Messages

151

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-04-21 04:52:28 »

@Yuey: Cerberus has been made tougher than other bosses at that point intentionally, as he still casts Double and Triple when summoned, which is very useful for longer battles, and - more importantly - also because he is an optional boss. That's also why the Brothers are harder to defeat than Edea (1st), for example.

Still, the drop in difficulty between Cerberus and Edea (2nd) might be a little too noticable indeed. So I guess a small speed bonus to Edea (2nd) sounds reasonable, as well as increasing the level requirement for Leviathan to learn the second Treatment Ability.

Speed junction bonuses will be further reduced in the next update, probably releasing next week. This will also change Triple availability. At the moment, the earliest methods of aquiring Triple is by finding Three Stars from Chocbo World, by modding the Selphie card, or through High Mag-RF from Alexander a little later. There are only 2 non-regular enemies you can draw it from on disc 3 or 4, so make sure to not miss out on them if you prefer drawing it.


@fooli: I rechecked SeeD rank salary for each rank and found that the value for rank 16 is busted because of a typing error in the ragnarok_mod text file. Thanks a lot, I probably wouldn't have spotted it myself anymore.

The soldiers from the Missile Base boss battle can be tricky indeed, but there are various spells that help dealing with them. For one, the Base Soldiers are very vulnerable to Slow, a spell that should be easily accessible at this point of the game. Quezacotl has a chance of inflicting Slow as well. They can't even cure the status with their Remedies, so it'll definitely help. The Base Leader's HP have been made that high to give the Demi spell an opportunity to shine in a boss fight.

In general, if you feel like being overwhelmed by certain enemies, don't hesitate to try status changing spells. They are sometimes the key for winning battles. This is particularly true for the (in this mod) infamous Esthar Cyborgs as well.

I'm not sure what caused the increased encounter rate at the Oilboyle screen; it's even set to be slightly lower than elsewhere at MD-Levels. Guess I'll just decrease it further, as it can be really annoying to run into a random battle on your way to where the Oilboyles spawn. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Mixed text fonts are definitely not caused by this mod. I know what you mean, and I believe it happens more frequently if you alt-tab out of the game and back in with any font-changing mod active, but not entirely sure what causes it.

Zell's Duel damage can still be high and compete with other characters' Limit Breaks when using certain combos (outside of repeated use of Punch Rush and Booya, known as the "Armageddon Fist" in the base game). Nothing has changed about command order, so you can use this as a guide:

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Duel

Irvine's natural Speed growth will be increased for the next update, so he will be the only character that reaches a high Speed stat without grinding for Speed Up items (only Selphie will come close). Angelo Cannon and Angelo Strike damage is based on Rinoa's Strength, which is rather low naturally, but can be increased with junctions to somewhat decent levels. As a compensation, her Limit Break will trigger a little earlier than that of the characters (40% max HP instead of the usual 30%) and Wishing Star is currently still incredibly powerful.

152

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-04-19 20:03:31 »

No, there isn't such an NPC for disc 4 yet. I'll try to add this function to Joker, but I can't promise if I can get it working, as it seems more difficult than at the other locations.

What you could do in any case is relying on the RNG for you to remove a certain rule from the card players on the Ragnarok, as long as you are able to carry rules to certain players that don't already play them. Check out this link, for example:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/197343-final-fantasy-viii/76700194

153

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-04-18 16:10:59 »

Oh, that was an oversight. That's actually a very important thing you've spotted there. Will be fixed as soon as possible, thank you.

[Spoiler:]

154

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-04-16 15:30:40 »

Hey Yuey, thank you for the feedback, much appreaciated. I am somewhat satisfied with the overall balance as well, but I still feel like a few bosses are in need of further adjustments - mostly small ones, though. For example, the damage the Iguions can inflict with their Resonance attack is a bit overtuned, and the enemies at the top of the prison are still a bit too fast. So watch out once you get there, and don't set battle speed to max for bosses in general. Anyway, have a good time and feel free to report back with any impressions you have.

@Fooli: It's best to wait with starting the Queen of Cards sidequest until you have the Quezacotl card from Mayor Dobe in Fisherman's Horizon, as the whole quest chain now starts with this card instead of Minimog. All in all, not much has changed about this sidequest otherwise. Click spoiler tag for more details:

Spoiler: show

Instead of the Minimog card, you need to lose the Quezacotl card to the Card Queen. This creates the Kiros card, which can then be found at Winhill Inn. Second, instead of the Sacred Card, the Card Queen now requests the Pandemona card. This will create the Irvine card, which can still be won from Flo in Fisherman's Horizon. The rest of the quest remains the same as in the base game.

As for the T-Rexaur wipe, I'll look for a way to prevent back attacks against this enemy, or will just decrease the power of its tail attack a little.

Rechecked shop options in Timber train, and can confirm the bug you described. It only happens when talking to this NPC right after getting Rinoa out of her room though. After the actual train mission and right before facing Gerogero, the options work as intended. Will fix this very soon, thanks for the info.

155

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-04-14 23:33:34 »

The earliest point you can get Doomtrain is identical to the original game (excluding Chocobo World): After leaving Esthar for the first time, head to Tears Point, get the Solomon Ring and active it when having 6 Steel Pipes, 6 Remedy+ and 6 Malboro Tentacles in your inventory.

