[FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v2.0.99994)

[Sega Chief]

Yes to both.

[Schwahn]

Anyone have any advice on how to beat Hojo on the Sister Ray?

I just spent 35 minutes smashing my face against him just to lose (FeelsbadMan)

His second form seems to have a TON of life and is a straight up boring fight after you kill the right arm (which is the only REAL damage)

His 3rd form can be extremely frustrating. His Combo can kill a character in the back row WITH Barrier. Then once he hits whatever life % he starts using Cellular Barrier and Cellular MBarrier. Which can't be dispelled or debarriered. But don't really seem to have any rhyme or reason on which one he prefers. I hit him with 10 spells before he switched to MBarrier but 2 attacks and he went right back to Barrier(FeelsBadMan).

[Sega Chief]

There's an adjustment in the works to make the 2nd phase shorter + more varied when a limb is destroyed. In the meantime, you can speed things up by using Holy/Earth elemental attacks on Hojo's second form and Holy/Wind element on the 3rd. You can get Holy onto a weapon by combining Elemental with Restore/Revive and a few others.

The first thing to do with the 3rd form is to cripple that speed of his with Slow. To handle Combo, it'd be worth having a dedicated tank with Cover + Counter Attack to soak up most of the hits; Barret or Cait Sith should be good choices for this, as Barret will be gaining defence as he soaks up hits while Cait Sith can outright dodge Combo hits if his Luck stat is nice and high. Cid can also do it, if he's been built for Vitality + Luck. I think you also get Shield Materia from beating Diamond Weapon; if you've got that spell available (Shield needs to be leveled up though), then you can use it to completely negate Combo hits altogether.

For magic, I think Comet might be the best bet as there aren't any high-power Holy/Wind spells available just yet (Contain drops from Hojo, and Planet is gotten from a Disc 3 boss). Alexander should hit for plenty of damage though. He has a chance to swap Guards whenever he's hit so if you're leaning heavier on physical attacks and he uses Cell Guard, you can make him swap back using low-MP spells if you want to keep that back for healing.

[deha0002]

Hmm i am trying to donate again but this time it doesnt work? Just says the amount is "protected" and waiting confirmation. Any changes on your part Sega?

[Tavarcio]

So I'm at the part where the party splits up, now is where I can go up to get the items I need?

[Sega Chief]

Hmm i am trying to donate again but this time it doesnt work? Just says the amount is "protected" and waiting confirmation. Any changes on your part Sega?

None that I'm aware of; I just checked and there's a donation that's come through from you on the 27th (much obliged for that, by the way). Maybe it stops you from you making too many consecutive payments to the same person for security.

So I'm at the part where the party splits up, now is where I can go up to get the items I need?

No, it's right at the bottom when the party reunites. This is when the Game Moment variable gets set to 1998, which I thought would be a good catch-all trigger for new content at the time when I first made NT.

[deha0002]

None that I'm aware of; I just checked and there's a donation that's come through from you on the 27th (much obliged for that, by the way). Maybe it stops you from you making too many consecutive payments to the same person for security.

Keep up the good work more are to come!!!

[magictrufflez]

I think you also get Shield Materia from beating Diamond Weapon; if you've got that spell available (Shield needs to be leveled up though), then you can use it to completely negate Combo hits altogether.

Umm...for the record, Shield dropped as a Mastered 3-star materia for me, like Full Cure.  I assumed this was to prevent me from getting more than 1 Master Magic through materia blending, but were these supposed to work differently?

And just to be clear, materia blending is supposed to still be available right now, just not in the future when you decide what to do with the huge Materia SC?  I only ask because I was able to do it with Magic and Command materias, and I assume Summon as well, but I think your response led me to believe you didn't think blending was available with the current fixes.

[Sega Chief]

I think I disabled materia blending; it wasn't supposed to be available before but I forgot to change the field script or something.

They're supposed to drop as 1-star, unless I had a mad-cap idea at the time to make them unique. I'll get it sorted out.

