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[RELEASE] Golden Sun: The Balance Age

Started by Caledor, 24, January, 2015, 12:29:46 PM

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Caledor

#660
Changelog update for v1.30:
Demon Night's BP, PP cost, and learning level increased.
PP cost of Drain increased to 20.
Fear puppet tweaked: learned earlier, deals damage (BP 60), chance to stun decreased.
Azul's base chance to stun increased to 150%.
Lich (Dark Mage class series) renamed Death Mage.
Minor class fixes (learning levels).
Mia and Sheba's Warlock class series fixed (was different from Ivan's).

[spoiler=Full changelog]- Both games
Restore cost increased to 6, Potent cure to 14 and Drain to 20.
Nature boon cost increased to 18, BP decreased to 500.
Ply series cost increased to 5-10-24, Pure Ply BP decreased to 700.
Demon Night's BP, PP cost, and learning level increased.
Guardian/Protector replaced with Guard/Protect for all classes.
Magic Shell/Magic Shield replaced with Ward/Resist.
The Punishment series has now unique custom-made icons.
A few enemy abilities tweaked.
Minor class fixes (learning levels).
Illuminated renamed Enlightened.
Cheongsam, Bone Armlet, Fujin Shield, Faery Vest tweaked.
Haunt triggering rate to 40%.
Delusion makes you miss 70% of the time.
Base chance to inflict Poison, Venom, Delusion, Stun, Sleep, Seal, and Haunt reduced.
Characters wrapped in Delusion can't unleash.

- The Broken Seal only
-5% HP, Atk, Def and Agi to each enemy and other tweaks.
Deadbeard tweaked.
Remedy psynergy created (single target Tonic). Replaces Cure Poison and Restore for the White Mage.
Death Curse's countdown starts at 4 instead of 7.
Seal from Luff has a base 150% chance of success and is now affected by Luck.

- The Lost Age only
Piers joins at level 17 but levels up faster than before (he's still the slowest).
Mia and Sheba's Warlock class series fixed.
+5% HP, Atk, Def and Agi to each enemy and other tweaks.
Star Magician, Dullahan and Doom Dragon tweaked.
New enemy: Brutal Wolf, replaces Creeper in the Air's Rock interior.
Remedy psynergy created (single target Tonic). Replaces Cure Poison and Restore at Angel and Druid stage, and in the Pure Mage and Guardian series.
Veil/Screen have now unique custom-made icons.
Water/Flame Breath skill of Otafuku/Hiotoko mask are stronger.
Baffle Card and Mist restored. Weird Ninph has the same icon as Pixie and Fairy.
Cost for many of the Tamer class series psynergies tweaked. "May deal double damage" effect moved from Gryphon to Minotaur.
Fear puppet tweaked: learned earlier, deals damage (BP 60), chance to stun decreased.
Seal from Luff and Rime has a base 150% chance of success and is now affected by Luck.
Azul's base chance to stun increased to 150%.
Lich (Dark Mage class series) renamed Death Mage.[/spoiler]

hazeck

good to see this is still updating. one of the best modifications out there :MercuryDjinni:

Caledor

#662
Thanks pal ;)
By the way v1.30 is going to be the first "final" version, cause the improvements are all done. Following releases will be mainly about bug fixes or minor tweaks.

Rolina

Quote from: hazeck on 14, January, 2016, 01:15:41 PM
good to see this is still updating. one of the best modifications out there :MercuryDjinni:
"one of" just doesn't do it justice. XD

Considering how unwieldy the editor is, I'd argue this is pretty much the best undertaking I've seen period.

Will you be using any more custom icons, or have you pretty much gotten everything you need?

Caledor

Wow thanks, I'm flattered :D
... but I'm also quite proud of how this turned out. Especially since it was originally meant to be something just for me, to enjoy the nth playthrough more.

Anyway, I think I'm done with icons. Everything I've added has one and if I start editing old icons i'd never see the end of it so i'll just refrain from starting.

Rolina

So what are your thoughts on equipment being useable even when not equipped?  Personally, I don't really feel one way or another about it...  Or rather, I'm of mixed opinions.

On one hand, what's the point of putting it on equippable items then?  Why not just have it be a talisman or something?
On the other hand, it gives you a reason to hold onto certain pieces of gear, something that most RPGs could benefit from.  It's one of the reasons I'm a big proponent of an abundance of gear to choose from at all points in the game, and situations to encourage you to swap out that gear on the fly.

Caledor

#666
There's the third way, which is making items useable even when not equipped, BUT only by those who can equip them, which is the one i like the most for GS. About the other three, i'd be okay with items useable only when equipped (i'd just make current use effects stronger if i were to switch to that) and totally against equippable items being universally useable.

