Wayward Winds

Well, seeing as all these suggestions are coming out of the woodwork, I suppose I can give another one (besides the prior one of rebalancing Wendy and Sophia to make them less obnoxiously bad upon recruitment). Ch. 6, the little debacle in Thria with Wagner. It really bugs me how you have one thief and ten locked rooms. It takes an age to shunt Chad round the place opening doors. I'd suggest putting a few droppable door keys on various enemies, maybe scattering them through the preceding chapters. That way we can send Chad up one side and a load of door keys (probably with Merlinus) up the other. I'm not bothered so much with extra chest keys, if you pinch Cath's lockpick then you've got enough uses for the chests. It's just stopping to unlock every door that slows everything to an unbearable crawl.

Last update I saw (a few pages back) said it had been pushed back a couple of days (either to the 18th or to the Monday, not sure which).

Heh, guess those rogues in Eliwood's tale just got a lot more annoying! (Just as long as they are removed from the game and we don't end up sitting around wondering where the last enemy is (that being a 'Defeat All' map and all).) Hold on... did those chests have a false bottom or something..? With a convenient escape tunnel concealed underneath..? ...Oh shoot, no more cautious advances for Pent's tale...

Hmm... Renair seems awfully surprised to see Discan again. That just raises more questions, things along the lines of... Just a couple of random guesses, and ones I neither expect nor want an answer to. ...As for madam down in the bottom left, you are not helping improve our (my) opinions of you missy! Heh. As if we don't look over at Tumblr. We know there's at least two more that look close to finished. (Yes, I know you meant for FEE3).

Okay, the Emma & Leopold 'A' Support has an issue, as has already been drawn to your attention by someone else. I don't have a save state, but I do have a few screenshots if that will help. And after a lot of trial and error in posting images to Serenes (first time)... Starts out normally enough... ...And keeps trundling along... Okay, that line seems like it should have come from Emma... ...Right, that one's wrong! From here on, the speech box is always linked to the opposite character, Leopold saying Emma's lines and vice versa. I checked all the way through, but it didn't revert to normal at any point. Quite odd to read, even when you figure out just what's happened. ...I'm going to have to play through again at some point (completed Ch. 21 in 6 turns, thus missing Storm, Haas, Arthur and Liquid, and locking myself out of Ch. 23xx), so I might be able to pass a savestate over then. But you'll probably have fixed the issue by then...

Whahey! Darkwrights! (Looking somewhat worse for wear since tangling with Renair in the prologue...) ...Has Seymour's sprite changed, or is it just me? Come to think of it, Enjolras looks subtly different as well, but that one probably is my imagination. And here I was thinking I couldn't anticipate FEE3 any more...

Ah, that looks like it could be Kent's Tale! Now I'm anticipating you miraculously retrieve Lundgren from the heap of one dimensional, forgettable, horribly clichéd villains. (Although, let's face it, he was up against Nergal... whatever that insane Dark Druid was after by the end of that mess. Ch. 19xx just made things even more confusing...)

Uh.. oops? Sorry, I'm still not used to seeing opening posts receive major edits - I counted that 'revamp' twice when it popped up again in post... (checks) ...#72. One then! But it still looks very appealing. ...For some reason I can't stop looking at the female pupil (?) sprite and the fact it doesn't have blue hair. And there's a visible red ribbon. Why am I fixated on the small details..?

...Uh, the bow knight's still there. Hiding under Iris' unit info... or one of the character's speech bubbles (bottom right picture, chapter 4). What, has he been taking lessons from FE-Awakening's Kellam..? (EDIT: Whoops, sorry Agro! You're clearly faster at responding than me!) Well, I think it looks (and sounds) great so far, but then after at least 2 revamps, it should be gleaming a bit. Now let's see what pops up for FEE3...

Wait, what's wrong with having the suspend command? ...Mind you, all emulators I've used have a reset command that works well enough. ...Actually, what was the point of Intelligent Systems putting it in in the first place? Turning the GBA off had the same effect of saving your in-chapter progress, and no matter what method you took to reach the menu, jumping into another file or restarting the chapter would erase the progress anyway. So yeah, it has nostalgia value, but little other use except possibly holding the game together. You know, adding Halberdiers and possibly changing Noah or Treck's starting class to Soldier is just begging for a reference to Elibian Nights. Something along the lines of Zealot remarking "Well, we all have to start out somewhere..." Oh, and happy birthday Stallinbald/Arch! (If the forum front page isn't lying...)

