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Progress Report

How Character Stats Work

So, I think I've stated here before that almost all of the damage formulas are borrowed from Final Fantasy VI. This isn't true for every single action in the game, but a fair amount of them, to say the least.

The reason for this is because Final Fantasy VI had a limited number of parameters (like RPG Maker VX Ace) with a lot of variety in damage formulas.

It doesn't take a genius to assume that the system for how character statistics are raised is also (somewhat) borrowed from Final Fantasy VI.

Basically, characters in Final Fantasy VI only gained HP and MP on a level up, unless they were equipped with an Esper with a Level Up Bonus at the time that they gained the level.

Since the Pulse Project doesn't use Espers in that way, I needed to come up with a different way of raising character stats. The first, of course, are the various "Source" items borrowed from Final Fantasy VII. These will permanently raise the corresponding parameter. However, these come in a finite amount in-game and cannot be won repeatedly or bought. You'll get a decent enough supply to spread around between your 14 characters in a playthrough, though.

Next up is Materia, also borrowed from Final Fantasy VII. It works very differently this time.

Much like Relics, two Materia per character can be freely equipped and unequipped at any time. Each Materia is named after a Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions job class. Each Materia raises a certain stat, or stats. These are temporary and their bonuses will disappear when removed. However, they are stackable!

Equipping someone with two Dragoner Materia will result in a 20% base HP increase, plus an additional 20% HP increase based on the final result of equipping the first Dragoner Materia.

Keeping character and enemy stats in balance is probably the hardest part of making a game. This should help players to avoid being massively underpowered by a lack of stat-raising items.

In other news, weapons and armor are having their stats reviewed in light of this.

Progress Report

Shinryu & Adventures in Testing

Shinryu just wiped my party out about 20 times in a row while I was testing it's battle patterns and stats. I've tweaked it each time, and it's still beating my ass in. Of course, I know it's exact weaknesses and strengths, so I've been testing battles with somewhat random equipment sets to simulate a player with no prior knowledge of how the stats or monsters work.

Still lost.

Anyway, here's its tentative attacks and battle pattern...

Tidal Wave: Water elemental damage on all enemies.
Quake: Earth elemental damage on all enemies.
Embrace: Completely restores HP and inflicts Petrify.
Dark Elegy: Inflicts Slow on all enemies.
Maelstrom: Wind elemental damage on all enemies. Reduces HP to near-fatal levels.

Battle Pattern
Anytime: Attack or Embrace or Dark Elegy
Every 4th(+3) Turn: Quake or Tidal Wave
Every 5th Turn: Maelstrom

So, the summarize, at these settings, your party would need to be able to nullify Earth, Wind, and Water elements, as well as the Petrify and Slow states. Even with all of that protection (which is unlikely), if he uses his regular attack, it has a 100% critical hit rate. Ouch.

Players are gonna HATE the superbosses in this game, but they are all defeatable, I promise. Besides, too few games have really challenging enemies.

On the plus side, this test did bring about a new idea. Since dragon-type enemies (and most flying enemies) suffer extra damage from Jump/Dive, I created a new relic that may make this battle a little easier, if I decide to leave Shinryu's settings this way. It is exclusively for Reeve.

Highwind: Allows Reeve to use the Jump command without rest.

NOTE: This DOES NOT apply to Dive.

Progress Report

New Relic & A Question

My brain froze when adding Relics yesterday and I forgot about one of them that I wanted to add. So I went ahead and just did that.

Gysahl Pickle: Reduces chances of being targeted by 25%.

For those that do not know, Gysahl Pickles were an item in Final Fantasy IX. You were never able to actually obtain them, I don't think... but they were used as a plot device, anyway. Apparently, they smell absolutely terrible. So terrible, in fact, that when Steiner dumps Garnet into a bag full of them to get past some soldiers at a checkpoint, they don't bother checking his credentials just to get away from the odor.

So, you can see why the Gysahl Pickle in this project has the effect that it does. =)

In other news, I was just finishing up all of the special animations for one of the secret characters, and it excited me to the point where I was about to post screenshots and ruin the whole surprise. How do you feel about secrets being revealed early? Are you indifferent about it? Do you hate it? Let me know.

I guess if nobody really cares to be surprised by WHO they are, I can show them off soon enough. I will NEVER reveal HOW to get them, though! NEVER!

Progress Report

New Equipment Added & Other Updates

Several new pieces of equipment were added to the project today. I realized that the planning for this project is turning this into a pretty big endeavor, so more items for players to seek out were needed.

Most of them are character-exclusive pieces of armor, or weapons. There are also some new Relics.

"Ultimate" Weapons
Each character now has an exclusive weapon. While they are considered their "ultimate" weapons, some stats on other weapons may be higher. Of course, any items exclusive to the secret characters have been omitted, but they do have a few.