Steel Pipes must be mugged from Wendigos (they appear very frequently on the dirt ground area near Deling City), as they are no longer available through Card Mod. As for the other items, the ways of obtaining them are the same as always. Here's a link:

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Doomtrain

156

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-04-13 03:35:51 »

In the current version of the mod, Omega Weapon uses a different opener than normal (not Lv5 Death), deals noticably more damage with his attacks (especially spells) and can use Light Pillar anytime. The latter is no longer an instant death attack in this mod, but very difficult to survive.

Other than that, Omega Weapons physical attacks are harder to dodge, as the Speed gains through junctions - and therefore also Evade stats - have been toned down by quite a bit, and he can't be easily put under the Vit 0 status effect by just casting Meltdown, so the fight will probably go on longer than usual - also because Squall's, Zell's and Irvines' Limit Breaks no longer inflict absurd amounts of damage. Character stats are generally harder to max out since the latest update, which should help with the difficulty of this battle as well.

I'm not sure if this is enough to turn him into a nightmare, but it should be a noticable step up frome the base game. I guess there's still more potential to this battle, like slightly more randomization of attacks, so his pattern becomes less predictable. I'll think about something for the next update, which should release soon.

157

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-04-08 03:56:01 »

I was wondering how do you obtain Seifer's card now since Cid doesn't seem to have it.

Nothing has changed in regards to the Seifer card, only the Kiros and Zell card locations are different from the original game.

Are you playing at his office? The probabilties of Cid using the Seifer card are different depending on where you play him. It's only 20% in his office, while later at Edea's House chances increase to about 50%. So I'd suggest keep trying.

158

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-03-30 00:35:15 »

@Nikito: Irvine's strong points are his Speed and Luck, to offset his lower HP, Strength and Vitality compared to Squall and Zell. His natural Speed growth is planned to be increased further for the next update, while Speed gains from junctions will be lowered, so Irvine's advantage in Speed over the other characters will always be noticable (only Selphie will come close). Besides that, all of his weapons will receive an innate critical hit bonus, not just Exeter. I hope this will make him more worthwhile overall.

@demondrakeza666: Yes, the Zell card has become part of a sidequest in this mod, rather than being won by a Triple Triad player. This sidequest can be completed at the beginning of disc 3 at the earliest, until the point of no return at the end of disc 3 at the latest. You don't have to care about any prerequisites prior to disc 3, the card can be found anytime during disc 3, no matter the circumstances. If you need more information about where to find items, cards etc, let me know.

[Spoiler:]

159

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-03-19 16:02:37 »

Ok, here's the guide for remaining characters. Also made a correction to Squall's Twin Lance (I confused Orihalcon and Giant's Ring in the description).

Spoiler: show

Zell's weapons

[Maverick]
Dragon Fin x1
Spider Web x4

Notes: One Dragon Fin can be found as part of the Dog sidequest in Dollet when doing it on disc 1 or 2. Two more can be stolen from the Iguions at the end of disc 1. Note that Dragon Fins can be also used to create the valuable Double spells, so if there are only a few Dragon Fins in your inventory, think carefully about what to spend them on. Spider Webs are won from Caterchipillars, as usual.
 

[Gauntlet]
Giant's Ring x2
Fury Fragment x2

Notes: Only a few options are available for getting a Giant's Ring before they become available in Esthar. One can be found in the Chocobo Forest of Fun on the Centra continent, while another can be received from Zone in exchange for the Girl Next Door magazine. Fury Fragments can be stolen from Blue Dragon in the snow covered forests on the Trabia continent, on any level.


[Ehrgeiz]
Phoenix Spirit x1
Dragon Skin x4
Inferno Fang x2

Notes: At the moment, the only way to get a Phoenix Spirit is by refining 20 Phoenix Pinions using GFAbl Med-RF, which can be costly and requires Eden to be unlocked. A Phoenix Spirit will be very likely added as a sidequest reward soon. Dragon Skins are most easily won from high leveled Anacondaurs around Dollet's mountain range, and Inferno Fangs from high leveled Ruby Dragons that appear at their usual places in the late-game (if you want to fight them as early as possible, check out Grandidi Forest on disc 2).



Irvine's weapons

[Ulysses]
Steel Pipe x1
Bomb Fragment x1
Screw x2

Notes: I think the materials are unchanged from the base game. Steel Pipes can be stolen from Wendigos in Timber Roshfall Forest, on dirt ground near Deling City, and in D-District Prison a little later. A Bomb Fragment is sometimes dropped by Bombs, even the low level Bombs inside Fire Cavern. An encounter that has Bombs in it will be likely added somewhere on the Galbadia continent soon, in case they didn't drop one in Fire Cavern or the player doesn't want to use Card Mod.


[Bismarck]
Steel Pipes x2
Dynamo Stone x4
Screw x8

Notes: Dynamo Stones can be stolen from med-high leveled Blitzes that are common on the Centra Continent. It's not a guaranteed steal, but chances to get one are high.


[Exeter]
Dino Bone x2
Shaman Stone x1
Star Fragment x2
Screw x18

Notes: For getting Dino Bones as early as possible, use LV Up on the T-Rexaurs on the Balamb continent until they reach LV 40+, then mug them or get them as a drop. Shaman Stones are rare, but one can be stolen from the final sorceress at the beginning of disc 4. Can be also won by modding the Bahamut card in this mod. As for Star Fragments, fight Iron Giants or get a few by doing the Dollet Dog sidequest on disc 3. This weapon is the only weapon that has received an inherent crit bonus that is entirely independent on Irvine's Luck stat.



Quistis' weapons

[Slaying Tail]
Magic Stone x1
Sharp Spike x1

Notes: Magic Stones are dropped by low level T-Rexaurs and by Granaldo on disc 1. Sharp Spikes can be dropped by Geezards in this mod as well, but it's not a guaranteed drop.


