Chrono Compendium
Zenan Plains - Site Discussion => Polling => Topic started by: CptOvaltine on October 30, 2018, 05:33:46 pm
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That's some really interesting stuff. I would have liked to play through those to see how/what you guys changed/added.
Certainly an interesting premise to say the least. I would have loved to be involved with those back in the day...though like everyone else, I wouldn't have been good for much beyond idea generation and may some music. Even there, most fan projects I've seen prefer to use the original soundtrack. I don't know if that's from lack of expertise, or just the nostalgia factor. Maybe both?
I wish we could take all of these great ideas/talent and develop our own game inspired by Chrono. I would score that in a heart beat! Though again, the biggest obstacle would be coders/programmers. It would be so cool to take something in the same vain as the Chrono Break trailer that was released a few months ago and develop it for the Switch, or something like that.
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I wish we could take all of these great ideas/talent and develop our own game inspired by Chrono. I would score that in a heart beat! Though again, the biggest obstacle would be coders/programmers. It would be so cool to take something in the same vain as the Chrono Break trailer that was released a few months ago and develop it for the Switch, or something like that.
Agreed 110%. Six months ago I would have been down to get something up and running. Either a fan game or a potential legit release via Steam or whatever. Now things are so busy I don't know if I'd be able.
I still think a small fan ROM hack would be useful. Akin to Prophet's Guile.
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I wish we could take all of these great ideas/talent and develop our own game inspired by Chrono. I would score that in a heart beat! Though again, the biggest obstacle would be coders/programmers. It would be so cool to take something in the same vain as the Chrono Break trailer that was released a few months ago and develop it for the Switch, or something like that.
Agreed 110%. Six months ago I would have been down to get something up and running. Either a fan game or a potential legit release via Steam or whatever. Now things are so busy I don't know if I'd be able.
I still think a small fan ROM hack would be useful. Akin to Prophet's Guile.
This is itself is the sole reason I decided to use RPG Maker instead. Not only was the ease of learning there, but so were the resources to build upon it, and if needed, "doers". If anyone was willing to jump on board one of those projects I am fully on board and have had years of experience now. importing a new soundtrack is easy as well (and most welcome).
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I wish we could take all of these great ideas/talent and develop our own game inspired by Chrono. I would score that in a heart beat! Though again, the biggest obstacle would be coders/programmers. It would be so cool to take something in the same vain as the Chrono Break trailer that was released a few months ago and develop it for the Switch, or something like that.
Agreed 110%. Six months ago I would have been down to get something up and running. Either a fan game or a potential legit release via Steam or whatever. Now things are so busy I don't know if I'd be able.
I still think a small fan ROM hack would be useful. Akin to Prophet's Guile.
This is itself is the sole reason I decided to use RPG Maker instead. Not only was the ease of learning there, but so were the resources to build upon it, and if needed, "doers". If anyone was willing to jump on board one of those projects I am fully on board and have had years of experience now. importing a new soundtrack is easy as well (and most welcome).
Bare with me, I know next to nothing about RPGmaker, but what are the legal restrictions? Can you sell what you create with it (assuming all the content within is original)? I assume the programming language is different, but how well could it be ported/adapted to other consoles if at all?
Classic pixel art TB RPGs are making a come back right now. If we could put something together and market it as a spiritual successor to Trigger/Cross I think we could actually have a little success! Especially if we could get it onto the Switch/PS4/Xbox. We might not ever make any money, but someone might really enjoy it. Of course this is all easy for me to say, I wouldn't be able to help with anything except the music, and maybe some of the marketing/legal tasks...
I've always wanted to write music for an RPG. Back in the day I was a part of a forum called Epic Center Games that was centered around creating their own RPG. They had a lot of really talented writers, and come coders/artists, but eventually everything died out and it never really made it much past the concept phase. That was really my first and last exposure to writing for a game. I've wanted to try again ever since.
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Bare with me, I know next to nothing about RPGmaker, but what are the legal restrictions? Can you sell what you create with it (assuming all the content within is original)? I assume the programming language is different, but how well could it be ported/adapted to other consoles if at all?
You can sell. There are a few really good one's on Steam, actually - Ara Fell is one that took ten years, but has turned out to be amazing.
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On the subject of, I'd say, I've also been interested in these sorts of things. I'll also admit I'm more of an idea guy than doing stuff like complex coding and the like. Although, well, as mentioned programs like RPG Maker exist to make things easier. Though for me it's more an issue of not having those programs.
Personally, something I'm more inclined to try out is SRPG Studio, since it's more oriented for strategy games than standard RPG's.
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My personal unwillingness to have anything to do with RPGMaker projects is this: I can't play most RPGMaker games, because most versions of RPGMaker are strictly Windows software (or console/handheld software, and the most modern console I have is a PS2). The workarounds are variously annoying (fragile, expensive . . .)
I was working on an alternative take using a cross-platform engine for a while, but ran out of energy before I produced a combat system or any type of editor. Then I made the mistake of trying to re-write it. Emphasis on "mistake". Ugh.
I have most of the (non-music) skills needed to assemble a fangame All By Myself (not that great a spriter, but capable of recolouring/retouching existing sprites), just not the enthusiasm or the round tuits.
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My personal unwillingness to have anything to do with RPGMaker projects is this: I can't play most RPGMaker games, because most versions of RPGMaker are strictly Windows software (or console/handheld software, and the most modern console I have is a PS2). The workarounds are variously annoying (fragile, expensive . . .)
I was working on an alternative take using a cross-platform engine for a while, but ran out of energy before I produced a combat system or any type of editor. Then I made the mistake of trying to re-write it. Emphasis on "mistake". Ugh.
I have most of the (non-music) skills needed to assemble a fangame All By Myself (not that great a spriter, but capable of recolouring/retouching existing sprites), just not the enthusiasm or the round tuits.
Again, this could be my ignorance showing, but with Steam opening up the PC gaming market to Mac and Lynix, even in a limited capacity, it seems like it shouldn't be that difficult to port/code to be available on a wide variety of systems.
I'm less interested in a fan-made-game...Those have their place, but are limited by a whole lot of things, the least of which is a C&D letter. Now, an "original" game that is inspired by Trigger/Cross is absolutely appealing to me. Even if it never goes anywhere, it would at least have a chance (even if it's microscopic, and assuming it's actually a good game) of taking off and becoming something that we might be able to make some money off of, maybe even start a small studio.
