FF7 difficulty fix idea.

[birdparade]

First off, hi. I've been lurking around here for quite some time but haven't actually made an account until now. Anyway...

I know there are a few ideas on how to make ffvii a little more difficult but i'm not sure anyone has mentioned this yet. what about making the enemy levels/stats reflect the levels/stats of your characters, much like ff8 and ff tactics? i have no knowledge of programming, so i'm not sure how easy/possible it would be, but wouldn't that help balance out the game quite a bit? a multiplier could be added to enemies stats. that way you could level to your hearts content and always have a challenge.

[Abashiri]

That is an idea.

One way would be to lesson how strong your characters become, by lowering the level difference.

To explain what I mean, an example would be for level 99 health to be only ten times that of the level 5 health. Smaller stat gains is what I am suggesting, in combination of really easy enemies and bosses getting higher stats. Some enemies and bosses getting lower stats in order to prevent the game from being impossible or too tedious.

[Kudistos Megistos]

Off the top of my head I'd say that having enemies get stronger as the player levels up might require a huge amount of work, but maybe I'm wrong.

I like the idea of reducing the level difference, and it shouldn't be hard to do either; just play around with the stat curves in this part of the kernel.bin.

Another idea might be making it harder to level up by reducing the amount of experience gained from enemies or playing with the experience curve; making it steeper would make it much harder to get the really high levels.

Or one could just use one of the hardcore mods

Or maybe a combination of things.

[Abashiri]

I see. The thing to do would be :

-Increase stats for most Midgar enemies
-Lower health for some enemies, many of which come later
-Greatly lower stat growth per level
-Lower the exp inflation per each level
-Lower attack power of weapons and armor, except for starting equipment
-Increase the cost of powerful spells, particularly summons, lower power of some others
-Easy monsters appear more often than hard ones
-More and more .... creativity ....

In fact, lowering player stats may be an even better idea than raising enemy stats, though it would be very very controversial, as it would limit potential and possibilities. (eg: 5 digit health and damage good-bye).

PS : Does anybody know where a character stat sheet (per level) might be?

[Kudistos Megistos]

See Terence Fergusson's party mechanics guide for information on how level ups and stat gains work (it's all in the first section). It's quite hard going for a newbie but it's essential reading for difficulty modders. Reading the enemy mechanics guide and the battle mechanics guide will come in handy as well.

[Abashiri]

See Terence Fergusson's party mechanics guide for information on how level ups and stat gains work (it's all in the first section). It's quite hard going for a newbie but it's essential reading for difficulty modders. Reading the enemy mechanics guide and the battle mechanics guide will come in handy as well.

Thanks, that was very helpful. Anyway to type in spoilers? I have some ideas about stat changes.

[Kudistos Megistos]

I don't think there is a spoiler function here.

What stat changes did you have in mind? I've always liked the idea of exaggerating the differences between the characters, creating something like a job system.

[Abashiri]

I don't think there is a spoiler function here.

What stat changes did you have in mind? I've always liked the idea of exaggerating the differences between the characters, creating something like a job system.

Well, if I type in small font : actually, I was coming up with ideas for the enemies already, but hear it goes.

Original in Black Font, Changed in Blue

               HP          MP         Str        Vit       Mag       Spr       Dex       Lck
Name   Min/Max   Min/Max  Min/Max Min/Max Min/Max Min/Max Min/Max Min/Max
==================================================
Cloud  8960-9511 851-905  98-100  89-96   98-100    93-100   55-62   22-29
Barret 9435-9999 748-796  94-100  97-100  78- 85    82- 89    47- 54  20- 27
Tifa    8513-9037  800-850  89- 96  78- 85   82- 89    89- 96    64- 71  23- 30
Aeris  8304-8816  942-994  71- 78  76- 83 100-100    98-100   51- 58  21- 28
Red   8980-9556  814-866  84- 91  85- 92   84- 91     89- 96    71- 78  21- 28
Yuffie 8471-8993  790-841  82- 89  78- 85  85- 92    86- 93     70- 77  25- 32
Cait   8608-9135  822-869   78- 85  74- 81  89- 96    93-100    51- 58  23- 30
Vince 8211-8779  859-915   74- 81  74- 81  89- 96    93-100    51- 58  23- 30
Cid    8682-9284  776-822   85- 92  90- 97  79- 86     83- 90    54- 61  20- 27


