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GC

Chrono Trigger Comes to GameCube!

by Michael Cole - May 9, 2004, 1:19 pm EDT
Total comments: 62 Source: Resurreciton Games

If you’re a licensed GameCube developer, that is. Check out what five very talented professionals are working on in their spare time!

Working in the gaming business is more than a full-time job. But five talented Chrono Trigger fans are so dedicated to the business that they do it when they’re off payroll as well.

Chrono Trigger Resurrection is a fully three-dimensional, independent remake of the Super Nintendo classic Chrono Trigger made from scratch. This is no fan game like you’ve seen before, though. Director and Programmer Nathan Lazur and his team are creating professional-quality software using Xbox and GameCube development kits. Their goal is to recreate ten of the most memorable Chrono Trigger scenes for a Christmas 2004. They are well on their way, too—just check out some of these screens:

No, this is not official Square Enix work Bad Dude Magus

Not bad for a demo 25% complete! Luis Martins and David Ying’s graphical prowess are accompanied by a fully rearranged soundtrack! Be sure to check out the Chrono Trigger Resurrection media page for a sampling of Mathew Valente’s fantastic musicianship. Michael Demirel’s animation work will be showcased in a trailer when the project is closer to completion.

Since this is currently an independent project completely unaffiliated with Square Enix, console versions of the Chrono Trigger Resurrection demo will only be available to official developers with access to GameCube or Xbox development kits. Fortunately, a free PC version will be available for public consumption as well.

Talkback

mouse_clickerMay 09, 2004

Pft, I beat you guys by over an hour. face-icon-small-tongue.gif It kind of sucks the Gamecube and XBox versions are only available for developers, and that they're only doing ten scenes rather than the entire game, but this is much better than nothing. Looks magnificent, so far, too!

I knew of it before you posted, mouse_clicker. I've just been to friggin busy with E3 prep to post until now ;-)

With any luck, they'll continue to work on this after they finish their goal of 10 scenes. They *call* their goal a demo for a reason! They're just keeping their targets realistic! (*shakes fist at Square Enix for seemingly staying on the sidelines and not offering publisher support*)

mouse_clickerMay 09, 2004

I knew about it firstest!!!!!!! face-icon-small-tongue.gif

Anyway, I hope they are just being conservative now- what they have so far is simply incredible and it would be orgasmic to see the entire game given such treatment.

Quote

I'd like to redirect discussion to the Talkback thread, since this thread hasn't grown yet. Feel free to repost your comments there.


My thread was bigger than yours. face-icon-small-wink.gif

Ian SaneMay 09, 2004

Here's a transcript of my thoughts while reading this.

Upon seeing the talkback thread: "Holy sh!t! What the hell is this? Is this a leak about E3?!"

Upon reading the talkback thread: "Oh it's that thing MC linked to in "Other Systems". Dang."

Not that this is bad or anything but I was really hoping for a new Chrono game on the Cube from Square Enix.

Well, normal people read the web site before going to the talkback thread. face-icon-small-tongue.gif It was in the teaser on the main page, so I didn't think I was tricking anyone!

ssj4_androidMay 09, 2004

Hopefully the pirates will come through with bringing this to us.

Koopa TroopaMay 09, 2004

It'd be awesome if Squenix picked this up, helped finish it, and released it... For GameCube only, though face-icon-small-happy.gif face-icon-small-wink.gif

I have to say... they've done a brilliant job so far. The recreation is near perfect, very little seems to have been lost in the transition to 3D.

And the lead programmer(only programmer, actually) has freakin awesome taste in games face-icon-small-happy.gif

GaimeGuyMay 09, 2004

Well, even though I didn't like CT, I have to hand it to these guys. For just five individuals to do so much is true talent. I wish them the best of luck.

StrellMay 09, 2004

The correct phrase in response to hearing this is, and I quote, HOLY SH*T.

SuperLink666May 09, 2004

Wow you had me for a second too bad nobody will ever get to play it face-icon-small-sad.gif

cloudstrife111May 09, 2004

will plant gamecube be makeing a final fantasy 7 game after you complet ethis game? face-icon-small-smile.gif this look good my windows 95 pc canot run it????????

Koopa TroopaMay 09, 2004

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Wow you had me for a second too bad nobody will ever get to play it


You don't have PC?

ruby_onixMay 09, 2004

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Bill wrote in Mouse's thread:
(Holy Crap! What an excellent remix of Corridors of Time!)


Yeah...

