Enhancing Phantasy Star III

[Tryphon]

Hi,

I'm studying Phantasy Star III code and I plan to hack it for enhancing several aspects of the game. I'd like to make it the game it was aimed to be, and not this multi-flawed thing, that succeed in killing almost every good ideas it had (and there were plenty of them).

Here's a proto-list of things that could be done the first that comes to mind) :

INTERFACE :
* Variable Width Font
* Enhancements in shops :
- displaying stats changes when selecting item
- adding item description
- select number of items to buy (to speed up monomate filling)

MAPS :
* Diagonal deplacements (done)
* Fast deplacement (almost done)

BATTLES :
* Sprites of fighting PCs
* Reenabling parallax
* New battle system
* New magic system, or enhancing current (how ?)

STORY :
* Many things

Please note this isn't yet a true project. I can decide it's too much a difficult task, or I can turn it into a true PC remake (in the spirit of Generations remakes).

But I'd like to gather ideas from the PS lovers. So don't hesitate to put some here. I'll accept, reject or postpone them (according to the difficulty of implementing them, or my own feelings about the game).

[Tryphon]

Just for note : I'll crosspost in others hacking / Phantasy Star boards, don't be surprised.

[The PS Logo]

That's quite an undertaking you're doing. maybe Hugues Johnson could give you some advice on that.
If you really can hack the code to make the game better, the only missing things to add in would be "Perolymate" and "Ruoginin" as TP resoratives?

[Tryphon]

I know about Aridia and have been in contact with Hugues Johnson (precisely to add map editing support to Aridia), but yes, I can do more with hacking.

I'll add Monofluid, Difluid and Trifluid as TP restoratives (they have been added to Playstation 2 remakes of PSI and PSII), so suggestion accepted

[DarkMyau]

does this mean your not working on Generation 2 anymore?

[Tryphon]

Not at all
That means Generation 2 is almost over, and I prepare what to do next

[steve_muzz]

As you'll see from forums and my PM I am currently remaking this game in RPG Maker VX ace. I am close to releasing a Gen1 alpha soon.

I think the main things that need improving are:

Dialogue and text - Story needs explaining more and NPCs need to give more information.
Combat - Some of the techniques are pointless maybe they could be changed or balanced
Animations/Sprites - Some of the towns and castle need adding to and the green towns in snow areas need to be fixed
Broken caves - Some of the broken caves could be fixed to improve the gameplay and change the location of certain quests or legendary weapons

It's more than possible!

As you know though I am currently trying to final the damage formula for my remake!

[Kalisiin]

Interesting.

So this new game would play on a Genesis system...or a Genesis eulator, like PicoDrive?

[Tryphon]

It's not really a new game but yes, it should be playable on a Genesis or an emulator...

[Kalisiin]

It's not really a new game but yes, it should be playable on a Genesis or an emulator...

Well, enhanced, then, rather than new. When will there be a download available.

I have long believed PS3 needed some work. IT is the black sheep of the series, and it always seemed to me like there were a lot of god ideas in PS3 - but it seemed a bit...disjointed to me in a way - it would be better to have some more in-between stuff to build it up, and maybe more info coming from NPC's.

Always seemed to me the game could be a lot better so look forward to seeing what you have come up with.

One of my own ideas would have been also...when you're in those passages between worlds...there should be a way to bring up a mini-map of the thing and show you where you are within the passage. Some way so that you don't just totaly blunder around in them.

[The PS Logo]

I know about Aridia and have been in contact with Hugues Johnson (precisely to add map editing support to Aridia), but yes, I can do more with hacking.

I'll add Monofluid, Difluid and Trifluid as TP restoratives (they have been added to Playstation 2 remakes of PSI and PSII), so suggestion accepted

Awesome, and thanks. However, as you are attempting to enhance the original PSIII, "Perolymate" and "Ruoginin" would make more sense. It would give the game another, albeit minor, link to the rest of the series (rather than the Online series, which pretty much every PS game afterwards was based on ); reduce the stress of adding in something that wasn't meant to be in the game by 1; not to mention that two items (one recovering 20 and the other 60) is really enough given (a) the characters don't gain a lot of TP and (b) the most expensive techniques cost 5 TP.

[Kalisiin]

TP restorers?

None of those in PS1 2 or 3 that I know of.

But we all would do well to be sure we have enough TP, LOL!!

No, seriously, an interesting idea...but I hardly ever use techniques in the current incarnation of PS3. the only time I seem to use them, really - is when fighting Dark Force, using HEALING....so TP restorers might be nice to have at the very end, but can't really see, for me, any other need for them.

