FireRed hack: Pokémon Shining Opal [Beta 2 Redux Released!]

[fittz]

great game love the story of it all but i have a problem with the pokegear it doesn't seem to want to respond to me for some reason......... but still love the game and cant wait for next beta

[DrFuji]

fittz, please don't bump threads that haven't been posted in for over a month.

diego, if you want this thread to be reopened then just message either giradialkia or myself :D

[giradialkia]

Thread reopened at the request of its owner. :)

[diegoisawesome]

Well, work has finally restarted on Shining Opal. Now I want to ask everyone a question: Should I have less trainers that you have to battle on the routes and in Vorril Forest?

[Suicune™]

Originally Posted by diegoisawesome

Well, work has finally restarted on Shining Opal. Now I want to ask everyone a question: Should I have less trainers that you have to battle on the routes and in Vorril Forest?

Great to hear! Also less trainers would mean more grinding for training in the wild so I'm sure people would be in favour of adding more.

[Sarcastic Prince]

Originally Posted by diegoisawesome

Well, work has finally restarted on Shining Opal. Now I want to ask everyone a question: Should I have less trainers that you have to battle on the routes and in Vorril Forest?

No, you shouldn't. More Trainers mean more fun. It's better than grinding with wild PKMN.

Wait a minute, if this hack is in progress again, then what about Crystal Dust? Are you fine with working on 2 hacks at the same time?

[diegoisawesome]

Originally Posted by Suicune™

Great to hear! Also less trainers would mean more grinding for training in the wild so I'm sure people would be in favour of adding more.

Originally Posted by Sarcastic Prince

No, you shouldn't. More Trainers mean more fun. It's better than grinding with wild PKMN.

Wait a minute, if this hack is in progress again, then what about Crystal Dust? Are you fine with working on 2 hacks at the same time?

The problem is that there are just too many trainers. And I'm talking about ridiculous numbers. There are 61 trainers before the 4th badge.

Also, CrystalDust is paused for now. I've been working like this for a while now: work on one, release a beta, fix bugs, work on the other, release a beta, fix bugs, go back to the first.

[CycloneGU]

The typical Trainer structure is nothing on the first travelled area, two or three in the second area, then ramp it up in the third. I wouldn't expect more than five Trainers on a Route this early in the game, though Unova Routes 3 and 4 both have a lot of optional Trainer battles you can seek out (the playground in 3, and an out of the way area in 4), whereas those in Unova Route 5 are mainly forced but all avoidable along the bottom (fence) area.

As long as the battles are not all forced and some can be sought by, say, talking to Fishermen or something, with the option to go through Grass to avoid others if you're weak at the time, I don't see a problem with including them. If there are 61 forced Trainer battles before the fourth Gym...that is excessive, but having 61 Trainer battles itself is not a problem at all if some (many?) are optional. Some forced battles would be a great idea, as it can't be all easy. (I think it's too many, as that's a LOT of optional battles, but hey.)

Note I just saw this game today when the thread was reopened. Would you like me to give it a shot and offer an analysis?

Cyclone

[diegoisawesome]

Originally Posted by CycloneGU

The typical Trainer structure is nothing on the first travelled area, two or three in the second area, then ramp it up in the third. I wouldn't expect more than five Trainers on a Route this early in the game, though Unova Routes 3 and 4 both have a lot of optional Trainer battles you can seek out (the playground in 3, and an out of the way area in 4), whereas those in Unova Route 5 are mainly forced but all avoidable along the bottom (fence) area.

As long as the battles are not all forced and some can be sought by, say, talking to Fishermen or something, with the option to go through Grass to avoid others if you're weak at the time, I don't see a problem with including them. If there are 61 forced Trainer battles before the fourth Gym...that is excessive, but having 61 Trainer battles itself is not a problem at all if some (many?) are optional. Some forced battles would be a great idea, as it can't be all easy. (I think it's too many, as that's a LOT of optional battles, but hey.)

Note I just saw this game today when the thread was reopened. Would you like me to give it a shot and offer an analysis?

Cyclone

Sure, that would be all right. Maybe you could even help me with the balancing itself and tell me what trainers should be on what route with what Pokémon, and also help me even out the Gym Leaders.

[CycloneGU]

Originally Posted by diegoisawesome

Sure, that would be all right. Maybe you could even help me with the balancing itself and tell me what trainers should be on what route with what Pokémon, and also help me even out the Gym Leaders.

