FFT:TLW - Second Read

[ParryPupPup]

This mod has now been released in a completed form. You can find it HERE.


After a long struggle of not knowing what I'm doing, making hundreds of mistakes, I have finally completed my first mod for the community.
Also https://www.twitch.tv/caazan is nice enough to install this mod and is going to be streaming it on his channel. Check him out. I'll be watching as well, and I'd love to hear some opinions. He's the one who helped me settle on the Second Read name too! We were brainstorming names and I felt "Debarded" coming off of my rants about War of the Lions being badly-written Shakespearean nonsense wasn't catchy and didn't instill any sense of "Oooh, this sounds interesting" it felt... too technical.

_{Final Fantasy Tactics: Second Read}
"Mr. Coreander: Ahh, but have you ever read a book twice? Books change each time you read them."
- The Neverending Story 2

Final Fantasy Tactics is beloved by many, including myself ever since I was a child. So much so, that when my brother got in a fight, we broke the disc over my head. I'd bought WotL to play on his PSP, aaaand I lost it. But still, this game is near and dear to my heart and always will be. I liked War of the Lions' cutscenes, all the voice acting, but outside of those cutscenes where the dialogue was fairly easy to follow, they tried to retranslate the script far too hard. Every line felt like it was trying too hard to be Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe and as I've joked before, was so purple in its prose that it could literally choke a violet. So upon learning that I can actually change up the dialogue, I thought I'd try my hand at overhauling the ENTIRE game's script. Retranslating the translation.

This mod is built off of The Lion War 2.01 base patch. You will have access to all of TLW's features such as the Dark Knight Job, Rendezvous Missions, Transmigration, New Game+.

Features:
* Game dialogue overhaul.

* Characterization changes that try to flesh out
characters a little more and expand the world.
Such as Olan going to Ovelia and Delita not
as an accuser of "You killed my daddy".
He's playing his role as a guardian of
Ovelia and by extension Delita... from what...
you'll have to play to know.

* Scene changes such as Ramza blasting Algus
with a bolt of lightning for a very crude
comment about the Hyrals. More to be found
whilst playing.

* Minor character name changes.
Izlude is now Izurud. (Izurūdo Tinjeru is his translated name from Japanese)
Orlandu is Orland (Much easier to say in my opinion)
Vormav is Volmarv (A portmanteau of Folmarv and Vormav)

* Minor gameplay changes.
In scenes such as the "Save Algus" or "Kill All Enemies"
part in Mandalia plains, you'll be given a hint as to
what's what.
The Save Algus option will have (Hard Mode)
Kill All Enemies will have (Normal Mode)

You'll also be given some hints on gameplay, like
I feel should have been in vanilla.

* Major gameplay changes
The removal of Orland as a recruitable unit.
That's right. A simple change in the game's instructions
and I have removed the gamebreaking unit from the game.
He's too easy. There's no strategy involved. There's
no deeper thought into any of his kit. You just gain
a free Excalibur, high damage, innate Haste, and ick,
it completely breaks any tactics you had with the game.
You just slap as much PA boosting gear on him and he
wrecks the "TACTICS" part of the game. And you gain
enough "Hero" units as it is. Rafa, Marak, Meliadoul.
You don't need his broken ass! <3

* Upcoming features:
The finalization of Second Read with all the sidequests touched up.
Overhaul of unit names to reflect the script changes.
Edits to the Brave Story and things like Germonique's Account/Scriptures.
Second Read: Hardcover Edition, a companion and optional alternative.
Same Second Read script, new gameplay altogether.
It'll be my own interpretation of the Jobs and Abilities.
Planned features are making Hero Jobs (Holy Knight, Engineer, Divine Knight, etc.)
have a distinct identity as a base Job instead of "Squire+" due to their reactions
and supports being "Squire, but with different usable abilities" When the hell is
anyone gonna put Equip: Axes on Mustadio? Haha! They'll have reactions and supports
from other classes, but they'll hopefully be thematically fitting that you can keep
them at their special class instead of sloughing through Geomancer to get Attack Up
for Agrias.

File for patching here, use PPF-O-Matic and a CLEAN VANILLA ISO/BIN.
Do not patch on top of TLW2, you will probably break something.

