is there a discord channel for this project?
Take the time you need, I’m sure we’re all willing to wait a while longer if it means the project hits the ground running.
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any updates with the project?
I’m so excited for this project!
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After a longer than hoped hiatus, I’m back to (hopefully) see this through to the end.
Chapter 20a has been the focus of my efforts these past few days. The map’s palette has been updated to fit the tone of FE8 better, cutscenes have been reviewed and the events have been given an overhaul.
No ETA on a beta test or a final release just yet.
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You tease you
Welcome back! Final stretch! You can do it!
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Well, any progress report is appreciated, and it’s looking pretty good. Keep it up!
Any extra unit like lyn in this hack?
why so quiet for the past 3 months?
Probably because they’re too busy irl or they’re finalizing everything.
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Yep. Very busy IRL.
However, I’ve not given up and things are plodding away nicely - when I’ve got the time.
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Dev Log: 23rd July 2022
Chapter 24 has gone through a LOT of iterations. Like many of the other gaiden chapters, the goal was to improve the flow and reduce the number of inactive player turns. I believe I’ve created a good middle ground that is highly reminiscent of the original but the gameplay is less of a slog.
After being unhappy with the original in testing, I remade Chapter 24 taking inspiration from FE5’s finale.
Chapter 24 V2
The map was rebuilt from the ground up to be more open. You could approach each throne in any order. To reduce the need for a Roy transport network, the thrones could eventually be taken by anyone so long as they stood on the throne themselves. This was fine, but the eventual reveal felt disjointed. In a successful run where no one died, splitting off was a viable tactic. However, in a less successful run, the map had the potential to become a horrific slog.
The new map (hopefully) fixes both of these issues. The flow is much more reminiscent of the original and linear. Moving from throne to throne is much faster and there’s a little more variation in the enemies.
Once I’m happy with the last few chapters, I’ll get a beta version out for public testing.
Thanks for your patience everyone!
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Good idea on changing up 24, imo it’s just really… weird given the rest of the game. Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out!
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Good to know. Really, that chapter was too much of a bottleneck to advance through the map.
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Dev Log: 28th July 2022
Progress is coming along nicely. The home stretch is in sight!
Chapter 23
Chapter 23 has received a few little visual upgrades and improved cutscenes. It now also silently introduces some of the more challenging enemies from the last two chapters
Chapter 24
Under the hood, chapter 24 is probably one of the most complicated chapters in the mod. Of all the chapters I’ve remade from scratch, this is perhaps the one I’m most proud of. Being a more linear chapter, you have much more control over the flow, pacing and difficulty. Equally, balancing the chapter will take a little more time as it’s hard to predict how successful the player has been up until that point. It needs to feel like a penultimate battle.
To mix up the gameplay, more dragon types have been added. Some are resistant to physical attacks, others to magic. Some hit hard, but have less accuracy - others are quick and nimble, always striking twice. Some are in manakete form - and are a lot weaker. Other war dragons, yet to be confined to human form, are much stronger.
Reinforcements become more numerous and the enemies more perilous as you progress.
There’s still quite a way to go before the mod will be ready for a public beta test.
But, before I go, here’s a fun screenshot from today’s play-testing of a huge dragon train Fir’s managed to accumulate. Unlike the original map, the reinforcements do put pressure on the player.
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Wow, pressure indeed. That only makes me more excited to play it, though.
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While I’m not opposed to making this chapter better in every way, wouldn’t added manaketes aka dragons contradict jahn being the last dragon from the scouring?
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They’re all meant to be “war dragons” - some pre and some post-confinement to dragon stones.
I left the unit name as manakete though as that’s what they were named in both previous translations.
I guess, now that the cat’s out of the bag, the unit name could happily be “War Dragon” for the final chapter.
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Dev Log: 2nd August 2022
One feature that probably won’t make it into the initial beta release is a traversable world map. I plan to have it ready before the initial launch but it’s still in early development.
I had always intended on including a world map. However, without extensive engine reworks, many compromises had to be made.
The Binding Blade, despite visiting nearly every corner of Elibe, sees most of its action in a few core locations. You could easily split the game into three sections: the Lycia arc, the Etruria arc and the Bern arc.
Most of the Lycia arc takes place in a relatively confined space. I think I managed to replicate this area quite nicely. Initially, nothing really fit on the world map. However, by zooming in and decreasing the scale of the map this was easily overcome. A few locations have changed positions - most notably the Bern Border and the Ostian Cave - though this is purely down to readability.
The Western Isles section of the Etrurian arc posed a lot of problems. With both routes, a lot of battles rage in a very small area. The greatest challenge was getting the paths to make logical sense. The return to the mainland, after the battle at Jutes, was surprisingly easy. By opening up all nodes for both routes after chapter 12, the player can use Caldonia as a link to the Missur peninsula. Missur Castle has slightly moved to accommodate the changes made for the mainland as Kafti has been cut off entirely.
Compared to the other sections of the game, the Bern arc was easy to plan. Some areas in Bern are a little more spaced out than they are canonically for readability. But, all in all, this area translated the best.
There’s still a lot of work to do as the events for each opening sequence still need to be created.
For the initial beta release, expect temporary opening reels to each chapter. A little less flashy, but they do the job.
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But are there skirmishes? 
This looks very cool! A traversable world map is something I’ve always wanted to try myself. I’m looking forward to seeing how this is implemented and how it works in an Elibe setting.
Edit was I drunk when I typed that wtf
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