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zedorfed66

Shadow Hearts NTSC-U - Imbroglio v3.20

105 posts in this topic

3 hours ago, ScottyTheVideoGamer said:

Awesome work! I have just started playing with this mod, so far so good.

I started a lets play and wrote about it on my blog

https://shadowheartsorigins.blogspot.com/2020/05/shadow-hearts-ps2-lets-play-with.html

will be posting weekly videos and will write a written review / summary for each section.

Sadly no commentary in the video but I will maybe make a video review summary once I beat the game.

Thanks again!

 

Hey thanks a lot! Hope you'll have great time :)

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23 hours ago, ScottyTheVideoGamer said:

Shadow Hearts PS2 Lets Play With Imbroglio Difficulty Mod Part 2 (Zhaoyang Village)

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BEnTGZP1is

Blog:

https://shadowheartsorigins.blogspot.com/2020/05/shadow-hearts-ps2-lets-play-with_27.html

Hope you all enjoy watching! This was where things started to get tuff!

Hey, thanks a lot for these videos. I hope you're doing well in life right now with the pandemia going on. I wish these games would only have positive effect on people and that they wouldn't curse at my mod for being annoying or too hard. I primarily make these mods the way I enjoy playing these games myself. 

I watched your video and your emphasis on playing extra safe caught my attention. That works well in bosses in general (you did really well in Felinus & Yamaraja) but may result in deaths in normal encounters where you should be playing more aggressively in encounters where you need to take care of the enemies fast. It also saves time to take care of the normal encounters faster since you'll be fighting a lot. You could try using Yuri's fusion magic as it has great effect on certain enemies. For example you could've one shot either the Zombie or Green Flyer enemies with the Earth element's (Flying Stones was it?) magic. I noticed you got better hang of hitting perfects with Zhuzhen's magic later on in the video so great props for that ^^. Also the Malice lowering fights grant you items if you do them before the door has opened (red Malice level).

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I love this mod so far and I felt like to have this is perfect for the SH series. It feels pretty professional.

My only real dislike for the series in general was that it can be too easy and this mod certainly fixes that.

From where stats etc.... to even what items or tactics used didn't overly matter (unless speedrunning/rushing through).

But now it does on all levels what fusion, items, formation, equipment and tactics everything matters now.

There was a slight learning curve from having beaten the game multiple times to having to adapt to this mod rather than using what was quick and easy normally.

Also slight adaption to playing it on pcsx2 first time whereas before always played on original ps2 or ps3. Took a bit to improve the timings of the judgement ring.

I have almost finished Asia will have a lot of footage to organise but I feel like I have grown.

I really enjoyed the boss in Dalian and li li on the boat and as I go in further in the game the tactics continue to be even more important.

 

One question is it possible to disable getting ambushed? because I kind of feel like it is not as needed because from my experience it either happens early into an area when I'm grinding/going through which is like an automatic gameover and when it happens later it feels like i just saved less than a minute ago might as well reset. 

 

anyways i really hope you keep up the great work enjoying sh1 and i look forward to covenant with the patch afterwards! 

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3 hours ago, ScottyTheVideoGamer said:

I love this mod so far and I felt like to have this is perfect for the SH series. It feels pretty professional.

My only real dislike for the series in general was that it can be too easy and this mod certainly fixes that.

From where stats etc.... to even what items or tactics used didn't overly matter (unless speedrunning/rushing through).

But now it does on all levels what fusion, items, formation, equipment and tactics everything matters now.

There was a slight learning curve from having beaten the game multiple times to having to adapt to this mod rather than using what was quick and easy normally.

Also slight adaption to playing it on pcsx2 first time whereas before always played on original ps2 or ps3. Took a bit to improve the timings of the judgement ring.

I have almost finished Asia will have a lot of footage to organise but I feel like I have grown.

I really enjoyed the boss in Dalian and li li on the boat and as I go in further in the game the tactics continue to be even more important.

