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you should put in some stuff about xse, and tutorial updates.
and i think you should interview someone like cooley or ~Wind.
They're both great hackers in my opinion.
Hackmew's not here.
Maybe D-trogh.
He's always making useful tools, and you put an issue about him today.
So he's already in the spotlight.
This is coming out weekly, right?
Some stuff about XSE? AFAIK there haven't been any updates to XSE for quite a while. Since people don't want to vote on who they want to be interviewed I will decide. Next weeks interviewee is someone who has been hacking for a very very long time. Yup its definitely gonna be weekly.
my guess is every week. i think a month is too long too wait and will attract less viewers. but if they update every week, they'll get more viewers, but then they'll (peeps who made this) start getting it up late and forget to do their part so they'll probly need help. people want more and more if its weekly, but then the creators might get stressed and quit this. so i VOTE for it to be every two weeks. that way, its even, and the creators get their spare time.
Yayyy! That was super professional. Haha.
I enjoyed reading the review of my hack (I feel much honor in being the first reviewee). Even if it was a little biased...HUMPH! Just Kidding! =) Although, I can almost guarantee I won't be changing a lot of the things you didn't like. I'll make a more in-depth story for the new neighbor later, so it won't seem as random. Although, the Pokedex was outdated! Haha. And don't worry, I like the ROM Base! ^__^;;
Anywho, the Format looks stunning, and I'm most certainly keeping a watchful eye on this! Although, it would be easier if you kept all the issues in one thread like the Hack of the Week thread (now, I'm reviewing you! Ha!). I'd love to be a writer if/when a recruitment thread pops up, or an interviewee (I could talk about teaching myself how to script [funny stories there...])!
{EDIT: Okay, COMPLETELY off-topic here, but I noticed that you're username has Hayabusa in it. That's the name of the Carpet-making place in Steambot Chronicles!!! Sorry, for that slight outburst. Tehe. =)}
I'm happy to hear you aren't going to change your ideas just because I didn't like them. More hackers should just do what they believe instead of making a hack so people will like it.
You seem like you would be quite a good reviewer... My only concern is that (forgive me if I'm wrong) you haven't been hacking for very long. I'm still a little undecided. For the next issue I've got a bunch of ideas so I won't need another interviewer. Excellent idea about having them in the same thread. I don't want to clutter the Rom Hacking section with my newsletter. Carpet making place? XD
So the next issue is coming sooner than usual, my school ball is on Saturday so I won't be able to release it on Sunday. :P
Therefore issue 2 will be coming on Friday!!!!
This does mean that there is no HOTW review (there will be two HOTW reviews the following week) but there will be 3 reviews to make up for it.
I've picked my interviewee and I'm sure that this person will be very interesting to talk to. The interview is going to be held via MSN so unless people really want to have it live I won't be using the IRC channel.
Hmm... what else? The next release will be here. I will ask a mod to change the name of the thread. Unless its possible to do so yourself (anyone know how?). So in summary... check back next Friday, don't vote for interviewees and keep the C&C coming!
it would be funny if he interviewed himself, but i don't care who he interviews. I just like to read it. The first one was good. Why cant the second one be?
I'm happy to hear you aren't going to change your ideas just because I didn't like them. More hackers should just do what they believe instead of making a hack so people will like it.
You seem like you would be quite a good reviewer... My only concern is that (forgive me if I'm wrong) you haven't been hacking for very long. I'm still a little undecided. For the next issue I've got a bunch of ideas so I won't need another interviewer. Excellent idea about having them in the same thread. I don't want to clutter the Rom Hacking section with my newsletter. Carpet making place? XD
In actuality, I've been hacking for probably a year...but when talking about scripting...well, you've hit the nail on the head! I probably tried scripting 5 or 6 times before realizing, "Ohhh, you can put whatever you want after the $" (we're talking about the PokeScript days). Tehehe.
I'm excited to have given advice for how to distribute the ROM Hacker's Weekly! It'll make it easier for me to keep up.
