Messages

1

Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2026-07-02 19:08:41 »

Remastered links are available again.

New version releases by August 31st, will have issues mentioned by Asmorano fixed.

Alternate link to the gallery showing some of the upcoming changes here.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2026-06-03 22:32:39 »

Hi Callisto,

I’m absolutely loving this mod—it’s so great to have to actually interact with the mechanics of FF8. I’m playing Lionheart, which is absurdly hard at times (the second Edea battle took me four hours to finally get right). I also seem to be playing differently than the people on here—I do a lot of Selphie’s limit abuse in the early game, and now I defeated Jumbo Cactuar almost entirely through Angel Wing abuse.

 I just finished the Lunar Cry on disk 3 and I’m searching around for stuff to power up my team before I go any farther. Can you help me find Adamantine (and Pulse Ammo)? It doesn’t seem like Adamantoises have it anymore, even when I LVL then up to 100.

Thanks!

Adamantoises still have it as a drop, but they need to be at least LV 40. Drop is no longer guaranteed though; around 60% with Rare-Item equipped, and 30% without. As for Pulse Ammo, the most convenient way of getting it is doing the fixed Elnoyle encounter in Esthar City over and over for the Energy Crystals the monster drops. Those in turn refine into Pulse Ammo using Ammo-RF.

2.0 release delayed, but not by much. Needs some more weeks. There is only one more sidequest that needs to be finished, and some QoL additions to D-District prison. I have set a personal deadline which is August 31st. If for some reason it's still not finished at that point, it'll be just released as is and the remaining features added at a later date.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2026-02-25 02:31:30 »

DUDE, that... that looks insane! I was thinking about starting a new playthrough of FF8 Ragnarok soon, but if this is what is in store, I will happily wait. Glad to see that you've made so much progress! How long did all of that take?

Been working on it on and off since around mid 2022 when I started to put into practice what JWP had taught me earlier about hijacking functions and creating custom code. I just felt the balancing is still lacking in some ways, and what I could do with the existing FF8 tools was pretty much exhausted, so further adjustments could only be achieved by altering game code.

For example, it has always been baffling to see how far one can get by just spamming the same first three GF over and over, even on Lionheart mode, so I made it so that GF can be summoned only once per battle, mainly to shift the focus to all the other GF than just the first three (+Diablos) when going for an GF approach. The same goes for Limit Breaks; being able to use them over and over, despite enemies being more threatening, just isn't healthy to the game's balance and could still be abused to some degree, so there will be a simple cooldown on most of them, which in turns makes some of the harsher nerfs redundant (Zell, Irvine).

Besides that, Gravity damage missing on so many enemies can be frustrating for sure (especially after sitting through long attack animations), so there will be no Gravity immunity in 2.0, just damage reductions depending on the target (1/2 to 1/256).

As you can see, there were still some things left do, and 2.0 will hopefully sort most things out. I hope for a release in March. Thank you.

@Callisto: did you ever get around to axing triple? I know you talked about it some years ago... but I'm definitely looking forward to whatever is next for Ragnarok. I suppose it'd be nostalgic as well at this point to return to the mod, over 7 years since I first played it and posted in this thread(how time flies nowadays...).

Yes, in 2.0, Triple will no longer be available for the player party and replaced with a second water-elemental spell. The only way to further increase magic damage output (besides Double) will be summoning Cerberus for a +25% boost, having certain weapons or GF equipped, through Selphie's Slots or Rinoa's Angel Wing.

Characters that aren't supposed to be proficient as casters will also have trouble accessing powerful magic, as there will be casting restrictions depending on the user's Mag stat (for example, a minimum Mag of 150 is needed to use Full-life, 200 for Ultima etc). In addition, stat-ups from items and devoured enemies will be limited throughout the game (Forbid Med-RF will be replaced with Blue Mag-RF), which will likely lock out certain characters from high-tier magic entirely.

