Final Fantasy Hacktics

I apologize to everyone who helped me in my naive undertaking, but I am afraid life has swallowed me whole. I should have been aware of my folly well before I had begun. (I have a knack for only half finished projects that fool the people into thinking that they're accomplishing anything...) I have too many people to thank that I could spend all night listing them, so I can't exactly do it and I assure you all this is not how I had wanted things to go. In the end though, I fear this is the only way for things to play out.

This post will probably be seen as highly melodramatic and I apologize for that. This was a project I kept close to my heart for a good two years. I had created (along with much help from Eternal and Asmo) a truly Incredible story, and thanks to much of your input truly creative classes and abilities. With a battle system that is 85% refined, it is still playable in a few parts, and of course the possibility of new scenarios that people wish to make from this nearly complete battle system (battle system = items, classes, abilities, of course).

I will be releasing all of my notes, aside from the story (by request of the co-script writer, Eternal), along with the patch, so people can see what I had accomplished (Which really wasn't a lot). I cannot apologize enough for stringing you all along with a project that probably reached its peak in the fall of last year. If anyone Truly wishes to continue this project (no chance...) I will only hand over the story when I see that you would be serious of taking on this job. That includes events, (likely sidequests shown in the sidequest thread) and actual testing of the battle system in place.

A lot of things made me make this decision, but first and foremost is my lack of time, secondary is the talent being wasted here. Everyone who has helped me here has some of the best talents on the forum and it is a shame that they were so squandered by my inability to lead. As such I ask that everyone who had assisted with Mercenaries,  Please support Call of Power. Kokojo has done Incredible work, dwarfing anything I had done, by at least two to threefold, if not more.

Because this project was the "First" real large project it attracted quite a following, but left other, more than worthy projects, out in the cold. Remix, Call of Power, and Symbols of Rage all come to mind. Your talents helped this foolish undertaking shine brighter than I ever could have imagined, allow those talents to burn for a project that has purpose and devotion behind it. I was nothing more then a mediocre event editor (what should have taken minutes took me hours to figure out and apply) and less of a hacker then I displayed myself. Sure my grandstanding and impressive (for the time) displays may have attracted others, but it really alienated other, more talented project leaders.

So without further ado, the current form of Mercenaries (note it's still playing from a "Training Demo" standpoint, so you will need a save file past the start, or extract the events from the original demo and input them in here. Even then, it may be unstable. Keep in mind the game was meant to be only two fully customizable units, please take that into consideration if you should choose to create any scenarios.

I might come back to this, who knows what freedom summer brings? For that reason, that last slight sliver of hope, I will not be releasing the story for that reason (unless as listed above someone wishes to be a true successor to this, honestly mediocre project). Once again I fully suggest everyone check out Kokojo's Call of Power, it has made leaps and bounds far beyond Mercenaries.

Here you are, the two packs you'll need for everything Mercenaries.

(Remember to Patch you must have an extended ISO or there will be problems)

http://ld.ffhacktics.com/Mercenaries.zip (http://ld.ffhacktics.com/Mercenaries.zip)
http://ld.ffhacktics.com/Mercenaries2.zip (http://ld.ffhacktics.com/Mercenaries2.zip)

Don't get me wrong, I won't be quitting this forum (though I've been on it a lot less due to school and other issues) I just don't have the time to care for this little pet project.

Also I must deeply most apologize to Mav, you had done such brilliant work for this project and only hope you continue using your grand talents for Kokojo's own work.


EDIT

I've grown accustomed to the ways of college life, therefore I can now work on this project again, while balancing my time to do so.

The moment you need me to make Rondel say something snarky, I'm there!

Well...I'm glad you aren't leaving the forum at least LD. I think you would do well to think about recruiting people who want to keep this going and redefine the scope of the project a bit so that it could be released in some kind of polished form. This project is much beloved by many and I think work will continue to be done on different pieces by devoted people even if the next step in its release is a bit unknown.

Hacking is hard work, given the amount of invested time it takes along with balancing with real life. It seems the more we learn, the older we get, and the freaking less time we have to actually work on this stuff. These types of projects are rarely finished and takes years upon years of really dedicated teams. Mercenaries has hit a hiccup, but don't count it out yet. Most importantly, the forum needs Lasting Dawn more than it needs Mercenaries, so don't go disappearing just because your main project is on hiatus.

Best of luck.

