[FE8] Fire Emblem: Hunger for Power

[Asmont Osborne]

Hi guys. It's been about a year since I started working on this.

Unfortunately, I am still unable to start creating the game itself, and I am really unexperienced when it comes to this. My firstquestion would be: should I start doing this with the tools that are available atm, or should I wait for FEXNA to come out (don't know how much more it will take tho)?

Anyway, here is Hunger for Power's start (btw don't ask why Rennar is so similar to Ragnar from Death or Glory, I just started playing it myself, blind).

Lyndharc's five nations, Cyren (empire), Asith (wyverns kingdom), Barona (pretty much a kingdom with duchies, similar to Grandbell or Lycia), Delos (desert magic kingdom, was destroyed because the two brothers of the Royal Family unleashed some kind of forbidden spells) and Veritia (snow, religious teocracy) were founded by the heroes Cyren, Aurike (Asith), Dalen (Barona), Aldred (Delos) and Saint Illote (Veritia). One thousand years ago, they defeated the Dark Lord Luxor (leader of the Demon race the humans were at war with), ending the Dark Ages. Each hero was given by the Goddess Sinona two holy weapons, which became the symbols of their countries.

Rennar, a sergeant in the Cyrenian Army, is entrusted by Emperor Tedan with a diplomatic mission to Asith. He will discover that he is just a little pawn in a grander scheme of someone very close to him...

Here is what you should expect:

- Two lords (one of those being Rennar)

- About 20 chapters of content (plus the prologue and three or four Gaidens)

- Decent map design (including escape chapters and some original objectives)

- Backstories on almost everyone (something I think is not in most FE games)

There it is.

I will prolly need

- a lot of feedback on the plot

- good sprites (later on, I can't use them right away)

That's it. Feel free to leave feedback. Criticism is appreciated as well.

Edited June 5, 2016 by Goddess Serra

[InvdrZim13]

You might as well start now since we don't know when XNA is coming.

Read the Ultimate Tutorial by Blazer and after that when you've got a feel for things, read Arch's guide to chapter construction.

Yes there's a bunch of reading and practicing involved but you won't get anywhere without it. Both these guides are incredibly useful for new hackers, and you're only shooting yourself in the foot if you don't read them and use them as a reference.

And a side note, Hunger of Power sounds... really weird for a title. Hunger for Power, maybe?

As for the name of Delos' founder, what we did for Staff of Ages was just name the continent after the sage lady who made the staff (Velhari), so you could be lazy and just pull that lol

Edited June 3, 2016 by InvdrZim13

[Blue Druid]

Yeah, I'd agree with Zim. Many people think FEXNA is an easy out and a "make a game button" but it really isn't, and besides it's taking its time. Better start now, and get more used to chapter design, writing etc.

Also Ghast's videos are great for hacking.

[Asmont Osborne]

Oh ok. Thanks for the advice (and for correcting the title, I'm Italian so my English is not perfect). Btw I would like to do what you suggested for the Sage's name, but he is not one of the most important heroes (Cyren and Saint Illote being those) so there would be little reason in doing so. I'll think of something.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Goddess Serra

[InvdrZim13]

Oh ok. Thanks for the advice (and for correcting the title, I'm Italian so my English is not perfect). Btw I would like to do what you suggested for the Sage's name, but he is not one of the most important heroes (Cyren and Saint Illote being those) so there would be little reason in doing so. I'll think of something.

Well for that then I'd just figure out what real life region the country is similar to and just use a name generator of some kind that can make a list of names from that region. If that makes sense.

You should totally do FE8 so I can help you out with the eventing specifics. Cause I sure as hell won't be able to help much with 7

[Asmont Osborne]

Assuming I do FE8, would Trainees and branched promotions be available? Also, is hacking the world map events so difficult? (If it is, I would like to know how to take it out completely, since the game does not take place in Magvel, as you may have guessed). Also, one of the reasons for me choosing FE7 was the fact that you could use a tactician (FE7 style, not like in the hack with the bow lord). He/she is Rennar's younger sibling, and while not crucial to the story, he/she's important in a couple of situations.

Btw, after a long and tiring research (it took two minutes) I decided to go with Aldred (for the sage), meaning "old, wise counselor" which I think fits well with the other heroes' names as well (and with the playable character's from that area).

