More Final Fantasy

[Sullla]

Thanks for those comments, very helpful.

T-Hawk, I did save a file from my original non-variant run. Of course all those characters are Level 42, and even the lowest solo characters finish the game around Level 55, so it would take a lot of work to turn them into endboss-capable characters. Could be done, but probably not worth it ultimately. (I don't have a Bare, Dragoon, or Knight save file unfortunately.)

Selrahc, you're right that the best way to improve commentary quality would be to write out a script and record it. I may or may not do that in the future, since it does involve some extra work. The advantage of recording live with notes present is that it's a lot easier to comment on what's happening in the video, like "oh look, there's another critical hit." Timing a pre-written script to line up with the video's action might require more effort than I'm willing to put in. But your comments are definitely spot-on, thanks.

Sofis, I actually don't want to speed up the action in the video! This is really the best of both worlds, as I can use Fast Forward while playing and then have it come out looking "normal" in the recording. If I do need to speed up the video, that's pretty easy to do with the software. I'm still learning how to use some of those new tools too - I'm sure I'll get better with more practice.

One question: does anyone know if there's a way to get FRAPS to work on software that doesn't use Direct X? I like FRAPS because of its simplicity, but it doesn't work with my NES or SNES emulators for that very reason. Thanks, if anyone happens to know.

[T-hawk]

T-Hawk, I did save a file from my original non-variant run. Of course all those characters are Level 42, and even the lowest solo characters finish the game around Level 55, so it would take a lot of work to turn them into endboss-capable characters. Could be done, but probably not worth it ultimately. (I don't have a Bare, Dragoon, or Knight save file unfortunately.)

The mighty Sullla is shying away from an hour of level grinding?! Who hacked your account to post that? Hell, give me the save and I'll do it. We want to see how a Ninja uses pure skill to beat Exdeath. Or any save with good enough equipment for a Ninja will do. (You might have to do it without Throwing everything but the kitchen sink, though Pinwheels are purchasable.) More generally, such a save would make it possible to rerun the final boss fight as any solo character class.

[Sofis]

One question: does anyone know if there's a way to get FRAPS to work on software that doesn't use Direct X? I like FRAPS because of its simplicity, but it doesn't work with my NES or SNES emulators for that very reason. Thanks, if anyone happens to know.

Are you running XP? According to Wikipedia, it can't be done on earlier versions of Windows:

In order for Fraps to take pictures or capture videos onto their system, users must first be using a program that uses DirectX or OpenGL as a core runtime system. Programs that run in Windows without DirectX or OpenGL are not supported, and therefore Fraps cannot capture desktop applications under Windows 2000 and XP. In Windows Vista the Aero desktop runs through DirectX and can be captured by Fraps.

I would imagine FRAPS hooks straight into the 3D API to get the image data before/as it's written to the screen, and as such doesn't look at what's actually displayed on the screen.

[SleepingMoogle]

Very nice video there Sullla. It may sound a little weird, but I actually prefer the on the fly commentary over a scripted version as it feels more natural that way. It also helps that you speak very clearly, so the occasional umming doesn't really detract from the quality of the commentary.

[Sullla]

Thanks again folks. To answer T-Hawk's question, that solution wouldn't really work because my original non-variant game took the Brave Blade instead of the Chicken Knife, and any solo Ninja game is pretty dependent on the Chicken Knife for damage!

Anyway, I'd next like to try T-Hawk's Ironcore variant with Final Fantasy 5: can you complete the game on a single party life? It should be easier than the original Final Fantasy (since in FF the main danger comes from random encounters, which you can't control) but FF5 is much, much longer to balance out somewhat. Then I could use that save file for whatever purposes I need later.

Of course, I'm also starting teaching a new course on Monday, so...

[Sullla]

I'm taking up the challenge of T-Hawk Ironcore variant with Final Fantasy 5. So far, so good - I'm not dead yet!

http://www.garath.net/Sullla/FF/ironcore1.html

There's a little extra feature included at the end of the page too.

