[FE8] Fort Pinewood [5/12 Chapters Complete]

[GamerGoblin81]

I finally have it! After three weeks of my one-week finish deadline (Sorry), I… almost ruined the moment by posting a world map bugged demo of a game. Not to worry! I have released the demo to Fort Pinewood as of now… 10:40 in mountain time. Oh, brother. ANYWAY, here it is:
—>Download Link<—

Known issues

-The difficulty selection graphic sucks

-There’s no support gifts

-Lunatic mode is STUPID hard

-Vanilla death quotes and supports

-Chapter 4 kicks innocent modders in the crotch (AKA it’s the hardest one)

-Chapter 5 is SUPPOSED to be a Seize map but it’s a rout map

Screenshots

Cast of Characters (Credits for used portraits from the repo)

Sterling Glovner as Nurm

MegaCowsamMan as Clive and Jekyll

Laurent Laricox as Kate

Peerless as Fritz

Lenh as Hadrian and Vyla

Levin64 as Kala

CanDy as Estelle

Feier as Vernil

Raymond as Baron Uldren

[Dooderguy]

Just beat the demo on Lunatic (took a little over an hour).

I understand this isn’t really a review, but it’s taking a while for me to articulate my thoughts regarding the difficulty (which is my main point of critique). Until then, here’s my team, along with a couple bugs.

Final Team (Start of Chapter 5)

Oddities

All of the enemies in Chapter 1 have bugged Speed and Skill, save for O’Niell and one other.

The brigand reinforcements in Chapter 2 can’t use their weapons, making it rather easy to farm levels off of them.

I also found a handful of rather minor typos, but wasn’t sure whether to post them here or not. I figured it’d be kind of nitpicky.

I really enjoyed playing through this. I’ll be eagerly awaiting the full release!

[GamerGoblin81]

Thanks for the feedback! I’ll look into the bugs. (Brigands are easy fix, don’t know about the ch. 1 journeymen.) Also I just noticed I forgot to buff Jekyll from his Moulder stats. Oops.

P. S. Yes, I want to see those typos, they’re a huge pain and I’d like to fix them.

[MegaCowsamMan]

Sweet! I’ll give this a try in a few days.

[GamerGoblin81]

So I’ve resumed development for Fort Pinewood after seeing initial reactions in my game release. Not as much feedback as I would’ve hoped, but I’m still open to taking it. And I thought- “Hey! Why don’t I post a few challenges for those who are playing my mod?” And this is me doing it.

Challenge 1: On Lunatic difficulty, kill every single bandit in Chapter 1.

Challenge 2: On any difficulty, defeat Estelle with Nurm dealing the final blow in Chapter 4.

Challenge 3: On Normal difficulty, promote 4 times in one turn in Chapter 4.

Challenge 4: Beat the demo on Lunatic difficulty without a single death.

Challenge 5: On Lunatic Difficulty, find all secrets.
Ch. 1 and 4 secrets: Old Teaser page

[Gultykappa]

It would be super cool if challenges like these could be made into in-game achievements! Something to incentivize multiple different runs!

[GamerGoblin81]

I like that! Don’t know if there’s some sort of ASM or patch to do that, but if you’ve got something, let me know.

[Gultykappa]

You can use the system here to tick values that persist between save files and stuff. It’s used for New Game + in this context, but you could use the checks to set off achievements instead. I personally really love using it.

[GamerGoblin81]

Hey all,

it’s been a while since I checked in on progress, I know the direction the story will take and the map design, haven’t designed the maps YET, but I’d like to hear recommendations for music you’d like to hear in the game. Most of it is going to be from the GBAFE trilogy, but I’d like to have some unique music in it as well.

[MegaCowsamMan]

Gave your hack a good go. Here’s what I’ve got for ya. (For reference, I’ve only played Lunatic mode on chapter 1, with the rest being Difficult mode.)

Chapter 1

My least favorite chapter really. Like chapter 1 of Sacred Stones, with a new coat of paint. The boss ain’t that threatening either, being quite comparable to the other enemies on the map.

Even on Lunatic mode, the extra reinforcements don’t mean too much in the grand scheme of things, as they are quite far from where most of the battle is taking place. I’d suggest making them closer to the entrance so that they can pose a threat sooner.

Not a very stellar map, really. 3 out of 10.

Chapter 2

I’d say a rather simple, but effective second map. Enemies are quite threatening, and I found the reinforcements are timed quite well. None of the units felt overpowered either, or having a massive power difference, which is a big plus for me.

One complaint I’d have is the boss being, again, quite easy to take care of. Besides that, a very solid map. 8 out of 10.