I'm sure I could do that! What I'll do is download the things, patch it (I have a patcher, just have to download this and the ROM), and hope it works on VBA on my first try (new computer to run VBA on); barring any issues (and while taking a break from training and breeding in Black, I tend to go maybe a half hour or hour at a time then plop it on the charger so I never run out of juice during a long session with unfinished business), I can make up maps and jot down notes of trainers in here. I'll refer to that media when offering my opinion.

Oh, and I'll be abusing save states in this instance. Having played on the DS now, I have acquired the ability to play better without cheating like that, but while testing out battle sight lines and such I'll need them strategically.

I'll be updating here.

Cyclone

[sako]

well i think in my opinion you should reduce the number of trainers before the fourth gym........ i mean 61 trainers are a little too much maybe 30-35 will do

[CycloneGU]

All right. First remark: don't use the format for A-Ptch. My system called it a Trojan and I will not argue it, having been victim to "Best Offers" spyware in the past and remembering what a pain in the derriere that was to remove. Get rid of that immediately as people will not play your game if they try to use that and get the same warning. (Some may even get turned off on hacks completely. It's an appearance thing. It's also the only APS file I've seen; don't change what works and isn't treated as a virus by scanning software.) With that said, if there is a new version that isn't picked up as a Trojan, I will try it again. (Or an old version...)

However, I found the IPS patch for 2.16. I hope that is see that it is not the current version. I have DeSMuNe, which I have not used for a while (should I note that screenshots take random numbers and there is no way to sequence them by filename? Pain in the butt I tell you), and I just put in Visualboy Advance, which seems to work. I presume it will work on the standard edition of the emulator. (I did download one designed apparently for Liquid Crystal specifically, but haven't yet looked at it.)

I'll play with it in the morning, but for now I can report that the patch was a success. I'll start poking around 2morrow. Got my Tirtouga evolved, so other than breeding and training Zoroark and Vullaby (the latter to evolve), my Black activity will be limited for now and I'll analyze this. Even if it's not the most current, it will give me some idea of the opening of the game, which is what I am testing, and I hope you can provide a new IPS file in place of in addition to the APS. They say it's a false positive, but having never used it I can't say I trust it.

Cyclone

[gam3r!]

It's back again !!!!! Great ! I had played beta 1 sometime and i was dissapointed about it's length but it had some great things like the bus system and mikachu . keep at it

[CycloneGU]

Played and wandered around Lake Zigger. I see lots of Water, and the cavern will clearly be returned to to Surf in. Making my first game map (this is where you see a general game love of mine, in top-down games I tend to make up the maps, something I can't do in, say, Black and White!). That map is forthcoming right here.

However, I found a couple of buggy speeches. Keep in mind I don't know if these are corrected in the 2.50 APS, but I noticed and am reporting them. If they're already fixed, don't mind my finding them.


I am looking f this to get fixed.


Indeed, the Pokémon rof. is a wonderful guy.

Also, I found a tile bug.


Look, Ma! I'm a Ranger!

That's just in the opening town. I'm a little worried where I'll end up walking in the first actual Route!

Oh, and no Trainers yet. So no discussion on that yet. Translation: the difficulty so far is PERFECT. You got the initial battle in there, that's standard (though I didn't expect only two turns for a KO). However, after choosing names, the Professor brought up in a speech "Diego and Diego"; if there is a Diego in the storyline, don't suggest Diego as a possible rival name at the start. In order not to be in the fifth element of confusion myself, I have to restart, and I'm only on the first town. I better pick a name like Tornado.

Also, I thought that was just Mew on the title screen, not a special type. Interesting.

Cyclone

[diegoisawesome]

Originally Posted by sako

well i think in my opinion you should reduce the number of trainers before the fourth gym........ i mean 61 trainers are a little too much maybe 30-35 will do

Thanks for your opinion!

Originally Posted by gam3r!

It's back again !!!!! Great ! I had played beta 1 sometime and i was dissapointed about it's length but it had some great things like the bus system and mikachu . keep at it

Thanks for the comment!

Originally Posted by CycloneGU

I'm sure I could do that! What I'll do is download the things, patch it (I have a patcher, just have to download this and the ROM), and hope it works on VBA on my first try (new computer to run VBA on); barring any issues (and while taking a break from training and breeding in Black, I tend to go maybe a half hour or hour at a time then plop it on the charger so I never run out of juice during a long session with unfinished business), I can make up maps and jot down notes of trainers in here. I'll refer to that media when offering my opinion.

Oh, and I'll be abusing save states in this instance. Having played on the DS now, I have acquired the ability to play better without cheating like that, but while testing out battle sight lines and such I'll need them strategically.

I'll be updating here.

