Update 112: Bonus material, pt. 4

[ladyabaxa]

Beyond the Beyond: Update 112: Bonus material, pt. 4

In our last episode I did a lot of bouncing around trying to figure out how the game would react to recruiting Domino early. In today's episode there will be more bouncing around but on different subjects!

 

A Series of Ludicrous Events

To start with I once again return to Barbaros because I might as well kick things off with a bit of tragedy.

After busting Lorele out we can see Steiner correctly placed beside Finn in a scene not programmed to happen until after little Steiner leaves the game. I suppose it is preferable to Steiner stuck facing a wall or something. It's just that I expected the little dragon to continue hovering behind Finn on passive auto-follow. This does make me wonder how far into the development cycle it was decided that Barbaros would come under attack while Finn and company are in the Shrine of Discipline.

Finn and Steiner decide to play a bit of a game by sneaking up behind various people. Up first are Sir Bison and Queen Scarlet over at Zalagoon Castle. Then they play the same prank on Sir Samson in the tunnel under Marion. Of course Sir Samson is far more liable to lash out violently when startled like this. The price one pays..

(It's all right. He can no more be interacted with than Sir Bison and Queen Scarlet can.)

After an unusual route of ingress Finn decided, after telling the king he hadn't come by for any special reason, (not wanting to admit they were really just searching for a sword for Percy) Finn wanted to know what all the people standing in the courtyard were waiting for. While the lady with the pink hair had nothing to say - the game refusing to acknowledge she was even there - the soldiers spoke of how Princess Lorele was a formidable warrior. Finn and company were thoroughly confused.

But Finn's confusion had only begun. He tried to leave Barbaros and was almost undone! The path from the castle was but a deception. He could freely walk through some trees and walls but found his way barred by mysterious invisible barriers with no clear source. In terror he ran back into the castle the way he came but space warped and twisted in ways alien to him. When at last a door up on the second floor admitted them entry a hearty refrain was had by all. Greater care was taken to escape lest the strange space claim them again.

That's Finn's story and Steiner's sticking to it.

 

An Ode to the Strange World that is Isla

Over in Isla Village is an event I first showed back in Update 9 before Percy ran off. While the dialogue is the same there are a few things I wanted to elaborate on before heading to variants. Don't worry. I'm not changing my opinion that this entire scene is little more than an afterthought. Quite the contrary...

Dad! Mom! Open the door! It's me. It's Annie!
I think it's locked. I don't think either mom or dad are here. [sic]

They all look at each other, nod, and silently agree that the house must be empty. In Update 9 I walked south to get things to continue. This time I head towards the village center.

...

Responding to that loud set of ellipses the kids stop in their tracks and hold a silent meeting. I suppose Sonya's line is supposed to communicate that she does something in the house to draw attention: the creak of a floorboard, the drapes fluttering as they fall back into place, etc. Annie's response is to run over to the dirt in front of the door and start yelling.

I just find this slightly odd because Annie usually communicates such emotions through violence.

Mom... *pause* Mom?! Are you there?

Finn walks over to the nearby window. Not to peek in or anything. He just sort of stares in the door's general direction. That or he's keeping careful watch on those wood piles. One never knows. Oh yeah and Percy moves to stand beside his sister. Steiner however manages to not get stuck in Finn's hair. Instead the little dragon hangs back. Why is the scene suddenly taking a different turn than as seen previously? That's a good question that I don't have an answer to.

Mom! Dad! Please say something!

Percy and Annie briefly look at each other then turn back.

Why aren't you responding?!

Sonya and her husband Sir Galahad emerge from the house. Finn, perhaps hearing a noise within the village, turns away.

... *pause* Why are you back?
Why? Uh, well...
I heard you rescued the prince.

Finn, Annie, and Percy all nod.

I see... It was you guys...

At this point Finn is finally flipped to face Sonya and Galahad. I guess he suddenly realized he should be paying attention! Sonya and Galahad look at each other, nod, and turn back. I don't think they're surprised that Finn wasn't paying attention.

All of you and the prince, go to Zalagoon!

I'm still struck by how awkward that line is.

Annie and Percy look at each other briefly before turning back to their parents. And I do mean "briefly" because it's a 'blink and you'll miss it animation' in a game that's usually careful to keep such things slow enough for players to catch them. It's no wonder I didn't notice it earlier since it lasts all of 5 frames.

