Chrono Trigger: Schala Edition

This hack alters events of the game so that Schala is rescued as part of the normal course of events. Schala remains part of the game world through the rest of the story and can be interacted with regularly.

Other changes include: an expanded version of the original Ted Woolsey translation, new items and Techs, new enemies and dungeons, new locations and NPCs, new shops and treasures, and a lot of surprises along the way. More alterations are explained in the readme.

2.2 is a cleanup of 2.1, including typo corrections and repairs to minor bugs. The primary game content is not altered.

Please note: this hack does include the New Game+ feature, despite what was stated in one of the reviews.

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| Chrono Trigger SNES |
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| - Schala Edition - |
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| Version 2.2 |
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| Release: 03-20-2023 |
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| - By - |
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| Fauntleroy |
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Schala Edition is a modified version of Chrono Trigger where Schala is recovered during the normal course of events. Saving her isn't hidden or bonus content, nor is it an optional sidequest.

Please note that Schala isn't a playable character. I'd love to have a playable Schala someday, but at this point, it's beyond the ability of the hacking community. There's more on this at the end of the document.

My goal was to create a scenario with Schala similar to what I expected the first time I played Chrono Trigger back in 1995. Also, with this being the Schala Edition, Schala has a few additional appearances and mentions during the story.

My advice while playing would be: if a townsperson mentions one of your party members, take that party member to meet the person, as they will most likely have interaction. Sometimes, other members of your party will even chime in with additional comments.

Also, a lot of story arcs for background characters are resolved after the Black Omen, so you might enjoy some extra exploration before the final battle.

Here's a rundown of just about everything that the patch changes. Some behind the scenes and purely cosmetic edits are not listed here.

GENERAL:
- There's a ton of new text with some new scenes, new NPCs, and lots of new opportunities for characters to interact.
- Many items, Techs, enemies, enemy abilities, etc. have had their names and stats adjusted.
- "Walking in place" is virtually eliminated. If a person is walking, and you stop them to talk, they will stop moving and face you.
- The 1999 AD overworld is now a full map and appears instead of the 1000 AD map during the bad ending.
- New map locations were added:
- 4 in 1000 AD (only one available from the start)
- 1 in 2300 AD (not available from the start)
- 3 in 65,000,000 BC (not available from the start)
- 8 in 12,000 BC (all on the "Last Village" map)
- Everybody in 600 AD now speaks in pseudo-Elizabethan prose.
- It's possible to access a few previously unreachable places, such as the area below the rafters in Arris Dome.
- The pointless roadblock no longer appears in 1000 AD Guardia Forest during the late game.
- Once you get the Epoch it will always be waiting for you at the End of Time; you can't inadvertently leave it anywhere.
- The flying Epoch won't time travel when you first get it. This isn't a bug; it's part of the story.
- If you fail to save Lara, you can try again! You can go back to Fiona's Forest during the day, but make sure Lucca is in your party.

CHARACTERS:
- Magus is no longer optional as a party member; he will join as part of the normal story progression.
- Marle and Frog both lost *Cure 2 in favor of new final Techs.
- Ayla's Tailspin now does Lightning-element damage.
- Glenn is always returned to his human form in the main ending.
- Ending Glenn now more closely resembles his appearance in the PSX ending cut scene.

ITEMS:
- These items were removed:
- HyperEther (overpowered; makes Elixirs less valuable)
- Lapis (erodes Heal Beam and *Heal specialties of Robo and Frog)
- Shield (erodes *Protect specialty of Lucca)
- Barrier (erodes *Shell specialty of Magus)
- Power Meal (pointless)
- Megalixirs are more scarce. Only one can be found in a chest and chances to steal from Ruminators are limited.
- Several new story items were added (Royal Pin, Bromide, etc.).
- There's now only one instance of each Accessory per playthrough.
- The colored rocks are changed into superior "final" Accessories, but still grant access to the special Triple Techs.
- Most shops have adjustments to their stock, and there are also a few new shops.
- The armors at the Ioka trading hut update when the weapons do.

