FFTA Long Night 0.61 released!

Page 1 of 1

You cannot start a new topic
You cannot reply to this topic

#1 dck

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 11

16 June 2016 - 06:09 PM

FFTA Long Night is after a long time ready to be played! Although the endgame will be developed at a later patch, the current 0.6 allows access to all the new jobs, abilities and 70% of the game's encounters!
Download here (0.64)

Here is a general changelog so you know what to expect going in:

Reworked jobs: Every job has been changed to keep it as an actual option both for player and AI. The list at the bottom has the accurate changes.

Heavily

Reworked stats: Each race has a shared starting point regardless of job, allowing to swap starting characters to different roles without massive losses in usability. Stats have been scaled down to allow a higher ceiling of endgame fights, without having a real effect on most general encounters. Speed and EV are completely gear driven.

No APs: Units master skills upon wielding the item that grants them, although some in particular will never be mastered at all- this allows for broken concepts like double weapon to still be used without enabling ridiculous scenarios. This also allows for more creative formation design that doesn't punish the player by having him do a thousand deployment missions.

No job prerequisites: A part of the formation rework demands for the player to be able to expand pronto, and following the secondary reason for the AP removal there was no need for this to remain.

No laws: While a decent concept, laws worked against the variety this hack aims to provide and have been removed.

Redone gear: Body armor has core values such as EV and speed that make for the bulk of those stats on a character- this of course varies between the three main types, that provide very different levels of defense themselves. Weapon have also been greatly changed, however these are self-explanatory in-game.

All enemies scale up to your highest level dude. A basic change that was very much needed.

There are four types of combos that have perfect hitrate and cover different ranges, relevant to which class uses them. Combos can never be mastered, and mythril weapons, while weak overall, offer otherwise very rare modifiers to movement and improve positioning in general as to facilitate the combos themselves. The idea is that solving a battle through combos is a conscious commitment that is actually viable, as opposed to an option to randomly deal 999 damage to something because two units happened to be in range and you remembered you had some JPs.

MP management: Most skills cost MP and it does not regenerate during fights. There's plenty of skills to help with this, but there's also a bunch that attack enemy MP, as MP damage can now be relevant.

Formations redone to a much higher standard of threat. There's still a progression, but since the player has access to more skills and jobs, he can deal with stronger opposition earlier.

As of 0.64, all content unlocked up to story mission 15 is available. Since at that point the player gains access to all character abilities and the best shop gear, there was actually room for a bunch of endgame-ish content too.
The remaining part of the game will differ even further from vanilla, so updates from this version will probably take a while as I work on the unique classes and experiment in general.

Known bugs:

Water Veil appears to crash in certain circumstances when using VBA 1.7.2. Using https://mgba.io/ is recommended since there are no known crashes with it.

If you manage to get a law card somehow, there's a nonzero chance reading its description will crash the game. However these shouldn't be available anywhere except one type at Ezel's, where nothing should happen.

Balms, potions and ambrosia do not consume the item upon usage.

Marche starts out with a combo already equipped.

Not bugs:

Relics cannot be obtained by players, the item type meant to be enemy only.

No clan skill experience can be gained.

Certain deployment missions have a combat skill requirement, this is to maintain save compatibility and keep them from completion until later versions when they are set up as battle missions.

The "random" skills starting characters know are actually all the skills they could learn swapping starting gear.

NOTE: None of this would've been possible without the outstanding work by bcrobert, Darthatron and TFergusson. The amount of information unearthed, organized and made readily available helped greatly when getting to understand just how exactly to get things done.

NOTE2: This hack started based off the first one I played called FFTA X, the influence of X is still visible in the Shaman, Cultist and Zealot, whose core concepts are maintained and expanded as they are both simple and ingenious.

