Topaz Light

I think that, like a few others have stated before me, the bottom line is that Fire Emblem's gameplay structure simply isn't very conducive to having long, epic battles against a single opponent. Most of the time in Fire Emblem games, how much time do you spend dealing with an individual enemy unit? I'm willing to go out on a limb here and guess that the answer is "not much". Even bosses generally don't take long to take down provided you're well-enough equipped to deal with strong units of their class. By and large, most enemy units, boss or not, (and most player units for that matter) don't actually take all that many good hits to take down. While I do agree that the final boss should probably be the strongest single enemy unit in the game, I think that perhaps it would be more prudent to think of Fire Emblem finales in terms of the final battle rather than the final boss, because the Fire Emblem series is geared a lot more towards larger-scale battles, compared to most other RPGs that narrow the focus down to smaller-scale battles between small parties with, on average, 3~6 members per side. In those other RPGs, the gameplay is a lot more conducive to a fight with a single strong enemy providing a great challenge. In Fire Emblem, on the other hand, there's really only so much challenge you can expect just one unit to generate without the player's victory simply becoming dependent upon luck and/or the player's willingness to sacrifice units to defeat that enemy. It's just the way Fire Emblem's gameplay is. Of course, there are ways to set up a lengthy and difficult battle with a single opponent, but simply bolstering their raw stats is only effective to that end to a point. My suggestion would be to have a powerful final boss with good stats, but mostly a set of Skills and maybe a weapon that make them difficult to take down quickly/engage safely, and then put a bunch of other units on the map to complicate things without intending for any of them to be the main threat on their own. Part of it also has to do with how turns work. Think about it: In most RPGs, you have 3~5 active party members, so assuming the designers didn't give the final boss multiple actions per round, that's 3~5 actions the player gets for every one action the enemy gets. Compare to Fire Emblem, where, with a single final boss, it's as many as 16 (or more) player actions per one enemy action. Giving the final boss AoE attacks and/or multiple actions per turn, as is often done in other RPGs, could serve to make them more of a threat, but ultimately making a single unit more powerful in a way that provides a fair challenge would be better done by applying special properties to that unit rather than simply inflating their stats as much as possible without making them literally mechanically unkillable. (Although again, the final boss should still have strong stats) It's also true that presentation does play in role in what the player is likely to perceive as the final boss as opposed to what they'll perceive as buildup to the final boss. It gives a different impression to have separate entities that must be defeated before a final boss can be challenged than it does to have enemies that are considered parts of the same entity, even if technically-speaking there's not really a gameplay difference between the two.

That could certainly work. The idea with my suggestion is that it's not "shoehorning" if the entire story is built around it from the start, but this is a way they could do it without having to drastically alter the style of their stories.

The problem with custom protagonists in Fire Emblem games isn't necessarily that they don't work with the series, it's that IS has thus far failed to realize that they simply aren't really compatible with the typical style and progression of the story of a Fire Emblem game. Robin, while customizable on aesthetic and gameplay levels, was essentially a fixed character for the purposes of the storyline. In order to really pull off a custom character in Fire Emblem well, they'd have to make them the "Marth" of their game, and place a much bigger emphasis on player choice and branching plot routes when writing the story. If this character is supposed to be basically the player's influence on the world, really play that up in every aspect of the game, not just the gameplay and visuals. Anyway, to be honest, I probably could try to pick just one thing to change about Awakening, but just fixing one thing on its own wouldn't really be enough to fix the game. The plot and gameplay balance both need complete overhauls, and frankly whoever did the outfit design (I recall Kozaki saying in an interview that it wasn't him?) shouldn't be allowed to be in charge of that again in the future. No more UFO pauldrons or boobplate armor or battle panties (or weird scale bikinis on small children ew) anymore, please.

Oh, huh. The more you know. Anyway, yeah, there are probably programs out there for it. It's probably best to do a bit of searching for one of those before asking someone else to do it for you.

