Final Fantasy Hacktics

I'm just thinking the "sick fuck" thing because of Chef-Autocannibalism up there.

I've got most of the game done in my head, but I'm honestly stuck at this point.  This and the whole finding resources I want to use thing...

I glanced over other forums, and I didn't see anything else appropriate.  I suppose I misread General as being "for mods not of the FFT nature".

I tend to overthink what I don't underthink.

also; thanks, I'm fond of the idea myself (hence making the game), and I'm looking forward to being able to start in on it once I get my class options decided.

ok, here goes.

Making a game (RPGmaker, lame, I know, but whatever) that explores death.  Why we fear it, why we strive for it, our thoughts on the matter, why we mourn, and so on.

Issue is, I need a little help.

Party consists of 4 characters - a hero(silent protag), a good influence, a bad influence, and a neutral influence.  Kinda like the Laharl/Etna/Flonne trifecta.  I may cut the Neutral Influence just to keep with that mentality.

What I need for help, is someone with a sense of morbidity - I need ideas of why people would want to die.

The world, as it stands now, is full of immortals.  According to the game's lore, someone actually created an elixir of immortality, and in his infinite wisdom, added it to the water supply.  As such, people are incapable of dying.  Some characters will be upwards of 500 years old because of this.  Some will want to die.  Your character (and his entourage), will be "blessed" with the curse of mortality.  They can die, but they will be the only ones in the world capable of killing.

Later into the game, a group of "Heroes" sets forth to kill you.  Both teams, of course, will be on the side of good, but you will always be seen as powerful villians - after all, you're KILLING people...something that hasn't been done in centuries.

From a gameplay mechanic, each person the player kills will earn him Karma (which will affect available events and endings), and an equippable "Soul" which will allow for a class change.  Each suggestion put in needs 3 things:

Who am I killing?
Why do they want to die?
What is the theme of the class I attain?

The main 3 are Warrior, Cleric and Wizard, respectively.  Theif is the neutral, and might be cut, so each soul will grant different classes to whomever it's attached to.  Eastern + Warrior, for example, will make a Samurai, but Eastern + Cleric makes Geisha.

Here's what I've got sofar.

Nomad, Lonliness, Drifter classes
Pirate/Monk/Sorcerer

Old Man, Old Age, Eastern classes
Samurai/Geisha/Ninja

Cook, Boredom (wants to cook the only thing he hasn't - human.  wants to die to autocannibalize), food service classes
Butcher, Waitress, Chef

Partier, alcohol poisoning, party classes
Frat Boy/Illusionist

Clown, Sadness, entertainer classes
Strongman/Fortune Teller/Fire Breather/Knife Thrower

Anyone reading all those over will notice that some are legitmate reasons to want to die, whereas others are ridiculous.  Clearly, netting all the classes blindly will lead the player towards a bad ending.

I've got the game half-plotted, I just need the coup-de-gras.  8-10 viable and decent classes to have the party parade around as...killing innocent bystanders in a world where death has been forgotten.

(please, feel free to call me a sick fuck for even thinking of this game - I already think of it as myself).

If anyone's interested, I can post my script for the first few minutes of gameplay to get a feel for the world that they might be contributing an idea or two towards.

woot! I'm useful!

3D: Knight (Undead) - 9B: Sword Skill
3F: Archer (Undead) - 9C: Charge
42: Wizard (Undead) - 9D: Black Magic
44: Time Mage (Undead) - 9E: Time Magic
46: Oracle (Undead) - 9F: Yin-Yang Magic
47: Summoner (Undead) - A0: Summon

all of these humans are coded as special monsters - no Job Wheel access, and can't change equipment/skills.

there's a dud Celia and a dud Lede that you can use - I forget the sprite codes for 'em, though.  that's how you're supposed to do the replacing:

change Dead Malak to dud Lede in FFTP
change sprite of dud Lete to Malak's sprite
Dead Malak is now free to add to the party, and mod as needed.

