[UPDATE 10/27/2014] Thracia 776 XNA Remake: looking for a staff for preliminary/planning phase.

[Kysafen]

I have decided that, should we have more people take up the slots for it, switch this project to a Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 remake.

The game itself has changed, but the basic phases of the project still remain the same:

[spoiler=Project Phases]

[spoiler=Preliminary Phase]Preliminary phase:

1. Would people be willing to invest the actual time into such a project?

2. Who and how many people will go towards the project? Will it be enough to carry the project to completion?

3. Who will take up which roles? There's

• Coder: To accommodate for Thracia 776's significantly different mechanics (multi-unit trading, critical coefficient, et cetra. The entire list of mechanical options will be added to the asset list)
• Event Scripter (who plans out the openings and closings of what goes on in the maps)
• Battle Animation artist (who will generate the needed animations we'd need)
• Spell Animation artist (same stuff, but with spells)
• Battle animation paletter (who will choose what battle animation palettes go into which character)
• Portrait Artist (for all the portraits needed in the game)
• Writer (who's basically going to write all the dialogue)
• Map Artist (for all the levels)
• Project manager (basically, the guy who puts it all together in FEXNA and all that bippity-boppity-boo)

4. How will we decide to coordinate ourselves and track our progress? Should we do it through Google Code, or through the forums? Do we exchange Skype/IM info?

[spoiler=Planning Phase]

Planning phase:

1. Are there going to be changes? If so, what will be changed?

• Character growths? Spoiler alert: probably not, except for maybe Ronan
• Weapon weight/might/uses? Also no, because we actually want to incentivize Capturing. Get it together!
• Altering units to different classes that Yeti has introduced? I'd have to say we'd use the animations for the fundamentally different classes in the game
• Adding/removing characters altogether? (Also probably not)
• Additional chapters? (The only thing I'd change about any of the side-chapters in Thracia 776 is for there to be an actual option to take them, and for 24x to have the warp-tiles to be detectable by thieves)
• Map design changes? (If we're talking about streamlining the annoying features, such as "ohhhh, Corple goes to the top right house!)
• Enemy placement and carried weapon changes? (That would have to be looked at very carefully, but you can count on no)
• Number of deployable units per chapter? (also probably not)
• Weapon prices? (I'd only make them more expensive, so no)
• Will the Hit/Crit/avoid calculations be the same? (We'd have to figure out the differences between the calculations of FEXNA and Thracia 776, but as far as critical hits go I do want it to be the same calculations as Thracia 776; 2*MT-Defense)
• Will cavalry be able to dismount/remount? Will they only be able to use swords, or will they be able to use their mounted weapon?
• What changes can we make that would affect the cavalry/infantry balance previously established by dismounted only having 5 movement and only wielding swords?

For the record I'd probably want to change as little as possible, since Thracia 776 is already damn fantastic.

​2. What assets will we need for this project? (will come up with a complete asset list later)

3. In the event that supports will be written, who do we pair up with who? Shippers, start your engines

4. How will we organize the project flow? Do we do things one level at a time, or do we all crowdsource and pitch in stuff from one chapter to another at various levels, checking the list of maps in no particular order?

5. Do we opt for open beta, or closed beta? Open beta allows people to immediately provide level design feedback, whereas closed beta would be going for a 1.0-level of quality release for the first time.

6. Do we pull a Yeti and go for demos?

7. How do we release the game? Do we release levels 1-25 all at once, or do we release it in "episodes," where we'd release the game a few chapters at a time, until we'd get to the end? An episodic format would probably require save transfers and/or compatibility to previous builds, but allow us to release more content on a gradual basis, whereas all at once will give the players a more focused, complete vision.

[spoiler=Production Phase]Production phase:

Basically, we'd script the chapter openings, closings, code in recruitable characters, create the assets we need by the staff we've assembled, and then go on the basis we agreed on, whether we're going by chapters 1(prologue?)-through-25, or scattershot it. Whatever way we'd agree on, we'd need a way to track our progress.

Demo releases optional here.

[spoiler=Testing Phase]Testing phase:

If open beta, we release it. If closed beta, we select our testers and gauge how they feel about character balance and difficulty.

