[FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v2.0.999992)

[Sega Chief]

On the rank-up system...
Respeccing would be a nice option for the game anyway and would fix the issue for Problem 1 to boot. The identification of current ranks is still a problem there, but if the player could choose how many rank-ups(up to 8) they want, it would be a workaround.
I mean, you could cheat with that - but to each his own, I say.

Edit: Just wondering if you are currently working on placing an NPC to enable arrange mode. I'd rather wait a bit on my playthrough to get to play it on arrange mod at this point, as even bosses have started to become way too simple.

I've set up all the scripts to fix rank up, etc. (and added a failsafe for Ancient Forest). As for Arrange mode, there's two switches for it; one is a field var, the other is an in-battle var. Originally this switch was placed on the Highwind with the rest of the debug scripts but that may be too late through; whereabouts are you in your run?

 

[Vaylen]

I've set up all the scripts to fix rank up, etc. (and added a failsafe for Ancient Forest). As for Arrange mode, there's two switches for it; one is a field var, the other is an in-battle var. Originally this switch was placed on the Highwind with the rest of the debug scripts but that may be too late through; whereabouts are you in your run?

Right in the Gongaga Jungle, just beat the extra boss there. I remembered you mentioned Gongaga/Gold Saucer to be a good place for the switch.

 

[Sega Chief]

That's the new installers/IRO up:

So for rank ups; on the Highwind there's an NPC wandering around close to the on-board chocobo pen who handles debug scripts. When you talk to him, he'll run through several dialogue choices for different scripts (just select Cancel for the ones you're not interested in. When asked about rank up, you'll be presented with several choices: 1/8, 4/8, and 8/8 (maxed out). What this means is that you can either reset it all back to 1, set it to be midway, or cap it out (no further rank ups possible). Note that this does not affect the sources you have already spent; those are going to stay on your characters regardless. To adjust spent sources, you're going to need to use a save editor (in the future, DLPB's .dll can be used to adjust savemap in-game for more extensive features like respeccing characters and the like but for now need to operate within the original game's capabilities).

It's not an ideal solution, but considering the nature of the issue it would be difficult to accurately determine each character's exact rank at this point on an affected save file. Sorry for the hassle, porting over the system from using bit switches to just a value was done to streamline the script and make it easier to maintain in future. This also means you can reset your ranks repeatedly and max out all character stats (provided you grind out the SP for it), but I leave that up to you.

Rank-up was also altered a bit; before, you'd be forced to spend any unused sources before exiting which under ordinary circumstances wouldn't create a softlock. However, with this bug it's been possible to buy more ranks than was intended + save editors might be used to max out inventory; both situations would prevent the player from progressing the rank up screen as they would be unable to spend the remaining sources. So now, the game will prompt the player if they want to continue if unused sources are detected and will discard them if the player confirms.

I also added some extra stuff; there's now a failsafe handler that will detect if you entered the cave screen from the ancient forest and get the player out of there (preventing a loss of progress) in case for whatever reason the walkmesh chunk for that field isn't present (this is an IRO-only issue). I also put the option to toggle on Arrange Mode at the Corel ropeway station and on the Highwind debug NPC if players are wanting to switch difficulty settings midway; it's a bit awkward because one of the switches is performed during a battle, so you'll get a 'random' fight with some Shinra soldiers when you confirm to swap modes (they set the battle flag with their AI). Also note that swapping to arrange mode is a one-way thing; once it's on, it's on.

 

[Vaylen]

Whoo, really happy the update got out this evening. Got a long and annoying night in front of me T~T

 

[jugend]

Talked about this on discord, but wanted to elaborate on it here a little further. I have a lot of subjects I'd like to address and feedback on various issues, I'll just cover this one for now.


So I was saying, as you start to reach end game, and end game itself, your weapon choice isn't anywhere near as varied as I would have liked. In the first few hours of the game, Cloud has access to;


Buster Sword
Mythril Saber
Hardedge
Butterfly Edge
Enchance Sword
Rune Blade
Yoshiyuki

These swords are all rather comparable, and most offer different build varieties, which is amazing to have such variety and a part of the game I truly enjoyed, and while I love all these options at the start of the game, I think I'd rather have more options towards end game instead?
There isn't quite as many options the further down the line you go, and by the end of it, you are quite limited.

There are many ways this could be alleviated. One idea was to do away with the triple AP weapons, and respec them to better suit different build types. The triple AP really isn't needed on every character. And with the precious watch (max slot triple ap armour), I feel it's not needed at all. With fights like Pearl weapon and just double growth weapons, you can basically max out all the materia you want. If you moved precious watches availability from the midgard raid, to something like ancient forest? With all the upcoming boss battles, you could max out everything you could ever hope for.

I'd also say, you could potentially withdraw some of the options from early game, and insert them into later game, and re-spec the weapons?
Does cloud really need 7 weapons by the time he reaches nibelheim?