ENEMIES:
- New enemies were added, including bosses.
- Enemies no longer drop items. The only exceptions are the enemies in 65,000,000 BC who drop trading materials.
- All enemies Ayla can face have an item to steal. Enemies Alya can never face do not carry items.
- Spekkio always starts out with his Kilwala form and only grows into stronger forms after you've beaten him in battle.
- Enemies in Heckran's Cave, aside from the Henches and Heckran, respawn every time the whirlpool warp is accessed.
- All enemies and bosses can be fought in each instance of the Black Omen (1000 AD, 600 AD, 12,000 BC).
- Lavos no longer goes through a boss medley sequence.

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| Setup Instructions |
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You will need the 032023schalahack.ips file as well as an unaltered copy of the Chrono Trigger SNES American release ROM.

Dump Name Chrono Trigger (USA)
Filesize 4.00 MB
CRC32 2D206BF7
MD5 A2BC447961E52FD2227BAED164F729DC
SHA-1 DE5822F4F2F7A55ACB8926D4C0EAA63D5D989312

After the patch is applied:
CRC32 C22C173F
MD5 D1B27D8A78536A1D3BCBF076C7BEFE9D
SHA-1 8C2FECDC40D088F2860B694160A130D344CBAAEF

Please do not ask me for ROMs; I will not provide them.

I recommend using the Lunar IPS utility to apply the patch to the ROM. As of this writing, you can download Lunar IPS here:
http://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/lips/

To apply the patch:
1.) Open Lunar IPS and click the Apply IPS Patch button.
2.) Select the 032023schalahack.ips file.
3.) Select the ROM to be patched.
4.) You're all set! It's that easy!

As far as which emulator to use, I personally like Snes9X. Snes9X has its own website:
http://www.snes9x.com/

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| Credits |
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This project would not have been possible without the helpful folks at the Chrono Compendium, especially Mauron, who helped me work through countless bugs, headaches, and dead ends. I also want to thank everybody who playtested the beta releases, or even just gave general feedback on the earlier versions. I appreciate your bug reports and suggestions! Until next time!

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| Playable Schala? |
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There are folks working away at adding an eighth playable character to Chrono Trigger, and this will probably become possible someday. If so, I intend to revisit this hack to make Schala a playable character. She would join after Magus rescues her in 12,000 BC.

My first goal is to make Schala an enemy who fights alongside the party during the boss battle where she's rescued. She'll have the ability to restore some of the party's HPs, heal their status ailments, or attack the boss with *Dark Mist. This smaller goal will require further study of how enemy AI is handled in Chrono Trigger. The second and final goal is then to make Schala a fully playable character.

Schala would be able to use all of the same helmets and armors as Marle. Her weapon would be her pendant. It would be a long-rage weapon based around the Hit stat, just like Marle's bows and Lucca's guns. Schala would shoot a magical bolt out of the pendant, or smack an enemy with the pendant at close range. Similar to Ayla's fists, it would be impossible to remove Schala's weapon, but it would grow stronger every time Queen Zeal is defeated at the Black Omen (either in a single playthrough or during a New Game+). It would eventually max out, like Ayla's fists.

Schala would be a Shadow magic user, like Magus. She'd start out with four Single Techs and would have to learn the rest. Her abilities would be something like this:
1.) *Water 2 (Crono Cross seemed to establish a connection between Schala and water)
2.) *Cure 2 (remember that Marle and Glenn both lost *Cure 2 in this hack)
3.) *Recover (remedy all status ailments of all allies)
4.) *Dark Mist (same as what Magus has)
5.) *Heal 2 (like Frog's *Heal, but stronger)
6.) *Dark Wave (similar to *Dark Mist, but more powerful)
7.) *Life 3 (same as the Auto-Life Triple Tech or the Green Dream accessory)
8.) *Dark Flare (similar to Lucca's *Flare spell but with a black and purple color palette: the most powerful Single Tech in the game)

I tend to think that, like Magus, Schala wouldn't have any Dual Techs or Triple Techs unless there were one or two granted by special accessories. I'd like to see a Dual Tech with Magus (Geyser?) and a Triple Tech with Marle and Lucca (Shadow damage + Stop?).

Database match: Chrono Trigger (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Super Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210222-050638)
File/ROM SHA-1: DE5822F4F2F7A55ACB8926D4C0EAA63D5D989312
File/ROM CRC32: 2D206BF7