[InvdrZim13]

Trainees and branched promos would be available.

As for world map stuff, I have 0 idea how to hack it, but I sure do know how to skip it.

[Asmont Osborne]

Are skills tremendously hard to hack in (I mean, FE4 and FE5 style, not FE13 style, including Mastery Skills)?

[Tequila]

Are skills tremendously hard to hack in (I mean, FE4 and FE5 style, not FE13 style, including Mastery Skills)?

Depends how you define "tremendously hard". If you have any programming experience and have done some assembly before, (some) skills won't be too bad to implement. If you've never done assembly before...well, I'd start with something a wee bit easier first.

[Enaluxeme]

There are a bunch of skills pre programmed in the game, and you can find many in the resources section.

If you put your mind into it, I'm sure you'll be able to do it: there are various tutorials and you can always just ask for help, the community is here for a reason after all!

All you need is time and dedication.

[Asmont Osborne]

I have a couple questions about the weaponry, and I'd like your opinion.

First, Anima magic tomes: I'm planning to do Fire, Thunder and Wind tomes as separate. All are strong against Light tomes and weak against Dark tomes.

The plan is to have the same triangle as in FE4 (Fire beats Wind, Wind beats Thunder and Thunder beats Fire).

The first issue is: Are Arc- tomes worth it in a 20 chapters long game (it would be basic tomes at the start, followed by El- tomes midgame and those such as Thoron lategame)? I'm strongly against this, but I need your opinions.

Second: Should I have a "non-elemental" tome (like the GBA ultimate Anima tomes) as the legendary tome, or one for each element (this would be changing the OP a little, but I'd make it work in that case).

Third: Should I have reaver tomes (not for Fire, Thunder amd Wind, but for Anima, Dark and Light, like in Midnight Sun)? In that case, would the Dark magic reaver be non-elemental as well?

Fourth (and hopefully last): How should I manage weaponry? For example, how many "special weapons" (such as Horseslayers) should be given during the game (buyable or a limited amount?).

Btw for those who are wondering, there will be FE8 Master Seals as universal promotion items (I like their design better than Earth Seals).

[Enaluxeme]

If you have different weapon ranks then it's impossible to have a non-elemental tome, I suppose. Unless you can finde a way to make so that you need a specific rank in all three anima ranks to use it... That would be rad.

As far as managing weapons and tomes, i's all about balancing: there's no rule saying that Thron and silver weapons should only be accessible during end game. As a developer, you can balance characters in base weapon ranks too, not only in bare stats: you can have a weak character that needs some levels to catch up stat-wise come with an high weapon rank and a good weapon or vice versa.

As for effective weapons usually it should be available before the chapters you need them most, or in the chapters themselves. Again, if a map is flooded with knights a weak character could join in that map with a hammer.

There isn't a set answer, but there are many variables you should experiment and play with.

(Also you can do whatever you like with special tomes: those are strangely very rare in the official games but are always welcomed in the community)

[Asmont Osborne]

'Kay then. I'll go for Reaver tomes (probably one of each, making them even more valuable), and make them buna le in a secret shop or something like that. I do have some ideas.

[CrystalPoke]

Well, if you are planning to do a hack, you just did the most important step: post your idea on the forums.

That is, if you really do care about this hack, you should be responsible, as a OP of this thread, to update it everytime your hack progresses. Even doing something as little as, I don't know, inserting a sprite, counts. But start slowly; read the tutorials the people above gave you, experiment with the ROMs, investigate for yourself... and when you think you're finally capable of changing something without messing up, do it! Remember, great hacks take a lot of time and effort :)

I'm fairly good with stuff like story and logistic things, and I have enough free time to give feedback or test something, so yeah, lemme know if you need something!

Good luck! ;)

[Crazycolorz5]

http://feuniverse.us/t/fe8-arbitrary-number-of-weapon-types/753

maybe you can use this for your anima split but I have to admit I don't have experience using it myself/know what bugs there may be with it.

[Asmont Osborne]

I haven't had time to start working on this yet. My computer is a bit old but I should get a new one in a week or two. If everything goes according to plan, I'll start working on HfP by the end of June.