Hack of the Month Voting - February 2010

[Christos]

Introduction

You have until the first of March to vote for your Hack of the Month. The winner hack's thread will be stickied for a month, until the next month's winner is announced. The winner hack will also be added to PokéCommunity's official ROM Hacking Hall of Fame. Only hacks in either the Progressing Hacks forum or the Hacks Showcase forum are eligible for nomination.

Eligible Hacks

• Pokémon Identity - VGAura
  
• Pokémon Pure Gold - ZodiacDaGreat
  
• Pokémon Top Secret - megiddo
  

Rules

• You may vote once per month, per hack.
• Asking or bribing others to vote for your hack is not allowed.
• Creating new accounts to vote multiple times is not allowed and will be dealt with accordingly.
• Voting is done via the poll not by posting in this thread, votes in the form of posts will not be counted.
• Don't complain that your hack was not chosen this month.

[Spherical Ice]

Oh darn, now I feel real bad for VGAura and Megiddo, because I still think that that hack right there in the middle outclasses the other two, that being Pure Gold.

The most glaringly obvious reason that I vote for Pure Gold is the extensive use of assembly editing and hexadecimal editing that has gone into some pretty minor - and, of course, major - details of the game. I think Zodiac really executed the FireRed-style emulation, what with the great tile insertion, font editing (including things such as the menu), right down to things like the titlescreen's style. Speaking of the titlescreen, I think it - although the Ho-oh sprite could've been a better choice - is really nifty that Zodiac managed to animate Ho-oh. I have to admit that the headbutt trees' tiles could be better, and so could the semi-long grass tile, but that is being slightly picky.

Identity didn't get my vote again, not only because of the reasons I mentioned before - the player speaking, the elusive lack of... something - but because it doesn't seem to have made any progress at all since January; or at least public evidence. I know that is kind of assumptious of me, but I just think Identity doesn't take the cake on this one. I also seem to have lost interest with the story now - it just seems that the more I read it, the... weirder it gets - I know that VGAura wasn't aiming for an exactly ordinary story, or at least that's the impression given, but I still think that the idea is straying a bit too far into the corners of Pokémon that, yes, they haven't been tinkered with, but also don't need tinkering with. Yeah, most of what I'm saying is contradicting what I said last month, but my opinion seems to have changed. Sorry, VGAura. Identity isn't bad, it just isn't good enough, for me, to get my vote.

Now, Top Secret. The story has a lot of plotholes. The palettes aren't the best. The mapping is good. The scripting, or at least of what I've seen, is great. I just don't like it. The atmosphere given off by the screenshots etc. just... don't exactly scream POKéMON! to me. :/ Megiddo is a good hacker, but I'm afraid I just don't like his hack. Sorry. :/

So yeah, my vote goes to Pure Gold.

[chrunch]

Identity.
For The same reasons as last month.

[destinedjagold]

I vote for PureGold, because I love Johto, I know that the author is a great toolmaker and knows very well how to hack.

[SonicBlazePlatinum]

I vote for Pokemon identity since it is the most interesting. It also uses the original tiles of the game it was hacked, Fire Red, which I like. The ending of the demo, the slums, lighthouse and other things are good too.

[insectduel]

I haven't come here in a while.
Pokemon identity seems fine. Because it's original.

I haven't come here in a while.
Pokemon identity seems fine. Because it's original.

[miksy91]

I vote for Top Secret since those 3 screenshots are better than in identity and I don't like g/s/c remakes that much.

[Lati-Fan95]

Hmm... Hard choice... PureGold has outstanding hacking but Identity has an outstanding story... But I think my vote goes to Identity because for me a great story matters a lot and the scripting of Identity is also decent. Maybe some new tiles would be good for it but oh well...

And also, a big problem of PureGold is HG/SS because lots of people (including me) are thinkng now that with these, all wishes for a g/s/c remake are covered!

[Pokepal17]

I guess I'll vote for Shiny Gold Pure Gold. :3

[Team Rocket's Raichu]

Originally Posted by The Master

Oh darn, now I feel real bad for VGAura and Megiddo, because I still think that that hack right there in the middle outclasses the other two, that being Pure Gold.