[spoiler=Release]Release:

If we go by Episodic format, we loop back to Production Phase and keep going until we've completed all the levels through to the Epilogue. If by all at once, we basically still collect feedback from the players and make adjustments.

[spoiler=Assets]

I decided to make an entire section towards assets alone because I've found that though it would be a very rewarding experience to render Thracia 776 into a far more accessible format to English speakers than its current forms, it will be a daunting, intimidating, and trying task for the amount of assets, both artistic and coded, that we'll need to produce to come up with anything that would justifiably replicate the Thracia 776 engine.

[spoiler=Animations]

[spoiler=Unit Animations]

1. Leaf Lord battle/map animation
2. Leaf Prince battle/map animation
3. [PENDING] Dismounted battle/map animations
4. Dancer battle animation
5. [PENDING] Female Mercenary battle/map animation (depends on whether Machua's promotion tree is going to be from Myrmidon growths to Hero, or from Mercenary growths to Hero. It would be pretty inconsequential though, if we did get 20 stat caps, since it wouldn't make as much of a difference then)
6. Troubadour Sword animation (see 3)
7. Troubadour Staff animation (see 3)
8. Female Paladin Staff animation (see 3)
9. General Bow animation
10. Knight animation for Axe/Sword/Bow weapon types
11. (animation for Homeros, but we can probably use one from FEXNA's defaults, which will definitely be the Page, since he'd probably be stone-drunk 3/4ths of the time)

[spoiler=Spell Animations]

1. Meteor
2. Thoron
3. Dime Thunder (Dimebolt?)
4. Wind
5. Blizzard
6. Grafcalibur (Graphcalibur?)
7. Forseti
8. [PENDING] A "Light" version of Nosferatu?
9. Jormungandr
10. Poison
11. Stone (Medusa?)
12. Hel

[spoiler=Weapons/Items]

We'll need weapon icons, data inputs, and possible animations for

[spoiler=Swords]

1. Short Sword
2. Elite Sword
3. Long Sword
4. King Sword (Regal Blade?)
5. Great Sword
6. Flame Sword (Flame Brand?)
7. Thunder Sword (Bolt Brand?)
8. Wind Sword (Gale Brand?)
9. Master Sword
10. Sleep Sword (Dream Brand?)
11. Berserk Sword (Rage Brand?)
12. Light Sword
13. Earth Sword (Geo Brand?)
14. Darkness Sword
15. Marita's Sword (Redemption?)
16. Beowulf's Sword (Naegling? Hrunting?)
17. Holy Sword
18. Blaggi Sword (Purgatory?)
19. Loptyr Sword (Obsidian?)

[spoiler=Lances]

1. Short Lance
2. Long Lance
3. Great Lance
4. Gaebolg (Gae Bulg?)
5. Gungnir
6. Master Lance

[spoiler=Axes]

1. Puji

...and nothing else.

[spoiler=Bows]

1. Short Bow
2. Long Bow
3. Great Bow
4. Master Bow

[spoiler=Fire Magic]

1. Meteor...

...and nothing else?

[spoiler=Thunder Magic]

1. Thoron
2. Dime Thunder (Dimebolt?)

[spoiler=Wind]

1. Wind
2. Tornado (or we could use Fimbulvetr?)
3. Blizzard
4. Grafcalibur
5. Forseti

[spoiler=Light/Dark]

1. Nosferatu (a "Light" version? I don't know, Resire's always been a weird and inconsistent thing)
2. Yotsumungand Okay, no. It's going to be Jormungandr/Jormungandr.
3. Poison
4. Hel (With one "L," not two, and there's a damn good reason for it. If people want to think it's a misspelling, then it's their own uncultured faults)
5. Stone (Medusa?)

[spoiler=Staves]

1. Rewarp
2. Thief
3. Kia (I'd want to call it Harpe, after the blade that beheaded Medusa)

[spoiler=Items]

1. Bridge Key
2. Stamina Drink (Ambrosian Nectar?)
3. Skill Manuals (all 10)
4. [stat boosters' Icons (Speedwing vs Speed Ring? Really not much of a difference) are one of the few items I'm willing to compromise on not having a faithful adaptation to the source material, but only if the stat gains they provide are faithful]
5. Crusader Scrolls

As of the time of this post, we're at stage 1 of the preliminary phase. The entire above layout is completely under the conditional premise that we'd be willing to make this thing. If anyone has any suggestions as to better organize a project like this, or if anyone's willing to volunteer into any of the project's positions, just post in this topic.

