Plot Idea

[ZeaLitY]

Here is mine.

Prophet's Guile

• We see Magus at the confrontation with Crono in his lair. The scene plays out.
• Magus wakes up upon the snow of 12000 B.C. and sees something in the distance. Due to the extreme cold, he wears his hood.
• Upon entering a land bridge, he is aghast with surprise. He mentions possibly finding Lavos.
• The player can visit Enhasa first; the land bridge to Kajar is packed with people, and he worries about being seen.
• In Enhasa, he must talk to three people who all reveal clues about the date. Upon the third (activated by bitmath), he deduces that the Mammon Machine is close to activation. Gaspar appears with Janus and a Lasher; Gaspar remarks that there may be talent in the boy, but to leave him alone. Janus is sullen and exits with the other two; Magus decides to try and gain access to the Ocean Palace upon remembering the incident.
• At Zeal Palace, Magus gains audience with Queen Zeal, donning the Prophet guise and foretelling a violent storm. As the Queen laughs at his "prediction" of yesterday's events, Magus realizes his estimate was off. With a correct perspective this time, he forecasts the birth of an Earthbound child.
• Queen Zeal couldn't care less, but Magus makes a save by revealing Belthasar's secret rooms. As the scene switches to Kajar, the Queen and Dalton are amazed to find it. The Queen orders it locked, to be reviewed for treachery. As the Queen prepares to buy into Magus's pitch, the visibly bitter Dalton suggests that he be sent on an errand to prove his power. Magus pointedly objects, calling the idea ridiculous, but the Queen thinks it would be interesting to see a soothsayer fight. She reveals that a beast near a land bridge has run wild, attacking a Zeal man the previous day. Magus reluctantly travels down to fight it.
• Belthasar is in the land bridge; Magus walks by him. Wondering who that was, Belthasar enters and is teleported to Zeal.
• Magus fights a few battles and kills the beast in a snowy place.
• We see Crono, Marle, and Frog taken to the Ioka tent; after which, Ayla is told of Laruba's burning.
• Back in Zeal Palace, Magus reveals the hide of the creature. Zeal and her attendants express amazement, and Zeal reveals that in the hours Magus was away, a child was born, and that for "some idiotic reason", Schala traveled down to see it. Zeal remarks that she'd better not lose that pendant.
• Magus inquires of the Ocean Palace. Zeal asks if he knows about its future, and Magus remarks after hesitating that Zeal will know immortality. He then warns her that interlopers may arrive, and gives their descriptions. He then warns that the Gurus may attempt to stop the Ocean Palace project. Queen Zeal is outraged at the prospect and vows that at the slightest objection, they will be dealt with.
• Magus retires to his quarters, meanwhile finding Janus in the hallway. Janus asks who he is. After two attempts, Magus commands him to feed Alfador and exits, leaving Janus bewildered.
• A dream sequence ensues. He remembers telling Ozzie that Lavos will annihilate humans, then recalls Janus walking down the Ocean Palace's corridors and telling Schala of his great fear.
• The next morning, Magus can walk around as he pleases. He finds Zeal violently arguing with Melchior, who had come in to express worry over the Mammon Machine.
• Queen Zeal commands the Prophet to escort Melchior to Mt. Woe and imprison him. Melchior attempts a spell on the Prophet, but Magus easily overpowers it, leaving Melchior amazed.
• They take a Skygate in the Queen's chamber to the sheer cliffs on the back side of the mountain. Magus must help Melchior navigate the harsh trail upwards. Somehow, it's coded so that Melchior can't take a number of hits or the quest must be restarted.
• At the peak, Melchior asks Magus if he knows why he has complied so easily. As Magus begins one of his typical responses, Melchior produces the Red Knife. A scripted battle takes place; Magus senses the Masamune. Melchior is injured, but Magus knocks him out, heals him, and seals him in the crystal with Ozzie's technique.
• Magus finds Schala at the base of the mountain. She asks him if he has truly placed Melchior atop the mountain, noting that "imprisonment" really means death at the hands of Giga Gaia. Magus notes that he is safe. Schala draws near, but Magus pulls back, walking past her to the Skygate.
• Cut to Crono, Frog, and Ayla asking about Dactyls.
• Cut to Magus walking down a lengthy hall, and a couple flashbacks of the Gurus helping Janus.
• In Zeal Palace near the entrance, a guard tells him that the Queen has no use of him for the remainder of the day, as she is busy with the Mammon Machine.
• Magus is free to walk around Zeal. He eventually reaches Enhasa, stepping out onto a balcony. As he reflects, four Nu emerge from hiding. "The master wishes to know more about you."
• Magus defeats the Nu, and interrogates one. The Nu reveals that Belthasar fled that morning with Gaspar upon hearing what happened to Melchior, and that they took their equipment with them.
• Magus decides that he must scope out the Ocean Palace and prepare, and that he should find Zeal in the Hall of the Machine.
• Cut to Queen Zeal in the Hall, suggesting to Dalton that Magus take his position. Dalton is unhappy, but Zeal is taking delight in the entire affair.
• Magus is free again. The player enters the hall, where Dalton confronts Magus and tells him the news. He then orders him to clean up down there, as contamination has allowed a few ghastly sea creatures to infiltrate the compound.
• Once Magus enters the Skygate, the scene shows Crono, Frog, and Ayla confronting Azala.
• At the Ocean Palace, Magus speaks with workers, including Earthbound ones. He learns that there was a breach.
• In the breached room, there are no monsters. Dalton enters with a Golem. However, Dalton reveals that he'd rather kill the Prophet himself, and attribute it to the breach.
• After the final battle, Magus wounds Dalton, injuring his eye. This explains the eye patch. Dalton threatens him further, but Magus notes that killing him would only incur suspicion. Magus lets him pathetically live.
• The scene goes to black and resumes in Enhasa.
• As Magus concludes discussion with a worker, Crono, Marle, and Lucca arrive.
• Alarmed, Magus retreats after they enter Enhasa, and sneaks to the door. As Janus walks to meet the heroes, the screen fades to black as the Zeal theme plays.
• ASCII text: "And the rest...is history."

