.oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. _________ ___ | ________|___| | |_|_| ___ | ____|___| | | | | __________ _______ __ _______ ____ | | | | -- / ________/ / ____ \ / / / ______/ / _ | | | | | -- / /___ / /____/ / / / / / / /_| | | | | | -- / _____/ / _______/ / / / / / ___ | | | | | -- / /_______ / / / / / /______ / / | | |_| |_| -- /_________/ /_/ /_/ /________/ /_/ |_| .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. Final Fantasy Epica v1.9a BY: Codeman EMAIL: GloryBlaze@aol.com ICQ: 6985217 WEB: http://come.to/herosoft .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. CONTENTS 1) Updates 2) Prelude 3) The Overworld 4) Installation 5) FAQ 6) Credits 7) Disclaimer UPDATES: 23.5.99 Version 1.9a --The end of the school year is in sight, and perhaps that of Epica as well. I'm half way done with fixing all the minor little nuisances with the text--but what to do after that? The only thing I can think of is the play with the dungeons, but that's not exactly a thrilling prospect in the least. Perhaps I'll do more on that Ultima Exodus hack I've been playing with in my spare time.. Oh, I've also added something to the PAT file--three highly experimental codes. Fair warning, if you use them, expect some odd things to happen. If something screws up, turn 'em off and try again. They're off by default, so fiddle with those before complaining about how I've fuxored your game. 11.4.99 Version 1.82 --SPRING BREAK! Fixed a bug in Coneria and played with the houses in Onrac. I also did some minor tweaking of the ending. My next major goal is to optimize the text--you can clearly see parts of it look rather haphazardly placed at times. It'll be a bugger going through and checking it all (especially with Thingy, since you can't see the way it'll come out) but it'll be a worth- while thing to do. 13.3.99 Version 1.8 --Feeling inspired (read: caffeine high) around 4 p.m., I decided to tinker some more. Now, at 10:14 p.m. EST, I've finished. I finally did the bloody ending, and I must say, I think it's great! For those of you expecting something light-hearted, I'm afraid you're out of luck. You'll just have to play the bugger all the way through to see how the final battle takes place. 10.3.99 Version 1.75 --Discovered I had released 1.7 a bit too early (knew I forgot to do something in there). Fixed a few map and speech bugs, plus played with the Dancer's ponytail--it looks a lot better now. 9.3.99 Version 1.7 --Took me awhile to do this one, prolly due to the fact that I recently got Ultima Online and FF7 PC. Not too big an update, really. Changed some monster names, a few lines of the battle text, and the bridge-crossing dialog. One of these days, I'll tinker with the end-game text. BTW, anyone out there good at hex editing rom palletes? I'd like to get rid of that cumbersome *.pal file. 25.1.99 Version 1.6 --Big changes in Gaia! Go see for yourself. Also found out that the graphics of the Fiend orbs actually use just the first orb image pictured in the rom graphics, not all four like I was lead to believe. I've fixed part of this, so instead of seeing the first of the Shade Warriors over and over again, you see a cloaked figure instead. I've also added the font from CastleVania III for the capital letters--I think it looks good! Many other tiny changes as well. Anybody know how to get rid of that damn square of water right outside of Gaia's limits? It's driving me nuts!! 5.1.99 n/a --Had to explain to certain idiots that the 'Naky Edition' was inserted below with Humorous Intent. ("Huh huh, he said 'inserted'") 2.1.99 Version 1.51 --Found out I had missed a helluva lot of map problems near Pravoka and that I had totally f-ed over the pallette! For those of you who were wondering what the hell was going on with Gurgu volcano and some of the monsters (MudGOL, IMP, R. GOYLE, etc.) you shouldn't have any more problems. Apparently the red used with the classes also affects some other areas (like the Thief's hair is also used in the oceans, for example). The script is also fixed, so that the Circle of Sages will explain why Gurgu is blue. 1.1.99 Version 1.5 --Minor things all around. Map, text, pallette, and NPC changes. The only real thing left for me to change is the ending. As it's one of the longest and most delicate pieces of text, I won't play with it until I finish the game--that way I can see for myself if it worked right. 32.13.98 Naky edition! --Heroes without pants?? Deleted after a nun fainted. 24.12.98 Version 1.4 --Map, NPC, character graphic changes; minor text fixes. 19.12.98 Version 1.3 --Initial release. .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. PRELUDE After Garland fell and the infamous Time Loop was shattered, the countries of the world unanimously decided that that moment would be the start of a new time line. It became known as 0 AW (After [the] Warriors. Starting from that world-wide decree, there was nearly a century of peace. Then, there was the Limit War. It's reason was unknown, though it all began between Coneria and Pravoka in 156 AW. Soon, Horizon and Onrac sided with Coneria, Crescent Lake with Pravoka. Gaia, Melmond, Lefein, and the Dwarves stayed neutral. Powerful and cataclysmic magic was released in the battles, resulting in the surrounding land become twisted and warped into new shapes and forms. One of the most notable places is Crescent Lake; the very waters surrounding the town exploded outwards, drowning the nearby forests and creating a new bay. It was only due to a hastely created mana wall that kept the flood from submerging the city. The great war finally ended in 189 with the Conerian Alliance the victor. Much of the planet had been greatly altered geographiclly for a reason nobody truely knew. Several months after the fighting officially (though not politically) ended, a letter was delivered the current lord of Coneria... 