Ruby hack: [HotM Apr. 2011] Pokemon: Super Rising Thunder!

[Pink Parka Girl]

Originally Posted by Ash493

Pretty cool event looking forward to see more


That's sweet position xD
Those running OWs are great Don't underestimate yourself
Wonder what Swablu's doing there

That's actually Pachirisu's tail in that screenshot, rather than a Swablu XD It does look a little like one though, doesn't it? As for Beautifly...at first she attacks you because you're a stranger to the area and thinks you might be associated with the kidnappers; but once she calms down, she realizes that you can help her out. She will go along with you until about the middle of the next route (though she'll be hidden out of sight unless scripts on the overworld are triggered, which will make her appear and start to talk to you - there will be events like that with your "real" team members, too ). The next route is also where you get your first real team mate who you can send out into battle.

Originally Posted by destinedjagold

the side running OW makes Pichu look like a cat. :\

Anyways, nice new event for Beatifly. <3

Yeah, it's the long forelimbs that are giving him the cat look...I'll see what I can do about fixing that ' Those side views were the most difficult to sprite and I'm not happy with them for that very reason (Pichu's limbs should be a bit stubbier)...are there any spriters out there who would be willing to help me with this?

[destinedjagold]

Originally Posted by Pink Parka Girl

the side running OW makes Pichu look like a cat. :\

Anyways, nice new event for Beatifly. <3

[rules are meant to be broken]

hey! hey! a PMD type hack! wow!
we are a pichu? cute!

[Eeveon]

Very nice hack, so far. :D

One thing, though...

Something is wrong with Pichu's ribbon: When walking to the right, it's on it's right ear, when walking up, it's on its left ear. You should fix that, while also giving the battle sprite a ribbon as well.

I agree with djg, as well. Pichu does look like a cat when running.


Well anyway, I wish you luck with this~

[The Smell]

Yay! I think it looks great! The only thing that looks slightly odd is the side, but I can't sprite either...

Gonna add the userbar. :D

[cadgod120]

Looks very promising. Everything looks excellent.

[Pink Parka Girl]

I've just remembered that Pokemon Pinball actually has some sprites of Pichu running in it - I saved the sprites to my hard drive and will work on making better running sprites for our hero Pichu using those as a reference, which should eliminate the cat look (That's what I should have done from the start...but I didn't remember the existence of these sprites ' ). When I get that done, I'll update the userbar also so it will have better running sprites on it

As for how the hero's scarf flips from side to side depending on which direction he's facing - that's just part of the Ruby game engine, unfortunately. Walking sprites are made up of nine separate frames - the engine simply flips Sprites 2, 7 and 8 around if you travel towards the right; rather than having separate images for each side. Unfortunately, I can't do anything to change this.

[TB Pro]

This is amazing. You seem to think of new and great things every time I visit. The running OW looks fine.

[Pink Parka Girl]

I made up a second set of running sprites - the sides still aren't the greatest, but at least the player character doesn't look like a cat ; Which set should I go with - the earlier sprites or these?






These are just bonus screenshots showing the latest sprites inserted - Wurmple, and Sentret. XD

[PatJamma]

ooh much better! new sprites look amazing! it makes me want to play this even more!

[Ash493]

I do agree
New running sprites are much better
Great work Parca!

[The Smell]

Definitely the new ones! They look amazing!

[Tropical Sunlight]

Yes, yes.
The new sprites.

[Chi Rin]

I love the look of this hack!!

[Pink Parka Girl]

Before I get to the update, an important note: I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) all through November, and will be focusing only on finishing my fanfic, Paws for Alarm. There will be no more updates to Super Rising Thunder until December, unless I finish the fic early. ' Please bear with me - this will only be a month hiatus and things should be back on schedule in no time at all.

Thanks for the sprite feedback, everyone! I'll definitely keep the new ones Also, I have a question - does anyone know how to write in Unown letters in Ruby? I know that they're in the ROM itself - I've seen them with Tile Molester - but is there any way to write with them in a text box? I'd like to use Unown letters to convey writing on signs or other objects built by Magicians (humans), to reflect that writing looks like unintelligible gibberish to the characters in game - but with a hidden layer of meaning for the "Magicians" playing the game who can read it and tell what's written.

Now...the update. I have no new screenshots with this update, because much of what I've been doing over the past week or so has been the sort of work that either can't be screenshotted, or simply can't be screenshotted yet. What sort of work? Well...I've been making a "ruin-scape filled with garbage and old buildings" tileset for a little later in the game, sprited a few more of the important NPCs and recruitables, and have been trying to get the storyline finalized and streamlined. To make up for my upcoming absence, I'll discuss some of those above mentioned NPCs below, but I'll put it behind a cut to spare those who were wondering what I was doing but don't want to see the tl;dr details. XD

Anyway...I took some time to figure out some of the not so friendly characters you meet along the way. You've been introduced to the Spearow Ruffians and their leader, Freya the Pidgeotto, in screenshots already, but they're hardly the only gang of foes standing in your way. There are eight different "big boss" battles - which take the place of Gym Leader battles in that they allow HM use on the overworld once defeated - but you'll also have to deal with smaller foes...and even bigger ones.

