Definitely a fun little added feature for sure haha!
Chapter 9
Is it possible to make Gerry also recruitable by Jay?
I know that Finch is meant to go to the right path, but the chapter never clued me to do so at the start. Finch and Jay are usually on different paths anyway to spread out the Convoy access, so Jay should act as a backup recruit method.
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Summary
Hadn’t really thought about Jay recruiting here honestly considering the setup all starts with Finch. For the sake of the chapter, it would make Gerry’s recruitment easier, but I actually never thought about an intended “side” for Jay/Finch in that chapter.
I’ll kick this around and think about how I might implement it, thanks for the feedback.
@Gilden That’s certainly a bug I’ve never seen 
. Glad that it doesn’t blow anything up.
As for your question:
Summary
Several characters in the game may be liars, but you can trust me (and the in-game narrator) that S-5 is the last shop chapter.
Good luck!
3 Likes
Hey @IYNH , thanks for playing Illuminated!
As for your spoiler tag:
Summary
This was not the intended behavior. Cordelia should be on the left, Ophelia on the right. The only way I think it could happen is if a unit or two was not rostered in a previous chapter where they could have been, ultimately causing a change to the order of the list of units. Suppose I didn’t consider that. In any case, I should be able to make a fix for this.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
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I Managed Something Nearly Impossible (Chapter 25x Spoiler)
Look at this in Chapter25x: (Imagine Picture of Turn 19 Jay with no “Enemies” Alive)
Granted, I used Safestates but Man, I needed a lot of 29 Hit, Aether Procs and Hit both Attacks and it took me 2 Hours. Of course I get no Reward. (As for my Playtime, I used New Game+ to maximize my Stats)
Edit: I cannot post the Photo since i just created an Account……. Oh Well…
2 Likes
Hey Shadow1, firstly welcome to the FEU community!
Well done on Chapter 25x! (Spoilers)
I think the only way to reasonably “defeat” that chapter is to abuse save states hahah. I should probably go back and add a condition should the player get that far and enemies no longer spawn.
Thanks for playing Illuminated and hope you have enjoyed your time with it! Always cool to see folks who have gone for another playthrough in NG+!
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9 chapters in, I am enjoying this hack so far. I haven’t covered much ground on it to be able to formulate a proper review but what I can say is that, however the dialoguing for this game may be on the lengthier side, I do enjoy a good read. So thank you for respecting our time with a well-written script. The story about Finch’s “Lady Armsdealer” really landed so well. It was impactful and but not too forced to make the theme overly dark or edgy. Thank God, there are no over-the-top romhack character tropes here (yet, as of chapter 9). Danielle, who can be a little bit out of theme, is still a welcome refresher to the monotony of blood and gloom going on with their group. On the gameplay side, map designs are pretty nice. I love a good field that’s a bit tight for strategic choke points but also a few wide ones to emulate a sense of vulnerability. The anti-turtling methods have kept me at the edge of my seat. It always felt like there is pressure in every turn, which I do enjoy every once in a while. It’s looking bright ahead and I’m hoping to have a blast with the story as it unfolds. Great work on this, @Sokaballa !
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I appreciate the feedback and glad you are enjoying Illuminated so far! Thanks for playing and hope it continues to be a good experience for you!
I’ve been sick these three days, so I decided to try this game out for a second time. The first one was about 2-3 years ago.
Oh man, oh man, oh man…Words cannot describe how…powerful this experience was.
I think Calamity possessed me, but I managed to complete the whole game in three days on Normal Mode. If this game was my child, I would go on Zephiel mode, destorying everything as to protect this gem. If this hack took part in a horse racing competition, I would put all my savings on this horse…then kill all other horses, just to be sure. In my modest opinion, this is the best fe fan hack ever created. Period.
Sure, it’s not perfect, objectively speaking. But for me, it scratches all icks. The writing, gameplay, graphics, musics…I’ll try my best to explain.
Story 10/10: this is the top three of my favourites fan hack stories, together with Bounded Destiny 1,2,3 and Deity Device(bless you Permafrost). I have no idea who are you, but thanks to you, Sokaballa, I felt emotions that I didn’t feel in years. I skipped lunch two times just to finish reading the story. Sure, you have to take for granted a lot of stuff during the lategame, but if you believe that, the story is bangers. How did you came up with such…complex but solid story? This is better than any mainling fire emblem game(not like they are doing better as of late). I don’t mind the fact that the cast is smaller. It means we have more time for each character. And ho boy! What characters! I love when hacks give a fair share of spotlight to your non-lords units! My favourites were Cordelia, Sam, Clinton, and let’s not forget Jay and Flinch! Lancaster was also good. I didn’t hate him, but I can see his point of view
Gameplay 8/10: Not the most difficult, but not a walk in the park either. I choosed normal mode cause I wanted to have some friction, something to struggle with, and I did struggle. My biggest gripes are the fact that armor knights have a proc skill that can halve damage, and that some skills have the same icon but different effect from vanilla(I’m looking at you, boss of Chp13). I can see why some people dislike skill-emblem, but most skills weren’t a problem, and, with the exception being Danielle’s Light weight, I didn’t pay much attention to skills in general. Maybe things will change in Hard mode. I’ll be looking forward for the next run on NG+!
