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

[Rukenu]

A 7th iro version of the 1.3 update would be awesome, pretty sure that there are some people waiting for the next update of the catalog only for this o/. (OFC NOT ME /IRONY)

[Sega Chief]

I'll see what I can do. I think I need to chunk the kernel and maybe the scene or summat.

Edit: @Bowser, that's kind of interesting. I might try it myself then.

I'll need to have a look at the .exe and see what kind of shape it's in. It might be ready to go as-is, but it's likely a tweak or three is needed.

[Bowser9]

Thought just occurred to me. Is there any way to get a "Load Game" option onto the extended save points?

Edit: Found another battle soft lock. Here are the details:
 - Train Graveyard
    - Ghost + Horned Rat + Deen Glow formation
    - During the round, Ghost and Deen Glow completed their attacks successfully.
    - Horned Rat was up next, but the game soft locked. I was on wait ATB, so maybe it was waiting for an attack.

[Sega Chief]

That'll be Cripshay, it'll likely be a new attack that he's not had an animation set for. I've been introducing a fair few new ones for Arrange and whatnot. I'll get a patch together.

As for getting Load Game onto the extended menu, I don't know. I'll check the menu commands, though I can imagine it'd play havoc with the game's RAM issues.

Edit: Scene patch is up.

[Webbhead08]

I'm having trouble continuing the game after the Demon's gate fight. After I win the battle, the scenes with the black materia and sleeping forest play out as they should, except when the sleeping forest scene ends the game loops to the Midgar bike minigame rather than to Cloud waking up in Gongaga... I have tried several ways to get past this and cannot figure out what's wrong, it happens every time. Any help would be really appreciated, please!

[Sega Chief]

Sounds like there's a flaw in the field script I've made; the game uses several 'black' (debug) screens to handle certain transitions and bits of script. I'll check it out now and make a fix.

Edit: I think I've figured it out. Just going to test it now.

Edit2: Y'know, just realised that my save files for that area aren't current so I can't actually test if this works or not. I'm reasonably confident that it does though, I added the missing variable trigger both to the highway scene and the demon's gate scene as well. I'll get the patch generated just now.

[Webbhead08]

Awesome man, I am in love with the mod so far and absolutely cannot wait to continue... I may have skipped out on work yesterday to play... As soon as the patch is up, I will apply it and see if I can finally advance. Really appreciate the hasty response!

[Sega Chief]

I dunno if it's a good idea to skip work, but that'd make for a good tag-line: 'NT; it'll make you stop going to work'

While the patch is uploading I'm going to set up a special jump so I can quickly test the fix. That way I can be 99% sure it's okay.

Edit: Just given it a test, and it looks like I've caught what it was. Basically, when the save point is used on the Highway minigame, it flipped a variable so that if the game is closed/game over'd and reloaded it displays the bike menu again properly. Problem is, it didn't account for players continuing on without closing the game/wiping to the boss and in testing I reloaded the save to make sure it was working so I missed it completely. The patch I'm uploading should solve it, regardless of where players are in the game.

[Webbhead08]

^^^^^Awesome. My anticipation grows...

Haha, not a bad line! Confession, I 'worked from home' yesterday so technically I didn't skip, I was about 03% as productive as at the office though

Side question - do you know where Steam saves the local save files (Windows 7) when not Cloud saved? Couldn't find 'em through a quick search and would like to make some backup files just in case. Many thanks again, Chief

[Sega Chief]

That's the new patch up, flevel 5th June Hotfix.

As for steam saves, they tend to be here:

C:\Users\Sega Chief\Documents\Square Enix\FINAL FANTASY VII Steam\user_3960564

Your user number + name will vary, naturally. One thing though. This game has a terrible save verification 'feature' that will delete save files if they don't pass a check with the FF7 Launcher. To get around this, make sure to have the FF7 Launcher open BEFORE copy-pasting in new save files, save-editing, etc.

