[Demo] Pokemon Indigo League

[Krazy_Meerkat]

..

Introduction

The game is based upon the tv series of pokemon. I had always hoped that Pokemon Yellow would fill this void, but since it did not, I started working on this.. I am trying to include as much content from the episodes as I possibly can, I want the finished product to seem like an interactive episode with a lot of cool features. I will follow the series to the pokemon league and then decide if I want to continue with a sequel or whatever.. (I am already consider including the orange islands, but we'll just see how we go)
I'd like to use DP gfx but I just don't have the resources or spriting power to do that.. I know some of the other game dev's can also sprite magnificently, but I'm pretty lacking in that department.. It's a lot harder for me thesedays to find the time to practice my spriting etc. because there is so much more important stuff to worry about.. So if anyone would like to volunteer some DP sprites for the game I'll start building a stockpile. Personally I kind of like the anime-looking fr/lg tiles and characters, they own the gfx in the pokemon games I played.

Here are some features that will be in the game

• New movement system, allowing isometric and standard movement with following! 8-way gfx!
• Evolved Mode7 engine, drastically altering landscape/buildings/movement
• Truly animated title screen (random sliding pokemon, always starts with Pikachu)
• Sidequests (template available soon, planned quests include joining team rocket or the police force to complete missions and get rewards)
• Quest menu (info on the current quest and completed quests)
• NPC interaction system (each npc has various emotional responses which affect the game in different ways)
• Follower Interaction (feeding will be a part of the interaction but I've decided against KO-ing the starter when the hunger bar reaches 0, instead the starter's happiness will decrease if it rarely eats. Various Pokemon food will be available and you will be able to cook Pokemon food using ingredients and such. Your starter's diet will effect different attributes including it's mood/appetite/battle-performance/favourite-foods/nature. Playing games/giving presents will affect your starter in different ways for example, raising happiness/battle-performance/growth-rate.)
• Minigames! TM’s and HM’s would be converted to minigames (you use a room at Oak’s lab which simulates an environment and then pass the game to learn the TM (the game will be environment-based to minimize picture usage)
• Video Games! Arcade games are a planned feature, they were completed but the data was lost. Games will be awarded for completing various achievements. Some games will only be available at the arcade.
• New battle formulae!
• New stats to be added
• Battle text modified (Ash’s dialogue matches the show)
• Pokedex gfx match dexter
• New battle backgrounds/skins
• Some general game rules have changed, eg. you won't lose any pokeballs in battle unless you make a successful capture and stringshot now includes a bind effect because of the first battle of episode 3.

Storyline

The game starts with a brief intro video explaining that you have to go to Professor Oak's lab (north of Ash's house) in the morning to receive your first Pokemon, you start in your room with 15 seconds to run to the bridge. When you reach the bridge, 1 of 2 possible intro's will be selected.

Original Intro
You arrive late to Professor Oak's lab, you find out that all of the Pokemon were already taken and you receive your trademark side-kick, Pikachu.
Alternate Intro
You arrive in time to select a Pokemon, however, the Professor's grandson chooses Squirtle leaving only 2 Pokemon remaining. The other kid suggests a game of Paper/Scissors/Rock to decide who picks first, if you win you can pick Charmander or Bulbasaur. If you lose, Professor Oak offers to let you choose between Bulbasaur or Pikachu.

Now you are ready to start your journey towards being the #1 Pokemon Master by defeating gyms, and beating the elite 4.
The game will follow the storyline very closely until the episode where Ash catches a Krabby and learns about Bill's PC, at this point in the game the Free-Roam achievement will be unlocked, Pokemon will be seen in routes gathered in packs and you will be able to battle them if you choose.
Some Pokemon will be needed to start some quests, but a message will notify you if that Pokemon isn't in the party.
The storyline will still continue, but much like a FF rpg with messages displaying if you won't be able to go back to an area for a long time. There will also be branches on some of the storyline and many different side-quests available in each town. I'll make a template once I've made a few quests and anyone can start posting quests if they have an idea for a certain town/character from the show.
The game has kind of a mesh of elements from all sorts of games but it has an incredible amount of potential.