Since Samson is with you two, I don't need to worry too much...

Annie and Percy once again look at each other briefly then turn back to their parents.

Come with us. We can't just leave you here!
*shakes his head* The bigger the party is, the more chance there is of getting caught.
*shakes her head* Plus, I can't just leave the people of Isla here.

Sonya and Galahad turn to each other to nod before the conversation continues.

No! Mom! Dad! Then, I won't go!
What... What about me? I'll stay with mom and dad. [sic]

Sonya turns around, shudders.

I won't let you be selfish! Unless Zalagoon helps, more people will suffer and die. *nods* Now if you understand, please go!

Sonya goes inside. Galahad walks over to Finn.

Finn! Your father will not be defeated that easily. Don't worry. Just head to Zalagoon!

Galahad nods, walks over to Annie.

Now go! And be careful.

Galahad goes inside, shutting the door behind him. Steiner then flies over to Annie to... talk to her back?

Krrryuuu. Kyuruu. Annie, I know how you feel. But we have to go now! [sic]

Annie turns to Steiner and nods. She then walks over to Finn but has nothing to say. Steiner flies sort-of over by Percy to talk to his back.

Kyrrruuu. Kyurroo. Percy, you're a man, right? You should learn from Sir Galahad!

And that's the scene. Upon searching the door again the kids find it's locked with Sonya on the other side unwilling to open it.

...What are you waiting for? You must go...

Now Sir Samson is with the group but when Sir Galahad says "Since Samson is with you two, I don't need to worry too much..." he isn't making a reference to Samson being present. In fact Samson isn't the reason the line appears as was made evident back in Update 9. It's an awkward way of Galahad trying to tell the kids that since they are working with Samson - having aided in busting Prince Edward out of prison - Galahad expects they will continue traveling with Samson and thus they'll have someone there to steer them in the right direction.

Moving right along the party bid farewell to Percy. That's right - a Percy-heavy update and I kill him off. Off to Isla Village the survivors run!

"Finn searches the door. It's locked!"

Dad! Mom! Open the door! It's me. It's Annie!

Finn, Annie, and Steiner shake their heads. Or I should say that Steiner tries to shake his head but that animation isn't really programmed for smaller sprites like his so he sort of twitches in place.

It's locked. I don't think they are here.

Annie turns to Finn but Finn turns south with Steiner hovering over him facing the door. Any potential crisis is averted when Finn immediately turns to face his foster sister. Oh and Steiner becomes preoccupied with the wood piles. Why so many characters seem to think that wood is so interesting is a mystery likely never to be solved. (Or whoever programmed this scene either plugged in some actions that then didn't get playtested/refined or managed to write code buggy enough to have me laughing my ass off.)

Continuing with the scene in question Finn and company again walk away far enough for Sonya's ellipses to draw their attention back to the house.

Steiner flies over to the window. Annie walks over to where she's almost in front of the door. It isn't just the way characters are programmed to face but also their base positions that continue to baffle me. If she were by the window and Steiner stayed by Finn this wouldn't be nearly so weird.

Mom? Mom...? Are you in there?

Then for no apparent reason Steiner decides to give up his window spot to Finn as he instead flies out to hover above the dirt. I suspect he's positioning himself to get a closer look at those wood piles. Or to fly off if monsters or enemy soldiers rush from the building. He and Finn are in good positions to pincer any threat though so who knows?

Are the mister and misses inside?

Why aren't you responding?

Something as simple as the direction a character faces can completely change the mood of a scene or the context of individual lines. Take Annie here for example. Her sentence is, going purely by the script, directed at the house and is supposed to encapsulate her confusion over why no one inside is responding. Flipped away from the house, staring at Finn, makes it seem like she's yelling at her foster brother. Asking Finn that question is absurd! Of course he can't respond - not vocally at least. He's a silent protagonist.

Sonya and Galahad emerge from the house leading to the scene depicted above where Finn and Annie have a staredown across the lawn with Sir Galahad and Steiner. Sonya referees. I assume Steiner is paired with Sir Galahad purely because he sees a chance to needle Finn.

... *pause* Why are you back?
Why? Uh, well...
I heard you rescued the prince.

Finn and Annie nod.

I see... So it was you guys...

In the previous version Annie and Percy had several instances where, for no reason, their sprites are programmed to briefly turn to face each other. In this version the affliction only applies to Annie and Percy, being dead, dumps the responsibility of being her target on Finn.

