the_E_y_Es_o_0

Vagrant Story Zenith

156 posts in this topic

Have you used the newest 0.92? Yesterday we had 3 versions flying around one after another :D

Also, make quadruple sure you're isntalling on a fresh unmodded .bin file.

Edited by KarotConCarne

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Just tested the fight and the chest. Both seem to work.  Thank you very much for addressing this super quick. 

 

You're awesome.

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16 minutes ago, mooses8d said:

Just tested the fight and the chest. Both seem to work.  Thank you very much for addressing this super quick. 

 

You're awesome.

Thanks. I have my moments. ^_^ 

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A little progress update, and my plans for the mod in the near future:

Yesterday I finished rebalancing Guildenstern, so all 1st play content is done. For the New Game+ areas, I had already rebalanced the normal enemies, which means there's only the bosses of Forgotten Pathway, Snowfly Forest East and IMB2 left to do. That brings me to the point I want to address: while the Rebalance mod is nearly complete, its sucessor, Zenith, is still at its infancy. So my intention is, when I finish Rebalance, I'll release Zenith instead.

I'll explain. The main fact is the newborn Zenith is already head and shoulders above the latest version of Rebalance. TBH, it makes the latter look a bit ridiculous.

What are the differences between the two? The focus of Zenith is on world building, namely the addition of enemies and encounters to all areas, and transforming them over time. Like the old saying goes, you never step in the same river twice. All this I had mentioned already in the original thread at gamefaqs. What I hadn't mentioned is that the mod also includes a new rebalance of spells, two-handed weapons and Break Arts, the removal of the enemies' "thought bubble", and a number of miscellaneous changes I can't possibly list here. It also does away with the noobishness that's still found in Rebalance. Like having Last Crusaders all over the place, or bosses with super-immunities -- typical bad design by someone who was besottted with what he could do, not minding if he should.

In short, one of the reasons for moving onto Zenith is the improvement in design quality. But most importantly for me, it's also much more organized internally (in terms of data), which makes a world of difference when modifying it. Valendian's teachings really paid off in this aspect; now I have a much better platform to work with. It's probably the main reason I want to perform this upgrade.

Finally, there is the question of timeframe. You might be wondering, why not finish the new mod before releasing it? The truth is, considering the workload required to give one area the "Zenith treatment", it will take approximately 2 years minimum to get even close to completion. That's assuming I can work on it every day. To be fair I'm surprised myself with how high my standards got, and how far I can run with this idea.

As for the present state of Zenith, I'll discuss it when it's time to release it. Which means Soon™.

 

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I am so pumped. This is the most magical news ever.

 

I'm happy to playtest whenever you need someone to playtest something. :)

 

Thank you for being awesome.

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17 hours ago, blackcat777 said:

I'm happy to playtest whenever you need someone to playtest something. :)

Good to hear. There will be a workbuild prior to release, I'll send it your way when the time comes.

Thanks to all you guys for the testing and continued support.

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6 hours ago, Jazz-Man said:

Not sure if this is due to the mod, but I currently cannot combine two Mjolnirs to form a Griever, oddly enough. 

SLUS_010.40_12032019_014850_0445.png

Yes, that's intentional. I changed a few of the combinations, sometimes to enable upgrades, sometimes to disable them. In this case, you'll have to acquire a Griever from an enemy in the field. Barring that, you can also use lateral combinations with other weapon categories to somehow produce a Griever. I did the same thing with the Double Blade; you can no longer forge it with the Balbriggan + Sabre Halberd combination. The reason for these changes was the new power level of those weapons -- considering how early (and easily) you could make them, they obsoleted other weapons before they really should, and threw a wrench in the balance of things.

OTOH, I enabled some early upgrades that weren't possible in the original. Examples:

Wizard Staff + Clergy Rod = Summoner Baton (previously Wizard Staff)

Spear + Glaive = Scorpion (previously Spear)

Etc. The next update will include similar changes, such as Guisarme + Large Crescent = Sabre Halberd (previously Guisarme). Even so, I don't intend to rework too much of the combinations; just make things more fun and balanced overall.

