Author Topic: [FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b) (Read 437381 times)

Callisto · « **Reply #75 on:** 2018-10-19 05:54:53 »

So there is indeed a variable that controls a player's willingness to use rare cards. The holders of Doomtrain, Laguna, Quezacotl, Zell (vanilla) and Quistis (classroom players) cards have the lowest values, so these and the new Kiros card holder will be upped for v1.0.8 coming soon.

Callisto · « **Reply #76 on:** 2018-10-20 22:43:58 »

v1.0.8 released

Changes:

Several bosses have their AI changed or use new attacks:

- Ifrit
- Gerogero
- Oilboyles
- Norg
- Edea (2nd)
- Propagator (red)
- Propagator (purple)
- Krysta
- Ultima Weapon
- Final bosses

Two new smaller sidequests are now available:

- Receive a random item after each stay at Galbadia Hotel in Deling City with equal probabilities
- Get one or two items from Selphie during the SeeD party, depending on when you joined the Garden Festival Committee

A mini-boss has been added to the Winhill flashback to spice that part up a bit
A new and unique Shop is now available in Deling City
Some problematic card players use rare cards more often (Doomtrain, Laguna etc)
Seifer and Edea now have some spells by default as well
The Angel Wing damage multiplier has been reduced from 5 to 3
The impact of the Speed stat on the ATB bar has been slightly reduced
Weapon Hit rates have been increased
Price lists have been overhauled, many items sell better now
Gerogero's appearance and Gargantua chamber have been decensored
The reward for getting back to the Ragnarok on disc 4 has been improved
General Caraway no longer "magically" loses the Ifrit card the moment he gets it

Lunareste · « **Reply #77 on:** 2018-10-22 03:59:13 »

Just updated to latest version and I am having the game stop functioning when I encounter Marlboro after Bad Breath is cast.

I never encountered one before the update so I don't know if it's related.

Callisto · « **Reply #78 on:** 2018-10-22 07:59:18 »

Hm, I have just fought a Malboro at the Island Closest to Heaven and couldn't reproduce the issue. Where did you fight one? It could be encounter-related.

goodmorninpluto · « **Reply #79 on:** 2018-10-24 13:09:56 »

Finally had some time to continue with your mod, finished disk 1 and Laguna sequence.
Battle with Esthar cyborgs was indeed tense, it came down to last character alive and deciding whether to do Limit Break or heal. Luckily, Limit Break did enough damage.
Your Deling city modifications came just in time for me to see them. I loved them! Spent like 20,000 gil right there at the hotel. Besides many useful items there, on one occasion I also received Magical Lamp.
The shop with different uprade components is a nice addition. May I suggest adding another one like this in late game for later weapons?
Also while traveling around the city I found old woman (near the sewer gates) talking about rare cards in this world. It striked me as odd when she talks about such topics but has absolutely lame deck and somehow wins all the good cards from the old man nearby, as he tells you. May I suggest adding some sidequest to this scene? I just find it so lovely.
Battle with Brothers was awesome. Got 4 game overs on them figuring out the strategy. Double + Haste, Protect and Shell seems like a must from now on.
Seifer was Seifer. Not much can be done with 1v1 battle under turn-based system. Return Damage is good here.
Edea fight ended pretty much instantly. After Carbuncle she Dispelled everyone, casted Thudaga on Squall and ended the fight while I was still setting up everyone's defenses. Apparently this is how it works in vanilla and you can't actually lose it?
The added battle at Winhill caught me off guard and got me another game over. It's nice that you can save right before it and adjust your strategy.

Can you say in the spoiler or PM what items Selphie gives to you for joining her committee? As these changes came when I was further in the game, I hope I didn't miss something important

Callisto · « **Reply #80 on:** 2018-10-24 18:05:19 »

The Magical Lamp was added to the item pool to ensure Diablos is available in the early-game, even if the player missed talking to Cid earlier (normally, the only other option of getting more is through Chocobo World). There is currently no other use for additional Magical Lamps, besides selling it for 500 Gil each, but I'm thinking of more usages, like making it refine into something at least.

The new shop in Deling City primarly serves as an alternate and quick way of getting level 2 elemental spells and Cura, for those who haven't found these through other means yet (the end of disc 1 is the absolute latest the player should get them). Later in the game, more items will be available for this shop using Tonberry's Familiar Ability. I would love to add even more unique shops to the game, but it's probably not that easy, as there is only one dummied out shop in the game data that can be made into basically anything without touching the already existing shops.

As for the first Edea battle, yeah, it's pretty much the same as in vanilla. I didn't want to change it into a must-win battle, as the party ends up being in trouble afterwards anyway. Still, there might be updates to at least Edea's attack pattern and AI in a future update, like having her use weaker spells at the beginning, and switching to stronger ones as the battle progresses.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your impressions. I'll keep your Deling City sidequest idea in mind. Thought about that couple earlier too, and making something Triple Triad-related out of it could be really interesting.