Well, it is sad to hear that this will be on hold but it is certainly glad and happy to hear that you're not leaving nor quiting the forum and this project.
Anyway, I will continue contributing sprites as its the only thing I could do (sorry) and await your return, Sir LD.

Best of luck in your life and may you be able to sort things out.

Life comes first. We understand.

Best of luck, LastingDawn

Oh, that's so sad. But I understand that you have life, as all of us :)

IRL is more important because without IRL FFH is not possible

I'm sure you will find the time to come back into it during the summer..

Well, see you LD. Hope you'll come back anyway a lot of times (And eventually finish :3)

Good luck and ect !

Quote from: "LastingDawn"I was nothing more then a mediocre event editor (what should have taken minutes took me hours to figure out and apply)

Pssh, event Editing takes ages for anyone and you know it

Oi. It's tough to hear that the project's suspended indefinitely, but I understand where you're coming from,. These projects take quite a while, even with the most dedicated team; I'm just glad we all got an opportunity to refine our skills while working on this project.

Lastly, I'm glad someone got to see some of my work and hear some of my ideas, but you don't need to apologize to me (or anyone else), LD--we asked you for so much and you handled all of us graciously. And for that, I thank you. Best of luck to ya.

QuoteIf anyone Truly wishes to continue this project (no chance...) I will only hand over the story when I see that you would be serious of taking on this job.

I'm quite certain you are mistaken.  SOMEBODY has got to want this completed in the pure form you were aiming for.  Hell, I'd want to do it if I knew what I was doing.  (But I don't know what I'm doing, so moot point.)  I think you're underestimating how much people love this patch, even if it is still unfinished.

QuoteI might come back to this, who knows what freedom summer brings? For that reason, that last slight sliver of hope, I will not be releasing the story for that reason (unless as listed above someone wishes to be a true successor to this, honestly mediocre project).

Replied before I got to the end.  What I have to say to this one is wait until summer regardless and see if you have time.  If you do not have time even then... THEN consider handing it over.  It is much more likely to stay true to your vision if it is you leading it, no matter how much someone else want's your vision to come fully to life.

Hey, Silvas is right, try waiting to summer and then hand it over eventually.

Tis a shame, but real life does indeed take priority. Still loved what I seen from it LD. This also shows that its very hard for one person to do a patch on there own( LD, Zozma, SB) because if its one more person obviously there going to have real life struggles and delays. I think it's almost necessary that at least 3 people combined wits to work on a patch(very impressed that Kokojo has managed so well thus far). Anyways, it's good that your still sticking around LD as not many people bring to the forum what you do.

I cant describe the sadness Im feeling,although I understand his point,since real life always come before internet stuff,its was a wise decision to post this,but you were very harsh with yourself.

but always remenber,talent is never wasted,even if mercenaries never come back,everything done for it can be used for something else

Well, that's a pity =/ But don't worry LD, real life always goes 1st.

Take your time, for now forget about Mercenaries. When summer comes, if you still haven't found the time to work on this, you can pass it on.. or if someone really really wants to take care of it now. Working alone on these big projects, that involve almost complete rehauls of the game, story, sprites, mechanics and all that is obvious work for a team, and not for a single person. Maybe if you find time on summer you can have some help with those events?

Also, as always you're too harsh with yourself v.v

Anyways, is good to finally hear from you again and also that you're not leaving the boards.

To be honest, I'm very dissapointed.
You shouldn't have told us about this, Sir LD.

He is under the impression Mercenaries will never be finished and thinks much more progress could have been made on another patch instead, therefore the talent was being wasted.

And priorities generally prioritize food to eat, a roof over one's head, a vehicle, and then whatever bills are required for those, and the well-being of family.  If those are somehow threatened, there's not much you can do about other things being neglected.

I think what you truly have a problem with is LD's defeatist attitude.  I do too, but what he needs right now is encouragement, not berating, and as I said, if his job, education, or family is somehow in crisis, all he can do is deal with said crisis.  We'll just have to wait it out or eventually continue on without him.

I've been watching this patch as it slowly developed. I feel that we have to keep the momentum going or else production will come to a complete halt and everyone will unfortunately forget. We need to find or elect someone or a group of people to run, organize, and assign jops to people so this patch can be finished soon. LD always appeared to be a "father figure" to this forum and this project, so of course we can not replace him. We can, however, try our best to continue to work in his absence so that if and when he does make his miraculous reappearance, a wonderfully developed patch is here waiting for him.

