PSP Style Battle Sprites

[Doug Stormblessed]

IT'S DONE!!!

This project was born from my extreme disappointment with the iOS/PC remake of both FFV and FFVI. I don't come from a strong graphic design background, but I have a good artistic eye in general, so I figured I'd see what I could do by using the FFIV PSP sprites as a template. I think this has been a great success. Given that I want to make this a great experience for other fans I welcome all suggestions. Now that I'm done with the sprites, I'll probably do a video to show off the work in game, but for now I've got an imgur gallery with everything in there.
https://imgur.com/a/tzFQ5

Here's the link for Version 1.0 (replace the [DOT] for it to work): https://mega[DOT]nz/file/0B5AmSxa#mbnVi2zrWEOy9oDwhRu1q0M16MG2oELV8lcTOm3AGHc
This includes: Overworld sprites for the playable characters and all main jobs. There are 50-some NPCs left. Some of those are palette swaps, so theoretically they could get knocked out quickly. I need to take a break from this though. Enjoy the battle sprites. Everything looks fairly cohesive in-game, even with the original NPCs. It's playable and a much more enjoyable experience even without a full NPC replacement, IMHO.

To install you need to extract to the Final Fantasy V\resources folder in your Steam folder. This is typically found in Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY V\resources.

Update 8/21/21
I'm DONE! Done with all the jobs! Finished up the last of the Oracles last week and just added some cut scene animations that were missing. Finally feel comfortable releasing a 1.0 version here: https://mega[DOT]nz/file/0B5AmSxa#mbnVi2zrWEOy9oDwhRu1q0M16MG2oELV8lcTOm3AGHc This was a very long time coming with a lot of hits and misses. Thanks for those who have stuck by this mod. Couldn't have done it without the support of the VG Modding discord. I can't say whether or not I'll do NPCs. I want to take some time away from the game for a bit after being on and off for five years.

In addition to the jobs, I redid the back of Bartz's hair because it was AWFUL. I also did some of the endgame cutscene sprites, moogles, and chocobos which were still using the old iOS sprites. All the main characters have been replaced. Shoot me a note here or on discord if you find something that looks off and I'll look at it.

Update 7/25/21
Finally finished the Necromancers. Oracles are next (THE LAST JOB!). Shoutout to the VG Research & Modding discord, especially Spyros for doing a full test run with the sprites. Because of his help I was able to discover that the mini status needed to be remade. Based on the board's feedback I decided to use the FFRK sprites as "mini" status as a nod to the original graphics. In addition to minis and oracles, there are a few odd overworld PC sprites that I need to do. Reminder that Steam will stop selling this version on the 27th (https://www.siliconera.com/ffv-and-ffvi-pc-versions-will-be-delisted-from-steam-in-july-2021/). I'm hopeful that these sprites will work with the Pixel Remaster too, but if you've been holding off buying it you should go ahead and purchase.

Update 3/21/21
Yikes, I wanted to update this more often. Real-world stuff got busy, so I took a break from spriting for a while. The good news is that I'm done with the Cannoneers now (in the imgur link above). I only have 8 jobs left to sprite (Oracle & Necromancer). I've also been messing around with NPC stuff. Not sure if that'll go anywhere, but I got a start on the scholar npc. Also looked into the issue where statuses don't show up in battle. The game originally stored the sprites in .dat files as three separate images (PNGs) which need to be merged into a single file for editing. Thanks to HawkX and Saftle on the VG Research & Modding discord for their help in trying to crack it. If anyone wants to do more research on it here's a good explanation of what we're dealing with https://www.vg-resource.com/thread-26815.html.

Update 2/8/21
Finished Lenna and Krile's gladiator jobs this weekend. Really happy with their final looks. Also finished Boco's sprite. Those are up in the gallery above. Started working on cannoneer jobs. I feel like I have a decent start on that.

Update 2/1/21
Gladiator jobs are my favorite so far, but they're taking a long time due to the amount of detail. I've completed Bartz & Faris. Hopefully Lenna & Krile don't take so long. I don't plan to spend as much time on the other advance jobs. I also worked on a re-texture for the chocobo that's in the gallery. Unfortunately I won't be able to use to for Boco (Bartz' chocobo companion) but there are some scenes where regular chocobos exist, so it's not a total loss. One positive is that it can be used in FFVI as well and it should fit in nicely with the Atma Weapon/AWR releases. Check out the gallery above. Going to work on Lenna and Krile's gladiators next.

