Messages

1

News Submissions / Re: Another Chrono Trigger remake rumor

« on: May 03, 2025, 04:43:22 am »

Other places, including the comments in that Reddit thread have updated: not actually said by Horii, made by the interpreter.

https://bsky.app/profile/gematsu.com/post/3lo7fd4wjwc2s

The Reddit thread in particular has a description and translation of his actual words at that moment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/1kd1gij/comment/mqabve8/

2

Chrono Trigger Modification / DS/Steam Location Event Command Differences

« on: April 16, 2025, 09:34:49 pm »

The DS version made various changes to the event commands that makes most extracted events incompatible with Temporal Flux, as well as introducing some new commands. This is a partial documentation of what I've found so far. (Location events for the ports are held in Atel_xxx.dat files.)

Text
B8 (StringIndex) now takes a single byte as the index number of the text file for the area.

All stringbox commands take a 16-bit number for the string index.

Change Location

The change location commands have an extra byte between the location number and the coordinates. The "facing" value that was stored in the same bytes as the location number has been split off into this new byte, probably so that the bits it took up could be used to expand the range of locations. (This applies to location and overworld exits too, though the exact placement of the extra byte varies).

The possible exception is E2, which loads from memory addresses and is only used to return you to Crono's room or the Truce inn after resting.

Memory Assignment
All the memory assignment commands that took full 24-bit addresses (49, 49, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D) no longer do. Instead of reading from or writing to anywhere in RAM, it's limited to predefined memory addresses with an added offset. The first  parameter is the index number of the memory range, the second the offset to add. There appear to be special cases for reading/writing to the addresses for party equipment and techs learned, beyond specifying the equivalent ranges in the first place. That is, after calculating the target address, it redirects it to the true new location of those variables.

Examples

• 4800007F06 Assign(Mem.StorylineCtr, Mem.7F020C, One)->48 3D 00 06
• 48A1007F15 Assign(Mem.7F00A1, Mem.7F022A, One)-> 48 3D A1 15
• 4881297E0F Assign(Mem.PC2, Mem.7F021E, One)-> 48 2D 01 0F
• 4903267E0C Assign(Mem.7E2603, Mem.7F0218, Two)->49 2A 03 0C

Several blocks are dedicated to just a few game state variables, but that doesn't mean the bytes of memory right after are the same as in the SNES version. So some memory reading/hacking tricks may not work.

Additional note: Not an actual change to the event command's behavior. DS/Steam has only one number text variable. So it has to zero out the upper bytes of the temporary number memory address. In the DS/Steam version, a one-byte memory assignment there will be followed by a two-byte value assignment of 0 where there wasn't one in the SNES version.

Enemies

Enemies are now a 16-bit range instead of an 8-bit range.

Items (Commands CA, CB, C9, D5)
Items take up two bytes rather than one, but it's not a simple expansion after the original item range. Items are divided up into the categories seen in the DS/Steam's version menu (weapons, armor, helmets, accessories, consumables, and key items), determined by the second byte.

0x00 = Weapon
0x10 = Armor
0x20 = Helmet
0x30 = Accessory
0x40 = Consumable
0x50 = Key Item

Each category starts with a null item in the 00 slot. The text file sfc_item in the mobile/Steam versions marks the items by category and their number within that category.

Examples

• The Power Tab event in Guardia Forest, originally CA CD in the SNES version, becomes CA 11 40
• Taban Vest: CA 79 -> CA 1F 10
• Prism Dress: CA 6C -> CA 12 10
• Taban Helm: CA 8B -> CA 10 20
• Prism Helm: CA 86 -> CA 0B 20
• PrismSpecs: CA BB -> CA 27 30
• Pendant: CA D6 -> CA 07 50
• Magic Cave Masamune Cutscene: D5 04 3D -> D5 04 3D 00, CB 52-> CB 52 00

New commands

The DS/Steam versions have a block of memory for its new variables/event flags, outside what can be accessed through the original memory assignment commands.
"Temp memory" refers to the block of memory that started at $7F0200 in the SNES version.

3A vv aa Store value vv to extended variable aa

3D oo aa Transfer an 8-bit value from temp memory + oo * 2 to an extended variable

45 bb aa set bit in extended memory

46 bb aa reset bit in extended memory

6E aa vv oo jj
Checks a value in the new memory range. Works identically to the original command 0x16 (Value-to mem Comparison), where oo is the type of comparison to perform

70 pp oo Store pary slot pp to temp memory + oo * 2

FD ?? Purpose not yet determined

The following were found by hacking/debugging, their usage in-game is not yet confirmed.