I might be a little ambitious/enthusiastic about all of this, but what can I say? I'm a (radical) dreamer... :lol: 8)
... :picardno
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Again, this could be my ignorance showing, but with Steam opening up the PC gaming market to Mac and Lynix, even in a limited capacity, it seems like it shouldn't be that difficult to port/code to be available on a wide variety of systems.
I'm less interested in a fan-made-game...Those have their place, but are limited by a whole lot of things, the least of which is a C&D letter. Now, an "original" game that is inspired by Trigger/Cross is absolutely appealing to me. Even if it never goes anywhere, it would at least have a chance (even if it's microscopic, and assuming it's actually a good game) of taking off and becoming something that we might be able to make some money off of, maybe even start a small studio.
I might be a little ambitious/enthusiastic about all of this, but what can I say? I'm a (radical) dreamer... :lol: 8)
I'm absolutely up for a spiritual successor as well, as it seems many on this forum are as well (mainly due to possible C+D and the lot).
My personal unwillingness to have anything to do with RPGMaker projects is this: I can't play most RPGMaker games, because most versions of RPGMaker are strictly Windows software (or console/handheld software, and the most modern console I have is a PS2). The workarounds are variously annoying (fragile, expensive . . .)
I was working on an alternative take using a cross-platform engine for a while, but ran out of energy before I produced a combat system or any type of editor. Then I made the mistake of trying to re-write it. Emphasis on "mistake". Ugh.
I have most of the (non-music) skills needed to assemble a fangame All By Myself (not that great a spriter, but capable of recolouring/retouching existing sprites), just not the enthusiasm or the round tuits.
There are Mac emulator-type programs to run RPGMaker games as well, but I'm not saying it must be done on RPG maker, just saying the resources and "doers" are there. As for coding, a lot of it is pre-determined and selection from drop down lists and the like, anything outside the realm of the game's design can usually be found by coders that have already gone the extra mile and made extensions (which are fairly simple to add in) and are free to use.
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So here's the business complication of that -- if it's open to anyone on the forum to contribute, you run into a helluva time dealing with royalties and the like. There would have to be guardrails established; who does what, who gets what payment when, etc. There would have to be contracts in place, etc. Otherwise there's huge liability where some disenfranchised forumite who proposed an idea (that was used) could create legal issues. Not saying it is likely, but unfortunately, people can be assholes, especially when it comes to the internet.
Just to get people thinking if this is something they really want to.
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So here's the business complication of that -- if it's open to anyone on the forum to contribute, you run into a helluva time dealing with royalties and the like. There would have to be guardrails established; who does what, who gets what payment when, etc. There would have to be contracts in place, etc. Otherwise there's huge liability where some disenfranchised forumite who proposed an idea (that was used) could create legal issues. Not saying it is likely, but unfortunately, people can be assholes, especially when it comes to the internet.
Just to get people thinking if this is something they really want to.
Agreed. Based on the limited amount of time I'd have available I wouldn't expect any money unless it was actually distributed on steam for sale. I'd be perfectly content setting it unto the world pro bono.
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So here's the business complication of that -- if it's open to anyone on the forum to contribute, you run into a helluva time dealing with royalties and the like. There would have to be guardrails established; who does what, who gets what payment when, etc. There would have to be contracts in place, etc. Otherwise there's huge liability where some disenfranchised forumite who proposed an idea (that was used) could create legal issues. Not saying it is likely, but unfortunately, people can be assholes, especially when it comes to the internet.
Just to get people thinking if this is something they really want to.
Royalties are simple if you establish some ground rules from the beginning. If we're actually serious about doing something then I would be willing to sit down with my lawyer and talk about laying out a boiler plate that we can use to establish a proper royalty system between project members. If we were serious about moving forward I could have him draft something, but I would need some help with the legal fees. I could get him to work for a more then fair rate, but it would still be a few hundred dollars.
That being said, if/when we start involving money I would strongly discourage allowing people to jump in whenever they feel like it. That's where a lot of problems arise. It's usually the guy that wrote one song, or designed one sprite that feels entitled to the lions share, not the core team. There has to be some level of commitment to this thing rather than a "I'll just work on it when I feel like it." Of course I'm not talking about a steady job since there would be no financial compensation up front...but we would need at least SOME form of accountability/steady progress, even if it's only an a couple of hours a month.
If by some stroke of luck we were able to generate a little buzz out there it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities to launch a kickstarter. Maybe generate a little something to help out with some of time commitments.
I'd be perfectly content setting it unto the world pro bono.
Of course this is always an option, too! Though I feel like free RPGmaker projects are a dime a dozen, and would likely just get lost in the crowd. I guess there's no guarantee that trying to sell it would be any different. Honestly, I think one of our best chances for success would be trying to get it on the Switch.
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Royalties are simple if you establish some ground rules from the beginning. If we're actually serious about doing something then I would be willing to sit down with my lawyer and talk about laying out a boiler plate that we can use to establish a proper royalty system between project members. If we were serious about moving forward I could have him draft something, but I would need some help with the legal fees. I could get him to work for a more then fair rate, but it would still be a few hundred dollars.
That being said, if/when we start involving money I would strongly discourage allowing people to jump in whenever they feel like it. That's where a lot of problems arise. It's usually the guy that wrote one song, or designed one sprite that feels entitled to the lions share, not the core team. There has to be some level of commitment to this thing rather than a "I'll just work on it when I feel like it." Of course I'm not talking about a steady job since there would be no financial compensation up front...but we would need at least SOME form of accountability/steady progress, even if it's only an a couple of hours a month.
Agreed and agreed. Let's talk more before we commit to anything, though. Not that you were saying we should commit now, just echoing that we acknowledge that as an option and continue. :)
Of course this is always an option, too! Though I feel like free RPGmaker projects are a dime a dozen, and would likely just get lost in the crowd. I guess there's no guarantee that trying to sell it would be any different. Honestly, I think one of our best chances for success would be trying to get it on the Switch.
So the caveat there would be game engines. RPGmaker is definitely not my first choice, but it is the lowest barrier to entry. And then we have to assume we have people who can use that engine.
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There would have to be contracts in place, etc. Otherwise there's huge liability where some disenfranchised forumite who proposed an idea (that was used) could create legal issues
That's a risk even if there's no money involved, unfortunately. If this gains momentum, better to have a sign-off form granting perpetual non-exclusive use to the game project of whatever stuff people come up with (I don't think actual copyright transfer is necessary, but I Am Not A Lawyer, and even if I were, I'm not from the country most likely to produce vexatious litigants).
So the caveat there would be game engines. RPGmaker is definitely not my first choice, but it is the lowest barrier to entry. And then we have to assume we have people who can use that engine.