Spoiler:

The first three big boss battles are all part of the long "Crumbletown" story arc that makes up the first part of the game (up to Slateport City, in Ruby terms). We had small hints of another story arc, involving Freya the Pidgeotto's past and the mysterious "round thing" she was so obsessed with, but that particular arc doesn't fully start to come into focus until close to the end of the Crumbletown arc. Anyway, as we saw in the screenshots from last time, you meet up with a skittish Beautifly named Doppa as you travel along Golden Trail (equal to Route 102 in Ruby terms). The reason she is so skittish is because her son, Peppo, had wandered off - and never returned. And the residents of the forest know all too well what that means - he was probably kidnapped; hauled off to dig through the Magician ruins in a terrible place to the north called Crumbletown. Getting Leppo back doesn't necessitate going all they way up there - though you go up there anyway XD - to rescue the little Wurmple, all you have to do is corner and defeat the first of the bosses in a place called Ratkarat Cliffs (equal to Rustboro City).

Boss Argo
Species: Vulpix
Specialty: Scaring defenseless little bug-types with his flames
Argo is unique in that you battle him more than once - you first catch up to him in a place called the Gorshi Swamp (equal to Petalburg Woods). Defeating him won't save Peppo from his clutches, however - he runs off and you'll need to chase him up to the Cliffs, corner him in a tunnel, and battle him again in order to save the little Wurmple. Beating him the second time silently enables - as in, there's no big fanfare or announcement like you get with beating a real Gym Leader - the use of Flash in the overworld. And yes, he is a cute little Vulpix - I see no reason why pokemon need always be pigeonholed in terms of behavior and personality based on their species. ' Cute pokemon can be rotten and ugly pokemon sweet - but ugly pokemon can also be nasty and cute pokemon be friendly. It all depends on the individual. XD By the time you fight him, you'll have 1 team mate besides yourself - Mjolnir, a Raichu - and a travelling NPC who does not battle - Doppa, the Beautifly.

Boss Cragclaw
Species: Skarmory
Specialty: Capturing slaves and helping to fulfill the mad dreams of his Lord
The next boss you meet is a species not generally known for gentleness - a Skarmory with bloodied talons known as General Cragclaw, in a yet unnamed location that in game terms is equal to Dewford Town. Cragclaw is the yes-hand man to the "Lord" who rules over Crumbletown as his own. Defeating him silently enables Rock Smash on the overworld. What he is doing - other than working under the Lord's employ - is not entirely worked out at the moment. In short, he's all sprited up but with nowhere to go quite yet. XD By the time you fight him, only Mjolnir is with you.

Boss Hufsa&Kik
Species: Stantler and Natu
Specialty: Lord and Assistant, respectively - but is it really that simple?
The next boss are actually bosses, plural - the Lord of Crumbletown, Hufsa the Stantler; and his yes-man who may be much more than that, Kik the Natu. There's more to the Hufsa/Kik dynamic but I am not going to spoil it for you Crumbletown is also a place filled with deep mystery, and a tall tower, and strange stone figures - along with slaves, and old tires and soda cans and pipes and trash - and I would like for it to keep its mysteries until the game's beta release. What I will say is that Crumbletown's tall tower has something at the top of it which raises a lot of questions about how the world had once been...and awakens a deeper mystery, about why things are, now, the way that they are. For this game is not only about a quest to head north and beat the biggest big bad and keep it from ruining what's left of your world - it's also a quest to discover the mysteries and secrets around you...

By the time you battle Hufsa and Kik, you have a second team mate - Violet, the Rattata. Another recruitable character - Vann, the Minun - is following you but is in a role just like Doppa the Beautifly's above in that you cannot take him into battle at this time (you can later, though). Beating these two silently enables Cut on the overworld.

The next group of bosses are still nebulous as I cement together the next major plot string (and the next plot string after that) - since my work is currently on the Crumbletown arc I've had a lot more time to think about it and plan things, while Freya's arc and the Northernlands arc are less developed (though I certainly have ideas in mind). An Elite Four equvliant has also not been developed yet, but there are three different champion equivliants, once of which - the final, final boss - in true RPG fashion has two separate forms and you have to beat it twice. XD I do, however, have one more NPC to discuss...

Stranger Aspen
Species: Pikachu...sort of
Specialty: Being spooky
Aspen (his original name was Rowan, but I changed this for the obvious reason he's not supposed to bring to mind images of an old-fart professor from Sinnoh XD ) is a scruffy, fluffy, one-eyed Pikachu wearing a bandana you meet at times during your journey. Who is he and what does he want? What is the source of his mysterious knowledge of the time long ago? Why does he never join your team - despite his visits and interest in you - and why is he frightened of being touched? Is there a connection between him and Mjolnir, the Raichu travelling with you? (Of course, me bringing it up means there must be XD ) But that, and the other points, are mysteries that will have to be revealed in time...

Thanks for supporting SRT!, and I'll see you again - with updates - in December!

