Chrono Trigger: Chrono Trigger 1.01

This is a general enhancement hack for Chrono Trigger (US).

For details check out the Readme file, but here are some key features:

- Some dialogue changes and most tech descriptions use a compromise of community sources, paraphrasing, and the original text (NA).

- The “6-Letter Name” and “CronoNick” patches have been applied. [see Readme file]

- Certain enemies are challenging, but most normal enemies are still easy.

- It’s no longer Uncle Sam mode. $ rewards have been reduced significantly.

- This hack is designed with no-levels and low-levels games in mind, so LLGs can be completed legitimately.

- A wallet is hidden in Porre, if you want to play a NLG. Take a few rides on the ferry to reveal it.

- Most of Spekkio’s forms can still be reached, even at low levels.

- The Octorider enemy makes an appearance in NG+.

- All of your Fair stuff carries over to NG+.

- Some SPC songs from the pre-release game have been added, without having to replace existing ones.

- There are now two versions of Magus (the castle fight). One is for NLGs, LLGs, and average Normal games, and the other is intended for NG+ levels.

- Some scripted treasures have been hidden in places, to give the game a little bit more randomness.

- The final fight with Lavos can be replayed after you lose that fight, IF you are at low levels, and also as a bonus for NG+ playthroughs of this hack.

********** Chrono Trigger 1.01 by Fang **********

The previous readme has been replaced. For one reason, I grew tired of looking through it. Many of the additions to the game do not need to be explained. For another reason, several things that I said earlier are now out-of-date, and endless Edits to all of that weren't much fun. This time around, I will try to give only the need-to-know information.

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*** Features ***
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This section is just a more recent revision than what is on the RHDN pages.

- Some dialogue changes and most tech descriptions use a mixture of community sources, paraphrasing, and the original text from the NA version of the game. This hack does not prioritize the translation aspect, but rather the gameplay experience as a whole.

Nonetheless, on every other NG+, some extra translated lines will become available. This new feature can then be ENABLED at any of the places where you can check special game info. But FIRST you will need to start another NG+, if you want to make the feature AVAILABLE. (see Extra Info section or my notes)
The idea that I am trying to showcase here is that I can display my favorites on the first playthrough, and then display what other people might like to see on the next, cycling them as a kind of compromise.

- The "6-Letter Name" and "CronoNick" patches have been applied. At first, I had assigned "Cro" as the default for the CronoNick feature, but now it will be filled in with whatever you name Crono, minus two or three letters. The Nu at the Laruba Ruins can also change it. Have Crono in the lead party position, and Ayla in second.

If you load an SRM save made by the stock game, it will cause glitches when CronoNick is displayed, since there is no default assigned. So, if it's still too early in the story to talk to the Nu, then you can also talk to the woman with sweet water to assign one.

- Enemy difficulties seems to be a feature that is never complete. I have kept most enemies easy to beat, if you have at least some of the equipment you need. There is the option of a No-Levels Game (NLG), thanks to the Wallet.

- "Uncle Sam mode" is a reference from EARTH 2150. It means that money is not a factor for that gametype. But I prefer mining, strategizing, and handicaps in games.

Earlier versions of my hack were too restrictive, and I admit that it took away from the experience of CT, especially during the first portion of the game. So I've eased some of those restrictions. Some store price penalties have been reduced, and the new, scripted chests should help, too.

- There is a Wallet hidden in Porre. You can take it at any time, but with a penalty of higher store prices for the remainder of the game. Have Crono and Marle take a few trips on the Porre ferry to make the treasure chest available.

- Most of Spekkio's forms can still be reached, even at low levels. There are many, many combinations of levels and difficulties, so this feature isn't perfect, but at least it's there.

- The Octorider enemy makes an appearance in NG+. It can be fought in the Heckran Cave during that part of the story.

- All of your fair stuff carries over to NG+. Visit the lower half of the fair, save the game again, then load that save with NG+.

- Some SPC songs from the pre-release game have been added, without having to replace any existing songs.

- There are two versions of the battle with Magus at his castle. One for NLGs/LLGs/average "Normal" games, and one for NG+ and much higher levels. Any enemy difficulty patches that may be applied to my hack must take this into account, because the AI scripts for enemies F9 and FB depend on certain stat numbers.

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*** Main Points ***
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Listed here are the basics, if you read no further than this section.