...or we could just axe this whole thing, I dunno.

[spoiler=Original Post, for FE1, for archival's sake]Yeah, edited in my sig, to boost visibility, but I'm putting it out here: is anyone interested in re-making Fire Emblem 1/3/Shadow Dragon? Because I really, really want to do some writing, and what better a project for FEXNA than a version of Shadow Dragon that doesn't fall victim to a game engine released in 1991/1993 that's aged poorly as well as an engine that didn't age well for 1993 released in 2008/9, and has the potential to fully flesh out characterization and support dialogue?

Because if there's one thing I'm want to do if it ever came to a project, it's a Thracia 776 remake that will obviously never happen so I'll have to settle for a Shadow Dragon remake.

The basic flow of this project right now is this:

[spoiler=Preliminary Phase]Preliminary phase:

1. Would people be willing to invest the actual time into such a project?

2. Who and how many people will go towards the project? Will it be enough to carry the project to completion?

3. Who will take up which roles? There's

• Event Scripter (who plans out the openings and closings of what goes on in the maps)
• Battle Animation artist (who will generate the needed animations we'd need)
• Spell Animation artist (same stuff, but with spells)
• Battle animation paletter (who will choose what battle animation palettes go into which character)
• Portrait Artist (for all the portraits needed in the game)
• Writer (who's basically going to write all the dialogue)
• Map Artist (for all the levels)
• Project manager (basically, the guy who puts it all together in FEXNA and all that bippity-boppity-boo)

4. How will we decide to coordinate ourselves and track our progress? Should we do it through Google Code, or through the forums? Do we exchange Skype/IM info?

[spoiler=Planning Phase]

Planning phase:

1. Are there going to be changes? If so, what will be changed?

• Character growths?
• Weapon weight/might/uses?
• Altering units to different classes that Yeti has introduced?
• Adding/removing characters altogether? I for one think Heimler should be recruitable as a joke character to make Machis look like Barst by comparison
• Additional chapters? What would it add to the story? Will there be references to Fire Emblem Awakening/Gaiden?
• Map design changes?
• Enemy placement and carried weapon changes?
• Number of deployable units per chapter?
• Weapon prices?
• Will the Gaiden maps from Shadow Dragon make it into the final game, with non-fucking-idiotic requirements to access them?

2. What assets will we need for this project? So far I can come up with

• Maps for every level of the game
• Dialogue for chapter openings/closings/recruitments
• Base Dialogue for characters
• Support dialogue for all characters
• Character portraits and talking/blinking animations
• Battle animation palettes for each individual character
• Marth Map animation
• Marth battle animation
• Marth with Fire Emblem and Falchion animation
• Chameleon/Freelancer animation
• Mage Dragon animation
• Earth Dragon animation
• Imhullu animation
• Starlight animation
• [OPTIONAL] Gharnef animation [or we could use Nergal's Dark Druid animation]
• [OPTIONAL] Custom Excalibur animation [or we use Excalibur from FE7, most likely this]
• [OPTIONAL] Re-arranged music, possibly even done in Fire Emblem's GBA sound fonts [or use Shadow Dragon's ripped OST. Hell, even make it toggle-able between FE1, 3, and SD
• [OPTIONAL] A Ballistician class and battle/map animation [Or allocate it all to maps, like in FE7]

3. In the event that supports will be written, who do we pair up with who? Shippers, start your engines

4. How will we organize the project flow? Do we do things one level at a time, or do we all crowdsource and pitch in stuff from one chapter to another at various levels, checking the list of maps in no particular order?

5. Do we opt for open beta, or closed beta? Open beta allows people to immediately provide level design feedback, whereas closed beta would be going for a 1.0-level of quality release for the first time.

6. Do we pull a Yeti and go for demos?

7. How do we release the game? Do we release levels 1-25 all at once, or do we release it in "episodes," where we'd release the game a few chapters at a time, until we'd get to the end? An episodic format would probably require save transfers and/or compatibility to previous builds, but allow us to release more content on a gradual basis, whereas all at once will give the players a more focused, complete vision.