All of you and the prince, go to Zalagoon!

At this point Finn is finally turned to face up towards Annie and his foster parents.

Since Samson is with you, I don't need to worry too much...

Annie glances at Finn before running over to plead with her parents.

Mom! Dad! Come with us. Otherwise... I can't just leave you here!
*shakes his head* The bigger the party is, the more chance there is of getting caught.
*shakes her head* Plus, I can't just leave the people of Isla here.

Sonya and Galahad nod to each other then before turning their backs to their kids.

Then I won't go. I'll stay with you, mom and dad. [sic]

The localization clearly had trouble remembering that the words mom and dad are in fact proper nouns when used as a substitute for people's names. They should be capitalized in the above line. Capitalization issues aside, Sonya flips around because she's got a bit of righteous anger to unleash.

I won't let you be selfish! Unless Zalagoon helps, more people will suffer and die. *nods* Now if you understand, just go!

Sonya heads inside and Sir Galahad moves in front of Finn for his scripted pep talk.

Finn! Your father will not be defeated that easily. Don't worry. Just head to Zalagoon!

Then he moves in front of the door. Gotta make sure the kids don't try to rush in or anything...

Now go! And be very careful.

Once the parental units are back inside Steiner flies over to Annie. In this version he actually looks like he's talking to her.

Kyrruuu. Kyrree. Annie, I know how you feel. But let's go now!

As one might expect I had to see how the game would react if Finn showed up with just Steiner.

"Finn searches the door. It's locked!"

It's locked. I don't think they are here.

Finn and Steiner turn and nod to each other ending the first segment of the scene. I walk them away.

...

Steiner flies over to the window.

Finn! Hold on! I thought I heard Aunt Sonya's voice.

Steiner then flies east so he's talking to the wall beside the door.

Mrs. Sonya, is that you? Are you there?

"Finn knocked on the house door."

Mister! Misses! Please respond!

With no one else around to carry needed lines a bare bones version falls on Steiner. Sonya and Galahad emerge from the house.

Finn... Why are you back?

It is nice to see that lines from Sonya and Galahad get changed up a little. Galahad here is saying basically the same thing he was in previous versions but in this one he refers directly to Finn by name.

I heard you rescued the prince.

Finn nods while Steiner sort of twitches in mid-air.

I see... So it was you guys...

Galahad and Sonya turn to each other, nod, then turn back.

Finn! You and the prince, go to Zalagoon!

Finn and Steiner briefly look at each other. Even in this version these strange exchanges of glances still occur.

I'm sure Samson will take care of you, so I don't need to worry much... We'll stay here, since joining your party would only increase your chances of getting caught.
Plus, I can't just leave the people of Isla here.

The couple turn to each other, nod, and turn their backs to Finn. Then Sonya quickly turns first to Galahad then to Finn.

Annie, cooperate with Percy and get help from Zalagoon. Otherwise, more people will suffer.

Not even kidding about Sonya directly addressing Annie - who isn't present in this variant because of being dead. I can excuse her referring to Percy since a reference is all it is and Sonya already knows Percy is involved. This is just as cringe worthy as Sir Galahad staring at the wall of his house in the screenshot above.

*nods* Now, Finn! If you understand, just go!

Sonya goes inside. Galahad pauses for his pep talk.

Finn! Your father will not be defeated that easily. Don't worry. Just head to Zalagoon! *nods* Now go! And be very careful.

Galahad goes inside and locks the door behind him.

Finn! Let's join up with Sir Samson. Let's go!

Somehow I don't think whoever wrote that "let's join up with Sir Samson" considered it might end up referring to taking Samson's body to a church.

 

Percy Versus Dark Knight

So in Update 110 I covered Percy versus his Black Knight alter ego but I only showed what happens when Knight!Percy survives the requisite number of turns. This time I'm going to have Knight!Percy kill his alter-ego. To see the script for this part check the transcript I made for Update 110.

The battle concludes in a single blow returning the game to the Sand Cave. Then with a flash of light the two Percys become one leaving Steiner hovering there in confusion. What happens next can't be conveyed in a single screenshot so here's a GIF instead.

Warning! Animated GIF ahead!

Percy sort of slides up off screen while the camera remains focused on Steiner. Where does the mysterious slider go? Who knows!

