Wayward Winds

That would be "Go Go Go!" from Lunar Silver Star. Seeing as that game has been remade three times (originally on Sega Mega/CD, then remade for PSX, GBA and PSP), there's various versions floating around. Here's the latest (PSP): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEXtLhfan4k And for reference, this is how it sounded in the GBA release (pretty primitive sounding compared to the version used in Midnight Sun): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnK-oBS7Qmg

Way, way late, but FE7 does have wall traps in one chapter. It's Hector Ch. 30: The Berserker (where you're running through that cave looking for Armads). Didn't Matthew's Nightmare already use the "trap as timer" idea in its second part? As for how I'd use traps, I've... got one idea and that's it. To be honest, I don't particularly like them and would leave them out of my hack except under very specific circumstances. And even then I'd look for other ideas first. So, say you've got a large chamber where almost all of the floor is covered by fire traps (that take say a quarter of your health). You can't get right across it in one move, or even two, so you've got to land on the handful of "safe" tiles scattered about. The safe tiles are visually distinctive; I'm not that sadistic. But, did I mention the enemy ballistae lining the room, with lots of ammo? And that no two of the safe tiles are together, so stave healing becomes somewhat more awkward? It might not be all that great from a gameplay perspective (and darn annoying to properly implement without it becoming obnoxious to the player), but it would be good for story purposes. And because of the scarcity of the safe tiles, it would force the player to choose to either dribble their forces over and try to take out those ballistae before the healers make the journey, or ensure near everyone takes damage in one big charge (not a good idea with those ballistae who will almost certainly be targeting Ms Valkyrie or Mr Bishop). So yeah, one big delaying tactic; slow down or risk losing people. And to make sure you go though most of your vulnerary/elixir stock in this one room if you choose the latter.

There's also a couple of variations to the end of Ch. 3 as well. One with Puledra shoving alcohol down Andre's throat, and one that falls back on Cristoph and Rya (they're in the first version, but not to the same extent) if either Andre or Puledra (or both) have been killed. ...And a whole heap of Garion and Djambo dependant ones, including one specifically for Garion joining in Ch. 4, then dying before the map is done. Short version: Djambo gets eaten by a zombie. And it is more than possible for Cattleya to show up to attack Fa at the end of Ch. 2, and get killed in retaliation because Menmus isn't alive to stop her. There are six different endings to Ch. 2, all set to different alive/dead combinations of the Triumvirate. There used to be three glitch ones as well, in the unlikely event Menmus was alive but unrecruited; Alfred has since dealt with them. Basically, Alfred apparently thinks of everything.

Sometimes it's not the rom that's the problem, but the patcher. I've had times when NUPS has seriously mucked up the rom, yet the android multi-patcher does things perfectly (if slowly), with the same rom and same patch as NUPS. And other times when the emulator is the problem; gameboid on android works wonderfully with most FE hacks, then decided to glitch out for Fractured Realms to the point you couldn't even finish the prologue. Try the very same patched rom on Myboy, and it worked fine. I've had similar problems with Pokémon hacks where Gameboid can't use the ingame save system, but Myboy can. Does your patcher have an "Ignore checksum" option or similar? If you use that, the patcher should ignore any minor issues and you'll end up with a playable patched rom. In most cases, you won't even notice any issues, and the most I've ever seen when I've been forced to do this is an occasional sound jump (and then, only in Pokémon hacks). As for the rom, that "U" FE7 rom from the source you've mentioned has never given me any problems, for this hack or any other. I'm pretty sure that's the one everyone uses, and I don't think that's where the issue lies.

The moment Valkyria Chronicles music started playing got me sitting up and paying attention though; I don't know why, but that was one of my favourite tunes in the series. But it didn't grab my interest enough to let me watch the entire video (yet).

...I don't really think that's a spoiler, but... the rescue mechanic is your friend there! And as it happens, Fa has enough con to keep that renegade from running off. Then you just hoist her off on Menmus later (...or not, depending on who you would rather train).

