zahlman

I assume we're taking the north path and you mean the second snag? On turn 3 I assume... and then I guess Marcus has to hand back a square since my Bartre wasn't going to do the job with a Hand Axe... hrm. What's a FHAB? Ch15 5/31 Ok, I was wrong. This is the last time I do well. This took many restarts because I got really unlucky (cumulatively). I would have been satisfied with 6 except that the strategy seemed so beautiful and so, well, possible. Marcus either needs to proc Speed on his mid-level level-up (so that he can double Bauker with a Steel Axe) or crit once at 9% on two attacks, and a couple other things need to not epically fail. It really shouldn't have taken so many attempts considering that's a combined chance of like 38% (ignoring the part where Marcus could have procced Speed on his previous two level-ups and didn't... but then, he also needs 2/3 Strength procs, and happens to have already got both...). The RNG trolled me relentlessly by having Lowen get ridiculous numbers of totally unnecessary crits, and having Marcus proc all over the place except for Speed. Seriously, one of them was Skill, Def and Res. Naturally, as soon as I start actually thinking about deliberately manipulating the RNG from a fresh restart instead of just restarting repeatedly, it turns out to be trivial to get the Speed proc (after doing everything else "according to script", Marcus just has to be the second one to attack on Turn 3 PP after Lowen finishes off a Cavalier). Bartre holds on to Eliwood for a little bit in the hills while Marcus crosses them, then hands him off on turn 4 so that Marcus can drop him just in range of the throne. Lowen goes south and gains some exp (and presumably keeps the path a little clearer for Marcus). Serra is pretty on the hill tile next to Merlinus, dodge-tanking admirably against whatever sneaks past Lowen. On turn 5 she heals Merlinus and levels up. Florina gets both villages and stays out of everyone else's way. Wil and Lyn shop till they drop (I hold on to the Blue Gem for now though). A bit of clever trading enables Kent and Sain to each get a Javelin on turn 1 while Sain also positions to distract the enemy Archer near the boss. Kent Kents. Lyn takes a couple shots with the pasta blade and manages not to get herself killed. My units were unnecessarily crit-happy on the rest of turn 5 PP between Marcus taking out the boss and Eliwood seizing. The RNG is a major troll. Eliwood 4.04, 21hp 6/6/7/7/7/1, 1 xp from getting hit by Fire. Marcus 4.71, 34hp 17/17/12/9/11/11. Figures the level-up that procs Speed would be a +4 one. Lowen 8.65, 28hp 8/8/9/7/10/3, HP only = you can't win 'em all. Bartre 5.76, 32hp 9/5/4/5/5/2, 2 xp from getting hit by one of the mountain bandits and from making a vain attempt on turn 5 to hit a merc. Serra 2.02, 17hp 2/6/8/6/3/5, and still pretty. Edit: I guess Florina isn't supposed to get the villages, but it doesn't alter anything in the AI as far as I'm aware as she's always out of range. I'll ignore the Red Gem and Heavy Spear in my inventory, they're pretty much useless anyway. Ch16 9/40 The usual Marcus rush business. Matthew is deployed to obtain the Hero Crest because later ones will be more annoying to get. This required some careful positioning on the first couple of turns to avoid taking a meatshielding penalty for Matthew while also not having to Rescue him. Bartre took out the Shaman. Lowen helped Eliwood catch up, and Marcus backtracked a couple of spaces to complete the convoy. Marcus was 1HP away from 2HKOing the boss with a Steel Axe, and finished the job with a Hand Axe on Turn 9 PP. I didn't get Priscilla on Ch14 (you don't have to visit the south village AFAIK, but apparently you have to either do that *or* recruit Erk... or something... ?) so recruiting Raven was not an option, but a 9 turn clear means the Caelin soldiers never get attacked anyway, and an extra Steel Sword is nothing special. Serra continued to attempt to spam Heal, managing 4 opportunities in 9 turns (I'm sure that could be improved). 