Skill list:

Spoiler

Soldier

Spoiler

Paladin

Spoiler

Fighter

Spoiler

Duelist (human and moguri)

Spoiler

Shaman

Spoiler

White Mage (human, nu mou and viera)

Spoiler

Black Mage (human, nu mou and moguri)

Spoiler

Zealot (human and nu mou)

Spoiler

Onion Knight

Spoiler

Archer (human and viera)

Spoiler

Hunter

Spoiler

Warrior

Spoiler

Dragoon

Spoiler

Defender

Spoiler

Gladiator

Spoiler

White Monk

Spoiler

Bishop

Spoiler

Templar

Spoiler

Psion (nu mou and moguri)

Spoiler

Alchemist

Spoiler

Forest Ranger

Spoiler

Dream Strider

Spoiler

Professor

Spoiler

Paragon

Spoiler

Elementalist

Spoiler

Red Mage

Spoiler

Summoner (viera and moguri)

Spoiler

Black Monk

Spoiler

Sniper

Spoiler

Mog Knight

Spoiler

Gunner

Spoiler

Firebreather

Spoiler

Cultist

Spoiler

Jobs' stat dump for those interested:

Spoiler

#2 FFTA

Master Hacker

Job: Administrator
Posts: 3,034

17 June 2016 - 12:55 PM

Curios what you used for "Draw weapon" ?

I was going to do the exact thing for onion knight and couldn't think of a way to make that a skill. Unless I'm forgetting something in the game

Nice work btw!

#3 dck

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 11

17 June 2016 - 03:55 PM

It's been a while since I set that up, but iirc it disarms the user with a 100% chance and then uses the normal draw weapon effect.

Thanks!

#4 Augestein

Challenger

Job: Member
Posts: 801

17 June 2016 - 08:23 PM

Sounds fun. Posting here to keep myself in the topic.

#5 FFTA

Master Hacker

Job: Administrator
Posts: 3,034

18 June 2016 - 12:18 PM

You did what I did with base stats too. Made them class by class.

#6 dck

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 11

19 June 2016 - 03:22 AM

Yeah, I've always liked the game overall, but there were far too many tedious things with the AP grinding and jobs having different base stats that made a huge difference. I wanted to set the game up how I'd wanna play it, so the stats are set up so that getting what you want doesn't take forever.
Artifacts should be much less of a pain as well, since you only get what you need for quests now.

#7 dck

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 11

28 June 2016 - 03:33 AM

Just a heads up, apparently boots were broken since the main release and an old change was giving totemas a speed growth, making them noticeably stronger than they are meant to be (which is already a lot). Both of these things are fixed, with a lot of other lesser changes that have been done through versions.
Shame you can't rename threads since it'd be useful for keeping the current version easy to check.

#8 Tristan B

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 1

26 July 2016 - 06:35 AM

Hello! I just finished playing the 15 story-line missions and most of the side-quests. Thank you for your work, I had a great time!

• The non-AP system is great: its only counterpart is the shop upgrade ☺.

• The mythril system is great: although I did not use it, at least I could NOT use it! As you said, I could not easily kill someone because I had some JPs leftovers, or attack a facing opponent for a guaranteed hit.

• Bonecrusher being unlearnable is great: it comes at the price of low mobility for Gladiator, Mog knight, etc…

• Ambidextry for the Black Monk is great: as this job’s lvl ups are non-optimized for a bruiser-oriented Viera, you cannot blindly autopilot your grinding with it. Still, for the Duelist job, I found it too strong. I had Marche mostly leveling up as a Duelist (as it gives the best average stats for physical power and tankiness), and he was constantly double-wielding, doing crazy damage (paired with his innate combo

). I wish it was for another job, less stats optimized one, or simply not available for the Duelist.

• Non-missable items / No treasure hunting is great.

• Difficulty is great in the first part. Then I had my 1st shop upgrade, and the game became easier. Then I had the 2nd shop upgrade, and it became quite easy. I always had nearly enough money to fully equip my 6 members with optimized hat/armor/weapon/shield/accessory as soon as I got the upgrade, and it gave me a considerable advantage. I wish the cost of items were doubled in the two shop upgrades. It would encourage thinking in whom to equip first, which abilities to learn first, which mission to do first in order to get an item, etc…

• Balms are great: I found them really useful in the early stages, and a great reward for taking Items as an Ability. I wish they would be more expensive though.

