Chrono Compendium

Guru Workshop - Project Forums - Need One? Ask In Kajar Labs => Chrono Shift RPGMaker Project => Topic started by: Mr Bekkler on March 17, 2010, 06:16:53 pm

Title: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 17, 2010, 06:16:53 pm
This was originally the only thread for Chrono Shift, but now will be used for progress reports exclusively, as the thread has been upgraded to a board for better organization!

Thank you FW.
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: Sajainta on March 17, 2010, 09:01:49 pm
That's awesome!  I love his surprised face.
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: utunnels on March 17, 2010, 09:10:59 pm
Bekkler, you are as purple as an eggplant.
Awesome sprites.
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: FaustWolf on March 17, 2010, 09:22:25 pm
Very nice!
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: Shee on March 18, 2010, 03:39:15 pm
Most impressive.  A suggestion...is it possible to get the sprite to do the finger snapping thingy that Norstein does?  That would be cool to see a full human do. 

Totally dig it.
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 18, 2010, 03:40:49 pm
Totally possible! I have to figure it out, but that may end up being his magic casting sprite! Good idea. :-)
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: Lance VII on March 18, 2010, 03:56:02 pm
I'm loving that title screen.

Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 18, 2010, 06:10:09 pm
I'm loving that title screen.



I'm an artsy fartsy kinda guy. I stole the actual background and the "Chrono" part of the logo came from a vector version I edited in photoshop, exported as a 256 color png, and loaded it into rm2k3 to screengrab what we have there! I'll upload a higher-resolution version if anyone's interested.
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: chi_z on March 18, 2010, 09:38:50 pm
please do, I'm drooling as it is with this rez!
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: chi_z on March 18, 2010, 11:44:09 pm
Well I made a song for this project ladies and gents, it's a remix of "Day of Summer", the intro song of Radical Dreamers. I titled it "Radical Dreams" plainly enough. The youtube video is still processing, but in the meantime there is a download link in the description:
youtube:    youtube.com/watch?v=h1tw_Bv4Ils (http://youtube.com/watch?v=h1tw_Bv4Ils)
mediafire mp3:   mediafire.com/?yh5dmwwj1wh (http://mediafire.com/?yh5dmwwj1wh)
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 20, 2010, 01:09:39 am
Well I made a song for this project ladies and gents, it's a remix of "Day of Summer", the intro song of Radical Dreamers. I titled it "Radical Dreams" plainly enough. The youtube video is still processing, but in the meantime there is a download link in the description:
youtube:    youtube.com/watch?v=h1tw_Bv4Ils (http://youtube.com/watch?v=h1tw_Bv4Ils)
mediafire mp3:   mediafire.com/?yh5dmwwj1wh (http://mediafire.com/?yh5dmwwj1wh)

That youtube video is basically what it looks like when I start the test run to check my maps and sprites! Neat!

Here's a higher-res version of the Chrono Shift Logo I made:

Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: chi_z on March 20, 2010, 02:30:18 pm
awesome sauce dude, that's a really badass logo it reminds me of Cross.
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 20, 2010, 03:05:17 pm
It's like the opposite of Cross! This one's a prequel. ;-)
Title: Re: Secret Secrets...
Post by: Lance VII on March 20, 2010, 03:55:14 pm
It's like the opposite of Cross! This one's a prequel. ;-)
it's not often you see a fan made prequel to CT. The only other one I can think of is With His Father's Sword.

Well... It was more of a fan fic.
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: Mr Bekkler on November 11, 2010, 11:59:23 pm
This is still an active project. The project forum is no longer in use, but is still around.

Currently, everything else is "secret secret" til I have a demo ready.

How bout some main character concept art?




BTW if anyone else wants to do art for me, let me know. I'm not very good at anime stylez.  :lol: EVERYONE LOOKS ANGRY!!!
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: FaustWolf on November 12, 2010, 12:17:54 am
I rather like how strictly stylized the concept art is. No wondering which characters are male and which are female, hee hee.
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: Mr Bekkler on November 12, 2010, 12:21:17 am
I rather like how strictly stylized the concept art is. No wondering which characters are male and which are female, hee hee.

I don't want any confusion on that front! Haha. At least not with the playable characters.

I should add Lance is consulting still, Chi-Z provided more music (along with some I found that will also be used), and TheMage is helping with maps. Don't ask them for spoilers! :-P
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: Schala Zeal on November 12, 2010, 02:52:03 am
I'm giving permission to use the teen sprites of my parents if desired.
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: Mr Bekkler on November 12, 2010, 02:54:51 am
I'm giving permission to use the teen sprites of my parents if desired.

Thank you! I will be taking advantage of those, they look great!
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: Mr Bekkler on November 18, 2010, 04:11:34 am
Here's some stuff I've been working on. I recolored Melchior for an alternate outfit, based on an unused single sprite in the Compendium.

And debuting, for the first time ever... Gaspar walking!

These are for my project but anyone can feel free to use them.
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: Mr Bekkler on November 19, 2010, 01:36:45 am
TheMage made a wonderful Overworld Map and I have the Overworld sprites done. Here's Norstein on Zeal, pre-float.
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: TheMage on November 19, 2010, 10:20:38 pm
Very exciting! I love the overworld sprite for Norstein and the sprites for the Guru's! Im glad the overworld map came out good! :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Not so Secret... Chrono Shift
Post by: Mr Bekkler on November 22, 2010, 07:52:07 pm
Thanks!

Well, it's about time for a progress report:  all %s are approximates.

Maps - 10% (just started but working steady)
Main Walking Sprites - 100%
NPC Walking Sprites - 75%
Music - 95%
Battlesprites - 10% (these are hard!)
Monsters - 30%
Outline - 100%
Programming/Scripting - 5%

Demo will probably be available soon. I need to work a bit faster, and will need some help from Lance picking a good spot to end the demo.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lance VII on November 24, 2010, 01:18:49 pm
Awesome. I'm looking forward to it.

If you need help coding scenes and whatnot, I'd love to help.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: FaustWolf on November 24, 2010, 02:08:09 pm
Great work with Gaspar's side walking sprites! Were you able to use another sprite as a base, or did you end up having to do them from scratch? In any case, the result is quite impressive.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on November 24, 2010, 03:19:40 pm
I did it entirely from scratch, selecting and moving pieces I wanted to keep on the side, like parts of his face and mustache, then planning out how his scepter would have to move, based on it's diagonal pattern, I thought a diagonal movement would look natural, then it was a matter of filling in the blanks.

I did it on the same spritesheet I'm using with Belthasar and Melchior on it, so I looked at theirs for reference so it would all match up. It's really similar to drawing on paper, trying to replicate a position or form from a photo without tracing. Just tinier. A great learning experience.



Lance, I probably will need a little help with a few parts of coding. I finally implemented a simple caterpillar script that works, but the order of the characters won't be able to change. We'll talk more over PM.





Since I haven't mentioned it yet, almost every sprite you see in this game is being edited and retouched and recolored to make sure the game takes advantage of the 244 more colors RPG Maker can handle per sprite than SNES could. This does not mean every sprite is a rainbow, but there is more diversity in race and clothing, most characters you're familiar with are going to look very different, due to the game taking place fifteen years in the "past" relative to 12,000BC. In other words, I want it to look like the parts of Chrono Trigger I liked (character design) and the parts of Chrono Cross I liked (color, Color, COLOR EVERYWHERE!)

Here are the main characters and the gurus as they will actually appear in-game. I was holding off on posting this one, but I'm proud of it, and it has the newest version of Norstein. The "new" chrono style sprites that you may not recognize at all come from an amalgam of Trigger and Dragon Quest 4 sprites(the DS version's spriting style was very similar to CT's, characters still designed by Akira Toriyama).

No questions about the old guy in the corner! Spoilz.


EDIT: I think I will get rid of the caterpillar system in exchange for a character swap system. It has more merits, to me, and fewer potential for bugs (like sprites walking behind your airship, etc)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lance VII on November 27, 2010, 03:36:17 pm
I actually had a party change system implemented along with the caterpillar system. It wasn't that hard to do.

The only problems  had were the cutscenes. It's hella hard with the CS in place. D:
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 04, 2010, 01:43:41 am
So I made sprites for a pretty action-packed piece of animation, figured out how to implement it, and coded it into the game. Took about 4 hours in total, working with graphics made (mostly) from scratch. All-in-all, the animation itself takes about fifteen seconds. Luckily, it was one of the more complex concepts I've been trying to figure out and today I sat down and nailed it! I really hope people appreciate custom graphics, cause I'm not doing it for my health :lol:
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 04, 2010, 04:38:16 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RJrVLN7ZII it's just a part of the beginning of the game. But you can see progress is being made at least.