That's kind of cart-before-the-horse at this point. Figure out the gameplay basics first, then find an engine that will accomodate them as easily as possible. (Frex, let's say someone thinks it's cool to inject platformer elements--how easy is it to make RPGMaker handle those, or would a more generalized engine be better? How about paper-doll sprites? Are so many animations needed that it would be better to switch to 3D? etc etc ad nauseum.) There are other engines with visual editors for non-programmers, although they tend to be more generalized.
There are Mac emulator-type programs to run RPGMaker games as well
No Linux ones for most versions of the engine, though, unless things have improved over the past two or three years. And even if there were there's no guarantee they would work. (I've had closed-source games fail on Linux for reasons ranging from "segmentation fault" to "developer forgot to mention that a certain piece of garbage called pulseaudio was required, and apulse appears not to be good enough". As such, I'm rather jaded about the supposed uptick in Linux games.)
(I'm also strung out on painkillers most of the time at this time of year, so adjust the value of anything I say accordingly.)
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Agreed and agreed. Let's talk more before we commit to anything, though. Not that you were saying we should commit now, just echoing that we acknowledge that as an option and continue. :)
Agreed! I'm happy to help get the ball rolling, but other then composing the music I would little no help with any of the actual work.
So the caveat there would be game engines. RPGmaker is definitely not my first choice, but it is the lowest barrier to entry. And then we have to assume we have people who can use that engine.
I see the problem. I suppose the biggest hurdle here is finding out who is interested in helping out with some of the labor intensive tasks like coding/programming/operating visual editors. Like alfadorredux said, it might be a bit premature to pick a game engine, but at the same time we have to keep in mind who is willing and available, and what programs they can use or are comfortable using.
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You know, I wish I could say I can volunteer for this.
I have experience with coding, and I'm currently part of a group that's working on a Victoria II mod. Though even so I'm not really convinced that'd be enough. More so depending on what kind of coding would be used. Not to mention, if this really ever becomes a thing, and employs a program like one of the RPGMaker ones... well, as I mentioned before, I don't have them. I've tried free trials of some of them, but ultimately, I don't have the money.
Sure, there are probably other ways to contribute. I believe years ago I was involved in a Fire Emblem hack where I helped contribute to the story and did some script writing (which got replaced some time after I left, but it was still something). Though then I'd be either less capable or are more contested. Then the availability issue. Right now I currently have lots of free time, but I'm also on a "finished my career, now starting on the looking for a job business" phase, and once I'm done with that, who knows how much free time I'd have afterwards.
Well, I'd first withold until seeing if this actually goes somewhere, then worry if I could actually be able to offer to help with it in anything.
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Agreed! I'm happy to help get the ball rolling, but other then composing the music I would little no help with any of the actual work.
So the caveat there would be game engines. RPGmaker is definitely not my first choice, but it is the lowest barrier to entry. And then we have to assume we have people who can use that engine.
I see the problem. I suppose the biggest hurdle here is finding out who is interested in helping out with some of the labor intensive tasks like coding/programming/operating visual editors. Like alfadorredux said, it might be a bit premature to pick a game engine, but at the same time we have to keep in mind who is willing and available, and what programs they can use or are comfortable using.
Don't sell yourself short. Composing the sound of the game creates the entire mood and overall feel of the game; this a huge undertaking and we'd be more than elated to have you aboard.
Looks like there's definitely going to be some conflict about platform... which is to be expected. That is something that can be put off until after some groundwork is put in; definitely not anything worth conflicting over....yet.
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Money is the other catch with RPGMaker (although if you stalk Humble Bundle for long enough, you can sometimes pick recent versions up fairly cheap). Unity is probably the most popular general engine with an editor, and you can get the less-featureful versions of it for free (if I recall correctly), but it's primarily 3D oriented.
Long post follows. Something about this seems to have tapped into my "must organize all the things" and "must give others the benefit of the research I did a while back" modes. Don't worry, it's a transient pattern of thought that rarely stays active for more than a few days.
Okay, so, if we actually want to make this a game, what things do we need to establish, and what jobs need to be filled?
Things that Need to Be Established
The important things that need to be figured out before any forward progress can be made:
- Characters (at least a couple of them to start with)
- General plot (three-to-five-sentence version, can change later)
- Artwork style (do we want the classic 2D RPG look of pixel art with SD sprites and tile-friendly 3/4 perspective? Or something more realistic? More painterly? Cartoony? 3D, even?)
- Music style (homage to Mitsuda? Something else? There's nothing that says an RPG can't have a jazz or rock or country (blech!) score. Could also split by world/era.)
- Gameplay (we can assume certain things because of the game genre--characters have progressively growing stats, some form of equipment, etc.--but where RPGs tend to distinguish themselves is in the combat and magic systems. CT and CC both had distinctive combat systems, CC especially.)
- What makes this game more worth playing than the hundreds of bad RPGMaker projects that bedevil the world? (for a Chrono homage, part of the hook is necessarily time travel and/or parallel universe travel, but it needs more than that)
Criteria to be considered when choosing an engine:
- How much tooling (AKA "visual things for writing scripts for you") is needed? Desired? Can we write some of it ourselves?
- Does this have enough flexibility to support the gameplay we decided on? "Simple enough, but no simpler" is generally a good description of what you want.
- What platforms do we want the finished game to run on? (Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile, inside a browser...)
The engine FAQ at /r/gamedev (https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/wiki/engine_faq (https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/wiki/engine_faq)) is probably a good-enough place to start looking at the more general engines with editors, although it may be slightly dated.
Things that need to be decided eventually, but not right away:
- Where to post this once it's done (I'm currently leaning toward itch.io, which I recall as easy to get onto, no fees if you're just giving stuff away, allows for various price-points including $0. RPGMaker games could also go to rpgmaker.net or similar)
- Full list of playable characters
- Anything else that I've forgotten about ;P
Jobs that Need to be Filled
- Story/script: At least one writer and one editor/proofreader. "Writer" is probably the most fraught job in all of this, since if people don't like the direction the story is headed in, they're likely to drop out of the project. Additional writers who want something with a smaller time investment could also work on generic NPC lines, background lore, item descriptions, and all those little fiddly bits of text.
- Artwork: At least one person, but potentially up to half a dozen distinct jobs (character sprites, backgrounds, monsters, portraits, menu/credits screens, character designs...) It may be possible to get art or helpers from opengameart.com (especially if the art can be released under a free license, such as CC-BY-SA)
- Music: At least one person.
