Chrono Spiritual Successor Brainstorm Session (Come and join the fun!)

[tushantin]

Even if it were practical, the odds are good that the resulting game would be much weaker for it. And a new engine would still be required to avoid the problem of redistributing Squeenix IP.

Sure? Because if ZeaLitY and co. don't mind, I'd love to revamp the plot and give it a spin for an original game. I think I know some programmers willing to work on a game engine and officially monetize on it. Of course, unlike the FoE team, the Compendium can count on me to give credit to the original creators where it's due (but I can't guarantee revenue if I don't see a dime either).

Of course, I'm still busy planning on a short mobile game currently. So until I can prove that I can make best selling games, the CE creators have plenty of time to think about the offer.

[Acacia Sgt]

I suppose if it's given a try, it can most likely surprise us. If it really were to happen, I'd love to lend a hand if there was something I could help with.

[idiotekque]

I'm a writer, and I'm pretty good with RPG Maker VXA, lol (obviously CE isn't made in that... but yeah). I could help with dialogue at least, though I don't know how much that would be needed.

[Manly Man]

Sorry, I fan-girled for a moment.

fan-girled

fan-girled

fan-girled

...I always thought you were a guy.

[skylark]

Sorry, I fan-girled for a moment.

fan-girled

fan-girled

fan-girled

...I always thought you were a guy.

You know, you don't necessarily have to be a girl to 'fangirl' about something. I squee every time I see a well done fanart pic of Schala.

[Kodokami]

I suppose if it's given a try, it can most likely surprise us. If it really were to happen, I'd love to lend a hand if there was something I could help with.

Agreed. Even if a CE "reboot" is unlikely, having the community working together on a project again would be wonderful. I'd love to join that as well.

You know, you don't necessarily have to be a girl to 'fangirl' about something. I squee every time I see a well done fanart pic of Schala.

Wouldn't that make you and tush fanboys?

[Thought]

To be honest, the story's the easy part of a game. It's the art and programming that are the time-suckers, and I feel where production always hangs.

That said, a Chrono-esq game series could probably do well. Now's the time for such a thing: kickstarter's there to get the funding, and consumers are well familiar with getting games through non traditional sources (see Project Zomboid, Terraria, Minecraft, etc).

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Yeah, it would have to be a Chrono spiritual successor. Keep the time-travel intact, but none of the original resources (or manipulated ones, for that matter) would be usable. But make it have that "Chrono Trigger" look and throw time travel in, and I bet you'd attract some definite attention.

That being said, it wouldn't even have to be based on CE.

[tushantin]

You know, you don't necessarily have to be a girl to 'fangirl' about something. I squee every time I see a well done fanart pic of Schala.

Wouldn't that make you and tush fanboys?

He (or we) actually means "fangirl" as a stereotypically used verb form. XD At least based on its contemporary use. Something screaming in high-pitched voices in excitement, or swooning (God forbid!) or even gawking at pretty pictures, etc. Yeah, I do that a lot too. Kinda fun.

And yes, Manly Man, I'm a Man.  Maybe not as Manly as you, but still a man.

That being said, it wouldn't even have to be based on CE.

I can make it based on CE and still keep it an original game, despite not being related to Chrono series.

Anywho, here's my rough doodle of the protagonist of ORIGINAL Crimson Echoes (Crono equivalent... probably).

[idiotekque]

Eh... story isn't "easy". The only reason Chrono Trigger is so loved is because of an amazing story. The gameplay is great, true, and programming obviously soaked up the most amount of time, but coming at story with the sentiment of it being is easy is kinda... wrong. I haven't played CE or FoE yet, but if they're as amazing as I've heard, the story has to be top notch and have the same brilliance that CT and CC had. I have my doubts how I'm gonna feel about them... but yeah, just thought that should be noted, lol.

[Acacia Sgt]

Having come up with a story or two at some point I can certainly agree with that. It's always when getting to the details. On the other hand, I'm not really that much of a writer so it could be that I just don't have enough experience yet coming up with stories.

[FaustWolf]

The way I read Thought's post, story is only "easy" in the sense that writing talent is in greater supply than programming and art. But yeah, I think Chrono Trigger did hit an ingenious balance -- the more I think about it, the more I'm amazed at how the scenario writers were able to establish the world while cutting from one environment to the next so quickly. Hot damn.

The thought of a big community project to create something that captures what made Chrono so magical, while eschewing the IP itself, is incredibly intriguing. I'm not sure it's been done before.* Since the raison d'etre of a fan community is to celebrate a canon, the focus of fan activity naturally gravitates to the already-created world. And the stresses of IP law being what they are, that focus backfires as it dampens the possible rewards.

How would we even start such a thing? And the bigger question -- how to motivate at least a skeleton crew into carrying the project to completion? I would think there'd almost have to be a profit motive in the mix (although the prospect of transferable skills may also suffice). And then the question begs: if there's any kind of money to be had from selling the game, how does the fan community divvy that up among the dozens of members likely to come in and drop out over the years? Not that I'm trying to be a naysayer by any means; it'd simply be fascinating to parse out questions like these.


*Come to think of it, the Suikoden community's approach to Exit Fate may be instructive here. But I have the impression from a few glances at screenshots they may have used Suikoden resources to pad out environments and NPC sprites.

[idiotekque]

It's not easy, but structure and a determined leader of the project who is very active is key. I was a writer for a very big, very ambitious Freelancer mod with a crazy amount of talent working on it, but the mod lead was a police officer of some sort (Italian) and couldn't consistently be around. That (and a few problem people who caused drama) made the project crash and burn.

[Thought]

Story is easy because the writer (or team of writers) can come in, get everything done in about 4 to 6 months of hard work, and move on. And even if it's not brilliant, the game can still do well (look at Terraria: not big on story, but quite fun to play). Compare that to art: a single artists can't practically make every bit of it that a game will need, and a team would be working on it for about a year at least (to my understanding), and they can't really start until some basic parameters are set. The game can't generally be practically programmed by a single person anymore (again, to my knowledge), that is where the most people-hours go, and if you get it even slightly wrong, the thing wont run.

The story has several difficult parts (not least of which is keeping it under control, since everyone loves story and wants to add to it), but objectively speaking, fan games tend to have plenty of story and not enough everything else.

Faust, while talents might be able to be drawn from the fan community (and some of the development would be public to that community), I'd think a business model would be the way to go. People are hired or fired from the project and so on. Honestly, if we're just relying on people's largess and free time, it wont get done.

[idiotekque]

Eh... that's a very basic, limited understanding of the story process. You compare Terraria, but that's not a story based game, that's an indie platform/Minecraft type thing. Chrono Trigger is a story based RPG.

You can't just throw a handful of people together and create a cohesive story. Masato Kato wrote the story for CT and CC. Sure, he didn't write every single bit of it, with other writers filling in some side-plots and certain characters and whatnot, but he is directly responsible for the entire story and plot of the Chrono series.

I'm not saying story is harder than art, or programming, or whatever, but it's by no means easier. One could argue that it's harder, because it involves hard work AND imagination, writing talent, etc, but I'm not getting into that.