How do you plan your hacks?

I usually just wing it, and it comes out fine, and i do tile insertion followed by, mapping/scripting.

I start with characters and plot, then divide into chapters.
For each chapter, I do things in this order:

1. Writing Dialogue (Story events, NPCs, and Trainers)
2. Mapping
3. Adding Scripts/Events
4. Implement Items
5. Implement Trainers
6. Implement Wild Pokemon
7. Script Side-quests
8. Repeat for next chapter

Well, I don't think the story is as important as most people claim it to be. Honestly, all of them really have the same basic concept in the end. Either way, it's a matter of preference. Personally, I plan it like this;

1.Features - What do I want my hack to do? And how do I do it?
1.2. - Working on implementing those features. If it's new tiles, or sprites, inserting them. Or if it's something else (like someone else mentioned changing attacks).
1.3 - Test.

2. Basic storyline - Where does the hack take place? What happens in the first events?
2.1 - Mapping out the first few towns and routes, and then added scripts for each event.
2.2 - Testing.

3. - Beta release. Play through it yourself, and get some feedback by other people.
3.1 - Make the changes accordingly if they need be.

Well... all hacks I have worked on have followed a go with the flow attitude. That does not work if you want to get farther than two towns haha. I'm taking a different approach for MoP V2...

0. Write out a plan for the hack (what cities, story, people, etc.)
1. Palletes and new tiles (Makes working with everything alot prettier xP)
2. New Pokemon/Edits to Pkmn movesets
3. Spriting (ugh..)

And then I go down my list of towns and script/map, saving the world map for last :p

It seems to have worked so far this way

BlitŻ said:

I plan my hacks based on inspiration from writing or artwork. I'm surfing the webernet and I find a fan-fiction or some tiles that inspire me based on the atmosphere and aura that it givees off. It's very hard to resist it really xD. While preparing the ROM for my plans, I'm planning more parts of the story. It's like a flurry of imagination.

Click to expand...

I kinda do that too...only it rarely gets me anywhere, which is why i spend the majority of my time doing rom bases (but i'm slowly and surely working on my hack)

i get in an awkward situation and i end up writing a story

warning: tl;dr

Story comes first. Always story.

I mean, think about it. What's the most important thing in a hack? Aside from scripting (which, if you really look at it, is simply a way to put the story into the game), a story is what's going to keep people playing your game. Maps can be poor, and sprites can be ugly, but people will still play it if they enjoy the story. The story is the most important part.

Next, after a basic outline of the story, comes the graphical stuff. I usually like to insert tiles and new graphics and the like to get them out of the way, mostly because I don't like doing them. Besides, it's best to get new tiles in before you do the maps, because you might have different tiles that make mismatches in your maps.

It's around this point that I design a world map. Use your basic storyline as a guide: you don't have to have a name for everything yet. The important part here is that you know what each area is generally like. Like, the general layout; the entrances/exits are most important.

Now you can start mapping. Try to stay somewhat close to your original world map. It definitely won't be the same as you originally intended, but they shouldn't be radically different. I usually map out the first two or three towns and the routes in-between before I move on to the next step.

Scripting. This is, obviously, incredibly important. If you don't have the scripting, you don't have a game. Utilize your basic storyline! Follow it! Be good to your pets! Include humor!

People underestimate how much humor is important, especially in a darker storyline. Of course, sticking to your storyline is your main goal, but keeping the players interested is a very close second. And nothing helps to keep them playing than making them laugh now and then. One particular example I can think of (and not because I've been avidly playing it lately) is Earthbound/Mother 3; you can mix dark storylines with sprinkles of funny. Other games to use for inspiration are the Mario & Luigi Superstar series. Good stuff.

After scripting, you simply rinse and repeat. Go back and map a few places, and then script. If you're feeling tired of mapping, go script. If you're feeling tired of scripting, go map. If you're tired of both, go brainstorm some more ideas for your hack. There's never enough, so write down all of your thoughts. Some of them will be impossible, some of them will seem incredibly stupid, but all of them are important to keep track of. Ideas = important.

After scripting and mapping to the point where you want to stop (say, a beta-ending point), I'd start thinking small. Like, mini. Like, mini-games! [/bad pun]
Anyway, mini-games and side-quests. Think original, think new, think rewards. Doing something original and new is definitely good, so long as it makes sense. And why would anyone do anything if there wasn't a good reason why? Rewarding the player is important. Also, keep these sparse, but common enough that the player will find some. Maybe they'll even try to look for them. ;)

Beta-testing is next. Find reliable people to beta test, not just the random people who ask to do it on your thread. If you are going to allow that, I'd devise a sort of test to see how well they actually beta-test. Create a ROM with intentional errors, as many kinds as you can (tile errors, script malfunctions, grammar errors, anything.) Then, write down all of the problems you've caused in the ROM (at least twenty, to be sure they'll find some). Then you can judge how good their error report was and pick out your beta testers. At least, that's how I'd do it. (Also, make sure it's only a small area that the testers have to go through. Like, maybe a town.)

After the testers go through it, go through it yourself. Don't cheat and give yourself 400 Rare Candies, but play it as everyone else would. Make the really hard parts slightly less hard, and make the easy parts a little harder. A lot of this is guess and check; you'll be playing your hack more than anyone else will. Also, use the wild Pokemon levels. Nothing is more aggravating than a really high-leveled boss trainer (say, level 35 average) but really wimpy wild Pokemon nearby to train on (say, level 14 average).

Once you've made sure everything is perfect (because everything has to be: let no error go free!), release to the public. And as soon as you do that, start working on your next beta. They'll be begging for it soon.


Now, excuse me while I find a thesaurus and look up the word "important". *headdesk*

Usually... when I think of a good idea, I just go with it. Eventually, I have tons of random ROM copies with small progress for each, and am bombarded with seperate hacks. O_o. In short, I need to start actually finishing the hacks I start.

1.draw a map on paper give every town a name
2.continue improving the map and town names
3.map the starter town
4.now think of where to put the bad guys on the map
5.spread the bad guys out; like hiding places and headquarters
6.all this time you will be thinking and slowly a st0ry has already formed in your head.
7.expand the story.