The window bust is the aforementioned animated scene that took me forever to get looking right.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: FaustWolf on December 04, 2010, 08:14:48 am
That is an AWESOME window bust.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 04, 2010, 03:22:52 pm
Thanks man! More to come!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lance VII on December 04, 2010, 07:11:31 pm
Lookin' good! :D
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Schala Zeal on December 06, 2010, 01:53:01 am
*swipes guru sprites* hee!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: TheMage on December 07, 2010, 02:54:26 am
Looks so kick ass :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 12, 2010, 04:34:23 am
I'm getting a whole lot done and should have a demo ready before you know it! It'll be short, but packed-full of goodies!
Progress! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waOMJtRRN5U) That's the opening scene, alpha stage. Don't click if you don't wanna see!

Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: TheMage on December 13, 2010, 01:51:27 am
Love Melchior's hair :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Dialga_Palkia on December 14, 2010, 11:01:13 pm
Mr. Bekkler, your a genius.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Hayden on December 15, 2010, 06:00:54 pm
(http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r252/addiesin/titlescreenteaser-1.jpg)

NEW EDIT: This is the thread for my RPGMaker 2003 project, Chrono Shift: The Peculiar Predicament of the Formerly Normal Norstein Bekkler. It takes place fifteen years before the events that take place in Chrono Trigger, and (assuming it gets released) will be the first ever (fan-made or otherwise) "Chrono" prequel game. The story ties elements of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, and ultimately sets up several events and explains the origins of tons of items, characters, and even the creation of the Mystic Fiend race.

Progress will be reported here at my leisure, expect a demo within a few months, and the full game within a year at the most!


Anyone who would like to help, I do need level designers/dungeon mappers, and concept artists if anyone is willing to take up the mantle. I have the spriting, coding, and writing under control.

So far, Lance has helped out considerably, as have TheMage and Chi-Z. KatieSkyye and PSZ have contributed some sprites and anyone else who helps will indeed get credit!



OLD EDIT: New board at Overture Studios Forums, for Chrono Shift here: http://kholdstare89.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=shift







How fun!!!! i wanna help on this  i am getting pretty gonna on modifying Sprites i am working on Magil for my RPG Game, you can use the progress if you like. if you need me to modify a picture just tell me where it is and i will try my best.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 15, 2010, 07:21:16 pm
That's okay I have the sprites handled, thanks though!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Romana on December 15, 2010, 07:54:36 pm
I fuckin' love that "nu" sound.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Clovis15 on December 15, 2010, 11:42:08 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RJrVLN7ZII it's just a part of the beginning of the game. But you can see progress is being made at least.

The window bust is the aforementioned animated scene that took me forever to get looking right.

Most impressive.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 18, 2010, 03:39:06 am
Got the intro scene fully fleshed out, got the caterpillar system in place, working as well as it's probably going to work. There are a few bugs with it, which you can see in the video. The demo will probably have these bugs. If I can figure it out in a reasonable amount of time or get some help on it, it may be gone by the time the game's done. I figure once in a while glitch is better than no caterpillar system.

 I'll have a new video up soon now. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDsWWnhc2PQ)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on December 18, 2010, 10:42:42 am
So Zeal used Final Fantasy's Gil currency system? What ever happened to "G"?

And the magic system seems to be different than in CT or CC. Is this a design oversight? Limitation of RPG2k (or whatever version you're using)? Important plot point?

Just curious! :) Looking great!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 18, 2010, 01:31:23 pm
Important plot point based on Spekkio's and Zealean's claims that your magic in CT is "different". Magic in this game should be different. To follow Trigger and Cross with more of the same would defeat the purpose of having so much that's new.

Also, because of RM2K3's battle system, and because Uematsu did some music for CT, and because CT was released the second time as a FF title, I'm using a few Final Fantasy elements, like some music once in a while, Gil exchanged for G, etc. There are new healing items, and a few of the old still around, and there's a few name brand weapons I'm hoping people will recognize and maybe get a chuckle.

The way I'm going about this is as though it were released on Game Boy in 92 as a final fantasy title, but never came to the US (like Seiken Densetsu/kind of). I'm working on the brand new upscaled translated version that's coming to the US. So excuse the FF elements, I want people to be able to just get it, and not HAVE to play Trigger or Cross to enjoy Shift.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on December 18, 2010, 04:00:05 pm
Sounds fine to me!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 18, 2010, 06:57:13 pm
In this continuity, the only magic that survives after the fall of Zeal is in the form of the auras getting mixed into the Earthbound population and dissolving away into the basic elements found in CT. These elements were studied by Zeal, but Zealean magic was more complex than just the basics. Shadow magic is supposed to be analogous to the Black Aura, and references the large moon always shown in games whenever you're dealing with Magus (behind the castle in CT) and I assume he learned most of his magic from the Mystics, who could only use the base elements, hence the Lightning2, Fire2, Ice2.

Magic comes from a recessive gene (or something magical but similar in concept <inserted to prevent myself from contradicting myself>) and does not show up in many people. Furthermore, it has to be "awakened" like what Spekkio does to the team after you fulfill his wall-walking fetish.



*This should be noted: I don't expect any of this to "become" canon in any way, but it is canon in my game for the sake of things being easy to understand and to work with, and for the sake of having some interesting new concepts to contemplate in the Chrono fanon universe.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 20, 2010, 01:24:11 am
Working on battle sprites and enemy sound effects. The battlesprites are terribly difficult, and the sound effects are easy and fun, so I'm trying to spread them out and rotate between the two.

You may have noticed in the video the Nu has a sound. I'm making a few more, but more Jurassic Park style, heavily processed and mixed animal sounds to create impossible "new" animal sounds. I'm trying to get a good grasp on atmosphere, so I'm paying very close attention to music choice and sound design in general.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on December 20, 2010, 06:39:15 pm
Concerning the magic... Whatever you do is fine. As far as many people are concerned, fan games aren't canon, so it's all fair game. I myself am one of those who could care less.

But I'm pumped for your project - I really am! If I had something worth offering, I would offer to help, but alas!

PS - I love the collective memory of the Nu, thus the save point feature. This is genius.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 22, 2010, 01:31:41 am
Concerning the magic... Whatever you do is fine. As far as many people are concerned, fan games aren't canon, so it's all fair game. I myself am one of those who could care less.

I'm one too, I just wanted a system that I could defend if I needed to that didn't just do the same old thing.

Quote
But I'm pumped for your project - I really am! If I had something worth offering, I would offer to help, but alas!

PS - I love the collective memory of the Nu, thus the save point feature. This is genius.

Thanks man! Just knowing people are interested helps boost my creative output, I'm making battlesprites fairly quickly, if I do say so myself! Should have a battle demo video pretty soon.

And the Nu thing is one of my favorite parts of the game. I wanted to make them important, I needed a way to save. It felt like a very natural decision.





Also I updated the first post. If anyone can help out specifically with concept sketches, animation, level design and dungeon mapping, that would make this project move even faster.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on December 22, 2010, 10:57:00 am
Most impressive.  A suggestion...is it possible to get the sprite to do the finger snapping thingy that Norstein does?  That would be cool to see a full human do. 

Totally dig it.

Yes. Yes he does do the finger snap. You'll see very soon.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: chi_z on December 22, 2010, 04:52:50 pm
this project is looking very sexy so far.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on January 08, 2011, 03:48:17 pm
I have Norstein's battle sprites done, but no time to make a video before I go to work. Expect one by midnight one AM (Sorry for the edit, I'm having a bit of trouble with some new capture software with NO watermarks, so in the end it's more beneficial for the viewer.), eastern US time.

It's just a demo, the background and spells will be replaced, but I need SOMETHING there at least, cause the "casting spell" animation is wonderful and I just couldn't bring myself to use no background. Anyway, this is the first full battle sprite set I've ever made and been really happy with, so its debut will be a milestone for the game.

If anyone would like to help animate spells, let me know! I have a pretty good vision of what I'm trying to do, and if nobody helps, it won't bring down the quality, but the final spell animations that actually end up in the game would have to be put on hold til the game's nearly complete.



I'd also like to announce that TheMage has been promoted to Co-Director and LanceVII has been promoted to Lead Programmer. TheMage's efforts really can't be understated. Without her, this game would not exist, and if it did, it would be a mere shell of the game it is now, and we've still got a lot of work ahead of us. She's made sprites, maps, custom tilesets for said maps, is helping me with placing the soundtrack I've chosen, and has been extremely receptive and helpful while talking out the plans for the project.

