Dialogue Enhancements Commentary Thread (old)

[Kyronea]

Yeah, the Searing Chasm would be a part of the Valley of the Giants super-area.

Ah, yes, I remember now.

Also,(my mind is in a million tangeants, so I jump all over the game in my head) it would be interesting to add some kind of mini-games to Zeal areas. Not sure what though.

I have no idea...about the most I could think of is either some kind of lock breaking minigame on the door to the wing of the Blackbird or a minigame involving aiding the tab creator in creating new tabs...

[Zakyrus]

I have no idea...about the most I could think of is either some kind of lock breaking minigame on the door to the wing of the Blackbird or a minigame involving aiding the tab creator in creating new tabs...

I think I'm going to add both. You could run around Zeal finding misc items and herbs for the Tab Synthisier -- even a Nightshade that you don't get to keep when you are at Zeal and have to bring it to him. Btw, he will survive the fall)

[Kyronea]

Neat. That way you can make tabs...though I would imagine it would be an extremely slow process, perhaps taking some time on the game clock as well as many rare ingredients, but at least it's a way to make tabs.

[Zakyrus]

Wow. You read my mind. The Tab Maker would take 10 game minutes to make 1 tab. Also, you need rare ingredients that are found in other places in the world. Remember, Jadeleafs are very valuable in Zeal, so they will give you almost anything for it. Though the Tab Maker will still charge you a price for each tab to be made (as well as the ingredients), he will reduce the price for you if you give him 600 A.F. quality Jadeleafs (this could be one reason that there are so many tabs scattered across the timelines -- all because you gave Jadeleafs from forward in time to a Zeal Alchemist. When you get back to 600 A.F. or 1000 A.F. more tabs will be in scattered across the world (even ones you don't need to go to again, like the Cathedral) So you'll end up getting even more tabs in the long run if you search old areas again. 

[Kyronea]

Interesting...though if we take this tack we must remember the laws of the Chronoverse: nothing happens until it happens, and as such the tabs found in the various timeframes are not related to the actions of Crono and company. In fact, the number of tabs and their locations should be reduced immensely until the fall of Zeal when you begin bringing ingredients to the Tab Creator, and then and only then will tabs begin to appear in locations where they might once have been. After all, we've been introducing many Chrono Compendium theories as fact into this, so we definitely need to stick with it in that regard.

Besides...lessening the number of tabs available so readily across the eras to the later parts of the game will help balance the game further.

[Zakyrus]

Yeah, you won't be able to get tabs in ANY timelines utill you do the tab maker part. That would be cool. Because then if your dumb and rush the game and don't take to him, you get screwed and can't get lots tabs.

Though a few would have to be around(scattered) from the original fall of Zeal for places like Magus's Castle.

[Kyronea]

Yeah, you won't be able to get tabs in ANY timelines utill you do the tab maker part. That would be cool. Because then if your dumb and rush the game, you get screwed and can't get lots tabs.

Eh? I'm not seeing how rushing through the game would prevent tab reclaiming...actually, the way I see it, apart from a couple places such as the Tyrano Castle everywhere you received a tab, you are able to return to.

Though a few would have to be around(scattered) from the original fall of Zeal for places like Magus's Castle.

Yes. Such tabs should exist in 600 A.F.--such as Magus' Castle-- and in 1000 A.F. A few Power Tabs may be scattered throughout the Prehistoric, as the original Power Tab might have been a Reptite invention--or both Reptites and Zealians simply created the same device, which is certainly not unheard of by any means whatsoever. Anyway, I would suggest a maximum of ten tabs--5 Power, 3 Magic, and 2 Speed--scattered throughout the world, then any others would have to be created through the Tab Synthesizer and the corresponding actions in the timeline.

[Zakyrus]

Perfect. 

The more things we can have the Party screw with the timeline the better! If you can think of any more ideas that would be awesome, I'll see what I can come up with as well.

Edit: I meat rushing the game by not talking to the tab maker. So if you are dumb and skip it, you get no extra tabs (plus you don't get the ones he'd make for you)

[Kyronea]

Perfect. 

The more things we can have the Party screw with the timeline the better! If you can think of any more ideas that would be awesome, I'll see what I can come up with as well.

The Zealian treasure chests that end up in 600 and 1000 A.F...perhaps we could have a few of those in the Kingdom of Zeal itself, openable without the charged pendant. If the party takes one of those...an inferior version of the Vests, say some kind of "{colour} shirt" that simply nullifies the element rather than absorbing it will cause the corresponding chest to disappear in 600 and 1000 A.F. At the moment that's all I've got, but if I think up some more I will, in fact, let you know.

Edit: I meat rushing the game by not talking to the tab maker. So if you are dumb and skip it, you get no extra tabs (plus you don't get the ones he'd make for you)

Ah. Still, something like this will definitely be included in the text file that informs the player of the new features, so the way I see it, it'd be the player's fault, not ours, so long as we inform properly.

[Zakyrus]

I'm just going to say "Play like you haven't before. Explore everywhere, and talk to every one [twice]. "

[Kyronea]

That's going to be amongst my general advice, certainly. But I figured a full write-up of all features would be a good idea, though in a text file warning the user not to read it if they did not wish to be spoiled. That way we don't get yelled at about hidden things.

[Zakyrus]

Very true. I'll probably make a read me file and a "Dos and Dont's (Spoilers)" text file that says alot of hidden things.

[Kyronea]

Good.

In the meantime, we have work to do in order to make that Public Beta a possibility. Is there anything specific you need me to do for it?

[Zakyrus]

Yeah. Can you make a description for every item in the list? I'll email you the item name list and descriptions of what I have done so far... I'll finish a few things then send that to you in a day or two. (I have to go to work soon) >_<

[Kyronea]

Yeah. Can you make a description for every item in the list? I'll email you the item name list and descriptions of what I have done so far... I'll finish a few things then send that to you in a day or two. (I have to go to work soon) >_<

Will do. Also, when the patch is done, we'll need to heavily playtest it--both of us--to ensure there are no bugs, typos in the dialogue, ect ect before handing the patch over to Zeality for uploading onto the site. That way we don't run the risk of an embarrasment somewhere.