Messages

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2021-05-27 21:07:51 »

Just a little shout out to everyone playing. I updated to W10 version 21H1 and the game's speed continues to be slower than the base framerate.

To fix it, use an auto-clicker with the following settings:

Set clicking area inside the window somewhere (like the black pillarboxes on the sides) to avoid clicking on an unanted area

Set it to left single click with an interval of around 80ms

You can play around with the settings as you wish, but those seem to keep the framerate stable and at the game's spec.
In my experience it doesn't look like SpecialK is really needed (I set everything to off and only the autoclicker made a difference), but your mileage may vary.

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FF9 Gameplay Releases / Re: [PSX/PC] Alternate Fantasy (v3.2 & v5.1)

« on: 2020-11-29 09:53:29 »

Is there a way to tell early game if the mod is working properly? I feel like I don't remember Vivi starting with +20% MP ability, but maybe that's bad memory.

If Vivi's starting Rod has that, then it's working, if I recall correctly.

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7th Heaven / Re: [FF7 PC] Mod Manager - 7th Heaven (v2.2.3.522 Release)

« on: 2020-11-29 08:02:08 »

I'm not sure if "thank you"s can go here, but I wanted to thank everyone involved with this wonderful tool and the community of modders that labors so intensely to make this game even more wonderful. It's my favorite FF and with 7th Heaven and some mods from the catalog, it looks so nice and sleek that it makes me forget the Remake is even a thing. I'll always prefer the original, and this improves it even more.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-11-27 03:24:10 »

Speaking of the Remaster at least, in my experience, the frame timings in battle can't really be corrected perfectly.

Still, you can get stable framerates with some oddball solutions like having a Chrome tab open with some text on it, or using an auto clicker of some sort set to repeat middle click at around a 40ms interval, and also using Special K on all cases. Not sure if SK is strictly necessary, since it alone only gives me around 25 FPS on the field and 12 in battle without the quriky procedures I described above; I mostly use it because it has a frame pacing tool and I can keep an eye on the framerates.

Even with fixed framerates you get dips in some areas, and the Limit Break timings can feel off, but I think going forward, the Remaster will get more and more work done on it, while the original steam release is bound to get less (and that one is its own can of worms as well, bug wise), but it really depends on the community.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-11-11 00:31:10 »

Okay I made some more progress, though I'm still on Disc 2 (playing the normal version).
Once I moved from Balamb to Galbaldia I noticed a difficulty jump. Enemies are pretty sturdy on the whole, and certain abilities I was relying on, like Heal, aren't scaling all that well anymore.

It's mostly manageable, but enemies are rather vicious (I had an encounter in which a Creeps monster would Thundaga the character I had just revived repeatedly). I'm not saying smart enemies are a bad thing though, better than cheap (or auto scaling) ones, haha. It's nice that you put a Tri-Face encounter between the first and second floors in G-Garden as Pain is an excellent spell and I'm stocking on it (Rinoa has it on Mag and Squall on Str).

Sadly because I didn't buy skill scrolls I don't have junctions for every stat on everyone, but I'm hoping by Disc 3 I'm able to better sort things out. I haven't fought Cerberus yet but I'll post on that fight when I comment on the mod next.

Once again, thanks for making the game actually good, and keep up the good work.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-11-08 03:07:00 »

I don't mean to minimod, but maybe this mod deseves a sub forum inside its own thread to separate feedback from the regular and Lionheart variants, I feel.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-11-04 19:13:35 »

I can refine tents into Curaga, does that mean something is wrong with my game?

Probably. If I had to guess, you might need to repatch the relevant .dll file.
How many draws can you make in combat? if you never draw more than 9, that's certainly it (I had this issue before).

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-31 20:45:30 »

That would be handy, although at least in the mod it is much faster to gain magic stocks, so using them isn't such a detriment (and characters have actual strengths outside of the junction system too).

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-28 20:02:53 »

Thanks for considering my suggestions!
Regarding magazines, if only short tips are allowed, maybe the name of the continent where the monster that drops the material would help.

If NPCs can be added, junk shops could have an NPC called quartermaster that would give tips for a certain amount of money.

Edit: If not, maybe a new menu (like the Odine shop in Deling) would be quite enough.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-27 08:29:09 »

I will. I hope to be able to finish it (I never could finish the original) and Ultimecia seems suuuper scary even vanilla, so we'll see haha. I'll keep reporting as I progress. Approaching the end of disc 2 now.

