FEXNA (Currently In Private Beta)

[Nanami Touko]

There's a topic buried in spriting for the generics of FEXNA

yeah this one

So if you think you can get your style to match, you could do stuff

Animations tend to be all Yeti but you could also help if you can get your style to match his

[Shaman]

If I make several portraits for Yeti, will I gain access to the beta?

[Nanami Touko]

Prrrrrrrobably not.

I won't speak for him, but I don't think he does things like that.

[Shaman]

Well, I am willing to work on all of them every day and stop working on my own project in the process. I have been making FE-Style portraits for over 10 years now. Hopefully he sees this and considers my offer.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Shaman

[Nanami Touko]

If they're like the ones in your avatar, while they are good quality, Yeti needs things that match the style of what's in the game. If you can do that, of course submit, but I would suggest just trying to do things instead of making deals. Would probably work out better.

[47948201]

yeah what snake said

Separate chapter-progression-set modes? Easy! Making global unlockables based on a separate save file's progress... Less easy. Like, actually pretty hard, I found, so I can only hope Yeti will clarify or create a way to make it easier. I'm sure he will for 7x, but I wouldn't necessarily count on it being in an early version of FEXNA.

Edited February 4, 2016 by 47948201

[BlueLeafeon]

yeah what snake said

Separate chapter-progression-set modes? Easy! Making global unlockables based on a separate save file's progress... Less easy. Like, actually pretty hard, I found, so I can only hope Yeti will clarify or create a way to make it easier. I'm sure he will for 7x, but I wouldn't necessarily count on it being in an early version of FEXNA.

So what I'm getting from this is that it's REALLY hard to make a post-game unlock, but not for something akin to FE7's Lyn-to-Eliwood mechanics, or FE8's Ephraim/Eirika story split?

[47948201]

Yeah the thing is, within a save file, Yeti already made a whole system for the most complex branching chapter trees with multiple armies all over the world you can imagine (probably, if not then it's ready to be adapted for such), but dealing with things outside of a save file is something that might not be too bad but I spent a couple days on it and couldn't find anything.

[BlueLeafeon]

Yeah the thing is, within a save file, Yeti already made a whole system for the most complex branching chapter trees with multiple armies all over the world you can imagine (probably, if not then it's ready to be adapted for such), but dealing with things outside of a save file is something that might not be too bad but I spent a couple days on it and couldn't find anything.

I see. Then it sounds like there might be a workaround. Not the kind of thing I was hoping for, but hey, sometimes you just have to take shortcuts. lol

[Moblin Major General]

Does Yeti take testers for custom mechanics?

[Czar_Yoshi]

By "testers", do you mean accepting feedback from players of the demo, or handing out trial copies of XNA?

If the former, sure, just post in this thread. If the latter... Might as well be no.

Edited February 20, 2016 by Czar_Yoshi

[BlueLeafeon]

Precisely how hard would it be to add in a feature where the characters comment on their level ups, like that of FEA/Fates? I've come to really enjoy that aspect of those games, and would like to add it to my own as well.

[47948201]

Uhhhh...

hm

If you want it to be an actual, normal dialogue box thing, like with the moving mouth, typewriter text, and waiting for the player to press A (which might not be a bad idea anyway), that could actually be kinda tricky. Like, actually, without lots of help from Yeti or someone else who really knows what they're doing, I don't think I would try it unless I were absolutely dead-set on it.

However, if you're okay with the message box, for example, being attached to the character portrait, such a workaround would be much simpler, so maybe you could use that unless/until someone can help making it really work?

Edited February 24, 2016 by 47948201

[BlueLeafeon]

^ I am not above cheap workarounds. If it would be relatively simple or at least not super-duper complex, having a message box with a nonmoving portrait is perfectly fine. It's probably still far out of my reach though, given that I have no knowledge of XNA programming. :(

But it was just a thought, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Thank you for answering!