Lance will be taking over the coding of the cutscenes. I'll still be writing and making the animation graphics, but he knows the ins and outs of RPG Maker 2k3 better than anyone I know, and this will only help make a better game, faster. Lance will also be creating a character swap system and taking care of some loose ends in my messy code (good luck! :P )  
In fact, Lance has recently taken over Fan Game Wiki duties, and we can thank him (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Fan_Projects.html) for this (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Chrono_Shift.html)

Everyone involved is really excited and I can't wait to show off the first battle sprite! Makes me want to skip out on work. Almost. ;-)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on January 08, 2011, 04:14:36 pm
I'm giving permission to use the teen sprites of my parents if desired.

TheMage has fleshed them out into walking and emoting sprites. They look amazing and will debut in a future video.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on January 08, 2011, 04:16:39 pm
I'm pumped for this game... Wish I had coding/animating/spriting experience!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lance VII on January 09, 2011, 01:57:09 am
Dammit. I wanted to go to bed, now I have to stay up for another few minutes. D:
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on January 09, 2011, 02:34:57 am
[youtube]a-olczxpgp4[/youtube]

Norstein's battle sprites!

He uses two knives (viciously) and his spell animation and victory animation both include the trademark move.

I escaped just to show I could without it turning into RTP sprites, same with item use, defending (which is supposed to animate, damnit! I worked hard on that one!). This one is all out, as all the playable characters will be in-game. There's also another attack that's not shown in the video, because I can't figure out how to make it alternate between the two...yet.


(Edit: Stupid me forgot to try balancing the battle system a bit before making a video. All the enemy attacks miss and you can't see the taking damage sprite or the bad status sprite, so I'mma make a new video... maybe feature the death sprite too.)

[youtube]IoB5hQsFLGI[/youtube]
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: TheMage on January 09, 2011, 03:43:28 am
Bekkler came out amazing! I love his victory animation! Way cool! Im so pumped about this project and glad to be a part of it :D
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lance VII on January 09, 2011, 11:40:18 am
That looks hella awesome.

Are you going to make it to where he will run to the enemy and attack?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: chi_z on January 09, 2011, 11:51:36 am
this is a bad ass idea. are the 3 gurus prominent in this game?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on January 09, 2011, 04:02:35 pm
this is a bad ass idea. are the 3 gurus prominent in this game?

Yes, but not playable. I've created a "young" version of each one. If they were past their prime and over the hill in CT, then they're at the tail end of their prime, sitting ON the hill in Chrono Shift.

That looks hella awesome.

Are you going to make it to where he will run to the enemy and attack?

Yes, when I get the other battle sprites finished. How do you do it in yours? Do you use a battle animation instead of character pose? What works best for you?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lance VII on January 09, 2011, 04:42:49 pm
Most Chrono style sprites work well with poses.

To make them run, you have to set the battle animation in each character's weapon file.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lady Marle on January 09, 2011, 10:25:34 pm
Liking what I see so far! Can't wait to see more :D
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on January 10, 2011, 01:19:14 am
Got him to run to the enemy and attack! Victory! That's why Lance is the Lead Programmer.

Next video will hopefully be using some new capture software (still having problems with it) but will have the full intro with the actual in-game student sprites(current videos feature Zeal adult sprites in their place) and actual in-game "Terrorists" (also currently Zeal adult sprites). I won't be posting it until I have the rest of the battle sprites created, so it may take a week or two.

Then the demo will be right around the corner!

Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lady Marle on January 20, 2011, 06:56:48 pm
Expect character sketches soon XD
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Mr Bekkler on January 21, 2011, 03:22:13 pm
Lady Marle has joined the team! Check the first post, she's been given credit as a member of the Daydream team, so-called because I think it's clever.

She's incredibly talented and is already coming up with stuff that'll make Toriyama doubt himself!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift, an RPGMaker Chrono Prequel
Post by: Lady Marle on January 23, 2011, 11:06:26 pm
Lady Marle has joined the team! Check the first post, she's been given credit as a member of the Daydream team, so-called because I think it's clever.

She's incredibly talented and is already coming up with stuff that'll make Toriyama doubt himself!

You flatter me :) I hope the public receives it well :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on January 25, 2011, 11:36:28 pm
Still using my sprites I made you? ^^
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on January 25, 2011, 11:41:57 pm
I'm giving permission to use the teen sprites of my parents if desired.

TheMage has fleshed them out into walking and emoting sprites. They look amazing and will debut in a future video.
Yup  8)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Clovis15 on January 26, 2011, 02:15:23 am
Looks good so far... it's amazing what can be done with RPG Maker now versus in the past. About five years back and I would have claimed that all this progress had to be nothing more than elaborate mockups, as RPG maker simply wasn't that versatile at the time. I especially like the dual knife wielding action here.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on January 30, 2011, 08:08:51 pm
Progress report: TheMage is almost finished with the last few maps we'll need for the demo, I'm past the halfway point through the battlesprites, Norstein and Rush are finished, and the challenge of Taven has begun. Also, I've decided there will be a custom animation for every status effect in battle.

Here's a few teasers.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Thought on February 06, 2011, 10:01:53 pm
Very nice indeed.

Since no one has seemingly mentioned it yet, allow me to say I really like the title. "Chrono Shift" feels like it would be the name of a canonical game.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on February 07, 2011, 02:51:34 pm
Very nice indeed.

Since no one has seemingly mentioned it yet, allow me to say I really like the title. "Chrono Shift" feels like it would be the name of a canonical game.

Thanks. I wanted to make a game featuring Frog becoming Glenn, and wanted to call it Chrono Clutch (the "Clutch" being a sort of handheld time/space traveling device, a pocketwatch-sized Epoch). The clutch part was an afterthought, and all the pieces didn't exactly make a whole game and got annoyingly complex. That project was quickly scrapped (though I still like the Clutch idea) and while plotting out a more feasible, plausible game, I kept in mind car parts, like the Brake (see where this is going), the Clutch, and the gearbox, which let's you Shift gears. Because of this concept lingering in my mind during the planning stage, the 'Chrono Shift' is a hugely integral part of the game's plot.

I'm glad the name works well.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Lance VII on February 07, 2011, 03:05:44 pm
Haha. Again, I reiterate my excitement for this project. :p
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Lady Marle on February 07, 2011, 10:41:03 pm
Very nice indeed.

Since no one has seemingly mentioned it yet, allow me to say I really like the title. "Chrono Shift" feels like it would be the name of a canonical game.

Thanks. I wanted to make a game featuring Frog becoming Glenn, and wanted to call it Chrono Clutch (the "Clutch" being a sort of handheld time/space traveling device, a pocketwatch-sized Epoch). The clutch part was an afterthought, and all the pieces didn't exactly make a whole game and got annoyingly complex. That project was quickly scrapped (though I still like the Clutch idea) and while plotting out a more feasible, plausible game, I kept in mind car parts, like the Brake (see where this is going), the Clutch, and the gearbox, which let's you Shift gears. Because of this concept lingering in my mind during the planning stage, the 'Chrono Shift' is a hugely integral part of the game's plot.

I'm glad the name works well.

I think it's appropriate too, slightly more original then some of the titles I've heard of. :) I do like the concept of Frog becoming Glenn, I also like the idea of having some of the game featuring Cyrus. It'd kind of be a Zack Fair a la Crisis Core kind of deal (cause we all know he dies) but it might be an interesting concept. :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on February 10, 2011, 03:03:42 pm
We'll save it for Chrono Rift, Chrono Drift, and Chrono Lift. ;-)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 01, 2011, 12:04:36 am
New progress report:


Maps - 70%
Main Walking Sprites - 100%
NPC Walking Sprites - 75%
Music - 95%
Battlesprites - 70% (these are hard!)
Monsters - 50%
Outline - 100%
Programming/Scripting - 5%

Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Manly Man on March 01, 2011, 03:43:41 am
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41GPnwo3lkL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Magusmage on March 01, 2011, 09:25:18 am
Oh, hey, it's awesome! Very nice!:D
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: EgyLynx on March 09, 2011, 11:10:37 am
it that really 2k3 project :( why xp or vp...
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on March 12, 2011, 03:47:37 am
RMXP makes for a better choice, VX not so much because of small sprite size and tile limits, and 2003 because of tile limits.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 12, 2011, 04:24:13 am
I like 2003. I like the default battle system and working with the restrictions. Without restriction, there is no creativity.