- SFX: Probably the most dispensable job--you can do a lot with places like freesound.org and a few hours of playing with a program like sfxr.
- Coding/scripting: At least one person, but probably several.
- Testing and QA: It's probably best to split this up as much as possible and ask several dozen people to poke at small pieces (allowing them to enjoy the rest of the game). Someone will need to coordinate, although that can be dumped on the project manager (see below).
- Project management: RPGs are, by their nature, really big games. At least one person has to be responsible for keeping track of which assets we have and which assets are still needed, and gently probing people when they drop out of sight. This is the other nasty job, along with "writer".
- Publicity: Not necessary to fill this job specifically until we have at least a demo.
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To direct the conversation, I think we need to talk about what we would want in this game. Then we could see if we all are actually on the same page; I've seen too many times where there's not a cohesive vision and people flake fairly quickly. Then can see what engines would be feasible in what I'd want.
Storywise:
-I'd like to see time travel. Dimensional travel and/or multiverse doesn't attract me as much, but I'd be open to discussion. One way we can differ in our travel travel methodology would be to make it fatalistic by nature - by trying to change time, the heroes are in fact fulfilling what occurs in the timeline.
-A diverse and engaging cast of characters from across space-time. Around 9 party members, each with unique skillsets and more class-based archetypes (more varied than Chrono Trigger's characters).
Combat:
-Enemies visible on the map.
-Turn-based combat. ATB or purely turn-based on character speed.
-Dual and/or triple techs.
-Better yet, I think we can change the battle system to make it more engaging.
-Stacking has been done with Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default; perhaps rather than pure stacking, we can instead add in a "turn steal" feature? For example, certain attacks have a percentage to steal a turn. Same with critical attacks, etc.
-In addition to, or in replace of the above, perhaps certain attacks create an opening for a disrupt and/or steal? For example, once the ATB bar fills, there is a quick "charge up" period in which the magic meter must fill for the spell to cast. This opens up the caster's defense and a chance to interrupt the attack. Same with skills.
Graphics:
-I'm all about retro graphics, and I prefer to go with a more advanced version of SNES 16bit-era graphics. Meaning something akin to Octopath Traveler; perhaps a bridge of 2D and 3D?
-I also CRAVE a worldmap with exploration opportunities. More opportunities than Chrono Trigger would have offered.
Music:
-Anything by that CptOvaltine would be rad.
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Sounds like enough interest to maybe move this to its own thread?
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Sounds like enough interest to maybe move this to its own thread?
I thought the same thing. I have mod authority now, so I will see about trying to move it all over tonight or tomorrow. It's easy to do. For now, keep chatting away!
:D
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Thanks for helping us start to organize things alfadorredux!
Don't sell yourself short. Composing the sound of the game creates the entire mood and overall feel of the game; this a huge undertaking and we'd be more than elated to have you aboard.
Thanks Chrono! I agree, the music can absolutely make or break a game! I'm totally willing if you all are open to letting me try!
To direct the conversation, I think we need to talk about what we would want in this game. Then we could see if we all are actually on the same page; I've seen too many times where there's not a cohesive vision and people flake fairly quickly. Then can see what engines would be feasible in what I'd want.
I think that's a great approach. It might be a good idea to start thinking about what roles people want to/are able to fill. I would rather avoid the "to many cooks in the kitchen" problem, so as this starts to develop we should start thinking about who will direct, write, code, compose, etc.
On that end, I'm happy to compose if people are open to it! Though fair warning, my music is almost exclusively orchestral. I can write for any size (including solo piano) of group, but I tend to stay in more classical oriented ensembles. i.e I don't write for rock bands. ;) That being said, if we're interested in a Mitsuda sound, I think I can accommodate! I can also take somewhat of a producer role and help out with some of the administrative and organization tasks...but that's about the extent of my abilities in relation to game production!
Storywise:
-I'd like to see time travel. Dimensional travel and/or multiverse doesn't attract me as much, but I'd be open to discussion. One way we can differ in our travel travel methodology would be to make it fatalistic by nature - by trying to change time, the heroes are in fact fulfilling what occurs in the timeline.
-A diverse and engaging cast of characters from across space-time. Around 9 party members, each with unique skillsets and more class-based archetypes (more varied than Chrono Trigger's characters).
I love the idea of some sort of story built around the star gate premise. A mysterious tech or magic that transports you to unknown worlds (and maybe timelines on different worlds??) I've always loved stories that have the underdog take an impossible fight deep into the enemy territory.
It might be interesting to try and create a fantasy-esque sci-fi game. I really loved the mock trailer for Chrono Break, something in that vain would be awesome.
I'm totally just spit balling here, I'm open to pretty much anything.
Combat:
-Enemies visible on the map.
-Turn-based combat. ATB or purely turn-based on character speed.
-Dual and/or triple techs.
-Better yet, I think we can change the battle system to make it more engaging.
-Stacking has been done with Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default; perhaps rather than pure stacking, we can instead add in a "turn steal" feature? For example, certain attacks have a percentage to steal a turn. Same with critical attacks, etc.
-In addition to, or in replace of the above, perhaps certain attacks create an opening for a disrupt and/or steal? For example, once the ATB bar fills, there is a quick "charge up" period in which the magic meter must fill for the spell to cast. This opens up the caster's defense and a chance to interrupt the attack. Same with skills.
100% agree with visible enemies, I also love the idea of being able to toggle ATB or Wait like Trigger allowed us to do.
I like the idea of Techs, however we need to balance them. While they're cool in both Trigger and Cross, they're almost always inferior to physical attacks. (Especially in Cross) I would love to create a system that actually involves some sort of tactical strategy rather than just spam physical attacks the whole battle. Octopath did this well with their weakness system.
All of that being said, I think it's important to stress that we don't need to re-invent the wheel. I don't think our major selling point is going to be a unique spin on TB combat or game play mechanics. I think a well crafted and executed story is going to be far more compelling to players, assuming that even a vanilla combat system is well balanced. Most RPGs in the last 10 years have put mechanics and graphics before story, and I think the entire industry has really suffered for it. Not that we shouldn't try to create a unique spin on things, but I would hate for the project to stall and fizzle because we couldn't code in a stacking system or another atypical feature. Besides, we can always overhaul the system later if/when we attract some more attention/other talented/experienced coders.
Graphics:
-I'm all about retro graphics, and I prefer to go with a more advanced version of SNES 16bit-era graphics. Meaning something akin to Octopath Traveler; perhaps a bridge of 2D and 3D?
-I also CRAVE a worldmap with exploration opportunities. More opportunities than Chrono Trigger would have offered.
