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The first thing I noticed about this map was that there are a lot of trees in it. As I looked closer at this map, I noticed that the trees were placed in a VERY wonderful pattern, this "pattern" is very random, no two trees are placed exactly the same as another one, which makes for a great amount of originality. The trees are placed in a way that it gives the map a great unique feel, as there are many varieties of tree placement, and that, in-turn, gives the map a wonderfully unique shape. Though this placement of trees makes the map seem like a forest rather than a town, which, dare I say, is not exactly a bad thing. I mean, how many villages have you seen that had a sort of foresty feel to them? That's right, none.
I was waiting for that trick this time :P (so, seems like it was the same thing as TM changing, I wonder why I wasnt able to find that offset before, then? O.o)
Anyway, I'll finish reading the newsletter later, and edit this post, maybe.
Ah-ha! Now, the prey becomes the predator! I feel the urge to point out mistakes (as many of you did to me >_>)...but I won't!
I only kid. :classic:
Anyway, that was a great issue. The length was perfect, and there was a good variety. I liked the article too, since it pointed out the problem and explained how to fix it. Overall, Ripper, [I'm addressing you personally] you did a fantastic job getting everything together!
And Thrace....I FEEL YOUR PAIN! Exams are murder and I'll still have a few more for other classes in December. Ugh!
Yay! Exams are over! And now I'm on school holidays so there'll be plenty of time for me to work on RHN perhaps a new layout?. Yes I know its late this week but we'll be regular again soon enough.
This week we've got the final part of our 3 part Tips and Tricks. An interview of the creator of Shiny Gold and an article debating the recent changes made to the Rom Hacking Forum.
Opening by Thrace
Hacking News
Staying current with the rom hacking scene
HotY Round Two - Category Round
Round 2 of Hack of the Year 2008 has begun! In this round we give awards to hacks that excel in particular aspects of hacking. Know of a hack with excellent mapping? Or maybe one with scripts that leave you speechless? Well whatever it is let your voice be heard by voting!
Best Newcomer is for hacks that are relatively new! Don't vote for something thats been in production for a long time! Surely this is obvious?
Hack Rating System
RHN will follow a standardised rating system similar to that of IGN, ratings and their meanings are described below.
Spoiler:
10.0 to 9.0 - Masterful
Its almost impossible to make a hack that is perfect, but ratings in this range get pretty close. These hacks are flawless in all aspects of hacking, they are innovative and engaging.
8.9 to 8.0 - Impressive
Hacks that we feel are outstanding and are exceptional in at least one aspect will receive ratings in this range. Hacks that we feel are worthwhile and that everyone will find enjoyable. You'd need to put in a lot of effort to get this rating.
7.9 to 7.0 - Good
An excellent hack that is let down by a one or two major problems. Above average in all aspects but just missing a few things it needs to be great. Not amazing but has potential.
6.9 to 6.0 - Passable
Hacks that are just above average. Nothing to really get excited about. Nothing particularly horrible about the hack but nothing all that great either.
5.9 to 5.0 - Mediocre
A hack that provokes no emotion, standard, run-of-the-mill whatever you want to call it, these hacks are as average as they come.
4.9 to 4.0 - Lackluster
Hacks that do not have enough effort put into them. Probably not worth the attention for the time being. Has some potential to be better, but not enough to become something spectacular.
3.9 to 3.0 - Poor
Hacks that are flawed in all areas, most likely caused by inexperience by the author rather than effort. Not worth checking out regularly, will probably be cancelled the next week.
2.9 to 2.0 - Bad
Hacks that we recommend you avoid, not worth playing. Might have a few interesting ideas but ultimately is just very poorly executed. Major flaws in all aspects.
1.9 to 1.0 - Terrible
A hack we believe should not have had its thread accepted. These hacks are not even worth browsing over. These hacks are usually made by people trying to achieve internet stardom.
