[FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v2.0.99994)

[Sega Chief]

Thanks for getting back to me.

The screen doesn't freeze like a normal soft-lock but instead Cloud can't move as the timer continues to go down and the screen continues to shake from the event. Have not fought any other boss after Hell Armor.

It's the balcony where you fight Rufus and dialogue works fine until the timer appears. Strangely, as the dialogue starts and the other party members appear, the 2 party members do a strange quickened up run off of the screen and re-appear as the timer appears running back towards Cloud. They continue to keep running on spot as the timer goes down.

Hope this was enough info and cheers for looking into it.

It sounds like an event is triggering prematurely for some reason; I started a playthrough of Dark Cave last night so I can see where the problem pops up. Once I've isolated it, I'll likely put out the entire update itself so you're not stuck there for too long.

I almost always sort by type, but even then, everything is sorted really weird.
Sorting by Type and Battle (seem to sort in the same exact way):
Healing Items
Status Recovery items
Hyper/Tranqu
Speed Drink
Hero Drink II
Vaccine
level 1 shoot items
level 2 shoot items
Status inflicting items2
Elemental Damage items
Drain Items
barrier/mbarrier/reflect items
Level 4 elementalitems
Impaler
Dirty Bomb
Moltov
level 3 shoot
level 4 shoot
Grvity items
Dazers
level 4 holy item
Chocobo greens
tent,
chocobo nuts
battery
Oversoul shard
syncher
lucky pill
Wall/shield/peerless items
level 5 shoot items
Weapons
Armor
Accessories

Yep, that's look like Type sorting. I guess I'm that used to seeing the order of items by Type that it seems normal to me now. I think the only way I can 'fix' it is by re-arranging items for a major version update, so it'll have to be 1.4 when this gets fixed. What I'd likely have to do is 'swap' each item so they occupy a different Index slot that's closer to their 'peers'. Problem is, this'll cause havoc for pre-existing save files and their inventory. Watch this space though.

I've go this installed. However, I don't know if this is the cause but I installed this just before the final boss and even though Aerith is standing with the rest of the party (and when I exit she is on the airship),  I cannot select her to put into my party via PHS.

EDIT: I went back onto the world map and she now appears on the PHS screen but I can't select her.

Have I gone wrong somewhere?

What's happened here is that when she dies, she's removed from PHS but still has a flag to lock her into the party (this is from the Temple of the Ancients event). In NT, she's added back in Forgotten City with these flags changed but because you've played past that point with the default game these flags haven't been changed which is why she's still locked on your save file.

It's usually best that NT is played from the start with a new game, rather than a pre-existing save file made on the default game. There'll be a lot of variables and other things that are untriggered due to this as well that might cause problems.

[Zara9]

hey sega chief

i have a great request for your mod

my request is this, is there anyway you could add kyte as a playable party member on your mod

[Sega Chief]

If I ever made another playable character, it would either be Mr. Dolphin or Mr. Hangman. Or 'Not-Aeris', as someone suggested on ID.

[DarkMatta]

What's happened here is that when she dies, she's removed from PHS but still has a flag to lock her into the party (this is from the Temple of the Ancients event). In NT, she's added back in Forgotten City with these flags changed but because you've played past that point with the default game these flags haven't been changed which is why she's still locked on your save file.

It's usually best that NT is played from the start with a new game, rather than a pre-existing save file made on the default game. There'll be a lot of variables and other things that are untriggered due to this as well that might cause problems.

I was before Aerith died, not realising she would be brought back, but turned it off in 7H due encountering crashes. I wanted to bring her back to level her up.

I assume now then there is no other way at all via your or someone else's mod to bring her back?

[Zara9]

hey sega chief

when i used knights of the round metria before on bottomwell on your dark cave side quest

knights of the round did not work on that boss

[Doully]

It sounds like an event is triggering prematurely for some reason; I started a playthrough of Dark Cave last night so I can see where the problem pops up. Once I've isolated it, I'll likely put out the entire update itself so you're not stuck there for too long.

Thanks a lot! 

[Sega Chief]

I was before Aerith died, not realising she would be brought back, but turned it off in 7H due encountering crashes. I wanted to bring her back to level her up.