Update 1/18/2021
After playing through some of the game with the last release, I noticed the jarring transition from battle & overworld sprites during cut scenes, so I made the decision to fully redo the PCs' overworld sprite poses. I'm pretty happy with the turnout. Don't have much else to say. You can see the full sprites in the above gallery.

Next up: Advance jobs, then misc PC things like mini, frog, moogle, chocobo riders, etc. Once those are done I might start on the NPCs.

As always, comments are welcome. Enjoy!

Below is my "blog" if you want to read the updates as they come.

Update 10/3/20
Finished all but the optional "advance" jobs for the four mains. Link is above. I also started work on Bartz & Lenna overworld sprites a few months back, but didn't want to "release" it. There are some events ingame that use some battle posses in the cut scenes, so I wanted to make those a little more cohesive. I'll probably make overworld sprites for Galuf, Faris & Krile for that reason. I don't know how many NPCs I'll get to because it's so time consuming, but I probably at least need to do the PCs. Anyway, hope you enjoy. I'm almost happy with this release. There will be more to come, but this is a pretty decent milestone. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Update 9/27/20
Finished Krile's Dancer and Chemist along with Bartz & Lenna's Mimes. I redid both of their Freelancers a few months back to clean them up. Doing the same with Faris now, so it's taking a bit longer for her Mime, but it's gonna be worth it. She already looks way better http://imgur.com/bCAdUVu. Shouldn't be too much longer until all I have left are the Advance Jobs. Haven't really planned out how to tackle those yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. There's been a frequently asked question about how the Gladiator job will look. I plan to work off the original concept art (https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Gladiator_(Final_Fantasy_V)?file=Gladiator_FFV.png) and not the iOS concept (ie the Roman gladiator look). That concept fits the original sprites and IMHO looks a lot cooler. Once I finish the Mime jobs I'll fine tune the positioning of the sprites and do another beta release. I'll try to update this space again next week.

Update 9/20/20
Been a while since I gave an updated. Pandemic slowed me down a bit in the beginning, but I wanted to assure everyone that the project isn't dead. I'm just bad at posting here. I've got about 20 jobs left to sprite; Krile's Dancer & Chemist, the 16 Advance Jobs, and 4 Mimes (which are just capes on the Freelancers). You can check out the progress in the links above. I've tested most of these in game and they look good. I've thought about posting a video, but I just haven't had the time. I'd rather spend what free time I have doing the sprite art. Anyway, Dancer and Chemist are coming up next, then I'll probably tackle the Mimes, and move on to the advance jobs. I'm terrible with deadlines, but I'll be back "soon" with an update.

Update 3/9/20
Added Krile's Black, White & Blue Mages. Updates are going to be slow for the next few weeks. Took a gig with a local production company that's going to take all of my free time. On the plus side I have a pretty good map on how to speed through the rest of Krile's jobs. 91/126 jobs (72%) done. On the homestretch.

Update 1/13/20
Nothing fancy. Added Krile's Monk & Thief to the image board this past week. Starting on her mages this week. Hoping to keep to the two a week schedule.

Update 1/6/2020
Took a little break from the project for the holidays. I've uploaded a better draft of Krile and Lenna's freelancers along with Kriles Knight. I may or may not use the one for Lenna as I'd need to go back through all her sprites and update them with new faces. Let me know what you think of those. If the general consensus is that they're good, I'll work on new faces & hair for Bartz & Faris. That said, I'm going to focus on Krile for the time being and modify the others when I find the time. I'm going through a new process for making Krile's job sprites, so hopefully it can go somewhat quickly. With this process it'll take longer to get the first four or five done, but I have a decent start with her Knight and Monk, so maybe not. Anyway, just wanted to give this quick update. Happy New Year!

Update 12/22/19
I've finished up all 21 jobs for the four main characters, gotten them placed and cleaned up so that there's no big glitches. I've uploaded the .dat files to MEGA. All you need to do is extract the .zip file to your /Final Fantasy V/resources folder. Make sure to back up the folder before replacing the files just in case something glitches or you want to go back to the original sprites. I want to be clear that I'm still not done with Krile's or the Advance jobs, so PLEASE treat this as an alpha or pre-alpha version of the mod. I'm going to start on Krile after the first of the year and hopefully finish everything up by the end of March, but that'll be a tall order.