I normally "like" fanmade soundtrack remixes, but that's usually just because I liked the original. The remix usually tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth though, as it doesn't usually seem artistically "faithful". It's like, someone said "Hey, I can make something better than that", then they take the existing artwork, then add "20% more techno" and "a few bass waves", and then say "There, I just made something better". It just doesn't seem right.

But these songs (especially Corridors of Time) are really something else. Quite surprising. My only complaints would be that the "chorus" in Corridors needs a little work, and some of the "emphasis" on certain instuments in all three pieces seems a little off. Maybe that's just me. Or it's them. Of course, that's why you need to get the original artists onside when you're remaking something like this. What they intended is the opinion that matters. But at the very least, it shows that these guys are quite capable.

Of course, I think Yasunori Mitsuda had already remade "orchestral" versions of all his stuff, and he'd probably want to use those versions in any remakes (come to think of it, I think my brother has a Chrono Trigger soundtrack CD that came out in America).

spatoblMay 09, 2004

Holy crap! that looks so awesome. I hope to God that Square Enix picks this up.

Bill AurionMay 09, 2004

The "Corridors of Time" remix rocks...period... face-icon-small-cool.gif

BloodworthDaniel Bloodworth, Staff AlumnusMay 09, 2004

Ok, cloudstrife has finally gone over the edge with his enormous leeched avatar. Bye now!

DjunknownMay 09, 2004

I'm surprised that Square-Enix, Sony (Remember Chrono Trigger came out on PS1, therefore they have a liscence.) and Nintendo haven't fowarded a "Cease and Desist" order. On the other hand, Nintendo hasn't stopped the Oot2d project either....

Its amazing they were able to keep the artwork intact, Akira Toriyama has a unique art style, they handeled the 2d to 3d transition very well so far.

It'd be interesting how Square Enix might react. They might think that gaijin making a demo on one of their franchises (which they haven't bothered to capitilize BTW.) would be blashphemy. Its been mentioned earlier (by Ian I think) that Square-Enix is adopting the Enix policy: Screw America, as hard as its legally possible.

I wouldn't be too optimistic if Square Enix decided to publish this and turn it into a full-fledged game. They would most likely scrap the 'Cube version, and the 'Box? Insert a big "HAH!". PC? probably, but I could wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Koopa TroopaMay 09, 2004

Quote

Remember Chrono Trigger came out on PS1, therefore they have a liscence.)


Ehm, no, I don't think so. I would be pretty surprised if Sony had any real share of Crono Trigger, short of the smalle % it owns of Squenix of course.

ProcessionMay 09, 2004

The End of Time looks incredible in 3D. This is bad-ass, no two ways about it. But where is Square Enix with a new Chrono?

Perfect CellMay 09, 2004

This is sooo bad arse... I love CT more than anything Square has ever done. Id love to see this on the Cube for real face-icon-small-smile.gif

KnoxxvilleMay 09, 2004

Ahhh, it's cool! Besides, I don't think anyone on in this forum is interfacing with an Xbox or Cube (well maybe an Xbox, the way those mods are coming along...), so let's all download the freebie PC version, hack a Super NES pad or something (hmmm....I got a spare MAME cab handy...heh, heh, heh) and enjoy this gift from the gaming fan gods!

KyoshoMay 09, 2004

if Square actually got these guys to make a full game for the Cube.... that would be so awesome. I hope they actually get somewhere with this even though it's just a remake. There are a ton of Chrono Trigger fans out there, including me, who still own the original SNES cartridge and want to stuff out in relation to the original Chrono Trigger.

Ocarina BlueMay 10, 2004

When I first saw the title to this thread, I started shaking with excitement. You guys shouldn't scare me like that.

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Originally posted by: Djunknown
I'm surprised that Square-Enix, Sony (Remember Chrono Trigger came out on PS1, therefore they have a liscence.) and Nintendo haven't fowarded a "Cease and Desist" order. On the other hand, Nintendo hasn't stopped the Oot2d project either....


I know copyrights on games become void after 5 years... I don't know when CC was released, nor do I know anything else about it. If it does not contain characters etc. from CT then I guess this would be entirely legal.

Perhaps they will be obliged to change the name. Judging from the quality displayed, however, I think it's pretty fair to assume SquareEnix will try to srt out anyone who picks a fight with these guys.

DweditMay 10, 2004

Copyrights on games become void after 95 years, not 5.

Ocarina BlueMay 10, 2004

Oh, my bad. Damn.