3E aa oo Copy value from from extended variable aa to oo * 2 of temp memory
74 aa oo Copy two-byte value from extended variable aa to oo * 2 temp memory
78 oo aa Copy two-byte value from temp memory + oo * 2 to extended variable aa

3

News Submissions / Re: CHRONO TRIGGER Music Special Live Stream

« on: March 15, 2025, 10:36:59 pm »

I didn't copy down any of the comments myself, nor do I remember if I saw these particular ones personally, but Mitsuda posted to the live chat during the stream.

https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/1jbaw1k/did_anyone_save_yasunori_mitsudas_comments_from/

For partial copies, see https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/1jbaw1k/comment/mhwql5x/ or https://pastebin.com/Z5RBjTKB

時が経つのは早いものですね。今年は『クロノ・トリガー』３０周年ですが４０周年、５０周年も変わらずこの作品が皆様にとって大切な作品であり続けることを願っております。【光田康典】

クロノ・トリガーのテーマ曲は、堀井雄二氏、鳥山明氏、坂口博信氏が出席した初の全体ミーティングの時でした。テープに録音して皆さんに披露したのですが、全く反応が無くかなりショックを受けました。【光田康典】

ミーティングの後、プロデューサーに呼ばれ「光田君、このゲームは200万人以上の方がテーマ曲を聞くんだよ。松任谷由実さんを超えなきゃーダメなんだよ。」といわれ没を言い渡されました。【光田康典】

Also, focusing on one of the early comments:

開発中はゴンザレスに勝つとゴールドが貰えていたのですが、仕様変更によりポイントになりました。その関係でせっかくメロディを“ゴールド”に合わせて書いていたのに合わなくなりました（泣）。【光田康典】
During development, you could get gold for defeating Gonzales, but due to a change in specifications, it became points. Because of this, the melody I had written to match "gold" no longer matched (tears). [Mitsuda Yasunori]

I noticed that this aligns with one of the observations from the Prerelease Coverage page:

On page 7 you can get a look at Melchior's Millennial Fair inventory, and there's an old man selling accessories near the tent where you can exchange silver points in the final. Silver points were apparently not a thing in this version, as you can also see that fighting Gato will win you 100 gold instead of 15 silver points.

Edit:
Translated version with context, from u/cessout (https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/1jc5so6/chrono_triggers_30th_anniversary_live_comments/)

4

Chrono Trigger Modification / Re: Dimensional Vortex maps [Extract]

« on: February 18, 2025, 03:53:51 pm »

While transferring the raw map packets into the SNES ROM is relatively simple, some will be tougher to automatically integrate into the game without tweaks, because they either use new palettes, or variant tilesets where some of the tiles have been replaced with apparent dupes of other tiles.

So for the purpose of exporting to fill out the encyclopedia's galleries, rather than transplanting into the original game, I'd prefer a dedicated viewer that works directly off the DS or Steam files.

Hacking addendum:
The strange duplication of tileset and palette value entries in the location data, in the DS version (also a different format) at least, seems to be for indicating tileset/palette animation behavior.

5

News Submissions / Re: Chrono Orchestral Arrangement Box Set

« on: October 02, 2024, 11:07:46 pm »

There are some other interesting names as well:

• Early Lucca, who was labeled by her role as "Inventor Girl" in the sketches that also appeared in Ultimania, is named Riddel (リデル)
• The big figure in back is Gyadou (ギャドウ). AcaciaSgt transcribed this as a potential game title in the Gendai Plus segment, and observed that it was a name mentioned in the purple book in the library in Radical Dreamers ("Gadoh" in the official localization)
• Probably obvious enough, but the long-haired figure on the right is Glenn, and the name appears below one of the Frog sketches as well. So, official early Human Glenn concept?

6

Chrono Cross Modification / Re: Wanted to edit something in the remaster but...

« on: September 26, 2024, 11:21:43 pm »

This is outside my current research capability, not owning the remaster, but some suggestions.

• Make sure you're editing the right data, according to the stats format. There are two parts to the Element Grid
• According to an ancient post by utunnels, there is a second compressed copy of enemy data for Doppelgangs. Did this change in the Remaster?

