FEXNA (Currently In Private Beta)

[Chrono251]

This project it’s AWSOME! I would like to ask some questions and I think they haven’t been asked before. Btw I’m new to the forum but I will be following this n-n.

1. Would it be user friendly? I’m not so good at doing things, but I would like to know what kind of complexity it would have.
2. I can donate? If a can, would I get something in return? I don’t mean early access or something big, just like a little thing.
3. There’s a release date? Or an approximation?

Thanks to anyone who answers my questions before hand :3

The mastermind behind this should be given cookies, this idea it’s just mind-blowing.

Note: Sorry if I’m asking something that’s been already ask, I read through every page but I could’ve skipped something.

[Dunal]

This project it’s AWSOME! I would like to ask some questions and I think they haven’t been asked before. Btw I’m new to the forum but I will be following this n-n.

1. Would it be user friendly? I’m not so good at doing things, but I would like to know what kind of complexity it would have.
2. I can donate? If a can, would I get something in return? I don’t mean early access or something big, just like a little thing.
3. There’s a release date? Or an approximation?

Thanks to anyone who answers my questions before hand :3

The mastermind behind this should be given cookies, this idea it’s just mind-blowing.

Note: Sorry if I’m asking something that’s been already ask, I read through every page but I could’ve skipped something.

1. If you've used RPG Maker, expect this to be rather similar. Judging from the pics, that does seem to be the case. The way eventing works as well. You have the ability to code in your own mechanics, but outside of that, everything should be rather straightforward. And the major upside compared to ROM-hacking is that almost everything (maps, data, insertion, mechanics etc...) is confined to that singular application as opposed to a huge amount of things to manage. And you won't be required to code to create a game.

2. You can donate here. Search under 'community'. I'm sure yeti would very much appreciate the donation, but it probably won't make you entitled to have early access or anything -- I imagine yeti wants as many people to use XNA when it's actually ready.

3. Not yet. I wouldn't expect the release to be really far off at this point, but it's hard to say when it'll be.

Edited November 2, 2015 by DLuna

[Chrono251]

1. If you've used RPG Maker, expect this to be rather similar. Judging from the pics, that does seem to be the case. The way eventing works as well. You have the ability to code in your own mechanics, but outside of that, everything should be rather straightforward. And the major upside compared to ROM-hacking is that almost everything (maps, data, insertion, mechanics etc...) is confined to that singular application as opposed to a huge amount of things to manage. And you won't be required to code to create a game.

2. You can donate here. Search under 'community'. I'm sure yeti would very much appreciate the donation, but it probably won't make you entitled to have early access or anything -- I imagine yeti wants as many people to use XNA when it's actually ready.

3. Not yet. I wouldn't expect the release to be really far off at this point, but it's hard to say when it'll be.

Thank you so much! i used to do things in RPG Maker, like fun things with friends, thats really cool.

Il be around, i imagine its something really hard to do and thats why it takes a team of capable people to invest a lot of time on it.

Again thank you for replying me so quickly n.n

[BlueLeafeon]

Well, anyway, I'm definitely excited for this. You say a public beta will be released this year, and if that's true then I'd better start brainstorming so I actually have something to do in FEXNA.

I've been searching through this topic looking for the confirmation post, but haven't been able to find it. Where is this stated? If it's true, I'm going to be excited* because I've had a fan FE game in mind for ages, but was completely unwilling to hack a rom to make it come to fruitition.

* I understand that Yeti is more focused on FE7x right now, and that it's very unlikely we'll get a public release of the engine in the very near future. It's still exciting though.

EDIT: Will this be able to use full 24 bit images, or will it keep to the 16-color limit of GBA games?

Edited November 9, 2015 by MagicLeafy

[Clarinets]

I've been searching through this topic looking for the confirmation post, but haven't been able to find it. Where is this stated? If it's true, I'm going to be excited* because I've had a fan FE game in mind for ages, but was completely unwilling to hack a rom to make it come to fruitition.

* I understand that Yeti is more focused on FE7x right now, and that it's very unlikely we'll get a public release of the engine in the very near future. It's still exciting though.

EDIT: Will this be able to use full 24 bit images, or will it keep to the 16-color limit of GBA games?