[Schwahn]

Hey Sega,

Did you ever consider starting s subreddit or anything for the mod?

It would seem a bit easier to organize/track than a 150 page thread.

[soulcrom]

The Manual Link is broken:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/dzbq6cqq2c27ard/FF7+NT+Manual.doc

And also the database of the materia locations or something that you provided in your yt channel is also broken.

Pardon me if a new link was provided at this replies, but with 149 its hard to check it.

The mod is awesome, I was trying to find everything on my own, but im in late game and I cant find KOTR materia.

[Sega Chief]

Hey Sega,

Did you ever consider starting s subreddit or anything for the mod?

It would seem a bit easier to organize/track than a 150 page thread.

This is true, yes. I'll look into some options so I can collect bug reports/feedback together and people can keep track of what's what.

The Manual Link is broken:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/dzbq6cqq2c27ard/FF7+NT+Manual.doc

And also the database of the materia locations or something that you provided in your yt channel is also broken.

Pardon me if a new link was provided at this replies, but with 149 its hard to check it.

The mod is awesome, I was trying to find everything on my own, but im in late game and I cant find KOTR materia.

Ah right, those are old things; everything now comes with the Main Installer link (there should be a documentation folder inside it). I'll update the old links listed on the YT vids.

[soulcrom]

Ah right, those are old things; everything now comes with the Main Installer link (there should be a documentation folder inside it). I'll update the old links listed on the YT vids.

Thank very much for the fast reply, you sure won a happy donation when my next paycheck arrives

I found the documentation: "FF7 NT - Changelog / Rank Up - Possible Character Stats / Readme / where is the thing"

But in any of it there is describing the KOTR summon materia, I got only "Knights of Round: Base 30x13, 250MP - 75% base accuracy per hit" in the Changelog .txt file.

Sorry if it is my fault, but I can't find it. I got surprised that the KOTR was not in its cave like the other cave materias. I should expect this as having the KOTR summon in early 2nd disc would broke the balance that you so hard tried to achieve, but was a pain having to do the chocobo even with the no race guide.

But i will accept, as only if I can find where and or how to obtain that summon as I cant obtain the omnislash limit early 1st disc and 2nd x']

[Sega Chief]

KOTR is supposed to be in the cave, just like the original game. If it wasn't there then something has gone wrong. Let me check the field script and see how this might have happened.

Edit: Field script seems OK, nothing that would disable the variable check or otherwise interfere with it. When you first entered the cave, was there a red glowing triangle like this one inside?: http://www.angelfire.com/freak/finalfantasy777/KOTRcavern.jpg

If there was no red triangle when you first went in, then it means the variable has been flipped elsewhere. If there was one, and you examined this and got nothing, then it might be due to a rare glitch that can occur where examining the Materia in one of the caves (except for the purple cave which has a different set up for the scripts) can cause the script to be skipped and no Materia given.

I should warn you now as well that KOTR is protected by a boss fight that will be difficult to win on Disc 2. All the Materia caves should have a boss fight protecting them as well; did you encounter those, or did the game let you pick up the Materia without any fight triggering? Just to make sure everything's patched correctly.

[soulcrom]

KOTR is supposed to be in the cave, just like the original game. If it wasn't there then something has gone wrong. Let me check the field script and see how this might have happened.

Edit: Field script seems OK, nothing that would disable the variable check or otherwise interfere with it. When you first entered the cave, was there a red glowing triangle like this one inside?: http://www.angelfire.com/freak/finalfantasy777/KOTRcavern.jpg

If there was no red triangle when you first went in, then it means the variable has been flipped elsewhere. If there was one, and you examined this and got nothing, then it might be due to a rare glitch that can occur where examining the Materia in one of the caves (except for the purple cave which has a different set up for the scripts) can cause the script to be skipped and no Materia given.

I should warn you now as well that KOTR is protected by a boss fight that will be difficult to win on Disc 2. All the Materia caves should have a boss fight protecting them as well; did you encounter those, or did the game let you pick up the Materia without any fight triggering? Just to make sure everything's patched correctly.

