Fire Emblem Thracia 776 GBA style [FEXNA]

[Zelkami]

I only recently found out about FEXNA, and it seems like a great avenue to get some game design experience. Only trouble is, it isn't out yet. I don't want to hit the ground running when it does come out, so in the mean time, I've started this project (tentatively) titled Thracia776 GBA. As the name might suggest, I'm aiming to recreate Thracia 776 in the style of the GBA games using FEXNA.

Gameplay Changes (Subject to change)

• Improved FoW (No more pure black fog)

• Removal of the Fatigue and Capture systems.

• Altered stat caps for individual characters. (No more global maximum of 20)

• No more repairable weapons. When an item runs out of uses, it's gone.

• No random bonus moves.

• Status effects no longer permanent

• No more dismounting

• Overhaul of the skill system (Vague I know. Will provide more details in the future)

• Magic and Resistance stats now separate

Obviously other elements will have to be adjusted to properly balance the game. As proof of concept, here are the alpha versions of every playable character's portraits along with a list of adjustments to be made, and the first few chapters. Any and all feedback to the project is welcomed.

• Character Portraits
• Chapters 1-6 (Including Gaidens)

To-do list

• Character portraits for all NPC and Boss characters
• All remaining chapters.
• Weapon Icons for weapons unique to T776
• Custom classes required: Axe Knight, Axe Cavalier, Troubadour and Mage Knight with Sword, Dancer with Sword
• Custom tilesets required
• Come to a decision regarding the support system, and how, if at all, it will be implemented

Portraits were spliced in GIMP 2.0 with Lexou's Sprite Sheet

Maps made with FEMapEditor

Any and all feedback to this project is welcomed.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Zelkami

[Magical Glace]

How do you plan on compensating for the loss of Capture? That was the main way to get weapons and gold in FE5 iirc.

Of course the optimum is implementing Capture mechanics because they were coolio

[Zelkami]

My idea right now is the have enemies carry gold like in Sacred Stones, and also have weapons drop more often. Another solution is to have shops appear more frequently and/or make weapons cheaper.

Also, I would rather prefer not to include capture and such in the game at all, as the goal of the project is to get it emulate the style of the GBA trilogy as closely as possible. If there is enough demand for it, I might add it in as a bonus classic mode, but I'd probably need help programming that.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Zelkami

[DarkDestr0yer61]

Oh goodness. Well, I have a few criticisms and questions.

Thing 1... You seem to be removing a lot of things that makes FE 5... FE 5. Some things I am fine being changed, like no random move against and improved FOW, but things like capture and dismounting are pretty much what makes the game unique.

2. You said you are overhauling skills. Are you still going to make characters like Orsin and Halvan feel different than each other? Is Ronan going to have more movement than Tanya sense he has more movement than her in FE 5?

3. Are crusader Scrolls going to be a thing? Are they going to function similarly to how they did in FE 5?

4. Are characters going to have a low growth in movement? Or what about con?

5. Are magic and res going to combined into the same stat?

I like how the maps look btw

[Eliwan]

but btu tbutbutbtutbubututbutbtubutbutbtutbu

CAPTURE AND FATIGUE WERE THE BEST PARTS OF THRACIA IT MADE IT FEEL LIKE ACTUAL ARMY GAME

---;;--;--;-;-;-;-;-;;--;;-;--;;;-;-----

That said, good on you. They're difficult mechanics to work with due to how much restriction they place on choices of enemy equipment (anything you give the enemies a determined player can probably acquire), Fatigue requires making sure all units are good and that there's enough EXP to go around to make sure that you don't have starved units, etc etc etc etc

Good luck with getting going, and wish you the best.

Oh and those portraits need plenty more fixups than are listed beneath them but I think you can realize that later. :p

I also notice a lack of mentioning of the Pursuit Critical Coefficients; 're you changing those up or is that part of changing up the skills system?

Edited August 5, 2016 by Bedimal Eliwan

[Zelkami]

You seem to be removing a lot of things that makes FE 5... FE 5. Some things I am fine being changed, like no random move against and improved FOW, but things like capture and dismounting are pretty much what makes the game unique.