This looks really neat! I'm really digging how some of the portrait sprites have full-custom elements to them, although I'd look out for pillow shading on some of them. They look nice at a glance, though, so I think they need to be touched up rather than redone altogether. Also, a Bow Lord is nifty. It's a good thing he doesn't seem to start out as the only member of your party, though, 'cause that could... cause issues... I'd like to see Andros' battle sprites animated, instead of just static screenshots, but I suppose that must wait for the time being. I'm assuming you've got all the animations for him set up? (Attack, critical hit, dodge, unarmed, unarmed dodge) I'm definitely looking forward to giving this a playthrough when it comes out!

To be fair, I did that only once or twice like five years ago when I was fifteen or something. I don't think I was aware of tools like those existing at that time, because I was young and frankly kinda stupid. ...One of them wasn't a small map, either. It was big. Bad, but big.

This is a really cool utility, actually! I just downloaded it, and immediately got to work on a map idea I had based on the premise of having a Sniper boss who was actually a threat. Making maps in this is so much easier and more convenient than painstakingly copy-pasting one tile at a time into place in Paint, which is something I can't believe I had the patience for when I was much younger.

Thanks~ And I say go for it, if you've got a good idea for it! The official series has only used it twice, so there's still plenty of room to try new things with it, I think. Also, I've decided to post the current class list I've got written up because why not? [spoiler=Class list]CHARACTER-SPECIFIC CLASSES: Lord -> Knight Lord Swords [Demothi]/Lances [Theodore] (+Lances [Demothi], Swords [Theodore]) Demothi's starting class and one of Theodore's possible base classes. Demothi uses swords on foot, while Theodore prefers lances, but once promoted into Knight Lords they both have access to both weapon types as well as a horse. Lord -> Blade Lord Swords (+Bows) One of Theodore's possible base classes. A swift and dexterous warrior versed in Sienese swordplay. Promotes into a Blade Lord and becomes able to weild bows. Lord -> Great Lord Axes (+Swords) One of Theodore's possible base classes. A stalwart, heavily-armored fighter who prefers axes in combat. More durable than Irzark's Prince class, but also slower. Promotes into a Great Lord and gains access to Swords. Lord -> Ranger Lord Bows (+Staves) One of Theodore's possible base classes. An agile, focused warrior specializing in archery and navigating difficult terrain. Promotes into a Ranger Lord and gains access to Staves. Lord -> Force Lord Fire+Ice (+Thunder, Wind) One of Theodore's possible base classes. A balanced spellslinger who specializes in Fire and Ice magic. Promotes into a Force Lord and gains access to Thunder and Wind magic. Lord -> Justice Lord Dark (+Fire, Swords) One of Theodore's possible base classes. A strong, hardy and slow sorceror learned in the ways of elder Dark magic. Promotes into a Justice Lord and gains access to Fire magic and Swords. Lord -> Spirit Lord Light (+Dark, Staves) One of Theodore's possible base classes. A quick, powerful and fragile spellcaster who prefers holy Light magic. Promotes into a Spirit Lord and gains access to Dark magic and Staves. Lord -> Sage Lord Staves (+Fire, Thunder, Wind) One of Theodore's possible base classes. A kindhearted healer who aids allies with supportive Staves, but cannot attack. Promotes into a Sage Lord and gains access to Fire, Thunder and Wind magic. Prince -> King Axes (+Swords, Lances) Prince Irzark's class. An armored prince who prefers axes in battle. Irzark has balanced stats overall, but leans slightly towards the heavier-weight end of the spectrum. After ascending the throne of Regia, Irzark becomes a King, and gains access to Swords and Lances. Vigilante -> Huntress Lances (+Bows) The personal class of Alicia, the