Kiseki/Trails Community |OT| Familiar faces~, Zemurian places—SPOILER TAGS OR DIE!

[Pedetemptim]

OK, so it turns out that GOG does have the latest patch, but you have to use Galaxy to download it (groan). I patched the game, and here's what things look like:

Click to shrink...

The application has the Tio icon, and the version number is 1.4.1.

After that, I reverted to the 1.4 executable (which I had backed up before patching) without changing any other files, and it had the following result:

Click to shrink...

The application has the Rean icon, and the version number is 1.4. This means that the version number reported at the title screen is stored in the executable itself (instead of being pulled from a different file), which in turn means that the Tio executable isn't an old .exe that was re-uploaded by accident. It was created specifically for the 1.4.1 patch.

Note that this still doesn't guarantee that the Tio icon is a tease. Maybe Durante is a secret Tio fan who still uses her image as an icon for private development builds and has forgotten to switch to the Rean icon before uploading the latest version. Maybe some files got mixed up as he moved them around. Things happen. Still, I thought it was worth sharing.

 

[Durante]

What actually happened is that I made this latest build on a new machine, since I upgraded my primary development PC some time after 1.4 and before now.
Apparently when building the executable on the new system, it reverted back to the old icon (I don't know exactly why for now -- one guess is that the project might have referred to an absolute path for the icon which went invalid on the new system)

I know that's a pretty boring explanation :P

 

[ErrorJustin]

Wondering if someone can help me out with this - I'm playing Trails in the Sky FC with an Xbox One controller (my computer is hooked up to my living room TV) and I can't get Turbo Mode to work.

In the config tool's Input setup Turbo Mode is set to right trigger, but on the Overworld right trigger brings up the map, and in battle the right trigger isn't doing anything.

When I go into the config tool to change the keybinding I can't actually change any of the controller keybinds - when I click my mouse to select an input to try and rebind anything, no controller inputs are registered or saved.

I made it 16-17 hours without Turbo Mode but man... I have had enough of these sloooow battles. Any advice appreciated.

 

[Ribose]

I'm not sure there's anything to suggest it was anything but a bug. Thanks for the confirmation.

Unrelatedly, I was updating the master quartz data lists on the wiki and discovered that both CS1 and CS2 have "Trails of Cold Steel" (no "II") in the title bar. I got my data all confused before realizing the issue because I had both games open to the master quartz lists.

 

[Pedetemptim]

What actually happened is that I made this latest build on a new machine, since I upgraded my primary development PC some time after 1.4 and before now.
Apparently when building the executable on the new system, it reverted back to the old icon (I don't know exactly why for now -- one guess is that the project might have referred to an absolute path for the icon which went invalid on the new system)

I know that's a pretty boring explanation :P

Click to shrink...

Thank you for the clarification!

 

[Deleted member 26768]

Wondering if someone can help me out with this - I'm playing Trails in the Sky FC with an Xbox One controller (my computer is hooked up to my living room TV) and I can't get Turbo Mode to work.

In the config tool's Input setup Turbo Mode is set to right trigger, but on the Overworld right trigger brings up the map, and in battle the right trigger isn't doing anything.

When I go into the config tool to change the keybinding I can't actually change any of the controller keybinds - when I click my mouse to select an input to try and rebind anything, no controller inputs are registered or saved.

I made it 16-17 hours without Turbo Mode but man... I have had enough of these sloooow battles. Any advice appreciated.

Click to shrink...

i'm not familiar with the xbox controller but that just sounds an issue with the button you mapped it to being used for two things with the native feature given priority, maybe try mapping it to a different button or disable the map for opening the minimap? I personally liked using R2 on my DS4 for cold steel.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Wondering if someone can help me out with this - I'm playing Trails in the Sky FC with an Xbox One controller (my computer is hooked up to my living room TV) and I can't get Turbo Mode to work.

In the config tool's Input setup Turbo Mode is set to right trigger, but on the Overworld right trigger brings up the map, and in battle the right trigger isn't doing anything.

