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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.4)

« on: 2016-12-06 02:08:50 »

I'm having a bit of trouble with the boss in the safe in Nibelheim. I'm kind of wondering exactly what the mechanics of the fight are, is it listed in the readme? As it is I get to a certain point and then he outheals any damage I do to him, though I'm not likely to die.

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.4)

« on: 2016-11-29 21:42:22 »

EDIT: Do this one too after the first one. http://www.mediafire.com/file/1clp5nspa75nrq0/NT_Mod_HotFix_Scene_-_24th_November_2016.zip

Ah, was missing that one. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

edit: wait no, was missing the other one, that'd do it. Even mentions it in the installer.

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.4)

« on: 2016-11-29 00:41:08 »

I've ran into a bit of a snag: after answering Don Corneo's question and getting thrown into the sewers, Tifa and Aeris land, but Cloud hasn't come down yet. I can see the bottom of his little brown shoe just barely at the top of the screen but it doesn't look like he's coming down anytime soon.

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.4)

« on: 2016-11-28 00:50:11 »

Thanks for the tips. I'll see if I can't give Vincent a more fair shake this time around.

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.4)

« on: 2016-11-27 23:28:25 »

I was playing the mod around last March or so but had to quit due to being overly busy, but I was having a pretty great time with it. Given that it's been a while and that there's probably a list of balance changes and tweaks I think I'm going to give it another fresh go. During my last partial playthrough my only real complaint was that the SP system led to some very odd difficulty at certain points (Nibelheim in particular was really nasty, as was the Temple of the Ancients) and I was never sure if I need to be grinding, so for the most part I didn't. For the most part everything was tough but generally fair, aside from maybe the abundance of later-game confusion spam (which others have already mentioned).

I was wondering something about Hyper Jump though. Full-disclosure: I've had a series of really bad experiences with it and I understand that Hyper Jump crashes are well documented at this point. I'm not sure if it's something that would be hardcoded in, but is it possible to swap Dragon and Hyper Jump's positions in Cid's limit menu? I ask because firing off Hyper Jumps and saving immediately before and after was kind of a pain in the butt when trying to use Cid and if I could just use Dragon instead to gain Hyper Jump it would be far less painful. Again, not sure if it's technically possible and I imagine it might conflict with how you want Cid to be used, but it's just an idea I wanted to throw out.

Couple basic questions:

1. How do I get the best use out of Vincent? I gave him a try my last game and thought he was far too situational to be useful and overall inferior to my other choices.

2. Gi Cave boss: what's his deal? I can never remember exactly what it is I have to do to beat it, so the fight winds up taking me an embarrassing amount of time.

As an aside:

WAR has had a complicated history with rebalances due to Berserk status, Peace Rings being missable, the pre-action mechanic using the two friendly enemies, and multiple attacks per turn. Maybe it's time to have an overhaul of it and try a different AI.

I actually never really minded WAR, in any of the various versions of the mod that I've played. I agree it's not overly challenging, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, considering the player has got Tifa thrown into the party who may be ill-equipped to handle the fight. DEATH was pretty easy in Vanilla (even for Vanilla I mean) and probably for the same reason. I'm not suggesting that the AI should be untouched, but even though it's supposed to be a very epic encounter in the game, it's placed in such a spot that I wouldn't think would lend itself well to a very high difficulty.

Looking forward to my third (er fourth? maybe?) playthrough!

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.4)

« on: 2016-05-04 01:39:20 »

Fantastic, thanks for the info.

There's a couple other things I was wondering, regarding the Norther Crater, is there an approximate level I should probably be at? I ask because I have people who seem to be close to pushing level 70 which (if memory serves) is verrrry different from how it works in vanilla. I've also only had one character make it to rank 4, though others are approaching that: is that par for the course given where I am? And if not the case, what would be the best way to gain SP?

EDIT: did you restore the weird speechless guy dummied out in Sector 5? He's weird.

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.4)

« on: 2016-05-04 00:55:24 »

I ran into a bit of a snag when trying to get the Mega Materia from the train at Corel and wasn't able to stop the thing. Got to the train driver and ran out of time as soon as the fight started. I thought I was hustling too but alas.

Anyway, I recall what happens when you mess up the train section in vanilla, but I'm wondering if it's different in the mod. Is it worth reloading and trying again or does it not really matter?