Spoiler: show

Zara9 · « **Reply #81 on:** 2018-10-25 06:50:20 »

hey

is there any chance you could make this mod much more harder like the other ff8 modder did in the past please

iDerek759 · « **Reply #82 on:** 2018-10-25 08:11:52 »

Quote from: Zara9 on 2018-10-25 06:50:20

hey

is there any chance you could make this mod much more harder like the other ff8 modder did in the past please

No offense Zara9, but that’s not really the intention of this mod. It’s a rebalance, not an entirely new difficulty mod.

Zara9 · « **Reply #83 on:** 2018-10-25 10:16:40 »

where can i get a harder challenge ff8 mod then

on the other ff8 modder mod, enemies and bosses had new spells and stuff that made it much more challenging for me and for everyone else

i had a challenge back then, i still like this mod alot but this mod needs enemies to have new spells and be alot more powerfull as well

Callisto · « **Reply #84 on:** 2018-10-25 12:12:46 »

Enemies do new attacks in this mod, or already existing ones have been altered, and a bunch of new attacks have been added as part of the latest update. To be honest, I am reluctant with giving enemies new attacks, as in many cases, the animations and camera angles end up being broken or look totally off when enemies use any attacks they normally don't, and this is something I want to avoid. Making it actually look decent needs a lot of testing, that's why new enemy attacks are only being added slowly.

You could try a low level challenge for this mod or set battle speed to max for added difficulty, or just go with Requiem if you haven't already. I don't really want to make the mod much more challenging than it already is, as this would be hardcore territory, which is not what the mod aims for, as Derek said. The focus is more on rebalancing the game than anything else.

Zara9 · « **Reply #85 on:** 2018-10-25 12:40:00 »

on KLITLIKA'S EPIC MOD i had a challenge back then, enemies and bosses attacked alot more faster, they had new spells and stuff and it made me think alot about what i should do about beating them

i just need a much more harder ff8 pc steam mod to play please

Mcindus · « **Reply #86 on:** 2018-10-25 21:25:04 »

Quote from: Zara9 on 2018-10-25 12:40:00

on KLITLIKA'S EPIC MOD i had a challenge back then, enemies and bosses attacked alot more faster, they had new spells and stuff and it made me think alot about what i should do about beating them

i just need a much more harder ff8 pc steam mod to play please

like callisto said, use colly's hardcore mod or use the requiem pc version mod. those are ridiculously hard.

Zara9 · « **Reply #87 on:** 2018-10-26 06:58:00 »

hey

i do not think colly hardcore ff8 mod would work for me at all, because that mod has not been updated and tested since 2010

goodmorninpluto · « **Reply #88 on:** 2018-10-26 07:40:28 »

Regarding Rinoa's card.

Spoiler: show

Zara9 · « **Reply #89 on:** 2018-10-26 08:00:20 »

I just need some ff8 pc steam challenge please, like monsters and bosses to have new spells and stuff, and take off more damage off the party members

Callisto · « **Reply #90 on:** 2018-10-26 08:36:14 »

goodmorninpluto, thanks for the report. It's fixed now.

Hotfix here (update your field files).

Zara, you've got advice in this thread as well as per PM already. There is no new difficulty mod at the moment, and I doubt there will be one anytime soon. Accept it.

Zara9 · « **Reply #91 on:** 2018-10-26 09:19:37 »

Hey

keep up the great work on your mod

i might play it 1 of these days

goodmorninpluto · « **Reply #92 on:** 2018-11-01 05:22:04 »

Finished Fisherman Horizon section, now onto sidequest stuff!
I enjoyed the difficulty on disk 2, the battles are challenging and engaging, not feeling too easy or too unfair. Zell with 100 str finally caught up to magic users and started doing same damage as lvl 2 spells. Though via card and item modding I do have an access to some lvl3 spells and with Double-casting magic still remains the king.
I have a question about Defend command. I remember it being very useful in Requiem mod, especially in the upcoming Raijin/Fujin fight. Hovewer I don't see it in Brothers ability list. Was it removed entirely or locked under higher level requirement?

Callisto · « **Reply #93 on:** 2018-11-01 06:49:04 »

Defend has been moved from Brothers to Alexander to delay the availability of the Cover/Defend Combo which is indeed very useful (I also think the Defend Ability fits the nature of the Alexander GF better than that of the Brothers). It is never really as obligatory as it is in the Requiem mod though, so I wouldn't worry too much. Fujin and Raijin are still vulnerable to a few status effects (albeit highly resistant), so try some of those if you are having trouble beating them.

As for the weapon/magic damage balance, I think it would be really great to have something like Double Cut from FFVII for the late game, to balance things out a bit more. This would be probably hard to implement though, so for now, the Darkside Ability, Berserk and abusing elemental weaknesses with Elem-Atk have to do when it comes to increased physical damage.

