thane98

You can lock join order swaps to same-sex only in the options to ensure that pronouns match with the characters, but it's not forced. Special classes are up for grabs, but characters are restricted to classes for their gender. Currently, the randomizer doesn't mess with the legendary weapons at all. I probably need to fix this in a future update. First/second gen are randomized separately. First gen units and second gen units use entirely different IDs for parent/child interactions, so trying to swap children with parents would just cause lots of bugs. Non-native units are planned for the next update, but to get it working I'll need to go through and overhaul a significant portion of the randomizer. It'll be awhile before I have this feature ready to go. Capturable bosses is something I've considered. I may go ahead and add them in with the next update. The starting stats are already created using the bases, growths, and modifiers of the other character. So if a character swaps with Gunter, they will always get his high base stats and low growths. I could separate stats, growths, and modifiers out into separate options in the future though. I'll likely add in an option to guarantee a class that can use a special weapon whenever I get around to actually ensuring that the replacing characters can use them. Yeah, my bad for writing the XML that way, it's a little misleading. The randomizer uses the stats of whoever the original character is swapping with to determine their new stats. That's why the stats are arranged as they are inside of the XML file. I might have messed up with the personal skills actually. It looks like I forgot to include them in the code for writing/reading the XML file. I'll make sure that they're in it with the next update.

Yeah, your dump is messed up in that case. The only advice I can give you is to go through and try dumping the game again. Sorry.

What files are inside the folder you got when you extracted files from the romfs? If you aren't seeing the folders you expected, you might have gotten a bad dump.

That file actually isn't modified by the randomizer at all. If the options window doesn't appear, you probably need to update your version of Java since the options window uses stuff from Java's more recent versions.

You have to include the GameData file from the Gay Fates hack inside your files when you run the randomizer.

Yes.

Here, try the plugin I've attached to this post. EUR Birthright.zip

You don't need to use HANS. You just need to use the correct NTR plugin for your version of Fates. Are you using EU Birthright, Conquest, or Special Edition?

If NTR ran correctly, you should get a green flash when starting up Fates. If you don't have one, you're likely using the wrong plugin for your version.

I forgot to mention, I've started up development on the next update for the randomizer. I've got a couple interesting features planned, but it'll be awhile before anything's ready since I need to change a bunch of stuff under the hood first. If anyone has any features they'd like to see added, I'm open to suggestions.

If you have WinRAR installed, it sets .jar files to show up as WinRAR files by default. Simply right click on "Fates Randomizer Beta 5" from the download, go down to "Open With..." and select Java.

As mentioned in the main post, homebrew programs like HANS tend to have problems with Fates. Physical copies of Fates tend to work alright, but homebrew programs can hardly touch digital copies. If you're on a firmware version lower than 11.3 (as in, not on the latest update), you could always go for the custom firmware route. That method will work perfectly regardless of which version of Fates you're using. Check the patching section of the main post for a short guide on setting up homebrew. I haven't updated it for the latest firmware yet, but you can use the same entry point to get homebrew access. Keep in mind that if you're using a digital version of Fates and the latest firmware, there's little chance that you'll be able to run ROM hacks of Fates due to the extra security that comes with the digital version. Anyways, I've gone ahead and updated the main post with a small bugfix which caused the randomizer to stop responding when randomizing under certain configurations.

Not seeing the green flash indicates that the NTR plugin isn't running. You might be using the wrong one. Try using the one I've attached to this post and see if it works. EUR Special Edition.zip

If you have a decrypted copy of Fates on your computer, you could probably use something like PackHack to randomize the files for use with Citra, though I don't have any sort of tutorial for doing that. It's much easier to play it through your 3DS. If you own a digital copy and you are using HANS/Homebrew Launcher to play ROM hacks, your setup may not be compatible with Fates. I can't really do anything for you there - if you can't launch Fates through HANS, your only option is to install custom firmware on your 3DS. However, that option's only available if you haven't updated your 3DS to version 11.3. I don't recommend using existing save files with ROM hacks in general - it leads to unstable games and unpredictable behavior. If you're using Conquest, you'll only be able to randomize Conquest since Birthright/Revelation are treated as DLC content which is significantly harder to modify. You don't really need to randomize every time you start a new file unless you want different results on your next playthrough. The randomizer doesn't touch your 3DS. It modifies files on your computer which you can then add to a ROM/patch to see the results in game.