[Webbhead08]

Awesome awesome awesome. Going to run through this at lunch now, will let you know my results!!

Edit: Hey Chief I was able to get through to Gongaga just fine using the Vanilla data folder (which I was not able to do before), no loop to the Midgar bike scene - so I think I should be good once I get through the double demon gate fight again with the NT data/mod enabled. That fight is a battle of attrition haha. Will post my results in a few... But my HUGE thanks in advance!

Edit II: Made it through the fight (NT enabled) and saved outside of Gongaga no problem. Can't tell you how pumped I am for the work day to end now!! Haha. I will let you know for sure if anything else comes up. I haven't seen anything in my play through out of line other than the now fixed bike loop. Thank you!

[Sega Chief]

If it doesn't work then let me know and I'll set you up with a special patch that directly bypasses the issue + skips the demon gate fight. That way you can progress while I sort out whatever the problem is. I'm fairly sure the hotfix should sort it out though; it turns the var off to prevent the looping.

\\NT News//

So I'm just about done coding in the new innate abilities. Was hit by a bit of a curve-ball when the script size turned out to be half what I thought it would be (seems to be 4000-ish for Scene, 2000-ish for kernel) but it made me consider other things and I ended up with some neat alternatives. Let me know what you think of these:

\\Cloud//
Mimesis: Copies one party member's innate ability at random. I thought this one would tie in with Cloud's character; you could even go a step further and say that it ties in with Zack's gimmick in CC where he'd 'copy' other people's limit breaks for his DMW reel and that Cloud is copying Zack's ability to copy- never mind.

\\Barret//
Conflict stacks: When Barret is attacked physically, he gains one of two different stacks depending on which Row he's in. If he's in the Back Row, he gains a defensive buff of +8 to Vit & Spr (up to a maximum of 5 stacks for 40 Vit/Spr). In the Front Row, he gains stacks of +4 Attack (again, maximum of 5 stacks for +20 Attack). If Barret gains a stack of one type, it nullifies all stacks of the other type. So if you have 5 Defensive stacks and then move to the front and gain one Attack stack, he'll lose all his defensive stacks.

\\Tifa//
Focus stacks: When above 3/4HP, Tifa will gain a stack of +3 attack every time she takes physical damage (no limit on stacks). These stacks are lost, however, if her HP dips below 3/4. It's supposed to be a counter to the critical HP mechanics that two of her weapons have; Powersoul and Masterfist.

\\Aeris//
Afterburner: When Aeris' MP falls into the last 1/4, she gets a temporary buff of +20 Magic which is reset whenever her MP rises back above 1/4. I couldn't find the AI flag to enable for 2x Healing :l

\\Red XIII/
Warm-Up: As the battle progresses, Red's Str and Mag will very slowly increase (+1 each time) for a maximum buff of +15.

\\Yuffie//
Perfect Dodge: Whenever Yuffie is hit by a physical attack, she temporarily gains 255% evasion against physical attacks. This is cancelled if she is hit by any kind of magical attack, including healing spells.

\\Cait Sith//
Rage System: When under the influence of a status ailment, Cait can have a special AI script 'Rage' triggered by using the Morph command on him. The Rage used depends on the status ailment. (This is still up in the air, because of the size limitation that's reared it's head. I've got a hefty chunk of space to work with, so hopefully it'll be enough to get this working; I don't think I'll be able to make a Rage for every status ailment, just the more common ones).

\\Vincent//
Chaos Link: A passive innate, Vincent enjoys Fire, Lightning, and Poison immunity as well as starting each battle with the Deathforce status. These represent his four Limit forms (where Chaos utilises instant KO attacks and Hellmasker inflicts status ailments like Poison with Nightmare).

\\Cid//
Highwind Luck: Whenever Cid is knocked down into critical HP, he gains a temporary boost of 2x to his Luck stat. This wears off and resets when he is no longer at 1/4HP or below.

Let me know what you think of these. You may have also noticed by now that I have trouble naming things. Please help.

