Seiken Densetsu 3: Hues of Mana

The intention of this patch is to improve (and in Kevin's case, fix) the playable characters' palettes.

Modifications aim to lessen repetition and also to approximate the game characters' palettes to the official art, in some cases, when possible within the limitations of the game, although the author also used his own palette ideas in several instances.

Initiallly, this patch was meant to fix only Kevin. The game has one of his classes flipped around, those being Death Hand/Fatal Fist and Dervish/Enlightened specifically.
The internal palette indicates that Fatal Fist is the Dark-Dark branch, which the 2020 remake anded up reiterating.

This patch should have been released a year prior, but the then work ROM used by the author contained patches by other people, including the translation, so it would be wrong to have released it as such, and burn out also delayed the eventual restart of the project.

Included within the archive are also images that portray the new palettes, as well as patches with less changes, to give players freedom of choice.

Hues of Mana Readme

22/05/2020 - Initial Release

31/10/2021 - Version 1.1 of Hues of Mana - Complete
Corrects a mistake on Angela's DL palette, credits to soul_knight for the catch.

[1.0] What is this?

This is a palette patch for Seiken Densetsu 3 (now known as Trials of Mana), one of the best RPGs on the
SNES, no doubt, but it is not without its problems; several of those have been addressed by the remake,
true, but I do not believe the original is simply superseded because the remake now exists; to me,
the SNES game remains important, well made, and very much playable.


[2.0] Why?

I made this patch to address a minor peeve that always bothered me: the character classes' palettes.
You have crazy hair colors everywhere and a lot of color repetition in class branches; with a palette
as large as the SNES can muster, you'd think they'd have been a bit more creative.

Initiallly, this patch was meant to fix only Kevin. The game has one of his classes flipped around,
Death Hand/Fatal Fist and Dervish/Enlightened specifically. The internal palette indicates that
Fatal Fist is the Dark-Dark branch for Kevin, something I always suspected (and the remake would later
prove).

However, after fixing the colors, I realized I didn't like many of the color choices for other characters, as well,
almost like for some classes the developers just played color lottery blind and went with just whatever
color luck chose for them.

From that point on, I decided to change that, and how was pretty clear to me, since Kevin's clothing
for his last classes are all references to the four holy beasts (Seiryu, the Azure Dragon, Genbu, the Black Turtle,
Suzaku, the Vermillion Bird, and Byakko, the White Tiger), I went chiefly for those colors for each class.

For the other classes, I used my own discretion to avoid color repetitions on different branches for the same
characters, while making color choices I felt made sense (and when I felt appropriate,
I referenced the colors from the original game's official art).

I made the rookie mistake of editing the same ROM I used for playing, and since it contained patches by other
people, including the translation, I couldn't release it as it was, but felt too burned out to start over at the time.
1 year later... here we are. I hope you enjoy!


[3.0] Archive contents

The archive actually contains three patches for the the player to choose from, depending on preference.

[3.1] Hues of Mana - Corrected Colors.ips

This patch is the closest to vanilla flavor. It merely corrects
Kevin's incorrectly assigned palettes between Kevin's two last
dark classes, but keeps everything else intact.

[3.2] Hues of Mana - No Crazy Hair.ips

This patch makes it so the hair colors of every character is
consistent with the base class for each, leaving other parts
of the palette alone.

Note that in Kevin's case, because the hair and pants share
palettes, some of his classes ended up with very similar outfit
hues. If I get enough requests, I can revise this specific patch.

[3.3] Hues of Mana - Complete.ips

This is the heart of the project. It includes aspects from
the separate patch I created above, however it goes beyond by
correcting palette saturations and changing several palettes
the lessen color repetition and, to an extent, to suit thematic
appropriateness (in Kevin's case) or better match artwork.

It may not be to everyone's taste, but I hope some will like it.


[4.0] Do I have the right ROM?

The data for the unpatched ROM required is below:

File SHA1 209C55FD2A8D7963905E3048B7D40094D6BEA965
ROM SHA1 209C55FD2A8D7963905E3048B7D40094D6BEA965
File MD5 58EBD7CBF28CEADC03AEC4F448956A0B
ROM MD5 58EBD7CBF28CEADC03AEC4F448956A0B
File CRC32 863ED0B8
ROM CRC32 863ED0B8

Note: The ROM should be UNHEADERED

With the right ROM in hand, apply the patch using the IPS patcher of your choice.
I recommend Floating IPS: http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/1040/

More details regarding utilities and other caveats follow below.


