A Final Fantasy Adventure

Epilogue Part 1

2005-09-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

This part is just a lot of text. I'm not going to comment on it. It's the standard RPG wrap up text that tries to make sense of the nonsensical story you've just lived through.

I know, I know

2005-08-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, I apologize. As you've seen, I did beat the game. I have actually started Final Fantasy 2 as well. I have yet to post the epilogue of Final Fantasy, and then I will start in on the posts for number 2.

The battle for our lives!

2005-08-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

This was it. The power behind the fiends. The demon behind the wasting of the world. The really bad guy we wanted to beat. Chaos!

He had access to crazy spells we had never seen or heard of. Like this crazy firestorm.

Or this bone chilling blizzard.

And a tornado that beat us back.

It's like he had masterful control over all of the elements.

He rained down lightning upon us.

And sent an earthquake to shake us to our very foundations. Notice that Blinky had succumbed to an earlier attack.

He was even able to take multiple hits from our most powerful spell: Inky's "Flare".

But finally. After throwing nearly ever spell and nearly every ounce of strength at him something in the cosmos snapped.

Chaos was defeated!

Peace and tranquility was restored.

The final level and the final enemy

2005-08-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

We stepped down in to the stygian depths of the Temple of Chaos.

We walked into the central chamber and came face to face with...

Someone familiar...

Our old foe Garland! What was he doing 2000 years in the past?

That caused us to take a step back.

And now the James Bond villian syndrome begins...

Okay, that looks ominous and ungood for us.

Not good!

He's talking crazy. But that just makes him all the more scary (not to mention that he just transformed himself into a giant demonic creature).

One more fiend again

2005-08-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

After picking up the masamune we headed towards the next stairway. Blocking our way was the multiheaded dragon Tiamat.

We tried to poison the dastardly dragon numerous times

It finally worked and we were able to continue our quest.

Ooo, even more shiny

2005-08-04T12:48:00.000-07:00

In nearly the deepest depths of the dungeon we found a long hallway.

We followed all the way to the end where we found a treasure chest all alone.

Inside we found the Masamune sword, the "Mightiest Sword of All"

We decided to let Blinky use it since Clyde already had Excalibur, which is no slouch of a sword.

More fiendish Fiends

2005-08-04T06:35:00.000-07:00

Down another level and we stepped up to another stair case.

Yep, you guessed it. Marilith stood in our way.

Bye, bye, Fiend of Fire.

The next floor of the dungeon brought us to an ominous hallway.

Kraken!! (This is who defeated us earlier.)

Again, we defeated our foe.

A blast from...in...the past

2005-08-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot, we had to fight the big, evil Death Eye before we reached the evil plate in the ground.

On our way down we reached Level 30.

A couple of floors deeper we came upon a stair surrounded by pillars.

As we stepped closer to the stairs who should leap out of the shadows but Lich! How could this be? We defeated Lich long ago. But wait! Was that long ago or a long time in the future? Of course, we were 2000 years in the past. Lich, and the other fiends, were bound to be still alive back in this age.

Lich was dispatched without too much effort.

Through the floor

2005-07-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

We came upon a room with a couple of chests and a stone plate. The stone plate seemed to be not nice.

What's that odd feeling that something like this has happened before? Is that deja vu?

But we had a hunch that in this case the old adage of "music sooths the savage beast" would hold true. We looked in our packs to see if we had anything that would help us.

Of course, the Lute! I didn't mention it at the time as it seemed such a stupid gift for the service we had rendered. But when we rescued Princess Sarah she gave us her prized lute as a thank you. Amazingly enough that insignificant gift turned out to be one of the most important events in our quest. Thank you Princess Sarah, thank you.

So we played the apparently magical lute...

...and the stone disappeared and revealed a ladder to the lower dungeons.

Spooky!
Soon after that we gained another level, this time it was 28.

And not long after that we gained level 29. This dungeon was almost as lucrative than that power leveling peninsula so long ago.

Made it!

2005-07-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

One more out of character post. I finally beat it last night! I had forgotten about the "memo" saving option as I was playing before, which would have eased much pain. So this time through I saved in a number of places as I progressed through the Temple of Chaos. Though, of course, it turns out I didn't need to this time as I never died. No matter, I finally made it through and will have the rest of the posts up soon. And then it is on to completely uncharted waters...Final Fantasy II!

Stupid...rassa frassa

2005-07-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Alright, a little out of character post here. I was pushing on through the final dungeon and taking pictures and getting ready to put up all of the last posts and start Final Fantasy II. It was not to be! I didn't take a certain boss seriously enough and all of a sudden Pinky, my White Wizard, was dead. That pretty much meant the party was dead. I had no healing power and more importantly no way to raise anyone from the dead. So Pinky was dead and Inky soon followed. That wasn't going to get me very far. I kept plodding on to see what was ahead. Blinky went down next and Clyde fought valiently on but didn't last too long. So I have to start the whole final dungeon again. Rrrr. I'll get back to it and hopefully get through so I can post the whole thing soon.

Fights in the past

2005-07-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

We quickly arrived in a temple that looked much newer than the one we left in the present.

A giant group of huge golems stomped up to us on our way.

An ewwy-gooey group of dark flan tried to overwhelm us.

A flight of green dragons decended upon us with intent to kill.

Level 27, such a high number, I like it.

Okay, then there was this group. This group really scared us. Somehow we defeated them

Let's do the Time Warp!

2005-07-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

There was nothing to do now but go to where all of the elemental energy was flowing--the Temple of Chaos. Though we had been there and defeated Garland ages ago, we'd better check it out.

We went in and walked straight ahead to Garland's chambers. There was nothing there except for a few bats and a crystal sphere.

We stepped up to the crystal and held up our own crystals. That seems to be the main way to get crystals to activate.

The bats then spoke to us and narrated what was happening.

Then the black crystal floated in the air...

...and exploded with a flash of light.

Time to do the time warp.

A sweet new sword

2005-07-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

So we took our newly found Adamantite to the Dwarf town and plopped it on the smith's forge.

Smyth was astounded.

He was so happy to just work with the metal that he made us an offer we couldn't refuse.

A couple of hammers later and the marvelous sword was done.

I'm sorry, the sword is "magnificent".

We made this old man's day.

And we were now holding Excalibur.

Activate the last crystal

2005-07-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

So we brought out our little crystal to ignite the big crystal.

And it lit up. Hooray! That's all four.