Lasting dawn, I've gotta say, the authority and leadership it took to run this project was incredible, and I still look up to you. Don't beat yourself up first of all. I can't even count the many times you've helped me with event editing in the past three months. My point is, and was already mentioned, is that no talent is wasted, talent is passed on to the next person. To be honest, the reason I discovered this hole sight was because I saw a video on mercenaries on youtube. I think that this project should be continued, and that someone responsible takes over, in respect to you.

While I am sad to hear about this...such is life.

Maybe the project was just too big...
Maybe, It could have been something small (Maybe like...10 fights?) that would fill the gap between Ramza "Running for his life" (Ch1 end) and the start of chapter 2 of the real game
No class-skill modifications
Anyway...it's possible to download the patch that contains everything that has been done in mercenaries?

Quote from: "Dome"Maybe the project was just too big...
Maybe, It could have been something small (Maybe like...10 fights?) that would fill the gap between Ramza "Running for his life" (Ch1 end) and the start of chapter 2 of the real game
No class-skill modifications
Anyway...it's possible to download the patch that contains everything that has been done in mercenaries?

Chapter at a time, the first chapter was only 10 fights (or however many are in normal Chapter 1?) and the Training Demo is only six fights. Yes, in the first post at the very bottom there are links to all the works that had been done on Mercenaries. That is where people can get the sprites and the like as well.

Good, I wanted those sprites. Is Extend ISO required too?

Edit: Man, I need to learn to read. Okay, extend ISO is needed. Wich one is the trainig demo and wich one is the CH1 though?

I believe they're both the Training Demo, since that was the current project when things hit a standstill. It's not really possible to play unless you mport a fresh attack.out and test.evt, or have a file past the first battle. That should still be what was released in that demo oh so long ago.

I'm new to this site and I just read through the Mercenaries main info thread. I was growing more excited for this patch the more I read through it even though as I read near the end posts started spacing out. Now that I've read the entire thread and found my way to this one I have to say I hope its finished someday because it really sounds amazing.

Quote from: "lordwaffles"I'm new to this site and I just read through the Mercenaries main info thread. I was growing more excited for this patch the more I read through it even though as I read near the end posts started spacing out. Now that I've read the entire thread and found my way to this one I have to say I hope its finished someday because it really sounds amazing.

haha we are in the exact same boat, i was so looking forward to it. it's totally understandable though....

QuoteAnd priorities generally prioritize food to eat, a roof over one's head, a vehicle, and then whatever bills are required for those, and the well-being of family. If those are somehow threatened, there's not much you can do about other things being neglected.

I think what you truly have a problem with is LD's defeatist attitude. I do too, but what he needs right now is encouragement, not berating, and as I said, if his job, education, or family is somehow in crisis, all he can do is deal with said crisis. We'll just have to wait it out or eventually continue on without him.

I completely agree!

I would never knew about this forum if wasn't because of the video on youtube about mercenaries... Dude! That work can not be wasted! You're going to be very famous if you finish the work.

And i'm with you, if you need something, here I am!

Quote from: "bryce_norton"

QuoteAnd priorities generally prioritize food to eat, a roof over one's head, a vehicle, and then whatever bills are required for those, and the well-being of family. If those are somehow threatened, there's not much you can do about other things being neglected.

I think what you truly have a problem with is LD's defeatist attitude. I do too, but what he needs right now is encouragement, not berating, and as I said, if his job, education, or family is somehow in crisis, all he can do is deal with said crisis. We'll just have to wait it out or eventually continue on without him.

I completely agree!

I would never knew about this forum if wasn't because of the video on youtube about mercenaries... Dude! That work can not be wasted! You're going to be very famous if you finish the work.

And i'm with you, if you need something, here I am!

Well thank you Bryce Norton, but things have calmed down a fair amount and I think I can start working on this again, having grown accustomed to the ways of college life. I think I've found a good balance at this point. So if you have any ideas (especially for the Rad/Ramza Unique Skillset ideas) feel free to put your input where you wish.

That's good news, LD. It really brightened my day to see this subforum and this project being revitalized. Skillsets have always been a challenge for me to come up with, but I'll try to contribute as best I can.

ah, finally Mercenaries are back on track. Need any help? With sprites ofcourse(Hint: I would love to do some armored character/job)

Haha! Anything you wish Kage. Just run the initial designs to me first,  before you get too heavily into a concept.