0.9 to 0.0 - Abysmal
Hacks that are not even truly hacks, more like edits. A few small changes to the original game, achievable in mere minutes.
Compiled by Thrace
HOTW Winner
Spotlight on the Hack of the Week
The Dawn of Pokémon[Link] Hack Author: dratii Reviewed By: Thrace
Despite the questionable introduction this hack is really quite promising. dratii is obviously a very talented hacker, having done a lot of ground work before attempting a hack. Something many new hackers could learn from.
Mapping is very good mostly. Theres a few issues that could do with sorting out, such as the use of only one type of grass tile. It may seem like a small problem but its quite noticeable. The scripting is as good as you could ask for. Nothing special yet but as I've said many times thats not always a problem.
The thing I don't like is how dratii isn't taking this hack seriously. Thats not to say that dratii isn't trying but he says so in the introduction that this hack is for him to learn. Making mistakes is the best way to learn. Maybe dratii will get some inspiration for this hack and will continue to develop the story. I'd certainly love to see that.
Article by Thrace
Map of the Week
A review of the weeks MOTW winner
Map Author: Lucario 9 Map of: Fire Red Rating: 6.5/10 Map Shot: Click Here!
I look at this map, and my eyes are instantaneously drawn to that ugly line of empty space on the right. By the looks of that, it seems as if Lucario 9 had gotten lazy in the final editing. Next, my eyes were pulled to the rock. Sure this is a simply terrific rock, but it seems as though there almost too many corners. They aren't well rounded, and generally have a poor shape. Now as I look at this map as a spectator, instead of a player, it is generally eye pleasing, and seems like a lot of effort was implemented into this map. Now when I imagine myself going through this map (keep in mind this is only the second route, as entitled 'route 2'. This would be a pain in the ass to go through, and the lack of Pokémon you have at this point wouldn't really help either. The shape is mediocre, and just generally not well done. The tile use on this map is poorly done. The standard Nintendo trees should not be scattered like the way he incorporated them. It results in the map becoming more lackluster. The fact that the rocks in the water don't have their dark shadows also irritates me, seeing as Lucario 9 took an easier way out. The last thing that bothers me about this map is the one blocked ledges. It just does not look right at all, and they are implemented badly. I think this map is too difficult without any spots for healing, especially since it is this early in the game. I am not a fan of this map, sorry Lucario 9.
Article by Disturbed
Forum Changes
A report on the hacking community
Good or bad, that is the question. These changes might give the rom hacking forum a nice new look, but lets think about it a bit more, it used to be four sub-forums, but then the scrapbox was added, now their is another. I'm getting the feeling that the forum is becoming crowded. It looks a bit messy now, due for a cleanup. But first, lets get into the positives of this new change.
Most types of threads now have somewhere specifically to be put, whereas before it was a bit confusing. You also have the advantage of knowing where to go to find a certain hack, unlike before, you cant tell the difference between a hack that has a playable beta and alot of progress and a newbie hack. The other good thing about this is the whole forum isn't as random as before, adding to the point of threads going where they should.
But then of course, there are things that do not compliment the changes, as I mentioned before, things got a bit confusing and messy, I couldn't find a hack from before. The whole hack forum still needs a bit of a tidy up, the only way that could happen though is by a complete refreshment of the forum, but that wont happen. The forum now looks jam packed aswell, too many sub-forums are making it look a bit bad. But you do have to face bad things for good things to happen.
But hacking is moving in a forward direction, it may not happen quickly, but overtime everything will have a nice noticeable change. I don't want to disagree with the changes, but I don't really want to agree aswell.
I'm deeply sorry if the article wasn't up to everyones expectations, but right now there is not much else I can report on.
Visual - Signing out.
Article by Visual
Beginner's Corner
Tips for new hackers
Flags. Something that not many newbies seem to understand... In fact, most people don't understand them. So, today I will be telling you all about them. I'll go into as much detail as possible. So here we go...