This might sound harsh, but there should be plenty new options to increase the incentive to use physical attacks more often, such as the aforementioned Lucky 7 ability on Irvine's Bismarck, which works similar to Zidane's ability of the same name in FF IX (randomly adds either 7, 77, 777 or 7777 damage as fixed damage to the final damage output), when choosing the Attack command; some of the "Killer" abilities will also be back as passives slapped onto weapons and do additional damage to certain enemy types (beasts, demons etc), and Aura will increase physical damage output by 25% instead of granting a massive boost to Crisis Level, with its availability generally being more common than before.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2026-01-08 21:24:09 »

Callisto will 2.0 still be released this year? I can´t wait to play it
Thank you in advance for your great work!

Sorry, it's not quite finished yet. Needs some more weeks, as it still misses a few things, such as ways to obtain the new items that teach new abilities, as well as a full implementation of Casual difficulty mode. In the meanwhile, feel free to check out what other features to look forward to (or frown upon ), by having a look at this gallery.

Well, apparently I'm a bit slow.  I followed the instructions step by step, and the game launches but none of the mod changes are there. 

Bummer, was really looking forward to this with the wife.  I'll just wait until there's a proper installer, and if that doesn't happen I'll just stick to the fantastic moguri mod for FFIX, it's a much more streamlined and polished install process. 

Have you tried the Junction VIII Mod Manager? If you are playing the 2013 version, this should be the easiest way to go.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2025-09-29 18:58:50 »

@Callisto - is there an expected release date for the 1.3 update - or perhaps a beta?
A lot of the 1.3 features listed as 100% completed for 2013 version sounds *awesome*  - if you need any help testing, I'm definitely up for it.

Version 1.3 will be skipped; a 2.0 for Steam 2013 is currently being worked on which contains everything mentioned in the 1.3 progress report on the first page in this topic, and much more on top of that, including a third difficulty option. I'll do my best to release it by the end of this year, thank you for asking.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2025-09-11 17:32:02 »

This mod looks awesome. I have the 2019 version. I notice there's a few parts of the mod that aren't quite finished for 2019 compared to 2013. What I'm not sure on is what the actual impact of these differences are. Is there anything I should keep in mind when playing 2019 Ragnarok to keep it in line with Callisto's intention?

It's nothing too major. The overall experience should be identical between both versions. Few things to keep in mind when playing the 2019 version though:

- Rinoa's Angel Wing mechanics are similar to those found in the base game, so it's possible to cheat a little with endless Meteor spam, even though the damage multiplier has been reduced to 3 to compensate (in 2013, where spell selection mechanics are different, it's set to 4).

- There is no attack type that does damage in addition to removing status effects.

- Enemies have no real resistance to the Vit 0 status effect; they are either fully susceptible to it, or completely immune (they can still block it with a high Spirit stat if not immune).

- The EXP-None character ability is currently absent in 2019.

- ATB doesn't stop when selecting targets and ATB speed is too fast on the highest setting; leaving it at default value or lower is strongly recommended when playing 2019.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2025-07-23 17:20:54 »

Sorry for the question, but how do you created those special bosses?
Like super Ruby Dragon and Yunalesca? And how do you inserted them in the game
(asking because, they have only 1 file each for the enemy Ruby Dragon and Sorceress to MOD)
You duplicated those files like c0m143.dat and renamed to c0m144.dat

No, I didn't use any of the dummied .dat files after 143 to create those battles. Just c0m52.dat for the Ruby Dragon and c0m116.dat for the Sorceress. You can set up custom AI for each enemy dependent on battle ID. For example, check base game Sacred file and you will see that he uses a unique AI for battle 189 where he appears alone, without Minotaur.

So in order to create custom AI / battles, you first need to set up a custom, previously unused battle ID using the Cactilio tool, then implement your desired custom AI using the Ifrit tool (if battle == 999) do this, else, do that etc.

Hope this helps.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2025-06-07 23:14:29 »

Greetings,

I have recently downloaded and installed the Ragnarok mod and everything is running smoothly until the dreaded Irvine in the prison "cutscene" where it's just his coat firing at the guards and the game crashes after.. apparently it's a known issue with occurring with graphic mods.. but I do not have any other mods installed it's just the Ragnarok mod (with the demaster, etc)

Playing on Steam FF8 Remaster 2019 version.
Any help in identifying what or which file might be the problem would be greatly appreciated! Having a lot of fun with the mod so far.