All we have to do now is walk back to that transporter and get out of here...Oh no! On the way to the transport we were ambushed by a super deadly group of Clay Golems and Mindflayers. Do you remember the last time we fought Mindflayers?

Luckily, they weren't as much trouble in our advanced state and were able to get out of there. Where to next?

The final fiend

2005-07-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

As expected, as we approached the orb, it spoke to us in ominous tones.

A being started coming into view.

And in front of us appeared a multi headed dragon! Which of course couldn't resist telling us about our impending doom.

We stepped forward and the battle was joined!

But we were able to achieve victory over our fearsome foe. Becoming invisible tends to help.

Level 26. Never hurts, never hurts.

Up to the last fiend

2005-07-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

On our way to find the last elemental fiend a Vampire Lord tried to turn us into his thrawls.

We finally came upon a long narrow bridge. It swayed in the gusting atmosphere and tested our nerves just walking. But the real fear lied in what could possibly be lurking in front of us. This was a bridge out of Lore--a foe rumored to be more formidable than any other now living patrolled it's span.

The WARMECH!

A hulking, fearsome, mechanical terror. Wielder of an ancient power called "Nuclear". Immune to fire, to cold, to lightning. It's automatic systems repaired some of the damage it received after every round of fighting. Truly a dangerous fight was on our hands.

We wished we had more pictures from the fight itself but we were too busy staying alive by the thinnest of tendrils. The fight was intense, but the rewards were great.

After dispatching this foe we stepped up to the Crystal Chamber to meet the last elemental fiend.

Into the Looking Glass

2005-07-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

We stepped up and what should we see?

We could peer out over the entire world! I bet there are very few alive that have had this view.

The elements started at each shrine we had visited and cross at the Temple of Chaos, where we defeated Garland. How very curious. I'm thinking we should venture back there once we are done with the Sky Castle.

Fighting through the Castle

2005-07-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

It didn't take long for the denizens of the Sky Castle to happen upon us and join in battle.

A group of Earth Medusas tried to turn us to stone with every gaze.

Then a Doom Knight, even darker and deadlier than the Death Knight, challenged us.

We were struck with vertigo whenever we had to venture near the outermost ramparts. The clouds were beneath us! Who would have been able to imagine such a structure before starting this adventure?

A serpentine Spirit Naga and an elemental of air called an Aeros leaped at the chance to test our mettle.

The joy of gaining Level 25 left us speechless.

What an odd looking stone!

Adamantite! Why, this is the legendary metal that the dwarven smith, Smyth, had spoken of. That seems like ages ago.

A friendly robot informed us of the handy use of this looking glass.

Unfortunately a less friendly Guardian and Soldier were guarding it closer.

We had to but step up and peer in...

To the Tower

2005-07-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

So we headed out on the next leg of our quest.

At this point even the dinosaurs wanted to stop us. Here is a ferocious Allosaurus.

We headed across a nearby desert and entered the Mirage Tower

Inside were all sorts of new enemies. Like Black Knights.

We had seen a vampire many days ago, but now there were groups of them wandering around.

Interesting, there were robots about. The remnants of an ancient society?

Chimeras are a foul and twisted corruption of nature. We felt it our duty to slay them to peices.

w00t! Level 24.

A sleek and deadly looking blue dragon.

Uh oh. The cross over from fantasy to sci fi is really going now. Guardian robots from a lost but advanced civilization are carrying out ancient orders to repel all invaders--us!

This nice robot confirmed that the robot we found in the Waterfall Cavern was a part of this ancient clan and thus the Warp Cube was likely linked to this Tower.

What do you know? The Warp Cube enabled us to warp from the tower to what appears to be a floating castle in the sky.

I'm sure new and deadly enemies await us.

A new town

2005-07-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

So down to Hawkwing we headed. We couldn't land too close so we had to trek through forests and swamps to get there. Finally we arrived at the city walls.

And we found out that the town was really called "Lufenia".

Thank goodness we just learned their language or we probably wouldn't have understood a word they were saying.

The mystery of the airship buried in the desert is partially solved. Thanks for the help with the name bytheway.

I think this may be a clue as to where we'll be going next.

Tiamat, eh? That sounds an awful lot like a boss-monster's name.

What do you know? A hint about our overall quest. So these bad guys we have been fighting weren't even the big bad guys.

Bats, how curious. I'll have to be on the lookout.

So, I guess we'll go to the Mirage Tower next. Thanks for the bell.

Where to next?

2005-07-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

So, now where do I go? I know the Lufenian language, where to use it?

I went snooping around Gaia again and came across a possible lead.

The greeter let me in on some info.

Hawkeye and Hawkwing? That's odd. Until I pulled out my map and looked at the continent in the upper right hand corner where I was and I saw the shape of a large bird.

Well, I knew where I had to go next.

Back to the eminent Dr Unne

2005-07-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

We decided to go back to Melmond to see Dr. Unne with our Rosetta Stone in tow.

He was as friendly as ever.

Someone else who can't believe our next once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment.

Here he is trying to win himself back into our good graces. "Know-nothings" indeed.

He must have studied ancient Greek history.

What a benevolent scholar.

Charming...to the last.

A waterlogged foe

2005-07-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

We stepped into the chamber of the next elemental fiend.

For some reason they can never believe we made it to them. In a few minutes he'll believe.

Out stepped Kraken, fiend of water. And immediately he goes into a speech. What is it with these guys?

Octopi give me the creeps. Gargantuan, intelligent, spell casting octopi make me really uncomfortable.

But it didn't take long before we were through with him. Even if Clyde and Blinky couldn't see very well.

Another job well done. Only one more elemental to go. Because, as is common knowledge, there are four elements.

Exploring the Shrine

2005-07-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

While walking around the Shrine we ran into a bunch of the mermaids that were in danger.

And even more importantly (to our quest) we found the fabled Rosetta Stone.

Shrine Fights

2005-07-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

The baddies wasted no time in coming up to us.

The Sea Snakes slithered up and were the first ones to reach us.

You can see we're still poisoned from the sea snakes. Here were some Sea Trolls and Sea Scorpions. (I'm seeing a pattern, kind of like the enemies in the volcano)

Yikes! A troop of Sahagins and their prince.

A deadly coiled Water Naga approached us and fell.

Even the great White Shark leaped out of the water to attack us with their rows of teeth.

We were soaked, but we were level 22.

Our first encounter with the water elemental Aquos.

Boo! The Ghosts of ancient dead followed us and attacked.

We soon learned that a nice lightning spell would do quite the damage to groups of Sahagins.

