Well, it's been a heck of a week. Here is what should be a fixed rom - SwdTech speed has been fixed and I've checked to verify the reported glitches with the Ultima Weapon fight and Tritoch scene do not happen. I worked off an early back-up and most bug fixes from March 9 are still here, but I cannot promise I didn't miss something minor.

All that said, from my own experiences, I cannot promise that just replacing your existing Rom with this one and keeping playing will not result in glitches.

Today I'm going to play through Kefka's Tower to get my playthrough over with so I can devote myself fully to coding. And a lot is planned. Here's what's in store as I keep working. However, these changes will not be added to an update release - the reason is that, with how the game's programming works, a lot of these changes won't come into affect on your saved games.

- Pinkie's Party themes will have their attacks adjusted so that each Party is elementally themed.
- Celestia will be given natural magic like Twilight and Cadance, who will have their spelllists adjusted. In general, magic will be learned at lower levels.
- Maud will be able to learn magic properly.
- Some of Scootaloo's Rages will have two special attacks assigned to them instead of Fight and one special attack.
- Various equipment pieces exclusive to certain pony types will have more extreme stat boosts.
- Some in-game events will be adjusted.
- My bonus boss will be added. It's already in the game, but there is no way to encounter it yet.

Finally, I'd like to thank all of you for your feedback, and also for your patience as I patch up these glitches big and small. I hope that when the next download link is posted, it'll be for a completed version and not just Beta Version 5. However, if something game-breaking comes up, I'll of course fix it and provide a fixed rom.

The esper that gave the +1 Vigor boost in the last version is back to giving nothing.

I'm wondering if I should start a new game for things like the Celestia and Luna stat swap, a non purple Trixie, whatever else may have changed since, and to avoid any issues that may come with using so many different versions with the same save file.

If you did want to start over, that's up to you, but I'd wait a week or two for the above changes.

Something else I'd like to know - how do folks feel about the difficulty? Too easy still, too hard, just right? And if there's any specific elements, like an underpowered character or ability, bring it up.

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I'll probably bring up small observations as I play through, though I'm starting over today so that the Celestia and Luna's stat swap will actually happen, since its kind of a big change and all.

As for small observations so far, the treasure room in Neighsh (however you spell that) has a second set of Thief Shoes (that Flash starts with) and another Sneak ring that we can get elsewhere. They seem a little useless to get especially since you can just buy the Thief shoes in the shop in the same town. Not that they necessarily should change, they were just rather disappointing treasures though the Sneak Ring could be good for anyone who missed the first one.

Its not a big thing I suppose, but its always a little odd when Zecora doesn't rhyme. When you talk to her during the battle at Neighsh, she says the same default thing Bannon did. Same when she finds the piece of paper left on the table in the base (a silly little hidden scene.) There's also a few instances in the plot where she says a single sentence that doesn't rhyme with anything so a little fine tuning with her in places might be good.

I notice you still get a free Autocrossbow when Celestia joins up. Is that intentional?

I noticed you got rid of several relics you normally find early on, mostly useless ones, but I have to wonder since you got rid of one I actually planned on using, is there any equipment in the game that allows you to protect low HP party members? It just coincides with a high risk, high reward strategy I could use that would make Flash pretty darn good late game. Noting that you said he won't get the Drill until the WoR, I don't particularly find any tools outside of Noiseblaster, Debilitator, and occasionally Air Anchor in the WoR since all the other Tools are too low damage compared to most any other party member, meaning I would mostly use Flash just to steal stuff.

From what I gather up there, you hope to make the next release a final one with perhaps a bug fix here and there type of updates afterwards. Since it wasn't stated up there, were you planning on changing anything related to Luna and AJ's abilities? I know you mentioned changing Spiraler before but what of anything else? Most notably AJ since most of her skills aren't terribly useful by the end game, doubly hurt by the fact she has an awful magic stat.