Most of the designs were already finished, so I dunno what I could. If you have some secret characters who does not have a sprite yet, PM me. I really have no idea what to work on :/

Did we ever settle for a Knight design? If memory serves right, I don't recall as such?

I actually began doing Warder, since he does not have a design so far, I will have it done in 30 minutes if all goes well.

And this could be used for Knight one,
(http://www.ffhacktics.com/sprites/sheet/Guardian.png)

How could I forget! Hah, oh my mind is so forgetful... I like that, that works very well.

It needs other palettes though, since Merc. has other palettes than original FFT, IIRC. Mav, could you volunteer?

Hell yeah! Mercs is back! Thanks LD, I was waiting for this, I'm going to be more active in helping as much as I can too.

Quote from: "Kagebunji"Mav, could you volunteer?

Hah, sure thing, boss. Right now we have blue, teal, black, green, and red. We need three more. How bout brown, purple, and...I dunno. I believe I can change the cape colors too. This is a good sprite and I think it fits the class very well, so let's get this done quick.

Heh, thanks for help! I am not familiar with what palettes LD wants in Merc. exactly, so this is all up to your imagination, Mav

Grats on getting mercs back on the main index page LD

great! mercenaries no longer in hold i like this project a lot : ) good job LD

i really can't wait for mercenaries to be done. i know it will take while but i can be patient. i remember seeing videos of mercenaries from when it first started but now i'm really getting excited about it. Keep up the good work LD!

Thanks for the support! I won't let you down!

I am going to try to contribute ideas and such when I can, as I really want to see this projects finished (so much work has been done, and even though it isn't finished it looks amazing!). I can't do any spriting, as I have -999999999% artistic talent, but I will help when I can. Good to see you back LD

Edit: you might want to organize things so that the class discussions are in seperate forum, and that the sprites are in another forum... like subforums to keep the clutter down.

Sprites... yes that is an issue. At first I thought combining the two would make sense but now it just seem counter-intuitive. I will get to that when I get back on Sunday. Thanks for the advice Gotwald and glad to have you aboard!

I'm going to try to contribute to. I know last time it was up I was a failure, but I know more now, so expect to see more out of me LD.

Ah, you were new at that time FFTA, besides already your event tool has helped me a fair amount. Though by all means I would be glad to see your ideas.

sprites not really a big issue im not a very good sprites but i know something about it maybe u have seen my work on the "forbiden" forum, anyway i would like to help on mercenaries but i work better with orders so good luck with the project and if you need some help just pm me

Not very good at sprites? You revived the original Warder concept from it's base! If you could I would love for you to continue working on the Warder sprite. Though if you'd like something not related to spriting, would you happen to have any skill ideas? (Mainly for Arbalist... they are in sore need of at least 5 more...)

LD that for real means a lot to me. And I'm so glad it helped:)

*Salute*


Welcome back Lasting Dawn, may this new dawn be everlasting!

And it's also good to see you DP.

This is fantastic news.  I'm so glad this project is back up and going again.

huzzah!!!

keep up the great work LD

Nice! The merceneries ALIVE again!
Go easyer this time...dont want to see u drop off like last time

Anyway, im looking foward to it. (Like always)

where i can get the download link??  :cry:
i already download link at 1st page, but not only ppf file inside, but i don't know what it is...  :shock:
it's large file, include your folder2 project (program, sprite, etc) i think ...
when i patch the ppf file, then play it
i can't finish my tutorial, since the game throw out to blank map with no city (i can't go anywhere)

sorry my english bad  :oops:

what the hell, you can post here?
*rushes to notify et*

Quote from: GeneralStrife on July 27, 2011, 12:38:56 am
what the hell, you can post here?
*rushes to notify et*

heh?! what wrong man???  :shock:
...errr.... what about my question ?  :cry:

The download is rather glitchy anyways.

that's okay  :roll:
at least i can download ppf files and play the game like other patch :lol:

anyone can help??

This section of the forum makes me very very sad :(.

ikr....

Can you put an patched link, i dont have an computer to extend my vanilla...

Please someone put an mercenaries "patched" for me download , because i dont have an computer to extend my vanilla...

1) Use the edit button, your posts are only 6 minutes apart.

2) Linking roms is illegal, and we won't be doing that here.

3) There is no version of Mercenaries that can even be played, it was never finished. As if you couldn't tell that being that this thread hasn't been posted in in over 4 years and is in Archives...

4)

I cant play...why?

I already told you above...