What do you want in a Pokemon Hack??

This thread has been pretty useful for generating ideas. Started a notepad document with all these ideas written down. Gives some food for thought.

Personally, like everyone else, I like a good story. I have played too many where it feels too empty. They assume I know what to do because I've played Pokemon games before, ya know? I miss that feeling of not knowing what to do or getting lost and stumbling on something new... even if its a dead end. The game should have depth.

I'm on the fence with Fakemon. I really like them because they are badass... sometimes. I'd rather not have them for the heck of it, but have them because they fit into the world. I dont know. Fakemon are up in the air lol

Graphics kind of follow my 'good story' point. I dont want the world to feel empty and useless. They dont have to be more than vanilla, just put some thought into it.

Engaging! Like other people have pointed out, I like to click and talk to people or, at the least, have the option too. Too many times NPCs have said the same sentences or dont add to the world more than a pylon would.

I actually came into this thread because it seems like a lot of people have different opinions on "Fakemon". I'm not sure whether it would be fruitful to post a new topic about making hacks with large amounts of Fakemon, but I'm interested in the idea of hacks trying to create a world filled with nothing but homemade pokemon.
I'm not exactly interested in playing any hacks at the moment, but I would like to know how many pokemon hacks do in fact have Fakemon. Are there any Hacks that have managed to make a full roster (150 pokemon) of Fakemon, if so have any of them been successful because of this?

Is it better for a hack to have only a few Fakemon, or legitimately try to create a full roster of Fakemon?

In order to not derail the thread entirely, I do actually think I would like to see more hacks with full rosters of Fakemon, I think it would be interesting, but if people are making Fakemon, I just hope that they will have original creative concepts and designs when making them, maybe try some typings that have never been done before and make sure the Fakemon don't look like obvious Fakemon, I want to see homemade Fakemon that I could at any moment mistake it for a proper Game Freak design.

If anybody could shed some more light on the implementation of Fakemon in hacks, and what makes or breaks a Fakemon, that would be most insightful. If anyone thinks I should make a new topic about it, that wont bother me at all, I just thought it would be appropriate to post my thoughts on the idea in a thread already talking about Fakemon before I would make a new thread.

As far as what is most important to me, like many others, is a story that strolls away from the beaten path. Sure, you could just have a generic storyline where you progress through the gyms, beat the bad guys, and then the elite four, with no side quests after the fact, but it's certainly not going to attract many players.

In my opinion, plot twists are greatly welcomed; for example, including a background and flashbacks on 'The Great Pokemon War' (something I'm going to attempt to implement in my hack ^^), or *gasp* your mom's a Poke-terrorist. I mean, not necessarily something that dumb, but something that captivates the audience and leaves them asking, "what next?"

Also, as far as HMs go, I've never minded them before, but now that I see it mentioned repeatedly in the forums I can see they are pretty obnoxious. Field Moves, like in Pokemon Ranger, would be very nice to see, although it may be difficult to implement. Also, I'd like to see new, well thought-out moves, that maybe are specific to a single Pokemon's evolution line.

I could go on for awhile about what I want, but I'll conclude with the following: it's gotta look pretty. I think some of Firered's colors don't mesh well together, and it's important to have that pleasing compatibility. Never overlook aesthetics!

I want quicker breeding (easy daycare), make acro bike working on FRLG and Running in a room (done!)

That's all.

Here's my opinion:

=Fairy Type
=Mega Evolution
=Have pokemon from all generations
=Mugshots if possible
=Pokemon overworlds too

That's I think, would be nice

solovino said:

Ooooh geez where do I start... I mean the question of what do I want in a Pokémon hackgame is basically exactly the same as what do I want in a normal Pokémon game, plusminus technical capabilities.

So... let's start with the obvious.







Obviously, the story. Romhacks in particular use the same engine and most of the same assets than the normal games they originate from, so the first element that greatly distinguishes them from the competition and that it's very easy to add innovation for is the storyline.

