This is technically an SRPG Studio game and not a hack, but I’m not sure what else to categorize this as.
Anyway, for some time I had this Written Works project on Serenes Forest called Fire Emblem: Ascension where I was presenting an original story of mine as a hypothetical fangame, including the mechanics I wanted to appear in it since I found learning how to hack intimidating.
And then SRPG Studio came out in English, and everything changed. I was amazed at the sheer potential it had as an easy-to-learn fangame making tool and knew at that very moment it was what I was looking for all this time.
Notable features:
Single RNG (this is what SRPG Studio’s engine uses)
The Weapon Triangle (Swords, Lances, Axes), which grants Accuracy ±15
The Trinity of Magic (Light, Anima, Dark), which grants Attack ±3 and Accuracy ±15
Bows (all of which are 2-3-Range) and Fates-style Daggers, which are triangle-independent
Bonus EXP (like in Radiant Dawn)
C-S Rank Supports, but no Child Units, so don’t worry about pairing everyone off; Support building is also purely deployment-based
AS = Spd - Wt (you need 5 more AS than your opponent for follow-up attacks)
A route split
Planned additions:
Improved presentation (halfbody portrait system, new music, new class and map graphics depending on how MarkyJoe’s community asset project comes along)
Limited mid-chapter saving
Additional difficulty settings (if demand is high enough)
Yes! I remember a time when I came up with this idea and everyone thought it was dumb, and now all the dudes recognize it’s the best way to make archers viable!
This project looks fun. Can’t wait to give it a try, and I hate everything.
I’m interested to see where this goes. I think the graphics stand out to me as the most out-of-place but I’m sure things like the tilesets and map sprites could be changed rather easily. I imagine you plan on changing the portraits at some stage as well as they don’t blend well with existing graphics.
FYI the two-RNG system applies only to hit, not crit, so the critical hit rate is a true representation (and always has been) of chances
Agro: I think the graphics stand out to me as the most out-of-place but I'm sure things like the tilesets and map sprites could be changed rather easily. I imagine you plan on changing the portraits at some stage as well as they don't blend well with existing graphics.
If I recall correctly, someone made some modified GBA tilesets compatible with SRPG Studio. If I can find those, I might be able to replace the default ones with them (because I’d like to keep the GBA-style portraits, since I don’t think I could draw my own portraits of sufficient quality, yet also don’t want to use the SRPG Studio default portraits).
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to use GBA battle animations because of how SRPG Studio’s battle animation system works, so I don’t know if it’s worth it.
Well, here’s the flipside: you can commission ANY artist to do portraits for you. Since they’d just be small pictures of head + shoulders, I think most artists would be willing to do something like this at a good rate for you. Spriting is definitely more difficult than hand-drawing. I wasn’t saying to use GBA tilesets either; there are probably heaps of free-to-use tilesets on the internet specifically for projects like this.
I would prefer not to spend any more money than I already have buying SRPG Studio. So commissioning other people to do the portraits might not work out for me either, especially taking into account portraits for various NPCs and bosses.
I did find some other alternate tilesets (like an indoors one), but couldn’t figure out the correct way to use them. I may keep looking.
Honestly I’d rather not worry a whole lot about the graphics aspect of things.
Somehow the opening events of Chapter 5 got messed up so that Cato turns into Claudius and is unable to kill Duncan like he should, making the chapter pretty much unplayable. So I guess you’ll only be able to play up to Chapter 4 right now.
I think it’s been long enough now that a progress update is in order.
I’m still trying to come up with ideas for every Support chain to be available in v1.1. As of this post I currently have 18 Support chains left to figure out before I can start implementing them. On the upside, implementing them should be relatively fast since by then I’ll have a better idea of where exactly I want to go with the conversations.
In the meantime, I’ve been continuing to polish the game to a high level of quality. I’ve gotten some VERY helpful feedback from the /r/SRPGStudio Discord server about how I can improve it. Many of v1.1’s changes include level design and quality of life tweaks, such as visible Triangle advantage indicators and a page on the Unit Menu for growth rates.
If you’ve played all the way through the current version of the game and have some ideas for Support chains, again, please let me know in a PM and if I like what you have to say, I’ll add it to the Supports spreadsheet and give you a contributor’s credit. If you want me to get this thing done and out faster, you can help!
Feedback/constructive criticism is still welcome to help make this game great!
v1.1 is now available for you to play! Check it out, especially if you haven’t played earlier versions already! Think of it as an early Christmas present to you all!
First off, v2.0 is now available! It’s got 15 of the planned 29 Chapters and a ton of new characters! (Their Support chains will have to come later, though.)
Second, the project now has its own Discord server that you can join! It should be the best place for you to keep up with the game’s progress and provide feedback now.
Third, and possibly most importantly, FuranSuwa has decided to lend their services and create new halfbody portraits for the game! It’ll probably take a very long time to get this new portrait system implemented, but what I’ve seen of their work looks highly promising.
Check out FuranSuwa’s new halfbody portraits for Claudius and Carol!
They probably won’t see their intended full use yet (I’d need everybody’s for that), but they’ll still be visible in the next version under Extras!
They look amazing! Girl is definitely waifu material
Only thing is… what’s going on with her hands? She looks like she’s supposed to be holding a horse bridle or something, but isn’t. Her right hand (our left) also looks extra weird because of this.
Careful there. If you don’t like Tharja, chances are you probably won’t like Petricia very much, either. Though I did try to make her a better character in that area. You’d have to read her Supports to see if I succeeded.
Yes! I remember a time when I came up with this idea and everyone thought it was dumb, and now all the dudes recognize it’s the best way to make archers viable!
