How can leveling Pokemon be made less boring?

[Deliciousfruit233]

I usually just play the game kinda underleveled. You don't really NEED to grind a lot. What you could do instead is use strategy, like abusing the retarded AI in the GB games, to beat the game with lower levels. For example, you don't NEED to grind to level 80 to beat Red in G/S/C/HG/SS. Level 50-55 with decent movesets/EVs is just fine. I usually only worry about grinding after I've beaten the entire game.

 

[Equin]

Let's see...I guess apart from the classic suggestions, I'll give it a go.
I've also thought of a few ideas for the hack I'm making, though I'm nowhere near completing them, so I guess I'll add them, too.
(Note that these are my suggestions applying for a simple, canon-like hack)

• Progressively battle more trainers as you advance farther into the region
• Some trainer/wildbattle event that gives you a load of experience (40 lvl Electrode with non-threating moves, for example, when your team's pokemon are about 20 lvl)
• Increasing interaction with rivals and evil teams alike
• Get more in-game trades, get more in-game traded pokemon, boost your roost
• Clear specific trainer flags when you complete an objective (gyms, for instance)
• Add a good portion of early-evolved wild pokemon into the wild battle data. For example, finding a lvl 10 Noctowl early on can be good for many things (HGSS, I'm refering to your Noctowls on Route 2)

 

[sab]

I'm thinking of having an active time battle system (like in ff7) in my hack, but that would take forever. If there were more trainers, it wouldn't be as boring, but that is the only thing I can think of.

 

[jjja494]

Well, I rarely need to grind a lot in most games if I get the exp. share. And when you get the VS. seeker, grinding is easy and rarely needed. I love Pokemon Sienna because you get your exp. share so early. SO I say, put these two tools in early in game, and add more trainer battles that are optional as in you can sneak around these people.

 

[flamemaster33]

since most of you have to only grind for the eliet 4 why not just put a long line of traniers to gain exp before the final part?

 

[Dorandragon]

to make gringing less boring is simple.

SIDE QUESTS

 

[Surf]

to make gringing less boring is simple.

SIDE QUESTS

I agree with this above point, but as what side quest you would have to add is a problem. But we're all creative enough to think about it and solve it easily enough.

My main idea would be to have Rare Candies and Exp Shares readily available, but not so available that every Pokemon in the players boxes will all be lvl 100.
I've toyed with the idea of a Help System (such as the one in Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door) and in the Casinos and special marts.
The only problem is there is a serious chance of exploitation by the player, and the inevibility of the Help System running dry.

 

[2RandomStudios]

Something that you could do is for the trainer's script, have a setflag command after each time you talk to them so it knows how many times you've battled them. Then, have separate trainer data for each time you talk to them, each one having higher levels then the last! That would solve the dilemma of toying with the VS Seeker and offers continuous challenge. Everyone should keep in mind though that there are some limits to what can be achieved. Sorry chaoko, but it is impossible to have Pokémon learn more than 4 moves.

I hope these suggestions help!

 

[adhdguitar]

My idea. (It's a bit unprofessional, but it works.)

Take a Pokemon that no one cares about, like Chimecho, set it's Base Stats all to 5, and take away all of it's moves and give it Splash. Then, edit the Base XP it yields to 255.

Make an area where you only run into that Pokemon on level 100 and you get easy leveling.

 

[NintendoBoyDX]

My idea. (It's a bit unprofessional, but it works.)

Take a Pokemon that no one cares about, like Chimecho, set it's Base Stats all to 5, and take away all of it's moves and give it Splash. Then, edit the Base XP it yields to 255.

Make an area where you only run into that Pokemon on level 100 and you get easy leveling.

No that's still no fun. To fix leveling, you have to make battling more fun. Sure, making the XP each KO gives you a bit higher is fine, but the only reason leveling is boring is because battling isn't fun. I mean, who wants to just keep spamming one attack on pokemon for hours straight? No one, if battling relied more on skill than on pokemon strength, it would make things more fun...sadly that's basically impossible to do in a hack :/

 

[Quilava's Master]

I think a lot of people are forgetting that this is a Rom Hacking forum; thus the remedies should be feasable in a Rom Hack. Also a lot of people said something that would make the game easier, I'm not one of them. If the question is how to make leveling less boring then my answer would be to make the trainer battles harder. Basically it's more fun to battle a tougher opponent, Not only level wise but make use of the Ai function and add diversity to the trainers moves. If everytime someone beats a leader they get a TM wouldn't it be plausible that their pokemon have tm/hm/breeding/tutor only moves? Different pokemon with different moves can make battles less boring.