You can still use Alma, by the way - there's 2 Almas.  1 for "normal" use, and 1 set aside solely for her Altima battle appearance.  change the Altima battle one to her standard one, and you've got another open spot.

naw, they're coded as monsters, it seems...cant change jobs/equipment.  Might need some ASM coding to be usable...which is pure BS, but whatever...

hah, glad to know just how much I have to learn when it comes to Ruby.  perhaps I'll have to look into seeing just what Ruby can accomplish...

also, static JP sounds good, and less abusable, but you'll have to lower JP costs to match, since we can't gangbeat for JP anymore.

also also:Lancer doesn't need to be scrapped, it can be made Kain style.

Geomancer does sound difficult, though.   you'd either wind up with FF5 style, which was crap, or FF6 style, which is slightly less crap.  seems a waste to waste it, though - perhaps a "terrain" skill that offers a choice of 3-4 spells based off current battle terrain?

as a fellow RM maker, I see a few minor flaws (ones that stopped me form porting FFT to RMVX)

1) WP and defense
FFT uses WP*PA=DMG
default Attack in RMVX is 4*C.STR-2*T.DEF

2) Jump, Throw, Geomancy, and Math are all very difficult without delving deep into Ruby

3) Job Change systems are a pain in the ass in general, actually...

4) Ramza's Ultima

5) skill learning in general

also: accessories are fine, you still get Weapon/Sheild/Heat/Body/Accessory in VX, unless you were planning on removing accessories for a different reason..

Wiegraf: Two lions are fighting for power after the king died! One is white lion, Larg. The other is black, Goltana. Both
want to know who their allies are. But, it's hard to read strangers' minds. So, why not kill 'em all and bring in your own people? Gustav was deceived by Dycedarg's silk tongue and kidnapped the Marquis!

Do we now understand why demons want to destroy the world?

also: Oldsmobiles are seriously underrepresented in this topic.



My dad used to drag race with one of these, back in the day.

ok, my turn!

1. ok, this I kinda agree with, but there needed to be a way to remove Ramza permanantly, else he'd be less "behind the scenes"

2.  Delita was amazing, and is easily one of my favourite characters.  He's second only to Ramza for character growth.  Think of him less as a generic asshole (see: Algus), and more along the lines of someone who didn't want to see his sister's death in vain.

3.There's really no way she could be playable...unless someone wants to write a Delita Mode script...

4. "generics unable to obtain special classes"....what would make them special, then?

5.  Once a party member joins your team, they're removed form the storyline...that way if you reject them/tell 'em to fsck off, it doesn't cause a glitch.

6. Actually, Meliadoul would be a more apt comparison.  You know Knightblade is just a fancy Knight with innate Eq: Lance, right?  Honestly, I'd rather have Meliadoul (who only comes after you because Izlude is dead)

7. how many characters do you need?  my god, I'm playing WotL, and I have characters still at L1 in CH4...

8. fsck Cloud.

9.  I always saw Lancers as garbage, honestly - mostly because you can't see when they'll land until they jump...

10. he's less interesting because he's less developed to begin with.  He's young, remember, Zalbag was old.  Honestly, I find Zalbag kinda dull: he seems, personalitywise, a lot like Agrias...

11. what's not to like about an adorable tomboy?  Seriously.  She's Meliadoul without weapons.  Same loyalty to family, same bullheadedness...

12. Miluda didn't want to run the second time - she chose "victory or death".

13. Ramza: If you see T.G. Cid, can you give him a message for me?
Olan: What do you need of the duke?
Ramza: my father once told me he's the only man he could trust

...seem like a bad slashfic character still?

14. see: 5.  can't make Agrias interact with Meliadoul if she could be long gone by then.

15. do you REALLY think that a mere mortal would be in that close with the Lucavi?  Seriously?  Mel and Izlude didn't even know about Vormav, there's no other way than "they're really demons"

16.  Geomancer was a way for a melee character with a meh MA (and, therefore, no way to utilize Black effectively) to poke and possibly fling around status.  I commonly used it to KO enemies with low HP.  MEdiator has free instand status effects.  Mime + Dancer/Bard/Calc is OP.  Calc sucked, but Math is so broken that it's actually banned in WotL multiplayer.

