Chrono Compendium
Marbule Gallery - Completed Fan Creations => Crimson Echoes => Crimson Echoes Beta Testing => Topic started by: ZeaLitY on February 13, 2009, 10:26:09 pm
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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 (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,7000.0.html) lists things that will be implemented, and this thread (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,7001.0) 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 (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 (http://chronofan.com/Zeality/Unheadered.zip) and ZSNES here (http://www.zsnes.com)).
- Download the most recent patch posted as an attachment in this thread (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,7001.0).
- Use the program Lunar IPS (http://chronofan.com/Zeality/Lunar%20IPS.exe) 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:
- 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,
(http://chronofan.com/Zeality/Linebreaks.png)
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 (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 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCQtpKW25o), showing the Laputa theme in Chrono Trigger, or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gal1lQrWwfs (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.
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Hey everyone,
Just wanted to say thanks again! I want to reiterate a couple points above and maybe add a few new ones:
* I know this is a lot to ask but please please please try to die in every fight. I was an idiot and to make my life easier at first made every fight "losable" while developing a dungeon and now ever once in awhile I stumble upon a battle that you can "die" in and continue the game. Maybe have each beta tester test a couple chapters to make life easier? On the same note try running from every boss or any fight in general you feel you shouldn't be able to run from.
* Starting on monday any show stopping bugs I promise to fix within 24 hours (black screens, unable to move after scene etc).
* If someone could keep a list of weapons in the order they appear in the game that'd help.
* If you feel like a boss is way to hard please save that .srm file as something like <BOSSNAME>_<LEVEL>_<PATCHBUILD>.srm and then upload it. When i do enemy modifications I'll use that as a benchmark.
* From every savepoint save then restart the game to check if the map music starts
Enjoy the game :)
--JP
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Hey Z, I restored my account, but I won't be able to beta test until next weekend. If there's anything special you want me to focus on with my playthrough, let me know.
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Welcome back Ramsus!
As for party, I guess I'll claim Magus-Lucca-Marle if that's doable.
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To JP and Chrono'99, should we just
strike through bugs people post on the forums once they take care of them with a patch?
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I think yes; that's the best way to make sure we don't forget anything.
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What do I need to apply the patch?
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http://chronofan.com/Zeality/Lunar%20IPS.exe
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Hey all,
So i'm currently going through everyone's bug lists. There's definitely different classes of bugs being here. While some things are qutie obvious bugs others are more of suggestions (which are totally fine and encouraged). But I feel bad changing these "suggestions" myself. So for things that are definitely bugs I'll go ahead and fix them, for others we'll have a vote between me, Zeality and 99 (majority = bug).
--JP
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Schala Zeal (really, everyone in the Compendium should use her name in the stead of JESUS CHRIST), ZeaLitY...Y'know, a link or some mention of this forum in your PM would have been helpful...I didn't even know this existed (I more or less ignore the forums in the Analysis)! I've been waiting for you to send me something else this whole time...V_V
Like I mentioned in a more recent PM to ZeaLitY, I'd like to use Lucca, Ayla & Magus, but I'm not sure...I might not know until I start it up and get a look at things...
I might also try to use the UPS patcher (I don't see why it wouldn't work, it's supposed to be the big new thing that's better than IPS) if I remember where I put it...
EDIT: Nevermind, idk if it's because it's an IPS file or if I just forget how to use UPS (I only used it once)...I'll just use IPS or have ZSNES do the auto thing.
EDIT2 (I would just make a new post, but this is such a trifle): Oh yeah, I forgot! I'm playing completely without sound. It makes me a little sad not to hear these illegally implemented songs or whatever, but them's the breaks, I guess...V_V
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Haha, sorry. Okay, let us know what party you settle on.
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You guys mind if I just go through and see if all the maps work and whatnot?
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haha why would we mind :) Of course go for it!
--JP
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Okay then, I'll get started tomorrow.
Stupid fucking game.
Why do I keep getting sent to the debug screen?
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The screen with all the characters? You're supposed to be sent there go talk to melchior to start from the beginning.
--JP
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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. :(
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!!! 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
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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.
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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.
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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)...
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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.
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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 (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,7000.0.html) lists things that will be implemented, and this thread (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,7001.0) 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 (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 (http://chronofan.com/Zeality/Unheadered.zip) and ZSNES here (http://www.zsnes.com)).
- Download the most recent patch posted as an attachment in this thread (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,7001.0).
- Use the program Lunar IPS (http://chronofan.com/Zeality/Lunar%20IPS.exe) 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,
(http://chronofan.com/Zeality/Linebreaks.png)
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 (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 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCQtpKW25o), showing the Laputa theme in Chrono Trigger, or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gal1lQrWwfs (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.
-
I'll claim the team Magus, Marle and Crono. Starting testing now, I should be 'full' commitment aside from classes.