The problem with PS3, as I see it...the only time you can freely buy star Mist...is a time at which you can't afford it - and then it would take up too much equipment space anyweay. After that generation where you could freely buy Star Mist...never again are you given an opportunity to buy Star Mist.

So MY idea for an enhancement that might even be easier...would be to just simply make Star Mist available for purchase at some later point in the game...or have some sort of place where you can store stuff you don't need now, but will later, ala PS2's Central Tower in Paseo, where you can store un-needed items - and get them back later when they ARE needed.

Of course, EVERYONE knows, in PS2 to give the Maureragum and Small Key to Nei before fighting Neifirst, so that those items don't waste space.

But, seriously...for an enhancement in PS3...there SHOULD be a way to either store Star Mist (and other items) for later use....or a way to purchase Star Mist in the 3rd Generation. Also, a way to purchase Moon Dew in the 3rd Generation would be nice.

These items I find useful in a battle with Dark Force.

Another irritating thing about PS3...changing Techs to favor one Tech over other Techs...in PS2, dammit...when you called for a tech IT JUST FREAKING WORKED, and that was that. When you cast REVER on someone, they came back to life (with 30 HP, but they came back to life!) - although you could not cast REVER in battle. When you cast ANTI on someone in PS2...the poison WENT AWAY. You didn't have to cast it five-six times to get rid of the poison, hoping the ANTI spell would work.

If you're gonna have Techs then they should JUST PLAIN WORK.

If you want to have certain techs "favored" then what you'd do is have it such that certain techs "favored" would be cheaper than standard in terms of TP use...and the not-favored ones would therefore become more expensive in TP than the standard...BUT THEY WOULD ALWAYS WORK WHEN CAST.

Also, it might be nice to order your techs when you "favor" them so that you could favor up to three of them, maybe...at the cost of non-favored ones becoming more expensive...and your FAVORED ones would move to the top of the list so that it is easy to tell what you have favored.

[The PS Logo]

Regarding Star Mist and Moon Dew in PSIII, Hugues Johnson's Aridia can do what you're asking for; as for The technique distribution system, you have to remember that PSIII had been rushed to completion, as such there are many things in the game that would have been better implemented if the game wasn't rushed.

You have to take into account that those two items, while working like you ask for, only work once before disappearing, and with each character having only 15 item slots, they still take up inventory space up to the end game. TP restoratives, however, would give the function of twelve star mists and moon dews (assuming the max TP restored is 60)

[Kalisiin]

Regarding Star Mist and Moon Dew in PSIII, Hugues Johnson's Aridia can do what you're asking for; as for The technique distribution system, you have to remember that PSIII had been rushed to completion, as such there are many things in the game that would have been better implemented if the game wasn't rushed.

You have to take into account that those two items, while working like you ask for, only work once before disappearing, and with each character having only 15 item slots, they still take up inventory space up to the end game. TP restoratives, however, would give the function of twelve star mists and moon dews (assuming the max TP restored is 60)

Well, when I am going, in PS2 - to kill off Mother Brain and Dark Force...I stock EVERY charcter full of Star Mist and Moon Dew.
Outside of their Equipped items, they are carrying NOTHING ELSE. (Exception being the Mogic Cap and Prism the Agent must carry)

I'd do similarly in PS3 if I could...just carry NOTHING but Star Mist and Moon Dew.
You don't really NEED anything else when you're fighting the final battle in the game! So, at that point, who CARES about taking up Equipment space?

However, in PS3...the only opportunity you get to obtain Star Mist (outside of rare treasure chests) is in the store in Frigidia - which after that generation...is closed forever. You don't even have a character in PS3 who could STEAL the Star Mist later.

So, the situation in PS3 is...either grind like crazy to get enough money to buy it when it is available...and have it cramming up your available equipment space for the rest of the game...or, pretty much just go almost without it for the whole game.

What I am proposing is a way to BUY it. In later generation. /This could be done ALONGSIDE the idea of TP restorers for those who want to do it that way.

I find I do not use Techs very often, outside of healing, anyway. I RARELY use techs on attack - except for against Dark Force. And even THEN, attack tech isn't used much. it's HEALING I need. And for me, your basic Star Mist and Moon Dew fulfill this for me...with one value added feature...WHEN YOU USE THEM THEY ALWAYS WORK!!! Techs do not always work in PS3.

[The PS Logo]

As I said earlier, Hugues Johnson's Aridia can do that. With it, you can change a late game shop's inventory to include those items.

However, as with PSII, PSIII has equipment that cast techs when used as an item, and don't disappear when you use them. The two items that function like Moon Dew you can get early on. The first one you get (for free) when you head for Aridia for the first time, the second one is in the Cille armor shop, where it's less than half the price of a Moon Dew. Said item can also be bought later in the game.