Final Fantasy IX: David Bowie Edition Version 2.0, now with Moguri support

[Clem Fandango]

The mod should be compatible with all parts of Moguri as far as I can tell.

As for turn-based battles, it was actually not designed with them in mind, but you can absolutely play with them if you'd like. Like vanilla FF9 though, make sure to turn off turn-based battles when fighting Ozma, to my understanding the setting does not work there due to Ozma's unique quirks.

[Robgatti]

The mod should be compatible with all parts of Moguri as far as I can tell.

As for turn-based battles, it was actually not designed with them in mind, but you can absolutely play with them if you'd like. Like vanilla FF9 though, make sure to turn off turn-based battles when fighting Ozma, to my understanding the setting does not work there due to Ozma's unique quirks.

OK thank you!

Really appreciate the patience with all the questions, modding is a fairly new thing to me.


And last question, DBE should be at the top of the mod load correct? Only plan on using the better Backgrounds.

EDIT: After finishing the installation of Moguri when I open FF9 there is no longer an options to install mods.

https://gyazo.com/9936084eb2a73d95810072febd3a4b08 SS

[Clem Fandango]

OK thank you!

Really appreciate the patience with all the questions, modding is a fairly new thing to me.


And last question, DBE should be at the top of the mod load correct? Only plan on using the better Backgrounds.

EDIT: After finishing the installation of Moguri when I open FF9 there is no longer an options to install mods.

https://gyazo.com/9936084eb2a73d95810072febd3a4b08 SS

Definitely have DBE at the top of the load order, things will get WEIRD if it's not.

As for the other installation, all you need to do after installing Moguri is re-run the Memoria patcher. Once you do that the Install Mods section should still be there and the Moguri components should show up.

[Robgatti]

Ahh OK, I accidentally mixed up the order of what to do.

Got it running so far so good.

Is there anyway to rebind the my movement keys on Controller?

IE its using the Joystick by default, if not no worries Ill warm up to it.

[Clem Fandango]

It's been a while since I used a controller with this (at this point I mostly just use a keyboard out of convenience) but I think you can set it up to use a d-pad depending on what kind of controller you use. Typically when I use a keyboard I use a DualShock 4 and I believe I had to use DS4Windows https://ds4-windows.com/to get it to work. Not entirely sure what you would need to do with other controller types though.

I can see why you would want to do that though, the stage fight at the start of the game is way more difficult on a keyboard from my experience.

[Necro]

A really quick thing to check is whether Zidane has a Mage Masher already equipped, that's an early way to know how things are going. Generally speaking starting a brand new save file is probably a good bet, otherwise your inventory might have some things in it that it really ought not to.

However since my last post there's actually been a number of big changes and it's actually pretty easy to set up the mod with Moguri now, if you want to give that a shot. Just have to do the following:

1. Install the latest version of Moguri, the download link is as follows: https://www.moddb.com/downloads/mirror/216757/127/bfacb6ef7e75fa89cd9b57b3d09a2a23

2. Download and run the latest version of the Memoria patcher from this page: https://github.com/Albeoris/Memoria/releases. Note that when you run the patcher, Windows may pop up a dialog saying the file is unsafe; this appears to be a false positive and is probably not unexpected given how the patcher works.

3. Launch FF9. You should now see a different looking screen from what you would normally get with Moguri, what you'll want to click is the "Install Mods" button in the upper right-hand corner. From there, click the Browse Catalog tab and you should see the mod listed. Not everything listed is current available for direct download through the manager, but from what I can tell that will change soon.

4. Install David Bowie Edition and go back to the Installed Mods tab. From here you may need to alter the load order; so long as David Bowie Edition is listed above the Moguri files it should work just fine.

Hey is this still the way to get this working with moguri? I tried to follow these steps exactly and I didn't get a mod load order when opening FF9 (it didn't even look different) and it broke the game when I tried to run it.
I had to get moguri from the moguri website though which I'm assuming is the problem by being updated to make this incompatible?

I've never used moguri or anything like this before so sorry if this is a dumb problem to have. I've been trying to get this working for hours searching all over.

[Clem Fandango]

Hey is this still the way to get this working with moguri? I tried to follow these steps exactly and I didn't get a mod load order when opening FF9 (it didn't even look different) and it broke the game when I tried to run it.
I had to get moguri from the moguri website though which I'm assuming is the problem by being updated to make this incompatible?

