ROM Hacking Discussions

[Crimson Stardust]

Yeah, thats what i thought too, having a silent hero.
Thanks for the tip off, lol,
Now i know just what i have to do and what kind of script to come up with because at first i was torn out between talking or non-talking so i can script first as both scripts ended up diffirently..xD..
Thanks guys.
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crimson stardust

[Darthatron]

Originally Posted by Alberio

I was just wondering: Does anyone know how to change where you start the game? As in, Celadon instead of Pallet town?

Use the Simple Questions (Emulation > Beginners Lounge) thread next time.

HackMew released a tool to edit all that, look in his thread, in the Toolbox. It's called SMEA.

[altariaking]

On the subject of the player talking, I think it's a great idea for some situations, such as Identity, Mystery Dungeon themed hacks, and super-special-awesome-plo hacks. Other than that, I'm not too fond of it.

[VGAura]

Personally, I feel the player character should talk if the character has a significant amount of backstory or if the game/hack is very story-driven. For the regular Pokemon games, they aren't very story driven and the main character isn't some hero sent from the heavens with a mysterious past destined to save the world or anything like that. S/he's just a regular boy/girl living in a regular town. That's something that players can usually identify with which makes it easy to see that character as their in game avatar.

Once you make the player character speak, it is no longer a representation of the player and becomes a standalone character in the world of your hack/game. At that point, you have to keep player character talking consistently as well as develop the character's personality, feelings, beliefs, etc. If you can't do that, I suggest you keep the player character silent to prevent the player from seeing the player character as anything more than their in-game persona. Otherwise that character might end up boring and players might lose interest.

[Crimson Stardust]

Hey guys, Here a new discussion i am coming up with.
I am pondering upon whether to use fire red rom or ruby/emerald as the base rom for my hack.
IMO Ruby/emerald have much more cool features that fire red do not have but still hearing commentd from you guys will make my decision better.
And ruby and emerald is the same right?

[Manipulation]

If you want a load of people to repeat the exact same thing in consecutive posts then I suggest you search through this thread or find the 9001 threads that were created for this topic. That question's been answered enough times as it is, we don't need it answered again.

[colcolstyles]

Originally Posted by Manipulation

If you want a load of people to repeat the exact same thing in consecutive posts then I suggest you search through this thread or find the 9001 threads that were created for this topic. That question's been answered enough times as it is, we don't need it answered again.

This.

To keep this post from being marked as SPAM, I've got a little question: what's a good level range for the Elite Four (or the entire region, for that matter). For example, in Johto the Champion's highest level pokémon is Lv. 50 while in Sinnoh, the lowest level pokémon is Lv. 53 while the highest is Lv. 66. So if you were designing an Elite Four lineup, what would you cap the levels at? I'm trying to settle on a good "difficulty level".

[Manipulation]

Originally Posted by colcolstyles

This.

To keep this post from being marked as SPAM, I've got a little question: what's a good level range for the Elite Four (or the entire region, for that matter). For example, in Johto the Champion's highest level pokémon is Lv. 50 while in Sinnoh, the lowest level pokémon is Lv. 53 while the highest is Lv. 66. So if you were designing an Elite Four lineup, what would you cap the levels at? I'm trying to settle on a good "difficulty level".

Well, in my opinion, you honestly don't know until you get there. If you try and predict that your E4 is going to be around 60-65 and when you playthrough your levels are 55-58 then you're in trouble. If you want to be accurate with your levels then I think you need to make all the levels 1 then playthrough your game and, when you get to that stage, decide each E4 member's Pokémon one by one.

[Ninja Caterpie]

That depends on the region and how much EXP you can get from it (as well as how much you can waste training up recently-caught wild Pokemon). For example, in Isshu, the E4 have teams of 45/48/48/50 each, with the endgame boss(es) at level 50-54, making it "equally hard" as Johto's Elite Four, maybe harder with the sheer power of some Pokemon and some excellent movesets.

However, in Black, my team was level 46 across the board by the time I was at the Elite Four (no grinding at all), but in HeartGold, my team was merely in their late-30's. It really depends on how the game is like (but then again, Isshu's EXP system is rigged, lol). I'd prefer a smooth curve up until the Elite Four, then a little 3-4 level jump to the actual Elite Four, so there's a little challenge.

[altariaking]

I'd say just play through the hack first, and then check your party Pokemon levels, then decide on suitable levels from there.

[U_Flame]

I need opinions. My hack will have cussing so I'm wondering what people generally think of that. It won't cuss at every sentence, just mainly in the scenes with drama, violence, and the antagonists.

[Pink Parka Girl]

Originally Posted by U_Flame

I need opinions. My hack will have cussing so I'm wondering what people generally think of that. It won't cuss at every sentence, just mainly in the scenes with drama, violence, and the antagonists.

The analogy I use in my own thinking is that swearing is a garnish. Your dish won't be any less delicious without it; but a little placed here and there in the areas where it will have the most impact can enhance your hack's tone, characterization, and/or storytelling. This "garnish" should never be added frivolously - if your dish is already artfully arranged just the way it is; than even a sprinkling of parsley could be seen as distracting and unnecessary. A good "test" to do is this: if you can imagine your scene without swearing and finds it loses much of its impact in the process, you'll know your garnish is well-placed; if the lack of bad language seems to make no difference whatsoever, than err on the side of caution and leave it out.