I think the choice is heavily influenced by someone's take on the class system, since useable items basically serve to grant abilities that a certain class/character "shouldn't have".

If talking about a generic game instead, either could be fine because, as you said, both have their pros and cons. And it's not the single specific choice that matters; only overall balance does.

Rolina

Yeah... if I had my way, there's probably be 2-3x the amount of equipment in GS.  I like the idea of having a huge variety, and that not all of it is necessarily a "step up".  I like the idea of having a wide variety of things to support a variety of different playstyles, rather than having a clear set of equipment progression.  Alas, I don't think there's space for that many icons, not yet at least.  Still, fun to dream about.

leaf

@Role: I think a system like that would necessitate more plateauing at various points in the game. Similar to how there's a huge period in TLA where everything is about the same level; in this time, the player would mostly find sidegrades. The same plateauing is seen at endgame, where most equipment has some secondary effect and only a couple points difference in defense.

One thing to watch out for, it always feels bad as a player to find new equipment and discover that it's inferior to what you already have. You can somewhat alleviate this by making sure every new piece of equipment has *slightly* higher stats than the previous; if someone were to look solely at +def, every piece of equipment would be an upgrade. But, if an added effect is good enough, an extra point or two of defense is irrelevant, and the player feels more like they're making a decision when they stick with an older piece of equipment. 
[spoiler=quotes]
[9:00:50 PM] Randel Peltier: Ok...what did I do last night?
[9:01:19 PM] Kain: Something boring, repetitive, and lasted for about sixty seconds.
---
[10:45:08 AM] Salanewt: But yeah, the elemental phalluses are being... Stroked up by Saturos and co., and the energy will go towards... Mt. Muffin, where the Golden Climax will arise.
[7:28:42 PM] Salanewt: An added bonus is that Isaac and co. were trying to stop Saturos and co. because their beliefs state that Mt. Muffin should remain a virgin.
---
[9:54:21 PM] Randel Peltier: Guess the number in my head an you get to pick what I say. Number between 1-10
[9:54:28 PM] leaf: 11
[9:54:36 PM] Randel Peltier: @#$%!
---
[8:38:13 PM] Randel Peltier: Shes like this queen up on a pedastal that I have yet to court.
[8:38:29 PM] Kain: You've tried courting her.
[8:38:43 PM] leaf: and failed spectacularly
[8:38:44 PM] Randel Peltier: Ive tried...shes the best dating game ever.
---
[12:24:35 AM] Salanewt: I need to find a picture of a naked person to put on the Christmas tree next year.
---
[2:19:06 PM] Zeadra: wait... Rief's a guy???
---
[1:09:57 PM] Zeadra: well if you want to know if its a new effect or something weird, just check GS1, if side step is there maby it is the nimble dodge thing
[1:10:35 PM] Kioll: For once, you've contributed something useful.  o.O[/spoiler]

Caledor

#669
I'm currently making a few class tweaks to address balance issues, so i think this is the best time to ask: should i add the 6th tier for mono-elemental classes?

EDIT:
Class tweaks for v1.30:


Edit2: Class tweaks removed cause they're still pending.

Edit 3: Read post below.

Rolina

@leaf:  Nah, it wouldn't - they wouldn't be strictly equal to each other.  Basically, imagine if we've got 3x the gear acquisition - it's basically a bunch of smaller steps, small enough that it encourages holding on to gear based on their secondary boosts.  It may not be worth the small upgrade of a couple points of attack in favor of regen or power or luck boosts elsewhere, based on what the situation demands.

leaf

Quote from: Rolina on 19, January, 2016, 06:04:26 PM
@leaf:  Nah, it wouldn't - they wouldn't be strictly equal to each other.  Basically, imagine if we've got 3x the gear acquisition - it's basically a bunch of smaller steps, small enough that it encourages holding on to gear based on their secondary boosts.  It may not be worth the small upgrade of a couple points of attack in favor of regen or power or luck boosts elsewhere, based on what the situation demands.

