Final Fantasy Hacktics

Quote from: badboi00 on October 23, 2024, 09:02:38 pmlooking nice but will wait till chapter 2 is done so i can download both chapter 1 and 2, anyway how long till chapter 2 is done

Unknown - the group is not currently together, last I heard, and it's pretty much an impossible job solo.

Quote from: Elric on January 06, 2024, 12:39:39 amI would still like to finish it yes. The last few years have been rough and I had to take a break from a lot of things. That has now changed, however, due to my own past indecisiveness or damage I caused, the band is not currently together, and reconsiliation is paramount to Jot5 ever getting finished. I cant pretend that its something I could so alone. The scope is too large.

So like, maybe one day? Idk

If it happens, it happens.  If it doesn't, no worries.

Before anything else, make sure you and the rest of the team (wherever they are) focus on yourselves more than the project.  Remember, it's a fan project, not an obligation.  Take care of your health, both physically and mentally.  I, at the very least, can wait longer if necessary, and while disappointed, I won't belittle you if you need to cancel it for self-care reasons.  I can understand how a project like this can put pressure on someone, let alone a group of people who aren't professional game developers.

Quote from: Elric on October 26, 2022, 11:30:54 pm1. It's Jill Valentine
2. Jot5 will have many optional characters, she is one of them.

This is only getting me even more excited for the Ch.2 and re-release of Ch.1!

Still surprising that it's been over 10 years since this whole thing started.  Here's to the next 10!

Is there likely any way to be able to make enough roster slots to hold all extra-special characters along with some monsters/generics?  Just curious, because it'd be great to be able to do so, along with being able to bench some units, as well.

So, I've been having an idea growing in my head, but I feel it's beyond the scope of what I'm capable of - hence why I'm throwing it out into here.

It's essentially an overhaul to the current job system, where some jobs are altered to do something else entirely - along with some quality of life changes.  This is for either version (PSX or PSP, though I've heard it's easier to work with the PSX version - I'll leave this up to you, though I'll be adding stuff based on the PSX version).  There might be spoilers for those who have never played it - however, this is an almost-30 year old game, so...

Note that I do understand that it's very unlikely that I'll see this anytime soon, so if anyone wants to take any of these ideas for their own game mod, by all means, feel free to do so!

I'll begin with the QoL changes that I'd recommend to see...

Section 1: Quality of Life Changes

- Special Units can go on Tavern Jobs.

- Special Units cannot abandon the party because of having too high a faith or too low a bravery value.

- Remove Faith from magic/status calculations.

- All Monsters always have access to their Beastmaster skill

- High-Tier End Game Heavy Armors also increase MP.

- Gear Changes - Gender-specific equipment restriction lifted, and changes to the items that make them appear less gender-specific (Tynar Rogue, for example, could be changed into a cloak of some kind)

- Map treasures (Treasure Hunter required) are the same regardless of their quality - always equipment of some kind.

- All classes have innate Defend and Change Equipment commands.

Note that I know that there are ASM's that do some of these, but I lack the knowledge on how to use them.

Now for the job list - note that some will be overhauled heavily.  I'll start with generics and then go into the special ones (Will be using the PSP skill names as I'm most familiar with those).  Additionally, I will be adding some changes to some job level requirements to better suit the flow of my interpretation of the game.  If none are listed, no changes need to be made:

Job Changes

Squire

Remove Beastmaster Support Ability and Throw Stone Action Ability.

Reasoning - Look in the QoL section for one, and next section for the other.

Chemist

Remove Treasure Hunter Movement Ability.

Knight (Requires Lv.2 Squire)

Action Ability Overhaul, changed to direct melee-ranged weapon damage abilities - think along the lines of FFTA's Fighter inspiration, along with a spinning strike ability that hits the cardinal areas for less damage than/equal to the attack command.  Add the Vigilance and Fury Reaction Abilities.

Reasoning - This gives them an identity of their own instead of just being "The Worse Meliadoul" or just the stepping stone into the better classes.  Also, I hate the idea of a generic enemy being able to just shatter your possibly-one-of-a-kind equipment by mere chance.

Archer (Requires Lv.2 Squire)

Complete overhaul for action abilities.

Action Abilities: Aim - Legs (Inflicts Immobilize), Aim - Arms (Inflicts Disable), Beso Toxico (Single Target Damage + Inflicts Poison), Rend MP, Rend Power, Rend Magic, Rend Speed.

