FireRed hack: Pokemon Fire Red 251+

Chronosplit · Nov 15, 2013

Pokemon Fire Red 251+ [Pre-4.0 is live!]

This hack is no longer being updated as of this post: http://www.pokecommunity.com/showpost.php?p=8311465&postcount=130

Here's another post about that.

Pokemon Fire Red 251+

An experiment with a rather large rombase I found here on PokeCommunity kind of evolved into something a little more. The goal with this hack is to enhance FireRed not necessarily in difficulty (though it's there in another form), but as an attempt to make this game feel like more recent generations in gameplay while preserving Kanto as is. I always felt the region was a little too small for a 386, so we have only the first 251 available with mostly canon appearances. As the point of this hack is to enhance FireRed itself, I've left the region completely unchanged. No item handouts outside of what you get, no swapping of anything outside of what is mentioned, no script changes, not even a level curve change. Here's a quick on-the-spot rundown:

-Run Indoors! With Scissors!
-New Pokemon sprites from various games. Credit goes to The DS-Style 64x64 Sprite Resource
-Diamond/Pearl font, credit goes to diegoisawesome for the patch.
-Instead of having Oak give you the National Dex from the start, I changed the hexes to enable evolutions to pokemon not on the Dex without needing the national dex. You may now play the game as normal with all the evolutions unlocked. Credit goes to Doesntknowhowtoplay and Jambo51 for finding where to do this.
-Every Mew obeys.
-BW2 Repel Routine. Thanks goes to Darathon.
-I went through every trainer, script, and sign that I possibly could with XSE and decapitalized all I possibly could. Everything, including defeat speeches and Vs. Seeker strings is decap'd.
-All Kanto Pokemon can be caught in Kanto, plus all Johto Pokemon can be caught on the Sevii Islands.
-Every wild, non-Legendary Pokemon now holds at least one item.
-Updated movesets and TMs to comply with the most used movesets in Generation 5.
-Also note: there's a way to go back up to Mt. Moon from Cerulean City.

And thanks to MrDollSteak and his Decap/Attack rombase, we have a good few things:
-The Damage Split present in any game after Gen 3.
-Decapitalization in many areas I could not reach.
-Many, many, many new moves and abilities added (no replacements) and animations to go with them
-Generation 5 movesets.
-New Items

But wait, there's so much more!

Trade Evolution Changes:

Spoiler:

Non-canon Stat Changes:

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Attack Changes:

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Ability and moveset changes:

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TM Changes:

Spoiler:

-A few more Pokemon can learn Rock Slide, and all Fire-Types get Solarbeam now. There are also quite a few Pokemon who get some TMs and tutors added, as they now learn a few more moves in later games.
-You can actually get the Dive HM, a trade in the Pokemon Lab holds it. I figured another physical Water HM would be a decent thing to have before the Elite Four, where you're still waiting for Waterfall on a few Pokemon.
-TM02 Dragon Claw (this is a good move, but the replacement is better and has more that can learn it.) is now Outrage. It follows it's canon tutor self, with a few extras.
-TM07 Hail (It doesn't get much use from me personally, and most Pokemon I would teach Hail now learn it by level up or relearner) is now Avalanche, and this move has a bit wider amount of 'mons that can learn it, pretty much the original Hail TM plus those that could learn it through TM in Gen 4 and Lickitung. It's a sort of balance thing due to getting it so late in the game.
-TM21 Frustration (let's face it, not many use this) is now Work Up. It follows the Gen 5 TM line.
-TM32 Double Team (never found it worth a moveslot) is now Giga Impact. If it learns Hyper Beam it learns this.
-TM36 Sludge Bomb (You just get this way too late to be of any use, to the point that I already gave it to anything that can use it through relearner or level up) is now Gunk Shot. It uses a blend of the Gen V Move Tutor and Sludge Bomb TM lists.
-TM41 Torment (This is a really fun move! But in the end this hack needed some sort of Dark damaging move that a lot of non-Dark pokemon could learn. This was the best candidate due to the fact that there really isn't very much use for this move outside of fun and the placing is already where you would need this type of move the most) is now Payback. This follows it's machine line as if it was Generation 4.
-TM48 Skill Swap (The only time I ever found a use for this move, it was with Pokemon that have abilities not present in this hack) is now Zen Headbutt. This follows tutor lines and those that learn the move by level up, plus a couple more that make a little sense because they naturally learn Headbutt anyway.
-The Softboiled tutor teaches something different. I'm keeping this a secret, but it's definitely something you'll want to teach something.