[Red Scorpion]
Ochu Tentacle x4
Dragon Skin x8

Notes: Ochu appears in Timber Forest (most frequently towards the end of the area) when playing as Laguna, so you might want to take advantage of that to get some Ochu Tentacles. For the Dragon Skins I would recommend fighting high leveled Anacondaurs near Dollet or med-high leveled Blue Dragons in the snow covered forests around Trabia Garden.


[Save the Queen]
Earth Stone x8
Malboro Tentacle x2
Energy Crystal x4

Notes: Earth Stone is one of the new items and is sometimes dropped by Armadodo and Abyss Worms. It can be also stolen from T-Rexaur on any level, or bought at the new Deling City Shop with the Familiar Ability unlocked. Malboro can be encountered at the usual places and the Energy Crystals can be still farmed by doing the scripted Elnoyle battle in Esthar over and over.



Rinoa's weapons

[Valkyrie]
Magic Stone x1
Shear Feather x2

Notes: Magic Stones are dropped by low level T-Rexaurs and by Granaldo on disc 1. Shear Feathers are a common steal/drop from Thrust Aevis that is pretty much everywhere around Timber and Deling City.


[Rising Sun]
Wind Stone x1
Saw Blade x4
Screw x8

Notes: Wind Stone is the other new item and is sometimes dropped by Thrust Aevis and Abyss Worms. It can be also stolen from Death Claws that can appear in the forest near the orphanage, in Balamb Garden during the Norg scenario and in Galbadia Garden on disc 2. Saw Blade is a guaranteed steal from Belhelmel that can be found around Galbadia Garden on disc 1, and is also usually dropped by them.


[Cardinal]
Cockatrice Pinion x8
Mesmerize Blade x4
Curse Spike x2

Notes: The earliest opportunity to fight Cockatrices is around Dollet (grassland area) or Timber Roshfall Forest. Mesmerizes are found pretty much everywhere on the Trabia Continent. For Curse Spikes, I would advise stealing some from Tri-Face that now appears in a scripted encounter during the Norg scenario in Balamb Garden, or waiting until reaching the MD Levels where they can be encountered as well.


[Shooting Star]
Windmill x2
Regen Ring x1
Force Armlet x1
Energy Crystal x2

Notes: Same as in base game, nothing has changed here. Windmills are a little harder to come by in this mod though. The first opportunity is likely by fighting high leveled Abyss Worms in Kashkabald Desert on the Centra continent. A Regen Ring is now rewarded for helping out Balamb Garden students during the Norg scenario, so you might want to save it for Rinoa's best weapon later.



Selphie's weapons

[Morning Star]
Steel Orb x2
Sharp Spike x2

Notes: A few Steel Orbs are dropped by Diablos, and Sharp Spikes are sometimes dropped by Geezards. If you don't want to use Diablos' Steel Orbs for upgrading the weapon, you can fight Wendigos in Timber Roshfall Forest to get Steel Orbs as well (as a drop only).


[Crescent Wish]
Wizard Stone x2
Life Ring x1
Sharp Spike x4

Notes: 5 Wizard Stones can be found as a treasure in one of the Chocobo Forests on the Trabia continent. They are generally rare until the mid-late-game, so you might want to take advantage of this relatively early opportunity. Life Rings are sometimes dropped by Mesmerizes, also found on Trabia. As for Sharp Spikes, fight Geezards or Grand Mantis on the Centra continent.


[Strange Vision]
Adamantine x1
Star Fragment x3
Curse Spike x2

Notes: Same as in the base game. Adamatine from high leveled Adamantoises, Star Fragments by doing the Dollet Dog sidequest on disc 3 or by fighting Iron Giants, Curse Spike from Tri-Faces in Balamb Garden disc 2 or Deep Sea Research Center on disc 3 or 4.

I would love to add more bonuses to weapons, such as giving some a Magic Boost, as you suggested. Unfortunately, it's one of the harder changes to make. FF8 tool support is still relatively young though, so it might be possible more easily at some point - fingers crossed.

160

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF8] Ability data and Angel Wing mechanics

« on: 2019-03-18 13:13:31 »

Ok, so I checked out your patch, waited for all table spells to be cast at least once, put Rinoa under several status changes, killed her, revived her etc, all while being under Angel Wing, and I didn't notice anything wrong. The only thing that surprised me was that it took very long for Thundaga to be used, way longer than Demi, Bio etc, but it was most likely just bad luck.

Guess I'll change these probabilities again, making sure the sum is always 256. Really a good idea to implement the table the way you did, so every user can set up the spells they want, and change again any time. Good work!

On another note, does Rinoa actually receive a Speed bonus while under Angel Wing? Some sources state it, some not. Never noticed it myself to be honest, as her ATB bar never seemed to go any faster.

161

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF8] Ability data and Angel Wing mechanics

« on: 2019-03-17 22:13:27 »

Alright, will do, and report back soon.

Weightings look good, but I actually wanted the -aga spells all be at 11, but that was my mistake. I guess I could always change these numbers easily anyway.

I wonder if having a look at Selphie's Slots could help with a better fix? Because the spells that appear there are completely independent from what Selphie has in her inventory. So there should be a way to make Angel Wing spells ignore the inventory check completely as well, at least theoretically.

Just a thought - I don't really know how it's all set up in the exe and if this comparison makes any sense, but Slot is the first thing that came to mind.

