h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Right, seeing as no-one noticed the plea in my application to join...

Read my name. Read my user page. If you've played the earlier FF games (I-VI) then please help! I'm getting no response whatever I try, and I want to try and get this working!

Oi! 'no-one noticed the plea in my application to join'?

Check this page regularly, please: <./>MP715107</.>

See heading 'Apply here for membership!' to see at least two responses to your application!

Yeah, yeah, I'll update the list of members soon-ish - promise!

No, I didn't mean "my application to join"! I meant with reference to point 2 of my post; namely help with writing Guide entries for the Final Fantasy games. I mention trying to get these things done, but I always seem to say something else in the post, and that part's the only bit that is noticed.

To explain more thoroughly:
I joined a few weeks ago. I found next to no coverage on the Final Fantasy games. Through a few mistakes and a bit of work, I ran into RFJS_ and with his help have constructed a hub page about the Final Fantasy games which is currently in Peer Review, awaiting a little more work and then to be picked out by the scouts. It is page A2591129. I am trying to create some pages about the specific games - the characters, the stories and to an extent the mechanics. I'm working on IX at the moment, will do X and possibly X-2 and VIII soonish, and RFJS_ is working on VII. However, I am looking for other people to do the earlier games, as I've never played them. I have tried Challenge H2G2: no responses; I tried asking the Gurus how to get it as Topic of the Week but I put something else in the post (that as of yet I have not done anything about) which was the only thing they answered. As I explained in my post on the other thread, I would like to join just because it's an RPG club and I like what little I've played in the genre; but also to see if anyone on here was in a position to help! Seeing no responses on the other thread to that part, I thought maybe some members didn't bother looking on there too much so I started a new thread, entitled appropriately, in order to try and draw attention to my plight.

Thank you for the admittance though, and I probably should have posted an acknowledgement on the other thread. Sorry I didn't.

But my original point of this thread still holds. Please help, someone. Anyone?

I know that Yar Kramer U46995 plays FF, so much so that one of his persona on here is Mog the Moogle. I am sure he can help you with any queries you have.

Just drop by his page, put the blame on me

Which system are they on?

Most of them, actually. The first three are on NES, 1 and 2 are on Wonderswan Color (and soon to be GBA), the first nine (except for 3) are on Playstation, four through six are on Super NES, and X, XI, XII (not yet released), and X-2 are on Playstation 2.

Can't help you then.

You able to help, Yar Kramer?

I'm after some detailed guide enties to be submitted for the edited guide, but if you don't want to do that much then just giving me any details about the earlier games would be helpful for an "evolution chart" of the FF games that I'm intending to produce.

are you just doing the main series or are you going to cover the Mana games, the FF games from the GameBoy and FFT/FFTA and FFCC?

To start with I'm sticking to the main series - it's going to take long enough to do that. Then I may spread out into FF: Tactics Advance (which I have got) or any others I can get hold of.

However, if you're asking because you're interested in doing one (or more!), then go ahead and do whatever! I don't hold a monopoly on it or anything; it's just when I arrived there was very little around and I'm trying to get something done - bits by myself, and bits by other people. If you want to do any game connected in a specifically similar style, you're more than welcome to, but if you just want to write a guide entry on a game then I couldn't stop you if I wanted to.

Okay, lessee ... uh ...

I've beaten 1, got fed up with 2 somewhat early on, lost myself in translation of 3 early on, gotten close to beating 4, beaten 5, 6, and 7, haven't played 8 or 9, got near the end of 10 but had to restart due to unavailable ingame resources at the time (read: I either couldn't find a particular shop or it wasn't there when I went back to look, and had only 1 Ether left), and I don't intend to touch 11.

I'm /far/ from getting all the secrets, but if you want a wealth of information about them all, check out the RPGClassics Final Fantasy Compendium at http://www.ffcompendium.com/

Well, there's an edited guide entry on 1 already; RFJS_ has got 7 covered; I'm in the process of dealing with 9 and intend to move onto 8, 10 and X-2; leaving 2-6 needing to be done.

So if you're interested in doing an entire article, 5 or 6 would seem perfect, and you could probably do 4 even without completing it.

And would you be willing to give me some info about the way the earlier games work? E.g. when were chocobos introduced? When was the ATB introduced? Are there any major changes in the game series?

All info very gratefully received

By the way, 8 and 10 are well worth playing. 10, you really should finish. 8 is good but tails off towards the end. 9 is so-so; X-2 is poor, and I haven't had a chance to play XI. Namely because it hasn't been released in Britain.

I'm not after the secrets really; I'm not writing walkthrougs; merely info about the game to go in the guide.

Right, but that'll still give you plenty of info. Uh ... what kind of stuff, specifically, are you after?

Uh, I mean, get rid of that "kind of" and just "what stuff."

Well, the questions I asked in the earlier post would be a good starting place...

After that; well, I suppose I'll eventually get around to doing this thing over half-term (next week) and I'll just ask as I think of things I need to know. Thanks for offering to help.

Well, the Chocobos first appeared in 2; The ATB first appeared in 4; Major changes: from 8 bit to 16 bit with 4, and also took a more ... I dunno, /cinematic/ turn, if that makes any sense. It left "strictly medieval-Europe fantasy" (beyond merely having certain advanced-technology-left-over-from-an-ancient-civilization that's in almost ALL fantasy settings) with the arrival of 6, jumped from 16 to 32 bit with 7, went back to medieval-fantasy with 9, jumped all the way from 32 to 128-bit with 10 (and was more of a "strictly medieval-Japan fantasy" setting). And, uh, that's all the major changes I can think of.

OK, thanks.
With regard to the settings:
You're saying 1-5 were all medieval Europe style settings, with special technology left over from an ancient civilisation; and 6 is like 7 and 8 with sort of futuristic technology as well as magic, right? Then I know about 9 and 10; played them, watched the extras etc.

With regard to 1-6, how many characters do you get in your party at once? And is it just in 1 that the characters are not particular people, just members of a party?

in 1 you get four people in your party, I can't remember for certain about 2 & 3, I'd have to go and hunt for them and the adapter to let them work on my NES, but I think you get four in your party in both of those too

Actually, 6 was a bit closer to the "medieval fantasy" bit, but there was a bit more industrialization in some bits. Just ... not as much as in FF7.

1 had just the "4-party-member-limit." You picked them all at the beginning.

In 2, you only had three characters consistent throughout the game; the fourth changed during different various plot points.

3 had both, in that there were four playable characters, but a fifth sometimes tagged along (and didn't participate in battles).

4 had a party limit of 5, and people seemed to come in and out more often than they did in 2. Cecil was the only character you had the whole time.

5 had a maximum of 4 party members, but one of them dies and another takes his place and inherits all his abilities in the process.

6 had a max of 4, and a total of 14 playable characters.

Well, with this and some other info I'm working on a quick game by game guide for my entry; thanks.

One more question right now however:
In Final Fantasy VI, does Cid design/own/fly etc. an airship? Because as far as I can see he does in every other mainstream FF game.

Not in Tactics Advance though, now I think about it.