[FEChamper]

Is there an official web site or topic treed or something for this project? I mean there is the Immortal Sword web site but that's more focused on the actual game, which is really interesting by the way. Wondering if there is something out there that'll keep me updated on the project primarily. Also is there any news of it being released this year? Or does more time need to be taken.

[lonelyVoxel]

Welcome to the best source for FEXNA info! It's basically squat right now, since Yeti's just slaving away at code as far as we know. I don't think there's a lot more that's really known other than there will be quite a few tools you can use, and you can do basically anything as long as you can do the coding.

[deranger]

Is there an official web site or topic treed or something for this project? I mean there is the Immortal Sword web site but that's more focused on the actual game, which is really interesting by the way. Wondering if there is something out there that'll keep me updated on the project primarily. Also is there any news of it being released this year? Or does more time need to be taken.

There's also the FEXNA reddit Klok sorta runs https://www.reddit.com/r/fexna

[lonelyVoxel]

Ah, I didn't know about that subreddit. I took a look and it isn't really much, but it's proof that the engine isn't just Yeti trolling us =P

[Lord Wolfram]

XNA isn't easy to do, I mean in 2010 there was made final update, it stuck on version 4.0

I am studying it on my own and am looking for as many ways as possible to find shortcuts for the code, like this one I did:

And as I have heard Yeti is thinking how to do the same (make code as simple as possible)

Shortcuts my friend, it's taking time to clean up the long code and then to apply the shortcuts.
It's decreasing the need of RAM(Random Access Memory) too.

So yea give him a break, programming isn't as easy as it sounds. one bug can take weeks to solve. So yea, Respect!

[lonelyVoxel]

I totally respect the guy, it sounds like a massive amount of code for one man. I wait patiently for the day the fruits of his labor may be shared.

[marxen]

Hey guys! I just recently found out about FEXNA and I am very amazed by the progress so far - this definitely sounds like the fire emblem game making engine lots of people have been waiting for. Big ups for the work!

As for the engine itself, I have a few suggestions mostly inspired by the souls series where it is possible to one as well as two-hand weapons. Now I have never played the series before, but the way it seems to work is that if you two hand, you are able too wield weapons you would normally not be able to wield (as stats required basically get doubled) and you also are able to pull off different (stronger?) attacks.

Now why am I sitting here writing about the souls series you wonder? I recently restarted playing my favorite fire emblem, thracia 776, and as there are lots of units having low build (or constitution in later games) as well as low build growth, they are never really able to use all the good (and especially heavy) weapons efficiently, as their attackspeed and flee drops into a miserable state where they are mostly unable to survive a single enemy turn (but then again, we're talking about thracia. Don't f*ck with the ballistas).

Still, I think the concept of two-handing weapons could be a very interesting feature in fexna, even though it probably still isn't making much sense of right now and probably won't be implemented anytime soon if at all. But if adding a simple "weapon" and "shield" concept, things might become rather interesting in terms of strategy if implemented properly. I came up with a rather simple idea of how this could be done, I'll try to explain it with a few examples:

Lets say we have an archer named Wil who is level 14 and comes with an insane 12 strenght, dominating 10 speed and 6 constitution. He is using a steel bow with 9 atk as well as 9 weight. Now with the steel bow, Wil's attack speed drops to 7 while his attack power is at 21. Well.. except for some random low level soldiers and knights he won't be doubling anytime soon.
Now what if we would implement a skill called "two-hand" to be able to increase stats if wielding a weapon "both handed"? My idea was to implement this skill similar to how mounting works in FE5, as it is treated as a command when selecting the character to switch the fighting state at any time given. Keep that in mind. There would be two fighting states for all the units able to two-hand:

- One hand --> Use weapon on regular basis, as well as the possibility to equip/hold a shield. Not applying for any bow users (since one handing bows is pretty difficult you know?), swordfighters, pirates/brigands, magic users except mounted?
- Two hand --> No possibility to hold shield, but lets say it increases the units strength by 50% of the weapon's attack as well as boosting his constitution by 50% for the attack speed calculation (not influencing rescue) and increasing critical chance by the rank of the weapon used x4 (20 for A) (Not applying for mounted units except flying)

Now what does this mean in context with our example? Wil's constitution is boosted to 9 (nothing insane), which boosts his aspd to 10 as well as increasing his evasion. His strength goes up to 17, making his attack power 26. Looking a lot better there Wil!