Various people working on FEXNA have said that all over this thread, starting at around halfway through it/when it got to January this year. As for your question, I'm not sure, but that would be a pretty cool implementation. Actually, I might have seen something about that in the thread, but I could have been thinking about some thing else. It was a rainbow sprite of a person, possibly showing that they increased the limit of colors.

[47948201]

AFAIK the full range of 32-bit transparent PNGs is fully functional.

However, some paletted graphics--notably portraits--tend to be pretty uncooperative, so I'd advise no more than 256 colors, one transparent, at a time? Still, blows that 16 color limit out of the water and well past Mars.

[BlueLeafeon]

Various people working on FEXNA have said that all over this thread, starting at around halfway through it/when it got to January this year. As for your question, I'm not sure, but that would be a pretty cool implementation. Actually, I might have seen something about that in the thread, but I could have been thinking about some thing else. It was a rainbow sprite of a person, possibly showing that they increased the limit of colors.

Ah. I must have somehow skipped those posts or something. Thank you for the reply!

AFAIK the full range of 32-bit transparent PNGs is fully functional.

However, some paletted graphics--notably portraits--tend to be pretty uncooperative, so I'd advise no more than 256 colors, one transparent, at a time? Still, blows that 16 color limit out of the water and well past Mars.

Ah. That's great! The 16 color limit does get in the way of what I want to do sometimes. 256 is MORE than enough, for sure! Thank you for replying. Now I can start making those sprites I will need when this eventually comes out.

[ProtoZeroSP]

If everything required to make an FE chapter becomes super streamlined compared to FEXP (where you had to actually understand the scripts), this engine would be so easy to use, that it would only require someone using the engine to really only be able to make a good map and make good use of the AI that comes with this game.

(To be honest, I just want a portrait maker-application that goes pixel by pixel on the portrait. I hate using Microsoft Paint.)

-New to the forum/Thread-

[GamerX51]

Can anyone tell me whether or not it will be possible to script battles so that certain things will happen? For example; suppose that I wanted a major enemy NPC to appear in a battle, but make it so that their HP can't be reduced below a certain number, and then have them retreat from battle when that threshold is reached? I have several ideas for a FEXNA project I'm planning, and the answer to this question will help inform important design decisions.

Edited November 15, 2015 by GamerX51

[47948201]

Sounds like a skill. If incoming damage is greater(erm, or equal to. Or just offset the number by one) than their current HP, set incoming damage to their HP - 1. (EDIT: oh making it a certain number means you'd have to change these numbers a bit, but the idea is the same) (Maybe the skill would be hidden? Yeti probably wouldn't be too fond of that idea so I doubt he'll add it, though, so that would be up to you. But that's mostly a minor aesthetic concern) Then, in an event, well, you might have to make the code for the event yourself. (would be a nice generally-existing feature though, checking unit stats. Then you could do stuff like level checking for gaiden chapters or check if the main character's defense is too low, in which case a certain chapter will give them a general instead of, say, a paladin)

But yes it sounds quite reasonably simple to execute. Again, people asking whether or not something is "possible" will ~100% of the time be met with a rather useless "yes".

Edited November 15, 2015 by 47948201

[GamerX51]

<Edit> Dammit, can someone please tell me how to quote another post on this forum? The quote and multiquote buttons do absolutely nothing, and Im going crazy trying to fiqure it out on my own!

<Edit2> Thanks for the reply, 47948201.

Edited November 16, 2015 by GamerX51

[Czar_Yoshi]

<Edit> Dammit, can someone please tell me how to quote another post on this forum? The quote and multiquote buttons do absolutely nothing, and Im going crazy trying to fiqure it out on my own!

The quote button works just fine for me...

If the site's lagging heavily sometimes it takes forever for the quote to copy; in that case just try again in a few minutes.

[GamerX51]

That's just it; the quote button has never worked for me. I hit it, and then it just brings me to the advanced editor, but the quoted post never shows up in the editor or in the post preview. It just flat out doesn't work.

[BlueLeafeon]

That's just it; the quote button has never worked for me. I hit it, and then it just brings me to the advanced editor, but the quoted post never shows up in the editor or in the post preview. It just flat out doesn't work.

I had the button fail me yesterday. Try using the quote command manually? [ quote ] and [ /quote ] respectively, without spaces. You'll have to copy/paste the stuff you want in between them.