Edit: If I may make some suggestions about weapons:

1) Please don't tie materials necessary only to card modding or Triple Triad. I know it's a restriction I imposed on myself so it's not your fault (rather it is my choice) but I'd prefer if every needed material was either dropped or mugged as well (or cards also be dropped), even if chances aren't super awesome.

2) If it is possible to modify the text in weapon magazines, please add hints to the origin of the materials needed, as I'd rather not have to look for info outside the game if I can help it.

3) Even if some materials come from missable side quests, please make it possible to get these things in other ways too.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-27 07:16:02 »

Thanks for taking the time to read my somewhat haphazard comments. I appreciate it!

Regarding a future PS1 version of the mod, maybe an ECC recalculator would allow the changed files to behave properly and work correctly in an eventual patch.

I got through the Trabia segment (ventured out a bit, fought a few Snow Lions. These guys are super tanky, wow haha).

The fight with Fujin and Raijin was interesting, but it took a lot of patience. Fujin was constantly spamming Metsu which means I had to Esuna + Haste to counteract the effects so it felt like a fight of attrition.

I actually managed to build Flame Saber, so Squall is okay for now, I'm mostly worried about Zell's weapon (he's strong from stats + junctions alone, but I'd like to give him a bigger push).
Were materials changed a lot from the original ones needed?

I'm now at the part of the story where Galbaldia Garden crashes onto Balamb. Been grinding a bit to get -ga spells and to level up Quistis (she's way behind) and also trying to get all junctions for Pandemona.

Once more, thanks for working on this great mod and making the game actually fun to play.

Edit: Missiles can be mugged from one of the robot encounters during Galbaldia's attack; same bots that appear in the D-District Prison, though I haven't scanned to check Lv; probably higher.

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FF9 Gameplay Releases / Re: [PSX/PC] Alternate Fantasy (v3.2 & v5.1)

« on: 2020-10-26 04:04:24 »

The mod was designed to be beatable with no sort of grinding.
It was even proved to be beatable in a full lvl1 game (although that requires a lot of luck, retries and planning).

(Congrats @DenisColli btw)

Thanks, it's comforting to know. I'll be sure to share my impressions as I play when I get to it.
Keep up the good work.

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FF9 Gameplay Releases / Re: [PSX/PC] Alternate Fantasy (v3.2 & v5.1)

« on: 2020-10-25 23:11:33 »

I definitely would like to play this mod (currently playing Callisto's wonderful Ragnarok mod for FF8 though).

I did a cursory reading of this mod's features and it seems enemies are stronger? that said, does the difficulty curve still feel fair? I'd rather not have to juggle equippment to min-max stats just to get by; it would drain the fun of the game for me.

Thanks for making Beatrix playable, too. I always wanted that.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-15 06:56:08 »

Thanks for your replies.
Yes, I've been definitely drawing from monsters when I can in the Garden Wars segment. I got some Pains from Tri-Face (that one does a lot of hurt without protect) which I bet is good to junction to ST-Atk or ST-Def.

Wow, I'm happy to know you made stat gains more unique and apparent. Again, IMO, this great mod does wonders in normalizing the experience compared to other FFs while still allowing it to have its own unique quirks (I wanted an experience like this for years, you have no idea).

I'll take a look at my GF distribution, I think I don't have any junction overlaps, but I'll check, thanks (thanks for making GFs unmissable, by the way; last time I played vanilla, way back then, I missed Leviathan... not happy times).

Edit: Out of curiosity, would it be possible to bring Ragnarok to the PS1 original game or are changes too extensive to allow that?

Edit 2: Nothing too exciting to report, but here we go.

I bagged the Oilboyles and the fight went okay (though the nasty buggers are actually stronger than they look) and also did NORG in.

He was a little harder thanks to spamming Pain and Death once the pod was open, but otherwise was manageable thanks to Shell.
Now when both pods go red, oh boy, that's carnage, very hard to survive it, so I set Quists to hit any pod that had gone yellow, something I
also set Zell to do while Squall did the heavy hitting. Even though I have Mesmerize Blades on stock, I didn't have a chance to upgrade the gunblade yet
and Zell is way behind weapon wise. I hope I can upgrade soon.

