Insane Difficulty: Main NT Thread: Download Links & News - Insane Difficulty

FF7 New Threat Mod (v1.4) - Download Links & News

~~Main Installer~~
Current Build: 1.4 - 6th January 2017
http://www.mediafire...anuary_2017.zip
[Currently requires scene + flevel hotfix patches]

Note that due to changes in the Kernel, it's important to start from a New Game after installation of the mod; using a pre-existing save file made on a non-NT game will result in some oddities such as starting with overpowered equipment, missing out on early Materia such as Barrier, and some visual glitches with the EXP gauge (due to a custom EXP curve the mod uses). There will likely be other issues as well. If playing NT for the first time, start from a New Game!

Installation is fairly straightforward; run the patcher and direct it to the 'data' folder of your copy of FF7.
For 1998, this would be in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII

For Steam, this would be located in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII

Confirm, and the patcher should take care of the rest. Note that installation will probably get complicated if you have other set-ups such as Bootleg Mod Loader, 7th Heaven, etc. in use. The NT Mod has a 7H .IRO (currently v1.2) for 7H, but it can be tricky to get working with Bootleg.

Also, while its quite easy to use, the patcher is very basic and will simply overwrite all the game's files rather than inserting/changing the ones it alters like more advanced mod installers. Graphical mods and the like will generally have to be re-installed over the top of FF7 NT.

One thing to note is that this patcher, due to it being an .exe that comes with writing permissions, has been flagged in the past as being malicious, particularly following a fresh update to the installer. You may need to retrieve the file from the depths of your browser's download section. For this reason though, you should only download the NT mod either from here, Qhimm, or from the videos below.


~~Installation: Video Tutorial~~
Installation + Gameplay http://youtu.be/I7JlJHP4xb0

Installation + New Content Preview https://youtu.be/4dOqfeJQPeo


~~Hotfix Patches~~
-) These patches are for people who downloaded the NT Mod's Main installer BEFORE the dates shown beside each Hotfix patch. The Hotfixes address problems and provide quick updates to features in the mod's key files, saving the need for downloading the entire Installer again. A hotfix is applied in the same way as the main installer; just direct it to your data folder.

-) Scene Hotfix: (Average: 700KB) - 18th January 2017
http://www.mediafire...anuary_2017.zip

-) Flevel Hotfix: (Average: 110MB) - 25th February 2017
http://www.mediafire...th_February.zip


~~7H IRO Version~~

http://www.mediafire...bruary_2017.iro

NOTE: This is specifically for use with the mod-loader program 7th Heaven (7H).
It's a separate installation method to the Main Installer, and can be found EQ2Alyza's mod catalog which can be accessed through 7H itself. For more information, check out the 7H thread found here: http://forums.qhimm....p?topic=15520.0


~~Welcome to the NT Mod~~
The New Threat mod is a gameplay & content mod for Final Fantasy VII PC. It's goal is to make a fast-paced, strategic overhaul for the game's battle system and to that effect has fine-tuned every character, enemy, weapon, armour, item, and ability in the game. Special modifications have also been made to better balance the game and keep it challenging but satisfying to play.

In addition to this, the mod introduces new content such as sidequests and extra events to challenge players with new and devious adversaries. Try your hand at the Extra Battle expansion for Battle Square, win the round robin tournaments in the Junon Leagues, hunt down Lv.4 Limits, tackle a brand new sidequest in Midgar, and craft up Ultimate Weapons from the spoils.

Finally, a number of other features were introduced, such as the option to skip certain lengthy sequences (Nibelheim Flashback for instance), changing your party leader on Disc 3, extended Save Point systems, additional merchants, Save Points, Rank-Up system, innate character abilities, and more.

Also, as a general rule: any new content added will not disrupt earlier playthroughs and is available throughout the game.


~~New Content~~
Note that some content isn't available until the player has reached the bottom of the North Cave on Disc 3 and then returned to the Highwind. This is to prevent clashes with certain scenes and will be marked as [*] beside the listed content.

New Enemies, Bosses, & Events
No spoilers here, but from the get-go you'll be dealing with new encounters and fights, some of which have no equivalent in the original game. Expect the unexpected, and be prepared to make use of mechanics you might have skipped over while playing the original.