Princess of Rogues. A spear-bearing warrior who is balanced overall, but leans slightly towards the lighter-weight end of the spectrum. Alicia can promote into a Huntress, gaining a horse, as well as the ability to weild Bows in combat. Journeyman -> Fighter, Pirate, Brigand, Knight*, Axe Knight*, Wyvern Rider* Axes (+Lances [Knight]) A young axe-weilding commoner with great potential who's still new to the ways of combat. Recruit -> Cavalier, Soldier, Knight, Pegasus Knight* Lances (+Swords [Cavalier], Axes [Knight]) A freshly-conscripted cadet who uses lances in combat. Inexperienced, but talented. Pupil -> Mage, Season Mage, Storm Mage, Dark Mage*, Monk*, Priest* Fire, Thunder, Wind (+Ice [season Mage], Dark [Dark Mage], Light [Monk], Staves [Priest]) A young scholar learning the arts of magic. Destined for great things. STANDARD CLASSES: Mercenary -> Hero Swords (+Axes) Professional sellswords with balanced stats all around. Myrmidon -> Swordmaster Swords Dedicated swordfighters who battle with alacrity and grace. Skilled at dealing decisive blows. Cavalier -> Paladin Swords, Lances Sturdy, versatile horseback knights versed in the ways of both swords and spears. Axe Knight -> Great Knight Axes (+Swords, Lances) Knights who ride into battle weilding axes. Their durability and strength are somewhat greater than that of Cavaliers, but their speed and accuracy, somewhat lesser. Knight -> General Lances, Axes (+Swords) Stalwart warriors with exceptional durability and strength, but lower movement and agility. Soldier -> Halberdier Lances Balanced spearfighters with no particularly noticeable strengths or weaknesses. Fighter -> Warrior Axes (+Bows) Mighty brawlers who prefer axes in combat. High strength and HP, but lower accuracy. Pirate, Brigand -> Berserker Axes Reckless axefighters skilled at traversing the seas or mountains. Swifter than Fighters, but less durable. Archer -> Sniper Bows Arrow-flinging soldiers who prefer to attack from a range. They have good stats, but cannot engage in battles at melee range. Nomad -> Horseman Bows (+Swords) Horseback archers. For the most part, their stats are somewhat lower than standard Archers', but they make up for it with their heightened agility and movement, although their durability is still comparatively lacking. Thief -> Rogue, Assassin, Trickster, Dancer Swords, Knives* (+Bows [Assassin], Wind [Trickster], Fire [Dancer], Staves [Trickster, Dancer]) Slippery vagrants with nimble fingers. While they can fight weilding swords and knives, their specialties lie in picking locks and emptying vaults and pockets. Rogues no longer need Lockpicks to open doors and chests. Assassins learn archery in addition to their trademark ability to deal decisive mortal blows with their Lethality skill. Tricksters gain access to the use of Wind magic and staves, and have superior combat abilities, aside from their lack of the Lethality skill to instantly fell opponents. While Dancers see little increase in combat ability, they do gain access to Fire magic and staves, as well as the ability to dance for their comrades once per Player Phase, revitalizing them and enabling them to act again that turn. Which of these classes a given Thief will promote into depends upon the individual. Pegasus Knight -> Falcon Knight Lances (+Swords, Staves) Airborne warriors who weild lances. Although their flying mounts grant them amazing mobility, they're unable to take advantage of most terrain features and are highly vulnerable to arrows and Wind magic. Despite their vulnerability to Wind, Pegasus Knights are quite resistant to most magical attacks. Wyvern Rider -> Wyvern Lord Axes (+Lances) Fearsome warriors who command the skies from the backs of their dragon mounts. They're a good deal stronger and sturdier than their pegasusback sisters, but are somewhat slower and much more vulnerable to magical attacks, particularly Thunder spells. Ballistician Ballistae & Seige Weaponry Operators of slow, yet sturdy and powerful, seige weaponry. They