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

[ohhhhyeahohhellyeahbaby]

I was playing the mod around last March or so but had to quit due to being overly busy, but I was having a pretty great time with it. Given that it's been a while and that there's probably a list of balance changes and tweaks I think I'm going to give it another fresh go. During my last partial playthrough my only real complaint was that the SP system led to some very odd difficulty at certain points (Nibelheim in particular was really nasty, as was the Temple of the Ancients) and I was never sure if I need to be grinding, so for the most part I didn't. For the most part everything was tough but generally fair, aside from maybe the abundance of later-game confusion spam (which others have already mentioned).

I was wondering something about Hyper Jump though. Full-disclosure: I've had a series of really bad experiences with it and I understand that Hyper Jump crashes are well documented at this point. I'm not sure if it's something that would be hardcoded in, but is it possible to swap Dragon and Hyper Jump's positions in Cid's limit menu? I ask because firing off Hyper Jumps and saving immediately before and after was kind of a pain in the butt when trying to use Cid and if I could just use Dragon instead to gain Hyper Jump it would be far less painful. Again, not sure if it's technically possible and I imagine it might conflict with how you want Cid to be used, but it's just an idea I wanted to throw out.

Couple basic questions:

1. How do I get the best use out of Vincent? I gave him a try my last game and thought he was far too situational to be useful and overall inferior to my other choices.

2. Gi Cave boss: what's his deal? I can never remember exactly what it is I have to do to beat it, so the fight winds up taking me an embarrassing amount of time.

As an aside:

WAR has had a complicated history with rebalances due to Berserk status, Peace Rings being missable, the pre-action mechanic using the two friendly enemies, and multiple attacks per turn. Maybe it's time to have an overhaul of it and try a different AI.

I actually never really minded WAR, in any of the various versions of the mod that I've played. I agree it's not overly challenging, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, considering the player has got Tifa thrown into the party who may be ill-equipped to handle the fight. DEATH was pretty easy in Vanilla (even for Vanilla I mean) and probably for the same reason. I'm not suggesting that the AI should be untouched, but even though it's supposed to be a very epic encounter in the game, it's placed in such a spot that I wouldn't think would lend itself well to a very high difficulty.

Looking forward to my third (er fourth? maybe?) playthrough!

[Sega Chief]

I was playing the mod around last March or so but had to quit due to being overly busy, but I was having a pretty great time with it. Given that it's been a while and that there's probably a list of balance changes and tweaks I think I'm going to give it another fresh go. During my last partial playthrough my only real complaint was that the SP system led to some very odd difficulty at certain points (Nibelheim in particular was really nasty, as was the Temple of the Ancients) and I was never sure if I need to be grinding, so for the most part I didn't. For the most part everything was tough but generally fair, aside from maybe the abundance of later-game confusion spam (which others have already mentioned).

I was wondering something about Hyper Jump though. Full-disclosure: I've had a series of really bad experiences with it and I understand that Hyper Jump crashes are well documented at this point. I'm not sure if it's something that would be hardcoded in, but is it possible to swap Dragon and Hyper Jump's positions in Cid's limit menu? I ask because firing off Hyper Jumps and saving immediately after was kind of a pain in the butt when trying to use Cid and if I could just use Dragon instead to gain Hyper Jump it would be far less painful. Again, not sure if it's technically possible and I imagine it might conflict with how you want Cid to be used, but it's just an idea I wanted to throw out.

Couple basic questions:

1. How do I get the best use out of Vincent? I gave him a try my last game and thought he was far too situational to be useful and overall inferior to my other choices.

2. Gi Cave boss: what's his deal? I can never remember exactly what it is I have to do to beat it, so the fight winds up taking me an embarrassing amount of time.

As an aside:

I actually never really minded WAR, in any of the various versions of the mod that I've played. I agree it's not overly challenging, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, considering the player has got Tifa thrown into the party who may be ill-equipped to handle the fight. DEATH was pretty easy in Vanilla (even for Vanilla I mean) and probably for the same reason. I'm not suggesting that the AI should be untouched, but even though it's supposed to be a very epic encounter in the game, it's placed in such a spot that I wouldn't think would lend itself well to a very high difficulty.

Looking forward to my third (er fourth? maybe?) playthrough!

That's a good idea with Hyper Jump; I'll swap them around for the next patch.

I think Vincent is best used as a caster, but if you give him added cut and combine that with a spell then he can tag on some extra safe damage from the back row (Shotgun would be a nice way of adding to multi-target spells as it also hits all targets). His MP regenerates so he's probably a good pick for longer fights; this regen effect actually goes beyond his MaxMP so if he's a physical damage-dealer and only carrying support spells, then you can have an extra pool of MP to use when the time comes later for healing, etc. Limits are still a weak point but I think I can change it so that priority is given to the elemental attack each form has rather than the physical one; might even it out slightly.