Open demaster.conf file, set FIELD_ENTITY value from 1 to 0 and save. This should fix this issue.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2025-03-19 07:22:39 »

For the Rare item, I find the probability a bit everywhere. Actually rare item also have impact on mug and card drop. But those value seems to only fix the item drop rate. Is that correct ?

The values above change probabilities for both item drops and mug (per item slot). One of the 3 sets of values from above (78, C8, E6, 00) is likely not used by the game, but I changed those values just in case as they represent the modified base game values when the Rare Item ability is equipped. To my knowledge, Card drops aren't affected by Rare Item, and even if it does, the values from above are not related to it.

If you want Gunblade attacks to use a standard hit-rate, it's probably best to merge Squall and Seifers physical attack path (which does not contain any hit-rate calculation whatsoever) with another already existing physical attack path that has one, such as attack type 1 or 36 (standard physical or vit-igoring physical, see Doomtrain tool). The Gunblade path info is found in the .exe with a call to it at 0x922F2. However, just redirecting this path to something else is not enough, as this path contains vital information regarding Squall's Renzokuken Limit Break, so you'd have to transfer this info over as well.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2025-02-24 05:21:08 »

Callisto !
Happy to see you here, I have lots of question.
There is now a mod manager and people ask a lot to have your mod in it. Would you agree ?

I work hard on documenting the game https://hobbitdur.github.io/FF8ModdingWiki/.
And you have found info I am not able to found back anymore. I have really a lot of questions but one is bothering m for a mod I would like to do: How did you change the probability of Rare item of bahamut ? Reading your hex, it's not possible for me to find it there

If you have time to pass on the discord to exchange https://discord.gg/sCbmwh2nbv i would greatly appreciate !

Thanks for passing by.

Hey hobbitdur!

First of all, sorry for the late reply and the hex file not being properly documented at the moment. I'm fine with my mod being added to the Junction-VIII mod manager.

The bytes corresponding to the item probabilities with Rare Item equipped are in the hex file, and modified as followed in the mod:

Code: [Select]

#Rare Item probability values for each item slot
865F6 = 78
86600 = C8
8660F = E6
86610 = 00
866B4 = 78
866BF = C8
866CF = E6
866D0 = 00
86820 = 78
8682B = C8
8683B = E6
8683C = 00
This changes the base probabilities from

rnd = [0..255]
  if (rnd < 128) Slot = 0
    else if (rnd < 242) Slot = 1
      else if (rnd < 261) Slot = 2
        else Slot = 3

to

rnd = [0..255]
  if (rnd < 120) Slot = 0
    else if (rnd < 200) Slot = 1
      else if (rnd < 230) Slot = 2
        else Slot = 3

Which leaves a 26/256 chance for Item #3 being dropped/mugged rather than the usual 0/256.

Base values taken from Battle Mechanics FAQ by ForteGSOmega.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2025-02-14 07:27:20 »

Dying to know if there's any way we can get some kind of enemy change files? Just got the Ragnarok and feeling kinda -done- with the overworld encounters. Same with the bosses. Eventually you kinda just want to look at a file with weaknesses/vulnerabilities, ya know?

At the moment, there isn't a comprehensive list of every single enemy change. As for checking the elemental weaknesses, there is the Scan magic, and if you want to inflict status effects, use your highest Strength attackers when trying to achieve them through St-Atk, and your casters when using Magic. If they miss three or more times, then they are probably immune. Unsure if there will ever be a full list, as it would take a lot of time, so I'll leave it at that for now.

It was so funny winning against that fire cavern bomb boss, I'm not sure I even did the correct way. I tried reflect on it, zombifying it, confuse works but the sun bath immediately cures it. Are we supposed to use counters and return damage? I haven't tried gfs.

Yes, relying on Counters and Return Damage is one of the possible ways to defeat it. Bomb can also be affected by Stop (though it's highly resistant due to it maxed out Spirit stat in this battle), summoning Bahamut or Eden afterwards can kill it quickly. Armor Shot with high enough Strength and Crisis Level can also kill it in one turn, the same goes for the Kamikaze command if it crits and the user's HP are high enough.

In my opinion maybe it's possible to still have enemies and some bosses have a percentage weakness for no immediate proc, have it last a shorter time or turn it into vit-half instead. Just thinking out loud, I don't know if any of these are possible or easy to implement.

