Ending 2018 with a Surprise: A New ROM Hack!

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

2018 has been a great year here at the Compendium. We've seen some member growth, had a very successful Dream Splash fan event, and even proved that this series is still capable of providing unexplored analytical discussion over two decades later. The Dream of Zeal survives into 2019!!!

Even better yet, we'd like to make a very special announcement to end the year of right: the release of a brand new ROM-hack from our very own Fauntleroy!

We proudly support the release of:

Chrono Trigger: Schala Edition!

What if... Schala escaped from the Ocean Palace?

Chrono Trigger fans have been imagining what might've been for almost twenty-five years. Now, for the first time, an extensive ROM hack explores that question in Chrono Trigger: Schala Edition!

By the same author who created the Golbez Edition and General Leo Edition hacks of Final Fantasy IV and VI, this hack alters events so that Schala survives the Ocean Palace disaster. Magus leads Marle and friends on an expanded adventure through 12,000 BC in search of his sister, with a promise to help them retrieve their lost Crono... but only if they help him first. New locations, enemies, bosses and scenes await, ending in one of gaming's most long-awaited reunions.

While recognizably based off of Ted Woolsey's original 1995 translation, this hack features an extended and polished script, new Techs, new items and weapons, and lots of surprises along the way, bringing maximum nostalgia while also offering something new.

The Schala Edition patch will be exclusively available here at the Compendium through January 31, followed by wider release through romhacking.net. The author thanks everybody at the Compendium for their help and support, because this project never would've happened without them!

Try the hack today and thank you! See the included readme for details!

DOWNLOAD V1.2 HERE TODAY:
http://www.bwass.org/bucket/010919schalahack.zip

[Mauron]

Nice! Let's inspire 20 more from this!

[ZeaLitY]

Felicitations, everyone. The Dream of Zeal is alive. Upvote these if you're on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/videogames/comments/a8wmbl/chrono_trigger_schala_edition_a_new_chrono/
https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/a8wh5m/chrono_trigger_schala_edition_a_new_chrono/
https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/a8wgsc/chrono_trigger_schala_edition/
https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/a8whmz/chrono_trigger_schala_edition_a_new_chrono/

[Acacia Sgt]

Those are certainly eye-catching images.

Very cool to see this finally finished.

[Kodokami]

Congrats, Fauntleroy! I can't wait to finally catch up and reach the new content.

[Fauntleroy]

Wow! I got back from family Christmas to see the nice comments on Reddit! I'm, like... really pretty overwhelmed.

Mauron is absolutely right. I hope this release can help spur a new wave of content creation in the Chrono space. 

So now I'll sit back and collect any bug reports, as there are always are some, so that the February 1 release can be even better.

And once that's done, it's off to the next thing! Anybody here a fan of Earthbound...?

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

The nice comments are definitely well-deserved, Fauntleroy.

And yes, as ZeaLitY said, please upvote on reddit. The more upvotes, the more visibility and the longer we can keep the public eye on it.

I probably should have waited until now to post, but I've had family in town and didn't know when I would be able to post, so I had to pull the trigger (har har) at lunch when I had a moment.

All in all, great job, Fauntleroy. All the accolades goes to you. I think I speak for everyone when I said that we will gladly support any future hacks you do, even if they aren't Chrono Trigger ones.

[Mauron]

Earthbound is cool, but I'm more into making hacks than playing hacks.

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Anybody here a fan of Earthbound...?

This guy definitely is. Although I still haven't played the translated Mother 3. :/

Long live Starman!

[Acacia Sgt]

Earthbound, huh. I suppose I could be considered a bit of a fan. Probably on the more casual side of the spectrum, though.

[CptOvaltine]

Congrats! This is on my list to play for sure. I even went and upvoted all the posts on reddit! 

[Razig]

EarthBound is fantastic. Mother 3 is a punch in the gut.

[maggiekarp]

Super hyped but I can't get it to work on my comp. Any troubleshooters?

[Fauntleroy]

maggiekarp: Gonna need more detail to troubleshoot. Can you not patch the ROM? Does the ROM patch but not play? What emulator are you using? Etc.

So far, I've had seven bugs reported that range from really minor to kind-of-serious (including one game crash in a kind of rare but definitely triggerable situation). There will be an update to the patch in the next few days!

[Fauntleroy]

1.1 Patch Release!

No content changes, but an assortment of bug fixes big and small.

https://www.bwass.org/bucket/122618schalahack.zip

Fixes include but are not limited to:

• Ayla did not display properly within the 1000 AD Frog Kingdom location
• NPC at third Zeal Remnant location did not display properly before Schala event
• Robo offering to stay with Fiona before Crono is saved would crash game
• Gaspar wouldn't stop saying "Hey." after Black Omen
• Final form of Spekkio would re-spawn once the party reached level star-star
• Few lingering instances of "walking in place" or NPCs not facing party when addressed
• Handful of minor typos and behind-the-scenes goofs

THANK YOU to everyone who reported a bug!!!

DOUBLE THANK YOU to everyone playing the hack!!!

If you started using patch 1.0, you can upgrade to 1.1 with no problems for your saved games or states.

Side note: on the subject of Earthbound, the funnest part has to be creating new enemies.

#004: Ghost Car


#014: Library Policeman


#023: Boogeyman


#058: Carcrushosaurus


#080: High Society Lady