Work continues in earnest on ripping and understanding the models of Chrono Cross. As of this news post, FaustWolf has identified the contents of the OUT files produced by Yazoo's ripper, Unaisis has made a test video using Serge and Dark Serge and aided greatly in other research, and the Luminaire85 has discovered that transparency does work in Blender's render mode. The rest of the gang have all been working hard too! There are still a few problems; go below the jump to read more. Before then, check out the Time Devourer in it's pure, amazing beauty!
Also, check out Unaisis's test video
here. All right, let's discuss the problems we face:
[1] Blender may not be able to handle partial transparencies, like Starky's helmet, even in render mode.
[2] How Cross applies large model textures (like the Time Devourer, which uses two textures) is not yet fully understood, though the models can be assembled manually in another program.
[3] Sometimes the UV maps are off by one pixel in Blender, or applied to the wrong vertices in a minor way. Luminaire85 is thinking about these, and meanwhile Unaisis has been using Cinema 4D to check out the models. Hopefully we can nail down the bugs. At this point, already we've accomplished an amazing feat, and so special praise goes out to everyone involved at some point -- halkun, Cyberman, Gemini, MDenham, Yazoo, Sephiroth, and anyone I've forgotten. Follow the project's progress
here and check out the ever-updating Chrono Cross File Structure page
here.
Next on the Chrono Cross list, ePSXe 1.7.0 has been released. I've tried it out and it works fine, so update if you'd like by clicking
here. Now, for a faster computer...
Some new headway has been made concerning Chrono Trigger tech hacking thanks to jsondag2's editor. OmniUnknown has tried some hacks on Crono's Cyclone tech, while FaustWolf. Both made Youtube videos. Starting with FaustWolf, check out this modified Magus Fire-based tech:
click here. Then, you HAVE to see Magus's "Disco Bomb"
here!! Continuing with OmniUnknown, we have
Shining Cyclone,
Shadow Cyclone,
Fireball Crono, and, best of all,
Extended Cyclone.
Here's a blooper. Catch the latest developments at the
tech editor thread. OmniUnknown also announced he is making a new
Chrono Trigger Hardtype.
A fellow by the name of Prince Valmont has carried the good news that a specific Wii game allows ROMs to be injected onto the Wii for playback. Chrono Trigger worked flawlessly! If you want to learn more,
click here. They're trying to put in the Retranslation, but this is probably going to be impossible.
Time for fan art. First is a Kid sketch by Jono, found
here, with the colored version
here. Next is Luminaire85's Lucca and Nadia sketch; see it
here. And now...watch GATO SING! This is Unaisis's creation using audio from the CT OVA; find it
here. 'Till next time!