Author Topic: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)  (Read 328886 times)

Callisto

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #550 on: 2020-09-16 05:33:54 »
Updated the latest version with a fix to the Left Orb enemy that appears alongside NORG (the game softlocked whenever it was trying to cast Tornado). Many thanks to JohnnydarkPT for pointing it out.

@Exlo: In regards to the game crashing occasionally when attacking with Squall, I tried to replicate the issue with no success.

If you are playing the game at 1080p fullscreen, try reducing internal resolution and/or enabling windowed mode from the launcher settings and check if that fixes it. I did the same some time ago and have never ecountered this issue again ever since (could be just coincidence though, not sure, as it always happened in my case only very rarily). You could also try loading the game with non-modded files, to rule out a mod-related problem.

@Helm_Smasher: There is a small variation in enemy levels in the mod, even if they appear in the same area. It is encounter-based and definitely not dependent on your own levels. In the case of Bite Bugs that appear on the Balamb Isle, all Bite Bugs that appear in groups are at Lv 8, while the single one is set to Lv 12. I don't know why you encountered one that is at Lv 14 though. That's not intended for sure. Will investigate.

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #551 on: 2020-09-17 06:05:11 »
I see, so that's how it works, thanks for clarifying.
Again, thanks for making this game actually enjoyable to me by fine-tuning the parts I considered bad design.

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #552 on: 2020-09-17 06:10:18 »
When updating, is it enough to replace the content of the demaster_exp folder?
would it be necessary to repatch the .dll?

Callisto

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #553 on: 2020-09-17 10:26:44 »
Replacing the demaster_exp folder is enough to update to the lastest version, since no changes were made to the .dll this time.

Also thank you for the kind words. I hope your playthrough will go well. If any more questions arise, feel free to ask.

JohnnydarkPT

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #554 on: 2020-09-18 20:11:30 »
Thank you for solving that! if there are more bugs/crashes or whatever i will let you know, btw nice job, this mod is awesome... finally a FFVIII hard mod, i love FFVIII so much but this way i love it more... nice job!

JohnnydarkPT

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #555 on: 2020-09-18 21:07:15 »
i found other bug, this is not important but yes xD, Fastitocalon-F card give a potion, but need 5 cards xD, it says 1 card for 1 potion but you need to use 5... Sorry for my english but hope you understand!!
« Last Edit: 2020-09-19 19:31:42 by JohnnydarkPT »

JohnnydarkPT

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #556 on: 2020-09-18 21:17:55 »
And Squall is a bit slow when walking/running, i don't know if is because of my PC, but its only when running/walking, in battles is fast (this happened only in Disc 2, when i reached balamb garden, to defend)
« Last Edit: 2020-09-19 19:32:56 by JohnnydarkPT »

JohnnydarkPT

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #557 on: 2020-09-18 22:38:43 »
My PC run almost all games, so i think is a bug from the mod
« Last Edit: 2020-09-19 19:33:38 by JohnnydarkPT »

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #558 on: 2020-09-20 02:02:07 »
Would it be possible to have a fixed SEED rank instead of it fluctuating?
It makes sense that some story events would alter the rank but being forced to fight half dead in hopes of raising it always struck me as annoying.

If that's not possible, would there be a way for the rank to not suffer alterations while one is in town areas?

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #559 on: 2020-09-20 07:49:51 »
Okay, I just finished the Dollet raid, and it has mostly gone very smoothly. Only thing I noticed is that G-Elites and Anacondaurs did quite an astounding amount of damage (I almost had a party wipe against two G-Elites inside the base of the elevator of the comms tower). Is that expected? Elvoret was easier than those guys actually haha.
I'm playing the normal difficulty version by the way, not Lionheart.

Callisto

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #560 on: 2020-09-20 14:49:14 »
JohnnydarkPT: The slowdown issue you described seems to be related to a Windows 10 Update from May 2020. It has been reported by several users on the Steam forums, for example here, or here. There is no official fix yet, but if you follow the links, there are workarounds you could try. Personally, I am not affected by this, so I don't think it's caused by the mod.

The amount of Fastitocalon-F cards required to make a Potion is indeed a little mistake in Remastered that must have been there from the beginning. It seems to be the only incorrect Refinement though, and probably the one that matters the least, but it'll be fixed soon. Thanks.


Helm_Smasher: Yes, it should be possible to remove the SeeD Lv fluctuation, but I haven't looked properly into that yet. I guess I would rather reduce the amount of battles required to increase your SeeD Lv though. I agree that it always been a slog if you try to raise it that way. For now, I would recommend doing the SeeD tests from the menu, as it's way faster.