That is my intention yes. I that complaint comes up every time I mention this project. Like I said above, I want the game to be closer to the GBA style, but I may consider adding it in as a bonus mode, or with configurable difficulty like in XCOM. I'm not much of a programmer, and I'm trying to complete as much of this project as I can by myself. I will consider looking into programming help one I have done as much as I can on my own.

2. You said you are overhauling skills. Are you still going to make characters like Orsin and Halvan feel different than each other? Is Ronan going to have more movement than Tanya sense he has more movement than her in FE 5?

By overhaul, I mean reduce greatly. Skills were barely a thing in the GBA games, but they play a big part in Thracia. I think this is one area that I will have to decide on during testing.

3. Are crusader Scrolls going to be a thing? Are they going to function similarly to how they did in FE 5?

Again, this will require testing. If they are included, the rates will obviously have to be adjusted.

4. Are characters going to have a low growth in movement? Or what about con?

I'm getting rid of movement growth. Con growth I am still considering.

5. Are magic and res going to combined into the same stat?

No, they will be separate as in most other games.

Oh and those portraits need plenty more fixups than are listed beneath them but I think you can realize that later. :p

Anything specific you would recommend? This is my first time splicing.

I also notice a lack of mentioning of the Pursuit Critical Coefficients; 're you changing those up or is that part of changing up the skills system?

I will have to look into this more, but the PCC mechanic will likely be done away with entirely.

Thank you for the feedback.

[EineKleineNachtmusik]

Do you need any help on map making? That's the only thing I can do, but I can do it pretty decently in my opinion.

Otherwise, good luck Zelkami.

Could you also fill it with memes?

[Zelkami]

Maps are the most tedious thing to make right now so I'd welcome help, however I'm doing this project more an experience builder for myself, so if I'm able to make the maps on my own, then I should. I will consider asking for help in that area if I feel I'm not making enough progress

[Levin64]

How about the supply depot in the original Thracia 776?

Are you going to assign a brand new character for managing the supply, or do you have other ideas?

[Zelkami]

That's a good point. I don't have a clear answer just yet, but I foresee the following options as the most likely. One is to give Leif convoy ability. The other is to include August as a Wagon class unit. In either case, the function will be restricted until after Chapter 6. If in testing, limitless supply access turns out to be game breaking, I will find some other method.

[Kon]

Anything specific you would recommend? This is my first time splicing.

Not the one you asked, but I figured I'd throw my two cents in

A lot of them have very mismatched angles between the hair, face, and body

The palettes are incredibly messy, you should not mix FE7 and FE8 palettes. Also, the colors I assume you pulled from the SNES sprites are way too dark to be used with the GBA palettes

Shading is pretty well nonexistent

People have chunks of skin missing

There are stray pixels everywhere

It's not much, but I can whip up some simple splices to give you some cleaner placeholders until you find a spriter or improve your own skills if you want me to

[Zelkami]

A lot of them have very mismatched angles between the hair, face, and body

When I go back to clean them up, that's the primary issue I want to fix. All the shading and glaringly obvious flaws I'm well aware of.

The palettes are incredibly messy, you should not mix FE7 and FE8 palettes. Also, the colors I assume you pulled from the SNES sprites are way too dark to be used with the GBA palettes

I think I might be missing something. I didn't use a palette. These were all done in GIMP, and any odd coloration is the result of me altering it with a slider. My plan is not to hack this into a ROM, but to have as many assets as possible ready to use in FEXNA when it comes out. Will not having a limited palette be an issue in that case? If so, are these portraits salvageable, or have I been wasting my time, and have to start all over?

Keep in mind also, these aren't the highest quality exports. If you want a clearer picture I can try to get them pixel perfect.

EDIT: I remember I resized them in imgur to be bigger, which may have messed with the quality somewhat.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Zelkami

[Kon]

When I go back to clean them up, that's the primary issue I want to fix. All the shading and glaringly obvious flaws I'm well aware of.

I think I might be missing something. I didn't use a palette. These were all done in GIMP, and any odd coloration is the result of me altering it with a slider. My plan is not to hack this into a ROM, but to have as many assets as possible ready to use in FEXNA when it comes out. Will not having a limited palette be an issue in that case? If so, are these portraits salvageable, or have I been wasting my time, and have to start all over?

Keep in mind also, these aren't the highest quality exports. If you want a clearer picture I can try to get them pixel perfect.

