[FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

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JohnnydarkPT: The slowdown issue you described seems to be related to a Windows 10 Update from May 2020. It has been reported by several users on the Steam forums, for example here, or here. There is no official fix yet, but if you follow the links, there are workarounds you could try. Personally, I am not affected by this, so I don't think it's caused by the mod.

The amount of Fastitocalon-F cards required to make a Potion is indeed a little mistake in Remastered that must have been there from the beginning. It seems to be the only incorrect Refinement though, and probably the one that matters the least, but it'll be fixed soon. Thanks.


Helm_Smasher: Yes, it should be possible to remove the SeeD Lv fluctuation, but I haven't looked properly into that yet. I guess I would rather reduce the amount of battles required to increase your SeeD Lv though. I agree that it always been a slog if you try to raise it that way. For now, I would recommend doing the SeeD tests from the menu, as it's way faster.

In regards to the Dollet raid, yes, it has some tough random battles here and there, but that's intentional so it's not too easy to get the max Attack and Spirit score shortly after SeeD graduation, pushing the urge to flee from battle, which results in a lower score. The Squeeze attack from the Anacondaur is admittedly a little too powerful though, so its base power will be lowered for Standard Mode. As for the Elite Soldiers, reducing the levels for those that appear in the Communication Tower should do (they are at Lv 12 there, compared to Lv 8 elsewhere in Dollet). Thanks for the feedback.
 
Ah, reducing the number of required kills seems to be a good compromise (I don't know if rank raising via battle and rank maintainment via battle are separate variables), but maybe 5 instead of 10 are a good compromise.

Thanks for your continued work on this wonderful mod. Without it, it would be impossible for me to enjoy the game.

Edit: I'm continuing the playthrough. Reached Timber. Let's see how the mission goes.
Regarding SEED ranks, would it be possible to keep them from going down when steps are taken in town? (unless I misunderstood, it is the number of steps that progresses the intervals between payments. Is that correct?
 
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Updated the latest version with a few changes recently discussed:

- Anacondaur's Squeeze attack inflicts less damage in Standard Mode
- Elite Soldiers that appear inside Dollet Communications Tower are at a lower level
- The Card refinement for Fastitocalon-F Cards has been corrected

Also fixed an issue with Hard Mode exclusive boss battle formations appearing in Standard Mode. If you are currently playing this mod in Standard Mode, updating your files is highly recommended (patching the Remastered .dll again is not needed).

@Helm_Smasher: Yes, the salary is paid after a set amount of steps, and every time that happens, you lose some SeeD points, which will eventually lower SeeD rank if not enough battles have been fought since your last payment. This deduction can be disabled altogether, but I don't know if there is an easy way to make it dependent on whether you are currently in a town or not.  There is a field opcode that is used to halt any SeeD rank acitivity when playing as Laguna, but re-enabling it when leaving a town might be difficult (as Laguna, it is always re-enabled after a flashback ends). I'll look into it, but I can't promise to make it work.
 
Thanks for taking the time to read thiese!
I finished the train decoupling mission and things went well. Fake Deling gave off some hard hits but it felt fair. I'm now back in Timber.
Had a close call fighting Diablos but finally got him. I don't think I'd have managed if enemies kept scaling up, as I had no chance when first got the lamp, but after returning from the train mission I won (even if it was by a hair haha).

Edit: After updating to the latest version, animations and transitions became a tad sluggish. I don't know if it's something related to the game itself or not, but it feels off. Maybe it's the same thing that JohnnydarkPT was experiencing, but for me it feels slower but in and out of battle so it's even worse. It started around the Eshtar flashback (before the party reached Galbaldia).

Edit 2: I seem to have fixed the slowdown by adding XInput1_4.dll from the Windows folder inside the game folder (following instructions in the Steam forums, but since I started the Demaster_ExP folder from scratch, I'm not sure if the mod is active even though I followed the instructions to reinstall it. What level are the Geezards around Galbaldia Garden, so I can have a frame of reference?
 
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Geezards around Galbadia Garden should be at level 14-16 around Galbadia Garden and level 20 near the Tomb of the Unknown King. You can also just check Ifrit's and Siren's Ability lists to make sure the mod changes inside DEMASTER_EXP are active (Ifrit has the Return Damage Ability, and Siren has Heal), while verification of correct EFIGS.dll patching can be done by drawing spells in battle (characters can draw more than 9 units per Draw).

As for the slowdowns you experienced even in battle, did you have the Battlefield graphics mod installed? If so, that was likely the cause for those lags, especially right at the beginning of a battle. It's a known issue with almost any kind of texture replacement mods for this game, but I heard things will improve soon with the image format being changed from png to dds, so if you feel bothered by those lags but still want to use the graphics mods, just wait a little longer for them to be updated.

