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91

Time, Space, and Dimensions / Debunking the Time Bastard Theory

« on: April 30, 2005, 06:26:53 am »

The time has come to put the Time Bastard theory to rest. Many of the theories on the Compendium don’t hold water, but it usually does not matter because everything is in good fun—that is, until people use one of these shoddy theories to interfere with legitimate questions pertaining to the various possible interpretations of some aspect of a Chrono game’s artistry.

In another topic, someone raised a legitimate question: Are the cats seen throughout the time periods in Chrono Trigger actually Crono’s cat(s)? While probably they are not, the question is legitimate enough that any attempt to answer it should not be derailed by an illogical theory, but that is precisely what happened when Time Bastard was invoked to declare—to declare—that these cat(s) could not belong to Crono in 1000 A.D., at least not if they had come from Crono’s exact timeline, because they only entered the time gate at the end of the game, which, by the Time Bastard theory, would make it impossible for them to appear in any of the timelines Crono visited. At best we could say that, if they are Crono’s cat(s), then they are actually belonging to a Crono from a higher-order timeline that we never see.

This is an instance of pure conjecture being used to nullify a legitimate artistic interpretation, which detracts from the enjoyment of the games, and which is therefore why I offer to debunk that conjecture this evening.

The Time Bastard theory, as presented below, is riddled with logical contradictions both in its substance and presentation. I will address the theory and its deficiencies in three parts for organizational purposes.

~~~
The Time Bastard Theory

Time Bastard Theorem
ZeaLitY, GrayLensman

Suppose an entity X exists on timeline Y.

If X time travels from time A to time B, such that B < A; for time > B, Y is sent into the DBT, and Y' is created, containing X'.

For time > A, two identical entities X and X' will exist in Y'.

Conservation of Energy requires that only one entity X or X' exist.

Therefore, X' will be expunged from Y' at time A, and sent into the DBT.

~~~
The phrase: “If X time travels from time A to time B, such that B < A…”

First we have “Entity X,” which is defined only as that which is displaced by an unspecified mechanism from one point A on a “Timeline Y,” which is not defined at all, to some earlier point B on that timeline. There is no explanation as to why a stipulation is applied that B must be “less than” A, nor is any definition given of what “less than” means in this context, since no quantifiable unit of time is referenced and no means of measurement thereof is introduced.

Given the vagueness of these designations, along with absolutely no discussion of the mechanics of time travel, it is impossible to say that this phrase means anything. It cannot be evaluated analytically because there are no equations written, nor it does not provide anything that can be tested. Because this phrase cannot be tested it cannot be used to make a prediction of some known event in Chrono Trigger, which is a fundamental requirement of any theory.

I can only see the very tip of the iceberg of scientific gobbledygook going on here. Problems that must be addressed include but are not limited to:
•   Define “time.” What is the characteristic of the medium of time? When we talk about “time,” what are we talking about?
•   How do we measure time?
•   Define “timeline” in terms of “time.” How does a timeline represent the mechanics of time? What is the relationship? What does it mean to exist at one point on a timeline relative to another point?
•   Define “time travel” in terms of both “time” and “timeline.” What are the mechanics of time travel?
•   What are the effects of time travel on that substance which is said to time travel?
•   What is the nature of that substance which is said not to time travel in terms of time travel as defined above? How does that which does not time travel interact with time?
•   What are the effects of time travel on that which is said not to time travel? Is it necessary to append, “…when an instance of time travel occurs”? Explain.
•   Specifically, how do these effects of time travel affect not only the moments of time-departure and time-arrival, but the timeline as a whole?

Outright problem with the phrase:
•   The stipulation is made that only time traveling “backwards” in time results in the Time Bastard effect. This makes no sense. Either the effect results from any time travel whatsoever, or there is some threshold—completely undefined by the Time Bastard theory—at which the nature of time travel does or does not result in this effect.

~~~
The Phrase: “…for time > B, Y is sent into the DBT, and Y' is created, containing X'. …”

Now we have more of the same trouble as above. This is the centerpiece of the theory, and as such it contains the most troubling ambiguities of all. The allegation is that, upon an instance of time travel, all the remaining timeline forward from that point is suddenly displaced or “sent” from the universe to reside in the Darkness Beyond Time. Furthermore, a second partial timeline to replace the portion that has just been “sent” away is now “created,” seamlessly taking the place of the original. I quote the theory verbatim in its choice of words.

What we are talking about is nothing less than an entire, infinite segment of the universe being completely sundered from the remainder, obliviated to the Darkness Beyond Time, and then replaced by a counterpart via the same incredible process in reverse. For this to happen, there must first be a mechanical reason that it would happen, as provided for and predicted by the discussion of time, timelines, and time travel above. And, once a reason is established—if such is possible—then a mechanism by which it could occur must also be qualified.

This would be extremely daunting, for not only would it test the definition of time, but perhaps the process would even transcend the mechanics of time, which I take as a possibility because the wording specifically uses terms like “sent” and “created,” which implies an external force acting upon a timeline to dislocate it from its remainder, obliviate it, and replace it. Where does the energy come from for infinite lengths of reality to be “sent” to the Darkness Beyond Time, and likewise the same, where does the energy come from for a new timeline to be “created”? Created out of what? What is the nature of the destruction of the original timeline and the formation of the new one? By what mechanism is this extraordinary act of disassembly and assembly achieved?

Lastly, I wonder what is meant by “X Prime,” the entity, for, if X has time traveled, then X does not exist anywhere on the timeline in the moment of its transition, and therefore is not eligible for being derivated…unless the entire process is not instantaneous, which is never specified one way or the other in the Time Bastard theory, and whose proposal raises serious questions as to the validity of any time model that must rely upon an undefined higher mode of time in order to function.

Questions that must be answered with regard to this phrase include but are not limited to:
•   What does it mean to “send” a partial timeline into the Darkness Beyond Time?
•   What does it mean to “create” a partial timeline to replace the obliviated one?
•   What is the reason this occurs and the mechanism by which it is effected?
•   In terms of matter, energy, and structure, what becomes of the obliviated partial timeline?
•   Likewise, what is the source of the matter and energy for the new, “created” partial timeline, and by what process is its structure assembled?
•   What is the meaning of “X Prime”? Where does it come from if X is not on the timeline during the act of time travel which causes the creation of the Prime timeline?
•   Is the process of partial timeline transformation instantaneous? If so, how is X Prime “created”? If not, how does a process wherein space-time is obliviated occur within that space-time? What are the mechanics?

My deepest concerns include:
•   What is this outside force that sends partial timelines away and creates new ones?
•   Why does the Time Bastard effect only apply to the portion of a timeline occurring forward in time from the earliest point of travel, regardless of whether it is the point of departure or the point of arrival?
•   And why, why, why does this theory audaciously state that the time traveling of finite material obliviates an infinite portion of the universe and causes an equally infinite portion to be created out of seeming nothingness? O, the humanity!