I haven't made it far enough to make any definitive answer, but I can say that the game is fairly more difficult than the original. Not necessarily easy, but not too bad for someone who knows what they are doing. Some bosses and enemies so far have given me small surprises (I was virtually one shot by the Anguiform in the Serpent Trench.) I'll be able to say more about the difficulty once I see what you may have done with Atma Weapon, the Dragons, and the Warring Triad since Pony Fantasy VI gave them all notable upgrades and several of them were satisfyingly difficult (satisfying in that I figured out great ways to beat them after dying or doing terribly the first attempt.)

Check on the treasure room, thanks. Zecora's rhyming is a nuisance to me, if it's a simple thing "okay, let's go" she has to say, I didn't want to make her too wordy for the sake of saying that. The free Auto Crossbow is probably easily gotten rid of, though I don't see it as a major thing.

Flash's exclusive armor, the Guard Armor, gives him the True Knight guarding effect as well as Auto-Protect. As with his other tools, I remember vanilla being mostly the same way. Though, I feel the Tools you mentioned are enough. The Drill in particular is not nerfed as all, so Flash can still deal consistently high damage every turn.

Luna, Spiraler will be changed, though I'm considering options as to what. Applejack, her Level 7 SwdTech has been given a damage buff from vanilla and is otherwise identical, and with no Offering or equivalent skill, she has a niche now where she's the only party member to attack four times, and can do some decent damage too. Stunner will be changed to inflict multiple status ailments, not just stop.

Atma Weapon has stronger attacks, but in general isn't changed much. The Eight Dragon, ohohoho. Storywise they're some of my fav parts of the mod. Gameplay wise, they will end you if you think you can just waltz up to them willy-nilly and beat them easily. They're not overly strong, but they're definitely a step up.

As of the latest patch, the Presenter boss in the Wonderbolts memorial, killed both parts of it at once. Still got off one last Giga volt after the death animation (Discord in the snowfield fight did this too. makes sense for him at least).

Hm, odd. I'll have a look at fixing that, thanks.

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Well, I started a new game but for some reason Celestia and Luna's stats didn't seem to be swapped. In case something was changed I'll say that Celestia's Vigor and Magic was still at 30, and 34, and Luna's were 37, 24.

Actually, I was hoping anyone other than Flash could guard others. If he still gets that Valiant Knife and it still works the same, it works wonders when he is at low HP combined with the Offering and someone is there to guard him.

5102381 I may have forgotten the stat change when working from the backup. Sorry.

I just defeated the Ice Dragon in Neighshe. It was an extremely long and drawn out battle because of how unprepared I was for it. One character absorbed ice, another nulled it, and the other two were just dying the entire time. The first half of the fight went well, but then he upped his spells and I was spending more time keeping characters alive than doing damage. Lots of close calls with N.Cross freezing my entire party, too.

I can't wait to see what the other dragons can do. I've already met Storm Dragon and Dirt Dragons, but haven't done any serious attempts on taking them on yet.

Also, here's something I saw in the first and third of of Shadow's dreams.

Glitched sprites. Fluttershy also looks different when not glitched. Is it because she's younger in these, or is she supposed to look like her normal sprite instead?

GWFan, the ValiantKnife has been moved from its original location, if it even exists at all. Atma weapon is still a thing to be found later in the game.

Twilight flipping out and nuking Phunbaba is quite appropriate. One of the testers said Flash isn't that useful, but the Debilitator was certainly helpful when my main source of holy damage was made unavailable in the 2nd phase.

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I was thinking last night and now I'm wondering, instead of turning Tools into Steal, could the Thief Shoes turn Fight into Mug?

5103180 That would be possible, yes.

5102887 Thanks for letting me know, I'll get right on it. And yes, Fluttershy looks different because she's younger.

A note - there's been one last update to Version 4.

- Ultimate weapons have been improved a bit
- Flash's Thief Shoe now changes Fight to Mug instead of Weapons to Steal
- Maud. That is all.

5103425

That was fast.

