Final Fantasy Hacktics

This is a patch have recently started. It (attempts) to take the game in a whole new direction. Namely: Horror.
I have already completed the basic battle system. There is no more "attack" command. You have your equipment menu, (which you can change your current equipment in, this will actually have a more vital role than in normal tactics), and your "Slay" commands. Your basic choices are Purify, Reload, and Normal shot.

Purify will instantly crystalize/treasure any zombie, but takes up 4 charges from your gun. Normal shot will kill a zombie, but zombies infinitely resurrect on their turn(and will from then on die at the end of each of their turns). The catch to normal shot? Zombies have 5 move, while you have 2 move. If you are in range of a zombie when they resurrect, they will blood suck you and you will die, if nothing is in range when they resurrect, they will wander off into a corner and die there. Your gun holds differing charges in based on equipment, and can be reloaded at the cost of simply using the reload command (one action). There are other skills but those are the 3 "core" skills to the mechanic. the other skills are simply built off of these.

Those currently working on this project:
Vampragonlord (Me, head of this project) Job:Pretty much everything


What i need to accomplish before this is 100%(will update regularly)
Change all battles (3 so far)
Change events/text (3 so far)
Create/obtain sprites:Still need a good zombie, enjoy shooting algus zombies til i get one. Got just about everything else i need, though if you'd like to throw more sprites my way i won't complain.
abilities(pretty much done)
Battle System, balanced (just about, could use some testers)

IF anyone would like to assist me just let me know, i could always use another hand(mainly cause i only have 2, and this is gonna take a good amount of work.)
any comments, praises, hatemails, confessions of love, spam emails, or the like are more than welcome.

I love you
Just kidding btw...
Do you have a playable demo?

Currently only have the first battle completed, have yet to modify the event(the thief still calls them out and what not), and all the zombies are human st ajoras. If you want me to make a quick ppf of that though ill gladly do it, just giving you the heads up. i can probably have through dortor at the least by tomorrow.

Edit: Getting some sleep, then seeing a movie. I'll post a working demo at some point in the next 24 hours though.

Sorry, no demo quite yet, was out longer than i expected today. Main reason was because i was trying to implement a slightly tweaked reload system, decided to scrap it and add it in later as a "hard mode" if this is successful.   Screen shots to make up for it though. Dome, ill have that demo for you shortly.
Additional info about the patch itself. The bulk of the patch is a new battle system, with the text altered mainly to suite the theme, so dont expect shakespeare.

I would help with sprites, but I can't be sure if this patch will be completed, so I think it's not worth my time(at least for now )

Quote from: "Kagebunji"I would help with sprites, but I can't be sure if this patch will be completed, so I think it's not worth my time(at least for now )

A well done Zombie could be useful...
We can replace the shitty uribo with a new kind of monster ;P

behemoths could be zombie dogs
Summoners could be base for zombie lord, or it could be queklain.

This.

Is.

Fucking.

Brilliant.

EDIT: I will sprite for this project. I will sign over my life to this. It's amazing.

I'm going to infer that by reloading MP recovery is meant, and reload amount is total MA. That's a good idea...


This is very original... and impressive.

Hmmm, you said I couldn't play your patch, oh the irony, now I want to. If you want a spriter/story editor I would volunteer, that is if you will let me VampragonLord. One problem is that I have no idea how to actually change the events (like making characters move about), just the spoken text(I can change this pretty easily and with quality, too). I like the idea with the one hit kill bloodsuck and also that the zombies revive after 1 turn, the idea with the gun reload is cool, too. But listen, in all sincerity, since when do zombies have little icons of angels floating over their heads? You are probably gonna have to hack your way into that and change the little angel sprite to nothing...also, you will need just 1 custom sprite of a zombie, otherwise no one will take this project seriously...I can probably do that (but it might come out like crap, or work well like the Cannoneer hopefully)...I will post something if you lemme work with you and I make a zombie...up to you...

The reason i was hoping for multiple zombies was more so you werent shooting the same exact thing every time. I see the sensibility in only one though (much less time consuming) those goals are simply for the 100% (like trying to 100% x-2 or something)

Note: For anyone who wishes to assist in sprites, please post WHAT you attempt to sprite, so that we dont have 4 people trying to make a full sprite sheet for the same thing.

Quotereloading MP recovery is meant, and reload amount is total MA

truth be spoken
@boomkick, i was thinking panthers for zombie dogs and behemoths for Giant Werewolf. ive added some minor tweaks to elmdor and he is the generic young vampire.
Anything that isnt a zombie will have an actual health gauge (generally only one per battle) and are more
 "boss-like", though the actual boss monsters will be quite different.
@jon & wooden, ill welcome any and all assistance,
@jon in particular, i was simply joking when i said you couldnt play it, anyone who wants to is more than welcome to. The zombies only semi-revive (i made it so they die if they cant get blood) due to a glitch where if you tried to hit them with ANYTHING while they had 0 hp, they just died (unpurifiable). Not sure how to remove the angel at the moment, and it isnt anything TOO horrible, though yes i know what you mean.

Im off to the doctors for now, should be back in a couple hours, then ill get working on mandalia.

Figure out which sprite sheet has the status effect images on it and remove that status.

This idea has been tossed about already multiple times and in multiple incarnations.  You've made the most progress yet.  Your system is extremely intriguing.  Removing attack is brilliant and makes me wish I had thought of that when jabbering on about a similar system concept for mechs.  In fact, I see a lot of similarities between the two, but you've filled in gaps that I couldn't figure out how to hurdle.  The zombie mechanics... well I have never even heard of such things done.  Very creative.  My one and only complaint about this is that I fear there will be next to no variety.  It looks to me as if all the playable characters will have entirely identical roles and abilities.  I don't care how creative you get with your elemental setups (and you can get pretty damn creative), that is going to wind up getting very stale unless it is a relatively short game.