Plus there are a lot of editable resources readily available. Same reason I'm not making an entirely new game with C++ or some other high-level language. It's the right mix of feasible, practical, and powerful. I don't want to follow the fate of Chrono Crisis. This game will be released.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on March 12, 2011, 04:54:26 am
To be honest, I'm rather stuck on C++, which is why I haven't done anything yet. I've been absorbed in one of my favorite childhood games that came a year before CT.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on March 12, 2011, 10:04:15 am
Secret of Mana? Lunar:Silver Story? FFVI?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Manly Man on March 12, 2011, 10:22:10 am
Thanks, you mention SoM, and know I really wanna play Secret of Evermore. There was something about that game that I found far superior, for some reason. I can at least say that I loved the soundtrack.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: tushantin on March 12, 2011, 10:40:38 am
I do like the concept of Frog becoming Glenn, I also like the idea of having some of the game featuring Cyrus. It'd kind of be a Zack Fair a la Crisis Core kind of deal (cause we all know he dies) but it might be an interesting concept. :)
It's strange since about a year ago I too said the exact same thing!  :o They're so goddamned alike, and heroic, AND dead. But cancelling the latter bit, it'd be awesome to make a great story specifically for it. Think about it: It took Crono and co to beat Masamune with MAGIC and earn the sword, whereas Cyrus did it without the need of magic, and on his own. See where I'm going with this?

Hah, if you guys like the idea of Cyrus, I'll happily contribute to that story (once I get the hell out of the institute, that is).
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on March 12, 2011, 02:06:29 pm
Secret of Mana? Lunar:Silver Story? FFVI?

Descent 1 and 2.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on March 12, 2011, 02:23:37 pm
I remember Descent! Hahaha... I had forgotten all about it til now!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on March 12, 2011, 02:29:39 pm
Hehe yeah, I'm playing D2X-XL. Apparently Descent 1 and 2 were open sourced before Parallax closed, and this German guy's been working for almost a decade on it adding new graphics, new features, etc ^^
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on March 21, 2011, 03:18:59 am
I think I've helped generate CS, CA, and PtaD some publicity. One of my friends runs Pumo Software (http://www.pumosoftware.co.nr/), which designs RPG Maker games/addons, 2D and 3D art, and Descent 1/2/3 addons/missions. A few people seem to have jumped on the Overture bandwagon and they find all 3 games quite intriguing.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 21, 2011, 04:05:26 am
sweet! very cool, spreading the word!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on March 21, 2011, 04:20:35 am
Yep, I was hoping to mutually benefit you guys... getting more publicity for you both.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: xenosaga11 on May 05, 2011, 11:02:58 am
I keep getting an error when trying to play this. It says "RPG Maker 2003 Runtime Package is not present or not registered". I've downloaded and been able to play both Chrono Alter and the Chrono Triger - Prelude to a Dream without problem.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on May 05, 2011, 04:34:25 pm
You need to follow the instructions provided with the download. The game requires Rpg maker 2003 to be installed, and it should work just fine for you.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: chi_z on May 06, 2011, 11:18:46 am
what about sift, or miffed, where magus finally obliterates that damned mini-robo of Lucca's?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on May 06, 2011, 10:15:29 pm
What's CA?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on May 07, 2011, 05:24:53 am
What's CA?
Chrono Alter
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on May 07, 2011, 11:07:36 am
Hahahaha... Gotcha. I thought he was referring to a new fan game (that I hadn't heard of yet).
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Iyellalot on May 15, 2011, 09:26:20 pm
I was just wondering, is the battle system for Chrono Shift going to be changed significantly from the demo version? I find the battle system to be somewhat unsatisfying compared to the preview of the battle system for the Radical Dreamers remake (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvjeQyFpOzs).

As the video shows, it is quite possible to remake Chrono Trigger's battle system in RPGMaker, and I would really like to see Chrono Shift attempt to do the same.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on May 15, 2011, 11:10:47 pm
I've seen your video as you posted in another thread, and already replied to it. No, the battle system will not change because the game's engine is RPG Maker 2003, which is not the same as the RD remake's engine (RPG Maker XP), and our team is not the same as the RD remake team.

We are quite happy with how Shift is turning out. We are not changing engines mid-game. Maybe on a future release. Maybe we'll use the Source or Unreal engine when we have 10 years to work on a game. But all that's definite is we're using RPG Maker 2003 for Shift and while I've made the battles in the demo as close as they can be to those in Chrono Trigger (each character has individual animations for every condition and action, the enemies you fight are the same ones you see on screen before the battle, the same amount you see before battle, and the background is the same location where the battle initiates. That's about as much as we can do, beyond that, we're treating it as it's own game. Not a remake or hack of Chrono Trigger, but like Chrono Cross and Radical Dreamers, something new. I'm sorry if you don't like it.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Iyellalot on May 17, 2011, 02:38:19 pm
Ah, well. The demo was quite fun, though, so I'm looking forward to this.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on May 26, 2011, 03:58:16 am
News, or at least, noteworthy decisions and work.

The full game will feature 8 directional movement, which means diagonal movement will work with two arrow keys pushed at the same time. You shouldn't notice this while playing. Unfortunately, the demo has 4 directional movement, which you do notice.

The snow forest chipset has been overhauled to be much easier on the eyes, but still uses edited CT graphics mostly. EDIT: Have a screenshot.

And the introduction is being rewritten from scratch to better capture the story and feel we're going for.

Literally everything is being tinkered with and/or polished. In the computer and on paper.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on May 28, 2011, 01:01:13 pm
prettttty!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: freezekitty on June 01, 2011, 03:24:45 pm
love the demo cant wait till its done 8)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Lady Marle on June 12, 2011, 01:44:43 pm
Hello all! I've got more art to submit for approval. You can thank Jury Duty for giving me the time to. Bekkler, expect scans later today. :) how is everyone?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on June 12, 2011, 03:14:44 pm
Excellent news!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on June 12, 2011, 05:36:31 pm
Looking forward to it... :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on June 12, 2011, 09:20:30 pm
egh stupid casey anthony has to take away the good artists of the compendium cause she can't tell the truth........
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on June 12, 2011, 10:26:31 pm
Whaaaaaaaaat?!?!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on June 13, 2011, 12:43:46 am
eh it's one of the big trials in the news.... some pathetic bitch killed her kid and refuses to tell the truth..... she keeps telling bogus stories so I already know she's guilty... and she keeps dragging talented people into the courtroom instead of doing useful stuff like pursuing talents like Marle here..

she lied dozens of times, so I don't know why the jury isn't asleep... she lied, thus she'll be found guilty based on that impression alone... just hand in the verdict in and head home people... the world needs you!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on June 13, 2011, 01:08:45 am
I know who Casey Anthony is, lol... I don't understand how she takes "away the good artists of the Compendium cause she can't tell the truth." Hahaha...

Edited for spelling.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on June 13, 2011, 07:15:26 am
Yeah... that was a bit of a stretch.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on June 13, 2011, 09:19:32 pm
Well what I meant is she won't confess... so instead of working, the artists have to sit in the jury hearing her lawyer rant about her lies.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on June 13, 2011, 09:24:01 pm
Is a Compendium artist on jury duty for the trial?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on June 13, 2011, 09:27:27 pm
eh... dunno... but one of them was on jury duty
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on June 13, 2011, 10:26:58 pm
Hahaha... Gotcha. Just trying to understand!

Back to your regularly scheduled programming of Chrono Shift General Progress. :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Alonely on June 15, 2011, 08:12:50 pm
Thanks, you mention SoM, and know I really wanna play Secret of Evermore. There was something about that game that I found far superior, for some reason. I can at least say that I loved the soundtrack.
Secret of Evermore was amazing. It gets such little credit considering it's a great game!