162

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF8] Ability data and Angel Wing mechanics

« on: 2019-03-17 20:12:45 »

Wow, great findings!

On the one hand, I'm relieved that the mechanics around Angel Wing have been finally demystified, but on the other, the fact that spell selection can be further manipulated by moving them to certain slots is kind of saddening... That means that even more offensive spells other than Meteor can be safely kept to make Rinoa cast Meteor regularly. Removing all offensive spells except Meteor is at least some kind of trade-off, but it doesn't even seem necessary at all... Oh well.

Well anyway, I've prepared a table you could likely put into a code cave, and then hijack the function and make it jump to that table:

Code: [Select]

rnd = [0..255]
if (rnd < 11) {
   Spell ID 3 (Firaga) {
}
else if (rnd < 22) {
   Spell ID 6 (Blizzaga)
}
else if (rnd < 32) {
   Spell ID 9 (Thundaga)
}
else if (rnd < 38) {
   Spell ID 0A (Water)
}
else if (rnd < 44) {
   Spell ID 0C (Bio)
}
else if (rnd < 50) {
   Spell ID 2D (Pain)
}
else if (rnd < 56) {
   Spell ID 31 (Meltdown)
}
else if (rnd < 62) {
   Spell ID 0D (Demi)
}
else if (rnd < 94) {
   Spell ID 12 (Tornado)
}
else if (rnd < 126) {
   Spell ID 11 (Quake)
}
else if (rnd < 174) {
   Spell ID 0F (Flare)
}
else if (rnd < 222) {
   Spell ID 0E (Holy)
}
else if (rnd < 238) {
   Spell ID 10 (Meteor)
}
else {
   Spell ID 13 (Ultima)
}
I'm pretty sure that these 14 spells are the only ones I want to be compatible with Angel Wing - no more pointless Scans, Sleeps etc. If that works, I'll make them all break the damage limit and increase the damage multiplier to 4 or 5 again (it's currently at 3). Let me know if you need more information, and thanks for all your work!

163

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF8] Ability data and Angel Wing mechanics

« on: 2019-03-16 16:38:22 »

Thanks, I'll have a look at it.

I generally think that this Limit Break is in dire need of a redesign. There are only the two extremes - either being next to useless when carrying multiple offensive spells, or just broken when leaving Meteor as the only spell. Of course, we could just change Angel Wing's damage multiplier (thanks to your efforts), or just add a status change like Vit 0 to Angel Wing using Doomtrain, but I don't think this alone would be enough. Ignoring the inventory check and setting spell probability would be very helpful to balance this out too.

[Spoiler:]

164

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-03-16 15:50:08 »

Yes, the Queen of Cards sidequest has been slightly changed indeed. The chain now starts with losing the Quezacotl card instead of the Minimog card, to move this entire quest to disc 2 and onwards, as most of the cards that can be won from it still refine into something very useful.

Make sure to ask the Queen about her artist father whenever she is in Dollet to always get hints about where new cards appear (in the original, these hints are very easy to miss) - the Kiros card holder has been changed as well and is now found at Winhill inn rather than Deling City streets. Other than that, the Queen now requests the Pandemona card instead of the Sacred card, but the rest of the questline remains the same as in the original game.

By the way, here's a full guide on how to get Squall's weapons as early as possible. The other characters will soon follow.

Spoiler: show

[Shear Trigger]

Steel Pipe x1
Screw x4

Notes: A Steel Pipe and 5 Screws can be received in Timber by helping the guards dealing with the Galbadian Soldiers near the inn (first visit only). Otherwise, mug Steel Pipes from Wendigos in Timber Roshfall Forest or on dirt ground near Deling City and get the Screws from Geezards.


[Cutting Trigger]

Betrayal Sword x1
Screw x8

Notes: Betrayal Swords are dropped by low level Forbiddens that can be first encountered inside the Tomb of the Unknown King. A fixed encounter that consists of 3 Forbiddens (all at level 18) has been added there, so it's pretty much guaranteed the player will get a Betrayal Sword on the way to beating the Brothers. This is the only weapon that can be acquired early by modding cards right after the beginning of the game - disc 1 Lion Heart is no longer possible in this mod.


[Flame Saber]

Mesmerize Blade x1
Dragon Fang x8
Screw x8

Notes: Fight Mesmerize for the Blades and Blue Dragon for the Fangs after getting control over Balamb Garden on disc 2. They can be both encountered on the Trabia continent, albeit Blue Dragons are rare (the highest chance is the snow covered forests). Dragon Fangs can also be bought at the new shop in Deling City with Familiar Ability unlocked. I am aware of this weapon's availability being quite far away from Cutting Trigger and too close to Twin Lance, so it will likely be changed to an earlier point in the game soon.


[Twin Lance]

Orihalcon x2
Red Fang x2
Screw x12

Notes: One Orihalcon can be stolen from BGH251F2 (2nd), and they drop from med-high leveled Adamantoises, as usual. Red Fangs can be stolen from Hexadragons that now appear in forests on the Centra continent (instead of Ruby Dragons that in turn have been moved to Grandidi Forest) or won as a high level drop. Hexadragons also appear in Galbadia Garden on disc 2 now, alongside Tri-Faces and Death Claws.


[Punishment]

Dino Bone x2
Chef's Knife x1
Laser Cannon x1
Screw x8

Notes: For getting Dino Bones as early as possible, use LV Up on the T-Rexaurs on the Balamb continent until they reach LV 40+, then mug them or get them as a drop. Chef's Knife is dropped by Tonberries, as usual. As for the Laser Cannon, it's still possible to get it from high leveled Belhelmels as a rare drop, but there are other options that are more convenient. For one, it can be stolen from the Elastoid that appears during the final Laguna flashback and also from the Elastoids that can be fought as part of a new sidequest at Lunatic Pandora Laboratory after the Lunar Cry events, for as many times you like.


