Category: spotlight

  • Hacking Academy

    Pilot Program Launched

    For clymax’s projects, click here. You can also follow him on YouTube.

    Are you a beginner interested in learning how to hack roms of your favorite games? Having trouble grasping assembly coding on your own? Read on!

    Registration

    1. To join the hacking academy, the player warrants that he or she is new to romhacking. Coding experience in another discipline, e.g., web development, is OK.
    2. The player must not have had any publicly released hacks in the player’s name, in a way that credits the player as a hacker.
    3. The player must have passion for or fondness for the Final Fantasy franchise.
    4. Sign-ups are taken via a dedicated thread in the Discord. Please note, a player may be denied entry for any reason or for no reason.
    5. Especially for the pilot, enrollment may be limited and subject to availability.

    Making Your Hack

    1. If a player is accepted into the academy, the player will be given one calendar year to make a new romhack.
    2. The romhack should be of one of the following games: Final Fantasy I-VI.
    3. The romhack should be for one of the following systems: NES, SNES, and GBA. To be clear, Pixel Remaster (Steam/PC) versions are not accepted.
    4. The romhack can be any type of hack. Examples include comprehensive, improvement, levels, graphics, sound, bugfix, etc.
    5. The player is required to submit a hack description and seek approval by one or more mentors before commencing work on the hack.
    6. Please note, hack descriptions that correspond closely to a feature in one of clymax’s private hacks will likely not be approved.
    7. Important: assembly coding MUST be used in making the hack. Using an assembler and using binary editing are both OK. To be clear, only using game-specific tools is not acceptable for purposes of this program. Using such tools in conjunction with assembly coding is OK.
    8. Choice of debugger must be approved by one or more mentors. This is to ensure availability of a mentor well-versed in the debugger chosen by the player.

    Evaluation and Awards

    1. The player is required to submit the hack by the one-year deadline for evaluation by one or more mentors. The player may be required to explain how the hack was made.
    2. Hacks will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Please note, the decision is final and cannot be appealed.
    3. If the hack passes evaluation, the player will receive the “Certified Hacker” title from FFV Central’s Hacking Academy. Title recipients will be memorialized on the website. The title will also have a corresponding Discord role. The hack that passes evaluation will also be commemorated in a Hacking Academy Hall of Hacks on the website. This will also constitute the player’s graduation from the Hacking Academy.
    4. The player retains any and all rights related to his or her work on the hack. We kindly ask that FFV Central be given credit alongside the player in the hack, but this by no means a requirement and is up to the player.
    5. Terms of the program are subject to change from time to time to suit the needs of program.

    So, what do you think? Comment below, or come check us out on Discord.

    This post has been viewed 57 time(s).

  • Series Showcase: No Random Encounters

    Whirlwind Family of Mods of Final Fantasy

    For the Whirlwind family of mods, click here.
    For clymax’s projects, click here. You can also follow him on YouTube.

    Final Fantasy VI: Tailwind (SNES)

    Hold A for random encounters.

    Final Fantasy V: Whirlwind (SFC)

    Hold A for random encounters.

    Requires game clear and Encounters OFF in Config.

    Final Fantasy IV: Downwind (SFC)

    Hold B for random encounters.

    Final Fantasy III: Crosswinds (FC)

    Hold B for random encounters.

    Final Fantasy II: Upwind (FC)

    Hold B for random encounters.

    Final Fantasy: Headwind (NES)

    Hold B for random encounters.

    So, what do you think? What’s your take on random encounters in JRPGs today? Comment below, or come check us out on Discord.

    This post has been viewed 18 time(s).

  • Crosswinds Speedrun by NeoKakarot

    Whirlwind Four-Job Fiesta, Division IV-A

    For more info on the Whirlwind (Four-Job) Fiesta event, see here.
    For more on the Crosswinds mod for Final Fantasy III, see here.

    NeoKakarot is a fanatic of JRPGs, anime, and DOTA with an especially soft spot for games by Nihon Falcom. You can follow Neo’s work via YouTube or Patreon.

    Writes Neo shortly after his playthrough of Final Fantasy III on the Nintendo DS (playlist available here):

    Today we are playing Final Fantasy III for the NES on this stream, but it’s not a normal version of the game.

    For you see it has been modded by ‪@cIymax‬ and is called Final Fantasy III Crosswind!

    And I will be “speed running” it if you catch my drift.

    It should be a fun time!

    So, mark your calendars for Wednesday at 8pm Eastern, boys!

    Update

    The Speedrun.com submission is posted here, or see the video embed below.

    For the event leaderboard, click here.

    You can check the current event standings here.

    Crosswinds Any% in 5:07:13

    Titles Awarded: Bonus Conqueror I, Crosswinds Record Holder

    Date: August 20, 2025

    Team: FFV Central

    Congrats to Neo on the titles!

    This post has been viewed 22 time(s).

  • Ys III on the PC Engine CD

    Post-Stream Review by NeoKakarot

    NeoKakarot is a fanatic of JRPGs, anime, and DOTA with an especially soft spot for games by Nihon Falcom. You can follow Neo’s work via YouTube or Patreon.

    Video Review

    Writes Neo:

    Ys III: Wanderers From Ys is a strange game for the Ys series.

    It’s a sidescroller action game the only of it’s kind for Ys.

    I ignored this game for many years, but recently I played through it on my stream.

    In this video I go over why I didn’t play Ys III initially, why I played it, highlights of my stream for the game, what I think of Ys III and then also just some dumb comedy sprinkled in.

    The video is below, so check it out!

    Stream VOD

    Wrote Neo last week in a community post on his YouTube channel:

    As for Falcom stuff if something comes along which sparks me to make a video I will make it . . . and I’m going to start a PC Engine version playthrough of Ys III pretty soon here.

    Soon afterward, in another community post, Neo wrote:

    So in the previous post I said I was gonna play the PC Engine version of Ys III and indeed I did.

    The playthrough of the game was finished in under 6 hours and it was some very fun old school fashion side scroller action!

    I don’t know why it took me so long to play it but I’m glad I did!

    For players who wish to check out the stream VOD of the complete playthrough, see below.

    So, what do you think? Have you played Ys III? If so, which version of Ys III do you like the most?

    This post has been viewed 15 time(s).