It's done and posted at
http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Feature_6Pics used in the article:
Welcome to the last installment of Fan Project Creator Interviews (at least, the last one dealing with a remake of Chrono Trigger for the time being). Saving the most anticipated mod for last, today I bring you the Chrono Trigger Remake Project interview! The project, based at
http://www.chrono-trigger.com , is an effort to remake Chrono Trigger in the Unreal engine (specifically, for Unreal Tournament 2004). Things are starting to roll there, resulting in a large update over Christmas which included several images of the Millennial Fair map and some concept art. While not as many preview images exist, these more than make up for the failed Chrono Trigger: Resurrection project, and offer tantalizing glimpses into the future of Chrono Trigger to its fans. Two of them are featured here; for the full update, check the site mentioned above. Their forums are also very active! Now, let's get to it! TheBrain raised the bar on my interview request by consulting the rest of the team. This should be a treat; additionally, there's a surprise at the end. Here we go!
-----
1. What inspired you to create CTRP?TheBrain: What inspired me for the first time to start this project were some experiments some years ago, in the first Unreal game/engine, recreating Guardia Castle in it's Unreal Editor. I thought back then 'Wouldn't it be cool if CT could be played in this perspective?' Though I was interested in recreating at least the Castle, that minor project unfortunatly didn't survive my old computer. So the idea for a remake was put away for some years. In the later years with only with CC to quench my soul and in the lack of CT news I decided to model some game related stuff. After some trial and error models, in 2002 I was fooling around with Neverwinter Nights Aurora Toolset and after I had recreated the Masamune model for NWN the idea to recreate the game suddenly popped from the back of my brain, however I didn't think CT would look aesthetical enough in NWN. When UT2K3 was released some months later I found that it was the perfect oportunity and the best engine to reproduce the game in Unreal Engine 2 even if it took years...
2. CTRP's had a long history. Have you had to endure any setbacks or major changes to your development?Yes, some...
At the beginning, in 2003, we had a small team that was comprised of Agraba, Jack and myself. We found some weeks later that we weren't alone, there was another remake project - one that used the Morrowind engine [ed.: Chrono Neo]. After some dialogue with their team members we've found that they were more interested in using the existent models in Morrowind, so we decided to move on. We were interested to recreate the CT feeling with it's own art instead of reusing another engine existent artistic resources. Besides, we were already developing in the UT2K3 engine which, although viewed mainly as an FPS because of the main game, is very capable to be modified to any sort of game. In the following months we started to find a lot of independent CT remakes/sequels, until we found TSSF's site that had a tiny picture of Crono's room from an unnamed project; we asked them if they were interested in mutual collaboration, but they politely declined. I guess they interpreted as if we were trying to recruit their members to our mod.
When later we saw what the now renamed CT: Resurrection team was preparing we were in awe...it inspired us to raise our remake bar; we've started the arduous site development (amazing, thanks Rorae ;)), and most stuff from scratch trying to be a little more organized in the process. And we sorta got our acronym hijacked and confused in the way, CT:R..., CTRP... T_T In all this time we lost some team members, but we gained a lot more, those that remained in the team have now more experience.
3. 3D is a very powerful thing. How do you plan to expand on the CT experience by taking advantage of a new dimension?Fortunatly the Unreal Engine 2.5 has a feature called Matinee, so it's possible to create cinematics that were previously unavailable. If you're interested in knowing more of this feature there are a lof of Machinimas (in-game cinematics telling stories) done by the Unreal community, and those show the potential that Matinee has. Also we found that the shader option avaiable in UE2.5 can really spice up our 3D models, by having cube maps, interesting effects, different blends, etc. The Modeling team is now also trying to follow a rigorous Art style from our Art Division, lead by the 'art god' Alezunde. We hope with this to have much better results in the end.
4. Just for clarification, is this a solid remake or will it build on the plot of Chrono Trigger in new ways?Firstly we have planned a solid, playable demo, followed in time by the release of the remake.
We won't touch the main plot but we'll surely add even more replayability to CT by adding mini-games, new events, side quests and possibly some sort of co-operation or duel arena mode (also with the original battle system). Oh, and expect to find a lot of easter eggs.