(As the file containing said copy wasn't indicated, I had to do some calculations from the offsets used for ppfmaker to determine that it was part of the file called 2518.misc_battle_data.out in PurpleCatTools' naming scheme.)

7

Fan Art / Re: Chrono trigger tile set type graphics (and I use that term loosely!!)

« on: September 22, 2024, 12:08:20 am »

These don't feel like something you'd insert into a Chrono Trigger-style game on a regular basis. They're all elaborate backdrops, not maps you can walk around in a top-down game. For practical space reasons, Chrono Trigger only occasionally used customized one-map backgrounds.

8

News Submissions / Re: Chrono Orchestral Arrangement Box Set

« on: September 10, 2024, 11:01:34 pm »

I was thinking of posting this in a new thread to focus on the images I'm about to link to, but it is related to this performance.

A few months ago (edit - actually just last month, on Reddit), I was looking something up and found this old thread with some scans in high resolution from the box set's pamphlet
https://www.resetera.com/threads/check-out-these-rare-chrono-trigger-concept-arts-from-1993-before-akira-toriyama.639126/
A few are the familiar early artworks from Kato seen in the Ultimania and elsewhere, but others I hadn't seen before.

(Judging from the file names, the thread was the source for the Queen Zeal sketch already on the site, but the source material wasn't credited before.)

And this one from the same user has scans from the Cross section
https://www.resetera.com/threads/masato-kato-reveals-some-of-early-tentative-titles-for-chrono-cross.422087/

(The main focus there was on the alternate titles, but those were visible enough in the preview images for the pamphlet.)

9

The Great To-Do List / Re: [5000] Acquire and scan Japanese magazine issue "The PlayStation" Vol. 170

« on: July 09, 2024, 02:14:32 pm »

Yeah, saw these on Reddit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/1dc0kss/check_out_these_ct_pictures_found_in_a_rare/

That person contacted the second of the Twitter posters and got the scans.

10

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: Chrono Cross Remaster Twitter Japanese Q&A

« on: December 07, 2023, 04:47:54 pm »

Is he really insinuating that the Kid who saved Serge is the same Kid we meet in the normal course of the game?

Not quite. It gets a bit muddled up by the unedited MTL's handling of pronouns, but it's referring to Serge saving Kid, not the other way around. (Remember, according to Lucca, that mission is supposedly still in Kid's future.)
The segment from the Ultimania I mentioned, from page 465, was one of the many parts that had previously received a rough translation from BubbleBobby2000 in the old Ultimania Translations FAQ. Here's the end of it for reference.

When he did so, Serge, made acquaintance with Kid when she was young... When you meet her for the first time in Cape Howl, try to remember how she looked like.

The question from the most recent Q&A gets at the same thing, that Kid's behavior in her introduction (probably stuff like "Serge...Your name's Serge, ain't it?") hints that she recognizes Serge from her childhood, but Kato's answer adds that she keeps quiet because she can tell that Serge doesn't know about it.

11

Chrono Trigger Modification / Re: Stuck on a few things.

« on: November 28, 2023, 09:33:04 pm »

I don't know where it determines how long before it plays the blink animation, but this is where the animation is selected.

Code: [Select]

C0/A23D:        B98016          LDA $1680,Y
C0/A240:        C921            CMP #$21
C0/A242:        F00F            BEQ $A253
C0/A244:        A921            LDA #$21
C0/A246:        998016          STA $1680,Y
C0/A249:        A900            LDA #$00
C0/A24B:        998116          STA $1681,Y
C0/A24E:        A900            LDA #$00
C0/A250:        990116          STA $1601,Y
C0/A253:        60              RTSI don't think there's any difference in which animation will play between player characters. If there's an issue, maybe there's something wrong with human Glenn's animation data, causing it to pick inappropriate animation frames, or the frames it calls haven't been set up.

12

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: Chrono Cross Remaster Twitter Japanese Q&A

« on: August 24, 2023, 09:26:43 pm »

My comments and notes on part of the last round of Q&A, as translated by DeepL.

-When the Kid first met Serge, he said something a little tricky when he heard his name, [did Kid remember that Serge saved him when he was a child?]

Kato: Yes.
Yes, he did. I don't think the Kid ever forgot. But Serge doesn't seem to know who he is, and he actually looks younger than he did that night, so I guess he's still trying to keep it all to himself for now.

