The Clivey Hack

[clivo100]

The Clivey Hack: Golden Sun 2
(Completely open to name suggestions. >_>)

Introduction
Hi there people. This is a hack I have been working on for a few days now, since I found this place and the awesome editor within.

Tools Used
Atrius' TLA Editor only

Description
This is a GS:TLA hack. Designed for the bosses to be harder, some things to stay the same, the occasional thing to be easier, but overall, just to be different. Mix things up, have some fun. The game is fully possible and completable in both Normal and Hard modes.
***This section to expand soon***

Changes
Starting levels.
Starting items.
Certain PP costs.
*A few specific normal enemies:
Ruffian, Punch Ant, Aqua Jelly, Wonder Bird.
*All Djinn.
*All Mimics.
*All Mad Plants.
*All Bosses (drastically, in different ways, some more than others, and so on).
And a few surprises!

*Note: The above 5 items include EXP and coins gained, item drop, item rarity, HP, Attack, Defense (or it will, when the editor works for Defense), PP, Luck, attacks and attack chances, enemy items, enemy groups, and in some rare cases, sprites (and names in future versions.).

So, as you can see, while a lot has changed, a lot of the game will remain normal. I have big, big plans that currently cannot be implemented, but this is a big, ambitious project. More details nearer the time. Remember, this is a very early version, and nothing herein is by any means final. I hope that someday the editor will be advanced enough to allow me to achieve all that I want to. Compared to how I want this to end up, I have currently made barely any progress at all. As of the initial release, very few things have changed, and more and more things will be different and perfected as the releases arrive. This is something to bear in mind when commenting and making suggestions. I don't want to reveal everything right now though.

EXAMPLES:
Here are some examples of the aforementioned changes.
-Ruffians have more HP.
-Punch Ants drop Smoke Bombs much more often.
-There are 4 Chestbeaters.
-Ragnarok uses 10 PP.
-Star Magician looks like Mia, and fights beside "Mystery Man" - who looks like Piers (you may notice a pattern emerging with those bosses).
-Flame Dragons drop Excalibur.
-Karst drops Darksword.
-"Valukar" drops Levatine.
-Poseidon uses Neptune.
-King Scorpion returns to aid Avimander.
-aaaand so on and so forth. You get the idea.
The rest, you can find out for yourself. You could cheat and look in the editor, but where's the fun in that?

Screenshots
(This forum really needs the [spoiler] tag. As such, let me know if these are too big and I should link to them instead. EDIT: What, the bbcode for image resizing doesn't work either? Bleh. >_<)

Always more to come.

Videos
(This forum also really needs the [youtube] tag. I know the admins can embed youtube videos using html, but it seems normal users can't, presumably because a new member could easily completely screw up the forum with some basic html knowledge, or lack thereof.)
Be sure to read the descriptions, too.

Chestbeaters

Always more to come.

Versions
Current Version: 0.1b - 27/09/09
Previous Versions: N/A
Next Version: 0.2b - ??/??/09

Download Links
These links are to .ips files contained within .zip files. No ROMS. I'm sure you all know how to patch etc. by now.

0.1b - (Current Version) - CLICK HERE

Known Issues

#A few replaced sprites appear too big or too small, due to limitations of the editor. No solution currently known. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
#A few graphical glitches occur in certain boss battles due to a lack of video memory. This is currently being deliberately overlooked and dismissed as not important. They only last for a few seconds during certain moves.

Other
Please post bugs, thoughts, suggestions, comments, praise, help, and so on and so forth in here. All is appreciated.
Finally, have fun and enjoy!

-Clivey

This post has been edited by clivo100 on Sep 28 2009, 08:24 AM

[Salanewt]

Seems interesting. I would try it out, but there are several reasons why I am not doing so today (maybe tomorrow or later), one of which is that I do not have access to Golden Sun here.

I have read the description, and you have some pretty good ideas in there (I like the idea of Posiedon using Neptune).

Have a nice day.
   

[Rolina]

Have you seen the Weapon Unleases topic?  It may be a good idea to check it out, since most people I've talked to like it...

[clivo100]

I have not! Link plox?

EDIT: Okay, now I have. The thought HAD occurred to me before, actually, and I have already messed around with such things a tad. In the end, I left all the unleashes as is in this version. That will not always be the case, though. I have a whopping list of things that need doing.  

This post has been edited by clivo100 on Sep 26 2009, 09:30 PM

[Aile~♥]

I would love to be able to use the editor, but cannot. If I could recruit people to do these things for me, or get my hands on a PC, I would:

Buff later Psynergy (and increase PP costs).

Jenna would learn the Fume series earlier.

Jenna would learn Rising Dragon as her final skill.

Humanoid enemies and bosses allowed only 1 monster skill or weapon unleash, and it must be single target. All other moves would be changed to Psynergy.

Some bosses will summon or unleash Djinn effects.

More moves will have a chance of giving status effects.

Djinn Stun, Djinn Blast, Djinn Storm and Djinnfest would all be Psynergy.

Cruel Ruin and Star Mine would be Psynergies.

Some classes would learn monster skills that are converted to Psynergy.

Karst would know Djinn Stun, and Agatio would know Crucible or whatever it's called (the move that allows Valukar to use your summons against you).

Bosses would drop items that bestow their signature moves. (Agatio drops an item that bestows Rising Dragon, Briggs gives Echo Cut, etc.)