Also thank you again for the progress report. It's really interesting to hear how it goes :)
 
Thanks for the reply!
I don't really mind not using the texture enhancements, so it's okay if I have to forgo them, what I'm most interested in are the mechanics fixes the mod brings in.
I took a look around the Steam forums and it seems this issue affects several people, but putting the .dll inside the directory fixed things from what I can tell. I'm now only using texture enhancements for weapons and Mcindus' UI and font (they look so nice).

Thanks for the heads up about how to verify mod changes! I may have patched EFIGS.dll incorrectly as I can't seem to draw out more than 9.
The playthrough is a bit uneventful at the moment since I need to bring Irvine up in levels a bit before going to Deling.

Edit: Eh, spoke too soon. As soon as I patched EFIGS.dll  (correctly this time) the problem returned. I don't think it's mod related at all, but I wish I could figure out the root of this.
The slowdown seems to be completely random. Some sessions play just fine, others have constant slowdown for everything (music plays normally).

I got to Deling and I'm getting absolutely crushed by the random encounters around the city (Wendigo and Vysage) is that normal? I think I have decent junctions, even though Zell and Irvine are a bit low on levels compared to Squall. Dribble from Wendigo basically puts them on critical damage with one attack.
 
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Callisto , can you tell me which file and offset you have to hex edit to change darkside damage and hp loss?
 
I'm not the creator, but I hope Callisto won't mind me answering that one.
Yes, it's compatible, as it uses the same Demaster framework. I'm actually using several enhancements myself and playing Ragnarok.
 
I got to Deling and I'm getting absolutely crushed by the random encounters around the city (Wendigo and Vysage) is that normal? I think I have decent junctions, even though Zell and Irvine are a bit low on levels compared to Squall. Dribble from Wendigo basically puts them on critical damage with one attack.
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Well yes, it's kind of normal. Here is some advice:

Make sure to have the HP-J Ability unlocked for all 3 characters. The enemies that appear around Deling City are balanced around having at least Cura junctioned on everyone's HP. Cura can be drawn from the Geezard enemy in the area, or "bought" from the new Odine Shop in Deling City (indirectly through Healing Waters, or Tents via Siren's L-Mag RF Ability). The ideal HP spell at this time would be Zombie which can be made through the Zombie Powders dropped by the Gerogero boss or drawn by the Blood Soul enemy found at the night-time grassland area around the city. It should raise your HP to around 1500-2000, which should be enough to deal with the attacks by Vysage (500-600 HP single target damage through Aero, 200-300 HP damage through the AoE attack) and Wendigo (up to 800 HP single target damage). But I agree that Wendigo is slightly overtuned for this area, so its overall damage output will be decreased for Standard Mode soon.

All in all, as far as the early-mid game goes, I would say that junctions are more impactful than leveling up overall. Sometimes, searching around for new spells is needed to keep up with the enemies (especially after leaving Timber and during the D-District Prison events). Leveling up will definitely pay off in the mid-late game though, so there's no need to hold back with your levels (the Bonus Abilities that grant permanent stat boosts when leveling up are removed in this mod anyway).

Also good to know that you got the EFIGS.dll patch working. It is actually very important for all mod changes to take effect, not just in regards to the Draw cap in battle. Without the patch, for example, magic damage is severely limited for both party members and enemies, which explains why Elvoret (who uses mostly magic attacks) gave you little to no trouble at all. I hope the increased enemy magic damage is not too overwhelming now. Otherwise, don't hesitate to tell, and maybe more specific enemies will receive a little adjustment. Thanks.

@kokie: Information on Darkside damage can be found here. As for HP loss, check out this topic. This is for the 2013 version; the stuff is elsewhere for Remastered (EFIGS.dll instead of FF8_EN.exe): the damage multiplier instruction starts at offset 2E447E; while HP loss is at 2E3FD1.
 
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Well yes, it's kind of normal. Here is some advice:

Make sure to have the HP-J Ability unlocked for all 3 characters. The enemies that appear around Deling City are balanced around having at least Cura junctioned on everyone's HP. Cura can be drawn from the Geezard enemy in the area, or "bought" from the new Odine Shop in Deling City (indirectly through Healing Waters, or Tents via Siren's L-Mag RF Ability). The ideal HP spell at this time would be Zombie which can be made through the Zombie Powders dropped by the Gerogero boss or drawn by the Blood Soul enemy found at the night-time grassland area around the city. It should raise your HP to around 1500-2000, which should be enough to deal with the attacks by Vysage (500-600 HP single target damage through Aero, 200-300 HP damage through the AoE attack) and Wendigo (up to 800 HP single target damage). But I agree that Wendigo is slightly overtuned for this area, so its overall damage output will be decreased for Standard Mode soon.

