Final Fantasy VI Reimagined

1. I'm not sure what you mean.
2. I'll take a look for tile errors, but any that may have occurred ought to be corrected by just saving and reloading.
3. No, the Moogle Charm isn't in the game. But if you've made it to the Dragon Shrine you have no need of it anymore.

Hi there, I started this mod yesterday to see if I could enjoy it (Which I am quite a bit) but I had an odd bug. When I got to the end of the sealed cave before the cutscene/minor fight with Kefka when the game would do the battle transition it would instead play the Serpent Trench theme and then wrong warp me onto the WoR map where I everything was quite bugged before crashing if I tried to open the menu on the airship. I did find a way past it I think which was I just used the vanilla game to get past the scene and then reapplied the patch. Not sure if it will be consequence free but it has been my only major bug so far. Also thanks for the mod its been an interesting way to play so far.

DEVELOPER'S BLOG

And now an insight into the thought processes and decisions that lead to Reimagined as it is. Hold onto your butts.

---

MAGNUM OPUS

I began FF6 modding with Filly Fantasy VI almost 10 years ago, and I remain proud of what I accomplished with it in spite of my many difficulties and need for much aid from the forums. But a sentiment I heard from a few people, and that I kinda felt myself, was that the gameplay revisions were really good, and some people who are not into MLP enjoyed the mod purely for gameplay. Its just that not everyone was interested in the concept of the mod otherwise. After refining Filly Fantasy VI through its 2.0 version and subsequent tweaks, I joined Romhacking.net and fiddled with some minor patches for novelties, bugfixes, etc. Eventually I made the Dragons' Shrine, my first major project since ponies, and it was intended to be a spiritual successor to Dragons' Den. I didn't know much about map editing and this was my first attempt at it, I wasn't up to trying to fully recreate Dragons' Den from the GBA port, but I could do a bare-bones version of it. A hub room, eight individual rooms with rematches with the Eight Dragons, and Czar. It was small in scope but a helpful learning process for me.

Next came "Final Fantasy VI Expanded", which aimed to greatly reduced the amount of "canned dialogue" in the World of Ruin. I aimed for something like the Ramuh conversation, keep the dialogue vanilla but if the appropriate characters are in the party, they may add something or speak an alternate line. This project was greatly instructive on understanding how to code events, handle their technical aspects like jumps and subroutines, and so forth. It also led to the first time I fully created a new story scene beyond just making characters do a particular animation: the scene of Strago and Shadow talking. It turned out great. Next game "Final Fantasy VI Rebalanced" or "Final Fantasy VI Challenge Mode", which was me adapting the gameplay changes of Filly Fantasy 6 to the vanilla game and seeing how they worked. The answer was more or less "good". Along the way it irked me that I had proper naming conventions for spells and abilities thanks to SilentEnigma's "Restored Ability Names" project, but not for items and equipment. Thus began a side project to do for items what SilentEnigma did for abilities, mod the rom to allow longer item names. "Expanded Item Names" was a huge pain to pull off, editing the various menus meant foraging into unfamiliar code and concepts, but I managed it with help from the community and SE. And then I got back on track and released Challenge Mode.

I wish I could recall precisely when and how I had the idea, but I realized these three projects - Dragons' Shrine, Expanded, and Rebalanced - didn't have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, aren't they complementary? One adds new end-game content, one aims to improve the story, and the other aims to improve the gameplay. And there was no conflict between them that couldn't be sorted out with some relatively simple coding adjustments, they could all fit in one rom. So, I decided to do just that, and incorporate additional improvements to push the combined project even further - rewritten script, improve the graphics however I can, add more new content in spots, etc. I didn't want to call my project "Final Fantasy VI Remake", it seemed too obvious and maybe a cliche. And my mod wasn't based on an entirely new concept like other mods (making General Leo part of the main party, changing the structure of the three scenarios, etc), so I didn't want to give it a specific title, if that makes sense. I didn't want to reinvent the wheel, imho FF6 has always been a great game, it just needed more polish in spots. I settled on "Reimagined" because I felt that best expressed what I wanted my game to be - not quite a remake due to technical limitations and my personal choice to not majorly rewrite the story, but I did push the Super NES version to go further than it did originally, not as far as it could go, but further. Thus, "reimagine" what the original game could have been in the first place.