When the game released control the camera zoomed over to the upper left corner with Percy somewhere beyond the camera's bounds. Upon checking his status I found Percy came through the fight just fine. Because defeating the Black Knight sent the game through the 'Percy dies' script his character data never got updated to the Black Knight class/stats. Therefore Percy remained a lowly regular old Knight. This also meant I'm wasn't forced to bench a party member.

When I used walk-through-walls to get Percy back on screen I saw he had reverted back to his old sprite. The 'Percy dies' script does include wiping the Black Knight from the screen and because Percy's class wasn't updated the sprite conflict apparently resolved itself. Now I did have to be careful to turn off random encounters. Not doing so scuttled my first run at this. Percy got into a fight before I got him back on screen and after he won the game got extremely confused on where in the Sand Cave he was supposed to be. The screen glitched up, graphics began scrolling around, and Escape didn't work. After much failing to get the party back on screen I opted to reset.

The second attempt worked. Percy slew his evil self and escaped to tell the tale.

 

Percy - World Explorer

In this section Percy does a lot of traveling for one particular cause: because I was curious to know how far the devs went setting up Knight!Percy's gear options. Oh and I managed to fold a couple other things into this section in the process because, why not?

Level ups were called for so here's Team Rugrats fighting random encounters over on Gebergheim. Killing monsters in one hit sure does making grinding more expedient. Of course when going up against stronger monsters chances are they will be faster and thus get their licks in first. Not that it doesn't amuse me to have regular old hydras putting up what would be a good fight if I weren't cheating.

While levels 1 - 20 go fairly quickly when the team is able to kill higher end formations I swapped to an alternate path in the interests of expediency because I wanted to level up all the way to 30 so I could compare stat growth. Thus, I opted to use a spell code to grant Annie the immense power of what appears in the screenshot above to be the Level +1 rank 2 spell, costing zero MP. Believe it or not this spell actually does exactly what it says it does. Rank 2 is the same effect as the Source of Courage: the target instantly gets one level. Rank 1, called Experience UP in the menu, is the same effect as the Source of Growth. It awards one target 2k, 3k, 4k, or 5k experience. When experience needed for the next level is less than 5,000 using Experience UP is is preferable. Why get one level up per cast when multiple are possible?

Why are these spells in the game, other than as the run-codes for the aforementioned items? Well I'm sure they were handy during testing and debugging.

In a strange twist of fate Dragon Scale is widely available. It is sold in Zeal, Mistrall (pre-Mithril), and Barbaros (pre-invasion). This jumped out at me because Knight!Percy can equip it but Swordsman!Finn can't. Doubly odd, the shop in Barbaros disappears once Finn is promoted to Hero and thus becomes able to equip Dragon Scale or the Guardian Blade also sold in Barbaros. If I had to wager a guess I'd say the Trial of Discipline threw a big monkey wrench in the game's progression design when implemented but the devs had to go with it because there had to be an event behind which two Ancient Tablets (Barbaros and Pity) were locked. The Trial of Discipline took that job.

Oh and on a side note the Mithril gear is truly post-promotion-only. There's really no point running the Ice Mine early unless one is planning on promoting and immediately upgrading to Mithril.

It's not even useful as a grinding spot or a source of sellables. Liches in the mine can cast Void and as I showed in the last update even when cheating that spell is still quite dangerous. With the ability to get to any town a better way to raise quick cash presents itself. The latter half of the game's towns have cursed equipment hidden in them! While the Chaos Shield shown above only sells for 682 gold that's still an easy cash boost. Cursed body armor and weapons are worth far more.

The Sand Cave has two treasures on its final stretch that are worth a pretty penny. The Demon's Axe sells for 9750 gold and the Thunder Vase a whopping 15,000 gold. After selling them I could, if I changed my mind later, buy both back since both are flagged as "special items" (just like Shining Force where selling special/unique items sends them to the rare deals shop list) but neither offers anything that makes me think it would ever be worth the money.

Why did I bother looking around the Sand Cave for sellables? Because I had to do that bit of testing with Percy shown earlier this update and generating some cash so I could check out equipment or just make sure possible expenses were covered meant a look around.

The mismatch in equippable flags means that Knight!Percy has access to slightly better body armor than Swordsman!Finn despite them both being tier one sword users. In the screenshot above the difference is shown. The best Finn can do pre-promotion is Silver Plate while Dragon Scale offers an additional two points of Defense. Is that a difference really worth worrying about? Probably not.