9 turns also means Merlinus only faces one attack, and survives easily. Eliwood 5.32, 22hp 6/7/7/7/8/2, tank-some. Marcus 5.99, 35hp 17/17/12/9/11/11. And here we go back to crappy level-ups. Lowen 9.25, 29hp 8/8/9/7/10/4, laughing at mages. Bartre 6.23, 33hp 10/5/5/5/6/2 Serra 2.48, 17hp 2/6/8/6/3/5, and still pretty. Ch16x 4/44 Marcus is, unsurprisingly, a mooncalf. He manages not to get crit, while Lowen grabs the Devil Axe, Bartre recruits CANofwhoopASs who manages to get a few kills, and Eliwood and Serra pretend to be useful. Eliwood 5.42, 22hp 6/7/7/7/8/2, tank-some. Marcus 6.56, 36hp 17/17/13/9/11/12. Moar speed! Lowen 9.56, 29hp 8/8/9/7/10/4, laughing at mages. Bartre 6.65, 33hp 10/5/5/5/6/2 Serra 2.70, 17hp 2/6/8/6/3/5, and still pretty. Canas 8.54, SOON. Ch17 4/48 Hey kids let's all go visit Zoldam! Won't that be fun? STFU, yes it will. Matthew steals the Guiding ring for Canas (yay necessary promotion items), which cost me a 3-turn clear instead. Marcus got a perfect level-up off of Zoldam so I'm not complaining. He needs to dodge a 14% crit (86% hit) that exactly OHKOs him. Eliwood 5.85, 22hp 6/7/7/7/8/2, tank-some. Marcus 7.30, 37hp 18/18/14/10/12/13. EPIC. Lowen 10.23, 30hp 8/8/10/7/10/4, begging me with invisible puppy-dog eyes for promotion. Bartre 6.75, 33hp 10/5/5/5/6/2 Serra 2.94, 17hp 2/6/8/6/3/5, about to become prettier. Canas 8.93, even sooner. Ch18 6/54 Bartre can't take out snags with a Hand Axe, which slows down the path through the island. So close >_< Although even then, it's seemingly impossible to put Dart anywhere that he won't get dinged for meatshielding if I go that way. So everyone heads south, Marcus rush, no crit or torch yadda yadda. Annoyingly he gets an unnecessary crit on turn 6 PP, and then a crappy level-up. Everyone else got a decent chunk of exp though. Merlinus died, so I had to discard a 9-use Hand Axe to keep the Orion's bolt for sale. Fiora fights valiantly and ultimately fails. Doesn't seem worthwhile to try to recruit her for her stuff and then keep both Fiora and Florina out of combat. Eliwood 6.49, 23hp 6/8/8/7/8/3, which means I had his Skill wrong the last several chapters (edited). Marcus 8.49, 37hp 18/18/14/11/12/13. Back to suck. Lowen 10.92, 30hp 8/8/10/7/10/4 Bartre 7.44, 34hp 11/6/6/5/6/3 watch out guys he's getting faster. Serra 3.40, 17hp 3/6/8/7/3/5, and C staves now. Canas 9.64, 22hp 11/10/8/7/5/8. 18x 5/59 Quite satisfied with this. Lowen rescues and drops Eliwood on the first two turns, who then manages to walk the rest of the way. He forgot to switch to the Rapier but it wouldn't have made a real difference as things turn out. Marcus rushes ahead with a Hand Axe and a Javelin, ensuring on turn 3 PP that he's clear of the magic seal radius, causing all the mages to go after him and get out of the way. Turns 4 and 5 are dedicated to Marcus scoring 2 hits on the boss; not quite a KO with Iron Lance because of throne healing, but there were other options, and Lowen gets a chance to assist on turn 5 and got a lucky 32% hit with a Javelin. Canas and Bartre play with some peggies after ensuring that Eliwood and Lowen have a reasonably clear path. Serra manages to spam Heal a little more and just barely not die. Eliwood 6.82, 23hp 6/8/8/7/8/3 Marcus 9.54, 38hp 18/19/15/11/12/13 Lowen 11.45, 31hp 8/8/10/8/10/4, another crappy one :/ Bartre 8.09, 35hp 11/6/6/5/6/3 fail level is fail. Serra 3.89, 17hp 3/6/8/7/3/5 Canas 10.29, 23hp 11/11/8/7/5/9.

