CTRP

Chrono Crisis Interview

by ZeaLitY, 15:06, 15 Jan 2005 (CST)

Note: Chrono Crisis now uses RPGMakerXP. New screenshots are available on the sidebar. Also, look for http://www.chronocrisis.com soon.

Chrono Crisis has been months in development, designed with RPGMaker2003, and even attracting its own community of followers and contributors. The effort, whose goal is to make a sequel to Chrono Trigger, has undergone some hardships, but has made history by releasing a working demo when other Fan Projects continue to remain behind closed doors. Chains of Fate, the driving force behind Chrono Crisis, allowed the demo to be released through the Chrono Compendium, and is pleased with its results. His new plot synopsis, also posted here, follows:

Many eras have passed since mankind was first born upon the world. Countless lives have been lost, saved, and ruined, and only a few heroes have been born. Among these heroes, are three teenagers, Crono, Nadia, and Lucca, who risked their lives to save the future of their world, even though they would never live to see it themselves. Although they saved so many people, was what they did really right? What happened to the people who WOULD have been born if time had not been altered? After thinking about it, they feared that one day someone may discover the truth and seek revenge on them. Now that they're older and have lives of their own, are they willing to lose everything because they did what they thought was right?

The full synopsis is at Fan Projects, which details events occurring after the demo. I contacted Chains of Fate, and he consented to do an interview that peers into the workings of Chrono Crisis -- the rough road behind and his plans for the future. Let's get to it! Don't forget to check the demo links at the bottom!

1. What inspired you to make Chrono Crisis?

Chrono Trigger was one of my first RPGs, and it just captivated me. When I was younger I would always write stories about them furthering their adventure, and I want to give fans what it looks like I'll never see myself, a direct sequel to an amazing game.

2. What was your first real challenge in its development?

The two times my game project was accidentally deleted. I had to restart from scratch.

3. Who is supporting you and is on your team?

My spriter Jenna (AKA Celera), who's in charge of making the custom sprites, Soraya (AKA Sorahiko), who's working on the original music for the game, and remixing the old music, and Joseph (AKA SSJoseph), who's in charge of making the site for the game, who also contributed some remixed music.

4. How is RPGMaker working out for you? Which features have you taken advantage of that aren't in the original CT?

As far as features go, they're mostly the same, but many of them are being expanded upon. More playable characters, tons of brand new areas, etc.

5. What are the most fun, and most boring and difficult aspects of creating Chrono Crisis?

It's so much fun to visually expand Chrono Trigger's story like this. It's as real as Chrono Trigger. However, working day after day can be a bit tedious, but I have so much fun doing this, so there aren't too many boring moments. As for difficulty, it's hard to push the limits of RPG Maker, making the battle and menu systems just like Trigger's, but things like that bring it one step closer to being a real sequal.

6. Have you run into any setbacks that have caused you to rethink your development?

The two times my game project was accidentally deleted. I had to restart from scratch, but both times it improved dramatically, so it didn't bother me all that much.

7. Is thinking up Crono's lines difficult? What personality did you give him?

Crono's the funnest character to make dialogue for. There's not much to go on from CT for him, so I was able to make him like I would the other orignal characters in the game, at my discretion. During the Prologue, which connects Trigger to my game, he's got a funny charm to him. But 5 years later, when my game truly starts, as a father he's more serious. And he's very aware of everything around him.

8. Anything special you'd like the fans to look forward to?

The brand new characters and areas. I've worked very hard on the original aspects of the game, and I hope the new characters grow on you and become real to you, just like the Trigger Characters.

9. If you could get some more help, what tasks or positions would you have volunteers fulfill?

I really need someone who can make tile sets that match Trigger's style. I'd also like someone who could make either anime or 3-D videos for special scenes in the game.

10. Did the C&D order with CT: Resurrection affect your project in any way?

Not at all, I'm making a non profit game purely for the fans enjoyment. There should be no reason for Square to ask that I shut down my game.

11. If all goes well, when can fans expect to play the full version?

I'm hoping by the end of this year. The game's going to be massive, and I will be releasing demos along the way of it's progress.

Now, I have played the demo, and it is very fun; my primary concern was that it wouldn't be very challenging, consisting of simply walking around, beating a few bosses and wathing a cutscene. However, I had to level up to beat a boss, and also manage equipment. It was spectacular hearing the remixed music, and simply playing a new Chrono game; I can't wait for more. Good luck to Chains of Fate, and thanks for reading! The demo is available:

Chrono Crisis Demo: http://chronocrisis.uct2.net/ChronoCrisisDemo.lzh
Required Runtimes: http://files.rpginfinity.com/get/nb/maker/rpg_maker_2003/rm2k3_106.rar
Font Error Fix: http://files.rpginfinity.com/get/nb/utility/msgpatch/msgpatch.zip

And lastly, you can discuss the demo on the Compendium forums at a href="http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=572">this topic.

See you next week, when we'll be interviewing the creator of Unofficial Chrono Trigger 2.

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