Final Fantasy Reconstructed

[cospefogo]

(...) Beta version 2.0 will be out by the 31st if I can help it, which will have the completed dialogue and script alterations. Look forward to any and all comments. Thank you all for your continued interest and support. 

Duke

I am crazy about this!
Do you think it is worth to play the full game while in BETA2 version?
I don't think I can handle myself to wait until the final version forward to 2017, December...

=D

Thanks, Duke.
Thanks SO much.

Again I say, the original japanese team of FF1 developers really should see this someday.

[Duke2go]

I am crazy about this!
Do you think it is worth to play the full game while in BETA2 version?
I don't think I can handle myself to wait until the final version forward to 2017, December...

=D

Thanks, Duke.
Thanks SO much.

Again I say, the original japanese team of FF1 developers really should see this someday.

Yessir!! 

Beta v2 will absolutely be worth playing. The story will have been completely fleshed out, the ATB battle system that our peers here on RHDN were so kind to fix is included, and the new tilesets I've been posting are in the game. There are new areas and dungeon layouts since beta v1, so I think fans of the series both old and new will enjoy the newer version. The final version will have the programming and music changes, and is going to take longer to complete (especially without help). Thank you as always for the interest my friend and I certainly look forward to hearing what you think. I'll might make a new thread when open beta 2 comes out also so this is archived for others. Working at the moment, but I'll post some more screenshots later since there was a reply to my last post.

I'm so glad the project generated so much interest. I'm probably going to actually start a project that is completely my own after I finish this and make it available for smart phones and such. My heart is in retro gaming, so it would be nice to work in that media for real.

[cospefogo]

(...) The story will have been completely fleshed out, the ATB battle system that our peers here on RHDN were so kind to fix is included (...)

Duke!

I still don't get what is the ATB battle system. Is it something like the one in Final Fantasy 6, where, when in battle and while you think what to do, which spell to use, which attack to perform, the monsters keep hitting you flawlessly... is this what we are talking about?

And, regarding the story changes — you have only "enriched" the story, with nuances and subtle changes, correct? No radical modifications... am I correct?

And, about the new music, will you add new tunes to the existent ones? Or will you just replace some of them? In my view the FF1 soundtrack is superbly fantastic...

Thanks thanks thanks.
Looking forward for the BETA2.

And yes, I have not forgot about our game guide...
=D

[Spooniest]

Duke!

I still don't get what is the ATB battle system. Is it something like the one in Final Fantasy 6, where, when in battle and while you think what to do, which spell to use, which attack to perform, the monsters keep hitting you flawlessly... is this what we are talking about?

And, regarding the story changes — you have only "enriched" the story, with nuances and subtle changes, correct? No radical modifications... am I correct?

And, about the new music, will you add new tunes to the existent ones? Or will you just replace some of them? In my view the FF1 soundtrack is superbly fantastic...

Thanks thanks thanks.
Looking forward for the BETA2.

And yes, I have not forgot about our game guide...
=D

I just happened by and can answer your questions.

1. The "ATB" is more like, say Final Fantasy Tactics. The thing is, the code necessary to generate the "waiting" between bars filling up wouldn't fit in the NES cart's rom. So it's skipped. Also, enemies cannot attack, nor may any team member attack, while you are selecting your commands, but the order is no longer determined by whether it's the beginning of a round. It is all determined by each PlayerCharacter/Monster's Agility Stat.

Get it? Got it. Good!

2. I would call what Duke has told me about the story to be kind of drastically changed, but the story is essentially the same story: Four young warriors get four crystals and go save the world from destruction. Duke has added to it, but not taken away from that plot, I don't think.

3. I think the deal with the music is...gosh, I have no idea. Is new music being done? I would guess that perhaps some form of track replacement might be there, like, taking music from FF2 or FF3 and putting it in? I have literally no knowledge of what Duke's doing music wise. I'm an analog musician myself.

[Duke2go]

Since my compatriot was kind enough to field that one, I'll just add this input and a link and get back to work. 

The link shows the "active turn battle" in video form.

https://youtu.be/R_Y1e91M_N0

I hadn't actually "published" that because I wanted to see if any negative feedback came from the idea. 

Spoon's explanation of the story changes are pretty accurate. I'm incorporating some concepts from Final Fantasy V and IX too before I forget.

And the music is the part that is kind of up-in-the air right now. Songs have been composed, an engine has been written, but composing and creating are something to tackle later. I wanted to include some songs from the later games, and there were some compositions including songs from other games. But until I learn to compose, or find a composer who is looking for a challenge, the sound changes will be made later.