[Selrahc]

There's a little extra feature included at the end of the page too

An instruction to use a next key that doesn't work! Awesome :neenernee


Kidding aside, I think the videos are great. A big improvement from last time for the most part. And all the job swapping power play is fascinating in comparison to the normal single job dynamics of your reports. Good luck with the rest of the game!

[T-hawk]

Awesome. Of course now I'm frantically wondering how far you are. Are you just writing as you go? Have you already finished - would you be writing at all if you'd failed? Or maybe you've finished all except the Exdeath fight, to be broadcast live on Youtube? But I don't want to know - keep the suspense!

Glad to see you actually USING the job system for once. No GilToss or Mix? That is indeed adding another level of variantism. Good point that X-Magic/Dualcast may not be worth the huge ABP cost. Lacking X-Fight might be less a handicap than it seems; it trashes random encounters, but can be a liability in some boss fights like Puroboros, and isn't good against Exdeath with the "dummy" parts and the need to kill the last two parts at the same time. And there are other ways to stack up multiple 2x damage modifiers like Double Grip or 2-Handed or Spellblade.

"Blue Monk" synergy? Is there anything there besides White Wind + high HP?

So how are you doing those videos? Are you recording the entire Ironcore game by emulator so you can play back the boss encounters? And of course, this WILL include Omega and Shinryuu right?

I did pause and kill Faris, leaving her at Level 15 while taking everyone else to 16, allowing me to pick up the Blue spell [L5 Death]

Faris learned Aqua Rake even though she was dead at the end of the battle - huh, thought a Blue Mage had to survive to learn spells.

Even though she had just learned L5 Death, by dying, by definition?

[Sullla]

Yeah, I should have fixed that broken link. Oh well, it'll be valid soon enough when the next page is ready.

I have NOT already finished, and am writing as I go. So, this will be interesting one way or another.

I'll be honest and admit that the randomness of X-Fight is indeed one of the reasons why I wasn't as keen to use it. Nevertheless, the way that it ignores all enemy Defense truly does make it an overpowered ability. My original team had Bartz doing 20,000+ damage per attack with X-Fight plus Flare Sword plus a Double Gripped Brave Blade.

Blue Monk also synergizes with the Blue spells ???? and Vampire, although T-Hawk is right that neither gets used as often as White Wind.

I record the videos while playing normally; SNES9x has a "Record AVI" option which captures good (uncompressed) video. I use Audacity and a desk microphone to record commentary, and combine the video clips with the commentary in Windows Movie Maker. I came up with the idea to use title cards for transitions and intro/closing, which looked pretty decent. Admittedly the editing does take up some extra time, but I think it was worth it.

I am definitely not recording the entire game, just the boss fights. I would have recorded the D. Chimera fight had I know how close to death it would take my party. As for Omega and Shinryuu, I don't regard them as part of the normal game, and I doubt that I'd have the patience to grind up 10-20 additional levels just to take them on, so probably not. Maybe Omega, as he's doable with the job classes I'm using. Shinryuu is just ridiculous though.

Also, about Level 5 Doom - umm, I thought you did have to be alive to learn Blue magic spells. I revived Faris once she had been killed, and made sure not to win the battle until she was alive. Guess that was unnecessary though.

Gonna start the second world today, hopefully it goes well!

[T-hawk]

One question: does anyone know if there's a way to get FRAPS to work on software that doesn't use Direct X? I like FRAPS because of its simplicity, but it doesn't work with my NES or SNES emulators for that very reason. Thanks, if anyone happens to know.

Well, you've been making videos directly from Snes9x, but here's another solution. The Gameboy Advance emulator VisualBoyAdvance can run the display through Direct3D. Which makes Fraps work for video recording, I just ran a quick test. (Yes at work. It's a boring Friday. I love having my home computer connected to the office VPN. )

(Why am I using a GBA emulator and rereading through the Final Fantasy 5 thread? No reason, no reason at all... )

While I'm here, just a comment on the Ironcores. In your ABP calculation, are you counting the Magic Pots in Phoenix Tower? Feed them an Elixer or beat them with massive damage and they give you 100 ABP. That's enough for another job per character, with about 8 such encounters IIRC, and since there's only a limited number it's not open-ended ABP grinding.