Another idea I had (although, based on something someone already thought up)...I saw what Visual said about the CSS and what you said and thought how you could do something along the lines of like the "Trendy Center" where you could put the info about CSS and other things like...I dunno...maybe, trends involving the use of Fakemon or other things (I haven't looked at a lot of other hacks recently...)?? You don't even have to do it for every issue, just when some new trend among hacks pop up!
{Off-Topic EDIT, Redux: Yayss! First Post on Second Page!}
Welcome to second issue of RHN! The first issue was a hit! I'm very pleased to see the amount of positive feedback that we got! Here are a few of the comments the first issue received:
Interesting, it was interesting to read (specially when people take this kind of things seriously it always makes me happy), hope to see more issues in the future.
By the way, the newsletter has a nice layout, very professional.
but if they update every week, they'll get more viewers, but then they'll (peeps who made this) start getting it up late and forget to do their part so they'll probly need help.
I'd like to introduce a new member to the staff... its Cartmic. A very experienced hacker who will not only be a reviewer but is also this weeks interviewee! Also new to the staff; Time, who will be a reviewer also.
The newsletter is now called "Rom Hacking Newsletter" just because it sounds better, if you have an even better name please post it. This week we've got a whopping 2 hack reviews + a new segment; Hacking News, which will talk about the goings on in the Rom Hacking scene (and shamelessly promote the staffs hacks).
Last weeks feedback was good but what we would like to see more of are ideas and criticisms. So now that all the serious stuff is out of the way, sit back, relax and enjoy this weeks issue!
Opening words by dshayabusa
Hacking News
Staying current with the rom hacking scene CSS Designed Threads
There has been a recent explosion of threads with CSS threads in the Hacks Showcase. Don't get me wrong, thread presentation is important and I love visiting threads that are neat and organised. The only problem is when the all start looking the same. I must have had at least 10 requests from people to use the Pokemon Genesis threads CSS. I really can't disallow it because there's nothing to stop people from simply quoting the thread and stealing the code for themselves...
I don't mind if people look at the code to learn how to use it but don't just copy the whole thing and only change the font/colours.
Movie Based Hacks
Movie based hacks? I thought everyone hated the anime? I know I certainly do... Why anyone would want to play through a very poorly constructed plot is beyond me. Ok, maybe I'm a little biased, but think about it. Hacking is very limited, there are just too many restrictions to make a decent movie based hack.
Pokemon Genesis Delayed
Oh noes! Most of you won't care but anywho... Yeah, Pokemon Genesis will be delayed for an unknown period of time. Not only have I got bored of hacking but I've got a few too many things to do. I won't be releasing a fixed beta btw. If I had to estimate the time till the next update I would say about 3 weeks. I'll still be doing this newsletter though since I can get everything done in under an hour.
Article by dshayabusa
Hack Review
Hacks in review
Pokémon Lost Treasure[Link] Hack Author: MaKü Reviewed By: Time Reviewer's Rating: 3.7/5
POKéMON Lost Treasure is one of the new hacks in the Hack Showcase thread. And for me, it has the potential of completion, that is, if the hacker's motivated to go on.
Now, about the hack, well, let us start with the mapping. This includes the palletes, and the tiles as well. And so far, in the screenshots, it's really looking pretty nice. I like how the trees look as well as the soft-coloured ground. But the grass tiles are somehow blending with the ground. It needs a darker pallete. Also, the flowers' pallete are green, which also is needing for a pallete change.
Also, it's noticeable that the hack has this some ancient statue tiles which are interesting.
There are new updated screenshots showing about a 'torn world'-like area, which was pretty cool. I just wish the scripts are as awesome as the screenshots.
The story is a bit hanging, however. How in the world did the boat hit a rock? Were the crew asleep or something? We may find out the truth later in the progress of the hack. Other than that, the idea of a boat sinking is a bit unique.
I can't tell whether the scripts are awesome or are boring, for there is no preview of the game available as of now. So let us await for time.