Cyclone

Originally Posted by CycloneGU

All right. First remark: don't use the format for A-Ptch. My system called it a Trojan and I will not argue it, having been victim to "Best Offers" spyware in the past and remembering what a pain in the derriere that was to remove. Get rid of that immediately as people will not play your game if they try to use that and get the same warning. (Some may even get turned off on hacks completely. It's an appearance thing. It's also the only APS file I've seen; don't change what works and isn't treated as a virus by scanning software.) With that said, if there is a new version that isn't picked up as a Trojan, I will try it again. (Or an old version...)

However, I found the IPS patch for 2.16. I hope that is see that it is not the current version. I have DeSMuNe, which I have not used for a while (should I note that screenshots take random numbers and there is no way to sequence them by filename? Pain in the butt I tell you), and I just put in Visualboy Advance, which seems to work. I presume it will work on the standard edition of the emulator. (I did download one designed apparently for Liquid Crystal specifically, but haven't yet looked at it.)

I'll play with it in the morning, but for now I can report that the patch was a success. I'll start poking around 2morrow. Got my Tirtouga evolved, so other than breeding and training Zoroark and Vullaby (the latter to evolve), my Black activity will be limited for now and I'll analyze this. Even if it's not the most current, it will give me some idea of the opening of the game, which is what I am testing, and I hope you can provide a new IPS file in place of in addition to the APS. They say it's a false positive, but having never used it I can't say I trust it.

Cyclone

Originally Posted by CycloneGU

Played and wandered around Lake Zigger. I see lots of Water, and the cavern will clearly be returned to to Surf in. Making my first game map (this is where you see a general game love of mine, in top-down games I tend to make up the maps, something I can't do in, say, Black and White!). That map is forthcoming right here.

However, I found a couple of buggy speeches. Keep in mind I don't know if these are corrected in the 2.50 APS, but I noticed and am reporting them. If they're already fixed, don't mind my finding them.


I am looking f this to get fixed.


Indeed, the Pokémon rof. is a wonderful guy.

Also, I found a tile bug.


Look, Ma! I'm a Ranger!

That's just in the opening town. I'm a little worried where I'll end up walking in the first actual Route!

Oh, and no Trainers yet. So no discussion on that yet. Translation: the difficulty so far is PERFECT. You got the initial battle in there, that's standard (though I didn't expect only two turns for a KO). However, after choosing names, the Professor brought up in a speech "Diego and Diego"; if there is a Diego in the storyline, don't suggest Diego as a possible rival name at the start. In order not to be in the fifth element of confusion myself, I have to restart, and I'm only on the first town. I better pick a name like Tornado.

Also, I thought that was just Mew on the title screen, not a special type. Interesting.

Cyclone

Everything you've talked about has been changed. You're not going to get anywhere good by using a patch from... I think four years ago? The entire game has since then been remade from scratch. Also, there's a reason I can't use IPS files: my changes go over the 16 MB limit that IPS files have. A-Ptch is definitely a false positive unless you got it from some shady website. Do you have McAfee? It comes up as a false positive on there.

EDIT: I have fixed the problem that forced me over the 16 MB limit and have uploaded the file as an IPS patch! Download it from the same place you downloaded the APS patch from.

[CycloneGU]

Didn't realize it was that old. I'll do the new patch and note differences. I hope the existing save works; I've already found seven (!) unique Pokémon in Route 1, something I've never seen before in any regular series game. How many Pokémon are in this game? Too bad the two types of grass system isn't present here, it would make it easier to place them in different areas!

Also, one thing I'm not a fan of when you get to the next city, but I will withhold comment while trying a fresh run to see if it still occurs.

Cyclone

[diegoisawesome]

Originally Posted by CycloneGU

Didn't realize it was that old. I'll do the new patch and note differences. I hope the existing save works; I've already found seven (!) unique Pokémon in Route 1, something I've never seen before in any regular series game. How many Pokémon are in this game? Too bad the two types of grass system isn't present here, it would make it easier to place them in different areas!

Also, one thing I'm not a fan of when you get to the next city, but I will withhold comment while trying a fresh run to see if it still occurs.

Cyclone

No, your save file from the old beta won't work in the Redux. This is because the Redux is a complete reimagining from a fresh ROM.

[CycloneGU]

Originally Posted by diegoisawesome

No, your save file from the old beta won't work in the Redux. This is because the Redux is a complete reimagining from a fresh ROM.