[cospefogo]

Thanks Spooniest!

About the ATB battle system video, I have watched it before, but on a first glance I was not able to see what was the differences between a normal, regular FF1 battle. Let's see what I find out when I do play it for real.

Regarding music, oh, Final Fantasy II world map tune is the best ever. Let's import it to FF1, Duke!
=D

Regards!
Cospefogo.

[Spooniest]

Thanks Spooniest!

About the ATB battle system video, I have watched it before, but on a first glance I was not able to see what was the differences between a normal, regular FF1 battle. Let's see what I find out when I do play it for real.

Regarding music, oh, Final Fantasy II world map tune is the best ever. Let's import it to FF1, Duke!
=D

Regards!
Cospefogo.

Do you mean FF2 for NES, or FF2 for SNES? Those are separate songs.

FF2 Overworld Theme

Lonely. One synth swells up like autumn leaves in a miniature whirlwind, and hits a solid note, as the bass synth starts to do a walking rhythm. That is literally all there is to it. It sounds lonely as all get out.

FF2 SNES (FF4) Overworld Theme

Sweeping, Operatic. Not only are there drums this time, but the strings section has the same lonely feel as the above song. The woodwinds take the melody, which is a simple ascending thing that then pulls back down, to give you the idea that your feet are moving up, and then down, without making you feel like you're being told to MARCH, soldier. It makes you want to breathe in, and breathe out, you know?

Side note and letter to the editor: Duke, can you kinda work on having not so many darn images in your thread in the future? Idk if you were planning on continuing making FF Reconstructed: The Magazine Subscription, but to be fair, most people have a faster internet connection speed than I do.

[cospefogo]

Do you mean FF2 for NES, or FF2 for SNES? Those are separate songs.

FF2 Overworld Theme

Lonely. One synth swells up like autumn leaves in a miniature whirlwind, and hits a solid note, as the bass synth starts to do a walking rhythm. That is literally all there is to it. It sounds lonely as all get out.

FF2 SNES (FF4) Overworld Theme

Sweeping, Operatic. Not only are there drums this time, but the strings section has the same lonely feel as the above song. The woodwinds take the melody, which is a simple ascending thing that then pulls back down, to give you the idea that your feet are moving up, and then down, without making you feel like you're being told to MARCH, soldier. It makes you want to breathe in, and breathe out, you know?

Side note and letter to the editor: Duke, can you kinda work on having not so many darn images in your thread in the future? Idk if you were planning on continuing making FF Reconstructed: The Magazine Subscription, but to be fair, most people have a faster internet connection speed than I do.

Spooniest,

Sorry for not explaining, but for me it is valid ONLY the original Japanese nomenclature, so, yes, Final Fantasy II FAMICOM. The other one is Final Fantasy 5.

And yes, what a lovely MAGIC tune...
https://youtu.be/SaCLoLBdxTU

Duke, I must say I agree with Spooniest as well, please don't publish too much pictures of everything. It slows down a lot the topic loading and, spoiler-wise, spoil a lot of the surprise we will get when we play the real thing FOR REAL! (Please don't get us wrong!)

Regards,
C.

January 25, 2017, 07:19:44 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
Guys,

Have you ever listened to FINAL FANTASY PRAY?
If not, PLEASE, do it RIGHT NOW!
Full album here on Joutube:

https://youtu.be/ER51433l5fM

(I don't know how to embed a Joutube video...)

[Spooniest]

stuff that contained a vocal recording of final fantasy music

Are you trying to make me CRY THIS WHOLE DAY AWAY WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU

You are in the right thread, don't go anywhere

[Duke2go]

I'm gonna try to answer everyone, and I made the text bigger in the responses so it stood out from the questions. Got jumbled up before I made that alteration. 

Thanks Spooniest!

About the ATB battle system video, I have watched it before, but on a first glance I was not able to see what was the differences between a normal, regular FF1 battle. Let's see what I find out when I do play it for real.

Regards!
Cospefogo.

Is this Gio?  (Cool if so, he's been so excited about the project being completed, but I didn't know the alias on RHDN.)

The "Active Turn Battle" system I can't claim any part of, other than trying to apply it to Reconstructed and breaking the game before the glitch was ironed out. BUT, in the original Final Fantasy 1 for NES, the player decided what actions all 4 Light Warriors would take before a round took place, which left the ability to totally waste an attack on an enemy who had already been defeated. With the Active Turn Battle, the game progresses through its turn calculations, but stops every time a Light Warrior is supposed to act. In this way, you don't make decisions at the beginning of a round, but as each warrior's "turn" comes up. I hope that made more sense. I can't really think of another way to describe it without making a direct comparison video, which I unfortunately don't have time for right now.