#org @AlreadyDone
msgbox @Message2
boxset 6
release
end
#org @Message1
= Here's a Pikachu.
#org @Message2
= I already gave you one[.]
Right. Now it checks to see if it's already been done, however we still haven't set the flag. Thus haven't told the game we only want it done once. And to do that we do...
#org @AlreadyDone
msgbox @Message2
boxset 6
release
end
#org @Message1
= Here's a Pikachu.
#org @Message2
= I already gave you one[.]
And that's it. Of course the flag doesn't have to be 0xA0A. And be sure to use a different flag for every script. Anything between 0x1 and 0xA000 are usable flags. Also, remember, some flags are used by the game, so it's best to to use something above 0x850.
I hope you all understand flags now. ^^
Article by Darthatron
Question of the Week
Same question, different opinions
How much time do you dedicate to hacking a week?
Darthatron says:
"Well, it can vary by a lot depending on my mood. But I can spend anywhere between 5 hours, and 100 hours hacking. In the school holidays it's less, because my friends are all free to do stuff. And if I really get into something it can be an astronomical amount of time... Anyway, my answer is: "Too much.""
TB Pro! says:
"For me, it depends on the week, and what is going on at the current time. If I have nothing going on at the current time, I like to spend roughly 90 hours a week. If I have something going on I may only spend 50 hours hacking. I usually only spend about 20 hours a week on my hack, though. I prefer to work on other hack-realated projects most of the time."
megiddo says:
"IT varies, but usually at least 3 days a week.
It depends on if I'm in the mood or not. I work on my hack some and do other hacking things some."
Compiled by Thrace
Interview
An in-depth chat with...
Spoiler:
<Darthatron> So, the famous creator of Shiny Gold, the undisputed most loved hack, ever... What got you into hacking? <Zel> Ahhh... How many times I've told the story? <Zel> there were a few hacks being created, but I was more interested in making my own, so I downloaded a few tools and... <Zel> that's the first time in Pokecommunity, but I never created an account, <Zel> I was a leech, you can say. <Zel> So, after failing with that first GBC hack attempt (in which you could go from Kanto to Johto), I returned to RPG Maker, then I got interested in creating a Pokemon-like game for RPGM, but then I found a post in some forum which said that Pokemon hacks were better, that made me mad so I decided to try a rom hack again and I got Baro's Quartz, <Zel> It was good, so I researched again, and found Pokecommunity once again , <Zel> this time, GBA hacking was getting developed, and out of the hacks available, I got a liking to GSC remakes, and that's when I decided to officially become a rom hacker. <Darthatron> Interesting. <Darthatron> ROM Hacking has improved alot since you first saw it. <Zel> It's only natural. <Darthatron> Indeed. <Darthatron> Your hack is definately loved by many, but do you sometimes feel that it can be a bad thing? <Zel> I really cant do anything about that. I'm conscious that there'll be always people on both sides, liking and hating what I do. That's why I remain calm about the bad effects of doing something popular <Darthatron> Indeed. But having people not like you can be a good thing. If everyone loved you, life would be no fun. <Zel> It's not like I pay a lot of attention to both sides, anyway >.< <Zel> As long as I'm happy with what I'm doing... <Darthatron> True. <Darthatron> When you first posted Shiny Gold on PC you suggested that you would try to do everything by yourself. Have you had much help? <Zel> Most of the help comes from the graphical aspects of the game, since it's not an area I'm very good with. And lately I'm getting musical help. <Zel> Not to mention the help from Mastermind_X, which is always very helpful. <Zel> They cover areas that I dont think I'll ever learn to cover on my own. <Darthatron> Indeed. Graphics is definately something you need to be naturally good at. But ASM, and the music, aspects can be mastered with hard work. <Zel> Yeah, but I lack musical talent -_- <Darthatron> Me