Odal's FFVI Hardtype

Hello, I'm Odal. This is my first time posting, but I've been visiting here for resources on editing FFVI for a while now. This site has been awesome.

I've been working on my Hardtype patch for about 4 months now. I wouldn't consider it a fully completed patch yet, hence why it's v0.2. I still have more thorough testing to do. The goal is to keep the game the same for the most part, but to increase the difficulty. There are very few visual changes (Fenix Down -> Pheonix Down, and Vicks -> Biggs being the most notable ones). Most are stats changes, or changes to what certain overpowered items do. One of my main goals was to make the endgame items not so strong. In vanilla there was too much 9999 damage attacks thrown around. That should only rarely happen in this hack.

Here.
Odal's FFVI Hardtype V0.2
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=80ZDOVOI

I have the game balanced pretty much the way I like it up to the WoR. Balancing the WoB was the main difference in v0.1. v0.2 was mostly work on the second half of the game, though I am still in the process of testing it thoroughly. To me, this is the part of the game that needs the most work and has taken the most time. Once I get the balance in the WoR to how I like it, it'll be an actual release.

Probably some of the most notable changes:
-No esper level up bonuses
-Slower HP and MP growths
-More aggressive enemies
-Overall more nerfs to those abusive abilities we all know and love.
-Pheonix Downs cannot be used to kill undeads (life spells still work like they used to).
-Endgame items changed to be chosen more based on their situational usefulness than simply because of their sheer power.

For a more complete list of all of the changes: I tried my best to list all of the changes. I know for sure I left some out, especially really minor ones. But this should give you a jist of what's different. Enjoy.

Odal FFVI Hardtype V0.2 Changes (Click to View)

Monsters:

- The AI of all monsters in the World of Ruin has improved. Be careful!

- Increased the health of all regular monsters in the world of ruin by about 50%.

- Increased the level of all monsters in the world of ruin by 10% (on top of the 25% increase from v0.1)

- Increased experienced gained by all monsters in the world of ruin by approximately 50%.

Battle Formations:

- Increased the encounter rate at all places in the world of ruin to "More Encounter"

- Increased the encounter rate of all formations in Kefka's tower to "Even More Encounter"

Magic:

- Ultima's power is lowered slightly and is now unique to Terra learned at level 99.
- Ragnarok now teaches Pearl, Quartr, W Wind at x2 rate.
- Paladin Shield now teaches Life 2 at x20 rate.

- Meteor is now unique to Celes learned at level 98.
- Odin now teaches Doom, Break, and Quartr at x6 rate.
- Raiden now teaches Haste 2 and Slow 2 at x5 rate and Flare at x10 rate.

- Merton is now unique to Relm and can be learned from the Rainbow Brsh at x10 rate.
- Terra no longer learns Merton at level 86.
- Crusader now teaches Fire 3 at x10 rate and Flare at x5 rate.

- X-Zone can only be learned by Terra, Celes, and Relm.
- Terra learns X-Zone at 86.
- Celes learns X-Zone at 81.
- Terra and Celes can learn X-Zone from Minerva at x10 rate.
- Relm can learn X-Zone from Czarina Gown and Magical Brsh at x10 rate.

- Big Guard now only targets one party member.

Items:

- Moogle Charm no longer ignores encounters and instead Raises Preemptive attack rate and prevents Back and Pincer attacks.

- Marvel Shoes now only give Haste and Regen and no longer give Shell and Safe.

- Memento Ring no longer protects its wearer from instant death attacks.
Instead it randomly evades physical attacks and gives its wearer 10 defense.

- Beads no longer randomly evade physical attacks and now gives 10% physical evade.
(Previously it gave a chance to randomly evade attacks on top of 20% evade which was too strong)

- Zephr Cape no longer gives physical evade.

- Mog can no longer equip the Snow Muffler.

- Kaiser Claws now randomly cast Pearl.

- Fire, Ice, and Thunder rods can no longer be used (and broken) as an item to cast their respective rank 2 spells.

- Tempest Knife can no longer be equipped by someone with the Merit Award.

- Magical Brsh can no longer be equipped by someone with the Merit Award.

- Rainbow Brsh can no longer be equipped by someone with the Merit Award.

- Flame, Ice, and Thunder shields now only lower damage taken from their respective elements by 50% instead of absorbing the
element.

- Red Jacket now only lowers damage taken from fire by 50% instead of nulling the effect.

Characters:

- Shadow's base physical evade lowered to 18% down from 28%.

Odal FFVI Hardtype V0.1 Changes (Click to View)

Bug fixes

Evade Bug Fix - Physical evasion makes a difference now.

Rage Patch – Allows you to learn the Allo Ver, Chupon, and Siegfried rages.

Rippler Bug fix – Rippler works correctly, no longer swapping effects which should be unswappable.

Vanish/Doom fix – No more killing death immune bosses with vanish + doom.

