Final Fantasy Hacktics

I see. Yeah I figured it would probably be difficult, as any of them would need to have been built with this one as it's base instead of Vanilla, so probably too soon.

Which means that I'll need to make the mod myself. Which I'm not opposed to. I'm fairly familiar with the process, though a bit rusty cause it's been a long time. Speaking of which, I was pleasantly surprised my account was still intact after so long away. My first account, TheClaimer, didn't make it past the website upgrade way back when, so I had assumed I'd need to make yet another, which is nice. So THANK YOU TO THE ADMINS for that one.

Anyway, it seems I'll be starting a small project myself to up the difficulty a little. To that end, from what I've been able to determine in reading through the FAQ's and notes and such is that I should be fairly free to make modification in FFTPatcher, but will have limited space for additional ASM hacks. Are these assumptions correct? If so, just how much space for ASM hacks do I have to work with? Are there any other limits that I should keep in mind as well?

Lucky me, I decide to pick up FFT again after more than a decade, and dropped by here to see the state of mods, and this sweet one is just releasing! so first off THANKS SO MUCH to everyone that worked on making this.

I was wondering if anyone had managed to combine this mod with any other difficulty based ones. Looking for more of a challenge compared to the base game, but not on the masochistic level of 1.3. That one really lost itself after splitting off to insanely derpy to be honest.

If there were ever a way to clearly tell who were full sociopaths from those that merely show tendencies, then yea, get rid of them. From a purely utilitarian point of view those individuals do little or nothing to further society as a whole, and more often then not are a detriment to society. But since there is no such method the point is moot.

Few more thoughts on the matter.

Head shot would need to have a charge time, otherwise it would completely replace the normal attack and leave the unit with no reason to ever use the attack command. Thus, adding a small charge time, nothing significant, would balance that out perfectly.

Shotgun: Fires a shell filled with small metal balls that is deadly at short range. (medium high damage, 1 range)

Rapid Fire: Three shots are fired in rapid succession at a single target (evadable, single target, 1-3 random hits)

These are a bit more iffy, though they fit with the theme.

If someone could send me a mem card save thats right before the first musty fight, ill go ahead and make a test patch of this job and record his three forced battles to see how the AI handles this, after I get my tourney vids finished. Ive got work in the morning and a vocal piece to practice later that afternoon, so I'll probably start recording those tomorrow evening.

I had another idea concerning improving the archer class.

Give Mustadio's skill set to archers. Arm aim, leg aim, seal evil, maybe a unique skill or two. We already know that the skill set is useful, and will be more so if accessible earlier.

Then we make Musty a new skill set that will see him used a bit more. Rough idea:

MACHINEST (experts in using forgotten technologies, iconic for using guns) [basically this class focuses on using guns]

all abilities require a gun to use. all abilities use the gun's attributes (range, ignores evasion) where applicable

Headshot: Aims for an enemies head hoping to end them in one blow (normal damage, chance to add:dead) [think weak, long range crush punch]

Explosive round: Fires a special bullet designed to explode on impact (1 aoe, normal damage)

Sticky round: Fires a special shell that coats the target in sticky substance that impedes movement (no damage, adds slow or stop

Piercing round: Fires a sabot round that pierces through multiple targets (less damage, strikes in a line, 4 aoe)

Basically the idea is to turn mustadio into the premier gun user. Sure anyone can aim the thing and pull the trigger, but musty know how to really put it to use. I would think with the gun damage equation being what it is that the damage from these skills would be easy to control. The idea is to have un-evadable low to medium damage skills that are instant ranged abilities.

Proposed Archer Change

Change all "charge" skills to abilities that use the PA*(WP+Y) formula of sword skills.
CT for abilities stay the same, but can now be affected by short charge.
Y is equivalent to the "number of the charge"
(These charge abilities will do slightly more damage due to speed no longer being a factor, as well as Attack up having a greater effect for the same reason, but these also help to keep the class alive later in the game)
Add the following skills:
VOLLEY: 4 random hits in 1 aoe, 3 vert tolerance [requires bow]
Aim: Normal attack ignores evasion [requires bow]
Hail Mary: reduced chance of hitting, vastly increased range [requires bow]

The archer is now ranged damage king, both early and late game, but I dont think this setup would be OP, and if need be the bow WP could be adjusted.