[spoiler=Production Phase]Production phase:

Basically, we'd script the chapter openings, closings, code in recruitable characters, create the assets we need by the staff we've assembled, and then go on the basis we agreed on, whether we're going by chapters 1(prologue?)-through-25, or scattershot it. Whatever way we'd agree on, we'd need a way to track our progress.

Demo releases optional here.

[spoiler=Testing Phase]Testing phase:

If open beta, we release it. If closed beta, we select our testers and gauge how they feel about character balance and difficulty.

[spoiler=Release]Release:

If we go by Episodic format, we loop back to Production Phase and keep going until we've completed all the levels through to the Epilogue. If by all at once, we basically still collect feedback from the players and make adjustments.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Kysafen

[Klokinator]

Because if there's one thing I'm want to do if it ever came to a project, it's a Thracia 776 remake that will obviously never happen so I'll have to settle for a Shadow Dragon remake.

FYI, FE5 is waaaaay easier to remake than FE1 or 2. Seriously, there's a capture mechanic, a fatigue mechanic, and some skills. Everything else aside from some items and the broken items system are already in FEXNA. I love FE5 and will likely tackle it in the future if nobody else has, but that's reaaaaaaaaaally far in the future.

[Kobazco]

Isnt arch or someone already remaking fe1 with the new fire shell thing? Ive played his version of the first few chapters and it was amazing.

[Kysafen]

FYI, FE5 is waaaaay easier to remake than FE1 or 2. Seriously, there's a capture mechanic, a fatigue mechanic, and some skills. Everything else aside from some items and the broken items system are already in FEXNA. I love FE5 and will likely tackle it in the future if nobody else has, but that's reaaaaaaaaaally far in the future.

*shrugs* Well, contact me if you want a writer. But not a level editor; FE5's difficulty is perfect as-is. I'd have to make a list of all the assets we'd need, so if you'd want me to, just give the word.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Kysafen

[linke0000000]

That is so great to see some1 willing to make a remake of FE1/3/shadow dragon(shouldn't shadow dragon be part of FE1?...), using FEXNA.

Sounds a hell lot of work though. Just a few questions:

1. will that be a GBA FE style game? I mean, like FE7x?

2. will you prefer to use existing custom animations or you prefer to start over from scratch? I believe some of them, like starlight animation, already been made and the author is willing to share.

3. will skills (personal, class and weapon) be part of the plan?

4. no forge system, and no horizontal promotion, am I right? (I like none of them...)

5. would you mind having weapon/tome from other FE games? like FE4?...

Edited October 23, 2014 by linke0000000

[Kysafen]

That is so great to see some1 willing to make a remake of FE1/3/shadow dragon(shouldn't shadow dragon be part of FE1?...), using FEXNA.

Sounds a hell lot of work though. Just a few questions:

1. will that be a GBA FE style game? I mean, like FE7x?

2. will you prefer to use existing custom animations or you prefer to start over from scratch? I believe some of them, like starlight animation, already been made and the author is willing to share.

3. will skills (personal, class and weapon) be part of the plan?

4. no forge system, and no horizontal promotion, am I right? (I like none of them...)

5. would you mind having weapon/tome from other FE games? like FE4?...

0. Take these answers in the consideration if this thing ever gets off the ground, which is completely unknown at this point.

1. Obviously. Re-making every single map and battle animation will clearly throw this project out of control. We already have a fully functional graphical style.

2. Varies on how they look and if the authors would approve

3. Unknown. I really don't know how this'd affect unit balance, but from a design standpoint it could provide incentive to players to actually use different units; Bord and Cord could actually be told apart and have different playstyles, Caesar and Radd could have skills that'd actually give a competitive edge against Ogma/Nabarl, and Vyland/Roshea could act as non-joke units compared to Wolf/Sedgar/Hardin/Cain/Abel.

4. No forging, and no reclassing. I don't know if FEXNA has it, but if I'd want a unit to be of a certain type with a certain skill, reclassing would kind of kill that. I'd vote against it.

