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LttP: EarthBound — Warm, weird, wonderful… and full of so much love! <3

antitrop

Member
Grinding shouldn't be necessary. Stock up on food from the drugstore and make sure you're using the best equipment!
I advise against equipping Yo-Yos or most "Shoot" weapons, their accuracy is garbage.

I missed 6 Yo-Yo attacks with Ness in a row last time I was playing the game, the minor damage increase over the bats is so not worth it.
 

Not

Banned
Yeah I do. Unfortunately it doesn't matter though because they always hit me before I can heal, so I die. Or I heal, they hit me, and then I'm back where I started.

I died once against the cops but I think I got some critical hits in or something because the 2nd time was over pretty quick. Hooo boy, wait til you get to later. All I'm sayin' is make use of those virtual console restore points.

Something handy I didn't know until way later in the game (almost too late in fact) was that PSI shields block all PSI attacks for a bit, including really strong ones. Can be indispensable and way more worth the PP than a power shield if you're facing a psychic enemy.
 

Krammy

Member
Yeah I do. Unfortunately it doesn't matter though because they always hit me before I can heal, so I die. Or I heal, they hit me, and then I'm back where I started.

Again, if you haven't gotten it, you can get the Mr. Baseball Cap from one of Ness' friends in the Treehouse. It's a small boost over the Baseball Cap you can buy at the shop normally.

2YbPt4q.gif


I advise against equipping Yo-Yos or most "Shoot" weapons, their accuracy is garbage.

Also this.
 

Neiteio

Member
Mmm, seeing gifs of EarthBound's colorful world fills my soul with joy

Any more of them out in the wilderness of the Internet?
 

Krammy

Member
Mmm, seeing gifs of EarthBound's colorful world fills my soul with joy

Any more of them out in the wilderness of the Internet?

There's probably plenty out there, although I prefer to make my own because of a lot of gifs are crummy quality. I'm currently working on some more for Twoson as I plow through that section.

For what it's worth, a quick google returned this bad boy~

u4Ojlz4.gif
 

Neiteio

Member
Huh, that's funny. I don't remember Mr. Saturn and Tenda being that swole.

Must be the isometric graphics playing tricks on me!
 
earthbound is great, mother 3 is also phenomenal. I played earthbound in 2009 for the first time and it was a wonderful time in my life, and i think that earthbound helped me feel even better. played mother 3 shortly afterwards and the game is crazy but i might prefer earthbound a little more
 

Neiteio

Member
I forgot how much stuff there is to do in Twoson!

https://i.imgur.com/zffXXlh.gif[IMG][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/RnP7QL9.gif[IMG]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/F66eLJG.gif[IMG][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/tsYrHUz.gif[IMG]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/93QgiJx.gif[IMG][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/kNu9c5e.gif[IMG]

The PSI Rockin effects [URL=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMQ-t3nGzrI&t=5m4s]always gets me[/URL].[/QUOTE]
These look great! I hope you'll continue making more. For example, it'd be neat to have a gif of the suspicious woman at the hotel in Threed, or the Boogey Tent coming to life.
 

Krammy

Member
These look great! I hope you'll continue making more. For example, it'd be neat to have a gif of the suspicious woman at the hotel in Threed, or the Boogey Tent coming to life.

The suspicious woman is definitely on my list for Threed, along with maybe some text about trapping the zombies with fly paper, heh.
 

Neiteio

Member
The suspicious woman is definitely on my list for Threed, along with maybe some text about trapping the zombies with fly paper, heh.
Oh, definitely do the zombies! Maybe do several in order to capture all of their different comments. I love how sarcastic some of them are, lol.
 
Just picked this up for 3DS the other night. Just cleared the 5 police, but I've never played the game so it took me a few hours to get there. The game is pretty brutal if you dive right in.
 

PKrockin

Member
Just picked this up for 3DS the other night. Just cleared the 5 police, but I've never played the game so it took me a few hours to get there. The game is pretty brutal if you dive right in.
Yeah the beginning is pretty tough compared to the rest of the game. The next battle-heavy area is pretty hard too, but after that it's smooth sailing aside from a few short difficulty spikes.

Don't be afraid to use and buy more recovery items, since money is pretty abundant in this game. And don't worry all that much about getting a game over, either. You just lose half the money you have on hand and get sent to the last place you saved. Your progress and bank account balance are unaffected.
 