5103429 It was an easy change to make :)

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Found a typo. In the Opera house, during the conversation with Octavia, Flash says "You just play it like part of the show and let Chrysalis pick up when when we're gone."

That fight against the Mane-iac surprised me. Nopony even has enough MP to use Star Swirl, so perhaps Celestia wasn't the greatest choice. I didn't realize just how low everyone's MP was until this moment. And it figures that Flash was level 15.

5103733 Check, thanks.

Also a random note with the opera - given how iconic a scene it was, I wasn't sure if I should play the event serious or for laughs... I decided for laughs.

General question for everyone - are you finding HP growth too low?

HP growth seems fine to me. I'm level 30 with about 900 HP per character. Battles are challenging, but I never feel like my HP is too low to survive what I'm facing. I've only once wished I had more HP, and that's for 1000 needles, which is basically a guaranteed death at this point. Other than that, my characters are able to take a couple hits before they're in danger of dying.

Only character I've got left to re-recruit is Flash. Phoenix cave is a dangerous place. Then extra goodies like dragons and a few caves, castles, and towers to go. And the coliseum. I've got to find a way to get that amulet without instantly dying.

5103836 Pardon, I meant MP growth. But that's good, that's my overall aim with this mod - challenging, but not unfair.

So I fought the Fire Dragon in Phoenix Cave and it used Flare Star, killing me. Much like the battle against Atma Weapon, the battle ended immediately and the dragon was gone. I opened my menu, and my health looked like this:

I'm not exactly sure why this happened again, but I didn't get anything for my supposed victory over him.

I didn't have the Ultima Weapon glitch happen to me, and I didn't touch the events concerning either. I can only presume it's an error from copying the ROM over and playing on from there. Sorry.

5103837

Yeah, I do think MP is a bit too low. How is Celestia even to use her Summon ability if she can only summon twice by late game or something? Though looking at the screenshot above, maybe its not quite as abysmally low as I thought it might be. Doesn't have to be drastically enhanced but at least buffed a little. Magic is not even abusive in the mid game as it is with the likes of Luna and Scootaloo around.

Some possible mistakes:
Fluttershy can equip the magic enhancing SilverSalong, that otherwise only magic based characters can equip.
We have the throwing item 'Fire Skeen' but the water and lightning variants are both Edges.

Yeah, I was just thinking the Fire Skean thing too, that's a holdover from vanilla that's quickly fixed. Thanks for the other bit.

Right now I'm at Level 40-ish and most characters have only 200-300 MP, when a lot of spells cost 50 MP or more to cast. Yeah, it's a problem. Final release will see MP growth buffed a bit. I'm also gonna give Twilight, Cadance and Celestia higher base MP.

5104188

CombatSaddle and Steel Harnes are listed twice at the armor shop in Vanhoover.

5104188

Small Observations (not necessarily anything to change):

Princess Radiant Hope? But, she never became a princess. She forwent that destiny because of Sombra.

I get why Firefly is Fire and to a degree I get why Galaxy is Remedy, though I figured i would note that Galaxy was a unicorn who's unique talent (because every Unicorn in G1 has one special skill) was to make her horn get really, really, hot.

Bubbles? Why not Fizzy a more prominent G1 pony from the show who's unique talent was making bubbles? Bubbles was never in the cartoon.

Glory never appeared in the show but there was a Unicorn named Mimic who started turning invisible because she was able to wield these magic horseshoes that she needed to be reunited with or some such like that.

Bangle is another pony who never appeared in the show but I can't think of any particular pony who would fit that particular esper.

5104582 Actually Bubbles and Glory both appeared in Rescue at midnight Castle which is a part of the series proper, but you never see them after this episode. I have no idea who Bangle is though, I do not remember this particular pony.

As I read, Bubbles is prominent in the comics, but yeah, it seems Fizzy appears more across the media.

Mimic sounds like she'd work, I'll make a note of it.