Chapter 3

A bit of a mixed bag this chapter, but still a good time. Where Fritz and Nurm are starts out a bit clogged up though. The two bandits in front of Fritz and Nurm can easily destroy Fritz without much effort, since I can’t see them.

Also, it’s a bit weird Hadrian wouldn’t be armed, but its not really a big deal, except if you forget to trade 'im the Iron Bow from the chest, AND if I remember correctly, I don’t remember obtaining a chest key during any of the chapters. Am I missing something?

Also also, the dialogue that plays on turn 7 if Hadrian is a bit odd. Of course, I assume that’s on purpose, but it feels a bit strange in a rather serious hack. Especially since I find your humor within the dialogue to be quite excellent.

Anyway, Clive and Kate fared a bit oddly. Firstly, it’s all brigands down there, meaning Clive’ll be having a grand time gaining EXP, while Kate stays in the back, trying not to snap in half due to being at weapon triangle disadvantage. I’d suggest either tuning down the brigands a bit, or having a few different enemies for Kate to chew on.

In my own personal hack (Shameless Plug), I’ve added a class called a Sword Brigand, which behaves similarly to a regular Brigand, but with, well, swords. Or just plop some mercenaries or myrmidons I don’t know.

The boss having Axefaire is kind of pointless, since you could give him the extra 4 points in strength, and give him a different skill altogether.

I had fun with this one, jus’ in my opinion, it has a few wrinkles to iron out. 6 out of 10.

Random Notes

In chapter 2, Clive is called Henry in his conversation with Fritz.

The opening of chapter 3 is a bit rough, with some glitched out graphics, and jumpy eventing.

the reinforcements in chapter 2 had the frame graphic show up briefly, but no
conversation is shown

is it intended for Kate to have 14 constitution?

The chapter 2 boss has a lance weapon rank, even though he’s a brigand class

Have you applied the Mode Coefficient Fix?

Also, I suggest giving the FE6 Ost a good listen. It’s a favorite out of the GBA trilogy, and it’s not too much work changing up the instruments to the FE8 soundfont. If you wish of course.

I’m having a good time with what you’ve come up with. I’ll continue to play through, and will keep track of the eventual progress. Have a good one!

[GamerGoblin81]

Thanks for the tips!

(Ima be real, I was waiting for a while to get criticism and bug reports like this. Like it when people respond.)

As for the chapter 3 graphics bug, yeah, I had to do a bit of shenanigans to stop the opening textbox from bugging out my dialogue. Have you beaten Chapter 4 yet? It’s the hardest one in the demo.

[MegaCowsamMan]

I decide to beat chapter 4. Here’s what I have.

Chapter 4

This one was quite interesting. Having most of the map be water is a bit boring at first, but gaining access to a flyer, and a pirate potentially makes the map a bit more engaging. A part of me wishes you could swap units around, but with it being rather early in the campaign, it’s not a big deal.

The Falcon knights were a mite too strong, and especially so when your best counter is locked to the other side of the map. Javelins are quite annoying too, since your best counter is Clive, who is quite frail.

The boss was rather decent, being strong offensively, but rather frail as well. Clive easily one-shotted her, once he landed a blow, which wasn’t too difficult, since the boss doesn’t move.

A decent chapter, that could use a little fine tuning with the enemy strength, and maybe the weaponry. 7 out of 10.

Chapter 5

I can’t report much on chapter 5, since I can’t have access to the boss. I don’t have any door keys to bypass the doors.

Misc Notes

In chapter 4, the goal of the chapter says “Seize Throne”, when it should say “Defeat boss”.

Have three skills before your first “proper” promotion seems like a bit too much for me. Perhaps you could hold off the third skill, and save it for your second promotion.

is it purposeful that Jekyll has such pitiful HP?

Clive has a massive amount of strength. I’d suggest bringing it down a bit, since he trivializes the rest of the campaign after his first promotion.

Giving Mages the Lumina skill seems pointless, since you could just give them a Light magic weapon rank.

Why does the boss of chapter 5 have 25 constitution?

[GamerGoblin81]

Hadrian has the Locktouch skill.

And no, Jekyll is not supposed to have such detestable stats. (Forgot to change stats from Ross’s.)

[MegaCowsamMan]

Oh, pfft, completely forgot. Although, if someone was playing through an’ lost Hadrian, they would be softlocked. I’d suggest havin’ a precaution in case of that, like a droppable Door Key or something.

[GamerGoblin81]

You make a good point. Thanks for playtesting, I have a lot to do going forward.