Final Fantasy VI Complete: Ideastorming and Feedback

[Eternal248]

So a while back, I completed a FFVI Hardtype patch. Ever since then, I've been adding and tweaking things that have changed it to the point of being a bit more than a Hardtype. I've been adding some minor storyline edits and characterization to some characters that didn't really have much to begin with. Admittedly, I don't know how to edit events (yet), but I've been adding the new stuff to NPC dialogue and some other scenes. A few examples:

-An NPC telling the party about how the Serpent Trench was created.
-Some backstory on Setzer, Kefka, and Banon.
-A lot of stuff from the FFVI novella about the Figaro kingdom.
-Fill some plotholes (such as how Gogo came to be, what happened to Banon after the WoR, how Duncan survived, etc.)

Naturally, a lot of these changes won't be canon. I guess you can call this interactive fanfiction, or a revamped version of FFVI. I was primarily inspired by how FFIV DS and Tactics Ogre PSP added stuff in that was meant to be in the originals, but was left out. I'm trying to blend a lot of the new stuff in without taking away from the original feel of the game (though some would argue against FFIV DS keeping the same feel...)

When I was making FFVI Hardtype, I had the idea of making spells limited to certain characters, to make them feel a bit more unique. I'm considering limiting spells even -more- than I did in FFVI HT, simply to give characters even more defined roles. Admittedly, I'm not the greatest at balance and algorithms and such, which is why I need feedback about this. Sage and I talked, and we were discussing some potential changes. Esper magic learning would be totally removed, with weapons and some armor/relics teaching a character their spells. This would be explained in the story via an NPC or the like. Below are what each character's spell list would look like:

Locke:

Role: Focuses in protective magic with some offensive magical options for when Stealing and his weak physical attacks can't cut it. Focuses on Speed as opposed to Shadow, who focuses on Evasion.

Skillset: Blink, Bolt 2, Fire, Fire 2, Haste, Libra, Poison, Protect, Reraise, Shell
Notes: Sage suggested replacing Reraise with Raise, and giving Locke Haste 2.

Shadow:

Role: An offensive debuffer with abilities that cripple enemy accuracy and bolster one's own, focusing on Evasion, as opposed to Locke who focuses on Speed.

Skillset: Blind, Blink, Confuse, Death, Dispel, Poison, Slow, Stop, Warp
Notes: Sage suggested giving Shadow Bio, which would fit his personality and give him a more reliable offensive option.

Terra:

Role: An offensive mage who focuses almost purely on destructive elemental magic, having a spell ready for almost any enemy's weakness, which can be revealed with her Libra spell.

Skillset: Bolt, Break, Chrono, Cure, Demi, Demi 2, Dispel, Drain, Fire, Fire 2, Fire 3, Flare, Holy, Ice, Libra, Melt, Poison, Protect, Quake, Stop, Ultima, Warp

Celes:

Role: A defensive mage who is more suited to physical combat than Terra. Celes can switch roles at a minute's notice, being able to swap between offense and defense with ease. Despite this, her equipment does not allow her to be a master at either.

Skillset: Bolt, Cure, Cure 2, Cure 3, Dispel, Esuna, Float, Haste, Holy, Ice, Ice 2, Ice 3, Libra, Meteor, Protect, Raise, Reflect, Regen, Shell, Silence, Whirl

Strago:

Role: A mage with a varied mix of Black and White Magic, although Strago lacks a large spell list like Terra and Celes have, he more than makes up for this with his plentiful and varied Lores.

Skillset: Bolt, Bolt 2, Bolt 3, Cure, Demi, Ice 2, Libra, Meteor, Poison, Regen
Notes: Sage suggested giving Strago Warp, Dispel, and Drain to have a bit of "weird" spells to fill out his list.

Edgar:

Role: A more offensive version of Celes with fewer spells, Edgar's focus is almost purely on defense and keeping himself and his allies alive throughout the battle.

Skillset: Bolt, Cure, Cure 2, Drain, Ice, Osmose, Raise, Shell, Slow
Notes: Sage suggested giving Edgar Raise 2 to give him more use in the WoR.