I would love to assist, but I'm afraid my one and only skill is writing.  I don't even have anything to provide evidence that it is indeed a skill of mine and I'm not just blowing smoke.  I have been toying with element setups in my mind quite a bit recently, so perhaps I can provide some ideas there.  You're going to want to go non-traditional for this I hope?  The more creative, the better.

Quotealso, you will need just 1 custom sprite of a zombie, otherwise no one will take this project seriously

This statement has already been proven quite wrong.  Though the sooner you get some awesome sprites, the better...  That's true of virtually everything anyways...

@silvas, as far as the script goes, im looking for something fairly dark, (given the nature of the genre) but still with enough of a comedic kick back / dark humor sort of feel.

Demo is up! Use the save for ramza's abilities.

What, so you'd be interested in having me write?  Do you have anything in mind already or would you like me to give you a storyboard-esque concept?  I get the impression you at least have something in mind for a werewolf character...

By the way, what are you going to do about generics?  Basically Game Overs somewhat bother me.  Since you don't seem to have any means of revival, being hit by a zombie or something else really should have that character be lost to you.  Are you going to have just one main character that causes a Game Over on reaching 0 hp that the player must protect at all costs?  Are you going to make the player have to keep a core group of characters alive like that?  Or do you think keeping the character alive after the battle so long as three turns haven't passed is justifiable?  Actually this would affect the writing too.  Just what should be able to occur to a character before it is lost to the player forever and about what number of main characters would be the sweet spot for you?  Do you want only main characters and no generics?  Heck, do you want to go with only generics?  I'm sure that's doable.  That might make the writing more of a challenge, but it would make some things more novel and interesting.

Oh, and I could be wrong, but I think it is entirely possible to make other main characters as controllable as Ramza was in vanilla and don't necessarily have to be guests or given the immortal flag if they are intended to be used in the plot again later.  Really, I feel that was a rather lazy approach to them by Square and it really hurt late-game character development.  Unless I'm mistaken, you just have to make them incapable of leaving or being dismissed and add the Game Over flag if crystallized or chest'd to any and all battles that can occur.  Sure, that's going to be really tedious, but it would be nice to be able to keep them from being immortal flagged or a guest and still be able to utilize them for the plot later.

well im trying to keep this generally spoiler free so aim/yahoo/irc

I didn't think you would reply so soon, so I edited majorly.  XD

Yeah, I was thinking I'd pm you the concept or something and not post it in public.  Hm...  Email might be the best approach to keep a written record of it so I don't forget.  silvasruin@ffhacktics.com  Yay, I finally have a reason to use it.  

actually there is bless, which all hunters have, it cures bloodsuck/revives. and the guests use it over attacking if theyre in range (saigas was just testing it). the rest i shall email you.

Me playing the demo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Fh5rpLVA4)
Why Ramza can't attack even if he has a gun?
Edit:Fuck I played before the save xD

haha sorry dome >.< saigas had a similar issue, which was why i went ahead and made the save to make sure nobody had those problems.(hopefully)

The battle may or may not actually play out like that in the regular game, this is just to give a feel for how the battle system will work, what to expect from the patch, etc. i may move the vampire itself to later on and make it so you need to learn reload on the map (you and delita each trying to 6shot your way out of the mess.)

Hilarious dialog, but I hope that is only a placeholder.  Right now it is more of a parody than anything else.  Some humor in the plot is fine, but you lose the dark feel when you start cramming that much inanity into it.  (Too early to discuss specifics yet before the bigger stuff is ironed out, and Dome's vid is hardly spoilerific anyways.)

It looks like Dome would have won if Ramza had a way to attack, so it shouldn't be too bad for an opening fight... depending on how resilient that vampire would have been.  I haven't set ePSXe up on this comp just yet (new comp I built just before the Christmas break) or I would test it myself already.  From what I can see, that fight seems like it is easy enough for the player to figure out what the heck they are doing in time to save their ass, even if they start out completely in the dark about how it all works.  Getting equipment and equipping characters afterwards might be a bit more challenging, but a way could be found around that with REALLY self-explanatory items and descriptions, which you seem to be leaning towards anyways.

Basically... it's a start.

There will be items in the shop, though the better/more important ones are going to Battle spoilers only. I didnt wish to embark on a true script in such a small demo, so i just put in a bit more of a "blunt humor" so people could enjoy it, instead of trying to figure out whats going on in the script and leaving alot up in the air.

Very nice idea! Just playing the first battle already has me plenty interested~! If there's anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to let me know.
I'm a zombie obsessed person so.. Yeah! I'm sure I'll be following this ship for as long as it sails.

There was just one thing that bothered me, though.
How come Equipment is above Shoot?! I think I must've hit equipment almost every turn I had. @.@
Otherwise, looking good so far!

slow down just a tad when battling, trying to mash straight to attack in this very well might get you killed anyway >.>
Equipment will become MUCH more important as you play through the game, many enemies will have different weaknesses and resistances, or you might choose to change to some lighter gear to take on faster enemies, etc.

How was the difficulty of the opening battle?

It wasn't very hard at all. :S D killed the zombie that spawns next to me and I killed the next closest one with the starting turns. And then we just shot the vampire when he was in range and the zombies when he wasn't.

Give some vertical range to blood suck and I might've lost! (Remember, it has 0. :S)


Ps. I still like my attack button to be my top thing, whether I am using it the most, the least, or not at all!
It's just what's comfortable and how I learned the game. Even when I was thinking about not doing it I still ended up doing it. @.@


Edit: By the way, I'm not sure how easy it would be to fix this, or if you even see it as a problem.. But the re-raise is effecting the AI in, what I see as, a negative way.
The Vampire was the last left alive and he was in range of killing both me and D, but since he was in critical he ran away. He didn't go into berserker mode they usually go into when they're the last one alive because of the units having re-raise.
Just thought I'd bring it to your attention, if you didn't already know it.

My apologies for your inconvenience, though it doesnt look like it will be changing.

