FireRed hack: POKEMON: Dark Rising

[giradialkia]

I played your hack for a little while yesterday, and I'm here to give a bit of feedback! :)

It's definitely had a lot of effort put into it, and you seem to have great ideas for the story, so that's always great. There are a few small things that I think could improve the overall quality hugely if you did a bit of work on them.

The mapping: it could use a bit of work, to be honest. Firstly there's the movement permissions:


Basically, all of the tiles I'm facing should be walkable. Since they're just the roof and the tops of trees, they should just cover the player but not be blocked.



I think the Lab should probably use different tiles, seeing as it's so drastically different inside compared to the houses. This isn't really an issue as such, as it may just be something you haven't gotten around to yet.



Now, the above screenshot. There's the use of movement permissions that prevent the player from going down the seemingly-clear path to the left, firstly. But what's a bit more problematic is that when I take one step upwards, a sprite appears out of thin air. Because the game doesn't load overworld events in neighbouring maps, he only appears when you enter the map. So you should probably put him a bit further into the map, so he doesn't just.. appear.



The above screenshot just looks a bit weird, to be honest. I know it's the entrance to a forest, but it just looks.. like a lot of tile errors, with the part of the path underneath the doorway, and the fact that the doorway isn't attached to a building. You may want to consider inserting some tiles that are more suitable to entering a forest, as they did in Ruby and Platinum and so on. And again, the gap at the top of the trees make it look spacey and just strange.

Some other things are a little off-putting. For example, the grammar at times is a little off- you tend to use some capital letters in places that just don't make sense. Like when your Rival says "Yeah, They were all pretty weak." That's just one example, but you do it a fair bit throughout the hack, and it's very.. ick looking.

Something else that could use work is the Player's backsprite and so on. I assume it's probably preliminary anyway, but the amount of just.. plain black on his backsprite does not look great, so.. it may be something you want to edit to make it look better.

In general, though, there are some elements that are quite good. I like that you actually incorporated losing a battle into the storyline, as that's something that's NEVER used in official Pokemon games, but is interesting in moving the story along. I think that you should consider having the player character speak, however- well, while I don't think it's the best thing in the world, it's certainly not the worst. One thing you should DEFINITELY look over is the use of coloured text in character's speech. It's all over the place, right off the bat- your mother speaks with blue text, then with red text in the next script. Your player speaks with gray text, sometimes blue text, and it's just.. it should be used so blue = boy and red = girl, or not at all. Otherwise it just makes it hard to follow the text.

With a bit more work, though, you'll have a great hack, as it's certainly got it's good points, so keep it up! :)

[DarkRisingGirl]

Originally Posted by giradialkia

I played your hack for a little while yesterday, and I'm here to give a bit of feedback!

It's definitely had a lot of effort put into it, and you seem to have great ideas for the story, so that's always great. There are a few small things that I think could improve the overall quality hugely if you did a bit of work on them.

The mapping: it could use a bit of work, to be honest. Firstly there's the movement permissions:


Basically, all of the tiles I'm facing should be walkable. Since they're just the roof and the tops of trees, they should just cover the player but not be blocked.



I think the Lab should probably use different tiles, seeing as it's so drastically different inside compared to the houses. This isn't really an issue as such, as it may just be something you haven't gotten around to yet.



Now, the above screenshot. There's the use of movement permissions that prevent the player from going down the seemingly-clear path to the left, firstly. But what's a bit more problematic is that when I take one step upwards, a sprite appears out of thin air. Because the game doesn't load overworld events in neighbouring maps, he only appears when you enter the map. So you should probably put him a bit further into the map, so he doesn't just.. appear.



The above screenshot just looks a bit weird, to be honest. I know it's the entrance to a forest, but it just looks.. like a lot of tile errors, with the part of the path underneath the doorway, and the fact that the doorway isn't attached to a building. You may want to consider inserting some tiles that are more suitable to entering a forest, as they did in Ruby and Platinum and so on. And again, the gap at the top of the trees make it look spacey and just strange.