When I go into the config tool to change the keybinding I can't actually change any of the controller keybinds - when I click my mouse to select an input to try and rebind anything, no controller inputs are registered or saved.

I made it 16-17 hours without Turbo Mode but man... I have had enough of these sloooow battles. Any advice appreciated.

Click to shrink...

In addition to what nivorae said, also make sure you don't have any additional controllers plugged in. I know leaving my fightstick plugged into my PC tends to screw up a lot of other games input when I try to use my xbone pad. I used my xbone pad for FC-3rd and didn't run into any issues with using Turbo mode.

 

[ErrorJustin]

i'm not familiar with the xbox controller but that just sounds an issue with the button you mapped it to being used for two things with the native feature given priority, maybe try mapping it to a different button or disable the map for opening the minimap? I personally liked using R2 on my DS4 for cold steel.

Click to shrink...

In addition to what nivorae said, also make sure you don't have any additional controllers plugged in. I know leaving my fightstick plugged into my PC tends to screw up a lot of other games input when I try to use my xbone pad. I used my xbone pad for FC-3rd and didn't run into any issues with using Turbo mode.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the advice. The problem seems to be twofold and I haven't been able to fix it (yet) -

1) Pressing right stick and right trigger BOTH bring up the world map - but in the config they aren't both mapped to that. The behavior when pressing right trigger is a little different. Depressing it halways displays the screen's exits on screen, and then pressing it the rest of the way brings up the world map.

2) I can't actually use the config tool to rebind any controller keys. When I click on a button with my mouse, it doesn't read any controller inputs at all when I try to map it to something else.

What I THINK is happening is a Steam "controller settings" option for the game - Steam-based user settings I downloaded and set up the first time I played the game - is conflicting with the settings being set up in the config menu - I'll test this tonight.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

Thanks for the advice. The problem seems to be twofold and I haven't been able to fix it (yet) -

1) Pressing right stick and right trigger BOTH bring up the world map - but in the config they aren't both mapped to that. The behavior when pressing right trigger is a little different. Depressing it halways displays the screen's exits on screen, and then pressing it the rest of the way brings up the world map.

2) I can't actually use the config tool to rebind any controller keys. When I click on a button with my mouse, it doesn't read any controller inputs at all when I try to map it to something else.

What I THINK is happening is a Steam "controller settings" option for the game - Steam-based user settings I downloaded and set up the first time I played the game - is conflicting with the settings being set up in the config menu - I'll test this tonight.

Click to shrink...

probably a stupid question but do you have the controller thing from steamos enabled? you could try toggling that to see if it helps, i did not know it existed until i tried playing Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim because my DS4 went spastic on it without.

 

[ErrorJustin]

probably a stupid question but do you have the controller thing from steamos enabled? you could try toggling that to see if it helps, i did not know it existed until i tried playing Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim because my DS4 went spastic on it without.

Click to shrink...

I'm at work so I can't test until tonight but I think that, or something like that, is exactly what's going on.

If I were to guess, I don't think the Trails Config options are being used at all for controller input - I think the Steam controller inputs I set up (by downloading and using a user-defined controller mapping for Trails specifically) are probably super-ceding it. Or are at least conflicting with the config-defined settings.

It'd explain some other odd stuff, like why two different buttons are mapped to the exact same function (bringing up the main menu).

 

[ErrorJustin]

Happy to report that this was indeed what was causing my lack of turbo and inability to remap keys, Aidios be praised. I spent this evening happily turboing through battles and up and down the Ruan coast.

A small bit annoying this wasn't sorted out until ~20 hours in, but better now than halfway through SC.

For anyone stumbling onto this page through a desperate and specific Google search: DO NOT use any of the Trails in the Sky controller settings that are built into Steam! They conflict with the game's built-in controller config and prevent you from using Turbo Mode!

 

[Deleted member 3862]

I started Trails in the Sky SC again last night. I was two hours in when I stopped. It was like meeting an old friend. I just snagged The Third in the current Steam sale and I plan on getting through both of these and grabbing Cold Steel when it comes to PS4.