This looks great, you all! I love the screenshot thus far. :D
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on June 17, 2011, 01:11:21 am
No spoilers!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on June 17, 2011, 06:21:10 am
It's as much a spiler as if I were to drop Crono's house in it
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: chi_z on June 17, 2011, 03:59:27 pm
as far as the battle system, I recall making a CT like system in an rm2k3 game of me own several years back. it was all in game, no loading times. I just had it pop up a custom made menu, I think I had 'attack'  'defend'  'tech' 'item' and 'escape' or 'run'.

basically it looked like you were scrolling through an in game menu like talking to an npc. I had to manually draw up animations for all the attacks and techs, there were so many fork variables involved in order to keep things nonturnbased. I didn't really bother with excruciating detail for normal battles, I just ran up a script for 'normal encounters' and had it run that whenever the player got into one.

but in boss battles I went all out, with customized scripts for each boss. If character A did action X, then enemy A would do action Y, unless condition A were unfulfilled (say action X did not manage to get the enemy's health below 50%). if condition A were fulfilled (enemy hp below 50%) then enemy A would instead take action Z.

literally every possible permutation/decision the player could make, though I generalized items and techs a bit (all healing items and techs lumped into a category, all offensive items and techs lumped into a category)...so whether you used a potion or a phoenix down or some sort of 'heal all' tech the boss would interpret that as action X and act accordingly, regardless of the specific item that was used.

so if you guys make another game on the rm2k3 engine that sort of thing might be a possibility. playing through the demo I was honestly fine with the system used, it certainly allows for some killer custom techs (I'm pretty sure I couldn't do any double or triple techs because when you used them, the command 'player moves toward enemy' or w/e didn't work quite in the manner I wanted, depending on how far away the person would be from the enemy and the other guy doing the tech at the moment, I just had everyone automatically randomly walk around with some invisible walls set up in a given radius).
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on August 08, 2011, 02:33:00 am
We have a few new locations mapped out I think people will really enjoy. The battle system will remain the same for now, unless something goes terribly wrong with it or someone makes a new battle system for us. We wouldn't argue if someone wanted to!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on September 11, 2011, 08:48:42 pm
Hey fellow fans, thought it might be a good time for an update considering Lance issued one as well.

Game development is chugging along. It never stopped. Even while I was getting my IRL stuff together, TheMage churned out a brand new dungeon that is just amazing. Unlike the demo, it will be the new "first" dungeon the team encounters.

In other news, I've decided to go with the caterpillar system in lieu of the 8-way movement. The version of 8-way movement that Lance has is laggy, and the version I was trying to use actually renders other events useless, which essentially kills the game, so I won't be able to add that unless we get someone on the team who's already figured out how to do it.

The magic system is getting revamped, along with several tilesets, and most of the demo will actually be rewritten for the final game, so in the coming months you should see some cool new stuff.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: tushantin on September 15, 2011, 05:11:47 pm
Sweet! Can't wait for it.  :D
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: ssbb42 on April 22, 2012, 10:41:04 pm
still waiting :(
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on April 22, 2012, 11:13:01 pm
Still working! ;)

Small font update: we have composers making original/custom music, we're customizing just about every sprite used in one way or another, we're making all new enemies and spell animations and sound effects, artists creating original in-game scenario art, and the full plot is thiiick. In other words, the game has lots and lots that you haven't seen before, instead of the same old "infringing" resources. Still the same, we're all trying to be rather hush hush about the whole thing.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on December 23, 2012, 03:29:08 pm
I noticed you recently requested a map designer for RPGXP. I'd be willing to help.

Additionally, MediaFire removed the demo download for TOS violation. (figures their initials would be MF)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Prisoner of Time on May 14, 2013, 12:30:33 pm
Still checking periodically for updates!  Hope all is going well!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on July 20, 2013, 11:08:12 pm
Laaate reply!

Its coming along nicely! A lot of the graphics for the game are being slowly but surely churned out. We switched engines which has taken up some time but the new engine gives us much more elbow room.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on July 21, 2013, 07:54:06 pm
To elaborate on this...

The plot is 100% finished (it's nearly 50 pages, and when the game is completed it should rival Chrono Trigger at 20-30 hours); the script is a work in progress. All of the weapon, armor, and accessory stats are built and ready for implementation into the game engine. We've changed upgraded the engine and many of the sprites are complete, although we are still building new material slowly but surely.

We're also currently working on the game maps and as we speak I am assembling enemy and boss sprites. We also have three wonderful musicians who have composed a soundtrack that currently sits at approximately 30 new tracks, many of which (in my personal opinion) rival Chrono Trigger's. Just wait until you all hear Rush's theme... It's freaking amazing!

If we have any serious, dedicated mappers we'd love to have you aboard to help speed along production. We would have to see an example map to see what you're capable of, and we're not really willing to just have anyone aboard at this point. If you're an interested spriter/mapper and can demonstrate your ability, feel free to shoot myself or Bekkler a PM and we can discuss our options.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Prisoner of Time on February 14, 2014, 09:44:10 am
Just wanted to give some words of encouragement and let the team know there is at least 1 person who checks this forum frequently for updates!  Hope everything is still going well!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on February 19, 2014, 05:22:46 pm
Thanks a bunch! Everything is going rather smoothly, but no real big updates yet!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on July 10, 2014, 11:56:28 pm
Just an update... Still being worked on. :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on December 04, 2014, 02:24:23 pm
Just a small little update, still being worked on :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Prisoner of Time on December 07, 2014, 10:22:37 am
Excellent!  This project is the #1 thing that brings me to this site by the way :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Razzolor on March 01, 2015, 03:08:15 pm
So excited
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Feeso on March 04, 2015, 02:27:02 pm
I'm so sad to hear this project is canceled, I've been following it since the start and made this account just to ask why? :(
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Joseph Lightwall on May 01, 2015, 05:38:44 am
This I would like to know, as well.  :|

I just found this place and have been looking around, but judging by the dates of the posts, ... it seems there may be a bit of cobwebs hanging around the site.  :(
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on June 04, 2015, 06:26:46 am
AAAACK! This project is NOT cancelled! We do most of our posts on another site underground. This project is still very much alive and kicking! This shows us for not popping on the Compendium from time to time. :cry:

Could we er be moved back to active please? :D

Some teasers to show it is being worked on and to reward those who have been waiting so patiently:

This is the concept art of a Zeal elite team, I can't go into much detail I haven't been given permission to share any of this! shh!

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/zealelite_zps5xvrkuss.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/elite1c_zpsassdbxua.png)

A Scholar's chamber:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/scholarschamber_zpsarkot0bf.png)

Another group: Melange - also, cant give you much info ;)

concept: (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/melange_zpsrzyyls5r.jpg)

Sprites:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/large_melange_zpsa0zkjoev.png)



All the maps in the demo have been updated - for example Zeal in the demo:
(http://rpgmaker.net/media/content/games/2934/screenshots/overworld_screenshot.jpg)

An updated version (not a final version):
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/shiftzeal_zpsb5iac4jg.png)

:D

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/chapter2_zps035ba76d.png)



We also have a HUGE and beautiful soundtrack over 30+ songs, each character having their own theme song.  I'd love to share one with you but i'll have to consult the group members on that one.


Also I see no harm in posting this, the OLD world map. What it no longer looks ANYTHING like yey!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/bzy%202_zpswmtb3b9u.png)

The project is still being worked on and improved :)

The plots completely finished (about 50 pages, about 20-30 hours of game time is expected)  the sprites are about 90 percent complete, (mostly we want to add enemy sprites - all important sprites are done) we are mainly working on maps and scripting/coding right now.

We still are looking for mappers out there :D If anyone would like to Volunteer message me or Boo the gentleman Caller or Bekkler, if you don't get who you messaged try the other two, we don't always pop on here.


Edit: (had to reload all the pictures thank you imageshack :P)

Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on June 04, 2015, 06:52:20 am
Oh and spriters, we will take spriters too :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Schala Zeal on June 04, 2015, 09:42:31 pm
Great job! Hope we can discuss the characters I need sprited too
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Feeso on June 06, 2015, 07:48:58 pm
I can't tell you how happy I am to hear this(no joke my eyes are watery), after following this project for years, checking at least once a month sometimes once a week that it was alive, my heart was broken when I saw it canceled on the fan projects page. Please keep up the good work. I'm really eagerly anticipating this, is there a link to the site that has the actual updates for us fans? I don't want to get misinformed again. Also if you guys need beta testers when it's done I'll gladly volunteer. Thank you for not dropping the project!! Are you guys close to making another demo? or is there going to be nothing till the release? Speaking of that, could you tell us if the release going to be months away or years away? (approximately). BTW those sprites look awesome.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on June 07, 2015, 05:52:24 pm
Hmmm I can talk to the others and see if we can keep regular updates over here on Compendium or have a thread on the other site to keep fans updated. Currently the other site's threads are mostly discussions and works in progress of  and for the project between the team and has a lot of secret stuff we can't share yet or I'd give you a link.

We definitely will need beta testers so glad your on board :D

As of right now there's not another demo scheduled just the release.

