Chapter 2 Progress Log

[3lric]

Next release will be the retooled ch1 with a buttload of new content included, including ch2.

Nyzer has a better post regarding this stuff that he emailed me for approval before posting. So I will let him post that instead of droning on. Yes the OP is out of date. I should make a new one

[Zanbamon]

Man I can't wait, FFT is my favorite game ever and this hack makes vanilla look like a joke on every aspect except story-wise.
Kudos to you guys for working on this game for so long.

[Nyzer]

Well, it's not about Chapter 2 specifically, but the addition of the synthesis system, and the related features, coming with the next iteration of Jot5 has been a major thing, for one. Real life stuff going on has also been a thing for most of us - speaking just for myself, I've been spending nearly every second weekend out of town for the last while, and I also took a job change that has had me out doing long shifts five days a week (just finished a shift that went from 9:30 AM to 10:05 PM, in fact).

Chapter 2 on its own could, maybe, theoretically be rushed out, I guess. The events are mostly done, there's no major changes planned for its story. (Though no gameplay testing's been done as far as I'm aware.) But everything else being added to the game is so extensive that it'll require players to start a whole new save file - there's no point rushing Ch. 2 out the door.

We had some vague plans to launch Ch. 2 with the rerelease, since it's the rerelease that's holding us back most of all. That's probably how it'll go down.

And if anyone's curious, chapter 3 is nowhere near ready. I've evented some of the Marks for it and we've been occasionally planning & discussing the script for it - that's about all there is on that front.

[Rfh]

Thank you for the hack work involving this mod. The game seems very well rebalanced, at least for basic jobs (I'm not played enough to unlock the rest of the jobs) But I'm worried of one thing. In vanilla CT was horriby balanced, because the units become faster when they reach highter levels and spell casting takes a lot of time, making wizards useless. In Jot5 chapter 1 this doesn't seem important because the units doesn't excel from level 20 in a average playthrough. Have you dealt with this problem in Jot5 future update? A CT scaling system with caster speed sounds good.

[RavenOfRazgriz]

Have you dealt with this problem in Jot5 future update?

This was "dealt with" when the combat system was devised, which includes many abilities and all the gear that's available in later Chapters.  The short version is that CT-based abilities are statted more aggressively, meaning they're faster than Vanilla counterparts in most instances, the bonus from Haste is only 25% instead of 50% (with Slow modified to match), gaining SP from gear is more difficult / costly to other stats, and Speed Growth has been meticulously re-tooled to not produce outlandish numbers at level 99.

Any one of these solutions don't do much on their own but they're combined to address the problem from smaller degrees but from all possible angles so the player doesn't feel like anything has been taken away from them in order to do so.  It also keeps the mechanics of the CT system the same as Vanilla, as changing fundamental combat mechanics was something we wanted to keep to a minimum so the game would continue to feel more like a sequel than a rebalance.

[Guru]

Yes the OP is out of date. I should make a new one

I think this might be just a bit overdue 

I personally think the balance was done really well, even with the advanced classes. I did get to level 70+ messing around with different builds, so my stats were not the greatest considering I changed my classes a lot testing out stuff. Growth rates were much improved anyways, which was one of things I really liked about Jot5, you don't get punished as much for leveling up in the "wrong" class and there are no "wrong" classes in Jot5. That was another thing I really liked, you aren't forced into using the specific builds, because every class can be useful. Casting time and the speed growth were a lot better.

I actually found Jot5 after you were inactive on the forums but I was really impressed with the balance Raven. Not everyone agrees with me, but I think this was a perfect middle grounds in terms of difficulty, not too easy and not too hard. I am looking forward to the suicide version though 

Chapter 2 on its own could, maybe, theoretically be rushed out, I guess. The events are mostly done, there's no major changes planned for its story. (Though no gameplay testing's been done as far as I'm aware.) But everything else being added to the game is so extensive that it'll require players to start a whole new save file - there's no point rushing Ch. 2 out the door.

We had some vague plans to launch Ch. 2 with the rerelease, since it's the rerelease that's holding us back most of all. That's probably how it'll go down.

hmm... I'm sure you guys would rather keep working on the more extensive re-release stuff right now, but if you happen to get ch. 2 done first I wouldn't be opposed to it being released before the re-release. I mean I definitely wouldn't want Ch. 2 being rushed out the door or anything. I don't mind either way personally, and I'm sure most of the people hear understand RL is a bitch sometimes, it's sure been kicking my ass lately.

Thanks for the update though, and I'm still available if you guys need any additional testing.

[Bonesy]

I would imagine the reason for the order-of-operations is so Ch 2 uses the re-release save data and features.

[Guru]

Yeah, that sounds like what was being implied. I was saying I personally wouldn't mind if ch.2 was released without the re-release saves and features. I'm fine with any release order though. Not that it matters what I think

[Nyzer]

That's a major part of it, certainly. The synthesis system is meant to be a big part of the game. The expanded Mark system, too. I actually planned out a ten-Mark chain - a plotline that has the same number of story battles as Chapter 1 of FFT - towards the end of the game that covers a lot of backstory, side plots, and endgame equipment acquisition.