- Before the game starts, you will be given the option of which type of game you want to play. Select "Normal" if you just want to play the game and gain levels. Select "Low-Levels" if you specifically want to attempt a Low-Levels Game (LLG), because it is necessary to tweak certain scripted events by your choice here. For a No-Levels Game (NLG), you could select either option, because there are advantages and disadvantages for both, but I usually select "Low-Levels."

- Don't over-level in the first half of the game, or else you will have to fight the hard version of Magus. Remember, the SUM of Levels of every character that has been recruited, except for Ayla, must not exceed [117], and [66] if it's a LLG or NLG. If those numbers were higher, then the easy fight would be too easy for a normal playthrough. The hard fight is limited by the enemy Attack stat, which is already maxed out, so you may have to handicap yourself with weaker armor. For more difficulty, you could increase the Speed stat.

- If, at any time, you forget which game options you have selected, go visit the Mayor's Manor in Truce, the auxiliary room in Arris Dome, or the archives in Kajar's research room. Sometimes, we add little notes for ourselves when testing things, so I figured that it would make a nice, permanent feature.

- There are ways to overcome difficult enemies and problems. You may have to look in different eras of the world.

- My hack mostly focuses on demonstration of what can be done, gameplay, and personal customizations. Many places in the game have been modified in some small way, which means that it probably won't be compatible with other hacks.

- If you see any of my ideas that you like, then feel free to make use of them.

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*** ROM Info ***
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Here is some info generated by the NSRT tool for the finished ROM. After you have applied the patch, the numbers should match mine.

Name: Chrono Trigger 1.01
Checksum: Good 0xDE21
CRC32: AA47540E
MD5: E4D39BB750F54827DE1196CEB06F5E0A
SHA-256: B78315A68E698D9695DF4561EE3428064D7978F7C70B19DF1AD90A0C0F332EC3

header: no / expanded: yes
You do not have to worry about header/no header or whether to expand the rom or not; just apply the .bps patch with Floating IPS (FLIPS) or some other patching program to a fresh copy of the Chrono Trigger (USA) rom and play it.

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*** Known Problems ***
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The player techs "Protect" and "Magic Wall" use the {Shield} character in front of their names in place of the stars.
However, there will be a graphical glitch after the battle that you learn those techs. This only happens on those two occasions. There is nothing wrong with their functionality.

Do not give a name to enemy FB, because it will overwrite data for the first few enemy techs (e.g. the Ocean Palace's Mage), and the game will freeze when you fight them.

Some of the extra SPC songs, that I added after the pre-release songs, may glitch. Reducing the amount of echo might stop some of the glitching in the Battle variations. The alternate Peaceful Days glitches anyway, because of the way instruments are set up.
I should also mention that there's a small chance that the game freezes whenever you are listening to the new music and you try to run an emulator at higher speeds (or at least in ZSNES). Don't forget to save the game every once in a while. I have only encountered this problem a few times on the Overworld.

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*** Extra Info ***
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This section is for helpful information that would be nice to know ahead of time.

At the beginning of the game, the "Low-Levels" option prevents Marle's and Frog's stats from being suspended, which happens in a "Normal" game. In a LLG, it would make the battle with Magus harder, of course, but then a few of the characters would not finish the game with legitimate levels.
Crono's stats are suspended when he has to leave, which did not happen in the stock game. If you do not get him back, then the stored stats are loaded when you start a NG+.

Enemies don't drop as much gold as in the stock game. At the start, buy only what you need in order to survive.

There are only two Gold Studs in the game, and both are in the same era. You know where one is located, but the other one can be missed, if you do not wait for Ayla.

Spekkio will drop a bonus Magic Tab, and another one if you are at really low levels, if you can beat him when the party levels are low for a particular form. In addition to that, you will receive a "Special Tab" to remember how many times those have been given out. There is a limit of 60, which carries over into NG+.
However, there are a few of the hidden, scripted chests that, in addition to the treasure, will give out a Special Tab if you have collected all 60. Bring this extra one to Spekkio, and you can have a free fight with his final form.