Creepy Deepeyes watched us from afar and then attacked with a white shark.

Level 23, we're moving on up!

To the Shrine

2005-07-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we might as well do this lady's wishes.

Let's hop in the barrel. I don't like the sound of "ride" though, like we have no control over where it's going.

Oooo, bubbles.

We're coming up on the shrine.

An ancient, aquatic scene awaited us.

Following leads

2005-07-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Alright, we have lots of leads to follow. Let's get right to it.

First, we travelled up the river towards the waterfall.

And there was a secret cave behind it!

And a robot, just like the guy said. Something about the Flying Fortress and Tiamat. Sounds ominous.

A Warp Cube, that sounds sweet. But I'm willing to bet that it only has one specific use and isn't as cool as it sounds.

Ooo, new enemies along the river. Colorful ones, white crocodiles and red piranhas.

After that we headed to the north side of the nearby desert.

There were some new enemies in the desert as well, like this very sharp Desert Baretta.

Where we found a caravan and a dude selling a faerie.

I brought the faerie to a nice pond near Onlak.

She seemed appreciative.

Hazzah!

Yes, yes we are. We have what you've "been looking for" your whole life.

Oh! Now you want us to do what supposedly is your life's mission?

Clues in Onlak

2005-06-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

What's the obsession with legs?

A sunken shrine and mermaids, huh? Very suspicious.

This guy needs to clean himself up a bit and quit whining. I'm sensing that he really isn't a go-getter. Though he does sound like a lot of fishermen I know.

That sounds very odd.

More talk about mermaids, and you need oxygen, huh? How interesting that we were just told about Oxyale, which seems to have the same root as oxygen. I don't know though, that sounds pretty dangerous. How safe can a submarine made out of a barrel be?

A robot, huh? Sounds like something else we'll need to investigate.

I remember meeting that Unne guy, he was annoying. Now we find out he wants something. Yet one more thing to be on the lookout for. If you can't do something yourself, just wait until the Light Warriors do it for you.

Moving right along

2005-06-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

After defeating the wily Marilith we flew our airship around looking for other interesting places to visit. We came upon the town of Onlak.

Our first impression wasn't very positive.

These next few conversations seemed to be related.

I think we should investigate!

The Fiend of Fire!

2005-06-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

With our new found power we felt bold enough to journey to the center of the volcano and the source of it's unrest.

Another crystaline object with an orb in front.

Uhhh. I guess that's us.

Oooo, glowy.

That's a lot of swords.

When you get up close and personal it's even more swords. That's one mean looking lizard lady.

We defeated her without too much difficulty. Though if you look at Inky's HP he did take the brunt of the beating. I guess she didn't like the hurtful ice spells he kept casting. Though we did find it odd that she seemed weak against ice attacks. Wouldn't you think the surroundings and indeed her body would just melt the ice? It must have something to do with magical properties we didn't understand.

A job well done.

Let's get out of here.

Into the volcano

2005-06-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

On our way to the volcano we ran into some Wyverns

Finally we arrived at the entrance to the super-heated mountain. Doesn't the path look inviting?

Well, inside it was slightly less inviting. And you think hot and humid summers in Minnesota are bad?

Ooo. A fire elemental called a Pyros. We had a feeling we'd be seeing lots of these while trekking around this lair of lava.

Hydras are nasty creatures. Fire hydras are hot, nasty creatures.

Don't you love it when caves full of creatures leave rooms full of chests full of equipment around? (and no, that's not implying that this game is unrealistic)

Remember that sandworm? Yep, this is a hotter version.

Alright! Level 20.

That didn't stop us from slogging through the remains of more monsters. Here is a fiendish Hellhound teamed with an Ogre Mage.

Let me guess...it's like a lizard, only on fire.

Ooo, ooo, ooo. Yes, you in the back...that's correct, it's a giant whose personage is engulfed in flames.

Man, how many ways can I say something is on fire? I'll just let you think of one I haven't said and then you can apply it to a dragon. Try to include the word "red".

Holy schmoly! Level 21. This is a lucrative trip!

Fun with monsters

2005-06-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just for kicks we decided to head back to the Citadel to kill more monsters and gain more experience.

On our way we met up with some Barettas.

A giant Sand Worm sprung from the ground beneath our feet. (doesn't it make you think of that Kevin Bacon movie Tremors, or I suppose it could remind you of Dune as well)

More evil cats!

Woohoo! Level 19.

Now it was time to head to Mt. Gulg to defeat the fire fiend.

King Bahamut

2005-06-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

We didn't feel worthy, even with the Rat's Tail. If you looked like this (our lowly "original" forms):

Would you feel up to talking to such a regal beast?

So we stepped up to speak with the king of the Dragons, Bahamut.

He noticed the token from the Citadel of Trials.

Ooo, we're going to be real heroes now!

Powerful dragon magic at work.

We were pretty pumped, as you can imagine.

Look at us now!

We then proceeded to kick some butt and gain a new level, 18 baby!

Okay, I want you to take a look at Pinky in that last picture. Notice the arms raised in triumph. It wasn't always like that. The celebration used to be a little different. Look at the third graphic on the second to last row of graphics on this page. That is the old celebration. Tell me it doesn't look like the White Wizard is giving the bloody corpses of dead monsters the bird. What's the point? They're all dead, you've hacked them to chunks of shark bait, why do you feel the need to degrade them further?

We have the Rat's Tail, now what?

2005-06-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

So we had to find someone that would recognize and appreciate the acheivement that is...carrying around a nasty rat's tail.

A short distance to the east of the Citadel of Trials was a group of islands dotted with caves. We figured that this was as good a place as any to check out.

So into the caves we went and what should we find? A dragon! Walking around a store room!

With trepidation we approached him and attempted to strike up a conversation.

Whew! Thank goodness that we know we're truly brave--the proof is the Rat's Tail. After cleaning out those treasure chests (the dragon didn't seem to mind, strangely enough) we searched through the other islands. The caves were filled with more peaceful dragons. A few of them mentioned that the brave should speak to their king, Bahamut. (I had this strange, strange feeling that I will be calling this Bahamut into battle to fight for me in the far, far, far future)

Finally, we found the king and presented ourselves before him.

Through the Trials

2005-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Through the halls we roamed. Traversing a maze of teleportation devices.

Along the way we met up with horrible man-cats called Rakshasas.

Then a group of mummies and their King.

These Horned Devils came after us with an astonishing ferocity.

Yes, Level 17! That should help with whatever the final trial would be.