Percy has a serious problem though in trying to find a weapon better than a Short Sword. Knight!Percy can equip a Middle Sword but not a Long Sword, Broad Sword, Great Sword, or the Tempest Sword. He hits a rather abrupt ceiling where other characters continue upgrading. Level ups and their commensurate +Strength help but can't replace weapon upgrades.

Here's a comparison between Knight!Percy at level 20 and at level 30. The equipment is different between the two not because I decided to revert or experiment but because I took Percy to level 20 for promotion purposes on one test then later reloaded the savefile and did a separate level up spree to 30.

The result is that Percy can class up just like everyone else. This is handy for me. I can promote him with the rest of the squad and continue on.

Also here's a glitch that occurs when Attack Power is set to 999 and a character tries to equip a weapon that has a higher attack rating then what the character in question is already using. It looks like it would go from 999 to a mere 13 in this instance but that's just a display glitch. It doesn't have any effect on what Annie's Attack Power becomes.

Here's the main crew post-promotion. Percy, Samson, Annie, and Edward were level 30 in their first class while, thanks to a couple of misclicks on my part, Finn promoted at level 32. They're equipped about as well as I could scrape together for tier 1 class characters. The exception is Finn who I equipped the Mystic Blade on prior to snapping a screenshot. Percy's attack will improve tremendously once he has something better than a starter sword. Meanwhile Samson has a formidable 130 attack thanks to a Tempest Axe. Large attack bonus and +5 Speed? Why wouldn't I use it? Annie has a Tempest Dress equipped but unfortunately it doesn't boost Speed. Minor disappointment there. Either someone forgot to set that in the item table or the devs felt that Annie was already fast enough and didn't need a boost. Since that dress only appears in Bandore's equipment shop I'm inclined to think it's just an oversight.

For the curious here's that same Finn fast-leveled all the way up to 99. Grind out 3.5 million experience and you too can have a character ludicrously overpowered for the end game! Finn's stat table really only goes to level 40 though. Beyond that he can gain a point in zero to five different stats depending on RNG rolls. Yes, that means that level ups in the 41 to 99 range can be completely empty. There's no need to grind to such a high level. The game is clearly balanced for a post-promotion team in the teens or twenties.

 

Percy Helps Save the World

Having broken free of the world's confines enough to promote Team Rugrats without resolving anything in the plot and also having done preliminary testing on how the game handles entry to the Abyss I asked myself: could my trio of reality warpers confront Akkadias? The answer is yes. Despite the fact that at this point in the plot Shutat and Ramue are supposed to be in Marion Castle the pair appears in the Abyss for their battle with Finn. That's one way to break their hold on Bandore.

The battle against Akkadias was short. Dealing hundreds of damage per hit will do that.

I did this test twice. Once without little Steiner and once with. After the battle a voice the kids have never heard before calls out telling Finn to hurl a strange thing called a 'Light Orb' at the big scary monster. Despite not having said 'Light Orb' or even knowing what that is Finn nods and backs up for a running start to his throw. Steiner remains glued to him thanks to the auto-follow routine but Finn manages to missing hitting his buddy. I bet Akkadias was wishing he chose a smaller form!

After Akkadias exits Finn, Annie, and Percy find they suddenly have company. I don't know why Samson didn't appear in the test without little Steiner. He still has his line though. As for Edward and Domino I assume they are programmed to appear because the characters the plot forces the player to have are Finn, Annie, Edward, Samson, and Domino.

Steiner continues to auto-follow Finn but without instructions to adjust the little dragon's size he first hovers in place as Finn falls - even retaining his shadow. Then in the next shot when a giant Finn falls kicking his little sprite feet Steiner continues floating beside him but suddenly a fraction of Finn's size. I already thought that was funny and here the game cranks it up!

Having skipped 99% of the plot means that Arawn has a bit of different dialogue in the tower.

Finn and friends! Thank you! I saw everything. Due to the agreement, all I could do was watch. But seeing the Abyss collapse, I asked Steiner to go help. [sic]

Ho ho! Were you surprised at Steiner? Indeed, he's a powerful dragon. His body recovered like a phoenix. Not even the Great Bow stopped him!

And there it is: the game covering itself in case the player didn't see Steiner in the Dragon Shrine. Steiner has to rescue Finn from falling into the Abyss and this is Arawn handwaving it to the player. Two things jump out at me. First is the capitalization of Great Bow. The second is the phoenix reference. There are no phoenixes in the game or even so much as a mention of one so I have to wonder if Finn and company would have any idea what he's talking about.