Making it Vit/Spr-half instead of 0 is easily possible from a programming perspective, and it's already implemented, just not released yet. With that change, more enemies can be made vulnerable for sure. As for now, the most reliable way to inflict Vit 0 is using Quistis' Ray-Bomb Limit Break. It may work where the Meltdown magic fails, due to its way higher success rate. Odin or Ruby Dragons are good examples for this, as they are highly resistant to this status effect.

Amazing work on this mod! I'm planning to play it with my community, and I've been going back and forth from the Remaster to the 2013 version, trying to see how I want it to look. I've noticed that when I start the 2013 version, Shiva has Str-J learned, but not in the 2019 version.

Does that mean I've done something wrong with either install or is that just the current status of the mods?

It's the current status of the mods so I don't think you've done something wrong. The 2013 version is just a little more up to date with its changes to the ATB system and EXP-None ability, which aren't in the Remastered version yet.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2025-01-05 07:40:24 »

Having 10 minutes as the minimum timer is normal on Lionheart, so you should be fine.

If you haven't defeated Diablos yet, you can do an additional check to determine what mode you have installed: If you are on Lionheart, Diablos will never use Gravija, Demi or Doom if all party members' HP are low. In standard mode, he will still do so.

The first battle to feel noticably different from standard mode will probably be against the Iguions with additional enemies accompanying them. The Esthar Cyborgs at the end of the Cenra Excavation Site can also be noticably more difficult to defeat, as they pretty much retain the power level of the very first version of the mod, where they were widely considered a nightmare.

Thank you for your kind words, hope the second playthrough won't disappoint.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2023-12-11 06:48:18 »

Hey heromic. ATB related changes are located in the .txt file loosely included in the DL package. Edit it so that it contains only the following lines:

Code: [Select]

600000:1000
+400000

#Status duration per ATB speed setting adjustment (to accommodate change at 844AE)
83307 = 30
83318 = 83 C1 04 56 0F AF D1 8B 4C 24 08 D1 E2 90 8D 34 49 8D 0C B1 5E 8D 04 C8 66 89 14 45 64 7B D2 01 C3

#Narrowing of ATB filling speed based on settings in Config menu
844AE = 83 C1 06 8D 0C 89 8D 0C 89 8D 14 89 C1 E2 05 89 50 10 C7 40 14 00 00 00 00 C3

#Narrowing of Summoning bar speed based on settings in Config menu (redirection to code cave)
8D8F1 = E9 87 B3 6D 00 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90

#ATB Wait behavior rewritten (redirection to code cave)
A9450 = E9 CC D4 6C 00 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90

#Summoning bar speed (narrowing per ATB speed setting)
768C7B = 90 90 8D 0C C0 8D 14 48 31 C9 8D 04 93 8B 15 38 E7 CF 01 81 E2 FF 00 00 00 66 8B 0C 45 D8 E0 CF 01 83 C2 04 0F AF CA B8 EB A0 0E EA F7 E9 01 CA 8D 0C F5 00 00 00 00 C1 FA 06 E9 6D 4C 92 FF

#ATB stops when selecting targets in Wait Mode; ATB keeps running while searching for spells in Selphie's Slot and during escape attempts even when in menus
776921 = F6 05 3C E7 CF 01 01 74 74 6A 00 E8 CF D4 88 FF 8A 88 BD 03 00 00 83 C4 04 80 F9 04 74 5F 6A 00 E8 BA D4 88 FF 8A 88 A0 03 00 00 83 C4 04 F6 C1 03 75 4A 6A 00 E8 A5 D4 88 FF 8A 88 F8 03 00 00 83 C4 04 80 F9 1D 74 35 6A 00 E8 90 D4 88 FF 8A 88 DB 03 00 00 83 C4 04 84 C9 7C 21 6A 00 E8 7C D4 88 FF 8A 88 AE 03 00 00 83 C4 04 F6 C1 20 74 0C E8 39 6A 93 FF 85 C0 74 03 31 C0 C3 B8 01 00 00 00 C3
Also set ATB Multiplier in kernel.bin to18-20 using Doomtrain tool to get adequate ATB filling speed that is not overly slow.