Sorry, typo, will fix. 14 should say 13x. This is the real chapter 14: Ch 14 4/26 This is the last time I do well. Bartre procced Speed on a level-up from the first loldier near the start, enabling him to double the others with Iron. Marcus rushed west and pwninated mostly with an Iron Lance. Horseslayers are lol in this game, poor Erik. Lowen brought Eliwood south and they dealt with stuff down there. Eliwood 4.03, 21hp 6/6/7/7/7/1, coming along decently I guess. Marcus 3.90, 33hp 17/16/11/9/11/10. Lowen 7.13, 27hp 8/8/9/7/10/3, dat res. Bartre 5.74, 32hp 9/5/4/5/5/2 omg he doubled something. Also Res. Serra 1.91, still pretty. Wish I understood how that 5-turn Ch13 is supposed to work. Eliwood can't get there by himself in 5 turns crossing the river, and Marcus tends not to double stuff while rescuing... although actually I guess that first archer will suicide himself, and most other stuff are bandits and loldiers that will be OHKOd by the Steel Sword... ? Seems like it requires ridiculous precision, anyway.

Ch 11 - 4/4 I probably got the Eliwood drop positioning "wrong", but Lowen fixed it by doubling and ORKOing the Archer that blocked Eliwood's path to the throne. One restart to figure out that Marcus isn't supposed to Rescue on turn 1 since he needs to be able to double on turn 1 EP or things just get screwed (especially if the RNG trolls you on turn 2 PP). Didn't bother grabbing Dragonshield since there should be lots of money anyway. Eliwood 1.54, base Marcus 1.30, base Lowen 2.64, 23 hp 7/5/7/3/7/0 (I remember his bases being better than that? It's been a long time) Bartre 2.67, 29 hp 9/5/3/4/4/0 Ch 12 - 5/9 Hector and Oswin being free is pretty much necessary to the 5 turn clear as far as I can figure. Lowen can't handle the north on his own, and while there have been one or two times I've gotten Zagan to go north/west instead of south, I have no idea how it works. Marcus got a totally unnecessary crit on the second hit on Zagan, and Hector got a totally unnecessary Wolf Beil crit on a loldier. Lowen finally got a chance to trade an Iron Sword to Eliwood so he could stop wasting the Rapier, then he needed it once more anyway Eliwood went shopping on the last turn, while Rebecca and Dorcas watched from a distance. I also had Rebecca buy 5 Vulneraries on the last turn because hey, you never know. Eliwood 2.24, 19 hp 5/5/7/7/6/0, on track to becoming another General imo. Marcus 1.88, base Lowen 3.41, 24 hp 7/6/7/4/7/1 Bartre 3.55, 30 hp 9/5/3/4/4/0, fail. Ch 13 6/15 Steel Axe!Bartre breaks the snag, and an undrafted unit helps hand the Hand Axe and Iron Axe over to Marcus. Eliwood crosses the river. Lowen handles the south, saving the village and avoiding meatshielding penalties for the others. Javelin!Marcus takes a potshot at Guy for funsies after dispatching Boies. Serra visits the Torch village and actually gets to heal once. Yay, I'm keeping pace. I'm accustomed to thinking of these chapters as taking like 3 turns longer each with a full team. o_O Eliwood 2.75, 19 hp 5/5/7/7/6/0 Marcus 2.63, 32 hp 16/15/11/9/10/9. Why does he get so much more exp here? Lowen 4.95, 25hp 7/7/8/4/8/1 Bartre 3.93, 30 hp 9/5/3/4/4/0, still fail. Serra 1.12, OH SO PRETTY Ch 13x LOL/22 Meatshielding is fun, but getting exp for your drafted units is more fun. Eliwood visits the village on the last turn and Lowen picks up the boss kill after chipping on EP and Marcus weakening further with a Javelin on turn 7. Oswin, Hector and Matthew do most of the meatshield tanking while Rebecca just tries to find somewhere useful to stand. Eliwood 3.62, 20 hp 6/5/7/7/6/1 Marcus 3.10, 33 hp 17/16/11/9/11/10, notbad.jpg Lowen 6.67, 26hp 8/7/9/6/10/2, I told you he'd be ridiculous. Bartre 4.71, 31 hp 9/5/3/5/5/1, well at least he won't die as much now. Serra 1.80, still pretty.

