Pokemon: Shining Opal (Fixed)

[bobalobalo]

I am Bobalobalo, and I know absolutely nothing about ROM hacking. I have attempted to learn about it, but I have had no success. I have an idea for hack I came up a little while ago while I was bored, and have been thinking about it for awhile and decided to post it here. I think it's pretty amateur, but who knows, maybe it seems good? These are just some of my ideas, of course. These ideas are subject to change during the project. Now, I would like to run my ideas by any insightful reader.


For the story, I was thinking of: You are an adolescent teen living in the small town of Roho, a tiny forest town located near the southern tundra of the region Kibo. You've lived a quite life with your family up until three days ago. Three days ago you were out running in the forest and tripped over a mysterious stone. You didn't know what it was or what it could be, but, out of your sheer stupidity, you decided to pick it up. It started to pulsate in your hand. It emitted a strange glow, a turquoise one. It looked like an opal but was bigger and brighter than normal. You decided to bring it home to examine it further.

The next day, a strange band of people came in, clamming to be a group of "professors". You thought that they were here to take the stone. They constructed a building in the middle of town and called it a "lab". Because you were 14, you didn't know much about pokemon research. The main professor on the case, Dr. Willow, brought her son/daughter (depending on which gender you chose) named __________ (you get to chose the name :D). She/he starts to try and become friends with you, but to no avail. You start to doubt the peoples intentions. But on this fateful day, the day you get the call from Dr. Willow saying that she had found three rare pokemon and wanted someone to train it. The three rare pokemon being a Riolu, Phione, and a Dratini. You have to go and choose one, but when you go, all you find is the burnt down remains of the Pokelab. You find that strange since it was there last night, and no one saw a fire. In the middle of the remains you find three pokeballs, all three of which contain one of the pokemon listed above.

You chose one of them, and when you do the others burn in a heatless flame away into the ashes of the pokelab. When you exit, you find that your house is on fire as well. You rush in to save everyone and all your belongings. After you've got everyone out (mom, brother, sister(I guess)) you remember the stone. You run in to get it only to find that it's gone, a burn mark left in it's trace.

You set out to try and find what happened to everything and where in the world your gem thingy has gone. You think that the professors have something to do with it, but do they? Maybe that was just your anxiety all along. You decide to take the pokemon you choose with you, since it was the only way of fighting other hostile pokemon and to battle trainers.


Some things that I wish to include are:

• I would like to change the move sets of some pokemon to be more appropiate. (Like Growlithe, or however his name is spelled, learns growl or something at level 11. I mean really, come on)
• I would like to include a whole new map (bigger if that is possible in any way)I don't think so))
• I would like to include all 386 pokemon and, hopefully, make them all attainable. (The legendaries as well, but make them sprites on the world map and make them stronger. Also, make it so that you fight a diverse amount of pokemon in each route, like one of each gen)
• I would like to include a day and night system, and utilize the in game clock. (Like make time events, easter, Halloween(maybe possible?). Also, make certain pokemon at certain times/days.)
• I would like to include training dojos instead of gyms, which you have to pay for to get in. The trainers there would vary in strength, going as follows: the more you beat the stronger they get. The first one is two levels below your strongest pokemon, second 1 level below, third equal to, fourth 1 level above, etc. etc. They will have a leader which you can beat for a TM (maybe HMs later on). They will not be required to beat (but will be for the HM ones.) They will reward you with money for beating ALL of the trainers without leaving and an item. They will have trainers centered around one type of pokemon, like steel dojo, fire dojo, bug dojo. One dojo for each type (not all dojos will be in towns.)
• I would like to make more of a storyline than "Beat the Elite Four and become pokemon Champion!". There will be an Elite Four of types, but it will be called the Elite Dojo, which will be random types of high level pokemon, but will follow the same order of normal dojos +1 level (first trainer is 1 level below, second is equal to, third is 1 level above, etc. etc.) The leader will give you something helpful (don't know what) and you will get A LOT of money if you beat it without leaving once (considering there's going to be maybe 12 trainers).
• I would like to make some sort of Karma orientated story, where you decisions effect the story directly and you will have a lot of choices to make during the storyline.
• I would like to include an evil team of sorts that stays "hidden" until the end (might change) that plays a major role in the storyline. And I think you might be able to "join" per say, their ranks. (Again, Karma based storyline)
• I would like to include a diverse map with many different elements to it (a snowy mountain, a rain forest, an undersea volcano, a dark desert, an ocean).
• I would like to utilize the world map to it's full potential (make it so you can actually go in the middle of the map instead of it doing nothing, but still make it organized looking.)
  And probably a lot of other things of which I will think of.
• I would like to actually FINISH this hack, unlike all others, because unfinished hacks are so disappointing.