Thanks for the reply! Incidentally, I'm withdrawing the comment about 'occasionally stuttering dialogue'; the further through you get, the better it gets. But then it wasn't particularly bad to start with. I guess it's just a different style to what I'm used to... Up to Ch. 12 now, and struggling not to use Kevin, seeing as a lv. 14 knight against lv. 2 enemies is nothing but an impenetrable wall that likes to steal experience. And Karina joins at level 10? Something smells fishy here... (Starts hurriedly levelling Anakin in preparation for the coming apocalypse...) ...Oh, and I really liked the way you ended Siegfried's mode. Although, this might be a throwback to a previous script or something, but it's a little odd seeing Shon's sprite standing right by Siegfried when the latter is shouting that his son is "deeper in the castle, we must hurry and find/warn him!" ... *snigger* Must need glasses in his old age...

I'd agree with 'ThatGuyDownTheStreet' there. I don't care if the dialogue occasionally stutters a little, it's still a very enjoyable hack. However, Ch. 7x still eludes me. I know it's already been brought to your attention (I've looked at the online issue report spreadsheet), and I know that versions later than 1.0 just don't like it, but... is there any way to get to it now? I did try the 1.0 link posted earlier in this thread, but it's apparently gone dead since then. (I'm using the up-to-date patch, and cleared it in 10 turns with all houses visited. Knowing Shon supposedly 'finds another path', I even tried doing them just with him... but no joy.) ...In the meantime, I'll keep going. I'm not too bothered if I'm only missing generic loot and exp; if there was a recruitable character in there I'd be shouting a bit louder. But I'd like to be able to play it at some point, just to see what it's like and get a bit more story. (If you've already answered this query for someone else, sorry about repeating it. I did try searching through the thread, but Serenes won't accept "7x" as a search parameter, and anything else just gave the information I've parroted above.)

Hmm, maybe with an improved script I'll finally have the willpower to drag myself away from that arena in Ostia... (Because the translation I'm currently playing really isn't providing me the incentive to continue). On reinforcements, is there any way you could try both ambush and regular spawns within a mode? It could make enemies more of a threat when they are a surprise in story terms, and would also provide a bit of variety. I know ambush spawns are a nuisance, but at times they really do work. So prioritise regular spawns, but chuck in ambush spawns every time it either makes sense from a story point of view... or you suspect the player might be getting too... comfortable. (Waits for the barrage of complaints for even daring to suggest the idea...) My only other suggestions based on what I know would be to make Wendy and Sophia less obnoxious to begin raising, because few people like being presented with a level 1 character in chapters where they'll die from a funny look. At least Cecilia has the excuse of 'reasonable' stats. ...Uh, how many names do you expect to fiddle with beyond the two above?

I tend to find that it's difficult to get into the right frame of mind and start, but once you're going the ideas just keep popping into your head. So sometimes you just have to kickstart things (not that I'm suggesting you do that, I can wait as long as it takes). In general drawing seems to come easier than writing, for me because I can see the thing visibly edging closer to completion. With writing though all I can think of is; "I've got X scenes still to go", which can be offputting. Still, things progress.

Hmm, Knight in Ch. 16, likely joining at about lv. 14. Well, he/she won't be a knight for long if they're half as good as you say (providing we aren't just going to stick with existing favourites). So the world map is "glitchy as hell"? It really doesn't show; the only place that caused me to stop and take notice was the missing text for Ch. 11Bx's intro. So I'd say you're doing a great job of un-glitching it.

Twenty times? Well no one can accuse you of not being devoted, that's for sure. I'm slowly working my way back through a second time now, and yes, re-reading the story as I go. I'm one of those people for whom story is generally more important than gameplay (although admittedly not by a particularly significant amount). ...Has anyone reported Renair's brief recolour pre-Ch. 1? Well, just in case; On the world map, Renair starts out as her normal palette (red hair, blue clothes). The moment the brigand sprite pops up she immediately recolours to green hair and red clothes (is that an "Other" side Eirika palette or something?). Once the pegasus knight sprite pops up, she returns to normal. I know you're changing Renair's pre-promotion sprite to an original one for the next patch, but for all I know the glitch will just manifest itself with the new sprite instead (my programming knowledge is effectively zilch). I'll keep an eye out for other oddities on my way back through. ...On the side of characters, Annelise actually struck me as the anti-pegasus knight - high strength and defence, low skill and resistance, not particularly outstanding speed. Not normally traits I expect to see on my pegasi riders... but then my troubadours don't usually limit themselves to a mere 5 defence points at level 20 either... I'm also kinda surprised you didn't offer us a knight somewhere... (but Juan and Bellona's defence stats make up for it).