I hunted through the forums, but I don't think anyone here suggested that Kid recognized Serge from the beginning. (When Zeality analyzed parts of the Ultimania with DeepL, he found a similiar claim.) Smacks of predestination though. The assumption on the timeline pages is that the orphanage sequence is a genuine tweak to history, not something that was supposed to have happened all along.

-After the last fight, Serge vaguely remembers the trip, but does he forget it afterwards? If he remembers, does Serge also continue to search for the Kid?

Kato:
I don't know. I think Serge's memories of the trip may fade little by little. That is why Kid is searching for Serge somewhere, wandering through many time lines. To meet again someday.

Another confirmation that it's supposed to be Kid searching for Serge. It being because he eventually forgot the adventure sounds new though.

-If Sarah's pendant was passed on to the Kingdom of Gardia from Sarah's hand, which was swallowed by the dimensional vortex, to the Kid, how did it get to the Kingdom of Gardia?

Kato:
There may have been another story where the Kid, Serge and others traveled back in time and crossed over to the continent before the collapse of Galdia .......

The Compendium's stance on this, as stated on the "Pendant Paradox" page, is that thanks to Time Traveler's Immunity and Time Bastard it doesn't matter whether it was a heirloom in the new timeline; Crono materializes with the pendant and the team's adventure goes on unhindered. Another reminder that the original creators may not have thought things out as much as fans do.

-The title of the group picture that was released just before the release of the remastering and displayed at the cafe, "Let it be the days of our dreams," really resonated with me. Who gave it this title? And to what extent does this "we" include us?

Kato:
Almost 25 years have passed since Cross was launched.
The days that we, the staff, spent to create Cross and ......, and the days of the lives of the players who loved Cross and .......
Our Dream Days" is the counterpart of "Dream, Dream, Days of My Soul," which was named with this in mind.

The artwork that was asked about is the key art for the Remaster, and the music track mentioned is called "Dreams of the Past, Memories of My Soul" in English.

13

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: Chrono Cross Remaster Twitter Japanese Q&A

« on: August 07, 2023, 12:52:12 am »

So the Japanese Twitter account resumed answering questions briefly on July 6! The day before, they made an announcement that it would run until August. They posted one answer each on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Tuesdays. Unfortunately, Twitter now being mostly locked out to guests has crippled the "find the original version of the question" part of my usual procedure. (That saved some time typing up the question in its entirety.)

Response
-キッドがセルジュに初めて会ったとき、名前聞いて少し引っかかる言い方してましたが、このときキッドは幼い頃にセルジュに助けられたことを覚えていたのでしょうか？

Kato:
ええ。キッドはずっと忘れたことはなかったと思いますよ。ただ、セルジュの方は自分のことを知らないようだし、実際にあの夜の時より幼い印象なので、今はまだすべて自分の胸にしまっておこう、ということですね。

Response
-キャラターごとに先天属性が設定されていますが、由来は精神か肉体のどちらによって定められているのでしょうか？
また生涯の内に身についた技能や知識、生活していた環境によって属性が変化することはあるのでしょうか？

Kato:
やはり精神的なものが大きいんじゃないでしょうか。またその後の生き方によっては、属性は変化するものと思いますね。
決して絶対的なものではなく。

Response
-ダリオってもともと、先天属性は黒なんでしょうか？
それとも黒なのはグランドリオンの影響なんでしょうか？

Kato:
これはグランドリオンの影響、というか闇落ちしたからでしょうかね。
根は人の好き、好青年であったはずなので。そう思いたい。
その場合、「先天」属性じゃなくなりますけど。笑

Response
-ディノポリスが成立した世界線では、クロノたちがラヴォスを倒した結果、そもそも最初からラヴォスは飛来していなかった事になっているのですか？

Kato:
これはどうだったかな。クロノたちがラヴォスを倒した云々に関係なく、純粋に恐竜人が進化した時間軸だったと思います。

Response
-最後の闘いのあと、セルジュはぼんやりと旅の記憶が残っていますが、その後忘れてしまうのでしょうか？もし覚えているのなら、セルジュもキッドを探し続けているのでしょうか？

Kato:
どうでしょう。セルジュのそれもでの旅の記憶は、少しずつ薄れていくのかも。だからこそキッドが、どこかにいる「セルジュ」をあまたの時間軸をさすらいながら、探し続けているのでしょう。いつか再び、出会うために。