Sabin:

Role: An offensive powerhouse, Sabin is a stark contrast to Edgar, who focuses on defense. Sabin focuses on an all-out offense, using Berserk and Regen to maintain his assault. If an enemy should be resistant to his physical attacks and/or Blitzes, Sabin also has the means to cast mid-level offensive magic.

Skillset: Berserk, Cure, Fire 2, Ice 2, Osmose, Poison, Regen, Sleep
Notes: Sage suggested giving Sabin Esuna to emulate Purify/Stigma Magic- I personally don't agree, since Sabin already has something like this.

Cyan:

Role: Slaughtering enemies and penetrating their defenses is Cyan's game. Capable of instantly slaying enemies later on with Death, and his ability to remove buffs with Dispel, when coupled with Slow 2, Cyan can easily cripple enemy teams. Slow 2 will ensure that enemies act as slowly as the party.

Skillset: Bolt 2, Death, Dispel, Haste, Protect, Reflect, Regen, Shell, Slow, Slow 2
Notes: Sage suggested giving Cyan Cure and Rasp, the former so he can heal (albeit not very well) early on, and Rasp to help prevent spellcasting from some early foes.

Mog:

Role: A mixed bag of offense, defense, and status, Mog provides a little bit of it all, but not very good at any of it. Despite this, he is very useful with Esuna and Float, and Whirl and Ice 2 can also provide a powerful offensive option for when Jump won't cut it.

Skillset: Bolt, Confuse, Cure, Esuna, Float, Haste, Ice, Ice 2, Imp, Whirl

Relm:

Role: The party's dedicated healer. What she lacks in AoE and sheer power is more than made up for with Haste 2 and Raise 2. Though she may not seem useful early on, she is well worth investing in for later during the hardest battles in the game.

Skillset: Chrono, Cure 2, Cure 3, Haste, Haste 2, Holy, Raise 2, Reflect, Regen, Sleep
Notes: Sage suggested giving Relm Quake as a non-reliable damage option, as Quake and Whirl now act as normal damaging spells of the level two variety, as Wind/Earth are needed elements. I think she should also get Cure and Raise as she has Cure 2/3 and Raise 2.

Setzer:

Role: A combination of Locke's Speed and Shadow's debuffing abilities, merely having Setzer in the party will increase the Gil obtained from battle. Setzer's role is an odd one, focusing on non-battle effects, such as extra Gil, extra EXP, and tampering with the encounter/pre-emptive strike rates.

Skillset: Banish, Bio, Blind, Blink, Chrono, Confuse, Death, Haste 2, Libra, Rasp
Notes: Sage recommended giving Setzer Demi 2 so there'd be more than one person able to use it. I think he should get Float, as well.

Skillsets aside, Equipment Weight from FFVI HT would still be in, and I think a general increase in difficulty (perhaps just filling in all the Nothings in enemy AI scripts) would be preferable. I'm already using FFVI HT as a base for this, so it wouldn't be too hard to rebalance things as needed. Ideas are welcome and encouraged! That said, I probably won't begin fully working on this until later this spring or summer, since I'm already actively working on a FFT and FFTA mod. I already have the framework setup for this, but I'd like to know if you guys think it'd be worth going through with.

I had a topic, but it died about a year ago, so feel free to merge this one with that one if you guys think it should be merged. Thanks!

[OblivionKnight]

-Fill some plotholes (such as how Gogo came to be)