have great defenses and can fire on enemies from a great distance away, but they're utterly impotent in close-range combat. Mage , Bard -> Sage Fire, Thunder, Wind, Light [bard] (+Light, Staves) Versatile mages with high magic power and access to a variety of spell types, but the weakest physical resilience of the elemental mages. Bards can also weild Light magic and play a song for their an ally once per Player Phase, rejuvenating them and allowing them to act again that turn. Sages promoted from Bards will retain this ability, while Sages promoted from Mages will not have access to it. Season Mage -> Mage Knight Fire, Ice* (+Lances) Mages who specialize in Fire magic and the rare school of Ice magic. They have the highest physical defenses of the elemental mages, with middling magical power, and take up horseback combat and swordfighting upon promotion. Storm Mage -> Mage Fighter Thunder, Wind (+Swords, Staves) Mages who specialize in Thunder and Wind magic. They're quick, but their defenses are only middle-of-the-road, and their magic power is the lowest of the elemental casters', although their physical strength is the highest. They gain access to swords and staves upon promotion. Dark Mage -> Sorceror/Sorceress, Summoner Dark (+Thunder [sorceror/Sorceress], Staves) Studious mages who dabble in arcane Dark magic. Their spells are slow to cast and not as easy to hit with, but they come with high power and a bevvy of unusual effects. Dark Mages usually choose to further their elder magic studies and become more powerful Sorcerors, gaining access to Thunder magic, but a few will instead delve into the arts of spirit-conjuring and take up the title of Summoner. Both Sorceror and Summoner alike also gain access to staves. Monk, Shaman -> Bishop Light (+Staves) Weilders of divine Light magic. They tend to have higher magical power and resistance, and their strengths lie in their spells' high accuracy and critical hit rates. They take up the staff upon promotion, and their great magical prowess will serve them well for when supporting their allies, as well. Priest, Cleric -> War Monk/War Cleric, Bishop Staves (+Axes [War Monk/Cleric]/Light [bishop]) Peaceful staff-carrying people of the cloth who specialize in healing and aiding their allies. They have very high magical resistance, but downright flimsy physical defenses. Once promoted, they can either take up axefighting and become War Monks or Clerics, or they can learn Light magic, becoming the same Bishop class that Monks and Shamans change into. Troubadour -> Valkyrie Staves (+Swords, Light) Horseback healers with higher movement, but lower magical defenses. With enough training they can become Valkyries, holy warriors versed in both swordfighting and Light magic, in addition to supportive staves. Manakete Dragonstones Enigmatic dragonkin who take on mighty draconic forms using the power they draw from rare magical stones. A transformed Manakete is a nigh-peerless combatant, but without their Dragonstones, they are utterly defenseless. ...For anyone wondering, the reason Dancers get Fire and Tricksters get Wind is because I had given Sorcerors Thunder and wanted to make it so that there was exactly one non-Anima Mage class that was able to use each of the three standard elements. Tricksters get Wind because I feel Wind magic could be used for tricks and such things, and Dancers get Fire because fire dancers are a thing. And as if anyone was wondering, Sorcerors get Thunder as a callback/shout-out to Pelleas. Also, here's the world map. I'm not sure if this'll be its final design, but it's what I've got at the moment. [spoiler=The World Map] Yeah, I know it's really not that good, but I tried. I don't have a name for the continent, but I decided to pluck the unused world map location names from Binding Blade and Path of Radiance because I liked them. I didn't use things like Belsys/Persis or Serenes because those actually are things in the finished game, even if they're no longer names on the world map.

