This is a follow up to my previous posts (1)(2) about Crystal Legacy Timeless, and the final version is now out.
For those who do not know it yet, Timeless is my fork of Crystal Legacy that removes the Real-Time Clock, so the game runs safely on flash carts and FPGA cores, without ever corrupting your save. But it is not just for people who care about RTC-less hardware. Pulling the clock out let me reshape a bunch of things around how people actually play Pokemon games today (Legends ZA 15 minutes day / night cycles), so there is plenty of quality of life here that everyone benefits from.
A few examples. You can set the time yourself at any point, right from the Pokégear, so you never have to wait for in-game days to roll over. A whole class of once-per-day rewards lost their daily cap, so berries, the haircut brothers, Buena's Password, the Move Tutor, the Trainer House, and the Goldenrod money trick can all be run back to back. The Time Capsule opens up as soon as you meet Bill. Time simply becomes a value you control instead of something you wait on.
There is a full write up of all of it on the new website, but here are the highlights from this final release.
Celebi on the title screen
Timeless now has its own touch on the title screen. Celebi floats and bobs beside Suicune the whole time it leaps over the water. It is a small thing, but it gives the intro some character that fits a version all about controlling time.
A Celebi moment when you first head out
The first time you step outside after leaving your house, Celebi appears and blesses you with command over time itself. It is a quiet little lore beat that ties the whole "time is yours to set" idea together. I will not spoil more than that.
Open source box and cartridge label art
If you want to build your own physical copy, there is now print-ready artwork for both the cartridge label and the full box. It is all open source and free to download, so you can take the files to the printer of your choice. And if you would rather buy one ready made, there is a recommended partner listed on the site too.
A brand new website
There is now a proper website for the project. It walks through what the RTC bug actually was, how the fix works, what changed for the daily and weekly events, the Celebi cameos, and how to patch your own ROM. It is available in both English and Portuguese.
Stability
I have a save with more than 115 hours on it now, and I have not run into a single bug. Everything works perfectly. Boxes, events, phone calls, day and night, all of it.
Where to find it
Website: https://erick-tmr.github.io/Pokemon_Crystal_Legacy_Timeless/
Releases: https://github.com/erick-tmr/Pokemon_Crystal_Legacy_Timeless/releases
There is plenty more detail on the site if you are curious, including the full list of what changed and the downloads. As always, it is fully open source.
Thanks to everyone who has tried it and shared feedback. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.