This is just an alert that all the mediafire download links are now dead. This is primarily to guard my butt - with the project getting coverage from EqD and generally getting more notice, I'm not up to getting hit with legal repercussions for putting game roms up for download.

The next beta version will be released as a .ips file - basically, a patch for FF3 roms. At the time of release, instructions for how to install such a file to play the new beta will be given.

Is... That possible? I don't remember the previous Pony Fantasy game ever having that and it got a lot of coverage.

Well on the Pony side, we have the myriad of fan vids that tend to get taken down unexpectedly. On the Final Fantasy side, SE is rather infamous for killing fan projects (Type-0 comes to mind as a recent one).

It may not actually happen, and I of course hope not, but I'd rather not take chances.

Is it a regular version of Final Fantasy 3/6? or is it a headered version of the game?

What do you mean?

That answers the question lol.
I know that some rom hacks use headered versions of roms. Like Final Fantasy 6 Return Of The Dark Sorcerer .
https://forum.romulation.net/threads/tutorial-applying-removing-a-header-onto-a-snes-rom-using-snestool.17597/
I don't exactly know what it means. But I think it's like the way the rom is compressed or coded or something.

It never happened to Pony Fantasy VI. I think Quickfix just sort of stopped on his own. For the pony side and fan vids, none of my LP's of Pony Fantasy have been taken down or even targeted for take down, and back then I even included clips from the show and other shows to throw in jokes. On the SE side, have they ever tried to stop Mario Armageddon? It is an IPs file, true, but I would think that wouldn't be all that different.
Either way, I'm fine with it since I already have the program to combine the file to the rom anyway, but I figured I would try to ease some worry if you in fact have that. When it comes to take downs regarding games and what not, it seems like it usually concerns newer modern console games. Older stuff tends to get ignored usually. I have had videos targeted for copyrighted music and sound effects (or a clip in one case) but in all cases I was allowed to keep the video and none of them were considered strikes against me because the original creators were totally fine with me using them, they just had the right to make money off of them (all three of them so far) if they chose to do so in the future (I can't make money on those videos, that's about the worst of it.)
Obviously I'm no expert on this, but to give a further example of something that was taken down: Fighting is Magic. The only reason it ended up getting hit was because it entered into some kind of contest sort of thing and was slated to start making money or some such. I don't remember the exact details. Obviously, the team is doing their redo of the game with new characters but the original version was uploaded to, I think, Deviantart by someone else at some point and I don't think its been taken down because no one is making money off of it. I haven't actually checked so maybe it is gone, but it wasn't when I last looked.

5197117 A header is a technical thing, mostly outdated but some hacks and patches use them. I'll be including in the instructions what to do for headered or nonheader roms either way.

My personal opinion:

I think both SE and Hasbro both have a habit of being generous with their C&Ds (Project XI, Chrono Trigger sequal mod -- more then one here --, Button Mash, Starswirl Acadomy, Fighting is Magic, ...).

That being said, there's no guarantee that anything of the kind is going to happen or will ever happen (plenty of projects, including the original Pony Fantasy project have been around for a long time without issue), but since we don't know all the internal politics with the above examples, I think a case of COA is probably a safe plan (after final release, you can always leak the pre-patched ROM, too).

EDIT: lots of spelling and grammar fixes... (Maybe commenting after a day of overtime probably wasn't the swiftest plan... )

Well, better safe than sorry afterall.

What really worries me is picking the right version of the game, but I think that you will get it covered guide.

EquestriaBound has a full rom on mediafire linked to directly by EQD and I haven't had any trouble. Most other sites have an IPS of it because of rule for those site; using an IPS wouldn't protect you from C&D claims.

If EQD does make a post for the final release, I do suggest having a direct link to a pre-patched rom for them. Since they aren't an emulation related site, a large portion of their reader base won't have an IPS patcher a UPS patcher even more so) or know how to use one.

5197117 A Header is just an extra 200 bytes at the beginning (head) of the rom. Some old cartridge rippers would put data there to identify the tool used and possibly the game, but none of it matters. The big deal is that that extra 200 bytes changes all the addresses, so tools need to be able to adjust for it and patches need to be for the correct version.

A fair point. When the time comes for release, I can just upload a Rom again.

Though also for the record, the removal of the links is also to avoid confusion. Short of updating them all the time, it'll be easier for people to only have one version for download.