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#31
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Hi, my name is Goggle Bob and I write fanfic as easily as I breathe.
Clearly, in the original story, the shipwreck of Cecil was news that reached Baron almost immediately. Cid was concerned for his old friend, and shelved any thoughts of deposing the king in favor of working on a new airship with which he could find the lost Cecil. Baigan heard the same news, and decided that, in the absence of Cecil, there was no hope for the kingdom changing course, so may as well join the bad guys. A certain doctor likely made a house call to help Baigan upgrade to the winning team. And now you know... the rest of the story. (Also loving the LP) |
#32
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I was hoping Baigan would join the party.
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#33
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As for things to know beforehand...honestly, there's nothing that a working knowledge of FF4 won't get you through. The Training Room in Baron has been modified to talk about this hack's changes (I'll probably make a bonus update today or tomorrow to show off what it says). Quote:
(also gogglebob's explanation makes perfect sense and is my headcanon now) |
#34
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At least they're letting Baigans be Baigans.
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#35
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...I think that's the first time I've ever considered the possibility that the first syllable in his name is 'by' and not 'bay'.
I need to sit down a moment. |
#36
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Man the new dialogue portions definitely stand out as being a lot wordier than the original. FF4's text limitations left very little room for the kind of indulgence this guy took.
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#37
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Chapter 4: How Deep Are We Talking, Exactly?
Where we last left off, we revealed that the King of Baron was being impersonated by a big blue turtle, who we summarily defeated. Now, we're off to Toroia! But first... ![]() Let's go check out the east tower basement, which is now unsealed. There's a throne all set up down here, and when we approach... ![]() Quote:
Mist Cave goes by as quickly as you'd exp-- ![]() --wait you're new. Ahem. Mist Cave has tougher monsters now, and its chests have been refilled with new items. It's still not really noteworthy, and there's no second D. Mist or anything. There's a Battle Axe which is just as strong as Cid's Wooden Hammer, but one-handed, so he can equip the Mythril Shield on top...or I can give him a Gold Shield that we find moments later. Making it outside, we enter Mist. There are no strange voices or sudden teleportations to worry about now, so we can loot to our hearts' content. Rydia's house has some good equipment for her, most of which you can also buy in the shops, for Yang and Edward. Once we're done, we make our way to the east side of Mist. ![]() It has a new exit, to the north. Going up, we find ourselves in... ![]() Holy foreground layer, Batman! It's the Misty Mountains! (Okay, the foreground mist isn't that bad.) To JBear's undoubted disappointment, there's no new tileset here; the mist effect is copied from Mist Cave, and the ground tiles are either cave tiles or mountain tiles. The mountain theme is playing here, too. But it is a new dungeon. ![]() Enemies here come from the original game's Cave Magnes. (I didn't show it earlier, but Mist Cave has Zoidbergs Piscos now.) This may surprise you, but they're much less painful when you can use metal. ![]() Edward also gets a brand-new harp here, the Fairy Harp. It's especially effective against the above-pictured Ogres and has a chance of inflicting Blind on-hit, not to mention just generally being stronger than the Lamia Harp he's been using. How effective am I talking? ![]() That'll do. (The frontliners are averaging around 200 damage a hit against Ogres.) ![]() hi, yes, this will do nicely (It was a Tent and two Potions, though; such hopes to be dashed...) The dungeon gives me a save point, so I use a Tent before continuing on... ![]() ...to this totally-normal bridge. To everybody's complete surprise, when we approach the bridge...! ![]() Quote:
![]() ![]() A hooded being appears! Scarmiglione, Fiend of Earth! ![]() ![]() Fortunately, Cecil still has the Coral Sword on, so he'll be able to do reasonable damage to the Ghasts. Rydia wasn't a high enough level to learn Ifrit (she gets him at 20, and she's 18 here), which is unfortunate, but it's fine. Ramuh works well enough here, though Shiva wouldn't scratch them. Scarmiglione, for his part, counters attacks with Calcify, which inflicts Gradual Petrification. Four of those and the target's out of the fight...until I use a Remedy, anyway. Once he's alone, he'll start using Bio on people, which *hurts*. The smart plan is to not use Ramuh, and weaken him before killing all of his Ghasts. ![]() I...don't follow that plan here. Owwwww... Nothing for it, I guess, but to kill him fast before he can finish anyone else off. ![]() It could have gone better. (Cecil isn't fully petrified there, he's just in the third stage of Gradual Petrify.) There's no denouement after Scarmiglione's death; he's just gone. I'm gonna...limp back to the save point before continuing, if that's alright. On my way back, I run into a pack of zombies and it occurs that I haven't had a chance to show off Dirge Song before. ![]() ![]() It would've wiped out the Ghasts just as well. Note that the Souls in the back are 'Spirits' and not 'Undead'; things like Dirge Song don't work on them. |
#38
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Getting back to the bridge Scarmiglione was guarding...