Do you mean FE5? Because there's nothing I know of called "Holy Maiden" in FE6, unless I'm forgetting something.

I recall the forests I've been in (not many) being fairly chilly, yeah. they also give you +20 avoid and +1 defense so that's much appreciated Anyway, welcome~

Why thank you~ I generally try not to make a habit of sharing my ideas publicly, so I'm glad it turned out well this time. EDIT: I broke the Spoiler tags someone, I'm so sorry. On a related note, I've been thinking more about Holy Blood and I've decided how it's going to work. The Guardians of Razia and their Sacred Treasures: Holy Blood works largely the same way as in FE4, but there are some differences, mostly pertaining to how weapon levels and accessibility are handled. Firstly, weapon levels will be using the non-fixed model, where you gain WExp from attacking/using staves. Additionally, all the sacred weapons this time around are just plain S rank, which means that anyone with access to that weapon type can theoretically use them if they attain S rank in the required weapon level. However, this is where Holy Blood comes in! Minor blood lets you use the associated Sacred Treasures with A rank in that weapon type, while Major blood allows you to use the associated Sacred Treasures with E rank. As far as statistical bonuses go, I haven't worked out the particulars yet, but units will gain growth rate bonuses (and maybe slight base stat bonuses?) from their Holy Blood, obviously moreso for Major than for Minor. I do know that I'm planning to have Holy Blood give a bonus to the base Weapon Level of whatever weapon type the associated Sacred Treasure is, though. Minor blood gives the unit half the WExp they need to reach the next level, and Major increases their starting weapon level by one rank. So, a base E would become D, base C would become B, and so on. This only applies if the unit can wield that weapon type normally, though. I think I'll try and set it up so that these bonuses are applied twofold after promotion if the unit can't use the weapon type in their base class, but can in their promoted class. (For example, a Mercenary with Ryszard Major, when promoted into a Hero, would start with C rank in Axes, rather than the usual E). EDIT: I forgot, I've also come up with two Class Skills for Knights/Generals that'll hopefully make them better. One of them is an adaptation of an existing skill, but the other one is new. Y'know what, just have the whole Skill list I've currently got written up:

I was originally planning to make a ROM hack, but then I learned more about FEXNA and that looks to be an infinitely superior option for what I want to do. It's currently in the planning stages, and just from this basic thesis statement it sounds awfully generic, but my plan is to make an original Fire Emblem game on a new continent, with a new cast, etc. etc., and basically make it my ideal Fire Emblem game. Now, I realize that that's pretty unspecific, but essentially what I mean is this: Fire Emblem Awakening was designed based on a thesis statement of taking all the best aspects of Fire Emblem and putting them into one game. Although your mileage may vary wildly as to how successful IS's attempt at that was, my plan is to make essentially my optimal Fire Emblem game, in that sense, although it will of course also have its own new features unique to itself. There will be two generations, but they'll work more akin to Genealogy of the Holy War's, having the child characters take over for the first generation characters rather than join them. I'm still working on how I'm going to transition from the first generation to the second, and what the relevance is to the plot. Some basic bullet points on it are: Miscellaneous things: Relating to the multiple generations mechanics: Put in spoiler tags because it's loooooong. Considering this isn't going to be a ROM hack (anymore), I hope this is the right place to put this...

Maybe Raven surviving and winning that battle could be the "creative liberties" for that Tale? That way it's not canon (well, to this little sidestory which itself is not canon), but people who just want the emotional satisfaction of seeing that happen can do so without having to edit the game themselves.

I'm a bit late to the punch, but yeah, Excellus is a guy. He has very feminine mannerisms and evidently primping routines, (and is also heavily implied by Aversa to be a eunuch) but he's a man.

I gave the remake a whirl about a week back, and it's... decent. I don't mind the creator's decision to genderflip Robin and Gray, but, although perhaps understandable, it does frustrate me that he screwed up the villagers' color palettes. (Robin has Cliff's, Cliff has Gray's and Gray has Robin's) The music is fine in my opinion. It kinda really wants a better soundfont, but being made in an old Enterbrain engine I understand that MIDIs were kind of the only option for music. The graphics are okay; most of them seem to have just been plucked and recolored or spliced from Jugdral games, so what exists that's simply recolored (or just plain reused, as appears to be the case with the overworld sprites) looks just fine but isn't really attributable to this game specifically. The gameplay isn't bad, but the control setup and some of the quirks are a bit wonky and might take some getting used to for veteran Fire Emblem fans. For a one-man job in an old Enterbrain engine, it's certainly a respectable showing. However, I wouldn't really say it's the remake Gaiden needs or deserves, considering it uses more or less the series' standard linear format for progression, whereas Gaiden is distinctly one of the least linear Fire Emblem games. Additionally, Gaiden desperately needs most of its maps heavily touched up, if not remade altogether. I realize that the remake creator isn't responsible for this issue since he was just copying what was already made by someone else, but some of those maps are really terribly bland, terribly boring or just plain terrible.

Not 100% sure how I feel about chess-style movement restrictions, but I think it might be interesting to look into more of an inverse relationship between a unit's overall movement and their ability to cross non-plains/floor tiles. ...Or something to that effect.