Thanks for reading this, all of you reading this! Any comments or suggestions please feel free to comment or email me at [email protected] (ridiculous, I know ;D)

Bobalobalo​

 

[Sierraffinity]

Erm... The name Shining Opal's already been taken by me. :(

 

[miksy91]

"I am Bobalobalo, and I know absolutely nothing about ROM hacking. I have attempted to learn about it, but I have had no success."

Referring to the first two sentences, I'd say make a hack of a 2nd generation pokemon game and move on to hacking 1st gen later if you feel like it :D
You can never learn how to hack if you start with a 3rd gen game.

But well, you can find a couple of good tutorials for starting out in Skeetendo Inc.

Also, what do you mean by "attempted" ?
Spend like 5 minutes reading a site with text you didn't understand or perhaps something more ?

 

[colcolstyles]

You can never learn how to hack if you start with a 3rd gen game.

False.
I don't mean to come across as conceited but I like to think of myself as a half-decent hacker and I started with (and continue to hack) GBA games. What, exactly, are you basing that claim off of?

I know you love your 2nd generation games and I know you don't enjoy the overabundance of 3rd generation "hacks" but try to be a little more open-minded, 'kay?

 

[bobalobalo]

"I am Bobalobalo, and I know absolutely nothing about ROM hacking. I have attempted to learn about it, but I have had no success."

Referring to the first two sentences, I'd say make a hack of a 2nd generation pokemon game and move on to hacking 1st gen later if you feel like it :D
You can never learn how to hack if you start with a 3rd gen game.

But well, you can find a couple of good tutorials for starting out in Skeetendo Inc.

Also, what do you mean by "attempted" ?
Spend like 5 minutes reading a site with text you didn't understand or perhaps something more ?

I mean I spent maybe an hour, two more likely, reading and sifting through sites trying to figure out how to do it, and none of it made sense to me. I still have no idea how to do it, and I've read a handful of tutorials. Nobodys perfect, and nobody can excel at things that you do. Just because you and others can grasp the concept doesn't mean others can.

And 3rd gens have always been my favorite, Second gens, to me, there seems to be too many hacks of (referring to the abundance of Fire Red hacks). And I've always hated 1st gen, never liked it. I enjoy 3rd gen the most, it seems to have the best of everything to me. So I'm gonna stick my idea of 3rd gen, thank you :P

Quote:Erm... The name Shining Opal's already been taken by me.

Sorry, I didn't know that. If you'll forgive me I'll think of another name to use. Thanks for informing me. Sorry again. :D

 

[Banjora Marxvile]

OK, 2 things to correct you on:

Firered is 3rd gen, not 2nd gen, so your reason is wrong.

It takes more than just 2 hours to master something. Never give up, you will get it eventually. There is the Simple Questions thread for anything you are stuck on. Have you even attempted some things, like Mapping or Tile Inserting, which are simple (especially mapping). It takes more than a handful of tuts too. The best way is to see for yourself. Scripting is especially the one to research the most, and there are thousands of tutorials for it. I recommend the tool XSE by Hackmew, and any tutorials that say to use that tool are quite simple to follow (and I can't even script yet, so your argument there about it being easier to some will not apply to what I just said)

Anyway, what I was going to say before (but never did) is do it how you want it. Ignore those like miksy who constantly complain about what you use. Improve your knowledge, take criticisms that are constructive (such as how to improve) but make your own style. Impress us.

AND finally, I do not see the harm of 2 hacks being called the same thing. Eventually people will run out of names. But it would be best to try a unique name that hasn't been used, I suppose.

 

[Sierraffinity]

AND finally, I do not see the harm of 2 hacks being called the same thing. Eventually people will run out of names. But it would be best to try a unique name that hasn't been used, I suppose.

