FF6 - Join Up!

Hey people. Long-time lurker, first time poster here.

Edit: Formatting! Yay! I think I have all the changes listed. Or not, time will tell. Also new terrible name FTW. Decided on a final name!

Originally I set out to simply change "Flare Star" into a non-rage spell. It quickly exploded into a fairly intensive personal project to build the most fun iteration of FF6 imaginable. (This is quite obviously attuned to my personal tastes)

I gathered what I felt were the best patches and combined them into one massive collection (not the easiest task due to my limited Hex skills). I tossed in some personal item/spell/character modifications and it changed the game into something entirely different.

I started with a base of FF6: Stand Guard, an AMAZING re-translation of FF3, fixed and tweaked tons of dialogue.
I combined my favorite aspects of Odal's HardCube and expanded upon his ideas.
I then did a sweeping item revamp changing pretty much.... everything.
Recovery items are more expensive, and you'll need to use items regularly. Due to the limited number of bytes I did have to condense the item descriptions where necessary, but I feel they are thorough and accurate. Also the game is hard. Much, much harder than original.

I'm using the Stand Guard/GBA item names.

Technical Details:

Item and Equipment shortened terms:

Randomly Thrown - Same function to the Hawk Eye weapon. Seldomly thrown at ground enemies, often thrown at flying enemies. Bonus damage win.
Dispatch+ - Think Assassin, has a chance to instantly dispatch the enemy with the Red X.
Casts: "Spell Name Here" - Randomly casts the listed spell at the targeted enemy *provided it survived the weapon's initial hit*. Took me a while to figure out that one.
2x Damage to humans - 'Nuff said.
Evasion+ - All encompassing description stating a higher chance to dodge any given attack.
X-Elemental - Weapon attacks with the stated element.
Prismatic - Weapon attacks with -ALL- elements. If the enemy is weak to one, it hits bloody hard. Fantastic bonus.
Consumes MP - Uses 8 MP per swing to guarantee a critical hit.
2-handed - Built in Gauntlet functionality. No need for the relic.
Dual Wield - Built in Genji Glove functionality, used for Claws and Kunai.
Att/Mag Dam+ - Increases Magic/Battle damage when equipped. Think Hero Ring.
Critical+ - Casts Safe/Shell when near death
Sketch+ - All brushes have a built-in bonus to Sketching.
Slices and Dices - Slices enemy to pieces, lovely!
Back Row+ - Does same damage in the back row.

Characters:

Like armor, the characters are sorted into a bit of a hierarchy: Light/Heavy and Caster/Fighter. They are as follows:

Terra - Heavy Caster - Skills unchanged
Locke - Heavy Fighter - Uses Daggers and Axes exclusively. Equip daggers for better stealing, axes for raw damage. (Uses a new sprite)
Edgar - Heavy Fighter - Tools rebalanced, Crossbow is your go-to for almost everything.
Shadow - Light Fighter - Higher base evade due to no natural shield use, can only throw Shurikens and Scrolls. Also Javelin.
Sabin - Light Fighter - Blitz skills are more elemental styled. Pummel is Ice, Suplex is Earth Elemental, Mantra heals the entire party and applies Protec/Shell, Spiraler was replaced with a Self heal/berserk skill.
Cyan - Heavy Fighter - Base Evade higher due to no natural shields. Iaido skills re-balanced, tech gauge rises -extremely fast- now. Cyan rocks. (New Sprite)
Mog - Light Caster - Dances re-balanced. Dances that used to do 50% hp damage now do flat damage plus any other bonuses.
Relm - Light Caster - Sketch everything.
Strago - Light Caster - Lore changes documented below.
Celes - Heavy Caster - Decent fighter, amazing fighter with Rune Edge.... until she runs out of MP. Seals(Runic) lasts until it absorbs a spell and not until Celes' next action. Awesome. (Uses a new Rosa styled sprite, 1.1)
Setzer - Heavy Fighter - Removed Slot due to suckiness. GP Rain is a terrible idea due to the scarcity of money. Can now equip spears (2x jump damage) and is the only character with access to Jump. Equip him with his missing coin for multiple pounces and other great bonuses. Use his Gambler gear for special effects and damage, spears for Jumping awesomeness.
Gau - Light Fighter - Same old Gau. Rages are (or will be) normalized with Relm's Sketch ability. Different skills, similar results.
Gogo - Light Caster - -Does- have access to Slot, can equip Heiji's Jitte to access GP Rain if you so desire. Has unique equipment that give massive bonuses.
Umaro - Yeti - Throws your players into enemies. Awesome.

Recovery Items:

All weapons & Armor have had their Hit Rate and Battle power values adjusted. Long story short - less damage, more misses. Doing 9999 damage per hit is long gone. (And IMO for the better)

Only the Javelin and Shuriken items are throwable. Also Scrolls.