The hero's overworld is a bit irritating in my eyes, to be honest. It's big, really big. I think changing it to a normal-sized hero overworld sprite will add some positive points to this hack.
Let us also note that MaKü has another hack in progress, which is POKéMON SkyIslands.
Though the hack's just begun, it's already a great hack, mainly because of it's tiles and mapping.
I should have known as I downloaded the patch it was going to be bad when I saw the file size. I'm sorry but I am going to have to be really hard here.
This hack is terrible. I feel really bad saying that because of the amount of time and effort you have put into it. But honestly, if you didn't realise how low quality your hack was, then I guess someone else needs to tell you. Not only are there glitches, map errors, scripting errors etc. but this hack also has a lot of offensive text as well.
Truth be told, I didn't actually finish the entire hack. I played for about an hour before getting stuck in a glitch that forced me to get killed by wild Pokemon to get out of. The maps are sooo bad I won't even talk about them, they should be self explanatory. Changing the map connections would have been nice.
New scripts are almost non-existent as much of the game is merely text and OW edits. The text changes have jokes in them that make me cringe. They also use this hack to insult gay people and WOW players. Again, I have not played the entire game so to the best of my knowledge the majority of scripts are not original. This is a rom edit not a rom hack. It definitely needs a LOT more work.
I can't really end the review without talking about one this one thing that really bugged me: the starters. How on Earth did they decide that Machop, Drowzee and Skarmory would be good starters together? Each has a different amount of evolutions. There is no weakness/strength triangle. Drowzee/Hypno are ridiculously weak. Skarmory is ridiculously strong (especially early on). It just doesn't make sense.
Kudos for creating a full game though.
Article by dshayabusa
Tips and Tricks
A cool new trick that you may not have known about
This weeks tip isn't as interesting as last weeks but it might be quite useful? This'll basically just be about how I made the boat script in Pokemon Genesis. Last week I said that you could only go to specific maps but somehow I am able to make the player go wherever I want.
The script itself is a little complex and might take a while to explain everything. Therefore I'm just going to explain the important parts. Last week I explained how to use special 0x17A. Basically what I've done is covered the map that you are taken to after the animation with black tiles that cover everything. Then using the following level script I warp to any map I want.
Ignore the setflag and setvars. #raw 0x3a is warp2 in XSE, it makes it so there is no sound effect when warping. 0x3 0x29 0x1 is the map location and 0x0 0x0 are just fillers.
As I said not that exciting. I've got better ones but I'd like to save them. So, please if you would like to donate a tip, please PM the editor; dshayabusa. You will recieve full credit.
Tip donated by dshayabusa
Interview
An in-depth chat with... Cartmic
Spoiler:
(9:46:40 PM) Malin: How long have you been hacking for? (9:47:34 PM) Cartmic: 6 Years this August (9:48:07 PM) Cartmic: So that would have been back in 2002 (9:48:20 PM) Malin: Wow, that's very impressive! (9:48:30 PM) Malin: Have you been hacking Pokemon only? (9:49:39 PM) Cartmic: Publicly yes, but in private I was fiddling around with Zelda: Links Awakening (9:49:58 PM) Malin: Oh, very cool. (9:50:11 PM) Malin: Is that a lot different to hacking Pokemon games? (9:52:06 PM) Cartmic: Well, almost, a gameboy boy game is a gameboy game, they usually have similarities. (9:52:52 PM) Cartmic: I didn't go too much into Zelda, Pokemon was my main priority (9:53:31 PM) Malin: So what got you interested in rom hacking in the first place? (9:59:54 PM) Cartmic: Well back in 2001 I had an all day rehersal at my Amature Dramics Society, and I got talking to my friend about Pokemon, and he said his friend got Pokemon Yellow on his computer, so after I went home and eventually found out about emulators. Then later on that year I found a site with "home made" Pokemon games, I thought "wow this is great" so I had many 15 minute sessions on the internet.... (10:00:07 PM) Cartmic: Hang on a sec I've got more XD (10:04:41 PM) Cartmic: Looking for "Pokemon Game Makers" I eventually found Pokemap, Thingy32, and Mr CLicks TileED. My first hacks were called Pokemon Emerald, and Pokemon Emerald 2: Flood. The first Emerald was