Psycho Cyan fix – Fixes the “Psycho Cyan” glitch

Hidden Bridge in South Figaro - Fixed the somewhat hidden bridge in South Figaro which allowed you to pass over the water behind a building.

Genji Glove Fix - In vanilla Genji glove was supposed to cut the damage of each swing by 1/4. It only did that when there was one weapon equipped (which didn’t make sense). This has been fixed to properly do this.

MONSTERS

- All monsters levels raised by approximately 25%.

- All monsters have an improved AI
- For regular monsters this is mostly just a more aggressive AI which will no longer have an option to do nothing like so many did in vanilla.
- For bosses the AI improvement is often more significant than regular monsters. Special care has been taken to make these into an appropriate challenge.

- Boss monsters now give exp.

- Monsters can no longer be killed by losing all of their MP.

- Most bosses have had their immunities boosted. This should prevent a lot of cheesy tactics to defeating boss battles, like X-Zone vs. Wrexsoul and Stop vs. Poltergeist, to name a few. Don’t worry; Sabin can still suplex trains.

ITEMS

- Endgame weapons have been changed to be more based on their usefulness than on their sheer power:

- Valiant Knife: 50 Battle Power. Gives the user the Seizure status. Still deals damage based on health lost. Lower Battle Power is due to ignoring target’s defense and also it should emphasize the need for less life to do more damage. Locke Only.

- Excalibur: 200 Battle Power, 2 vigor, 2 speed, 1 stamina, 1 magic power. Pearl elemental damage. Gives the user Regen, Haste, Shell, Safe. Useable by Terra, Locke, Edgar, and Celes.

- Scimitar: 210 Battle Power, Randomly dices up an enemy. Useable by Terra, Cyan, Edgar, Celes.

- Illumina: 155 Battle Power, 7 vigor, 7 speed, 7 stamina, 7 magic power, 30% evade, 30% magic evade. Uses MP for critical attacks. Useable by Terra, Locke, Edgar, Celes.

- Ragnarok: 155 Battle Power, 7 vigor, 3 speed, 7 stamina, 7 magic power, 30% evade, 30% magic evade

- Atma Weapon: 10 Battle Power, 7 stamina, Gives the user Regen. Still deals damage based on level and % of health. Low battle power due to ignoring target’s defense and also it should emphasize the need for more life and higher levels to do damage.

- Sky Render now increases vigor by 7.

- Tiger Fangs now give Haste.

- The battle power of lances has been lowered by about 20%.

- The battle power of “Same Damage from Back Row” weapons have been lowered by about 20%

- Elemental absorption on endgame armor have been mostly removed and replaced with extra magic defense.

Shields – These no longer give more than 30% of total chance to block physical and magical attacks combined.

- Force Shield is now more specialized giving no defense, high magic defense and 30% magic block. Does not null or absorb any elements.

- Paladin Shield is now more specialized giving high defense, no magic defense and 30% chance to block physical attacks.

- Genji Shield is now the bread and butter shield giving med/high defense, med/high magic defense and 10% chance to block physical attacks and magical attacks.

- Armor which activates while an Imp is now slightly weaker in defense and magic defense than its Genji counterpart.

- Genji Helmet now increases health by 12.5%

- Genji Armor now increases health by 12.5%

- Tool: Noise Blaster now has a 66% hit rate.

- Tool: Flash now deals similar damage to Bio Blaster (But is lightning elemental)

- Tool: Chainsaw and Drill has had their Battle Power reduced significantly due to their ability to ignore their target’s defense.

- Tool: Air Anchor now has a 50% chance to hit.

- Tool: Auto Crossbow Battle Power reduced moderately.

- Running Shoes now increase speed by 3 in addition to giving haste

- Earrings are now only useable by Terra, Celes, and Relm.

- Atlas Armlet now increases Vigor, Speed, and Magic Power by 7 instead of increasing Attack damage by 25%.

- Hero Ring now increases HP and MP by 12.5% instead of increasing both magic and physical damage by 25%.

- Economizer reduces Speed and Magic Power by 7.

- Offering now reduces Vigor and Speed by 7 and casts Slow on its user.

- Gem Box now reduces Speed and Magic Power by 7.

- Sprint shoes now give the user 5 speed.

- Fenix Down now spelled Pheonix Down

- Pheonix Downs and Revivifys no longer kill undead. They can still be damaged by healing or killed by life spells.

COLOSSEUM

- A few “items won” changed to ensure the limiting of many endgame items.

BATTLE FORMATIONS

- All instances of “less” encounter rate have been changed to “normal” encounter rate. Most places in the game were already set to normal, this may only be noticeable in a few places.

- A few battle formations had lonely monsters. Most of them now travel with friends.