Credits for the TLW Staff, 'cause without them, none of this would have been possible in the first place.
----------

Elric
Attack.out Rebuild, Spreadsheet & GUI
Worldmap Rebuild
WotL Event Additions & Fixes
Mod Organization
Vanilla Event Fixes and Jumps
ASM Setup, Application & Testing
Sound Novel fixes and Implimentation
Bugtesting

RavenofRazgriz
Initial Attack.out Rebuild, Spreadsheet & GUI
Initial Worldmap Rebuild
Sidequest Changes & WotL Implimentation

Xifanie
ASM - Altima Teleport
ASM - Event Instruction Upgrade Hack
ASM - Extra Abilities Effects Hack
ASM - Map 120 Edits
ASM - Unit Restriction & Guests in Randoms
New Game Plus Work (not yet complete)
Squashing some bugs

Angel/Toshiko
De-WotLize Dialogue in WotL Event Ports
Translated & Fixed Sound Novel Images
Title Screen & Lead-in frames from WotL Movie to Title Screen

Pride
ASM - Rumor Edits
ASM - ARH Lite - TLW Edition

Choto
ASM - 1E4 & 1E5 Become Adeptness & Sturdy
ASM - Barrage & Weapon Strike Rewrite
ASM - Extra Generic Class

Glain
ASM - Bravestory Fix
ASM - UWEntries

Twinees
Sprite Fixes & Edits

Valkirst
New Ashley Riot Sprite

FFMaster
WotL Opening & Intro Movie Ports

Nyzer
WotL Event Fixes

Celdia
Allowing merge of her ISIA patch for Consolidation.

Retrotypes
Several event fixes.

Bugtesters
Nyzer
HebrewToYou
Blue
Ansehelm
NinjaWeazel
Retrotypes

[Jumza]

Congratulations on the release Puppy! I know you put a ton of work into it, and I will certainly be playing it soon

[ParryPupPup]

And so it is written - and finalized - and given my own personal touches as a subtle reminder that
this is a modification, not the original.

All of the sidequests are fully implemented and their dialogue is overhauled.

The Main Menu is given a teeny facelift with official art and a big indicator the mod
was installed correctly.

The opening dialogue was given a facelift too and given a much
soft light to better read what's on the screen.

World Map given a teeny bit of an overhaul so you're not looking at a Sepia Tone map
the entire time and gives the borders a little more definition, and little hints
towards things like Nelveska Temple without being overly obvious.

Win Conditions given a facelift to better be in line with the name changes.

Upcoming Features: Unit names redone to fit the new names.

Version 1.01 download available below.
Do not use 1.01 or 1.012, it's bugged, use 1.013 below

[Valamar]

Hello, I've been playing your mod and I'm enjoying your script re-write it's something new but fits the world so nothing seems jarring to me (well maybe "fuck" used in the dialogue but found it more funny then offputting).

However I've hit a hitch, I'm in chapter 2 and just finished the bariaus hill battle, and Lionel Castle has opened up where the party leaves Oveila and Agrias with draclau, however when agrias and ovelia thank ramza for the escort, ramza's dialouge never triggers so the game is stuck and I cannot progress.

I'm pretty sure its not on my end? the mod worked perfectly up to this point.

[ParryPupPup]

Hello, I've been playing your mod and I'm enjoying your script re-write it's something new but fits the world so nothing seems jarring to me (well maybe "fuck" used in the dialogue but found it more funny then offputting).

However I've hit a hitch, I'm in chapter 2 and just finished the bariaus hill battle, and Lionel Castle has opened up where the party leaves Oveila and Agrias with draclau, however when agrias and ovelia thank ramza for the escort, ramza's dialouge never triggers so the game is stuck and I cannot progress.

I'm pretty sure its not on my end? the mod worked perfectly up to this point.

Hm. I've not had any problems before. I ran through the whole game without any problems. I'll peek inside the code and see if I see any obvious errors later tonight. Did you try multiple times? And which emulator are you using?

[ParryPupPup]

Quick update, yes, even I'm running into the hangup with Delacroix, Agrias and Ovelia, ironing it out now and trying to figure out the why.

