Shining Force III: Quick-Loading Saves

[DomingoRules!]

This neat trick I accidentally discovered has probably come up before, but I thought I'd share it anyway. I dug back several pages into the forum, and didn't spot any topic titles that seemed to mention it, so here it goes.

I don't know if this works in Scenario 1 or 3 yet, because when I was playing through Scenario 1 I don't think I ever tried it, and I haven't gotten to Scenario 3, but at the very least if you ever need to reload a save file real quick in Scenario 2, this is a nice little time saver. If you soft reset, then hold the start button during the start-up load screen, the game will automatically open up the last save file you used. It doesn't matter if you keep the button held from the soft reset, or press it at the loading screen, since all that seems to matter is that it's being held when the load screen ends. Either way, it allows you to skip both the title screen, and the interaction between Gabriel and Fey, and jump right back into the game from where you last saved.

Granted I don't make a habit of abusing mid-battle saves, and soft resetting, but it can be a very welcome convenience during some of the more frustrating battles where you're basically forced to take advantage of reloading saves to accomplish certain tasks that rely on either luck, or extensive prior knowledge of how to maneuver units, and how the enemies will behave.

[MCRT]

This is actually really neat, as I also have the soft reset on my controller, it will spare a lot of time for me. Thanks for sharing this.

[DomingoRules!]

If the information helps just one person, then the post was worth typing.

[Lord Kane]

Yes, this little trick works since scenario 2.

[ColdWarKids]

Me and the people I know were using this trick for quite a long time now, we thought everyone was aware of this.
It is pretty useful if you play on hard difficulty or normal and reset a lot.

But it only work for SC2, SC3 and Prenium.

[MCRT]

Yes, this little trick works since scenario 2.

Is there anything you do not know?

[Pappets]

I also found this trick by accident, in the good old days of accidental discoveries and we would say to ourselves:
"I'm the first and only one who knows this "

I don't know if it works in the japanese version of scenario 1. I say VERSION and not REGION because there are differences between the JAP and PAL/NTSC US regions.

[DomingoRules!]

Then you go to school and share your discovery, only to find out that other people already knew about it, thrashing your dreams of being a pioneer before they could begin.

[Lord Kane]

Yes, this little trick works since scenario 2.

Is there anything you do not know?

Not much! ............. Just kidding!

One thing I don't know yet, since you don't find this in guide books or can't find out by testing, are the probability values. For instance the chances for status effects to work for each luck value or the individual chances for each special attack to occur. Of course I have some estimates based on small empiriacal tests, but knowing the true values would be quite nice!

[MCRT]

Yes, this little trick works since scenario 2.

Is there anything you do not know?

Not much! ............. Just kidding!

One thing I don't know yet, since you don't find this in guide books or can't find out by testing, are the probability values. For instance the chances for status effects to work for each luck value or the individual chances for each special attack to occur. Of course I have some estimates based on small empiriacal tests, but knowing the true values would be quite nice!

Yeah I would also love to have those probabilities, it would allow some shining math in the free-time

Talking about the guides: Do you actually have a list about the movement range interactions between the different movement types and terrains?

[Lord Kane]

No, for SF III I don't have such a list, yet. Up to now the afford was too high for me, since the system is much more complex than in SF I/II, because here also height differences seem to be taken into account as well as the fact, that 1 diagonal step is now less then 1 vertical step + 1 horizontal step.

Furthermore the moving abilities are shown for every battle participant ingame so therefore you don't have to calculate. It's only that you can't always know beforehand, what spaces your active member could reach in his next turn when you place him on a specific space (when there are uneven/rough terrain fields).

[DomingoRules!]

Movement seems really wonky in this game. In one case in particular, I found myself needing to frequently reload a couple rounds back over and over when trying to clear a particular ruin in Sc3 because the Thief's movement I believe is only 6, but he kept being able to move closer to 8 spaces, which kept screwing with things because I needed to precisely manipulate his movements for a couple turns to get him where I needed.

[MCRT]

Movement seems really wonky in this game. In one case in particular, I found myself needing to frequently reload a couple rounds back over and over when trying to clear a particular ruin in Sc3 because the Thief's movement I believe is only 6, but he kept being able to move closer to 8 spaces, which kept screwing with things because I needed to precisely manipulate his movements for a couple turns to get him where I needed.

No, for SF III I don't have such a list, yet. Up to now the afford was too high for me, since the system is much more complex than in SF I/II, because here also height differences seem to be taken into account as well as the fact, that 1 diagonal step is now less then 1 vertical step + 1 horizontal step.

That actually was one of the reasons to ask, as the last time I played the 3-forces battle it seemed like my brass gunners could move 6 fields on snow despite having a movement stat of 5