- World of Ruin: Czar Dragon is now in game! Czar Dragon hangs out among other high level, commonly found dragons on an island on the world map (not telling where ). You have a 1/16 chance to find him amongst his other dragon friends. Be careful, he’s currently the hardest enemy in this version of the game.

CHARACTER CHANGES

- VICKS’ name has been changed to BIGGS.

- Characters evolution has changed significantly:

- HP gains are lower at low levels and increases at higher levels. In vanilla health gains peaked around level 70 making levels after that less impactful. This will emphasize the importance of leveling to 99.

- MP gains are lower at low levels and increases at higher levels. Similar change as HP.

- Exp required to level from 1 to 99 has lowered by 25%. You will not notice much difference early on.

- The levels at which Sabin and Cyan learn their Blitz and Sword Techs are increased by approximately 25%.

SPELLS

- All spells have had their power reduced by about 20%. This includes monster’s spells, but excludes spells which are based on a % of the target's health.

- SwdTech: Dispatch’s power reduced significantly.

- SwdTech: Quadra Slam and Quadra Slice power lowered moderately.

- Most Blitz abilities have had their battle power significantly reduced and/or removed their ability to ignore target’s defense.

- Takedown and Wild Fang (Interceptor’s counters) does not ignore target’s defense and battle power reduced slightly.

- Lagomorph now casts regen on the party.

- Espers no longer give level up bonuses.

- Raiden now teaches Haste 2 at x5 rate, Slow 2 at x5 rate, and Meteor at x2 rate and no longer teaches Quick.

DIALOG

- VICKS’ dialog changed to BIGGS’ dialog.

I am unsure whether this should go under personal projects or IPS patches. But thanks for posting! The site is in need of some serious action :p

I edited the original post to be less angry about losing my original post

I put it here, because I wouldn't consider it a complete patch. I still have a lot of testing and adjusting to do, especially with the WoR. But if anyone wants to play through and give me feedback, that'd be amazing I know I get stuck in the way I play and I'm sure there are still some strategies that work better than mine. Especially since I suck at using Sabin's Blitz and I rarely ever use Gau.

Edit - Oh I also, I forgot to post this. I made a video previewing one of the bosses I changed in the WoR. Our great, green, giant, demon friend, Phunbaba! This fight may still change as with all things. I just wanted to show some of the difficulty changes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCNvumm4WEQ
I'll admit, I had a few drinks before recording this, which usually makes me more talkative and thus I record things like this.

Personal Projects is a place for people who're wanting to have a project thread to host all their work for their project, as well as allow people to comment critiques and other influentional ideas. It seems this is done so it should be in the IPS forum. :p
Aside from that, great looking patch Odal! I know it's a difficulty patch, but do you think you'll use some of the resources from this site on your next hack?
Regarding your patch, can we host it on our server instead of Megaupload?

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Ah. I just read your reply and it doesn't seem you're done yet. It's good this was placed in the Project forum.

I may look into using more of the resources here after most of the balancing is done. I would like to make a few more optional bosses and using a map editor to create an island or two would be good to put them where there are currently unused monster domains.

As for something that I would love, which perhaps this does exist but I haven't found it, is something which can change whether Edgar's tools ignore defense or not, specifically for the chainsaw and/or the drill. As it is now, they both ignore defense and I can't turn that off. This makes the choice between them rather bland.

And if I can figure out how to host it here, I'll do that with the next version I come out with.

Once your new island is created, I might be able to make it show up on the mini-map. The mini-map is a decompressed image that I can edit. As for hosting, you'll have to send me either your patched rom, or IPs and I'll host it on this site and give you the url to place in your projects/submissions thread.

Once your new island is created, I might be able to make it show up on the mini-map. The mini-map is a decompressed image that I can edit.

Doood!! your a boss. might have to ask you about how one day...

I would love to get my hands on both v1.0 and v2.0 of this patch... unfortunately Megauplaod is down... and even if it wasn't, my internet blocks most download sites. Can someone post it here? Or send to my email im_so_blonde_16@yahoo.com? I would really appreciate it

Roy-boy

I'd really like to offer some form of hosting on this site. I'd like to give each registered member atleast 5MB of hosting which should be plenty for hosting ips patches, images and whatever else.
As for the original post, I'm quite excited!

I would love to get my hands on both v1.0 and v2.0 of this patch...

I found version 0.2 but the author removed all the links to version 0.1. Check your email. I would also recommend if you're looking for an increased difficulty version of FFVI a mod made by Auraplatonic called "FFVI: Dancing Mad". I haven't played it but it looks like a really nice challenge and the game seems well balanced from what I've seen on YouTube.

Here's the official thread.

I'd really like to offer some form of hosting on this site. I'd like to give each registered member atleast 5MB of hosting which should be plenty for hosting ips patches, images and whatever else.

That is a really good idea. You could allow the hosting after 25 or 50 posts by the user or something like that so people don't register only to have some free permanent hosting even if it's a maximum of 5MB.