EDIT: I remember I resized them in imgur to be bigger, which may have messed with the quality somewhat.

A palette in this case is just the colors making up the sprite. Though there aren't any strict guidelines on how many colors can be in a sprite in FEXNA, it's always a good idea to (at least mostly) stick with the limited palette of the GBA sprites to keep true to the style. And the portraits are technically salvageable, though you might be better off putting them aside and giving it another go

Pixel perfect is much preferable, yeah. It wouldn't matter so much with regular images but with sprites they're quality is pretty much destroyed when they aren't pixel perfect.

[Lamia]

yet another FE5 remake I disagree with; I really don't think the game's system should be messed with, or else it won't feel like the game is supposed to feel like

the game was designed with its mechanics in mind, and trying to go outside of that is going to make for a very different game and probably going to be more of a hassle than it should be in order to balance it without them

I believe the only way to do a new FE5 justice should be graphical improvement, general balance touchup, and more chapters and other content

this is just how I feel about it all though, FE5 was my first game in the series so I'm pretty biased

Edited August 6, 2016 by Lamia

[Lord of Gabriel Knight]

Those features are being omitted because I assume the creator doesn't know enough code to implement them into GBA. If so, I don't understand why anyone is surprised it's happening.

Your portraits really need fixing and I suggest you ask a more experienced spriter in coaching you. A big thing to note is that a portrait can only have 15 colors plus one background color to be able to be inserted into the GBA, and all of yours have a lot more than 16. All your portraits should have the same outline color.

[Zelkami]

Those features are being omitted because I assume the creator doesn't know enough code to implement them into GBA. If so, I don't understand why anyone is surprised it's happening.

That's a fair point, and it's true, I don't know how to code, however I would prefer those features be ommited anyway, as the point is to get the game as close to the gba style of games as possible. If pink pone is right, and that messes with the structure of the game on a fundamental level anyway even, with balancing, I won't know that until I get to testing. I'll try to salvage it in that case, but it will have been a valuable learning experince for me anyway, and I can move onto my next project.

A big thing to note is that a portrait can only have 15 colors plus one background color to be able to be inserted into the GBA, and all of yours have a lot more than 16. All your portraits should have the same outline color.

Like I said before, these are not the final version of the portraits. They're just previews. I know I need the background color. I'm not unable to re add it. I'll do all that once I go back to make the speech animation frames and hackboxes. The palette limit isn't an issue for me, because I can requantize the colors in Usenti.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Zelkami

[solrocknroll]

Yeah, this isn't FE5. This seems like FE7: guest starring FE5 characters.

There are ways to keep FE5's elements without tearing them all down. Repairing weapons is especially important. S

[Zelkami]

So I kept all your advice in mind, and reapplied it. Just to make sure I'm on the right track, would you say I've addressed the issues you gave with this example?

Also, the coloring limit is not an issue for me, as FEXNA can handle more than 16 colors.

[Eliwan]

if you're using fexna then you should also break the boxes some (as FEXNA supports full squares for portraits and I believe that the whole portrait can go up to 112 pixels of width). That cape's edge looks completely awful due to ramming the box and becoming completely straight.

[vazful]

yet another FE5 remake I disagree with; I really don't think the game's system should be messed with, or else it won't feel like the game is supposed to feel like

the game was designed with its mechanics in mind, and trying to go outside of that is going to make for a very different game and probably going to be more of a hassle than it should be in order to balance it without them

I believe the only way to do a new FE5 justice should be graphical improvement, general balance touchup, and more chapters and other content

this is just how I feel about it all though, FE5 was my first game in the series so I'm pretty biased

this must be one of the most unreasonable things i have read lately.

[EineKleineNachtmusik]

I've followed your advice Zelkami, and deleted my account from the subreddit. #FeelsGoodMan

Anyways, we're doing a /spe FE8, and we were wondering if you wanted to be Glen. Would you be opposed to using your likeness in the project?

BTW, can I use the Fergus splice? It's the best one I've found after my searching.

[Abosikay]

I believe that you should remove/change fatigue, but keep random movement stars, capturing, repairing weapons, leadership stars, pure black FoW, dismounting, basically the only difference from the original should be support convos, more before and after dialogue during the battles, a graphical overhaul, and an accurate translation.