too. <Darthatron> Well, enough about SG. More about you. <Darthatron> What do you think of the members of the Hacking Community at the moment? <Darthatron> And the Community in general. <Zel> Let's see... Except for a reduced number of people, the rom hackers seem to be struggling at the time of being able to progress with their rom hacks for a long period of time. I think they need more perseverance, or, more planning before actually starting a hack. <Zel> The community in general, not like I've been around that often, but I guess we have a lot of new hackers coming, they need to learn a few things from the older ones, and the community will start to get a lot of good hacks once again. <Darthatron> Indeed. <Darthatron> What do you think on the newer people who have no idea what Hex is, and have no will to learn about it? Do you frown upon them? <Zel> Each person is free to take rom hacking as they want. It's not like you cant do a good hack without hex, but it will certainly make you a better rom hacker if you were to expand your knowledge about all the aspects of hacking <Darthatron> Right. <Darthatron> What do you think the most important aspect in a hack is? (Maps, Graphics, Scripts, a good story) <Zel> ...Everything? O.o <Zel> Alright, I think that scripting (a scripter saying scripting is the most important, how obvious) because it is what makes a whole new game, with new events. An interesting story with good scripts to implement it is my definition of a "good hack". <Darthatron> I couldn't agree more. <Darthatron> Would you like to recommend a hack? <Zel> I guess all the hacks I've been liking were already recommended, so I'll just recommend you to play every hack, no matter the platform. But I guess that nobody can skip Prism and Marble, because I think they are made by guys who really take rom hacking to another level. <Darthatron> Well, I think that's it, then. <Carlos> You should skip Shiny Gold, it's made by a pathetic guy... <Zel> You stay away from my interview!!!
Interview by Darthatron
Tips and Tricks
A cool new trick that you may not have known about
So, last week we learned how to edit the moves that the Move Tutor's can teach. And this week will be a continuation on that. Today I'm going to tell you how to edit which Pokemon can learn which moves from the Move Tutor's. =)
Fire Red English - &H459B7E
Leaf Green English - &H459B9E
So open up whatever offset you want in a Hex Editor and you should see this: [ 0000 9A40 9A40 9A40 FF60 FF60 FF60 FD40 ... ]
These are the "Binary Switches" which tell the game which Pokemon can learn what moves. So... First things first, get value #1 (9A40) which is Bulbasuar, and flip the Bytes.
So now it should be 409A.
Next, open up Window Calculator. (Make sure it's in Scientific Mode) and then click the "Hex" option button. Then, put in our next flipped bytes. (409A)
Then, we need to click the "Bin" option button. Now, you should get the binary value of that hex number, which is: 100 0000 1001 1010
Right... Now, these values are kind of like flags (in scripting). They can either be 1 (On) or 0 (Off). So, what we want to do is work backwards starting from the far right, and make a list of what the values all mean.
0 = Off
1 = On
0 = Off
1 = On
1 = On
0 = Off
0 = Off
1 = On
0 = Off
0 = Off
0 = Off
0 = Off
0 = Off
0 = Off
1 = On
Get it? Good. Because I can't explain it any better... Now, you might be wondering why we had to make the list backwards... This is because the list of moves is read backwards by the game. (Substite first, Mega Punch last.)
So, simply put this is what all those values mean...
0 = Mega Punch can't be learnt.
1 = Swords Dance can be learnt.
0 = Mega Kick can't be learnt.
1 = Body Slam can be learnt.
1 = Double-Edge can be learnt.
0 = Counter can't be learnt.
0 = Seismic Toss can't be learnt.
1 = Mimic can be learnt.
0 = Metronome can't be learnt.
0 = Softboiled can't be learnt.
0 = Dream Eater can't be learnt.
0 = ThunderWave can't be learnt.
0 = Explosion can't be learnt.
0 = Rock Slide can't be learnt.
1 = Substitue can be learnt.
And that's it, do the same for every other pokemon, and then you're done. =D Have fun haxxing.
