yes I have. All you need to do is make the appropriate changes from the extracted fftpack.bin, and find the Unit.bin and WLDFACE.bin files. Once everything is modified to the way you like it, just follow whatever Mega_Tyrant has written step-by-step to get everything into a new ISO of the WotL version.

I don't think the current version of FFTEVGRP is capable enough to read the Unit.bin and WLDFACE.bin for Onion and Dark Knight for the WotL version, considering that the program was originally constructed for the PSX FFT version. I believe an update is in the process, but when it will be completed is still up in the air.

sarbs0, here is a link to a topic I made containing info from Mega_Tyrant, who has assisted many users on GameFAQs and here regarding changes to the formation screen sprites. Along with Mega_Tyrant's advice, I also followed Celdia's extremely thorough guide on how to change the formation screen sprites with little concern.

Pro-tip: Sprites for Unit.bin should be 24 x 40 pixels, so when you're copying and pasting the custom sprites into the formation screen, it's advised that you use the latest shishi since it has a black background and is what Celdia uses in her guide. Start from the top edge, judge by the hand from the left side, and keep in mind the length of the unit(s) via the feet. Then stretch accordingly to the 24x40 pixel limit. Also, keep in mind that even though you are using the latest shishi to copy/paste the custom sprite, the WotL version presently only complies with version .352 (which has a white background).

As for ripping the .iso out from the UMD into your pc, I use UMDGen.

If you are still at a lost in what to do, use the Search function type in the appropriate key words pertaining to your search. And be sure to closely read the context of each relevant post to better understand what you need to do. Good luck.

I can't wait to play this patch. Soooooo can't wait, believe you me Zozma.

QuoteAquiIae: You can go around fisting everyone, and won't have to worry much about JP
Eternal248: Wow.

Thanks fdc for making this topic. I'm part of the majority that has zero coding or hexing experience (aside from simple adjustments and/or allocations from playing around with GameShark codes in the past), but I do truly want to see this project progress towards its optimal course so that more flexiblehacks can be applied for either the PSX or PSP version of FFT (or both). I'm all for a larger formation screen and additional gear slots, and would like to see some ASM hacks applicable for both versions of the game. If the framerate lag could be fixed and an upgraded shishi program could be made for the PSP, I'm all for this project to be realized.

I'm willing to beta test whatever is given to me involving this project, within fdc's or any ASMer's convenience. So far I'm able to run ISOs under ePSXe on my netbook, and play patched PSP ISOs and PSX eboots on my PSP. Just throwing that info out there in case anyone wants feedback on how certain changes appear from this project's progression.

Quote01:40   Twin: but its going to look like a black cavern under her dress
01:40   Twin:
01:40   DaveSW: can you force a character to mount something else?
01:40   Damned: That fits.

Touche, Damned. Touche. xD

Well, here's an answer that might be able to help you out Strawberry. I have a CFW 5.00m33-6, and I made an eboot out of patched FFT iso with the latest 1.3 patch (version 13038), and it's running nice and smoothly. I have the latest popsloader as well, and I have the game loaded as "Original from flash" without seeing a problem in gameplay. Hope this helps.

edit: Also, forgot to mention this vital info: under psx2psp, I made the compression rate at the lowest possible, so that the resulted eboot will be the same size as the patched iso of FFT1.3. Good luck.

Under step 8, when copying the custom sprite off of shishi, how much leeway should you have away from the yellow border? I'd like to have the sprite centered within the 24x40 dimensions, so knowing this vital info would be of great help for this tutorial.

Seriously, what an awesome tutorial, Celdia!

edit: Nevermind. Resolved within mIRC.

Version .352 does work, but you're limited, or restricted, under the guidelines of Type 1 and 2 sprites. It's not as flexible as the latest Shishi, but i guess this will do in importing the custom sprites to be usable.