(I seriously hope I'm not just throwing fuel on a fire here...) Let's be honest, no matter how good a hack is, there's always going to be someone who finds it atrocious. That doesn't mean it's a bad hack, it just means people have different things they like to find (or not find) when playing. It happens with everything, I personally can't stand Shakespeare, but a lot of people love his work. On the opposite vein, I like Robert Newcomb's books, but I seem to be in a minority (even amongst those who know he exists). Games too; just look at the massive flames wars constantly being launched between the Halo and the Call of Duty fandoms. The short of the matter is, you can't please everyone. So, on a Sacred Dawn DX, I'm pretty much in agreement with everything Alfred has said. It's completely different to near everything else in the FE hack genre. I'll admit that I sometimes resort to skim reading the text, but I understand that it is there to tell a story, and to tell a story in considerably more detail than your average Fire Emblem does. Sure, it may seem horribly overblown and unnecessary at times, but how much is going to turn out to be important later on? Hidden amongst the fluff, I'm getting distinct vibes of Chekov's Guns and plenty of foreshadowing, and it keeps me interested (yes, I skim. But that doesn't mean I don't take it in). Not to mention that a good deal of the dialogue does seem like it could actually happen, even if most games don't bother showing this level of casual conversation. This hack takes a unique approach, and makes it stand out. Maybe not in a good way for everyone, but hey, different opinions again. And a hack isn't just story. There's always the other side of the hack, gameplay, to offer constructive criticism on. For example, while I liked Ch. 3's concept, I didn't like watching... MK404 has put a lot of work into this, it isn't a mere reskin as his earlier FE7 hack was (which I can't seem to find, grrr), it's essentially a full conversion with its own plot to go along with completely new characters and missions. For that alone, I'd be willing to cut him some slack. There are flaws, and even I balked at how much text I had read through to reach Ch. 6's battle, but everyone to his own. I for one will be interested to see where it goes from here. Oh, and Blazer/Burning Gravity? I think your hack's gameplay has more than made up for the awkward writing!

Hmm, tough one. FE7: Fiora (possibly because of the amusing supports with Kent and because I just like her portrait), Farina and, because I really should include a male somewhere, Canas. Plus he's an interesting character. FE8: Tana (annoying personality, but she's a beast of a combat unit - especially as a Wyvern Knight), Syrene purely on the portrait and she's another Falco Knight, and Duessel for being a cool old guy with an interesting set of background stories (eg, Valter and the cursed lance). FE6: Only up to Ch. 7 so far, but from what I know, Thite (Can you tell I like Pegasus Kinghts?). Out of characters I actually have, then Rutger. Villains: Ephidel (for his slimy chessmaster attitude), and Lyon (a real sob story, that). And Idoun I suppose (same reason).

This still going? I can't speak for FE6 seeing as I haven't reached them yet, but... FE7: For some reason I used them on Lyn. I'm not entirely sure why in hindsight... FE8: General Amelia, all the way. Any enemy thinking her monster stats were out of range soon got a nasty surprise...

Fair enough. I was just surprised when, ready for a long and tedious sweep, Juan landed on it on the first turn of actual searching. Again, I'm not elaborating because I know you don't want the location spoiled. Up to 12B now (via 11Bx, yeesh the boss of 11B was hard to reach when simultaneously raiding all chests and protecting Katrina. Thank goodness for Draco riders and their high defence!), liking the idea of a chain of objectives. I just hope there's a door key in one of those villages or the vendor, because Chester's lockpick is running out of uses... (Unlike Musain, there seems to be a distinct lack of thieves to relieve of their lockpicks in Onduris. Maybe they've all finally been executed for trying to rob the royal vaults again... (EDIT: No, wait, there's one in Ch. 14B. In the Royal Treasure Vault.) UPDATE ...And that’s 14B completed, so I guess it’s time for feedback. You’ve already got half a million character stat screenshots, so I'll forget about that (mostly) and concentrate on the chapters. In detail. Feel free to shudder. Note: I’m using white text for certain speculation or information a little too close to revealing bits of the plot, so if you see a supposedly empty spoiler or random blank bit in the middle of a section, then try highlighting it. (Unless you happen to be a newcomer who hasn’t actually reached that point of the hack yet, in which case, don’t.) Prologue to Chapter 6... Route A, Musain (Chapters 6x to 14A)... Route B, Onduris (Chapters 7B to 14B) Miscellaneous bits and bobs... And I’m stopping there, because, frankly, you’re probably sick to death of me by this point... At least you won’t hear from me again until the next patch comes out. For the record, I'm playing using GameBoid instead of the usual VisualBoyAdvance, so I'll be able to point out any issues with using it on that emulator.

