I have been working on a project as of late,
Chrono Vendian. It is a pseudo 3D remake of CT, telling a new story in an alternate timeline before the events of the fall of Zeal. Arriving at time period, Valendian 800, acts before the last rift in time's fabric; introducing the Tech Grid, a new character development system; along with the music featuring countless orchestrated scores courtesy of Malcolm Robinson Music.
The project is a mod under FFXII.
I know the lot may wonder why the project wasn't just made from scratch in Unreal Engine or Unity, etc. and while it initially was to be, it was better to be safe than sorry—going an indirect route to avoid potential C&D from SQEX, as we all know their track history with shutting down fan remake projects, particularly with Chrono. Also cheaper without needing to hire extra members to program functionalities and mechanics that are already there. FFXII was chosen mainly of its (gameplay) similarities to Chrono Trigger, such as:
- Interchangeable party members (active/reserve).
- Max of three party allies.
- Party allies that follow the leader.
- Exp and tp earned to party allies on the reserve.
- Removal of random-battle transitions for battles.
- The ability to manipulate abilities to pseudo CT's tech/abilities.
- AoE (Area of Effect) range
- Weapon types such as: Katanas, Bowguns, Bows, Guns, Unarmed, Greatswords and the ability to create new weapons such as Scythes.
To add, FFXII has been unlocked widely in the modding scene so much that pretty much anything is possible with the game:
- Actions
- Scripts
- LUA support
- Logic
- 3D models
- Maps
- Voiceovers
- Music
- Sound effects
- Sfxs
- Textures
- shaders
- Custom Font
- gameplay mechanics etc. the list goes on.
It really lifts the workload of the latter from otherwise creating such functionalities from scratch.
The game can modded to the point of starting and feeling as a new game inside of another preset game engine, which is exactly what CV does. Most of these unlocked features and capabilities are courtesy of the Zodiac Engine 3.0, which aims to remove a bunch of limitations the game engine had on character models, animations and environments.
It's compatibility in environments are bigger now without the need to split and compensate maps to fit within old limitations. Even so, some other limitations still exist, albeit updated to eventually remove these in the future, it is part of the reason only selected assets are remade from CT for now.
In CV, there are two gameplay modes:
Anyone who knows FFXII knows its character development system situates on the License Board and Job system, where characters must pick a board and use that to achieve the use of equipment, armor and abilities. In Chrono Vendian,
this is no longer the case.In original mode,
which is default, character's are predefined with their own abilities that do not require
(omits/effectively removing) the use of the License Board, allowing the player to simply buy and/or find new techs/abilities and have it readily available at their disposal.
This is same for weapons:
- Crono uses Katanas.
- Marle uses Bowguns/Bows.
- Lucca uses Guns, a hammer and Hand-Bombs.
Tech Grid is a new character development system created specifically for the project. With the Tech Grid, character stats and HP do not grow with each level up. Instead, their entire growth is situated on the Tech Grid. The tech Grid is one large field divided into three main quadrants, where each character begins are is situated there based on their strengths in battle.
- Crono is situated at the north quadrant of the grid, where strength nodes lie, excelling him in physical-based combat.
- Marle is situated at the Southwest quadrant of the Tech Grid, where magic and defense magics nodes lie, excelling her in magic-based/defensive combat.
- Lucca is situated at the Southeast quadrant of the Tech Grid, where offense magic nodes lie, excelling her in offense-magic based combat.
- Crono's quadrant connects to the Northeast quadrant, where HP and Celerity nodes mostly lie, excelling Crono in HP and speed.
Stats that still grow with Level Ups are:
A current limit with the game, (no speed point nodes, MP or Vitality nodes exist yet).
The Tech Grid was inspired by the sphere Grid from FFX.
The Tech Grid is versatile, allowing a player to grow their character however they please after getting through their section on the Tech Grid.
For abilities/techs:
- Crono gains only lighting-based magic.
- Marle gains only Ice/Water-based magic.
- Lucca gains only Fire-based magic.
Special Techs:
- Marle/Lucca gain Antipode
- Crono/Marle/Lucca gain Delta Force
Special Techs compensate for Double and Triple-techs from the original. Special techs can have a double or triple tech executed as a cinematic ability or a normal ability with special features, such as Megaton Bomb execute a sfx when Lucca fires her gun, or throws a hand-bomb. i.e. Lucca can either fire a Megaton Bomb or throw it via a hand bomb; the spell animation changes based on Lucca's current equipment.
The project is ~40% complete and can be found here when completed:
https://www.thezodiactrilogy.com/chrono-vendianI'll use this thread to bring about updates and screenshots.
If possible I'd also like to request Project Forum in Guru Workshop, if applicable.