Graphics 8/10: Not as good as Dream’s of Five(honestly, a hard goal to reach) but they were serviceable. I don’t mind you using the repository’s portraits, altought Lumen has the same portrait as my main villain Eusebios. I’ll need to change some portraits in my hack too.
Music 9/10: Excellent music choices. It would be a ten if you would replaces some fe8 vanilla ost with something else.
I’ve played a LOT of hacks in these 5 years, and only a few can come close to this. I’m sorry everybody, I just like this hack…no, this art piece so much, man! I almost feel guilty. There are many good hacks out here, entire teams who make great hacks. But…you just hit the nail in the head. I never felt so good about completing a hack, from start to finish. I hope I’ve vindicated all the sweat and time you put into this project.
Man, this hack deserves all the love of the world. Your work is so inspiring, it gives me the energy to finish the messy story of my rom hack. You just gave hope to this poor guy(me). I wish all the luck of this world.
This hack rocks.
2 Likes
Hey FrecciaVerde, thanks for the kind words about Illuminated and I’m glad to hear that the project meant a lot to you. It certainly meant a lot to me to make as well! I must give a huge amount of thanks to the many people in the community that helped me either indirectly or directly for Illuminated through FeBuilder support (and the fact FeBuilder exists at all really, thanks 7743), general hacking knowledge, or F2U assets in the Repository.
I do agree that a lot of the story in the lategame comes fast and asks a good deal from the reader to go along with it. It is truly an area of the game I would have liked to develop more. ROM restrictions on space, and me generally not understanding how FeBuilder allocates space, certainly bit me in the bottom on that one.
Also glad to hear skill-emblem didn’t catch you too much. There are a lot of skills in Illuminated, but I tried to structure them in a way that didn’t make them overbearing while also being important to keep track of. Armor knight skill certainly is a pain to deal with and really forces mages to have to battle at Melee range in order to down armor knights, and this was one of the ways I tried to give bow users a bit more parity to them.
Agreed on removing some of the FE8 OST in place of music in game. There is a fair amount that I could change.
Once again, it genuinely warms my heart that you found the project fun and impactful. Thank you for your message and good luck on your project!
2 Likes
Photos
One Problem I didn’t expect was being Softlocked but I just needed to reset the Chapter.
Also, something I noticed was you could in Theory, Defeat the Final Boss in 3 Turns. Turn 1 is opening the Door with Flinch and a certain Sword, Along with some Units that can deal some heavy Damage. Then use Jay and Finch and other Units to One Turn Kill said Final Boss. Turn 3 is always the same “Cutscene“ like Turn.
Also: Here is a Photo of me deafeating the Final Boss early, triggering no Dialogue.
That said, I also want to say something about the S-Rank Weapons in this Game. Spoiler: Most of them are underwhelming/ could be better.
That Said, It is only my opinion. You can adjust the Weapons but it is not really needed. I beat the Game without using a single S-Rank Weapon that Is not Unique
Physical
Chrome Sword, Lance, Axe and Bow: I like the Idea but they are far too similar. Additionally, the Quadrupple Effect does somewhat affect the Weapons but not enough.
I have Two Solutions for this: First, you could just give the winning Weapon in the Triangle the Slayer effect, dealing “effective“ Damage. But the second, and in my Eyes the better, Solution would be to increase the Weapon triangle Effect by Ten Times instead of four times.
Parthia: I do not know why this is the ONLY weapon here with a second S-Rank but it is really, really weak for its Rank. 50 Hit is okay but only 20 Uses on 16 Might is somewhat dissapointing. This Weapon feels more like A-Rank. Spears are weaker but you can buy many more Spears.
My Solution? Either increase Might by 5 and decrease Hit by 20 (21 Might 30 Hit), Increase Amount of Durability, Make it hit Resistance or simply Decrease Rank to A.
Magic
Tempest: Insanely Good. Just the simple Fact that you can Equip it and Move 1 more and ignore nearly all Terrain then switch Weapons is already Insane enough, but a 10 Might Brave Tome with accurate enough Hit (50) is insane. It is the 4th best Weapon in the Game, even above a unique Weapon.
Black Hole: The Idea is good but there are two Problems with this Weapon. It cannot Double and Luna is often a better damage option. Not being Doubled is useless when everything has low Speed but high Accuracy and Damage.
My Solution: Decrease the Speed of Holder to 0 while held. Unit can always be doubled. After Action: Reduce Health by 50% of Max Health. This Damage can KILL the User.
In Exchange: Increase Might to 50. After all, A Black Hole is INSANELY Powerful and will cause more Damage than a Rupture could but is immensly detrimental to ALL lifeforms in its surrounding.