Edited by the_E_y_Es_o_0

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From the discussion thread at GameFaqs:

"So I've decided not to release the next build just yet. It will be a long while until it becomes a coherent whole, and I don't want to hand over some patchwork mess to you guys. Moreover, there are some glaring issues with balance and difficulty that I need to address -- boss fights, especially. Damage multipliers, stats, everything really. Even drop rates; because I increased them, they interrupt the gameplay too much. The mod needs a top to bottom revision.

My suggestion is to forget about this project for the time being. I will leave its current version (0.92) available on ngplus.net, although it's very dated and not representative of future releases. This topic can stay open (if anyone cares to bump it), but I don't really plan to provide updates on what I'm doing. So there will be some radio silence from me in the coming months.

I realize I'm going back on my word, but it's all for the best. The longer the wait, the better the final product will be. In the meanwhile, go check the awesome NES mods at romhacking.net. Like Rogue Dawn and Dragoon X Omega II. Great stuff.

I'll catch you guys later, then."

So this is goodbye for now. Thanks to all who supported the project. I will return with Zenith when it's done, and hopefully it will be worthy of its name. See you all later.

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Yeah, the Minotaur is too powerful in the current version. Bosses in general. The next update will fix that problem.

Also, the changes made to blade combinations will be unmade. Like this one:

On 12/03/2019 at 5:55 AM, Jazz-Man said:

Not sure if this is due to the mod, but I currently cannot combine two Mjolnirs to form a Griever, oddly enough. 

SLUS_010.40_12032019_014850_0445.png

Might as well post the last video update:

Release date: probably early next year.

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Hi, news about this mod? I really want to play again Vagrant Story, but at the same difficult isn't exciting anymore and I love this game :$

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3 hours ago, hitakoh@gmail.com said:

How can I try this? 

I know this game and mechanics like the back of my hand it is so easy I want a challenge.

I have found it thx for the mod.

The minotaur js a good challenge, the first dragon too, other bosses were quite easy. I am at the end of the first mine, just got back to town after the troll boss. I have 2 videos. I'll post them on YouTube tomorrow and you could see for yourself if it can help you. I will come back here to give the links. My gameplay could help you balance things out.

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21 hours ago, hitakoh@gmail.com said:

I have found it thx for the mod.

The minotaur js a good challenge, the first dragon too, other bosses were quite easy. I am at the end of the first mine, just got back to town after the troll boss. I have 2 videos. I'll post them on YouTube tomorrow and you could see for yourself if it can help you. I will come back here to give the links. My gameplay could help you balance things out.

As promised. My videos of yesterday. I messed up part 1 resolution but you can still use it for balancing purpose.

Part 1

part 2

 

 

 

 

 

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The crab gave me a headache, I am tired tonight and my timing were offs. That thing hit me for 100% of the hp looks like it is an effect no matter what is my defense. I equipped a staff and fought the thing from out of range with fire and it was quite easy after all. Still died two times to that thing. It is on my video part 3. It ll be available tomorrow evening. Other bosses  were ok. I am now at the second workshop.

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@hitakoh@gmail.com To be clear, the version you're playing is the old Rebalance Mod, not Zenith. Zenith can't be found online yet.

As you've noticed, some of the boss fights are all but broken. That's one of the reasons I removed the download link.

Rebalance was merely my first attempt at hacking the game and I don't recommend playing it. When Zenith is ready later this year I'll make it available in this topic.

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8 hours ago, the_E_y_Es_o_0 said:

@hitakoh@gmail.com To be clear, the version you're playing is the old Rebalance Mod, not Zenith. Zenith can't be found online yet.

As you've noticed, some of the boss fights are all but broken. That's one of the reasons I removed the download link.

Rebalance was merely my first attempt at hacking the game and I don't recommend playing it. When Zenith is ready later this year I'll make it available in this topic.

I thought it was that thanks for letting me know. I don't know if it is still like that in Zenith but I felt like the drop rate is very high.

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