Proto:Chrono Trigger (SNES)/Area Differences/600 AD

Overworld
While 600 AD's world map didn't get tweaked as much as 1000's did, there are still some subtle differences, and three somewhat significant ones:


 * Truce Canyon is represented by a cave instead of a path in the prototype. Probably changed because this made no sense whatsoever; the "path" graphic already existed, after all (note the Denadoro Mountains). An extra tile was also added to the top of the "paths" in the final version, making them look much smoother.


 * Ozzie's Fort originally displayed two towers (instead of one) on the world map, and the forest surrounding it was a bit larger. The interior is, however, largely unchanged, save for scroll boundaries not being in place. The concept of twin towers here may have even preceded this prototype, or it may have simply been an aesthetic choice.


 * The forest north of Ozzie's Fort was modified to an extent. Most noticeably, a small clearing existed around the sealed ruins, accessible via a small path leading through the trees, similar to the one used to reach the cathedral in the final. It still can't be entered, however. The forest itself was also made slightly smaller in the final.


 * Giant's Claw exists on the map, and some maps for it exist in the prototype, but it cannot be entered.


 * Purely decorative changes include the addition of the same peninsula seen in 1000 AD, several trees being added in various locations, a tiny inlet near Denadoro Mountains being removed, and the removal of a broken dirt path just south of Dorino.

Cursed Woods
Entering the Cursed Woods normally causes the game to reset to the title screen. It can be explored properly with the following codes:

F722A6E2 F722A71F F722A9CD F722AA25

With the lockout removed, it's clear that the Cursed Woods are finished. The design is identical to the final, as are the events, right down to the randomly appearing Nu. However, in the prototype, it uses the 1000 AD forest palette instead of the one for 600 AD forests.

Frog's house contained an extra (empty) chest in the prototype, which was removed entirely in the final.

Magic Cave
While attempting to enter the Magic Cave from its south entrance will boot you back to the name entry screen, it can be entered and explored via the entrance near Magus' Castle. Its design is identical to its final incarnation, but there are a few event differences:



The dead guard with the warning note next to the entrance is not present in the prototype.



In addition to the rats and bats, some strange insect-like creatures that resemble Sir Krawlie appear in battle. These were removed from the final.



Attempting to exit from the other end gets you this message, which translates to "This appears to be a dead end.", and you're preventing from actually leaving. This is simply one of the prototype's "the demo doesn't continue beyond this point" blockoffs.

Magus' Lair
Yet another of many areas that resembles the final in terms of design, but differs in various subtle ways.

General changes:
 * Magus' Lair is one of the "demo" areas; however, one can normally only get as far as defeating Slash and Flea, and the game cuts to a "Coming Soon" message and quits to the title screen when stepping on the light that would normally send you further in. Nevertheless, the castle can still be explored via hacking.
 * When entering the castle, "Confusing Melody" is played while the screen pans up over the castle, rather than "Magus' Castle".
 * The first battle with Slash (before he picks up his sword) is considerably easier in the prototype than it is in the final, as Slash has far less HP.
 * The fake Flea does not use MP Buster when defeated.
 * The Slasher is not won after beating Slash, and the Magic Tab does not appear after Flea is defeated.
 * The areas beyond the demo lack events. These codes can re-enable some, but not all, of them:

F7255580 F7255682 F725581A F7255985 F7256D29 F7256EA4 F72570E5 F72571A6

In the prototype, the Slasher, as seen mounted on the wall in Slash's room, was unsheathed. Its hilt also changed from brown in the prototype to gold in the final.

The monsters summoned by Ozzie were replaced with stronger palette swaps in the final.



The fake children/shadow monsters regenerate upon leaving the room and returning in the prototype. In the final, they're gone for good once defeated.



If Frog is not included in the team, Queen Leene will still appear in the "doppleganger" room, but does not move and cannot be interacted with.

The monsters transformed into (and summoned) by the dopplegangers are also of the weaker variety. For the record, the Sorcerers are also much weaker in the prototype.



After defeating the first of the dopplegangers, a strange glitched object appears in its place. Touching it causes you to fight the same battle as before, after which it disappears.