 

[skLaFarebear]

I had a much better experience with SC after replaying it on PC versus the first time I played it on my PSP thanks to the higher res assets, patches, and turbo mode (though replaying the game itself made some of it's issues a bit more obvious).

Glad you were able to fix it when you did Justin.

 

[PK Gaming]

So this probably the single best writeup on Kiseki Bonding events on the internet right now

It avoids shitty absolutes and hyperboles that taint any discussion is sincere, funny and honest.

 

[Ribose]

a

 

[Mivey]

So this probably the single best writeup on Kiseki Bonding events on the internet right now

It avoids shitty absolutes and hyperboles that taint any discussion is sincere, funny and honest.

Click to shrink...

Still sounds like it all turned slowly into a garbage fire after the Sky games. "Freedom of Choice" romantic events can't beat a couple that is naturally built in the story and not just compartmentalized into small modules in the game.

But thanks for this, sounds like CS 1 with its simple point based system, and also Zero are the only ones where it's worth bothering with it, and for Ao and CS2 - 4, I'd rather skip all of it, and maybe read up on wikis whether there are any important revelations in between the terrible fan service.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

CS2's bonding events are so much better than CS1

 

[Yunyo]

If you headpat you receive love, and if you stop headpatting you lose it, that is an important factor into Kiseki romance. Everyone who Rean headpatted has fallen for him, and everyone who headpatted Rean, Rean fell for. That has therefore lead me to conclude that headpatting is a zemurian mating act.

Click to shrink...

Golden.

 

[Lozange]

Interesting to hear how easy it is to avoid the romance stuff in CS4 when you know what to do. Guess I'll just save and load to see the events I'll be skipping, and then friendzone everyone.
re:CS2's events, they're largely pretty good and better than CS1's, except for the characters that they ran out of ideas for. Even Alisa's events, which in the context of the full quadrilogy have some issues (I don't even need to have played CS3 to say this, they're too explicitly romantic to double back on later), are pretty cute in isolation.

 

[skLaFarebear]

I wish Schera and Sara would headpat me

 

[solari]

I wish Schera and Sara would headpat me

Click to shrink...

God I Wish That Were Me

 

[Mivey]

CS2's bonding events are so much better than CS1

Click to shrink...

If even half of what's written there about Alisa's bonding events are true, then I'm better of avoiding all of them. Honestly, the more I read about the bonding stuff, the higher my appreciation of the Sky games is for never bothering with this stuff.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

If even half of what's written there about Alisa's bonding events are true, then I'm better of avoiding all of them. Honestly, the more I read about the bonding stuff, the higher my appreciation of the Sky games is for never bothering with this stuff.

Click to shrink...

honestly have no idea what you read (cuz I dont care to read that link), but CS2 bonding events have excellent character development and moments for almost the entire cast. Sara especially. The are far and a way more interesting than the mostly padding seen in the CS1 bonding events.

 

[Erpy]

I wish Schera and Sara would headpat me

Click to shrink...

Schera and Sara (and Aina) are exceptions to the headpatting rule. THEIR specific mating rituals involve plopping their potential mates into a bar and forcing alcohol down their throat until half their liver tissue has degenerated into toxic waste. Even Anton, clueless romantic as he is, immediately clocked this hence his hare-brained idea to challenge Rolent's drunken master. Heck, the act canonically involves literal stripping where Schera's concerned. Schera literally drags Olivier to the bar and Sara's countless "we should REALLY go out for drinks sometimes" - "I'm too young for this" - "Awwww" could easily be taken as her way of wooing Rean. Naturally, this is not healthy for anyone who hasn't been drinking asp-extract from a young age.

If even half of what's written there about Alisa's bonding events are true, then I'm better of avoiding all of them. Honestly, the more I read about the bonding stuff, the higher my appreciation of the Sky games is for never bothering with this stuff.

Click to shrink...