Rank Up & Innates System
A new system for developing your characters, Rank Up allows players to create 'builds' for each character by developing certain stats. Each character also has their own innate ability or attribute(s) to lend them more utility in battle and add an extra dimension to your set up.

Extra Battle
An extension to Battle Square, the player can fight one of ten new boss monsters that each have the chance to drop some valuable loot. These monsters can also be Morphed into valuable end-game weapons and defeating them for the first time will yield a one-off rare Materia prize such as Double-Cut, W-Item, or Planet Materia. The final monster in Extra Battle, the 10th 'cameo' monster, drops a very special item that has an effect toward the end of the game...


Junon Leagues
http://youtu.be/KZy2cG1b550
A tourney-based round-robin competition where one character is sent to compete in one of 5 'brackets' with other solo fighters. Each competitor fights each other twice and if the player has the most points by the end they pick up a neat prize that generally includes some brand new items that were added to the game. At present, only two of the five brackets are complete with the rest planned to be added at a later date.


Dark Cave Sidequest[*]
A brand new scenario in which the player has to track down their missing party members and escape the...well, you'll see. This is accessed on Disc 3 by talking to Dio in the Battle Square's museum. He'll tell you about an excavation site and to head for the outskirts of the Sleeping Forest where a mysterious cave, previously inaccessible, is waiting...


Lv.4 Limits Side-quest [*]
A new sidequest split all across the world, each of the nine characters has their own unique 'mini-scenario' to conquer where the player must defeat a powerful boss to earn that character's Lv.4 Limit Break. Cait Sith also has one, but his boss drops a new Key Item called Dark Matter that is used in crafting an Ultimate Weapon.



~~Features~~
Note that some features aren't available until the player has reached the bottom of the North Cave on Disc 3 and then returned to the Highwind. This is to prevent clashes with certain scenes and will be marked as [*] beside the listed feature.


Character Overhaul
A common complaint with FF7's battle system was that the characters were very similar to each other in terms of tangible stats, and the only real differences between them rested with Limit Breaks and the occasional 'unusual' weapon with a unique damage formula such as Powersoul or Yoshiyuki. NT tackles this by adding much greater diversity to weapons, armour, accessories and to the characters themselves. It is now very easy to create focused 'builds' that compliment each character's new distinct strengths and weaknesses, and in the pending update a new angle will be added to the player's set-up with innate character attributes & the Rank-Up system.


Extended Save Point Script
An enhancement for the game's save points, this feature displays a composite menu that allows players to quickly toggle NT-specific settings such as Battle Music behaviour and weather settings, a 'Quick-Tent' to quickly heal the party without entering the menu, Party-wide unequip to quickly reset your party's inventory, and the usual Save/PHS options of course. It's marginally quicker to use these ESPs too, as the Menu can be opened immediately to Save/PHS as opposed to the default Save Point message which must be closed before it can be used.


Flashback Skips
Certain flashback sequences can now be skipped, including:
-) Train Terminal w/ Jessie
-) The Promise Flashback
-) Elmyra's Story
-) Nibelheim Flashback
-) Barret's Corel Flashback
-) Cid's Rocket Launch Flashback
-) Mideel - Cloud's Memory Sequence


Field = Battle Music Option
An option to change Battle music behaviour is available:
-) Field Music: When a battle starts, the current field music will continue to play instead of the battle theme.
-) Regular/Battle Music: No change, the battle theme will play when entering a battle.

This option has no effect on Boss battles, and certain events will make use of the regular battle theme if the current field music theme isn't appropriate. It is enabled from the beginning of the game, replacing the running tutorial Barret gives just prior to entering the Reactor. The option can be toggled later either from a Extended Save Point or from a new NPC aboard the Highwind.


Party Leader Swap [*]
It is now possible to change party leader from Cloud to either Tifa or Cid. This is accessed from the Operations Room of the Highwind, from the new NPC on the right-hand side when entering this room. This feature requires that you visit the bottom of North Cave and then return before it can be used.

