FFVI Project: Meltdown

Hey. Reading your post, I get the same feeling I got from discussing with BTB and Synchysi during development of BNW. I like your ideas, and we think alike in many respects. We should definitely exchange ideas. Ideas and code! I'd like to see how you've implemented some of the stuff you mention.

For damage formula, I would consider having a look at later FF games. FFVII has a pretty decent formula.

-Agility figures into evasion and accuracy.

Good idea IMHO. What is the formula you're using?
I've given this some serious thought too. I've looked at WoW for inspiration, and I think I've come up with a good formula for it. It also includes Accuracy and Evasion figuring into Crit rate.

-Blind affects magic accuracy.

Funny, I just yesterday coded a patch for this on a whim!

-Vitality figures into damage reduction as well as additional HP and MP growth.

Something I've considered as well and I'm curious as to how you've designed it. Does Stamina add to Defense?
My idea was to have Stamina factor into the Defense gained from equipment, but it's not something I've given a lot of thought. Something I HAVE thought about extensively though, is that it should NOT affect HP *growth*. Instead, it should be state-based. One point of Stamina should be worth a certain amount of HP depending on Level. I've yet to figure out how to implement this though...

-Steal currently functions like FFX. Regular item steal rate begins at 100% at is halved with each successful steal. Rare items are still unchanged in function, except that the Sneak Ring doubles the chance of landing one. Successfuly stealing a rare item blanks out both items.

The Sneak Ring increasing rare steal chance is a nice idea and one I've considered as well. One thing about the Sneak Ring that needs fixing is; it doesn't actually double the stealer's level for purposes of stealing - instead, it doubles the difference between user and target's level. So it doesn't actually help you if the target's level is too high.

-32'000HP damage cap, and I'd like to utilize the potential. I'm presently aiming for a 15-20K ceiling, possibly, in terms of normal damage values.

It's nice to have increased granularity to work with, but not strictly necessary. You could just scale damage down. But bigger numbers looks cool, and looks are important!
In fact, the coolest use of this would be to scale damage along a steep exponential curve, so that damage and HP start out fairly low, and towards endgame gets really high. Gives a nice sense of progress to the player. Hitting damage cap too early kills the satisfaction later in the game.

-Actual strength and vitality stats now exist for enemies, as do elemental resistence stats. (Previously, they only were provided with weakness, immunity, and absorb stats)

With a modded damage formula, this is pretty cool and maybe necessary. I've wanted elemental resistance for enemies for so long! It's not strictly necessary but it's still a good idea. Anything that gives more tools to the modder is good.

-Back row has a multiplier of 1.5x damage from magic. This could change, but I haven't gotten enough of the game done to really see its effect on balance.

I think the biggest problem with Row isn't so much that you're too protected, but that there is no real reason to be in the Front Row. The problem is there are so many attacks that ignore Row and Row only affects Fight. My opinion is that you shouldn't punish the player for hiding in the back Row, but encourage and reward risking the higher damage of being in the front Row. Not that it matters very much in vanilla, since physical damage from enemies is generally low.

-Yes, the gem box is nerfed. No, I don't know if it'll remain nerfed, at least as-is. I may reduce the nerf from half-damage to 3/4 damage.

There's precedent for 3/4 with Genji Glove, and with Offering, each doing 1.5x damage via two or four strikes. Another way might be to increase the MP cost of spells while wearing the Gem Box.

-ATB pauses during all animations. This is a dramatic change, as I'm sure certain people understand.

This sounds similar to the n-ATB version of BNW and I think it's a good idea, to increase the usefulness of Speed. It requires massive rebalancing however, though BTB and the crowd of BNW players will definitely help with that.
I actually LOVE the CTB battle system of FFX and if I could play FFVI like that, I'd be one happy camper. n-ATB is one step closer to CTB so I'm all for it.

-Save points recover HP and MP.

I think this is just a matter of preference and flavour. Vanilla already provides many cheap or free alternatives to using tents (mostly in the WoB) via events like beds and healing springs. More modern FF games do this and it's mostly a matter of convenience. As you say, the economy can be balanced without Tents. It's a good idea if you want your mod to feel more modern.

-I've dabbled in making curative items fractional, but have abandoned it. I may return to the idea. Presently, I intend to simply add a multiplier.

Multiplier is the way to go, absolutely.

-Natural magic lists exist for all characters, but presently only four are utilized. I've been considering at least partially utilizing more, but I would be unsure as to how to allocate that.

Perhaps for a class-based mod?

-I really do not want to give up esper bonuses, as that is one of the things that defines the game's system in my eyes.

Agreed. They do need to be worked over though. The biggest flaw of level up bonuses is that they encourage avoiding leveling up until you get espers with the correct bonuses, and there's also the tedious micromanagement involved with switching espers around, interrupting spell learning.

I'm probably forgetting some other changes, but this should give an idea of the scope I'm aiming for as far as balance. I presently do not have anything of substance to provide as a patch, unfortunately. Many enemies still use vanilla stats (I did balance up to Ultros on an older build, but I've changed much since and can't utilize that.)

Please share your code for your modifications!