~~~
The phrase: For time > A, two identical entities X and X' will exist in Y'. Conservation of Energy requires that only one entity X or X' exist. Therefore, X' will be expunged from Y' at time A, and sent into the DBT.

It is…admirable…that the Time Bastard theory attempts to concern itself with mass-energy conservation; however, its efforts seem far too little, and far too late, as the theory has already predicted the obliviation of the universe without a reason or means given.

I could go into a critique, but at this point I think the theory is in so much trouble that to even discuss this aspect of it and provide my criticisms methodically, I would have to presume all sorts of things which I have raised serious questions about in the two sections above. Thus I will not formally critique this section of the theory at this time.

However, informally, I will offer the simple observation that no material—Entity X—will be able to cause the obliviation of another piece of material—Entity X Prime—without some connection between them, which, again, the Time Bastard theory does not provide for.

It is astounding just how many implicit assumptions this theory makes…truly this is stupefyingly bad science. I say that not to discourage the theory’s proponents—certainly not—but to remind them in ungentle terms that “The Truth” isn’t something that can simply be dished out into a nifty little theory without regard to its veracity or functionality.


Consider, here at the end, a few problematic observations. The Time Bastard theory provides for the transition from a less prime timeline to a more prime timeline, via backward time travel, and also for the transition from a timeline to itself, via forward time travel. But there is no way to move from a more prime timeline to a less prime timeline. Every instance of backward time travel displaces the universe into another degree of derivativeness. Thus, there is no way to return to one’s original timeline after having time traveled backwards. That seems very contrary to the “grain” of the mood throughout Chrono Trigger and especially at game’s end, and because the games themselves are our only source of canon, their “grain,” among other elements, must therefore must be respected.

Another, more insidious problem arises. The Time Bastard theory also stipulates that the duplicate material to a prime timeline—that is, the Entity X Prime created on Timeline J Prime to reflect the arrival of Entity X from Timeline J—is obliviated to the Darkness Beyond Time by “conservation of energy” as given by Time Bastard. Thus, an element of Timeline J does remain—Entity X—whereas an element of Timeline J Prime—Entity X Prime—is never realized. Now, on the surface it may be tempting to say that the matter and energy for J Prime come from J, because J always perfectly obliviates to the exact same degree that J Prime is created. But this isn’t actually true. The whole reason for the Time Bastard theory, I presume, is that J Prime is special because it contains Entity X at a point on J Prime which was not the case on J. Forward from that point, the two timelines diverge completely, such that at every point in time where J Prime exists, it will not correspond to J. So we really do have four enormous problems: 1) Where did J go? 2) Where did J Prime come from? 3) How does this reconcile with the conservation of mass and energy?

And the fourth problem, the crux of the whole senselessness of the Time Bastard theory, is 4) Why does an instance of time travel obliviate the entire universe subsequent to the point of arrival of some trivial material X?

That question simply must be answered and the answer elucidated before this theory is to hold a shred of credibility, which I think will prove wholly unlikely.

~~~
Note: I have added a poll to this topic so that I might have an at-a-glance indication of opinion among those who are unwilling or unable to contribute a written reply. Gauging Compendium opinion will be important ahead of the eventual release of my combined Chronoverse Space-Time Theory. Thanks for reading.

92

Magic, Elements, and Technology / Josh's Magic Guide to the Chrono Series

« on: January 27, 2005, 03:29:50 am »

I know there are about a zillion Magic topics on this board already, so forgive me for adding another shrimp to the Barbee here, but I didn't want this to get sunk in the ocean of some long thread where others are already carrying out lively conversations and might find this to be a disruption. Feedback is encouraged.

