This Mod aims to rebalance the steal/win ratios during encounters by providing a thicker layer of realism to the game. Now every item you have a chance to win is also stealable and viceversa. The win rate is toned down while stealing is generally somewhat easier, removing one of the most frustrating parts of the game (prolonging fights to unnecessary lenght in order to be able to steal from enemies). Also, extra bonus items will be rewarded after few specific fights. All enemies are now morphable, with reasonable exceptions.
INTRODUCTION
-----------------
The Mod modifies the quality and number of items carried by ingame creatures, altering the success rate of stealing. There are no modifications whatsoever to the difficulty level of the game itself.
In the file NewTable.txt such changes can be read by two numbers in parenthesis (the first indicating the winning rate and the second the stealing rate). In the unmodded version, monsters often had different items as spoil of war and for stealing. This modification brings back a touch of realism and variation by making the player always have a chance to either win or steal the item(s) monsters carry. The winning rate has been considerably reduced and made uniform all through the game (the player has always the same chance of winning an item as it should be purely luck-based) while it's now generally a little easier to steal.
The original Scene.bin is vastly inconsistent in its arbitrary distribution of the stealth success percentage in the game, often bringing the player to the verge of frustration. This will no longer be the case.
Additionally, all monsters (with due exception for special ones) can now be morphed into an item while before they could not.
A file called NewTable.txt is included in the archive with details about each change made to the single encounter: modifications done are reported by two numbers in parenthesis (the first indicating the winning rate and the second the stealing rate) and after the letter M indicating the item a specific monster will be morphed into. The casual player is not recommended (and does not really need) to go through the list of specific changes as it could spoil the game by knowing in advance what kind of new items the player will be rewarded with.
The Mod introduces also some items that before were not carried by any enemy thus trying to rebalance the underrepresentation and uniformity of the number of stealable items.
INSTALLATION
----------------
Make a backup of the original Scene.bin found in the directory C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\data\battle\ by renaming it Scene.bak
Make a backup of the original kernel.bin found in the directory C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\data\kernel\ by renaming it kernel.bak
Now unzip the new scene.bin and kernel.bin and replace the original ones in the above mentioned directories.
Start the game normally.
UNINSTALLATION
--------------------
Just cancel the modified Scene.bin and kernel.bin and rename Scene.bak Scene.bin and kernel.bak kernel.bin.
CREDITS
----------
Thanks to the authors of Scenester (Lord Ramza) and Scene Reader and every other modder at Quimm's messageboard (Forums.qhimm.com)
Thanks to kruci for creating his tool FF7Stok.exe
Thanks to SinirothX for his extensive guide which helped me through the editing.
Thanks to Squaresoft for producing my favourite episode ever of the Final Fantasy Saga
Thanks to Eidos for porting this game to PC thus giving us a chance to improve some aspects
Enjoy!
Salk
I recently installed the hardcore remix and it doesnt seem to be compatible,of course because of all the added material and enemies. Is there an update going to be available?..hope so..thanks for the great mod.
Hello!
Sorry for not replying sooner. I haven't visited for a very long time. There is no update available at the moment but I know the community is working on a project to improve compatibility between mods modifying the same resources. I'd have to convert it to this new format. I can't say whether or when I'm going to do it though. Thanks for your kind words.
After several years, I want to update the information about using this modification with 7th Heaven. 7th Heaven is available on GitHub and allows to install different modifications together. Mine is part of the newest catalogue. People interested in playing this modification can do it through 7th Heaven. The new engine modification FFNx is highly recommended to play FF7. Alternatively, The Reunion is an alternate solution that allows to play the game with a new English translation (Beacause), which is not unfortunately available if the player chooses to play FF VII with 7th Heaven.