Blood sucks Vert has been increased to a more reasonable level, I do not wish the opening battle to be TOO hard, just enough challenge to learn the ropes in. There are many secrets hiding in the wings though.

We have planned out most of the story outline, and i will be releasing a "true demo" with actual script and multiple battles sometime this weekend. (I have no school til feb 8th, so i will be working on this on any day im not out with my friends or busy with other stuff)

The ai as a whole needs a bit of work (bloodsuck is initially flagged for only add status, not hp damage) D also refuses to purify for the same reason (will be fixing this though) I think i will make zombies only res once as well, but not immediatly die off (opinions on this?) that would somewhat fix both the blue "glow" and the angel wings.

Anyway, I officially sign up as tester ^_^

I want to sign on as a writer and/or spriter. I love this idea and the execution looks to be pretty amazing.

Will there be shotguns? Because that would make my day.

Might be able to use ability sets as ways to make customizations to the weapon since the basic attack requires an ability anyways.  Basically this should do fine using the justification of abilities I was tossing around for the mech thought exercise a short while back.

...how does Line of Sight interact with the typical spell aoe?  That could have some interesting effects.

Oh hey what about...

including special zombies like the boomer, smoker, and tank? Not necessarily straight rips, but that'd break up the monotony and be really cool, IMO.

I can't get the .ppf to patch, but I trust that this is working well so far because everyone who got it working said so. I think that I can be only a spriter from now on (my life is way to busy...) anyway, how about using the FFTA Zombie as a base? So more or less converting that image to FFT style and making it a bit darker? Would that be fine for the basic Zombie sprite? All I need is an idea on what you want your zombies to look like and I will try to make an icon

Maybe this was proposed but I will say it anyway(I'm too lazy to read whole topic ), I would sugest using Vincent Craven sprite for vampire/zombie lord/some other). Also I have few ideas of how to tweak the panther into zombie dog, so gimme some time and I willl see how it will turn out.

Hm... I think I know exactly what that sprite would be good for.  Something to talk to vampragon about though.

@Silvas, i think we're thinking on the same page. if you are saying we should use it for him then yes, we should.

@jon, sorry it wouldnt patch, thats odd o.o sounds like a problem on your end though. I'm not ridiculoously picky on how it looks, a zombie is a zombie is a zombie. Checklist: Rotting/diseased looking flesh, some torn up clothing, etc

@Wooden, The monotony will be broken, you've only seen the first battle so far. There will be a good mix on enemies, and methods to fighting them, no worries. I am going to be rearranging the JP spread and making a larger abilities list so you can "customize" your weapons different shots there, and you will also be modifying your gun from your equipment list. We definitely need a spriter, and having one additional person to kick around story ideas with would be fairly helpful.

@Dome, cool, drop any/all feedback either here or in my inbox (here for general gameplay, inbox for spoilers when the "full" game starts being released. Also, could you make a general gameplay video once we have the "full version" released as well?

ATTENTION! We now have enough writers on this project. If you feel you have an amazing story idea, please write it down and hold onto it, and wait until you see more of what is in store. If you still think its great, feel free to message it to me an i will take it into consideration (no guarentees)

heh, looks like the cyborg panther, but this is just one part, colors will be changed later.

that actually looks pretty great. would there be any possibility at some bone showing through? if not it still looks pretty good.

Silvas and i are currently cranking out some script, and deciding on maps.

I have some skill with events, but if we could get someone more specialized in them that would help. if not, i can always just work it out.

Yeah I tried adding a bone, it's a tough one. I may try to change his leg into bone, but this will be hard. Will work on this later.

if its too much work, dont worry about it. it was really just more of a thought.

The worst part is to get some nice copy/pasting parts, there is not a chance in hell to find some(only those small ones that skeleton have), so it has to be custom made, and customs on monsters are higher tier of spriting that I know nothing about :/

just scrap the bone then, it'd be easier to just use the skeletons sprite and put some bone on a human canvas.  The coloring itself looks pretty great on that.

If you replace the green eye with something a little closer to red, it'll look less robotic. And one easy way to make this look undead is to make one of its legs completely bone. It'd look downright horrifying.

By the way, this is a very interesting patch, Vamp. I watched the video Dome posted and was pretty impressed. Keep it up.

Quote from: "VampragonLord"@Dome, cool, drop any/all feedback either here or in my inbox (here for general gameplay, inbox for spoilers when the "full" game starts being released. Also, could you make a general gameplay video once we have the "full version" released as well?

I can make videos whenever you want, just ask and it will be done ^_^
P.s: As a funny random character, can we put a knight in white armor that tries to fight zombie with a sword and a shield? (Maybe he should have 1 movement to represent that he is in full armor and moves slowly) xD

Zombie Idea:

(http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz233/JonsBucketPics/Final%20Fantasy%20Tactics/Zombie.png)

Tell me what you all think.

Hah, that's a pretty awesome zombie.

The arms look stretched due to the position of the hands.  The blood looks more like it should be flesh than blood, but that might be on purpose for the head.  the blood on the hands looks... bad.  Really, only an extremely fresh zombie should have any blood that isn't already dry.  If you're going to have such gashes on the head, I would expect to see the skull or even some brains showing through a little, but that's just me and is by no means something that is needed.  If you insist on dripping blood, the animation will have to show it actually dripping, which would be a challenge in and of itself.  Back to the dried blood comment, bright red probably isn't a color you'd see on a zombie unless it just bit into someone or clawed someone, and I feel the blood is in the wrong places for that.

In my personal opinion, I see no point in the cliched holding their arms forward while shambling towards you.  I would personally like to see their arms swinging limply at their sides up until they attack.  Don't know how Vampragon feels about that though.