~~~~~
Josh’s Magic Guide to the Chrono Series
Total MS Word editing time: 100 minutes (exactly!)
Terminology Notes: Do not confuse “Elementals” (CT’s four substances), “Dragonian Elements,” (CC’s six colors), and “Equippable Elements,” (the CC equips).

~~~
1. The Elementals: Planet Power

Let the Elementals represent the substance of the Entity—that is, of the entire planet’s life-force. Lightning and Shadow embody its essence (genius), while Fire and Water represent its will (numen). Each of these pairs are diametric opposites and provide the world with its living animation, or verve.

The exploitation of these energies comprise magic as we think of it throughout most of Chrono Trigger. This is the magic that Zeal used before Lavos came into the picture, and is the source of Spekkio’s power. Being “Planet Magic,” we can assume that this is some good, strong, virtuous stuff. It is also the magic that Crono & Co. used.

Elemental Innateness signifies that all living beings are a part of the greater whole all around them; i.e., the planet that animates them. Excepted from “all living beings” are any tendrils of influence reaching from Lavos into humans and elsewhere in the world.

Notes:

1. All living activity on a planet like ours (and hence Crono’s) is like a web of restive energy captured from the sun. Zeal’s enigmatic Sun Stone, therefore, can be construed as a potent curator of the world’s energy, channeling all four Elementals simultaneously. Thus, the sun nourishes the planet, and we have no violations of physics so far…just some highfalutin legerdemain.

2. Spekkio might be the Gestalt representative of the power that follows from the planet’s energy, hence his title as Master of War, which would be more an affirmation that the world is alive and in motion and in possession of awesome potentials, rather than an implication that he is some berserk warmonger. The stronger Crono & Co. become, the more they are able to manifest the complexity of the planet’s energies, and they phase piecemeal into perceiving Spekkio’s ultimate form.

3. Why did Spekkio say Elemental magic “not exist” as far back as 65 million B.C.? This is a deceptive question, because it does exist in that time, used by Crono & Co. on many occasions, even before Lavos arrives. These guys might be good, yes, but they aren’t creating that magic out of thin air. Instead, perhaps what Spekkio meant is that no one in 65 million B.C.—Ayla included—is able to manifest Elemental magic at the level that it becomes “magic” per se…like trying to teach a gorilla to play Mozart. The fingers are there, but the sophistication is not. Likewise, those 65 million years of evolution have to count for something. Thus, I would posit that only very highly advanced beings like contemporary humans can manifest Elemental substance in the form of usable Elemental magic.

~~~
2. Lavos Energy: Planet Power as Seen through a Dark Mirror

Lavos energy is antithetical to the planet’s substance, but it is not directly corresponding in its representation. Instead, “Lavos energy” suggests a single form with no elemental components defined. Lavos feeds on the Elementals, and regurgitates some of that substance back into the world to strengthen its grip. Examples of these tendrils include the Mother Brain, who is either in league with or enthralled by Lavos, the Masamune, ascended from a simple knife by the Mammon Machine, and of course the Mammon Machine itself. These three entities, and many others which Lavos affected, had an enormous influence in the history of the world, and their source is not wisely forgotten.

However, far and away the most important form of Lavos energy is the Frozen Flame. More than simply a “piece” of Lavos, I think it has a more special meaning than that. Forgive me the vanity of quoting myself from the GameFAQs boards:

What does the Frozen Flame do?

The Frozen Flame is like the One Ring, the essence of Lavos captured in earthly Dreamstone. It is supposedly responsible for a great deal of influence in human thinking over the ages. It bestows incredible powers upon its wielder, but it isn't a passive object of power like the Triforce in Zelda. Instead, it plays an active hand in things. You might say it has a sort of mind of its own.

Given Lavos' nature, the Frozen Flame does not exist completely in normal time—like its name suggests—and it apparently can be utilized for time manipulation. That much was said explicitly in Radical Dreamers, and implied in Chrono Cross by the Chronopolis facilities.

The Frozen Flame almost single-handedly represents all that is wicked and vile in humanity. Lavos is a corruption of the planet, and to a lesser extent, humans reflect this by existing in a duality where they are both themselves and a corruption of themselves. Their capacity for good and evil is a function of the planet and Lavos’ antagonism of the planet, and the mechanism for this is the Frozen Flame. In my recollection it is the only instance in the Chrono series in which playing characters use Lavos energy directly…but boy! “Use” is an understatement.

Notes:

1. An interesting inconsistency in Chrono Trigger is that the machines in 2300 suggest that the world could sustain the Lavos spawn if humans went extinct, but at the final confrontation with Lavos it is deduced that Lavos feeds not only on the Elementals in general but on the DNA of living beings in particular, and thus would stand to lose a very elegant meal if humanity really did go the way of the dodo. Lavos would not be able to continue to exist if the planet were to die out. However, this may simply be Lavos in its larval, “pre-awakening” stage. Lavos doesn’t seem all that hungry after it awakens.