I did a rework of Faris' freelancer since it's never read well to me. I did some work on the other freelancers, but Faris was the most different. Now, without further ado, here's the MEGA link (Steam can be weird about links, so just replace the [DOT] with a period):

https://mega[DOT]nz/#!sIJXyIza!GHPRL-ZChMf39_eDurXT8MJB12M9Nk2MLNX0dY3g_eY

As always, comments are welcome. Enjoy!

EDIT: Updated Link

Update 12/7/19
Made great progress this week. I completed the Chemist & Samurai jobs and Bartz Dancer. That leaves three more dancers until I do an alpha release. I'm hoping to have that done next weekend. This puts me at 82/126 (65%) for the whole shebang. Not quite there yet, but I've been averaging 3-4 sheets a week. I'm hopeful that I can match that pace with Krile since it's just one character with multiple costumes and I'm much more experienced than I was when I started this project. As always, any comments are appreciated. I also changed Galuf's Mystic Knight & Ninja faces to a side view at Child0fTheMind's suggestion. Not sure if I uploaded the new versions to imgur, but it looks more consistent in-game, so I appreciate the note.

Update 12/1/19
Been working hard for the past few weeks. Finished up the Beastmaster job, Bartz Chemist & Galuf's Samurai. This update took a bit longer because I was troubleshooting the placement of all 78 sheets I've completed thus far. This is in anticipation of a release. I'm still fine tuning all the placements and want to finish up the Samurai, Chemist & Dancer jobs before doing an alpha release, playable until you get Krile. With some luck I can get a release out in mid-December. From there I'll start on Krile's jobs.

Update 11/15/19
Took a George RR Martin long break, but I feel really good about where I'm at with the project after some solid work. I've completed Bartz, Lenna, Galuf & Faris' Ranger, Bard & Geomancer jobs and finished up Lenna & Galuf's Dragoon jobs. I've got a decent start on Bartz's Beastmaster, so that's taking shape (hoping to finish this week). I really want to thank everyone for the words of encouragement here and reddit. I tried to respond when I could. My life got super busy and I haven't had the free time to devote to this project. I wanted to let folks know that it's still on my radar. I'm hoping to power through these last EIGHT jobs (Beastmaster, Dancer, Chemist, Mime [really freelancer w/cape], Gladiator, Cannoneer, Oracle & Necromancer) and then knock out Krile's jobs. I know it's a weird order to work in, but my thought was that I could release something to get people 70% through the game and then work on Krile. Progress pics are in the links above. This puts the project a little over half-way (56%).

Update 4/3/18
Getting back into the swing of things. Mystic Knight and Ninja classes are done for the four mains. Those are in the links above. I'm on a roll right now, so hopefully the momentum continues. I've read a lot of comments asking for some kind of release, so I'll put something together soon. I don't want to relase something half-baked, so please be patient. There's still a lot of work to go.

Update 11/6/17
Made decent progress this past month. Finished up Lenna's Summoner, Bartz Mystic Knight & Galuf Mystic Knight. Worked on Lenna's hair to make her a little more feminine. The only sprite in the gallery that shows this change is her summoner (and the dropbox link in the comments below). Will update the rest later. Once I get Lenna & Faris' Mystic Knights done I plan to work on the sprite positioning and release the .dat files of my progress so far. I really haven't tested the dropbox links below, so they could be really jumps or cut off the sprites' heads/feet. Hopefully I can get to that in the next few weeks.

Update 10/6/17
Holy crap, it's been a year since I started this project! I had to take a break for several months and I've had my attention get pulled in several directions, but I think I've hit another small stride. Over the past few weeks I finished up Berserkers, Red Mages, Time Mages & three Summoners. I've got 48 out of 126 sprites done now (38%). I've been able to improve some of my process and generally have a better feel for what I'm doing. It's still very slow work though since I'm doing everything by hand. I'll try to be better about posting here, but I'm uploading to imgur as the sprites get done.

Update 11/6
Took a week away from the computer and spent the other week working on some various tweaks. Tried a bunch of stuff for the Berserkers. A lot didn't pan out, but I finished up Bartz, Galuf & Faris' berserkers today. These have been the most time-consuming, learning how to texture the fur and working on different poses. I'm going to work on Lenna's berserker next. The other water crystal jobs shouldn't be too hard since I can reuse a lot of assets between the mages. Hopefully I can finish those up by the end of the month. Sprites are in the gallery.