I discovered that! I went to the existing save in the western region of Gate 1 and saw that my Mikachu had evolved:

http://www.pokecommunity.com/attachm...1&d=1342887627

After that, I exited out and the game hung without going back to the prior window. I was still on the map when I loaded the save, I could wander around, and even look at the Town Map in my bag, but the new version obviously needs a new save. Darnit, I had a picture of all the Pokémon I caught and I overwrote it with another screenshot. I'll have to retitle the save and review that, though I don't know if they all exist now in Route 1.

Time to map the new Lake Zigger! I see a resemblence already in the town design, and am actually intrigued by the port entry; putting the boat area there is a VERY interesting idea, forcing a quick quest at the start and eventual town entry through the gatehouse, locking you into the start of the game. Shipment from Mom (yeah, mine wouldn't do that LMAO) was a nice touch. Liking the new version. Haven't visited Oak yet because I like mapping the areas first (also, my time taking screenshots won't count in the playing time since I'm not really "playing", hence save state abuse LMAO). Someday they'll formulate a playthrough or Youtube video guide. I promised one for Liquid Crystal too someday.

Cyclone

[diegoisawesome]

Originally Posted by CycloneGU

I discovered that! I went to the existing save in the western region of Gate 1 and saw that my Mikachu had evolved:

http://www.pokecommunity.com/attachm...1&d=1342887627

After that, I exited out and the game hung without going back to the prior window. I was still on the map when I loaded the save, I could wander around, and even look at the Town Map in my bag, but the new version obviously needs a new save. Darnit, I had a picture of all the Pokémon I caught and I overwrote it with another screenshot. I'll have to retitle the save and review that, though I don't know if they all exist now in Route 1.

Time to map the new Lake Zigger! I see a resemblence already in the town design, and am actually intrigued by the port entry; putting the boat area there is a VERY interesting idea, forcing a quick quest at the start and eventual town entry through the gatehouse, locking you into the start of the game. Shipment from Mom (yeah, mine wouldn't do that LMAO) was a nice touch. Liking the new version. Haven't visited Oak yet because I like mapping the areas first (also, my time taking screenshots won't count in the playing time since I'm not really "playing", hence save state abuse LMAO). Someday they'll formulate a playthrough or Youtube video guide. I promised one for Liquid Crystal too someday.

Cyclone

If you want, to save you some time, I can just send you images exported from Advance-Map.

[CycloneGU]

Originally Posted by diegoisawesome

If you want, to save you some time, I can just send you images exported from Advance-Map.

I like grabbing them live myself, but sure.

Cyclone

[diegoisawesome]

Originally Posted by CycloneGU

I like grabbing them live myself, but sure.

Cyclone

Since you like grabbing them yourself (and since I don't know exactly what maps you want) I guess I'll leave you to it.

[CycloneGU]

Originally Posted by diegoisawesome

Since you like grabbing them yourself (and since I don't know exactly what maps you want) I guess I'll leave you to it.

It's fine with me. It doesn't take long, and besides, I'm unemployed and it's the weekend, I don't have much else to do.

As for the first town now, it's exponentially better than it was before. Exponentially. I wish starter towns looked more like this, to be honest. I think B2/W2 is the first to actually make a bigger starting area, complete with an overlook out onto the Route beyond (Route 19) and even with a Gym and Pokémon Centre right in the town (just like you have it and a Pokémart, the earlier-gen version, minus the Gym, but lots of bars LMAO); I hope in the future Game Freak decides to stay in that direction and make more involved starting towns that can later be revisited for a future part in the story. Makes a starter town much more than someone's home that he never sees again (pending a trip to get his Running Shoes, visit the professor, or Flying).

Cyclone

[cooley]

I remember this one, a LOT has been improved. If it wasn't for the PikaMew(?) on the title screen, I don't think I would have noticed it.

*Adds to list of ROMs to play*

[jaykray]

I'm overjoyed that work has been resumed on this hack, I really enjoyed the first beta.

[CycloneGU]

Nice to see another post on this.

I have played this hack up to the Saren City area. As designed, the little outlet on Route 16 in this version is way too strong for the average Trainer, and I would get a couple of your Pokémon into the teens before even attempting to go there. With that said, once you can capture a couple of the Pokémon there, you have what you really need for the event which I have promised not to spoil with your villain Rival on Route 2.

Also note that after this event, you can't backtrack for a while, so if you plan to continue east of Saren you would be wise to have as many of the Route 16 Pokémon as you can get. I only captured two and carried on to battle; I won, but not being able to head back to Route 2 and having to head to Route 3, where the Pokémon difficulty goes up by about 10 levels...I called it quits for the beta. LMAO

I know Diego is working on this hack now, and I'm sure this is something that will change. It was my biggest complaint as far as I am in the hack, though I did hear of the large number of forest trainers.

Cyclone