[Ash493]

It's sad that you won't be updating 'till December...
But good luck with your FF

[fallkitten]

Great Hack !I like it.pichu is so cute!^____^

[BlitŻ]

* sob* I see so much potential for this hack. It is actually a hack I want to play. Everything about it is superb, and in my opinion, should be constantly at the top xD. If only I had more time to spend on hacking. I would've like to subscribe my skills to you xD

[~Teh Panda~]

Wow PPG you really have improved since you joined here. Your hacking is top notch and original which is a hard feat to accomplish. All of your sprites in the game so far show how much attention to detail you have as well as your modesty as shown in many of your posts when you say something may look not up to notch to you but everyone else loves it! Which is a great aspect due to it motivating you to keep increasing your abilities and your knowledge in hacking. I really love all the tiles you chose to insert as well! They all seem to fit the style of this Mystery Dungeon and standard Pokemon series games which once again is awesome. Now do not let me forget the scripts as well. For what you have shown your scripts will be superb and make this hack enjoyable throughout as well as adding more playability even after you finish it! If you keep it up at this rate you could be up for Hack of the Month

[Aberbecam]

Those O/W looks good and the pallets of the O/W looks pretty impressive aswell.
But the maps are soo..You know,Those maps are soooo not natural.
there are sooo many empty spaces.
And i really like the fonts.
And there are some error in some of those tiles but the tiles you inserted looks wonderful.
Anyways i wish you the best of luck on this project!

[Pink Parka Girl]

Originally Posted by Aberbecam

But the maps are soo..You know,Those maps are soooo not natural.
there are sooo many empty spaces.

Yeah, I'm iffy on these maps myself...mapping's probably my weakest area and that's why I value so much receiving constructive criticism in this regard (I value it other times too, but for my cruddy maps especially). ' I was trying really hard to make them look natural while still playable...if they look unnatural to you, what should I do to make them look better? Should I add in more trees or flowers to fill in the empty space, or is it the arrangement of the trees, or the general shapes of the maps themselves, that don't look right to you? Perhaps what I should do is post over in the Map Help Thread in the Scrapbox...

Thank you again for your feedback! I wouldn't get anywhere if all I ever got was praise, and I appreciate you taking the time to address my map issues

@Teh_Panda: Thanks so much for your kind words! ^__^ While I doubt that I'll ever reach the level of hacking greatness that some folks around here have, I know that I can always take every opportunity to better myself and my own skills, as humble as they may be compared to some. One never gets old enough to learn!

@everyone: I've not been very good about sticking to NaNoWriMo...November's really the worst month they could have picked for something like that >.> So I've decided that I'll keep working on my fanfic at my own pace, and to continue work here on Super Rising Thunder rather than taking that month long hiatus ' By the next time I post here I should have screenshots, showing some new graphics-based hacking - the game's title screen and assorted little things like finally getting rid of those damn Pokeballs and the player character's backsprite in battle. Also, in my last post I asked about writing in Unown Script - I've figured out myself how to do this and look to have fun with it.

[Aberbecam]

Hey, Look at some mapping tutorial.
While i learned mapping,I used Neti's Mapping Tutorial.
I wonder if its still there. In that tutorial it has alot of very well detailed,
And very well explained dialogues. So if you read the tutorial completely,
You can become a natural mapper very soon

[Gary, the Magic Fairy]

Wow... just... wow.

This is one of the best, if not the best, hacks I've ever seen. You've done so many complicated things that I rarely see, and the story is just... amazing.

It's just... disturbing, but with a cute setting, which just adds to the overall effect. All these innocent phrases for bad things, it really seems realistic to what a pokemon would think. The talk of "Magicians" and the "Flash-born"... I love it.

It's late, so I'm going to go in detail at the moment, but... this looks great. Good luck. I'll come back and give a better review later.

[Pink Parka Girl]

Awww, thanks, Kenji! I just hope I come up with a final product that meets all your expectations...

Anyway...my focus for the past couple of days has been on graphical hacking. I was having a lot of trouble with palettes at first; but after practicing a lot with APE and a hex editor (XV132, specifically), I think I finally got the hang of it...feel free to contradict me though if something doesn't look right XD


As seen here, I've started the task of updating the little battle platforms, for lack of a better term, to the DPPt graphics (I could hack the backgrounds too, but I think that is something that I will wait a while to do, if I do it at all ' ). Also, our player Pichu finally appears as a Pichu from the back at the battle's start - believe it or not, that's something I only changed yesterday! XD


When you or a team mate are summoned into battle, you no longer appear from a Pokeball - there's just a slight pause, and then you poof into the scene. ' Incidentally, I do want to replace that "Go! Your Name Here!" text with something else, but given the lack of space at that offset, I think the only thing I could change it to is have it simply display the name of whatever character is in front; or I could just erase it altogether. Does anyone have other suggestions?


Just a shot of a new script in action to show that graphics are not the only thing on my mind. This towns-Raichu is curious about the noise he heard within that tree...

[cadgod120]

Flash-born? What is Flash-born?