But also, things have been shuffled around since the release of Chapter 1. Items and abilities have been re-sorted, the text has been redesigned to counter issues like being unable to load an entire section at once, I'm pretty sure the ASMs have gone through some alterations to allow Jot5 to run on actual PSX consoles...

While everything could certainly be stitched together as is, I don't think anyone here really wants to do that now only to do it all again later.

[Guru]

Yeah that makes sense, I wouldn't want you guys to have to stitch something together anyways. I was pretty much only thinking about it solely from the perspective of the events/battles,  I wasn't really thinking about items and abilities or about the stuff that would have to be altered/removed because it relies on some of the changes.

Honestly I don't care how you guys want to release it, so don't feel like you have to release both the re-release and Ch.2 at the same time. I'm just grateful that there will be future releases. Although having both released together would be awesome!

Good luck with the rl bs too. This last year has been a nightmare for me, but hopefully things will be a bit more steady now. I'm laid off till May as of last week and I finally got my associates degree, so I'm really glad that's over with. I am still going to continue until at least a bachelors I think, but I can at least focus on the field itself rather than BS classes that have nothing to do with it, and I can go back to taking 4 classes instead of 5. It's been a while since I played, so I'm hoping to play through ch. 1 again soon. After I either fix my car or run out of money lol.

[RJ Cid]

Hello Everyone!

It's been a few months since I've checked in on this mod. Hope everything's going well; can't hardly wait to see what your team releases next.

Anyways, I believe you have the story and events pretty much set for the entire game, but I wanted to throw something out there, even if it's just a side quest. In vanilla you fought 6 of the 12 zodiac lucavi. Would it be possible to fight the remaining six?: DUMA (Taurus), ZEBBEB (Cancer), SEL (Libra), ROPHOCHEHE (Sagittarius), CHERAUB (Aquarius), & LEVIATHAN (Pisces)? Maybe they could possess the special characters (i.e. your old friends) that the stones initially rejected? Maybe those lucavi are inherently good and are manipulated into attacking? There's all kinds of cool story stuff to be done with them. And that doesn't even touch the extra Espers in FFXII.

The only other thing I would wonder about tweaking is having a storyline fight start you off with an inherit good/bad status? I was playing a mod of vanilla recently and the suggestion came to me during the fight in Bed Desert. If vanilla already had a fight like that, would it be possible to modify more storyline fights to do the same? Might make for some interesting twists.

As always, I have total faith in whatever your team decides. I am frothing a the mouth to play this mod. Much love to the entire team! Thanks for everything!

[3lric]

I don't play FF12. Also sprites don't exist for those, otherwise I probably would have shimmied them into TLW somewhere lol

[RJ Cid]

Worth a shot... Can those Lucavi sprites even be edited?

[Nyzer]

Do you have $1500 to pay for someone to make them? If so, then great news!

[Bonesy]

Do you have $1500 to pay for someone to make them? If so, then great news!

i have to say i laughed pretty hard

partially at the concept partially at if I couldn't decide if that ballpark was too low or high

[Twinees]

i have to say i laughed pretty hard

partially at the concept partially at if I couldn't decide if that ballpark was too low or high

Probably on the high end of an estimate, considering the size of the sheet, the amount of frames and the complexity of the frames. Depends on the artist's hourly price too. The lowest I'd estimate is probably $800-900. So $800 - $1500 per sheet sounds about right to me... haha.

[Nyzer]

Yeah, I was basing the price on a rough guess of what I knew your rates were for human sprites, Twin.

Human sprites alone take a lot of work to whip up. And they have a set structure that the spriter can follow. Lucavi, on the other hand, are very different from each other - all unique. To do them justice would take a crazy amount of time - assuming you care about the quality of your sprite. (Which we definitely do.)

I mean, I'd love to feature the rest of the Zodiac Stones, each set with their own personal Lucavi Demon. But it's just not feasible for a fanmade, nonprofit game. (And that nonprofit thing is a good part of the reason we're still on Ch. 2 here. I'd love to be working on Jot5 rather than my day job, but only the latter keeps my bills paid, so there we are.)

[RJ Cid]

I had no idea sprite work cost so much, but it makes sense.

[Pandemoniu]

Just wanted to pop in and say Happy New Year, to forum-goers all! 

It's been a good while now since I first stumbled into this place, and almost as long since I played JOT5's 1st Chapter. Though things have been slow going, I'm still as eager as ever to for the re-release, especially lately after watching some videos of the game. Would you believe I've developed genuine nostalgia for Journey of the Five?

May this be a productive year all around! Keep up the great work, everyone! 

[ZalbaagBeoulve]

I'm SO excited more content is coming. This is really all non-profit??? Like, no patreon or paypal link or anything? I mean, I'd support this like it was a typical game...just saying...

Also, I saw a mention of rushing the content out because of work schedule and all (It's insane this is just a side gig). I'd vote for you (and whoever else is involved, I'm new here) taking your time. Take it easy if need be...