'To the pawn, Greetings, 'your majesty'. You know not who I am, though believe me, I have played a large part in many recent events of your life. You will send an envoy to the Temple of Fiends in the next three days. Do so, or regret it. --Vagen' The envoy was sent. Several days later, he returned alone without his guards. He managed to tell of nightmarish rites being performed and lovecraftian demons stalking his every move. They were what killed his escort, he whimpered once. Before he could think to react, the guards were little more than stringy red stains. Soon after that, he died in some sort of spasm while screaming about four dark overlords.. Then the raids began. The providences around the Temple were still weak from the Limit War, and were easy targets for the undead brigands. Those that resisted were slain and joined the army in everlasting death. The ancient prophet Lukahn, his body permeated with archaic spells of longevity, told then a new, though bried, prophecy. "Like in the ages past, four will come.." .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. THE OVERWORLD In the two centuries since the adventure of the Light Warriors, the geography of the world has changed some. No longer can that bastion of shadows, the Temple of Fiends, be reached from Coneria. The bridge built by the old king of Coneria was destroyed in the war with Pravoka, but the intense magic loosed in the fighting raised a signifigant portion of the Aldi Sea to the water's surface, allowing easy movement between the towns, who are now at peace. Many other changes have been wrought in the time of our heroes' absense. Find them! .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. INSTALLATION You need three things to use this patch. The IPS file, an IPS patcher, and a Final Fantasy rom. The first I've provided for you. The rom and patcher are things you need to find yourself--I will NOT hand out the rom. It's easily located, however, on various web sites and newsgroups. It's posted on alt.binaries.emulators.nintendo fairly often, so you won't have to look hard. As for the patcher, use SNESTOOL. You can find it on Zophar's Domain (http://zophar.net). *Warning!* If this product is ingested, do not induce vomiting! Thank you. .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. .oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Q. Why does my money never decrease/Why do I start with 800 gil/Why are my characters so powerful at the start? A. A file is distributed with this hack that includes all of the Game Genie codes for the original Final Fantasy--all of which still work, which kind of surprises me for some reason. To turn off the codes, either delete the file FF1e.PAT or (in NESticle), hit F6 and turn off all of the blinking lines of text. Q. Why are all of the colors screwed up? The Fighter is supposed to be RED, dammit! A. The colors are changed because of the file FF1e.PAL--a custom pallete file. If you want the default Final Fantasy colors back, just delete this file. Be warned, though, it'll make a few lines of dialog see odd later on in the game. Q. Did you do all of these graphics yourself? A. Not all of them, but a good many. Many images were imported from the other FF games and others were built off of them. The Dancer is a good example of the latter--she was initially based off of the female character from FF2. Given time, I'll probably go through and redo all of the characters. Q. What did you use to make this with? A. Believe it or not, when I started this project, I had no bloody clue when it came to rom hacking. Things like Demi's doc on hacking and the 'Rom Hacker's Bible' helped me out greatly at first. The easy to use Tile Layer program was a big help too, and there wouldn't have been any map changes at all without the great Final Fantasy Improvement proggie. As for messing with the text, that was done mainly with Thingy (excellent program, but tough to use at first) though small changes were all made with Hex Workshop. Q. I just found a bug! What can I do about it? A. Easy: Let me know about it. I can't fix something that I don't know is broken! Even if it seems painfully obvious, mail me anyway. Be sure to read the rest of the FAQ, though. Hearing reports from people thinking that the Game Genie codes are bugs is getting on my nerves. ..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo.. ..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo.. CREDITS "Mr. Does Every Damn Thing Around Here".........Codeman (mizu no kenshi) Testing.........................................Aero89 (yami no senshi) SaintAjora (sei naru madoushi) Thou art most groovy............................Taichu & XiP of Zophar's Domain Kueller of SitC SquareSoft Akira Toriyama and Shirow Masamune The Emulation 'Community' Anybody that downloads and likes this. You suck!.......................................IDSA Microsoft Geocities The Emulation 'Scene' Whoever liked Quest 64. Period. Soy beans the world over. All caffeine-free drinks ..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo.. ..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo..oo00OO00oo.. Disclaimer: This 'hack' (all files contained within the original zip file) is a product of Hero Soft (c1998, 1999). It may not be distributed either singly or as a collection without prior agreement by me (GloryBlaze@aol.com). If you actually stopped to read this, then you really have no life, do you? c1998, 1999 Hero Soft "tceleS B hsuP? A magic spell?"