Issues with this idea:

-Magus has to be resprited to have the cloak
-New tileset

Proposals with this idea:

-Status screen / textbox color changed to suit Magus
-Nice status screen portrait for him

[ZeaLitY]

Good, bad, can anyone see it?

[nightmare975]

So, it will be what Magus did while Chrono and Co. were fighting in Tyrano Lair?

[ZeaLitY]

Yes.

I went ahead and created a title screen, though I have yet to script the events. It's attached. Janus, Queen Zeal, Schala, and finally Magus will staff the tiers from bottom to top; the screen will fade to black and then illuminate for Magus's appearance, at which point the textbox will come up. All that clear space will appear black in-game.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ZeaLitY]

Would any of this result in a black screen? My location isn't loading. I'm using variant E0 to change location from the title screen. I've never successfully changed the title screen to a new scene before (jsondag2 did that with Crimson Echoes) so this is a first.

Code: [Select]

                  Object 00
                     [0101] Startup / Idle
B80851F7                [0101] StringIndex(F75108)
00                      [0105] Return
B2                      [0106] End
                     [0107] Activate
00                      [0107] Return
                     [0107] Touch
                     [0107] Arbitrary0
                     [0107] Arbitrary1
                     [0107] Arbitrary2
                     [0107] Arbitrary3
                     [0107] Arbitrary4
                     [0107] Arbitrary5
                     [0107] Arbitrary6
                     [0107] Arbitrary7
                     [0107] Arbitrary8
                     [0107] Arbitrary9
                     [0107] ArbitraryA
                     [0107] ArbitraryB
                     [0107] ArbitraryC

                  Object 01
                     [0108] Startup / Idle
57                      [0108] LoadPC Crono
00                      [0109] Return
B0                      [010A] Controllable(Infinite)
                     [010B] Activate
00                      [010B] Return
                     [010B] Touch
                     [010B] Arbitrary0
                     [010B] Arbitrary1
                     [010B] Arbitrary2
                     [010B] Arbitrary3
                     [010B] Arbitrary4
                     [010B] Arbitrary5
                     [010B] Arbitrary6
                     [010B] Arbitrary7
                     [010B] Arbitrary8
                     [010B] Arbitrary9
                     [010B] ArbitraryA
                     [010B] ArbitraryB
                     [010B] ArbitraryC