Response
-イシトはなぜ黒き風が良かったんでしょう？
パレポリ軍が他の軍と違う所ってなんなのでしょう？

Kato:
イシトはそもそも、パレポリのエリード軍人の家系の出で、当然のように軍に入隊し、その後黒き風に配属されて、こつこつと真面目に軍務をこなして頭角を現したという流れですね。

Response
-描き下ろしで改めてキッドとツクヨミ正反対なキャラデザだと思ぅたのですが、意図的にそのデザインにされたのかなあと。二人をデザインされた時の制作秘話など聞いてみたいです。

Kato:
キッドとツクヨミは、物語の位置づけ的には表裏一体といったところがあるのですが、それゆえデザインとしては全く異なる方向性で行きたいと考えていました。まあ人間と龍の娘で、盗賊と道化師なわけだし。

Response
-グランドリオンは永い間人の思念に晒される事で魔剣になってしまったそうですが、イルランザーにもそうなってしまう可能性はあるのでしょうか？

Kato:
道具というのは、どんなものも使われ方によって、変わってしまいます。そもそも武器である剣が絶対的に聖なるものであるって、どういうことなのでしょう？イルランザーも、絶対にとか、永遠にとか、そういうことはないと思いますよ。

Response
-ガルディア王国に伝わったサラのペンダントは、次元の渦に飲まれたサラの手からキッドに渡ったのなら、どのようにガルディア王国に伝わったのでしょうか。

Kato:
キッドやセルジュたちが、時をさかのぼり、ガルディア崩壊前の大陸に渡り……、という別の物語がまたあったのかもしれません。

Response
-リマスター発売直前に発売された集合絵、カフェで展示する際についていた「されど我らが夢の日々よ」というタイトルがとても心に響さました。このタイトルを付けられたのはどなたなのでしょうか？そして、この「我ら」とはどこまでを含むのでしょうか？

Kato:
クロスが発売サレテカラモウ25年近い年月が流れてしまったわけで。
僕たちスタッフがクロスを作るために過ごした日々と……、そひてクロスを愛してくれたプレイヤーたちの、それぞれの人生の月日と……。
我らの夢の日々というのは、そういう思いでつけました「夢よ、夢よ、我が魂の日々よ」と対になる言葉ではあるかなと。
Response
-用がなくても足を運ぶほど天龍の島の景色が大好きなのですが、やはり六龍達は最終的に敵になってしまうのでしょうか。炎龍は鍛錬やペツトを飼うなどこの世界で生きる楽しみを見っけてた様にみえました。子供の頃に龍達と一緒に眺めたいなと思ってたので少し寂しかったです。

Kato:
そうですね。クロスの物語では、人間と六龍は相容れない存在ではあったので、仕方ないとは思うのですが、両者が共に生きる別の時空とうのがあっても良いと思います。

Response
-キャラターの中で星の子が特別大好きなのですが、星の子の故郷にある他の子たちもみんな似たような外見なのでしょうか？色違のい子などもいたりしますか？

Kato:
星の子に関しては、アナザーエデンとクロスとのコラボで、その後のエピソードが描かれているので、ぜひそちらもプレイしてみてください。キッドやツクヨミの話も書かれているので。

14

Chrono Trigger Modification / Re: Temporal Flux Plugins

« on: January 19, 2023, 11:06:59 pm »

Hmmm... I was pretty sure that somebody figured this out before... and that what I suggested, could elaborate upon it by a few simple hacks.

You might remember from back in the day there was an event trick to color the text.

How to change text color:

I don't know the details for it but apparently this command can change the color of the text in the dialogue boxes:

MemCpy2E(43, 09, 05, 01, 00)

This one makes the text yellow, but other variants are possible.

(Now known as "ColorMath", under Scene Manipulation. Don't know the equivalent parameters under the revised command description yet.)
But that changed all the text at once. It appears to alter the palette data directly. The text is still sharing one palette. I think the SNES can't update VRAM (including the palette) on the horizontal render, only vertical (by scanline), and that still requires some tracking to time it right.

15

Chrono Trigger Modification / Re: Temporal Flux Plugins

« on: January 18, 2023, 11:01:34 pm »

This is something I once heard about regarding a different game, but on the SNES, you can't color each character separately in a game with a variable-width/proportional font. The background layers of the SNES are tile-based, including which palette they use. In a VWF, a single tile will contain parts of multiple letters. So that one palette would be applied to multiple parts, or sharply change mid-letter on the next tile.