Alisa's bonding events are fine, actually. They're slightly more romantic in nature than the other girls', but Alisa's only one step ahead of the rest rather than several, so it's not too jarring.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Schera and Sara (and Aina) are exceptions to the headpatting rule. THEIR specific mating rituals involve plopping their potential mates into a bar and forcing alcohol down their throat until half their liver tissue has degenerated into toxic waste. Even Anton, clueless romantic as he is, immediately clocked this hence his hare-brained idea to challenge Rolent's drunken master. Heck, the act canonically involves literal stripping where Schera's concerned. Schera literally drags Olivier to the bar and Sara's countless "we should REALLY go out for drinks sometimes" - "I'm too young for this" - "Awwww" could easily be taken as her way of wooing Rean. Naturally, this is not healthy for anyone who hasn't been drinking asp-extract from a young age.

Click to shrink...

If I die, I die.

 

[Erpy]

Rufus and Valimar are confirmed for Cold Steel III.

Image contains potential spoiler if you haven't finished CS2.

Spoiler

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

You can get some mileage out of "here's our stud trying his hand with some of the selection of hotties here but OOPS OH GOD CATACLYSM RESET" but Im still of the opinion the neither-nor form so many of CS' Slinks take and their incredible optionality doesn't do characterization any favors with such a huge cast.

Golden.

Click to shrink...

Click to shrink...

 

[PK Gaming]

But thanks for this, sounds like CS 1 with its simple point based system, and also Zero are the only ones where it's worth bothering with it, and for Ao and CS2 - 4, I'd rather skip all of it, and maybe read up on wikis whether there are any important revelations in between the terrible fan service.

Click to shrink...

Just do the ones that interest you and skip the ones that don't. There's little sense in skipping in all of them to adhere to some arbitrary standard of quality when the whole appeal of this series is reading.

And before you go off, remember that "some" fanservice doesn't preclude the later games from having good bond events.

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Golden.

Click to shrink...

Though I'm not really feeling Rean x Toval, honestly.

 

[Gu4n]

If I had to name my favourite bonding events from Sen IV from the top of my head, none of the romantic ones come to mind.

 

[QFNS]

Bonding events are bad, don't @ me. There is basically no justification for the system. The characters and story are worse off with them in the game. Period.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

Golden.

Click to shrink...

rean x toval true romance route when

 

[Thuddert]

Golden.

Click to shrink...

Experience

Rean is giving life to these headpats.

 

[PK Gaming]

If I had to name my favourite bonding events from Sen IV from the top of my head, none of the romantic ones come to mind.

Click to shrink...

Sen IV's best bonding event is Machias's final one

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Bonding events are bad, don't @ me. There is basically no justification for the system. The characters and story are worse off with them in the game. Period.

Click to shrink...

It depends on how they're implemented, surely? I'd imagine if Sky had bonding events, then the scene with Estelle and Joshua eating sandwich and the one where Kloe tells Estelle about her feelings, which are among my favorite scenes, would probably be included in them. Ostensibly we could probably see how Agate and Zin bonded through drinks instead of just seeing the aftermath. And if Zin actually had some bonding events, perhaps he could be more than "that competent guy who has some mess with one of the villains" in my mind.

I maintain that my problem with bonding events in CS1/2 are the need to include pick-your-romance in them as well as the tendency to involve just Rean, not the system's mere existence.

 

[Aters]

I've said it before, and I will say it again: make bonding event like Tales' skit. They are short, funny, cheap to make and great for flashing out chracters. Put the important character development in main game. Don't hide their best moments in some optional content. (Trails of Azure airship scene...WTF was Falcom thinking?)

 

[Erpy]

It depends on how they're implemented, surely? I'd imagine if Sky had bonding events, then the scene with Estelle and Joshua eating sandwich and the one where Kloe tells Estelle about her feelings, which are among my favorite scenes, would probably be included in them. Ostensibly we could probably see how Agate and Zin bonded through drinks instead of just seeing the aftermath. And if Zin actually had some bonding events, perhaps he could be more than "that competent guy who has some mess with one of the villains" in my mind.

I maintain that my problem with bonding events in CS1/2 are the need to include pick-your-romance in them as well as the tendency to involve just Rean, not the system's mere existence.

Click to shrink...