Well, let me tell you why I don't like it...
First of all, on YouTube, there's another hack, one that's very crappy, and whenever people search for Shining Opal, it's one of the first results. Therefore, whenever people want to download my hack, they either like it or dislike it, and depending on that, they don't download it because of the crappy other video. :(
I'm not saying that this will be crappy like the other one, I'm just pointing out the confusion that can arise from having two hacks with the same name.

 

[Kevin]

AND finally, I do not see the harm of 2 hacks being called the same thing. Eventually people will run out of names. But it would be best to try a unique name that hasn't been used, I suppose.

Well the name Shining Opal sounds a bit more original then plain Pokemon Opal. So if it's a generic title like Pokemon Destiny or Pokemon Aqua, I would let it slide. But Shining Opal sounds more different, so there shouldn't be 2 hacks called that. And it would bring lots of confusion also. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Banjora Marxvile]

I understand that there could be confusion, that's why I said it is best if he did change names, yet it shouldn't be a main issue. If anything, the hack itelf is, not the name, which is easy to change really. And Destiny Demon, Shining Opal is actually quite more interesting than Opal, yes, but surely that would mean it would be used more, as it is still a quite common adjustment? It works because of the shiny gem in the story, so therefore rounds it off, but I'm sure a better name could be thought of to prevent confusion, such as... Sparkling Aquamarine (due to the colour of the gem, I thought)

Anyway, back on topic, the story is... interesting. I previously doubted the storyline, yet I missed a key part of it that I just found. Sounds great. I'm not sure I would immediately become paranoid about the "professors" arriving after I found a stone, but that's just me. (Surely it could be more interesting if it wasn't linked, and then you could surprise us with it being them, or a bluff, doubling the suspense)

 

[bobalobalo]

OK, 2 things to correct you on:

Firered is 3rd gen, not 2nd gen, so your reason is wrong.

It takes more than just 2 hours to master something. Never give up, you will get it eventually. There is the Simple Questions thread for anything you are stuck on. Have you even attempted some things, like Mapping or Tile Inserting, which are simple (especially mapping). It takes more than a handful of tuts too. The best way is to see for yourself. Scripting is especially the one to research the most, and there are thousands of tutorials for it. I recommend the tool XSE by Hackmew, and any tutorials that say to use that tool are quite simple to follow (and I can't even script yet, so your argument there about it being easier to some will not apply to what I just said)

Anyway, what I was going to say before (but never did) is do it how you want it. Ignore those like miksy who constantly complain about what you use. Improve your knowledge, take criticisms that are constructive (such as how to improve) but make your own style. Impress us.

AND finally, I do not see the harm of 2 hacks being called the same thing. Eventually people will run out of names. But it would be best to try a unique name that hasn't been used, I suppose.

Yes, I see your point. I have tried, but there's one problem that makes it a little harder. My computer has been wiped of viruses and reset maybe 10 times, and is a 2001 XP, so it refuses to read a lot of documents I download. And also, I will try it again, but at the moment, I have no experience. And I tried learning, but couldn't grasp it at the time. What I'm trying to hint at is that I didn't get it then, and I wasn't going to try to get it soon after I posted that. Doesn't mean I won't try and get it at all.

Also, I intend to make my own style. I hate it when all the styles are the same, it bores me. I've played too many hacks that follow the same story line, and SAY that there's something special in it, only for you to be disappointed. So, I intend to go through with my story line. And about the "professors", well, let's just say, you never know until you know.

Also, sorry about the Gen mix up, not used to referring to them as "Gens", just used to calling them by names, so I will probably mix them up a lot. And I'm pretty sure you got what I meant, since it says Ruby on the poll ;D.

And about the name, I do intend to change it, but not into some stupid generic thing like "Pokemon Green" or something. And I've always liked the ideas of gemstones, but the title needs some more pizazz. So I will make it "pizazzy". Something like "Pokemon Bewitching Aquamarine" or something. I'll start a poll or something when I come up with enough ideas of new names, and hopefully get feedback on what it should be.

And I see the problem with two hacks being named the same thing. It'll make things weird and confusing, especially if you're trying to download it and you don't know what it is. So I'll definitely have to change that.

And the storyline is a bit confusing, but I like things that way. Make some cliffhangers and make them "mind-boggling". Make you think about it, and make it a sort of open ended for the player to decide who's right, sort of like Magma and Aqua, how they're both "evil" in some eyes, but both "good" in some eyes. It all depends on whether or not you like their ideas. But I intend to tie that into the game, not just infer that they're both good and bad in their own ways.

