What do you look for in a Pokémon Hack??

As an anti-reply, you might say, if a hack has fakemon in it, I'm instantly done. Hacks with extended Pokedexes are also a tough sell for me, but I may play them. Retyping fits in there as well, along with adding in the Fairy type without making it weak to Fire (for balancing).

On the contrary, a hack with a custom region, story, and certain types of sprites are nice eye candy. They make a hack far more likely to pique my interests.

I'm with wundrweapon on fakemon, though I may make an exception if they're well done. Though they're usually not well done.

I just look for unique concepts and unique story lines. Not that more traditional story lines are a bad thing but I definitely prefer new ideas.

wundrweapon said:

As an anti-reply, you might say, if a hack has fakemon in it, I'm instantly done. Hacks with extended Pokedexes are also a tough sell for me, but I may play them. Retyping fits in there as well, along with adding in the Fairy type without making it weak to Fire (for balancing).

On the contrary, a hack with a custom region, story, and certain types of sprites are nice eye candy. They make a hack far more likely to pique my interests.

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Thanks for your feedback, I definitely want to stay away from Fakemon, and if I do implement fairy typing it would have to be per the role.

Crizzle said:

I'm with wundrweapon on fakemon, though I may make an exception if they're well done. Though they're usually not well done.

I just look for unique concepts and unique story lines. Not that more traditional story lines are a bad thing but I definitely prefer new ideas.

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Again with Fakemon, I'll definitely take the popular vote on this one, and also as far as story and features. That's all people can ask for in a game, I'll definitely make them stand out! Thanks!

MarineTyler said:

Thanks for your feedback, I definitely want to stay away from Fakemon, and if I do implement fairy typing it would have to be per the role.

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What would you say is an example of being "per the role?"

wundrweapon said:

What would you say is an example of being "per the role?"

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Mostly following the up to date strengths and weaknesses. and in game lore

Here's some examples of what I don't like in hacks:

• Fakemon. I don't even bother with fakemon hacks anymore, except if it's a hack creator who knows what they're doing with them.
• Retyping existing Pokémon or moves, except for those that canonically changed types. (Example: Changing base Rotom breaks this rule, but changing its alternate formes to or from their Gen V typings is OK.)
• Changing the type chart, unless you're switching one generation's chart to another's. (Example: It's fine for a Gen IV hacker to include the Fairy type and related changes, but not for said hacker to arbitrarily make Fighting resist Dragon.)
• 151/251/386/etc. hacks that break trade compatibility with their own generation. (In other words: Hacks of this type should be able to locally trade with their unmodified counterpart - an Emerald 386 hack should be able to trade with Emerald, et cetera.)
• Outright removing any nonglitch Pokémon from the game, unless it's part of the theme. (Example: It's acceptable to replace everything after #151 with Missingno if you're doing a later-gen hack with only the original 151 obtainable, because it fits the theme of the game.)
• Not double-checking to make sure the player can't reach an area before they're supposed to. (Example: Let's say a Black/White hack gives each starter a high-power STAB move at level 5. Snivy gets Energy Ball, Tepig gets Flamethrower... and Oshawott gets Surf. You see the problem?)
• This is a minor concern at best, but including Gen III switch mechanics in a hack of a non-Gen III game. You're going out of your way to include a one-generation oddity.

I don't like Fakemon in hacks unless they're included as a story extension. Fakemon-exclusive hacks really bother me. If there're, say, a few fake legendaries that are well-done and further the plot, I'll buy into that, but not otherwise. And things like changing type charts or moves without purpose just to be quirky also bugs me a lot.

bwburke94 said:

Here's some examples of what I don't like in hacks:

• Fakemon. I don't even bother with fakemon hacks anymore, except if it's a hack creator who knows what they're doing with them.
• Retyping existing Pokémon or moves, except for those that canonically changed types. (Example: Changing base Rotom breaks this rule, but changing its alternate formes to or from their Gen V typings is OK.)
• Changing the type chart, unless you're switching one generation's chart to another's. (Example: It's fine for a Gen IV hacker to include the Fairy type and related changes, but not for said hacker to arbitrarily make Fighting resist Dragon.)
• 151/251/386/etc. hacks that break trade compatibility with their own generation. (In other words: Hacks of this type should be able to locally trade with their unmodified counterpart - an Emerald 386 hack should be able to trade with Emerald, et cetera.)
• Outright removing any nonglitch Pokémon from the game, unless it's part of the theme. (Example: It's acceptable to replace everything after #151 with Missingno if you're doing a later-gen hack with only the original 151 obtainable, because it fits the theme of the game.)
• Not double-checking to make sure the player can't reach an area before they're supposed to. (Example: Let's say a Black/White hack gives each starter a high-power STAB move at level 5. Snivy gets Energy Ball, Tepig gets Flamethrower... and Oshawott gets Surf. You see the problem?)
• This is a minor concern at best, but including Gen III switch mechanics in a hack of a non-Gen III game. You're going out of your way to include a one-generation oddity.