I could see maybe archer getting revamped, but will most likely oppose a complete overhaul of any other class.

We should change things cause they need to be changed, not just cause we can do something different. The point I'm trying to make is that this patch has always been about balancing, and adding challenge to, the original game, and sticking with that it should be as close to the original as we can get it while still fulfilling those goals.

Changing things cause "I think black mages should be more like this cause of such and such RP reason" or "lets just spread this classes abilities to some other classes so we can make way for this other really class idea" dont really help the balance of the game at all, in fact they are more likely to cause imbalance later on, cause they will be introducing elements that havent been accounted for.

Now changing something for BALANCE reasons, such as elements not having as much an effect as before with the removal of a lot of the monster weaknesses warrants a change, but that change should be as minimalistic as possible, say adding spells to their list that force weaknesses, similar to oil. Simple, doesn't significantly alter the class, sticks with its theme, and most importantly, gives BALANCE.

dont get me wrong, I LOVE some of the ideas Ive heard (read i guess) here, but its just not 1.3. It was said in the OP that 1.4 ought to be a starting point for future patches. A lot of these suggestions are things that belong in future patches.

As for balancing the archer class, why not just convert the charge skills into spells? Give the spells the relative speed of the original charge abilities, have them use the WP like sword skills do, and then have them use the weapon animation. Boom! We've now got practically the same abilities that archer did before, but now they can be affected by short charge for late game, and can be mixed with a few custom skills so archers arent a one trick pony. Say something like VOLLEY: Random hits in an aoe, AIM: normal attack ignores evasion, PIN: Attack adds dont move. This follows the same theme as archers in vanilla, but improves it in such a way that it is balanced, good early game, and good late game too.

I'm really wary of changing entire skillsets other than the sage skillset. 1.3 (and subsequent updates) Is meant to be a more balanced/harder version of vanilla. The only reason that calculator was entirely changed was because of how game breaking it was. Other than that, we should not change an entire skillset.

Remember Occam's razor. The simplest solution is most often the best one. Changing an entire skill set is going to cause some serious balance issues and is going to take some serious time to figure it all out.

So I've been away for a while studying for my finals next week... and I come back to this.

Wow.

1. Yes, though it still needs to be a job thats chapter appropriate. I like the idea of his job "evolving" as the game progresses, but it needs to be within reason. I dont think Ramza should have an entirely unique skillset, but rather an optimized one. Sorta like Algus having some knight skills throuwn in. Later, as the base job evolves other skills could be added, such as Gaff's skills being given (Ive always thought this should happen).

Or we could just leave his base class as it is and give it some nice innate. Say monster skill, attack up, magic attack up. That would not make the class game breaking early on, and would still be useful later in the game, and stays with Ramza's ubersquire them of being a jack of all trades. This version of Ramza will do anything well, as well as carry the squires "basic skills" of being able to restore, heal, and revive.

2-4 Agree

5. Only change the battles that havent been beaten yet. I especially like the idea of the rematches. Put a rematch with two people in elmdor's job that has a masamune and chirijiriden and is accomponied by various demons. Gives a decent challenge from teleport 2 chiri spam, but would provide a less stressful way of getting more masamunes. IMO Genji gear should still be one of a kind.

6. agree

7. I'm not sure on this one, as it would do more to encourage low level's for people that want to train them for something specific. Most of the special jobs growths are optimized for that jobs abilites. I much preffer the method of making all growths the same and only making use of multipliers.

8-10 agree

11. I like most of lucifer_zero's ideas, otherwise leave monsters be.

12-13 agree

14. DISAGREE. Bosses are supposed to be hard, and by lowering their multipliers below the players all we would be doing is encouraging leveling to even the playing field. This would eliminate strategy. Beating a boss should be about correct strategy, not haha i levelled till I was buffer than you. At higher levels the player has more skills available, and therefore better strategies, and so the bosses are stronger than normal to offset them. Bosses are fine. Leave them be!