                  Object 02
                     [010C] Startup / Idle
5C                      [010C] LoadPC Marle
00                      [010D] Return
B0                      [010E] Controllable(Infinite)
                     [010F] Activate
00                      [010F] Return
                     [010F] Touch
                     [010F] Arbitrary0
                     [010F] Arbitrary1
                     [010F] Arbitrary2
                     [010F] Arbitrary3
                     [010F] Arbitrary4
                     [010F] Arbitrary5
                     [010F] Arbitrary6
                     [010F] Arbitrary7
                     [010F] Arbitrary8
                     [010F] Arbitrary9
                     [010F] ArbitraryA
                     [010F] ArbitraryB
                     [010F] ArbitraryC

                  Object 03
                     [0110] Startup / Idle
62                      [0110] LoadPC Lucca
00                      [0111] Return
B0                      [0112] Controllable(Infinite)
                     [0113] Activate
00                      [0113] Return
                     [0113] Touch
                     [0113] Arbitrary0
                     [0113] Arbitrary1
                     [0113] Arbitrary2
                     [0113] Arbitrary3
                     [0113] Arbitrary4
                     [0113] Arbitrary5
                     [0113] Arbitrary6
                     [0113] Arbitrary7
                     [0113] Arbitrary8
                     [0113] Arbitrary9
                     [0113] ArbitraryA
                     [0113] ArbitraryB
                     [0113] ArbitraryC

                  Object 04
                     [0114] Startup / Idle
6A                      [0114] LoadPC Robo
00                      [0115] Return
B0                      [0116] Controllable(Infinite)
                     [0117] Activate
00                      [0117] Return
                     [0117] Touch
                     [0117] Arbitrary0
                     [0117] Arbitrary1
                     [0117] Arbitrary2
                     [0117] Arbitrary3
                     [0117] Arbitrary4
                     [0117] Arbitrary5
                     [0117] Arbitrary6
                     [0117] Arbitrary7
                     [0117] Arbitrary8
                     [0117] Arbitrary9
                     [0117] ArbitraryA
                     [0117] ArbitraryB
                     [0117] ArbitraryC

                  Object 05
                     [0118] Startup / Idle
68                      [0118] LoadPC Frog
00                      [0119] Return
B0                      [011A] Controllable(Infinite)
                     [011B] Activate
00                      [011B] Return
                     [011B] Touch
                     [011B] Arbitrary0
                     [011B] Arbitrary1
                     [011B] Arbitrary2
                     [011B] Arbitrary3
                     [011B] Arbitrary4
                     [011B] Arbitrary5
                     [011B] Arbitrary6
                     [011B] Arbitrary7
                     [011B] Arbitrary8
                     [011B] Arbitrary9
                     [011B] ArbitraryA
                     [011B] ArbitraryB
                     [011B] ArbitraryC

                  Object 06
                     [011C] Startup / Idle
6C                      [011C] LoadPC Ayla
00                      [011D] Return
B0                      [011E] Controllable(Infinite)
                     [011F] Activate
00                      [011F] Return
                     [011F] Touch
                     [011F] Arbitrary0
                     [011F] Arbitrary1
                     [011F] Arbitrary2
                     [011F] Arbitrary3
                     [011F] Arbitrary4
                     [011F] Arbitrary5
                     [011F] Arbitrary6
                     [011F] Arbitrary7
                     [011F] Arbitrary8
                     [011F] Arbitrary9
                     [011F] ArbitraryA
                     [011F] ArbitraryB
                     [011F] ArbitraryC

                  Object 07
                     [0120] Startup / Idle
6D                      [0120] LoadPC Magus
00                      [0121] Return
B0                      [0122] Controllable(Infinite)
                     [0123] Activate
00                      [0123] Return
                     [0123] Touch
                     [0123] Arbitrary0
                     [0123] Arbitrary1
                     [0123] Arbitrary2
                     [0123] Arbitrary3
                     [0123] Arbitrary4
                     [0123] Arbitrary5
                     [0123] Arbitrary6
                     [0123] Arbitrary7
                     [0123] Arbitrary8
                     [0123] Arbitrary9
                     [0123] ArbitraryA
                     [0123] ArbitraryB
                     [0123] ArbitraryC
Edit: Oh, no wonder. The event packet corrupted after I saved the Title Screen. What is it I do that corrupts things? Windows 98SE?

...

I'll import the map to a new ROM.

[ZeaLitY]

Development halted until I ask if Windows 98SE is an issue.

[Chrono'99]

The story is interesting, it's not over the top and everything makes sense. The only "missing" thing in the action would be the Blackbird, but if it's not required, no need to force it in (after all why did Belthasar even bother making an airplane when there's Skyways everywhere?).