Some other things are a little off-putting. For example, the grammar at times is a little off- you tend to use some capital letters in places that just don't make sense. Like when your Rival says "Yeah, They were all pretty weak." That's just one example, but you do it a fair bit throughout the hack, and it's very.. ick looking.

Something else that could use work is the Player's backsprite and so on. I assume it's probably preliminary anyway, but the amount of just.. plain black on his backsprite does not look great, so.. it may be something you want to edit to make it look better.

In general, though, there are some elements that are quite good. I like that you actually incorporated losing a battle into the storyline, as that's something that's NEVER used in official Pokemon games, but is interesting in moving the story along. I think that you should consider having the player character speak, however- well, while I don't think it's the best thing in the world, it's certainly not the worst. One thing you should DEFINITELY look over is the use of coloured text in character's speech. It's all over the place, right off the bat- your mother speaks with blue text, then with red text in the next script. Your player speaks with gray text, sometimes blue text, and it's just.. it should be used so blue = boy and red = girl, or not at all. Otherwise it just makes it hard to follow the text.

With a bit more work, though, you'll have a great hack, as it's certainly got it's good points, so keep it up!

Thanks for the Feedback. The trees and roofs covering the player is something I completely overlooked and forgot I could do. But yes, the Professor's Lab will be changed by the next release and a lot of maps will be redone, especially Atlantic City. As for the scripting, I write the scripts and Tajaros is the one who adds them into the playable versions. So I will inform him to keep the color texts to a minimum or only have specific colors depending on their gender. 1 thing I didn't understand in your feedback is you said I should have the character player speak. I'm pretty sure the player speaks A LOT. I appreciate the feedback and I'll consider these things while working onward to finishing the hack.


As for the Special Guest being in part 2, it's a really tough choice. All of you picked some pretty cool characters and a poll would narrow things down. I do agree with Ash493 that it'll have to be rational thinking because the character being there has to make sense and the character personally has to be adapted to the type of battling style of Pokemon and controlling monsters in some form. Choosing Shigeki or someone from Digimon and possibly Beyblade would be easier, but idk we'll see. Choices...Choices. No DBZ Characters btw! lol

[ererbus]

hmm how about bleach characters?
Ichigo
Rukia
Renji

example ichigo at bankai state using dark type pokemon
rukia using ice
renji using fire

[mewmasterify]

what about avatar characters:
Aang
Katara
Sokka
Toph

Aang can use Flying types.
Katara can use Water types.
Sokka can use Steel types.
Toph can use Rock and Ground Types.

oh ya Zuko can use Fire Types

[alienhunterx]

Hmmm just thinking can you reduce the raining effects in early game story...?

[alienhunterx]

Another thing Bugs me is the physical/special split available in here seeing that you have added much 4th generation stuff into it.?

[DarkRisingGirl]

Originally Posted by alienhunterx

Another thing Bugs me is the physical/special split available in here seeing that you have added much 4th generation stuff into it.?

Sorry, but it's not. I found out about the physical/special patch when most of the first beta was already complete and patching it that late would result in me loosing a lot of scripts and possibly glitching the hack. The physical/special spilt WILL be in the next installment of the series which is already being worked on by Tajaros.

Also, sorry about the lack of updates everyone. Yesterday was my birthday (Yay me! ^.^) and I have a mid-term this week (Nooooo...) but I have been editing the list of Pokemon to appear in new areas later in the game and editing a lot of NPC scripts that you'll see in towns. I've also been taking snapshots of my test playthrough of the remainder of the hack, so expect to see a post load of pics coming soon. They're nothing too special, but they will showcase a lot of places and events coming up in the next release. Don't worry, I didn't take snapshots of the best events, just some random stuff here and there. I'll be posting up the New List of Pokemon catchable in specific areas at that time as well.

Thanks for the help and support everyone. Wish me luck on my mid-term!