[Lion Heart]

Adamantine x1
Moon Stone x4
Pulse Ammo x12

Notes: Get the Adamantine as a drop from high leveled Adamantoises at various beaches on the world map, as usual (I would recommend the one near Cactuar Island, at which they are most common). Two Moon Stones can be acquired as part of sidequests (Winhill vase quest, Chocobo Forest) - the remaining two can be most easily won from Toramas after the Lunar Cry events. Not much has changed about the Pulse Ammo availability, other than the new possibility of farming them at Lunatic Pandora Laboratory, by refining the Elastoid's Laser Cannons into Pulse Ammo.

165

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF8] Ability data and Angel Wing mechanics

« on: 2019-03-15 00:37:37 »

One more question, this time about Angel Wing:

I am currently searching for the instruction that restricts Rinoa's spell usage to what she has in her inventory, in hopes of finding a way to disable this, so she can cast any offensive spell.

Would be also interesting to know what determines the probability for each spell being used. I'm pretty sure it's not just weighted based on spell power, as Rinoa would still cast Fire way more often than Ultima, even after setting Fire's spell power to max. Another thing I have observed is that when changing the default target of the Fire spell to own party, it would no longer be used under Angel Wing at all.

I have checked the few unknown bytes in the Magic Data section in kernel.bin, and none didn't seem to have any impact on spell usage under Angel Wing. Also tried searching memory using debugger a bit, but no good results yet. Does anyone know more?

166

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.1.2)

« on: 2019-03-11 02:34:19 »

Hey Nikito, and welcome to the forums.

The first opportunity to get a Steel Pipe is in Timber, right after completing the train mission on disc 1. Make sure to stop by the Town's Gate near the inn and help the two guards dealing with the Galbadian soldiers. Unlike the original game, this will be rewarded with a Steel Pipe and some screws, which is just enough to upgrade to Squall's second weapon. Even if you miss this opportunity, you can still get Steel Pipes shortly after by mugging Wendigos in Timber Roshfall Forest on the world map.

There is no list that contains all the item information yet, but there will be one soon for those who are interested.

167

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

« on: 2019-03-01 17:07:44 »

Version 1.1.2 now out.


Changes Overview


Balance changes

• Natural character stat growth has been further increased.
• HP Bonus, Strength Bonus etc have been removed and replaced with other Abilities.
• HP+10/30/50% structure has been changed to HP+10/20/30%.
• The base power of Irvine's Armor Shot has been reduced from 26 to 22.
• Critical hit rate of Irvine's Shot types have been rebalanced.
• Rapture, Fortify and Ultra Cure appear more often in Selphie's Slots.
• Selphie's Calamity spell inflicts Poison, Darkness, Blind and Sleep (254/255 chance) in addition to its damage.
• Quistis' Homing Laser ignores enemy Spirit.
• Doomtrain and Bahamut summons inflict more damage.
• Gilgamesh's Excaliber and Masamune inflict more damage and can break the damage limit.

Enemies

• A non-escapable extra battle will trigger on the way to the Brothers inside the Tomb of the Unknown King.
• Edea (1st) uses Dispel less frequently when the party is under Reflect, uses Astral Punch more often instead.
• Adel's Energy Bomber has a chance to inflict Darkness.
• Griever is noticably more agile now.
• Abadon is under Auto-Shell while standing (thanks to Sega Chief for helping prevent file corruption on this one).
• Propagators are immune against Silence.
• Jumbo Cactuar is immune against Slow.
• Bahamut's moveset has been changed in resemblance to what he uses in Final Fantasy V.
• Ultima Weapon's attack pattern has been extended.
• Elnoyle is no longer immune to LV Up/Down.
• Base Soldiers now use Drain instead of Water.

New feature: Easy card rule abolishment



Most players probably know about the NPC pictured above - he is the one who can reset all Balamb rules by just challenging him to a card game. As part of this update, more such NPCs have been added in other regions as well, to allow easy card rule abolishment everywhere, not just Balamb. Using this new service won't be free in most cases though, in order to prevent abuse and also to give players more opportunities to spend their money. Costs vary between 20,000 and 100,000 Gil, depending on an area's default ruleset. I have tested this new feature at least once for every area, and it seemed to work flawlessly, but I can't guarantee it's 100% bug-free. Please report if you discover anything off regarding this feature, like rules not resetting despite having paid for it. The NPCs in question can be found at the following locations:

Dollet | Galbadia | FH | Centra | Trabia | Esthar | Lunar 1 | Lunar 2
 


Other changes

• New mini quest: At Lunar Gate, keep challenging the right guard to a card game until he agrees, then play to earn some items (can be done again after Lunar Cry).
• Due to a glitch, Revive/Renew has its standard effect restored, Awakening Moon has the same effect as a Megalixir for now.
• In order to compensate for the missing Recover Ability, Treatment now restores HP in addition to curing status changes.
• Defeating the 3 Cyborgs at Lunatic Pandora Laboratory yields two additional Friendship items.
• Another Friendship is now rewarded at Chocobo Sanctuary in addition to the Chicobo Card.
• A new enemy Ability, Mind Blast, is now used by a few select enemies; inflicts magic damage that ignores Spr and can inflict Stop.
• The game can be saved in the room where Bahamut awaits.
• Diablos' level requirement for the Enc-Half Ability has been reduced from 32 to 24.
• Flare can break the damage limit when used under Angel Wing.