Actually, the closest thing Trails in the Sky had to bonding events were Estelle's in-between-chapter Airship Walks(tm) where she had nothing to do except thump around and interact with the various members of her party.

And yeah, the biggest issue isn't so much the existence of bonding events, but the fact that Falcom won't just go with a canon coupling and therefore has to write romance-tilted events for all female characters, stifling their own options.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Actually, the closest thing Trails in the Sky had to bonding events were Estelle's in-between-chapter Airship Walks(tm) where she had nothing to do except thump around and interact with the various members of her party.

And yeah, the biggest issue isn't so much the existence of bonding events, but the fact that Falcom won't just go with a canon coupling and therefore has to write romance-tilted events for all female characters, stifling their own options.

Click to shrink...

Or the Doors in 3rd.

It's odd how very optional those are yet how vital and unmissed they are as well. But note, there is no rationing of entry to said doors...

 

[Holundrian]

I take even more issue with the stupid point limit cap than there being romance options(and I was quite negative on the implementation in sen 4). Since its introduction putting these artificial limiters on how much of the characterization you can experience in one playthrough has always been one of the most irksome aspects for me.

 

[ErrorJustin]

Beginning to lose steam in Sky FC. May start skipping sidequests and NPC convos and just power through to get to the end. The slow pace of FC in general I've been handling fine, because even though it wasn't world-saving stuff I was sure as FUCK motivated to find out who burned down that orphanage. I was fired up. And the school interlude was jus perfect.

But now I'm in Zeiss and I just... don't care about much of this stuff or these people. Tita isn't as compelling to me as Kloe, the townspeople and town itself are generally less interesting than Ruan, and the main scenario is severely lacking this chapter. The black orbment knocking out all other orbments is intriguing and is clearly going to come into play later, but there's just so little happening, when compared to hunting down sky bandits and avenging a group of orphans.

I do give this chapter lots of props for the super strong worldbuilding and lore it's dumping, though. Detailed explanations of how Orbments actually work, the timeline of their development, key historical figures... it's good stuff.

I have managed to avoid big spoilers but I do know that FC ends on such a huge cliffhanger that most people feel compelled to fire up SC immediately after. But I think once I get through this I'll probably force myself to take a break and play something else in between.

 

[Erpy]

The point you're currently at is the game trying to get all of its remaining sidequests out of the way before the main plot gets rolling and keeps rolling right until the end. So I suggest doing these last few sidequests and then buckle the heck up. The Zeiss chapter is kind of remarkable for having a very slow first half and a much more interesting second half.

 

[OniluapL]

I didn't like Zeiss very much (not in comparison with Ruan, which is the peak of FC for me), because it seems much focused in the main plot and in the lore, while it's to early in the franchise to actually develop that part in an interesting manner. Much of it amounts to a infodump, the actual narrative of the chapter is kinda weak. But I agree that the latter half is stronger, if just for one element.

 

[Kromeo]

Hmm was the opposite for me, I hated the school section and it's whole Estelle x Joshua backdrop and was glad to actually have some story after that

 

[Erpy]

The Zeiss chapter contains one particular (very short) sidequest that seems completely insignificant yet has consequences across the border and across the series for years to come and it's fun to play later games and tell yourself: "I (or Estelle) made this possible." It's a funny example of the Kiseki butterfly effect.

I'm obviously talking about:

Spoiler

introducing the acerbic tomato (and the CP-restoring recipes that use them) to Zemuria.

 

[WellbornWarrior]

Beginning to lose steam in Sky FC. May start skipping sidequests and NPC convos and just power through to get to the end. The slow pace of FC in general I've been handling fine, because even though it wasn't world-saving stuff I was sure as FUCK motivated to find out who burned down that orphanage. I was fired up. And the school interlude was jus perfect.

But now I'm in Zeiss and I just... don't care about much of this stuff or these people. Tita isn't as compelling to me as Kloe, the townspeople and town itself are generally less interesting than Ruan, and the main scenario is severely lacking this chapter. The black orbment knocking out all other orbments is intriguing and is clearly going to come into play later, but there's just so little happening, when compared to hunting down sky bandits and avenging a group of orphans.