@Zaen - Thank you

@SilvasRuin - Hmm, I see your points and understand what you mean. The blood should be dry, and making skull/brains on this Mustadio clone is beyond my capabilities, but hells yeah! Someone put some brains gushing out! As for the dripping blood, I can do that in his walking frame, that really is actually not too challenging, you just need to test it over and over in Shishi. You did not mention his legs, which I did very quickly and sloppily. I want some of his legs exposed, but this was meant just as a quick idea, made it in about 10 minutes...also he will either be bare footed or better- I will make his legs sort of limpy...yeah, but only if Vamp is alright with this...

Edit: I had an idea: how about someone makes a chainsaw killer? I could in theory if I find some decent reference for a chainsaw on goole or yahoo or something...and he can be wearing a hockey mask and also dripping with blood. Should I do a sprite of this too?

I'm not sure the kind of era it's supposed to be in would even have chainsaws...

I assumed you ripped the legs from something else and either weren't going to edit them or hadn't gotten around to it yet.

Haha, the era can't have chainsaws even though there are guns? Okay, I guess you are right in the end...

Also, those are the same Mustadio legs without his pouch thingie where he keeps his secret stock of mandalia grass, and also his shoes are changed to blue. Not ripped from another sprite, too lazy to do that

Silvas, every time i see your posts it makes me glad you're on this project with me. You always seem to say pretty much what I would say. Blue shoes with blue pants kind of causes issues. Its a decent concept but a bit more believable would be preferable. An overall "limp" look would be much better than the whole "stereotype".

Chainsaws wouldn't be effective anyway with the way the zombie AI is.

I still vote for shotguns though. I hope that gets implemented.

Ofc course they will
Guns, shotguns and sniper rifle xD

Zombie AI has been changed (thanks to kokojo for his idea on how to do it) They are now much more relentless in their pursuit. Cluster bomb is getting nerfed, hard. I have had a small set back with the events (camera issue) but this has been mostly corrected and i will resume editing of the script itself. Expect a more "playable" demo by tuesday at the latest. this one will be part storyline teaser, part gameplay/difficulty update. The zombies will no longer cower away, and will be MUCH more relentless.

 The bulk of the battles will contain zombies still(not 100% but still plenty of em) but some of the higher up enemies will be a bit more.... super natural.
I am off to change around some events for maybe another hour or so.
On that /note, if anyone has any ideas, feel free to drop them here.(be it plot, characters, skills, maps, whathaveyou) ill gladly read them and give you feed back. We have most of the main plot planned out at this point, but i will still take what you guys think into consideration, seeing as you guys are the target audience.

More weapons to use
Guns (Normal range and normal damage)
Sniper rifles (High damage and high range, maybe high MP cost?)
Shotgun (High damage low range)
Bombs (AoE damage)
Chainsaw (Melee damage only)

This, ofc, is possible only if There are more kind of zombies
I'd like to see some necromancer too, and I'd like to fight Gaffy as a Zombie (Because he will die)

melee damage is somewhat...... useless, given the nature of the battle system. >.>
The weapon itself is fairly customizable, making adding other "types" like that fairly redundant.

You can modify the reload speed, max clip, ammo type (different ones are stronger vs different units), base element, and power of your gun. Along with getting different types of shots (such as higher powered, multi shot, AoE, status, etc).

Hmmm, without giving out too much info, please just tell me what era/time period this is playing in. I have a mountain of ideas for sprites for this, but I need to know the time period. Anyone ever play the Castlevanias on N64? They have got a lot of good monsters in those 2 games...but plays in the 1800's...

Closest shot would be a cross between ivalice, and van helsings era.

Actually...  If swords are made into chainsaws (or whatever other weapon is used), there could be "normal" melee attacks added with a requirement for swords to be equipped.  The shots would wind up like a Gunblade sort of deal when a melee weapon is equipped.  I really don't think they would ever be a preferable option, but they are certainly doable.

In games like this, there is always some kind of melee weapon, as last resort...

Considering Equip Change would take a turn, it still wouldn't be preferable even if a melee attack could deal the killing blow.

Two seperate options when zombies start getting close.
The melee route. Turn 1) Equip change to sword/knife/chainsaw. Turn 2) sword/knife/chainsaw whatever is close. Zombies turn, Zombie resurrects right next to you, drinks you dry.
The gun route. Turn 1) Reload. Turn 2) Purify, no more zombie to worry about.

having a melee attack in your skillset would work. make it something that requires a sword to equip and has 1 AoE

I already mentioned that very thing, Samurai.  And mentioned how it still wouldn't be an appealing option.

So, as I mentioned, a couple of suggetions.

- If you don't use spells much, up the starting speed to 8/9/10 or close to that, and makes leeper ; fast zombies that are quick and die once.
- upping the speed will offer more realistic -Speed. A ''crippling shot'' could reduce zombies shots by three, but a High-level zombie could screech, making you lose 1 speed.

- Gun should come in variety, if possible.
   -Snipers, 10 range, STRAIGTH LINE ONLY, high damage, but mp draining or speed penalty or mp penalty (if we find out to get negatives bonuses)
   - Guns, the usual
   -Shotguns, with about twice the damage, but lower range (3-4?)

Il post more later.

Kokojo, the gun varieties will come in the form of modifications mostly through the ability sets.  There's no normal attack and MP serves as their bullet clip.  The actual weapons just dictate some of the attack power and the element.

One ability set could be dedicated to sniping and have weak power but long range.
One ability set could have a bit of AoE but have very short range and be a shotgun modification.
One ability set could be a BFG sort of modification and require a large amount of MP/bullets for each shot.



Actually... let me rethink this for a moment...

Regular attacks are disabled.  All attacks will be in the form of abilities.
This means that we don't have to worry about giving the guns ranges as they won't be able to be used as normal attacks anyways.
That in turn means that we can flag all the abilities as "Ranged Weapon" and... ooh.

Ok, so we set melee weapons to 0 Range and we don't allow any shot abilities to target the "caster."  The melee attack can be given a set range of one despite the range of the weapon.
Voila, melee weapons can't use the ranged shots.
Flag the melee attack as "Requires Sword" and voila, guns can't be used to melee attack.