As far as formation sprites are concerned, I'm having a hell of a time locating the UNIT.BIN in the PSP ISO. CD Mage fails to work with the WotL version, and I was told to use MagicISO, but I'm not used to looking at hex and knowing what to do with it (outside of GameShark, I guess). So until I can locate the UNIT.BIN, I can't use FFTEVGRP or Graphics Gale to change the formation screen sprites.

Little Girls. :3

Hi everyone,

For the past couple of days I've been mulling over on how to customize the formation screen and in-battle sprites for the War of the Lions (PSP) version of FFT. I've asked help from RavenofRazgriz and fdc here on the forums via IRC, but, call me a neophyte, I absolutely have no idea what I'm doing or what I have at my disposal that is relevant to my efforts.

So far I have these programs downloaded and installed:

FFTPatcher v.0.478
Shishi Sprite Editor v.0478
FFTactext v.0478
FFTOrgASM v.0478
MagicISO
WinHex
GraphicsGale

From what I've read around the forums, the obvious answer is that it's currently not possible to port custom sprites because the spritesheets here on FFH are relatively too big for Shishi to read. Also, from my [inexperienced] efforts, finding the BATTLE.BIN and anything relevant to sprite modding under MagicISO and WinHex is just a bit too difficult for me to comprehend on my own.

I've read Jon's and Celdia's tutorials on how to mod sprites, and I really do want to make this into a reality. Probably not by my hand, but hopefully from someone that has more experience in these matters. Hopefully more efforts in customizing the WotL version in terms of spriting can be put into action, but as of right now I'm exhausted in trying to find ways in doing this myself (in working on this and my own stress IRL).

Thanks for reading! Any help at all will be appreciated.

I'm definitely in favor of Zaen's suggestion for the Bard's songs: AOE of 4 on the Bard itself. I believe the range should be set at Auto so that the range is limited to the panels surrounding the Bard, therefore making the channeling abilities only affect in those respective panels. CT for each individual ability should be tinkered with to compensate for the range/AOE limitation as well. I'm not in favor with the the ability "following the target" as that would mess with the range/AOE implications set on auto.

As for the Dancer, I really do like the elemental dance proposal made from that one topic. However, being the skeptic that I am, making the Dances follow whatever that has been suggested in other Final Fantasies would be a higher priority than making it a fully original skillset. Concerning the line of sight/255 range-&-AOE suggestion proposed by Vanya, I really think that's a good idea for making the Dancer a more supportive unit. In my imagination, I feel that they should be more mobile and attack-oriented as a unit (partially because of FFV's Dancer with Sword Dance and such). I haven't really thought too much on utilizing the Dancer's skillset in this fashion yet, but maybe taking away the Samurai's Draw Out AOE and implementing them on the Dancer's dances would be a good idea. And from there a re-fashioning of the Samurai's skillset from their original self AOE 3 with something else would be in order. I mean, the Bard would have the advantage in terms of AOE and curative/protective abilities, but since they're not meant for melee the Dancer would be a healthy contrast with their equipment (daggers, cloths and maybe ninja blades) a tighter AOE and attack/status inflicting abilities.

But now that I've explained my previous statement in that way, I guess I introduced another topic in this topic: a skillset rehaul for the Samurai. If so, then I must say this: Mineuchi ftw! Zantetsu... maybe. Anyway, FFX-2 has a good dose of abilities to work with, but to have these abilities function with the katana-item system may be in need of some consideration (or a complete drop from the system in all).

Also, I feel katanas as an equipment are a bit drab. There's a use for swords, lances and maybe axes if you removed their random damage formula. But katanas have no real solid use at all if used as an "Equip Katana" support, other than raw WP attack power and looks. Maybe nerfing their WP in favor of elemental/stat attributes would be a good consideration.

PS: I believe you can make the Bard/Dancer move around the map as they're undergoing the channeling status. Maybe. It's been awhile since I've actually used these classes, so I'm a bit rusty on how channeling functions.