 

One question is it possible to disable getting ambushed? because I kind of feel like it is not as needed because from my experience it either happens early into an area when I'm grinding/going through which is like an automatic gameover and when it happens later it feels like i just saved less than a minute ago might as well reset. 

 

anyways i really hope you keep up the great work enjoying sh1 and i look forward to covenant with the patch afterwards! 

Hey again. i hope your weekend's been going well. I'm glad you're liking my mod in most areas. There's some learning to do with this mod for sure. I had to relearn the game myself and especially Covenant which has lots of customization in different ways. I know the back attacks can feel tedious and I'm sorry about that. In Covenant and FtNW there's an item that prevents ambushes which is called "Warning Device". I'm pretty sure it's in 1st Shadow Hearts too but I'm not 100% sure. I hope you enjoy playing through the rest of my mod. :)

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Anything in life can provide an opportunity, I certainly wouldn't have gotten so far so soon in SH1 with the mod, I'm up to Kowloon Fortress (just leveling up a bit pre boss)

 

There is the warning device in SH1 although if not mistaken you get that quite late in the game, would there be any way to move it earlier into a chest or shop? Because I think it would give the mod that extra bit of accessibility to players in general where it becomes more the player responsibility of doing well. Granted I know I probably got quite unlucky early on especially in Zhaoyang with the back attacks. It didn't bother me that much and it has happened much less since. Although I felt that it could have turned away other players, where I really think that this mod deserves to be played much more.

 

It is a different experience now, I am even items like B. Tortoise Fang, Gold Hourglass and i even equipped the Flash Badge for a boss fight. Things I never really did while playing normally and its nice experimenting with items and equipment that never really gets used during a normal play through.

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22 hours ago, ScottyTheVideoGamer said:

Anything in life can provide an opportunity, I certainly wouldn't have gotten so far so soon in SH1 with the mod, I'm up to Kowloon Fortress (just leveling up a bit pre boss)

 

There is the warning device in SH1 although if not mistaken you get that quite late in the game, would there be any way to move it earlier into a chest or shop? Because I think it would give the mod that extra bit of accessibility to players in general where it becomes more the player responsibility of doing well. Granted I know I probably got quite unlucky early on especially in Zhaoyang with the back attacks. It didn't bother me that much and it has happened much less since. Although I felt that it could have turned away other players, where I really think that this mod deserves to be played much more.

 

It is a different experience now, I am even items like B. Tortoise Fang, Gold Hourglass and i even equipped the Flash Badge for a boss fight. Things I never really did while playing normally and its nice experimenting with items and equipment that never really gets used during a normal play through.

I don't personally like the idea of changing the point where you get the Warning Device. I think the back attacks are important part of the game and I haven't had much trouble with them. I'm glad you like to experiment with the items and such. And I hope you enjoy the rest of the mod. I've updated this mod to version 1.3 btw. That is a small agl fix for the enemies, check my message below to find out more.

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Hey guys,

I've updated this mod to v1.3. This is a small agility value update for enemies with (x 1.55 + 1) form. Now these enemies' agl values go with x 1.6 multiplier instead. This changes the values so some enemies are less agile, some a bit more and some remain the same. I did some more testing and this is what I wanted to do.

I want to thank all of you for playing through my mods. See ya!

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Shadow Hearts PS2 Lets Play With Imbroglio Difficulty Mod Part 3 (Fengtian)

Video:

Blog: https://shadowheartsorigins.blogspot.com/2020/06/shadow-hearts-ps2-lets-play-with.html

 

I also do various posts about Shadow Hearts in general in case if anyone is interested and today I have updated an old post on my blog where I talked about what ideas for games that I have for Shadow Hearts if it ever makes a comeback you can find it there: https://shadowheartsorigins.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-i-would-like-to-see-for-shadow.html 

 

Enjoy!

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18 hours ago, zedorfed66 said:

Hey guys,

I've updated this mod to v1.3. This is a small agility value update for enemies with (x 1.55 + 1) form. Now these enemies' agl values go with x 1.6 multiplier instead. This changes the values so some enemies are less agile, some a bit more and some remain the same. I did some more testing and this is what I wanted to do.