[ParryPupPup]

Good news! I fixed the freeze during the "Agrias and Ovelia stay at Lionel scene" simply swapped around who talks first, and somehow that fixed it. Version 1.012 is ready!

[Valamar]

Wow thank you for the quick fix, I'm glad i get to continue playing the mod, If i run into any errors i'll be sure to post, and i'm using epsxe for future reference.

[Valamar]

Hey I'm back with sour news, although the Lionel scene is fixed, the extra scene with besrodio's house getting raided and him telling mustadio to run away with the stone does not play, the screen is black and the music plays but its another hitch.

[ParryPupPup]

Hey I'm back with sour news, although the Lionel scene is fixed, the extra scene with besrodio's house getting raided and him telling mustadio to run away with the stone does not play, the screen is black and the music plays but its another hitch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr_X2GlAbKw&ab_channel=BradNiezen
I'm on it!

[ParryPupPup]

Alright, got it fixed lemme know if it hangs up anywhere else.

[Valamar]

Hey I just got up to chapter 4, chapter 3 works perfectly but there's 2 issues I found in chapter 2, while neither are hitches one is minor and one is really annoying.

1st (minor). After you beat Draclau the scene where delita talks to goltana and frames gelwen plays out fine, but the scene after that states the lion war begins and has the art work of the lancers on chocobos, in hangs a-bit longer then it should, i was about to quit out thinking it froze but it just takes longer then it should.

2nd (major). Before chapter 3 begins you see goltana, orlandu, elmdore, and the other 2 council members whos names I couldn't care about are discussing the famine the war is bringing, this part plays out fine, but when ramza is monologuing about his next motives the first set is fine but then the second part goes agonizingly slow, like i'm talking " l i t t l e m o n e y" but like 3x slower, I left fps uncapped, left for 3 minutes came back and it was still going, if i didn't uncap fps I don't think it would be unfair to say I'd be stuck on that scene for like 15 minutes.

Gonna finish the game soon, but other then those 2 issues its playing perfectly fine now.

[ParryPupPup]

Hey I just got up to chapter 4, chapter 3 works perfectly but there's 2 issues I found in chapter 2, while neither are hitches one is minor and one is really annoying.

1st (minor). After you beat Draclau the scene where delita talks to goltana and frames gelwen plays out fine, but the scene after that states the lion war begins and has the art work of the lancers on chocobos, in hangs a-bit longer then it should, i was about to quit out thinking it froze but it just takes longer then it should.

2nd (major). Before chapter 3 begins you see goltana, orlandu, elmdore, and the other 2 council members whos names I couldn't care about are discussing the famine the war is bringing, this part plays out fine, but when ramza is monologuing about his next motives the first set is fine but then the second part goes agonizingly slow, like i'm talking " l i t t l e m o n e y" but like 3x slower, I left fps uncapped, left for 3 minutes came back and it was still going, if i didn't uncap fps I don't think it would be unfair to say I'd be stuck on that scene for like 15 minutes.

Gonna finish the game soon, but other then those 2 issues its playing perfectly fine now.

Thank you!
The first one's hardcoded and would take a lot of finangling to adjust.

The second issue I was able to fix easily. But as it's a non-essential, I won't release a patch of it just yet, I'll hold off until something else major comes up.

[ParryPupPup]

Update November 16th, 2021 3:35 AM.

Second Read Version 1.107 is complete. I have addressed the Chapter 2 ending issue of the graphic hanging and the music
disappearing which, understandably would make many players think the game has bugged and crashed and possibly reset.
So that's been addressed. As soon as the text disappears so does the graphic and the scene moves right along.
(Thank you, Almighty Xifanie)

I have also fixed the dialogue during the Zeltennia Council scene being an unfortunate and even WORSE version of the
l i t t l e   m o n e y  issue in vanilla. That all plays out at the normal speed it should now. so that's been fixed.

This latest update - until I run into any other bugs or changes I wanna make in the future - will have one major
upgrade to the Vanilla+ experience I want normal Second Read to be.

Male and Female Units now all share the same Physical Attack and Magic Attack power and both units can
now wear perfumes and hair adornments.