2. Lavos corrupted human sentience through the Frozen Flame. This brings to mind the old question of whether Lavos itself is sentient or not. Nothing it does in the series actually indicates it has its own being. Lavos energy, remember, is simply a corruption of the Elementals.

~~~
3. Dragonian Elements: Aesthetic Reconstitution of Planet Power

The closest equivalent of the Dragon God is the Mammon Machine. The Dragon God was a fantastical device constructed by the Reptites—in a dimension where they prevailed against humanity—used to focus the Elementals. The Mammon Machine, likewise, was a device built by humans to focus the treacherous Lavos energy. The difference is that the Dragon God might be interpreted as having the endorsement of the Entity—that is, the planet’s living spirit—given that the Reptites are said to have been in much closer communion with the natural order of the world, whereas the Mammon Machine relied on the energy produced by the external parasite Lavos, which itself fed on the Elementals, which the Entity no doubt lamented very much.

The Dragon God was no doubt much like the Sun Stone in that it represented all four Elementals simultaneously. We never get to see the “true” Dragon God, but this is affirmed by the quasi-Dragon God, who is able to command all Dragonian Elements: Light (white), Shadow (black), Air (yellow), Water (blue), Fire (red), and Earth (green). While we have yet to reconcile these six Dragonian Elements with the planet’s four Elementals, we can already deduce that “all” Dragonian Elements correspond with “all” Elementals.

When FATE sundered the Dragon God, the division was arbitrary and not representative of the true four fundamental Elementals. The six do not correspond with the four in any way, not even in apparently obvious modes such as Dragonian Red to Elemental Fire. Instead, the Dragonian Elements are an aesthetic division, and each of the six Elements very likely draws on some or all of the primary Elementals. This arrangement nevertheless operates cleanly, a testament to the grace of FATE.

We do know something about the mechanism of operation of the Dragon God: the so-called power points across the world where the substance of the planet wellsprings. Under the auspices of the six Dragons, people used these power points to manufacture biotechnologies that harnessed this energy and use it to create reproducible, consistent effects. These would be the Equippable Elements equipped by Serge & Co. in Chrono Cross. They are derivative of the Dragonian Elements and ultimately are sustained by the Elementals, yet do not require their users to be able to manifest Elemental magic as Crono & Co. did. Even the likes of Ayla would be able to equip these Equippable Elements.

Equippable Element Innateness signifies a person’s natural proclivity toward a particular arrangement of Elementals as represented by a respective Dragonian Element.

Notes:

1. The Dragon God was tainted by Lavos before being sundered by FATE, which itself was also tainted by Lavos. Thus, Equippable Elements are not pure.

93

Kajar Laboratories / Encyclopedia Chronotica: A Guideline

« on: February 15, 2004, 10:19:16 pm »

Encyclopedia Chronotica: A Guideline
By, Josh
lordjesq@hotmail.com

Contents:
Disclaimer
Appendix A: Common Acronyms
Section 1: Organizational Methodologies and Structuralization of Tiers
Section 2: Classified Elucidatory Tagging and Cross-Referential Ancillary Tagging of Information into Data Structures
Section 3: Normalization of Presentation of Encyclopedic Information
Section 4: Transferring Information from the Existing Encyclopedia

~~~~ ~~~’ Disclaimer ‘~~~ ~~~~
Do take into account the fact that I am not privy to any of the top-level administrative decisions made by the Compendium, and therefore be on notice that any of the information contained herein may be redundant or contradictory to stated encyclopedic objectives.

~~~~ ~~~’ A ‘~~~ ~~~~
Appendix: Common Acronyms
~~

Acronyms Commonly Used:
Chrono Trigger: CT
Chrono Cross: CC
Radical Dreamers: RD
Encyclopedia Chronotica: EC, Encyclopedia

~~~~ ~~~’ * ‘~~~ ~~~~
1: Organizational Methodologies and Structuralization of Tiers
~~

I have written this outline which details my vision for updating our young and perhaps not yet useful encyclopedic endeavor into a much vaunted and universally resourceful Encyclopedia Chronotica.

If we want to pride ourselves on illuminating the mysteries of the Chrono series, then we are going to need to compile a database of referential information, and just as importantly we are going to need to organize it in such a fashion as to make it accessible despite its large content. You see, without proper organization the Encyclopedia will be littered with obscure and therefore ineffective information. It is therefore the methodology of that organization with which I begin.

It would seem both poetically and logically apt if we were to arrange the Encyclopedia Chronotica by chronology. However, the specific type of chronological arrangement is of the utmost importance. In order to distinguish between simultaneous yet disparate information (e.g., the terrain north of Porre is a desert, but it is also a forest), it would be inadequate and perhaps even misleading to organize the encyclopedia by the series’ internal chronology. Ergo, we cannot simply categorize information by time periods. In the matter of CC’s dimensions theater, this failure of internal game chronology becomes even more pronounced.

Therefore I believe the best possible chronology to follow is the order in which the series was meant to be taken, or, more particularly, the chapters into which they are arranged. It is our great fortune that the designers of the entire series have given a title to every important sequence, and this division conveniently sidesteps all internal uncertainty. For example, the questions as to which moment in time Lavos was truly defeated, or to what extent across the dimensions does Lavos’ defeat remain valid, are going to fill an entire board with debate, and yet one perfectly correct answer is that Lavos is defeated in “The Final Battle,” a unique point in external game time if not in internal game time.