Please note that the character displayed on the World Map will be whichever of these three characters as the highest 'priority'.
The priority list is Cloud > Tifa > Cid.


Improved Field Models
Produced by Kalderasha but never completed, the few chibi-style field models he completed were kindly donated for the mod, with a few being tweaked by myself. They adhere very closely to the original style of the game's field models, but sport an enhanced look that better matches their promotional art + battle models. In addition to this, I've removed the mouths on many NPCs and replaced with a blank texture, PS1-style.

An example can be seen here: http://i61.tinypic.com/14llx4z.png


General Conveniences
To ease play, some additional shops, save points, and other script changes were added to address some annoyances with the original game:
-) North Crater teleport: a new NPC allows the party to return to the Highwind instantly from the bottom of North Crater.

-) Searching for Yuffie in the forests around Junon is no longer a problem.

-) Black-Cape Merchant: A new merchant was added to the Whirlwind Maze who sells general items including Phoenix Downs. This merchant then appears on the Highwind, selling Weapons, Materia, and items.

-) Shop Changes: Certain stores were changed to carry a more useful inventory. The Desert Prison store and Under Junon store are two examples.

-) Save Points were added to several locations, including the Sector 6 Sewers (accessible before and after the Aps Snr. fight), the Highway mini-game, before the boss fight in the Cave of the Gi, for the Junon Raid, and after the Jenova-JUNO fight to name a few.


Emergency Phoenix Down
Just in case.


~~Bug Reports/Suggestions~~
If you find any bugs or issues, then be sure to let me know. I'll get it fixed for the next update or right away if it's a serious problem that prevents progress. I tend to maintain 'hotfix' patches that repair specific files that the mod depends on. This helps to keep download sizes down. Hotfix patches will be linked here when and as they become necessary.

Also, if you have suggestions for new content or ways to improve current content then let me know.

\\NT News: 1.35 Update Pending//

Currently underway is a large-scale overhaul that will introduce key changes to the way characters are developed; the Rank-Up system will allow players to take control over their character's stat growths and create their own focused 'builds' as the game progresses. This is designed to compliment the equipment tweaks and help to make the game's battle system more involving than ever before. You can see Rank-Up explained & in-action here: https://youtu.be/TtNd4QVaAWE?t=1m13s

Note that the stats shown in the video are still 'beta' and are not going to be the same in the finished patch.

On top of this, each character is getting an 'innate' ability to distinguish them further from each other. The current Innates are listed below (but are subject to change before the update is actually released):

\\Cloud//
Copies one party member's innate ability at random. I thought this one would tie in with Cloud's character; you could even go a step further and say that it ties in with Zack's gimmick in CC where he'd 'copy' other people's limit breaks for his DMW reel and that Cloud is copying Zack's ability to copy- never mind.

\\Barret//
When Barret is attacked physically, he gains one of two different stacks depending on which Row he's in. If he's in the Back Row, he gains a defensive buff of +8 to Vit & Spr (up to a maximum of 5 stacks for 40 Vit/Spr). In the Front Row, he gains stacks of +4 Attack (again, maximum of 5 stacks for +20 Attack). If Barret gains a stack of one type, it nullifies all stacks of the other type. So if you have 5 Defensive stacks and then move to the front and gain one Attack stack, he'll lose all his defensive stacks.

\\Tifa//
Tifa's physical attacks will reduce the target's defence slightly each time, helping to wear down tougher opponents in longer battles.

\\Aeris//
When Aeris' MP falls into the last 1/4, she gets a temporary buff of +20 Magic which is reset whenever her MP rises back above 1/4. This should help give lower-level spells a shot in the arm later in the game.

\\Red XIII/
As the battle progresses, Red's Str and Mag will very slowly increase (+1 each time) for a maximum buff of +15 to both.

\\Yuffie//
Whenever Yuffie is hit by a physical attack, she temporarily gains 255% evasion against physical attacks. This is cancelled if she is hit by any kind of magical attack, including healing spells. It will also wear off after a set number of turns.

\\Cait Sith//
Rage System: When under the influence of a status ailment, Cait can have a special AI script 'Rage' triggered by using the Morph command on him. The Rage used depends on the status ailment. (This is in some doubt as the script-size limitation on the kernel is more severe than in the scene.bin; it is still possible, however).