Media

Isometric buildings (Please do not steal)


8-way bike sprite


Ash's bedroom


Oak's Lab - Anime

Spoiler:

Oak's Lab - In-game

Spoiler:

Viridian City - Anime

Spoiler:

Viridian City - In-game

Spoiler:

The Animated Title Screen


Who's that pokemon


A video of the movement system with following shown

Completed Features

• 3d World and buildings
• 8-way Movement system with gfx
• Merge with Pokemon Essentials
• Planning for the first 3 episodes (Script replicated, proof of concept gameplay tested, gfx and sound mostly organised)

Additional Info

The mapping is very different to standard pokemon games, I have created a birds-eye perspective of the anime locations, so the maps are much bigger and more detailed. I have alligned them to the Kanto map. Mappers would need to create maps from screenshots of the episodes (I can supply screens) you can be very creative with the parts of town that aren't shown on screen.

Team

*Misty4Life
*Krazy_Meerkat

Credits[/CENTER]
Poccil and Flameguru for their incredible starter kit, removing most of the effort in a game like this.
Cogwheel for his excellent 8-way script which the current script was based on.
For the music - Heat Man, SwordBolt, João *Johnnyz* Buaes, 10k volts, Tryce, BlueSlasher, WiteoutKing, Jayster.
Kyledove for various pre-modded sprites (lighthouse, pokemon sprites).
MGC for his amazing engine which gives an excellent platform for any developer to create a high quality game.
Ho-oh 112 for his awesome work on the engine and essentials.
Jackster for ripping every animation for 125 pokemon in mystery dungeon.
Rm2k3kid and Avatar for their epic character rips.

Demo Link
Pokemon_Indigo_League_Demo.zip - v 0.9

Spoiler:

http://d01.megashares.com/index.php?d01=vHbX5Jq

Known Bugs:
* Video not working

[Avatar]

I wasn't aware of the Metropolis discredit. I'll note this for future references.

Everything looks to be in order although I'm definitely not keen on the clash of styles (R/S/E and FR/LG)
If you need some help with the OW sprites I might be able to have have a go at it.

[Neo-Dragon]

I'm still in college so I don't have time to comment in detail the way I would of liked. I like the movement system- expect to see a lot of games do this now thanks to Heart Gold and Soul Sliver (I reckon my own too lol).
I liked the intro of your post in general to help give people an idea who you are.

The 8 way movement is also a nice addition and I'm surprised this aint in the official games (let alone fan games).

Again, I can't comment the way I would of liked to, but I wanted to show my support for you.
Funny reading about Metropolis btw.

Edited: I made a mistake with one of my comments because I read it wrong

[Blazers]

Ah ha..
Very very good.
I like it a lot.
I wish you only the best of luck.

[Yuoaman]

Amazing stuff Krazy Meerkat! I love the idea of diagonal movement.

And I'm sorry to hear about what Azura is doing.

[Krazy_Meerkat]

Originally Posted by Avatar

I wasn't aware of the Metropolis discredit. I'll note this for future references.

Everything looks to be in order although I'm definitely not keen on the clash of styles (R/S/E and FR/LG)
If you need some help with the OW sprites I might be able to have have a go at it.

Hey come on, I can barely notice the difference between r/s/e and fr/lg overworlds, and besides, I was really short on npcs lol. Dp overworlds are truely ugly I believe, the heads are the wrong size and the perspective is all messed up.
But yeah I know it's not perfect in that way, I'd use only fr/lg sprites if I could but the only difference I noticed was that there was a bit more definition in some places (eg. the eyes/hair)
Is it really noticable or was that just your expert eye avatar? Hey what do you think of my diagonal ash sprite btw? I thought it was pretty legit, I focused mainly on getting the hat to look right.