~~Chrono Trigger~~

Chapter:

Prologue
01: The Millennial Fair
02: The Queen Returns
03: The Queen is Gone
04: We’re Back!
05: The Trial
06: Beyond the Ruins
07: The Factory Ruins
08: The End of Time
09: The Village of Magic
10: The Hero Appears
11: Tata and the Frog
12: The Rare Red Rock
13: Footsteps! Follow!
14: The Masamune!
15: Magus's Castle
16: Forward to the Past
17: Unnatural Selection?
18: The Magic Kingdom
19: Break the Seal!
20: The Guru on Mt. Woe
21: What Lies Beyond?
22: Lavos Beckons
23: The New King
24: The Time Egg
25: The Fated Hour
26: The Final Battle
Epilogue

~~Radical Dreamers~~
(Discontinuous)

Scenario:

Prologue
1. Le TrĂŠsor Interdit
2. Magil: Caught Between Love and Adventure
3. Kid and the Sunflower
4. SuperXtreme Alphacosmos Police Case EX Ultra
5. Homecoming: Shea's Light
6. The Enigmatic Gigaweapon: Paradise X
7. The Shadow Realm and the Goddess of Death
Epilogue

~~Chrono Cross~~

Chapter:

Prologue
01: Arni Village: Where tides begin to turn
02: Opassa Beach: A calling from beyond time
03: Arni Village: Nothing has changed but everything
04: Cape Howl: A reminder of one's former self
05: The port town of Termina: The pride of the Acacia Dragoons
06: Viper Manor: Where lie the keys to the past
07: Guldove: Where ripples become waves
08: Hermit’s Hideaway: A meeting with the ‘other’ swordsman
09: From pirate ship to ghost ship: A mariner’s worst nightmare
10: On to the Water Isle: In search of the dragon blue
11: Fort Dragonia: Ancient dragon’s dream in ruins
12: Dimension Vortex: Where lost souls wander
13: Back from the Darkness: And on with a new journey
14: Termina: Knight or day?
15: Marbule: Village of the demi-humans
16: The Masamune: The blood-stained sword of evil
17: The Dead Sea: A place forsaken by the gods
18: A Portal Reopened: And the planet begins to shake
19: Back to Viper Manor: A captive audience awaits
20: Surprise Attack!: Pursuers with heavy hearts
21: To The Sea Of Eden: Through the hidden holes in time
22: The Arbiter of Time: On whom the Three Fates smile
23: Chrono Cross: The point where destinies meet
24: Terra Tower: Caught in an echo of time
25: For all the dreamers: Our planet’s dream is not over yet
Epilogue

The usefulness of this chronological arrangement becomes immediately clear. Now we shall be able to reference all information within the entire Chrono series to its specific point of origin.

This chronological organization of the Encyclopedia Chronotica will then be structured into tiers. The top tier (i.e., the main page) will be as simple as (1) a listing of all the chapters, each of which in turn will link to the second tier of organization; (2) a listing of all chapter-independent information (see Section 2), which would also link to the second tier; (3) an internal search engine at the top of the page; (4) a link to the Subgroups Tag main page (see Section 2); and (4) a link to the Compendium’s FAQs, because there are always going to be a few poor fools who just don’t get it. In practice, anyone looking to retrieve a specific piece of information will probably be able to find it intuitively from the main page down, and as an added tool he or she may also elect to use the search engine.

The second tier would consist of at least 64 pages—one for each of the series’ 64 chapters (and scenarios), prologues and epilogues—as well as any chapter-independent pages, and the Subgroup Tags main page. Each page would further divide its respective chapter into secondary organizational groups called nexuses, arranged alphanumerically, which would in turn link to the third tier of organization. Whereas the primary organization of the Encyclopedia is chronological and serves to bypass the trouble of trying to talk about a time travel series from a neutral point of view, these nexuses would follow patterns of information grouping that take into account the actual context of the series, and might include (but would not be limited to) Characters, Locations, Plot, Objects and so forth. The Compendium’s top academics will have to sit down at some point prior to implementation and decide on what these nexuses are going to be. I recommend consulting existing walkthroughs, as they provide ruminative springboards for methods of nexial classification.

The third tier would contain many pages indeed, and each page would either list all information contained within the nexus described in the second tier, or would if sufficiently large link to a fourth tier so that the third could provide an additional layer of division before actually getting beyond the links and to the information itself. Again, all arrangements shall be alphanumeric. We shall be able to tell if the Encyclopedia Chronotica is well-balanced by gauging the comparative lengths of third- and fourth-tier pages. Any third-tier page that is too long would need to beget at least two fourth-tier pages, and any fourth-tier page that is too long will need to be divided back on the second tier into two or more nexuses. It is important that no piece of information be more than three levels (and hence three mouse-clicks) away from the main page, as this will aid expeditious information retrieval.

On the backend, it may be useful to consider investing the time in designing an automatic page generation script for the third and fourth tiers so that these hundreds if not thousands of pages will not have to be individually created and maintained and may instead be generated on demand by a backend database, which I might add would be far easier to update both in terms of coding and content.

By organizing the sum of Chrono knowledge according to the game-independent chronology of the chapters of the series, we will be able to discuss any piece of information in the game without confusing it with a similar but separate piece of information that occurs simultaneously (in time or space). This brings a clarity to the information retrieval process rather akin to talking about in-game time from the point of view of the End of Time. By further organizing this chronological structure into nexuses, the in-game events of the series will also be given minimal accommodation sufficient enough for a resourceful individual to retrieve virtually any fact in the Encyclopedia with minimal effort.