• Enemy lvl according to highest of the clan played a huge role when I got Eldena (Viera semi-secret character): she came 5 lvls ahead, which gave me some serious battles following her entry to readjust. I really enjoyed that part, and saved the Hero gaol for another difficulty boost later on.

• The clothing to give Psion job the Reaction Haste was not wearable either from the Moogle nor the Nu Mou.

• MP not regenerating is what I liked the most.
I tried to lvl up accordingly, trying to find a balance between bulk and mana pool. Unfortunately, with the 2nd shop upgrade, I got Half MP support with all characters, and thought it killed the idea. I wish this support would be unlearnable, like Ambidextry, or simply not available.

This is how I leveled my clan, trying to optimize my characters according to their role.

• Marche as a Duelist / Paladin, with Soldier abilities

Best average stats for physical power / tankiness

• Bangaa as a Soldier / Defender / Blue Monk a few times, with Blue Monk abilities

Best average stats for physical power / tankiness / MP per lvl with physical power and tankiness

• Vieraa as a Parangon / Black Monk a few times

Best average stats for physical power and tankiness / MP per lvl with physical power and tankiness

• Montblanc as a Firebreather / Black Mage, with Psion abilities sometimes

Best average stats for MP per lvl and magical power / tankiness with MP per lvl and magical power

• Human as a Black Mage / White Mage

Best average stats for MP per lvl and magical power / tankiness with MP per lvl and magical power

• Nu Mou as a Black Mage / White Mage, with Psion abilities sometimes

Best average stats for MP per lvl and magical power / tankiness with MP per lvl and magical power

I regret one thing: my conservative mind forbade me to try jobs that were non-optimized for my characters stats, such as Forest guard (physically oriented) for Nu Mou, etc… so I cannot talk about them.

I wanted to play the Viera as an Archer / Sniper, but ended up playing her mostly as a Parangon, since the lvl ups from the marksman jobs are not as good as the Parangon.
I wish the Sniper would have lvl ups with more physical power, MP, or tankiness.
The Archer has less Move and Jump, so it could have better stats lvl ups to compensate.

I found Ensnare (Stop) from the Black Monk to be a bit OP. You can chain with spells like Demi (Psion), or “risky attacks” such as Quatre (Parangon) to easily bring down huge opponents. I wish it would have a downfall, like a Haste boost at the end of the effect?

And all the rest I will not talk about, because the rest is really GREAT! Abilities, damage, mana cost, range, etc…………………..
Yes, really NICE !

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I had a great time.

Tristan

#9 dck

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 11

17 August 2016 - 05:28 PM

Hi, I've been having some problems updating the first post so I think you played a version that was a bit out of date at the time, doesn't look like it affected your playthrough a lot however, which is fortunate.

About stats, some changes are needed for sure. Until recently I didn't really notice how snipers and hunters had growths almost completely inferior to archers, for example. Duelists could also use being a bit more frail to further distinguish them from soldiers, they fill different niches from fighters so it shouldn't be a problem.

Difficulty does stabilize as shops unlock, but since the endgame will be starting after exodus I thought it'd be good to give the player a breather to try new items and skills as they are unlocked. That said, plenty of side missions are pretty hard if done when they become available.
Besides that, throughout the mid-game formations have to keep the player's current avaiable gear in mind not to make things flat out unfair. Not that there's anything wrong with occasionally unfair, but FFTA is a rather long game so there isn't need to overdo that.
As it is, the game ends when the player is at the peak of what his units can do, but what's interesting is that from here on it's simple to ramp up enemy threat so they stay relevant.

