FireRed hack: (HoTW #59) Pokemon Dissension

[Flyingtacos]

Name: Flyingtacos
Age: 14
I have not ever beta tested before and yes I have access to a clean firered rom

 

[Worldslayer608]

Name: Flyingtacos
Age: 14
I have not ever beta tested before and yes I have access to a clean firered rom

I did specify that they were to be sent via PM :S.

A new update should be ready sometime today! So stay tuned!
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[Chesu]

Some new screenshots have been added! If you're reading this, click back to page one and check them out!

 

[Logan]

xD
I like the new screenies! But they are all Skyler. Are you dissing Kelly? xD

 

[jackblaze]

i am new here and i have seen alot of hacks and i have to tell you this looks really good i especially love the versatility i really hope you finish this hack good luck

 

[alo123]

The screen shots are great and so is the storyline cant wait for the release keep up the good work

 

[kiry]

The screenshots and such look great!
Very nice, I love the graphics you made.

And I'd love to beta test it, but.. heh.. mac doesn't support the 'show content' buttons, so I can't get to the link xD.

 

[Chesu]

Chesu here! As some of you may know, I'm the lead spriter
for Pokemon Dissension. What you may not know is how much
goes into designing each character. With that in mind, starting today
I'll be giving you a look behind the curtain, at the development
process of some of Dissension's most important characters.
The first character we'll be looking at is...

Spoiler:

Skyler

When I first starter working on characters for Dissension,
Slayer told me that his idea for the male protagonist was similar
to Palmer, the Tower Tycoon from Diamond and Pearl, but younger,
with a different color scheme. I doodled a simple concept
image based on his description.

While Slayer liked the basic design, it was too... well, basic.
He sent back his own more detailed doodle, and we agreed that
it was definitely more befitting a Pokemon series protagonist.

An early version of Skyler's sprite.

We tried a few different poses, and about forty shades
of brown, red, blue, and gray for his hair, but we eventually
settled on black. Before too long, I'd made a sprite that
we both liked, which became Skyler's final design.

Next time, I'll take you down the long, winding,
and much more interesting road that is the design
process of Kelly, Skyler's female counterpart.

​

 

[Jαcκςση]

Wow, looks awesome chesu. Graphically, this looks top-notch. Good luck with this. Kiu.

 

[PabloStudioZ]

r u still looking for help?

 

[Worldslayer608]

Pokemon Dissension is at a crossroads.

A Possible shift to using RMXP is being considered. If you would like to find out more, please read the latest news update at the top of the original thread post. This shift will offer more features to players, and help us build Koen in a more vivid manner.

Please give me some feedback on what you think so I can decide what platform will be used. Dissension can only be produced on one of these platforms at a time, so please help me decide which one should be used for Dissension :)

Please note that the ROM hack production has not halted.
​

 

[colcolstyles]

Pokemon Dissension is at a crossroads.

A Possible shift to using RMXP is being considered. If you would like to find out more, please read the latest news update at the top of the original thread post. This shift will offer more features to players, and help us build Koen in a more vivid manner.

Please give me some feedback on what you think so I can decide what platform will be used. Dissension can only be produced on one of these platforms at a time, so please help me decide which one should be used for Dissension :)

Please note that the ROM hack production has not halted.
​

A possible shift? From reading that blog entry, it seems quite a bit of work has already been done :\
Well, I hope you are making the right choice. I guess every hacker experiences a stage when they feel like switching to Game Making. Some resist the temptation, some give in, and then some switch, find out it wasn't a good idea, and then return to ROM Hacking (eg. Disturbed ;)). I hope that's the case with you as I really would prefer to play this as a ROM hack. But it's up to you. Make the right choice.

 

[Worldslayer608]

A possible shift? From reading that blog entry, it seems quite a bit of work has already been done :\
Well, I hope you are making the right choice. I guess every hacker experiences a stage when they feel like switching to Game Making. Some resist the temptation, some give in, and then some switch, find out it wasn't a good idea, and then return to ROM Hacking (eg. Disturbed ;)). I hope that's the case with you as I really would prefer to play this as a ROM hack. But it's up to you. Make the right choice.

The work that has gone into the RMXP version was pretty much just for some screens and for the sake or learning RMXP and RGSS in general.

Game Development will offer more features, but as you stated does not have the wonderful feature of playing it on a hand held.

End result will be a version for both a ROM and a RMXP standalone at some point, but I can only work on one version at a time, and Dissensions RH data is already backed up for later use.

I have been in Game modification for quite a few years, and once more, GD will allow me to further my skills and knowledge base as well as help me provide a much more intimate game.

I hope I get more feedback though :D and thanks for that post colcolstyles, it is very much appreciated :).
​

 

[Wichu]

A possible shift? From reading that blog entry, it seems quite a bit of work has already been done :\
Well, I hope you are making the right choice. I guess every hacker experiences a stage when they feel like switching to Game Making. Some resist the temptation, some give in, and then some switch, find out it wasn't a good idea, and then return to ROM Hacking (eg. Disturbed ;)). I hope that's the case with you as I really would prefer to play this as a ROM hack. But it's up to you. Make the right choice.

You make it sound like game development is a bad thing :P Besides, he said that both a ROM hack version and an RMXP version will be available. He just can't work on both at once.

The work that has gone into the RMXP version was pretty much just for some screens and for the sake or learning RMXP and RGSS in general.

Game Development will offer more features, but as you stated does not have the wonderful feature of playing it on a hand held.