Section Terms:

Tier – A level of organization moving from general to particular through which specific information from the large contents of the Encyclopedia Chronotica may be logically and expeditiously accessed.
Nexus – A categorization of related information whose specific facts share a common logical theme.
Top Tier – The main page of the Encyclopedia, which lists all chapters and scenarios and includes a search engine.
Second Tier – The level at which information is first and least specifically organized into the context of the Chrono series, taking the form of nexuses.
Third/Fourth Tier – The level(s) at which information within a nexus links to the actual encyclopedic entries.

~~~~ ~~~’ ** ‘~~~ ~~~~
2: Classified Elucidatory Tagging and Cross-Referential Ancillary Tagging of Information into Data Structures
~~

The next step in improving the information-retrieval efficacy of Encyclopedia Chronotica is to build good cross-referential capabilities into the system. This is because we must also respect the internal flows of time and separations of dimensions that exist in the games, to a greater extent than is allowed by the chronological structure and resulting nexial groupings of the primary tier-organizational method.

The easiest way to accomplish this behemoth task is to employ the use of tags. Tags are back-end variables—with differing names depending on the script employed, but which shall continue to be called “tags” herein—that classify a piece of information into one or more groups. All tags would be manifest to Encyclopedia users in the form of hyperlinks, either to other entries or other sections of the same entry. There are three kinds of tags: Chapter Tags, Static Tags, and Subgroup Tags.

Chapter Tags are self-explanatory. Any entry in the Encyclopedia will have a Chapter Tag for every chapter in which it plays a role in the plot. For instance, Gato would have a CT Chapter 1 tag and also a CC Chapter 24 flag, and those would be his only Chapter Tags. It is these Chapter Tags that determine where exactly in the Encyclopedia an entry will be put.

Static Tags meet the previously unaddressed need of static information organization. You will recall in Section 1 that I said the top tier (i.e., main page) of the Encyclopedia will include chapter-independent information that links to the second tier. This information is said to be static, because it is not required to occur at a specific point in the series. Such information includes general terminology, in-game money, the various races, in-game locations, just about all menu items, the soundtracks, several plot events which are not specific enough to fall within any chapter(s) in the series (e.g., Confronting Dario and his Masamune), and so forth. Any piece of information that cannot be assigned at least one Chapter Tag will be assigned one or more Static Tags, and this tag will then become dominant in the determination of the information’s encyclopedic location. Note that a piece of information that can be assigned at least one Chapter Tag may nevertheless still qualify for one or more Static Tags, but that the determination of the information’s location would default to the specification of the most relevant Chapter Tag. An example is Spekkio from CT, whom players must meet at a certain point in the game for their characters to receive their first magical powers, but whom they may also encounter at times of their own choosing to power up later additions to their party.

On the tier structure, Static Tags may constitute a small number of “master-nexuses” links on the top tier (i.e., main page) in addition to the 64 chapter/scenario links, whereas on the second tier they will be divided into standard nexuses just as the rest of the pages on the tier. All nexuses, possibly but not necessarily excepting the “master-nexuses” on the top tier, on, would be alphanumerically arranged.

Subgroup Tags play a different role than other tags. You can think of them as cross-reference links. These are tags that are said not to be critical in terms of structuralization, as any piece of information without a Subgroup Tag will already have been directly accessible from the main page. Rather, Subgroup Tags create an independent structure of information organization that links together information which might not otherwise be linked. An excellent example of this are the towns in CT, which have nothing to do with each other that would show up on the Chapter Tags, and may not yield the desired return on the Static Tags. (Remember, that wherever there is said to be a Tag there is said to be a link.) However, if we created a Subgroup Tag for each of these towns, then any town entry would also be tagged to the main subgroup page for the Chrono Trigger Towns Subgroup. This page would briefly explain what it is that links together these disparate pieces of information, with the information being in this case the towns, and it would also provide links to all the tagged members of the subgroup—that is, the other towns. Another example would be the Chrono Trigger Time Periods Subgroup, and the Radical Dreamers Scenarios Subgroup. As you can see, the point of these Subgroup Tags is to provide common information on indirectly related entries that would otherwise be scattered across the Encyclopedia, and also provide links to those scattered entries, thus explicitly unscattering them. Once again, all arrangements are to be alphanumeric. As with nexuses, the Compendium’s top academics will have to sit down at some point and decide on what these subgroups are going to be, but one small bit of relief is that, unlike the nexuses, these subgroups can be created after implementation—although, for the sake of making sure no entry is missed, it would still be a good idea to decide as many of these subgroups as possible prior to implementation.

To ensure that these subgroups would still follow the general-to-specific logical progression of the existing organizational framework proposals and thus be directly accessible from the top tier, I imagine a single link on the top tier (i.e., main page) to a specialized page where all the subgroups are listed. This specialized page of subgroup listings would exist logically on the second tier but would be fundamentally different from other second-tier pages in that these subgroups are aligned into an ancillary data structure that while adaptable onto the tier-structure is not actually related to other tier structure entries at any level.