Flea's left leg is graphically glitched for some reason.

The guillotine chamber is slightly different in the prototype: the little room at the end was moved back one tile, the carpeted stairs were changed to extend across the entire hall, and the lower-right guillotine was moved up one tile.

More minor architectural differences: The columns in the statue hall were all moved down slightly. There's no particular reason for this change, as although it's possible to avoid battle by walking around the statues in the prototype, this cannot be done in the final due to a different monster setup. Plus the statues can still be walked around.

The Roly monsters in the side-view tower areas had a broken palette in the prototype. In addition, the final uses standard Rolies in the first tower and the black Roly Bombers in the second. In the prototype, Roly Bombers appear in both towers. They also do not self-destruct when attacked, but rather counter with an attack on the entire team.

The symbol in Magus' chamber is brighter in the prototype. Also, while it cannot be seen in-game, a second duplicate chamber is present in the prototype alongside the normal one. What purpose this would have served is unknown, but it was cut from the final entirely.

Sunken Desert
The Sunken Desert exists in a very preliminary state in the prototype. It's clearly unfinished, and differs greatly from its final incarnation:

The first part of the cavern is much smaller and less interesting in the prototype, and contains no treasure chests whatsoever.

However, the second part of the cavern, when compared to the final, is much bigger, far more elaborate, and absolutely loaded with chests! Unfortunately, the developers evidently deemed this a tad bit...much, and decided to scale it down drastically.



Also present with the Sunken Desert maps in the prototype is this mess. Whatever this is appears to be incomplete (note some of the poorly-placed tiles), although whether it was the start of an unfinished and ultimately scrapped third section, or simply a place where graphics to be used later were pulled from, is unknown. This...thing isn't present in the final at all.

Ozzie's Fort
Ozzie's Fort is in a very preliminary state in the prototype. There are no events present, no scroll boundaries in place, and the background music ("Underground Sewer") has water effects in the background, unlike the final.

Structurally, however, it isn't a whole lot different. An extra room was added in the final, as were two chests in the largest room (where Ozzie and company are fought), the secret room where Magus' strongest equipment can be found doesn't seem to exist in the prototype, and the prototype also features a strange pit shaped like an upside-down T in the final chamber.

Giant's Claw
The Giant's Claw may be inaccessible from the world map in the prototype, but maps for it do exist, and although there are no events whatsoever (not even chest data; chests simply don't open at all), all the exits are perfectly intact, allowing for exploration.

The dungeon's assorted smaller caves were moved around for some reason, although only the upper-right (prototype)/lower-right (final) room saw much in the way of real changes, going from a dead-end treasure room in the prototype to an emergency back exit in the final. The empty room in the lower right (prototype)/upper right (final) is accessible in the prototype, but not the final.

The Tyrano Lair remnants were given a much different palette, unique to Giant's Claw, in the final. The prototype uses the same palette as the Tyrano Lair, which itself differs from the palette used in the final. The large door at the back of the throne room does not open.

An extra cave entrance was present in the first large tunnel in the prototype. It leads to the Tyrano Lair teleporter maze (which inexplicably plays the Guardia Castle theme), then exits to the small empty room mentioned above. This was closed off in the final, and the teleporter maze is no longer accessible.

Other minor changes to this room include a chest on the far right being replaced with a Power Tab, and the cliff near the south exit being lengthened slightly.

The second large tunnel features a rope ladder in the final which was not present in the prototype, which eventually leads back to the entrance. As you have to fall into a pit in order to proceed, this is necessary in order to leave.

A chest in the upper part of the room was also removed, but unlike the instance above, it was not replaced with anything.

The final area was changed significantly for the final. Originally, it was a one-screen cave containing the Rust Tyrano, while another cave present in the back that has no noticeable entrance was presumably used to house the Rainbow Shell. In the final, it was changed to a straightforward tunnel. The Rust Tyrano's red palette had also yet to be included, so it looks exactly the same as the Black Tyrano.



Removing the Tyrano from the map reveals nothing behind it. The structure of the final area would suggest that a cave was supposed to appear upon its defeat?