I want to thank all of you for playing through my mods. See ya!

Cool! I will try it out probably after finishing Asia part as I am in Kuihai Tower at the moment. 

Keep it up! :)

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Just wondering after beating Dehuai there is no way back to Shanghai correct? Forgot to do a couple of things in SHanghai although if its not possible it doesn't matter too much.

Granted I have been playing through the game with a couple of notes rather than a guide

anyways it is going well hope to beat asia part soon then onto europe then i'll have a lot of footage to organise! xD

Edited by ScottyTheVideoGamer

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On 7.6.2020 at 6:15 PM, ScottyTheVideoGamer said:

Just wondering after beating Dehuai there is no way back to Shanghai correct? Forgot to do a couple of things in SHanghai although if its not possible it doesn't matter too much.

Granted I have been playing through the game with a couple of notes rather than a guide

anyways it is going well hope to beat asia part soon then onto europe then i'll have a lot of footage to organise! xD

Yes that's true. Once you leave Asia there's no way back at any point. So make sure to grab the Erotic Book from Kuihai Yower so u can get Seraphic Radiance and also do the Pitfights if you want to do them. Good luck with the videos and rest of the mod.

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23 hours ago, ScottyTheVideoGamer said:

Hey thanks for another great video!

I read your blog post about the inconsisties of the experience rates in battles. In these Shadow Hearts mods some areas give more exp than others for a reason. For example in the sewer dungeon you needed to gain 7 levels to be in the recommended levels for the start of the next area. While in Dalian you only need to farm 2 levels. This is why Fengtian sewers give 3x the og exp while Dalian 2x. And the recommended levels are not something I've made up from my head but are from the code based on the agility levels of the characters. And since the exp increase in battles is forced and something I wouldn't add if it wasn't required I don't up the exp gained from bosses as it is. It also helps in keeping players from gaining too much exp in one battle and also doesn't enforce the thought of having to have all party members alive before making the finishing blow.

This is my reasoning and the design choice i chose for the 3 Shadow Hearts games. Looking forward to your next video btw, and I liked all of your videos on youtube ^^.

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Awesome thanks very much for your likes very much appreciated.

I was conflicted with the exp because i see what you were doing and i thought that, it was sense of reward it felt strange at first. Honestly I don't mind as much now.

Still loving the mod anyways, thanks for your save it helped for that 10 mins i forgot to record was able to get the team equipment etc... almost identical so at least it wont look too strange.

I am actually doing final sidequests etc... beat albert simon earlier today, on course for good ending also, I may either combine parts or upload more frequent once i beat the game, i have a lot of footage to go through! xD

 

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1 hour ago, ScottyTheVideoGamer said:

Awesome thanks very much for your likes very much appreciated.

I was conflicted with the exp because i see what you were doing and i thought that, it was sense of reward it felt strange at first. Honestly I don't mind as much now.

Still loving the mod anyways, thanks for your save it helped for that 10 mins i forgot to record was able to get the team equipment etc... almost identical so at least it wont look too strange.

I am actually doing final sidequests etc... beat albert simon earlier today, on course for good ending also, I may either combine parts or upload more frequent once i beat the game, i have a lot of footage to go through! xD

 

Hey thanks for another video! So you're that far already :D I hope you've had fun time playing through this mod.

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Have beaten the mod but since had issues with my editing software XD. Was using shotcut but it kept crashing no matter what all of a sudden and now I'm trying olive so hopefully I can resume uploading this week..

Really enjoyed the mod, it brought a fresh new experience for Shadow Hearts

Anyways how do you play covenant with pcsx2 if so what settings?

Thanks

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On 30.6.2020 at 7:43 PM, ScottyTheVideoGamer said:

Have beaten the mod but since had issues with my editing software XD. Was using shotcut but it kept crashing no matter what all of a sudden and now I'm trying olive so hopefully I can resume uploading this week..