Bangle was chosen because, as I've read of her, there's some card that has her finding one of Majesty's rubies.

As you may have guessed, though, I've only a passing knowledge of G1 based on what the wiki says of them, so any suggestions for better fits are widely welcomed. :)

5104600 If you need help with G1 I can do that. I have the movie and the whole series and I can tell you a lot about it if you need me too.

5104619 Well basically, I just need to know which ponies are suitable sub-ins for which Espers. Here's the current list.

Siren - Medley
Stray - Parasol
Kirin - Gusty
Ramuh - Star Swirl
Ifrit - Firefly
Shiva - Powder
Carbuncle - Bangles
Maduin - Twilight
Bismarck - Fizzy (previously Bubbles)
Phantom - Mimic (previously Glory)
Unicorn - Galaxy
Shoat - North Star
Golem - Masquerade
Zone Seeker - Milky Way
Sraphim - Skydancer
Fenrir - Moondancer
Starlet - Heart Throb
Palidor - Surprise
Phoenix - Sunshimmer (I know that's G3, but the Phoenix-Rachel-Sunset Shimmer stuff demands it)
Ragnarok - Starflower (unfortunately Ragnarok still looks like a Sword, but teaches Meteor now)
Tritoch - Sparkler
Terrato - Crumpet
Alexander - Sunbeam
Odin - Steamer
Raiden - Chief
Bahamut - G1 Spike
Crusader - Majesty

Additionally, Knight Shade is Yura (the leader of the Espers at Thamasa) and Dazzleglow is the Esper Elder, since she was the sole instance I could find in G1 of an alicorn.

5104637 Okay I do not recognize some of the ponies or espers here. I think some of those names were changed though. And there was never an alicorn in G1 that wasn't an animation error. The comics I am not up on though because they are very obscure and existed only in England for while as I understand it.

Okay so Chief is not a Big Brother pony form the show, he may have been in the comics though. I'd probably go with Slugger or Scorer there because they are in the show. I don't think it's needed though. And I'm guessing that Cait Sith is the Esper that was called Stray at first as well as Lakshmi having been called Starlet originally.

5104665 Yes. I'll change to the SNES names.

What do you mean, no alicorn and not an animation error?

http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/File:Dazzleglowcartoon.jpg

5104637

I would almost think that Surprise would fit Stray better, and I have no idea who Parasol or Medley are either. Another potential name for Stray or Siren or Palidor might be series creator favorite and my personal fave G1 pony, Wind Whistler. She has a vocabulary and intelligence that could rival Twilight Sparkle. Very logical pony, sometimes to the scorn of others (or at least in one specific episode anyway.) Palidor also might be Whizzer the fastest pony around.

While North Star (pegasus) is prominent in the show, there is another pony who comes to mind named Shady (earth pony) who has little self confidence. While not directly related to blind, the name makes since. North Star could take over for Palidor if you change Surprise.

No idea who Sunbeam is. Considering what happened to AJ and all, couldn't Alexander potentially be Big Mac?

I don't remember Milky Way or Skydancer or Majesty from the show, but there are the somewhat overpowered Flutter Ponies to consider as well, most notably the leader, Rose Dust, as well as Morning Glory, both notable from the original movie.

I'd have to think on some of these other ones.

Well, at one time I was gonna have Alexander be G1 Applejack.

5104670 I don't know what to say to you, she is not a G1 pony. She never appeared in any episode or related media that I can address. As I said I have the movie and the entire series and there are no alicorns that aren't animation errors and there was never a pony named Dazzleglow in G1. So that's what I mean, her existence was totally unknown to me until now.

I do have some other ideas though, one I would use Ribbon in Phantom's place. Two since Final Fantasy six has a mimic character I suggest using Mimic in that character's place instead. She may not be of the current generation but her name and abilities are perfect for the role.

And just to note what happened to Mimic she didn't turn invisible, instead she got sick because the Golden Horseshoes were moved far apart. This endangered Mimic because she was tied to them through an ancestor of hers.