Infernal MonkeyMay 10, 2004

It'd be nice if Datel picked this up and sold it on GameCube in the UK via their website. Hell, they're already selling an unlicensed GC game on their site for like five pounds or something. But yeah, it's lookin' brilliant so far.

AIN'T WHAT SHE USED TO BE COMIN' LIKE WHAT.

KDR_11kMay 10, 2004

Ocarina: Copyrights become void 70 years after the author dies. Perhaps you're thinking "trademarks".

It looks like it would be possible to run those graphics on a PS2. However, look and reality often differ and since it was not specifically made for PS2 I think it'll kill the texture buffer of that thing unless you downscale all textures to N64 resolutions.

The style looks different from typical Toryama 3d conversions (i.e. most Dragonball models). It has a certain drawing-like style and in general looks like something that was more common about five years ago.

Having never played CT, I doubt I'd understand what's going on when playing those ten scenes, but hey, Indy project + one of the best games ever + RPG = WIN!

mouse_clickerMay 10, 2004

There's no way this game will ever be sold, guys- Square still does own the rights to Chrono Trigger in every way, shape, and form, and they make this explicitly clear on the Resurrection website. Selling the game would mean they were making a profit of something they didn't own- they'd either have to change the game enough so it no longer resembled Chrono Trigger or get Square's permission. I believe as long as they keep it free there should be no problem.

Infernal MonkeyMay 10, 2004

Well, Datel's homebrew GC game is just a bunch of old 8-bit games, blatent rip offs of stuff like Choplifter, with new silly names. I'm sure they could rename this Chrono Trigger mini-remake to "Crummy TonkaTruck". It would make sense!

bodeh6May 10, 2004

I am 22. When is first played Chrono Trigger for my SNES when is was 13 or 14, I knew that game was one of the best ever made. It is still a game that I remember fondly. When it came out in fall of 1995, it was hailed by all magazines and fans as the greatest RPG ever. If these developers succeed with the 10 scenes by the end of the year, then SquareEnix should real employ them and give them all the help they need to make the whole game and release it on the 10 year anniversary of the game which is August 11, 2005 to the PC, XBox, GCN, and PS2. Does SquareEnix know how many people will buy it? I am sure that it will become an instant million seller and beyond.

Koopa TroopaMay 10, 2004

No, you know what would be better? Is if Nintendo offered to publish it(FundQ?), that way we'd get it exclusively and all Squenix has to do is say "Ok"

tssfMay 10, 2004

Hey everyone, all I can say is thanks so much for posting a news article, and thanks most of all for your positive and encouraging comments!

I have a little bit of bad news. Our server is kapuut. No, it's not because Square Enix caught wind. We believe they've known about our project for awhile. (They were our number one visiter when we had that teaser picture up before the site's launch) No, because of increasing popularity, the inevitable has happened. We've been forced by our host to shut down due to extreme bandwidth usage.

We're currently looking frantically for a new host who can handle our load, and who won't charge us an arm and a leg (because of course, we have no financial backing). So sit tight if you're wondering what happened. The demo's still on!

Also thanks to all of you for your nice comments on my music for the demo. My philosophy for it is that I wish to keep the original feeling the original songs gave off, so I see no reason to change anything except for insrtumentation and some mild enhancements to the music, if any. The songs in their original form were pretty amazing in themselves. There's not much I feel I could do to improve them. face-icon-small-smile.gif

Anyway if you guys/gals wish to, you can hear the soundtrack as it was going to sound on the N64 before we axed it a couple years ago. They are in their original source files, so you need an Impulse Tracker player to play them. If you have a general installation of Winamp, they should play fine (though the plugin that comes with winamp lately has been buggy since I, and Jake Stine stopped development of it. On a slightly unrelated note, we can be found in the Winamp credits for our work, too hehe)

Anyway here they are: http://tssf.gamemusic.ca/Remakes/ChronoStuff/CTNew

Enjoy! face-icon-small-happy.gif

I wish I had time to check that music out, Mat! I'm sorry I didn't grab more of your screens to post on our site... At least I have the three MP3s up on Louie FM!

tssfMay 10, 2004

If I give you our media (I can always get Nathan to send it to me), could you host it for the time being? It seems like Planet Gamecube is going to be the only place that will be able to host our stuff on a broad scale for now.

We're looking for a new host that will support up to 1 terrabyte of bandwidth (it can be lower, but not too much lower), and a maximum of 500 megabytes at a reasonable price. Nathan's got a viable temporary solution right now but I'm not sure if he's going to utilize it before E3.