If everything required to make an FE chapter becomes super streamlined compared to FEXP (where you had to actually understand the scripts), this engine would be so easy to use, that it would only require someone using the engine to really only be able to make a good map and make good use of the AI that comes with this game.

I don't think it would ever become THAT easy to create chapters. From the sounds of it, SOME scripting or programming knowledge will be required. Just by looking at the text editor, I can tell we're going to be learning how to format things via SOME kind of language. While it would be possible to have the editor do certain commands for you, it would take far too long to program and would be very limited as opposed to doing it manually.

And, well, since I'm posting here anyway: Will the GBA lord animations be in the final release of FEXNA, or will we have to add them ourselves? Since FEXNA is simply the program Yeti is using to make FE7x, I'm going to presume the answer is "you will have to add them yourselves."

[GamerX51]

Will the GBA lord animations be in the final release of FEXNA, or will we have to add them ourselves?

I don't know about the GBA Lord animations, but all indications thus far are that Yeti's custom Lord animations(The ones that Uther uses in FE7x) won't ever be in FEXNA.

[Czar_Yoshi]

I don't think it would ever become THAT easy to create chapters. From the sounds of it, SOME scripting or programming knowledge will be required. Just by looking at the text editor, I can tell we're going to be learning how to format things via SOME kind of language.

Those are just control codes for things like changing portrait expressions, moving the portraits, making text come out faster or slower, etc. As long as you have a table of what codes do what, it's just a matter of writing out your text normally, then inserting those where you need things to happen.

Honestly, reading it is a lot harder than writing it.

[Firion231]

The more I read about this project, the more I get excited about it! Does anyone know about what percent of the project is done or how many things need to be added before its released to the public? I'm wondering if I should wait for it to release or just get FEXP instead if it's going to take longer.

[BlueLeafeon]

I don't know about the GBA Lord animations, but all indications thus far are that Yeti's custom Lord animations(The ones that Uther uses in FE7x) won't ever be in FEXNA.

I know that much. I wouldn't want to hand out my custom lord animations, either, to be honest. They're meant for that particular character, and that character alone. So I totally understand why yeti wouldn't release his lord animations. The reason I ask is because I have two characters who will be using an edit of Roy and Ephraim respectively, and I'm curious as to whether or not I'll have to actually program them in myself. <<;;

Those are just control codes for things like changing portrait expressions, moving the portraits, making text come out faster or slower, etc. As long as you have a table of what codes do what, it's just a matter of writing out your text normally, then inserting those where you need things to happen.

Honestly, reading it is a lot harder than writing it.

Ah. Then Klok better get busy making that documentation, eh? Or maybe he's waiting until the final version so that he won't have to update it later.

The more I read about this project, the more I get excited about it! Does anyone know about what percent of the project is done or how many things need to be added before its released to the public? I'm wondering if I should wait for it to release or just get FEXP instead if it's going to take longer.

I've been told by someone in the know to just get FEXP, because the beta release is probably not going to be anytime in the near future, despite the "rumors" earlier this year. That being said, I probably won't--I'll just work on images in the meantime. A good game has to have images, after all! And lots of them!

Edited November 19, 2015 by MagicLeafy

[GamerX51]

The reason I ask is because I have two characters who will be using an edit of Roy and Ephraim respectively, and I'm curious as to whether or not I'll have to actually program them in myself. <<;;

If I'm not mistaken, I believe someone posted a list showing which classes would be in FEXNA quite a few pages ago; I downloaded it then, so I'll see If I can find it and re-post it here for you.

<Edit> Found it! Here you go, Leafy... it looks like the two classes you want ARE on the list, but I don't know if that means you can edit the animations or not; some of the classes on this list are set as "non-editable" if I remember correctly, so you may want to ask Klok or someone else in the know whether or not Roy and Ephraim's class animations can be edited.

Class+Listing.txt

Edited November 19, 2015 by GamerX51

[47948201]

Oh, awesome, a class listing like this is what I've been--wait... This looks 100% Klok-made, that is, it's just what he plans on implementing himself eventually (probably for his Sacred Contention remake) and is probably not indicative of Yeti-sanctioned classes.

That said, even if Klok imports a given class, it should be available to everyone right away, but I wouldn't count on that "right away" coinciding with FEXNA's release. Though it does give the impression that most of these classes are mostly done, except certain things like Summoning I'm quite sure Klok won't be implementing.