Reasoning - The charged abilities were essentially useless; quite often, your enemy moved out of the shot range.  This helps in the long run to give them an identity all on their own - ranged status.  Expecting the AI to make good use of this, as well!

Thief (Requires Lv.3 ???)

Just remove the Vigilance reaction ability.

Note: For the class required, check the next section

Monk (Requires Lv.3 Knight

Merge Chakra and Purification into one ability called Purification - remove MP recovery of Chakra, keep the HP Recovery with Purification's status recovery.

Reasoning - MP recovery on an ability that has no cost can be quite strong in some scenarios.  As I don't feel like adding MP costs to everything as a balancing act, this is the second-best thought process.

White Mage (Requires 3 Chemist)

Action Ability Removal - Remove Curaga, Curaja, Arise, Reraise, Protectja, Shellja, and Holy.  Remove Arcane Defense Support Ability.


Reasoning - Check the next section.

Black Mage (Requires Lv.3 Chemist)

Action Ability Removal - Firaga, Firaja Thundaga, Thundaja, Blizzaga, Blizzaja, Poison, Toad, Death, and Flare.  Remove Arcane Strength Support Ability.

New Action Abilities:  Stone, Stonera (Earth-elemental magic), Water, Watera (Water-elemental magic)

Reasoning - Check the next section.

Orator (Requires Lv.5 Squire & Lv.5 Chemist)

Action Ability Removal: Stall, Condemn, Beg, Insult and Mimic Darvalon.

Reasoning - Too many abilities that seem to do the same thing - it's a waste of perfectly good game resources.  As for Stall and Condemn, that will come later... in the next section!

Time Mage (Requires Lv.3 White Mage)

Action Ability Removal - Hasteja, Slow, Slowja, Stop, Quick, Gravity, Graviga, and Meteor.  Remove Teleport Movement Ability.

Reasoning - check the next section

Mystic (Requires Lv.3 Black Mage)

Action Ability Removal - All; replace with Beowulf's Templar Action Abilities except for Chicken and Break; add Slow.

Reasoning - check the next section

Ninja (Requires Lv.5 Thief and Lv.5 Monk)

Add the Move +3 and Jump +3 movement abilities

Bard - Removed Completely

Dancer - Removed Completely

Mime - Removed Completely

Arithmetician - Removed Completely

Section 2.1 - Special Unit Job Changes

Note: All Special Unit Jobs that can be party members will have Safeguard as an Innate Ability - for the same reason as why Knight has Rend abilities removed

Ramza

Chapter 1 Changes

Job Name: Cadet

Skillset Name: Mettle

Action Abilities: Tailwind, Salve, Chant.

Chapter 2 & 3 Changes

Job Name: Mercenary

Skillset Name: Mettle

Action Abilities: Tailwind, Salve, Chant, Focus, Shadowblade*, Duskblade*

*: These abilities can be learned by Gaffgarion hitting Ramza with them.

Chapter 4 Changes

Job Name: Champion

New Skillset Name: Heroics

Action Abilities: Tailwind, Salve, Chant, Focus, Shadowblade, Duskblade, Judgment Blade, Cleansing Strike, Northswain's Strike, Hallowed Bolt, Divine Ruination, Ultima

Note: In his Champion job, Ramza can learn Shadowblade and Duskblade using JP if he fails to learn them in his Mercenary job.  Learns Ultima the usual way.

Agrias

Job Name: Paladin

Skillset Name: Divine Blade

Action Abilities: Judgment Blade, Cleansing Strike, Northswain's Strike, Hallowed Bolt, Divine Ruination, Seal Evil, Shadowblade*, Duskblade*

*: She can learn these abilities from either Gaffgarion in Chapter 2, Ramza in Chapters 2/3/4, or Orlandeau in Chapter 4.