It's hard to say when the project will be done, Boo or Bekkler could give you a better time table - we hit a really hard wall when we switched engines and that's what slowed us down so much and we've finally gotten over that hurdle. ( but it was for the best for coding and graphic wise and for the overall gaming experience) the plot is done and the sprites are nearly all done the rest is just coding and mapping. We are in need of mappers because right now there's only two of us working on them and we can't code what we don't have a map for. If I had to guess i'd say less than 2 years definitely but I don't feel comfortable putting it in months- yet!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Feeso on June 19, 2015, 12:56:52 am
OK I understand, keep up the good work!!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on August 17, 2015, 07:15:35 pm
I'm going to try and do monthly updates so we dont appear to be dead again XD

We have a new mapper which is great and are starting to get maps churned out. It's a bit slow going but its summer, I figure everyone must be outside or something. :D
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on August 24, 2015, 07:37:22 pm
Hey all, I'm back on this project after a long... well, let's call it a Sabbatical. A long time away. Hopefully we'll get some more progress within a few months.

And Mage, showing that stuff off was totally ok! Lol anything to prove we're not all just dead.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Feeso on October 06, 2015, 12:11:57 am
If you wanna prove your not dead I suggest getting the project moved to the upcoming fan projects section cause atm it's in the abandoned category
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on October 08, 2015, 02:50:06 am
we know, I messaged Zeality about it but he's probably been busy lately.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on December 23, 2015, 04:21:15 pm
Small little we are alive update!

Many new chipsets have been made and implemented into the engine and maps are continuing to be made.

the engine has an awesome battle system similar to Chrono Trigger allowing characters facing in different directions.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: skylark on March 12, 2016, 02:32:40 pm
Grats on getting this project out of the Dead Sea.  :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on March 12, 2016, 06:17:18 pm
Thanks, I just now noticed it's out of the Dead Sea :) looks like an admin got The Mage's message.

I might as well take this time to let anyone interested know we got permission from Roetaka to use some music that was originally intended for Chrono Crisis and Chrono Ark to augment our own already-large original soundtrack. This brings our number of composers who contributed to 4 and our number of songs up to exactly "a lot".
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on March 14, 2016, 10:02:59 am
Yay! Thank-you Zeality!

Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on June 30, 2016, 03:02:40 am
small little things are going well update :)

Not much to say really almost all graphics have been churned out and Maps are trickling in. Plot is finished. :)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on March 13, 2017, 09:03:37 pm
Little we are alive update! There's not much to say. We are in the meat of it. The story is done, the graphics are almost done its just putting the pieces together now. Enjoy these random screenshots.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/1e2fji_zpsrq4bkxyp.gif)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/pretty_zps1cw8fmui.png)


(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/random_zpsttamowd2.png)

The real question here is, why aren't there naturally any elder man and woman sprites in the original game for Zeal? Every other era has man and woman elder sprites. Well okay maybe not the future except for Doan but that makes sense they live post apocolypse. Same to be said about Ayla's era, its prehistoric, humans didn't live as long. But Zeal? There had to have been some elders besides the three Gurus right? Where did they go? Was there a mass serial killer on the lose killing older magic users? Were they banished to Mount Woe?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Atharyne on July 08, 2017, 02:51:42 am
The people of Zeal age differently then the earthbound ones. There are sprites of elderly people in the earthbound villages.  Or Zeal may have the rule that once you reach a certain age or are unable to contribute to society anymore due to ones age causing mental and physical restrictions then they are banished to be an earthbound one. Kinda like, "Dune"... a little. Except, you may not immediately be banished from Zeal for being blind as long as your still useful somehow.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: xcalibur on July 08, 2017, 03:46:17 am
pardon me for just jumping into the discussion.

Zeal was an advanced civilization, and its people lived in opulence and luxury. Most importantly, they were magic-users. The game makes it clear that they went to considerable lengths to achieve what Greek philosophy called "the good life". In Kajar, they researched magic and worked to accomplish ever greater feats. In Enhasa, they turned inward, seeking enlightenment and higher states of consciousness through dreams and meditation. Of course, their downfall was hubris, which fits the ancient Greek theme.

The main reason they sought ever greater power from Lavos was to achieve immortality. Most likely, they had already fought against mortality, making many attempts with some degree of success, and the Ocean Palace was the culmination of this campaign.

Based on this, it's safe to assume that they slowed the aging process, retaining their youth and achieving much longer lifespans. Maybe they still look young after centuries, and not enough time has elapsed for anyone to be elderly. Or maybe Zealians have died, but they looked young to their dying day. Who knows, with a culture like Zeal, these things are possible.

Same to be said about Ayla's era, its prehistoric, humans didn't live as long.

btw, there were elderly in prehistory e.g. the elder of Laruba.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on October 05, 2017, 06:01:22 pm
Heh, interesting. So either the Gurus are really, really, old with a slowed down magical aging process, or Zeal does some questionable things to their Elders.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on January 13, 2018, 11:33:22 am
*cough cough*

Still working on this AKA my 6 monthishly general not dead post.

It's a going but its a going slow!

If anyone is interesting in mapping PM me <3
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: EgyLynx on January 21, 2018, 02:24:03 pm
 :D
Anyway... good there at all...
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on April 01, 2018, 01:36:11 pm
Fuck. I miss you all.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: PrincessNadia78 on April 02, 2018, 07:37:04 pm
I understand what you are saying. I know I'm new here, but I sometimes read through the old threads and I think how I would have loved to have gotten to know those people. EVERYONE COME BACK!! WE NEED YOU!!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on April 02, 2018, 08:08:32 pm
We worked hard on this fan game and became pretty close friends. I don't think most of us have worked on it in like two or three years, although TheMage has done a little mapping here and there.

I fear this project will never see the light of day.

I take part of the blame... It was originally a small project and supposed to be a fairly short fangame... then I got involved and rewrote the plot, and I made it too big and grandiose. Then, when real life kicked in for us, it died.

:(
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: PrincessNadia78 on April 04, 2018, 07:35:01 pm
It happens. Sometimes I hate real life sometimes, it can inhibit and get in the way of our dreams. Sometimes I hate adulting. *sigh*
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: EgyLynx on April 12, 2018, 04:58:59 pm
What!?

Oh i am sorry ...  :oops: .

Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Feeso on May 05, 2018, 04:18:37 pm
Darn I've been looking forward to shift for years : (

But I understand how hard fan productions are. Real life always comes first. Is there anyway to release what was already made? Maybe condencing the story to being something brief the length of Prophet's Guile? Or heck just release an out line of where the story is going, I really wanna know how norstien ended up like he was in Chrono Trigger.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on May 06, 2018, 02:10:27 am
So the story took on a more political theme and showed how villains often see themselves as the heroes and vice versa. There was a lot of subterfuge and we based a lot of the game on unused elements from Crimson Echoes. Although we didn't directly rely on Crimson Echoes, we did make sure the plot elements fit (such as subtle references to King Zeal and the Atash Kadah, amongst other things).

The plot followed Norstein Bekkler, who was a teacher at a magic-based place of learning in Zeal, his younger brother (and a student at the school), Wellsville, as our protagonists. Long story short, they meet up with an Earthbound man named Wazuki and several other characters and get involved in a cold war involving Zeal and another isolationist nation called Calaspera that has closed itself off on the ocean floor.

Early on, Wellsville is accidentally killed by agents from Calaspera. Norstein pledges himself to Queen Zeal and vows revenge, and he subtly manipulates the party to help him stop Calaspera. It takes the party nearly 1/2 of the game to get to Calaspera, but once they get there they realize that Calaspera are actually the good guys and Zeal are not as good as they seem.

A short time later, Norstein's betrays the party and accuses them of being enemies of the state for turning their backs on Zeal. We also learn that he has been aiding the Queen to try and manipulate magical genetics, essentially furthering the genetic magical traits of the Zeal citizens (and further subjugate the Earthbound) using the a captured Frozen Flame.

Norstein's research bares some fruits, which indirectly creates the Mystic race as seen in Chrono Trigger. Later, Norstein himself interfaces with his machines and his body is torn asunder, rendering his face and hands from his body.

We then learn that the two nations of Zeal and Calaspera are descended from those who first came into contact with the Frozen Flame in 3 million BC. One sister founded Zeal, the other founded Calaspera. Both earned immortality and near-godhood by their contact with the Frozen Flame and have secretly been in a cold war for eons. Zeal and Calaspera have risen and fallen in multiple cycles, and the current incarnation of the countries we see are actually the seventh such iterations of the civilizations.

The two sisters - viewed as religious icons by the citizens of each country (as seen by the goddess statues in Zeal as seen in Chrono Trigger) are then tracked down and killed by Norstein, their powers used to help raise Zeal into the sky and crush Calaspera.

Although the heroes cannot stop Norstein and Queen Zeal in raising Zeal out of the ocean, they are able to stop Norstein, who by this point has been possessed by a dark creature called the Black Wind - a literal conscious universe that feeds off of death and destruction and plans to use them Frozen Flame to destroy our world and use it to feed itself.