Of course, garnishes are meant to be used sparingly, and their purpose should be to enhance the overall attractiveness of the meal of a whole. If you heap on so much garnish that it stands out more than your dish does - like so many of those "My first ROM Hack!" videos you find on Youtube; that are essentially one-trick ponies modded with Advance-Text who's sole reason for being is to have PROFESSOR PENIS give you a Pokemon in PUSSY TOWN while NPCs ask you to **** them - you give off the impression of being a twelve-year-old with a mentality that hasn't advanced beyond the Beavis and Butt-Head stage yet. Hacking a slew of four-letter words and dirty sex talk into a Pokemon game doesn't make one "mature" and "edgy" - far from it!

Edited to add: Sometimes, however, your dish NEEDS garnish. Slavishly avoiding bad language in situations that would appropriately call for it can be just as bad as overdoing it. Lines like "gosh dang it to heck!" - in the mouth of a character where such wouldn't make sense (such as your scary Big Bad) - can push your hack into the realm of Narm (in other words, ridiculously cheesy and ineffective at delivering the intended emotional impact). If you're wanting to avoid both swearing and the Narm-y avoidance of such in tense situations, reworking your dialogue to avoid any need for silly euphemisms (or planning it that way from the beginning) is generally what I recommend. The fine line between avoiding swearing to silly extremes and cursing like a sailor can be a difficult one to walk sometimes...but if you have a good instinct for your story, your characters, your setting, your overall mood, and your audience; finding that opportune moment where you have a real reason to use "damn" over "darn" - or not needing to use an expletive at all - will come easy to you.

[PokémonShinySilver]

Yeah, so very true. Although if I was creating a sequal to Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum for instance, I would rather go Nintendo style. But for a stand alone hack (and maybe a sequal to it)... I probably would use swearing in it, after all... it is part of reality after all. Like... I could end up creating a hack of Pokémon Platinum (once I learn how to), I could place it in a timeline that was before humans discovered the parallel world of Pokémon, because it does seem in the anime and games... that it takes place in a world that really isn't planet Earth at all... which means... the animals that inhabit the world... is Pokémon. While the Earth life forms live on Earth, so yeah.

[Illusive]

All you need to do in the pokemon games is use a super effective attack, and with a few exceptions (eg physical moves on special sweepers), it will usually kill the pokemon you're up against. Don't be afraid to make your hack harder so that items such as X-Attack and moves such as swords dance are actually viable, and people actually spend money on full heals. Keep in mind, unless you're in a cave, you can walk back to the pokemon centre after a particularly taxing battle and fully heal your pokemon, so outside of caves (or routes with a cave in the middle or unavoidable grass) assume that the trainer is going to be fought with a full health team.

[Ninja Caterpie]

um i was already needing to use pseudo-competitive tactics in-game in every game in the normal series, making it harder's just going to make me give up. Hardcore players won't quite a good game if it's easy. Casual players will RQ if it's hard.

[Oakesy]

Sorry if I am spamming here but I am very new. Could someone please link me to a thread that states what hacking is? And it sounds like you are changing the game somehow, would this be possible to download on an NDS Rom?

[colcolstyles]

Originally Posted by Oakesy

Sorry if I am spamming here but I am very new. Could someone please link me to a thread that states what hacking is?

Here's a good one:

http://www.zophar.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10584

[U_Flame]

Originally Posted by Pink Parka Girl

The analogy I use in my own thinking is that swearing is a garnish. Your dish won't be any less delicious without it; but a little placed here and there in the areas where it will have the most impact can enhance your hack's tone, characterization, and/or storytelling. This "garnish" should never be added frivolously - if your dish is already artfully arranged just the way it is; than even a sprinkling of parsley could be seen as distracting and unnecessary. A good "test" to do is this: if you can imagine your scene without swearing and finds it loses much of its impact in the process, you'll know your garnish is well-placed; if the lack of bad language seems to make no difference whatsoever, than err on the side of caution and leave it out.

Of course, garnishes are meant to be used sparingly, and their purpose should be to enhance the overall attractiveness of the meal of a whole. If you heap on so much garnish that it stands out more than your dish does - like so many of those "My first ROM Hack!" videos you find on Youtube; that are essentially one-trick ponies modded with Advance-Text who's sole reason for being is to have PROFESSOR PENIS give you a Pokemon in PUSSY TOWN while NPCs ask you to **** them - you give off the impression of being a twelve-year-old with a mentality that hasn't advanced beyond the Beavis and Butt-Head stage yet. Hacking a slew of four-letter words and dirty sex talk into a Pokemon game doesn't make one "mature" and "edgy" - far from it!