\\Vincent//
A passive innate, Vincent enjoys Fire, Lightning, and Poison immunity as well as starting each battle with the Deathforce status. These represent his four Limit forms (where Chaos utilises instant KO attacks and Hellmasker inflicts status ailments like Poison with Nightmare).

\\Cid//
Whenever Cid is knocked down into critical HP, he gains a temporary boost of 2x to his Luck stat. This wears off and resets when he is no longer at 1/4HP or below.

Following this update, and the overhaul of every enemy + boss in the game to better match these changes, it's unlikely that any further large-scale revisions will be made to NT's enemy roster beyond small tweaks. I'll be looking to push further into producing actual content for the mod, finishing off some of the existing sides such as Junon Leagues, and adding polish to Dark Cave. There's still a lot of work to do before I feel happy with pushing the mod toward it's 1.4 release.

This is a (rough) checklist of what I want to get done following this update:
-) Tighten up Dark Cave sidequest and flesh it out a little
-) Add the remaining Junon Leagues brackets
-) Renovate Event Square to perform some function in Gold Saucer
-) Add party members to each town to be interacted with (similar to how they'd temporarily appear in Costa Del Sol)
-) Create mini-sidequests for pre-leveled Materia drops throughout the main story

If you have any thoughts or feedback to share about the pending patch or the changes proposed above, then let me know in the comments below (or in chat).

Is there any sort of visual cue for when one of these abilities procs?

I feel coerced to play your mod now. And I'm most definitely not complaining.

Advent, on 06 June 2015 - 08:24 PM, said:

There's a text string that'll say '[ability] stack +1' and similar. I can't do it visually because animations need a spell/attack attached to them to display properly.

@Hart ah gee, I'm real sorry about that; maybe I'll feel guilty enough to play your Battle Network

Sega Chief, on 07 June 2015 - 04:39 AM, said:

Like when the game says "Miss" and stuff, right? That's visual enough, just as long as there's some kind of visual cue for it.

Sega Chief, on 07 June 2015 - 04:39 AM, said:

Hey, he's playing it. A win is a win to me.

So how will Cloud's work? Like will you know which passive it is at the start? Or is it like at random amounts of turns or at the start of each battle...?

Augestein, on 08 June 2015 - 07:14 PM, said:

At the moment, it selects one of the other active party members at random and applies it (but there's a chance it'll fail). I'm planning to add some kind of loop so that he's guaranteed to get one or the other, along with a message stating which innate was taken, but I'm concerned about RNG causing resets, etc. Maybe I could have him use Sense so that the player can choose which one to get? Problem I'm having is that a lot of AI is dependent on reacting, so could be tough to get it to happen. Script might be smaller though, which is more room for other things.

\\NT News: 1.35 Update Released//

The enemy overhaul to compliment the new Rank Up system is now complete. You can see the Rank-Up feature explained & in-action here: https://youtu.be/TtNd4QVaAWE?t=1m13s

Note that the stats shown in the video were still 'beta' and not identical to those in the new patch. The following are the current innates used by each character:

\\Cloud//
Has a chance to gain a 'Fortify' stack whenever he receives magical damage/effects, raising his Level and improving his damage output overall.

\\Barret//
When Barret is attacked physically, he gains one of two different stacks depending on which Row he's in. If he's in the Back Row, he gains a defensive buff of +8 to Vit & Spr (up to a maximum of 5 stacks for 40 Vit/Spr). In the Front Row, he gains stacks of +4 Attack (again, maximum of 5 stacks for +20 Attack). If Barret gains a stack of one type, it nullifies all stacks of the other type. So if you have 5 Defensive stacks and then move to the front and gain one Attack stack, he'll lose all his defensive stacks.

\\Tifa//
When the Sense command is used, Tifa gains a one-time boost to her STR stat.

\\Aeris//
Slowly regenerates MP over time while in battle.

\\Red XIII/
As the battle progresses, Red's Str and Mag will very slowly increase (+1 each time) for a maximum buff of +20 to both. This gain is lost if he is KO'd.