This DOES wind up making the equipped weapon dictate Range, but it removes our ability to have the modifications (Re: Abilities) have any effect on Range.  This means that Range can only be increased or decreased as a tradeoff with Attack and NOT with the number of ammo (Re: MP) it costs.
If this setup is NOT followed, you then wind up making swords/chainsaws able to use shots and ammo.

If we do not make melee weapons equipable, we can avoid the shenanigans they cause and have the modifications (Re: Abilities) control Power, Ammo, AND Range, which would allow for a greater variety in the kinds of attacks/shots that can be made.



Hrm...  I'm going to review the current equipment gimmicks and see what may or may not be preferable for allowing both variety and balance.  Any equipment type with only one use is guaranteed to grow stale.

An idea for melee damage
Other random ideas about Zombies
Other random ideas about other kind of enemies

While that does remove the need to waste a turn with Equip Change, that means that there will be an ability set dedicated to melee attacks.  Attacks that can be different every single turn without any sort of penalty.  And attacks that anyone with the ability set can use even when you only have a single knife (at least until it breaks).  The possibility is intriguing, and perhaps the instant versatility is just enough to counterbalance being point-blank range, but there's some issues with it not making sense at times.  The animation would be kind of hard to do as well since the animations would wind up either having the character hold the knife in the air or firing their gun without some very creative tweaks to the animation itself or some miracle work in the animation mechanics.

I have no idea how a "Licker" might have its attack animated.  If there is to be a ranged zombie, I would prefer finding a different route for it.
Since zombies are made to rise continuously anyways, that awakening ability would be nearly useless.  Unless the formula was altered to set their CT to 100 as well, but then that might get a bit too good.

A good "Licker" sort of zombie could be a "Spitter" instead. They spit acid, bile, or etc. Range of two and have very low move.

Quote from: "SilvasRuin"I already mentioned that very thing, Samurai.  And mentioned how it still wouldn't be an appealing option.

heh heh, yeah

Hey what about all melee attacks having range 2 and a slight AoE?  2 is just outside zombie range, because they have to bite you, while you can use your arms. So each attack has range 2 and hits things in, say, a line of 3 panels in the direction you attack.

...range of two and hits three?  Why not just say a range three linear attack?

I'd be worried that once again, a range of three wouldn't make sense for animations.  It would make sense for spears, but not typical things like swords, or at least not all that well.  And that's a range of two.  A range of three... how could you possibly justify that and make it look good?

Even if it did have a range of three, zombies are currently designed to revive every turn and have movement ranges well over three.  A slight range boost just wouldn't be enough by itself to make them appealing.


@VampragonLord, sorry about the delay in the script.  I've had some issues to take care of involving class registration.  I'll try and get the section done some time tonight.

I didn't mean linear like in the sense of Earth Slash, I mean sort of like a T. You target a panel 2 away from you and it hits that panel, plus the panels to the left and right of it.

That would work in FFTA, but not here.

weak.

INFROMATIVE POST IS INFORMATIVE!

I am still working on this, so if any of you have seen the lack of activity, don't worry about it. I'm just working on some sparatic things at the moment (bouncing between different parts of the story, lining it up, learning what certain things do in events, etc).  So when i post a new content update, expect it to be big.  I go back to school on feb 8th, so, i promise, SOMETHING new will be posted the weekend before.

Cool beans. Speaking of content, how exactly do you get the save file to work when it's in BIN format? I encountered the thing with Ramza not able to use his shoot ability, so that was kind of a problem... and unless something was changed, the zombies were female priests, not St. Ajoras, not that sprites matter at the moment.

the sprite issue would mean youre using a non-expanded iso (only issue that causes is it uses default sprites, doesnt matter much since we have no custom sprites yet anyways)
The BIN format works with PSX, if youre using a different format use memorycardrx(or similar device) or whatever its called to change the format to what you need.
In all future updates there will be no worries about needing saves, I've modified it so its no longer an issue.
I have actually managed to solve some of the issues that prevented me from releasing a new update as well, so expect a new toy shortly. It is past the demo-stage, so anything you see, is pretty close to how it will be in the final (though i will most likely tweak some text, change some minor events, etc.). Consider this a very rough draft.

UPDATE/REQUEST:
@SILVAS
I have gotten a fairly decent system going now for making events/battles/etc. So Silvas, if you could send me what youve got, I could mesh it with my ideas and that would only make things go faster. I don't need exact script, just your general ideas on where the plot should go and how it gets there, mainly so I can A, lengthen the game and B, so if i can't think of what to write, I have a seperate reference sheet. (I have a general plot outline, but I've got some gaps, and your overall ideas tend to change mine)
@SPRITERS (any/all willing to assist)
If you are currently working on something for this patch LET ME KNOW! that information is VERY useful to me.
If you are NOT currently working on something and would like to assist me, I have a list of sprites that i need sooner rather then later. Anyone who helps me out will be given credit of some sort (naming a boss/weapon/random enemy/plot character, or some such. depends on my mood and how much you help.)
LIST:
Lead(THE main character of this game, you control this guy) General appearance: Young(15-23), Male, a bit more of an "eager" style of clothing for the setting (colors just bright enough to stand out from the grime). Overall:Open to interpretation.
D (Other main character) Older: (around Vormav's age, maybe a bit younger), fairly dark clothing (not black, just darker tones of colors) Overall: Open to interpretation.
Generic Zombie: As long as you can tell its a zombie, but doesn't look stereotypical (lame arm thing, or some such) its perfectly fine with me.
Greater Zombie: A larger more powerful zombie. Queklain-ish but without the stomach opening and whatnot might work, other ideas/concepts are welcome as well.
Lesser Vampire: Do NOT have it resemble Elmdor or Vincent Craven (already using those 2 for a different purpose)  Other then that, as long as its noticable that its a vampire, its fine. (gray skin, semi-gothic apperance, etc)

Those 5 are the most important at the moment, others are great too, those 5 are just the first 5 to appear story-wise, so having them means what YOU the consumer have a better looking parch to play. (what good is the final bosses sprite wen the story isnt that far yet?) Any other submissions would be amazing, im simply pointing out the "most needed" at this particular stage of the patch.