This last part also relates to your observations with MP management; although it's true that it loses part of its impact as characters level up and gain abilities, I thought it was necessary that the player could get some wriggle room so getting comfortable with different ability setups is a pospossibility. For example, friend of mine wound up ditching white magic altogether to use a more support oriented paladin when trying to take down the roaming naiads "boss fight".

Hope that covers your concerns, it was great reading your detailed clan report and feedback, and I'm glad you enjoyed the game so far! I'm still experimenting on random things for the endgame content so it won't be out for a while, but I'm sure it won't disappoint.

#10 Achelexus

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 74

20 August 2016 - 03:11 AM

I feel that it would be interesting to see job stats simply being a multiplier upon having the unit switch to the job, rather than being what stats the unit gains on level up. Kinda like FF5/Bravely Default, this way an unit wouldn't be screwed simply by leveling up on certain jobs. The problem is more apparent once you consider how some classes just get way more stats on level up compared to others.

Hack is pretty awesome btw.

#11 Achelexus

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 74

25 August 2016 - 10:59 AM

Weird enough, I still haven't gotten any shop upgrade even though the shopkeeper said I did.

#12 dck

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 11

25 August 2016 - 03:15 PM

Odd, my notifications just started working with that message. Anyway, yeah that's one of the things I've been looking for a way to change for some time without finding it. You get the messages when you win 10 and 20 battles, but the shops actually change only after Ultima and Exodus are defeated. Those would be story missions 9 and 15.

Your idea about jobs being a stat multiplier instead of permanent changes is something I did think about, although talking about it with a friend he did bring up that most character development parts are already altered and recruiting is very strong, so he'd rather be able to mix and mach if necessary because you can just recruit fully specced characters later.
I do like keeping some character progression and I think most jobs are fairly well balanced, so I kept it as is. Some have been overlooked for sure, but hopefully that can be fixed.

Since I don't update this thread as often as I should, here's something I was checking out some weeks ago when looking for ways to implement the new unique characters https://u.pomf.is/yyyvgn.mp4

#13 Achelexus

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 74

26 August 2016 - 02:01 PM

Ah, I see, I haven't even fought Famfrit yet so I guess it will take some time until I get the shop upgrade.

I think that the problem with the disparity between stat gains is that it doesn't actually reflect in disparity in strength for the actual jobs, since nothing forbids the player from simply getting leveled character of a class with high growths and changing it to a class with low growths.

With stats being multipliers, you can balance jobs around it perfectly, a job may have low growths but have more move, jump or better equipment variety.

#14 dck

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 11

27 August 2016 - 06:23 AM

Oh, I get the good part about jobs as multipliers instead of permanent bonuses, I'm just not sure the end result would play that much better. The hack already has some interface problems with learning abilities and having to re equip often that I'd like to address down the line. A multiplier system would encourage also swapping around to every job so you can check how it affects any secondary skillset that you want to use.
And in truth, I'm not sure how I'd implement it to begin with. That's no big deal as I often figure things out as I go, but that in particular I've never screwed around much with.

Recruitment and the items related to it need some changes though. In general it ought to be a lot more clear what items gets you which recruits, since they're some of the few artifacts that still have any effect.

#15 Hart-Hunt

Impostonator

Job: Regulator
Posts: 3,847

29 August 2016 - 09:51 AM

Somehow I haven't played the attention this deserves. I haven't played FFTA, but I do know FFT, and I like the idea behind the skillsets. I can see you put a lot of thought regarding their balance.

I'll definitely play this soon.

#16 dck

Novice

Job: Member
Posts: 11

30 August 2016 - 02:04 AM

Neat, you'd be the first person I know of to play it without having played the original, so that'd definitely be an interesting point of view. I think things are clear enough in-game, but I haven't added the customized rumors yet so feel free to ask if something doesn't make much sense.

Share this topic:

Page 1 of 1

You cannot start a new topic
You cannot reply to this topic

Insane Difficulty: FFTA Long Night 0.61 released! - Insane Difficulty