Using CT as a base for a new game

[NayusDante]

I'm currently evaluating the prospect of using Chrono Trigger as a "container" for an entirely new game. This would mean that gameplay remains intact, but new graphics, music, events, and text are inserted. Most tilesets and graphics could be reused, but new character and monster graphics would be a requirement.

What I'm asking here is how feasible this idea is, which tools are recommended for said tasks, and approximately how long a team of three or four should allot for such an undertaking.

We already have a story and a good bit of conceptual art, but have held off on writing script or determining gameplay specifics until we find a target engine. Originally, this was meant to be a PC game, written from scratch in either XNA or another similar library, but we have had difficulties finding a reliable programmer. Since enough of the design is either similar to or outright inspired by Chrono Trigger, this seems like a logical possibility. Also, to remain at least somewhat legal, the ROM.BIN on the US release of Final Fantasy Chronicles could be used as a base.

2983: Dark Age of Machinery (tentative title)
Factory Eight Games
http://2983.shatteredtime.net/2983.html

[justin3009]

I've for one had the same thought.

For Tools, I'd recommend the following:

Translhextion - You're best bet for a hex editor.
Tile Molester - Best Graphics editing utility ever
Temporal Flux - Editing events, decompress text, changing text, exporting, decompressing graphics, etc...
SNESPAL - Changing Palette

There's probably more, but I can't remember quite now.

With a team of 3-4...I'd expect a year to 4 years if you're working really slow.  If you guys constantly work on it, probably a year to 2 years at tops.  It's a tough thing to do, but don't let time discourage you.  Just keep going at it until you get what you like.

[NayusDante]

One thing that I'm definitely concerned about is the stability of the ROM.BIN version. Are there any big differences between this version and the Japanese released version? Would anything prevent this particular dump from working properly as a hack source?

[justin3009]

Not that I know of.  They're the exact same thing if I remember correctly.