 

[SpiralHorn]

Well, my favorite way to level is to fight trainers, I avoid grinding with wild Pokemon unless I absolutely have to. I also like areas that have a wider variety of trainers, like the S.S. Anne.

I personally like the idea of increasing the amount of optional trainers in an area, and mixing them up. The trainer types get boring an predicable as well, so adding trainers that have a nice mix of pokemon types and full teams of 6 would be fun, and a lot more challenging. There's nothing more dull than fighting a Lass that has 3 Pidgeys, and nothing else.

 

[NintendoBoyDX]

I think a lot of people are forgetting that this is a Rom Hacking forum; thus the remedies should be feasable in a Rom Hack. Also a lot of people said something that would make the game easier, I'm not one of them. If the question is how to make leveling less boring then my answer would be to make the trainer battles harder. Basically it's more fun to battle a tougher opponent, Not only level wise but make use of the Ai function and add diversity to the trainers moves. If everytime someone beats a leader they get a TM wouldn't it be plausible that their pokemon have tm/hm/breeding/tutor only moves? Different pokemon with different moves can make battles less boring.

There are no true remedies feasible in a rom hack, but you can improve some things. Of course AI is something that needs to get fixed, but how would you go about doing that in a rom hack?

 

[Quilava's Master]

There are no true remedies feasible in a rom hack, but you can improve some things. Of course AI is something that needs to get fixed, but how would you go about doing that in a rom hack?

In the trainer editors there is an Ai function cranking that up to 255 should help. At the same time sometimes the Ai still acts a bit sloppy. That's where adding a variety of moves or items to their pokemon comes in handy. Also trainers having items (whether they're stat boosters or healing items) can help ameliorate the terrible Ai.

 

[Crayonz]

Make mons in the wild higher levels so that it's easier to level up your pokemon to level 100 rather than trying to battle level 50 mons.

 

[ebilly99]

How about have your baddy do his final rush after the 8th gymleader, that way you can lvl up and progress through the story. And it makes sense, the villians don't play by the rules and could easly get powerful

 

[2RandomStudios]

Okay, after playing White (well, up to the fifth gym...), I stand completely corrected.

Play-testing is everything. The level curve must work. + strong wild pokemon helps.

+ difficulty doesn't need to come from levels. Pokemon B/W has real difficulty from the long routes rather than stupidly high level stuff.

so are you saying put more trainers on your routes and slightly (like, very slightly) raise the levels so that the challenge is more real?

 

[Vrai]

so are you saying put more trainers on your routes and slightly (like, very slightly) raise the levels so that the challenge is more real?

No. You should play through your hack and determine if the challenge you've presented is too much, too little, or just enough, and then adjust it correspondingly until you feel like you've got a good representation of the way you want the level curve to go. And while you're doing this you have to be the average player; not everyone starter-spams their way to the end, and not everyone catches a full six Pokemon and trains them all equally.

 

[Legendary Silke]

If we need to make levelling less boring, we need to make it so that leveling is easy and fast. But we also need to keep a challenge, and that's the part which needs extensive testing.

Hmm... if I were to make a hack, I would try to play-test through it and determine the expected level of players, and adjust accordingly. So one doesn't need to level grind, while still keeping a challenge. If anything, BW has real difficulty... but we also need to make sure that any player can get to the end without too much hassle. If I can't do that, well... (I wonder if it's possible to code in the new exp gain formula introduced in Gen V into the games?)

 

[gamefreakfatty]

You could decrease the amount of exp. to level up when you get into higher levels, when you pretty much have to grind for hours if you want to get your pokemon to 100. Also, you could program the wild and maybe trainer pokemon to be around same level as yours so you can battle pokemon that aren't too tough or easy, and will give you an appropriate amount of exp.

This. If you mess with the experience tables this can become very easy to do. In fact, I could probably make a tool for it if it was in demand.

This was back when Gabe and I were just starting with Diamond and Pearl hacking, before anyone else seemed to have found anything:
Pokemon Diamowned Beta - Experience Table Hack