On other things...

• I support AI3X in having everything decapitalized. We're not in 1999 anymore.
• If possible, wider datasets and datatypes for Pokémon items and moves, in particular when it comes to the names. Again, we're not in 1999 anymore so we shouldn't have stuff like "PRZCureBerry" or having a "Normal Ball" and also a "CamelCaseBall". 18-20 characters limit for item names and location names should be a fairy sensible amount.
• It's more or less standard feature by now, but some oldish features like Physical/Special split should be a given. Ditto replacing trade-requiring evolutions. Fairy type? Why not.
• Substitute HMs for a different kind of overworld moves engine. I'd say try something like Golden Sun's, where there's a lot of ways to interact with the environment and those moves are designated by the job class / species / something and don't take room in the battle moveset. Give many moves ability to cause interaction. Vine Whip to cross a chasm? Ember to light up torches when you don't have Flash available?
• More doubles / triples / tag battles, depending on what the engine supports.
• The ability to choose from more than one starter set at the beginning of the story. Presumably the rival's choice would depend on your same set, too.
• Speaking of rivals and stuff, make those kinds of opponents autoleveling, so that they remain a fair challenge to the player no matter what level you are at.
• While following Pokémon is not a needed thing, if you're gonna have it please make people react to them, in particular if the mon following you is a rare Pokémon, a revered creature in your setting's myth, or one with world-rending powers.
• Have a concept of missions or arcs that is followed in-game by some sort of journal, kinda like what FR/LG had, so that we can always know where we were or have a clue of what we are supposed to be doing.
• Depending on what the art dept. is up to, cutscenes. But not of the pathetic current trend of "interrupt the current gameplay" or "press X to lift a finger" thing (aka "not a videogame but an interactive movie"); rather be it story / expository cutscenes at the beginning or end of each arc, kinda like the Ninja Gaiden games.
• Make more of the world map available from the start in general terms, but not all of it - of course, getting to the best stuff would require learning particular moves or acquiring particular items.
• if we're gonna have Legendaries make fighting them be a Worth It™ experience. Nowadays players are so well-prepared (and they soft-reset, too) that fighting a Legendary is just a glorified normal Rattata encounter with different music thrown into it. It should have more oomph to it, like with Final Fantasy special bosses. A roar, a woosh, and then you get into a special scene where it's two or three (depending on the engine) Pokémon against the legendary beast at once, and he gets the HP bar and the moves adjusted to compete against the combined might of your team. Like, having dual turn or different engage modes each with its own HP bar. And if it is possible to implement special mechanics, even the better.
• Have a wider selection of Pokéball types available early in the game.
• if the romhack is to have Gym Leaders and Elite Fours, make them not be transparent or useless in the story.
• If working the romhack on G4, be careful with the save/load times :p
• If possible to code it, remove the useless wait time between battle animations (say, losing HP from poison) and their slow ass-messages ("D'uh, you lose HP from the poison"). Again, 21st century stuff.
• Throw lighthearted jabs at previous generations. "Cooltrainer" type, eternal save times, sludges that transform people when eaten, D/P's memetic translations, "your mom had a bad egg", all is fair game.

Also this:



One of my greatest grips with the latest two generations is that all trashcans are empty.

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I had given up ROM hacking for it is just too much work for one person to efficiently, sanely, and accurately. But you've inspired me to start up again! I just need people to join, all interested PM me! I can do everything, so if youre even new to hacking but are willing to put 100% into my hack, you're welcome!

i like mega evolution and all new moves from gen IV to gen VI (Origin Pulse is the move i like ^_^). Just that ~

I liekz funny hacks that will tickle my funny bones :D

elcaptino said:

all i want in a hack is a great storyline good humour and minimum grinding and no hm slaves

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Thats not going to happen very soon... most ROM hacks require alot of grinding and may need a HM slave

Smileycorp said:

Thats not going to happen very soon... most ROM hacks require alot of grinding and may need a HM slave

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My hack doesn't require that much grinding and no HM slaves required, a lot of people are doing the same.