[Webbhead08]

I like all of these ideas for innates, two questions: Does Cloud copy a current party member's (1 out of 2 battle party characters) ability, or a random team member (1 out of 5 or 7 or however many total char's you have)? And how would you know which char's ability he's picked up?

And just a personal thought/suggestion: I would love to see Cloud or Cid gain a limit fill increaser caused by X or when below X hp level or something... but that's just me

[Zara9]

hey sega

are you taking out the limit breaks on your Mod

[Sega Chief]

I like all of these ideas for innates, two questions: Does Cloud copy a current party member's (1 out of 2 battle party characters) ability, or a random team member (1 out of 5 or 7 or however many total char's you have)? And how would you know which char's ability he's picked up?

Ideally it'd be whoever is in the battle, that makes it a little less random and eliminates a problem of copying innates from people who haven't joined the party yet.

hey sega

are you taking out the limit breaks on your Mod

Nope.

[Walter253]

Sup SegaChief.

Did you make these innates things for characters with WallMarket in the AI ?
Since I changed lots of things on kernel.bin (the one that NT uses) for my personnal liking , can I just copy-past the AI script or is there a special trick to do before?


Little suggestion: Add an innate for Sephiroth too

[Webbhead08]

*Small Bug: Hey Chief, after disc 1 concludes and it asks if you want to save the game on the in-between disc 2 screen, the hand cursor was set to 'no' below 'yes' with no ability to move the cursor upward to 'yes', but the cursor could move down and point to nothing... No big deal. I hit 'no' not the blank and it skipped to the next screen without offering a save option. Thought I would point it out -

[Sega Chief]

Sup SegaChief.

Did you make these innates things for characters with WallMarket in the AI ?
Since I changed lots of things on kernel.bin (the one that NT uses) for my personnal liking , can I just copy-past the AI script or is there a special trick to do before?

Little suggestion: Add an innate for Sephiroth too

I'm afraid WM has no copy-paste function like Proud Clod, values need to be entered manually. I'd add an innate for Sephy maybe for fun, but space is a serious issue.

*Small Bug: Hey Chief, after disc 1 concludes and it asks if you want to save the game on the in-between disc 2 screen, the hand cursor was set to 'no' below 'yes' with no ability to move the cursor upward to 'yes', but the cursor could move down and point to nothing... No big deal. I hit 'no' not the blank and it skipped to the next screen without offering a save option. Thought I would point it out -

No worries, I just misaligned it. I'll correct it for the next patch.

[Zartemis]

If it doesn't work then let me know and I'll set you up with a special patch that directly bypasses the issue + skips the demon gate fight. That way you can progress while I sort out whatever the problem is. I'm fairly sure the hotfix should sort it out though; it turns the var off to prevent the looping.

\\NT News//

So I'm just about done coding in the new innate abilities. Was hit by a bit of a curve-ball when the script size turned out to be half what I thought it would be (seems to be 4000-ish for Scene, 2000-ish for kernel) but it made me consider other things and I ended up with some neat alternatives. Let me know what you think of these:

\\Cloud//
Mimesis: Copies one party member's innate ability at random. I thought this one would tie in with Cloud's character; you could even go a step further and say that it ties in with Zack's gimmick in CC where he'd 'copy' other people's limit breaks for his DMW reel and that Cloud is copying Zack's ability to copy- never mind.

\\Barret//
Conflict stacks: When Barret is attacked physically, he gains one of two different stacks depending on which Row he's in. If he's in the Back Row, he gains a defensive buff of +8 to Vit & Spr (up to a maximum of 5 stacks for 40 Vit/Spr). In the Front Row, he gains stacks of +4 Attack (again, maximum of 5 stacks for +20 Attack). If Barret gains a stack of one type, it nullifies all stacks of the other type. So if you have 5 Defensive stacks and then move to the front and gain one Attack stack, he'll lose all his defensive stacks.