... And they still have no clue how to spell "level" (compare and contrast: Konami got "Marvellous" right on the first try for DDR), or that it's not really a synonym for "round"...

Lowen is going to be ridiculous.

So uh... that kinda sets Kopf's and my numbers by process of elimination, yeah?

Who wants me as a partner? I'm totally up for a draft where my picks are doubly out of my control. What about Dancer rings, Delphi Shield and Iron Rune? But they can't steal anything else? (I'm in regardless of the answers)

>>> with open('FE 7 script.txt') as f: len(__import__('re').findall('What[?!]', f.read())) ... 240 To be fair, that includes all text in the game, including support conversations and stuff said by bosses. But really, I don't understand why people are picking on FE7 for this, when the translation we're using for FE6 is quite a bit worse: 224 "What?"s and "What!"s, in only about 60% as much data.

That's fixed by not having rout maps unless there are also reinforcements coming in around turn 15. ...Sort of. But my understanding of the game's story is such that it wouldn't make sense to have (m)any rout maps anyway, i.e. FE6-style. But my idea means you might not get a lot of exp for the boss, and I acknowledge that sucks. Back to ye olde drawinge boarde... Yeah, arenas are totally counter to the apparent goal, I agree.

Wait, when did that happen, and why was I not informed? >_<

Whoa whoa whoa, people are getting wayyyyy confused over my post. Chapter rankings, and exp decay are two totally separate issues. Adding a chapter ranking would require craploads of new coding in order to actually display the rank, because there isn't an existing screen to modify and because you have to actually put stuff on screen to communicate the information. Exp decay just means adding some more instructions to the part that does the math for determining how much exp you get, and then everything else is the same. No new code for the exp progress bar, for example, because you just tell it how much exp the unit got and the existing code does the rest. Actually, there kinda already is code to calculate a chapter ranking, in the sense that it can already compare your stats to cumulative "par" values that are determined by adding up data that's built into the chapters. However, displaying that information is a whole other kettle of fish. Just ask Ryru what he's been through with his 4th R-button screen implementation. :) Also, the actual numbers and ranking scales for such a chapter ranking are completely up in the air; I didn't offer any suggestions for that. I'm not trying to add exp in general, just recalibrate how it's done to make more sense in that gameplay-and-story-segregation way. Although having easy early chapters is not a bad thing in itself. --- As for final bosses, the reason they don't give exp is because there's nothing to use it for and it would be anticlimatic (and ruin the cutscene) to have a level-up appear at that point. Also, I don't really like the Hopeless Boss Fight trope tbh.

That's a shame. I really wanted to see you agonize over killing off such a good unit as Miledy. Not that you're really going to need her for 22, but still...