To those encountering crashes using the aforementioned ATB patch: I have double-checked before initially uploading it and then again after issues were reported here, but didn't encounter any crashes at the start of a battle. I also know of at least one person who got the changes working correctly.

Make sure to disable any other mods that alter the .exe file, as they could cause conflicts when used in conjunction (the hard mode included in the Lunatic Pandora package comes to mind). That's pretty much my only guess for now, sorry for the inconvenience.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2023-08-22 22:53:12 »

Hello BerikXardas,

The game randomly crashing after attacking with Squall is a bug in the 2013 Steam version and not mod-related. I'm not sure what causes it, but lowering internal resolution and playing in windowed mode may alleviate the issue.

As for the enemy ability that causes a softlock during the Mobile Type 8 boss: I think it's only used if you attack with the Thunder element a few times. So for now, try to defeat it without using any Thunder elemental attacks, until a proper fix is ready. Sorry for the inconvenience.

@MisterBombastic95: Try the following if still relevant: Right-click on the DEMASTER_EXP folder in download package, select Copy, right-click on an empty space in the game's root folder (Steam -> steamapps -> common -> FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered) where DEMASTER_EXP folder is present, select Paste and finally "Replace files in the destination" when Windows asks how to proceed.

@kakayijo160: Item IDs in shop.bin are in this order, if that helps. I'm afraid I don't have any information on unsealing locations on disc 4.

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Releases / Re: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

« on: 2023-06-05 03:55:56 »

Updated 2013 Steam with a patch to address ATB related issues. Changes are as follows:

• The differences between ATB speed settings in Config menu are now much more subtle. Highest speed setting should be safe to use now.
• In Wait mode, ATB bars stop when selecting targets (without breaking Selphie's Slot Limit Break).
• In Wait mode, ATB keeps running during escape attempts even when in menus.

A few mistakes present in the previous version have been corrected:

• Rather than just Shiva, Quezacotl and Ifrit start with EXP-None ability learned as well.
• Megalixir and Power Generator have been removed from Chocobo World loot.

Haven't found a way to implement the ATB changes to Remastered yet, but will keep trying. Remastered will receive a notification in the opening post for now, as suggested by MrMadakey. Sorry for the inconvenience.

@kakayijo160: Shop inventories are stored in shop.bin, a file contained in the menu.fs archive that can be extracted with the Deling tool. As there is currently no tool to edit the shop.bin file, you need a hex editor to do so. Every shop is 32 bytes each, with every item using two bytes. First byte is Item ID followed by either 00 or FF - FF means item is available right away, while 00 means it requires Tonberry's Familiar Ability to become available.

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

« on: 2023-05-29 23:50:25 »

No problem. Didn't regard your post as intentional spread of misinformation - it rather just has that certain saltiness in it, that often leads to unintentional generalization of things.

Anway, I'll take it as a reminder that's there's still unfinished business with this mod, so thank you.

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

« on: 2023-05-29 22:19:08 »

Sure, the mod might be more AoE-heavy than the base game overall, but your initial point was about all enemies being able to open with an AoE, which is simply not the case.

The number of enemies capable of starting with an AoE is a little less than 30% of all enemies, including ones that use AoE only under certain conditions (level threshold, specific battles or number of enemies present). Aside from that, not all of them are meant to be threatening (such as the Geezard's or Raldo's Foul Breath), but can potentially become a threat with ATB speed set to max. With highly damaging AoEs usually being strictly regulated to not be used consecutively and with the new Heal ability + Mega-Potion buff, things shouldn't be too difficult, at least in Standard Mode. I can see some more AoE restrictions in a third difficulty option though.

Currently aiming to release an ATB patch by the end of this week. It's basically ready for the 2013 version, but want to look into Remastered too, as I don't want to separate the two versions again, now that they are almost identical. And it's about an important issue that can potentially ruin the entire experience. Will report back.

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

« on: 2023-05-29 19:04:03 »

Hey just a heads up, ruby dragon flashback on lionheart mode, wards in battle texture is all messed up and glitched, fight still works and no issues other than that from it

That's an issue caused by a specific Demaster tool setting. The glitched texture can be fixed by unchecking the character resolution limit option.

What did you do to the Abadon encounter? It one-shot two characters with what seemed to be instadeath moves, and then got to move like 5 times in a row against Squall. I'm not playing the Lionheart mode so such cheap tactics shouldn't exist...