I've never used moguri or anything like this before so sorry if this is a dumb problem to have. I've been trying to get this working for hours searching all over.

I just ran through the steps I listed just to make sure I didn't mess something up and it still seems to work for me. Just to clarify, what do you mean when you say it didn't look different after you opened FF9? Do you mean that the launcher for FF9 looked the same as it always did, no extra options just purely vanilla? If that's the case that probably means that Moguri or Memoria hasn't been installed correctly.

Also this isn't related to your question and is more of a general announcement: for the last couple of month and a half I have been working on a pretty significant update, specifically going over all of the battles in the game to make them more challenging. The early game in particular isn't really in a state that I like in 1.16 and my hope is that it'll change pretty drastically. The mod isn't turning into a hard mode mod or anything like that, but I don't think I went far enough when I originally made most of the changes to battles.

I have no idea on when it will release, I'm hoping on some point within the next few months, I just need a solid block of time where I can sit down and really mess around with it.

[Necro]

I just ran through the steps I listed just to make sure I didn't mess something up and it still seems to work for me. Just to clarify, what do you mean when you say it didn't look different after you opened FF9? Do you mean that the launcher for FF9 looked the same as it always did, no extra options just purely vanilla? If that's the case that probably means that Moguri or Memoria hasn't been installed correctly.

Also this isn't related to your question and is more of a general announcement: for the last couple of month and a half I have been working on a pretty significant update, specifically going over all of the battles in the game to make them more challenging. The early game in particular isn't really in a state that I like in 1.16 and my hope is that it'll change pretty drastically. The mod isn't turning into a hard mode mod or anything like that, but I don't think I went far enough when I originally made most of the changes to battles.

I have no idea on when it will release, I'm hoping on some point within the next few months, I just need a solid block of time where I can sit down and really mess around with it.

Moguri launcher looks the same, with no changes to add the install mods option.
When I followed the instructions as well as I could, and then manually changing the priority stuff myself in the txt file, it broke the game.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/346108668170993665/989755950812508230/unknown.png

And as an aside, I gave up trying to get this mod working and tested to see if Alternate Fantasy would work, and it worked fine on the first try.
I could only get DBE working if I did a manual installation without moguri mod which I'm not really interested in doing because I like the look of moguri so much lol.
I'd like to play DBE more than I'm interested in AF, but as it stands I just don't know why I'm not able to and after I spent almost an entire day trying to get it working, I don't know if I have the motivation to keep trying to troubleshoot it when I don't even know where to begin fixing it.

[Tirlititi]

Make sure to have the option "[Graphics] Enabled = 1, TileSize = 64" in your file Memoria.ini (it is "32" without Moguri and "64" with it). The bug you show on your screenshot is 100% related to that.

[Clem Fandango]

After a lot of testing, 2.0 is now released. This is the most substantial update to the mod since release, I have gone through nearly every battle in the game, fixing bugs and making things overall more challenging than before. Beyond the combat, there have been a great number of more minor changes and tweaks that range from squashing bugs to replacing abilities entirely from 1.6.

The mod now requires Memoria and the version for standard FF9 will no longer be updated. That said, installing through Memoria is arguably simpler than how the mod used to be installed and more importantly, Moguri is now fully supported.

Below are the steps for installing the mod, which I have shamelessly copied and pasted from the new OP:

Standard Installation

1. Download and run the latest version of the Memoria patcher from this page: https://github.com/Albeoris/Memoria/releases. Note that when you run the patcher, Windows may pop up a dialog saying the file is unsafe; this appears to be a false positive and is probably not unexpected given how the patcher works. If you've got an older version of Memoria, make sure to update to the newest version.

2. Launch FF9. You should now see a different looking screen from what you would normally see, what you'll want to click is the "Install Mods" button in the upper right-hand corner. From there, click the Browse Catalog tab and you should see the mod listed.

3. Select David Bowie Edition in the mod manager and install it. Should be good to go from there.

4. Note that this should not be used with existing save games, unless updating from a previous version.

Additionally, you can download mod data at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k5o64e3g8iyah63/FF9%20DBE%20v1.16%20Memoria.zip?dl=0

It says 1.6, but it is 2.0. I'd recommend installing the mod through Memoria instead.