All in all, as far as the early-mid game goes, I would say that junctions are more impactful than leveling up overall. Sometimes, searching around for new spells is needed to keep up with the enemies (especially after leaving Timber and during the D-District Prison events). Leveling up will definitely pay off in the mid-late game though, so there's no need to hold back with your levels (the Bonus Abilities that grant permanent stat boosts when leveling up are removed in this mod anyway).

Also good to know that you got the EFIGS.dll patch working. It is actually very important for all mod changes to take effect, not just in regards to the Draw cap in battle. Without the patch, for example, magic damage is severely limited for both party members and enemies, which explains why Elvoret (who uses mostly magic attacks) gave you little to no trouble at all. I hope the increased enemy magic damage is not too overwhelming now. Otherwise, don't hesitate to tell, and maybe more specific enemies will receive a little adjustment. Thanks.
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Thanks for your kind reply. I have been experimenting with Junctions and stocking Zombie definitely paid off, just as you said. I was probably under-equipped, magic wise, when first arriving, but those protects from Wendigos help a lot. I actually went through the whole Deling mission segment and beat the lizard bosses, but then remembered I failed to get Brothers. Since I don't remember if I can return to get it later, I decided to reload from an earlier point and get it.

I'm quite glad you removed the permanent stat boosts, or I'd be royally in trouble later down the line haha.
 
So, for the Iguions sidequest, when I went into the sewers and went up the ladder where the car is, I cant climb the car to enter the presidental residence. Why is that? Or is there another way in?
 
So, for the Iguions sidequest, when I went into the sewers and went up the ladder where the car is, I cant climb the car to enter the presidental residence. Why is that? Or is there another way in?
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When you interact with the boxes, nothing happens?
 
When you interact with the boxes, nothing happens?
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I just got moving balamb, did nothing else except FH. I went there, climbed the ladder, tried interacting with the boxes but Squall just doesnt want to climb them.
 
The Iguions are found in the sewers, not at the Presidential Residence itself. It is normal that the boxes can no longer be climbed after the events at the end of disc 1, so don't worry about them.

Anyway, from the screen with the boxes, head back into the sewers, then one screen to the left. Wait there for a moment and the Iguions will "appear" (not visually, but they can be heard) if Caraway has been asked about the Iguions. You will be given the choice to stay and fight them, or escape back to Caraway's Mansion.
 
I have a question about the percentile bonus abilities from GFs:
Are they flat increases that apply only when equipped or do they also lead to increases on level up?
I hope it's only the former, because I'd rather not do an ability "chair dance" whenever someone is close to leveling just to maximize gains.
 
The former is the case. There is no such mechanic in Final Fantasy VIII (only in IX as far as I know). All those Ablities do is adding a temporary bonus to the base value plus spell junction bonus of a given stat. There is no penalty to leveling up in this mod at all, unless you'd want to stay on a low level for increased difficulty.
 
Thank you, this really puts my mind at ease. If you are curious about progress on my play through, nothing to exciting I'm afraid, I got brothers and I've been farming AP to get the skills so I can split GFs later without too much trouble. I'll make sure to report on the Edea fight though.

Edit: I'm guessing this means the "Bonus" abilities like Str Bonus and such are also absent? I honestly prefer it that way mind you.
What's the general gist of adjustment for natural stat gains? +2 for the focus stat of the character and +1 for other stats?

Edit 2: I got through Edea. Oh boy I wasn't expecting Maelstrom, it took more than one try to beat her, but it felt more worthwhile to do so.
I got through the District D Prison, not too hard (but I forgot the Combat King, I hope I can get it later somehow). While it's cool that some unused enemy formations
are now a thing, I felt the Chimera was out of place inside the prison (since enemy formations there were composed mostly of humans and robots).

I also got through the Missile Base and also ended up game overing twice to that big mech thing. Maybe it's because everyone else besides Squall is kinda low level n comparison
(thanks for Step Mine by the way. Having a source of MT damage helps greatly).

I'm now at the the Garden Wars section. I noticed quite a jump in damage from the enemies, but it makes sense, I guess. Probably everyone else is too low level compared to Squall, so might stay in this area for a while.

I should note that I'm playing strictly without summoning GFs and without playing Triple Triad; I know it can make things harder for myself, but I wanted to steer well and far away of the things that were the focus of the vanilla game due to the brokeness of it all (and I don't really like Triple Triad).
 
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Edit: I'm guessing this means the "Bonus" abilities like Str Bonus and such are also absent? I honestly prefer it that way mind you.
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Yes, all the Bonus Abilities like Str Bonus are gone in this mod, to encourage leveling up without any remorse and also to help maintain character strengths and weaknesses. They are technically still in the game, but no GF learns them and there are no items that teach those Abilities. I hope I can replace them with something less controversial soon. Any suggestions welcome.

