Wow. I just tested out the alpha and I must say that exceeded my expectations by far. I joined the forum for the sole purpose of tracking the progress of this hack. I really like the storyline of this particular project. It seems like the last Team Rocket hack I played through was really nothing more than a Pokemon game with the sprites changed and text slightly different. I really like how you are actually capturing what it is like to be a member of Team Rocket and not just your run-of-the-mill trainer. Plus, I really like the sense of humor that your writing conveys.
Great job! I look forward to continuing this adventure.
Thank you so much! :D I'm honored you're enjoying it so much. I'm certainly trying my hardest to really make this game like what the real experience of being in Team Rocket might feel like, so I'm glad you think I'm achieving that. (Also glad you like my sense of humor. :P)
I highly doubt that a rocket member will be paying fines for trying to steal stuff.
Perhaps make it to were4/5ths of the time you get a item that isn't work much (A plain potion for example, or a berry of some sort) and 1/5th of the time you get a good item (ultra ball, protein, rare candy, pp up and other items like that.
Well, they'd pay fines if they were caught in the act and arrested. :P That's what I meant by fines. In fact, there's already going to be at least one other situation where you can be temporarily caught by the police, and it's basically like an all-your-Pokémon-faint situation, because you respawn in a Rocket Base and lose a hefty amount of cash. Team Rocket thought it'd be easier to bail you out than to bust you out, and they're going to take the bail money out of your cash rather than use the Team's funds.
I don't want it to be a guaranteed success that you get
something from the theft, because then what's to prevent you from just doing the steal script over and over and over and then selling all the items to buy decent supplies? (And yes, you can sell items; there are black market operatives scattered around that you can buy select items from and that you can sell your items to.) If 4/5 of the time you get something that can earn you a little bit of money and 1/5 of the time you get something that can earn you a lot of money, and there's no chance that you'll lose money, the Mart script would basically be a guaranteed supply of endless cash.
So there's going to be something of a "gamble" involved, so that there's a chance you'll lose money/items, and that will balance out the fact that you're getting free stuff. Unless Mart robbery is going to be once-per-location or something like that, and I don't like that idea much.
Alternative to the "fines" idea, perhaps instead you always have to pay operatives to try to steal stuff for you? If it's a set rate like $1000, then they could still go and get a Potion 4/5 of the time and something like a vitamin 1/5 of the time, so even though you're always getting an item, you'd lose money in the long run. Although I'll have to do the math on that. If you pay $5000 and get four Potions and a Carbos (based on the odds), you'd still be making a nice profit long-term. I'll find a way to make it more evened out.
I actually like that idea better than the fines. Thanks for protesting the fines idea. XD This is definitely an improved system, as soon as I work out the math properly so that there's an appropriate ratio between the imputted money and the hypothetical profits.