5. I mean to remake Shadow Dragon, but as far as introducing Light and Dark spells and enemies, that's up in the air. If yes, we'd reclass Linde to a Light/Anima user (a la Homeros/Sara) for her to use light magic, including Aura, and Make Starlight an Anima "reaver" tome effective against dark for when you go up against Gharnef, or let Marich be able to use Light upon promotion. Either way, I intend to make Imhullu's weapon type Dark Magic. As far as FE4/5 magic, such as Blizzard, Yotsumungand, Lightning, well, we'd need an animation for each, and that'd come with altering level design.

In general, the future of this project is unclear, shrouded in Imhullu's darkness...

[linke0000000]

In general, the future of this project is unclear, shrouded in Imhullu's darkness...

hmmm I though you were absolutely sure that you would do it.

I personally feels optimistic about this project, as long as FEXNA is available some day.

[Kysafen]

hmmm I though you were absolutely sure that you would do it.

I personally feels optimistic about this project, as long as FEXNA is available some day.

Let me make this clear: do not be optimistic about this topic. Be realistic: this project is under the condition that

-FEXNA actually releases, which is more than likely

-People are actually willing to contribute to this project to fill its asset needs, which is never going to happen until it happens

Until those two conditions are filled, don't go about thinking this project has any life whatsoever.

[Klokinator]

I'd like to point out that Arch is making Exalted Legacy, which is a FE1 remake. It seems redundant to compete (Not the best word but you get my drift) with Arch for attention, when remaking FE5 is not only more viable, but easier to do in FEXNA. Working out designs for FE5 would be great because if you actually completed that project, I have enough interest that I could go through and fix any errors I spot/tweak with balance and bring it into the 21st century, mechanics wise.

Of course my ultimate goal would be to then make FE5 Chaos Mode but let's pretend that universe doesn't exist.

[linke0000000]

FE5 chaos mode would REALLY REALLY chaotic...

I got a feeling there will be chaos mode series

lets wait for the release of FEXNA then.

[Refa]

How is FE5's difficulty perfect as is.

[Klokinator]

FE5 had the bigger issue of poorly explained difficulty rather than actual hard difficulty. If the game had said "Yo, watch out for reinforcements from the west" or "Hey man, ambush spawns in the east" then the difficulty would drop dramatically for a first time player and would stay consistent for each successive playthrough. Simply explaining what's to come would make the difficulty level out more smoothly, but they were just too rushed to do that.

[Psych]

Please make FE5

I have zero art or hacking skills but would still help

[Kysafen]

It'll take me quite a while to populate a required asset list for FE5, but either way it looks like I'll have to change this project to FE5, being that I like it better anyway. I'll revamp this topic once I get back home.

So help me god Klok you better not be thinking of extending unit caps past 20

Edited October 25, 2014 by Kysafen

[Psych]

Yeah again I have like zero useful skills when it comes to something like this, but I'll still help since I love FE5 and want a remake that badly.

[Klokinator]

It'll take me quite a while to populate a required asset list for FE5, but either way it looks like I'll have to change this project to FE5, being that I like it better anyway. I'll revamp this topic once I get back home.

So help me god Klok you better not be thinking of extending unit caps past 20

No, I'm thinking of doubling the caps to 40.

Honestly, this doesn't really affect gameplay other than it allows you to increase growths to satisfying levels for players (More fun getting multi-stat levelups than few-stat levelups) and seperate class caps into better niches.

[Celice]

FE5 chaos mode would REALLY REALLY chaotic...

I got a feeling there will be chaos mode series

lets wait for the release of FEXNA then.

Maybe check out the Super Thracia patch, see how you feel about its difficulty and content?

[Kysafen]

No, I'm thinking of doubling the caps to 40.

Honestly, this doesn't really affect gameplay other than it allows you to increase growths to satisfying levels for players (More fun getting multi-stat levelups than few-stat levelups) and seperate class caps into better niches.

Are you freaking kidding me?

There's a tremendous amount of difference; it gives greater incentive to use a Master Seal before level 20 because 20's the max you can get, it makes stat boosters all the more game-changing, and it doesn't even delve into some of the under-the-hood balances of the game:

-Myrmidons and Armors are balanced when it comes to doubling; Myrmidons have low CON/Growths generally, and they make up for it with their Speed. Armors have low Speed/Growths, but make up for the speed loss with their CON. We'd have to affect the game's leveling system to make CON a stat that can increase at random.

