Final Fantasy IX Gold Chocobo Bug FAQ Version 1.0 (Revision 2 - 4/08/2002) By Ragnarok (Michael Szemeredy) ragnarok@planet101.org szem@tampabay.rr.com *** TABLE OF CONTENTS *** [1] What is the Gold Chocobo bug? [2] How does it happen? [3] What does it do? [4] How do I continue with the game from here? [5] If I don't undo it, what am I left with? [6] How do I undo all the bad stuff? [7] Why can't I get this to happen? [8] Can I reverse the effects of the bug? [9] Revision List [10] Credits [11] Copyright Information [12] Other FAQs from Ragnarok *** [1] What is the Gold Chocobo bug? *** The infamous Gold Chocobo bug is the result of getting a Gold Chocobo just after getting the Blue Narciss (ocean ship), but before getting Hilda Garde 3 (the first airship), and going to either Chocobo's Paradise or Chocobo's Air Garden. This bug allows the player to skip a good part of Disc 3 from when searching for the Desert Palace, all the way past the events at Oelivert and Mount Gulug, to right before Ipsen's Castle. *** [2] How does it happen? *** This is the pretty self-explainatory part... The only thing you have to do to trigger this is to: 1) Play Chocobo Hot & Cold enough to acquire all the necessary Chocographs to evolve your Chocobo to Gold (Sky) Chocobo form. 2) Find the Chocobo Treasures and evolve the Chocobo to Gold Chocobo form. 3) Visit either Chocobo's Sky Garden or Chocobo's Paradise Check out Yee Seng Fu's Chocobo Hot & Cold FAQ for more details about Chocographs, Chocobo Locations and Chocobo Evolution Note: I don't reccommend even attempting to activate this bug if you don't have a Gameshark or similar game enhancement device to reverse it's negative effects. *** [3] What does it do? *** This bug does ALOT of stuff to completely corrupt your game. 1) Completely skips all events at the Desert Palace, Oelivert, and Mt. Gulug 2) Transforms the Blue Narciss into Hilda Garde 3 3) Dagger's Hair becomes short (per storyline) 4) All boss fights from events during this time period are skipped Note: I'm still discovering exactly what is skipped or not... give me a few days and I should have most of the effects. *** [4] How do I continue with the game from here? *** Just pilot Hilda Garde 3 over to the Lost Continent and pay a visit to Ipsen's Castle. The plot will advance as normal. The Blue Narciss will be parked exactly where you last left it, only it will now be Hilda Garde 3. Look for the blue dot on your map if you still can't find it... *** [5] If I don't undo it, what am I left with? *** The Good: 1) Completely skip annoying boss battles such as Ark and Valia Pira. The stuff you have from chocographs is 10x better than anything you can steal from them... 2) Lots of saved time for those who have already played the game and want to skip this rather annoying part of the game 3) Automatic access of Hilda Garde 3 4) You have a Gold Chocobo ^_^ 5) You can always raid most parts of the skipped areas for missed items. 6) Although you miss ALOT of Key Items from Oelivert, Gulug and the Desert Palace, it has no bearing on the game. The Bad: 1) You'll have to buy a Ribbon at the Treno Auction House in order to have Eiko learn the Madeen summon 2) You'll have to beat Ozma to recover a second Pumice Piece to have Dagger learn the Ark summon (since you can't get the one in Oelivert). 3) You can't recover items from the Desert Palace The Ugly: 1) Garnet/Dagger is permanently stuck in her depressed battle state (no trance ability, commands fail on a regular basis because she can't concentrate. *** [6] How do I undo all the bad stuff? *** You can't undo the fact you can't raid the Desert Palace, but you can acquire the Ribbon and the second Pumice Piece, and with a game enhancement device like a Gameshark or a hex editor, fix Dagger's "problem" (see section [8]). *** [7] Why can't I get this to happen? *** I'm still not sure why some people can't get the Gold Chocobo chocograph before getting Hilda Garde 3. As you know, you can only get the particular Chocograph needed for a Gold Chocobo after getting all 6 chocograph pieces. I managed to dig all 6 chocograph pieces way back on Disc 1... plus I played about 150 games before I got the Gold Chocobo chocograph , playing at both Chocobo's Forest and Chocobo's Lagoon 20-30 times with each chocobo type at each place (IE 20-30 with a Ocean Chocobo in the forest, 20-30 with a Mountain Chocobo in the forest, etc). Also, it might have to do with the fact that my FF9 is an original copy, purchased one day before the actual release date (Electronics Boutique sold FF9 as soon as they got the shipment in, which was one day before). I'm going to do another run-through the game to see if I can duplicate it, then borrow a friend's Greatest Hits copy to see if I can duplicate it on his.... Another point... I did this on my PS2.... I will try it on a PS1 to see if it's just the PS2... *** [8] Can I reverse the effects of the bug? *** You can easily reverse the Dagger problem with this handy little Gameshark code (also works to cure her concentration/ trance problem even if you didn't activate the bug): NOTE: Before using this code, EQUIP DAGGER WITH A WORTHLESS WEAPON!!!!! It will erase anything equipped in her weapon slot when activated and replaces it with... Cinna's Hammer? On the plus side... when you turn it off, you can deequip the hammer, which means you can synth a Save The Queen at the ultimate synthesist's place and still get the better ending :P 8008B3E4 0000 As for resetting your position in the game waaay back before the bug occurred to before Desert Palace ... but it'd take ALOT of time and effort to reverse the game flags using some form of hex editor or game enhancer... If you knew what they were... If I ever get some boredom time, I'll see if I can reverse this here save... *** [9] Revision List *** 3/27/2002 - Version 0.1 First Edition. Basic information on the bug... 3/27/2002 - Version 0.8 First Edition Revised * Figured out how to get back into the storyline 4/08/2002 - Version 1.0 First Edition Revised Again * Tested Gameshark codes out, found one that reversed Dagger's trance/concentration problem. ** Next Version: Info on how to skip from any previous point in the game to the end of disc 3 using this trick and a Gameshark/some other game enhancement device *** [10] Credits *** Ragnarok - for getting unlazy enough to write a second FAQ... ... now if I could only finish the first one ... gamefaqs.com - for hosting my FAQs.... thanks :) cmgsccc.com - for the Gameshark code to reverse Dagger's problem *** [11] Copyright Information *** This FAQ is Copyrighted (C) 2002 by Michael "Ragnarok" Szemeredy. All rights reserved. Please do not edit, redistribute, reproduce or post this FAQ without prior written permission from the copyright holder. As of this revision, the only website with permission to post this FAQ is gamefaqs.com The most up-to-date version of this FAQ may only be found on gamefaqs.com SquareSoft is a registered trademarks of Square Co.Ltd. Final Fantasy and SquareSoft are registered trademarks of Square Co.Ltd. Licensed By Sony PlayStation. PlayStation and PlayStation Logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. *** [12] Other FAQs from Ragnarok *** Star Ocean: The Second Story * Nedian Funhouse Battle Arena FAQ PS: I should have an update later this week after I play with this file some more. If you have information you wish to contribute, please contact me at szem@tampabay.rr.com