![]() jesus christ why is it so long As we step off, though... ![]() ![]() Scarmiglione returns, uglier than ever! This time, his 'Fall flat into the deep ravine' quote is accompanied by Quake, which does about 100 to non-Rydias. He also uses the spells Demi and Petrify (which does not take four casts), and counters all damage with a Curse-inflicting physical. In short; he's real annoying, real fast. Your frontliners are best off using Potions, HiPotions, and Remedies as needed, while Rydia summons Ramuh or (preferably) Ifrit and Edward uses Dirge Song. He doesn't have much HP, so... ![]() ...you'll win, sooner or later. And when you do... ![]() ![]() ![]() Fwoooooooop. Scarmiglione falls flat into the deep ravine. Meanwhile... ![]() Quote:
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![]() The Mysidian boat sets off, to Baron! En route... ![]() ![]() Quote:
![]() This 'sea monster' is four times the length of your ship. I advise running. Quote:
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![]() ![]() They'll...probably be fine. Right? Aaaaaaanyway. Back to Cecil and friends! ![]() >"Do you want to do something stupid?" >[Yes | Yes] It spits us out riiiiiiight...here! ![]() For those who don't intuitively know the map of FFIV, this is somewhere around the southeastern corner of the country of Toroia. Going west and a little north puts us at a Chocobo Forest. ![]() This is good, because there's no actual way to reach Toroia from here on foot; the river is unbroken by a bridge. Chocobos can cross rivers, however, which lets us waltz up to Toroia's front door. ![]() Just like in the original game, everybody who's anybody in Toroia is a woman. As we approach... ![]() ![]() The Red Wings get here the same time we do! We attempt to rush inside, when... ![]() ![]() Quote:
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#39
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Just then, Tellah appears!
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![]() ![]() ![]() Golbez teleports away, Tellah collapses, and the scene fades to black... Next time: ??? ...please look forward to it? |
#40
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I'm glad I saw this, I didn't know you started this LP, turtle, very well done so far! FFIV is a weird game to begin with, playing it as I did after later games in the series, so seeing this is... even weirder. I can see why you'd like this hack, though, since it gets rid of the effing WHM (which honestly would annoy me - I don't want to heal with items/staves even if I do hack myself 3 million gil).
Anyway guess I'll link this in the XIV discord since you didn't fucking do it |
#41
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I logged everything noteworthy I found when I played the hack in 2015; I haven't noticed any meaningful changes here from what I have logged. |
#42
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(Also, that link has spoilers, for those of you who are concerned about that.) EDIT: Added a link to the patch in the first post, for those of you who want to play this yourselves. |
#43
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When I got to the Misty Mountains I was all "uhhh this isn't in the original game!" and that was neat. It didn't really offend my sensibilities or anything either, I'd believe it if the regular game had that too.
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#44
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Yeah, the Misty Mountains are fine. What I was alluding to yesterday is that they also exist in The After Years, as part of Kain's Tale.
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#45
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Is it the same map in TAY?
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#46
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Not in the slightest. In TAY, too, the mountains are used as a way to get across the blocked path and to Kaipo; not Troia.