MysticGohan24May 10, 2004

I have three of your songs loaded on my Hard Drive. I can't believe how much of a amazing job you guys did on CT. It's so true to the original, I think even Akira Toriyama would be proud.

Love the stuff guys, what scenes are you planning to implement?

Again, AWESOME!!!

tssfMay 10, 2004

We're not giving out scene information at this time. I can give you somewhat of a hint of what's not going to be there with this clue: 2 characters (Ayla, and Robo) have a 50% chance at being cut for our game demo, due to time constraints. There is also a certain extremely dramatic "DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?! face-icon-small-sad.gif" scene which is also not going to be in there, for obvious spoilage factor.

And TheYoungerPlumber, I just sent you an e-mail with a link that contains all the media files including music. So, if you are willing, can you upload at least the images? The music files aren't essential to be put up if you don't want them to be. (they're big files anyawy)

MysticGohan24May 10, 2004

Thanks for the info, it's kinda sad to hear Robo being cut from the game. But there's that other 50% chance face-icon-small-wink.gif

So we'll see the trailer around august? can't wait. But Magus
( aka Janus ) will be in there ?

KirbySStarMay 10, 2004

davidlow, we don't need that kind of talk here.

I am really excited about this project. The graphics look perfect! I'm wondering how well the gameplay's going to work moving to 3D though, but hey they've been working on this for a while so I'm sure they know exactly what they're doing. Can't wait for the trailer and demo, guys!

I hope this is a wakeup call to Square-Enix. If they were smart they'd hire these guys to actually remake the entire game. I'm pretty sure everyone here would buy it.

ShinosukeMay 11, 2004

Some people here seem to be kind of disappointed because they think there will only be 10 scenes of the game rather than a complete remake... please correct me if I'm wrong about this but what I read at the projectsite (when it was still up and running) was something like: we will make a "complete" remake of the game and are planning to release a game demo containing 10 scenes around fall 2004. so what we will get IS a complete remake, with 10 scenes coming up in a demo at the end of this year, right?

tssfMay 11, 2004

MysticGohan: Expect it more abouts in September than August.

Shinosuke: Unfortuantely they are correct. The demo is the project itself. We don't have the man-power or the resources to be able to do a complete remake, unless you're willing to wait until Christmas of 2006. By then the current consoles will be obsolete, anyway. You know, it's more of a realistic goal, than say a complete game. The project originate on the N64, and we were planning an entire remake.. imagine our naiveness when we knew it just wasn't going to happen. I think 10 scenes is fair, it could be like the CT: Pre-Release demo in Japan and only contain 4. face-icon-small-smile.gif

At any rate, we're sticking to 10 scenes. And if there's time, we'll include one or two more. More scenes + more characters = more animation / items / story / backgrounds / etc to include, so..don't hold your breath (sorry to say).

MysticGohan24May 12, 2004

Anyone sneeking the demo into the Squarenix booth ; )

You guys must have their attention by now, considering the details and everything being put into this game.

This is how Chrono Trigger should comeback : )

joeamisMay 14, 2004

First I'd like to say Tssf thank you, Chrono Trigger is in my top 5 greatest games of all time, hovering from position 1 to 5 (can't say one is better than the other). Second I think what you're doing is commendable, bringing joy to many many people. Especially compared to people who go and become hackers.

I must admit I'm intrigued by more than just your remake demo. I was wondering if you could give a little info about who's doing what on the project, and how it all came together or started, and your background... how you got into this line of work. Please keep us posted if you guys get the media back up on a site. Thank You!

tssfMay 15, 2004

Well, the others will have to explain their little stories, but basically for me it started out that I heard about a 3D Chrono Trigger being made for the N64. I read an interview on GameSpot (it's fairly easy to find on Google now) about how Nathan Lazur was making it, what he planned, etc. So I went through weeks trying to get the editor to give me his e-mail address. So, I finally got it. Oddly enough, he heard of me (I was/still am a little popular on the Internet) and he gave me the O-K. I ended up making a good chunk of the Chrono Trigger soundtrack in module format.

The project for N64 died because we all pretty much got busy doing our own things. I got into Game Boy Color music, almost got published in a real game but the developer couldn't find a publisher, it's the age-old story.

Anyway, long story short, Nathan talks to me one day saying he was interested in starting the project up again. This was sometime last fall. We eventually began putting things together for a less ambitious project than what we had originally planned on the N64, and well, the rest you know. Hehe.