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.3)

« on: 2015-05-14 20:24:01 »

I hadn't actually installed the hotfix, doing so has solved the Battle Square issue, thanks. Looking forward to seeing what else has changed.

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.3)

« on: 2015-05-14 07:03:27 »

Sega Chief,

I've restarted the game under what I think is the most recent update. It's going very well so far and I'm attempting it a little differently than the first time I played, I'm grinding a tiny bit rather than rushing from place to place so it's been fairly smooth, albeit a little more time consuming.

Couple bugs I've found:

- Some NPCs seem to be missing dialogue or have it displayed improperly. For instance, in the building with the big spiral staircase in Kalm, the NPC there doesn't say anything. No dialogue window comes up and she'll turn towards the PC as if she was speaking normally. I have also had instances where dialogue choices haven't displayed properly, usually in the form of spilling over to the next line. The only one I can recall off-hand was the fellow in the house who tells you about the keystone, the issue occurred when I tried to give him mytheril.

- The battle square doesn't appear to work at all. When I spoke to Dio I was able to go through his challenge no problem, but if I speak to a receptionist and attempt to fight, I'm instead sent to the same battlefield found around Midgar, fighting a sweeper and one of those red motorcycle guys who are encountered around there. I've tried the battle square four different times with four different characters and the same issue persists.

Other than that it's been pretty seamless, haven't had any crashes that I can recall, and nothing else seems to have gone wrong.

One last thing too: I personally don't think the materia system ought to be changed too much, if only to avoid overly messing with the spirit of the original game. I agree that it's not a perfect system and may potentially involve some grinding, but I like the fact that it gives the option of grinding if the player considers it necessary. I feel that altering it too much could also result in a lack of flexibility, which seems to go against how you've designed this mod in the first place.

I do think that redesigning and shuffling around abilities isn't a bad move though, like tossing osmose in with Heal and remove with Destruct. Exit seems awful lonely though!

edit: whoops, totally missed the suggestion of using the two materia systems based on what difficulty you play, seems like the best compromise.

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Releases / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v1.2)

« on: 2014-12-11 19:52:47 »

I began playing this mod after hearing a recommendation elsewhere. I just got to Nibelheim and things have been pretty smooth so far, I've only lost to that agitated mother bird on Mt. Corel. Overall, I think it's really good and is a very fresh take on an old game. Some thoughts:

- Some of the bosses just kind of go on forever. I realize that's probably what you were going for, Sega Chief, but at times it feels a little bit excessive. Much of the time it's not bad at all and feels just right, but fights like Jenova Vector, the third Guard Scorpion fight and the new Shinra guys in front of the Shinra mansion just seem excessively long. With Jenova, I understand that it's thematically appropriate given that it's supposed to be a big deal, but it took me about 20 minutes to kill the thing. It was fairly challenging and well thought out, but it just kind of went on so long that it became a bit old. Ditto with the Shinra guys I mentioned. Cave of the Gi boss took me about 30 minutes since I couldn't seem to kill either flame fast enough to avoid their healing. Probably could have done so if I approached it differently though.

- Random encounters on the other hand are almost universally good. Some actually seem to be a bit toned down from the previous game (weird little plant guys in the Junon forests) and when they're more challenging than before, it's never to excess. I really like how the more standardized elemental weaknesses makes coming up with strategies for specific monster formations both intuitive and satisfying.

- I really like the rebalanced magic and E. Skill. It's kind of amazing having Demi and Quake in particular actually be worth using. Same with the earlier summons too, really gives them some much need umph. I had a bit of trouble getting to level 2 spells (didn't get any until the end of the Corel prison sequence) but once I gained access to them things have been very smooth. Am I right in assuming that the AP inflation for materia leveling matters less the further in I get? I kind of assumed it was done to create a power curve, like what you did with EXP.

- Motor Drive's description of "Gotta go fast" is inspired.

- Just thinking ahead here: is Remove really worth going for? I completely forgot Exit materia is even a thing that exists in the game, so when I saw Yuffie had it I marveled at the 140000 or AP needed to learn it. I can't even recall it being good in the original game, did it get buffed in some way?

- Finally, is the game balanced around having up barriers at all times? In fights like the Shinra dudes at Nibelheim, it seems to be almost a straight-up requirement. Thinking about it, I imagine barriers really make this game a pain in the ass to balance given how effective they are.

Beyond that, I look forward to what comes ahead!