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I love what you had to say right here I will definitely be writing your comments down in my notes for reference. we share alot of common interests

Thoriére said:

I don't like Fakemon in hacks unless they're included as a story extension. Fakemon-exclusive hacks really bother me. If there're, say, a few fake legendaries that are well-done and further the plot, I'll buy into that, but not otherwise. And things like changing type charts or moves without purpose just to be quirky also bugs me a lot.

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What I'm gathering from this thread so far is fake mon are garbage and we want to play a Pokemon game😂😂 I'm going to stay away from them. As far as typing goes I think I'm convinced I'll be adding the fairy type with its proper 6th Gen type chart.

Thoriére said:

I don't like Fakemon in hacks unless they're included as a story extension. Fakemon-exclusive hacks really bother me. If there're, say, a few fake legendaries that are well-done and further the plot, I'll buy into that, but not otherwise. And things like changing type charts or moves without purpose just to be quirky also bugs me a lot.

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agreed!

Concur with everyone above about hacks needing unique storyline/plot and fresh gameplay concepts. People say the usual gym battles/E4 format is what represents pokemon but honestly, the scene is already oversaturated with such standard hacks and many people (including myself) are pretty tired of those. theres so much potential with all the hacking tools and knowledge available, so many interesting ideas and hackers still can only come up with standard gym/E4 hacks? Come on.

other stuff..
too many fakemon designs are just ugly and looked like a 10 year old drew them. first fakemon hack i touch is quartz and never want to go back to it.

IMO the only decent fakemon hack out there is Pokemon Vega (and its cousins like Altair), which even then still contain some vanilla mons. Snakewood's fakemon look poor but at least its unique storyline and setting makes up for it. Ruby destiny series does not have much fakemon so its ok.
rest is just...eh.

also don't like type chart/typing changes, unless its minimal and done sensibly.
massive whole sale changes just to cater to the amusement of the hacker and also forces players to memorize so many new type interactions just for the sake of ONE HACK, is a real turnoff. might as well stop calling it pokemon then, probably why i excuse hacks like touhoumon from this.

A definite must for me:

• Gen VI Type Chart
• Physical/Special Split
• Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon. I am obsessed with Eeveelutions.
• If newer Pokemon are added, their cries are a must.
• Interesting storyline

Good to have:

• Gen IV - VI Pokemon (If you're adding fairy type why not add newer pokemon while you're at it? I think there are some rom bases out there that adds new pokemon and cries and has the updated phy/special split and type chart.)
• Gen IV - VI abilities (If you're adding newer pokemons, new abilities are good to have. But I understand that new abilities are hard to do, so it's not a 100% must)
• Gen IV - VI moves (Same with above, although easier to do than abilities but animation wise it can be challenging)
• Decapitalization

I think you can safely conclude that fakemon is definitely a no-no.

BillyKaplan said:

A definite must for me:

• Gen VI Type Chart
• Physical/Special Split
• Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon. I am obsessed with Eeveelutions.
• If newer Pokemon are added, their cries are a must.
• Interesting storyline

Good to have:

• Gen IV - VI Pokemon (If you're adding fairy type why not add newer pokemon while you're at it? I think there are some rom bases out there that adds new pokemon and cries and has the updated phy/special split and type chart.)
• Gen IV - VI abilities (If you're adding newer pokemons, new abilities are good to have. But I understand that new abilities are hard to do, so it's not a 100% must)
• Gen IV - VI moves (Same with above, although easier to do than abilities but animation wise it can be challenging)
• Decapitalization

I think you can safely conclude that fakemon is definitely a no-no.

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This is going in my notes, thanks!

MarineTyler said:

I love what you had to say right here I will definitely be writing your comments down in my notes for reference. we share alot of common interests

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Ditto!

(I think I just made the worst pun in history. In all seriousness though, I agree)

Attention to detail goes a long way. I prefer decapitalised hacks, but I can tolerate hacks that don't decapitalise everything?just don't half-arse it. If the Pok?mon and item names are decapitalised, the rest of the game should be. Look up the offsets for the plural suffixes used in lines like "[player] put the [item]s in the Items Pocket".