Oh and little Steiner hovers above Finn the whole time. That's why I noted that scene in Barbaros at the beginning of this update. Someone took the time to program Steiner's position in that scene. In scenes where there was never any intent for little Steiner to appear auto-follow placement wins.

After Finn fades away Steiner flies through walls towards the lower right corner. Usually he flies to the upper left corner when Finn is removed from the screen in a transition that doesn't account for the little dragon - Finn becoming a Hero and teleporting out of the Test of Discipline for example. In this instance the game is likely just moving each sprite out of bounds. The camera needs to stay focused on this point so Arawn can disappear and the game has to put the player somewhere in the meantime. It does this with NPCs all the time. They get loaded out of bounds, teleported into position, moved around, and finally despawned. Sometimes rather than getting erased they're instead dumped in some dark corner far out of camera range to be wiped from the game's memory when the player leaves the area.

Behold! Today is the day that Isla Village has long feared. The number of dragons within its boundaries has doubled from one to two. Luckily for everyone there both are leaving.

Little Steiner continues to auto-follow his buddy even after Finn has jumped aboard big Steiner and begun to fly off. It would be even funnier if, during the two flyovers that follow, the little dragon's shadow followed the big dragon's shadow. Finn must not be moving as part of that - just the shadow - so instead nothing extra chuckle worthy occurs.

Samson not appearing alongside Prince Edward earlier has another consequence. He also doesn't appear when Finn stops by Marion Castle to wave goodbye. Good thing the Bandore Army scattered to the winds with Shutat's death in the Abyss otherwise this would be quite the awkward flyover.

The game is programmed to skip dialogue in these scenes for party members who weren't recruited. Finn still stops at those locations and the characters themselves are shown on screen but it seems the developers considered that if, for example, the player never found Lorele then she wouldn't know the dragon rider flying past Barbaros. So she appears on screen and a few seconds later the transition to black starts with no dialogue from anyone in Barbaros. This applies to the entire roster, however, which means Finn ends up flying around the world while people on the ground gawk at him in silence.

Except for Zalagoon. Despite never having even set foot in the kingdom Sir Piat and the others talk about Finn as if all that business with Glade had gone down. I guess since there are no Zalagoon-tied party members on the roster there's thus no check that would result in the people of Zalagoon remaining silent.

 

Percy Helps Break Bandore

[Click any of the above screenshots to see them at full size]

After promoting Team Rugrats they headed over to Bandore Castle and managed to walk themselves into an odd glitched state. Remember, if I had seen the emperor die I would have picked up Domino in the process. He's not in the party because I haven't done any of that stuff. The only event that could have caused the NPCs in Bandore to flip over to their post-invasion spots is completing the Test of Discipline.

I does lead to funny screenshots. Is that soldier dressed in Marion colors the one being yelled at or are they the one trying to issue orders? Who is the soldier in the second screenshot even talking to?

These fights and the dialogue associated with them are triggered by stepping on certain tiles but since the soldier NPCs they were originally designed to be attached to aren't spawned when Bandore Castle is in the postwar state camera and NPC movements get a bit... weird. Take that third shot, for example. That is the same dialogue and same fight as the first shot but I triggered it by going down into the dungeons via the upper right staircase and returning to the main floor by the central staircase.

With late game weapons Team Rugrats has little trouble dispatching the lone soldiers who attempt to stop them.

Scripted battles weren't the only danger. Random encounters were also enabled leading to things like this Razor Demon putting Annie and Percy to sleep.

There's supposed to be a Bandore soldier milling about in this area talking about making the best of things after the war. For some reason the game spawns a Marion soldier sprite (or grabs one from elsewhere on the map) when this fight is triggered. I must confess though that this shot is hilarious on its own. It's a glimpse of what might have been had Marion's actual army invaded Bandore.

[Click either of the above screenshots to see them at full size]

On walking up the left/west hallway two Marion soldiers suddenly run up towards the closed gate. Their text comes from the emperor and the emperor's advisor/chancellor/toady fleeing what they think is Marion's advance. Marion's forces take military re-enactments seriously!

Downstairs by the library and storeroom the trigger tiles for a key-dropping soldier also lie in wait. There are no NPCs in this part of the castle post-war so the camera rolls on down to the lower right corner. While the battle goes smoothly the Chain Key isn't an item drop. Instead it's supposed to spawn on the ground as seen in Update 59 on the spot the soldier was standing. Since there's no NPC no key spawns.

