Chrono Trigger is now on Steam

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

First release tools are up. Currently 0.1

https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/82dxxd/i_made_a_patch_that_fixes_most_graphic_issues/

Here's a link to the patch itself: https://mega.nz/#!k40BVYTQ!IdxNGLbcNkBV30r3uEqOJ3QvmM-aWqZuUk_AEuQw8zo

The imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/l1TCW

A side-by-side comparison: https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=47b74fb4-2151-11e8-b263-0edaf8f81e27

[Mauron]

I added the Reddit and patch link.

[Rjenyawd]

I played around with it a bit the other day. The tool is fantastic, and works like a charm. 

....the actual file structure of the game itself is.... wonky.  I'll use the Character files as an example:

There is a subset of folders dedicated to the original character sprites. Each character has one (or more) .bmp files of their animations. (These .bmps look like straight rips from the ROM data btw, they weren't pre assembled into complete spritesheets ((like ff6)))   Anyway that's not what's weird.  What's weird is that in ADDITION to these files, there's also another set of cloned 'character' files (as .png) that have been enlarged and filtered (looks like Waifu2x upscale, actually). THESE are the files that are called to display for the Steam edition.  (plus, you also have an in-engine post processing filter that is added on top during gameplay. This is why everything is so blurry.) 

The Map tilesets are handled the same way. There is a duplicate set of .png files with 'baked-in' filters <--- which is what breaks the pixel alignment and gives the 'offset tiles' look, btw.

What modders have been doing to fix the blurry mess is to replace the BakedAndFiltered set of .png files with just enlarged versions of the original .bmp set of sprites, and then disabling the post-process general filter. Which does wonders for fixing Square's inexplicable messiness.   

Looking at theses files just reiterates that this port was lazy and amateurish. There really isn't any other explanation.  The duplicate filestructure was left over from when they adapted the DS version to Mobile devices. Instead of giving us a clean, PC accessible adaptation of the DS version, they just slapped an additional filter onto the Mobile's already filtered edits.  It's lazy, and gross, and shows a lack of integrity for their products and their customers.

...I'm real salty about it.
 

[DarioEMeloD]

Btw there's a bunch of guys working on the game, they're releasing everything on this page and there's a dedicated Steam group and a Discord server.

[Rjenyawd]

Btw there's a bunch of guys working on the game, they're releasing everything on this page and there's a dedicated Steam group and a Discord server.

Awesome! Thanks for this!

Is the discord group closed, or do you think they would be cool with people just dropping in?

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

IGN.com has iffy content and biased (paid) reviewers, but I thought this Chrono Trigger editorial was a good read:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/03/26/why-i-still-play-chrono-trigger-today

I have to say, this quote is me:

... and ... 20 years since I first played Chrono Trigger ... But whenever I feel nostalgic or just in the mood to play anything, I fire up the game, watch Crono being woken by his mother, and am transported back to when I was just a young boy being told by his mother that my most eagerly-awaited weekend of the year is finally here.

I think this is true. The nostalgia factor is strong in media, but there's something about Chrono Trigger that transports me to the Peaceful Days of Green of my childhood, mid-spring 1996 (which is when I first played Chrono Trigger).

[HadesKane]

Square will be releasing patches to fix graphical issues and to allow PC users to use more classic style graphics on the game.

https://kotaku.com/chrono-trigger-pc-will-get-patched-to-add-the-original-1824279706

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Yup, I saw that and came here to give the same update.

Bemoaners rejoice!

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, that's a step in the right direction, I guess.

[Shinrin]

So as of today you can select a beta branch for the game on steam. I'm not sure if this was done on purpose or not.

But after rebuying the game and doing the beta branch, I am really please on the new update coming out. There are a few bugs that have been introduced in this beta patch, but hope they will be fixed by the time they roll it out.

First things first, Starting a save file will automatically put you on the Original Graphics, this even includes the map tiles, so no more tile errors, unless you put it back on high resolution.

Starting a new game and after selecting Wait or Active, brings up the option of what graphics you want to use, with original being the default selection.

The game is now using the Font from the DS version of the game, The Asian versions are using a different font. There are a few bugs related to this, such as japanese characters not being compatable with the english font anymore, and text formatting in the game being off and still based on the original font. and some text flowing off the text box in the naming screen in french.

The text boxes have been redone to closely match the shadowing as it was on the SNES.

The Yellow color filter has been removed.

That being said, this is a beta patch, there are some things unfished as i mention above and the over world sprites are still using the high res graphics.

There are also some bug fixes in this version of the game that helps performance for some people that had FPS issues in the original version. For example, My game would slow down to under 30 FPS performance after a few minute and after trying the beta patch, this never happened to me.

This is a great step in the right direction and pleased even by this beta patch. Not only am i looking forward to the final version of this patch, i'm looking forward to the future patches in the upcoming months.

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Shinrin... now that's a name I've not heard in a long time.

Welcome back! Glad the beta is working out!

[Shinrin]

Yeah, the beta has been good. there are one more change and a fix to be added to the list. The game now runs like the PSX and DS version now on bootup, the SE logo shows, then plays the PSX opening, then goes to title then plays the SNES Demo credits now.

And this was found by a person who is further in the game. the Old bug was that Mt. Woe's transparent effect didn't work nicely with 16:9 resolutions. The old fix was to play in a 4:3 Resolution. Said bug has been fixed and displays correctly in wide screen now.

and yes it's been a long time. though i do check time to time for news updates.

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

and yes it's been a long time. though i do check time to time for news updates.

Well it's always nice to see ya around!

[PrincessNadia78]

Shinrin: I love your avatar!! 

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

I launched Steam just now and was met with a 400MB download for the Steam version of Chrono Trigger.

The new update is out. It reverts the graphics to true pixelation (like the SNES version) and makes the font match the DS version.

This was by default; I didn't have to choose those options.

Cool!