shamefully hacked off another hack, though considering all that they did in it was change the title screen and a bit of Oaks text and that I mostly hacked right over what they did it didnt really matter. (10:05:20 PM) Malin: That was rather lengthy! (10:06:17 PM) Malin: And much more interesting than how most people get into it. (10:06:33 PM) Malin: Anyway... (10:06:47 PM) Malin: We haven't seen a hack from you for while. (10:06:52 PM) Malin: Is there a reason for that? (10:10:10 PM) Cartmic: Yes, going back to my Computing course that led me onto university I didn't release much due to I was busy with that trying to get to university. If I remember correctly I did release something in 2006, there is a beta floating around various rom sites, which I would not recommend playing as it wasn't a very good attempt. (10:13:24 PM) Cartmic: Then this last year a very close family member has been recovering from a Stroke that happened recently. So as well as trying to do my first year at university I was worried about my family member, I eventually had to drop out if university this year and look after them. (10:14:34 PM) Malin: I'm sorry to hear that (10:15:46 PM) Malin: Well I hope your relative gets better soon. (10:16:04 PM) Cartmic: They are getting better, they have made a miraculous recovery! (10:17:03 PM) Malin: What do you think about the Rom Hacking scene today? (10:17:18 PM) Cartmic: A complete and utter shambles! (10:18:19 PM) Cartmic: I see it almost at the point that a rom hacker should go before a board of experienced rom hackers before they can show anything at the hacks showcase of Pokecommunity (10:19:35 PM) Malin: So do you think there should be much harder guidelines to get your thread approved in the showcase? (10:19:46 PM) Cartmic: Yes (10:19:54 PM) Malin: Such as? (10:22:56 PM) Cartmic: Hacks that have maybe one demo or beta out with little content should go into a renamed Scrapbox being the Workshop, then when its nearing completion, say at 3rd/4th beta or demo, then it can be allowed into the hack showcase. There are too many hacks people start, then disappear and never come back, which leaves a place full of junk. (10:23:39 PM) Cartmic: I also have a problem with the simple questions thread. A new thread should be created, kind of like an FAQ with all the common questions. (10:24:19 PM) Cartmic: As there are too many repeated questions, even though it says "Search Before Asking". (10:24:32 PM) Malin: I totally agree. (10:25:00 PM) Malin: But then if people ignore the "Search before asking" they might ignore the FAQ thread too. (10:25:27 PM) Cartmic: Then they should be banned for a week until they understand. (10:26:32 PM) Malin: Yeah I feel the same way sometimes. (10:30:49 PM) Malin: Are you working on any hacks at the moment? (10:36:02 PM) Cartmic: Yes, Pokemon Violet, it is a red hack I started back in 2003. Its had countless tweaks and revisions since then. Violet is set in the land of Crion just West of Johto, North of Naljo. Its had all sorts of changes to make it feel truly like a new land and game and not like some modified Kanto. Currently I'm working to try and get the first fully complete demo out by August 24th. (10:37:59 PM) Malin: Could you tell us about a new feature that will be in your hack? (10:40:50 PM) Cartmic: Libraries, Colleges, Research Centres for mesuring the earquake activity going one, also you can visit parts of 2 other Lands. (10:41:55 PM) Malin: Sounds very cool! I look forward to trying out the demo when it is released (10:27:04 PM) Malin: So, before we wrap things up, is there a hack you would like to recommend? (10:28:18 PM) Cartmic: Plasma Red, its came along way since Blazichu started back in 2006, as he has put alot of time and effort into it. (10:42:04 PM) Malin: Any final words? (10:46:42 PM) Cartmic: A little one for those new hackers out there, search hard for yourself, don't ask other people to do things for you, then when you are truly stuck with somthing ask an experienced hacker, do that and you will be a much more knoledgeble, competent, and respected rom hacker in the future. (10:47:05 PM) Cartmic: Never did me any harm :P
Interview by dshayabusa
Closing Notes
Some house keeping
There are more than enough people working on this newsletter now so for the time being we don't need any more. I cannot stress enough the value of comments and ideas. This newsletter can only grow with the help of the community. If you have a tip/trick please donate it. Also I will be taking requests to be interviewed. The decision on who is interviewed is at my discretion. Please don't read anything into my decision.