Having multiple attacks to act as a single HM would actually improve a lot in the gameplay and contour the HM slave problem.

Al3x said:

I agree with you, sidequests can be a lot of fun if scripted correctly, as for different starters it isn't a big deal for me. Anyways on with what I want most in a hack.
I'll try to make this as short as possible,

1. Silent hero/heroine. I've played a few hacks with a talkative hero and some of the dialog goes on for a very long time.

2. A funny joke once and a while, maybe not in the main storyline but in a sidequest or random house? Pokemon Glazed has some great humor.

3. Not too many rivals. Rivals are nice but if you have like 6 different rivals I don't think it's really needed. Rivals are very special and having too many ruins it for me.

4. This is just my personal opinion but I don't like it much when Ash, Cyrus, etc are thrown into the main storyline. I think an original storyline with all new characters and a new region to explore is more appealing.

5. No one is a fan of HM moves. If possible having key items that replace HM would be nice or keeping the use of HMs to a minimum. Or make HMs not so useless like by making Cut the effect of flinching. That'd make cut the counterpart of the dark type move Bite. Giving Fly 90 power would be nice too as that is what it becomes in later generations while some hacks keep the power at 70.

6. Physical/Special Attack split. Pretty self explanatory.

7. If you're keeping the name Pokemon Shadow, It would be awesome to see a way to implement Shadow Pokemon since Pokemon Colosseum was one of my favourite Pokemon Games of all time. If it's too much to ask for that's completely understandable.

8. This isn't a biggie for me but I rather have everything decapitalized.

9. Having access to a day care fairly early in game. Like in Pokemon Gold you had access to one not long after the second gym.

10. Fairy type would be nice. Wasn't a big fan of it at first but it really completes the type chart in my opinion.

11. Interesting storyline and interesting history of region.

12. All the small things. I like to check bookshelves in random houses and trash cans in every house.

13. A custom hero/heroine sprite is nice too but I'd be fine with the default ones.

That's about all that I can think of off the top of my head.

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Thank you for such a detailed answer, I'm working on a ROM right now, and this helps a lot, I'd much more like to team up with people on this game to meet some these little preferences, I share quite a few, like the decapitalization, and type split

I can be chaotic and write long text sometimes so excuse me for that. Here go my thoughts:

- Hero - Silent or Talkative.
From what I see is that most people like silent hero and that is perfectly okay.
+ It is as in original games. Why not stick to that, it is one of defining features of franchise. It is not a rpg game but Pokemon.
+ You focus on surroundings and events. Your attention is not focused on the character you play, you just explore the world and meet people.
- Your character is souless unfortunately. If there was no Red ain Gold / Silver / Crystal then I do not think he would be as popular as he actually is now.
- in games where there is strong story line it seems to me artificial. There is always someone next to you, be it an enemy or a friend that does all the talking you would have to do but to me it just feels artificial. Also.... a lot of people from hacking community miss the opportunity to at least allow our hero to perform actions different from speaking...like ... punch somebody! or at least try to stop them.

That being sad I would prefer talking main hero. Exceptions to that rule are:
Pokemon Reborn - Oh god I love that game and I am going to refer to it a lot here. The main hero is not almighty, does not win every battle, He / She is an element of the world. A silent one. The vast amount of people around you push the action forward. Just play the game and you will see how it fares.
Pokemon Ruby Destiny: Rise of guardians (Life of Guardians? I don't remember :< ) - The hero speaks like 5 times an entire game at crucial points of story line. Like after making decisions: "I wonder if I did the right thing...". And that is it. It gave the character some personality and a lot of mystery. From souless puppet of a player he/she became a character of his/her own. Maybe it is because of the storyline.