These Clay Golems could take a lot of punishment.

Ah! A group of Medusas!

Nightmares, though they darkened our vision, were not too much to worry about.

Finally, did we reach the end of the maze, where only a chest and a throne awaited.

Obtained the WHAT? I guess it must be important. Luckily it went straight into our "Important" item group, so we weren't tempted to throw the nasty thing away.

As we stepped towards the throne our final test leaped forth--the deadly Zombie Dragon!

Fortunately, the Zombie Dragon didn't prove to be very difficult to deal with. As is well known, undead creatures have a weakness to fire and daylight type spells. Thankfully both of our mages had a plethora of applicable spells to choose from. Also, freshly picked up in the Ice Cavern, Clyde was wielding a Flaming Sword.

Also, though we knew not why or how, if we stepped away from the throne and then made a move for it again, and fresh Zombie Dragon or two leaped from the shadows to challenge us. We were able to gain lots of experience and each one defeated dropped its own hoard of gold! After getting bored of chopping dragons to haggis we decided to head out.

On our way back to the airship we met up with another giant insect called a Remora.

We also were attacked by a deadly Manticore

Let's try the Trials

2005-06-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, there must be a way to upgrade ourselves even beyond just gaining levels. At some of the magic stores they had spells that were only available to "White Wizards" and "Black Wizards". We only had a White and Black Mage so we weren't allowed to use them. Logically it follows that there must be a way to better ourselves. We saw an interesting looking castle while flying around and decided to investigate. The one shortcoming of the airship was that it could only land in a clear plain. No forests, no deserts, no swamps. So we landed as close as we could to the castle and headed in.

On our way we met some horrible monsters.
Like Sabretooths and Weretigers. Some of the deadliest cats we had ever seen.

We did all we could to avoid the deadly gaze of the Basilisk. If you've seen Harry Potter, you know what we were up against.

Finally we arrived at the castle...

...which happened to be called the Citadel of Trials. That sounds like just what we wanted to do.

An old man let us know what the deal was.

Interestingly enough, the chairs happened to be teleportation devices. This chair launched us into the upper floors where the true trial began.

Off into a new world

2005-06-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

Finally, an update. I've got a few lined up and I'll try to start keeping up again.

With our new found ability to travel almost anywhere we headed off to explore the world.
The first place we tried was a little town in a mountainous valley.

It was called Gaia.

The people there were friendly enough. Most of them were talking about an ancient people who built things that could fly.

I wonder if I'm going to have to go up into their tower and flying castle later?

There was even a broom sweeping itself around town.

Excitement was abounding.

Believe it or not...

2005-01-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

(If you're wondering about the post title, try to recall the theme song to Greatest American Hero)

For no real reason, other than knowing we had to go there, we headed to the desert.

We joined in a circle and pulled out the Levistone. (the picture with the Levistone actually in it didn't turn out well)

All of a sudden the earth opened up.

And an airship rose from underground

It was finally ours.

This thing could use some ground effects and a kickin' sound system.

So we had to try it out a bit.

And do some flybys.

A chilly detour

2005-01-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

I knew that the Sages wanted us to go after the Fire Fiend in Mt Gulg (formerly known as Gurgu Volcano) but we felt that a detour was in order. So we headed for the frigid Ice Cavern.

The Mindflayers were tough. They could paralyze everyone in the party just by thinking about it.

This is what comes from fighting Mindflayers.

But we were able to defeat many and gain another level of experience, achieving level 16.

Dark Wizards also roamed the halls. They had a death touch attack that seemed very unfair.

The White Dragons are tough, but all they had going for them was a deadly ice breath weapon, a thick scaly hide, and the mystique of being one of the most ancient creatures in the world. We were always thankful to fight them instead of Mindflayers or Dark Wizards.

Huge Ice Gigas roamed the halls. Brushing icicles from the ceiling of the cave as they walked toward us with menace.

Thick coated Winter Wolves with an arctic breath hunted us in packs.

Guarding something important was a gigantic Evil Eye.

Oh! The levistone. I'm guessing that it can make something float.

Back down the river, where we caught up with the even deadlier Neochu.

New transport

2005-01-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

We headed back to the Circle of Sages and one of them told me what I just did.

And then gave me more good news.

And gave me a canoe. Thanks. Let me guess, I have to paddle it myself and you're not going to help me? Right, I thought so.

So off we went, up the nearby rivers.

Where new, deadly enemies awaited. Ochus tried to poison us and the crocs had a mean bite.

We're not going to call Captain Planet are we?

2005-01-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

So after defeating the Earth Fiend we had to power up the Earth Crystal.

We were all pretty happy about it.

Are you a Lich yet?

2005-01-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

You only had to wait until the next year for the next segment of the quest. Here we finally go...

Hmmm, if you ask me, that looks a lot like an Earth Crystal. I bet we're in the right place.

The Orb speaks!

And floats and glows!

And transforms into a hideous looking undead creature.

Thanks for the update--we needed more reason to want to kill you.

Liches are usually pretty evil.

That's why we kill them

They're coming

2004-12-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

I have a bunch of new posts pretty much ready to go. The only thing left to do is upload all of the pictures. I have been pretty busy lately and just haven't gotten around to it. Now with a Christmas vacation coming up posts may be delayed for a bit--so please be patient. The story will continue.

Find the boss

2004-12-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

So we headed down and found more enemies lining up for slaughter. Ogre Chieftains started bring their tribal Mages along, to no positive (for them) effect.

Level Up to Level 15!

The riddles of the Sphinxes (which of course didn't enter into this tale) didn't stand a chance against bladed fury.

Ancient Egyptian Mummies came out and put some of us to sleep with their mummy's curse.

Could the boss be behind this door?

Break on through

2004-12-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

So we found a sturdy plate behind where the vampire had been.

It was evil.

But a little probing and we made it though.

Titan's Cave and beyond

2004-12-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

So we headed off to another cave...

Which belonged to the Titan...

Who was very large...

And had one thing on his mind...

He must work out.

I hope you enjoyed your immesurably expensive snack.

Beyond the Titan's cave was the Sage's Cave

Not one of these pots had anything to steal in them. What kind of Final Fantasy game is this?

Well, isn't that good news. We killed a mere henchman.

No problem, off we go to probe with our staff...

...or with our rod.

Kill the vampire!

2004-12-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

To our astonishment the bat started lecturing us about life and death.

Then it transformed...

...into a vampire!

And it wouldn't stop talking!

The fight was on.