If possible, Felix and Isaac would have different base classes. (Felix would be plant-based, Isaac's class would stay the same). Felix would be able to equip Staves as well, but not Axes.

If possible, Ivan and Sheba would have different classes (Sheba would be wind-based, Ivan would be electric-based.)

Just as a joke, Corn would be a weapon (the worst attack increase in the game, but the best unleash). Still would have it's use effect (restore HP) and would still vanish when used.

Corsair's Edge would give Turns +1, to make up for it's horrible attack.

Shaman's Rod would give Attack x0, but cause the equipped person to regenerate 10 PP per turn, give Turns +1, and increase Earth and Wind power by 70. If for some odd reason you DID attack with it, it would have a chance of unleashing Cruel Ruin.

The Doom Dragon's Earth Force would become an EPA with Attack x1.2 as well as having a chance of immobilizing the target. Doom Dragon's Attack would be decreased.

I'd take a weak artifact Light Blade that no one uses or knows about, give it Earth Force as an unleash, have it bestow Cruel Ruin, give it the second-best Attack of all weapons, and hide it somewhere near the end of the game. Only Jenna, Felix and Isaac would be able to equip this weapon. Once we have a text editor, it will be called "Ruinous Edge".

This post has been edited by JamietheFlameUser on Sep 27 2009, 05:30 PM

[clivo100]

Sounds good. I already had/have a couple of those things planned for future versions.

EDIT: Prettied up my first post a bit. Whee.  

This post has been edited by clivo100 on Sep 27 2009, 11:11 AM

[Aile~♥]

So, which ones were you going to do?

[clivo100]

Well, increase some more PP costs. Make a version of the Wheat Sword, like a joke weapon, not quite the same as making Corn a weapon, but close enough. Make psynergy be learned earlier, so as to make room to add more psynergies and monster skills at higher levels for various classes. Give bosses a few unleash effects (that's weapon and djinn unleashes (they can already summon). And uh, lots of other unlisted changes. Tweaking here and there. The usual. =P

^^^Also, first post changed and updated in several places^^^

[Aile~♥]

My hack idea is more an attempt to balance the enemies and bosses with the player, so they have the same limits to their moveset that the player does.

[clivo100]

Indeed, but this thread is about my hack. =P Speaking of which, if anyone tries it, please let me know, whatever your opinion may be, and however long you played for. Whatevs.  

[Rolina]

I have not! Link plox?

EDIT: Okay, now I have. The thought HAD occurred to me before, actually, and I have already messed around with such things a tad. In the end, I left all the unleashes as is in this version. That will not always be the case, though. I have a whopping list of things that need doing.

Hmm, then what's the point of psynergy?  Unless you buff the hell out of it, or do a staggering system like the one I proposed here:  http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage....&topic=51395396

then attacking will become very broken about the time you get the Sylph Rapier.  And as usual, the unleash problem will show just why the attack command is as broken as it is when you hit endgame...

[Aile~♥]

Your staggering system works quite well. Honestly, I'd just buff the strength of the later Psynergy, so that hitting a single target with Thunderhead is actually somewhat worthwhile. I'd only do that because I wouldn't have thought of your staggering system.

Random things you might want to know:

Jupiter is actually the weakest direct-damage Psynergy element. Thunderhead is not as strong as Grand Gaia, and it costs more PP. This explains why Ivan and Sheba suck so much. Freeze Prism also costs less PP and is the same power. However, it does have the strongest single-target Psynergy in the game: Quick Strike.

Venus has the strongest direct-damage Psynergies. This probably explains why they have not made a Venus mage-type character. It would be unbalanced and completely wreck the game.

[clivo100]

I have not! Link plox?

EDIT: Okay, now I have. The thought HAD occurred to me before, actually, and I have already messed around with such things a tad. In the end, I left all the unleashes as is in this version. That will not always be the case, though. I have a whopping list of things that need doing.

Hmm, then what's the point of psynergy?  Unless you buff the hell out of it, or do a staggering system like the one I proposed here:  http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage....&topic=51395396

then attacking will become very broken about the time you get the Sylph Rapier.  And as usual, the unleash problem will show just why the attack command is as broken as it is when you hit endgame...

Well, like I said, this is a very early version, nowhere near complete, and none of this is final. In the end, things will be very different. I can't comment with certainty right now. We'll see. =P You have some decent ideas there though.  

[Tetsuya the Azure Blade]

Venus has the strongest direct-damage Psynergies. This probably explains why they have not made a Venus mage-type character. It would be unbalanced and completely wreck the game.

Hmm then by that logic wouldn't having a Jupiter warrior-type character wreck the game aswell?

Sorry JamietheFlameUser I edited your post in my quote without putting EDIT:

[Aile~♥]

Jupiter has weak area Psynergies with high PP costs, so a Fighter might be unbalanced. Then again, the result would be a different Fighter and Mage style for each element, which would be kind of cool. You could put a Venus mage actually, just give them weaker versions like Rockfall earlier on instead of moves like Gaia. Moves like Taint and Poison would be good on a mage too. Moves like Rockfall, Quake, Growth, Thorn, Punji, Taint/Poison, etc. Honestly, I don't know why I made that post about a Mage being unbalanced. Just give them less focus on PP than Jupiter mages, and higher focus on Defence.

[Rolina]

You call Thunderhead and Spark Plasma WEAK?  They're second only to Grand Gaia!

Keep in mind, cost is proportional to base power and, to a degree, range.