I assume now then there is no other way at all via your or someone else's mod to bring her back?

I think a save editor can do it. All you need to do is disable that PHS 'locked' flag; a tool like Black Chocobo could do it.

hey sega chief

when i used knights of the round metria before on bottomwell on your dark cave side quest

knights of the round did not work on that boss

Seems that the elements on the Summon were causing it to be short range. I've removed these and made it non-elemental again. This'll be in the next patch.

\\Edit: Issue in Dark Cave Sidequest Solved//

Figured it out; a handler was supposed to be there to remove the Key to Sector 5 from the player inventory before starting it up (this is used for an event trigger, which is why it starts up prematurely and causes a soft-lock). For players already stuck, a temporary NPC will be set up that removes this Key Item from the inventory. I'll probably place them somewhere in Shinra HQ.

Edit2: Scratch that, no NPC needed. Just laid it out slightly differently.

[Mirenheart]

I was just confused by the odd ordering of the battle items, if no one else has a problem with it, then I can live without it, jsut thought I'd bring it up.

[Sega Chief]

I was just confused by the odd ordering of the battle items, if no one else has a problem with it, then I can live without it, jsut thought I'd bring it up.

NFITC1 gave me some info on how it works, I'll be sitting down at some point when making 1.4 and seeing if I can shuffle items around a little.

As far as the impending update goes, it's 99% done and ready to go but I want to release all the parts together and there's still some new AI/Attacks to be added for the difficulty modes. Last minute tweaks are done though; the enhanced defensive stats are looking quite promising, small increases in Vit/Spr (defence/magic defence) are making tangible differences to the amount of damage being taken. I also went ahead and set these 8 armours as character-specific; most haven't been placed yet and weren't available prior to the patch anyway. Bear in mind that they'll sport different stats and effects to what they did originally. If people could also tell me which of these armours they currently have (if any) then I'd appreciate it. I know of Mystile, Dragon Armlet, and one or two others being drops already but it's just for my notes:

-) Imperial Guard: Cloud
-) Warrior Bangle: Barret
-) Ziedrich: Tifa
-) Fourth Bracelet: Aeris
-) Dragon Armlet: Red XIII
-) Mystile: Yuffie
-) Shinra Alpha: Vincent
-) Aegis Armlet: Cid

Cait Sith can equip any of these armours, but he can't equip either the Escort Guard or the Minerva Bracelet which are on an equivalent threshold. That's how things are right now, anyway. Could reverse that instead. Or call the whole thing off and have them available to everybody again. Let me know what you think.

I've got work today and tomorrow, so if I don't manage to get the update live by tonight then it'll be Thursday (that's my day off :3); this is also last call for any last minute additions or suggestions for balancing, etc. If there were bugs giving you grief then mention them too just in case they've slipped my mind.

[cicadian]

When the update goes up I'll be finishing my stream over the next week or two so I really look forward to it!

[selius]

if you're changing the stats on ziedrich so its tifa only please add a hefty str bonus

[Sega Chief]

When the update goes up I'll be finishing my stream over the next week or two so I really look forward to it!

Ah, you're alive.

if you're changing the stats on ziedrich so its tifa only please add a hefty str bonus

Will do. I'm trying to tailor each one so that they fit the character.

[Yuffie1983]

I had a bug were when I was fighting a battle with say 4 enemy's I was only killing 2 of them  and the battle was ending but I was still getting the exp amount as if i killed all 4 seems very strange.

[Sega Chief]

That does seem strange. Do you remember what the monsters looked like, or where the battles took place? Were they boss fights?

[Yuffie1983]

That does seem strange. Do you remember what the monsters looked like, or where the battles took place? Were they boss fights?

Yeah it was pretty much at the start of the game on the first two bombing missions and it was happening in the trains graveyard sewers and on the route to wall market, any of the enemy's around there, I got to the shinra building part to rescue Aries but I have not gone any further I am now going to wait for the update of the mod and a update for 7th heaven as well. 

[Gatchaman]

If people could also tell me which of these armours they currently have (if any) then I'd appreciate it. I know of Mystile, Dragon Armlet, and one or two others being drops already but it's just for my notes:

Yeah, I've only found the Dragon Armlet so far in 1.3.