Finally, I did like the idea of the gemstone, and I've got some ideas for the meaning of it, like what it actually is. Not inferring anything, just saying, I've got some good ideas as to what it is I'll be discussing with my team and be deciding upon, but will not be disclosed publicly. And I was also intending to include different music other than Pokemon music, but I don't know if that's possible :D. Seemed like a good idea, but when I reflect on it it seems childish. So I've got some more ideas, and I've progressed the plot some, but all that is secret, so shush ;D.

 

[Dr. POP]

"I am Bobalobalo, and I know absolutely nothing about ROM hacking. I have attempted to learn about it, but I have had no success."

Referring to the first two sentences, I'd say make a hack of a 2nd generation pokemon game and move on to hacking 1st gen later if you feel like it :D
You can never learn how to hack if you start with a 3rd gen game.

But well, you can find a couple of good tutorials for starting out in Skeetendo Inc.

Also, what do you mean by "attempted" ?
Spend like 5 minutes reading a site with text you didn't understand or perhaps something more ?

Sorry, but this completely doesn't make sense at all. Why would you waste time learning Gen2 hacking, if you can begin with Gen3 immediately. It's not that much harder, and as a result you have a much better and better-looking hack. And to hack Gen1 after Gen2 is even more weird. Downgrading your level?

Now, @author: if you really want to hack, try harder, spend more time. Try, don't solely read tutorials. And try many many times. And another tip: while trying, don't attemp to make your hack already. I made this 'sandbox' hack, so a few simple maps, with some custom tiles, and from every type of script at least one example. That way you can test out all different kind of scripts without having a storyline disturbing. If you feel familiar with scripting, try level scripts. Then, you'll be ready to start your real hack.

Good luck!

 

[bobalobalo]

Now, @author: if you really want to hack, try harder, spend more time. Try, don't solely read tutorials. And try many many times. And another tip: while trying, don't attemp to make your hack already. I made this 'sandbox' hack, so a few simple maps, with some custom tiles, and from every type of script at least one example. That way you can test out all different kind of scripts without having a storyline disturbing. If you feel familiar with scripting, try level scripts. Then, you'll be ready to start your real hack.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice, and I think I'll try it. The only thing is, I've never been able to do scripting. I make other games on a game maker, and the scripting part just never made any sense to me. But, in spite of that, I will try it. I don't think I'll get it, but it's worth a shot. And the whole, make a sandbox thing, I don't even know how to open up a map on Advanced Map :D. I've tried, and the tutorial I looked at for it didn't help at all :p. So I'm still working that out, no matter how n00bish that sounds. Tiling has always seemed like something I could do and be good at, so I'm going to attempt that in my free time eventually. But at the moment, school is kind of getting in the way ;D.

Thank-you for the insightful comment.

 

[Divider]

Just my 2 cents.

Spending Hours on something will produce no results, hacking takes days to learn, years to master. If your making a rom, and have no idea what your doing, don't bother with a name yet, or anything else like storyline. "Learn how to build a house, before you pick out curtians."

 

[bobalobalo]

Just my 2 cents.

Spending Hours on something will produce no results, hacking takes days to learn, years to master. If your making a rom, and have no idea what your doing, don't bother with a name yet, or anything else like storyline. "Learn how to build a house, before you pick out curtians."

I'm aware of that now, and I'm fully capable of mapping now, pretty easy concept, just takes forever to make a map. I've been doing the "sandbox" thing and I've worked out a lot of my glitches. I've attempted scripting once again, but once again failed miserably at it. I can make tiles now, but they're pretty amateur since I started a couple hours ago. but I'm beginning to get the hang of it. So I've spent more time, and I intend to learn a lot of it, including scripting no matter how hard it is for me to get. Scripting is essential for Mapping, as you all know, so I'm trying hard to get that. And I love that quote :D

 

[colcolstyles]

Sorry, but this completely doesn't make sense at all. Why would you waste time learning Gen2 hacking, if you can begin with Gen3 immediately. It's not that much harder, and as a result you have a much better and better-looking hack. And to hack Gen1 after Gen2 is even more weird. Downgrading your level?