Trainer Changes:

Spoiler:

Mart Changes

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Pokemon Availability:

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Things I wish to do, but aren't very high on my priority list. Might happen, maybe will never happen:

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A screenshot is fine too!

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Tools Used:

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BUGS AND NOTICES. Most notable are in bold:

Spoiler:

-Rocky Helmet, Life Orb, and Black Sludge are incomplete as of now; Life Orb boosts damage without the drawback, Rocky Helmet does nothing, and Black Sludge works like leftovers. These will be fully working soon.
-Drought, Drizzle, Sand Stream and Snow Warning bug: Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock mess with the routine for switch-in effects, causing the game to freeze. This is a rombase bug, and will be fixed ASAP.
-I did not, nor do I plan on doing, a single thing to the Hoenn 'mons. This is 251 and will stay 251. You can still hack them in yourself if you wish to have one ingame, just keep this in mind beforehand.
-That said, I also will not be adding in Gen IV or VI evolutions, or any new Pokemon.
-Options in the pokemon select menu that involve using moves on the overworld tend to be blanked out. This isn't as bad as you'd think: they still stick out as an empty space and everything else still works as normal. The Help text even still shows up. I have no fix for this.
-Trades may result in an error on Trader Advanced tools and the app will close: the trade itself is fine, this is caused by assigning trades with abilities on the expanded tables. If you wish to alter the trade, change the ability of the pokemon you're getting in the trade beforehand to any original FireRed ability, and you'll be able to access it in the tool. You can then change the ability back with no harm done.
-On that note, if you wish to edit Pokemon or Trainers yourself do not use YAPE or A-Trainer as they will not work correctly at all due to movesets being at different offsets and the expanded move tables. The suggested course of action is to use Pokemon Game Editor and Unnamed Trainer Editor, using the INI files I have included in the links.
-If a Wild Pokemon's fainting blow was with Dragon Tail or Circle Throw, it may not yield EXP.
-The level curve is indeed the same, however if you're looking for more difficulty I didn't do anything to harm the multiplayer functions. You should be able to play against someone else by linking emulators with two copies of the same hack of the same version.
-I went through every area with XSE by hand, and fixed every ALL CAPS word I could find. Please tell me if there's one I missed.
-There is one instance I can't seem to fix: when the Viridian Mart clerk gives you Oak's PARCEL.
-The upper floor of every Pokemon Center and the rooms beyond that still need some work.
-Some multichoices are capitalized rather weird, such as the Game Corner items and vending machines.

Links:

Spoiler:

Current Version: 4.0 Release Candidate The link now goes to a fixed version which switches Caterpie's first ability back. This is essential because it causes the game to freeze.
-This is the last sprite update. Every single sprite from the first two generations has now been updated. Please let me know if altitude settings or sprite positions in general on ANY sprite feel off.
-The PokeMart in the Trainer Tower now sells every single TM.
-I Changed TM prices to compensate, I'm not letting you off that easy.
-I gave Grimer/Muk Gooey as requested. If you have one it's ability will change no matter what.
-Charmander's speed being 25 is fixed back to 65.
-Rombase is now 1.4a:
-Blizzard and Hurricane now work at 100% accuracy in Hail and Rain respectively.
-Bugfixes for various abilities
-Poison damage works properly now.
-A lot more decap
-Life Orb, Rocky Helmet, and Black Sludge are in. I've changed some items around to compensate, and they're still found the same way as the other new items (Black Sludge in particular is pretty easy to figure out, because only one new Pokemon in postgame can actually use it without hurting itself). Yes, they're still rather easy to steal. Also related to this, Unown now has a hold item.
-Some abilities have been added but you won't see them in the game, as the only purpose for some of these in this particular hack would be for mega evos. Sorry!

Chronosplit · Nov 16, 2013

Update to 3.3a:
-TM36 is now Gunk Shot. It goes by a blend of the Gen V Move Tutor and Sludge Bomb.
-Victreebell's relearner move of Poison Jab was switched to Gunk Shot
-Octillery's Gunk Shot relearner move was changed to Sludge Bomb
-Trainers with Pokemon effected have been changed to compensate

IPS: http://www.mediafire.com/?xgw8o1st0p5wk15

Pryze · Nov 16, 2013

Certainly looks interesting, I've always enjoyed games like these. Definitely going to nuzlocke it soon.