Tip donated by Darthatron
Closing Notes
Some house keeping
Hope you guys enjoyed that, I know it was missing some stuff but hopefully it was a decent size. That article by Visual was supposed to be in the newsletter 3 weeks ago. Somehow it just disappeared from my PM box.
So as always keep your comments coming in. Make sure you vote in HotY as well!
Closing by Thrace
CSS design and graphics by Thrace. Ask for permission if you want to use them!
Great job! The interview made me Lol, with Carlos in the interview and what not. The tips and tricks was very nice, it'll surely help a lot of people out. Keep it up, Luck~
Damn you Thrace Aussies have one more week of school
(and i have an after school detention)
a nice issue and my knowledge of Hex editing grows
(good on ya carlos)
Depends what year you are in.
@TB Pro!
Where on earth do you find 90 hours a week to hack? That's like 13 hours per day, more than half the week. Do you sleep? :\
Depends what year you are in.
@TB Pro!
Where on earth do you find 90 hours a week to hack? That's like 13 hours per day, more than half the week. Do you sleep? :\
Depends what year you are in.
@TB Pro!
Where on earth do you find 90 hours a week to hack? That's like 13 hours per day, more than half the week. Do you sleep? :\
Haha. Sometimes I sleep, and sometimes not. I may have exaggerated that a bit(or a lot). I probably hack more like 60 hours in a good week. It's probably like 50 hours on an average week. Idk what I was thinking when I told him that =P
I found Issue 14 of RHW incredibly interesting, although I focused mostly on the interview with Zel.
I really enjoyed reading this newsletter, please continue to write more.
Uhm...Being on PC counts =P You are on PC more than 10-15 hours a week. Don't lie =P There are 168 hours in a week. Most people are preoccupied between the hours of 10 P.M. to 3 P.M. that leaves 7 hours of free time. That means if you have nothing else to to the rest of that week(weekdays only) you have 35 free hours right there. On the weekends, you don't have school, so you're probably preoccupied from 11(or later or earlier) P.M. to 8(or later/earlier) A.M. which leaves 14 hours of spare time. If you have no other things going on that leaves you with 28 hours in a given weekend. Add that up and you have 63 free hours there. That is if you have nothing going on. That's why I said I had 60 on a good week, where I have nothing going on. I usually stay up till 11 P.M. or later every weeknight and 1 A.M. or later on the weekends. That is how I have that much free time. This week I have only had about 3 free hours so far, been swamped with homework x_x, so it all depends on what I have going on that week.
Uhm...Being on PC counts =P You are on PC more than 10-15 hours a week. Don't lie =P There are 168 hours in a week. Most people are preoccupied between the hours of 10 P.M. to 3 P.M. that leaves 7 hours of free time. That means if you have nothing else to to the rest of that week(weekdays only) you have 35 free hours right there. On the weekends, you don't have school, so you're probably preoccupied from 11(or later or earlier) P.M. to 8(or later/earlier) A.M. which leaves 14 hours of spare time. If you have no other things going on that leaves you with 28 hours in a given weekend. Add that up and you have 63 free hours there. That is if you have nothing going on. That's why I said I had 60 on a good week, where I have nothing going on. I usually stay up till 11 P.M. or later every weeknight and 1 A.M. or later on the weekends. That is how I have that much free time. This week I have only had about 3 free hours so far, been swamped with homework x_x, so it all depends on what I have going on that week.
I sleep at 9:30. Then, I get home at 4:30 after school. 5 hours of time not at school a day on weekdays. At least half of that is used up in dinner and homework. Well, I'm not allowed to play computer on weekdays anyway. And now that I got a terrible test result, no Pokemon at all. :( Anyway, my holidays are limited. My parents won't let me play that much... x.x I've had about 25 minutes of gaming time all week, all of it in the morning sneaking. :( Even in a good week, I only get around ten hours. In the holidays, I can probably churn out 2-5 hours a day...so...about 20 a week?
And I'm meant to be doing homework right now. Better get back to work.
The Dawn of Pokémon [Link]