The FE9 example also showcases issues with the concept, as I found out in my recent first PoR playthrough. One: it's overly luck based - even if Ike has near perfect stats, there's a good chance the BK will get him twice with Luna and end things there and then. You're also reliant on Astra activating to actually have a chance of winning. And if, like me, you wander into this fight with a less than perfect Ike (as I did with him at 20/20 with about 5 points missing from his strength stat), then you might as well kiss a certain Laguz goodbye. I think I had to repeat this battle fifteen or so times before I finally got a win. Ashnard wasn't that tough! Two: Mist too can be ignored by the enemy if she's tough enough. The problem lies in two of those reinforcements, who come with Psychic staves. If Ike is doing well enough to shove the BK into low health on their turn, they'll quite happily negate all his progress. This wouldn't be a problem if you weren't on a 6 turn time limit, but seeing as they're only around for turns 4-6, there's no time to undo the setback they cause - and Mist can't get rid of both of them in time! Three: There's no strategy involved. You only get one weapon, on one character that you can use. There's nothing you can do to change things up, outside of choosing when/if you want to use an Elixir. And using an Elixir is not easy to do, when every attack matters... which leaves you even more at the mercy of the BK's rather high hit rate. Four: The duel comes at the end of an already quite long chapter. Failure here means a long slog back through the level, and even with animations off it gets tedious. And with the aforementioned issues, you could quite possibly be doing it several times over. So in order to make 1 on 1 fights acceptable from a gameplay sense, my opinions are thus: >Either make it fair, or make it relatively easy to restart. FE9s duel was neither of those things. True, you didn't need to get a win to continue the story, but few FE players are going to settle for running away. I don't necessarily think the duel needed to be made especially easier, but there were just too many complications piling up that can (and did in my case) ruin any possible enjoyment the story might be providing. I was so burnt out when I finally won that I couldn't even feel happy that I had! >Give sufficient warning the thing is coming up, or make it possible to change up your equipment before the battle (this doesn't apply to scenarios where everything is fixed before starting, such as with Elibian Nights Raven vs. that assassin). This is one area I recall Last Promise causing problems. The chapter with Kelik facing down Leon didn't have a battle preparations screen, so if Kelik was without sufficient weaponry/healing items/an iron rune when going into the chapter, he was effectively done for. And while it was clear those two were going to come to blows, there was no indication that you'd need to fiddle with your equipment before beating the emperor in the mission before. No backup saves/save states from the last chapter? Well, sucks to be you! >Give a nice variety of strategic options; creative use of terrain in the arena, or allowing some choice with character setup. No "this is the only weapon you're allowed to use" garbage! >If you're going to allow healing staves from outside, don't have the battle on a time limit! Better yet, don't allow assistance full stop! No psychic/fortify staves, no siege tomes, no (effective) ballistae, nothing! Although I can see that last point being interesting from a story point of view: Hero is at a disadvantage because he's being pelted with ballistae fire, until his allies arrive and charge the ballistae positions and he can finally fight back properly. Naturally, his allies can't use the ballistae themselves... But ultimately, there's only so much you can do. Perhaps someone could adapt that Shameless Reused Assets trick with the amplifier constructs?

It's not going to help this time, but for the next Ragefest, why not run an individual poll for each entry immediately after the entry is played? FE Ragefesty Thingy Graphical Appeal / 5 (Lower score here, because I don't believe a Ragefest hack should do exceptionally better just because it looks pretty. That's not the point of Ragefest!) "Trickiness" / 10 Fairness / 10 Humour / 10 Story / 10 etc. / 10 Then after, say, three days, simply tally up the total score and record it, remove the poll and move on to the next submission. That would get rid of the "recent bias".

I wouldn't be surprised if Alfred gave the War Monk the slayer passive ability (3x light damage to monsters). That would make it a viable alternative to Warrior, right?

It's just you. No, chapter 9 is yet to be released (for either route). But you've got the first Tower challenge and a skirmish to do, so you're not quite done with this patch yet!

Only if there's no Stolos/Caulder expy waiting to make the last mission near impossible...

I'm currently working my way through Ch. 7, so I'll have a look on my way past as well. General question, has anyone got the Info entry "Queen and Pawns"? I'd have expected it to show up by now, given that it discusses the "Danger" view.

It's going to be funny to see that thing "dodge"! Let me guess, one or two maps only? Unless you've got some weird hover charm, or Neville installed wheels... And it's only got a longbow's range?

What is the reference from? The only thing I can think of that it might be is Valkyrie Profile (and I haven't exactly finished any of those three games). No supports yet, but Alfred's working on them. There's going to be quite a few, so he could well want more help on that. Nope, he's not recruitable. But, but, if you get his letter (either by having Sae'rah talk to him or if she engages him in combat - both must survive at least one combat round if you take that option), you'll find out about Melissa. She's his sister, and she will be recruitable in a later patch. Maybe. Depends on whether you meet certain conditions.

As far as I'm aware. Providing they both survive the first round, they strike up a conversation then and there which ends with him giving her the letter (it should show up as an entry in the Guide immediately after). Once that's done, anyone can off the soldier. And as Alfred mentioned, the letter is apparently going to be important in recruit someone on Fa's route. I don't know the specifics, but the letter mentions her by name.

Well, it does require players to use a tier 0 character in a rather heated battle, which not everyone is willing to do. And then there's the fact it requires her specifically to engage that particular soldier and both of them to survive the first round of combat. If Sae'rah has pulled back for healing and someone else takes him out, or if she gets a lucky crit. in the first round, it's goodbye letter! (I haven't personally reached that point yet, so it may not be as bad as that. I'm still monster hunting back in Ch. 4.)

Uh, interesting? I'd say "hellish"! And not the sort of hell the DK's after either... Cavaliers these days... grumble grumble...

@ jl260 Unless Alfred's changed it for this version, Garion doesn't have a death quote. I spotted that while proofreading for the previous release and asked him about it, and his answer was:

Yep, it's gone now. It was weird though. After the text finally stopped coming, it seemed to bring up an invisible pseudo-shop interface, going on how the hand cursor moved around and otherwise reacted.