Supernova: +5 Luck and Defense is already really Powerfull, so seing 19 Might, 15 Crit, 60 Hit and only 12 Weight is already overpowered. This Weapon in Addition cannot be countered which puts this Weapon just beneath Tempest at 5th Place. No Upgrade needed.
No S-Rank Staff: Well, an S-Rank Staff would have been Hammerne since that Staff is INCREDIBLY Good, but Hammerne cannot be used in Preparations so its Place is lowered to 6th.
Unique Weapons
Elding Spear: The Only Reason its on the List, is because it is a secret Weapon. It is acceptable but just on a average character. It is just a weaker magical chrone lance.
Hacha Ilmoru: Good Idea but its Weight as well as 2-3 Range make this Weapon rank lower.
3rd Place Weapon: Dark Star: Honestly, this Weapon has far more Use than any other Weapon for it can equipped much earlier than the better Weapons on this List. It can also be equipped by everyone, including a Dancer (which doesnt result in a Bug since no Battle Animation is shown). The only Reason this Weapon is lower is because New Game+ exists, and the other Weapons are just THAT much stronger. Besides, you can miss Dark Star, for it is exclusive to the Gaiden Chapter.
2nd Place Weapon: Lensing: A Weapon with 14 Might that is increased to 44 due to being a Magic Weapon, always strikes first has 100 Hit and 1-3 Range and grants +10 Strength and Defense and +15 Resistance. Can only be used by Finch… I thought Danielle and Jay were also Void-touched. You could perhaps clear that up since I was confused who was meant by this.
1st Place Weapon: Rapture: Do I need to say more?
45 Attack, 100 Hit, 100 Crit, 5 Weight. Grants its Wielder +40 Speed, Skill, Defense and Resistance. All Allies WITHIN 4 TILES receive +25 Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense and Resistance. This Weapon can SOLO the Final Boss who still has Protection from effective Weapons (only if you leveled up Jay enough to the Point where every Stat hit its Maximum)
There certainly may be a case to increase the power or give the S rank weapons a bit more flair and use. If I ever can find the time to get back to fixing some things (including some typos and general things), I will add this to my list.
Adding a win condition if the player can survive a certain number of turns in 25x is also on my list. It is nearly impossible in the first run to do this (credit to you if you were able to), but for NG+ runs, it is certainly more attainable.
Thanks for the feedback and for playing Illuminated!
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It is nearly impossible to win that Chapter even with Max Stats. Perhaps granting NG+ Players Rapture could make this a LOT easier (but probably making Candescent unlimited is the right move in that Case.)
Speaking of Additional Trigger: Here is a List (Spoiler Alert:)
Spoilers.
Beating Cassius in the Prologue (already done)
Beating the Boss in the Chapter (2 I think) where Jay is Trapped Turn 1
Clearing Chapters in a fast Amount of Turns. (Probably just granting Gold)
Punish Players who abuse-grind by Reducing Gold in SOME Chapters
Beating The Leaders of the Assasin, in the Chapter where Lancester and Dirk save us. (or clear the Chapter before they appear.)
Beaiting Lancaster in the Chapter where Reine is about to unleash a NUKE Upon us.
Beating The Underground Cave and killing the second Immortal by using Dark Star or Rupture (instead of Calamity. Lensing doesnt work for some Reason.)
“Beating“ Chapter 25x
Beating the Gaiden Chapter in 4 or less Turns (Specify this, I managed to use a convoluted Setup to win on the second Turn. As for the Reward? Upgrade Dark Star to Power like Lensing or grant a new Weapon that is either an Axe, Sword or Bow. To Balance out Parthia’s Existence as the only Weapon that has 2 S-Ranks.)
Hello everyone, happy FEE3 season! It’s been great seeing all the amazing projects that the Fire Emblem community are putting together!
I had plans to add some more features to Illuminated when I released it back in April, like some further fleshing out of some playable characters that I felt were a little under baked, but free time has been a premium for a while now. Nevertheless, inspired by the work going on in the FEU community, I am excited to share with everyone a couple new features in Illuminated!
- Fixed growths are now possible! When going to the folder to download the patch, there are now two .ups files. If you would like to play in Fixed Growths mode (or have been waiting to do so), it is now available!
- Mercenary Mode (an additional 15 playable units to recruit with no story relevance, just gameplay relevenace) and Universal Capture, two NewGame+ features, are now selectable from the start of the game. Both the normal Illuminated patch and the Fixed Growth patch have these available.
With these changes came a good amount of bug fixing and typo correction as well. As always, thanks to the many folks who have played Illuminated, contributed to Illuminated, and the entire FEU community in general!
The patch folder here is the same as in the OP, hope you enjoy!
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Thank you for fixed growths! Been needing an excuse to revisit favorite haks lately before I try all the newly-ready ones and this’ll do it!
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the patch folder says i need permission to download
I just re-uploaded the patch folder, should hopefully work now. If it doesn’t for whatever reason, try the link in the OP as well.