Abadon has a 1/3 chance to use a physical attack that can cause instant death, but only while crouching. That attack itself has a 70% base chance to inflict the status, which is reduced by the target's Vit and status defense. So indeed, with some bad luck, Abadon will spam this attack during the crouching phase (which lasts 4 turns). I think it's ok to have an undead boss that can cause Death, so I'll leave that attack in, as even in the worst case scenario, you can use Mega Phoenix or Full-life (which the mods gives you plenty of, long before a full stack becomes easily accessible) to make a comeback. But I'll prevent it from being used consecutively for Standard mode. Thank you for your input.

Hi, is there a Devour list somewhere please? Docs say more enemies now increase character's stats by munching them. Thanks

The HP gains might not be 100% accurate, but it should be the following:

-Snow Lion: HP +10
-Ruby Dragon: HP +30
-T-Rexaur: Str +1
-Chimera: Mag +1
-Adamantoise: Vit +1
-Ochu: Spr +1
-Behemoth: Str/Mag +1
-Malboro: Vit/Spr +1
-PuPu: Spd +1

So, I wanna ask something.. Are you aware of how Damage Per Second works?

I've seen that there is limitations on how much you can manipulate a mob to do however, me getting one shot in a menu before I can even decide what to do because every single mob has aoe at the start of a fight is not exactly what I would call... "Balanced."

Now you've mentioned that there is limitations to this.. Why is there limitations? Just reduce the amount of damage that the mobs do across the board.. It's literally that simple, you've got mobs doing 6 attacks to my entire party before I've even got 2 attacks off and they're doing nearly a 3rd of my life in one hit. If they're doing this many attacks, tone it down a bit maybe?

Actually, only very few enemies have a chance to start the battle with an AoE. In fact, AoE usage is more limited than in the base game. Many enemies are set to not use AoE several times in a row, whereas in the base game, they can basically access them whenever they want (Grendel, Cockatrice, Chimera or Bahamut to name a few). Please check thoroughly before spreading misinformation out of anger.

As for your actual issue: Check your ATB speed setting and reduce it if it's on max. I assume it is, as no enemy can do 6 attacks before you get even 2 turns on normal ATB speed settings. I've already explained several times - at one point even to you directly - that high ATB speed settings are not recommended as they give enemies an unfair speed advantage that you can't negate even with supernatural reflexes. The higher the ATB speed is set, the more attacks enemies get compared to you, that's how it is even in the base game - it becomes noticably more difficult then. And I'm not willing to balance the difficulty of this mod around this setting. It's just way too fast.

Guess I'll have to add this information to the opening post and mod documentation until a proper ATB speed adjustment is ready (I know there is a setting for that in the Doomtrain tool, but changing it so that max Speed becomes more managable results in standard speed settings becoming super slow) - too many players fell for it already, without realizing where the issue stems from, rather blaming the mod instead. I'll do my best to finally come up with that long-needed fix (also making the ATB stop when selecting targets), so this issue can finally be put to rest.

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

« on: 2023-04-23 05:16:21 »

Hm, this seems weird. Triggering the White SeeD option in the library actually requires talking to Rinoa as Squall, which is not possible during the scene you mentioned, because Squall is physically not present at this moment, just on the mic.

Anyway, it is no problem to prevent this from ever happening before the intended point with a little tweak to the script. Thanks for the info.

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

« on: 2023-03-22 04:28:07 »

There are a few more enemies that use this attack, so sent a PM with a corrected kernel.bin. Thank you.

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

« on: 2023-03-20 21:56:05 »

@Aynath: You could upload the kernel to a file sharing site and then send me a PM with the link. Alternatively, I could extract the kernel from the download source and then send it to you. I presume you downloaded it from nexusmods, is that correct?

22

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

« on: 2023-03-19 20:55:58 »

@Aynath: A quick file check showed that the Tonberry King battle seems to be in order. The Arm Slash attack does not exist in the current version and is replaced by an attack called Scourge, which is also used by Tonberry King. So your issue likely stems from the Martial Law compatibility version. If you extracted the kernel.bin file from main.fs archive via the Deling tool and sent it to me, I could fix it for you.