Hah, there's the... Now I'm scratching my head over how it... To be honest though... ...Wait, why am I suggesting ways to be more devious?

...Apparently Wayward Winds can't follow directions. Apparently they struggle to find out where they're meant to go, and just keep on gusting in a straight line. Straight into the Dream of Five thread, until a quiet thought deigns to speak up. "Are you sure you didn't forget something?" ... ... ... "...Oh right, the Introduction Page!" Silly really, because I made the exact same mistake on Space Battles. Oh well, caught it in time. So, I'm a long time FE fan, now delving into such fan master pieces as Elibian Nights and Dream of Five. And the fan translations of New Mystery and Binding Blade, seeing as Nintendo... forgot to do so themselves. I can't say I've been disappointed by the custom patches yet (bar a certain infamous, unspeakable monstrosity). But my programming skills are unfortunately nil; my skills lean more towards writing... unless scribbles count as "skills". ...Anyway, I'd rather not bore anyone's ears/eyes off with my random drabbles, so I'd better leave it there. I think it should be quite clear I'm not a bot by this point (at least, I wasn't the last I looked. 'Course, there was that rather shady scientist and a big blank spot in my memory, but that couldn't have been related... could it?) (It should be clear that I've got a sense of humour that, frankly, should be shot. I'll keep it under control from now on...)

It's a stat boosting item, essentially a renamed Body Ring (raises constitution). A Mercenary who starts by the top right village of 9B carries it; you have to steal it from him seeing as it doesn't just drop. And he's one of the enemies who actively hunts you down, so you have to be careful not to just kill him with counters as he lurches out of the night. I found a Torch staff works wonders for keeping track of him. (Spoiler references Renair's possible promotion, just in case readers haven't been browsing the rest of this thread and don't want to be (possibly) spoiled)

...I think I've figured out why Ch. 9B is supposedly so difficult. You take one look at the 12 turn limit, panic, and do an all out charge. Thirty seconds later, someone kicks the bucket (usually Kolbane for some reason). Well, I finished in 8 turns with no casualties, everyone recruited, a total enemy kill for what was on the map at that point, and I even managed to get the Cooked Meat. The trick is NOT to rush, turtle for one round (picking off at most the nearest Soldier). Then on turn two, you can stragically neutralise most of the starting enemy mob that's now conveniently in range of every weapon the p'ed off player has. After that's gone, enemies only trickle in and it becomes a bit of a cakewalk. Because the map is small by comparison to most in Do5, it's easy to cross quickly - a fact that may not be apparent at first glance. Pity I didn't deploy Katrina, but I forgot Merchants don't give penalties for being forced to retreat. You essentially gain nothing for not deploying them. In short, IMO it might be worth adjusting the reinforcements - one Soldier suiciding onto Driscoll and one Wyvern Rider suiciding onto Crowe per turn effectively meant turns 5 - 8 were nothing but moving towards the boss with everyone else. It didn't really match with Do5's difficulty everywhere else... ...Or maybe I just got lucky... Possible (minor) glitch for Ch. 10B; Chester pops up to do his start-of-chapter talk even if he's not deployed.

Ouch! Okay, I think I'll be leaving Katrina out of this one, the customary rearguard can actually be on the front lines for once. Pretty much. I'm afraid I forgot to take a screenshot though. Graphically, it was basically the wyvern rider's sprite behind Seymour's, with just the head and little else showing. It didn't really matter seeing as the wyvern moved out of the tile normally the moment the enemy phase started, it just looked odd. I believe Seymour's status window (health display) was prioritised when selecting the tile. It's probably a one off; I suppose moving the spawn points a bit further up would prevent a repeat, but it's your hack. I'm surprised than anything, because in base Fire Emblem the AI seems to seek the nearest empty tile for these movement based spawns (whereas a tile spawn such as on a fort can just be blocked by parking someone on the spawn point). Maybe I've overestimated Intelligent Systems, maybe they just have redundant spawn destination tiles until there's no way you could have blocked them all. ...But seeing as you'll clearly be more knowledgable in programming than me, I'll lay off the needless speculation. I personally don't see the glitch as a serious issue (it doesn't break the game or anything, it just looks odd), but I thought it might be worth reporting anyway. ...Next time I see something, I'll screenshot or save state.