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WIP / [WIP]FF7 Refined
« on: 2021-11-06 03:43:38 »
I've been working on a simple dialogue overhaul and combat rebalance project, similar to New Threat except more minimalist in approach. It doesn't fundamentally alter the gameplay with any new mechanics, enemies, or bosses, but rather seeks to rebalance what is already there while also cleaning up the original messy English translation. In essence, I want this mod to capture FF7 as you remembered it with rose-tinted glasses, before you might have taken notice of all the little errors and blemishes playing it as a kid.
I also wanted to offer an alternative to Beacause that is actually designed to work with 7th Heaven from the ground up. My script takes a significantly different approach though. For much of the original dialogue, I viewed it from an "if it aint broke don't fix it" lens. That means keeping iconic stuff like Barret's famous "pizza" line and censored profanity untouched. I wanted to keep the charm of the original script while smoothing out the rough edges. I also didn't make changes to things like "Sectors" being called "Districts" even though this might be more technically accurate to the original Japanese. My primary concern here is not really accuracy so much as simply making the dialogue have an elegant flow to it, and in some instances even improving upon it regardless if it might deviate slightly from the original script. Though as a consequence of correcting a lot of errors and inconsistencies from the original translation, it will end up more accurate regardless. I tend to take the view that all art is flawed and original artists are not infallible; there is always room for improvement, so I will make changes where I see fit, but generally speaking, I don't plan to make any drastic deviations from what's already there. Major plot points will not be changed. This is after all intended to be a refinement of FF7, not a fundamentally new experience. My goal here is to offer something that first-time players can use for a more polished vanilla FF7, as well as give returning players some nice quality of life updates while still remaining largely true to the original FF7 experience.
As for my approach to the combat, I like the general pacing of the original game, so I will largely be leaving HP values of enemies untouched. However I did want to buff the damage of a lot of encounters, especially in the early game, as they're just so weak to the point of being too easy even for a novice. Bosses so far are the only enemy type I've modified HP for, as I noticed for example that Cloud can limit break on Air Buster for 600 damage, which is half of the boss's total HP value in one strike, so the length was just a little too short for my liking. But overall don't expect a brutally difficult trial. This aspect of the mod is intended to make the game a more well-rounded challenge, not a gauntlet of punishment.
As this mod is still in very early development, I have only completed the script and combat tweaks up to when Cloud and the gang arrive at the Shinra building to rescue Aeris. I will continue to update it as I find time, but I only work on this in my spare time / when I'm bored really, so don't expect any consistency from me, lol.
The mod is customizable so you can disable the combat tweaks while just using the dialogue or vice versa.
Alpha Version 0.4 Download: https://mega.nz/file/2IomBI7K#SUSpaTZKFf_JooEdjeHPTMu_RO4iEaD7607mc4Ffavo
Samples:
Some things I'd like to do:
- I can't get the Wall Market app to work on my PC, so I've been unable to make changes to things like potion healing values as I'd like to. If anyone has any tips on why it might not be opening, let me know.
- Currently the IRO was compiled by just slapping the whole flevel.lgp file into it, but I'd like to know how other mods break it up into smaller chunks, as I presume this would not only make the file size smaller but probably increase its compatibility with other mods by only modifying parts of the flevel file that are actually changed.
- Reading up on things, I noticed that some enemies will eventually get reused for the Gold Saucer battle arena with buffed stats, but I don't see separate enemies in ProudClod to represent this, which makes me a little concerned that it might modify their stats on-the-fly to be even more buffed despite that this mod already does that, which could result in some gameplay imbalances during this segment in the game. I'm curious if anyone knows how the mechanics of this actually work, as it could pose a problem down the road once I get to that point in the game.
I also wanted to offer an alternative to Beacause that is actually designed to work with 7th Heaven from the ground up. My script takes a significantly different approach though. For much of the original dialogue, I viewed it from an "if it aint broke don't fix it" lens. That means keeping iconic stuff like Barret's famous "pizza" line and censored profanity untouched. I wanted to keep the charm of the original script while smoothing out the rough edges. I also didn't make changes to things like "Sectors" being called "Districts" even though this might be more technically accurate to the original Japanese. My primary concern here is not really accuracy so much as simply making the dialogue have an elegant flow to it, and in some instances even improving upon it regardless if it might deviate slightly from the original script. Though as a consequence of correcting a lot of errors and inconsistencies from the original translation, it will end up more accurate regardless. I tend to take the view that all art is flawed and original artists are not infallible; there is always room for improvement, so I will make changes where I see fit, but generally speaking, I don't plan to make any drastic deviations from what's already there. Major plot points will not be changed. This is after all intended to be a refinement of FF7, not a fundamentally new experience. My goal here is to offer something that first-time players can use for a more polished vanilla FF7, as well as give returning players some nice quality of life updates while still remaining largely true to the original FF7 experience.
As for my approach to the combat, I like the general pacing of the original game, so I will largely be leaving HP values of enemies untouched. However I did want to buff the damage of a lot of encounters, especially in the early game, as they're just so weak to the point of being too easy even for a novice. Bosses so far are the only enemy type I've modified HP for, as I noticed for example that Cloud can limit break on Air Buster for 600 damage, which is half of the boss's total HP value in one strike, so the length was just a little too short for my liking. But overall don't expect a brutally difficult trial. This aspect of the mod is intended to make the game a more well-rounded challenge, not a gauntlet of punishment.
As this mod is still in very early development, I have only completed the script and combat tweaks up to when Cloud and the gang arrive at the Shinra building to rescue Aeris. I will continue to update it as I find time, but I only work on this in my spare time / when I'm bored really, so don't expect any consistency from me, lol.
The mod is customizable so you can disable the combat tweaks while just using the dialogue or vice versa.
Alpha Version 0.4 Download: https://mega.nz/file/2IomBI7K#SUSpaTZKFf_JooEdjeHPTMu_RO4iEaD7607mc4Ffavo
Samples:
Some things I'd like to do:
- I can't get the Wall Market app to work on my PC, so I've been unable to make changes to things like potion healing values as I'd like to. If anyone has any tips on why it might not be opening, let me know.
- Currently the IRO was compiled by just slapping the whole flevel.lgp file into it, but I'd like to know how other mods break it up into smaller chunks, as I presume this would not only make the file size smaller but probably increase its compatibility with other mods by only modifying parts of the flevel file that are actually changed.
- Reading up on things, I noticed that some enemies will eventually get reused for the Gold Saucer battle arena with buffed stats, but I don't see separate enemies in ProudClod to represent this, which makes me a little concerned that it might modify their stats on-the-fly to be even more buffed despite that this mod already does that, which could result in some gameplay imbalances during this segment in the game. I'm curious if anyone knows how the mechanics of this actually work, as it could pose a problem down the road once I get to that point in the game.