This always felt weird to me. It felt off and honestly, a bit wrong. So I adjusted the units' raw stats up to
6 each, PA and MA, instead of Males having like a base of 4 PA and 3 MA and Females having 3 PA and 4 MA.
So now you're free to use the female units in physical roles and males are better at magical roles.
Ramza, being one of the lucky ones to have had 4/4 has also gotten this upgrade to 6/6.

Note: In order to see these changes, you will have to either recruit a unit from the Soldier Office
or restart the entire game so everyone gets the appropriate fixes. You cannot bench and reload a unit to fix them.
Also, don't be discouraged if you decide to pick a unit up from the Soldier Office and see they only have
5 PA and 4 MA. That's natural. Each unit has a stat multiplier for the raw stats. For example, Squires have a
PA multiplier of 90% and an MA multiplier of 80% so the raw stat is multiplied by .9/.8. So if you want to see
it clearly in action, make Soldier Office recruits Chemists as soon as you get them. Both Male and Female Chemists
will have 4/4 PA/MA because of the .75/.75 multipliers

You can find the updated 1.107 download at the top of the page on the first post.

[Valamar]

I've finally finished the mod minus the dark dungeon and Aliste scene if thats still there, The main story now has no hitches and plays fine, but there is a minor bug within Murond and a major hitch in the balthier sidequest.


Minor: Vs Balk in the Murond death city, Ramza and Balk have a banter convo if Balk is damaged but not killed, Ramza starts by saying "get the hell out of my way! all of you!" and Balk's dialogue does not play and its suddenly interrupted, but the fight continues on fine.

Major: Ok this one is big, Baltheir cannot be recruited, 1st off some of the dialouges are swapped, Ramza says some lines that Balthier should say and vice versa, and near the end Ramza has a dialogue that balthier should say, and at this point Balthier is so confused his dialogue never comes up and the game hitches and gets stuck.

[ParryPupPup]

I've finally finished the mod minus the dark dungeon and Aliste scene if thats still there, The main story now has no hitches and plays fine, but there is a minor bug within Murond and a major hitch in the balthier sidequest.


Minor: Vs Balk in the Murond death city, Ramza and Balk have a banter convo if Balk is damaged but not killed, Ramza starts by saying "get the hell out of my way! all of you!" and Balk's dialogue does not play and its suddenly interrupted, but the fight continues on fine.

Major: Ok this one is big, Baltheir cannot be recruited, 1st off some of the dialouges are swapped, Ramza says some lines that Balthier should say and vice versa, and near the end Ramza has a dialogue that balthier should say, and at this point Balthier is so confused his dialogue never comes up and the game hitches and gets stuck.

Once I check up on a couple other things, I'll release a patch later tonight, but I got it all fixed.

[ParryPupPup]

Version 1.135 is up and ready to go. Simply patch it over and everything should be fixed. Balthier's scene and the Balk dialogue.
Even the special treat for Algus' dismissal at Igros which you can see if you reproduce the scene by pressing Triangle at the Brave Story's Record "Delita's Anger".

[ParryPupPup]

Version 1.401 is ready for play and features two big gameplay quality of life changes.
Along with fixing some text hiccups whilst playtesting Hardcover, I've decided to do some hunting
and thanks to the guys in the Hacktics Discord pointing me in the right direction, I was able to
find exactly what I wanted.

Smart Encounters
No longer do you have to run around trying to complete propositions and worry about
running into a random battle. You can now select them at will. If you want a fight, click
on a green dot on the map and you'll be set in a battle there. If you select a town and
you're - say, in Limberry and you wanna go all the way to Lionel, you'll get there without
a random battle holding you up.

4x JP Gains
A little controversial for a JRPG, I know, but it's such a quality of life thing that
I can't help but enable it. Now you don't have to spend hours upon hours upon precious
hours on a game you've likely played before grinding out JP smashing each other's face
in with rocks or licking each other as frogs. Instead, you can play the battles and you'll{br}
more organically grow the character's jobs. There may be a glitch where it shows you got like
4 JP, but I assure you, it's a glitch that can't really be fixed but you did get the increased gains.