I give this story to express that when I say FF6 Reimagined is my magnum opus, I mean it. It was a journey almost a decade in the making, with many stops on the way. I had to learn how to create new maps, script new scenes, rearrange menus, change animations on abilities, relocate data so the game can still load it properly, and more. I had to come up with solutions to problems I didn't realize were problems, had to abandon ideas due to frustration or technical limitations, incorporated new ideas as inspiration struck, had to figure out how to use different modding tools to edit the game without corrupting my rom or changing the data in a way other tools couldn't open it. I'm not saying all this to toot my own horn; again, some ideas I abandoned because I deemed them too difficult to execute and not worth the effort, and I often got frustrated and took it out on others on the Discord and had to step back and return later with a clearer head. It was a long journey and I stumbled and tripped more than a few times, but I always got back up eventually, and in the end the destination was worth it.

What's in the future for FF6R? I've a few QoL ideas, like figuring out how to alphabetize Rages, how to switch Espers between characters, maybe add "Achievements" as key items obtained for doing things. I know some of these things have been done by other modders, I'm just saying, may look at adapting them here. I'd love to edit the overworld maps if I can figure out out (I actually had skyscrapers for Zozo and have an in-game screenshot of them, but only in the WoB, couldn't figure out how to edit the WoR to match so I gave up). I've no plans for major changes like new story scenes or overhauling gameplay elements, but never say never, if an idea strikes me it may happen. We'll see.

---

THE WRITING

FF6 Expanded added a lot of new dialogue sequences to the game, but didn't really touch the script otherwise, since that wasn't the project's goal. But it was for Reimagined. While Ted Woolsey's work on the SNES was impressive and he gave us many iconic lines, a lot of spots are a bit sloppy and distort or lose the meaning intended in the original script. On the other hand, the GBA port (and subsequent ports) lack charm imho, they tend to be a bit dry and stiff. It isn't enough to just retain the single lines we love from Woolsey's script, it's the general style. And either way, putting aside translations, even in the original Japanese, FF6 has a few kinks in its story in places, some more egregious than others. Some could be fixed with rewrites, some would need more overhauls or additions; Reimagined aimed for the former. I wanted to do for FF6's script what Alexander Smith did for the DS port of FF4. To wit, polish it up and give it more style and flair.

In the name of this, in some spots I took some artistic liberties to make what I felt were improvements to the script. One example I site is in the Returner Hideout - in the original game, Banon asks Edgar what the plan is to escape and Edgar explains the plan to raft down the river. My mod reverses it, because doesn't it make more sense for Banon to have a plan ready to escape his own hideout? As another example, Terra says to Locke in Figaro that Edgar said he's a thief, but Edgar didn't say that in any version of the script including the original Japanese, so I added an off-hand comment from him to fill in that tiny plot hole. Another example of where I took liberties is the dialogue with Cid when he sees the Magicite, I tried to convey that he was having the slow realization that he's been torturing and killing sapient beings, and then that he's disgusted with himself for not realizing it and how he's been blind to the obvious. I also rewrote Leo's dialogue during the Thamasa sequence to try and show his inner conflict he's been having off-screen, being loyal to an empire that he knows is doing awful things, why he would continue to be loyal, and how he justified it to himself. Those in the Discord channel may recall I often consulted for feedback on dialogue like this. Slight changes in wording can radically shift the tone of a conversation, so when I was doubtful if I got a line "right", or just wanted to make sure a particular scene worked, I would seek other opinions and make revisions as necessary.