Knights and Archers actually had the same movement in FEDS IIRC (5), but I guess what people are saying is that, however good Knights may be at their job, they're not going to be able to do that job if another unit gets into the position first and it's mostly over by the time the Knight reaches it. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea to rebalance movement distribution in general, since Movement is actually a very valuable and important stat (and I do think it'd be neat to have slightly more variety). I realize that this discussion is mostly in regards to efficient and LTC-type runs, where lower movement is a much bigger issue than in other playing styles.

The suggestion isn't necessarily to have knights move far, just to give them the same movement as all the other footsoldier classes. It also occurs to me that it might help at least a little bit to do away with Generals (or have them as an enemy-only class or something) and make Great Knights the promotion of Knights. That way their low Movement is fixed a lot better upon promotion, and they still retain their trademark high durability and attack power, but lower speed. On a less drastic note, how much do you all think it would help to bring back Knights being able to use multiple weapon types at base from all the way back in FE1? 'Cause that's something I was thinking about, as well, although I realize it still doesn't fix the movement issue.

Well, but raising the Knights' growth rates won't really make them better for actual use. It'll make them better to level up in, certainly, but ultimately Knights would just be used as a transient "training class" until the character's stats were sufficiently raised and they were changed into another class that was better for actual use. Anyway, as others have said here, the low movement really is kind of a big issue in many maps. Sure, Knights do have their moments, but by and large there's little that only Knights can do, so they're often not worth the effort. Eliminating the movement gap would certainly help matters, as would constructing more situations in the game where Knights are considerable assets. I want to say that making the specific Knights who join your party statistically better would also help matters, but perhaps it wouldn't do as much for them as I'm thinking it might.

Like most people here, I think it really depends on the specific instance, as well as what was retconned out and what was retconned into its place. If it's a sequel retconning something to make it's plot idea work, though, usually I just end up thinking the writers should've paid more attention/respect to their own lore.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty what people are saying doesn't have as much to do with how individual tiles fit together aesthetically as with the game flow of the maps as a whole. The generator can turn out maps that are perfectly fine to look at (although some of them do look weird, particularly the boat ones), but it doesn't seem to be able to pay any particular attention to how the map would actually play. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a very helpful utility and I'm sure many of the maps it makes can be fixed up to play much better than what the generator itself puts out by default, but I think the point of what others are saying is that the generator doesn't exactly single-handedly solve all map creation difficulties.

Power bloat not being the same as overpoweredness? Basically what's meant by that is that overpoweredness is sort of a relative thing. A lot of characters you'll see getting called "OP" are called that because they're way more powerful than other characters in their game. If everyone is superpowerful, that doesn't make them all OP. But someone who rises above and is way stronger than everyone else would be OP. That said, Canto is very highly-regarded because it opens up a whole new batch of strategies you can use a unit for. They can do hit and run tactics in the games where Canto activates even after attacking. They can Rescue injured characters and duck back behind your lines in a single turn. They can snatch items from villages and then move into a more advantageous position. I'm sure there's more than this, even. For such a seemingly-simple ability, Canto really adds a lot to what a unit can do.

For Future Past, I'd say any time after you've gotten all of the second-generation characters. As for the Scramble Pack, it doesn't tie into the main plot at all, so you can start whenever you like, more or less. Just check the enemies' stats to make sure you can take them before actually starting the battle.

Actually, Gaiden has the smallest number of technical "Chapters", clocking in at 5. Since they're more akin to Radiant Dawn's "Parts", though, they may not count. I'm sure Genealogy has the smallest map count, though, although the maps being huge kinda makes up for that. Anyway, I'd be game for whatever number of chapters, as long as they fit the game well enough. Generally anything in the range of 25~50, or an equivalent amount of content, is cool with me.

This. Most of the growth rates listed on the site were acquired from hacking dumped ROMs of the games and plucking the numbers from the code. Since people haven't yet been able to do that with Awakening's growth rates for the aforementioned reasons, there are still characters and classes whose precise growth rates aren't known.