[FE8J] Fire Emblem:Borderless Army (beta ~Ch7)

Hi FEU, I’ve recently found out here and try making a romhack.
Take a look at my little project.

“Fire Emblem:Borderless Army” is story set in Etruria, Western Isles, and Lycia in Elibe 1018.
As a Borderless Army, you will engage in a battle that will soon engulf the world.

Quick introduction

  • Borderless Army
    The Borderless Army is a cooperative military organization formed by the small nations of Lycia to maintain security along their borders. It is said that after Bern Uprising(FE6), the scope of Lycia’s banditry rapidly shrank due to their activities.

  • Zelka
    Zelka is an independent force born within Etruria. The ringleader, Zelkard, is a revolutionary from Western islands, who will confront the current Etruria with the workers and the poor.
    They were called chivalrous thief. Until Borderless Army was forced to fight them.

Features
This romhack focuses on the GBAFE game balance changes. So, there are some changes as follows, but overall the playability is trying to maintain GBAFE.

Game Changes
  • Magic integrated into Triangle.
    It means Sword/Light → Lance/Anima → Axe/Dark → Sword/Light.
    For example, Shaman(Dark) will be at a disadvantage against Myrmidon(Sword).
    Also, The correction value compensates for the weakness of the weapon.
    For example, Sword increases the damage value, Axe increases the hit value.

  • Most bosses has been changed to move.
    Most bosses do not wait at the castle gate. They will move when they enter the movement range or even after a turn passes.

  • Money management and weapons
    In this romhack, there are two main categories of weapons.
    [1] Cheap and durable weapons
    [2] Expensive, accurate or powerful weapons
    We assume that you will use better quality weapons in battle, but your funds are limited. Players need to think about where to reduce consumption and use powerful weapons.
    In accordance with this, the CON has been standardized for each class and reduces the weight of the weapon.

  • Lower growth rates and the addition of items that raise stats
    I aim for a strategy of using fixed increases to compensate for the lack of random increases.

  • Periodical large chapters
    In general, chapters start with a small number of people and a small map and gradually increase in size. The exception to this is the periodic Large Chapters, which are large battles in terms of both numbers and maps. One of the purposes is encourages players to train their characters in a balanced way.

  • Other minor changes.
    Lance/Axe ArmorKnight move 4 -> 5
    Myrmidon move 5 -> 6.
    etc.

ScreenShots







About my contents

In general, I do NOT permit people to use my content.
However I will change this thinking as the project progresses.
At that time, I will make a topic with a Resources tag.

There is one game difficulty level.
My goal is to make it as difficult and fun as it was when I first played FE6.

I’m currently in the process of creating portraits, and I’m using graphics of several existing characters. No changes have been made to the sprites, animations, and others. It will be produced later. The reason I made a topic in this half-formed state is because I wanted to know people’ s thoughts on game balance first. Currently you can play from chapter 1 to chapter 7. If you would like, please give me feedback on my work.

Hope you enjoy it.

Credit

FEBuider (7743)
and Patches for FEB (Developers)
Boss portrait(Ch3,Ch6) (LaurentLacroix)
AxeKnight Animation (IS, TBA, Orihara_Saki, vilk9)
AxeKnight Stand/Moving sprite (Agro)
AxeCavalier Animation (IS, Skitty, Primefusion, Orihara_Saki, DerTheVaporeon, Kao, Aurora)
AxeCavalier Stand/Moving sprite (Siuloir)
AxeCavalier ClassCards (Blademaster)
SwordFighter Animation (IS, Vilkalizer)
SwordFighter ClassCards (Vilkalizer edit by me)
TileSets (ZoramineFae)

… and Translate (DeepL)

[Download]
Download from here

By the way, this is made in FE8J, and I’m worried about how many people can play it.

Gameplay Tips
  • Chapter1
    When you approach the boss, the boss will activate.
    Draw the three enemies in the front of the boss to fight.
    also Bandits will appear, targeting the house on the upper right.

  • Chapter2
    A thief appears on turn 10.
    Use the door or ハートマン to prevent the treasure chest from being taken.
    Also, the next store is chapter 6.
    You will need to spend about 7,500G to purchase a weapon.

  • Chapter3
    Try not to move too much from the starting point.
    A visit to the village is a better way to deal with the tough attacks after turn 8,
    and then head there with flying units.

  • Chapter4
    ガズマ need to talk with オドリック/ハートマン/ミスト.
    When a Cyclops stands in front of a door,
    you can change its direction of movement by opening the other door.
    This boss doesn’t move.

  • Chapter5
    Allied reinforcements will come from under the town on turn 5.
    This boss will be activated in a turn passes.
    also メイ leaves for the next chapter.
    The Red Gem that she has should be collected.

  • Chapter6
    リオルド need to talk with オドリック/ハートマン/ヴィドー/レイン.
    There is no grace overall here.
    For rescues, stores, and house visits,
    move your highly mobile units without wasting time.
    A large number of enemies will appear from turn 6,
    so move back to a position where you can easily fight them.
    In addition, bandits will appear from the middle left to attack the houses.
    Note that this boss will be activated in a turn passes.

