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Messages - Nangbaby

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61
General Discussion / Re: Avengers
« on: May 28, 2012, 04:26:51 pm »
I saw it a few weeks ago.  It is a good, memorable movie and Whedon is an excellent director, but I didn't find this movie to be the greatest thing since sliced bread that everyone else seems to think it is.

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Well, there is a bright side.

Maybe, if/when they do remake CT, they give it the same treatment as the PSP Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions or Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Togther.

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Chrono Compendium Discussion / Re: Encyclopedia needs Editing
« on: October 02, 2011, 03:07:36 pm »
That was fast.  Thank you.

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Chrono Compendium Discussion / Re: Encyclopedia needs Editing
« on: October 02, 2011, 02:55:43 pm »
I hesitate to post publicly, but I think I may have spotted an error in the Compendium.

In the Mother Brain article, the Home Area is listed as, and linked to Magus' Lair.


Not unless this isn't an error.

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Chrono Compendium Discussion / Silly Suggestion
« on: September 05, 2011, 07:52:47 am »
Yes, this is a silly suggestion, but I'm going to make it anyway.

It seems that with regard to theory and the storyline, there's not much to be discussed.  What about the game mechanics themselves, especially for Chrono Trigger?  Things like how the battle systems.  I don't mean just like an FAQ, which would give a brief analysis.  I mean stuff like AOE of Techs, which enemies would be most vulnerable to techs, general enemy behavior and stuff like that.

There's also the very likely possibility that the stuff is here but I'm just not seeing it.  But would it be possible to add a section like this, or would it be pointless?

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I looked at the site, and I saw a new thread.

Does this change anything?

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Oh snap!  This is something I would have never expected.  I wonder how long it will be for the spriters return and make a theoretical sprite sheet based on this information.

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Chrono Compendium Discussion / Re: The next update
« on: January 02, 2011, 06:06:25 pm »
This is very belated, but I'm surprised the scans even merited a mention.  Thank you for including them.  For once, being a hoarder paid off!

I can empathize with the lack of time with me being on the busy front.  I had to practically ban myself from Twitter and shut down my Facebook in large part due to real-life complications.

69
General Discussion / Re: The $%*! frustration thread
« on: September 02, 2010, 04:41:49 am »
Frustration...you don't want to know what I'm frustrated about.

Or maybe you do.  Long story short, a bunch of webcomic creators decided to slander my name and make false accusations about me, then had the nerve to lie about that after the fact.

Lyin' Brian must have pants made of asbestos.

70
You know, when I first read this forum post, I thought any negative backlash would be an overreaction.  If they were "Westernizing" the aesthetics, music, or the characters, I would actually welcome this.  There's nothing wrong with branching out the look, feel, or even, yes, the  themes and story.  Chrono Cross was far from a carbon copy of Chrono Trigger in that regard and was easily just as good of a game.

Then I looked at the link and saw they want to "westernize" the gameplay of a Chrono sequel...

...this is epic FAIL.

The people who like Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross like them because they are JRPGs.  Although there's a lot of exploration and openness, it's not that "open world" and "create-a-character" junk that defines Western RPGS.  Does Square Enix really think that completely redoing the series in a manner that is more popular will bring in sales, especially when doing so would undermine the existing innovative elements they have in the Chrono franchise?

Don't get me wrong.  A radical gameplay departure is not always the end of the world, and given the time that has passed between the last original Chrono series game and now, there will be radical changes if the franchise is ever revived.  But this is an actual genre shift in a long dormant series, so this approach is the worst of both worlds.  It would alienate fans who love the series, and it wouldn't draw in new fans as new fans will be drawn to newer properties.
 
There are Chrono Trigger fans who never got over the battle system overhaul in Chrono Cross.  Heck, there are Chrono Trigger fans who never got over Chrono Cross.  Of course, any new sequel is going to have its critics just by virtue of being new, but to actually antagonize the fan base is not a good idea.

71
Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: Revisiting old magazines...
« on: July 05, 2010, 04:17:24 am »
I finally got my lazy bum around to scanning these images.  Initially I planned on providing commentary, but I'm to sleepy to write anything up, so here are the preview pics.


Game Players Issue 74




This is just the Game Players Preview of Chrono Trigger.  Quite understated, actually, and despite the praise heaped on it, if you were flipping through the magazine, you'd most likely miss it.  There may have been a mention or feature in an earlier issue, but I do not have ready access to the early



Game Players Issue 75





Yes, Chrono Trigger graced the cover and even the binder of the issue.




Just Table of Contents, but Chrono Trigger was featured on the first page.





Just another two page Chrono Trigger ad.




Just the review index...nothing special.




And here's the meat and potatoes...THE ACTUAL REVIEW...Believe it or not, I agree with most of the review, although I think the story is stronger than Jeff Lundrigan gives it credit for.


Game Players Issue 78




These two pages are from the Game Slayers section of Game Players, where people would write in asking for help or write in providing tips.  Unfortunately, since this is a mid-90s magazine with a mid-90's layout, sometimes the answers are presented in a way that would be difficult to follow.

Note:  The two pages are the same color, but because my scanner was being finnicky, it rendered one page differently than the other.



Game Players Issue 79




This is just the holiday issue of Game Players, where they gave Chrono Trigger the award for best Role-Playing Game of that year.


Game Players Issue 80






This is anothe Game Slayers section.  At least this issue corrects the whole "finding Schala" mention.  It makes me wonder if any of these people are even around today, but ah...memories.