Now, if you want a map that references another FF game...well, I shouldn't spoil anything. |
#47
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This actually looks super neat and I kinda want to play it myself, now.
Does Rosa have access to elemental arrows? |
#48
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Eventually, yes; Wooden Arrows have +10 attack, Yoichi Arrows have +30 attack, and there are Fire, Ice, Bolt, Dark, and Holy Arrows that all have no extra attack. It works out pretty well.
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#49
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#50
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Chapter 5: Freedom To Go Nowhere
![]() Welcome back! Cecil wakes up in the Toroia infirmary, and after a bit of groggy muttering, manages to say something coherently. Quote:
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Cecil gets out of bed and takes one step before he notices the other side of the room. ![]() We walk over to Tellah's bedside, and Edward's also there on the other side. Quote:
From there, we regain control. So what just happened there? The scene from the Tower of Zot got put in front of Toroia. Tellah kind of just shows up out of nowhere; they don't really build it up nearly as well as in the original. That said, Meteo doesn't kill Tellah this time, just leaves him bedridden. It doesn't seem like he intends to stay that way, though; he's still got a revenge to carry out! Meanwhile, Edward leaves the party here. I guess the idea is that he wants to make amends to his father-in-law (Anna was technically only his fiancee, but let's not get bogged down in the paperwork). It's a shame, too; his Life Song was the closest thing we had to a real healer (I, uh...still haven't bought any consumables with my gil >_>). Let's go see what the Clerics want. When we walk in, they swarm me. ![]() Quote:
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![]() This line is unmodified, but I want to point it out because I always imagine it as being so flippant. Like, "sure, whatever, at least now I don't have to stand here in this musty old dungeon anymore." Outside of the consumables, we find a Great Bow, some elemental arrows, and a pair of Shuriken. Now, I don't know about you, but when I find a treasure chest that has equipment literally only one person can use and that person isn't in my party, I expect that second part to change real soon. Before we move on, let's go check out the town. It's mostly unchanged, except for the shops. The weapon shop now sells the elemental arrows (note, I only mean Fire/Ice/Bolt with that), the Gaia Hammer (confusing, because that chest right after Scarmiglione that I posted had one), and the Fairy Harp (WHY). The armor shop just has general stuff for Yang and Rydia that I don't bother with because like hell am I going to deal with the menus for a change of like two whole defense. I do pick up a couple more Phoenix Feathers, Tents, and Remedies since I have literally no reason not to, though. That said, these treasure troves I've been raiding have left me with more than enough useful junk: ![]() FireBombs, Ice-Balls and Lit-Bolts are the items you see Cecil use in the opening (well, two of them are; this hack actually references that by putting an Ice-Ball in your starting inventory, to imply he had one of each at first). They deal appropriate elemental damage to all enemies equal to about a fourth of the user's current HP. The weapon shop here sells them for 1000 gil a pop, and it occurs to me while I'm typing this that I might want a few Ice-Balls soon since Yang and Cid can put them to good use, so I pick up a few. I don't bother with buying the Pass, which is still featured here exactly as it was in the original. Which means it's time to leave! Except...where do we go? Toroia is surrounded by ocean or mountains on all sides, and Eblan, our destination, is on an island. We have no boat or airship...but there's still one thing we can use! ![]() ![]() Black chocobos! They can fly over the ocean, no sweat, and can land anywhere with a forest. Now, they will always go back to their home forest when you remount them, but you can just catch them again and keep flying. With this, the world is ours to explore! And you know what that means...time to go everywhere except for where we're supposed to go! Mysidia ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ...never mind that. Mount Ordeals is nearby, so let's check it o-- ![]() ![]() --right. Rydia, want to use Shiva here? No? Okay then. (A degenerate player could farm the Spirits and Souls that show up on this small entrance point to get a Cursed Ring, which absorbs every element. I don't.) Agart Agart's still the same old dwarven-ancestry town it has been. ![]() ![]() Though the well's not a bottomless pit. That would be silly. Sadly, examining it gives nothing at all, not even a text box saying Cecil's face is dirty. The weapon shop has the Ashura Katana (which no one here can use), the Air Dagger (which no one here can use), and the "W. Slayer Sword"...which no one here can use. The armor shop, meanwhile, has a trimmed down list of Toroia's, as well as a Magic Glove that I think Kaipo sold, and a Wooden Shield that Cecil started the game with. So yeah, Agart's also a bust. Mythril Mythril's 90% the same as before; enough so that there's nothing worth screenshotting. There's no free Mythril gear in the grass anymore, though. The weapon shop has the Blind Dagger, as well as other things we've seen before. If you lost your Healing Staff, you can pick one up here. The armor shop has nothing but a Viking Helmet and Giant Gloves for Cecil and Cid. Unlike before, I pick these up because they give an absurd amount of status resistances. In total, the two are now immune to Blind, Pig, Frog, Mini, Charm, Sleep, and Curse. (All of these resistances together will come up exactly zero more times from here to the end of the game.) There's not actually anywhere else that's new. Fabul is as it was when we left; the King is still wounded, and if you talk to him, he just repeats the 'unprecedented crisis' text box. Baron and Mist we were just at a bit ago. And while we could technically revisit Damcyan and Kaipo, we'd have to land on the east side of Mt. Hobs, cross it, then ride the hovercraft there...then cross Mt. Hobs again when we want to come back. I'm willing to take the gamble that there's nothing new. Oh, I suppose there is one more place to show off... ![]() ![]() NO REASON AT ALL. GO AWAY CAVE MAGNES. |
#51
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Right then. To Eblan we go!
Befitting for a kingdom of ninjas, getting there is a bit of a trick, actually. ![]() Here's a picture of the area around Eblan. The castle is to the south, and to the east is the only forest that isn't blocked off by mountains. Notice how I say "isn't"; you might think that the part directly north of me where the water nearly touches the mountain is impassable. ![]() ![]() It's not. So you can just walk on across and down to Eblan Castle. It seems we're not the only ones here, however... ![]() Quote:
![]() The fight goes exactly as you're used to. The only difference... ![]() ...is that Edge uses Fire2 instead of Blaze. Huh. Quote:
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![]() So many words. I'm amused at how the four of us can apparently finish each others' sentences now. Anyway, Edge shuts up now and joins our party! First things first. ![]() Forget that 'Ninja' magic; Edge uses actual Black magic here. There isn't actually a difference, honestly; in fact, the original game just considers 'Ninja' another form of Black magic. See, where Dark Knight Cecil picks up the debilitating spells, Edge here picks up the murdering spells. If you put the two together, you'd get every Black spell in the game, with zero overlap. We'll also see this later with Rosa and someone else, for White magic. (Yes, this means Edge picks up Flare. Yes, it's incredibly weird.) Tnado there, unlike what typically gets called Tornado in FF4, does not set the target's HP to critical. It's just a forced-AoE Air-element spell. It's not terrible? Slightly stronger than a split [Elem]2. And Edge's Wis stat is passable enough that he can get away with being an off-brand Black Mage for a while. But no one uses Edge as a Black Mage, that's stupid. ![]() In-battle, he has the same Throw and Steal commands you know. I'm probably not going to bother duplicating a near-infinite stack of swords for Edge to toss...though I'll probably keep a stack of Shuriken around, since as you can see, Edge is stuck in the back row. You could almost make an argument for his magic right now. ...speaking of right now; when Edge mentioned Rubicant attacked with his monsters, yeah, those monsters are still around. Eblan Castle has random battles which look a lot like the original game's Tower of Zot encounter table. Otherwise, the castle is the same, with hidden chests everywhere. ![]() ![]() Monster chests included. This particular fight isn't a big issue; the Giant Gloves that Cid and Cecil have provide extra defense against the Giant race this guy is, so they take little damage. Cecil gets some mileage out of his spells for once and Charms the big lug, and he punches himself for 700 HP. ![]() And then I remember Cid's Gaia Hammer is super-effective; the Staleman doesn't even have that much HP. Inside is the Flame Mail. Unlike the original game's inverted resistances, here, the Flame Mail defends against Fire. Considering Rubicant is around here, that's very handy. Cecil gets it in his neverending quest to have more Defense than Attack. Another Staleman chest contains the Flame Sword, which is...less useful, right now... I don't put it on just yet, not least of which because of all these FlameDogs. In the Right Tower, a third Staleman guards a Gold Shield. We already had one of these from the revamped Mist Cave, and Cid can't currently use a shield, so it's kind of pointless. That said, it guards against petrification, so I'm not going to argue against having an extra on-hand. Now, a word of caution. ![]() See this hole right here? Make sure you're ready before you fall down that hole; there's no coming back up. In the original game, this lead to a little cave under the castle, which then pooped you right back outside. Here...well, you'll see. Once I've made my preparations, I jump down. ![]() Down here in the Basement, there's a few more chests, all with consumables (though one's an Elixir). Continuing along the path, we find... ![]() ...Rubicant up ahead! Make sure your equipment's set up before you talk to him. ![]() Quote:
![]() ![]() That's right; we're fighting Rubicant already! His HP has been toned down a bit to compensate for you fighting him quite a bit earlier than usual. Otherwise, though, this is the same battle as the original. I have Edge throw Shuriken for about 900 a pop, Rydia use Shiva when the cape's open, and the meatheads punch/bonk/stab as appropriate. I have to watch out a bit, though; he counters the Fight command with a party-wide Fire2, and since I don't have a healer, those numbers add up. This is why I bought those Ice-Balls earlier; they even do more damage than physical attacks, too. ![]() Though Rydia's the real star of the show. That said... ![]() This isn't too bad either. I can't use ice attacks while the cape's up (he's set to absorb both fire and ice while caped), so I use that time to patch up whoever just got murdered by Glare. Edge can still throw Shuriken, however, and when all is said and done, he's probably got the highest total damage this fight. ![]() Case in point. He didn't even get to use a second Glare. Quote:
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![]() ...we come to the Eblan hideout! And that's where I'll cut off for today. Next time, we see just how high the Tower of Babil reaches...and how low it starts. Please look forward to it! |
#52
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I mean, it's a castle? Presumably someone looked out a window or off of a parapet.
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#53
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I just found this LP and it's FASCINATING. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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#54
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That stupid tile of land where you can actually walk over to get to Eblan had me stuck for a good 30 minutes. I went everywhere multiple times until I finally threw up my hands and thought "maybe I can just walk over there." Yeah that was dumb.
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#55
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I mean, it's also dumb in the base game. It's just not required there.
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#56
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Bonus Chapter: The Training Room
Hello! I'm going to interrupt your scheduled tower break-in to talk about the Training Room. It's the first building you're likely to run into when you enter Baron, and this hack actually puts it to good use. ![]() ![]() ![]() The room's loaded with NPCs, a second floor, and there's even Namingway over there if you wanted to do something dumb like change Cecil's name to PANTS. I'm gonna start from the top and work my way down: Quote:
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To the second floor! ![]() jesus christ there's more of them Starting from the top: Quote:
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So yeah, there's a lot here for you to unpack. The Training Room only exists here, but you pass directly through Baron twice, and have the option of coming back when you're on the black chocobo, so it's worth checking it more than once, with the extra context of having played through the game a bit and seeing these things in action. Now, where were we...oh, right! The Tower of Babel. Please look forward to it! |
#57
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What is it referring to with Bonk? Have you had one of your characters hit another with a mallet? Wtf lol
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#58
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man, making it so spell-casting item, which are rarely used and tend to clog up inventory, ALSO hurt you seems like a bad idea.
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#59
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Uh, I thought that meant the damage the item does to enemies is equal to the current HP of the user.
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#60
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As for Bonk, we haven't gotten to it yet. I'll show it off when we do. |
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Tags |
bonk! , fiend of esuna , fiend of snul , final fantasy iv , gillionaire , let's play , penalty for being bard , red dwarf , romhack , the laughter years |
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