\\Tifa//
Focus stacks: When above 3/4HP, Tifa will gain a stack of +3 attack every time she takes physical damage (no limit on stacks). These stacks are lost, however, if her HP dips below 3/4. It's supposed to be a counter to the critical HP mechanics that two of her weapons have; Powersoul and Masterfist.

\\Aeris//
Afterburner: When Aeris' MP falls into the last 1/4, she gets a temporary buff of +20 Magic which is reset whenever her MP rises back above 1/4. I couldn't find the AI flag to enable for 2x Healing :l

\\Red XIII/
Warm-Up: As the battle progresses, Red's Str and Mag will very slowly increase (+1 each time) for a maximum buff of +15.

\\Yuffie//
Perfect Dodge: Whenever Yuffie is hit by a physical attack, she temporarily gains 255% evasion against physical attacks. This is cancelled if she is hit by any kind of magical attack, including healing spells.

\\Cait Sith//
Rage System: When under the influence of a status ailment, Cait can have a special AI script 'Rage' triggered by using the Morph command on him. The Rage used depends on the status ailment. (This is still up in the air, because of the size limitation that's reared it's head. I've got a hefty chunk of space to work with, so hopefully it'll be enough to get this working; I don't think I'll be able to make a Rage for every status ailment, just the more common ones).

\\Vincent//
Chaos Link: A passive innate, Vincent enjoys Fire, Lightning, and Poison immunity as well as starting each battle with the Deathforce status. These represent his four Limit forms (where Chaos utilises instant KO attacks and Hellmasker inflicts status ailments like Poison with Nightmare).

\\Cid//
Highwind Luck: Whenever Cid is knocked down into critical HP, he gains a temporary boost of 2x to his Luck stat. This wears off and resets when he is no longer at 1/4HP or below.

Let me know what you think of these. You may have also noticed by now that I have trouble naming things. Please help.

The more I read, the more I want the gameplay balances to be done. I'm trying to talk a friend into a dual/co-op stream playthrough thing.

For Aeris, maybe Lifeburst or Manaburst? She's not a very tech-origin character, so you want a more magical or natural name for that maybe.

For Red XIII, Warm-Up's pretty good, Rising Spirit works too, I like the idea of working off of his warrior legacy.

I don't like Cait enough to know much, so Rage works. Don't judge me.

Maybe Kain's Star or Star of Kain for Cid? Being watched by the stars is often considered a term of favored protection, and I can't resist throwing in a dragoon reference.

I like everything above that, though Mimesis could also afford to be Mirror for simplicity's sake.

[Sega Chief]

Cheers for the name suggestions; some of the innates might need pop-ups to indicate that they've triggered or worn off. I'll have the battle overhaul done soon, just sidetracked myself slightly with the rank-up + innates but I'm using DLPB's Ochu tool to get through field screens much faster than normal.

[Bowser9]

Re: \\NT NEWS//

\\Cloud//
Flavorful and powerful. I'd never know what it is unless it's something easy to trigger like Barret's, Red XIII's or Yuffie, but it makes it exciting to think what you could do with this. Bruiser Cloud with a team of Barret + Red XIII. Tank Cloud with a team of Yuffie and Vincent. Lucky Cloud with a team of Cait Sith and Cid... Just the steps people can take to ensure an innate that works for their Cloud makes me grin. I am more excited for Cloud than I have ever been.

\\Barret//
You da man!

\\Tifa//
I don't have a good feeling about this. Having the 3/4 HP trigger only when she takes physical damage makes this innate very tricky to use. You'd only benefit against weaker enemies that won't outright send you below 3/4 HP, or you "charge" Tifa by taking steps to attack her yourself. I'd recommend an innate +3 attack stack to start, if above 3/4 HP, followed by the trigger condition. Another suggestion is to have her gain a stack when she dodges an attack. This can create an interesting risk - reward mechanic because, typically, the high evasion armors have the worst damage reduction. One stray hit and you automatically lose the stacks.