One particular thing I paid attention to what character voicing. Some have expressed confusion over what that means, so I'll explain it simply - writing a character's dialogue to fit that character. It's the difference between Cyan saying "excuse me, sir?" to get someone's attention, and Sabin saying "hey, buddy, over here!" It's taking into account how characters would talk in different situations depending on what's happening, who they're talking to, where they are, etc. If Edgar is talking to a female NPC, he's gonna turn up the charm. If it's someone they dislike, they may be more rude than other party members who are more ambivalent. If something chaotic is going on a character may be speaking frantically, versus speaking calmly when having a meeting about what to do next. I tried to keep these concepts in mind constantly while revising the script, especially in emotional moments. And of course, I paid very close attention to Kefka's lines to balance his myriad moods and maintain that balance of whimsy and evil that makes him such a great villain.

A final note - I feel a pitfall a lot of mods fall into is going overboard with pop culture references and memes, and I wanted to avoid that. I didn't shy away from referencing other FF games when it was appropriate and it fit the tone of the scene and the context of the line, but keep it restrained. If, hypothetically speaking, Gestahl starting parroting a speech from Barthandelus or Vayne, it takes the player out of the moment. That said, one meme I do smirk at is Sabin's line when preparing to make the jump across the Phantom Train, "it's a good thing I never skipped leg day". I maintain that if that meme had been a thing in the mid 90s, Ted Woolsey would absolutely have used it in a game and he would approve of my usage of it here.

---

THE GAMEPLAY

In my personal opinion, the reason that FF6 is so easy is because the party is overpowered. Edgar and Sabin can carry players through the World of Balance on their own, the Moogle Charm lets you loot end-game dungeons without fear of random encounters, and it's easy for characters for hit the damage cap with simple builds. And then there's Ultima, 'nuff said. But on the flipside, when you look at enemies, for the most part they're pretty dangerous, especially in areas like the Ancient Castle, Zone Eater's Belly, and Kefka's Tower. It's just that the party can wipe them out so easily that they don't get a chance to actually be a threat. Anywho, that was my primary focus in rebalancing the gameplay - hit the party hard with the nerf bat, take a second swing at some, and give a gentle tap to others. I've replayed the game many times and felt I had a good grasp on who and what was overpowered and what was underpowered. And the nerfs were not all done in the same way; some stuff was removed, others were made harder to acquire or utilize, or moved to a later point in the game. I don't necessarily have an issue with characters who can hit all enemies for 9999 a turn, or can deal multiple hits of 9999, to me its more a question of when they become able to do that and how difficult it is to get them to that point. Like, hypothetically, if someone is willing to put in the effort to grind out every spell on every character right after you get the airship, who am I to say they can't?

Through my projects and feedback from players who have played them multiple times, I really had to develop a philosophy on game design and balance, so I could have a proper vision and an idea of how to achieve it. And a sidenote here is that I have a personal dislike of hacks that are brutally difficult unless players utilize specific exploits or niche strategies. The view I've come to hold is games should reward players for being smart first, punish them for being dumb or lazy second. If enemies in an area like using status ailments, bring status healing items and protection Relics. If this boss is using a lot of magic, equip your party for better Magic Defense and teach people Shell. On the other hand, something else I've learned is that if you ask 10 people to play a video game, they'll come back with 10 different walkthroughs of how they finished it. So I had to take that into account too; it sounds obvious, but my mods have had a mix of player feedback; veterans who know where every chest is by heart, newcomers who have played the game once or twice, or people who have played it a few times but don't remember it well. I can't make assumptions about what the player will do and then shrug at them if they don't do it, that isn't fair to them. If a boss is cheesed by a particular party build but otherwise is brutally difficult, I can't balance the boss around the presumption all players will use that build, or even figure it out on their own. So I have to both make that boss less vulnerable to that cheese, but also less difficult if you don't do that cheese.

