Affectionately called: Lol New World This edition of BNW - affectionately called Lol New World - is really a "continuation" mod by an old, old veteran of the Brave New World community. It's not an official continuation of any sort. It's just an old veteran, who loves designing things too much, taking his own spin on what he sees as future development of BNW's design and balance, while trying to keep the spirit of "the mod that improves FFVI's mechanics while preserving the spirit of FFVI". As I'm a bit of a mad scientist, some things about this mod will be experimental, push boundaries, and perhaps be just plain crazy, in ways that another designer perhaps wouldn't do. However, LNW is still very much is BNW. Edgar aside, I don't think you'll really notice the changes until at least after the Magitek Factory. (Not that I'm averse to early game changers, mind you. Just nothing has happened yet, that I'm able to do, that keeps within the spirit of "FFVI with improved gameplay / mechanics / balance"). The initial impetus for this mod was simply me deciding that BNW's stamina stat is becoming far too much of a 3rd attack stat, including holding special hatred towards a couple of stam-based attacks (Atma Weapon). Therefore, as of the alpha version of LNW, many of the changes revolve around trying to push stamina into a more clearly defined defensive role. Said role revolves mostly around statuses, whether that be through an improved status evasion, a new unique Cover Shield (Paladin Kite) in the game's second half, or modifying some characters' unique stam-based mechanics to be more defensive in nature (like Relm's Interceptor). However, it comes along with an aggressive removal of many stam-based attacks, including your odds of counter-attacking no longer being based on stamina. ... The alpha version, as of right now, is imperfect, and in my eyes, incomplete, through further development is stalled while awaiting player feedback. Course, I'm Mr. Scope Creep, so many of the changes in this alpha are also just throwing in things that seem like good ideas, such as Gau's Rage odds now being stam-based (alongside a re-design of some Rages to make room for stam Gau being VERY consistent with his Rages) a re-work of Mog's Dances (which ties into the stamina changes, actually), giving Strago a Merton-lite lore affectionately named "Antipode", critical hit chance based on one's speed stat (thanks to the coder, Sir Newton Fig, for that idea), limiting the total number of any given item you may have, Drain moves not being capped by missing HP, raising the maximum Esper Level from 25 and 30 and making esper exp come faster (more fun with builds), a freaking new esper in Leviathan, and a whole lot more. The Patch Lol New World mod for BNW, forked off of the 2.1 version. Applies over a vanilla FFVI rom. The x2 speed patch (faster enemies) is included as an optional extra patch, for those who want the extra difficulty. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yv-1BrgvHDZsXKgQ6OD9rVZWxD5ISnfV/view?usp=sharing

So, we like games. We like good games more, generally. And a game feels good to play when it feels like it has an appropiate difficulty, well planned and executed throughout the game. "Well planned and executed" is what we called "Difficulty Scope", and "Throughout the game" is called "Difficulty Curve". Those are basically the briefest definitions (or maybe explanations?) I can give about those two terms. With that in mind, we video gamers know quite a few of them. Which games are the best examples you can think of regarding good Difficulty Scope and good Difficulty Curve? Keep in mind a few things when posting: 1. We are not necessarily discussing the balance of the game. A game (especially a vanilla game) might have done overpowered or abusable mechanics, but the concepts might still apply. Also, this is not to show off e-peen points. Be objetive and rational. 2. Mods are included to add as examples (of course they are) 3. Optional / side / post game content can be excluded from your game if that makes a case for the game you're hinting. 4. Try to post opening it for discussion. Don't throw names without justification if possible. Ready? Go!

Let's take the intro stage in New Hard Type. As it is an introductory stage of the hack, I wanted to include a handful of elements (or you could call them tropes) that would be present in the stages, while retaining the original theme of the stage. The tropes to include were: Horizontal linear platforming, Multiple pathing, Expanded, detailed world, Claustrophobic sections (with enemies enhancing the idea), Vertical climbing sections. So I took the original concept of the highway and expanded onto it. I made a highway, in which you end up falling to the underground area of the city, traveling around the area to get back to the surface to get to your original destination. It conveys into a theme and results in both an open stage with a more claustrophobic interlude, with even a vertical section. In this case, what did I design first? Did I slap together platforms and enemies and call it a stage? Or did I design entire sections and mesh them together? Or did I instead design the tropes that would be included and explores? Or did I design the entire theme of the stage and then explore and expand onto it? Basically, an unexperienced designer will do from the former to the latter, while the more experienced designer will try to go from the latter to the former: From the theme to the details, from the design tropes to be explored to the individual jump lengths and enemy positions to be adjusted. So, what I propose in this topic is to discuss what could be explored in each stage! We have the following map to work with (zoom in the image): If you don't remember where each stage occurs within the map, load your old MMX game and check it. What I want to discuss here, is different ideas to brainstorm. An example of something I could work with would be something like: "Intro stage: Highway like the original. Horizontal stage, possibly exploring multiple paths after falling from an individual jump (should probably include visual cues to let the player know you can fall safely there). After finding the bee miniboss, the floor falls and suddenly you're in an entirely new area, an underground where you need to find your way back up. Then you reach the end of the stage". That's a bit convoluted. How about something more friendly, more fun to imagine: "Storm Eagle: You start at the airport, then you jump from ship to ship. Maybe the background moving suggesting that the ships are in movement? In each ship you infiltrate from the rear to the front while fighting the defenses, until you infiltrate the main ship of the maverick army, where Storm Eagle is hiding." "Flame Mammoth: Slowly descending into a volcano. Etc." Use your imagination and help me start the designing process!