Many thanks for all the user feedback lately, it has been very helpful

@CeruleanSpirit: 1.1a was the latest version before this one, so I guess you just had a bad RNG and saw her casting Zombie a little too often. The probability of her using Zombie has been reduced for this update as well.

168

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

« on: 2019-02-26 10:01:47 »

Beefed up versions of Elastoids and Gespers can be fought again towards the end of the game, as part of the new sidequest at Lunatic Pandora Laboratory after the Lunar Cry, for as many times you like. They also appear as mini bosses during the last Laguna flashback on disc 3, as usual. Adding them before the Lunar Cry events for Squall & co. would conflict with the reason why they can be fought again later at Lunatic Pandora Laboratory at all, so I think that should do for now.

Esuna can be first drawn from Vysage near the Tomb of the Unknown King in the night areas, and Remedies can be first bought in Deling City instead of being available right after starting the game, to make all the shops more unique, as it is usually the case in all other Final Fantasy games, and also to give Antidote, Echo Screen etc. more relevance in the early-game. If you think the Remedy availability is too late, let me know, and I might add it to Timber Shop.

Seifer and Edea: Locking Edea into casting Zombie over and over by just using Holy Water immediately has been addressed and fixed for the latest version. If you are still on 1.1 try updating and see if that fixes it, or wait for the next update coming very soon (adding in a pretty big quality of life change will slightly delay it). I'll think about your suggestions in regards to Seifer and Edea - it seems she still uses Dispel too often if any character is under Reflect. No problems with Carbuncle being helpful here though, since he is the "new" GF at this point, so making Edea 100% anti-Carbuncle would be a little unfair

169

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / [FF8] Ability data and Angel Wing mechanics

« on: 2019-02-24 23:53:42 »

Does anyone have an insight into how character Ability effects are encoded within the game's executable? I would like to get rid of HP Bonus, Str Bonus etc and overwrite their effects with something new, like Zero Exp for the character who has the Ability equipped, or Auto-Regen.

The max you can do in Doomtrain tool is swapping the already existing Ability effects around (such as Mug taking Med Data's effect and the like), so I suspect that the actual Ability data is somewhere in the exe. In the case of making a Zero Exp Ability work, for example, I guess it would be helpful to look up what makes the Petrify status cause a character to receive 0 Exp after a battle. Auto-Regen would be likely even easier to implement.

There also seem to be some unused character Abilities as seen in the picture below, but from what I've tested, these do nothing at all. Filling these four slots with something new or overwriting already existing effects as stated above would be super nice. Any help would be much appreciated.

170

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

« on: 2019-02-24 22:46:07 »

Hi CeruleanSpirit, and welcome to the forums. It's good to hear that you considered the new Fire Cavern reward appropriate. Adding items for sidequests rewards can be quite difficult as you have to be careful not make the rewards too underwhelming and not too good either. Thanks for the other impressions, it was an interesting read, and feel free to report back again.

@SefiCompacto: Well observed, I noticed this a couple of days ago as well. I've been working on fix, but it seems that creating new moves that can revive and heal at the same time isn't as easy as I thought. Guess I have to revert Revive and Awakening Moon to their standard effects for now (these are the only ones), or make Awakening Moon act like a Megalixir at least, since Invincibility that early in the game is broken balance-wise. I'll try to upload an update today or tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.

171

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

« on: 2019-02-22 21:39:37 »

Hey Robgatti.

No, keeping levels low is definitely not advised in this mod, as bosses are at fixed levels and stat gains through leveling are higher than in the original game (and will likely be increased even more in future updates), so there isn't much to gain from low level runs, unless you are in for a tougher challenge. One of this mod's goals is to break with many of the conventions that have manifested over the years in regards to the game's playstyle to deliver a new experience to players that are bored by these conventions, making enemies more interesting by mixing encounter formations up, giving them new attacks etc. instead of just skipping them by having Enc-None activated all the time and breeze through the game, including bosses.

Enc-None isn't available until late in the game, similarly to Final Fantasy VI and X,  and Enc-Half unlocks after Diablos reached level 32 (this level requirement might be reduced, as constant random encounters are just not for everyone). If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

[Spoiler:]

172

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

« on: 2019-02-22 08:53:07 »

@Ayoyo: Another extensive report. Here we go.

Spoiler: show

One additional point that calls for a save/menu possibility is that after you trigger the pillar dialogue(it's not our will to fight one), there's no chance to menu anymore and you just gotta fight Bahamut with what you have. Now this would be fine and makes players think ahead because they have 3 encounters to deal with, but it might be more fair and convenient to at least offer a save and menu option before the Ruby/Behemoth/Bahamut gauntlet to prevent cheap deaths to Bahamut only because you were junctioned for easier random encounters.

Hm, I guess it would be best to just enable saving for this entire room, no matter where you stand. Would be very easy to implement and allow saving right before touching the pillar, which would eliminate the need to fly back to the island and sneaking back to the pillar every time your party dies there. 

Raijin&Fujin - I expected to walk over these guys after dominating Ultima Weapon, but they do actually pose a threat even for a geared party if you let them buff themselves. Once again the player is encouraged to use their head and dispel the Auras and the like away, because if you don't, they'll whoop yo ass. I like the scripted meteor, it's kind of like a wake-up call that you've entered endgame.