I am 1,000,000% in favor of a more polished 16bit SNES era approach. I loved Octopath, minus some of the extreme lighting effects, and wouldn't mind something in that vain. I also loved the graphical style of the Chrono break trailer. I think either approach would be great.
Music:
-Anything by that CptOvaltine would be rad.
I would love to create something for this project! This might be a little (or a lot) far-fetched, but if we could generate the revenue, it would be awesome to include a live soundtrack akin to Octopath!
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EDIT: I split this entire convo from the previous thread. I am trying to see if I can move it out of the polling section of the Compendium and into general conversation. Feel free to keep posting in the meantime.
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Okay, so, before we go any further, here's a similar thread from a few years back: https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=10053.0 . I may have been a bit of a furry purple ass in that one--mea culpa.
Random time travel story ideas of varying degrees of silliness (in addition to the stuff in that thread):
Idea 1: It all started when her pet monkey snuck through the time gate she was testing and came back with a really fancy ring. Which belonged to a Dark Lord from the distant past, who is now really ticked off, and has reverse-engineered her time gate in order to get it back. That wasn't so bad until the fighting between them caused another time gate to misfire, and zombies came spilling in from the future. Now the inventor and the Dark Lord have to join forces to fix the future and avoid getting their brains eaten. (Bonus points if the monkey gets its hands on some future tech and joins the party as a really buff cyborg.)
Idea 2: She's a genetically-engineered, superstrong space marine from a future where humanity is losing its fight against the alien invaders. He's a spoony bard with a talent for magical music, from a past where everyone has special powers. Together, they fight crime try to save the world by bringing magic into the future. But of course, things won't be that easy.
Idea 3: Humanity is long since extinct, and one robot is curious as to why. Creating a time machine, he ventures to the last era when humankind walked the world...and finds they're pretty nice people, actually. The problem is all the mutant meat-eating plants--long since extinct in the future, because they don't find robots very nutritious. Since he's already got a time machine, the robot and his human allies head back to the previous (steampunk) era to try to figure out where all the nasty vegetation came from.
Idea 4: When Country B lost the war against Country A, the rulers of Country B weren't willing to accept it, and used their recently-invented time machine to undermine Country A in the past. Unfortunately, every intervention in the past made things worse for the entire world. Now the last agent of Country B is about to leave the present time, full of ruins and hunter-killer robots, and return to the past to stop the missions of his compatriots. The problem is that a lot of the records have been lost, so it's difficult to tell who's an agent and how to fix things. (This would probably be a setup for a game sewn together from multiple short quests, where every one that's successfully resolved would cause the state of the present time to improve a bit.)
Mix and match if you like, or toss in some of your own.
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Idea 1: It all started when her pet monkey snuck through the time gate she was testing and came back with a really fancy ring. Which belonged to a Dark Lord from the distant past, who is now really ticked off, and has reverse-engineered her time gate in order to get it back. That wasn't so bad until the fighting between them caused another time gate to misfire, and zombies came spilling in from the future. Now the inventor and the Dark Lord have to join forces to fix the future and avoid getting their brains eaten. (Bonus points if the monkey gets its hands on some future tech and joins the party as a really buff cyborg.)
Too silly for my tastes. But once again, that's just me.
Idea 2: She's a genetically-engineered, superstrong space marine from a future where humanity is losing its fight against the alien invaders. He's a spoony bard with a talent for magical music, from a past where everyone has special powers. Together, they fight crime try to save the world by bringing magic into the future. But of course, things won't be that easy.
Interesting. Sounds like Doom-meets-Final Fantasy at first glance. This, in combination with below, interests me the most.
Idea 3: Humanity is long since extinct, and one robot is curious as to why. Creating a time machine, he ventures to the last era when humankind walked the world...and finds they're pretty nice people, actually. The problem is all the mutant meat-eating plants--long since extinct in the future, because they don't find robots very nutritious. Since he's already got a time machine, the robot and his human allies head back to the previous (steampunk) era to try to figure out where all the nasty vegetation came from.
Could be cool. It could also be repurposed for a singular event/era.
Idea 4: When Country B lost the war against Country A, the rulers of Country B weren't willing to accept it, and used their recently-invented time machine to undermine Country A in the past. Unfortunately, every intervention in the past made things worse for the entire world. Now the last agent of Country B is about to leave the present time, full of ruins and hunter-killer robots, and return to the past to stop the missions of his compatriots. The problem is that a lot of the records have been lost, so it's difficult to tell who's an agent and how to fix things. (This would probably be a setup for a game sewn together from multiple short quests, where every one that's successfully resolved would cause the state of the present time to improve a bit.)
Oh man. This is a cool concept, but it does feel somewhat similar to Radiant Historia - especially with the new version with multiverse timelines.
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I had an additional concept or two I'll throw out here in a day or two. We'll see if anything sticks and how we can merge and edit concepts.
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Wish I could remember that old idea I had for a Chrono interquel between Trigger and Cross. To see if it could've used as its own thing instead. Ah well...
Personally... well, for the moment if I think something up it'd be more or less stuff inspired by other time-travel related media I've seen. Then again, I find some of their concepts interesting. Specially from places like Star Trek Online. They had some very nifty ideas, in my opinion.
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I'm totally on board with this, though, like Acacia Sgt, I may be more of an idea man. I do have a little experience RPG Maker and GameMaker Studio, and I'm willing to learn some coding if this ball gets really rolling.
I think borrowing gameplay ideas, at least, from other games, but especially Trigger and Cross, is a good idea. Boo, you mentioned the new Radiant Historia. It's obviously a game about time travel and dimension hopping, a perfect blend of Chrono theory, but I also loved how the remake includes extra-dimensional one-offs stories. Sort of, "what-ifs" for the players to experience alternate storylines. Now that I think about it, they were basically New Game+ secret endings that could be played during the main game as side quests to earn rare items and equipment.
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I'm totally on board with this, though, like Acacia Sgt, I may be more of an idea man. I do have a little experience RPG Maker and GameMaker Studio, and I'm willing to learn some coding if this ball gets really rolling.
I think borrowing gameplay ideas, at least, from other games, but especially Trigger and Cross, is a good idea. Boo, you mentioned the new Radiant Historia. It's obviously a game about time travel and dimension hopping, a perfect blend of Chrono theory, but I also loved how the remake includes extra-dimensional one-offs stories. Sort of, "what-ifs" for the players to experience alternate storylines. Now that I think about it, they were basically New Game+ secret endings that could be played during the main game as side quests to earn rare items and equipment.