Cait Sith can equip any of these armours, but he can't equip either the Escort Guard or the Minerva Bracelet which are on an equivalent threshold. That's how things are right now, anyway. Could reverse that instead. Or call the whole thing off and have them available to everybody again. Let me know what you think.

I think that sounds good as is. If you wanted something specific to him maybe you could give him the Chocobracelet? Its luck bonus as well as high evade/ magic evade is pretty powerful (I've been using it on him and it's hilarious to watch him be missed by some quite powerful attacks reasonably consistently).
I have also been making use of 'Osmose' a lot- you might want to see if you think it's too strong. (I get that it's a delicate balance between over-powered and useless, mind). This is where your 'stronger materia penalties' would be handy!

Enjoy your day off!

[Sega Chief]

Yeah it was pretty much at the start of the game on the first two bombing missions and it was happening in the trains graveyard sewers and on the route to wall market, any of the enemy's around there, I got to the shinra building part to rescue Aries but I have not gone any further I am now going to wait for the update of the mod and a update for 7th heaven as well. 

First time I've ever heard of an issue like that. Have any other mods been applied in the past? Also, is it the 7H or Main Installer you've been playing from?

Yeah, I've only found the Dragon Armlet so far in 1.3.

I think that sounds good as is. If you wanted something specific to him maybe you could give him the Chocobracelet? Its luck bonus as well as high evade/ magic evade is pretty powerful (I've been using it on him and it's hilarious to watch him be missed by some quite powerful attacks reasonably consistently).
I have also been making use of 'Osmose' a lot- you might want to see if you think it's too strong. (I get that it's a delicate balance between over-powered and useless, mind). This is where your 'stronger materia penalties' would be handy!

Enjoy your day off!

I think Osmose solves a lot of problems with Ether shortages. One thing I could maybe do is tweak the MP held by random enemies; there was rarely a plan in mind when setting their max MP unless they had access to a strong attack of some kind (and most bosses just carry 3000). Could balance Osmose slightly that way.

Chocobracelet is available from Chocobo Racing as a random prize which might not be too practical; it'd be much more readily available (and from Disc 1) than the others. That being said, if it doesn't drop from the 15 won S-Rank races then it could be tricky to get...except it would be annoying too due to the RNG of getting specific prizes from races so not sure.

[Yuffie1983]

First time I've ever heard of an issue like that. Have any other mods been applied in the past? Also, is it the 7H or Main Installer you've been playing from?

I think Osmose solves a lot of problems with Ether shortages. One thing I could maybe do is tweak the MP held by random enemies; there was rarely a plan in mind when setting their max MP unless they had access to a strong attack of some kind (and most bosses just carry 3000). Could balance Osmose slightly that way.

Chocobracelet is available from Chocobo Racing as a random prize which might not be too practical; it'd be much more readily available (and from Disc 1) than the others. That being said, if it doesn't drop from the 15 won S-Rank races then it could be tricky to get...except it would be annoying too due to the RNG of getting specific prizes from races so not sure.

I was playing it from 7th heaven mod with just about all graphical overhauls on it was a clean install as well using the 1998 version of the game.

[Sega Chief]

Right, so thinking about it the best explanation that comes to mind for it is that, like the kernel, the scene is 'chunked' in some way and if Enemy AI is separated from enemy formations then that would mean there could be extra/reshuffled enemies on the field with no AI (meaning there's a problem or conflict with the 7H installation/mod order). NT adjusted some of the enemy formations to account for time + enemy strength. When an enemy is present with no active AI, they are visible on screen but are treated as 'dead'; do these extra enemies attack or do they remain passive throughout the battle?

There's always a chance that the graphical mods (or something inside one of them) has caused a clash somewhere if it affects other files like the scene or kernel but that's probably much less likely.

[Mirenheart]

Decided to toss out a couple ideas for future stuffs that I would find interesting.

so, Plus Materias. Is there a way to change how they work, so instead of giving 50% over 5 levels, they give something like 25% for a single level, that way you can add one into the game and not worry about more being made through growth? like the summon materia?