To recap the function of tags, every piece of information will be assigned a Chapter Tag if possible. Many pieces of information will be large enough to qualify for multiple chapter tags, and in this case the given entry will be broken into multiple parts on the same page, with embedded anchors employed as necessary to direct users to the specific portion of the entry described by whatever particular Chapter Tag they clicked. In addition to Chapter Tags, many pieces of information will qualify for one or more Static Tags, which function identically to Chapter Tags except are secondary in priority. Any piece of information that does not have at least one Chapter Tag will be given a Static Tag. Finally, to help group information that shares a common logical theme that is either not reflected accurately or not reflected at all by Chapter and Static Tags, the creation of Subgroup tags will allow for the formulation of ancillary data structures within the Encyclopedia which link this related information together in an intuitive fashion.

Because of the Encyclopedia’s proposed organizational structure, it should be noted that Chapter Tags will always be intralinks while Static Tags and Subgroup Tags will always be interlinks. This is another way of saying that entries will be arranged according to their chronological appearance as discussed in Section 1. In the special case where an entry has no Chapter Tags, we may think of the entry as occurring in a special chapter that is not bound to the chronological flow of the series.

On the matter of interlinks versus intralinks, many entries in the Encyclopedia will have multiple tags attached to them. Some of these tags will reference other entries altogether (i.e., interlinking), but many will reference nothing more than another part of the same entry (i.e., intralinking). For example, if a user inquiries as to when in CT one can acquire the Epoch, he or she would find the Epoch entry, which would describe the circumstances under which the Epoch is first acquired. However, it would also include (in theory) several reference links to later sections of the entry, where the Epoch again plays a role in the plot, such as when it is given wings, when it is crashed into Lavos, and when its likeness is found in the Viper Mansion library. But you may notice that in practice these entries may be too short to warrant intralinking, and in such cases as where the entry is not particularly long, the appropriate tags can be (at the expense of additional man-hours) locally disabled, so as not to fill a given entry with so many links as to present a visual distraction rather than a useful cross-reference resource.

As either an alternative or a supplement to the embedding of tags within the text of an entry, it would make sense to embed these tags either into “See Also” lists at the bottom of the entry. Personally, I recommend “See Also” footnote lists on all entries, and contextually-embedded links only on longer entries.

All tags will always be two-way, meaning that if Page A links to Page B, then Page B will link to Page A, so that those users who are so inclined will never have to use their browser’s Back button to navigate the full Encyclopedia. This is both aesthetically and logically prudent. Again, consider the two-way nature of links both in terms of local intralinks (which may be optionally disabled if we are so inclined) that describes cases of what I’ll call Page Aa linking to Page Ab and Ab back to Page Aa, and encyclopedia-wide interlinks that will lead to from one entry to another entry altogether.

Finally, do not mistake the tier-structure links with tag links. While the Chapter (and sometimes Static) Tags determine where in the Encyclopedia an entry will go, and while the tier structure leads to those residences, the tiered links themselves are simply a method of data structure.

The bottom line with tags is that they must not be viewed as obfuscators but as elucidators. Well-assigned tags will make information retrieval clearer and more efficient.

Example:

Gato:
Chapter Tags: Where does Gato have something important to do with the plot? Gato would thusly have a CT Chapter 1 tag and also a CC Chapter 24 flag, and those would be his only Chapter Tags. That is to say, his entry will be accessible from both of those chapters on the top tier.
Static Tags: Is there anything about Gato that is chapter-independent? Yes, there are the facts that he has his own musical theme, that he can be fought many times in CT, and that if you beat him up you earn 15 Silver Points. He would have Static Tags for each of those things. That is to say, his entry will also be accessible from these three components of the Static Tag group.
Subgroup Tags: Is there anything about Gato that hasn’t been covered well enough yet? It’s a subjective question, but here are several possibilities. For one, he is a robot, something of a rarity in the Chrono series (at least where non-enemy characters are concerned). For another, he is an attraction at the Millennial Fair. Finally, he is one of Lucca’s inventions. By Chapter and Status Tags alone, Gato would not yet be linked to entries such as Grobyc, a fellow robot, or the Telepod, which not only is another attraction at the Millennial Fair, but is also another of Lucca’s inventions. The whole point of cross-referencing is the probability that some Encyclopedia user will at some point want to research an idea, fact, or hypothesis and will only be able to do so (without considerable difficulty) if the Encyclopedia provides an ancillary interlinking data structure.

Section Terms:

Tag – The method of data classification whereby a given piece of information is directly accessible at a particular location within the general Encyclopedia Chronotica without use of a search engine. There are three different types of tags, but these distinctions are made only for organizational purposes, and on the backend every tag serves the same purpose. Every tag is manifest to an Encyclopedia user as a hyperlink.
Chapter Tag – A tag indicating that a given entry exists at a particular location or multiple particular locations in the chronology of the series. A given entry may have more than one chapter tag, and multiple Chapter Tags occur as intralinks within the entry.
Static Tag – A tag indicating that a given entry exists at a non-particular location or multiple non-particular locations in the chronology of the series. A Static Tag is similar in function but subordinate to a Chapter Tag. A given entry is not required to have any Static Tags, but an entry without any Chapter Tags must have at least one Static Tag. Static Tags occur as intralinks within a given entry.
Subgroup Tags – A tag which establishes a cross-reference to another, indirectly related entry. An entry may have any number of Subgroup Tags, but no entry is required to have any at all, except for those entries which serve as subgroup main pages, elucidating the nature of the subgroup into which multiple entries have been classified. Subgroup Tags occur as interlinks within a given entry, and are accessible on their own page one tier down from the top tier. (On the top tier, a single, prominent link will link to that second-tier main page.)