Update 10/23
I finished the wind crystal jobs this week, so that means that Bartz, Lenna, Galuf & Faris have sprites for their knight, thief, white, black & blue mages, and monk jobs in addition to freelancers and a few other misc jobs that I felt like doing at the time for a total of 33/126 sheets completed. Per my update below, I also solved my ghosting problem and that solution also makes the sprite files more compact, so that means less bandwidth. Still making great progress, so hooray! I may take the week off from spriting and work on the positioning guides. There's also a little bit of cleanup I need to do on the thieves and Bartz' white mage. All that means is that I may not update next week because there really won't be any apparent visual changes.

Update 10/12
This past week was a little rough, but I got my requisite three sprite sheets done. The set of knights and monks are finished and I'm currently finishing up Galuf's thief which will be the last of the thieves. That means that I've only got the 2 white and the 4 blue mages to complete for the wind crystal jobs to be done. I'm hoping to get Galuf & Bartz's white mages done this weekend. As of last night I was at 26 characters, so I'm over the 20% mark! I also reorganized my sprite albums so that they're a little easier to browse.

Update 10/4
Four weeks into the project and I have 21 sheets done, just shy of 20%. Goal is still 3-4 per week, but I killed it this past weekend. The black mage poses are identical, which doesn't make me satisfied from an artistic standpoint, but it's a huge leap toward completing the project. I may revisit (or invite others to revisit) the poses once everything is done - cause the goal is to get something playable before I burn out. I've potentially got a huge project lined up for late December which would keep me busy through February, so the sooner I complete this, the better.

[Rodrigoizb]

Saftle の投稿を引用：

Mantis の投稿を引用：

Nah, I was being courteous by testing it and don't have a need to join the server. I retried it twice and think I've done my part now.

Alrighty, well I just watched two people join for the first time without issues, while in screenshare, so no idea. Also the server has been up successfully since 2018. No idea what the issue is then on your end. Thanks for trying.

the invitation that has been posted here is for limited time.

[Saftle]

Rodrigoizb の投稿を引用：

Saftle の投稿を引用：

Alrighty, well I just watched two people join for the first time without issues, while in screenshare, so no idea. Also the server has been up successfully since 2018. No idea what the issue is then on your end. Thanks for trying.

the invitation that has been posted here is for limited time.

This is not true either. His invite does not expire: https://imgur.com/a/kmeBpVa

[Disease Man]

I'm guessing he means it's an invite to grant temporary membership, which isn't something you can see in that menu, but IS an option when making invites.

[Mantis]

I did some digging and found y'all a fix. Just send the invite link (https://discord.com/invite/bSnpVBV) in any DM. You'll see an embed appear that you can click to join the server.

[Doug Stormblessed]

Finally finished the Necromancers. Oracles are next (THE LAST JOB!). Current progress here: https://imgur.com/a/tzFQ5. Shoutout to the VG Research & Modding discord, especially Spyros for doing a full test run with the sprites. Because of his help I was able to discover that the mini status needed to be remade. Based on the board's feedback I decided to use the FFRK sprites as "mini" status as a nod to the original graphics. In addition to minis and oracles, there are a few odd overworld PC sprites that I need to do. Reminder that Steam will stop selling this version on the 27th (https://www.siliconera.com/ffv-and-ffvi-pc-versions-will-be-delisted-from-steam-in-july-2021/). I'm hopeful that these sprites will work with the Pixel Remaster too, but if you've been holding off buying it you should go ahead and purchase.

[Michael the Meek]

Those look wonderful!

[Jigyo Yume]

MtfujiInMyPants の投稿を引用：

Finally finished the Necromancers. Oracles are next (THE LAST JOB!). Current progress here: https://imgur.com/a/tzFQ5. Shoutout to the VG Research & Modding discord, especially Spyros for doing a full test run with the sprites. Because of his help I was able to discover that the mini status needed to be remade. Based on the board's feedback I decided to use the FFRK sprites as "mini" status as a nod to the original graphics. In addition to minis and oracles, there are a few odd overworld PC sprites that I need to do. Reminder that Steam will stop selling this version on the 27th (https://www.siliconera.com/ffv-and-ffvi-pc-versions-will-be-delisted-from-steam-in-july-2021/). I'm hopeful that these sprites will work with the Pixel Remaster too, but if you've been holding off buying it you should go ahead and purchase.