Also thanks a lot for all the feedback lately. The Triple spell is scheduled to be removed in the next version and Renew will be nerfed with Protect and Shell reducing damage by only 25% each. Darkside will be left as it is, as it stacks will critical hits, damage to the back and elemental attack damage, making it a very potent command that can compete with multi-cast spells easily (damage penalty is 20% of users max HP by the way, not 33%).

As for enemies attacking too fast, I don't really see the issue as long as ATB speed isn't set to max in the Config menu. Looking at Nesouk Kefka's video above, you can see that he manages to perform most of his actions in time, even against the strongest enemy in the game. Ifrit using his AoE multiple times in a row should be no problem either as it deals considerably less damage than his single-target attacks at that point.

Sadly, I don't have the time to address all the other arguments made, but everything has been noted and evalutated for inclusion in the next version of the mod. I can't come up with a release window, but it will come sooner or later.

23

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

« on: 2022-06-09 18:52:27 »

Will this get a dialogue update similar to FF7 NT where the translation is improved?

Other than correcting spelling errors and bringing the translation closer to the Japanese original version where applicable, there are currently no further plans to improve the game's translation. For a full overhaul (including changes to certain plot elements), I would strongly recommend having a look at Percival's Succession mod.

This NORG (Lionheart) fight has got to be the most disgusting fight I've encountered yet lol. Reflect misses him so he has free reign to use his Renew, his Renew can't be dispelled, he has a single turn team dispel but no debuff magic works aside from Meltdown. The strategy is just to just out damage his heals. I used Demi a bazillion times and had my DPS damage him fast enough at the tail end so he couldn't cast Renew again. The fight at the prison bridge with the two robots and red soldiers was more interesting than this. I wondered if Doom would have worked too but I'm too tired from trying to check which status spell works and the save point from the boss fight is kinda far what with all the talking and whatnot.

Would Doom have worked on this fight? I'm gonna KO myself if so.

Dispel is supposed to work against NORG's Renew. If it doesn't, you probably missed a step during mod installation, skipping on several mod features. Make sure you have Roses and Wine W07 installed and the Ragnarok_mod.txt file placed at the designated location, as described in the setup instructions.

Doom works against Elite Soldiers 100% of the time, but not against the GIM52A's, so it would have made the battle noticably easier if you can survive long enough.

Ok I give up. I played 190 games and did not get the Rosetta Stone.
Are you certain that it is coded correctly? Maybe in the table you wrote "Rosetta Sone" instead of "Rosetta Stone" like you did here in the table, and that makes the prize impossible to get?

I rechecked and tried to win the Rosetta Stone myself and got one after around 50 games, so it is coded correctly. The only advice I can give here is using the game's internal speed boost (activated by pressing F1 in 2013 Steam or some button on the controller in Remastered) to make this a little more bearable.

Hi, any tips on getting Odin as soon as possible? I'm in Disc 2, I have Tonberry King, and I just beat the Captain/Commander in Balamb; I think I'm still too underpowered to kill the enemies quickly on the way to Odin with the timer and all that etc.

So like any tricks to get it done quickly? I thought I might wait until getting Eden and Enc-None but that might come real late right and thus missing opportunities for Odin to put in work?

Or what's the recommended time to go for Odin?

During the scripted encounter on the way to Odin, you can use Zombie on the Armadodos and then use X-Potions or Curaga spells to finish them off quickly. If you also cast Berserk on them, they won't be able use their Earthquake attack, which might save some more time. The Chimera on the other hand is vulnerable to Gravity damage and Slow, so if you use Demi and Slow, it should go down relatively fast.

As for getting Odin, there is no real recommended time, as he is just optional and no longer possesses the valuable Triple spell. If you try to beat him right after getting control of the Garden, it will likely be hard. But at that time, your party members can already have around 3500 HP and solid stats with the right levels and/or junctions. The spells you should have for junctions when trying to tackle him right away are as follows: Regen, Bio, Life, Meltdown, Reflect, Death, Haste and Stop. Pain is also useful if you managed to get a full stock during the NORG event, but is not a must. The most important thing is that you have something effective junctioned your Spirit stat and some AoE heal available.

Can anyone tell me where the Iguions are ? I've been searching in the sewers for hours and can't find them at all.