Mustadio

Job Name: Machinist

Skillset Name: Ancient Tech

Active Abilities:

Defense Node (Adds Protect and Shell to himself or an ally one tile away; 1 vertical) - 100 JP

Restoration Device (Restores 70% HP when in critical health to himself or an ally one tile away; 1 vertical) - 100 JP

Hermes' Box (Adds Haste to himself or an ally one tile away; 1 vertical) - 150 JP

Refractive Spray (Adds Reflect to himself or an ally one tile away; 1 vertical) - 150 JP

Body Purifier (Cures Poison, Blind, Petrify, Toad, Oil, and Sleep on himself or an ally within 3 tiles; 1 vertical) - 200 JP

Mind Purifier (Cures Silence, Charm, Confusion, and Berserk on himself or an ally within 3 tiles; 1 vertical) - 200 JP

Soul Purifier (Cures Doom, Undead, and Vampire on himself or an ally within 3 tiles; 1 vertical) - 200 JP

Revive (Same as Monk ability)

Beowulf

Job Name: Elemental Knight

Skillset Name: Elemental Blade

Active Abilities:

Shimmering Blade (Fire Elemental Physical Attack, one target in melee range) - 200 JP

Skyfury Blade (Lightning-elemental Physical attack to one target in melee range) - 200 JP

Hoarfrost Blade (Ice-elemental Physical attack to one target in melee range) - 200 JP

Shining Blade (Holy-elemental Physical attack to one target in melee range) - 200 JP

Lifethread Blade (Dark-elemental Physical attack to one target in melee range) - 200 JP

Galeforce Blade (Wind-elemental Physical attack to one target in melee range) - 200 JP

Tremor Blade (Earth-elemental Physical attack to one target in melee range) - 200 JP

Tidal Blade (Water-elemental Physical attack to one target in melee range) - 200 JP

Reis

Job Name: Dragonkin

Skillset Name: Draconics

Innate Abilities: Tame, Dual Wield

Action Abilities: Fire Breath, Ice Breath, Thunder Breath, Holy Breath (900 JP)

Dragon's Strength (Increases any ally's Bravery by 5, and their Speed, Physical Attack, and Magical Attack by 2) - 500 JP

Orlandeau

Job Name: Sword Saint

Skillset Name: Swordplay

Active Abilities: All except crush-types, which will be replaced with Beowulf's Elemental Blade skills)

Meliadoul

Job Name: Divine Knight

Skillset Name: Unyielding Blade

Action Abilities: Stronger versions of the Knight skills.

Cloud

Job Name: SOLDIER 1st Class

Skillset Name: Limit

Innate Ability: Swiftness

Action Abilities: Unchanged

Section 3 - New Classes

Bard Replacement - White Wizard (Requires MASTERED White Mage & MASTERED Time Mage - NOT Gender-locked)

Skillset Name: Sacred Magic

Innate Ability: Arcane Defense

Equipment: Same as White Mage

Abilities: All CURRENT White Mage & Time Mage Action Abilities, plus the following: Curaga, Curaja, Arise, Reraise, Holy, and Quick. 

Add Swiftness and Arcane Defense Support Abilities

Dancer Replacement - Black Wizard (Requires MASTERED Black Mage & MASTERED Mystic - NOT Gender-locked)

Skillset Name: Devastation Magic

Innate Ability: Arcane Strength

Equipment: Same as Black Mage

Abilities: All CURRENT Black Mage & Mystic Acton Abilities, plus the following: Firaga, Firaja Thundaga, Thundaja, Blizzaga, Blizzaja, Poison, Toad, Death, Flare, Break, Stop, Gravity, Graviga, and Meteor.

Add Arcane Strength Support Ability, Magick Boost Reaction Ability and Teleport Movement Ability.

Arithmetician Replacement - Grand Sage (Requires MASTERY of all generic mage classes - White Mage & Wizard, Black Mage & Wizard, Time Mage, Mystic - and Lv.8 Summoner)

Skillset Name: Sagacity

Innate Abilities: Arcane Strength, Arcane Defense, Halve MP, and No Charge (I think that's the name of it...?)

Equipment: Light/Medium Armor, All Head Equipment except Helmets, Staves, Rods, Poles, Shields

Abilities: All Action Abilities from all of the generic mage classes - excluding Summoner.

Note: For a stat growth idea, it would be decent in HP and Speed, poor in Physical Attack, and have the absolute best Magical Attack and MP - MP seconded by Black Wizard's growth.  This is my counter to Arithmeticks, as that was relatively easy to get as a job and essentially did the same thing, but even without MP costs.  This way, you have to actually work hard for your broken mage.  As a small benefit, you can have all the magics at no Charge Time by throwing Summoner on as the secondary!  Just make sure that if you plan on learning Zodiark, you STILL need to be a Summoner to do so...