Edited to add: Sometimes, however, your dish NEEDS garnish. Slavishly avoiding bad language in situations that would appropriately call for it can be just as bad as overdoing it. Lines like "gosh dang it to heck!" - in the mouth of a character where such wouldn't make sense (such as your scary Big Bad) - can push your hack into the realm of Narm (in other words, ridiculously cheesy and ineffective at delivering the intended emotional impact). If you're wanting to avoid both swearing and the Narm-y avoidance of such in tense situations, reworking your dialogue to avoid any need for silly euphemisms (or planning it that way from the beginning) is generally what I recommend. The fine line between avoiding swearing to silly extremes and cursing like a sailor can be a difficult one to walk sometimes...but if you have a good instinct for your story, your characters, your setting, your overall mood, and your audience; finding that opportune moment where you have a real reason to use "damn" over "darn" - or not needing to use an expletive at all - will come easy to you.

Good advice! Another good idea I just thought of is to have a tester just to check the language.

[Team Fail]

I might have cussing here and there at the most critical parts of games. Just for looksies.

I've also decided to play it safe- I'm dumping my own roms for hacking.

[Darthatron]

Originally Posted by Team Fail

I've also decided to play it safe- I'm dumping my own roms for hacking.

That will make it difficult to release patches, won't it?

[Team Fail]

Originally Posted by Darthatron

That will make it difficult to release patches, won't it?

In what ways would that give drawbacks? Is it that mine are 1.1 and everyone uses 1.0? That could be an issue.

[Darthatron]

Originally Posted by Team Fail

In what ways would that give drawbacks? Is it that mine are 1.1 and everyone uses 1.0? That could be an issue.

Assuming you're American, that's the biggest issue. If you have a different version of the game (different region), that would probably be worse.

[Team Fail]

Originally Posted by Darthatron

Assuming you're American, that's the biggest issue. If you have a different version of the game (different region), that would probably be worse.

Yes, I do have a (U) version cartridge. You mind me asking, can you provide a list of all the different game ID's of the U 1.0 and 1.1 games? I can view those in the GBA Backup tool.

(My Pokemon Sapphire reads POKEMON_SAPP AXPE 02)
Edit: I need the ID's for all five US games: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed and LeafGreen. I have all 5.

[Equin]

Hello, fellow ROM hackers, being new and all to this has brought about the need for me to discuss, among other matters. So, hereby, I would like to ask a few things about the whole pokemon hacking thing with you:

• How well do you know your ROM?

Right, so, beginning from a certain almighty tool, and ending with hexadecimal editing, do you play around with your rom? are you a lousy messer that wants to detach something before creating one, or do you keep it simple and use everything you can gather from around to do your desire?

• How fast did you learn?

Surely, you were all newbies once like I am now, but how fast did you get to 'level up', learn about stuff you wanted to do but didn't know there was a way to, and/or start using your software efficiently?
No, I do not want a measurement in time. I ask for examples that made you become experienced, these 'moments' where you felt like a ladder of knowledge descended and you climbed it.

• Are you a fan of alteration?

Do you like to change more than what's meant to change in your hack (alternatively said, something I consider a taboo)? Here are some examples:
-Alter pokemon stats and movesets to non-canon values
-Create fake pokemon
-Merge tiles (the way I see it is like when you put a gym door tile-per say-to another house as a door)
-Make the main character talk already discussed
Moreso, what's your 'alteration taboos'?

• Fancying an insider?

In other words, do you like working in something secret about your hack? I'm not exactly telling you about progressing without letting anyone know, but more like hide surprises or easter eggs in a demo you're about to release, while keeping it a secret.

Well, that's about it. I'm really looking forward to your insight.

[Ninja Caterpie]

Pretty well, very, depends and yes.

...

...okay, I'll elaborate.

How well do you know your ROM?
In terms of Pokemon hacking, I really don't know much. I really don't want to or, really, need to know about it. I'm fine with the tools doing the work, and knowing how they do it is fine. I don't need to know who, what, when, where or why.

In Fire Emblem, though, I know a brickload more, because of how undeveloped it is compared to Pokemon. In Pokemon, I don't need to know anything (or even where my scripts are lol) to be able to make a hack. In Fire Emblem, well, yeah, I do. :D

How fast did you learn?
I don't mean to sound conceited or anything, but I have to say I learned pretty fast. Unlike a surprising majority of this community, I learnt to both map and script by myself, with small bits of help. So many people take forever to learn to script; I found it really easy. Maybe it's just because I work well with languages and stuff like that. :D Aside from that, working on Moonshine was pretty helpful.

Are you a fan of alteration?
I have no taboos in terms of hacking, as long as it's done well. If it's done badly, don't do it, or at least don't release it. That goes for everything else in hacking too (and most of life, but that's another story). If your maps or scripts are terrible, get someone else to do them, or don't release a hack. If you make your own tiles and they're terrible, don't insert them. If you can't compose for jack (like me lol), don't insert your own music. If you're drawing Fakemon for kicks, no problem, just don't insert them into your hack. That's about it, really. If it looks terrible, sounds bad, or works horribly, then it's not good. Otherwise, it's fine.

Fancying an insider?
Yes. Nobody's going to find it, though, because nobody hardcores a ROM Hack like a Nintendo game trying to find good glitches, lol. That's about it on this.