Hack Idea - Final Fantasy Tactics: Dissidia?

[Calemyr]

I'm sure this isn't a new idea, but it's one I haven't found and I'd like to see if it can be done. The idea is that FFT already has numerous recruitable cameos from other FF games (Cloud, Baltheir, Luso), so why not push it further? We've got the sprites to make several FF icons already, and some of 'em (Terra, Squall, Firion, Tidus, Warrior of Light) are already small enough to fit into WotL, while Vivi is generic enough to use the standard Black Mage sprite. I can see three ways of pulling this off:

Gariland's Finest: Editing the 6 characters you start with to be six FF cameos. The academy is for the up and coming movers and shakers of the kingdom, so why are Delita and Ramza the only two who merit a unique appearance? This would be the simplest route, I'd wager. You'd have to create Name entries, sprites, and jobs for them (although ideally I'd just give them the Ramza2-3 job - handy, but not overpowering), but otherwise all you'd need to do is edit the ENTD #188 entry and they'd just join up from the start.

Pros: Easiest to do, earliest payoff, optimal customizability, no script modifications needed, reasonably fitting location (as forced cameos go, anyway).
Cons: Characters have no personality and are effectively sprite-locked generics.

Uniques Redefined: Change some of the existing characters to use FF sprites and names. Mustadio could easily become Squall, for instance. Ladd could become the Warrior of Light (or simply "Light") and Agrias could make a passable Terra. Possibly Agrias's knights could be swapped out for Tidus and Firion. This makes them part of the plot, but doesn't require extra characters and allows for some of the new guy to have some pretty nifty starting classes. I'd be hard pressed to imagine who'd be Reis, Beowulf, or Meliadoul, much less Orlandau. If we had a working Locke, I'd almost think he and Terra would work as a Beowulf/Reis.

Pros: Characters would be part of the story, as much as or more than existing cameos.
Cons: Would most likely require script changes to alter name references in dialogue. Character recruitment would be very end-game heavy, as it is now (naturally).

Chess: I don't know if this is possible, but it seems logical and much easier if it worked. Swap out the "Team Ramza" entry in generic sprites for cameo sprites - not necessarily FF or Squaresoft sprites, either! Frog as a Knight, Crono as a Samurai, Terra as a Geomancer, Tifa (and Sabin if anyone ever makes him) as Monks, Rydia as a Black Mage, Garnet as either a White Mage or a Summoner, Lenneth Valkyrie and Cid Highwind as Dragoons, Tidus or Locke as a Thief, Shadow as a Ninja, Squall as an Orator, Firion as an Archer, etc, etc. Your party then would consist entirely of cameos and plot-centric characters.

Pros: Comparatively simple, if at all possible. Build your own party out of the pieces provided. Oddly fitting considering Dissidia itself is effectively a chess game played between Cosmos and Chaos.
Cons: Characters decidedly not unique, and have their sprites based on their current job rather than fixed. Requires existing sprite files to be altered to reduce the size to a useable 43Kb and preferably additional ones as well to round out the set.

That's the idea anyway. I'm new to FFT modding (only just yesterday picked it up to experiment with giving my Gariland recruits special sprites the way I did with the Gameshark back in the PSX days), so I don't have much knowledge on what level of effort would be required or even if it's feasible. Also, I have no artistic ability, so I'm useless for making or editing sprites myself and I'm having trouble with things like shoulders and file sizes when working with existing ones.

[Calemyr]

I'm not sure if anyone pays attention to these anymore, but I do believe I've succeeded, at least to some degree.

Using the "Gariland's Finest" approach, I turned the first three generic NPCs into Tidus (FFX), Firion (FFII), and Terra (FFVI), complete with names and named classes (Striker, Wild Rose, and Esperkin, respectively). The names work, the sprites work, and the classes work. (So far, at least. Haven't taken 'em past the Gariland fight.) Still have trouble with their formation menu sprites and portraits, but I don't know of any tools that fix that for WotL.

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys could help me design the classes. So far, I've been using Ramza Ch2 Squire as my foundation for stats, skills, and equipment, but I'd like to make it more personalized, really. Here's what I've got:

Firion: Wild Rose
Stats: Ramza 2 for the most part. Slight increase in attack power
Equipment: Ramza 2 + All weapons short of cloth and purses (Firion is a weapons master)
Attack Skills: Ramza 2
Passive Skills: Ramza 2
Innate: Attack Boost

Tidus: Striker
Stats: Ramza 2 for the most part. Increase in speed stats
Equipment: Ramza 2
Attack Skills: Ramza 2
Passive Skills: Ramza 2
Innate: Brawler (Only thing I could think of)

Terra: Esperkin
Stats: Ramza 2 for the most part. Black Mage for Magic Attack
Equipment: Ramza 2 + Rods, head accessories, perfume, and tynar rouge (she is a girl, after all)
Attack Skills: Fire 1-4, Meltdown, Cure 1 & 2, Life 1 & 2, Esuna, Drain, Holy, Gravity, Break, Dispel, Ultima (with the exception of Fire 4, this is exactly the spells she learns naturally in FFVI, but Warp isn't applicable here.)
Passive Skills: Ramza 2
Innate: Arcane Boost (to make up for a lack of Esper Form)
Note: I used Cletienne's attack menu ("Esper") for Terra, so that boss likely either got a major boost or a bit of a nerf.

While I was at it I also boosted Cloud's Soldier class so that it had an innate Swiftness to it and the limit breaks no longer require the Materia Blade. He should now at least be competetive.

What do you think?

[Eternal]

This belongs in New Project Ideas. Moving it now.