What's the general gist of adjustment for natural stat gains? +2 for the focus stat of the character and +1 for other stats?
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Hm, not exactly. In this game, every character has his/her own growth curve for every stat, allowing great distinction from one character to another. Unfortunately, the base game barely utilizes that and even at level 100, all characters are almost identical when it comes to their base stats. For example, the Spirit stat has a short range of only 30 (Ward) and 45 (Edea) at level 100, which barely makes a difference in battle. In this mod, the gaps are widened by a lot so strengths and weaknesses become more evident: Ward still barely gains any Spirit points (24 at level 100), but Edea's Spirit will reach 195 from leveling up alone, while all the other characters end up somewhere in-between.

Edit 2: I got through Edea. Oh boy I wasn't expecting Maelstrom, it took more than one try to beat her, but it felt more worthwhile to do so.
I got through the District D Prison, not too hard (but I forgot the Combat King, I hope I can get it later somehow). While it's cool that some unused enemy formations
are now a thing, I felt the Chimera was out of place inside the prison (since enemy formations there were composed mostly of humans and robots).
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Yes, Maelstrom that early can be quite surprising, but Edea uses it only once at the beginning of the battle in Standard Mode, so if you manage to recover from that attack quickly (ideally with Mega-Potion or Heal Command Ability) and draw-cast her Shell, she should go down with a little patience. Glad you made it.

The Combat King can be bought in Esthar later. It teaches the Dolphin Blow move, but you can use it (and every other unknown move) even without the magazine if you know the move sequences and button combos. Having read the magazine basically only makes the move/inputs visible in battle, so if you know when a certain unknown move would appear, you can just input the right button combo to use it. More about move sequences can be found here.

As for the Chimera, I think it's not unreasonable for it to appear there. There are actually several non-human/robot enemies found at D-District Prison such as Wendigos, Thrustaevises, Geezards and Belhelmels. One of the Galbadian soldiers inside prison mentions that "Monsters will be set loose on each floor..." after the alarm went off, indicating that they are in control of them, which in turn means they likely tamed and captured them in areas nearby. I guess it's no coincidence that all of them appear in the near surroundings of the prison on the overworld, including Chimeras which can appear in the desert below the prison. So all in all I think it's fine to have them there.

I also got through the Missile Base and also ended up game overing twice to that big mech thing. Maybe it's because everyone else besides Squall is kinda low level n comparison
(thanks for Step Mine by the way. Having a source of MT damage helps greatly).
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If you are looking for more MT damage that does not come from GF, you might want to try out some of the new items like Wind Flute or Gaia Drum if you haven't already. These are basically free "spells" with their damage scaling with the user's Magic Stat. Gravity Bombs are also very useful for many of the high HP end-game enemies. Most of these items can be bought from the Odine Shop in Deling City with Tonberry's Familiar Ability unlocked.

I'm now at the the Garden Wars section. I noticed quite a jump in damage from the enemies, but it makes sense, I guess. Probably everyone else is too low level compared to Squall, so might stay in this area for a while.
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Ok. I hope it won't be too overwhelming. Make sure to check the enemies in Galbadia Garden for new spells, it's definitely worth it. At this point in the game, all your characters should have unlocked all Status-J Abilties from HP down to Spirit. If that's not the case, you might want to re-distribute your GF among your characters to achieve that. Also make sure you can choose from a varied selection of Character Abilities. For example, two GF that have the HP+20% Ability should be on two different characters.

Thanks for the impressions, much appreciated.
 
Thanks for your replies.
Yes, I've been definitely drawing from monsters when I can in the Garden Wars segment. I got some Pains from Tri-Face (that one does a lot of hurt without protect) which I bet is good to junction to ST-Atk or ST-Def.

Wow, I'm happy to know you made stat gains more unique and apparent. Again, IMO, this great mod does wonders in normalizing the experience compared to other FFs while still allowing it to have its own unique quirks (I wanted an experience like this for years, you have no idea).

I'll take a look at my GF distribution, I think I don't have any junction overlaps, but I'll check, thanks (thanks for making GFs unmissable, by the way; last time I played vanilla, way back then, I missed Leviathan... not happy times).

Edit: Out of curiosity, would it be possible to bring Ragnarok to the PS1 original game or are changes too extensive to allow that?

Edit 2: Nothing too exciting to report, but here we go.

I bagged the Oilboyles and the fight went okay (though the nasty buggers are actually stronger than they look) and also did NORG in.

He was a little harder thanks to spamming Pain and Death once the pod was open, but otherwise was manageable thanks to Shell.
Now when both pods go red, oh boy, that's carnage, very hard to survive it, so I set Quists to hit any pod that had gone yellow, something I
also set Zell to do while Squall did the heavy hitting. Even though I have Mesmerize Blades on stock, I didn't have a chance to upgrade the gunblade yet
and Zell is way behind weapon wise. I hope I can upgrade soon.

All in all, the balance of the mod is excellent, and I continue to enjoy it, thank you.
 
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