AAAAAAAAND
/end long post

Expect a new patch to play with some time these next couple days.

I'll make a D and Lead concept.

EDIT: How's this for D?[attachment=0:34gxxin0]D concept.PNG[/attachment:34gxxin0]

EDIT: If you can't tell it's dycedarg's head on a Knight's shoulders, with a black ninja's body, and vormav's hair color. Undoubtedly more than 16 colors, but I'll work on reduction later.

Edit: all further information/comments/etc about spriting, please place in the FFTOMGTZ sprite thread in the spriting section.

This thread will be used for discussing story points, the game mechanics, and all other concrete information of the game.

I don't know if I want to stab some comcast exec or stab my router.  It's hard to tell which one was at fault.  My internet was virtually unusable for... I don't know, half a week or more.  Sorry about that.  I'll get on chat tomorrow and see about talking to you there.

...on second thought, the proper phrasing would be today at this point.

Shame I didn't see this sooner. I hope it's still going.

it is.

It is, but im sick DX
which basically means im either eating, sneezing, or unconcoius on the couch most of the time.

Don't make a full length game. It'll never be finished. Write a good, tight story and make a game around it. If it turns out to only be a third the size of FFT or something, that's far less important than how compelling the actual game is

Quote from: "Asmo X"Don't make a full length game. It'll never be finished. Write a good, tight story and make a game around it. If it turns out to only be a third the size of FFT or something, that's far less important than how compelling the actual game is

I completely agree: A 1 chapter-only story with 10 battles can be very funny, it doesn't necessary need a long story

I'm all settled with my college crap, and working on this again. just thought i'd let you all know.

I've been wondering where you disappeared to.  Since we can't seem to bump into each other on the chat, how about pming me what you've decided on that I don't know about and I can work from there?

Good to hear, vamp

Mind wandered off today, ended up writing character bios (note, all of these "pre-date" the game, and are just general pieces of information, sorta like the "handbook" that games come with.) Once i have all the outside information completed, i think ill just make the first post the "handbook", with a download for the game at the bottom.  But until then! here are the character bios.
on a /note, these are rough drafts.

Fairly spoiler free:

Not entirely sure if i wish to post the info on the additional/secondary characters yet. I have them written down as well, I'm just not sure if the information would be relevant/interesting to you guys yet, since the plot(lolplot) isn't very far at all. I might add it in a t a later time, or if you guys really want me to add it in. The side characters info would contain some minor spoilers though.

new patch, events need a bit more "flavor", i know, but i figured i'd at least lead you with a carrot of some sort.
No save needed anymore, just go straight into "new game".

Quite a bit is changed, but a change log would ruin your fun now wouldnt it ^.^
Really though

Most of the time you can just let D work his magic, he is much more experienced than you are. it IS possible to lose the battles though, so play carefully.

I STILL NEED SPRITES!

Error report:
Sprite's arms are detached from the base. Did you change their types? (All sprites in the first battle seem to have some sort of error or another. (Squire's error shows when he job/levels up.)
Malak screams like a girl. (I attribute this to not having custom sprites, or maybe you did it for giggles.)
Minor spelling and grammar errors. I won't list these, unless you ask. (I don't see it being hard to find them yourself.)
Second Battle: Ramza says the Vampire's line just before the Vampire says it.

Observations:
Second battler is as far as I make it. The AI stop's attacking altogether after a couple turns, for some reason or another and just runs without action. (Am I just unlucky, or does this happen always?)
Still enjoy the concept.
Still dislike Equipment being before Shoot.
Love the title screen!

Suggestions:
Healng between battles. (Unsure if this is intentional or not, but units do not seem to heal between battles.)

Final Thoughts:
Seems like a great patch in the making! Hopefully it's as good as I'm hoping for! :3
Stop being so creepy, though.

Quote from: "Mari"Error report:
Sprite's arms are detached from the base. Did you change their types? (All sprites in the first battle seem to have some sort of error or another. (Squire's error shows when he job/levels up.)
Malak screams like a girl. (I attribute this to not having custom sprites, or maybe you did it for giggles.)
Minor spelling and grammar errors. I won't list these, unless you ask. (I don't see it being hard to find them yourself.)
Second Battle: Ramza says the Vampire's line just before the Vampire says it.

arms are odd and malak screams funny because youre not playing on an expanded iso. just open it in shishis or some such, though the sprites are just there to place hold for the most part. I just got bored of looking at ramza/delita/etc
after some of the hastles i was having with the events working in general, just the grammar errors really dont bother me much, though i obviously plan to fix them. I half expected ramza to do that with the line though.

Quote from: "Mari"Observations:
Second battler is as far as I make it. The AI stop's attacking altogether after a couple turns, for some reason or another and just runs without action. (Am I just unlucky, or does this happen always?)
Still enjoy the concept.
Still dislike Equipment being before Shoot.
Love the title screen!

Suggestions:
Healng between battles. (Unsure if this is intentional or not, but units do not seem to heal between battles.)

Final Thoughts:
Seems like a great patch in the making! Hopefully it's as good as I'm hoping for! :3
Stop being so creepy, though.

the AI bugging out is weird, it tends to do that alot in this patch though. My AI just seems to be cursed.
equipment before shooting was becuase of removing the attack command to add the ammo system.
The not healing between battles honestly baffles me, though im going to say its for the difficulty or some such like all creators do.

The AI attack bug could have lots of potential reasons.
1) Do you have the AI casting transparent on themselves?
2) Did you somehow mess with the attack feature?
3) Did you somehow change it so damage is MP dependent with no MP healing (no MP = no attacks, obviously)?  The AI here might just be failing to heal MP.
4) Are you using the wall status for any reason on your own units?
5) Any other hidden/innate status effects?