But not for long. And wouldn't you know it, the vampire just happened to be hoarding a precious jewel, which we happened to know was a delicacy for titans.

To the Terra Cavern

2004-12-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

South from Melmond we travelled, and came across a deep cave.

It was the Terra Cavern

The earth elementals called Gnoma were everywhere, especially guarding treasure chests.

Level 14 = more power!

Wraiths are hideous to behold.

A huge troop of Ochre Jellies tried to overwhelm us.

After fighting our way for a few levels down we came up for fresh air and to rest at the inn of Melmond. Oh, and to kick butt, like we did against these Hyenadons.

We went back into the cave and met up with some horrible Cockatrices. They can turn a person to stone with but a glance.

Finally we came upon a mysteriously large and evil looking bat.

Sage's resort town

2004-12-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Next we headed off to beautiful Crescent Lake...

...home of the Circle of Sages

They didn't have all that much to say that was interesting. Lots of blah blah prophecy, blah blah Four Fiends, blah blah Light Warriors.

Oh, aren't you special.

Power leveling

2004-12-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

Before we headed to the Terra Cave we figured a bit of leveling up was needed. There was a rumor of a certain peninsula where the enemies were more difficult than they should be. Translation: big experience points!

Level 11 came pretty quickly.

The peninsula was mostly populated by Necrotaurs and Trolls.

But groups of Hill Giants, I mean Hill Gigas, also sought to defeat us.

Even dinosaurs, like this Allosaurus, roamed the plains.

Giant Centipedes are always scary.

Wow, another level (12) already?

Gotta restore some HP for more fighting.

The levels (13) keep on coming.

See the time difference and the level difference? It took a mere 20 minutes of real time.

To a new town.

2004-12-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

Out we went through the newly devestated canal and straight over to the town of Melmond.

It was a little decrepit on the inside.

The villagers blamed a vampire. I sensed another quest to save a hapless town.

Another mention of a floating stone. It is amazing how well ancient legends get around in this backwards world.

Titan, eh? I'm sure you wouldn't have mentioned him if I didn't have to go there later. I should keep my eye out for precious gems.

Famous people can be annoying.

So you can't let them feel so high and mighty.

Hmmm, so it looks like I'll be heading south.

New Enemies and a game

2004-11-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

We went back to the marsh cave for treasure as well.
We got to fight some tough Bloodbones.

And also some slithering Anacondas.

A neat feature of our ship was a game that was included on the control console. There are numbers 1 through 15 mixed up in a square and you have to rearrange them so that they are in numerical order. The really neat part is that if you beat one of the top three times you get money. That's right, money comes right out of the console. We searched the boat up and down for that hidden cache of money. Even though it must have been enormous, you could keep winning 10000 gil for beating the best time, we couldn't find the treasure anywhere.

Dwarves!

2004-11-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

After finding some treasure I wandered around, trying to figure out what to do next when I came upon a cave.

Inside there was a colony of dwarves!

They seemed to be very cheery dwarves.

This information would have been helpful...about a week ago.

This info will probably come in handy before that info about the Lute.

Dwarves have clever names.

Hmmm, I wonder if we'll want to see this guy later in the game, I mean, later in our lives?

Leave the explosives to the professionals.

It's his language that instills confidence.

Holy cow--a cut scene! I mean, here's what happened:

Now I can travel to and explore a wider world. Hooray!

Looking for locked treasure

2004-11-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

I my whirlwind tour to find doors locked with the Mystic Key I fought many more monsters and managed to make Level 10.

Ooo, the Sahagin's brought along their Chiefs. This worked just as well as the Ogres bringing their Chieftains to the fight.

I'm thinking that this piece of information will come in handy way down the road.

What's a Crosier?

Nitro Powder, I like the sound of that. (it used to be called TNT)

Wakey wakey

2004-11-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

The Prince's servant seemed as surprised as we were that the only thing needed to wake the Prince was a heavily caffeinated beverage.

Finally, he woke up.

He then proceeded to suck up a little bit and finally handed over the enigmatic Mystic Key...

...which we promptly used to clean out the treasury.

All the Sugar, Twice the Caffeine

2004-11-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Oh no, Gogglers!

We finally caught up with Matoya and she was very appreciative that we had risked our lives for her sake.

She seemed to know just what we wanted.

That's right, Jolt Cola, I mean Tonic.

She bid us farewell and asked us to come back whenever we needed help. Again, in appreciation of nearly getting killed so that she could see.

Now, off to cure the Prince!

Black Betrayal!

2004-11-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

On our way back the to keep to deliver the crown we even achieved level 9.

Then into the Western Keep to talk to the king.

As you can see, the upkeep on the Keep has not be kept up.

We handed the Crown to the king and lo! We had been decieved!

He transformed...

...and proceeded to tell us his plans.

We enganged the nasty looking creature in battle.

After putting him down we found Matoya's Crystal Eye in his possesion.

Now, we were off to Matoya's!

Marshy danger

2004-11-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

So south we headed and found a nasty hole in the ground. In we went.

New denizens awaited us inside. Like Green Slimes and Gray Oozes.

Or creepy Crawlers.

Even the Gargoyles leaped at us from their perches upon the walls. Who builds gargoyles inside a cave in a marsh? I don't have the answer to that question.

The Shadows themselves were alive with murderous intent.

Finally I came upon an important looking treasure chest. It looks as though no one is even guarding it! Well, we'll just walk right up and...
Oh no! Piscodemons!

After desposing of the horrible demons I held up the Crown for all to see.

Now I just had to head back to that nice, lonely king and give him his crown back.

Quest for the Crown

2004-11-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately this next part is undocumented as our camera wasn't working.

We wandered far and we wandered wide and finally came upon an old decrepit castle way to the north of the elves' home. We wandered about its empty halls searching for signs of life. Finally we stumbled upon the throne room where a king sat alone on his throne.

He told us that he had lost his magic crown and would be very appreciative if we could get it back to him. Well, we certainly had no reason to be suspicious. Just because we were searching for a dark elf king who would be shunned by all others. Just because we were searching for an old castle, where we thought the dark elf would be. Just because this king didn't tell us who he was and all he wanted was a powerful artifact. Those aren't reasons enough for Light Warriors to shirk their responsibilities of doing anything for anyone who asks.

The king told us his crown was in the Marsh Cave to the south, so that's where we headed.

Ooo, shiny

2004-11-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

In our killing spree I did meet up with some new monsters.

The first was when an Ogre decided to bring his Chieftain to the fight.