Mime Replacement - Treasure Hunter (Requires 2 Squire)

Innate Ability: Treasure Hunter

Abilities:  Stall (reduces target's CT to 0 - doesn't require talking), Hide (Invisible), Throw Stone.  Treasure Hunter Movement Ability (imagine that~)


Ok, with that, I'm finally done.  I am so tired now - spent 10 hours thinking and coming up with the right way to phrase things properly, and may still have failed spectacularly!  Again, I don't expect to see such a thing, but if I do - awesome!  If not, maybe some of these ideas can be used by some people?  I'm certainly fine with it if they are - what's the point of giving out ideas if they're not intended to be used?

Quote from: Elric on October 11, 2022, 04:35:06 pmSince a lot of headway has been made lately, we decided to livestream (on discord) the creation of one of the new events for Ch2 of Jot5, which introduces a new optional joining character.

Is that.... Claire Redfield?

Is this going to become Journey of the Five, and an optional Sixth?

I'm enjoying this so far and have recently gotten the third Totema, though I have noticed a couple oddities:

1: It's far too easy to reach max level - I merely tried gaining money for some better equipment by fighting other clans - I was 50 by the first totema...  Only good side of this is that it's easier to train lower leveled units if you can find a way to safely bring them into a fight, but it makes it harder to level a unit up properly.  This is especially true for Marche and Montblanc, as they cannot gain AP from doing missions, and one of the bigger benefits I found with FFTA2 granting the entire Clan the AP from a job.

2: I've noticed that you can only ever equip ONE of each type of gear.  I have had many thoughts of adding boots and gauntlets to a mage or a melee fighter with a two-handed weapon, however the player cannot do this.  This might be a feature added, but this may result in another issue, which is coming next.

3: The Dual Wield S-Ability is broken, and I don't mean like it is in the base game, either.  I've equipped a weapon that grants the ability to be learned (Nosada for Human Ninja and Mithril Knife for Moogle Jesters), but even with the S-Ability equipped, I cannot equip a second weapon (I was doing this for Lini, so I could equip him with both the Ayvuir Red and Ayvuir Blue at the same time in his Mog Knight job). I'm guessing the limiting of one single item type is the cause of this bug. Also, I'm positive it's must be a bug because why else would the Mithril Knife be granted the Dual Wield ability instead of a combo skill like normal?

4: Speaking of Nosada, there is a strange black glitch on its ability list underneath the Dual Wield for Ninja, and has a learning cost of 0 AP.  Additionally, there's a similar bug on the Aona Flute, though not as glitchy-looking as the Nosada - it teaches Bomb to Beastmasters for 100 AP and Frogsong to Bards for 200 AP, but the topmost ability is an unnamed Beastmaster Skill, which is also learned for 100 AP.

5: Is it intended for every non-accesory piece of equipment that normally doesn't have a skill to learn to have Ramuh available to be taught to Evokers?  Because every non-accessory piece of equipment that normally doesn't have a skill to learn has Ramuh available to be taught to Evokers...

That's all I noticed for as far as I've gotten, that HASN'T already been mentioned before, so... yeah.  Still enjoying it, though!

So, there's three things I'm wondering (mainly about Link, because big fan of the Legend of Zelda series)...

First is that I'm assuming that everyone will be getting their main weapons at some point in the game, such as Link gaining the Master Sword and Hylian Shield, and figuring the same for Cloud and the Fusion Blade (since he's in his Advent Children outfit).

What I'm wondering is if every main of the 5 would obtain their main weapons at some point in the game (though due to never playing any of the DMC or Metal Gear games, I wouldn't know which would be Dante's nor Snake's... and I'm simply trying to think of which would go to Ramza; pure irony if his is this game's Ultima Weapon, and would make me chuckle), and would certain ones allow the use of all of the main class's abilities, if such a thing is possible to be coded...

The second is that I'm wondering if, since this Link is the Hero of Time, and the Hero's Shade from Twilight Princess was confirmed to be the Hero of Time, will Link be able to learn new skills on later chapters, with those being the Hidden Skills of TP?  If so, would that also apply to all of the five?

The final is if there will be level traps eventually placed throughout the certain maps, as either a means to train skills without increasing difficulty too much?