Do you mean FF2 for NES, or FF2 for SNES? Those are separate songs.

FF2 Overworld Theme

Lonely. One synth swells up like autumn leaves in a miniature whirlwind, and hits a solid note, as the bass synth starts to do a walking rhythm. That is literally all there is to it. It sounds lonely as all get out.

FF2 SNES (FF4) Overworld Theme

Sweeping, Operatic. Not only are there drums this time, but the strings section has the same lonely feel as the above song. The woodwinds take the melody, which is a simple ascending thing that then pulls back down, to give you the idea that your feet are moving up, and then down, without making you feel like you're being told to MARCH, soldier. It makes you want to breathe in, and breathe out, you know?

Side note and letter to the editor: Duke, can you kinda work on having not so many darn images in your thread in the future? Idk if you were planning on continuing making FF Reconstructed: The Magazine Subscription, but to be fair, most people have a faster internet connection speed than I do.

Yes Spooney, I will cut down on the images. Only reason I had been posting so many initially was because I didn't have an "official website", and some people were resistant to the whole social media concept. I also deleted a TON of the early game screenshots because the links were dead, so there was a lot of discussion about images, but no images. I put most of the current levels up so there was a point of reference for people. But seriously I shouldn't have many more images to put up, maybe some overworld images and the few dungeons I haven't finished up yet. Although I could just upload them to the website and then post here that I did so... It doesn't matter to me, but I didn't know if people were even visiting the site since I've received like 2 messages from that mail relay... And you DO know I'm making a Strategy Guide for the game with my layouts and images right? So there's a flippin REASON why there are so many damned images. JEEEZZZ hahahaha Jk buddy.

Regarding music, oh, Final Fantasy II world map tune is the best ever. Let's import it to FF1, Duke!
=D

Nope haha 

While I can see the allure of the Final Fantasy II overworld theme from the standpoint of the American fan who has limited experience with II and III for Famicom/SNES, hell even handhelds. I just really don't like the song and think it is too slow and foreboding for the world I've made. I took a lot of time to "lighten" the different palettes, which might be "too light" in some places, but its better than everything being SUPER DARK like it was when I first started. I agree sort of with Spooney, though I don't think the FFIV theme is gonna fit the Reconstructed overworld right. The original FF1 tune is very upbeat and I feel "appropriate" for an adventure of this scale. If we don't end up remixing the original song and adding depth to it, or "arranging" a track from another game, I'm gonna just leave the overworld tune alone. That isn't to say that the FFII overworld tune couldn't be used in a Town or in a Dungeon, just not in the overworld in my game. Hope that made sense and I gave sufficient reasoning beyond "I say what goes on here" haha. 

I'm all for including other tunes from other Final Fantasy games, but the music has to fit the mood of the areas, so I'm being careful about what to incorporate and what to leave. And if my tentative music "arranger" will seriously help me with that part, then we'll be in business for real.

And finally,

Duke, I must say I agree with Spooniest as well, please don't publish too much pictures of everything. It slows down a lot the topic loading and, spoiler-wise, spoil a lot of the surprise we will get when we play the real thing FOR REAL! (Please don't get us wrong!)

Regards,
C.

I didn't mean to give away too many details, I'm just a completionist, and since I had the room, I tried to make the images flow together wherever possible to give the audience a look at the "whole" dungeon and not just parts. I'm not going to post any images of any more stages within the final level, and might only upload 1 or 2 of the "Crystal Ruins", since I really want that to be a true "bonus" dungeon this time and not just a small area to walk through with tough enemies like it was in the Lets Play Active_ate did. Wonderful series but I felt let down after watching the last video and it being so short, making it even worse that it would have been a better video if I had done more with the area in the first place. I've got memory, so I can definitely add places, dungeons, floors, etc. Wish I could figure out how to hex edit in the teleport doubling edit Astral Esper and her crew came up with. Something seems to have been changed by Grond in the original Rebalance hack I started from and every time I try to hex edit (even checking to make sure I entered it all correctly), the player can no longer enter Coneria town in the beginning of the game. Just realized, I'm surprised I haven't heard comments from a certain individual who I went back and forth with quite a few times in the beginning of the thread, and project. Would be interested in hearing his opinion about my level design at this stage...  But I digress,

For those who haven't seen the project's website, or would like to check out the Photobucket directly, here are a few links for ya (one of which is in the signature)

http://www.ffreconstructed.com/

http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/duke2go2/library/

I uploaded images to both the other day, so most things are up-to-date. I've been trying to put together a "change log", honestly I have, but I change things on a whim, and then either change them back or keep the changes and forget what I had done. At this point its pretty fair to say that there are probably only a handful of vanilla tiles left in the game, dialogue and script have been edited to enhance the plot and tell a coherent story, classes have been buffed, enemies have new abilities, etc. I'm going to include a notepad document in the zip file for beta 2.0 that will outline what Grond changed originally and what I changed after. Hope that answered some questions since I spent much more time than I should have. But as always, you guys are the greatest. Thank you so very much for the continued support and interest for this project, and it means a lot that people are still amped up to see it completed too. 