~~~~ ~~~’ *** ‘~~~ ~~~~
3: Normalization of Presentation of Encyclopedic Information
~~

With a definitive and exhaustively useful organization for the Encyclopedia Chronotica finally established, we can settle to the matter of the normalization of information presentation within the Encyclopedia. This will not be a discussion of aesthetic appearances, but of giving the user a homogenous experience throughout.

When you look up a word in the dictionary, you will find several pieces of information every time without fail, including a phonetic pronunciation of the word in question and a classification of the part of speech into which the word falls, not to mention the accurate spelling of the word, of course.

Likewise, encyclopedias must also provide common information with every entry. Such information will include the game(s), the time era(s) and dimension(s), and the physical location(s) in which the entry subject appears. Also included would be a basic categorization into divisions of beings, places, objects, conditions, processes, and events. For instance, the Time Crash is an event. Medina is a place. Janus is a being. The Masamune is an object. Time travel is a process. The Ice Age is a condition. Confusion (the status ailment) is also a condition. Money is an object. (Or is money no object?) And so on. It would probably be a good idea to color-code these categorizations as specifically as possible.

Our example entry of Gato might look like this:

Gato

Chrono Trigger Ch. 01: The Millennial Fair
•   1000 A.D., Millennial Fair

Chrono Cross Ch. 24: Terra Tower: Caught in an echo of time
•   Another, Lucca’s Orphanage c.1012 A.D. (in flashback)

Category: Being, robot
~~

Gato is a humanoid robot with a vaguely feline appearance built as a battle trainer by Lucca prior to 1000 A.D. He is red and white in color, barrel-chested, has metallic feline ears, and is programmed to be fond of singing.

Gato was set up as an attraction at the Millennial Fair. A victory over him earned 15 silver points. Slow moving and relatively weak, Gato’s primary attack is a boxing glove that extends from its stomach to allow distance attacks. He sometimes also resorts to simple bludgeoning attacks. If you are defeated by him, you will be excused from the battle with one HP remaining for each party member.

Gato was eventually destroyed in the orphanage fire at Lucca's house sometime in the years following 1010 A.D.

In the Japanese version of both games Gato’s name is given as Gonzales. Gato is the Spanish word for cat, thus affirming the nature of his appearance.

Gato bears a striking resemblance to Cybot, an enemy robot found in the Black Omen.

~~
See Also:
<example links>
Chrono Trigger Script
Chrono Cross Script
Cybot, Chrono Trigger Bestiary
Gato’s Song Lyrics
Gato’s Theme
Millennial Fair
Silver Points
Lucca
Lucca’s Inventions
</example links>

(Note that some of the information for this example entry was taken from Corridors of Time at http://home.earthlink.net/~letrimh/)

In addition to providing the aforementioned common information, another point to note is that every major fact group has its own paragraph. The key to an informative encyclopedia is to be straightforward, succinct, and to withhold no information that has even a small possibility of being of interest to users. A clear presentation will prioritize information both by chronology and importance, striking a balance between the two. Tangential and incidental information that has no place in the context of the rest of the entry should be provided last.

A successfully implemented encyclopedia will become a transparent, normalized step in the research of the user.

~~~~ ~~~’ **** ‘~~~ ~~~~
4: Transferring Information from the Existing Encyclopedia
~~

In establishing the Encyclopedia Chronotica I see three significant sources of work. The first is coding, and of course is the only step that must be undertaken before the Encyclopedia can become operational. The second is adding to the Encyclopedia’s existing knowledge. However, this is a workload that may be completed with great leisure. Finally, the third is evaluating information from the existing encyclopedias at the Compendium, filtering the information for compliance with the Encyclopedia Chronotica’s data structure, and conducting the actual transferences of information from the old to the new. I recommend that the Compendium’s top academics establish policies for review and transliteration of preexisting encyclopedic data.

94

Chrono Compendium Discussion / Endings Made Available

« on: January 03, 2004, 06:15:56 am »

My best guess at the bandwidth available to the Compendium is "finite" in the most confounding sense. Nevertheless, I would like to propose that, bandwidth permitting, we should make available ROM save states of all Chrono Trigger endings (and other key in-game points) here on the site and, bandwidth permitting, Chrono Cross ROM endings as well. Over time, if the Compendium succeeds we would expand the files we host online to include other popular and useful offerings, but the CT (and CC) endings and key plot junctures would be a fine start.

~ Josh

95

History, Locations, and Artifacts / Land mass in 12000 B.C.

« on: December 10, 2003, 02:45:06 pm »

Very nice. Strange, but very nice. Thanks.

~ Josh

96

Time, Space, and Dimensions / Inquiry

« on: December 10, 2003, 02:21:46 pm »

I have a question which hardly warrants its own full thread, so I tried to find an existing one to piggyback.

À la 1999 A.D., do we have access to a compiled map of 12,000 B.C. before the fall of Zeal? Due to the glaciations in this era, 12,000 B.C. should have more landmass than any other visited period. I don’t expect the creators of the game would have bothered to recognize and implement that detail, but I am curious to see the entire planetary surface (or as much of it as they constructed) before the continents were deluged.

~ Josh