I just said that lol

Example: 31 def, +15 jupiter ePow vs 33 def, +10 mars eRes
[spoiler=quotes]
[9:00:50 PM] Randel Peltier: Ok...what did I do last night?
[9:01:19 PM] Kain: Something boring, repetitive, and lasted for about sixty seconds.
---
[10:45:08 AM] Salanewt: But yeah, the elemental phalluses are being... Stroked up by Saturos and co., and the energy will go towards... Mt. Muffin, where the Golden Climax will arise.
[7:28:42 PM] Salanewt: An added bonus is that Isaac and co. were trying to stop Saturos and co. because their beliefs state that Mt. Muffin should remain a virgin.
---
[9:54:21 PM] Randel Peltier: Guess the number in my head an you get to pick what I say. Number between 1-10
[9:54:28 PM] leaf: 11
[9:54:36 PM] Randel Peltier: @#$%!
---
[8:38:13 PM] Randel Peltier: Shes like this queen up on a pedastal that I have yet to court.
[8:38:29 PM] Kain: You've tried courting her.
[8:38:43 PM] leaf: and failed spectacularly
[8:38:44 PM] Randel Peltier: Ive tried...shes the best dating game ever.
---
[12:24:35 AM] Salanewt: I need to find a picture of a naked person to put on the Christmas tree next year.
---
[2:19:06 PM] Zeadra: wait... Rief's a guy???
---
[1:09:57 PM] Zeadra: well if you want to know if its a new effect or something weird, just check GS1, if side step is there maby it is the nimble dodge thing
[1:10:35 PM] Kioll: For once, you've contributed something useful.  o.O[/spoiler]

Caledor

#672
Reasons behind class changes:
Conqueror & Justice: Changes reflect the base stats of the characters better.
Acrobat: More important than the PP boost, most of its Psynergy got buffed: Frost card now tops at 210 BP.
Necromancer: 160% HP was very low.
Chaos Lord: Best offense in the game with top tier HP AND Raise? Just no.
Protector: It is completely focused on Defense, so I really felt I had to give him more HP than the Chaos Lord.
Psy Champion: Wanted to make him different from the Sun Champion by giving him a debuff.
Sun Champion: Got the Raise the Chaos Lord left behind to even out with Isaac's.
Druid: Lost Break cause Mia had it in all of her dual classes.
Guru: 175% PP was way too low for a caster. A sturdy one, but still a caster. So it got buffed.
Inquisitor: This is all about offense, but the Oracle has Punishment: 5% more PP will help in keeping up with damage.
Jonin: Originally the best warrior class period, in the mod was completely overshadowed by the Chaos Lord. The nerfs to the Chaos Lord and the buffs to the Jonin should help balancing them out.
Warlord: Stats too similar to Shogun, so i tweaked it a bit.
Worldwaker & Fury: Dark Shaman was so underwhelming that i quickly gave up trying to save it. Then I noticed that 3 out of 4 sets of tri-elemental classes had a warrior-mage hybrid (Jonin, Valkyrie, General). So I moved the Warlock to Venus, buffed it and created the 4th hybrid as a counterpart to the Valkyrie. It also helps addressing redundancy, cause the Fury is something completely unprecedented. But obviously I realized all of this only AFTER i was done with creating it, cause as soon as i imagined Mia casting Planetary i was already done with thinking. :P
Valkyrie: As usual, increased PP to increase spell damage. Gained Break cause none of Jenna's tri-elemental classes had it.
Heretic: Jenna's tri-elemental class most focused on offense desperately needed some damage: it got Punishment to make a Jupiter-oriented class.
Incantatrix: One of the classes I love the most, for being able to do literally everything. It attacks, heals, heals attacking, buffs, debuffs and revivesd. Something had to leave. I gave it Bind instead cause fits the theme well and none of Jenna's tri-elemental classes had it.

VardenSalad

This sounds great. I was kinda waiting for stat changes in some of the classes to go through. I'll have to go through the spreadsheet, but these all sound very solid and reasonable.
Never forget why you started playing.

Rolina

Quote from: leaf on 19, January, 2016, 10:38:43 PM
Quote from: Rolina on 19, January, 2016, 06:04:26 PM
@leaf:  Nah, it wouldn't - they wouldn't be strictly equal to each other.  Basically, imagine if we've got 3x the gear acquisition - it's basically a bunch of smaller steps, small enough that it encourages holding on to gear based on their secondary boosts.  It may not be worth the small upgrade of a couple points of attack in favor of regen or power or luck boosts elsewhere, based on what the situation demands.

I just said that lol

Example: 31 def, +15 jupiter ePow vs 33 def, +10 mars eRes
Heh, disagreeing while agreeing again, are we?  Feels like old times...

Caledor

#675
Quote from: VardenSalad on 22, January, 2016, 07:02:13 PM
This sounds great. I was kinda waiting for stat changes in some of the classes to go through. I'll have to go through the spreadsheet, but these all sound very solid and reasonable.
Thanks. I hope i've finally managed to balance them out, especially the tri-elementals. The ones that bugged me the most were Jonin for not standing a chance to the Chaos Lord, and Dark Shaman for being Dark Shaman. The other changes are very minor if compared with those two... with the exception of Acrobat: i basically ignored it until 2 days ago somehow, despite it being one of the "completely unuseable" class from the vanilla game.