Err, I'd be careful what you say about Gen I & II hacking. It just so happens that there are a number of people who would be offended by you calling Gen II hacking a "waste of time". And how is hacking Gen I "weird"? The OP should hack whatever game he wants to. Sure, modifying Gen III ROMs is easier given the abundance of tools and tutorials but by no means does that mean that pre-Gen III hacking is a waste of time.

And don't even get me started on the "better-looking" argument...

 

[Divider]

I'm aware of that now, and I'm fully capable of mapping now, pretty easy concept, just takes forever to make a map. I've been doing the "sandbox" thing and I've worked out a lot of my glitches. I've attempted scripting once again, but once again failed miserably at it. I can make tiles now, but they're pretty amateur since I started a couple hours ago. but I'm beginning to get the hang of it. So I've spent more time, and I intend to learn a lot of it, including scripting no matter how hard it is for me to get. Scripting is essential for Mapping, as you all know, so I'm trying hard to get that. And I love that quote :D

If your having difficulties learning to script, I can give you some help. It's very easy to learn thanks to Hackmew's XSE, it's exactly what scripting should be, simple to learn, difficult to master. I've Included my "Cakewalk" micro tutorial... the "\\" 's are comments to help explain wtf is going on in the script and should not be included in the script.

Script itself:

Spoiler:

#dynamic 0x800000 \\ This just means start setting offsets at this location and continue setting them as free space permits.

#org @start \\ This just means start the script.
lock \\It means, you can't walk away until the script is done.
faceplayer \\ The sprite with this script running will face you.
msgbox @hey 0x6 \\ So whatever @hey says, thats what he's going to say.
msgbox @question 0x5 \\ The 0x5 means put a yes or no box and the text is in @ question
compare LASTRESULT 0x1 \\ This checks to see what they said, in this case, yes or no.
if 0x0 goto @no \\This says if you say no, goto @no, which is a continuation script
msgbox @yes 0x6 \\ Again another text box
release \\ Release, the opposite of lock, it lets you move again.
end \\ it means, the script is over

#org @hey \\ This is a textbox, it appears just like you see it
= Hey how's it going?

#org @question \\ same as above
= Do you like Pokemon?

#org @no \\ This is a microscript, in this case, saying no to the question, brings you here.
msgbox @do 0x6 \\ A textbox message
release \\ Now your free
end \\ script is over

#org @do
= Well, I do.

#org @yes
= Me TOO!

Now when you batch it into your rom, you need to look at the @start offset XSE gives you, set that in A-map to a NPC sprite as the offset, so for example if it gives you 800000 for @start you put in the offset box $800000.
Then save the rom and check it. If it works, grats, if not, start over. If your going to try this, make sure your running v1.1.1 of XSE and have a CLEAN rom. If you need anything else, PM me.

And I love that quote :D

Thanks, thats a personal quote, I thought of it a few months back Making a PS3 Cluster server.

 

[bobalobalo]

Yeah, I've figured out scripting now and I've been doing pretty good. I've started hacking Ruby by myself, and I've made my own maps and my own scripts, but I'm pretty bad at tile inserting, learning how to right now. Mapping is my strongest, and scripting is so-so, but I'm pretty capable now. The only thing is, with scripting, I don't know how to change the main storyline, still figuring that out. But I currently have 2 scripters to help me on my team. And eventually, I want to be capable of hacking a rom all on my own, even though it seems like an impossible task, I intend to teach myself.

And yeah, HackMews XSE is an awesome tool, I use it all the time. The guide on it is how I learned to script :D. Thanks HackMew!

 

[P.I.E.86]

I'm gonna go with the majority here and say Emerald.

 

[nicholaszero8]

The part where you find the gem sounds like Eragon.

Wait, isn't Phione a legendary ?

Don't think it would be kinda overpowered to get a legendary at the start ?

You know, you say "i would like" a lot.

 

[altariaking]

The part where you find the gem sounds like Eragon.

Wait, isn't Phione a legendary ?

Don't think it would be kinda overpowered to get a legendary at the start ?

You know, you say "i would like" a lot.

And you ask a lot of questions...No, Phione is not a legendary.

I'd say either hack Emerald, because it has a lot of really good features, or hack Gold, because it's extremely under-hacked and would be interesting to see.