Chronosplit · Nov 19, 2013

I hope that you're enjoying it so far!

Here's 3.3b. I fixed a capitalization that I left hanging around when obtaining the fossils.

IPS: http://www.mediafire.com/?fvtmf7ntnnx0gag

MrDollSteak · Nov 19, 2013

Hey this looks good! I was planning on doing something similar with the rombase eventually, but I guess I don't need to :)

Which version of the base are you using? 1.2?

Also if you'd be kind enough to give me some of the offsets for decapitalisation in trainer scripts that'd be great. I didn't realise I hadn't already done them.

Also I'm currently working on editing egg moves, so perhaps 1.3 or 1.4 will have Gen 5 style egg moves.

Chronosplit · Nov 20, 2013

1.2 with no Fairy Type. And may I add, the patch has been very easy and helpful to work with.

As for the offsets, I did it by using Advance Map checking event by event for the most part. Because of that everything's not written down or in my head, but I do remember that Viridian Forest's trainers are around 0x1722C7 to 0x17241F if it helps.

Jet Pilot · Nov 20, 2013

Been playing it, and it's great. Good job on the hack. I'm on the 6th gym I think?

MrDollSteak · Nov 20, 2013

Projectwolfie said:
1.2 with no Fairy Type. And may I add, the patch has been very easy and helpful to work with.

As for the offsets, I did it by using Advance Map checking event by event for the most part. Because of that everything's not written down or in my head, but I do remember that Viridian Forest's trainers are around 0x1722C7 to 0x17241F if it helps.

Ok brilliant glad to hear that! 1.3 will be out soon so you can upgrade it then, it won't cause any problems outside of a few Pokemon's Abilities and Hoenn movesets.

Yeah no worries I wasn't sure if you went through it in a hex editor or not, but that's very helpful I'll just navigate there and look for strings.

RichterSnipes · Nov 20, 2013

Did you remember to remove the Sea and Lax Incense items from the Lost Cave? Players will be able to get Azurill and Wynaut if you didn't.

Besides that, it sounds pretty interesting. Nice to see new moves being added without replacing anything.

Mcguinness3 · Nov 21, 2013

Just a note: Tinymushrooms are not sold on Three Island. The berry vendor is still there. However, on the note of the berry vendor, I recomend increasing the price of berries. 20ea means that you can buy an entire stack of any berry for less than 2k.

Other than that I've been Nuzlocking the thing and having a blast, lovely using stuff like Arcanine and it actually having decent moves. Just finished the eighth gym, and lost my lv50 starter to rival ;(. Currently training a Seadra to evolve and was wondering you you had any notes on level-up move changes, ability changes etc etc. I noticed a fair few and would love to see some documentation so I know when to evolve Pokes.

Thanks for the great hack, and keep up the good work! :)

Chronosplit · Nov 21, 2013

RichterSnipes said:
Did you remember to remove the Sea and Lax Incense items from the Lost Cave? Players will be able to get Azurill and Wynaut if you didn't.

Besides that, it sounds pretty interesting. Nice to see new moves being added without replacing anything.

I haven't yet, and I'm honestly rather conflicted on that idea because of Wynaut's moves. Everyone's favorite CounterCoat user is great as it is, but useful things like Encore are sitting in there. If I can think of something really big to stick in there in it's place (Brightpowder and a Choice Band?) I'll be getting rid of that.

Just a note: Tinymushrooms are not sold on Three Island. The berry vendor is still there. However, on the note of the berry vendor, I recomend increasing the price of berries. 20ea means that you can buy an entire stack of any berry for less than 2k.

Oops! I'll see if I can't get mushrooms fixed soon, I noticed that my other Mart fixes aren't there either! Maybe I only dreamed of putting those in or something.

As for the berries, I neglected balancing them and you'll see a little bit of that in the same boat.

Currently training a Seadra to evolve and was wondering you you had any notes on level-up move changes, ability changes etc etc. I noticed a fair few and would love to see some documentation so I know when to evolve Pokes.

As for Seadra/Kingdra: It has the original line of abilities or Sniper for the entire line. I didn't put any moveset changes between evolutions, so except for the added relearner fun (mostly your great big Dragon STAB of choice, Clear Smog, and Signal Beam), Kingdra has the same level up moves as Seadra.

The adventure of going head first without knowing anything is fun, but I can see a definite need for documented changes. I'll see if I can't write one out in the future, but only for the Pokemon themselves.