Now...um, look!  There's a running Schala...

<--Worst Sprite Edit EVER

Edit:  Okay, so I did write a few sentences of commentary.

72
Chrono Trigger improvements

*Make combination techniques more useful.  Why were players given access to all of these wonderfully animated combination techniques, only for them to be less effective than the standard attacks?  Aside from the avoidable encounters, what set Chrono Trigger apart from other RPGS was the volume of combo-techs.

*Four person parties -- Yeah, the game gives a plot based reason against them, but I always wished you could have four characters in your party instead of three.  And Quad Techs, naturally.

*Let the player explore 1999 AD before L-Day.  I understand the whole point of the game is that fact that all of the heroes (except, obviously Magus) banded together against a threat that would have never been a problem in their lifetimes.  Unlike many other RPGs of the era where you fight against a threat to the world in large part out of self-preservation, Chrono Trigger has the characters trying to alter the destiny of the world, despite the fact that they would receive no benefit.  This makes the characters more heroic from a player POV, but this also robs us of an idea of what precisely was lost.  We see the impact and aftermath of Lavos, but what condition was that world really in before it erupted?  Of course, the manner the game presents the conflict allows for a lot of thoughtful discussions about the ethics of the heroes, and of course there is a problem of knowing too much about your future.


Chrono Cross improvements

*Make it a little but more obvious how to get the actual Chrono Cross.  This is my biggest complaint about this game.  Why is it not explicitly told how to get the title element?  Imagine if Chrono Trigger didn't lead you to getting and using the Chrono Trigger...it would have felt incomplete.

*Reduce the playable characters, but given them more fleshed out roles.  Believe it or not, I like the characters in Chrono Cross, but from a gameplay and storyline perspective, many of them really served no point.   The number of playable characters could have been reduced to 20 (3 characters per element, plus Lynx and Harle) and the game would still have balance.  I would rather have 2 recruitable characters who had more depth than 40+ characters who had PS2 quality animations and models but no substance behind them.

*Have a pure yellow Mage (Sneff does not count).  Evey single element has a balance of magic users and physical types....except yellow.  At best you get is Mel, but there's no Yellow Equivalent of Riddel, or Razzly, or  Miki....etc.

73
Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / I Fail at Scanning
« on: May 18, 2010, 02:12:11 am »
I have a vague recollection of a game magazine where the cheats editor was giving advice for finding Schala. It seemed serious at first, but as it went on it became obvious it was a big joke. Did the article say to stop in at Bagu's Cabin, or climb a big tree and fight a giant bird?

No, this was not that article.  The Schala reference seemed to be an honest mistake.  In a later issue (Issue 80, January 1996, Volume 9, Number 1, p. 121) Chrono Trigger is given 3/4 of a page for the Game Slayers section, which clarifies that it's not possible to find her (I'll scan that issue later).  Also, in another issue of Game Players ("Holiday 1995" issue/Issue 79 Volume 8, Number 13, p. 32), Chrono Trigger was awarded "Best Role-Playing Game" (presumably for 1995).  This issue also has a different Chrono Trigger advertisement than the one I scanned below.


I can throw them in the encyclopedia if you want to scan the pages.

I'm actually surprised you'd be interested, since I thought this might be redundant.   I took a few scans If you want them, I'm not sure how to deliver them, since the files are a bit big.  Below are just the previews.  They are the cover, the table of contents (the equivalent of page 9), the index of the strategy section (page 99), the actual section (pages 116 and 117), and the double-page ad (pages 110 and 111).









All of these scans are from The October 1995 issue of Game Players (Volume 8, Number 10, issue 76)  If you want the actual full-sized JPGs, I've uploaded them on my "super secret" Web space.  Well, except for the ad, which is poorly mashed together from two scans.  Since I'm terrible at optimizing, I'm not sure which route to go.

74
Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Revisiting old magazines...
« on: May 16, 2010, 04:40:20 pm »
I was looking through some of my old Game Players magazines today and came across a two-page spread devoted to the secrets of Chrono Trigger.  Naturally, most of these "secrets" were bare bones at best (and it contained a reference to finding Schala :x),  but it was interesting to revisit the past in this way, since we don't have Gate Keys or Epochs to actually do so.

75
Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: As May 8th Approaches...
« on: May 09, 2010, 05:27:33 am »
As someone who was completely unaware of the project until after the posting of the order, in the year that has passed, I've actually gotten even more peeved about SE's action in retrospect.

Legally, though, SE is on pretty solid ground.  That and as much as I disagree with the decision, I can't go as far as to wish the company to fail or to swear them off forever.  As horrible as their decision was, they do have the right to protect their copyrighted material.  Besides, boycotts don't work any more for a variety of reasons.  For instance, I've boycotted purchasing Viacom-subsidiary owned products because of the YouTube lawsuit, but it's not going to stop, say, Iron Man 2 from making money hand over fist.

I am extremely disappointed, though, at the selectivity of their actions.  Admittedly I am not aware of the inner workings of SE's legal department, but I refuse to believe that CE got the legal treatment just because it was reported to them -- trust me as I'm sure their legal department gets inquiries and messages every day and there are far more public and well-known fan works SE could have gone after but let slide in willful blindness.  I guess the pink elephant in the corner can just get fatter while the Chrono fans get screwed.

I just wish SE were smart enough to tap into this user-created-content model and actually let players create games with a Chrono Trigger style engine for a nominal license or something.  Come on, throw the fans a bone.

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