For example, Yoshiyuki could easily be removed from its position in the game and inserted in at end game, and re-specced to open up more build options and flexibility. For example +35 dex and comparable attack to the Ragnarok, there's endless possibilities really.

I don't know IF you can create multiple versions of weapons? So like, a Buster Sword 2 for end game? I'd assume there is no space in the game or something like that though.
So failing that, you could create more endgame build options through redesigning the triple AP weapons, or inserting early game weapons into end game, I'm sure a lot of them become kind of redundant, and wouldn't be all that big a loss.

I'd also say, the weapons you get in disc 2 in costa del sol are kinda of a waste as well, imo. Yeah, more variety is always nice, but you get crystal weapons around the same time, and you very quickly afterwards start to get end game weapons. I'd rather lose those options which are really not that big of a deal and useful for a very limited period of time, for more end game options.


With just the change of triple AP weapons, and one early game weapon for all characters moved into end game, that would massively improve the end game experience imo.
And you could go further if wanted/needed.


I'd like to state that I have put off making any ultimate weapons, (Because I really like to make things last and get the most out of every little thing that I get, I'll probably hang off getting them for awhile still) so I'll probably have more feedback on this issue and how I feel about the true ultimates themselves when I make them.

 

[adj998]

I downloaded this and did the installation and it went alright, unfortunately when i try to launch the game, nothing happens.

Edit: Nvm I got it going can't wait to give this a try, thanks for your hard work!

 

[Sega Chief]

.

I agree that Triple AP weapons are mostly redundant with the higher AP yield (particularly of Crater enemies on the left-up path and the bosses leading up to this), double generally does the trick (if needed at all) and Precious Watch can provide triple if it is needed.

Costa-tier weapons are sandwiched between the Icicle tier and Mideel tier. The game itself is also fairly short as far as battles go once the Highwind is acquired and Costa/Mideel tier become available from shops; Corel Train, Underwater Reactor, gauntlet at Rocket Town, and then Midgar Raid before Disc 3 starts.

Reorganising it, could have the two end-game weapons, Mideel-tier, Costa-tier, and Triple-AP weapons be viable choices for different builds 5 weapons to choose from (and to find) for post-Highwind. The mideel-tier will be the most 'standard' ones, and I'll try different effects and things for the Costa & Triple AP ones.

I downloaded this and did the installation and it went alright, unfortunately when i try to launch the game, nothing happens.

Edit: Nvm I got it going can't wait to give this a try, thanks for your hard work!

Hope you enjoy it; let me know if you encounter any issues.

 

[penetrice]

Looking to play this mod again since it's my absolute favorite, and i haven't played it since v1.4.  I was just wondering if anything has changed in terms of vincent's limit breaks, and their usability?

 

[UpRisen]

Vincents limits will now always do 2 physical attacks the 1 magical attack so you can have a good grasp on what his DPS is going to be instead of hoping that RNG favors you.

 

[Inuyashaya]

I want  to  play this again i played it on 1.4, sadly i cant cause it seems that i am not good enough at patching steam FFVII, installer always says something that theres no files to patch i allowed it on firewall and run it as administrator still  cant. there is another thing  that can lead to this error?

 

[HautSaus]

Exit in Ancient Forest is working as intended. :mrgreen:

still no ap weapon for Vincent tho

 

[Sega Chief]

I want  to  play this again i played it on 1.4, sadly i cant cause it seems that i am not good enough at patching steam FFVII, installer always says something that theres no files to patch i allowed it on firewall and run it as administrator still  cant. there is another thing  that can lead to this error?

The installer was changed as the mod now makes use of .EXE modifications which means it now has to be pointed at the 'Final Fantasy VII' folder rather than the Data folder; should be one level up from original installation location.

Exit in Ancient Forest is working as intended. :mrgreen:

still no ap weapon for Vincent tho

No, way! I'm pretty sure I reactivated the chest in the gelnika with it. Unless I've used that variable elsewhere thinking it was no longer going to be needed? I'd better check.

Edit: Still deactivated, I guess I didn't. But also noticed something; apparently when I deactivated that chest, I must have reused its variable for that annoying perma-locked chest in one of the houses in Kalm. It doesn't have an animation, but it gives an Ether when examined. I'll give the gelnika chest a new variable when I reactivate it.

 

[jugend]

I agree that Triple AP weapons are mostly redundant with the higher AP yield (particularly of Crater enemies on the left-up path and the bosses leading up to this), double generally does the trick (if needed at all) and Precious Watch can provide triple if it is needed.

Costa-tier weapons are sandwiched between the Icicle tier and Mideel tier. The game itself is also fairly short as far as battles go once the Highwind is acquired and Costa/Mideel tier become available from shops; Corel Train, Underwater Reactor, gauntlet at Rocket Town, and then Midgar Raid before Disc 3 starts.