He was a little tougher than his tribe member, I'm guessing it's from the years of beating up rivals to keep his standing as Chieftain. We beat him to to pulp. I was wondering if the tribe would be able to survive and choose a new Chieftain, but I didn't have to wonder for long because new Chieftains kept lining up for the slaughter, each time inexplicably bringing the total wealth of the tribe for me to pilfer. Sometimes the Chieftains of multiple tribes would come at us at once in a concerted effort to rid their peoples of the scourge of the Light Warriors. They all fell beneath our blades.

Then green Tarantulas came at us, and infected us with their venomous bites.

Yes, level 7!

Wow, level 8! Killing Orges is starting to be profitable.

After killing scores of monsters and leaving their bloody corpses littered about the forests and fields surrounding the elven town, we finally had enough money for a new sword and a couple sets of armor. Plus, we needed to buy some new spells.

After getting all of our new equipment we decided to head out in a search for Astos.

We met up with some more new monsters in our explorations, like these Ghasts.

Then some poisonous Scorpions.

Where where we?

2004-11-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

So, I had to find the dark elf in order to cure the prince. The elves couldn't do this for themselves. I do say, it sure is fortuitous that the elf prince happened to be poisoned in the same time frame that the prophesied Light Warriors came into the world after waiting for hundreds of years.

But before heading off to fight the big bad boss monster, I mean, Astos, I had to upgrade my equipment. This was a slight problem because everything was so expensive and I didn't have much money. I am going to go out on a limb and predict that I will have more money than I know what to do with before too long. I will haul it around in a giant sack that I will drag to the bowels of hell on my way to fight the forces of Chaos in an effort to save the world. Luckily, because it doesn't fit into any kind of game mechanics or world physics, this giant sack will not hinder my progress, fighting performance, or spell casting abilities.

Anyway, the thing I really wanted was a Mythril Sword. Wow, it was so shiny and it's attack capabilities far outpaced my current sword. The catch--4000 gil! Wow, I had maybe 1000 at the time, and I also wanted to by some steel armor. What is a party of light warriors to do? I know--go kill wandering monsters and take all the money that they seem to carry around.

And this is what I did. For a long while.

It's not what you think

2004-11-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm breaking character here to give an update. I know you all (haha, "all") think that I'm completely slacking on this project. Well, that's only half true. I'm slacking on the journalling of my adventure, but I'm not on the actually adventuring.

I have 200-300 screenshots waiting to be sifted through along with narrative from my last post to the present. I've pretty much made it all the way through the game. I just kept meaning to get "to the next thing" but I kept doing so well that I just kept going. As it stands right now all of my guys are level 29 and pretty much poised to make the final assault on the Temple of Chaos.

Just though I'd give a heads up.

A new quest

2004-10-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

Well, after talking with a bunch of elves in the town and the castle I find out that the Elf Prince has fallen under a curse. Astos, the king of the Dark Elves stormed the castle, cursed the prince, and then stole all of the treasure. Heck of a security force, huh?

Everyone is sad because the prince was meant to be the next king and clearly the whole nation cannot continue without him. Instead of picking someone else to be king they have decided to languish and concede their nation to the dark elves.

A few hints as to what I need to do popped up:
No one knows where Astos has gone.
There is a witch who makes potions.
Someone came across a spooky castle, but was so scared that they ran off.

Well, sounds like I need to find the castle, beat Astos, and then find the eye so I can talk Matoya into making a potion for the prince. Sound like a plan?

A voyage across the ocean

2004-10-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

My shiny new ship.

Imagine my surprise when a shark jumped onto the deck and tried to bite us.

Then some crazy mermen type creatures tried to take us down.

Woo hoo! Level 6!

Into the land of the elves.

Hmmm, who could this be referring to?

The Aftermath

2004-10-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

After a few coup de grace's on his sleeping minions, Bikke's attitude changed fairly quickly.

bHaveBoat = True;

A reformed pirate.

"THEM"? I just don't get it, can't they mention who "they" are?

Pirate Force...Assemble!

2004-10-27T20:47:00.000-07:00

The dread pirate Bikke seemed to think he was pretty tough.

Of course, he wouldn't do anything for himself. Not when there are minions around.

And what kind of minions would they be if they didn't immediately jump to protect their fearless leader?

So they attack en masse, trying to overwhelm the valient heroes.

Hmmm, they must have just come back from a long voyage at sea because they were all very susceptible to Inky's sleep spell.

Racketeering

2004-10-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

We made the long trek to Pravoca (not Pravoka) after our ordeals in the Temple of Chaos. The people there seemed friendly enough. They just whined about the tough pirates that had taken up residence near the back of the town. The pirates were very disrepectful and just plain mean. Obviously something had to be done.

I went around to all of the shop owners, including the weapons shop, the armor shop, and both magic shops, and explained the situation. Basically I laid out the facts and gave my thoughts thusly:
1. The town was under seige by notorious pirates from the Aldean Sea
2. No one in town could force them out
3. I could easily do it if I had the right equipment
4. I didn't have the most up to date spells or weapons and armor

So what do we have? The shop owners have equipment and want the pirates gone. I want equipment and can get rid of the pirates. It seemed easy to me, that they should give the party giant discounts on stuff as a kind of payment for our good deeds.

Unbelievably I had no such luck convincing them. They kept going on and on about their "bottom line" followed up with praises and thanks to the "Light Warriors" who they were sure loved to "help people" out of the "goodness of their hearts".

What a racket. So we left town and left the pirates and started wandering around the woods to find enemies and take their money. Since the stuff we needed was so exhorbitantly over-priced we wandered around for a while, resting at the inn (again, no discount) when we needed to. We did get to level 5, which could only help with the pirates.

After a long time we finally had enough Gil to buy the spells and equipment we needed. So we went back to town, bought our supplies, readied ourselves, and waded into battle.

Mystic Key?

2004-10-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

After a nice sleep at the Cornelia Inn, the party decided to head out once again for the Temple of Chaos to pick up any treasure that happened to still be lying around. Some goblins and wolves took offense at our trespassing through their forest again, but we beat them into the ground again and took their gil.

While wandering around the Temple of Chaos we met some new enemies. Like Black Widows, Zombies, Skeletons, and a Ghoul. I did find some treasure, locked up in a few chests I found a Leather Cap, a Potion, and a Tent. Inky immediately slapped the Leather Cap on his head, using his pitiful defense and low hit points as an excuse to need it the most. Potions are always handy and tents are very expense, so picking up one of those was a nice find.