Agree about Fujin's Meteor. It was really important for me when changing this battle, so I made her cast it quite a few turns earlier than usual, so it's pretty much guaranteed the player will see it (in vanilla she would likely be defeated before getting the chance to cast it). Same goes for Raijin and his different attack pattern after using Aura on himself. All in all, this is one of the many battles that actually had potential and would have been interesting in vanilla already, if they just weren't doing so little damage, casting buffs on themselves repeatedly even though there's no need, and weren't skipping turns like crazy. Glad to hear you enjoyed the revised battle in this mod.

Mobile type8 - Goddamn, this thing just wouldn't yield the damn steals. Not gonna lie, I died twice to this boss trying to stubbornly mug everything even though it has been clearly designed to specifically make this kind of thing difficult with hard counters to every physical hit. In that respect, this boss is super unique and I quite enjoyed the challenge and being made to hesitate constantly hitting it.

Pretty much the same as above. I didn't change this boss much at all, besides making its behaviour and system actually matter by making it switch between modes much faster and fire counter attacks that are threatening enough to keep players on their toes, especially in regards to the other attacks this boss can do. Sorry for your trouble in regards to stealing the items by the way, I guess the probability should be increased as Laser Cannons aren't that unique at this point anymore, as they can now be farmed by keep doing the new battles at Lunatic Pandora Laboratory at the end of disc 3.

Adel - Another unique boss experience. For one, a big chunk of your arsenal, mainly all AoE, is unusable in this fight and I think the Rinoa being drained away- mechanic has been made more relevant(less hp on her/Adel drains more?) so that you really have to support her almost constantly. Casting shell&regen on her right away gave me a lot of leeway in that regard though. I wonder if you can cast zombie on her? Wouldn't she be constantly healed then? Anyways, Adel uses pretty potent spells here and you better keep those shells active. Liked it overall even though it was nothing super challenging.

Yes, the mechanic in this battle has been made more relevant by making Adel's Drains stronger and Rinoa's HP lower, so she can take up to 3 Drains without any player intervention. Rinoa is immune to Zombie in this battle, so she can't be healed this way. I don't really know how to make this battle more challenging to be honest. Adel's spells can be quite damaging already and many attacks can't be used because of Rinoa. Maybe by changing Energy Bomber? At the moment, it's nothing more than a standard physical attack. Maybe adding a status effect to it would be a good idea to spice things up a little.

As for the final battles, the fact that you managed to beat them on low levels with only 2 characters alive leaves room for some more changes for sure. I don't think I'll touch the very last phase again, as she is extremely fast there, using two new attacks than can be very devastating, but the previous phases are indeed a bit on the slow side. Attacks like Thundaga or Blizzaga during the first phase are a little underwhelming as well and feel more like wasted turns by Ultimecia. I'll see what I can do to add in some other attacks in there, and make Griever and the initial 3rd form a little faster. As always, suggestions are welcome.

I'll respond to your latest PM later, don't have the time right now. For now, all I can say is that you made some really good points that sparked interest in making certain changes

[Spoiler:]

173

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

« on: 2019-02-21 08:51:14 »

@Ayoyo:

Spoiler: show

The battles on the way to the Light Pillar inside Deep Sea Research Center can all be avoided by approaching it carefully while it doesn't emit any light. I would be all in for adding a save possibility somewhere there - if not in between the two mandatory battles against Ruby Dragon/Behemoth and Bahamut, then maybe at least right before triggering the pillar dialogue. I'll check that and see how it goes.

@blankdiploma:

You could also just give it a try and see if the provided mod files are compatible with the 2000 PC version as well (after creating backups of all original files, just in case). I've never tried it myself to be honest, since I've never owned this version. It could very well work, I just can't guarantee it.

[Spoiler:]

174

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

« on: 2019-02-18 23:20:28 »

Hey blankdiploma, and welcome to the forums. With crap, do you mean the in-built cheats, like getting full spell stocks automatically and the like? I guess you already know but I better say it just to be sure, but all these things are optional. Other than that, I don't think there are any real differences between the 2000 PC and Steam versions, besides the launcher. Still, I'm planning to make the mod compatible with other versions too, just not sure when.

Ayoyo, that's an extensive report again, thank you. I'll keep the comments in spoilers for now too.

Spoiler: show

From what I remember, the ruby dragon in the Laguna flashback didn't know any new tricks, just a tougher version of its vanilla counterpart. I don't recall what new spells it had but I drew full stacks whilst it slept. Relaxed fight. Blizzaga spam and Diablos dealing 9999 for good measure finished it off rather quickly after the drawing the spells.

Well, the difficulty of this battle depends on whether Ward is with you or not. If he is, Ruby Dragon will use Flare, Tornado and its infamous Breath attack. In the original game, it would be Firaga, Meteor and Breath - Meteor has been removed as it is clearly overused by enemies in vanilla late-game. If Ward is absent, the fight is noticably easier, but still more threatening than in vanilla due to Firaga instead of Fira being used, and the swipe attacks remain quite powerful regardless of party setup.

Abadon hit really really hard but that's the only thing he's got going for him; naturally, I wanted to use Edea for this boss and boosting her magic made her completely annihilate Abadon with triple curagas. A single curaga dealt over 7k damage so that's a whopping ~22k damage per turn. Hot damn. He had no chance. I think a bit of tinkering to make his stances matter more, for example, would make for a more meaningful fight. Right now I didn't even get to see what his stance actually did, seeing as standing up didn't affect his holy resistance at all. So I just spammed curaga for the win. If players had to actually change their strategy completely according to his stances, that'd be more interesting.