Yeah the beginning is pretty tough compared to the rest of the game. The next battle-heavy area is pretty hard too, but after that it's smooth sailing aside from a few short difficulty spikes.

Don't be afraid to use and buy more recovery items, since money is pretty abundant in this game. And don't worry all that much about getting a game over, either. You just lose half the money you have on hand and get sent to the last place you saved. Your progress and bank account balance are unaffected.

Yea I died a few times before I got the hang of it. A few of the early fights seem to keep you at the mercy of RNG--Titan Ant having 2 different attacks, one that does 20-25 and one that does 40-45 is pretty obnoxious, as well as the Antoids that hit for either nothing or ~12 when you have 60hp, it sucked getting smacked like 4 times in a row...
 

wtd2009

Member
This one is up there for me. I loved it when I was a kid, i've since played through it 2 or 3 more times. So endearing, goofy, charming, etc. I love the dialogue the most. Thanks for the reminder with your post, I'm going to go play it again!


Favorite moment: Realizing that in the scaraba desert you can fight that little red worm and get a ridiculous amount of experience =D
 

Neiteio

Member
Just picked this up for 3DS the other night. Just cleared the 5 police, but I've never played the game so it took me a few hours to get there. The game is pretty brutal if you dive right in.
You don't lose any progress when you Game Over, so you're always getting stronger. No need to grind &#8212; just keep throwing yourself at the challenge and trying different things.

You do lose a bit of the money in your pocket when you're defeated, but your bank account isn't affected, and your dad will always add more.

Go to the store and make sure you have the strongest gear equipped. You know it's stronger when it makes your HP/PP flash when you highlight it in the store. Also get Mr. Baseball Cap from the kids at the treehouse, like others have noted.

However, stronger weapons are not always better. If your weapon keeps missing, it has poor accuracy, and you should probably "downgrade" to a weaker but more accurate weapon. The slingshots in the early game are pretty inaccurate.

Also note that you'll always reset from the last phone you used. So use a phone in Onett close to the police department, in this case.

The most challenging area, in my opinion, is the area you visit after the second town: Peaceful Rest Valley. (Ironic name, eh?) But you can reset the enemies onscreen by wandering away and coming back. The game will re-spawn enemies, so you can do this to get easier arrangements.
 

L Thammy

Member
Oh, definitely do the zombies! Maybe do several in order to capture all of their different comments. I love how sarcastic some of them are, lol.

If you were denied your peaceful rest so that you could serve a giant pile of vomit which is enslaving childlike blobfish under orders from a psychic alien, wouldn't you be a little snarky too?

This one is up there for me. I loved it when I was a kid, i've since played through it 2 or 3 more times. So endearing, goofy, charming, etc. I love the dialogue the most. Thanks for the reminder with your post, I'm going to go play it again!


Favorite moment: Realizing that in the scaraba desert you can fight that little red worm and get a ridiculous amount of experience =D

That thing is so hard to catch. I don't think I've ever fought it without an instant kill, either. I'm always disappointed when newer RPGs don't steal the instant kill mechanic.
 

rsniper59

Neo Member
I love Earthbound topics! This game is such a treasure for JRPG fanatics. I really enjoyed the "wacky" sense of humor the game displayed in many places when I played it as a kid, and it was easy to relate to the younger cast of characters. As an adult, I can really appreciate some of the deeper layers the game offers in its themes, and also how it plays on some of the tropes of games I love from those days.

The gameplay can be a bit of a slog to wade through, but that's helped by the excellent OST, enemy design, and writing.


But sadly, the game will truly never be the same without those scratch 'n sniffs from the official Player's Guide. That fungus one....
 
Havent played this since my friend bought the original release on SNES. I have been contemplating picking it up, especially now that it is on 3DS. Decisions, decisions.
 
Figure I may as well post this here. Got some Prisma Pencils for cheap. I am more of a painter but I thought I'd give it a try, and what better way than to draw an Earthbound composition!

jW8ie92.jpg
 
Figure I may as well post this here. Got some Prisma Pencils for cheap. I am more of a painter but I thought I'd give it a try, and what better way than to draw an Earthbound composition!

jW8ie92.jpg

Nice. Do you have a Deviantart or Tumblr page? I'd like to share this somewhere else, but I don't know where to link to give credit.
 