Maybe even change them us some so they're more unique and can be used in a more intelligent manner than hording more stats. Like, change Magic Plus, so it gives a 30% boost to magic, and a -15% decrease to Strength and Vitality, and change Luck Plus to be a strength equivalent of that, +30% strength, -15% to magic and spirit.
And Speed plus could be changed to like, +25% Spirit/Vitality, +10% Dex, -35% strength/magic.
(the %'s dont have to be exact, just a suggestion.)

and then, like, add them to the final dungeon maybe (as long as they cant be found by your party members that you send down the paths, a thing that got me 3 MP Plus materia). This would allow you to set up character roles more powerfully at the cost of something else, and would work well on cloud who's so flexible.

The HP materia could just straight up be +25% HP, and maybe just keep MP Plus exactly as it is now since having lots of those isn't really a big deal.


Another idea I'd like to see is the ability to fight various WEAPONs again in some arena. Like, after the NEW THREAT content unlock at the bottom of the cave, you can go to an arena somewhere, maybe an NPC found in the desert. where you can fight WEAPONs that you've fought and beaten previously, and by doing so, you can win Source items like that, or other goodies maybe.

And if you can make the models, or get someone to help you make models, maybe add in other WEAPONS that aren't normally fought in the game, like Sapphire WEAPON that gets blown up at Junon, or Jade WEAPON from the Before Crisis game. and maybe even a couple unique ones of your own design.

One thing I always wanted to do was fight Sapphire, cause it's my favorite one. and I was always dissapointed because no matter how hard I looked in guides and online, i couldn't find anything about a secret way to fight him that worked.

[Sega Chief]

Decided to toss out a couple ideas for future stuffs that I would find interesting.

so, Plus Materias. Is there a way to change how they work, so instead of giving 50% over 5 levels, they give something like 25% for a single level, that way you can add one into the game and not worry about more being made through growth? like the summon materia?

Maybe even change them us some so they're more unique and can be used in a more intelligent manner than hording more stats. Like, change Magic Plus, so it gives a 30% boost to magic, and a -15% decrease to Strength and Vitality, and change Luck Plus to be a strength equivalent of that, +30% strength, -15% to magic and spirit.
And Speed plus could be changed to like, +25% Spirit/Vitality, +10% Dex, -35% strength/magic.
(the %'s dont have to be exact, just a suggestion.)

and then, like, add them to the final dungeon maybe (as long as they cant be found by your party members that you send down the paths, a thing that got me 3 MP Plus materia). This would allow you to set up character roles more powerfully at the cost of something else, and would work well on cloud who's so flexible.

The HP materia could just straight up be +25% HP, and maybe just keep MP Plus exactly as it is now since having lots of those isn't really a big deal.


Another idea I'd like to see is the ability to fight various WEAPONs again in some arena. Like, after the NEW THREAT content unlock at the bottom of the cave, you can go to an arena somewhere, maybe an NPC found in the desert. where you can fight WEAPONs that you've fought and beaten previously, and by doing so, you can win Source items like that, or other goodies maybe.

And if you can make the models, or get someone to help you make models, maybe add in other WEAPONS that aren't normally fought in the game, like Sapphire WEAPON that gets blown up at Junon, or Jade WEAPON from the Before Crisis game. and maybe even a couple unique ones of your own design.

One thing I always wanted to do was fight Sapphire, cause it's my favorite one. and I was always dissapointed because no matter how hard I looked in guides and online, i couldn't find anything about a secret way to fight him that worked.

I actually made the decision to remove Plus Materia a while before I realised I could change the incremental %-boosts to stats they give. Only reason they haven't gone back in is because things seemed to tick over without them well enough. I think they'd best match up with what I've got planned for 1.4 though, so they might re-appear in that.

As for fighting Weapons again, I could easily add that. Expanding it with other Weapons would take a bit of time (naturally) but that can be done too. Though if I was adding Sapphire and Jade as optional bosses, I'd need to spot a good base for them first and then try to build a model from in-game parts that looks sort of like them. That being said, I'll need to actually go look at a pic of Jade; no idea what that one looks like ^^'

Edit: On closer inspection, Jade appears to be a stealth bomber with arms. Well.