Will you finish the mod for this version before trying to make it work on the new version?

[Doug Stormblessed]

Dream Project の投稿を引用：

Will you finish the mod for this version before trying to make it work on the new version?

That's the plan. I won't buy the pr versions until they hit a 50% discount. And I doubt that'll happen for at least 6 months. After I finish the Oracles I'll work on the key NPCs then generic. Those will likely be tweaked reshades of the iOS sprites using the PSP palettes. I've done a few tests and that method gives pretty consistent results and is much faster than starting from scratch. I wanna wrap this up, but knowing myself I'm not going to release a something that looks bad just to be done with it. I could scrap that idea and do something else entirely. But yeah, I'm not gonna touch the new version until I'm done with the "Old Ver." mod.

[Hawk X]

Very glad to read that :) To make sure my wife and I play the most final version, we'll wait until you give the go ahead that you're "done" and then we'll play it :)

[killias2]

I want to say that I'm excited you are continuing this even after the new FF5 gets released, especially as the signs are strong that the new FF releases will lack the extra content added in the post-Famicom/NES remakes/rereleases.

[Doug Stormblessed]

Not only that, but given the video they just posted of FF2, it looks like the overworld sprites might be the old mini versions (https://twitter.com/i/status/1419704315489357825). I very much prefer the consistency between battle & overworld sprites like they started with FF6. Side note: I just uploaded a new sprite pack --- This has everything except Oracles. https://mega[DOT]nz/file/tZRzBCrJ#LFYCzbqf1X9n3RaDW929836TrPDEXe3PWCMql8qD4so --Disclaimer: I have not tested this extensively, so some of the frames might be jumpy. Just shoot me a note here if you notice something off and I'll fix it.

[Squall]

Is there a release date for the new FF5? Tomorrow only the first 3 will be available ...

[Doug Stormblessed]

Squall の投稿を引用：

Is there a release date for the new FF5? Tomorrow only the first 3 will be available ...

There was a leak that said ff5 would release Sept 9th, but it was taken dawn. They will stop selling all the old versions of 1-6 on July 28th. That's all we know.

[Jigyo Yume]

MtfujiInMyPants の投稿を引用：

Dream Project の投稿を引用：

Will you finish the mod for this version before trying to make it work on the new version?

That's the plan. I won't buy the pr versions until they hit a 50% discount. And I doubt that'll happen for at least 6 months. After I finish the Oracles I'll work on the key NPCs then generic. Those will likely be tweaked reshades of the iOS sprites using the PSP palettes. I've done a few tests and that method gives pretty consistent results and is much faster than starting from scratch. I wanna wrap this up, but knowing myself I'm not going to release a something that looks bad just to be done with it. I could scrap that idea and do something else entirely. But yeah, I'm not gonna touch the new version until I'm done with the "Old Ver." mod.

Great to hear as I prefer the mod for this version since the enemy sprites are PSP perfect.. Also know anyone who can make a mod for this version of FFV like the one done for FFIII - https://www.nexusmods.com/finalfantasy3/mods/1 ??

[HenshinAria]

Dream Project の投稿を引用：

MtfujiInMyPants の投稿を引用：

That's the plan. I won't buy the pr versions until they hit a 50% discount. And I doubt that'll happen for at least 6 months. After I finish the Oracles I'll work on the key NPCs then generic. Those will likely be tweaked reshades of the iOS sprites using the PSP palettes. I've done a few tests and that method gives pretty consistent results and is much faster than starting from scratch. I wanna wrap this up, but knowing myself I'm not going to release a something that looks bad just to be done with it. I could scrap that idea and do something else entirely. But yeah, I'm not gonna touch the new version until I'm done with the "Old Ver." mod.

Great to hear as I prefer the mod for this version since the enemy sprites are PSP perfect.. Also know anyone who can make a mod for this version of FFV like the one done for FFIII - https://www.nexusmods.com/finalfantasy3/mods/1 ??

I've wished for a FF4 and 5 version of that mod for years. The awful AI has been something keeping me away from playing this version.