Thank you once more! The object was there at the far top of the glowing white/redish light. I hited confirm button crazy but i didnt found it later. Now I wandered around more and the scripted message showed up, the materia was to me given and the fight started wonderfuly.

I uploaded a screenshot from the light covering the object, in my personal website:

(I could not see your image/link, it keeps redirecting to http://www.angelfire.lycos.com/doc/images/rloadblock.jpg, and I dont remember wich was the object like when I played ffvii back then) , but It may be probably be because of all the mods I am using from 7th Heaven, the light must be messed up or the object is missing texture or not visible, yet being able to trigger the event.

Sorry the trouble once more, im loving this mod! It bugs me so much not being able to broke the game using the KOTR now and omnislash, but its so much more enjoyable playing with the new balance, otherwise I would be pouding every enemy and that is no fun at all like quick attacks in FFX.

Its a very well deserved of praise your work man, keep it up! Greetings from Portugal, Lisbon! 

[Sega Chief]

So it was that glitch. The image I tried to post was of the same field screen you've posted; I guess the website it came from blocked it.

[Nikkolas]

Hey SC, I'm finally ready to revisit the NT Mod. As I noted several pages ago now, it seems to be extensively different from when I played it.  It makes starting the whole thing all over again well worth it.

However, looking over your list of fixes while I was downloading everything, I'm curious about one particular addition. What are "Innates" for characters? From the description it doesn't sound like Chrono Cross Elements.

edit:
Huh, I thought the Locked difficulty setting was something reserved for once you beat the mod once. I guess not? I am glad I held onto my old save files in any case. Also glad they work on the Steam version.


EDIT 2:

Oh, Innates are explained right there when the character joins. That's very considerate. AAn intriguing mechanic. I was thinking of using Barret as a tank like I did in Hardcore Mod but now I don't know!

[Sega Chief]

Hey SC, I'm finally ready to revisit the NT Mod. As I noted several pages ago now, it seems to be extensively different from when I played it.  It makes starting the whole thing all over again well worth it.

However, looking over your list of fixes while I was downloading everything, I'm curious about one particular addition. What are "Innates" for characters? From the description it doesn't sound like Chrono Cross Elements.

edit:
Huh, I thought the Locked difficulty setting was something reserved for once you beat the mod once. I guess not? I am glad I held onto my old save files in any case. Also glad they work on the Steam version.


EDIT 2:

Oh, Innates are explained right there when the character joins. That's very considerate. AAn intriguing mechanic. I was thinking of using Barret as a tank like I did in Hardcore Mod but now I don't know!

Welcome back, Nik. Innates are abilities that help give a character something unique to offer a fight as opposed to just equipment and stats. As for the locked difficulty, that's for a brand new overhauled Arrange.

[Dahaka]

I've started another run through FF VII, this time with the new threat mod, and so far it has been nothing short of amazing.

But I have a question: are there many new bosses that are easy to miss? I just fought Captain Chocobo (or whatever was his name) right after jumping off the train and seeing how this one was easy to miss, I want to know whether there are more bosses/special enemies like that that may be missable. I don't what to miss anything!

[Sega Chief]

There aren't many; I guess Mamatolis on Corel Tracks would be one but most people go up there to get the treasure from the bird's nest anyway.

[Nikkolas]

Huh, I see I am already missing stuff. I had no idea about Captain Chocobo.

I'm nearing the end of Shinra HQ and I'm curious about a couple things.

1. Is the "Curator" a special boss for later when you have the option of returning to the HQ when you are stopping Hojo? I tried fighting it, thinking that's how I get the Keycard. Needless to say, it did not go well.

2. I pride myself on my memory of this game's dialogue and plot. Have you altered the script? Stuff like "Midgar is not sustainable so that's another reason to destroy Sector 7" and Hojo saying he intended Red to FIGHT Aerith and not...ya know...are both things I'm almost positive I've never read in any script of this game, PC or PSX.