Thank you everyone else for your heartwarming comments, it gives me the inspiration I need to make progress.

Hey Neo, what do you mean by this:

Originally Posted by Neo

expect to see a lot of games do this now thanks to Heart Gold and Soul Sliver

To my knowledge this was the first instance of diagonal movement in a pokemon game, and I'd kind of like to keep it that way.. Of course I can't stop anyone from using my ideas, but I do keep them secret for that reason.
Originality isn't original if everyone copies the most popular idea. I'd just like people to respect my game by observing it and not copying the things which make it unique from other games.

[Riceeman]

Originally Posted by Krazy_Meerkat

Hey Neo, what do you mean by this:

I believe he meant the Pikachu following you, like the Starter following you in HGSS.

But yeah, this is looking great! Keep up the awesome work!

[Neo-Dragon]

Originally Posted by riceeman

I believe he meant the Pikachu following you, like the Starter following you in HGSS.

I did. I was trying to type real quick cause I was supposed to be doing college work and instead on this lol.
And no, yout not the first fan game to be using 8 way movement. There were a few in the olds days- including the first version of Digital Network I did ha.

[Krazy_Meerkat]

Ahh, my mistake :/
Ah well at least I am the first person in a long time to do it..

I have updated the first post to show my mapping put into practice (keep in mind that parts of viridian may still change) and also show some more of my sprites, check out the diagonal bike :) Took me a little bit to get the perspective right.
Also, yesterday I felt a little inspired to fix Ash's pikachu that was ripped from PMD, I personally think I did it justice and made it look much better than the original, but judge for yourself:

Well that's a little update for anyone paying attention to this game.. The pictures shown are only maybe 1/3 of the overall size of the maps.

[BlazingLink]

Hmm...

Maps could use a little work, but overall, I kind of like this idea.

Nice new Pikachu Sprite, btw.

[Yuoaman]

Hmmm... strange... The Viridian screens aren't showing up.

[Krazy_Meerkat]

Hmm.. Yes the maps aren't final, thanks for the feedback. I've tried to keep them aligned like they were in the games too.
It might take some time for the pictures but they still work for me..
I'll try my best to fix the title.. But I've never really been a master of gfx..

[Pokemon12345678901]

Is this going to be hack for the vba or is it going to be a game online and if it's online which website?

[Yuoaman]

Originally Posted by Pokemon12345678901

Is this going to be hack for the vba or is it going to be a game online and if it's online which website?

*GRRRRR*

It's a downloadable game, just wait for the game to be finished, which will take quite a while, and then download it. It is not a ROM Hack!

And on topic, anything new Meerkat?

[Krazy_Meerkat]

I have a small update, I've updated the gfx to some of the menu screens etc. and it is now possible for a wild pokemon to flee during battle.
Also, Pokeballs will not be subtracted from the bag unless a pokemon is caught. (In the show, ash always seemed to retrieve the pokeball when he failed a capture)
This is my attempt at dexter gfx for the pokedex:


and a new pokemon selection screen:

I'm working on the route 1 and the start of viridian forest.
I've also done a bit more work on the main mini-game.. Not much until it's finished now..

[omnimon]

your Pokedex looks great! Is this game only going to go up to the indigo league or will you include stuff afterwards?

[Krazy_Meerkat]

At the moment I only plan the pkmn league, but by the time I get to that stage I should be able to inlcude the orange islands.. I kind of lost interest in pkmn at that stage of life and so I only ever saw a few orange island shows.
The random episodes that I see on tv thesedays make me shudder, They have really lost their way. At least the first series was interesting and exciting..
In case you didn't know, I already stated this in the 1st post:

Originally Posted by Krazy_Meerkat

I will follow the series to the pokemon league and then decide if I want to continue with a sequel or whatever..

Small update: I have finished the title screen, I think it looks much better this way. - Thanks Pyroyahtzee (I'll upload it later)
Pikachu and most npc's now have 8 walking sprites just like the player.
Thats all folks.. Still working on route 1

[Giraffes? Giraffes!]