Moguri Installation

This is largely the same as the standard install, but you've got an additional step before doing starting the process. First install the newest version of Moguri from here: https://www.moddb.com/downloads/mirror/216757/127/bfacb6ef7e75fa89cd9b57b3d09a2a23

Once you finish installing Moguri, proceed with the steps seen in the Standard Installation section. At the end you can enable whichever Moguri components you'd like to use in the Mod Manager. I don't think load order should matter, keeping David Bowie Edition loading before Moguri will work fine.

Updating

To update the mod, simply uninstall it in the Memoria Mod Manager's Installed Mods tab, then redownload it in the Browse Catalog tab. Also make sure to be running the latest version of Memoria, as DBE makes use of features from the most recent release.

As always, please let me know if anything seems broken.

[themindcastle]

Hi!!

I'm very new to modding of any sort -- but I really enjoyed this mod and the changes it made. But I'm wondering if there's a way to go through the mod files and view the bestiary and monster stats? I've found some .mes files with the monsters' names and abilities, but nothing with their HP, MP, etc. Also nothing for which items are dropped or which blue magic is learned from which monsters.

[Clem Fandango]

Hi!!

I'm very new to modding of any sort -- but I really enjoyed this mod and the changes it made. But I'm wondering if there's a way to go through the mod files and view the bestiary and monster stats? I've found some .mes files with the monsters' names and abilities, but nothing with their HP, MP, etc. Also nothing for which items are dropped or which blue magic is learned from which monsters.

Hi, I'm glad you've enjoyed the mod!

I can set you up with a HWS file that you can load in Hades Workshop (the FF9 editor) which should show all of the relevant changes, including traces of weird ideas that I wasn't able to implement. Once I get back to the computer I use for modding I'll get the file for you.

edit: I think this is the newest version of the mod: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/eznq6zv8pseoldr1yoljp/DBE2.hws?dl=0&rlkey=40pdslknzepf9rbjdpma7umfo

From memory, in order to look at the contents you need to start up Hades Workshop, click File, Open and select the main FF9 executable in the FF9 directory. After that, click File, Open Mod and then select the HWS file from the drop box link. It'll probably take some time to load up but it should have all of the relevant changes.

Note that the HP values on some late game bosses won't be correct, since I used some of Memoria's functionality to change them. I think everything else should be accurate though.

[gunner_1207]

ok what the fudge has happened to the grand dragons?, i'm just before the lifa tree at the end of the game lv 40. They are invincible lol kicking my ass even with thunder protection every time. So much for a few levels before memoria lol. Along with the massive hp boost its bloody quick

[Clem Fandango]

Honestly they're just very nasty boys. In the vanilla game they are, on paper at least, probably the strongest regular monster in the game that isn't a Yan. In the very least that's the vibe they give. But then with the whole Lv5 Death situation, not to mention how easy it can be to dodge their stronger attacks, they turn into pushovers. I wanted to buff them up quite a bit to turn them into something of an optional super fight, they're beatable but very over tuned by design. I figured that since there's no longer any Dragon Crest to power up, I could stand to make them far more dangerous.

At this point I can't actually remember how exactly I changed them (I think they have Atomic Ray?) but I do remember that they're manageable with the right equipment.

Also minor spoilers,

Spoiler: show

Hades is much harder than in the original so be prepared for a tough fight.

[gunner_1207]

oh i agree in the base game there a joke, its a really good change , completely caught me by surprise. i will not give in i will beat it!! 

[HiroKunimi]

Hi! Tried the mod and I'm enjoying it, I've just completed Mount Gulug. I have a couple of questions though:

- The "none" spell is present in the equipment for several characters (Dagger, Vivi) even if I made a new install of the game and I'm using the last version both of Memoria and of the mod. Is this normal? May it depend on the fact that I installed the game in a folder I had it installed before?

- In the beginning of the game (Evil Forest) I could not heal the blind status with Eye Drops, I had to use Echo Screens instead

- In the battle with Meltigemini, when it gives you the "virus", characters cannot be neither healed not revived (with magic or phoenix down), is this intentional? It makes the battle kind of unfair

Thx!

