Source
r/fireemblem•
AgahnimD

[RELEASE][CONQUEST Re-Write/Story Overhaul] 3DS mod, Now with video!

Story Rewrite

Fire Emblem Fates: Good Guy Garon Edition

About a month ago I released a WIP game mod for the Fates Conquest Route and received a lot of positive feedback. What was originally intended to be a modification only for King Garon grew into a complete story overhaul. Barring potential spelling errors, the project is now complete. Many of the most common complaints were addressed including:

  • Characters behaving differently in the story vs. their support conversations

  • The one sided nature of the conflict narrative

  • Lack of depth or weight given to sacrifice in the story

  • Immaturity and lack of growth of the main character through the journey, as well as their involvement in the story.

  • Important pieces of backstory locked behind supports or other games

I invite all of you who enjoy the setting and characters to give this a try. This does require you to have homebrew available on your 3DS, which you can easily do by following the guide.

If you're uncomfortable with modifying your 3DS or would just like watch and see what the fuss is about, I have also uploaded recordings of the first few chapters. These include general listings of the changes made under the video details. Check it out!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Even though I only recorded five chapters, ALL chapters have been modified by this mod and the project is now complete.

Posted Nov 12, 2017, 1:20 AM UTC · edited

13629
KrashBoomBang•

Do you think you could release the full script? I definitely want to give this a read, but don't want to mod my 3DS, and only the first 7 chapters are up. Alternatively, could you record the rest of the game?

38
AgahnimDOP•

Good question! The issue with getting a script out is that it is all in the programming language, meaning there is a WHOLE lot of jibberish in there. I'll definitely be recording the rest of the game, but it will be a while since I'm just now starting on a Revelations re-write. I'll make sure to post another thread when the next video is up.

23
KrashBoomBang•

Thanks! You're definitely doing a lot of great work, so I'm sorry that I'm asking you to do more. Though maybe someone else will record it instead if they have more time. Good luck with the Rev rewrite, that's going to be a truly monumental undertaking to fix all the problems.

5
Fudgenuggets980825•

When you say "jibberish," so you mean like the whole mess used in the text simulator?

4
iandoge•

not op and late but maybe

1
MrWaffles42•

This is really exciting! This sub's been debating rewrites for years now; I'm glad someone finally did it.

16
Bakaretsu•

Damn, this looks amazing. Just to confirm, nothing gameplay-wise changes, right? I'd like to put on this mod for my first CQ lunatic run and I'd hate to have anything but the dialogue changed.

11
AgahnimDOP•

That's right! There's no gameplay changes, just changes to the dialogue, chapter summaries and titles. The chapter titles are in the GameData file, so if you're running any other mods such as the GayFates hack it may conflict. A rough workaround for this situation is to just not copy the GGG GameData.bin.lz file, although you'll get the old chapter titles.

13
Bakaretsu•

Great, thanks!

2
TheLaserSonic•

Whilst I doubt I'm going back to Fates for a bit (nothing against it, I've just got a lot of games on my plate right now), let me first give a wholehearted word of support. Though, I wonder, If your rewrite becomes a success, will people start being nicer to Fates?

Apart from that, (and this may be a bit of rose coloured glasses here), I just want to raise a few concerns I have, especially if you're basing your rewrite on feedback from the internet, because...well, it's the internet.

  • First is about Hoshido. This may just be me, but I occasionally hear people who are partial towards Nohr attempting to paint Hoshido as the more 'evil' country, whilst trying to make Nohr as sympathetic as possible. Therefore, the issue I raise is, of course, how you are going to go about showing Hoshido as the 'enemy' in the Conquest route (regardless of morals, you have to fight them due to gameplay).

  • Second is about how you're going to portray the Hoshido royals. I once read on TV Tropes that Corrin acts as a catalyst for bringing out the best parts of the personality of the royals on both sides. Basically, it's an excuse to have the 'opposing' royals act more like jerks, so they can fight you. So, it of course makes me question how you're going about this as well. I'm concerned about this, because I always think this is very easy to screw up: "how can you make the Hoshidans unsympathetic enough that they must be fought in story, whilst simultaneously sympathetic enough that someone playing would be happy to pick Birthright next to learn more about the Hoshidans?"

That's really all, I think. I wonder if you need to do anything for birthright?

9
AgahnimDOP•

Thank you, and good questions! I really hope people give Fates another shot. There's fantastic material written into the lore and opportunities to really shine. It just needs someone to bring it out. To answer your questions:

  • We're first introduced to a morally grey Hoshido by them abandoning a trade agreement with Nohr in Chapter 2. This is presented through the Nohrian lens and casts Hoshido as corrupt and untrustworthy. However as the game progresses it's learned that there are additional factors at play, giving sympathy to both sides through world building. Additionally, there are several moments where Hoshido either invades or instigates unrest in Nohr which are highlighted.