On our way to the next room with treasure (we hoped!) we ran into a couple of very strong groups of enemies. They were both huge and anchored by Warg Wolves, which were very tough and very strong. One group was very varried and included some normal wolves and two types of goblins. The other was just a bunch of wolves headed by a warg.

We were barely able to hack and cast our way past the second group. Inky's new cap didn't help much with the onslaught of the wolves. Luckily Pinky was there to cast a healing spell and we limped over to the next room, only to find it was locked! Locked with the Mystic Key. What the heck is the Mystic Key? I don't know. I can only assume that it is a key and that it is mystic. Possibly containing many mystical properties.

We hurried as fast as we could out of the temple and back to Corneria for a rest at the extremely comfortable, and cheap, inn. What a day!

New Enemies Du Jour

2004-10-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

I did get to fight some cool enemies. Like this horse. I'm sorry, Crazy Horse

Or this lizard. (who was actually really tough)

Here was an enemy I had been looking forward to seeing. An ogre! And then a gigas worm tagged along each time.

Lastly we saw a cobra. Luckily, no poison.

All of those enemies (and many more like them) added up to Level 4!

In Matoya's Cave

2004-10-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

Matoya isn't too happy at the moment.

Matoya's magic brooms speak in a mystic language! Can you figure it out?

A bridge to a new land and a new adventure

2004-10-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

The king decrees that the bridge be built quickly. Everyone has to work overtime. The workers seem a little put out.

I thought that maybe they wouldn't put this part of the game in the remake. But no, when you cross the bridge it goes to a "cut scene."

Words scroll for an eternity telling you nothing. Basically it tells you that the game is just beginning.

Just to prove to you that the game is really just beginning, they show you the title screen again.

Saving Sarah

2004-10-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

Garland seems surprised to see me.

The fight begins.

A little lightning helps the cause.

Sarah seems thankful enough to be saved. Thanks for letting us know your name and who you are. We had no clue what we were doing here.

Could it be???

2004-10-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Could this be the key to actually playing every Final Fantasy game ever made? Doubtful, as it would mean buying a whole other system and who knows if the game with make it to the US, but it's interesting to think about.

Movin' on up

2004-10-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

So I played for a little bit tonight (maybe a few pictures tomorrow). (By the way, are there any types of pictures that are more or less interesting than others? Any kind that you haven't seen that you'd like to? I've only been playing for like an hour and a half, so I haven't seen a ton yet, but ideas are always welcome.)

I went in and defeated Garland very easily. And I was mistaken, the Temple of Fiends is now actually called the Temple of Chaos. Kind of a foreshadowing. (and if you've played and beat the game before, you know what I mean). I forgot to go back and clean out the Temple of its treasure chests, so I'll be doing that next. I did bring the princess back to her castle, for which everyone was very appreciative. The king was so glad that he built me a bridge. He couldn't spare a few dollars (or Gil) to buy me some sweet equipment, or let me into the armory, but he had the time and money to construct a bridge over a strait to the next continent. Oh, wait. This is a console role playing game, it's not supposed to make sense.

On a side note, if you find little inconsistancies in games like that funny, check this out:

The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Cliches.

It's hilarious if you've spent any time playing any of these games.

Anyway, after the bridge was built we made a trek north to find some tougher enemies. The first one we found was a Wild Horse, and then a very tough Lizard. We hadn't stayed at the inn after fighting Garland so when we met up with four Wild Horses, we decided to make a break for it, after the Horses got in their preemptive strikes. First Blinky tried to run and didn't make it, then Clyde, with no success, Pinky was next, it was a no go. With hope running out Inky tried with one last gasp and succeeded. We were out of there. With only a few Goblins met along the way we high-tailed it to the inn for a well deserved rest.

Fully restocked with HP and MP we headed north for Matoya's Cave. Matoya is a blind witch that can only see when she has her crystal eye. The crystal, predictably, is missing. She has no clue where it might be, so we'll just have to look around a bit. On my way to her cave we ran into a few tough enemies. An Ogre and a Gigas Worm (??) tried to stop us twice, but both times we were able to beat them down. We ran across a cobra as well and were able to kill it before it had a chance to poison us.

Back to the inn for another rest, but not before gaining level 4! That is where I now stand. The plan next is to head back to the Temple and clean it of its items. Then head north and east to the next town which I believe is Provoka.

Latest Picture Updates

2004-10-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Gaining another level (3).

Deadly purple Goblin Guard.

Sleepy Time

Can't wait for the fight against Garland.

Level 3

2004-10-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

I played for nearly an hour while listening to Monday Night Football in the background last night. I leveled up to level 3, now my guys are kickin' butts and takin' names...of goblins. I did finally meet up with a couple new enemies, some skeletons and some goblin guards (which are more powerful than goblins. eluded to by the fact that they are purple colored.) I will post some pictures later. I saved the game right in front of the Temple of Fiends on my way to fight Garland. I will probably do that tonight and of course have pictures for you.

Compare

2004-10-04T14:41:00.002-07:00

If you didn't see the links in Steve's comment you didn't see the comparison of the new graphcs to the old. Hopefully he doesn't mind me directly posting those pictures into the post here.

This first is the first thing you see playing the game. Sitting outside the first town. Compare with the last post.

Then we have a picture of deadly goblins. Compare this one with the second picture in this post.

It's kind of fun to see the differences. I think Steve is about right, the graphics seem to be nearly lifted from somewhere in the FF IV to VI range in time. Another clue to the fact that not much has changed is that the default party is still the same and the HPs of each character are the same as before, too.

A first glimpse

2004-09-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

That would be for me, not you. Here is a picture of what I first saw after choosing my party. Inspired by a picture Steve found of the original FF, I looked through the screenshots I had taken and lo, this one was there. The party is standing at the entrance to Cornelia.

Wanted:

2004-09-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

Party of Light Warriors seeking wandering bands of Goblins. Looking to gain experience. Can you help? Meet us in woods surrounding city.

The pictures I'm capturing seem to be a little blurry, I haven't figured out why. But this is what we have for now. I started off the game pretty standardly. I bought the best equipment I could afford for everyone, I'll list it later when I turn the game back on, I didn't even think of that. Plus, I bought a couple of spells for my wizards. Then I proceeded to walk around the city, staying close to the life giving inn, and killing Goblins to start the leveling up process. I think I'll get mostly to level 3 before I start going further looking for more wolves and giants.