17.  most games have this, not just FF.  in DnD, sure - your wizard can equip heavy armour...just don't expect him to be able to cast worth a shit.  Think of it less as "I'm not physically capable of weilding this", and more like "naw, I'll pass."

18. Why would Ramza WANT to after seeing what they do?  besides, you need to be corrupt to use 'em (excluding th Rafa exception).  Hence why Dycedarg was a vessel.  Altima, being so powerful, needed a virgin sacrifice, hence, Alma.  troublesome, but a truly pure soul.

19. Algus always hated Delita - look at the way he talks down to him whenever they interact.
Delita: well, this is more interesting than guarding a castle
Algus: Some of us would rather not be ripped to shreds by monsters

20. look at the interactions before Zalbag leaves - it's entirely possible he didnt' SEE Ramza, and saw his course of actions as the only route.

21. so I'm playing through Fire Emblem, and I get the occasional stage of nothing but bandits.  What the hell, how can there be a huge war between nobles going on when bandits are so prolific?  you'd think they'd be spending all their time fighting off bandits, and have no time to fight each other.

22. I agree with most other people on this.  either plot armour, or Zalbag's a weak little tactician.

23. see: every other answer post.  he's trying to keep Gaffy away from Ovelia, because they have the same plan.

24. the ending CAN'T explain anything.  Ramza was wiped from history, remember?  the whole thing was written by Olan?  if that's the last time he saw Ramza/Alma, how could he know what happened to 'em?  As for Beowulf/Reis, etc., see my answer #5.  again.  Unless you want a Fire Emblem styled panel to read with a quick blurb about people you recruited, but I hate those, personally.

25.  a parody.  obviously, as the barkeep calls him on it.  Look at any other game, and you'll see people go to a bar and order either milk, or tea.  They'll then subsequently act drunk off that milk or tea.  Ramza's what? 18 in CH4?  you can't have an 18 year old buy booze in a NA release, where you need to be 19/21 to drink.

...did I do good?  let's see how many people we can do this.

honestly, man -  "I love this game, except the people, the storyline, and the classes suck".  what else is there?

that's seriously messed up - they look just like human characters in FFTP - though the growths are a little...odd...

le~sigh, guess I'm back to using Alma/Malak/Gaffy/Simon/Balmafula for my replacements for Rad/Lavian/Alicia/Boco/Byblos...

yeah...I was REALLY hoping they were human, though...like, a lot...

honestly, a monster chemist never even came to mind.  Do you mean monster like Worker 8 is a monster, or monster like Boco is a monster?  if it's the former, then I can still use 'em to add a bit of flair to an encounter...like, liches and crap that you wouldn't be able to recruit instead of generic, boring "Undead Summoner".

I'd like to, tentatively, add a few minor things - being a Pokémon player, and all...

challenge starts at Dorter...this way you can get Mediator for B

you can recruit 1 enemy (human or otherwise) from the first random in the area, then no more.  no recruiting form storyline battles.

...actually, this may be interesting for a Monsters Only, Nuzlocke...

you could also remove Brave Fury/Faith increases and decreases and make them all static numbers (Ramza is always 70/70, etc.)

ok, I know that there's only so much "room" to work with in the rom (or whatever), so here goes:

am I limited to 16 monster classifications, or can I have more?  can I, say, have 2 of every monster type instead of 3, or is there not enough room for more sprites?

How about character sprites? I want to make the following into custom jobs:

35 Chemist
36 Priest
37 Wizard
38 Oracle
39 Oracle
3D Knight
3F Archer
42 Wizard
44 Time Mage
46 Oracle
47 Summoner

These are, form what I can tell, primarily the Undead versions of said jobs (though I have no idea what's up with there being so many oracles).  3D and on even have "special" job commands.  I can condense the abilities I'm using by a fair amount (there's really no need for 2 Seals, and 3 Dash commands) and give some monsters human skills to make it semi-viable...not to mention that, if these are Invite-proof, they're essentially NPC-only classes which would add a touch of flair to random encounters, boss fights, or even a little surprise in Deep Dungeon.