Closing by dshayabusa
CSS design by dshayabusa. Ask for permission if you want to use it!
You guys are like born for this, the reviewing and interviewing rocks :) Born professionals ;)
Yea, surprisingly, I liked reading the interview (I thought I'd get bored), but I didn't at all!
Though, what happened to the tool part? I know no new 'amazingly helpful' tool has come out this week, but why not, always fun to have, even for an existing tool that isn't recognized that much.
I hope the makers of Septo Conquest don't get mad >.<
Hello, thank you for writing on us in the article :), the only thing that lacking you is that the creators of Pokemon Lost Treasure we are maku and I, but nothing happens xD
I think that Pokemon Septo Contest deserve more rating...
This realy made me laugh...
To revie some thing you don't got and have zero idea about... Realy the reviu was just stupid in my oppenium...
Tim was just juding by some screenshot...
it didn't display any thing about the hack...
This is third time I write this message... I can't tell if it's because the Forum keeps going down or the MODs delete it... I'll keep posting it through...
This realy made me laugh...
To revie some thing you don't got and have zero idea about... Realy the reviu was just stupid in my oppenium...
Tim was just juding by some screenshot...
it didn't display any thing about the hack...
This is third time I write this message... I can't tell if it's because the Forum keeps going down or the MODs delete it... I'll keep posting it through...
Son Sebbe, we know you love to express your opinion on how hacks with no beta are unratable, unvotable, unreviewable etc. but I'd like to see you have an unbeta'd hack that wants a bit of population.
This is a great idea. I love this. I love to hear reviews on hacks. I just think this is a very superb idea. If some hackers are too busy hacking to check out the news, then they can jsut look here and know all they need to know.
Finished reading some parts, but not the whole issue this time. I'm gonna finish it later, but so far it seems another interesting issue. Good to see that you have what it takes to make reviews of not only the good games, but also the ones that need more improvment. Hope the creators take this as a warning and it helps them to keep improving.
By the way, since I see you are always looking for ideas, how about if you gather a small group that searches the web for more than just Pokemon hacks. There are a lot of non-Pokemon hacks out there and making reviews of them could lead people into liking other kind of hacks (there are a lot of awesome Mario hacks outside Pokecommunity), I'm sure it'd be a good addition to the hacking newsletter.
Great second issue! I just got back from vacation and went straight to my laptop to check the issue. Lol! I loved reading the reviews, as they weren't repetitive. Also, I'll definitely try to work those tips into my hack...eventually, =). Maybe, you could have a section about different hackers and their strong points (scripting, mapping, etc.). Not necessarily reviewing hackers, but just as an FYI, or to mention who is good at making sprites, titlescreens, etc. For your name situation, I prefer ROM Hacker's Weekly, but...well, that's just me! Haha. Personally, I'd like to see Cooley interviewed, because, from how we've talked, he seems like an interesting person, and knows his hacking! Luckily, I'll start school after Summer Break to fill the meaningless void between now and the next issue, XD!
I love the way you've made the thread with CSS, very neat. Onto the newsletter; I found a lot on information from it, I also love the way you explained Pokemon Lost World and Septo Conquest.
My guess is that he's busy. :\
If he wanted to give up on this, he would probably post hear saying so...:\
I hope he didn't quit. I love this news letter. :)
Hopefully, when there's more, this could be sticked! XD
Hope your still working on it~
