Chrono Compendium Discussion

[ZeaLitY]

Ramsus is losing resources for the site; while it may not see innovative systems, features and all the good stuff can still be perfectly maintained through simple html. Ramsus, my request would be that you just bump admin permissions to edit whats on the Features, Articles, Links. etcl pages, allowing them to include their own icons per entry as in the WIP, and simply allow generic html-page creation. We could code our own templates for things that would fall under different categories (music, features, articles or otherwise), and simply link to them from the appropriate section page; generic html pages would get it done.

Secondly, Compendium facts and observations-

1. I've been feeling really lonely lately around the Chrono series community places. Is it truly waning? CTR seemed to bring a lot of fans out of the woodwork, but now things are starting to seem empty despite the unparalelled activity of these forums. I've conferred with CuteLucca, but it still feels like CT has suddenly become a cult-classic instead of an expansive, great game in terms of community.

2. The Encyclopedia. My design is incorporated into a lot of it, making it touchy for other people to do work on it yet. I'm going to try and forget the "Post your encyclopedia desire" thread and instead, post a community-wide announcement that a certain section is now up for editing. Strict guidelines will accompany it. It'll be easier to assign small tasks one at a time than declare free reign and be in danger of non-standardized entries.

3. Analysis. After the Encyclopedia is completed, I want sort of an Analysis census. Matters should be sort of audited and determined whether they've been beaten into the ground. Anything that has can be marked. New discussion may always be open, so this mark will go with a kind of lockdown terminology. The mark 'A' could mean that the topic was gleaned of content for Encyclopedia/Articles in the great harvest of May 2005, while the mark 'B' could mean another date. We could keep track of what all we're using here. With each lockdown could come a check of analysis against itself for consistency. Thisl'l be hard, but the Encyclopedia will be done, meaning the full range of the series (minus the Cross script, save for a miracle) will be at our disposal.

4. Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes probably won't happen unless a lot of people want to help with it. Making something with Temporal Flux is by no means a one-man project.

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All I've got now are questions for everyone else. Of course you should comment on what I've talked about here. What do you think of the Compendium? From the beginning, I've noticed this sense of membership with it. I aim to make it the ultimate, and that attitude has alienated some, while made others pretty loyal to the site. By no means do I intend to claim enjoyment of the Chrono series entirely as the Compendium's right. Still, what do you think of the place?

[V_Translanka]

Well, I dunno about the lacking of the community...The series is kind of old now...The last game, Chrono Cross, was released, what? Five years ago? I think that a lot of gamers, especially those only now coming into the fray with the newer systems simply don't know about how great the series is. I think that if you really want the community to grow we've all just got to stick with it and things will eventually tune up because, I mean, there's a lot of great stuff here that no other place has got. If nothing else, when things start getting done, word of mouth will spread for sure about the series and about the Compendium.

About the Encyclopedia...I think things look pretty good and I'd like to help if I can...Anything that's easily understandable (or at least, not overly confusing) I could do, I'm sure...

I really do look at the Compendium as a kind of home away from home...It's a really great place we've got here with a lot of great people. I don't think anyone here really annoys me at all! And that's saying something!

[Insertnamehere1]

Hello,

This is actually my first post on this particular forum, 9 times out of 10 I just look over some of the posts occassionally.  However, your concern about the Chrono community has motivated me to create an account, if for no other purpose than to let you know that I have felt this way for quite some time.  I've always enjoyed drifting through the various Chrono sites which unfortunately have become fewer and fewer as they shut down.  At any rate this place has always served as a beacon for me if for no other reason than to know that there are still other folks like me who fell in love with the series, and remain fans of it.  I completely understand that it is difficult to maintain a page and juggle a constructive life (hell I can hardly manage to post on a forum!) but it would be a damn shame if this place were to suffer the same fate as the rest.  At any rate I felt that if nothing else I at least owed you guys a heartfelt thank you for providing me the service of knowing I'm not the only one.  I can only hope that the compendium continues on, but if not then I would like you guys to know that your work has always been greatly appreciated!