The first real batch of pics:

Here is the King and his advisor, surprised that we have the crystals fortold by prophesy. I am actually a big fan of those kind of "emoticons". They were used extensively in Tales of Destiny 2 and I enjoyed them there.

Here is my first fight against deadly Goblins.

Experience is always nice.

Holy cow, I am already level 2! Wandering around the woods outside of town looking for Goblins is always fun.

I finally decided to start using some of Inky's firepower.

The ladies in this town seem a little forward to me.

Finally a rest, and the game will be saved. I wanted to hold out for level 3 but that would have taken a long time just killing Goblins and I was already out of spells.

Characters

2004-09-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

One month later...

Well, I'm finally a little more moved in so I hooked up my Playstation again. Hopefully I'll get some real playing time in soon.

The first decision I had to make was what party to have. There are 6 classes available to the player in Final Fantasy, each with advantages and disadvantages. They are: Warrior (Fighter), Theif, Monk (Black Belt), White Mage, Black Mage, and Red Mage. You can make a party of any combination of these classes that you want. I had toyed with the idea of going with a really "off" party, like 4 of the same class or something else just as odd. But when I thought more I decided that I am in this to have fun and get some nostalgia (and maybe give some to my readers), not create a new (and possibly greater) challenge for myself. So I decided on the classic Fighter, Thief, White Mage, and Black Mage. What a surprise when I got to the party selection screen to find that this is the default party. Well, that was easy.

The next decision was for the names of each character. I wanted to think of something clever for each of them and have them a coherant group. Unfortunately that didn't really happen. I didn't want to go with "Fighter", "Thief", etc. I thought about characters from (fantasy) books I like, Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance (for a bonus feeling of nostalgia), Wheel of Time, etc. But I didn't like that either. In the end I threw up my arms and chose the four ghosts' nicknames from Pac-Man. Each of the names seemed to fit kind of well with the characters so I went with it. Clyde is the Fighter, Blinky is the Thief, Pinky is the White Mage, and Inky is the Black Mage.

Here's the menu screen as everyone is starting out, standing right outside of the first city and castle, about to go and see the king.

First Pic

2004-08-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have something for you: the first screen shot. It's just the title screen, but definitely a momentous occasion. For all of the pics I post I will have a small version on this page that will be a link to a fullsize version. So click on the picture if you can't see all the detail. (Hopefully that doesn't apply in this case.)

Fixed

2004-08-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I got it working. I am learning about CSS quickly with this whole process. I don't know the more complicated stuff, but the basics are becoming more and more clear to me.

I'm just happy I got it working. I like the navbar, I just didn't like the fact that it hosed my design. There are a few things in the template I wasn't sure about and don't know if they'll work. I'm guessing that they are some provisions for older browsers. If you find yourself on one of those or my site looks weird for whatever reason, I recommend going and downloading the best browser around right now: Mozilla Firefox.

I suppose I could tell you about the problem. The picture of Chaos (final boss of Final Fantasy) over on the left there was set up as the background of the <body> of my html code. I then set the left padding (kind of an "inside" margin) of the <body> tag to the width of the picture to push everything to the right and uncover the picture.

The problem arose when the new navbar code gets loaded after my code and sets the <body> padding back to zero so that the navbar will span the entire length of the top of the page. I played around with multiple padding and margin schemes to no avail when it finally dawned on me that I just needed an extra wrapper <div>. So the <body> stays as it now is, with no padding or margin, and below the navbar another <div> starts with the same charateristics that my <body> used to have. And we have what you now see.

So there you have it, I've been kind of fuming all day and all I had to do was think a little.

I'm broken!

2004-08-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, a new feature, the navbar, gets added to Blogger and my whole site goes to crap. I'm in the process of trying to figure out how to get my design back the way I want it, but I'm not happy. The problem is that Blogger loads a little bit of CSS after everything else which breaks my design.

And the fun part is, it doesn't work as advertised. The search bar is supposedly a "site search" but if I search for anything on my main blog it brings back zero results. Curious.

UPDATE! I *just* found a page, crazily enough, that lets you add your url to google's index. Of course, it says there is no guarantee that the pages will show up. Funny how a competitors search engine was able to crawl and index my pages on its own.

Anyway, I guess that's what I get for trying to become a webdesigner.

Nothing substantial yet

2004-08-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't started my game yet. I've been working on getting some color and a little more style into the site Even though I know not many people will ever see it, I will be looking at it all of the time, so I want it to look semi-good.

I am really getting in the process of moving. As a way to cut down on distractions I have put all of my consoles at my new house in a box so I can't play them.

I'll put up more when it is warrented.

The start of something long

2004-08-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the journey is about to begin. I have decided to embark on an adventure of epic proportions.

With the recent completion of my Final Fantasy collection I now have the ability to play every Final Fantasy game from I to IX (except for III) on my Playstation. I am going to play through each one in order.

You may ask yourself why someone would do this? Well, one reason would be that I enjoy these games and another would be that I'm trying to give myself an excuse and some motivation to play through them instead of letting them continue to collect dust on my shelf. (along with the rest of the great RPGs I own)

I have my Playstation hooked up to my computer through an analog capture device and will be able to post screen shots from the more important (I use that term quite loosely) or memorable scenes.

I have beaten 3 of the games that I will play: I, IV, and VI. I have started and not beaten VII and VIII. But I will be starting each game from the beginning. Something I will not do is to try and find every item, complete every sidequest (though I may try to get the Golden chocobo in VII just to spite Steve, and I'm really going to avoid the stupid card game in VIII), or get every character to level 99 (which I have attempted in the past). There is just too much to do in each game to do it all and I hope to finish this tour de force within a semi-reasonable space of time. I will try not to use any online walkthroughs or FAQs unless I get really stuck and need help just to continue.

I don't know how regular my playing will be. Hopefully as I get into the games I will want to continue and at least play an hour or two every couple days. That's probably asking too much of myself, but I'll try. (hopefully my girlfriend won't mind too much)

Anyway, the beginning is coming soon. I am in the process of moving so the start could be delayed or it will at least cause a delay when my computer and everything else actually gets moved.

Oh, I apologize for the site design. I'm not a graphic artist or layout king. I took examples from BlogSpot templates, used the layout tool at the CSS Creator, edited some pictures in the GIMP and I slapped some grays together and ended up with what you see here. Hopefully the design will evolve and grow along with the journey. I already know I'll be changing the header along with each game, but everything else can only change for the better as well.

Until next time, when hopefully Final Fantasy (the 'I' is implied) will be started.