It could. I was thinking of having it asymptotically approach zero, except that it actually would reach zero due to rounding. Well, maybe limit it at 1, since you normally get 1 exp for missing anyway. :/

Idk, try it. I won't fault you for a few restarts, considering how many I went through :P I avoided the gaiden by exceeding the time limit not that I really had a choice with 2 units, annoyingly timed reinforcements, and craploads of status to tank. Besides, you could have planned ahead by letting Zealot die in the arena or against the boss or something on Ch7. ;) And of course you're allowed to do the gaiden, it will just suck turncount-wise unless you have a competent warper (maybe even then). Or you could let an enemy pwn her (the Sniper will target her eventually for example). Idk if she counts towards the requirements for the Angelic Robe. I also don't know about Zeiss re 21x, but I assume it works the same way for both of them. But then, maybe not, considering Zeis is red and Juno is green to start. But you should have just killed him anyway imo :P

^ Yeah, pretty much. The ideas about treasure make sense superficially, but just don't have the desired effect in practice. IS keeps doing it because it still adds flavour, as well as a challenge for completionist types. (Another reason that treasure doesn't necessarily encourage players to progress quickly is that you often have to detour, or divert part of your team from the main fighting force, to claim it.) I also prefer dondon's framing of the problem: it's the default assumption that the player wants to progress through the chapter, by virtue of the fact that the player is playing the game. That's just the expectation that the genre sets. If the player "doesn't want to progress through the chapter", the player doesn't want to play the game, which means that some aspect of it just plain sucks. Nothing you do to how the reinforcements work is going to change that meaningfully, because the problem at that point is surely with the story, or the map design, or.... Anyway, I personally just don't like the idea that some kind of fighting is fundamentally useless, or less valuable/instructive than other types, in the same combat conditions. So 0-exp reinforcements don't sit well with me. I do like the idea of turning off the exp "tap", but I don't really see it as a matter of punishing the player for being slow or rewarding for being fast. Rather, the intent is to reinforce to the player that "grinding early to roflstomp late" is not supposed to be necessary. The way to explicitly punish/reward is to have a ranking system and constantly remind the player of it. The FE7 ranking screen is nice, but it could go a step further by adding a summary at the end of each chapter similar to what Advance Wars does. (Simplifying the numbers into 1-5 stars is also not necessarily a good thing IMO.) I also don't like the idea that the exp supply just "turns off" suddenly. A proposal: reduce XP gained on a per-turn basis, at a rate proportional to the "expected length" of the chapter. (I can help with code/algorithms for this.)

Wow, I had no idea there was enough room in the requirements for that. And here I thought I was crazy for trying to figure out if it's possible to use the Angelic Robe and Energy Ring and still get a White Gem...

... why is 23x banned, anyway? Too annoying to get exp for drafted units?

I think it's legitimately an AI bug... I don't think he's supposed to move, but I think the "run away and heal if you're at critical HP and have a Vulnerary" behaviour ends up overriding his normal behaviour. I know I've seen Heintz walk away from his gate in Lyn's tale. It might require that the objective is not "seize throne" for this to occur. (Heintz doesn't have a Vulnerary, does he?)

That is not much space. You have a LOT more.

...I don't blame you, but I can still offer a few suggestions... And thx for the clarification about Matthew. To be honest I'm not that familiar with the generic rulesets because, well, I like the way I do it better :)

You could, but that would be really weird to have a in a prologue. You don't need a prologue, anyway, really; typically these are supposed to have some tutorial value, and hacks are generally not played by people who need a tutorial. By getting the forest tiles closer to the paths that an efficient player would want to actually take, and putting them in places that help vs. important non-moving enemies. The best examples I can think of are Chapters 2 (except imagine you didn't have the big U-bend to deal with) and 7 (except ignore the right half of the map) in FE6. But you don't need to do that; forest tiles serve an important role as decoration as well.

FEShrine mentions it FWIW. But really, it's pretty trivial.

If we're going to give archers a move advantage, I'd give them reduced terrain penalties instead. It fits with their lightly-armoured-ness and their typical "hunter" background story.

I kinda like the concept. It doesn't really look like a prologue map to me, though (although it could be an early chapter for sure). I mean, an extra path off to the side (where it looks like reinforcements might come in)? Red (item-offering, conventionally) houses? It's also kind of unfortunate that the terrain placement, while it looks natural enough, will probably have little to no tactical value.