Professionalism counts. Write like your work will be graded by your English teacher. Spellcheck it. Get someone with good language skills to proofread it. Don't be this guy. Don't use memes. (Gamefreak do it, sure. It's tacky; you can do better.) Series injokes, like a Youngster who really likes shorts, get a little more leeway, but one is enough?don't overegg the pudding.

There's a stereotype that all hacks are obnoxiously hard because they're made by people who can already complete the original in their sleep; don't do that. At no point should ingame trainers (outside dedicated areas like the Battle Frontier or specially gated superbosses like Collector Yagsata in Touhoumon Purple) go within twenty levels of the level cap. Learn the difference between good and bad difficulty. (Vega tends to be a lesson in the former; Dark Rising and Ruby Destiny are lessons in the latter.)

Ignore people on this site who say "NO FAKEMON"?there's a ton of people who have never played a good Pok?mon hack in their life and assume all hacks with fakemon are Dark Rising or Quartz. If fakemon are good, they're good. Don't hamstring yourself by not using them out of some misguided sense of principle.

Don't stack your game full of legendaries. Pok?mon is better when the legendaries are fewer in number. (I used to think it was better they be kept out of the storyline and relegated to postgame prize, but I don't care about that so much anymore.)

ThomasWinwood said:

Attention to detail goes a long way. I prefer decapitalised hacks, but I can tolerate hacks that don't decapitalise everything—just don't half-arse it. If the Pokémon and item names are decapitalised, the rest of the game should be. Look up the offsets for the plural suffixes used in lines like "[player] put the [item]s in the Items Pocket".

Professionalism counts. Write like your work will be graded by your English teacher. Spellcheck it. Get someone with good language skills to proofread it. Don't be this guy. Don't use memes. (Gamefreak do it, sure. It's tacky; you can do better.) Series injokes, like a Youngster who really likes shorts, get a little more leeway, but one is enough—don't overegg the pudding.

There's a stereotype that all hacks are obnoxiously hard because they're made by people who can already complete the original in their sleep; don't do that. At no point should ingame trainers (outside dedicated areas like the Battle Frontier or specially gated superbosses like Collector Yagsata in Touhoumon Purple) go within twenty levels of the level cap. Learn the difference between good and bad difficulty. (Vega tends to be a lesson in the former; Dark Rising and Ruby Destiny are lessons in the latter.)

Ignore people on this site who say "NO FAKEMON"—there's a ton of people who have never played a good Pokémon hack in their life and assume all hacks with fakemon are Dark Rising or Quartz. If fakemon are good, they're good. Don't hamstring yourself by not using them out of some misguided sense of principle.

Don't stack your game full of legendaries. Pokémon is better when the legendaries are fewer in number. (I used to think it was better they be kept out of the storyline and relegated to postgame prize, but I don't care about that so much anymore.)

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Thanks for your input man, this had a lot of good stuff!

The best a hack could offer me is a major change in grinding mechanics.
*throw unpoular opinion meme pic here*
I failed to figure it out before but the best would be that trained pokemon and wild pokemon would yield the same amount of exp. poins, and that the same exp. points earning would be given to each pokemon of the team.

I appreciate as well Fakemon, new types, new type charts, when it's well done of course. Bad Fakemon + hard grinding = :(

It's just me but I really don't like the grinding, nuzlocke-esque hype that people tend to appreciate these days. I prefer having a fast progress to discover the hack, eventually the possibility to train extended teams fastly enough. If lots of pokedollars were really easy to earn, though, I could just rush something with an underleveled team and a bunch of healing items, but it seems appealing...... Introducing new mechanics, such as a held item that disables Exp. gaining (if the ace Pokemon is overleveled for example), would be greatly appreciated!

Regarding new typecharts and new types I think it can be well done and I don't reject them as a whole.

New Fakemon why not but they need to bring a design that's never been done before (original dual typing, set of stats or of moves that is uncommon for the type (i.e fast Grass-type, bulky Electric-type)). I even can think of total novelty Fakemons, being it Pokemon with status moves different from their original typing (best example that comes in mind is a Leech-seed non-Grass-type user)

If I knew how to sprite, how to implement Fakemon, how to add new moves, how to design a region and its events, there would be such a hack out :p

What I love the most is when people have good ideas for improving existing Pokemon so they can be used at their full potential!
I will soon start a play of Pokemon SunGold hack because the author said all his improved Pokemon could possibly go to the OU tier, even poor little thing like Dunsparce.

quality