What tileset is needed besides the balcony? I can't see any. For the balcony, the "Zenan Bridge" bridge tiles could be replaced with a bit of "Zealian city" tiles, and the sky behind can be simply kept.

The respriting is the big issue though. Fact: +200 frames to edit.

[justin3009]

This seems interesting.  I like the story.

[Shinrin]

Edit: Oh, no wonder. The event packet corrupted after I saved the Title Screen. What is it I do that corrupts things? Windows 98SE?

...

I'll import the map to a new ROM.

make sure the event code is not in a bad event.

[ZeaLitY]

I guess I'll try again. When something corrupts, it's like a massive blow to my morale...

I'm starting to really think it's something on my end. I did have several programs running (and will, since I'm acquiring lossless Chrono audio on DC++ and uTorrent among other things), so maybe that contributed. At any rate, I could always Rock Lee the maps while someone sets up the basic skeleton in the events. I could perhaps do the events in the places that need to be mapped, since they'll be original dungeons with events separate from the main storyline (I expect Zeal Palace to get complicated). I'm also inexperienced at coordinating a playthrough from the beginning.

I don't want to seem like I'm copping out, though, so I'll say that when my areas are finished up, I'll resume work on something else. My nose is going to the grindstone on this one. I want it out. I'm just going to do some relatively safe stuff and avoid making lots of event edits, since I seem to have a problem with that.

So, if Vehek, Chrono'99, Zakyrus...or anyone else for that matter (I'd rather not rattle off 30 names here) wants to help guide the events through the first few stages, it'd be tremendously helpful. I will begin work on the Mt. Woe map. I'm attaching the map for location 119, the title screen map I chose. If someone volunteers, try to get it working like the CE Demo 2. Place Janus, Queen Zeal, Schala, and Magus on the little platforms in order from lowest to highest on the title screen map. And of course, make sure it's using palette 46 and tilesets 32/11 for Zeal.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Chrono'99]

Alright, I've done the introduction, it involved a lot of trial and errors because of all those weird loops between {000} and the normal title screen plus our custom title screen. Now it works fine (could still have some polishing, later) and it leads to the Magus Castle Inner Sanctum accordingly to the plot.

I'll try to code the next parts... Let's actually finish this hack or else CE will become like the Dead Sea

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ZeaLitY]

I really feel like apologizing lately for the big "okay, let's get stuff done" thing and then being restricted. But as a lot of you know, my most magnificent enterprise is underway.

[Chrono'99]

It's alright, progress is going quickly: I coded the plot up to when Magus arrives at Kajar after the Janus/Gaspar/Lasher cutscene. Polishing will have to be done later since I absolutely have no imagination for the dialogues and I just put placeholder, narrating texts from the first post of this topic to fill the boxes. I've put the Janus cutscene on a new map (Enhasa's exterior entrance, made with the Land Bridge tileset) because there were palette problems in the interior.

...There's still some bugs also, I'll post them later. Have to go.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ZeaLitY]

Amazing. I'm moved! I'm begun to think of pacing. Can you think of anything we can interject in the beginning to make it a little slower? I was thinking of a little credits screen showing Magus at different stages of his life (like four or five total) with some new music, perhaps from Radical Dreamers. But I don't want to add any more work at the moment, so we won't worry about this until the polishing process.

Ah, what am I talking about. I need to find time to update the site and work on PG again...

But the exterior was unexpected! I'm going to have a tough time handling Magus's "whoa, I'm in Zeal" dialogue at the beginning so that it's not too dramatic. But I mean, you'd expect Magus to be really, honestly surprised, so...

[Chrono'99]

New patch. In this one, Magus speaks to Queen Zeal, goes to kill a beast in a snowy place, returns to Zeal and gains access to his quarters. I actually skipped the snowy place and his quarters since there's no maps for them... there's just a textbox and the next scenes ensue (no battles yet). So the end of this patch is where Magus sleeps and has flashbacks of Ozzie and Janus and Schala in the Ocean Palace (there's some nice color filter effects in these 2 short flashback scenes).

So... anyone wants to map the snowy place, and is the Magus quarters palette ready?

In any case, I'm going to keep on coding the backbones of the next parts, because I'll get more busy with school in one or two weeks (I'm in a lull currently) so I'm trying to code as much as I can until then.

[attachment deleted by admin]