Nikkolas · « **Reply #94 on:** 2018-11-11 01:21:05 »

I like a challenge but Requiem was just unfair at points. Lr's mods have a tendency to be that way. For example, I doubt Seifer 1 in this mod will oneshot me by immediately casting Flare at the start of the battle.

I just started the mod, about to head to Timber, but I like it. Character differentiation is the most important thing in a VII or VIII mod. I can't play the games anymore with everyone being the same, it's just too dull. Physical attacks are also viable instead of Triple-casting magic being the only solution like in Requiem.

Reporting your reports, you've also taken great pains to actually help the players which I respect greatly. Some modders forget that these games are supposed to be fun. For example, I do not foresee me being hopelessly screwed when I face Fujin and Raijin in Balamb like I was in Requiem. I ended up having to grind up to Level 100 to beat them because I had missed Auto-Haste. I forget how you get it, off one of the character cards I think that only appears as part of the Queen sidequest which I had not started.

Card Mod being rebalanced - and even unnecessary as of yet - is also appreciated. Of course I still have used it and it helped a lot with Diablos. Also helped was you giving me Double. Dunno how I'd beat the spider or Diablos without Double Cure for the former and then Double Aero for the latter. But of course that's all optional. Glad to have the HypnoCrown though.

I think this will be one I see through to the end. I'm very curious to see what is to come as I've liked what I've seen up to now.

More mods need to give you stuff at the start of the game, BTW. FFVII HardType gave you some choice material at the start too, like I think Counter Attack and another one or two. It's been a while. My point is, we're all repeat players here and a mod should recognize that and help break up the early game tedium when you are Level 1 scrub with a Rusty Sword and Old Armor by giving you some nifty abilities.

Nikkolas · « **Reply #95 on:** 2018-11-12 10:55:00 »

Just finished Disk 1.

Edea certainly wasn't quite the headache she was in Requiem. She thankfully only uses single targeting spells instead of, ya know, Ultima. I won my first attempt but I didn't get the steal so I reset and did it over. She never once used Dispel on me like the earlier poster said.

You are very generous with things I must say. I had a great supply of Doubles already but giving the Iguions all those Dragon Fins is still appreciated.

Overall I have died a couple times but nothing too major. Last super hard fight was Diablos. The Brothers were a challenge though, thankful I only got Minotaur's steal on my first attempt. I killed Sacred too fast but he still only had the stuff to make Curas so I'm not bothered by missing his steal. That Power Wrist helped Squall a lot. Really appreciate the fact physical attacks are still viable. Squall's physical attacks and Double Bio'ing Rinoa were what took Edea down while Irvine healed. Don't have many Bios right now but I figured I'd use them for a timed boss fight and all.

Overall I think this is a pretty cool mod so far. I'll try to recommend it to people elsewhere.

Callisto · « **Reply #96 on:** 2018-11-13 00:47:57 »

Hey, Nikkolas. Glad you've been enjoying the mod so far. Some of the rewards and steals/drops are indeed quite generous, but there shouldn't be anything major that breaks the mod's difficulty comparable to vanilla levels. I've always been disappointed with most of the stuff you get in the original version - Potions, Softs or other generic items from the Dog Sidequest in Dollet, or the treasure in the Chocobo Forests were just awful. So for the mod, rewards that feel more satisfying were added.

Of course, when modding a game, you have to be careful not to make sidequest rewards too good either, or even necessary to make progress in the game. For this mod, the minimum is looking for new spells every now and then, and caring for a reasonable GF distribution for the most part. If you feel like being forced into doing anything beyond that to proceed in the game, please let me know and I'll try sorting it out, as this is not how it should be.

Currently planning an update and busy with adding some more sidequests that mainly center around getting Level 6 and 7 Boss Cards before they become available through regular Triple Triad players (which is quite a bit later than in vanilla, as said before). Some smaller changes to Triple Triad cards will likely be made too, as well as a Seed Salary rebalance to make money matter a little more than usual. Hoping to get v1.0.9 done soon.

Zara9 · « **Reply #97 on:** 2018-11-13 03:55:18 »

hey

where can i find a good ff8 hardcore mod at for the pc steam version

Zara9 · « **Reply #98 on:** 2018-11-13 20:48:34 »

hey

i suggestion to add, is there anyway to make this mod alot more harder with bosses having new spells and making them attack alot more faster and stuff

goodmorninpluto · « **Reply #99 on:** 2018-11-15 04:41:19 »

I think you already provided a nice incentive to spend money with Odyne shop. It is the most reliable way to quickly get lvl2 spells late disk-1 and lvl3 spells late disk-2 (with Tonberry's Familiar). Monsters in my lvl range still provides only lvl2 spells, scouting draw points around the world takes time and with reduced amount of items you get via Card Mod you can't easily stock up everyone with 100 of every spell. So this shop helps a lot and is the reason I run with 0 gil most of the time

Btw, is the Double draw point in Library ever going to refill?