For Gi Nattak, the two lanterns need to die first as they'll heal the boss too much. Wind element attacks like Choco/Mog can deal major damage, so that with something like a Limit or another summon (Shiva for Slow will be very useful) can give you a good start into the battle; you basically want to burst them down before dealing with the boss itself.

[ohhhhyeahohhellyeahbaby]

Thanks for the tips. I'll see if I can't give Vincent a more fair shake this time around.

[Kaldarasha]

The Hyper Jump bug is fixed with Aali's latest driver. Though, the Steam version is still broken.

[Sega Chief]

The Hyper Jump bug is fixed with Aali's latest driver. Though, the Steam version is still broken.

Is this a new update or has it been about for a while?

Edit: Got some good news; I think I found the problem with Ziegfried. There's a var switch that turns this encounter off when Cloud rests up in Under Junon after the Bottomswell fight. I think this is what was deactivating the encounter. I'll add a reactivation script somewhere for people who have been unable to find this fight due to this var switch.

[BelialLion]

Chief are the Carob/Zeio Nuts in the same spots or did they get moved around as well? I'll look at the text docs as well I just figured I'd ask here in case I can't find them.

[ohhhhyeahohhellyeahbaby]

I've ran into a bit of a snag: after answering Don Corneo's question and getting thrown into the sewers, Tifa and Aeris land, but Cloud hasn't come down yet. I can see the bottom of his little brown shoe just barely at the top of the screen but it doesn't look like he's coming down anytime soon.

[BelialLion]

I've ran into a bit of a snag: after answering Don Corneo's question and getting thrown into the sewers, Tifa and Aeris land, but Cloud hasn't come down yet. I can see the bottom of his little brown shoe just barely at the top of the screen but it doesn't look like he's coming down anytime soon.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rfjfvb384j77ox3/NT_Mod_HotFix_flevel_22nd_October_2016.zip

This fixes that.

EDIT: Do this one too after the first one. http://www.mediafire.com/file/1clp5nspa75nrq0/NT_Mod_HotFix_Scene_-_24th_November_2016.zip

[Coca Cola Man]

Hey Sega Chief, the problem I had with fort condor seems to have fixed itself weirdly enough and I've continued all the way to the bottom of the northern crater without any further problems, amazing mod.

Just a few quick questions I have.
1. How do I get Tifa's level 4 limit? I played the piano in Nibelheim as Tifa and it told me to find Vargas in the Junon Leage, but my understanding is the Junon Leagues aren't in this version yet and when I go to Junon, there is nothing new there.
2. Is the letter to soldier sidequest still in game? Its in the documentation but again, when I went back to Junon, nothing new to do.
3. Where do I find the Shinra Alpha armor?
4. Where do I find the Mystile armor?
I checked the "where is the " documentation but neither were listed
and finally 5.

Spoiler: show

I played the piano in Nibelheim Mansion back on disc one and got the "something escaped" message, but I cant for the find anything else related to it. Have I missed something there? any clues?

many thanks again for this great mod.

[Sega Chief]

Hey Sega Chief, the problem I had with fort condor seems to have fixed itself weirdly enough and I've continued all the way to the bottom of the northern crater without any further problems, amazing mod.

Just a few quick questions I have.
1. How do I get Tifa's level 4 limit? I played the piano in Nibelheim as Tifa and it told me to find Vargas in the Junon Leage, but my understanding is the Junon Leagues aren't in this version yet and when I go to Junon, there is nothing new there.
2. Is the letter to soldier sidequest still in game? Its in the documentation but again, when I went back to Junon, nothing new to do.
3. Where do I find the Shinra Alpha armor?
4. Where do I find the Mystile armor?
I checked the "where is the " documentation but neither were listed
and finally 5.

Spoiler: show

I played the piano in Nibelheim Mansion back on disc one and got the "something escaped" message, but I cant for the find anything else related to it. Have I missed something there? any clues?

many thanks again for this great mod.

Tifa's Lv.4 Limit is unavailable at the moment but I'm scripting up a replacement which will result in a patch when it's done (separating it from Leagues and going with Nibel Reactor again but different script). Mystile is dropped by a boss in the Dark Cave sidequest (100% chance) and Shinra Alpha is dropped as part of Cloud's Lv.4 Limit quest.