Reorganising it, could have the two end-game weapons, Mideel-tier, Costa-tier, and Triple-AP weapons be viable choices for different builds 5 weapons to choose from (and to find) for post-Highwind. The mideel-tier will be the most 'standard' ones, and I'll try different effects and things for the Costa & Triple AP ones.

This sounds like a good solution to me, personally, don't feel like any of them would be all that missed at all, probably better than taking them away from early game too.

While I'm here, I'd just like to reiterate that thing about is it feasible to have barrier/mbarrier refresh on targets who already have it on them instead of missing? And what do people think of changing that if it is possible to change? I think it's very minor and wouldn't cause any balance issues, just really a quality of life change.

 

[Vaylen]

Quick question:
Is it possible/feasable to create a new UI for Sense?
I loved how it was handled in FF8 for example - especially from an information perspective.

 

[Sega Chief]

This sounds like a good solution to me, personally, don't feel like any of them would be all that missed at all, probably better than taking them away from early game too.

While I'm here, I'd just like to reiterate that thing about is it feasible to have barrier/mbarrier refresh on targets who already have it on them instead of missing? And what do people think of changing that if it is possible to change? I think it's very minor and wouldn't cause any balance issues, just really a quality of life change.

I think DLPB said it would be feasible to do that, and I'd be all for implementing such a change.

Quick question:
Is it possible/feasable to create a new UI for Sense?
I loved how it was handled in FF8 for example - especially from an information perspective.

Probably not to that level of detail.

 

[Vaylen]

Mh, guessed so. My favourite sense ever, even with bonus flavor text x)

By the way, what's up with the Piano in the Nibelheim Mansion? I am guessing it has to do with Ozma(Going by what Lambda said)... But I have no idea how to make anything happen there. I tried playing the same Melody as for Tifa's Piano(Only thing that came to mind), but to no avail.
I assume the 5th row is the hint, but... I do not get it if that's it. Help would be appreciated.

On a sidenote.... Getting the enemy skill from jerseys is a bloody pain. They use it rarely, have to use it on the right character and cannot be manipulated.

Edit: Got a question: How can I get through allied reflect(aside from debarrier/dispel)?
Was surprised when even White Wind got reflected...

Edit 2: Was surprised Vincent still has his transform more or less like in Vanilla for his Limit. Losing control of a character(And his attack command) until said character dies seems awfully bad to me. And if he's strong enough in Limit to take that cost, he probably is OP if built for it. Wouldn't a change warranted here?(Like, timed transformation).
Also: Do his Limits get affected by backrow penalty? Would really suck if they do.

Edit 3: Just fought a Zuu. Aside from being darn annoying(Which is fine), is it intended that the confusion that it causes is not curable, neither via item, nor via Esuna and not even by characters attacking themselves? Cause that's what happened. It randomly wore off at some point.

 

[shiyanuu]

I can't seem to interact with Caith Sith for his side quest at the Temple of the Ancients, he seems to be on air or some sort making me unable to talk to him. I'm still at disc 2 but seeing as I was able to do Yuffie's sidequest at Wutai made me thought I could also do everyone else's, or do I still need to get to disc 3?

 

[Sega Chief]

Might be that disc 3 is still needed; I started a process of making some of these available earlier but maybe I messed that one up; cait sith also needs to be in the party.

 

[Jcdarden]

Hi there, new to this site / this mod and am loving it so far. I had a couple of questions regarding what I've noticed so far:

1) I was using tifa in the battle arena and swapped out the dragon claw (Dex + 30) for the work glove, which I expected to cause her to hit harder, but she actually dealt less damage. Is Dex tied to attack damage in some way?
2) I want to level up some of the material I've been neglecting without over leveling my characters. I'm in disc 1 - are there spots to grind AP that don't give high EXP as well?

Thanks for all your work on the mod, I have had a great time so far.

 

[Sega Chief]

Hi there, new to this site / this mod and am loving it so far. I had a couple of questions regarding what I've noticed so far:

1) I was using tifa in the battle arena and swapped out the dragon claw (Dex + 30) for the work glove, which I expected to cause her to hit harder, but she actually dealt less damage. Is Dex tied to attack damage in some way?
2) I want to level up some of the material I've been neglecting without over leveling my characters. I'm in disc 1 - are there spots to grind AP that don't give high EXP as well?

Thanks for all your work on the mod, I have had a great time so far.

The 'Ancient' weapons (nail bat, workglove, rocket punch, etc.) use a different damage formula; they use character kills as a modifier and their biggest thing is that they can make Morphing easier as they get past the damage penalty.

There's a new enemy called a Mango Fang on the island where the Temple of the Ancients is situated, that appears on the wasteland parts of the island. They give no exp or gil, but 100AP each.