Potions restore 30% HP, are more expensive
High Potions restore 60% HP, are more expensive
Ether restores 30% MP
Super Ether restores 60% MP and is now buyable in WoR's Thamasa, really expensive
Super Ball is way cheaper, still useless.
Smoke Bomb is now more expensive, when used applies "Image" to party. You'll use LOTS of these.

Daggers:

Equippable by: Terra, Locke, Strago, Relm, Mog, Gogo.

Low chance to be thrown at enemies (like Hawk Eye) unless otherwise noted.
All daggers give a slight speed boost
Shadow can't use 'standard' daggers anymore. It's okay though, he gets better!
All daggers are usable by the listed actors. Mog the mugger!

Swords:

Equippable by: Terra, Edgar, Celes.

Several are now 2-handed
Celes/Terra share the amazing Rune Edge/Rune Saber.
Drainer is now Blood Sword, 2x Human damage, Casts "Absorb"
Soul Sabre is now Soul Eater, Dispatch+ and it casts "Aspir" (The twin draining swords are a little more battle ready but still have draining abilities)
Organyx is now the Rune Saber. Not going to ruin this one, but this weapon is bitchin'. Also doesn't break.
Excalibur is now Cosmos - Prismatic, casts "Meteo" (More on that later) One of the "Ultimate Weapons"
Zantetsuken is now 2-handed, but otherwise unchanged. Why mess with a good thing?
Lightbringer - Considered to be the great 'caster' sword. Boosts Magic power, applies Shell and Regen. +25% MP
Ragnarok - Considered to be the great 'fighter' sword. Boosts Vigor, applies Safe and Haste, +25% HP

Spears:

Equippable by: Edgar, Mog, Setzer.

Now equipable by Setzer, works great with his Jump skill. (Slot sucks ass)
Aura Lance is now Burst Spear - Randomly thrown, fire elemental, casts "Burst" (More on that later)
Imp Halberd is now the Mimic Spear - Gogo's favorite weapon. Lots of goodies on that thing!

Kunai:

Equippable by: Shadow.

Boost Vigor and speed slightly
Still Classified as "Dagger" but we all know better.
Shadow exclusive weapon (unsure about being "Heavy" or not)
ALL Kunai have built-in dual weild
Ichigeki (Striker) no longer kills, but now Mugs.

Katana:

Equippable by: Cyan, Shadow.

Boost Vigor LOTS
Now equippable by Shadow giving him a Dual Wield or 2-Handed option.
ALL Katana are 2-handed
Uses the 'Sword' sound effect instead of the original (which sounded like ass)
Muramasa now has 2x Human damage
Masamune now casts "Rasper"
Sky Render now has the Low HP = More damage attribute ("Ultimate Weapon")

Rods:

Equippable by: Strago, Relm, Gogo.

No longer usable as items
Heal Rod - Way stronger, casts "Curega" (REAAAAAAALY handy)
Poison Rod casts Bio
Gravity Rod still casts "Demi" but it's Earth Elemental now
Magus Rod is now Frozen Touch - Ice Elemental, casts "Frost" (Also an "Ultimate Weapon")

Brushes:

Equippable by: Relm, Gogo.

-REQUIRED- to use Sketch, no exceptions!
All brushes give a natural +Sketch bonus. Missing that sucks.
Rainbow Brush is now Prismatic, it's pretty sweet.

Shuriken:

Equippable only by Gogo for no reason whatsoever.

Yagyu are now bigger and 200000% more awesome. (But otherwise unchanged)

Specials:

Completely changed! "Specials are now....."

AXES!

Equippable by: Locke

Axes are heavy and slow the user significantly, but have a much higher attack value when compared to an equivalent sword weapon. They are also slightly less accurate than other weapons. (Subject to change)

2 Standard axes for early game
Kept the Morning Star because maces are cool
Added Ancient Axe, casts sleep
Added Stone Axe - Earth Elemental, slows enemies
Added Runed Axe - Consumes MP
Added Giant's Axe - 2-handed
Added Prismatic Axe - Prismatic.

Major thanks to Poco-Loco for his sprite IPS!

Gambler:

Equippable by: Setzer

Trump now Pilfer Darts - randomly Mugs enemy.
Doom Darts are now Razor Deck - Slices and Dices, casts "Blade"

Claws:

Equippable by: Sabin

All claws are dual wield.
Tiger Fangs can slice enemies, one of the "Ultimate weapons"

Armor and Equipment:

Pretty sweeping changes here, each item falls into a few defining categories:

Light Armor - Lower defense values with higher stat bonuses
Heavy Armor - Heavy armor decreases speed, higher defense values
Caster Style - Armor suited for casters, usually high magic defense
Fighter Style - Armor made for physical fighters. Typically increase speed and vigor.