The instructions are a holdover from the original release. That version lacked any sort of support for Japanese or European versions of Fates, so that explains why the instructions don't match up perfectly. For German, select both the European option and German. I received some reports about issues with the randomizer button not working like its supposed to, but I never received any additional details. If the child button is the source of the issue, I'll see what I can do to fix it. With regards to the program appearing to freeze, that's due to something I screwed up on Beta 5. The program's running, it just won't respond until randomization completes. If you got both an output.txt file, your files were randomized successfully. You don't need to compress the output file or the xml file. Output.txt includes a summary of what the randomizer did to each character. RandomizerSettings.xml can be loaded under the "Custom Path" option to get the same results from the randomizer that you received previously. If you aren't on the Special Edition of Fates, modifying more than one path is impractical. You'd have to dump the DLC from your SD using something like Decrypt9, extract the content from each path DLC, randomize it, and then rebuild the DLC as a CIA file. Even if you have custom firmware on your 3DS, it's not an easy thing to do. However, if you are on custom firmware, you can probably just get the special edition through other means.

I restarted for free rerolls until I got a 5 star unit (Robin). He's outclassed every other character I've received so far, but that might change when I finally get another 5 star.

Okay, beta 5 is out! Here's everything that was added in this update: Randomizer results are now saved to an XML file. You can load this file next time you randomize to get the same results. Alternatively, you can modify the file to get the results you want from the randomizer. Added an option to randomize all paths at once provided that the files for all three paths verified correctly. The experimental options section is back. Options in this section are functional, but they may lead to unintended behaviors in game. Added an option for changing every appearance of a character to use their new class. This option causes the AI to behave oddly in certain situations (most notably, chapter 5), so the option has been flagged as "Experimental" for now. Fixed a bug which caused chapter 11 to crash if Reina's replacement was not a flying class.

Sorry for the silence over the past few days. I have a big update to the randomizer in the works, but it's not quite ready for release. In the meantime, I've gone ahead and released a smaller update, Beta 4-2. Here's the list of changes: Added support for European versions of Fates. No more renaming folders! Redid the system for randomizing map scripts once again. There's still no fix for some of the most prominent crashes, but this change should improve stability to some extent. Mozu's finally in the randomization pool again after a prolonged absence. A couple additional, miscellaneous bug fixes. I've also updated the main post with new instructions for running the hack on your 3DS as well as a FAQ section.

The randomizer doesn't touch supports at all - characters keep their original supports. The randomizer should be fully compatible with Gay Fates, though a couple people had issues when running both at once. If you're going to use both, just make sure to use the GameData.bin file from the Gay Fates hack when you randomize.

If you're on CFW, using the special edition is probably the easier solution for Fates hacks. Rebuilding DLC is a complex and tedious process to go through. I don't have any sort of concrete instructions on dumping, extracting, and rebuilding the DLC, but this post can probably help you with the rebuilding process. No need to redump the game multiple times as long as you back up your first. As far as fixing the black screen goes, I need a few more details. Are you on a digital copy of Fates? Did you make sure to leave all content from the original game inside of the romfs, or did you only rebuild it from the randomizer files? Did you recompress your randomized files before adding them back to the romfs?

Did you make sure to recompress your files before adding them to your romfs?

So to clarify, you're having an issue when trying to open HANS through the homebrew launcher with Fates selected, right? If that's the case, my only suggestion would be to try setting up custom firmware and running the patch through NTR instead since that would avoid the issues with HANS. If the crash occurs after starting HANS when trying to launch Fates with your randomized romfs, then the issue might be a bit more complicated.

Are you using a digital version of Fates? That might explain the issue as homebrew programs don't handle Fates well. Whether or not they work with Fates seems to vary from person to person.

So where does the black screen occur? Is it when launching HANS itself or when you try to start Fates through HANS?

Install the latest updates for Java. Beta 4 of the randomizer uses some stuff from those updates in the options window, so if you don't have an up to date version of Java, the options window will fail to open.