I do give this chapter lots of props for the super strong worldbuilding and lore it's dumping, though. Detailed explanations of how Orbments actually work, the timeline of their development, key historical figures... it's good stuff.

I have managed to avoid big spoilers but I do know that FC ends on such a huge cliffhanger that most people feel compelled to fire up SC immediately after. But I think once I get through this I'll probably force myself to take a break and play something else in between.

Click to shrink...

Maybe you should make a small pause if you feel burnout. From the point you are at now I wouldn't advise you to just powering through, simply because there is so much game left. You especially don't want to enter the last dungeon in a state where you're almost fed up of the game, since that one drags on forever.

Also nothing against Kloe, but Tita is far more charming, even if her best scenes are not in the first game.

 

[Erpy]

Maybe you should make a small pause if you feel burnout. From the point you are at now I wouldn't advise you to just powering through, simply because there is so much game left. You especially don't want to enter the last dungeon in a state where you're almost fed up of the game, since that one drags on forever.

Also nothing against Kloe, but Tita is far more charming, even if her best scenes are not in the first game.

Click to shrink...

Right, FC's final dungeon is kind of a doozy. (the music's awesome though) It's a very maze-like place that also hides all of its weapons, shoes and armor upgrades in chests filled with monsters that take ludicrous amounts of punishment before going down. It's not uncommon for folks to try and rush through this place, skipping all the experience and better gear in order to finish the game as quickly as possible and then they reach the final boss underlevelled and underequipped and end up squeaking by on retry-offset. You don't want that to happen to you.

As for Tita, both she and Kloe have their moments though Tita's more overlooked as a character IMHO, maybe partially due to the fact her use in battle is much, much more situational than Kloe's in the first two games. One aspect of Tita that the games barely highlight is her status as a child prodigy at the factory and how it kinda isolates her as a result. She's still officially part of Father Vixen's Sunday School class and is fairly well-liked by the other kids, but she skips most of the school lessons in favor of working at the factory. With her being too smart to fit in with her peers at Sunday School and too childish to really fit in with the other trainees at ZCF, along with her parents not being around and her granddad usually just sitting in his lab blowing stuff up, her existence is kinda lonely at times, but for some reason Agate's the only one who ever comments on this aspect of her in any of the games.

 

[Eppcetera]

I have managed to avoid big spoilers but I do know that FC ends on such a huge cliffhanger that most people feel compelled to fire up SC immediately after. But I think once I get through this I'll probably force myself to take a break and play something else in between.

Click to shrink...

Man, you're almost up to the point where I think the game finally gets good (I think Sky FC is mediocre for about the first two thirds of the game). I forgot about how bad its final dungeon is, though, until people brought it up here (I mean, the story there is fine and the dungeon has cool music, but the chest battles are horrendous, even on New Game+). I think it's worthwhile to start the sequel right after the first game, which is what I did, although I watched the opening cutscenes of SC (around 30 minutes or so) and then stopped playing it for about a month. The first five chapters of SC are actually a retread of most of the first game (except with better gameplay, plot, and character development, in my opinion), as you go to all the same cities again, so I think a break between the two games can help reduce Trails fatigue.

 

[skLaFarebear]

FC took me about a year to beat. It wasn't till about the late parts of ch3 where I really got hooked into it and it was a non stop roller coaster from there.

The 3 years I waited between FC and SC was some of the most painful shit. Especially while reading those XSEED blog posts.

 

[Yunyo]

I powered through FC, and by powered through I mean thoroughly explored, but for the Zeiss section it took me more breaks than usual to complete because it was so huge. It also has the most unforgiving region layout. Amazing side and main quests there though.

 

[Cqef]

Yeah the biggest issue of chapter 3 is, if you're committed to do all sidequests, you'll need to suck it up because you'll backtrack a lot, like there's this one Strega betatest quest which literally asks you to travel to most of all the region's extremities and they're far from Zeiss City. Thank god for turbo mode.
And remember the temp librarian quest thread where you have to comb the region for books? yeah -_-