The most glaringly obvious reason that I vote for Pure Gold is the extensive use of assembly editing and hexadecimal editing that has gone into some pretty minor - and, of course, major - details of the game. I think Zodiac really executed the FireRed-style emulation, what with the great tile insertion, font editing (including things such as the menu), right down to things like the titlescreen's style. Speaking of the titlescreen, I think it - although the Ho-oh sprite could've been a better choice - is really nifty that Zodiac managed to animate Ho-oh. I have to admit that the headbutt trees' tiles could be better, and so could the semi-long grass tile, but that is being slightly picky.

Identity didn't get my vote again, not only because of the reasons I mentioned before - the player speaking, the elusive lack of... something - but because it doesn't seem to have made any progress at all since January; or at least public evidence. I know that is kind of assumptious of me, but I just think Identity doesn't take the cake on this one. I also seem to have lost interest with the story now - it just seems that the more I read it, the... weirder it gets - I know that VGAura wasn't aiming for an exactly ordinary story, or at least that's the impression given, but I still think that the idea is straying a bit too far into the corners of Pokémon that, yes, they haven't been tinkered with, but also don't need tinkering with. Yeah, most of what I'm saying is contradicting what I said last month, but my opinion seems to have changed. Sorry, VGAura. Identity isn't bad, it just isn't good enough, for me, to get my vote.

Now, Top Secret. The story has a lot of plotholes. The palettes aren't the best. The mapping is good. The scripting, or at least of what I've seen, is great. I just don't like it. The atmosphere given off by the screenshots etc. just... don't exactly scream POKéMON! to me. :/ Megiddo is a good hacker, but I'm afraid I just don't like his hack. Sorry. :/

So yeah, my vote goes to Pure Gold.

I agree with everything The Master had said. (Thanks for typing all that, so I wouldn't have to. )

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Pokemon Identity is such a breath of fresh air. It's a hack with a really dedicated story which stands out from the crowd in a big way. Beyond that, the hack just excels at story telling so well. There are many places while playing it that I really feel the tension or mystery, which I think is no easy task.

[pikalax]

I've seen more than enough GSC remakes. None of them come close to what Nintendo's done with HG/SS. The entire concept of a GB Player and all the new remixes are mind-blowingly awesome!

As for the other two, I've never played either so I don't know the story line, but Top Secret looks most interesting. At least, that's the perspective I get from the screens on the first post of this thread.

[Ven]

1)This is not the place to ask that.
2)Don't complain, at least the hacker took the time out to make a hack.
My vote goes to identitiy, for the simple reason that it's not trying to be like anyone else.

[Link13]

i have to go with pokemon identity .....

[ゲンガー]

Pokemon Identity.
Mainly because we have more then enough Gold and Silver remakes.
And Top Secret didn't seem to great.

[Pokedude34]

My vote goes to Pure Gold...

[Xenoblade]

Pokemon Identity: While I have honestly never played this game before, I have watched the thread on it continuously. I might try it soon, but I'm beginning work on a hack. Anyways, it seems good, has gotten great feedback, and the fact that it utilizes no "special" tiles (custom ones) is an outstanding move.

Pokemon PureGold: Okay, no offense, but I have seen more than enough G/S/C remakes. While I was one complaining to complete Shiny Gold, and for HG/SS to come out, I was too impressed what with Liquid Crystal, Shiny Gold, and now the actual HG/SS out. It just seems...repetitive. What needs to be done is a nice R/S/E remake, if at all possible, on any ROM other than the original game ones.

Pokemon Top Secret: "Top Secret" means top secret, and that's exactly what the updates on this game have been to everyone else. I was not impressed by this hack, and it is at the bottom of my list to watch it's thread for updates. Poor gameplay, and, to steal a comment made on the new movie Avatar, "Ooooh, shiny." (That's bad, it means it was more show than story)

My vote goes to: Pokemon Identity