Confusing, yes? It's not. Armor has a Type and Style, it matches the character's Type and Style. Don't ask, dumb terminology. It just works.

These so-called Ultimate Weapons

These are simple. They simply follow a trading sequence through the Coliseum. Bet item, gain new item, continue in a circle.

Coliseum

Lots of great toys to be acquired here. You can outfit your party with the best gear through a series of 'trades' that you are likely to lose if not high enough level. Also it's really expensive.

Relics:

Many of the more 'useless' relics have had their properties changed.
Some (but not all) relics include

Berserk Ring - Applies Berserk, increases physical damage.
Blink Ring - Applies image
The Guardian - Suped up Knight's Code
Ancient Ring - Cuts all magical damage. UBER handy.
Fairy Walnut - +25% MP
Cat Bell - 2x Money. Applied Regen. Also handy

Spells:

Cure spells cost the same, heal for less.
Quartr is now "Blade" - a really nice scaling non-elemental, piercing damage spell. Costs more to cast than equivalent rank spells. Also applies "Seizure"
X-Zone is now "Devour" - a powerful (yet dangerous) spell that drains the HP/MP from every enemy. It can easily restore full HP to your character. Conversely, if you hit a single undead with it, it'll suck you dry.
Meteor is now "Meteo" - Meteor sucked, Meteo rocked. It's a fact. I fixed that. Single/Multi target piercing attack. Hits like a truck. Stronger than Ultima for single target.
Ultima - Still blue, still awesome.
W Wind became "Frost" - a multi-target ice elemental stop/freeze attack. Handy as hell, but perhaps a little OP. Not sure yet.
Merton became "Burst" - The reason this patch exists. Castable Solar Flare for the win. Fire elemental.

Lores:

All Suicidal lores have been changed to more useful spells.
Lv # spells have been changed to guaranteed hit, half power, multi-target versions of their base spells.
Exploder is now "Blade Spin" basically exploder without the suicide.
Pep Up is now "Air Strike" kinda like Mantra Magic from FF7, shoots missiles, slows enemies. Not very strong.
Lv5 doom is now "Conduit" a powerful Lightning/Water spell.

Eidolons

All Eidolons have had their stat bonuses removed, some spells are learned slightly faster.
This puts more focus on gear-acquired stats and less on level grinding.
Summoning Eidolons now costs -MUCH- more MP than previously. They are also incredibly powerful attacks. Bahamut is worth the 200MP cost, I assure you!
Phoenix is now the most expensive spell available - 250 MP. It applies Reraise to the entire party. (Life 3)

Levelling

The overall Exp curve is about 80% less than the original game.
On top of that, monsters give significantly more Exp due to their increased difficulty.
This results in a smoother level curve and more focus on overall level+gear instead of grinding 128 Speed/Vigor.

Monsters

All monsters are tougher, have more HP and are EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE.
This patch is not easy. You will die.
Bosses cannot be made invisible, therefore no Vanish/Death
Bosses hit extremely hard. Smoke bombs are your friend.
Bosses spells hit extremely hard, Protec & Shell are your friends.
Draining monster/bosses mana remains a valid tactic.... if you last that long.
Intangir gives 100 Magic Points. Just reduces magic grinding in WoB.
Tyranosaur/Brachio give gobs of Magic Points too, just need to survive the battles.
The 8 Legendary dragons are INSANELY HARD. Do not attempt until you are high level.

Patches used:

Separation of Powers - Imzogelmo
ReCapture the glory - Assassin
Multi steal fix - Imzogelmo
Gauntlet/Genji fix - Assassin
Psycho cyan - RPG Legion
Rippler 1.1 - RPG Legion
Auto Swordless runic - Assassin
Brushless sketch - Assassin
Sticky Shadow - Djibriel
Summon Aim patch
Elemental Display - Lenophis
Runic Forever - HatZen08
Sword Tech Gauge - (Currently unknown)
Colored MP Digits - (Currently unknown)
Fair Hit - HatZen08
Psycho cyan - RPG Legion
Step Mine MP fix - Assassin
Muddle-Palidor fix - Assassin
Jump Megafix - Assassin
Running Popsicle - Assassin

Patches built into Stand Guard:

Evade Bugfix
Rippler Bugfix
De-censoring
Original Titlescreen
Coliseum Drop Bugfix
SrBehemoth Drop bugfix
Yellow Streak fix
B button Dash (Total win)
Homesick Gau patch
Cafe to Bar patch
Font Redesign

Major thanks to everyone releasing their hard work in order to make this game more amazing than the original.

(Also I'm looking for an IPS that changes the overworld music in WoR to "Dark World" after you get the falcon.)