It will take an awful lot of time, but we're persistent.
5. What has been the hardest challenge in developing CTRP?The hardest challenge of the team is finding the time we wanted to give to our project between all the school, jobs and university life. Most of us just wish that this were our jobs in order to dedicate all the time it deserved. Another challenge is coordination of members that have met exclusively online; we find that difficult to overcome. The rest are just technology challenges that are more easily overcomed with time, persistence, self-teaching, ingenuity and sometimes an extra hand from a new member.
6. The most fun and enjoyable part?The most fun and enjoyable part is when things start 'coming along to life;' it's very awesome to see recreated environments that were only avaiable in 2D. It's very rewarding to hear our amazing music remastered by the dynamic duo when the flags of Millenial Fair are waving and the bell is swinging. It's amazing how something that most of the times starts as a polygon in the end is a still image of the entire Zeal Kingdom rendered with help of multiple layers and more than 1 million polygons.
7. Who's on the CTRP team, and how are they assisting?Currently in CTRP there are 15 members:
In the Art Division, led by Alezunde there are; Moogle_Man, Validus and TheAlmightyNarf.
In the Coding Division, led by me, there is Rorae.
In the Modeling Division, led by Varinder, there are; Agraba, Almighty_Gir and Chuckles.
In the Level Design Division, led by Knives, there are; Jack and Zeekpunk.
In the Sound Division, led by John, there is bLiNd.
8. Did the C&D order for CT: Resurrection affect CTRP in any way?Yes; I guess there are hardly any CT fans who weren't disapointed at what happen to CT: Resurrection. We were all expecting to play their remake; it was shaping up well and looked very professional. Also, we found that SE may want the fans to stay away from their game...at least they've seen CT:R as a threat to their business, even if they haven't shown any plans to 'resurrect' the series. With that C&D, two of our newest team members started to imagine that our situation was very grim too and decided to work on their own project (based loosely on CT?).
9. Recruiting bLiNd for the soundtrack was a spectacular move. How are he and John splitting up the work?John is the Batman of the dynamic duo; he is the one who splits the work. Usually the more upbeat songs, full with sound effects, go to bLiNd; the calmer, piano ones go to John. However, sometimes they battle together because they want to remaster the same song, which is good for the project; it's like a battle of the bands. I believe CTRP wouldn't really feel like CT if it wasn't for our dynamic duo; we're all very thankful for having bLiNd and John on our team.
10. What's the greatest ambition of the project?Finish the entire remake project with something worthy of the CT name, something that we and CT fans see as a tribute.
11. If everything goes well, when can fans expect some progress, or even the full game?About the next site update - we're already working on it; even so, it will take some time. About the whole remake release - it's kind of hard in these projects that depend much on the team members' free time to have a precise date; however, we want to aim our demo to CT's Anniversary, though we wouldn't mind having the entire remake by then. However, it's impossible unless we work in this full time as a job.
12. The UT99 mod Chaos, packaged with the GotY edition, features a sword. Have it and any other modifications by other groups sparked interest in a realtime multiplayer mode?I remember playing Chaos with the bloodstained sword, it was fun and it had interesting things. However, all that gore doesn't fit in much in CT. In the future, we might add a Battle Arena where players can battle together. In the event that we can't find a viable solution for a multiplayer ATB we might try as realtime, or both if our community asks; but first things first... it's more important to finish the solid demo and the full remake.
13. Lastly, if you could get anyone to join the project, what would you have them volunteer to do?We currently have opened positions for: Character Animator, Texture Artists, Unreal Scripter and Character Modeler. However, we're still interested in any CT fan that think he has something to add to our project, being ideas, talent in other areas, etc...
You can check more in our main site, www.chrono-trigger.com , and in our specific thread of our forum:
http://invisionfree.com/forums/Spectral_Wa...p?showtopic=329Also, don't worry if we take time to consider your application, since it depends on various factors, like open positions, our availability to view the submissions, etc... And if you post in the thread, we can always see the applications later if needed.