You can complete a worry-free LLG in this hack with the same levels in big_kake's GameFAQs guide (2012) by adhering to these instructions:
FIRST: There are no problems with Crono learning Cyclone at the beginning. You can fight Gato (1 point) at least two rounds before Marle climbs onto the Telepod, or fight the second battle of blue imps.
SECOND: After Lucca joins you at the prison, go open the 4 chests across the bridge from your starting cell. The Omnicrone gives only 4 points, and the Guards give no points.
THIRD: If any one is in doubt about the Factory acids vs alkalines, then choose 2 or 5 acids. I've tested those two different paths and finished both with the correct levels.
FOURTH: I recommend that Ayla learns Kiss/get the Elixir using the steps in the next paragraph. I have not tested what happens if you choose not to do this. After Nizbel, Lucca will be at level 12, settling the differences from the above acid choices.

There is a way in a LLG for Ayla to have Kiss before the Nizbel fight. This shortcut works in the stock game as well.
You have to take a sidetrip to the Mystic Mts. after recruiting Ayla. Now, save the game, because the kilwalas may not target Marle on the first attempt, if you don't line up everyone evenly. Next, Run from the two sleeping Runners, then Kill the two Kilwalas. Then go to the Lair and make a game save outside. Go down a hole in the center-east half of the first big cavern, which will place you in the northeast split chamber. Wait for one of those pacing weevils to dig a secret hole that leads to the Elixir. If you hear the other secret hole being dug, then reset and try again. You will have Kiss after all of this, so then you can save at the savepoint and go fight Nizbel.

If you wanted to attempt the NG+ Ocean Palace Lavos fight in my previous patches, you weren't allowed to do it because of a short supply of MegaElixirs. So, I've added a special shop, that you may buy all needed items. After beating the Golem Twins, turn around and go back to Kajar. The prices will be greatly reduced, but you can get an additional discount by first going somewhere else in the game to GraBB some food.

There is one exception to the rule about restarting before you can see the changes. I added this exception for people that have completed my hack already and want to see the [few] extra translated lines in the dialogue. If you're playing a NG+, go to the Millenial Fair and access the hidden options in the bucket next to the tent.
One option will allow you to remove all of your money once per game, for more difficulty (sell your unwanted equipment first). Another one can convert your current game to an odd or even number of games, but only once for that save slot.


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*** Sources/Credits ***
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I started this project sometime in 2014. Here are the tools that I used to put it together.

- Temporal Flux v3.04 editor
- Mauron's TF plugins: Hi-Tech, Fiendcrafter, and Itemizer
- Chrono Trigger Editor Companion
- Crone monster stat editor
- Chrono Tweaker
- Beneficii's CT Shop Editor
- Tile Molester v0.15a
- Nach's SNES ROM Tools v3.4
- Floating IPS patcher
- HxD v1.7.7.0 hex editor
- Notepad++ text editor

Here are some helpful resources.

Some of the translation differences between the NA and the JP versions I added exactly, some things I paraphrased in my own words, and a large amount of things I did not change.
Recently, I've added a feature that allows you to see a handful of the omitted lines anyway, on every other playthrough of the game.
https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Translation_Differences.html

Although, I did take most of KWhazit's suggestions to heart when changing tech descriptions. I also agreed something had to be done with those.
http://kwhazit.ucoz.net/trans/ct/techs.html

The only other mod I actually played was "Chrono Trigger: The Prophet's Guile."
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/362/

However, I could not help but remember some things from the Readme file for this bugfix patch. So, as I was working on my hack, some of those text changes probably were added from memory.
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/261/

The 6-Letter Name Patch was applied directly with a patcher. Later, though, I was editing the font in the weapons equip menu, so in the process the special "Lv" character was edited also. So be aware of the slight change from the original patch.
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/461/

The "CronoNick" Patch has been added as well, but at the point I came across it, I had to add the TF script manually to avoid problems.
https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Retranslation.html

This page of info really helped me when I was piecing together the AI scripts.
http://datacrystal.romhacking.net/wiki/Chrono_Trigger/Enemy_AI_Documentation

Here's another page.
https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Enemy_AI.html

Lastly, there is a certain Chrono Trigger parody, from Crono's actual perspective, which you probably know of. :)
I enjoy reading it from time to time, so it had a considerable influence on some decisions and preservations.


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*** Special Thanks ***
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Mauron provided me with an important pointer - and other helpful information - that allowed me to hook up the rest of the SPC stuff. Otherwise, adding even more SPCs might not have happened.




Filename Chrono Trigger (USA).sfc
File/ROM MD5: A2BC447961E52FD2227BAED164F729DC
File/ROM SHA-1: DE5822F4F2F7A55ACB8926D4C0EAA63D5D989312
File/ROM CRC32: 2D206BF7