People are finding the piano finally :3

[Coca Cola Man]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Hmm so no clues for the piano, best get back to scouring Nibelheim then  , When I defeated the lost number replacement he said a number at the end of the fight, I'm wondering if that has anytihng to do with it?

Also, was the Letter to soldier sidequest removed?

[ohhhhyeahohhellyeahbaby]

EDIT: Do this one too after the first one. http://www.mediafire.com/file/1clp5nspa75nrq0/NT_Mod_HotFix_Scene_-_24th_November_2016.zip

Ah, was missing that one. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

edit: wait no, was missing the other one, that'd do it. Even mentions it in the installer.

[Sega Chief]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Hmm so no clues for the piano, best get back to scouring Nibelheim then  , When I defeated the lost number replacement he said a number at the end of the fight, I'm wondering if that has anytihng to do with it?

Also, was the Letter to soldier sidequest removed?

Yeah, it was removed in the end. Think it's still mentioned in the materials.

[Soulofsteel]

Hey sega chief it's been a while since i played but im rehooked all over again. I just hit the midgar revisit and i had my sights set on the curator seeing as he destroyed me when i tried to fight him the first time through the shinra building. It was long, tedius, frustrating and overall a total pain, took me about 3 1/2 hours to get my first good attempt where i was wiped by his murderous final attack =/ i didnt like that seeing as he cant be sensed. then another couple hours i finally got him, 1 party member down and the remaining at about 200 HP after the final attack, it was exciting and a weight was lifted. Then much to my dismay, the chest inside contained..."Nothing!" is this normal? i read posts from people saying they got some engine thing, which i did not get. not to mention as soon as i left the room, he was respawned and i couldnt move without initiating the dialog with him. Can you please explain to me what the point of that fight is, and if i missed something? As it stands, it was a ginat waste of time as he gave no ap, xp, gil or items. Thanks in advance.

[Sega Chief]

Hey sega chief it's been a while since i played but im rehooked all over again. I just hit the midgar revisit and i had my sights set on the curator seeing as he destroyed me when i tried to fight him the first time through the shinra building. It was long, tedius, frustrating and overall a total pain, took me about 3 1/2 hours to get my first good attempt where i was wiped by his murderous final attack =/ i didnt like that seeing as he cant be sensed. then another couple hours i finally got him, 1 party member down and the remaining at about 200 HP after the final attack, it was exciting and a weight was lifted. Then much to my dismay, the chest inside contained..."Nothing!" is this normal? i read posts from people saying they got some engine thing, which i did not get. not to mention as soon as i left the room, he was respawned and i couldnt move without initiating the dialog with him. Can you please explain to me what the point of that fight is, and if i missed something? As it stands, it was a ginat waste of time as he gave no ap, xp, gil or items. Thanks in advance.

He doesn't drop anything; the whole thing was mostly just for the challenge. The micro-engine drop was an accident from when an Air Buster enemy was stationed here instead as part of the Dark Cave sidequest (this key item was moved elsewhere). He's also not supposed to respawn afterwards so I'll get that fixed up.

[Soulofsteel]

Ah ok, well I'm still proud of murdering his ugly face, took forever and I never want to look at him again kudos on creating such a cruel SoB of a boss. When is Aerith's final limit obtainable? It doesn't say in the documentation and I wasn't able to get it when i tried before the midgar raid. Is Tifa's final limit the only one that isn't available in the current iteration? Lastly, some pieces of equipment have (flavor?) text that doesn't really say what it does, is there any place to find out what they do or is it just trial and error to see what you can find?

Edit: I also just watched a video of someone fighting the turks in the train tunnels during the midgar raid, did I screw up BAD by not fighting them in the gelnicka thus making them not appear down there? Or was the fight removed?

Edit 2: Going through the ancient forrest just now i had to fight a ho-chu and after like 2 turns, he started using his soul move berserk/heal thing after everytime i hit him, as if it was his counter. I watched a recent video of someone who did it and he only used that move 1 time shortly before he died. Is this normal and if so is it because i am doing something wrong?

[Sega Chief]

Ah ok, well I'm still proud of murdering his ugly face, took forever and I never want to look at him again kudos on creating such a cruel SoB of a boss. When is Aerith's final limit obtainable? It doesn't say in the documentation and I wasn't able to get it when i tried before the midgar raid. Is Tifa's final limit the only one that isn't available in the current iteration? Lastly, some pieces of equipment have (flavor?) text that doesn't really say what it does, is there any place to find out what they do or is it just trial and error to see what you can find?

Edit: I also just watched a video of someone fighting the turks in the train tunnels during the midgar raid, did I screw up BAD by not fighting them in the gelnicka thus making them not appear down there? Or was the fight removed?