[5.0] How?

This patch will work with both the Japanese ROM as well as one patched with the English translation patch
found here http://www.romhacking.net/translations/440/ however, Hues of Mana should be applied to an unheadered
ROM and the translation patch requires a headered ROM. Detailed instructions follow.


[6.0] ROMs, headers and other details.

Cartridge copiers add bits of extraneous data called headers, but for the purposes of emulation
they can be problematic. Most patches nowadays utilize ROMs without headers and trying to apply a
patch created from a ROM without a header to a ROM with one will result in in unplayable game.

The English patch for Seiken Densetsu 3 was released circa 2000, and it actually was created from a
ROM with a header, which creates a problem with regards to compatibility with other patches for the game
as there cannot be a header mismatch.

Thankfully, are ways to get around this confusion, and I'll present two solutions so that you can choose your
preferred one.

Note: For better results, apply Hues of Mana LAST when using several patches in conjunction.


[6.1] Method 1

The first solution is using RHDN's Online Patcher:

https://www.romhacking.net/patch/

Take note of whether the patch requires a header (Hues of Mana doesn't, but the translation patch does, for example),
and if it does, make sure to click the "add temporary header" checkmark, then patch your ROM.
The resulting file should still remain compatible with other patches that do not require headers to function.


[6.2] Method 2

Use the following utility the remove the patch's header:

http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/1455/

Despite it being a DOS based utility, it works very well.

To use it, open the command prompt and then follow the on screen synthax to create a patch
without a header.

Example synthax: IPS_Header_Changer.exe -m 1 headeredpatch.ips unheaderedpatch.ips

take note of the underscores and spaces, substituting the filenames as appropriate, and don't
forget the extensions.

[7.0] Hues of Mana caveats:

There are things that I wish I could fix, but are beyond the scope of my ability:

- Though Kevin's palettes are now correct, his class branching for the Dark route remains wrong,
on the Status Screen and the class selection textbox when selecting a final class.
Fatal Fist/Death Hand remains his Dark-Dark though even if the game indicates otherwise.


[8.0] Anything else?

Yes. Seiken Densetsu 3 has many patches made by dedicated individuals that love the game, and
the list below has the ones I recommend.

[8.1] Patches by Praetarius5018

[8.1.1] Praetarius5018's Bugfix Edition:

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5158/

Corrects a myriad of imbalances in the game, making it an excellent way to re-experience it,
as well as the UI error with Kevin's dark classes (thanks for heeding my request!)

[8.1.2] Sin Of Mana
http://ngplus.net/index.php?/files/file/28-seiken-densetsu-3-sin-of-mana/

An extensive overhaul of the game that includes the fixes of the patch above and goes beyond it.
including difficulty patches can be appended to the game to customize how challenging it is,
ranging from near vanilla difficulty to hard type.


[8.2] HMSong's Patch collection

https://www.romhacking.net/community/5583/

Excellent hacks and tweaks can improve the experience greatly as well as mix things up in
interesting, fresh and challenging ways, take a look at their repository and choose your favorite patch or
combination of patches. I personally recommend Class Balance + No Skill Counter for a fresh experience.

[9.0] Special Thanks

- Iavasechui from the Gamefaqs boards

Thanks for motivating me through the project.
Your idea to normalize hair colors of the characters
was what motivated me to try and give the palettes my own spin.

- Rootrick from RHDN

Their help was invaluable in helping me find palette offsets I
was missing so that colors could also be changed on the Status
Screens to match the on field sprites.
Thanks!

- The kind people at the FF5 Discord

Thanks for all the help and patience, and sorry for constantly
bugging everyone about a game that wasn't even the focus of
the channel!




Database match: Seiken Densetsu 3 (Japan)
Database: No-Intro: Super Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210222-050638)
File/ROM SHA-1: 209C55FD2A8D7963905E3048B7D40094D6BEA965
File/ROM CRC32: 863ED0B8