[Sega Chief]

Been a while coming, but the update is finished:

Edit: Something seems to be wrong with the installer; give me a bit of time to look into it and the link will go back up in an hour or so.

Edit2: Repaired! https://mega.co.nz/#!69ETwLrS!Gp4dj5SaT8WXC68EvbQs65xXwSTCDoF4mD5dFL_yCUw

That's the main installer (all in one); the hotfix patches are still processing.

Here's the update notes:

\\New Features//
-) Difficulty Settings: Two new difficulty modes were added above Normal. Expert is for returning players who felt NT was too easy, while Anti-Anima was made specifically for one person (but feel free to give it a whirl). Enemy stats are bolstered and some have special AI (attacks, property flags, etc.) unlocked when playing on these modes; the earliest you'll see an example of the new AI is fighting the 1st boss.

-) Level cap has finally been removed, and it's successor (LV-Synch) has been implemented into Character AI. A 2x boost to defensive stats has also been put in; the defensive stats on armour/accessories/etc. have been adjusted to account for this. This is so that smaller boosts to these stats will be worth much more. Let me know if damage is being reduced too much, though.

-) A prototype of Stage 1 for expanded towns has been implemented. When resting at an Inn, you may notice that the time of day changes in certain towns. This doesn't affect anything else at present, and was included with this update for feedback more than anything else (i.e., if it's too distracting). New NPC scripts are being planned based around time of day or current weather.

-) Character-specific Ultimate Armour: For now, 8 end-game armours that are currently absent from the mod (they were set aside for NG+, new content, etc.) have been set to be character-specific like ultimate weapons.

\\Balancing/Bug-Fixing//

-) Soft-lock on F70 for the Dark Cave was resolved; key items weren't being removed which was causing a scene to trigger prematurely, causing the problem.

-) Sniper CR has been respecced as an end-game weapon and can be morphed from Malboro in the North Crater (not the Icy Oscar on Gaea's Cliff).

-) Disc 2 Boss Battle menu no longer gives EXP/AP/Items.

-) Added Yoshiyuki as a regular drop to the Soldier M-Class in Junon (around the alarm area).

-) Replaced Zeio Nut in Battle Square prizes with a Hero Drink II; Zeio Nut is found on Goblins like before.

-) Disc 2/3 Junon Shops were adjusted to remove end-game gear from their inventory.

-) Gongaga Turks re-balanced; no longer inflicts Berserk on attacks, and Wire will target the party member with the highest HP at the start of battle (easier to know who will be the target + highest HP is less likely to be laid down with any essential Materia).

-) A potential progression break in Shinra HQ was fixed; the F65 chest will now be locked until the keycard is taken from the mayor.

-) Nibelheim black-caped NPCs no longer give out sources.

-) Special Battle in Battle Square no longer utilises the reels which caused infrequent crashes due to having a full party. A fixed BP award of 20,000 is awarded when beating Special Battle.

-) Christopher enemy has a wrong attack ID specced which caused a soft-lock; this has been resolved (again).

-) Gerolt (Weapon Shop where Mythril is traded in) has had a logical loop or two fixed in his script when players would try to build an Ultimate Weapon when all the required materials aren't in their inventory.

-) A typo in Dio's Disc 3 dialog has been amended; he now correctly states Sleeping Forest instead of Ancient Forest (which was confusing people about the location of the Dark Cave sidequest).

-) A soft-lock on the orange Pillar NPC's dialog was amended.

-) The scrolling problem in Wall Market was fixed; thanks to DLPB for posting his method for fixing it on the forums.

There were likely others; if you don't see something you suggested, let me know.

[Zara9]

hey sega chief

you forgot to add in the bug fix i told you about knights of the round with bottomswell in your dark cave sidequest

[Sega Chief]

I added that in, but forgot to mention it; that summon will now hit that boss properly. Unfortunately, the missing name of the summon attack when it's used is something I couldn't fix. Not sure what's happened there.

By the way, if you downloaded the installer already then hang-ten for a bit. There was something wrong with it (forgot to add the battle.lgp) so making a new one just now.

[Zara9]

hey sega chief

can you also upload that file to mediafire please

because that mega download site takes forever for me to get your NT file