All in all, the balance of the mod is excellent, and I continue to enjoy it, thank you.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-12 04:44:16 »

Thank you, this really puts my mind at ease. If you are curious about progress on my play through, nothing to exciting I'm afraid, I got brothers and I've been farming AP to get the skills so I can split GFs later without too much trouble. I'll make sure to report on the Edea fight though.

Edit: I'm guessing this means the "Bonus" abilities like Str Bonus and such are also absent? I honestly prefer it that way mind you.
What's the general gist of adjustment for natural stat gains? +2 for the focus stat of the character and +1 for other stats?

Edit 2: I got through Edea. Oh boy I wasn't expecting Maelstrom, it took more than one try to beat her, but it felt more worthwhile to do so.
I got through the District D Prison, not too hard (but I forgot the Combat King, I hope I can get it later somehow). While it's cool that some unused enemy formations
are now a thing, I felt the Chimera was out of place inside the prison (since enemy formations there were composed mostly of humans and robots).

I also got through the Missile Base and also ended up game overing twice to that big mech thing. Maybe it's because everyone else besides Squall is kinda low level n comparison
(thanks for Step Mine by the way. Having a source of MT damage helps greatly).

I'm now at the the Garden Wars section. I noticed quite a jump in damage from the enemies, but it makes sense, I guess. Probably everyone else is too low level compared to Squall, so might stay in this area for a while.

I should note that I'm playing strictly without summoning GFs and without playing Triple Triad; I know it can make things harder for myself, but I wanted to steer well and far away of the things that were the focus of the vanilla game due to the brokeness of it all (and I don't really like Triple Triad).

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-12 00:20:41 »

I have a question about the percentile bonus abilities from GFs:
Are they flat increases that apply only when equipped or do they also lead to increases on level up?
I hope it's only the former, because I'd rather not do an ability "chair dance" whenever someone is close to leveling just to maximize gains.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-04 08:00:17 »

So, for the Iguions sidequest, when I went into the sewers and went up the ladder where the car is, I cant climb the car to enter the presidental residence. Why is that? Or is there another way in?

When you interact with the boxes, nothing happens?

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-10-04 04:22:27 »

Well yes, it's kind of normal. Here is some advice:

Make sure to have the HP-J Ability unlocked for all 3 characters. The enemies that appear around Deling City are balanced around having at least Cura junctioned on everyone's HP. Cura can be drawn from the Geezard enemy in the area, or "bought" from the new Odine Shop in Deling City (indirectly through Healing Waters, or Tents via Siren's L-Mag RF Ability). The ideal HP spell at this time would be Zombie which can be made through the Zombie Powders dropped by the Gerogero boss or drawn by the Blood Soul enemy found at the night-time grassland area around the city. It should raise your HP to around 1500-2000, which should be enough to deal with the attacks by Vysage (500-600 HP single target damage through Aero, 200-300 HP damage through the AoE attack) and Wendigo (up to 800 HP single target damage). But I agree that Wendigo is slightly overtuned for this area, so its overall damage output will be decreased for Standard Mode soon.

All in all, as far as the early-mid game goes, I would say that junctions are more impactful than leveling up overall. Sometimes, searching around for new spells is needed to keep up with the enemies (especially after leaving Timber and during the D-District Prison events). Leveling up will definitely pay off in the mid-late game though, so there's no need to hold back with your levels (the Bonus Abilities that grant permanent stat boosts when leveling up are removed in this mod anyway).

Also good to know that you got the EFIGS.dll patch working. It is actually very important for all mod changes to take effect, not just in regards to the Draw cap in battle. Without the patch, for example, magic damage is severely limited for both party members and enemies, which explains why Elvoret (who uses mostly magic attacks) gave you little to no trouble at all. I hope the increased enemy magic damage is not too overwhelming now. Otherwise, don't hesitate to tell, and maybe more specific enemies will receive a little adjustment. Thanks.

Thanks for your kind reply. I have been experimenting with Junctions and stocking Zombie definitely paid off, just as you said. I was probably under-equipped, magic wise, when first arriving, but those protects from Wendigos help a lot. I actually went through the whole Deling mission segment and beat the lizard bosses, but then remembered I failed to get Brothers. Since I don't remember if I can return to get it later, I decided to reload from an earlier point and get it.

I'm quite glad you removed the permanent stat boosts, or I'd be royally in trouble later down the line haha.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-09-28 04:01:03 »

I'm not the creator, but I hope Callisto won't mind me answering that one.
Yes, it's compatible, as it uses the same Demaster framework. I'm actually using several enhancements myself and playing Ragnarok.