That's actually an awesome idea! I love the idea of having the different scenarios/endings actually serve a purpose (items and loot!) rather than just existing.
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Wish I could remember that old idea I had for a Chrono interquel between Trigger and Cross. To see if it could've used as its own thing instead. Ah well...
See if you can dig it up in the next little while.
On that end, I'm happy to compose if people are open to it! Though fair warning, my music is almost exclusively orchestral. I can write for any size (including solo piano) of group, but I tend to stay in more classical oriented ensembles. i.e I don't write for rock bands. ;) That being said, if we're interested in a Mitsuda sound, I think I can accommodate! I can also take somewhat of a producer role and help out with some of the administrative and organization tasks...but that's about the extent of my abilities in relation to game production!
Personally I love orchestral.... great feel and depth to many genres of gameplay.
I am generally a spriter/mapper and idea man - composing was not my forte. I do however need a basis to create these upon - can't do them from scratch.
Now how big of a project are we talk here? Since we all seem to be burdened with life and jobs, etc. Should we limit the size of this to something a bit smaller?
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So I'm not 100% sold on moving forward yet - BUT --
I think if our interest is a commercial endeavor, a full-length game is the endgame. I do think there are steps to proceed with first.
I think our best bet is to make a small demo video demonstrating the graphics and potential battle aspects - much like the Chrono Break demo that came out earlier this year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3SU5dDBwCI).
We can then potentially leverage it against a kickstarter. That makes the most logical sense to me.
Regarding a concept:
Some of you have seen my idea for a concept which I once called Chrono Blue, which was intended to be a spiritual sequel with a few ties to Trigger. In this universe, the laws of time travel are different than in Chrono Trigger; whereas time is malleable in this Chronoverse and can easily be changed via time travel, this universe would actually be governed by fatalistic time travel -- which means that attempts to change time end up only fulfilling events that occur. Think the 12 Monkeys movie, the first Terminator film, etc.
The characters are trying to change history, only to later realize that they are actually the cause of these catastrophic events. In order to save the day, then, they realize that they must literally alter the way time travel works in this universe so that they can reclaim their fate (and gain the ability to actually alter time). The late-game quest, then, would follow our heroes breaking the metaphysical chains of fate that governs this universe. Once completed, the heroes have the opportunity to undo the damage they do that would eventually destroy the world.
One fun act about this concept is that the villain is actually the hero from further in the timeline, but our hero isn't aware of the connection for some time. It gets convoluted and I have detailed it here for those interested: https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=12605.30
I can go into more detail here if this seems interesting.
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Personally I love orchestral.... great feel and depth to many genres of gameplay.
I am generally a spriter/mapper and idea man - composing was not my forte. I do however need a basis to create these upon - can't do them from scratch.
Now how big of a project are we talk here? Since we all seem to be burdened with life and jobs, etc. Should we limit the size of this to something a bit smaller?
I think Boo is spot on. We should work towards releasing a concept demo, and maybe a video explaining the project a little and then see who bites. If there is a generally positive response I think it would be worth exploring some funding ideas, and actually see if we can develop a commercial product out of this.
Regarding a concept:
Boo and I have talked extensively about this concept. I personally think it has a lot of potential to be developed into a great game, so it has my endorsement, for what it's worth.
That being said, if the someone isn't feeling it, this is by no means final. Please feel free to pitch any other ideas.
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Personally, one idea I've come to like is a theme of Time Policing/Terrorism. As in, sometime in the far future time travel is actually something if not mass accesible, it is mass known. Thus, regulations and restrictions are made for the sake of the temporal continuation of the time line... then enter the discontent people who want time travel to be much less restrictive, with some are in it for causing havoc. Then actual havoc happens.
Okay, I took it from Star Trek, but it's not a bad idea per se to give it its own take on the matter.
Wish I could remember that old idea I had for a Chrono interquel between Trigger and Cross. To see if it could've used as its own thing instead. Ah well...
See if you can dig it up in the next little while.
Well, I don't really have much hopes on that. It's been years, so I barely remember anything from it. While I did had a file with the info I made, the computer it was on was stolen. So it's out of my reach.
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Personally, one idea I've come to like is a theme of Time Policing/Terrorism. As in, sometime in the far future time travel is actually something if not mass accesible, it is mass known. Thus, regulations and restrictions are made for the sake of the temporal continuation of the time line... then enter the discontent people who want time travel to be much less restrictive, with some are in it for causing havoc. Then actual havoc happens.
Okay, I took it from Star Trek, but it's not a bad idea per se to give it its own take on the matter.
Wish I could remember that old idea I had for a Chrono interquel between Trigger and Cross. To see if it could've used as its own thing instead. Ah well...
See if you can dig it up in the next little while.
Well, I don't really have much hopes on that. It's been years, so I barely remember anything from it. While I did had a file with the info I made, the computer it was on was stolen. So it's out of my reach.
That's an interesting concept. I'm not sure it was ever used will in Enterprise, it often contradicted itself and is plagued with the usual "it's already happened, so why didn't they just return to the moment it happened and correct it" fiasco.
I would be carious about how you would flesh out that concept? What is the story arch? Is the player the time terrorist, or the one policing it?
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That's an interesting concept. I'm not sure it was ever used will in Enterprise, it often contradicted itself and is plagued with the usual "it's already happened, so why didn't they just return to the moment it happened and correct it" fiasco.
I would be carious about how you would flesh out that concept? What is the story arch? Is the player the time terrorist, or the one policing it?
Use will? By Enterprise you mean just that series or are you being more general about it?
Admitedly, I haven't really thought much beyond the general idea itself. Having the protagonist be on either side can work. Whether to stop time travelers from causing unwanted changes... to wanting a change that could even be objectically good, but the restrictions on time travel means you'd have to break the rules to change the time line for the better (imagine if Crono and company had to deal with a Time Police because, for all the good using time travel to get rid of Lavos would be, it's still meddling with the time line over what was a natural course of events). It has its potential.
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Use will? By Enterprise you mean just that series or are you being more general about it?
I think it was a typo and he meant to say "used well." The whole Temporal Cold War storyline from Enterprise showed promise, but I agree, it never truly delivered. Interestingly enough, an interview with the writers revealed that had the series continued, it would have revisited it (despite seemingly wrapping it up during the first two episodes of Season Four) and revealed that the mysterious benefactor was a future version of Captain Archer. That also caught my interest. Oh, and Shran was going to become a main cast member (!).