               HP          MP         Str        Vit       Mag       Spr       Dex       Lck
Name   Min/Max   Min/Max  Min/Max Min/Max Min/Max Min/Max Min/Max Min/Max
==================================================

Cloud  1960-2511 551-605  68-75    59-66    68-75    73-80    55-62    22-29

Barret 2435-3000 448-496  64-71    67-74    48-55    62-69    47-54    20-27

Tifa    1513-2037 500-550  59-66    58-65    52-59    69-76    64-71    23-30

Aeris  1304-1816  742-794  41-48   46-53    78-85    91-98    51-58     21-28

Red   1980-2556  614-666  54-61   55-62    54-61     69-76    71-78    21-28

Yuffie 1211-1779  559-615  52-59   58-65   55-62     66-73    70-77    25-32

Cait    2608-3135  522-569  58-65   54-61   59-66     63-70    51-58    33-40

Vince  1471-1993  490-541  44-51  54-61    59-66    73-80     51-58    23-30

Cid     1682-2284  476-522  55-62  60-67   49-56      63-70    54-61    20-27

[Abashiri]

Enemy Stat changes (not messing with Dex or luck, enemy drops, or DF%) -in bold are bosses

MIDGAR:

5.1.1 No. 1 Reactor
----- -------------

Name: MP
 Lvl:  2         EXP: 16     
  HP: 30 +40  AP: 2       
  MP: 0 +5         
 ---
 Att: 6 +6     Def: 4         
 MAt: 0        MDf: 0 +4     

-------------

Name: Guard Hound
 Lvl:  3         EXP: 20           
  HP: 42 +40  AP: 2           
  MP: 0   +8 
---
 Att: 8 +6      Def: 4         
 MAt: 2         MDf: 2                       

-------------

Name: Mono Drive
 Lvl:  2         EXP: 18           
  HP: 28 +2    AP: 3           
  MP: 28 +2           
 ---
Weak:  Wind
Void:   Earth
 ---
 Att: 3 +3          Def: 6           
 MAt: 3 +9         MDf: 4 +4                       

-------------

Name: Grunt
 Lvl:  7         EXP: 22           
  HP: 40 +40      AP: 2           
  MP: 0 +2                   
 ---
 Att: 12 +6        Def: 10         
 MAt: 2             MDf: 2 +4

-------------

Name: 1st Ray
 Lvl:  4         EXP: 12           
  HP: 18 +2       AP: 1           
  MP: 0           
 ---
 Att: 10 +10         Def: 2 +4       
 MAt: 0          MDf: 0 +2                       

-------------

Name: Sweeper
 Lvl:  8         EXP: 27           
  HP: 140 +40     AP: 3           
  MP: 0             
 ---
 Att: 18 +6         Def: 20         
 MAt: 0  +1         MDf: 4 +4

-------------

Name: Guard Scorpion
 Lvl: 12         EXP: 100           Win: 100% Assault Gun
  HP: 800 +200  AP: 10         
  MP: 0        Gil: 100         
 ---
Weak:   Lightning
Void:   Poison, Gravity
 ---
 Att: 30 +15         Def: 40         
 MAt: 15 +15        MDf: 300           
                        


That's it for now, I'll add more later.

[Kudistos Megistos]

I think that most of the random battle enemies (especially the ones early in the game) don't need much more than higher HP, strength/magic and defence, so maybe you have the right idea here. They just need to put up a fight rather than be a serious risk to the party.

A few of the bosses could do with higher speed and some AI modding.

[nfitc1]

I like the idea of lowering the max stats. I liked what happened in FFIX that almost no stat could ever get above 100, but they're using different damage calculations. If you limit the stats you would probably want to consider making most of the attacks weaker to compensate for this.