Download Women of Light ROM Hack

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                                 FINAL FANTASY
                                WOMEN  OF LIGHT

                             DreamingRainne,  2014

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This is a ROM hack of Final Fantasy (NES), in which the Light Warriors are all
female. At its core, the character graphics are redrawn anew (along with some
other graphics such as the map and bridge screens, and the font); in addition,
some of the NPC dialogue is changed to reflect different perceptions of this
fact in a realistically subtle way. However, the actual gameplay (plotline,
class abilities, enemies, etc) remains the same, intentionally.

So, in effect, this is simply a genderswap of FF1, for those who'd like to play
it that way. A simple premise, but which can have surprising emotional
implications... on both sides of the screen.


-- HOW TO PLAY ----------------------------------------------------------------

Download it, unpack it, apply the patch (the .ips file).

This should be applied to "Final Fantasy (U) [!].nes" (per GoodNES naming
conventions), or equivalent. (Basically, the standard North American release of
the game, in iNES format.) You'll have to get that yourself; the download only
contains a patch to be applied to that.


-- BACKGROUND -----------------------------------------------------------------

This is something of a remake or sequel of my first ROM hack, "Girls Night Out",
which had the same basic premise (the Light Warriors are female), but had more
emphasis on blatant sex appeal - the sort that designers almost never impose on
male characters - than on respect. (I was young at the time; I've outgrown that,
thankfully.) GNO, in turn, drew from a much earlier one-off project of mine in
which I painstakingly redrew the original FF1 characters as female versions,
using the game manual as reference for the exact pixels of the original
graphics, and doing this well before I knew ROM hacking was even a thing. This
added to a patern that became clear only in retrospect, a longstanding itch to
scratch.

I don't remember exactly when I began this, but it was no later than 2005. My
interest in it was lost as I hit snags along the path of rewriting the NPC
dialogue, and it gathered dust for many years, till after one fateful day in
March 2014, when I found new reason to blow the dust off it and take it up anew.

This was titled "Ladies Night Out" for most of its development; a name that
reflected a more mature approach to what I'd done in Girls Night Out. However,
as the years passed and the connection would be lost, I felt the name would be
rather strange-sounding. So, as it dawned on me that I was getting close to
actually finishing this thing after so many years, I came up with a better name.

Final Fantasy, meanwhile, is a game I've played most of my life. I have fond
memories of playing it as a child, of the awe that some of its music inspired.
It remains my favorite game to this very day: partly out of nostalgia, but
partly on its own merits too. But that's a different topic~!


-- THANKS AND SHOUTOUTS -------------------------------------------------------

Disch
  For Final Fantasy Hackster, the main instrument I used for playing this song,
  aside from graphics. (An instrument I myself had a little bit of hand in
  crafting!) A longtime friend with a shared interest in FF1, and who built the
  bridge that helped me walk that path.

DahrkDaiz
  For taking a step I would never have dared take first. Without that, this
  would still be gathering dust, and myself along with it.

the rest of #rom-hacking
  For being surprisingly gracious - almost to the point of boredom - in
  accepting this facet of me.

Kabucho / SBK
  For being perhaps the only person who remembers GNO better than I myself do,
  and who has shown pretty much any enthusiasm for the things I do. Also, I'm
  contractually obligated to mention him in any hack's Readme. Also to mention
  Oregon; we don't get a lot of outside attention around here, but personally,
  I kinda like it that way. He, however, doesn't.


-- CONTACT INFO ---------------------------------------------------------------

Current as of April 22, 2014.

IRC
  This is the preferred way for me. I'm mainly on EsperNet (irc.esper.net),
  where I'm a chanop in #rom-hacking (as DreamingRainne). Even when I'm not
  immediately active, I tend to idle there, so feel free to speak up in-channel
  and I'll see it sooner or later.

Email
  [email protected] - but be aware that I generally don't bother to check
  email unless I'm expecting something to be there. So if this is to be your
  first point of contact with me, don't expect a prompt reply at first.

Forums
  I'm on Romhacking.net's forum (as DreamingRainne). It remains to be seen
  whether I'll be very active there or not.

Twitter
  @DreamingRainne - I'm still fairly new to Twitter, so I don't have any
  particular goals in using it, but what the heck.


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May dreams never die.