Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes Beta Testing [READ FIRST]

[nightmare975]

The screen with all the characters?  You're supposed to be sent there go talk to melchior to start from the beginning. 

--JP

Then how do I rename the characters?

PS, the 1 AD warp sends you in the middle of a forest.

[Agent 12]

!!! oh my goodness i totally forgot that I was asking people to rename characters and you guys don't have a way to rename crono/marle/lucca.....:-/  I guess for now feel free to go on with those names everyone else you'll be able to rename.  Yea that 1AD was added by 99 I think something must have changed or he was just testing out the OW music.

--JP

[nightmare975]

Say, remember on the Blackbird in CT, when all your weapons and items are gone? Maybe we could implement that action to make Magus' inventory different from Crono's. When we regain cntrol of Crono just activate the return items.

[Vehek]

As I pointed out to a different fan project, that wouldn't work. The inventory is still the same; the game just doesn't display the items.

[V_Translanka]

Yeah, I don't think it's that big of a deal anyways...There've been plenty of other RPGs that do that...it kind of makes things easier sometimes (it can make you rethink your equip when you think you're about to get to a chapter end though)...*shrugs* I wouldn't want to re-buy a bunch of potions & crap and it can also allow you to buy equip for people in advance (which I usually try to do anyways, but now they just get access to it quicker)...

[rushingwind]

I'm a little late arriving on the scene, but I'll claim Crono/Frog/Lucca, if that is a doable party (and assuming someone hasn't claimed it).  My commitment is full, but I'll only be able to check in twice a week at the moment.

[ZeaLitY]

Welcome to the starting point for beta testing Crimson Echoes. I'll try to keep this short and to the point.

The Rundown

• As a beta tester, you're looking not only for anything that strikes you as wrong or an error, but also for areas that could use improvement from your own ideas or suggestions. Feel free to critique anything you encounter in the game.
• The game is 95% finished. A thread here lists things that will be implemented, and this thread is where new patches are posted.
• Save often, using savestates and the game's actual save function. When a new patch comes out, you're encouraged to download and apply it, then pick up your game where you left it, so that you're always playing the latest, most bug-free version.
• To make suggestions for improvements, start a thread in this forum. To report simple bugs, use our bug counter at http://jpsondag.com/SubmitBug.aspx.
• Beta testers use different parties so that all dialogue and scene situations are triggered by the entire beta testing initiative. A list of people actively testing, their level of commitment, and their parties are at the end of this thread.

Instructions

If you're not familiar with playing ROM hacks, it's REALLY simple! Here's how to get started:

• Post here the party you'd like and if it's not already up, your level of commitment for beta testing.
• Have an unheadered Chrono Trigger ROM on hand and the latest version of ZSNES; other emulators and past versions of ZSNES can't handle an expanded CT ROM yet. (Grab a ROM here and ZSNES here).
• Download the most recent patch posted as an attachment in this thread.
• Use the program Lunar IPS to apply the patch to the ROM.
• When you start the game, you'll appear in a debug room with characters who can take you to each chapter. For now, talk to Melchior, and select "Prologue" to start the game.
• Play through the game submitting bugs and critiques.
• When it's all said and done, prepare to be interrogated about whether you found sidequests and other secrets, etc.
• Also, be sure to post your final playtime as reported on the save screen when you're done.

Beta Testers and Parties

• Faustwolf - PARTY: Magus, Lucca, Marle - COMMITMENT: FULL
• justin3009 - PARTY: Crono, Glenn, Robo - COMMITMENT: FULL
• Lenophis - PARTY: - COMMITMENT:
• Lord J Esq - PARTY: Ayla, Lucca, Marle - COMMITMENT: FULL
• maggiekarp - PARTY: - COMMITMENT: PART
• Pyt Fumv - PARTY: Crono, Robo, Ayla - COMMITMENT: FULL
• Radical_Dreamer - PARTY: - COMMITMENT: PART
• Ramsus - PARTY: - COMMITMENT:
• rushingwind - PARTY: Crono, Frog, Lucca - CMMITMENT: FULL
• V_Translanka - PARTY: - COMMITMENT: FULL
• ZeaLitY - PARTY: Ayla, Frog, Magus - FINISHED - PLAYTIME: 38:52

People invited but not sure:

CyberSarkany
Vehek

Can you believe it? A Chrono series full game fan project is actually going to be released. It took 14 years, but we're getting the job done.

Stuff to Watch For

BATTLES

Make sure you can't

• Die in a regular / boss battle and continue the game,
• Run away from a boss battle.

We're pretty sure we eliminated most cases of this, but double-checking would help our confidence tremendously.

DIALOGUE

Besides the general quality of dialogue, look for

• Textboxes that obscure the player (boxes can be at the top or bottom of the screen; if they obscure the player, they get moved)
• Appearance of default player character names after you've named a character something different. (Like, you name Crono "Jack", but later on, you see him called Crono. This is because we just wrote "Crono" in the ROM instead of "{Crono}".
• Named characters without line breaks, or unnamed characters with line breaks.
• Notation that accidentally got left in.

For an example of the last two,



This NPC doesn't have a name, but some of his lines are spaced. That's a no-no for NPCs without names. Also, notice (after his other line). This is a note from ZeaLitY that accidentally got inserted into the game.

ENEMIES AND GAMEPLAY

Is it WAY TOO HARD? Way too easy? Keep track of your general opinion of the difficulty level of the game. Be sure to include details about your character levels and equipment when reporting enemy strength. You can also make suggestions for enemy AI, like which attacks an enemy should use.

EVENTS AND FLOW

Does a sad scene wrap up way too quickly? Does a particular event feel like it's dragging on forever? Does something not make sense? Let us know.

MAPS

Any suggestions are good here. A lot of maps still need a slight polish. Just flag them, and the team will polish them.

MUSIC

Be wary of spoilers, but all the music used in the game currently is listed at http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/CE/Music.html. We have about ~18 unused song slots, which we can import custom music to thanks to pioneering MML / MIDI to SPC tutorial work done by Vehek and utunnels. For an example of what's possible, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCQtpKW25o, showing the Laputa theme in Chrono Trigger, or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gal1lQrWwfs, showing Scars of Time.

As you play through, just keep in mind places or events that could benefit from new music. We use the living hell out of the song Silent Light, for instance, and ditto for Underground Sewer. Try not to spread that music link.

STORY

Crimson Echoes was made by hardcore Chrono enthusiasts as an interquel between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, so let us know if the story is really hard to grasp. After you finish, you can see if you grasped everything by going to <JP EDIT:  Let's jsut extract this into a forum post, that link is a little too important i think?  >. Try not to spread that link. Robots.txt failed to block it, so it's been Google-able for a while anyway.

EVERYTHING ELSE

Say what you feel! Any critique helps, even if it can't be fixed -- because it'll give us an idea of what to expect upon release.

THANK YOU! It means a lot that you're willing to sacrifice a few hours of your life to help make the first 16-bit new story RPG ROM hack (to my knowledge, at least) a bigger success.

[Zephira]

I'll claim the team Magus, Marle and Crono. Starting testing now, I should be 'full' commitment aside from classes.