Goodbye Chain Key. Lord Kevins isn't in the dungeons anyway so you would be useless but goodbye anyway.

Having big Steiner at this point in the plot changes the context of any scene with Steiner or a dragon's shadow. In the harbor a dragon hovers over the battleship. I parked Steiner right beside the town so I like to think he heard the cannon fire and, Steiner being Steiner, couldn't resist flying over to check out the mayhem. Ramue and Shutat mistook his observing the action as a threat on the battleship and scampered off.

What a low trick... but now what do we do?

Oh sure he could swoop down and end Finn's predicament with ease but instead he's just going to perch somewhere just off screen and talk for as long as he can get away with it.

Eventually Steiner stops laughing and Finn climbs out of danger. Finn's such a good sport about it he agrees to cosplay over at the volcano entrance. How else was Steiner going to get a chance to fight the monsters summoned by not-Ramue's trap? Because clearly there wasn't enough fire in this volcano...

We defeated those monsters... but how do we get out of here?

Oh Steiner, asking how the group will escape when he could easily carry them out of the trap. AGAIN.

After the mysterious Black Knight throws down the key a glitch I assume is caused by little Steiner not being present causes the camera to fly over to the upper left corner. Behind Steiner's portrait in the screenshot above are tiles that look completely out of place. They're actually from the caldera set. In fact this area and the caldera are adjacent to one another game data wise. If I were to walk-through-walls off the upper bounds of this map and get into a random battle the team would be warped to the caldera when said battle ended. The reverse also works - walk off the southern edge of the caldera map, get into a random battle, and get warped back here.

Made getting back and forth quick.

Completing the Trial of Discipline also advances Marion town and castle to their post-war state but at least this time a bit of dialogue provides a justification.

I heard Shutat attacked Barbaros! Could he be thinking about coming here next...? Hopefully not!

The actual attack on Barbaros occurs while Finn is in the Shrine of Discipline taking the test. How word of it gets to Marion so fast is a mystery. Anyway, for people in Marion Town to have dialogue referencing it the game must have an event flag check for that specific flag. This still doesn't explain why Bandore decided it was done with that whole war thing. I guess maybe because of Sir Galahad. Following the emperor's death Sir Galahad will be in the throne room of Bandore Castle. When I took this team up to the throne room of Marion Castle there was Sir Galahad ready to ask about Barbaros.

It's the only reason I can think of.

Also, Marion is actually in a glitchy pseudo-post-war state because of flag mismatches. The shopkeepers still think Marion Town is under occupation so their base stock is composed entirely of starter gear. In addition to that the secret path in the graveyard can't be opened because the table over the trapdoor can't be moved. While that is normal and expected Sir Samson can still be found waiting in the tunnel ready to attempt a heroic rescue of Prince Edward.

The door in the castle to the mini-treasury is locked so no raiding it. It's not like anything in there is valuable but it still makes Finn sad.

While the table in the tiny house cannot be moved access to both of the tunnels under Marion Town are easily accessible via walk-through-walls. They're on the same map and still connected to the castle's dungeons.

Once Finn is promoted and Steiner's portrait is set to the adult version he uses it every time the game prints one of his lines. Growing up sure gave Steiner a number of undisclosed new powers!

 

Correct	Glitched
Correct	Glitched

 

The meeting with Sir Samson doesn't go quite as planned. It might not look like it but when little Steiner isn't present the game quickly softlocks. I've included the comparisons above to show why. Things start going wrong immediately when Annie and Percy aren't placed correctly. Annie should be beside the wall (which is where she is in the glitch 1 shot above) but she's standing on top of Percy and immediately moves right. That's where Percy is supposed to be. Percy steps forward and soon starts talking with Sir Samson. After a few lines Samson asks Percy who his friends are and Percy, because he's supposed to be standing in front of Annie, is scripted to turn and step aside so he isn't in the way.

It's that stepping back command that causes the game to lock up. In the glitched version Percy is already standing next to the wall. The game won't let him walk into the wall and it can't skip the command so things end up hanging in an impasse.

 

Next time on Beyond the Beyond - continuing on with bonus stuff! Want a bit of a preview? Here ya go!

 

Update One hundred and eleven | Index | Update One hundred and thirteen