In any event, things are getting challenging and different and that's what I love. Had to fight X-ATM a second time when he came out of nowhere before the second set of elevators. I didn't Game Over or anything but I dislike wasting resources and using more than one Phoenix Down in a fight like that is a waste IMO. I ended up using a few Phoenix Downs against the specimen thing, anyway. Game is getting serious, I gotta get serious, too.

edit:

Oh! A couple more questions.

3. What does "SP gained" mean?

4. Why does Magic-all sometimes reflect onto enemies?\

edit 2:

Tifa: Is Rufus...?
Cloud: Nah but I stole his shotgun.
Tifa: ...why?
Cloud: Because I can.

You're the best, SC.

[xenofears]

Hi, thanks for all your hard work on this.

One possible bug to report, the second vanilla boss the buster thing on the bridge, his turn graphics aren't working right. Though this could be an issue with the graphics mods I have installed....

Another issue I am having is my characters seem to be getting reflect status. I didn't think to check their armor... is this an inherit status perhaps? I definitely didn't notice it in the description.

Thanks again!

[SunnyD]

Oh! A couple more questions.

3. What does "SP gained" mean?

You'll find out about SP soon enough. You get a good explanation too so don't worry about feeling lost.

[Sega Chief]

Huh, I see I am already missing stuff. I had no idea about Captain Chocobo.

I'm nearing the end of Shinra HQ and I'm curious about a couple things.

1. Is the "Curator" a special boss for later when you have the option of returning to the HQ when you are stopping Hojo? I tried fighting it, thinking that's how I get the Keycard. Needless to say, it did not go well.

2. I pride myself on my memory of this game's dialogue and plot. Have you altered the script? Stuff like "Midgar is not sustainable so that's another reason to destroy Sector 7" and Hojo saying he intended Red to FIGHT Aerith and not...ya know...are both things I'm almost positive I've never read in any script of this game, PC or PSX.

In any event, things are getting challenging and different and that's what I love. Had to fight X-ATM a second time when he came out of nowhere before the second set of elevators. I didn't Game Over or anything but I dislike wasting resources and using more than one Phoenix Down in a fight like that is a waste IMO. I ended up using a few Phoenix Downs against the specimen thing, anyway. Game is getting serious, I gotta get serious, too.

edit:

Oh! A couple more questions.

3. What does "SP gained" mean?

4. Why does Magic-all sometimes reflect onto enemies?\

edit 2:

Tifa: Is Rufus...?
Cloud: Nah but I stole his shotgun.
Tifa: ...why?
Cloud: Because I can.

You're the best, SC.

1. Curator is a special boss that can't be defeated by that point of the game under ordinary circumstances. You return here a couple of times later on when you might have a bit more of a chance.

2. I'm going over the game's script; I think I'm up to Wutai's Pagoda.

3. SP will be explained later.

4. If you were in Reactor No.5, some of the enemies there have attacks that inflict Reflect (Air Buster's Mirror Bomber, and the Special Combatant's Beta Wave).

Hi, thanks for all your hard work on this.

One possible bug to report, the second vanilla boss the buster thing on the bridge, his turn graphics aren't working right. Though this could be an issue with the graphics mods I have installed....

Another issue I am having is my characters seem to be getting reflect status. I didn't think to check their armor... is this an inherit status perhaps? I definitely didn't notice it in the description.

Thanks again!

Air Buster's AI & Animations have a problem where his visual facing won't be his 'true' facing. I tried to fix this for NT but I couldn't figure it out so the tactic for dealing with this should be the same as the default game; whoever attacked him last (or whoever he attacked last) should be considered his 'true' facing.

As for Reflect, that's being applied by either Mirror Bomber (Air Buster's opening attack) or the Beta Wave attack by Special Combatants.

[xenofears]

Hmm ok... seems kind of weird to throw out reflect at that stage of the game when you have no way to counter or dispel it and have no indication it happened... unless I am overlooking something?