Not healing between battles:
1) Do you ever see the World Map?
2_ If so, does the formation menu reflect this lack of maximum HP?
3) Did you completely redo each event?  I'm willing to bet you're just missing one line in your end-battle scripts, or you're using save/load formation between battles without the world map.

Quote from: "formerdeathcorps"The AI attack bug could have lots of potential reasons.
1) Do you have the AI casting transparent on themselves?
2) Did you somehow mess with the attack feature?
3) Did you somehow change it so damage is MP dependent with no MP healing (no MP = no attacks, obviously)?  The AI here might just be failing to heal MP.
4) Are you using the wall status for any reason on your own units?
5) Any other hidden/innate status effects?

Not healing between battles:
1) Do you ever see the World Map?
2_ If so, does the formation menu reflect this lack of maximum HP?
3) Did you completely redo each event?  I'm willing to bet you're just missing one line in your end-battle scripts, or you're using save/load formation between battles without the world map.

Just play it and find out! It's not a long patch, seeing as how it's a demo.
You'd be able to answer most of these questions, if not all of them by playing a battle or two. xD

Quote from: "formerdeathcorps"The AI attack bug could have lots of potential reasons.
1) Do you have the AI casting transparent on themselves?       no
2) Did you somehow mess with the attack feature?      lolwelcometomypatch
3) Did you somehow change it so damage is MP dependent with no MP healing (no MP = no attacks, obviously)?  The AI here might just be failing to heal MP.          again, welcome to my patch, but i also edited things so they have the option to deal damage through bloodsuck and swording for the vampire, and the zombies dont SEEM to have this problem
4) Are you using the wall status for any reason on your own units?   no
5) Any other hidden/innate status effects?  ill double check this.

Not healing between battles:
1) Do you ever see the World Map?    nope
2_ If so, does the formation menu reflect this lack of maximum HP?         read above
3) Did you completely redo each event?  I'm willing to bet you're just missing one line in your end-battle scripts, or you're using save/load formation between battles without the world map.   i am ^.^ but lets just go with "loldifficulty"

So, I've been playing around with the Zombie idea. Just some one's I'm working on, but what do you think?

[attachment=0:3kh3iri8]Zombie.bmp[/attachment:3kh3iri8]

both of those are pretty nice.
They both suit the genre about equally so if you finish either one thatd be great, and we could stop shooting garnets....

Quote from: "vamp"and we could stop shooting garnets....

Perfect choice, hmph...

After the vampire is defeated (Which is hard as heck, by the way.  There's no way to win it without relying almost totally on D.), Ramza makes a comment about making it through a forest.  I think this is a remnant of the original event that isn't supposed to be there.

Bless is useless when even the main character has 1 HP...

2 things bug me about the writing.  The first is that the zombies seem to have completely overrun the town by the time the characters get to the scene of the attack.  While it might make sense that a vampire helped slip them in unnoticed, the characters would have no idea one was there at the time.  I think one of them should express some sort of worry or bewilderment at how quickly they've overrun the town.
The second is that neither make a comment about there being a vampire beyond D's initial warnings.  It seems significant enough that something would be said about it.

Quote from: "SilvasRuin"After the vampire is defeated (Which is hard as heck, by the way.  There's no way to win it without relying almost totally on D.), Ramza makes a comment about making it through a forest.  I think this is a remnant of the original event that isn't supposed to be there.

Youre supposed to be relying on D at this point, since he is hella more experienced, though you can pick up the treasure chest in the opening battle if you get the chance, for a somewhat better gun.

Fun fact: the vampire was originally level 60
The forest comment did just somehow slip through (seperate event that i think i missed)

Quote from: "SilvasRuin"Bless is useless when even the main character has 1 HP...

actually, its revive, i just missed it in the tactext, and you shouldnt have it usable at this point anyway <.<

Quote from: "SilvasRuin"2 things bug me about the writing.  The first is that the zombies seem to have completely overrun the town by the time the characters get to the scene of the attack.  While it might make sense that a vampire helped slip them in unnoticed, the characters would have no idea one was there at the time.  I think one of them should express some sort of worry or bewilderment at how quickly they've overrun the town.

Will be factored in.

Quote from: "SilvasRuin"The second is that neither make a comment about there being a vampire beyond D's initial warnings.  It seems significant enough that something would be said about it.

I see your point, this too will be worked on.

Additional note: I really have been winging it, and the story that ive put in IS building long the plot as we earlier discussed, but it has been riding passenger to playable content recently simply because  a few more battles early on is fun for people, but 4-5 lines of text building on  what little plot theyve seen...
The general lay out for now seems to just pump plot, refine it somewhat, and give the people the gameplay they crave, then once the game is far enough in where theres plot to appreciate, we go back and mesh the plot better then it is. Not saying i look to make bad plot, but once theres more content TO plot, it will be appreciated more

It wasn't usable.  I just read each of the abilities to get an idea of what the base job is capable of.

I certainly agree with that stance.  Having a testable demo and ironing out the gameplay should be the priority over the script, at least for now.

Also, that "cheat" reminds me of the opening battle of Rondo of Swords.  A lot easier though as Rondo of Swords' opening level took a lot longer string of perfectly arranged actions to manage.

it IS possible to lose the opening battle though, depending on the random compatz the zombies get, not because D might miss or something, but he may prioritize one that is further away, and a close up one eats you, then you crystalize before he finishes his onslaught.

Yep, I lost the first battle first time.
Was heading toward the chest, killed a zombie, then it revived right exactly after I killed it and killed me.

Really, the only reason to kill a zombie in that fight is so that the battle hopefully ends sooner before it revives.

Vamp, can you please send me your TEST.EVT?  I want to do some investigation into which command allows status restoration between battles, and I need to compare your events with those from vanilla.