Either way, looking forward to the re-release!

Any rough eta on the release?  Maybe an idea of what's left to do with the remaining new features and potential events?   I recently had a reminder of this mod and was just curious...

There's something else I noticed, as well; it's very easy to strengthen your team once you unlock the Auction Houses; you can set it up so it happens in Ashleaf, then spam Coppersun, Goldsun, and Silversun repeatable quests (specifically Wanted: Barmaid and Great Land Festival once you've trained your Moogle Thief into Gadgeteer enough to reach Juggler and MAYBE Reagent Run and Sun-Ripened Mayhem by Dispatch if your team is high enough) to build up CP.  While using the speed up function of Desmume, I managed to get 9999 CP in like 6 hours

Then you can get constant sources of Gil by selling the items you don't need from the Auctions (after becoming Region Master of Camoa, Gratzton and Moorabella).  Even in the main game, the Auctions half-ruined the game, but it's kinda put habitual into my brain to do them.

Rinse and repeat by going to Lezaford's house to sleep, and you've got a system to make the game easy.  Hell, I've gotten 2 White Robes, an Excalibur, a Mjolnir, a Ribbon, a Sage's Robe, and a few other amazing things solely from Auctions. 

Personally, I think auctions should rarely (5 - 10%) give good items like that, and ONLY as Grand Prizes, so if you're able to edit the prizes and chances of them appearing, I feel you should do so; otherwise, the Regional Master variant of the Auction Houses could be a veritable troublemaker for any FFTA2 romhack...

Just started playing this morning, and while it's different, it's also fairly enjoyable now that I'm not dealing with The Yellow Wings; that fight took forever!  Only feedback is that I feel that early on, the MP costs are too restrictive, leaving you to be forcibly hit by Counters or proc Critical: Quickens, only for them to fully heal themselves using Quicken Potions. 

Yeah, it seems like every time an enemy uses an item, it gains Quicken.  1/4 chance of it is a bit too high; I'd understand if it was 1/10 (10%), but 1/4 (25%) is too high.  Hell, I took a chance with Cure (or whatever it was renamed as) to obtain a Magic Urn with my Nu Mou Black Mage in the one early mission with the Lamias.  It took 3 cures, and I got Quicken each time.  Honestly, if you lower the baseline cure spell to maybe 6 and remove the Quicken effect, as well as remove quicken from items, it'll be a lot fairer (for both sides).  Love the Phoenix Down changes (which I assume is based off of Raise), since you don't have to spend an item to revive an ally only for a random archer to snipe them from Quicken Boost into an attack.

Other than that, it's a really good romhack, and will probably continue to enjoy it.

Quote from: Dido on January 14, 2017, 07:31:45 am
How is the progress of JOT5 Ch.2? I'm looking forward to this second part, I'm from Brazil and a fan of the Tactics saga.

Congratulations on keeping this game alive. You guys are fucking!

Um... I think you missed a word there lol

bump for not dead status... I guess.

Quote from: theultrawolf on December 09, 2015, 06:09:02 pm
Use the latest version of FFTacText. The version .483 bundle comes with FFTPatcher, FFTacText, FFTorgASM, and ShiShi Sprite Editor. Unfortunately, unless you edit the executable for FFTPatcher, the ability names won't change to reflect the TacText changes, but it's not really important; you just have to remember which abilities correspond to what. Usually when I'm doing edits, I'll keep TacText and Patcher open at the same time for reference. Another boon for the PSX - the QuickEdit (only use this unless you want a lot of confusion) is much more comprehensive than for the PSP version. When editing WoTL, it was irritating to have to search endlessly through the various text files to do edits.

Honestly, I was just going to change the names to the WotL version, such as Fira(ga/ja), Thundara/ga/ja, etc. and Gain JP UP to JP Boost and Move JP UP to Accrue JP, for example.