15. Hell no. Both skillsets are just fine the way they are. The only change to archer I would make is take concentrate away from theives and give it to archers. Or if it was possible to find a way to make short charge apply to charge skillset that would be better, but I dont think thats possible.

16. disagree

17. Interesting... but I think Philsov took it a little too far. I can tell you know, looking at what he put in as innates, I would NEVER take them out of their base classes. Maybe one, max of two innates a piece.

18. I think it would be much more interesting to give poison and frog to oracle, drop death, and then give black mage three spells that make the target(s) weak to a specific element. This would be a nice strategical addition, and would encourage more elemental synergy withing teams.

19. I dislike rare poaching as well, but if everything can only give you one item then thats less things you can gain poaching. Is there a way to make it 50/50 on which item you get?

20. Agree, but only in randoms. Monster skill is really powerful, and would make a few good hard fun randoms.

21. No.

22. Yes

23-25 No.

26. Interesting. Sort of a "repair" feature, though it doesnt really work with stolen stuff rpg wise, but oh well. Cant have everything. I like it.

27. Agree

28. I think the new and improved sage bears more testing till we change it. That being said, I LOVE THE IDEA OF A NECROMANCER. Though I would change the the suggested skills. Manipulate to high % charm only on undead, and drop decay for the current sage zombie spell. Reason for manipulate being changed is that the ability to turn a unit into an undead and then invite it seems a bit too powerful. Also, give the necromance the ability to "revive" undead. INJECT Necromancer injects disabled undead with dark energies.

29. No, but see above...

hmm... i dont know... 40% of study cold cases cant even identify the cause of the cold, and there are about 100 different strains of rhinovirus that are known to cause the cold.

If I were an evil genius terrorist, id be trying to find a way to adapt the common cold virus' to develop this, which could be possible simply because the common cold (virus' associated with) are some of the most adaptable organisms on the planet. If anything can do it, then they can.

Think about it, something as contagious as the common cold, only now if you catch it, you die, cause as it replicates itself in your body its killing you too.

Sorry, but I disagree.

Words are symbols. They represent concepts, ideas. They, by their very nature of being symbols, are designed to make one think of the concepts that they represent. I say "popcorn", which is just a collection of letters, but you immediately think of what that word symbolizes.  

You cant simply discard the idea behind a word. Society in general is in consensus as to what "rape" is, or rather, to what concept that particular combination of letters is attached to. While its possible that some few are ignorant of what concept society has attached to the word, the majority is aware of it.

Furthermore, "rape" isn't just a randomly chosen word, but is specifically used because of what it symbolically represents. They know, in the majority of cases, exactly what they are saying.

Its not so much that these people ought to know what Mel's friend went through specifically, but rather that their use of the word is socially in-appropriate in the context that they are using it.

EDIT: If you dont believe that words have power and meaning behind them, go round to the ghetto and start droppin ni**** all over and see what happens.

With the Durai Papers not only released, but proved to be true, and the church's secret libraries now forced open to the public, a new manuscript comes into the spotlight, raining truth upon a much hated villain. History under King Delita's rule had one Algus Sadalfus portrayed as a snobbish noble, and the Durai Papers seemed to agree. But the new manuscript, a journal of Algus himself, tells a different story, one of confusion, regret, and redemption.

Algus Sadalfus, a cadet in the Limberry Knight's Academy, was born to a noble name that had lost it's honor. This new journal details the young man's struggle to even gain entrance to the academy, and his persecution while training there. While sharing the normal views of the upper class of his time, it seems  both Delita and Ramza exaggerate the young Algus' prejudice, though it was definitely there.

After the fight with Ramza and Delita, Algus cools down and returns to Lionel Castle to beg forgiveness and try to make amends, finding that the relationship between Ramza and Delita, noble and common born, to confuse him and give him hope for a brighter future. Their deep friendship should not have even been possible, at least that is what Algus had been led to believe his entire life, and if Ramza could do the impossible, then maybe he, Algus Sadalfuls, could regain the honor his family had lost.