Also, I'm glad that it's actually challenging. :D

EDIT: And here is 3.3c
-Marts are actually edited now.
-Berry prices are raised. The highest you'll see is 1000 for most pinch stat raising ones, this may or may not change in later updates.

IPS: http://www.mediafire.com/download/rav314vp6erobth/Pokemon_Fire_Red_251+_3.3c.ips

Master_Bait · Nov 22, 2013

can i ask something? can this be patched over a Rom that's already patched by RichterSnipes' Pokemon FireRed Throwback patch and work perfectly? or maybe the other way around (the Throwback patch over the 251+ patch and will work perfectly?)

RichterSnipes · Nov 22, 2013

Master_Bait said:
can i ask something? can this be patched over a Rom that's already patched by RichterSnipes' Pokemon FireRed Throwback patch and work perfectly? or maybe the other way around (the Throwback patch over the 251+ patch and will work perfectly?)

Both of our hacks have changes that edit wild Pokémon locations throughout the game, so patching the second of the two you choose will overwrite the location changes made by the first one. Also, if Projectwolfie's extra changes are/are to be placed in areas in the ROM that I already have added things of my own, that will interfere, too.

That's primarily if you include the wild Pokémon changes from my hack, though. Most other things shouldn't interfere, such as his move inclusions and the multitude of things in my hack. In that case, the choice is up to you.

Chronosplit · Nov 22, 2013

Master_Bait said:
can i ask something? can this be patched over a Rom that's already patched by RichterSnipes' Pokemon FireRed Throwback patch and work perfectly? or maybe the other way around (the Throwback patch over the 251+ patch and will work perfectly?)

This is a really interesting idea.

However I cannot 100% guarantee success at all combining this with any hacks in general at this moment, much less for future versions of this hack as it progresses. This is due to things like movesets, new abilities, new attacks, and their expanded tables being located on different areas of the ROM compared to almost every hack on this subforum, and the free space used being in different areas as well. If I were to test this, I would probably patch the ROM with this before anything else except for UPS patches. This is all just speculation though, I might give this a go in the future with both configurations and tell people how it goes.

I can say with slightly more certainty (that is a little more than none) that bigger hacks which use a good bit of free space such as Generations, Ultra Violet, or Fire Red Omega wouldn't be a good idea to use with this: I'm sure there's something that would end up screwed up no matter what the order of patching would be. You're free to try though!

Also worth noting on the side of Richter's advice: I'm pretty sure any hack with changed enemy movesets would erase the ones I presented if you patched it in the way that the wild Pokemon would change from 251+. This could make things a little odd if you used a hack with no damage split.

Master_Bait · Nov 24, 2013

oh, thanks guys. tried it out twice, but it just like you guys said (or maybe, the gist of it), it messed up data like movesets and such. too bad i don't have screenshots (i'm in an internet cafe right now), i wanted to show you the weird things that happened to the moves, like a self-damaging Scratch (which became a Fire-type move with 75 BP and 5 ACC), a Double Team that damages the enemy, or a Gust that can increase ATK and DEF (animation hits the enemy, but stat changes applies to the user).

well, too bad though. some of the changes in the Throwback (especially the Repel System and Trainer Facing) were begging to be included in FireRed 251+, so it was a bummer that both patches were incompatible (to a fault). ended up just using the Wardrobe patch for it.

nevertheless, both hacks are awesome, and I'm gladly looking forward for updates.

Chronosplit · Nov 24, 2013

That might be because the other hack, like most patches would, writes over the added content as most hacks use the space where they reside. As for the repel system, keep an eye out because I will most likely have one on the next update... whenever that will be.

Anyway, here's 3.3d. This will be the last update for a little while unless a big bug pops up or I find the time to write up a rudimentary Pokemon list. I'm in no way done with this hack, but I do have some things in this strange concept called "real life" that I need to tend to for a little bit. :P

-The incense items in Lost Cave have been replaced by a Choice Band and Focus Band
-Modified one Cooltrainer.

IPS: http://www.mediafire.com/download/b9uvrf8mqjyavxh/Pokemon_Fire_Red_251+_3.3d.ips

When I get going and make a new update, it'll be a shiny and nice 3.4 with most likely the BW2 repel routine, maybe another surprise, and updates less often for those tired of patching a clean ROM fifteen thousand times!