As for my background, it pretty much went that I heard a music remake about 8 years ago, I got into it myself and became really good at it. (If you google my name, you'll find a LOT of places that have a lot of my remakes and such). I was obsessed with trying to make things sound as accurate as possible, heh. I jumped from irc channel to irc channel, onto AIM , jumped from website to website, etc. It goes the same way. face-icon-small-wink.gif

Anyway, we're going to put the site up as soon as we can find a new host, we pretty much got our butts kicked in terms of bandwidth. face-icon-small-wink.gif If anyone can suggest a host that has at least 500 megs of on-site space, and has 1 Terrabyte of bandwidth for under 100 dollars a month, we could really use that.

I'll keep you posted about the site.. We've got everything backed up, things are going good I think.

PrestoChangoMay 16, 2004

Try www.hostway.com they have deals offering at least 500megs of disk space and unlimited internet traffic for under 100 a month.

tssfMay 20, 2004

Thanks Presto, we've gone with Hostway! The website should be back up really soon. face-icon-small-smile.gif

Let's hope Hostway keeps their promise towards "unlimited bandwidth."

tssfMay 22, 2004

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that our site is back up, we've got a new host..a new forum..and everything seems to be looking good. face-icon-small-happy.gif

Okay, that's about it. Hehe.

PrestoChangoMay 22, 2004

Hehe no problem anything to help with this awesome project. I look forward to when you've completed it.

KDR_11kMay 22, 2004

Great, now I just need to tell Slashdot... (j/k)

KyoshoMay 23, 2004

What is the new address?

Infernal MonkeyMay 23, 2004

Same address, look back at the start of the thread. =o

tssfMay 24, 2004

lol, yeah, same address. face-icon-small-happy.gif

We were thinking about getting a new domain with it but, it hasn't happened. And KDR_11h, we've already been slashdotted. face-icon-small-happy.gif lol

KDR_11kMay 24, 2004

(I meant that as in "hey guys, the site's up again, look at it!")

TonyNinjaAugust 24, 2004

Yeah, those screens look nice, but aparently this CT "remake" deal has been spreading like a plague...
There is also a bunch of other sites like CT: Remake Project and Unofficial Chrono Trigger 2.
Though the screens from Ressurection, and Remake Project look nice i think they should leave CT alone for SE.
The CT: Remake Project site is interesting, makes me want to play the original deal on SNES...

Bill AurionAugust 24, 2004

"Though the screens from Ressurection, and Remake Project look nice i think they should leave CT alone for SE."

Nah, Squenix is too busy twindling their thumbs as they arse up their new Final Fantasy "ideas"...They don't have the time to go back to their classics...

3rdrocketAugust 24, 2004

WOW!! I never even heard about this! The music and graphics for this thing are breathtaking!
What these people are making is simply Godly!

joeamisAugust 24, 2004

Quote

Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
"
Nah, Squenix is too busy twindling their thumbs as they arse up their new Final Fantasy "ideas"...They don't have the time to go back to their classics...


Final Fantasy is their most classic title... And they made a sequel to Chrono Trigger back in August 2000.

KDR_11kAugust 24, 2004

You mean that text adv.. err... Interactive Fiction Game?

3rdrocketSeptember 08, 2004

Well its official square is a bunch of jerks. Check the chrono trigger site

Bill AurionSeptember 08, 2004

"Final Fantasy is their most classic title... And they made a sequel to Chrono Trigger back in August 2000"

Ahahaha, no really...Maybe it *used* to be...And I just didn't enjoy CC as much as CT...

joeamisSeptember 09, 2004

Quote

Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
"They don't have the time to go back to their classics...


They're doing a new Brave Fencer game. FF series are classics (most of them). They're doing a new Mana game. They're doing FF7 spinoff titles for cellphones. They just did another Front Mission game, came out in June... I see trends here, going back to their classics... while trying out new ideas (Drakengard). They redid FFAdventure last fall, and went back to their cult classic FF Tactics. Now they're giving gba owners FF1&2 remakes. Errr, what classics do you want? =?

3rdrocketSeptember 10, 2004

chrono trigger

joeamisSeptember 10, 2004

alright the question wasn't to you, but to Bill who said they haven't gone back to their classics... and they really have...

As for another Chrono Trigger, the first came out in 1995, Chrono Cross came out in 2000, and the rerelease of Chrono Trigger came out in 2001. So, Chrono 3 will come out in 2005 at the earliest. I have a feeling the next Chrono game will come out next generation on Playstation 3. And there's a possibility of some sort of port, remake, or variation on the DS or PSP. I'd like to see FF6 and Chrono Trigger ported or remade as a bundle for the DS or PSP.

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