After leaving a United Nations meeting, Adlai Stevenson was taking a trip to Florida when his plane took a detour over the Bermuda Triangle.  During a terrifying storm, a portal opened up that the plane foolishly flew into.  In the world of FF6 thus did they come out, and crashed on what would come to be known as Triangle Island.  For a while, the people of the plane worked together, but days turned into years, and the group split into two warring factions.  Eventually, Adlai was the only one alive, having lost all those close to him, and his new love in the ensuing battle.  He sequestered himself in a solitary area of the island, until finally coming to the conclusion that death would be a welcome release.  He walked towards the centre of the desert, where the group had seen giant sandworms before, and cried out to the gods to devour him and release him from the world, from the torturous existence he had come to know.  As if his prayers had been answered, a sandworm came and devoured him.  But fate would not let Adlai go so easily, for he found himself in a mad world inside the creature.  Here he met an odd man...or woman...wearing full multi-coloured coverings over its body.  The creature called itself "Gogo", and the story it told, while fantastical, was something Adlai found himself believing.  Gogo spoke of many dimensions, many worlds beyond this one.  It had traveled to this world from one where, difficult as it is to believe, giant trees took the form of humans and magic was commonplace.  Gogo, unfortunately, had aged significantly during the transdimensional travel, and thus was dying.  However, before it died, Gogo taught Adlai everything it knew.  Adlai had at last found the will to live once more, and took this as an act of providence.  He trained and mastered the art of mimicry.  As Gogo took its last breath, Adlai swore he would carry on the teachings of Gogo, and donned the creature's regalia...as well as its name.   

[Eternal248]

-Fill some plotholes (such as how Gogo came to be)

After leaving a United Nations meeting, Adlai Stevenson was returning to his home country when his plane took a detour over the Bermuda Triangle.  During a terrifying storm, a portal opened up that the plane foolishly flew into.  In the world of FF6 thus did they come out, and crashed on what would come to be known as Triangle Island.  For a while, the people of the plane worked together, but days turned into years, and the group split into two warring factions.  Eventually, Adlai was the only one alive, having lost all those close to him, and his new love in the ensuing battle.  He sequestered himself in a solitary area of the island, until finally coming to the conclusion that death would be a welcome release.  He walked towards the centre of the desert, where the group had seen giant sandworms before, and cried out to the gods to devour him and release him from the world, from the torturous existence he had come to know.  As if his prayers had been answered, a sandworm came and devoured him.  But fate would not let Adlai go so easily, for he found himself in a mad world inside the creature.  Here he met an odd man...or woman...wearing full multi-coloured coverings over its body.  The creature called itself "Gogo", and the story it told, while fantastical, was something Adlai found himself believing.  Gogo spoke of many dimensions, many worlds beyond this one.  It had traveled to this world from one where, difficult as it is to believe, giant trees took the form of humans and magic was commonplace.  Gogo, unfortunately, had aged significantly during the transdimensional travel, and thus was dying.  However, before it died, Gogo taught Adlai everything it knew.  Adlai had at last found the will to live once more, and took this as an act of providence.  He trained and mastered the art of mimicry.  As Gogo took its last breath, Adlai swore he would carry on the teachings of Gogo, and donned the creature's regalia...as well as its name.

I have an NPC at Maranda saying something along the lines of "An oddly dressed man calling himself the master of the simulacrum appeared out of a weird portal. What a weirdo!" The implication is that it's the same Gogo from FFV, which I think is the most plausible theory.

[Nitori]

-Fill some plotholes (such as how Gogo came to be)

the proper story of Gogo

I have an NPC at Maranda saying something along the lines of "An oddly dressed man calling himself the master of the simulacrum appeared out of a weird portal. What a weirdo!" The implication is that it's the same Gogo from FFV, which I think is the most plausible theory.

0/10 would not play

[Eternal248]

Where did that old story come from anyways? I know it's been around for a while but I'm curious as to its origins.

[Grefter]

FF6 Ultimania.

[Meeplelard]

Where did that old story come from anyways? I know it's been around for a while but I'm curious as to its origins.

If that's regarding Adlai Stevenson...

http://homepage.usask.ca/~jal233/

He explains where the likely origin of the rumor is far better than anywhere else I've seen.

[Eternal248]

I'm up to about the Opera in terms of dialogue. I imagine there'll be a lot less to do come the WoR, but it should be interesting nonetheless. I've been playing Sage's FFVI mod for a bit now, and with his permission, I'm using some of the ideas found in it- my favorite being Level 2 Daze. I'm also discovering some stuff about the deeper mechanics of FFVI that I didn't know before, so this is quite an interesting ride.