End result will be a version for both a ROM and a RMXP standalone at some point, but I can only work on one version at a time, and Dissensions RH data is already backed up for later use.

I have been in Game modification for quite a few years, and once more, GD will allow me to further my skills and knowledge base as well as help me provide a much more intimate game.

I hope I get more feedback though :D and thanks for that post colcolstyles, it is very much appreciated :).
​

I would say that you should finish the beta/demo of the ROM hack version first, before starting on an RMXP version. It's not nice when someone leaves a project on hiatus when it's nearing completion... Alternatively, you could get someone else to lead the hack project while you work on RMXP (or vice-versa). In the past, I've actually considered asking someone to make a ROM hack version of Amethyst (this idea is on hold for now, so don't get excited :P).
Also, if you're switching to RMXP, you shouldn't use the starter kit just by itself. Although it does have many great features, the basic kit's graphics (and a few scripts, i.e. Pokédex) are rather shabby. Make sure you put some effort into keeping the graphics consistent, and customising the scripts a bit. As a side note, your title screen will look off at the lower resolution, since it's made for 480x320; instead of making it at 480x320, make it at 240x160 and then enlarge it. It will look pixellated at the higher resolution, but it will be consistent with the rest of the game.
But yeah, personally, I'd finish up with the ROM hack first before moving on to RMXP. It's better to work on a popular project and not disappoint everyone than it is to start a 'new' project and leave all your supporters hanging...

 

[Conan Edogawa]

If you can't put all the features that you have in the link into a hack then a regular game will be better. I think doing to versions would be good: one a rom hack and one a game. They could be like Ruby is to Sapphire. They just can't trade with each other.

 

[Worldslayer608]

You make it sound like game development is a bad thing :P Besides, he said that both a ROM hack version and an RMXP version will be available. He just can't work on both at once.

I would say that you should finish the beta/demo of the ROM hack version first, before starting on an RMXP version. It's not nice when someone leaves a project on hiatus when it's nearing completion... Alternatively, you could get someone else to lead the hack project while you work on RMXP (or vice-versa). In the past, I've actually considered asking someone to make a ROM hack version of Amethyst (this idea is on hold for now, so don't get excited :P).
Also, if you're switching to RMXP, you shouldn't use the starter kit just by itself. Although it does have many great features, the basic kit's graphics (and a few scripts, i.e. Pokédex) are rather shabby. Make sure you put some effort into keeping the graphics consistent, and customising the scripts a bit. As a side note, your title screen will look off at the lower resolution, since it's made for 480x320; instead of making it at 480x320, make it at 240x160 and then enlarge it. It will look pixellated at the higher resolution, but it will be consistent with the rest of the game.
But yeah, personally, I'd finish up with the ROM hack first before moving on to RMXP. It's better to work on a popular project and not disappoint everyone than it is to start a 'new' project and leave all your supporters hanging...

One thing that motivated the possible GD version using RMXP was RGSS and the opportunity to expand my knowledge and customize my scripts. I currently have two versions of the title screen ones at 480x320 and one at 240x160. I used the big one to show people as it gave them a bit more detail, but intened on using the 240x160 in the final product.

As far as finishing up the beta release then switching over, for some reason that is not and never has really been my style. I like to bring a single project full circle after a beta. Putting out a beta then letting production sit afterwards does not jive with me too much, as a beta release is more than just giving the fans something to play, it is so I have a benchmark, and a list of kinks to work out. It is for me to gather a general list of things to do.

Perhaps I will open the project manager spot and let someone else take the wheel for a while. We will see :)
​

 

[Chesu]

I was resistant to the idea of switching development platforms at first, but after learning a bit about the implications, I was all for it. Pretty much everything related to the actual programming of the game will only take a fraction of the time it has in ROM hacking.. Slayer could replicate all of the work he's put into the hack so far in just a day with RMXP!

For quite a while, Slayer's wanted Pokemon to be all over the place in the overworld... a ranch full of Mareep, gym leaders with their signature Pokemon at their sides, wild Pokemon drinking at the edge of a lake... Since everything in the top layer of sprites shares only a handful of palettes in the ROM, though, we won't even know which Pokemon we can have in the overworld until all of the palettes have been assigned. RMXP has no such limitations.

Dissension's story actually begins in the middle of the night, which is tricky to express in the FireRed ROM... but incredibly easy with RMXP, as Pokemon Essentials already has a day/night system. There are quite a few things that we want to do that would be difficult (some may be impossible, we're not sure yet) to pull off in a ROM hack, which we could just do on the independent platform. The project would be more or less the same... Slayer doesn't intend to revise the plot in any significant way, just to broaden it in a way that wouldn't work on a GBA game. The only real drawbacks I can think of are that we would move the project to another board, and hang up our "Hack of the Week" award.

 

[qgmon1234]

I think for the games sake it would seem better to put the game on rmxp. But it would be better if you chose the one that would be easier for you to work on it >_>

 

[jps101]

I love the look of the game so far. I wouldn't mind being a tester. I haven't been on before but I have got a rom in the wings where someone wants me ot test it.

 

[Worldslayer608]

I think for the games sake it would seem better to put the game on rmxp. But it would be better if you chose the one that would be easier for you to work on it >_>

There is not really an 'easier' one to work on, they both require... well work. Each has it's challenges and each has its easy aspects.

I will keep everyone informed over the next week as to what might or might not happen.

More feedback would be great in the mean time :P
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