Shining Force Alternate V3.2C

Xeno came up with some quick changes to some balance quirks at the 2nd half of the game.

Hey guys, just put out a small update to correct a very small issue with a particular portrait that needed to be corrected in one of the cutscenes. Let me know if there are any other issues!

A really big update this time! It has been just over one year since its initial release, and it has steadily grown in its storytelling and execution. I am proud to be apart of this community and I hope you all enjoy the new changes!

One thing you'll notice right out of the gate, Maxine now has access to Fire magic! Give her an excuse to have all that MP points, am I right?

What're the other changes you may ask? Well, for starters, all the balance has been reworked to be more engaging, certain battles have been reworked to be more fun and not so much of a grind(I'm looking at you, Darksol Gauntlet!). Other story elements have been put in place to make certain characters' story arcs more impactful. If you have played SFA once before, I highly recommend giving this one a go, you won't regret it!

Promotions now work in sequence so you don't have to manually select each character. If you don't want to promote someone just yet, no problem! Just tell the cleric no!

Saving ingame has been completely disabled, you'll notice this when you start a new game, you'll be instantly brought to the "name your character" screen. And when you talk to priests, they'll tell you to use your savestates(They'll acknowledge they have no idea what a savestate is, for the lulz)

And Finally, Xenometal has been an outstanding partner in some of the more technical aspects of Shining Force modding that wasn't available currently in the SF1 Editor, and I am eternally grateful, a lot of the things you see in this mod are the result of his hard work. So be sure to show him some love in the comments!

So, I've given Elliot a little more use of his weapon during your battle with him at Chapter 4. Elliot will now use the Piece Maker to buff himself during the battle, so be sure to keep your distance from him and let your tanks do the dirty work, eh? Also, his flurry range is his default attack...so keep that in mind if you try to swarm around him.

Elliot also has some new frames with added flame effect when he uses the Piece Maker, and he won't drop it when you defeat him.

I've corrected an issue that kept you from receiving the Oath Keeper later in game if the Piece Maker was cracked. After testing it has been confirmed fixed, however, please let me know if it stops working again(I know I've fixed it in the past, no idea why it messed up again)

I have split the original "sword" spell group into 3 new spells, one for each special weapon that is used by the enemy. Hopefully, it'll be more clear on what's happening when they utilize their "weapons" when casting the spell.

Hello, after watching a youtuber play the mod, there are yet some things that are needing attention.
(I'm starting the think the SF1Editor is coming alive and just keeps messing with me, as some of the issues corrected in this update were previously fixed).

I plan to have another small update to correct little things like the piecemaker(shouldn't drop from the enemy that initially wields it) and fix the conditions to receive another weapon later. I think there was a couple grammar issues, but I'll need to rewatch parts of his playthrough to track them down.

Corrected an issue with a particular character starting with promoted battle sprite(no idea how that happened, the last couple updated didn't really deal with the character screen that handled that part)

Updated a sentence by Kane for continuity.

Added 2 weapon models, a short sword for maxine to start with and devil lance has it's own model now.

Fixed the land map terrain at the final battle with dark dragon

Increased cost of blaze/aura lvl 4 a little.

Corrected a grammar issue in chapter 8.

Corrected some inconsistency with the map sprites in Guardiana, namely the dog and inhabitant that lives there.

Corrected Maxine using the name "maxine" instead of her given name by the player at chapter 2.

Updated the Mishaela battle, the map was tweaked slightly and the enemy ai has been updated to move back into starting position if a player moves out of the isolated rock area. This will have Mishaela move back so she's not a target by someone outside of that area. I have added 2 extra ladders so you can get the force up to the spot easier.

In this update, there were some changes to how you receive the Sword of light, you no longer receive the sword at the Mishaela battle, but at a chest upon arriving at the next town. You can't miss it, as it's right next to where you spawn. Reason for this was the dialogue branch for the npc that was meant to give it to you if you didn't receive it during the Mishaela battle, would be finnicky and sometimes not use the correct path.

Chapter 6's dragonia's map and movement scripts have been updated to keep players from leaving Dragonia until they complete all the scenes (aka: the Kane/darksol clash and picking up the item left behind)

When you return to Rudo, you will NOT find Krin there. Talk to the two npcs at the gate and they will explain.

I have tested this fix a few times and so far I haven't had any issues with this current workaround. Let me know if you run into any problems with Chapter 6.

In the event that you don't have the Piece Maker in your inventory at Chapter 8, you won't get stuck at the town. It is highly recommended you keep the Piece Maker throughout your playthrough, as it functions like the power ring for the one who wields it, and you'll get a better version at Runefaust.