\\Yuffie//
Whenever Yuffie is hit by a physical attack, she temporarily gains 255% evasion against physical attacks. This is cancelled if she is hit by any kind of magical attack.

\\Cait Sith//
Rage System: When under the influence of a status ailment, Cait can have a special AI script 'Rage' triggered by using the Morph command on him. The Rage used depends on the status ailment.

\\Vincent//
A passive innate, Vincent enjoys Fire, Lightning, and Poison immunity as well as starting each battle with the Deathforce status. These represent his four Limit forms (where Chaos utilises instant KO attacks and Hellmasker inflicts status ailments like Poison with Nightmare).

\\Cid//
Whenever Cid is knocked down into critical HP, he gains a temporary boost of 2x to his Luck stat.

If you have any thoughts or feedback to share about the patch or the changes, then let me know in the comments below (or in chat).

Advent, on 18 July 2015 - 12:39 PM, said:

Thank you, Advent.

Sega Chief, on 18 July 2015 - 12:42 PM, said:

Anytime.

Advent, on 18 July 2015 - 12:39 PM, said:

As hard as it is to admit this, Advent has erected many laughs.

The Custom .EXE Patch is now available from the front post of this thread. It's an optional extra that revamps Limit Breaks, Materia Equip Bonuses/Penalties, and activates Long Range physical attacks for enemies. Installation should be the same as the main installer/hotfix patches but remember to make a copy of your .exe beforehand as a back-up and to report any problems. Feedback on the .exe changes is welcome, but bear in mind that the changes it brings in will make the game slightly harder so keep that in mind.

It's pretty great.

\\NT News: 1.35 - Scene & Flevel Hotfix Patches//

1.35 has been out in the wild for over a week now, and in that time bugs and other issues have arisen; some small, some serious. The Hotfix patches are set up to save on some time/download by only correcting key files in NT; namely the scene.bin (battles) and flevel.lgp (game's script). They're applied in the same way as the Main Installer; direct to the data folder and patch over (will work with any installation).

The current fixes are:

Scene Hotfix: 22nd July 2015
-) Corrects problem with Great Glacier enemies using the wrong model Index (soft-lock)
-) Corrects Ziegfried HP
-) Fixes targeting problem with 2x-Cut

Flevel
-) Corrects a 'wrong jump' on Rank Up from Save Point accessed by Barret prior to Weapon Raid (soft-lock)
-) Adds variable switch to end of Dark Cave sidequest to prevent access to Sector 7 (potential soft-lock if visiting this area)
-) Corrects Luck Source drop on Cait Sith's Battle Mog rank option (was dropping Mind Sources instead
-) Numerous minor fixes to weather, text boxes, etc.

At the end of each month, the Main Installer is updated to reflect the Hotfix changes.

What does Fortify do? Doesn't raising level do nothing here?

ShiyaNuu, on 27 July 2015 - 07:30 AM, said:

Level is very important in FF7's damage formulas; both physical and magical attacks use it. It also gets used for Steal checks, Manipulate checks, and is used in Magic Accuracy (all of which are set against the target enemy's level in the acc. check). So Cloud will generally deal slightly more damage and have better success with magic/commands when he gains a Fortify stack; it's also uncapped at the moment, so he can keep gaining them.

\\NT News: 1.35 - Flevel Hotfix Patch - 4th August//

Some more issues were reported and fixed, and are now reflected in the Flevel Hotfix Patch. The Main Installer hasn't been updated yet to reflect the changes, as there's some niggling things to be corrected in the scene.bin.

The current fixes are:

Flevel
-) Encounter Table in Junon (Weapon Raid) was corrected to prevent soft-locks
-) Possibly corrupt field was replaced with a back-up for the Cargo Ship
-) Corrects a 'wrong jump' on Rank Up from Save Point accessed by Barret prior to Weapon Raid (soft-lock)
-) Adds variable switch to end of Dark Cave sidequest to prevent access to Sector 7 (potential soft-lock if visiting this area)
-) Corrects Luck Source drop on Cait Sith's Battle Mog rank option (was dropping Mind Sources instead
-) Numerous minor fixes to weather, text boxes, etc.