But his once comrades had already left on their ill-conceived rescue attempt. Algus begged an audience with Zalbag Beoulve, and was granted the honor of accompanying him in the attack on Fort Zeakden, hoping to be re-united with his friends there. Though granted his wish, he would find that the meeting was not what he had hoped...

Ordered by his superiors to kill Teta, the sister of Delita, Aglus found that he could not obey. How could he slay the sister of one of his only friends? An innocent girl, common though she was? Unable to fire the bolt, the shot was taken by another. Both sickened and relieved, the confused Algus is assualted and blamed for what was not his doing. How could these, his friends, believe him capable of such an atrocity against them?! Forced to defend himself, he found he could not kill his friends, and allowed them to win. Confusion, rage, hurt, shame, and sorrow engulfed him as he lay bleeding near Fort Zeakden when it exploded.

The journal does not tell us how he survived, only a cryptic not that "Teta saved me." Algus, finally able to come to terms with recent events, and his feelings, decides that the best way to regain his families, and his own, lost honor was to continue to serve the Hokuten as best he could. The journal details his rise in rank, and his uncovering a plot by the church to kill Duke Larg and Lord Dycedarg. A thrilling tale for all, with many heartfelt lessons to be learnt.

looks fun... but I dont buy games anymore unless ive tried them first, and i havent been able to find a fully functioning demo anywhere

what the hell is minecraft?

FABLE III:

PRO: It looked great
The battle system was simple and intuitive
The story was very well done, with a much better plot than in Fable II

CON: It's short as hell if you dont devote significant time to side quests
Its difficulty is comparable to vanilla tactics: other than a few spots your not likely to even get knocked out
I hated the weapons, especially the augment system

OVERALL: Fable III is definitely worth playing, but I'm not going to buy it. The creators wanted to make a game that had a lot of xbox live focus, but the live aspect of the game really sucks, and the single player takes a hit cause of it. 7/10 score in my book.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED 2

PRO: This game is visual crack. Looks amazing
Gameplay is simplified so you can focus your attention on massive destruction
Had just the right amount of "epic" sequences

CON: Again, too damn easy
too damn short (were talking like four hours on hard)
For anyone whos not already a star wars fan the storyline will be a bit confusing.

OVERALL: Not as good as the first. On the other hand, if you dont really care about the story, and just want a game where you can be a baddass jedi that tears through everything in their path, you'll love it. 6.5/10

Great a bacteria thats actually made of poison... just what the world needs. Lets hope the common cold doest adapt this, cause then were all screwed.

I agree, extremists, both religious and atheistic, are idiots. Both tend to spout fallacy riddled arguments that have been around for hundreds of years. Politics are the same way.

I'm a double major in political science and philosophy, and am always happy to have intelligent discussion of religion and/or politics with others, as long as ppl keep it civil.

just finished fable III and force unleashed 2. waiting no for gamefly to deliver reach.

wow, glad this got bumped. That video at the beginning rocks! Don't get me wrong, I'm against abortion ill all circumstances excluding rape, incest, and health issues to mother or child, but those stupid protesters got word raped!

And both the above ads are stupid.

Yup.

Sorry Kage, but your not seeing the big picture here. The 80% of the purpose behind making a patch, hack, mod, whatever is so people besides the creators will play it. And those people are going to have questions and want help with what has been produced. Its stupid to think otherwise.

What I'm hearing is that you want to make mods, and just throw them out there, and not provide any support to the rank and file that dont know shit about the mod at all. Were not Dell computers here. We dont sell someone a crappy laptop and then never talk to them again.

How are we going to bring new talent in, if not through advertising already finished, or near finished mods. How many here didnt know crap about modding FFT until the visited the site? How many are now either involved with, or have started their own mod here because they were brought in by 1.3.

So what if only 1 in 100 actually go on to produce and/or help with mods? Thats one more person than you had before. How else are you going to get more people here than by advertising an already finished project? This is how a modding community works! Go check out the mod community for EVNova. Weve been modding that game for over eight years now and the community is still going! Were still putting out new mods! And yes, 90% of the people who visit and talk in the forums dont "produce".

The short version: Without consumers, there's no point to producers.