[DarkRisingGirl]

Hey everyone, my friend from school decided to barge in my room and record me while asking questions about Dark Rising. He kept buggin me to post it on PC, so here it is. You don't have to watch, it's just so he can leave me alone lol. It's just random troll questions about the future of the hack and a small look at a new cave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk8RisWC244

[tajaros]

Originally Posted by DarkRisingGirl

Hey everyone, my friend from school decided to barge in my room and record me while asking questions about Dark Rising. He kept buggin me to post it on PC, so here it is. You don't have to watch, it's just so he can leave me alone lol. It's just random troll questions about the future of the hack and a small look at a new cave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk8RisWC244

Haha, I watched it lol...

Oh, and what do you think of our character suggestions?

[alienhunterx]

Originally Posted by DarkRisingGirl

Sorry, but it's not. I found out about the physical/special patch when most of the first beta was already complete and patching it that late would result in me loosing a lot of scripts and possibly glitching the hack. The physical/special spilt WILL be in the next installment of the series which is already being worked on by Tajaros.

Also, sorry about the lack of updates everyone. Yesterday was my birthday (Yay me! ^.^) and I have a mid-term this week (Nooooo...) but I have been editing the list of Pokemon to appear in new areas later in the game and editing a lot of NPC scripts that you'll see in towns. I've also been taking snapshots of my test playthrough of the remainder of the hack, so expect to see a post load of pics coming soon. They're nothing too special, but they will showcase a lot of places and events coming up in the next release. Don't worry, I didn't take snapshots of the best events, just some random stuff here and there. I'll be posting up the New List of Pokemon catchable in specific areas at that time as well.

Thanks for the help and support everyone. Wish me luck on my mid-term!

Yeah good to see a new beta getting nearer. YAY for that. Also I thank you for looking into my suggestions !!! Yeah no secret revealing for best events and will you make a new list about wild encounters.

[Ash493]

Originally Posted by alienhunterx

Yeah good to see a new beta getting nearer. YAY for that. Also I thank you for looking into my suggestions !!! Yeah no secret revealing for best events and will you make a new list about wild encounters.

Well... Physical/Special split was already decided before you mentioned it =D
Sorry to break it to you :D

[DarkRisingGirl]

A new list of wild Pokemon that can be obtainable in the upcoming areas will be uploaded about 2 weeks before the release.

As for the character suggestions, a lot of you picked some great ones but idk...I still feel they're all missing something, like a really good key link as to why they're in the Pokemon world and missing the type of knowledge to use Pokemon. Take Kirito from SAO for example(I just started watching the show btw, really awesome. ^.^) He seems capable of using Pokemon cause he's used to playing in an rpg himself already, but he actually DOES the combat in it. Unlike Pokemon, where they do the fighting. So he couldn't really fit, plus we don't know what happens at the end of that series when he reaches the 100th floor. Good choice though.

Same thing for the Avatar. Aang would be a cool gym leader who uses multiple types in his gym such as Fire, Water, Rock/Ground, and Flying. But like the above example, he does the fighting and he wouldn't fit at all in the Pokemon universe. It was just more simple to have Atem in the Pokemon world because he's used to controlling monsters and having a game-like strategy mentality, even if they're cards.

There's still a Looooooooong time before that has to be decided, but it was nice to hear some opinions. Thanks. I'm currently adding a new lab for the first town in the hack and a new ghost tower for Millennium City, the 7th major city where you'll meet Atem and a bunch of other cool exciting events will take place.

[alienhunterx]

Great update...
@Ash: You should not have reported that..

[Ash493]

@DRG: It seems hard to choose... why don't you just make characters out of PC members or make non-anime characters? =)

[DarkRisingGirl]

Originally Posted by Ash493

@DRG: It seems hard to choose... why don't you just make characters out of PC members or make non-anime characters? =)

We'll see, that may be the way to go. But I'll come up with something.

October 5th I'll reveal all of the pre-release pics I've been saving while doing my personal playthrough of the second half of the hack. They're nothing big, as I don't want to spoil any of the best stuff. But they will show a lot of new and interesting parts within the remaining parts of the hack.