I'm currently testing the 6th tier monoelemental too see if it's viable or not. Sixth tier won't happen. It would make monoelementals too good. For example Conqueror Felix at 160% atk easily outdamages both chaos lord and Jonin even with unbuffed atk. And when both reach the atk cap (be it impact or levels) the gap widens even more due to the much higher venus power the conqueror has.

Caledor

And so the day has come.

Today is exactly one year this long journey has started. I would've never thought it would go this far... especially considering that hacking this game was just an hobby that started many years ago (6? 7?), 'cause I loved this game from the moment i got it when i was around 12, and enjoying the changes i did after each playtrough was the reason behind the following one. Needless to say, I've lost count long ago.

At first I just wanted help to make the PP Multiplier, since it was the only thing left for me to do. Or so I thought. You guys' enthusiasm and my growing desire to make this mod better and better were the trigger for more than 30 (THIRTY!) releases in the span of 10 months.

As I've stated many times, I consider v1.30 to be the first "final" release. Don't get me wrong, I'm positive there will be v1.31, v1.32 etc, 'cause bugs or balance issues are bound to pop up, but today's release concludes the improvement phase. All following releases will be about minor tweaks or fixes.

So, I'd like to thank everyone that helped me to get this far. Special mention to:
Atrius for the editor.
Lord Squirtle and Fox for their invaluable "technical assistance". :P
Rolina for being the source of inspiration behind many of the changes I've implemented and for her constant advice.
VardenSalad for his detailed reports and many feedbacks.

And everyone else that contributed, directly or indirectly, to the development of this mod by sharing their thoughts here or helping me to fix bugs: Erik the Appreciator, leaf, Misery, JamietheFlameUser, Chronotakular, Sleeping Bear Z, Exore The Mighty, owlbear, TenkaiSp, JustBeKrillin, Seelegewehr, isaac3000 and Aurorain. Hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

Obviously, a big THANK YOU to everyone that played (past, present or future) with this mod as well.

That said, v1.30 is OUT. I dubbed the one for TBS "non-final" cause it will be updated as soon as i have the Mars Revive and 50% Revive outside of battle.

Hope you guys will enjoy it!

Chronotakular

#677
Hi Caledor! It's been a while. As always, I'm enjoying the mod and it's been fun playing it again, it was almost 10 months since I originally played it. Crazy huh?

Anyways, I've come to you with a rather dire bug (The Lost Age). I played version 1.27 and never encountered this in the most recent play-through (wanted to enter Hard Mode :happy: )

Back on track, I'm stuck. In Yampi Desert. One of the earlier screens, this is the one with the Jupiter Djinn.



This is mainly a graphical bug, but I'm convinced I can't continue. Also yes, the entire screen looks like this. Though it's possible I can't decipher what needs to be pushed or pounded.

I've tried multiple emulators and settings, I've confirmed it's the ROM. The only thing I haven't tried, which I plan to do shortly, is re-patching the ROM, just to make sure the patch didn't mess up, though I don't recall an error. I'll update this post after I've done so. Edit: Re-patched. No luck. Still buggy.

Good luck on this one, looks like a toughie.

Caledor

Hi Chrono!

Just checked, and looks like i messed up badly this time... Even the editor can't load the map. I have no idea of what might be the cause behind this one... or rather, it's more like anything could've caused it. Also, somehow my italian rom isn't bugged...

Still, it will be fixed: I'll have to repatch the whole ROM from scratch, but it should work. Sadly, I can't start working on it today 'cause I've got an exam tomorrow... I'll probably manage within the weekend.

Anyway, v1.30 is also broken at yampi. So... if someone wants to play with this and he's already post yampi, he should be fine. If not, please wait for next release. For the time being, i've added this notice in the download section too.

Chronotakular

Quote from: Caledor on 27, January, 2016, 06:49:58 AM
Hi Chrono!

Just checked, and looks like i messed up badly this time... Even the editor can't load the map. I have no idea of what might be the cause behind this one... or rather, it's more like anything could've caused it. Also, somehow my italian rom isn't bugged...

Still, it will be fixed: I'll have to repatch the whole ROM from scratch, but it should work. Sadly, I can't start working on it today 'cause I've got an exam tomorrow... I'll probably manage within the weekend.

Anyway, v1.30 is also broken at yampi. So... if someone wants to play with this and he's already post yampi, he should be fine. If not, please wait for next release. For the time being, i've added this notice in the download section too.

Hey, take your time. No rush. At least you're pretty sure you know how to fix it. I'll keep checking back and forth for the fix so I can make sure it works. I could just downgrade to progress, but I think I'd rather make sure it works for everyone else who might come across this in the future.