[SilentMartyr]

I agree with V_T, with all the new gamers its hard for them to realize the series unless they have an older sibling. Without a new release or a rerelease I don't see much of anything coming out of the works until something big happens.

As for the site I think we all have our juggling acts to deal with, I am not concerned about the status of the site, as long as it is running and some progress is being made then I am a happy camper.

[yoshie]

im with V_Translanka guy this place is like a home away from home iv been comin to this place for years readin the fanstories, posts and goin to all the music links thats been show on here iv gone over the encyclopedia hundreds of times. and almost all the other good sites davoted to the chrono series are all gone. this place is like an oasis for all the fans. and what ever takes ta keep this site up id be glad ta help. and ta quote CTcronoboy"as long as it is running and some progress is being made then I am a happy camper."

[Claado Shou]

Hmm...I suppose I can do my best to direct traffic into the Chrono fanbase once Chrono Symphonic is finished and released, but until then, nothing much I can do.

As for helping with Crimson Echoes, what needs done?  I have some extra time on my hands come the weekend, particularly this one, so what can be accomplished other than actual game creation?  Not my forte, if you get my drift.

ZeaLitY?

~.C.S.~

(fixed it for you)

[ZeaLitY]

Well, I have great faith in just micromanaging the Encyclopedia from here on out. In the future, I'm just going to assign it by category, such as taking a volunteer to go down every entry in something like CC Armor and adding a couple, easy-to-find stats. Then I'll get someone else to find every picture possible, or add biographical information, etc. because in my experiences, the hardest part about doing the Encyclopedia is trying to finish things entry-by-entry. It's much easier to finalize a list, then go down everything adding images and music first, basic stats second, then cool information.

Crimson Echoes just needs volunteers for it period. Ideally, after the Encyclopedia's finished, I'm going to poll around for people. What they'll be doing is simple; each person might get a certain odd job like

-Design a Porre square
-Add NPCs to a certain area; make two of them give decision speeches
-Script out movement for this important character
-Bug Test

And the hard part about doing this as one person is that everything needs to be tweaked to perfection, including NPCs. It's a bit time consuming for me to make even a few basic actions, since I don't have mastery over the Event Code. The great rom hackers out there also can't do everything for us, though they can provide expert advice and notes. Really, it just has to be and should be a group effort. I'm going to handle most of the important dialogue; when CE gets made, it'll be a step-by-step thread.

The reason I'm holding off is just because with the Encyclopedia and Analysis engines still running strong, it'd be spreading everyone too thin to ask them to all come together and collaborate. Plus, Temporal Flux 2.0 hasn't been released yet, and it'd be better to wait for it, as we wouldn't have to backtrack to previous changes and fix them with TF2's new capabilities.

Claado, if anything I just need bench pictures from the back and sides. Like this:



Of course, in the CT world, things from the sides are seen not from a top down view, like chairs, for example. So some of the actual side of the bench should be present, and the back of it should go higher and above  the actual seat. Try to use the same colors. This will be for clearing out Leene's Square; the place looks crazy empty without those tents in it.

[SilentMartyr]

I would love to do bug testing. Whenever it is ready I'll absolutely definetly do it.

[Anonymous]

By "from the back and sides" do you mean just rotated?  Or should the benches be custom?

[ZeaLitY]

Just noting the basic structure.

Articles - Page to select stories.

Features - Page to select stories.

Music - Defaults to music encyclopedia.

Community leads to four new distinct pages: Fan Art, Fan Fiction, Fan Projects and ROM Hacking. Fan Art is a page to select stories; same with fiction. Projects is a dead end page to be edited. ROM Hacking is a page to select stories.

[mondragon369]

If it's 2-d then I would like to offer the my left hand for off-screen drawing and painting and the right for on-screen design.
Programming skills are not yet part of my repertoire but if you can think of something to draw for an artist with a little spare time on his hands, a soft spot for chrono trigger and a willingness to learn a few things about submitting stuff, I'ld be happy to try and help out.

Hmm the bench thing eluded me the first time, what resolution would the objects require?