Talkative protagonist:
+ The character with emotions and something to say is important in story driven game. A game with good story. The personality set by the creator allows the player to see what author wanted to show and it allows him to create more believable character.
- Pretty hard to execute. There is a lot of potential but in most games we get one dimensional jerk or justice guy.

Good story!
It can be complex as long as it is possible to keep a track on it. As the RPG gamer I would love a good and mature story that could surprise the player and allow him to encounter a lot of believable and rememberable characters. To acomplish it the story would probably have to be dark and just like the real life is - unfair sometimes.

Open World
I don't know how do you acomplish that in a pokemon game but I would love to see that. A vast world you can explore on many level. I believe there would have to be some kind of dynamic level system. What would be a part of this world:
- more than 1 region...maybe...or 1 that is huge and has a variety of sub - regions. Snowy mountains, icy unexplored and mysterious lands, deep dark cave systems (with not so many zubats :> ), wild and hot rainforests, scandinavian rainy mountains, grassy plain areas...you know....you can find those on the world map. The game world should feel individual enough.
Also the world could use some back scene history from the past which is the reason how the region looks now. War? Division of tribes / countries? Ecosystem falling? Dark organisation rule?
8 gyms is not enough. I heard the idea that you have 18 types which means you can choose 14 gyms to challenge and Elite 4 has the remaining 4 types each.

Creative ideas
over 600 Pokemon mean a lot of ideas to use them. A lot of scripting it is but hell... Flying pokemon to take you to places you cannot reach (peak of mountain to get an item), Fire pokemon that could warm you during snow storm. Water pokemon could surf / dive (already used). Ditto with transformation to any object.

No HMs - as most people believe, I also hate those. Why not replace them with items? Also It can be ommited in a lot of ways. Why not give pokemon a separate menu with natural abilities. I mean, how can flying type Pidgeot forget to 'Fly'? Water type being taught how to surf? Any pokemon that is not able to crush a small fragile tree? (maybe the smallest ones)? Charizard with it's burning tail serving as flash. It also takes the move slot away from you.
Ash Gray did very well here, replacing HMs with items and FLY with teleport system.

Main features having an early access like Daycare center or evolution stones. There are hard to find in hacks (especially the second one). Those should actually be in every city or at least larger cities.

Diary / notes with key info. I cannot believe I did not encounter it in any game before. Especially because it is that hard to find infor on hacks in the internet. Imagine you get Growlithe, you are happy you are going to have an amazing fire type. Oops, where is the fire stone?! Maybe not in the rom hack, but in custom games. Hell, even Reborn did not have such a thing. And later I scratch my head wondering where do I get / buy a fire stone...
Simple as that, you arrive at city, explore all the houses, talk to all the people there (at least I do so) and the information goes to diary. You find a single unique item in a Mart? Check! In Cerulean City you can buy Water stone from vendor in Gym? Check! Someone hinted a treasure / unique pokemon / possible quest? Check!...or not.

Newest features
The main ones being:
- poison fading away instead of fainting your pokemon.
- newest typings / moves. Also 6 generations of Pokemon.

Too bad most of my ideas can be done in a custom game instead of a rom hack.

Fakemon

I love the normal Pokemon, but if I wanted to play a game with all 800, I'd play X and Y. Seeing brand new Pokemon in a ROM Hack always seems to be enjoyable. Quartz is known for having the weirdest "Pokemon", but it's amazing that someone took the time to make that many. I wish more ROMs had Fakemon, but it seems the community doesn't like them that much.

Hack Wants

I think hacks should have Mega Evolution and Character Customization!

What I want in a Hack

☆ Different starter sprites you can choose
☆ Able to rematch previous trainers whom you fought.
☆ smooth graphics by smooth I mean the graphics are not lagging and is sharp.
☆ Pokémon Mini tournments where you earn (money, pokemon ect.)

That's all the ideas I have so far.