Part 5: Bonus - 1.20 -> 1.30 Conversion

Bonus - 1.20 -> 1.30 Conversion

After the last update, one of the hack's creators, BTB, created a SA account and joined in the discussion, sharing all sorts of cool stuff. Most importantly, he let me know that there's a newer update that changes a lot of stuff about the hack, though most of the good stuff requires a game restart. Since I was still early in, I figured it was worth restarting to enjoy the new additions.

This update will be a quick overview of stuff that changed in the earlier updates (which there isn't much that did, since most changes affect later stuff), a few details BTB shared with the thread, and stuff I missed.



First off, those Dirty Undies Wedge has are actually a no-encounter relic used for testing purposes, though they have the nice bonus of stopping those pesky rats and pit monkeys from bothering you in the mines.

Anyway, pretty much nothing has changed that I could find in the Narshe stuff.



Nevermore, an attack the Ravens appropriately use, inflict sleep, catching my characters in a nasty bit of sleep cycles. Nothing too scary, just bad luck and a nice shot to show stuff off.



Sand Rays, 100HP and weak to Ice. Didn't show them off last time, so there they are.





Also, someone in the thread mentioned this reference to 8-bit Theater existing, so here you go.





One of the biggest changes in 1.30 is the profanity being dialed back. There's still some out there, but it's mostly from NPCs shouting stuff like "Imperial bastards!" and what-not, stuff where it actually fits in alright.

As you'll notice, Kefka doesn't curse like a sailor anymore. He's more in line with the Woolsey translation, theatrical and bombastic. Most people will probably like this version a bit better.



Also, instead of idiots, Kefka calls the soldiers who wipe his shoes "Snivelling doormats." I like this line myself.

Anyway, the rest of Figaro proper doesn't really change much, so to Figaro Cave.



Eye Goos have 100HP and are immune to Fire, so you know.



Also, Hornets can cast Haste, though I don't know if that was added in 1.30 or I was lucky enough not to encounter it in 1.20.



Looks like the Brawler has the rare steal of a Slim Jim. It's usable in the menu, yet it didn't work on any of the characters I tried it on. Interesting.



Also, to the delight of many of you, the Atlas Armlet has been renamed the Power Glove. Same functionality otherwise as far as I can tell.



One of the biggest changes is the leveling system, which was designed to slow down level growth a bit so that when you hit Espers, your party won't have missed many potential level ups. Except I end up at higher levels this run than I did before (my group's around L9 here as opposed to around L7 before).

But because of this, the levels Sabin and Cyan learn their skills have been lowered. Now Sabin learns Suplex at L9.



In addition to letting Sabin bust everything now, it can also confuse enemies, which is awesome.



Needless to say, I'll be using Suplex any time it'd be awesome to do so. Though of course I still Pummel Ultros first to get that awesome Seizure damage.



Finally, here's what happens if you blow the security checkpoint in Narshe.



8000HP, and 5000MP.





At first, all he'll do is cast Scan on himself, letting you know he's weak to fire, which he is.





Of course, if you do that, Pug will go nuts and start spamming Step Mine.



He will also stab for huge damage.

There is a trick, though.



You see, if you don't zap him with Fire, he'll just cast Scan on himself and do nothing else. It's a nice callback to the Trickster enemy from FF4, who had a similar gimmick with lightning.





It's slow going, since Terra and Banon do 75 while Edgar does around 200 with BioBlaster. Fortunately, Banon's Thunder Rod has a chance to trigger Thundara, which does good damage.



Eventually I defeat the Pug, but with no reward to show for it.



Finally, the Rune Edge. An upgrade over the previous swords, it still consumes MP for guaranteed criticals, but also boosts Vigor and Magic by 5 and Evade/Magic Block by 10. Not too shabby.



Finally, Wild Rats at this point will use Poison freely due to either your increased party size or increased levels. Neat to see common enemies become more dangerous as your party gets stronger.



And now we're caught up. Next time, Sabin's scenario.