  • The guiding theme I stuck to for writing the characters is "Real responses to fantastical situations". This resulted in many more interesting and realistic conflicts, as well as near-misses for peace. I've never been a big fan of the Hoshidan siblings, but after the re-write I was honestly surprised at how big of an impact the ending chapters had and how much I now cared for them. I'm interested to hear what Birthright fans think about it!

  • I've considered a BR re-write but honestly the only chapters I'd really change are the ending ones with Xander and Garon

9
TheLaserSonic•

Nice answers, and thanks for the reply!

I suppose the only thing left for me to talk about is your plan. Yes, we already have a game, and a script to base off of, but this is still a story rewrite, and must be treated as the same as writing your own story. Ensuring you have a plan, making things consistent throughout the game (as well as supports, in this case), proper buildup to the climax, general writing stuff, you know? Don't go into this scanning each line and going: "Oh, X wouldn't say that. I'll make them say this instead." That said, I'm sure you have one for Conquest already, so I'm just putting it up for Revelation or something.

Last thing is, is this a solo project? I recommend having at least a few people proof read what you've got planned. If you've done it well, whether or not the proof-reader is a FE fan or not shouldn't matter; people tend to respond similar to good characterisation and good storylines.

Also, I played fates on a Special edition cartridge. Will it still work for me?

Edit: Also, about the Hoshidan thing, I just wanted to mention the idea that Reasoning does not excuse Intent. Even if Hoshidans had understandable reasons for attacking Nohr, you can mess up their characters, and make them unsympathetic if you are not careful with writing them; the Royals especially.. But I have faith that you won't!

3
AgahnimDOP•

Thank you for the advice! It is a solo project so it's taken me about 11 months to complete the overhaul.

The mod does work with special edition cartridges, just make sure you have the correct folder created in Lumas (0004000000179800 for USA) and download the corresponding language for your cartridge. There's more detailed installation instructions on the main thread, too!

3
illkillyouwitharake•

RIP technical adult

No matter how old you get, you're still such a little brat

8
Xigdar•

I just felt the need to tell you that I admire your work, friend.

5
AgahnimDOP•

Thank you!!

2
PokecheckHozu•

Huh, maybe I should play Conquest again.

3
ILoveWesternBlot•

Does the finished product have any significant changes from the version you posted last time? I currently have the old mod installed and I'm on chapter 18. Does this version change the ending to the point where I should use this version?

3
AgahnimDOP•

Good question! A conversation was added in chapter 15 about the concubine wars and several typos were fixed. For the English version there was also a minor bug in the ending which caused the game to skip a line. This was fixed in the newest version.

1
amadraccoon•

Hi, I have a new 2ds with no experience on how to install mods and stuff. Could someone do a walkthrough of this mod or something so I can watch what happens? Thanks.

3
TheLaserSonic•

https://3ds.guide/

Use this. As long as your 2ds is eligible to a guide, you can pull it off.

3
eclogia•

This looks awesome!

My EU 3DS is in French and I have the special edition. Would there be any conflict upon installation?

3
AgahnimDOP•

The only issue that may come up is if your game is French. The problem stems from the where different regions of the game store their dialogue info (English is @E and French is @F if I remember correctly). You can easily work around that by creating the appropriate file pathway though!

3
eclogia•

I'm not knowledgeable about that so I'll just use an NA version. Thanks for the answer nonetheless.

2
Thisisalsomypass•

May use this. Are there any risks to downloading home brew?

3
Broken_Moon_Studios•

Doing Naga's work, man! You are a legend.

2
Kawakammunism•

Do you think this hack would be compatible with Gay Fates? My first thought was yes, since your hack only edits chapter dialogue and not support dialogue, but the page mentions that it would conflict with any hack that modifies the GameData.bin.lz files.

EDIT: Nevermind, it seems like it was answered further down in the thread. (The answer is yes, they are compatible, at the expense of a few nonsensical chapter names)

2
planetarial•

You are the hero we needed, thanks

2
Golbezbajaj•

Honestly the botched story telling of fates has kept me away from playing it, despite me being interested in the game through the characters. Now i genuinely want to go play it with this mod

1
MrWaffles42•

Conquest is one of the most fun games in the series to play, even if the story is terrible. If this mod fixes that then I have absolutely no reservations about urging you to play it pronto.

2