-A 20 cap on all stats significantly downplays the importance of number-crunching and further emphasizes strategy, as well as leveling the playing field between the enemy and player units; it became less about how to overpower the enemy so much as it was to outsmart the enemy.

-It fundamentally made units less likely to be stat-screwed, as well as bolstering the importance of actually leveling up in a stat, thereby making tier lists less dependent on their stat growths and more dependent on what they can do; Othin's Puji, Critical Coefficient and low CON growths vs Halvan's Brave Axe and higher CON- and thereby, more units he could potentially Capture? Marita's personal sword that can double or Shiva's higher CON/Strength? Ferguson's high speed, and solid strength, or Fin's Brave Lance, or Carrion's versatility?

--And this is key: being stat-screwed has to be addressed in the game's subsequent chapters should the cap- and potential to be stat-screwed- be raised, should we actually want to be faithful to the original version's difficulty ramp. Therefore, higher caps emphasize a character's effectiveness by their stat gains and not by their personal strengths/skills, and that's why I vastly prefer Thracia 776 over every other Fire Emblem game

I'm still willing to collaborate, and maybe I can be proven wrong with this (Crusader Scrolls?) but damn if I didn't think the 20 cap made strategy the priority, and not number-crunching.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Kysafen

[linke0000000]

it seems too early to go into such details since FEXNA is not currently public available and it's unclear if you are going to do a FE1/5 remake.

And I believe once FEXNA release, the major difficulty will the sprites and battle animation rather than the cap/con problem.

[Kysafen]

And I updated the Asset list. I haven't even gone into the game mechanic coding that'd need to be done, but I made the animation/item/weapon list we'd need.

Looking reeeeeeeal likely this project's going to come to to a 100% smooth progression into success, ayup.

[linke0000000]

Look much better now! FE5 is my personal favorite. However, a few things I would like to say,

1. does't seem like there are enough weapon/spells/items.

2. skills are really play important part now.

3. I hope you don't want to add the "tiredness" thing into FE5r, nor the "re-move stars", nor the mounted/unmounted thing. Mounted/unmounted is clearly bias agains weapons other than sword. Damn why the hell there's only one person in my entire team can use lance/axe in final chapter?!!!

4. Any class changes of actor?

5. Any weapon level change of class? Troubadour is generally considered to be an non-combat class now.

I really think this FE5 in 2010s will be amazing.

[Klokinator]

3. I hope you don't want to add the "tiredness" thing into FE5r, nor the "re-move stars", nor the mounted/unmounted thing. Mounted/unmounted is clearly bias against weapons other than sword. Damn why the hell there's only one person in my entire team can use lance/axe in final chapter?!!!

Fatigue was an important system. It made you stop spamming Orsin every chapter, and you could still get around it with the usable items anyway.

Re-move stars are awesome. We'd better have those coded in so I can use them on all enemies for chaos mode.

Mounting and unmounting is great. It gives all units equality on indoor maps and gives chapters where horseman can't use their best skills, letting other units catch up.

FE5 was just so perfect in concept, it only sucked a bit because of being rushed.

[linke0000000]

Fatigue was an important system. It made you stop spamming Orsin every chapter, and you could still get around it with the usable items anyway.

Re-move stars are awesome. We'd better have those coded in so I can use them on all enemies for chaos mode.

Mounting and unmounting is great. It gives all units equality on indoor maps and gives chapters where horseman can't use their best skills, letting other units catch up.

That pretty much explained why everyone wants to make their own hack. I want Orsin on the field all the time lol. 5000G S tonic really doesn't help that much.

If I were making the hack, i would totally remove the fatigue/re-move/mount. I may remove the capture as well, it gives me a lot of fun but it also changes every chapter into robbery.

Re-balance the game seem to be a huge problem then, hmmmm

btw i think re-move stars can be coded as skill and shouldn't be too hard for you Klok.

[Klokinator]

So you want to remake FE5 as... not FE5?

[linke0000000]

just to make it less FE5 and more my FE5r, if I have the chance