In the first post i don't like how the bike is turning, it seems awkward. I like the over-world sprite for the Pikachu and it looks nice beside Ash. I personally don't like the trees :( I wish you luck with this it looks like something i will probably play! (Y)

[Krazy_Meerkat]

Awww come on Kurausu, it took considerably more effort to make the trees look like that.
I prefer the cross-hatch pattern I've used because when you move on the map, the trees look much more natural as opposed to a bunch of rectangular arrangements with identical tree-lines..
Yeah I know what you mean about the bike but please, it's the only 8-way bike ever seen in a pokemon game, I made that sprite as best I could, and when you move around, it is very seemless. The turning seems a little un-realistic but I couldn't care less.. I got the desired effect..
Title screen now updated! Yay, this game doesn't look like a joke anymore :D
For spriting news, I edited the FR/LG trainer sprites for misty and brock in the title, I'm quite happy with the result

[Giraffes? Giraffes!]

Originally Posted by Krazy_Meerkat

Awww come on Kurausu, it took considerably more effort to make the trees look like that.
I prefer the cross-hatch pattern I've used because when you move on the map, the trees look much more natural as opposed to a bunch of rectangular arrangements with identical tree-lines..
Yeah I know what you mean about the bike but please, it's the only 8-way bike ever seen in a pokemon game, I made that sprite as best I could, and when you move around, it is very seemless. The turning seems a little un-realistic but I couldn't care less.. I got the desired effect..
Title screen now updated! Yay, this game doesn't look like a joke anymore :D
For spriting news, I edited the FR/LG trainer sprites for misty and brock in the title, I'm quite happy with the result :)

Don't be offended i wasn't trying to be mean or anything. I agree that the Bike is probably the first in a pokemon game and i commend you for making it look unique. I shouldn't actually judge it yet because that fact is i haven't seen it INGAME yet so that's probably why it looks awkward. The trees sorta look like the anime, but i just don't like the way they are. I like your game and i'm not trying to look like your doing a bad job, you're doing a excellent job, everyone's taste is different and i was just telling you what i disliked.

[Krazy_Meerkat]

I didn't mean to seem as if I was taking offense, I am a very easy-going person. I just don't always have a lot of time so I have to use my words quickly and manage to get my point across without seeming rude..
No problem if you don't like the trees, but I probably won't change them again..
By the way, this isn't a hack, it has an [RMXP] tag so it is made with RMXP. The hacks have their own sub-forum and we try not to confuse them..
Thanks for your support

[Giraffes? Giraffes!]

Originally Posted by Krazy_Meerkat

I didn't mean to seem as if I was taking offense, I am a very easy-going person. I just don't always have a lot of time so I have to use my words quickly and manage to get my point across without seeming rude..
No problem if you don't like the trees, but I probably won't change them again..
By the way, this isn't a hack, it has an [RMXP] tag so it is made with RMXP. The hacks have their own sub-forum and we try not to confuse them..
Thanks for your support :)

Oh right sorry about that. I edited my post. Anyway, don't worry about the trees, its just something i don't like. Good luck and i'll keep checking back.

[blackpant1]

Looks real nice. First game I've seen going from Ash's point of view. I like games that aren't going strictly by the plot line. No choices to be made in games with strict plot lines.

[Krazy_Meerkat]

Hey thanks :)
Small update, here is a sneak peak at route 1, this is the part where Ash falls off the cliff (when being chased by a flock of spearow) and gets washed downstream. It was really hard for me to get the perspective right here so I hope everyone is happy with the result..


Also, Yuoaman and riceeman have offered to help out with mapping so we'll see what they can do :) I'll update the 1st post when they submit a map to me.

[Shadow-Lugia]

This looks great, can't wait until the demo! (No need to rush yourself though).
But, I have thing I've found wrong, on that map you just posted, the waterfall looks... awkward... But apart from that it's great!