\\Aeris//
Thumbs up. Can lead to an interesting burst damage combo later in the fight, especially with doublecast.

\\Red XIII//
I want him in my party so much now. More than I have ever wanted him in my party. Good.

\\Yuffie//
A ninja tank is born. A quick-support, physical-tank. Much hype.

\\Cait Sith//
Once I have an understanding of what these Rages will be, Cait Sith will be on my team more than any other character. I love messing around with stuff like this.

\\Vincent//
Wow, Vincent has the potential to be ironclad in elemental resistance. He would have the potential to be extremely rewarding for defensive players (like me).

\\Cid//
A great innate that can keep Cid alive in an unexpected situation, especially late game where Luck boosting equipments can be quite powerful. This may come in handy faster than other innate abilities, especially against tougher fights, which makes this innate oddly more reliable.

[Sega Chief]

I wanted to give Tifa the defence-reduction on her attacks but the flag for it was missing from WM's weapon settings (so I'm assuming it's not possible to do it that way). I could do it through a formula though, I think. Problem is, % might be dangerous due to the game rounding up on any decimal (so enemies with very little defence could end up with a lot more) and I don't think subtraction works properly; it just seems to add the value on instead.

[Walter253]

I'm afraid WM has no copy-paste function like Proud Clod, values need to be entered manually. I'd add an innate for Sephy maybe for fun, but space is a serious issue.

So it has to be entered manually, can I type values in order I see them or is there an order to do?
In the worst case, I still can redo what I've done, doesn't matter.

As for space issue, did you tried to shortcut names and description? I think (not sure about that) 1 letter is equivalent to 1 byte, so if you need like 100 bytes more, then remove some text ?
Example: some magic has "LvX - " in their description, you can remove this.

[selius]

\\Cloud//
Flexible
Is this set on battle start and does it change during battle? Do we get a notification which one he has?  I'm assuming it only picks from the 2 party members you bring with you and not the ones recruited.

\\Tifa//
High Spirits
I really don't like this one. Is HP Plus materia in the game? last i played it wasnt avaialable. unless im remembering wrong damage values are pretty high in NT. almost everything would give the bonus and immediately cancel it. I'd have to save scum to make sure her HP, Vit and Spr always fall on the highest point of the curve and using high slot low defense armor just became worthless. Gaining stacks when she avoids an attack above 3/4 health, not losing the stacks, and having a cap is better. Alternatively change the passive to work off of half health with no cap but stack slower. As it stands, Barret simply has a flat out better passive entirely. You'd spend the entire battle healing her. Fun, fun.

\\Barret//
Cool Under Pressure
sounds broken as fern. would help a lot early game when phys doesn't scale well, but mid game when we start getting the high str armors he will be a monster. 40 vit and spr don't mean much overall for most of the game anyway, but attack scales exponentially.

\\Aeris//
Focus
2x healing woulda been a bit strong, anyway. this is a much better choice

\\Red XIII/
Warm-Up is good
I like this, gives incentive to using +dex stuff

\\Yuffie//
PD is also good
Would be a neat thing, lots of enemies have magical attacks, and im pretty sure every boss has a magical all hitting attack to keep it from being too broken

\\Cait Sith//
Should Just ferning Die
Can we just remove the ferning guy? >_>

\\Vincent//
The Monster In Me
He's passively immune to fire, lightning and poison? and i still won't use him lol  fern uncontrollable characters

\\Cid//
Desperate Blows or Second Wind
Not a very good one overall statistically or thematically imo .  he's not a very lucky guy if you think about it. plus I always figured him to be a tough son of a buttercup type, something like a free auto life once per battle if he dies would be cool.

[HeaN]

Hey there. It's me again. I found a dangerous bug wich could remove all your Materia

It's about the new saving feature.
Once you have that much materia that you cannot remove your current one from your character like in this example: you should not try to "unequip your party", this would result in lost materia