5104670 I see what happened now. Dazzlegloe appeared during My Little Pony Tales which is not MLP G1, in fact by the timeline of the shows and not the toys My Little Pony Tales is G2 and this is why I did not know her.

5105085 As, I see.

Did G1 have any leader of the ponies?

5105085
Common misconception is that Pony Tales was G2 when in fact it was a spin-off of the G1 show and affectionately called G1.5 by its fans.

5105425
No specific leader among the G1's though regardless if Megan was around there would usually be some pony the episode focused on that would frequently be the de facto leader.
I agree with Bryan Luna about Ribbon replacing Mimic. Ribbon is such an underated character in the show.
I was rethinking some of what I said up there and I think Surprise is perfect for Palidor. For some reason it slipped my mind that she is a pegasus. Probably because she inspired Pinkie.

5105621 Nope, people call it G 1.5 because of the toy line and it is not a spin off. It's an entirely independent show that had the lowest quality writing and was all earth ponies all of the way through from what I have seen. This gen was lost because it's no good and has very few actual fans.

5105425 Yes, the girl that is my avatar. Her name is Megan and along her brother Danny and their sister Molly helped and guided the ponies of Paradise Estate.

EW, humans! Get them away, get them away!

I actually do drop a reference to Megan, though.

5105873
The writing wasn't absolutely terrible. I actually enjoyed Tales a bit, but then I watched it when it was first premiering on TV so my childhood nostalgia may be clouding my judgment, even though I have watched them again recently.
If its not G1.5 then I'm not sure what to call it since the G2 toy line didn't come out until several years later. Tales pretty much came out in between toy lines except in Canada and Europe where G1 ran for a year longer.

5105903 The shows run on their own timeline and the toylines do the same. That's why I make it a point to keep them totally separate in my head. The next show to come out after Tales was G3 making Tales G2, so there is no more to be said about it. You can't go 1, 1.5, and then 3 that doesn't work and it's highly confusing to boot. And yes nostalgia could be getting in the way, it does do that sometimes.

I have seen that show described as "broke as hell." and that is one of the nicest ways is was described. G1 was by no means perfect and it definitely failed in a lot of places, there is no generation that hasn't failed in places. I can't say more than that because that is the truth of the matter. It's a thing, a sometimes confusing thing.

5105882 If I didn't know that was sarcasm I might be offended, but as far as pony leaders go Wind Whistler and Galaxy were the ponies that assumes that role off and on.

CONFIRMED - Celestia has natural Magic.

So for Esper swap outs, so far I'm looking at

Fizzy for Bismarck
Ribbon for Phantom
Wind Whistler for Zone Seeker (ZS casts Shell on the party and teaches Magic-related spells, makes sense to me)
Morning Glory for Sraphim (Sraphim's animation depicts her flying among beams of light, so it seems to fit)

Also, Majesty is Crusader, spoken of as one of the most powerful Espers. So that's why she's there.

5106678 Ahh now that's looking nice.

Regarding Ragnarok/Starflower - Is that teaching Meteor instead of Ultima, or in addition to? Since the Ragnarok Sword and Illumina/Lightbringer were so good, pretty much everyone went with the sword. If the Esper doesn't teach Ultima, it's going to be as much of a choice as Mog vs Gold Hairpin; the only time you'd choose the Esper/Hairpin is in Single Character Challenges that can't use the alternative.

5107398 Instead of. On the other hand, the Lightbringer is exclusive to the alicorns.

Keep in mind, also, Ragnarok didn't just teach Ultima - it was a way to farm items via Metamorph. Something which is even better in this hack. If you can find them (or just wanna poke into the game data, cheater ), there are enemies that morph into Megalixirs, X-Potions, X-Ethers, Genji Gloves, Gauntlets, and the Safety Bit. And the old morph sets including the Exp. Egg, Marvel Shoes, Tintinabulum, and Ribbon, are still there, too.