TO DO LIST:

Find that "Dark World" music IPS. I once saw a simple mod that keeps the Dark World music for when you're on the ground after you get the Falcon. Didn't download it, lost the site. Kicking myself for that one.

Normalize/Unify the Sketch/Rage commands. I'm about 60/375 done, that stuff is soooo monotonous.

There's a -minor- pallette bug with the Flametongue/Icebrand/Thunderblade weapons that I haven't bothered fixing yet. It's coming, just not today.

Still need to adjust the hit rates on a few spells and tools. (1.1)

Probably a good 50+ or so dialogue bugs to iron out. (1.1, probably more)

Changelog:

1.0 - Initial Release
1.1 - A ton of dialogue fixes. Eidolon power re-balance. Phoenix now casts Reraise on party. Buffed most Axes. Re-balanced Edgar's tools. Tweaked Cyan's Iaido skills. Changed Celes' sprite to a modified Rosa. Same pallette.

Link to IPS 1.0: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqd2s59ovm8jal...%201.0.ips
Link to IPS 1.1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xt0dgqz32pe4y6...%201.1.ips

Requires Headered 1.0 Rom

Welcome, and good luck with your project. =)

"Also what's the forum's policy regarding posting to the rom image itself?"

Posting a link to a patch of the hacked ROM is fine, in the 'hacks' section. I'm pretty sure we don't allow direct links to the actual ROM itself, just to be safe.

seems promising

good luck

Well that seems like a nice project, as long as your game will be well balanced.

Now incorporate some events in this... ;)

Welcome, and good luck with your project. =)

"Also what's the forum's policy regarding posting to the rom image itself?"

Posting a link to a patch of the hacked ROM is fine, in the 'hacks' section. I'm pretty sure we don't allow direct links to the actual ROM itself, just to be safe.

Thanks for the info. I'll build an IPS once I feel it's ready for release. (Likely this weekend, I've spent the last 3 months straight on it.)

Well that seems like a nice project, as long as your game will be well balanced.

Now incorporate some events in this...

What I haven't mentioned is the absolute brutal challenge curve. It's not easy, I promise you that. As for events, I have near zero experience with ASM hacking so I'm afraid it's the exact same game for now.

No need for any ASM hacking with events, just a a knowledge of hex editing and a copy of the event dump. There's some good event hacking tutorial-like documents on this site to help. It's real fun and not that hard to learn really. Just throwing it out there. =)

No need for any ASM hacking with events, just a a knowledge of hex editing and a copy of the event dump. There's some good event hacking tutorial-like documents on this site to help. It's real fun and not that hard to learn really. Just throwing it out there. =)

When I get some more spare time, I will look into that! Always fun to learn new things.

Looks really cool from the changelist!

Going to give it a go this week. Ill post impressions when I can. Glad to see there are still plenty of available mods for me to play around with!

As far as the issues with SLOT. Might I recommend Hatzen08's Slot patch? It is a lot more fun to use for sure and makes the ability far more viable.

Also may I recommend DarkMages MEGA Patch as a resource. He uses just about every major patch but the biggest one that caught my eye is his excellent translation patch that combines many of the best translations out there (Lina Darkstar's for one) and is really impressive.

https://sites.google.com/site/shadedmagu...mprovement

Downside is that his current translation patch does not play nicely with other patches from what I have tested so far...

Looks really cool from the changelist!

Going to give it a go this week. Ill post impressions when I can. Glad to see there are still plenty of available mods for me to play around with!

As far as the issues with SLOT. Might I recommend Hatzen08's Slot patch? It is a lot more fun to use for sure and makes the ability far more viable.

Also may I recommend DarkMages MEGA Patch as a resource. He uses just about every major patch but the biggest one that caught my eye is his excellent translation patch that combines many of the best translations out there (Lina Darkstar's for one) and is really impressive.

https://sites.google.com/site/shadedmagu...mprovement

Downside is that his current translation patch does not play nicely with other patches from what I have tested so far...

I'm one of those "the-job-is-never-done" types, so I've since done a load of tweaks to the patch. I'll upload a new version ASAP.

Also I hate the name. It's just awful. But as I typed out this sentence, I came up with a great name! Forum post rename incoming.

As for switching Slot for Jump - I tried that exact patch and it did not agree with the changes I had already applied to the rom. So I went the route of making Setzer the only character capable of Jump and changed the Heiji'sJitte (GP Rain) to enhance Jump and add other major bonuses.

I'm quite proud of this rom and I think it's got some great aspects to it. I'd also like to request you post any serious text formatting errors/glitches here so I can fix them.

Will Do!

Look forward to playing through it!

So happy this scene isn't dead (A lot of my favorite mods are currently in Limbo)