[BlueLeafeon]

Oh, awesome, a class listing like this is what I've been--wait... This looks 100% Klok-made, that is, it's just what he plans on implementing himself eventually (probably for his Sacred Contention remake) and is probably not indicative of Yeti-sanctioned classes.

That said, even if Klok imports a given class, it should be available to everyone right away, but I wouldn't count on that "right away" coinciding with FEXNA's release. Though it does give the impression that most of these classes are mostly done, except certain things like Summoning I'm quite sure Klok won't be implementing.

What I'm inferring from this is that the list is klok-made and therefore somewhat unreliable as to whether or not the final version/public beta release of FEXNA will actually have the FEGBA lords already loaded up.

Correct?

By the way, I seem to recall reading somewhere that this used .ogg files for music...or...was that FEXP? I've read through the topic trying to find it but never did, for some reason.

[47948201]

It's probably not reliable as far as the final version/public beta release goes. But it's probably a good indicator of what people will be trying to add--but really, I would pretty much advise expecting only FE7 generic classes, plus Yeti's versions of those same classes and probably his Halberdier, in the actual release. The rest, you can probably expect from something similar to Klok's "Super FEXP"? I honestly can't speak with much authority on this, since it depends on what Klok plans to do(I'm ~90% sure Yeti will pretty much only include the aforementioned basic classes, ie, not GBA Lord classes), but that probably depends on whether or not it becomes trivial to port from GBA to FEXNA, in which case anyone could do it anyway.

FEXP preferred .ogg but allowed other formats; FEXNA requires .ogg. Loop points are handled the same way as in RPG Maker/FEXP (set LOOPSTART and LOOPLENGTH metadata in terms of samples)

[Czar_Yoshi]

I know that much. I wouldn't want to hand out my custom lord animations, either, to be honest. They're meant for that particular character, and that character alone. So I totally understand why yeti wouldn't release his lord animations. The reason I ask is because I have two characters who will be using an edit of Roy and Ephraim respectively, and I'm curious as to whether or not I'll have to actually program them in myself. <<;;

Ah. Then Klok better get busy making that documentation, eh? Or maybe he's waiting until the final version so that he won't have to update it later.

If you're modifying the Roy and Ephraim animations anyway, it'll probably be a similar amount of work whether they're in already or not. I imagine inserting new assets into FEXNA will be significantly easier than with regular hacking.

I could be wrong about this, but I think Yeti said the text formatting is identical to FEXP's, meaning Klok should already have it mapped out somewhere.

[BlueLeafeon]

It's probably not reliable as far as the final version/public beta release goes. But it's probably a good indicator of what people will be trying to add--but really, I would pretty much advise expecting only FE7 generic classes, plus Yeti's versions of those same classes and probably his Halberdier, in the actual release. The rest, you can probably expect from something similar to Klok's "Super FEXP"? I honestly can't speak with much authority on this, since it depends on what Klok plans to do(I'm ~90% sure Yeti will pretty much only include the aforementioned basic classes, ie, not GBA Lord classes), but that probably depends on whether or not it becomes trivial to port from GBA to FEXNA, in which case anyone could do it anyway.

FEXP preferred .ogg but allowed other formats; FEXNA requires .ogg. Loop points are handled the same way as in RPG Maker/FEXP (set LOOPSTART and LOOPLENGTH metadata in terms of samples)

What about the FE8 trainees? I saw 'em on his site.

Any specific reason why it uses .ogg? This seems to be a new filetype that's sprung up recently, and I'm just curious about what its benefits are, considering MOST music is either in midi or mp3 format.

If you're modifying the Roy and Ephraim animations anyway, it'll probably be a similar amount of work whether they're in already or not. I imagine inserting new assets into FEXNA will be significantly easier than with regular hacking.

It's really the difference between being able to copy the pre-existing information for how the sprites are to behave, and having to figure out what I'm supposed to make it do at what point in order to make the sprites work 100% like the originals. It can be done, yes, but I would prefer being able to copy data over, lol.

[lonelyVoxel]

.OGG isn't that new. It's been around since about 2000, but development was going on before that. I've seen it used with quite a few PC video games, such as Minecraft, so it might have something to do with that. This has been the peanut gallery's input.