Calaspera is finally defeated by Zeal, and it's ruins at the ocean floor are later re-utilized to become the Black Omen.

Meanwhile, the party members, the Gurus, and the leader of Calaspera (who is essentially a fourth honorary Guru) use Calaspara's secret prototype weapon - the Chrono Shift. It is revealed to be an experimental device that can shift time and lock it away in a temporal loop.

The heroes storm Zeal's Elemental Palace, where Norstein Bekkler (possessed by the Black Wind entity) readies to harness the Frozen Flame for nefarious purposes. They are unable to defeat it, so instead use the Chrono Shift to lock it away for eternity in a time paradox. To do so, however, they are forced to sacrifice themselves.

Some of them are locked within the temporal loop along with Norstein. Wazuki are his pregnant wife Marge are the only ones to escape, but are thrown into the far future, where we later meet them as characters in Chrono Cross.

After centuries within the temporal loop, Norstein is able to manifest his arms and head and floating entities, but he has been driven mad and seeks only entertainment...

That's essentially the super condensed version.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Feeso on May 06, 2018, 11:08:41 am
wow thanks for sharing that. The first demo you guys made captured my imagination with the snow bound kingdom of Zeal. I also loved the magical academy and seeing the kingdom in it's prime.

But yeah that's not what I expected haha.

You say that it's meant to be compatible with Crimson Echoes but what about with Prophets' Guile? Cause in that it's said by an NPC that Zeal rose to the sky many generations before the downfall of Zeal.
The demo started with Norstien teaching a class at the academy when Calaspera attacks. They evacuate the school but Norstien's brother dies there. Then he is given a task by the gurus I think, and we had to track down the terrorists. I spent a lot of time exploring Zeal tho. I loved the details like the End of time being based off of a waterfall area near Zeal palace.

Anyway, I didn't expect Norstien to heel turn like that, I thought he'd be like Melchior, stranded in 1000 AD with no way back, so he makes the most of it by putting on a magic show.
I do like the backstory of the two sisters and the mystics being created via Zeal experimentation.
 
I figured the game was building to the rediscovery of the Frozen Flame and that's why the cold war accelerated. Like there would be a battle over it and Zeal wins, cementing their dominance. Then King Zeal would touch it and disappear as shown in Crimson Echoes.  I guess it could also send Zeal skyward granting his wish for the county before his wife’s greed dooms it. I had assumed that Queen Zeal only became 100% the villain after her husband “dies” and that the protagonists would object to the Calasperans being enslaved to build the ocean palace.

As for the playable characters, I really loved the 3 we got in the demo. I didn't expect Norstien to become an antagonist tho, I thought he'd gradually learn to let go of his brother's death, become a calmer and see the truth of Zeal Corruption. Only to be cursed by Queen Zeal and thrown into the future by the chrono shift.

Either way it’s cool to get some closure on this game. It’d be amazing if anything could be released but either way I appreciate the effort so much.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on May 07, 2018, 09:11:46 am
Quote
The first demo you guys made captured my imagination with the snow bound kingdom of Zeal. I also loved the magical academy and seeing the kingdom in it's prime.

Yeah, we had kept the demo most intact, but had built out the event just a bit with the Calasparan military units having attacked the school. Later you learn that they had been manipulated, as they'd been told the school was a training facility for soldiers in an effort to train for the war. This was part of the behind-the-scenes machinations to force Zeal and Calaspera to a head in an effort to bring all-out-war.

Quote
You say that it's meant to be compatible with Crimson Echoes but what about with Prophets' Guile? Cause in that it's said by an NPC that Zeal rose to the sky many generations before the downfall of Zeal.

Just a creative decision MrBekkler had made and one I ran with. Even by making it compatible with Crimson Echoes, we never directly commented on events in that fangame. Rather, we made allusions and did our best not to dispute anything learned from that game.

Quote
The demo started with Norstien teaching a class at the academy when Calaspera attacks. They evacuate the school but Norstien's brother dies there. Then he is given a task by the gurus I think, and we had to track down the terrorists. I spent a lot of time exploring Zeal tho. I loved the details like the End of time being based off of a waterfall area near Zeal palace.

Yup, we made some changes here. In the end, we decided that the Gurus knew of Calaspera and were in contact with their leader, a man named Zarathustra. The four were on good terms and, despite hostilites between their nations, freely shared research. We also made changes so the Melchior, Balthasar, and Gaspar weren't gurus yet, just celebrated researchers in their respective fields. They ultimately ascend to Guru-ship late in the game, and are apprehensive to do so, as they already identify that Queen Zeal is growing mad with power and that Zeal was not on the right path. However, they decided to try and stop Zeal from the inside and to use their science for good...

I figured the game was building to the rediscovery of the Frozen Flame and that's why the cold war accelerated. Like there would be a battle over it and Zeal wins, cementing their dominance. Then King Zeal would touch it and disappear as shown in Crimson Echoes.  I guess it could also send Zeal skyward granting his wish for the county before his wife’s greed dooms it. I had assumed that Queen Zeal only became 100% the villain after her husband “dies” and that the protagonists would object to the Calasperans being enslaved to build the ocean palace.

Yeah, the Frozen Flame aspect of the story was huge. It was definitely a catalyst in the cold war. We complicated that by making the Frozen Flame have two arbiters, the two sisters. Calaspera had managed to have the Frozen Flame, keep it in check, and not abuse it's power for generations.

The story went through multiple drafts and the last time I messed with it was in 2014, so my memory is hazy with all the different drafts. Some versions had King Zeal alive, others had him already dead.

I think the last draft had him already dead, the Atash Kadah having been the catalyst that put Zeal in such a bad state (dwindling resources) and they had lost the Frozen Flame after the spell misfired.

Regarding the Frozen Flame itself, there were definitely parallels between responsible ownership of power and abuse of it. Different societies with different values and how they respond to wielding such power. Calaspera used it to be an isolationist country where all the needs of it's citizens were taken into account (food, art, etc). Calaspera was very much a civilization founded on the principles of compassion, the arts, and technology (science) over blatant magic. Zeal obviously used it to essentially subjugate all, and those not needed worthy were not set to receive it's benefits.

On a little side note, Calaspera also interpreted magic differently than Zeal. While Zeal believes in Fire, Water, Light, and Shadow, Calaspera believed in Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. Combining the two ideologies forms the elemental system we see represented in Chrono Cross. :D

Quote
As for the playable characters, I really loved the 3 we got in the demo. I didn't expect Norstien to become an antagonist tho, I thought he'd gradually learn to let go of his brother's death, become a calmer and see the truth of Zeal Corruption. Only to be cursed by Queen Zeal and thrown into the future by the chrono shift.

The fact that Norstein became a villain was the twist equivalent to Magus-not-being-the-creator-of-Lavos in Chrono Trigger. There were hints, but it was supposed to be a surprise. Once he turned, we would have scene previous scenes play out with some additional context, showing behind the curtains how Norstein had been manipulated.

However, when Norstein turns the party gains Wellsville as a new PC. At first you are unsure how he survived the attack seen in Chapter 1, and even he claims to not understand it. A few chapters later, however, you learn that he is actually a sort of "dream" version of Wellsville created by one of the goddess/sisters to try and right the path that Norstein was setting the world down. This version of Wellsville thinks he's real, and once Norstein kills the two goddesses and try to usurp their powers (absorbed from the Frozen Flame in 3 million BC), Wellsville starts to slowly fade out of existence. Wellsville has a huge existential crisis -- he doesn't want to die, doesn't want to not exist, but resolves to stop his brother. He completely fades from existence, having completed his task, once he stops Norstein.

Norstein, however, is complex. You learn early on that his parents were researchers, and his dad was from Calaspera. His parents studied the life sciences (magical genetics) in a research outpost in the ruins of a country called Scithia, who had been destroyed by Zeal a few decades before the events of this game.

Norstein always had penchant for the macabre, but he saw the science go bad and his parents and all the researchers there were turned into homunculi. He and Wellsville made it out (for reasons), were able to return to Zeal, and Norstein was forced to help care for Wellsville without the support of parentage. He always had a chip on his shoulder, angry at the lot he had been dealt in life.

Norstein, however, believes strongly in the vision of Zeal. He is the penultimate patriot - he is blind to good and evil in the name of his country. Honestly, sort of the parallels we see in modern day America. A willingness to combat corruption and accept evil for the sake of a false narrative of being "on the right side." Once Wellsville is killed, he decides he's going to take revenge on Calaspera. So he works with the Queen with a promise of Guruship should he succeed, and he solely cooprates with the party to find Calaspera and take it down as revenge for Wellsville.

