Oi, I’ve never really posted anything like this before. I’m still kinda new to this site and to FE hacking, but I hope I’m doing this right.
Hey! We’re some amateur hackers who decided to turn an inside joke into a legitimate hack. This is Fire Emblem: The Mask of Dunham, or as we like to call it: the Oat Hack. It’s gonna be 90% serious and 10% humor with a pretty dark story. We’ve been working on this hack for almost 2 months now, and I’m personally really excited to release the demo (prologue to chapter 4). Hack includes patches used in Void’s Blitzarre Adventure such as the skill system, hp display, and many more. We’ll also have some custom music as well.
Story is separated into two arcs. Arc 1 spans from the prologue to chapter 10, while the second arc is from chapter 11 to chapter 24. I’m hoping to use this thread to answer any questions and to take feedback. This is the first hack I’ve really been involved in the programming and story telling, but I really hope we can make something great.
Here are some screenshots of the prologue. As we continue working on chapters, I’ll be updating this thread with more screenshots.
(The myrmidon is wearing a pot. No, I’m not changing it. The owner of the character got mad when I tried to.)
Actual list currently sits at everything in the skill system buildfile, Modular Minimug Box, and Anima Triangle as the 3 big ones, as well as some custom stuff by yours truly and probably other things that I’m forgetting (praise Teq, probably)
Wow, I feel like a moron for not posting more screenshots since some of the ones posted above are outdated, but the demo is complete! The .ups file can be found here
feel free to reply here with any questions or concerns regarding the hack.
So forest tiles dotted around the middle = forest tile spam? If you mean around the sides, you’re not supposed to take the fight in there in the first place. Also, the map is a forest? At least it’s not fe4 chapter 1
And there’s only one portrait we’re using. technically two, but the other portrait isn’t exclusive to the pme. The first one mentioned has gotten some major edits too. Not every hack has to be a giant meme, you know
How many chapters are playable? Looks sweet, I’ll give it a shot since I have some free time this weekend
EDIT: I’m an idiot, went to the GitHub and found all the basic info I’m looking for
Alright, played through the demo and enjoyed it! Here are some thoughts:
Miscellaneous
I REALLY enjoy the Archanea series music that you use, I think it especially suits early game Fire Emblem really well
I really like all of the Quality of Life things implemented. They mesh well functionally and aesthetically
I enjoy the (new?) Bow Cav animation. Any plans to make a map sprite instead of using the female Nomad?
Also enjoy the sword and lance cav. map sprites, they are nice touches. The soldier battle sprite is good as well, it’s much more fitting for lance-wielding bandits
Maps are aesthetically good in my untrained opinion. Gameplay thoughts below
Roshal’s sprite just seems a bit off proportionally to me. Maybe it’s the neck? Also, what’s up with his comparably high level and Life Or Death giving him the status as a glass cannon, player phase destroyer of worlds? What’s the gameplay rationale behind it? In any case, it trivializes the early game bosses, but that’s not too big a deal considering they’re not supposed to be all that threatening.
I’ve always had an irrational love for the female thief map/battle sprites.
Also, wow, that’s one huge bandit fort! 4 chapters worth of maps in it!
Unit balance(aside from Roshal) is pretty good, everyone seems usable/helpful in some way. I like that the mounts aren’t overwhelmingly OP, and I like Zo as a more reasonable glass cannon.
Although unused weapon rank is invisible on the screen, the help menu still appears for them. Screenshot below
This dude’s blinking frames are out of alignment. Screenshot below
Chapter Thoughts
Prologue is a really good one: clean, crisp, and engaging. Story also does a good job piquing my interst
Chapter 1 feels a bit clunky with the moving through empty space and waits for things to happen. I like the novelty of a prison map like this, but it could definitely be streamlined. The first wave of enemy reinforcement spawns also seemingly come out of nowhere, with very random and unexplained locations. It’s very easy for the player to be caught in a bad spot that they had no way of really seeing coming. Additionally, the “time limit” of the brigands spawning at the top comes out of left field and could use some foreshadowing/explanation. Overall, I like the concept of the map but the execution could definitely be streamlined.
Ch.2 starts as a defeat boss map, but there is no enemy with a visible boss indicator. It’s a bit disconcerting, but nothing major. Same thing goes for the ballistae in the lower right, it at first seems very random. It also seems thematically a bit odd to have bandits both have a ballistae and be so ready to fire it into their own fortress. Map itself plays fine, although it would be nice if the chest locations were a bit more along the main route to streamline a fast clear. I’m not sure if two locked doors in necessary, the chest could easily be in the same room. Map is a bit large and could be trimmed down a tad.
Ch. 3 just feels a tab bland, both story and gameplay-wise. Nothing to dislike about it, but nothing of note really either. Not sure what could make it a bit more interesting.
I like the feel of Ch. 4 as a story map, it’s a fitting end to the mini story arc of the demo. The assassin taking the super windy path is a little funky and seems super contrived. Perhaps you can mention him earlier in the chapter to alert the player to hurry up somehow, but then have him spawn a few turns later closer to his objective so he doesn’t look so funky running through a maze? The map in general is fairly well-designed, but pretty large with a good deal of unused space. Could be trimmed down some. The pacing of the gameplay is pretty good though, I definitely both feel pressure to seize quickly and to deal with the reinforcements behind. Also (less serious comment), I cleared the map quickly with many enemies/ the assassin still onscreen, what happened to all of them in the cutscene?(Every FE game does this lol) Also, there is no visible seize command? It took me a bit to figure out I had to just wait on the throne.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed the demo and think the project has a lot of potential! The aesthetics/dialogue/characters are really awesome so far. Gameplay has ups and downs, but it’s definitely functional enough as an early game. I look forward to future releases, and hit me up if you’d like any more feedback/help with anything!