Enter the sewers from Caraway's mansion and head east until you reach the ladder that leads to the boxes near the Presidential Residence. From there, go one screen to the left and wait there for several seconds until the Iguions "appear" (I would love to make them visible at that place, but due to Deling tool limitations, I can't).


Short update on new version: Making the Hit stat matter for Squall and Seifer brought more negative side effects than initially thought and is unfortunately not possible by changing just a few bytes in the game's exectuable. It is brutally hard-coded and a lot of manual rewriting was necessary to make it work. Managed to do so a couple of weeks ago, then needed a break from the game as it was a quite daunting task. Will resume work shortly, add some more content and call it a day for now. Sorry to those who are waiting.

24

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

« on: 2022-03-27 03:16:11 »

Hi, in the 2nd battle vs BGH251F2, suddenly Mighty Guard was applied to my party out of nowhere.
Not complaining if it's helping me, but I'm wondering how did this happen?

Also, is Gilgamesh good in this mod?

BGH251F2 using Mighty Guard and Mega-Potion after a certain time has passed is intended, mainly just to make it more believable that Selphie and the others are still trapped inside. Think of it as Selphie having trouble controlling that thing at first (which is understandable considering its nearly broken state), but after some time, she figures out what buttons to press to actually help the party. Not that it really matters in the end - at the time BGH251F2 starts doing this, it barely does any damage anymore, making it basically impossible to lose the battle.

Gilgamesh is unchanged from the base game (damage increase for Excaliber and Masamune aside). If you don't like his random appearances in battle and already got Odin, make sure to have at least 1 Amethyst in your item inventory before facing Seifer in Lunatic Pandora, to avoid Odin getting replaced with Gilgamesh.

Can i play this mod on the nintendo switch?

No, not yet. At the moment, I don't even know how to port it, but I'll take a look at it after v1.3 for 2013 Steam version is done.

As an aside it took WAY too long to get dragon skins: High-Level andacondas aren't available & I don't want to mod that 1 Carbuncle card so Calisto please increase Blue Dragons way too low encounter rate!!!]

Blue Dragons are actually very common at the non-snowy cliff areas near Trabia Garden. If there is any information in mod documents that point to the encounters at the snowy forests, I apologize - they are indeed quite rare at this location. I didn't know about their common appearance at the cliffs until very recently.

Hi guys, does anyone have the full list of abilities each GF can learn on their own, and when they unlock? I want to plan which gf gets to use these gf learning items for my loadout. Thanks.

There isn't such a list available at this time, but you can check GF skill trees by extracting the kernel.bin file from main.fs archive (found in lang-en folder) and then opening it with the Doomtrain tool.

Is this mod the same between the regular steam release and the Remastered version?

The differences between the two versions are currently very few. A short summary can be found here.

Keep in mind that despite JWP's Vit 0 patch missing in Remastered, some enemies are still immune to Vit 0 in that version. If an enemy is vulnerable, they just don't have any resistance and the status will be inflicted nearly 100% of the time (unless the target's Spirit stat is very high).

25

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

« on: 2022-02-14 16:09:48 »

Yes, it's still possible to get a Rosetta Stone from said card player, with the chance being slightly increased compared to the original game (4/256 instead of 3/256).

Furthermore, the item received after a card game is still determined by randomly generated number between 0 and 255, but the range that nets a Rosetta Stone has been changed in this mod: In the base game you need to roll either 253, 254 or 255 to win one, whereas in this mod, you'd need to roll either 239, 240, 241 or 242 - so I don't think that the known RNG manipulating tricks still work.

Here's an overview of what can be received from both card players:

Code: [Select]

Generated number Item 200 G player Item 500 G player

0-118 Potion+ Potion+
119-182 Eye Drops Eye Drops
183-214 Remedy Remedy
215-230 Wind Flute Gaia Drum
231-238 Mega-Potion X-Potion
239-242 Rosetta Sone Power Wrist
243-255 Hi-Potion+ Mega Phoenix
The chance for the one-time item is calculated independently from this and has been increased from 1/32 to 1/8 in this mod, and the reward itself has been changed as well: A Tri-Point card from the 200 G player and a Mobile Type 8 card from the 500 G player.