Which addresses my main concern: room.

is this viable? do those spots (like 3D Knight) redirect to their basic sprites, or is it a separate, yet identical sprite?

Dmg_B(PA*(WP+Y)) 100% Status - Swordskill, but with Brave

Dmg_F(MA*(WP+Y)) 100% Status - Same as above, but with Faith

Dmg_F((MA+Y)/2*MA) - Would be amazing for making scaling spells

Dmg_B((PA+Y)/2*PA) - Again - scaling physical skills. - Possibly 2/Naked for this and above, for scaling purposes.  Will test.

Dmg_((MA+Y)/2*PA) - Opposite of Geomancy - could come in handy

Heal_(Y)%  100% Add Status on Caster  - would be great for recreating Sabin's Spirallier

Generic: Set_Skeleton: Hit(MA+X)%  - would be cool for a Necromancer skill, especially if Invite can be tacked on, and/or it can only target KO'd targets.  Don't know how easy/hard it would be, though.

Undead: Heal_(Y)% 100% Add Status - Again, would be cool for a Necromancer

Dmg_((PA+Y)*PA/2) #Hit(Rdm(1,(X/SP)) - A basic (?) multi-hit formula.  More hits based off unit's speed.

Dmg ((100-CasB)*(100-TarB)*(WP+X)*PA) - Remember the Chicken Knife?  Would also work fine without calculating opponent's Brave.

Equipped:Break Dmg_(MA*Y) - Magic-oriented break skills.  Usable for things, like Acid Breath on a dragon that dissolves armour.

Equipped:Break Dmg_(PA*Y) - Again, to make break skills for monsters.

Dmg_(MA*Y) DmgCas_(MA*Y/X) - Bloodcasting

Dmg_F(MA*Y) DmgCas_F(MA*Y/X) - Bloodcasting...with Faith!

Dmg_F((MA+Y)/2*MA) DmgCas_F(((MA+Y)/2*MA)/X) - because I'm horrible people.  I still like it, conceptually, though.

HealMP_(CasMaxMP*1/5) DmgCasMP_(CasMaxMP*1/5) - give MP to an ally.  not much explanation needed.

Hit_B(PA+X)% - again, I like the idea of being affected by Brave

Dmg_(CasMaxHP-CasCurHP) Hit_(MA+X)% - shock needs accuracy issues if it's gonna be accessible to everyone

Dmg_(CasCurHP) - not as much for a skill, but as a skill to be placed on a weapon as a different damage formula.

DmgCas_(PA*Y) HealMP_(PA*Y) - I considered having this as an MA skill, since it's obviously for mages...but I think a Wizard would kill itself very quickly using it that way...

Honestly, I just really like the idea of using Brave to calculate physical skills effectiveness, and Faith for magic effectiveness.  Kinda like the whole Fury concept, but not including weapons.

I'd also like to see more Speed formulas, but any examples elude me for now.  It makes me a little sad that speed is only used for Aim: Arm/Leg, Seal Evil, Stealing and Throwing.  Something like Dmg_((SP+Y)/2*MA) might be neat for a continuous caster or something, though.

aaand I think I'm going overboard with ideas, here.  Like, seriously overboard.  I should likely stop.

If you're making an easy-to-use damage formula changer, like Raven's weapon formula changer, you'll be my hero.

not ALL formulas, mind you - just weapon formulas.

believe me - I'd LOVE to have an easy way to have Nanoflare's formula with Faith calculations, but...no such luck...

or download Raven's Tools.

there's a formula editor in there that lets you change weapon formulas.

You can make it, say, PA*25 to keep it in line with a sword with WP25.

I...honstly think that such a WP will be a little high, though. a PA of 10 is 250DMG. in Vanilla, I can easily get a PA of around 15, which is 375DMG - which could kinda 1-shot most things, given HP growth at the time.

only Jump ASM I found lets you change it to 1 other weapon class.  so I can, basically, make it Spears/Sticks, not Spears & Sticks.