(Lots of scenarios following, feel free to skip)

Lets apply this option to a more extreme example, lets say, a lvl 20 berserker called Dart. Now Dart is totally in beast mode, having 13 Constitution, 30 strength and 28 speed (now hit rate is a different story). He is using a Hero Axe with 16 weight and 10 atk, making his aspd drop to 25 (not that it matters much) and his attack 40. If two handing, His strength becomes a whopping 35(45 atk) and his aspd becomes 28. This potentially means 20 more non-influenced damage (sounds like a lot right? Well good thing the next segment is about shields). Oh, and he has 14 defense. Just saying.

Now shields are for the more defensive players and units, as they work similar to equipping a weapon to increase battle stats. A shield itself would come with 5 stats, as weapons do: durability, defense, magic defense, crit evasion and weight. As for durability, it only gets decreased when hit of course. Now let us quickly invent a steel shield as well as a silver shield to be able to provide some scenarios:

- Steel Shield --> 60 durability, 7 defense, 0 magic defense, 10 crit evasion, 11 weight.
- Silver Shield -->40 durability, 8 defense, 3 magic defense, 15 crit evasion, 10 weight.

(Keep in mind that skills could be applied to the shields, like further reducing or negating damage or critical chance)

Lets say we have a level 12 Knight called Oswin, who is unable to two hand, which puts him in the position of actually wanting to use shield. He comes with 15 strength, 6 speed, 16 defense and 14 Constitution. Lovely. He also comes with a steel lance to total 25 attack power as well as having 6 attack speed. Now the way shields would work is exactly like equipping a weapon, as shield weight would further influence the units attack speed (so aspd penalty for weapon weight and shield weight), making them mostly useful for high constitution units. In our case Oswin is using a Steel Shield, meaning that there is no aspd penalty, and Oswin's defense gets boosted to a whopping 22. Now 22 is a lot, as it should be for every true defensive fire emblem unit. How will any physical same-level enemy be able to hurt him? well a two-hand steel axe using fighter with merely 10 strength and a steel axe will come in at 27 attack power. You will need the defense since you cannot dodge. I mean even Wil will hit him for 4 x2 damage (still a decent bunch considering he has 12 strength only). And beware of Hammer.

For our more extreme example we have a more hybrid unit, a one-handed level 20 Hero named Harken who solidly provides 25 strength, 23 speed, 11 constitution and 19 defense. He comes with a hero sword as well as a silver shield, which gives him decent 34 attack power, still a solid 22 attack speed as well as a whopping 27 defense for a Hero. Who needs a general right? As a very well rounded unit he will find himself surviving many situations as well as being able to 4x many enemies. Sounds pretty overpowered to me, but facing two-handed lance users he might find himself in trouble, as their damage output is pretty high (20 strength wyvern lord two-handing a silver lance would result 41 attack power. Now make that 2 or 3) and lets not even start on magic users.

Now Dart, knowing that he is insanely powerful, would still 4x 17 the crap out of Harken since berserker caps are totally insane in FE7, but as mentioned previously, hit rate plays a major factor as well, and its looking a lot worse there. Harken on the other hand would deal 21 x2 damage with a pretty much guaranteed hit chance. Now when switching to the two-handed offensive mode, Harken clocks in at 39 attack power, 22 attack speed and 19 defense with the hero sword. As you see, it slightly helps with the damage output, but thanks to Harken's high base constitution it makes sense to give him a shield to increase his defence significally for this matchup. (As for our other hero, this example wouldn't apply as well, since his constitution is only at 9. He would lose 5(!) aspd in this scenario, giving him a max aspd of 20)

Considering magic users, pray you don't encounter a two-handed long ranged one. They would be very powerful, but would also result to be even more frail if stripping shields from them (Although a mage knight carrying a shield would make sense).