Regardless, the concept of time policing was a huge part of my Chrono Phase concept. That story followed a new protagonist who met with a new version of Balthasar in the ideal timeline (post Chrono Cross, in a version where Project Kid was no longer needed since Schala was already freed).
This version of Balthasar, discovering that previous iterations of himself played free and loose with changing and manipulating history, realized that he himself was a threat to space-time. He decided to invest his energies in creating a the Time Research Facility (which was the predecessor of Chronopolis in Chrono Cross), but rather than create Project Kid, he created the Chronoscope - a sort of observatory and telescope capable of seeing timeline incursions. He then acquired the Frozen Flame, same as in Chrono Cross, but instead of using it for the Counter-Time Experiment, he used it to shield his laboratory within a pocket dimension, rendering it immune from timeline changes.
Thus, Balthasar took silent vigil and became protector of space-time. He then recruited Robo and turned the FATE AI into an android called ADA (advanced deployable android of something like that). When a space-time phenomena was identified, Robo and ADA acted as his field agents. They also wore specialized "temporal anchors" that could pull them back to the Time Research Facility should things go awry, rendering them immune to timeline changes while on missions.
The heroes of this story encounter Robo when he investigates their accidental time gate, and they all get swept up in events, meet Balthasar, and join him in their efforts.
I don't know how, but perhaps some of this could be re-purposed to some degree?
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That's an interesting concept. I'm not sure it was ever used will in Enterprise, it often contradicted itself and is plagued with the usual "it's already happened, so why didn't they just return to the moment it happened and correct it" fiasco.
I think the problem with just going back and undoing things, is that your opponent can then do the same thing, then you go back and undo that, and so on...
Or your opponent could anticipate that you'll come back to fix anything he does, and use that to draw you into a trap.
I think that's why the situation on Enterprise was called the Temporal Cold War, because the belligerents didn't dare face each other directly. They worked through proxies instead.
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I think it was a typo and he meant to say "used well." The whole Temporal Cold War storyline from Enterprise showed promise, but I agree, it never truly delivered. Interestingly enough, an interview with the writers revealed that had the series continued, it would have revisited it (despite seemingly wrapping it up during the first two episodes of Season Four) and revealed that the mysterious benefactor was a future version of Captain Archer. That also caught my interest. Oh, and Shran was going to become a main cast member (!).
Ah, okay. :lol:
Regarding the Temporal Cold War, the MMO does go into that (which is where I got the idea, I haven't really seen ENT). Daniels is even a recurring NPC during that arc, for obvious reasons.
I think the problem with just going back and undoing things, is that your opponent can then do the same thing, then you go back and undo that, and so on...
Or your opponent could anticipate that you'll come back to fix anything he does, and use that to draw you into a trap.
I think that's why the situation on Enterprise was called the Temporal Cold War, because the belligerents didn't dare face each other directly. They worked through proxies instead.
Haha, that's pretty much what happens in the MMO's version of the Battle of Procyon V. The Na'kuhl decide to crash the party, so the player(s) have to do the same. Once it's over, a temporal anomaly resets the battle (except everyone keeps their memories), so the Na'kuhl then bring the Krenim (from Voyager's Year of Hell) to help out. Then it happens agian, and now they also bring the Mirror Universe's Terran Empire into the fold as well.
Though, since it's still a game, that's the last of it, so once they're beaten a third time, the whole thing ends. Such a scenario works for a one-time thing, or minor arc, though.
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Regarding the Temporal Cold War, the MMO does go into that (which is where I got the idea, I haven't really seen ENT). Daniels is even a recurring NPC during that arc, for obvious reasons.
Did they ever explain who the mysterious benefactor was? Please tell me it was Archer. Oh, and the show also hinted that he was working with the Romulans, but we never got to see a season five to know how/why.
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Did they ever explain who the mysterious benefactor was? Please tell me it was Archer. Oh, and the show also hinted that he was working with the Romulans, but we never got to see a season five to know how/why.
No, I don't think they ever mention that guy.
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It was a typo. Haha
Either way, I think its definitely an idea worth exploring. A big concern that jumps out at me is repetition. When dealing with time travel, (this is especially true in the Star Trek universe) we almost always end up with a time loop of some sort. Bravely Default explored this and it's pretty hit and miss with people.
Granted, we don't have to explore a time loop paradox, it's possible to develop the story (and temporal war) without experiencing a struggle over the same point in history. Just something to think about.
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I think the problem with just going back and undoing things, is that your opponent can then do the same thing, then you go back and undo that, and so on...
That's what the Blinovitch Limitation Effect is for. Not that anyone working on Enterprise is likely to have watched enough old Doctor Who to remember its existence. ;P
this universe would actually be governed by fatalistic time travel -- which means that attempts to change time end up only fulfilling events that occur. Think the 12 Monkeys movie, the first Terminator film, etc.
The reason I'm not sold on this is that the player may feel deprived of agency when they figure out what's happening. It works in movies because no one expects to be able to affect the outcome of a movie. Games are a bit different.
One fun act about this concept is that the villain is actually the hero from further in the timeline, but our hero isn't aware of the connection for some time.
That, on the other hand, strikes me as a good idea.
I'll have to read the detailed summary at some point when I hurt a little less.
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I'll have to read the detailed summary at some point when I hurt a little less.
Here's the light version with the villain.
About halfway through the game, or perhaps a little past halfway, the heroes have been using a fixed location to jump to different eras. Rather than gates that simply connect two eras, it's one fixed gate that can open to any predetermined gate.
Eventually the party realizes that the spatial anomaly will not allow them to visit any time they wish, so they decide to build a time machine so they can freely travel at will and stop the big bad once and for all. They build the time machine, but it malfunctions, and the hero is caught in the explosion. His consciousness is pulled from his body and absorbed into the spatial anomaly, and it is revealed that he literally becomes/became the time anomaly that the party has been using to time travel. He has been guiding his younger self to this moment.
His body, meanwhile, is left without a consciousness and is thrown into the far future, where it is an amnesiac and grows to become leader of an advanced society in that era. He gradually begins to gain flashes of memory.
Now, if you're still reading, here's the kicker...
When the main hero first meets the villain, the villain attacks the hero with fury, claiming it is out of revenge. The main hero is confused, as he has never met the villain before. This, in the hero's mind, paints the villain as just that - the villain.
Later in the story, in another era, the hero and villain run into each other again. This time, the hero strikes first as a precaution. The villain is completely off guard, revealing he has never met the hero before. This, in turn, causes the villain to believe our hero is a villain.
Thus, we realize that the two are both time travelers and their meetings are not aligned; their perspectives do not align. The first time, in the hero's timeline, he meets the villain is actually the second time they've met from the villain's timeline.