[ererbus]

Great
i just thought you should use digimon's trainers characters

[alienhunterx]

Originally Posted by DarkRisingGirl

We'll see, that may be the way to go. But I'll come up with something.

October 5th I'll reveal all of the pre-release pics I've been saving while doing my personal playthrough of the second half of the hack. They're nothing big, as I don't want to spoil any of the best stuff. But they will show a lot of new and interesting parts within the remaining parts of the hack.

Speaking of which why not add old anime characters or rivals.
Even the old game characters which are being forgotten

[DarkRisingGirl]

Originally Posted by alienhunterx

Speaking of which why not add old anime characters or rivals.
Even the old game characters which are being forgotten

I already had Gary planed for part 2 somewhere. But that's a thought that crossed my mind several times so I just may do that.

Instead of October 5th, I'm going to post the screenshots tonight! Expect to see all of these things in the final version of the hack due by the end of this year.

[fr0styguru]

Ok so i'm stuck at Iceland City and I don't know where to go from here. Apparently i've skipped my 3rd gym so I hope that didn;t let me use fly or something ._.

[DarkRisingGirl]

Originally Posted by fr0styguru

Ok so i'm stuck at Iceland City and I don't know where to go from here. Apparently i've skipped my 3rd gym so I hope that didn;t let me use fly or something ._.

After Iceland City, go to the Underground City next to it. Defeat KAYO there, then go back and get your 4th badge from the gym leader. After that, go into the door KAYO was blocking in UNDERGROUND CITY, you'll end up in a new route. Go through the route until you see EVIL PETE. Battle him, and that's the end of the beta. Beta 2, which is the final release of this rom, is coming by the end of the year. Part 2 will be released next year on a completely different rom and thread.

[fr0styguru]

Originally Posted by DarkRisingGirl

After Iceland City, go to the Underground City next to it. Defeat KAYO there, then go back and get your 4th badge from the gym leader. After that, go into the door KAYO was blocking in UNDERGROUND CITY, you'll end up in a new route. Go through the route until you see EVIL PETE. Battle him, and that's the end of the beta. Beta 2, which is the final release of this rom, is coming by the end of the year. Part 2 will be released next year on a completely different rom and thread.

Aww so I beat it already It was really fun can't wait till part 2.

[DarkRisingGirl]

Originally Posted by fr0styguru

Aww so I beat it already It was really fun can't wait till part 2.

Yeah, sorry. The next release will be the entire part 1, so it'll be much longer.


I'll be posting the pics in a couple of hours. They lead up to everything I've completed and played through thus far. Note that pictures of Atem's events won't be in the post because it's been moved to a later part in the hack. I've still got a fair amount left to play through but everything up until the end of the hack Has been edited. I just need to play through it to see if it works. Then, Tajaros just has to add some big epic events, insert the cries, and we should be done.

I'll be posting very soon. Homework comes first though. ^.^

[alienhunterx]

Originally Posted by DarkRisingGirl

Yeah, sorry. The next release will be the entire part 1, so it'll be much longer.


I'll be posting the pics in a couple of hours. They lead up to everything I've completed and played through thus far. Note that pictures of Atem's events won't be in the post because it's been moved to a later part in the hack. I've still got a fair amount left to play through but everything up until the end of the hack Has been edited. I just need to play through it to see if it works. Then, Tajaros just has to add some big epic events, insert the cries, and we should be done.

I'll be posting very soon. Homework comes first though. ^.^

Can't wait for it... Go you stupid time.. Pass !!!! Also why not add characters like Paul, Iris, Cilan or even Tracey

[DarkRisingGirl]

Originally Posted by alienhunterx

Can't wait for it... Go you stupid time.. Pass !!!! Also why not add characters like Paul, Iris, Cilan or even Tracey

Paul, Iris, and Gary sound like a great idea. Not a fan of Cilan and Tracey I can't really think of a useful reason for him to be in the hack.

Update coming soon. It's A LOT for me to upload.

[Ash493]

Yes! I wanna see Iris-chan =D That's an awesome idea =D