(if you skipped the examples, please continue here)

I feel like this could give fire emblem a fresh new feature in terms of strategy, whereas two handing increases offensive capabilities to quickly rout the enemy and one handing increases the units capability of keeping the position and defending important spots depending on how the chapter is designed. It would also increase class/unit diversity (pirates =/= fighters, Hero =/= Hero depending on constitution). Additionally, I think that two handing would benefit fast low con units as it would boost their aspd, atk and flee for improved killing ability instead of having to rely on lower tier weapons to guarantee double attacks. As for one hand weapon wielders, they get the possibility to wear a shield and boost their defense and/or magic defense to provide higher survivability, possibly at the cost of attack speed. Now I am aware that this would result in having to tweak certain things, like balancing growths to not exploit the system, balancing weapon and shield power, balancing enemies so that you can't just put a knight on a castle and call it a day etc.

So on to my question: How complex is the implementation of such a feature (Battle animations not considered)? And what is your (referring to anyone reading this) take on this whole idea? These are very raw ideas so I definitely appreciate any thoughts on this concept. I can imagine hybrid classes like medium high con heros, warriors and halberdiers to apply very well in most situations, defensive and offensive, whereas defensive units with high con like generals, great knights and wyvern lords get a lot more bulky and tankier, and offensive units like swordmasters, snipers and berserkers are able to quickly rout enemies and are more likely to double. Shields provide high defenses, yes, but they also literally come at a cost if you have to buy them, so you might not always want to use your best ones.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, definitely had some spare time there. Have a great day!

[TheRepeat]

//a lot of stuff

It's not very standard Fire Emblem, so it'd definitely not be in the vanilla build, but if you've got the programming capability that definitely seems doable. Interesting idea overall. I could see it being implemented well.

[BlueLeafeon]

I have to admit, I usually don't tl;dr things, but that post I definitely did.

I will say this though.

Lets say we have an archer named Wil who is level 14 and comes with an insane 12 strenght, dominating 10 speed and 6 constitution. He is using a steel bow with 9 atk as well as 9 weight. Now with the steel bow, Wil's attack speed drops to 7 while his attack power is at 21. Well.. except for some random low level soldiers and knights he won't be doubling anytime soon.
Now what if we would implement a skill called "two-hand" to be able to increase stats if wielding a weapon "both handed"?

Wil is like the worst possible example you could have chosen, because bows ARE two-handed weapons. I don't think having a two-handed skill would help him at all. (More Con, however, would. Most everyone in that game have HORRIBLE con stats. <_< )

Okay, now for the reason I posted:

Is the support mechanics GBA-style, and take place during battle? Or are they like FE9 onward and take place in base conversations? I kind of need to know for my support writings.

[deranger]

Is the support mechanics GBA-style, and take place during battle? Or are they like FE9 onward and take place in base conversations? I kind of need to know for my support writings.

In the latest two releases of FE7x, both are possible. I believe Myke slightly altered conversations based on whether it happens in combat or at base, so you can write both situations, and just have both start and end in the same place as each other.

You really should try 7x. Great game all around, and will likely get you even more excited about developing.

Edited April 16, 2016 by deranger

[BlueLeafeon]

In the latest two releases of FE7x, both are possible. I believe Myke slightly altered conversations based on whether it happens in combat or at base, so you can write both situations, and just have both start and end in the same place as each other.

You really should try 7x. Great game all around, and will likely get you even more excited about developing.

I tried it but didn't get beyond the first chapter for...reasons. Just couldn't get into it.

Wait, so both are possible simultaneously? Any way to cut out one variant? I'd prefer to just stick with the GBA method.