[cospefogo]

Yes!
Bingo!

GIO = COSPEFOGO.
There, here.

[Duke2go]

Yes!
Bingo!

GIO = COSPEFOGO.
There, here.

Man, I actually was wondering how you were doing. You're always so full of energy and full of life. Glad you're excited about everything being close to finished. I'm trying to put out something that is "complete", not something I have to go patch a bunch of times. As much as I've enjoyed making the game, the whole process has burned me out some and I'm ready to start working on the Strategy Guide. Which if you're still interested in helping with, I would most certainly appreciate the assistance. So far its going to be me and Riffman putting it together since Spoons didn't mention graphic design being in his bag of tricks, which is why I asked him to help with music, which IS his area of expertise haha. I knew you had a great interest in the Famicom games though, so when FC stuff came up in the thread I figured that must be Gio 
I won't really be posting any more pics until the dungeons are done, although I'll probably still upload to the Facebook page until I have final layouts in place. I'm so excited to get some feedback on beta 2.0 since its NOT the same game we got in 1987, and its so far beyond what was shown in the LP series, especially with all of the new mechanics I've put in. 

Just be patient for a few more days and you'll be very happy that you did, I promise you.   

[Duke2go]

Just a quick update for those still following the thread over here. I did a quick calculation this morning and I've changed/altered nearly 1/3 of the game's total text in the most recent version of Reconstructed, not to mention I actually believe every single location tile now (open beta 2 will be out within the next week... hopefully next few days) So I've been hard at work developing the narrative. A good friend was kind enough to offer some assistance with the sound arrangement, so hopefully we can put together some interesting tunes for the full-version 1.0 release. I'm not giving a date on that, beyond by the end of 2017, because I've just now had the time to devote to really understanding and applying the fundamentals of what Disch was kind enough to start teaching me quite a while back (still appreciate that buddy  ). It helped when I found a few videos on YouTube that put things in perspective and I could watch how the code works and how to do things that should be 2nd hand to most programmers/hackers (a group in which I am an associate member at best). But even though its taken almost 3 years, the game is gorgeous, and I look forward to having some more feedback from beta v 2.0. I think I might start a new thread at that point since the game is pretty much finished visually and narratively, unless I add more text, which I might. We'll see when it happens. Thank you for all those who have shown interest and support through the process. I'm seriously going to put the project down soon, so hopefully it lives up to the hype.
 

[cospefogo]

Thirsty here, man!

[Duke2go]

Good afternoon all,

I know its been awhile since I posted here. After hearing the site had problems and had apparently gone down for a bit, I focused more on the Facebook page. After coming to post the update today, I found out that Photobucket now wants me to pay for 3rd party hosting. Since the only reason I had that account was to post on forums, I'm just not going to be able to post picture updates like I was before. Anyone who is interested in seeing what I've already come up with can still visit my page on Photobucket (although I doubt I'll upload much there after their changes to ToS).

http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/duke2go2/library/?sort=4&page=4

The simplest way to see updates is still the Facebook page since I update that fairly regularly.

https://www.facebook.com/finalfantasyreconstructed/

Or you can visit the game's official website here

http://www.ffreconstructed.com/

I've also released Open Beta 3.2 with a few more bug fixes etc. that weren't in the last OB release. If you're interested in checking out the game, here's a link for that as well.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcjbb891twv0ms9/Final%20Fantasy%20Reconstructed%20Open%20Beta%20v%203.2.zip?dl=0


I know I've gotten some feedback from people about not using social media, but that really is the easiest way to find out what's new with the project as it nears completion. I will still make updates to this thread, but with the limits to what I can do on RHDN at this point, it probably won't be very regular. Thank you to all who have shown interest and support for this project, and I hope that you will continue to do so in the future. 

[KirkyMonster]

I was instantly impressed just on entering the first town. You are quite an artist. Great Job so far, can't wait to see what you do in the future and I haven't played more than 12 seconds lol. 