If an enemy is too strong, how do I change it: lower its HP and defenses so it's easier to kill, lower its offensive stats so it doesn't hit as hard, change its AI script to use weaker attacks? Or am I fine with this enemy being a bit stronger than expected, because maybe this is a boss fought at a climactic event in the game, or its a rare encounter? If a character is too weak, what do I do to buff them: better equipment, better stats, better abilities? And all of these factors will affect the others. I had to deal with this a lot especially in Filly Fantasy VI, and a little in Rebalanced, so by the time I got to Reimagined I was comfortable that I had a firm foundation in understanding how to balance things on my own. And for the most part I think I succeeded. My vision this time was Final Fantasy VI, but with the difficulty tweaked up a few notches. Don't be brutally hard, just keep players on their toes and make them put in more effort and thought to how they play. The one time I was unsure about balance was when it came to the Dragon Shrine, but I could break my own rule there because it's the optional endgame dungeon, it can be extremely hard now because it's optional.   Kidding, as CasualTom knows I did end up nerfing a particular aspect of Czar Dragon's AI script that stood out above the rest; a random chance of hitting the party for 4000 damage with no mitigation is not fair.

Final note, because I've seen people ask about it - Espers are still universal. I know a lot of mods restrict Esper usage to certain characters, and some have asked if I considered the same or why I didn't do that. The reason is two-fold. One, the party's access to Magic is an important plot point in FF6's story, utilizing Magicite to combat the Empire's Magitek is a major turning point in the tide of the war and also arguably plays a role in Kefka's rise to power, and IMHO, limiting the party's access to Espers would dilute that theme. Two, with the rebalancing done to the equipment system and abilities, I felt each character already have enough to make them distinct without taking the Esper system into question, they already had differences in vanilla but they were more pronounced now and would grow even more distinct in the endgame with top-tier equipment and ultimate weapons. Characters with similar equipment sets have different abilities that bring different things to party synergy, and characters with similar abilities have different equipment sets that give them different stat load-outs. Strago, Terra, Celes, and Relm, do not play the same as each other, nor do Edgar, Sabin, Cyan, and Shadow. So I didn't think it was necessary to restrict only certain characters to using Espers or which Espers they could use, it wasn't part of my vision for balancing the playable roster.

---

THE PRESENTATION

A personal annoyance with me is that I can't really talk at length about the graphical enhancements the mod offers, because as fellow modders know, there's some limits that can't be broken. The 12-color palette restriction for characters, no character sprites bigger than 16x24 except for certain special instances, map tilesets that have no room on them to add new tiles and all existing ones are used, attack animations that are coded to only interact properly with other specific animation scripts, etc, etc. Still, I did what I could within these limits, and to appease myself refer to these visual changes as "presentation" instead of merely "graphics". I updated the cast's sprites to look more like their concept arts and made them more colorful and distinct when possible. I made new attacks by figuring out which animations can combine to create something visually interesting and thinking what kind of attack and enemy fit it. I even managed to script an attack utilizing an entirely new set of graphics, though it drove me to the brink of madness and took me a full month to get it working! 

I changed tilesets for maps in minor ways, this is most pronounced with Figaro Castle and Doma Castle, which look more distinct now - Figaro has air vents and its fireplaces pipe their smoke through the walls, while Doma has no technological elements to it anymore, including no turbine turrets, and they have their own banner on their walls. I flipped the engine room under Figaro so the engines are logically located under the central areas of the castle, instead of awkwardly under the western wing. The Ancient Castle also got redecorated and has a unique aesthetic to it with grates in some spots and decorative floor tiling around areas. Nikeah, Jidoor, and Maranda, now use the same desaturated palette as other towns in the WoR. Katarin's private room in Mobliz has a bed in it now, because that seems something a pregnant teenager might want. The exteriors of Albrook and Maranda have had repairs done since the World of Balance to show the citizens are rebuilding (Tzen was exempt since Kefka blasts it with the Light of Judgment when you visit it anyway). These changes are small but I feel they add a lot without having to be called attention to. 