  • Chapter7
    Axes and swords are effective for the upper route. March quickly and defeat the thief.
    Lance is useful for the lower route. Since reinforcements will appear,
    make sure to advance with more vanguards.
    This boss can be activated by approaching it.

22 Likes

Is it on japanese?

yes. my native language.

Anyways, I’ll search for an FE8J rom and try it

1 Like

Congrats on release! Looking forward to trying this out.

2 Likes

Hey there, I just played through the demo, and I’ll give some quick thoughts. I’ll start with two things I’m certain are bugs: in the prep screen, there are no swords. It sells a C rank bow instead. Also, the female thief cannot use lockpicks.


For more general feedback, it seems like the difficulty is meant to come from having weak player units and weaker weapons than vanilla, since enemies are pretty weak too. However, enemies are also pretty bulky, which was annoying to deal with. I mostly had the paladin and the early fighter do a lot of work (I promoted the fighter and gave the paladin stat boosters) since they hit the hardest.
For some specific map feedback, chapter 3 is easily my least favorite, since it’s a 12 turn survive map with very little going on. I’d recommend changing this into a different objective, since survive does not allow for very interesting gameplay, especially with such weak enemies. I thought chapter 4 was very interesting, even though I tackled the cyclops directly, since the left path looks viable for catching the thieves and baiting the cyclops around. Chapter 5 was okay, but dragged during the middle due to the reinforcements and the 1 tile bridges. I ended up waiting for the boss to come to me, which was boring. Chapter 6 was okay to start, but the reinforcements that showed up next to the boss were really excessive. I’d honestly get rid of them entirely, since I needed to run away and let the green great knight bait them away (this prevented me from visiting the shops), and again wait for the boss to approach me. Chapter 7 was pretty good, though I think the reinforcements and boss moving could be delayed by a turn or two.
Overall, it was pretty decent. The bulky enemies were annoying, but the paladin and fighter really helped deal with everything.

2 Likes

Thanks for playing my romhack and for the feedback.
The above two bugs have been checked and fixed.

I want to have chapters that are difficult and chapters that gain experience.
If you see chapter 3 as a chapter to train weak units, would it still be boring?
I guess that if i increase the difficulty any further, a paladin will be needed.

As for chapter 6, I’m having trouble with that too.
So the concept is that instead of having strong units on your side, you have to fight a massive defensive battle, but It doesn’t seem to be working.

2 Likes

Given the structure of the game (growths are lower), I don’t think a chapter dedicated to training people really fits. Besides, there will always be time to give weaker units experience in other chapters. If you’re still concerned, you could retool chapter 3 into a rout map (just remove all the reinforcements).

For chapter 6, you have the right idea. I just think the reinforcements that appear behind the boss are excessive. Reduce the amount of enemies that show up there. Big defensive battles where you slowly block enemies don’t tend to be very engaging.

1 Like

Hmm, I’m thinking in the direction of adding some interesting elements to the current map at the moment.
Becouse according to other feedback, Chapter 3 seems to be working well with village visits as a challenge element.
I think the reason why Chapter 3 feels boring is because of the difference in players’ abilities.
I’d like to know what other people think about Chapter 3.

The same point was made in another feedback, and I thought about reviewing the reinforcements in chapter 6.
The number has been reduced slightly in ver202103f03.

1 Like

Hi. :wink:
Too bad that the dialogues are entirely in Japanese :face_with_raised_eyebrow: ; half of the fun of playing these hacks comes from getting involved with the plot and growing fond of some characters. :hugs:
Reluctantly, I’ll have to leave it to others …:unamused:

3 Likes

Yeah. I guess so too.
The project has just started and I’m not ready to request it yet, but I’d like to find people who can translate it in the future.

1 Like

bravo

Does it have reaver tomes?

Is reaver tomes a reversal of the Magic Triangle like Lancereaver in weapons?

If it is, yes.
but It does not appear in the current version(~Ch7)

In this hack, the weapon triangle includes magic.
So the triangle is [sword/light] → [axe/dark] → [lance/anima] → [sword/light].
Later reaver tomes will be used in the same way as weapons.

1 Like

Hello. I’m currently working on Ch8~13 for next update.
Here’s a progress report.

ver2_ss3
First, about the sprites.
The Soldier only made a standing motion, but now making a moving motion and also has a shield.
I’m creating several other original things for the next chapter, for example, a magic circle.



Making new character and ミスト portraits.

Other things I’ ve done include balancing the current ~ch7.

I’m also planning on adding new enemies.
Considering how long it takes to do the animation, the next update will probably be a while away.

Testing play of the current version is always welcome.
If you would like, please give me feedback on my work.

5 Likes

Pretty cool Project!,The map design is quite great!
Although i do have a question! Will FE6-FE7 Characters show up or is it only Original Characters?

Thanks:) FE6-FE7 characters will also show up

1 Like