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General Discussion / Re: What's the best way to play FFVIII these days?

« on: 2020-09-27 08:27:46 »

It's worth noting that the Remaster has issues with weird slowdowns, mostly affecting users running W10 with update 2004 (but I also had and I'm actually running 1909, the version that normally doesn't have the issue. There are workarounds by using a wrapped called Special K and it did fix things in my case, but yeah, just be aware of it.

I agree with Manakaiser, though. Remaster is has, bar none, the best potential for mods of all kinds.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-09-26 03:40:13 »

Thanks for the reply!
I don't really mind not using the texture enhancements, so it's okay if I have to forgo them, what I'm most interested in are the mechanics fixes the mod brings in.
I took a look around the Steam forums and it seems this issue affects several people, but putting the .dll inside the directory fixed things from what I can tell. I'm now only using texture enhancements for weapons and Mcindus' UI and font (they look so nice).

Thanks for the heads up about how to verify mod changes! I may have patched EFIGS.dll incorrectly as I can't seem to draw out more than 9.
The playthrough is a bit uneventful at the moment since I need to bring Irvine up in levels a bit before going to Deling.

Edit: Eh, spoke too soon. As soon as I patched EFIGS.dll  (correctly this time) the problem returned. I don't think it's mod related at all, but I wish I could figure out the root of this.
The slowdown seems to be completely random. Some sessions play just fine, others have constant slowdown for everything (music plays normally).

I got to Deling and I'm getting absolutely crushed by the random encounters around the city (Wendigo and Vysage) is that normal? I think I have decent junctions, even though Zell and Irvine are a bit low on levels compared to Squall. Dribble from Wendigo basically puts them on critical damage with one attack.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-09-25 04:55:43 »

Thanks for taking the time to read thiese!
I finished the train decoupling mission and things went well. Fake Deling gave off some hard hits but it felt fair. I'm now back in Timber.
Had a close call fighting Diablos but finally got him. I don't think I'd have managed if enemies kept scaling up, as I had no chance when first got the lamp, but after returning from the train mission I won (even if it was by a hair haha).

Edit: After updating to the latest version, animations and transitions became a tad sluggish. I don't know if it's something related to the game itself or not, but it feels off. Maybe it's the same thing that JohnnydarkPT was experiencing, but for me it feels slower but in and out of battle so it's even worse. It started around the Eshtar flashback (before the party reached Galbaldia).

Edit 2: I seem to have fixed the slowdown by adding XInput1_4.dll from the Windows folder inside the game folder (following instructions in the Steam forums, but since I started the Demaster_ExP folder from scratch, I'm not sure if the mod is active even though I followed the instructions to reinstall it. What level are the Geezards around Galbaldia Garden, so I can have a frame of reference?

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Support / Trying my hand at customizing window graphics for my own use

« on: 2020-09-24 09:37:48 »

First, let me say that the modding community here is amazing; between a gameplay mod that fixes the annoyances I had with the general mechanics since 1999 (thanks, Callisto!) and the host of visual improvements I've been finding here, it's really turned into a whole new game for me, for the better.

I've been using the excellent UI improvement by Mcindus, but I'm not a big fan of the grid pattern, even though I love the gradient. I've been tinkering with Demaster and ZZZArchiver for a while now and I have a working knowledge of both, as far as extracting and replacing files goes.

I'd like to make my window "skin", basically, but the gradients stop at the wrong places, and it looks strange. I was careful to respect the boundaries of the original files, too.
What could I be doing wrong?

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Releases / Re: [FF8:Remastered] BattlefieldPack: Remastered v1.3.1

« on: 2020-09-23 23:27:01 »

Seconded. Or, if possible, please break the file into smaller chunks.
Thanks for the hard work, regardless.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)

« on: 2020-09-20 21:40:48 »

Ah, reducing the number of required kills seems to be a good compromise (I don't know if rank raising via battle and rank maintainment via battle are separate variables), but maybe 5 instead of 10 are a good compromise.

Thanks for your continued work on this wonderful mod. Without it, it would be impossible for me to enjoy the game.

Edit: I'm continuing the playthrough. Reached Timber. Let's see how the mission goes.
Regarding SEED ranks, would it be possible to keep them from going down when steps are taken in town? (unless I misunderstood, it is the number of steps that progresses the intervals between payments. Is that correct?