Author Topic: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994  (Read 15007 times)

ZeaLitY

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Sorry if I'm late tot he party, but this just came up on Twitter: Next up is Weekly Famitsu Sept. 23, 1994.




Hate using the "beta" and "alpha" verbiage of yore, but it pretty effectively communicates that what we're seeing here is the old tileset for 1000 A.D. There's also a different Zenan Bridge look going on as well. Will get these in the encyclopedia in the next update. If anyone knows OKD, we would murder to get better scans of those pages.

Kodokami

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2019, 11:27:02 am »
I love those little windmills. And are those waterfalls? And another plane too.

Acacia Sgt

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2019, 12:09:07 pm »
Oh, that's very interesting.

What catches more my attention is that lower-right picture in the first image. Seems like a blend of 1000AD and 2300AD interiors. Considering it shows Lucca fixing/maintaining Robo as Crono, Marle, and Frog watch, it makes me curious about the context. Early version of Lucca's house?
« Last Edit: February 10, 2019, 12:32:45 pm by Acacia Sgt »

Redline57

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2019, 03:39:58 pm »
I could definiitely call it an early work, the two top pictures make the world travel look squarish, i know you can only move in 4 directions but it doesnt feel that way, its open, while the square paths look older, more ff1 era.

Mauron

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2019, 06:15:31 pm »
The battle commands are a little wider in this version, making it so you can't see character names or HP/MP when everyone is ready. I'm curious how this would have displayed when you weren't ready.

That future location looks different than any location I recognize in game.

I wonder what house the Epoch is flying over in that screenshot.

jessen22

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2019, 06:42:32 pm »
Maybe it's the location Robo was discovered, where the future was planned to be slightly less bleak/destroyed (or, at least, the interiors were nicer looking).

Much of the art, especially the world map, gives such a Final Fantasy feel, huh?

Each of the three boxes in the battle dialog seem to say the same thing, in both battle screens. Placeholder text? (I don't understand Japanese)

Acacia Sgt

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2019, 07:22:38 pm »
If it was the future, then I wonder about Frog's prescence there. Perhaps he would join earlier. Maybe it's part of a cutscene somewhen else. I don't think the text next to the picture gives context. From what little I can understand, it seems to talk about "party of 3 members", and lists a few of the characters. I see the words Girlfriend (or just Girl Friend? Hard to tell), Frog, and Robot there, alongside Crono's name.

It's not placeholder. The top name is Tatakau, which means more or less "Battle" of "Fight". It's the standard Attack command. The bottom name is Item, also self-explanatoru. Now, for the middle names, the box of the left has Renkei, which means like "Cooperation" or "Link". While the other two are "Waza", which is "Skill" or "Ability". Respectively, they're the Combo and Tech commands. So no, it all points that was finished.

In fact, form the context of the text in the first image, it sounds like it's explaining the Renkei commands. As in, the Double/Tripple techs. Perhaps the only thing we can question is why only one of the Tech's turns into Combo if, well, Double/Tripple Techs would imply at least one other character would have Renkei, not Waza.

jessen22

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2019, 07:36:47 pm »
Neat. I admit I thought the sprite of Frog was background art. Whoops.

I am encouraged to learn intermediate Japanese (and certain other languages) if only to understand exclusive content like this. I have my kanas... so I am already 0.0001% of the way.

Vehek

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2019, 09:50:29 pm »
We've seen a variation on that early Zenan Bridge screenshot before, in low quality, in one of the Next Gate images.
(see image page here for more detail.)

  • The dome screenshot is the same one in the Brazilian magazine scan.
  • The other battle screenshots appear to be of the sample battles shown in the 1994 preview video

Dialga_Palkia

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2019, 03:04:03 am »
Now if there were only doujins to find. Or a proto type cartridge like the space world GS demo.

By the way, have you seen this?

https://mobile.twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/964036969444491266
« Last Edit: February 12, 2019, 03:16:00 am by Dialga_Palkia »

Redline57

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2019, 04:24:45 am »
You mean like that Sonic 2 beta cartridge that was stolen and years later someone decoded and unlocked some of the unfinished levels? I thought thats how we found the singing mountain stuff used in CE...

I look at the bottom right picture with the mountains in the background, was this an early theory of using like mode 7 to walk around the world? a precursor to a 3d world view from the 1st person sort of?
« Last Edit: March 03, 2019, 02:05:06 am by Redline57 »

Vehek

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Re: New Chrono Trigger "Alpha" Screenshots from Weekly Famitsu Sep. 23, 1994
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2019, 02:26:55 pm »
I was looking through a Twitter feed (Chronomoogle's) and found a retweet to one with lots of V-Jump scans.
https://twitter.com/Bo_deWindt/status/1071305238907248641


Mostly pre-release/"beta"/proto and final stuff, but there are still some things we haven't seen before.
I don't want to hijack this thread too much, so this is just the October 1994 stuff (not necessarily new).
  • The "ice" tileset seen in the "Next Gate 8" page I posted earlier.
  • What looks to be the character select test on the filler map
  • Schala and Janus in the same screenshot seen in EGM #63
  • Crono and Marle on a strange landscape.
  • The "robot village", also seen in "Next Gate".
  • Regular dome screenshot again
  • Telepod exhibit with more observers

chrono.source

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Now if there were only doujins to find. Or a proto type cartridge like the space world GS demo.

By the way, have you seen this?

https://mobile.twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/964036969444491266

Not sure if it's just my weird brain, but the pic with Marle on top and the arrows pointing to lucca and ayla, it looks like some strange Pokemon reference where Marle could evolve using earth or fire stones into either Ayla or Lucca.

Reld

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If anyone knows OKD, we would murder to get better scans of those pages.

Not OKD, but I managed to get these pages scanned. Also made an attempt at a translation.

Original Japanese: http://imgbox.com/Ykx6HVrW

English: http://imgbox.com/8lsuU1RZ

Man, these screenshots are so cool.  8)

Boo the Gentleman Caller

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I don't think I ever noticed that Marle has pink hair in the alpha screenshot(s)!