Makes sense?
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I'll have to read the detailed summary at some point when I hurt a little less.
Here's the light version with the villain.
About halfway through the game, or perhaps a little past halfway, the heroes have been using a fixed location to jump to different eras. Rather than gates that simply connect two eras, it's one fixed gate that can open to any predetermined gate.
Eventually the party realizes that the spatial anomaly will not allow them to visit any time they wish, so they decide to build a time machine so they can freely travel at will and stop the big bad once and for all. They build the time machine, but it malfunctions, and the hero is caught in the explosion. His consciousness is pulled from his body and absorbed into the spatial anomaly, and it is revealed that he literally becomes/became the time anomaly that the party has been using to time travel. He has been guiding his younger self to this moment.
His body, meanwhile, is left without a consciousness and is thrown into the far future, where it is an amnesiac and grows to become leader of an advanced society in that era. He gradually begins to gain flashes of memory.
Now, if you're still reading, here's the kicker...
When the main hero first meets the villain, the villain attacks the hero with fury, claiming it is out of revenge. The main hero is confused, as he has never met the villain before. This, in the hero's mind, paints the villain as just that - the villain.
Later in the story, in another era, the hero and villain run into each other again. This time, the hero strikes first as a precaution. The villain is completely off guard, revealing he has never met the hero before. This, in turn, causes the villain to believe our hero is a villain.
Thus, we realize that the two are both time travelers and their meetings are not aligned; their perspectives do not align. The first time, in the hero's timeline, he meets the villain is actually the second time they've met from the villain's timeline.
Makes sense?
This is actually similar to the concept of Bioshock Infinite's villain, isn't it?
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This is actually similar to the concept of Bioshock Infinite's villain, isn't it?
Never played it. Now I have to look it up. Fuuuuudge.
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This is actually similar to the concept of Bioshock Infinite's villain, isn't it?
Never played it. Now I have to look it up. Fuuuuudge.
Not to spoil anything, but that game had some fantastic twists! Haha
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Not to spoil anything, but that game had some fantastic twists! Haha
WARNING, SPOILERS BELOW:
So the villain is essentially an older version of your hero had he chosen one path over another? Am I understanding the summary I read right?
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Not to spoil anything, but that game had some fantastic twists! Haha
WARNING, SPOILERS BELOW:
So the villain is essentially an older version of your hero had he chosen one path over another? Am I understanding the summary I read right?
ALSO SPOILERS:
Essentially yes. They really start to play with the multiverse theory and it gets a bit hard to follow, but you learn that the there was a moment in history where your life divides based on one choice, and from that are infinite possibilities. If I'm remembering this right what's really cool is the fact that you, the player, are actually a past version of yourself, whereas the villain is the current "you". It's a really cool concept, and similar to yours except the details are reversed. (the future you goes to the past, rather than the past you goes to the future.)
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So I just want to say reading parts of this threat\d makes me really want to try out RPG Maker. Might be a good place for me to start learning actually!!
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So I just want to say reading parts of this threat\d makes me really want to try out RPG Maker. Might be a good place for me to start learning actually!!
It is definitely a good place to start to learn the building blocks of game creation. The platform is fairly simple to do, and there are a lot of resources for you, however ROM hacking seems to be where most of the attention goes, and coming from someone who is just beginning to learn Temporal Flux, it is COMPLETELY different. Having said that, I had a lot of fun creating Chrono Source with RPG Maker. Let us know if you end up making something!
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I've had the tutorials page (https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Tutorials_(Chrono_Trigger).html) bookmarked for ages. One of these days I'll get around to tinkering with Flux, or RPG Maker.
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I'll help anyone working with Temporal Flux, but it is trickier.
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I've had the tutorials page (https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Tutorials_(Chrono_Trigger).html) bookmarked for ages. One of these days I'll get around to tinkering with Flux, or RPG Maker.
I was looking for this the other day, Thanks!
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Here's an idea we could use: Take inspiration from Doctor Who's relationship between River Song and the Doctor.
Massive Doctor Who spoilers ahead, of course.
:shee
The main thing about their tragic relationship is that they are temporally out of sync. The first time the Doctor meets River is the last time River sees the Doctor, before she sacrifices herself to save him. Since DW is a series about time travel, the two meet again many times, in the Doctor's future and River's past. That's why it's tragic. The Doctor always knows that River will die.
I think there's a lot here to be played around with. A story from "River's" perspective? A similar tragic relationship between the hero and villain even? What do y'all think?
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I think that's a really intriguing idea. Man....that's kind of heavy. Imagine playing something like Final Fantasy IV, meeting Rosa always knowing she is going to die in the future.
We would really have to develop the character to make sure the player invests in her so we don't end up with an Aireth situation...
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It wouldn't have to be "linear" either: i.e. Character A's first meeting being Character B's last doesn't mean B's first meeting is A's last. Doctor Who doesn't even do that. Aside from the Doctor's first meeting with River being her last, their future meetings (from his perspective) are all scrambled. His last meeting with her ends up being River's second-to-last meeting with him. Time is all wibbly-wobbly like that.
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Sounds interesting. Could get convulated if it involved more than two persons, but I suppose it would just be done between two in this case.
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It wouldn't have to be "linear" either: i.e. Character A's first meeting being Character B's last doesn't mean B's first meeting is A's last. Doctor Who doesn't even do that. Aside from the Doctor's first meeting with River being her last, their future meetings (from his perspective) are all scrambled. His last meeting with her ends up being River's second-to-last meeting with him. Time is all wibbly-wobbly like that.
In that case it would be an interesting approach if you as the player didn't understand/know exactly what was going on until a pivotal point in the story. I.e you didn't understand this characters importance upon meeting them for the first/last time until later in the game. Or vice versa, you didn't know your first meeting was actually the last until, again, a later important/emotional point in the story.
Sounds interesting. Could get convulated if it involved more than two persons, but I suppose it would just be done between two in this case.
Totally. It could be a huge mess if it isn't scripted well... of course the same could be said about time travel as a plot device in general.
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I think that's a really intriguing idea. Man....that's kind of heavy. Imagine playing something like Final Fantasy IV, meeting Rosa always knowing she is going to die in the future.
We would really have to develop the character to make sure the player invests in her so we don't end up with an Aireth situation...
Bahahah..... terrible character dev.
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Although I know coding and 3D, I can't say a Chrono spiritual successor is my interest anymore. Perhaps a time traveling open world Skyrim/Fallout/BotW type game, though.