Also, Jumza, there's no way I could be happy with the spritesheet (you'd understand if you saw it...).  So yeah, I'll try to figure something out.  Already got the Monsters done (except for the custom monster... thinking a custom Ultima Demon would be great as a main character lol), and the classes I wanted (still need to do the custom monster and also may need an ASM Hack for the Paragon so it can use all magic like Jot5's Ganondorf, which I replaced Princess for Paragon, since she won't be in my story... MC will be on a different mission somewhere in the desert during that 'fun part' in Ch. 2 at the waterfall and will also never encounter Delita, as well... maybe except in Ch. 4 or something towards the end of the game... could be a boss, if people like Delita or something).  I'll have to take away the random Ramza encounters for random battles idea I had, since it seems like it'd be a bit too difficult to impliment, especially keeping his class the same version to the current chapter (my story goes alongside Ramza's, if you couldn't tell).  Also got SOME of the treasures I wanted, and may need ASM Hacks to get the rest good.  I'll update my post under ideas with this info, and once I get more done... I'll make a project post.  Basically like 5-10% donewith the project outside of the testing phase (I think), and about 50-55% done with what I can do on my own.

Quote from: Jumza on December 09, 2015, 06:18:27 pm
Editing the names that appear in all the programs packaged with FFTP is very easy actually. Go to one of the tabs on the top of FFTP, click 'Generate Resources.Zip', it will create a file in that directory called Resources.zip, open it up and you will see it is full of folders and XML files. Go into the PSX section and edit those XML files to reflect the changes you make! Just know that these changes are for the programs, to change in game text you need to use FFTacText!

I see... I guess I'm gonna need FFTacText and figure out how to use that, as well...   one more question for now: Will anyone useful in spriting be able to edit a spritesheet for me, or maybe someone tell me where I can ask about that?  I have a spritesheet that's mostly right, except for the head.  Wanted either a custom head with short brown hair (similar to Ramza's hair, but flatter with a red headband) or a generic Monk head attached to it.

I have a few more questions involving the PSX base of FFTP: How do I change the names of skills?  (Basically turn X 2 into -ra spells and X 3 into -ga spells?  Same for X 4 into -ja spells)

Quote from: Toshiko on December 09, 2015, 06:42:51 am
The gulf between what is possible on FFT vs WotL is as deep as the gulf between modding PSX FFVII and PC FFVII. No lie. Every time I see someone wanting to mod WotL, I scream. It's not because of personal opinions on WotL (which are poor, I won't mince words), it's because you are seriously just making us claw our faces off. You will ask questions that won't get answered. You will ask for things that are impossible to do. It is infuriating. Stop trying to mod WotL when you can accomplish more, easier, and with more help on FFT. Goddammit.

I can see where you're coming from, but as a newcomer myself, you should also understand that not everyone is as knowledgeable about hacking games as you guys are.  I didn't know that limitations are a pain in the ass there, so obviously, I wouldn't even know the difference about the two games at all, except for the fact that PSP just ran slower normally when spells are unleashed.

Still, I get it now, and knowing what I do now, I'll most likely change up my plan to make it into the PSX version. 

Quote from: Jumza on December 08, 2015, 09:31:46 pm
Well let's see!

Sanguine Sword: It's in PSX, it's just in Gaffy's skillset. So is...

Infernal Strike: Yup. Gaffy again.

Crushing Blow: Easy-Peasy to make. Seriously.

Abyssal Blade: The cone AOE on this one could be a little more difficult to replicate, Dokurider made and ASM to replicate this effect, but I'm not sure it ever was released 100% bug free.

Unholy Sacrifice: Another one that should be easy to make.

I mean, if you open up the FFTP, you'll see that creating abilities such as these are a piece of cake! Of course, if you have any questions, just ask!

I see... thanks.  I'll be sure to ask around if I can think of anything, and maybe in the end I will switch to the PSX version.

I see... it's a shame, since some of the abilities my MC gets follow under the Dark Knight class...  If there was a way to rip them from WotL to the PSX version, maybe... otherwise, I'm just gonna be sad :c

I'm using FFTP to make a project idea I've been working on and off with for a while now.  I have a few questions about class setting, renaming, and removing, as well as a support ability I found.

I wanted to make a new class (Paragon, learns a few enemy spells along with spells in the main magic lines).  How can I go about setting this to replace squire, so I can make it her main class using FFTP, and can I do so by replacing a Mime or Arithmatist to make the class, or must I replace one of the other changeable classes?

Support Ability CT 0: Does that make all spells cast immediately?

I'm using WotL as a base, despite the criticism from others... I at least want to try.  If it doesn't work out, I'll use the PSX version (and figure for the life of me how to add Fellswords and the Minerva Bustier)