-----
Wait, what's this? Surprise -- two more mini-interviews! I contacted the music department of CTRP and gave them some questions. They graciously responded; I present to you, John and bLiNd.
1. Who approached you about CTRP, and what got you interested? bLInd: No one did, i just remember reading about a few of the projects, and the resurrection team already had a mixer so i went to the remake team. They had some good progress.
John: Just like blind, no one approached me to do the music for the project. I had just gotten some software and I read through a few music theory books and I decided to hone my skills by doing some of the songs for the project.
2. Which remix do you think has turned out the best so far?bLInd: I'd have to say Secret of the Forest has the most perfect instrument timbre and "remake" quality of any. It was also the first, that got me on the team.
John: None really. I guess the best in my opinion is the Undersea Palace, but it doesnt' capture the feel of the original. It has a more subtle, longing feel to it, and some people aren't too happy about that : )
From CTRP - bLiNd's processI can tell you the process I go thru. I actually take the spc file from the Rom of the game (www.snesmusic.org) and use an spc2midi converter. Thats not even half of it, though. After i convert the spc to midi i have to basically figure out what is what and retranscribe note for note (using a piano roll) the entire song at a proper tempo because the spc converted version is always at the same tempo (any spc converted).
After that's done I edit all midi CC data and clean up the project a lot. This alone can take hours. After thats done i start assigning sounds. I get what i want and tweak and tweak until it sounds acoustic and authentic. After that i do the mixdown, set loop points, export and master. I've got the routine down to a science now, and thats how I can whip them out so fast. I never rely on midis done by ear (www.vgmusic.com) because they are messy and usually aren't 100 percent accurate. Now i could do the whole thing by ear if i wanted but id get probably 1 song done per month at that rate...considering all the other things I do everyday like work. But a lot of it doesnt go so smooth in the conversion process. I HAD to do a lot by ear on some of the tracks which doesn't bother me. I also listen to the original track over and over for details and little tidbits (like panning effects etc). I use Reason 2.5, Cubase SX2, and LOTS AND LOTS of vsts and samples; too many to list. Thats about it in a nutshell.
3. Which has been the hardest or most troublesome? bLInd: Man! FRIKN Boss Battle 2. That song is nuts when you chop it up. Took me a LONG time to get that one right with notation and tempo and all that. Then of course their was the heavy orchestral instruments. Turned out awesome tho!
John: All of the tracks have been troublesome. I really need more experience (people in the forums have probably grown tired of me mentioning this), but I always learn something new with every track and I think "dang, now I have to go back through all of my tracks and re-do everything". Really, when I did the first few tracks, I didn't know what mastering was... nor did I know how to use reverb and other effects.
4. Do you feel any connection with the series after remixing all the music? bLInd: Hell yes. The more i do it the more i realize how much of a genious Yasunori is, not like anyone needs to hear that but man, the guy understands so much about music. I also have extreme nostalgia obviously, thats my main motive.
John: Yes and no. At times I could see what Mitsuda was trying to do with the music, and sometimes I couldn't see what his "angle" was. I'm sorry to say that I don't feel closer to the game, but I sure have a few of the songs stuck in my head : )
5. Any shoutout to fans or CTRP staff you want to give? bLInd: Well John and TheBrain come to mind right now, they support me quite a bit with my work and keep me motivated for the team. The whole team has given me lots of good feedback too, cant forget them! And of course Zeality (YOU!) because you are one of my biggest internet fans...
John: mmmm everyone. Especially blind. I've learned a lot from listening to his work repeatedly.
I just hope people won't judge me too hard on my earlier work (because I think they suck the big one). I think that the tracks that I'm currently working on might contain some points of interest for listeners.
-----
And that wraps it up. I hope this feature has given you considerably insight into the workings of this fantastic project, and has maybe even rekindled some interest in the Chrono series. 3D Chrono Trigger isn't merely a dream, and when it's done, it'll be done correctly thanks to the undying efforts of the Chrono Trigger Remake Project team. Thank them sometime! ZeaLitY out.
From:
http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Feature_6 