Really enjoyed the mod, it brought a fresh new experience for Shadow Hearts

Anyways how do you play covenant with pcsx2 if so what settings?

Thanks

Hey again.

I'm glad you enjoyed my mod. For Covenant you'll want to be using hardware option for the video plugin and then you should be pretty much set. You'll also be wanting to have the last options in Round Mode and Clamping Mode in EE/IOP and VUs in Video Core GS Settings. Then again this is pretty much the standard for most games. There are some earlier versions of PCSX2 that make the game freeze after fights but in some the game works like a dream. Haven't tried the newest version of PCSX2 but it might work well with that one too. I've been playing the game with v1.2.1 and in that there shouldn't be any crashes. Then again I keep getting stuck in the past and don't have patience to test new things. So the newest version might be the best.

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Mr. Zerdorf,

Your mod looks interesting! I have looked a couple times over the years for the enemy data for the Shadows Hearts games in the US-NTSC iso and never had much luck making any sense of it (though me Hex-Fu ain't great).  Where did you find/make sense of the enemy stats?

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2 hours ago, tacticalcraptical said:

Mr. Zerdorf,

Your mod looks interesting! I have looked a couple times over the years for the enemy data for the Shadows Hearts games in the US-NTSC iso and never had much luck making any sense of it (though me Hex-Fu ain't great).  Where did you find/make sense of the enemy stats?

Hey tacticalcraptical.

I hope you've kept yourself safe and that you're having a good day.

I'll try to help you understand how the enemy stats are stored in Shadow Hearts NTSC-U. Let's look at 'Yamaraja: Earth', the final boss of Zhaoyang village.

 

The enemy values associated with the boss start at address B38244EA. Here's what comes up:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2C 01 90 01 11 12 3C 00 1D 00 12 00 12 00 00 00

2C 01 - HP value which is 300 here.

90 01 - MP value which is 400.

11 12 - 11 being the agility value which is 17 and I forgot what 12 was for.

3C 00 - Strength value which in this case is 60.

1D 00 - Magic value which is 29 here.

12 00 - Defense value (18)

00 00 - Magic def value (0)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This stuff is often differently stored in other games so you'll need to do some research before you'll be able to figure out how and where the data is stored. You can for example use Cheat Engine to figure out how much health enemies have and possibly find out other stats too. Then search for the values with hex editor. This data is stored as hex values so you'll need to convert them to hexa from decimals. You can use windows calculator to do this. One thing to note is the data is stored "upside down". 256 in decimals is 100 in hexa and it's stored as 00 01 instead of 01 00.

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This is great, thank you for the explanation.  I am looking into trying to learn some hexidecimal editing. So is this found in just opening the straight ISO with a hex editor or a specific file within the ISO?

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4 hours ago, tacticalcraptical said:

This is great, thank you for the explanation.  I am looking into trying to learn some hexidecimal editing. So is this found in just opening the straight ISO with a hex editor or a specific file within the ISO?

Hey, no probs. Shadow Hearts is one of those games that are very easy to mod. Just access the image file directly using a hex editor.

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Hello again, I am playing the mod and I am just past the Mental Hospital and on level 56. I have noticed that I do not have some of the skills that it seems like I should have and I have skills that it seems like I shouldn't based in the list you posted on the previous page of this thread.  Did the levels the characters learn skills at change at some point?  Do you have a more up to date list if so?

Thanks!

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17 hours ago, tacticalcraptical said:

Hello again, I am playing the mod and I am just past the Mental Hospital and on level 56. I have noticed that I do not have some of the skills that it seems like I should have and I have skills that it seems like I shouldn't based in the list you posted on the previous page of this thread.  Did the levels the characters learn skills at change at some point?  Do you have a more up to date list if so?

Thanks!

What abilities do your characters have? This mod changes the levels the last 3 skills are obtained. The last 3 skills are obtained x 1.8 of their original levels. So for example Alice learns Arc at level 63 instead of 35. If your characters have learned some skills earlier they shouldn't have I'd like to know since I don't think there should be a problem like that.

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