Some more update about this?

just finished finals so now i can wrap up what i was working on earlier. The more interest you guys show you the more i actually work on this btw >.>

thats pretty cleaver :)

I want a new playable DEMO!!! xD

*ignores you and resumes enjoying anime expo 2010*
maybe after the expo if i remember

This sounds great. Once you get things off the ground, I'll be glad to test, and help you get some work done. Good luck, the features sound great.

sorry ive been lazy with this, i could make up along boring excuse, but really, ive just been enjoying my summer and been distracted, sorry to those of you still tracking this, i will do my best to work on it more when i get the chance. I make no promises as to when the next demo will pop up, but i WILL be working on it when i have the chance. Sorry again to anyone i kept waiting for too long and thanks to those still interested in and following this.

I finally got this working (was a very stupid mistake of mine). This game rocks! I love the idea, and I honestly loled at Kage's Garnet as Zombies! Garnet. As a Zombie. Funny! Some things are a bit strange like you forgot to change the Type (1-2) of sprites, but no biggie. I also think you should throw in some save points, otherwise one constantly uses savestates, which isn't bad, but that leads to cheating <_< like reloading a few times just to see different results...Good job though, I like the challenge level. I haven't died in FFT for such a long time, this makes me happy! I almost forgot how the Game Over screen looks and the music for it! Another thing Vamp- the hero is a female but screams like a male unit.

the sprites are all just place-holders, and most(maybe all) of those mistakes have been fixed in the more recent (top secret) version. lesse.... i think im not busy monday so ill ATTEMPT an update then, though i may be staying out at a friends house tomorrow night so i may not even be home monday.  expect another level or so, and another event if i can flush one out properly later this week. maybe. (have a birthday party, a test, and a speech to give so itll be cutting it close)

Quote from: "VampragonLord"the sprites are all just place-holders, and most(maybe all) of those mistakes have been fixed in the more recent (top secret) version. lesse.... i think im not busy monday so ill ATTEMPT an update then, though i may be staying out at a friends house tomorrow night so i may not even be home monday.  expect another level or so, and another event if i can flush one out properly later this week. maybe. (have a birthday party, a test, and a speech to give so itll be cutting it close)

Tell me when you are ready, 'cause I'd like to make another video of your patch ;P

got a bit of free time at the moment, think ill work on it til i head out

toned down the difficulty of the second battle VERY slightly, planning out the general idea for the next battle, anything in particular my loyal fans would like to see? i think i have an idea youll like very much but im not sure.

Quote from: "VampragonLord"toned down the difficulty of the second battle VERY slightly, planning out the general idea for the next battle, anything in particular my loyal fans would like to see? i think i have an idea youll like very much but im not sure.

BOOOOOMER!

I'd like to see.. What your idea is. =P

Is there going to be different zombie types? You certain zombie strengths different colors.

once i release the next update (fairly soon now) most of the common questions will be answered
There will be a few different "styles" to zombies, how they attack, move, etc.
Then there will be vampires, of varying strengths, ages, etc
finally there will be werewolves which will have less individual variety/power, but will be quite unique as well.

This is an awesome patch! I love it. I am looking forward to every aspect.

Looking forward to having those common questions answered, then. =P

Hey guys! sorry i havent worked on this in... well... ages. I was in a fairly tough "sick of FFT" rut, and toiling on my own over this project got a bit tedious after the 50th time through, just to test a slightly altered event. I'm back to work on it now, got plenty of new ideas hammered out. Just finished pounding out most of battle 3, it needs a bit more event editing and it should be clean for release. I've then got battles 4 and 5 pre-planned as well, just need to rig up those events for it. Hopefully it'll pump some new life into this project. And to keep myself entertained while i update, and because its one of the few zombie sprites we have, ALGUS has volunteered to be shot and killed......repeatedly(I'm up to about 40 algus kills just from testing tonight). If anyone wants to pitch pre-made sprites as possible volunteers for shooting algus(The hero and D), feel free to drop the name of them in here and ill go find em. Fair warning, the 2 battles following the first 2 (the two new ones im adding) will be featuring a non-vampire slayer, with a totally different style of fighting. I'll go more into detail about him tomorrow, but his general concept is dealing with zombies up close. After those two battles, his path converges with that of our hero and D and you get right on back to your gunslingin.

Awesome!
About your "Sick of FFT" syndrome, remember what Asmo said:

Quote from: Asmo XDon't make a full length game. It'll never be finished. Write a good, tight story and make a game around it. If it turns out to only be a third the size of FFT or something, that's far less important than how compelling the actual game is

Yay! You're back on this <3<3<3

oh not it wasnt that in particular dome, i was just more not in the mood for playing anything FFT related, and testing the same few battles 490583905890 times was driving me mad. Either way, gotta go rerun the third battle, see if its working properly, then ill throw up a new PPF.

To everyone who has zero event editing skills..... I have released a teaser with the updated version of this patch! its full of mystery, allusion, and suspense!the game is supposed to stop running after you see the video! its just a teaser afterall!


..... to those who know how to event edit.... why does the game crash after the event/before the battle starts I've been having trouble with this? it worked fine before i edited the events text, and i only removed some "move unit" lines generally. 

Pastebin your event and link me to it XD

SO! I'm currently in a place with not a lot of internet access, and a ton of free time. Once I sort out a few errands, I'm kicking this into a 2.0 mega master remix edition! (Just hafta redownload all the tools, new laptop)

I'll move it out of Old Project Ideas, once I see these things happen.

Yup yup! I've been generally sporadic on this so definitely leave it here until i get an update out of some sort, I honestly thought that this site was down at one point (checked right when you guys switched servers) so if I get distracted, its my own fault, but this week i'll be home 5 days straight with no internet, so I at least /plan/ to try

Oh wow. I remember when you first started this project :P I hope it remains as hilarious and awesome as the old ideas for it were

Had some housing drama, progress slowed, but I am poking it. its been ages since I modded