Abadon can inflict Death with its tongue attack in addition to just Curse, but I guess you were protected from the status so you had an easier time (leveling up Edea as you said surely helps with the damage output too). Having Curaga at this point shouldn't be taken for granted either, since the only way to get full stocks at this point is by drawing it from the Tonberry King, who is an optional boss. For me it's always important to keep bosses defeatable even with less ideal setups and without having completed every sidequest prior to facing a certain boss.

If Abadon's stance changes, other attacks will be used, and his Vitality and Spirit will increase dramatically as usual, but as healing spells aren't affected by the Spirit stat (nor are they holy-elemental), you can still do full damage with them. What I could do is making Abadon go into Auto-Shell status when standing up, which would at least halve the damage by every healing spell thrown at him. I think that would be a reasonable change to prolong the battle so more of Abadon's potential can seen, even for anyone who already has Curaga and Triple at their disposal.

Argh, more Laguna sequences. And it doesn't even give the option to exchange junctions from Edea to Ward or Kiros, she's not even on the list when it prompts the exchange. I have no idea what happens to her spell inventory and junctions at this point and I didn't care to find out - I loaded from a previous save and took everything off from her before entering Esthar.

I think Edea is not available here as she's the only one who doesn't lose consciousness due to Ellone's actions. Still, if Edea is in the party when entering this Laguna sequence, none of her spells are accessible for the upcoming battles at Lunatic Pandora Laboratory, which would put the player at a disadvantage, as these battles can be rough. I wanted to change that at some point so Edea appears on that list as well, but wasn't very familiar with the field code at the time, so I'll have a look at it again. Thanks for reminding me of this. Should be changed for sure.

At long last, my favorite part of the game; free exploration with Ragnarok. I couldn't wait to fight some bosses so I go to measure myself against Cactuar, who spanks my arse with Ker Plunk right off the bat. 2 ultimate weapons later I return and cast protect on everyone so that his physicals are just strong enough to put people in critical HP, allowing me to Renzokuken him to oblivion. Ultimately, he's a bit underwhelming - a little buff to his speed ought to be enough to make players struggle with maintaining comfortable limit break spam a bit more, or at least an immunity to slow(I think it worked on him?).

Jumbo Cactuar already attacks far more often in the mod. In vanilla, he would skip turns like crazy, more than almost any other enemy in the game. Still, you are right about the Slow resistance. At the moment it's 50%, which is low enough to trigger the status easily by having Slow junctioned to Status-Atk to any character with a decent Strength stat. I'll do something about that, thanks again.

I was super psyched for Bahamut fight - I couldn't remember at all what his deal was so junctioning was hard as I tried to divine what kind of attacks he was going to use. I was scared shitless for Mega Flare and had shell up on everyone at all times regardless of how scanning him it said Mega Flare ignores all defenses. When he finally used it, it barely dealt half my HP in damage, making me laugh. Is it supposed to be this weak? Overall this fight was extremely simple and straightforward - my "generic" boss junction setup proved victorious on the first try once again as I absorbed his tornadoes. Got my first Lion Heart proc against him and it finished him off, leaving me a bit disappointed. I think there's room for a stronger gimmick/mechanic with a boss as awesome as Bahamut. Making Mega Flare stronger and maybe even adding a countdown to it harks back to earlier FF games where a countdown preceded Mega Flare and it pretty much wrecks you if you aren't fully healed&protected, but it's not unfair since it's clearly telegraphed. Something like that would be super awesome.

Hm, do you remember the damage done by Mega Flare exactly? It should do around 6000-6500 HP damage that ignores Spirit, which makes it pretty much the most powerful AoE attack at this point of the game. The damage can be halved by having Shell on, that's correct, but also making it ignore Shell? Not sure. Getting a Game Over against Bahamut can be very frustrating, as the two preceding battles would then have to be done again. That's why I decided to not make this battle overly difficult. Compared to vanilla, Bahamut starts using Mega Flare quite a bit earlier, which I thought should do to spice this battle up a bit. I'd rather swap Tornado and Thundaga for something else than making Mega Flare do any more damage to be honest. As for the countdown thing you suggested, there's plenty of that very late in the game, but I'll see what I can do.

As for Ultima Weapon in general, I'll respond to your PM later.

175

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

« on: 2019-02-16 21:39:21 »

Version 1.1a is up.

- Status effects for GF have been changed. After some more testing it became evident that some of the status effects as they were in 1.1 won't really trigger on anything stronger than a Geezard or a Bite Bug. As for Quezacotl and Shiva and their identical probabilities, I'm aware of Stop being the "better" status, but the enemy resistances against the Stop status are generally higher than those against Slow, so it evens out.

Code: [Select]

GF Status Base chance

Quezacotl Slow 150/255
Shiva Stop 150/255
Ifrit Vit 0 150/255
Brothers Petrifying 160/255
Leviathan Death 180/255
Pandemona Confuse        254/255
Tonberry Death 254/255
Alexander Blind      254/255

- Save possibilities have been added right before the battles against Seifer (1st) and Norg. Be careful when using these saves though - when loading, you will be basically thrown directly into battle (well, almost). You have to beat these bosses with what you currently have and there is no way to do any random battles to acquire new spells to increase your stats etc. However, there's always the option to open up the menu before attempting the battles.

- A flaw in Edea's AI (1st) that can lock her into casting Zombie over and over has been corrected.

- The locations for the July and August Weapons Monthly magazines have been swapped as it makes more sense curve-wise.