And the deadline has been made. Well done!

Well, as I've just finished proofreading some scripts from the tower, I can with absolute certainty say at least some of it (and skirmishes) will be available in this release. Assuming no game breaking bugs rear their ugly heads. Less than six hours to go, assuming Alfred's on schedule.

It's only 3am in Italy. You've got another 18 or so hours to go. (He's looking at an evening release; evening in Italy).

I think you're suffering from ragefest burnout Marc. That's perfectly understandable. As everyone else is saying, do what you must. It's your mental health at stake. That said, I disagree when you say that Ragefest has no place in the FE hacking community anymore. It's a mixed bag when it comes to quality and inventiveness, but that's the case with any contest. It's done plenty of good; it's attracted people to the community, and it's produced some pretty good stuff. And it's a great way to inspire innovation. I expect most of the experienced hackers in the community, even those not actively hacking at the moment, keep an eye on the contest. Not necessarily for the submissions that rely on stats and enemy numbers to provide the rage simply by excessive difficulty, but because many of the submissions try something unusual. It's a way to see new things you can do with the old FE GBA engine. In fact, I distinctly remember you saying in the Lyn's Revenge submission that newcomers using Ragefest as an opportunity to make their first proper hack have a habit of coming up with stuff that veteran hackers would simply not notice, just because they don't "know" what you can and can't do. Ghast's MAFC is a worthy alternative, but I'm not sure it's so good for innovation. One of the big goals of any good ragefest hack is to catch the player off guard, and the best way to do that is to try something new. With MAFC, players go in with the simple goal of having "fun", and that's actually a bit more restrictive than "rage" as a goal to work towards when developing. Anyway, if you've had enough of ragefest for the time being, then give it a break. Perhaps you could pass the buck to someone else for the next round and sit back, see if being an observer rather than the sole thing the whole thing hinges upon helps rekindle interest. Perhaps let the next set be played by, say, five let's players you choose, and you just come down for final judgement. Don't let ragefest dictate your life; that's essentially what's happening at the moment when you have to do the whole thing yourself. And that, I think, is the biggest problem here. You can't control what gets submitted, because you still have to play it to get an idea of whether the submission fits within the rules. But you can control how much weight it shoves on your shoulders. Share the burden! ...Even if ragefest as a contest dies, I hope the category of hacks won't. I don't think it will, because there'd probably still be some people putting hacks up on occasion. And I'd probably be one of them. (I finally came up with a concept I liked: rather than go for something overly planned to force the player through a set course of actions, I'd change a basic FE mechanic. Rather than do 3x damage, criticals would do 0 damage. Sit back and watch how long it takes for the players to adapt. "Well I'll give my swordmaster that Wo Dao and send her out to murder the enemies and... oh." "Eight heros with killer axes? Fuuu- or not." I'd rebalance stuff accordingly and shove a few other things as well, but that would be the main gimmick.)

Yep, we Europeans and Aussies seem to be getting shafted on FE Fates. I just don't get how much extra localisation is required when the game is already in English. There can't be that many differences between European/Australian values and American ones. Not compared to America/Japan differences. They can't even claim packaging and shipping causing delays anymore, not with the 3ds store. Gripe over. Alfred's own final, final deadline that he needs to adhere to for this release would likely be next Thursday, because on Friday Bravely Second turns up in Europe and we'll lose him for a couple of months. He's still feeding proofreading stuff to me, so he's definitely not slacking off at the moment!

If you can't do the Xane thing, then just muck around with animations. Pick a weapon type most suited for what little we saw of her fighting style at the end of volume 2; kicking (fast, light, that probably equates to swords), or just go for whatever short range weapon you're most lacking in the party. Remember that animations don't actually have to represent weapon type in FE. Therefore, how I'd do it would be have Velvet barrage a volley of kicks as a regular close range attack, and... [spoiler=If you haven't seen Volume 3, Ep. 11 yet, you probably don't want to click here...] ...Have her summon and use spectral heavy weapons like Crescent Rose or Yatsuhashi's great big sword for her close range critical. Then for ranged animations, I'd have her make use of Coco's minigun or Penny's beam blades, though I'm not sure which would be best for criticals. Coco slaughtered lots of Grimm with that minigun, but Penny's blades brought down a dropship, and Velvet's spectral version slaughtered a Paladin. Or if you want a lighter ranged weapon, there's Yang's gun gauntlets or Weiss' Myrtenaster can fire sword beams. There's plenty of options, but you don't have to go overboard. One spectal weapon per animation, two at most. No need to do something like this: http://dishwasher1910.deviantart.com/art/RWBY-Unlimited-Blade-Works-589200514 (Yes, that's perfectly SFW. Deviantart has some good, non-porn artists.) On another track, calling it now: Weiss will be able to... [spoiler=Again, not if you haven't got at least to the end of Winter's scenes in volume 3]...summon when/if she promotes!