The other two locations I made more significant alterations to were the areas of Vector and the esper world. The Imperial Palace has a new area to it, the bedrooms for their leaders, and I remapped the entrance to allow a new cutscene for the Guardian emerging from a hangar. The Magitek Research Facility got its palette adjusted for better contrast and coloring instead of a see of dull red tints. I wanted to do some of what Pixel Remaster did, with lights on conveyor belts and caution stripes around pipes and cranes, but the tileset for the MRF is already packed and it is extremely complex and annoying to deal with, so that didn't end up happening. The Esper world was more fun. It always bugged me that despite being another realm, the Esper world is barely the size of Mobliz. I added more features to the world in the areas that you can't access but can still catch a view of, to make it feel like the Esper realm was larger than what you saw and there were many more homes and Espers around than just the five you can explore. I also gave the area its own palette with surreal and unusual colors for the grass, rocks, water, etc, to really emphasize it was a magical dimension the Espers had crafted for their own.

The last area of presentation was changed to some cutscenes. Some of these were minor, like giving Arvis a shocked sprite to use, giving a few more characters unique sprites like Duane and Madeline, and changing the blocking of some scenes for various reasons. As one instance, when Sabin spies on Leo talking to a soldier in the Imperial Camp, the soldier enters Leo's tent afterward and never comes out and is not there when you enter the tent soon after, he seemingly vanishes. In my mod he comes back out and leaves when the messenger from Gestahl walks away. Fallen soldiers were added to the invasion of the Esper world to indicate they fought back instead of being helpless. The Guardian's appearances were streamlined so it consistently is depicted as an autonomous robot and one-of-a-kind; as mentioned the entrance to the Imperial Palace was changed to have a hangar bay the Guardian is unleashed from, and the enemies that accompany Kefka to Thamasa are normal Magitek enemies flagged to be invincible for this sequence. Finally, I overhauled the Siege of Doma to actually look like a siege, with a battering ram and crossbows and Cyan making a badass entrance slicing down two imperials, as opposed to the imperials running at the walls ineffectually and the Domans putting up no resistance until Cyan walks out and kills their commander without trouble.

---

CONCLUSION

So, there's some insight into the history and creative process of the mod, if you managed to read it all, I commend you and hope you enjoyed it. If anyone has questions on it, AMA, I'd be happy to answer. This really is a major accomplishment for me and I'd love to chat at length about it, as you can see.

Thanks to everyone for playing, thanks to everyone on the forums and in the Discord who supported me and gave me advice or help, and thanks to the Final Fantasy franchise for giving us such a wonderful game that I tried to improve upon in my own small ways.

First off thanks for the reimagined ff6 it is really cool and I appreciate all the hard work this must have taken to complete.  

I did want to note and maybe its the emulator im on but im seeing some occasional graphical glitches either something poking through a sprite or black tiles outside of a room when in a building. Ive also seem some flickering with the multiple hand icons when selecting all enemies for a fire spell or an auto crossbow attack.  Are these known issues or should I toy around with the emulator?

I dunno about toying around with the emulator, but yeah, that's emulator settings. Some areas even in the vanilla game don't have background tiles, just blank spots, and the actual background isn't exactly black so they stick out. I've also noticed with emulators, party members occasionally appear over the battle menu when doing attacks or cinematics where they go off-screen.

1. I'm not sure what you mean.
2. I'll take a look for tile errors, but any that may have occurred ought to be corrected by just saving and reloading.
3. No, the Moogle Charm isn't in the game. But if you've made it to the Dragon Shrine you have no need of it anymore.

I tried saving then: leaving the area and returning, getting killed and reloading my save, and lastly resetting the emulator and then loading the save and none of those worked. I noticed that if I lower the water and then leave and return the turtle's position is different.

As far as the Moogle charm goes, I like to use it to keep the difficulty higher, by keeping my levels lower. Just going through, fighting normally and not running away the Mod was pretty easy. I had to keep switching characters to keep my team in the low 40s for the dragons den. Once everyone was at least in the 50's it was a cake walk.

I have no idea what's going on with your save, then. Assuming you're using an update-to-date patch, I dunno, all other problems with the airship have been resolved and no one else has reported this issue with the Water Dragon's lair.