Edit 2: Going through the ancient forrest just now i had to fight a ho-chu and after like 2 turns, he started using his soul move berserk/heal thing after everytime i hit him, as if it was his counter. I watched a recent video of someone who did it and he only used that move 1 time shortly before he died. Is this normal and if so is it because i am doing something wrong?

Aeris' limit is available on Disc 3 I think, after visiting the bottom of the North Crater once. Tifa's is unavailable at the moment pending a rescript, and Cid's as well though that's been done.

There's size limitations on the kernel and I tried to keep everything as compact as possible; some effects are too complicated to describe briefly (like the Relic Ring or Curse Ring) so they've been made into flavour text instead or some effects were omitted from the more complex pieces. The Midgar Turks should appear, but the option to skip fighting them only gets made available if you did the Wutai sidequest (and possible Gelnika as well); there is a way to miss the event trigger but I tried to fix this. I guess it didn't work.

Ho-Chu seems to be activating it early, or maybe damage output is so high it's knocking him into his enrage AI early. To beat that, you can prevent it's activation entirely with the Berserk status I think. He should drop a Master Fist. In the update, he won't be a random encounter anymore but a fixed encounter; I'll look at his AI as well, I think it's a copy of Materia Keeper's scripts.

[Soulofsteel]

Awesome thanks for the help. Is the bottom of the crater a trigger for most lvl 4 limits? I haven't done it yet and none seem available yet so far.No matter the snags, i still love this mod, it breathed new life into my favorite game in history. Keep up the awesomness!

Edit: Are you now or will you soon be finished with the full changelog? Going through blind is scary, i dont want to miss anything important!

[BelialLion]

Hey Chief, is there anything we can junction to Elemental to gain Hidden on our Strength strikers?

[Sega Chief]

Awesome thanks for the help. Is the bottom of the crater a trigger for most lvl 4 limits? I haven't done it yet and none seem available yet so far.No matter the snags, i still love this mod, it breathed new life into my favorite game in history. Keep up the awesomness!

Edit: Are you now or will you soon be finished with the full changelog? Going through blind is scary, i dont want to miss anything important!

Yeah it was used as a catch-all for most new events but I'm going to roll back the requirement to just be Disc 3 or for some other things to be available earlier. The party-swap mechanic needs it though as I haven't scripted North Crater to handle different party leaders at the split-up junctions.

Hey Chief, is there anything we can junction to Elemental to gain Hidden on our Strength strikers?

Yeah, you can equip elemental to various non-elemental Materia to get the effect. Status Materia should do the trick but note that some don't work. Someone made a list a while back of which ones work and which don't.

[Soulofsteel]

Is there anything important/missable at the split up in the crater? i knew about the exploit in the base game and i dont know if you fixed that, i just dont want to miss a great item because i didnt know it would be there =/

[Sega Chief]

In NT, all items given are fixed and I don't think they're based on what you can actually find down there. Nothing missable is dished out either.

[Soulofsteel]

And that is why i love this mod =D Missables are my biggest nemesis in gaming, love the lack thereof in this. Thanks again. I'm not sure of the specific circumstances but are you aware that summons can be used more than once per battle? At first i thought it was only if that character died then was revived, but then I was able to regardless. Maybe its when paired with quad magic, not really sure.

Edit: Is there no magic materia that gives a lvl 4 bolt spell like the ones given by planet and contain?

[Sega Chief]

Yeah, Quad seems to kill the single-use thing but I don't think that's something I can fix or get around unless I edit Summons to be incompatible with Quadra (.exe maybe).

There's a restriction on space for spells in the kernel. I think as far as tier 4 damage spells go, having a Water and Holy element spell was a priority but it cost Poisona and I think Mini/Toad needed to be condensed into one spell to get the space I needed. Remove/Death was also condensed, having the same effect, to produce space for Osmose to handle early-game MP issues.

Tier 4 spell elements that are covered are: Fire, Ice, Earth, Wind, Holy, and Water. That leaves Bolt, Poison, Gravity, and Hidden; Hidden is covered by Shadow Flare and Pandora's Box, while Gravity is 'unique' and doesn't act the same as the other elemental spells. That leaves Bolt and Poison being left out; I'll consider what options are available and see if I can change that but whatever ends up happening would need to be at the expense of current spells.

[BelialLion]

Chief is it possible to still trigger Lucky Seven Fever? I was just thinking about it but I've yet to try it, mainly due to it just slipped my mind until just now (since I'm off to bed at the time of this post, just a random thought I had as I was settling in).