Krammy

Member
Finally rolled Mr. Carpainter and saved Paula. I didn't have fond memories of Happy Happy Village when I went into it, but it was actually a lot of fun! There was so much I wanted to show, like the woman who shadows you if you don't donate money, or the dude waiting behind the tree to catch you if you don't pay for the food you take.

Also, the Territorial Oaks are always fun for new players, but you can avoid their self destruction easily enough if you set the text speed to fast.

Bcid6PK.gif
qVIXiKg.gif

ObjzeMx.gif
zgGdBbj.gif

pFVrbok.gif
iECCHgT.gif


Also, I had no idea that if you talk to Mr. Carpainter before getting the Franklin Badge, you get blasted into next week! I've always fought him after getting it, so that was cool to see!

rKl2cbX.gif
 

Neiteio

Member
Finally rolled Mr. Carpainter and saved Paula. I didn't have fond memories of Happy Happy Village when I went into it, but it was actually a lot of fun! There was so much I wanted to show, like the woman who shadows you if you don't donate money, or the dude waiting behind the tree to catch you if you don't pay for the food you take.

Also, the Territorial Oaks are always fun for new players, but you can avoid their self destruction easily enough if you set the text speed to fast.

Also, I had no idea that if you talk to Mr. Carpainter before getting the Franklin Badge, you get blasted into next week! I've always fought him after getting it, so that was cool to see!
These gifs are so beautiful. I especially like the one for Territorial Oaks, one of my favorite enemies &#8212; even if it was the bane of my existence in my first couple attempts to get into this game!

And yeah, I didn't see Mr. Carpainter blast Ness, either. Neat!

Looking forward to more gifs! Like the Runaway Five at the Chaos Theater, the sarcastic zombies in the tent at Threed, the hotel woman and the Boogey Tent, the sesame seeds and mariachi men in Dusty Dunes, etc.
 

Neiteio

Member
With NX coming out in March 2017, and the release schedule for 3DS/WiiU looking so sparse this year, I think this might actually increase the chances of a Mother 3 localization, both from a manpower standpoint and as a goodwill gesture. Here's hoping that's the silver lining here!
 
Nice. Do you have a Deviantart or Tumblr page? I'd like to share this somewhere else, but I don't know where to link to give credit.

Thanks. Neither at the moment. I am going to get a FB/Instagram page up soon. You can just credit me as Shamrock7r from neogaf. Pm and let me know where you are going to share it!
 

Tomita

Member
I tried! I went up to every bookcase and NPC and couldn't find an option. What happens when you return it?

I also don't think I saw the red worm that gives tons of EXP in Scaraba.

The librarian gives you a kiss! Pretty sure you have to go into your inventory and "Use" it when facing her at the front desk.

Does something special happen if you return the map too? I never tried that since the librarian always said "You don't have to return that right away!" or something of the sort. So I just never bothered. Also I think since I just saved the goddamn world I can keep a bloody map, kthx. :D

Loving the gifs, keep it up please! And never knew that about Mr. Carpainter. Next time I play the game I really need to try that, haha.
 

Krammy

Member
Taking a break from playing Earthbound to write about how the background graphics are created. If you've done anything game related with art (palette shifting) or programming (raster effects), then you probably know a bit of how this works already. A lot of the info I'll be sharing is in layman's terms, because I'm not a programmer myself and am regurgitating this information from someone who is.

Earthbound battle backgrounds are drawn using either one or two layers. In the following example, I'll be talking about Starman's background, which uses two layers.

BG3 layer is used as the base, with a tilemap consisting of a pattern of circles that changes colour every 60-frames. The wavy motion is done using a simple sine pattern raster effect, pretty standard stuff here so I won't go into it further. The more interesting scanline effect is potentially done by using HDMA to sample the tilemap image in two different spots, giving the illusion that there are two autonomous images, separated by each line.
WasDLTG.gif
ICEWGhy.gif


BG4 layer is displayed overtop BG3, with a nifty square and triangle tilemap. Unlike the previous layer, this one does not change it's palette and only uses a simple raster effect, so again, pretty standard stuff.
NDsd7re.png
lpI71NQ.gif


The resulting effect of mixing these two layers is the beautiful and groovy backgrounds that have become a staple in the Mother series.
LeFb2qA.gif



As well, while writing this post, I found out a site was created for displaying all the different background layers in javascript. It's worth looking into if this stuff interests you.
 
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