"Pulse": Oborozuki / Dagger
Vicks: Mjollnir / Hammer
Wedge: Esper Rod / Rod
Reeve: Zodiac Spear / Lance
Parker: Death Darts / Special
Ellie: Princess Guard / Staff
Dajh: Lightbringer / Sword
Lyra: Apocalypse / Sword
Priscilla: Yoichi's Bow / Bow
Beclem: Godhand / Claws
Leon: Save The Queen / Knight Sword
Kelger: Death Penalty / Gun

"Ultimate" Armor
Same deal here. Some of them might not actually have the highest stats, but have other effects that directly benefit the character they are exclusive to.

"Pulse": Cole's Bandana / Head / Increases success rate of Steal & Mug by 5%.
Vicks: Dragon Armlet / Shield / Resistant to Fire, Ice, and Lightning.
Wedge: Steepled Hat / Head / Increases Magic Power by 5.
Reeve: Dragoon Boots / Relic / Changes Jump command to Dive.
Parker: Falcon Gear / Armor / Increases Evasion by 15%.
Ellie: Belgemine's Dress / Armor / Immunity to Drain.
Dajh: Robe of Lords / Armor / Nullifies Wind.
Lyra: Reed Cloak / Armor / Absorbs Water.
Priscilla: Magnifying Glass / Relic / Changes Aim command to Snipe.
Beclem: Fabul Gi / Armor / Increases Attack Power by 7.
Leon: / Relic / Changes the Guardian command to Sentinel.
Kelger: Balamb Uniform / Armor / Increases critical hit rate by 15%.

New Commands
Some of the new equipment changes commands to new ones. I'll explain those now.

Recover: Restores a small amount of HP/MP on all allies. This command is available when equipped with the Chemist Soul. This relic can be equipped by anyone.

Revive: Revives a dead ally at 25% Max HP. This command is available when equipped with the Phoenix Choker. This relic can be equipped by anyone.

Snipe: Deals 1x physical damage on a single enemy. Like Aim, it has a 100% chance of success. Unlike Aim, enemy evasion no longer comes into play. I know that sounds like it doesn't make sense, so I'll clear it up. Aim has a 100% chance to hit, but acts as a physical attack, so enemy evasion, if high enough, can enable them to avoid it. Snipe doesn't act as a physical attack, although it deals physical damage. There is no way for enemies to avoid Snipe, even if their Evasion stat is at 100% or higher.

Dive: Executes the Jump command with a higher damage result. Reeve will still be stunned after using Jump or Dive.

Sentinel: Increases the likelihood of being the target of single-target attacks by 25% and reduces the amount of physical damage received by 75% for the remainder of the turn.

Lyra Finally Has A Command!
Lyra now has her unique command. Since most of her magic deals with status ailments, I almost feel stupid for not thinking of it before.

Treatment: Nullifies Poison, Venom, Zombie, Darkness, Confuse, Petrify & Sleep on a single ally. Unlike Esuna, Treatment cannot cure all negative status conditions.

Game Design

Secret Characters?

So, the project already has two secret characters. I figured I should divulge at least a little information on them, rather than just saying "there are two secret characters."

Both of the secret characters are characters from previously released Final Fantasy games. No, neither of them are Cloud or Sephiroth. Yes, including them will make some sense in the plot.

One of them is from Final Fantasy IV. The other is from Final Fantasy VI. That's really all I want to say about them just yet. I'm not being secretive about it just for secrecy's sake. In the end, I want players to find them on their own, that's all.

The total number of playable characters is sitting comfortably at 14. Should there be another? Who would you want it to be?

Game Design

So, Lyra Needs A Command Ability

First off, welcome. Didn't do any "welcome" blog before this, so now that's out of the way.

Lyra, the Red Mage, needs a command ability. Now, in the history of Final Fantasy games, Red Mages have always used White and Black magic. What I decided to do was create a new set of magic spells, containing a mix of classic Final Fantasy White, Black, and Time Magic spells, and just call it "Red Magic." Simple enough.

Here's the one thing I'm stuck on with the character. She needs a unique Command Ability. Every character has one (see Abilities page). I'm unsure of what to give Lyra. Most of the characters are a mix of two classic Final Fantasy job classes.

Red Mages have used X-Fight as a command in the past, but I won't use that for her since a) you can obtain X-Fight through Relics and b) it's one of her Limit Breaks already (along with Quickening which acts exactly like the Quick spell from Final Fantasy VI).

So, any suggestions? Please don't create some flashy new command for her. I'd like to use pre-existing established Final Fantasy series skills and commands. That is the entire basis of the project, after all.
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