[Clem Fandango]

Hi! Tried the mod and I'm enjoying it, I've just completed Mount Gulug. I have a couple of questions though:

- The "none" spell is present in the equipment for several characters (Dagger, Vivi) even if I made a new install of the game and I'm using the last version both of Memoria and of the mod. Is this normal? May it depend on the fact that I installed the game in a folder I had it installed before?

- In the beginning of the game (Evil Forest) I could not heal the blind status with Eye Drops, I had to use Echo Screens instead

- In the battle with Meltigemini, when it gives you the "virus", characters cannot be neither healed not revived (with magic or phoenix down), is this intentional? It makes the battle kind of unfair

Thx!

Based on the first two points, I think something isn't working quite right with the text on the mod. Are you playing the game in US English? If so, are you running any other mods concurrently? Basically Echo Screens and Eye Drops were combined into a single item and in theory there should be text changes to reflect that.

As for Meltigemini, the whole virus thing has been replaced by it inflicting Zombie, so it'll require Holy Water (or Annoytment if the text isn't working) or Zidane's Heroes skill (sixth in his skill list) to cure it.

Also the game must be a wild experience if the text isn't properly displaying, things must seem really arbitrary at times.

[HiroKunimi]

Based on the first two points, I think something isn't working quite right with the text on the mod. Are you playing the game in US English? If so, are you running any other mods concurrently? Basically Echo Screens and Eye Drops were combined into a single item and in theory there should be text changes to reflect that.

As for Meltigemini, the whole virus thing has been replaced by it inflicting Zombie, so it'll require Holy Water (or Annoytment if the text isn't working) or Zidane's Heroes skill (sixth in his skill list) to cure it.

Also the game must be a wild experience if the text isn't properly displaying, things must seem really arbitrary at times.

Thanks! Yes, I'm Italian but I'm playing the game in English, UK English though. I'm running Beatrix Mod, Tweaked Portraits and Moguri Mod, in this order from top to bottom and all of them under DB Mod (which is on top of the list).

[Clem Fandango]

Definitely worth switching over to US English then. Not thinking most of those mods should conflict, maybe Beatrix but I haven't really tried combining it, I'll give that a go tomorrow.

Edit: almost certainly the language settings, can't seem to cause the same problems with the mods installed in that order.

[HiroKunimi]

Switching to US English corrected the problem, now I have "Holy Water" and "Purify Drops" instead of annoyntment and eye drops. Wish I knew this before battling Meltigemini  Also the "None" spells have disappeared, I'm guessing everything was caused by UK-US.

A curiosity: I'm at Memoria and I could only find a "Level Up" ability equipment for Steiner, other characters have no "Level Up" equipment. Has it been removed in the mod or do I simply have to look around better? 

[Clem Fandango]

A curiosity: I'm at Memoria and I could only find a "Level Up" ability equipment for Steiner, other characters have no "Level Up" equipment. Has it been removed in the mod or do I simply have to look around better? 

Both Level Up and Ability Up are pushed to later abilities for the majority of the cast. Specifically for Level Up, the only piece of light armor to grant it is the Golden Skullcap which can be made through Synthesis in the Black Mage village in disc 4. The idea was to limit the availability so that folks don't feel inclined to have it on for the entire game as soon as they get it (same with Ability Up) while still keeping it on hand if someone were to want to swap out Zidane in Memoria and still want everyone to catch up. Meanwhile Steiner and Freya both have a lot of downtime for the first half of the game, so I gave it to them earlier so they could catch up faster.

Honestly though, in retrospect I don't like that it's only on the Skullcap, it's probably TOO limiting and I think I went too far. If I ever do another update I'll probably distribute the skill to something a bit earlier than the very end of the game. It's not as bad with Ability Up since AP costs were slashed for every skill already, but does present more of a limitation with Level Up.

[HiroKunimi]

Honestly though, in retrospect I don't like that it's only on the Skullcap, it's probably TOO limiting and I think I went too far. If I ever do another update I'll probably distribute the skill to something a bit earlier than the very end of the game. It's not as bad with Ability Up since AP costs were slashed for every skill already, but does present more of a limitation with Level Up.

Yes, I concur it's a bit late in the game and limiting for the player. It's a shame I found out about the language issue this late, having played most of the game with wrong text on items and spell, but I enjoyed it. Hope you will update the mod, I look forward to play the game again with it someday!