[Mari42]

Good afternoon all,

I know its been awhile since I posted here. After hearing the site had problems and had apparently gone down for a bit, I focused more on the Facebook page. After coming to post the update today, I found out that Photobucket now wants me to pay for 3rd party hosting. Since the only reason I had that account was to post on forums, I'm just not going to be able to post picture updates like I was before. Anyone who is interested in seeing what I've already come up with can still visit my page on Photobucket (although I doubt I'll upload much there after their changes to ToS).

http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/duke2go2/library/?sort=4&page=4

The simplest way to see updates is still the Facebook page since I update that fairly regularly.

https://www.facebook.com/finalfantasyreconstructed/

Or you can visit the game's official website here

http://www.ffreconstructed.com/

I've also released Open Beta 3.2 with a few more bug fixes etc. that weren't in the last OB release. If you're interested in checking out the game, here's a link for that as well.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcjbb891twv0ms9/Final%20Fantasy%20Reconstructed%20Open%20Beta%20v%203.2.zip?dl=0


I know I've gotten some feedback from people about not using social media, but that really is the easiest way to find out what's new with the project as it nears completion. I will still make updates to this thread, but with the limits to what I can do on RHDN at this point, it probably won't be very regular. Thank you to all who have shown interest and support for this project, and I hope that you will continue to do so in the future. 

Those picture from fb is amazing... Btw, do you know how to do disassembly since you get advance to it?

[Duke2go]

I was instantly impressed just on entering the first town. You are quite an artist. Great Job so far, can't wait to see what you do in the future and I haven't played more than 12 seconds lol. 

Thank you kindly!! I wish the images were still up within the thread so you could see the evolution of the in-game imagery. I can't totally take 100% credit for the images though since I did pull image tiles from a number of other NES/Famicom games like Radia Senkai, Ultima Quest of the Avatar, Willow, Lagrange Point, and other rom hacks as I've gone along. However, there really aren't but a few images in the game that I didn't alter in some way, shape, or form to fit the visual style I was going for. I hope you were playing using the 3.2 patch because that is my favorite one so far. If you have any comments or critiques, I'm always happy to hear from other players. I kinda tailored the game to my own play style, and I'm sure that not everyone plays the game like I do. I'm not much of a programmer admittedly, but I like to think I've got a good artistic eye 
August 05, 2017, 08:56:59 PM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)

Those picture from fb is amazing... Btw, do you know how to do disassembly since you get advance to it?

Again, thank you!! I really do feel humbled that so many people have had positive things to say about my visual overhaul of the original Final Fantasy for the NES. Like I said in the previous reply, I'm not much of a programmer. Most of the actual 'hacking' I've done has been done using a forum post on GameFAQs where Anomie, Grond, Disch, and others basically found most (if not all) of the bugs in the game and created hex edits to patch the bugs out. The original rom image I started with was actually an early version of a bugfix/rebalance hack that Grond had made. I tried a year or 2 ago to replicate everything he did and I honestly couldn't. Starting with Grond's hack as a base has been both a blessing and a curse in that regard because while he documented a lot of things, there have been times I've tried to hex edit patches and caused a conflict with something he'd done. I do have a copy of the disassembly that Disch made, and was in regular contact with him early on in the project (to the point he actually created a custom music engine for the hack that I'm still eager to utilize), but I am still learning to program in ASM and still have a LOT to learn if I want to get the game to the level I aspired to. When I started to learn to program using the disassembly, I was trying to juggle a lot personally and with the project, so I put that on the back burner until I was satisfied with the in-game visuals. I figured once I had gotten everything to look the way I wanted, then I could learn to do the programming I needed to and fine-tune everything to fit my vision. Sorry that was a long response and hopefully it all made sense. If you haven't tried out open beta 3.2, definitely give the game a try. I think you'll enjoy it 

I've also been creating my own "Explorer's Guide" (aka Game Manual). An early copy of the guide was included with the 3.2 patch files. The pics are on the Facebook page, but for anybody who would like to check it out without relying on social media, here's a link to the work-in-progress version that's current as of today.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nlqkm4igc6mqor4/FFR%20Explorers%20Guide%20WIP.pdf?dl=0

I was originally trying to make a color version of the NES game manual as an homage to the old-school game documentation. As I've worked on it though its become a hybrid of an NES and a GBA manual. I'm quite proud of it if I do say so myself though. Check it out if you haven't already 

[KirkyMonster]

Thew Manual looks great, it really makes me miss the days when you would get a manual with your game full of production art and concept art. Keep it up.

[SpRoUt]

Maybe make the thief have the ability to steal?