Their adventure eventually leads them to Scithia, where he is once again forced face-to-face with his dead parents (merged into a homunculi due to bad science), and he acquires their science. He turns against the party, is granted Guruship by the queen, and his former comrades are put on trial for working with Calaspera as enemies of the state and traitors.

This is ultimately how Norstein saw them. He saw them as traitors to their country and felt that they deserved their fates (even if he was in the wrong).

At this point, Norstein picks up his parent's research and decides to finish it. This is really when his spiral begins; up to this point he was still wrong, but somewhat sympathetic. He felt he was doing the right thing and simply wanted to serve his country. But he begins to made bad decisions and questionable ones at that. He pays for it later when his science destroys his human body and he becomes a horrible monster.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on May 11, 2018, 03:05:54 pm
BOO I HAVE MISSED YOU!

We switched engines which slowed us down significantly, and never really recovered. I have been spriteing and mapping here and there for the past two years but honestly going for my masters kicked my butt. We have a decent soundtrack 20-30 songs, our battle system is beautiful and much like CT's on the map, we have nearly all the sprites we need, the entire story mostly fleshed out- its just the mapping and the coding and leg work we need to do (so everything.)  I think we just didn't have the man power to do it.

With all the graphics and music and map tilesets i'm sure something could be completed, even if its something much smaller. I have the summer off so~ :D

Have some graphics;

Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on May 11, 2018, 03:10:11 pm
Mage, it would probably just end up being me and you.

TBH, I've considered it a lost cause now for a while. I blame myself for the scope creep. Bekkler also disappeared; I haven't heard from him in a year at least.

:/
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on May 11, 2018, 03:12:37 pm
Think I last heard from him July of 2017, he's been really busy! Hey me and you is better than just me ;)

Then again we could do something new and small for Dream Splash!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mauron on May 11, 2018, 03:48:18 pm
Competition! :O
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Feeso on May 16, 2018, 11:14:24 am
I'd help but I can't code or map or anything XD. Only thing I'd be good for is beta testing and maybe helping to write/ revise the story.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Feeso on May 27, 2018, 02:33:12 am
I actually wanted to ask about the green haired party member from the demo. I belive she apeared in Chronopolis in Lance's Prelude to a Dream Demo. Since I heard that this was meant to be a shared universe I thought I'd ask about that.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on May 27, 2018, 11:04:39 pm
Taven! So she was an apprentice to Melchior. Her parents were his previous aides and were caught up in a dream dimension, something that is explored in her sidequest in which you must explore Melchior's hidden labs (just as Belthesar had secret rooms hidden throughout Kajar and Enhasa, we learn that Melchior and Gaspar did, too). There were also some hints about the origin of Masa, Mune, and Doreen and what Melchior's "science" actually was beyond the vague "life."

Regardless, Taven ends up sacrificing herself and is the actual person to seal herself in the time loop with Norstein Bekkler at the end of the game. While all the party members manage to escape (Wellsville fades from existence since the Goddess' power's are expunged, Wazuki (and Marge) end up getting hurled into the future (we know they end up in El Nido in Chrono Cross, but where did they end up in the Chrono Trigger timeline...?), Sage (the Calasperan terrorist) ended up getting hurled to ~580AD and is revealed to be the mother of Tata, and Taven is the one who willfully chooses to remain trapped in the Elemental Palace with Norstein to ensure that he never escapes and breaks the seal.

Just as Norstein was eventually able to escape (and his villainous tendencies end up being replaced with jovial madness), Taven would have been revealed to have also escaped in Prelude to a Dream. She would have ended up being saved by Balthasar. He would have caught her with some sort of temporal net, removing her from the time loop of the Chrono Shift, and she would have been his right hand aide in helping develop Chronopolis.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on May 28, 2018, 05:19:28 am
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/Taven_zpsbjjhmrjj.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/NovMists/Taven_down_zpsemqi1gm6.png)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: CptOvaltine on July 11, 2018, 03:48:33 pm
What...is this, and how do I play it!

Seriously, this looks awesome! The only help I could offer on these sorts of things would be musical, and even there I might be useless depending on what type of music you're going for!

If there's anything I can do to help make this a reality, then let me know!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: EgyLynx on October 07, 2018, 01:11:44 pm
Ohho... what next...

how that is silence so long?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: chrono.source on October 09, 2018, 09:47:51 am
Aside from coding, what is left to build for the database?
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on October 09, 2018, 10:35:30 am
We (and by we, it was pretty much I) was constantly rewriting the plot. It grew too grandiose. We were also creating assets.

The sad reality is that I think this project is pretty much dead. MrBekkler, the original creator, is a father now and no longer works on it, nor does he come around the Compendium. TheMage is the only one that creates assets, and even that is generally uncommon.

I'm calling it dead. If others want to revive it, sure, but for now, I think I have to call a spade a spade.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on January 17, 2019, 10:36:50 am
While we have the whole plot more or less, 30+ songs and most of the sprite assets and chipsets there are minimal maps and no real coding save for the battle system. Our leader has been MIA for a long, long time and Rpg maker XP is something while easy to learn was something Boo and I both didn't have, boo was the writer and I made sprites.i bought it finally but while I've been going for my masters degree I haven't been working on it much at all. A Sprite here or there. I'm torn between steam rolling this project slowly by pure determination alone (I should speed up after I graduate) or putting my efforts into another project with a leader because I make a poor leader.i get stuff done much faster when someone pokes me and asks me how it's coming along vs when I'm my own 'boss'. I know Boo had fantastic ideas for his own project involving a certain blue hair girl and with rom hacks on the rise I'm very tempted to put my efforts into a romhack.

It needs a leader who can make maps for it to revive because I can't make them all myself. I get overwhelmed by maps honestly. I can sprite you anything but maps are my weakness to create a map from scratch- I can't picture it and I struggle. Give me a doodle and I can do it. and i will follow a leader!

Boo you working on any romhacks that need a spriter?~
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mauron on January 18, 2019, 02:25:47 pm
TheMage, I might have one that will need a few sprites in the future. I'll let you know if and when things progress.

I can help with some map sketches if you tell me what is needed. I can also help with possible ASM hacks and utility creation.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: chrono.source on January 21, 2019, 09:38:40 am
TheMage, I might have one that will need a few sprites in the future. I'll let you know if and when things progress.

I can help with some map sketches if you tell me what is needed. I can also help with possible ASM hacks and utility creation.

I might be able to help with spriting, depending on what they need.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: EgyLynx on May 12, 2019, 01:23:45 pm
Hmm...

Good lucks anyone...
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Mr Bekkler on August 30, 2019, 03:18:04 pm
Hey everybody. Sorry I've been away and out of touch for so long. I feel like I owe some explanation. Basically life happened, but specifically, I graduated college, moved to a new town with my girlfriend, stayed for three years, got married, got laid off, was unemployed for almost a year and moved back to my original hometown, where I got a new job, and then my wife and I had a baby almost two years ago. Free time is a precious resource that I don't have much of, but I never stopped thinking about Chrono Shift.

From my perspective, a few things caused the project to stall for years, including my own lack of time. The two big things were plot filler and feature creep. Essentially I felt like the core of the story I wanted to tell had "shifted" too far, and the whole project seemed to become too big. Another issue was of course the change in engines. RPG Maker XP seemed to be a good choice at the time, but we did effectively have to throw away a lot of work to make that choice.

The last work I completed was a scaled back and revised version of the story and quite a lot of the dialogue for the first half of the game. I haven't shared the shorter game plot mostly because the team had somewhat fallen out of communication but I will do so and will see what else I can do to help keep the project alive and hopefully get it completed.

I don't want it to be dead, but we'll have to see what happens.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on February 06, 2021, 03:47:25 pm
Bekkler! <3

Im up for anything. Can show you what i've salvaged of the engine since Verve went down.
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on July 12, 2021, 12:14:31 am
Miss you guys. Been reading through all this and I hate that we dropped this project and some of us lost contact. :(
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on July 18, 2021, 08:10:03 pm
Miss you guys too!
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: ProtoDad on July 14, 2023, 09:14:08 pm
Man, I miss working on these. I think about these projects so often. Miss you guys!

-Lance VII

:)
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on July 20, 2023, 01:15:58 am
LanceVII!!! My man, how the heck are you?!

Edited because I just realized I used your IRL name :D
Title: Re: Chrono Shift General Progress Thread
Post by: TheMage on August 18, 2023, 07:29:55 pm
LAAAANCE!!!!

Miss you all too! How ya been!?  :D