RichterSnipes · Nov 24, 2013

Master_Bait said:
well, too bad though. some of the changes in the Throwback (especially the Repel System and Trainer Facing) were begging to be included in FireRed 251+, so it was a bummer that both patches were incompatible (to a fault). ended up just using the Wardrobe patch for it.

nevertheless, both hacks are awesome, and I'm gladly looking forward for updates.

The Repel System and Trainer Facing fix aren't my work, they're available on the site for anyone to use in hacks. You can add them to this hack yourself after patching your ROM if you'd like.

If projectwolfie includes them in his hack, which it looks like he will now, you'll still need to be wary about where the data is placed. We won't have everything in the same area, you know. The only way things would work out is if the two of us were to collaborate with one another on our projects to make sure everything works between the two hacks if used together. In fact, look at almost any other pair of projects on this site and you'll see that they can't be used together. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is with hacks.

Master_Bait · Nov 25, 2013

Whoa. Can't wait for 3.4!

Spoiler:

RichterSnipes said:
The Repel System and Trainer Facing fix aren't my work, they're available on the site for anyone to use in hacks. You can add them to this hack yourself after patching your ROM if you'd like.

If projectwolfie includes them in his hack, which it looks like he will now, you'll still need to be wary about where the data is placed. We won't have everything in the same area, you know. The only way things would work out is if the two of us were to collaborate with one another on our projects to make sure everything works between the two hacks if used together. In fact, look at almost any other pair of projects on this site and you'll see that they can't be used together. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is with hacks.

Yeah, should've realized that earlier. I originally thought that the problems were in the emulator, instead of the ROM itself. I am still a greenhorn when it comes to ROM hacking after all, so I guess I need to read up about these, and to avoid further problems. What's more, maybe I can even make one of my own. With Moemon.

Chronosplit · Nov 27, 2013

Spoiler:

Alright I lied, one more reeeeeally quick patch before 3.4.

3.3 Final:
-Fixed the rocket on Nugget Bridge giving you a NUGGET.
-Gave a few of the Cooltrainers altered teams. It's mostly for variety's sake when it comes to Cooltrainers that have the same evolution lines (there sure are a lot of them).
-Switched Hex and Shadow Ball on the Gastly line. 33 was way too soon to learn one of Gengar's best moves. Agatha and other trainers this changed concerns were not changed because the TM still exists.
-Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop now can learn Hyper Beam and Giga Impact.
-Tms in general have been brought up to Gen V standards. A few more Pokemon now learn Brick Break, Taunt, Light Screen, Safeguard, Reflect, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Shock Wave, Sandstorm, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Overheat, Fly, Strength, Flash, Rock Smash, and Thief that should.

IPS: http://www.mediafire.com/download/2pt97lubbxbujjh/Pokemon_Fire_Red_251__3.3_Final.ips

Coming on 3.4 when I have time:
~~-Trainer Facing Fix and the BW2 Repel Routine implemented.~~ I'm working on this as hard as I can, but they're maybe not happening in 3.4. Sorry everyone.
-Pokemon data list!
-Some new sprites.
-Fixes where I find them.
-Probably some trainers modified in the name of the new TM modifications. I already have one done that way in 3.3.
-At least one TM is changed completely.
-Magic Coat is updated with Gen V's reflections.
-The rombase will be 1.3a, expect loads of ability changes because of this, and some moveset changes. Stealth Rock Toxic Spikes, and the Charmander line's actual second ability are now a reality for one thing. I may also be doing something fun with the Legendary Birds now that some new abilities came in. It's definitely not canon, but the Pokedex entries mention these to it so I don't think I'm overstepping my boundaries too far here.
-1.3a won't have the D/P font anymore, I'm contemplating on using diegoisawesome's patch.

Jet Pilot · Dec 9, 2013

I'm not sure how Dragon Tail works when KO'ing a wild pokemon, but I'd assume it would give XP. It doesn't though, it just knocks it away at 0hp. This is a fun hack to play, looking forward to future updates.

FireRed hack: Pokemon Fire Red 251+

I play for keeps!

I play for keeps!

Straight chillin

I play for keeps!

Formerly known as 11bayerf1

I play for keeps!

I killed Spiderman.

Formerly known as 11bayerf1

Not even a nibble...

AnimeFreak and Pokélover.

I play for keeps!

にょろーん～

Not even a nibble...

I play for keeps!

にょろーん～

I play for keeps!

Not even a nibble...

にょろーん～

I play for keeps!

I killed Spiderman.