In regards to the Dollet raid, yes, it has some tough random battles here and there, but that's intentional so it's not too easy to get the max Attack and Spirit score shortly after SeeD graduation, pushing the urge to flee from battle, which results in a lower score. The Squeeze attack from the Anacondaur is admittedly a little too powerful though, so its base power will be lowered for Standard Mode. As for the Elite Soldiers, reducing the levels for those that appear in the Communication Tower should do (they are at Lv 12 there, compared to Lv 8 elsewhere in Dollet). Thanks for the feedback.

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #561 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?
« Last Edit: 2020-09-24 04:08:48 by Helm_Smasher »

Callisto

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #562 on: 2020-09-24 22:54:03 »
Updated the latest version with a few changes recently discussed:

- Anacondaur's Squeeze attack inflicts less damage in Standard Mode
- Elite Soldiers that appear inside Dollet Communications Tower are at a lower level
- The Card refinement for Fastitocalon-F Cards has been corrected

Also fixed an issue with Hard Mode exclusive boss battle formations appearing in Standard Mode. If you are currently playing this mod in Standard Mode, updating your files is highly recommended (patching the Remastered .dll again is not needed).

@Helm_Smasher: Yes, the salary is paid after a set amount of steps, and every time that happens, you lose some SeeD points, which will eventually lower SeeD rank if not enough battles have been fought since your last payment. This deduction can be disabled altogether, but I don't know if there is an easy way to make it dependent on whether you are currently in a town or not.  There is a field opcode that is used to halt any SeeD rank acitivity when playing as Laguna, but re-enabling it when leaving a town might be difficult (as Laguna, it is always re-enabled after a flashback ends). I'll look into it, but I can't promise to make it work.

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #563 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?
« Last Edit: 2020-09-25 23:35:32 by Helm_Smasher »

Callisto

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #564 on: 2020-09-26 02:01:11 »
Geezards around Galbadia Garden should be at level 14-16 around Galbadia Garden and level 20 near the Tomb of the Unknown King. You can also just check Ifrit's and Siren's Ability lists to make sure the mod changes inside DEMASTER_EXP are active (Ifrit has the Return Damage Ability, and Siren has Heal), while verification of correct EFIGS.dll patching can be done by drawing spells in battle (characters can draw more than 9 units per Draw).

As for the slowdowns you experienced even in battle, did you have the Battlefield graphics mod installed? If so, that was likely the cause for those lags, especially right at the beginning of a battle. It's a known issue with almost any kind of texture replacement mods for this game, but I heard things will improve soon with the image format being changed from png to dds, so if you feel bothered by those lags but still want to use the graphics mods, just wait a little longer for them to be updated.

Also thank you again for the progress report. It's really interesting to hear how it goes :)

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #565 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.
« Last Edit: 2020-09-26 10:29:49 by Helm_Smasher »

kokie

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #566 on: 2020-09-27 05:13:10 »
Callisto , can you tell me which file and offset you have to hex edit to change darkside damage and hp loss?

OmegaBattle

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #567 on: 2020-09-27 23:31:13 »
Is Ragnarok Rebalancing compatible with graphic Mods?

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #568 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.

Callisto

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #569 on: 2020-10-04 03:32:37 »
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.
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.

@kokie: Information on Darkside damage can be found here. As for HP loss, check out this topic. This is for the 2013 version; the stuff is elsewhere for Remastered (EFIGS.dll instead of FF8_EN.exe): the damage multiplier instruction starts at offset 2E447E; while HP loss is at 2E3FD1. 
« Last Edit: 2020-10-04 03:35:13 by Callisto »

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #570 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.

Weisshuf

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #571 on: 2020-10-04 07:33:06 »
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?

Helm_Smasher

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #572 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?

Weisshuf

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #573 on: 2020-10-04 11:39:19 »
Quote
When you interact with the boxes, nothing happens?

I just got moving balamb, did nothing else except FH. I went there, climbed the ladder, tried interacting with the boxes but Squall just doesnt want to climb them.

Callisto

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Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2a & v1.1a)
« Reply #574 on: 2020-10-05 01:54:00 »
The Iguions are found in the sewers, not at the Presidential Residence itself. It is normal that the boxes can no longer be climbed after the events at the end of disc 1, so don't worry about them.

Anyway, from the screen with the boxes, head back into the sewers, then one screen to the left. Wait there for a moment and the Iguions will "appear" (not visually, but they can be heard) if Caraway has been asked about the Iguions. You will be given the choice to stay and fight them, or escape back to Caraway's Mansion.