[Released] Rocket Rising

[SaltRoad]

Sorry it's been so quiet lately.
I've been trying something that's a little complicated, but I think I've finally got everything figured out.
The puzzles are all done, and I'm working on a sort of optional boss battle, and then I'll just have to run through everything to see that it works properly and I'll be finally done with this mission.
So yeah! I'm alive and all is well and things are finally getting somewhere.

 

[Zavytar]

That's alright. There appears to be a 'busy wave' all over the world. People everywhere have been very busy, including myself. I STILL haven't got round to play through Cinnabar.

 

[Aliencommander1245]

I'm loving the game so far, i'm only up to the silph mansion right now (these guards are really frustrating especially with their touch based triggers meaning i can't follow a tile behind very wll, it's probably my own fault more than anything though) but it's shaping up to be a really memorable game

 

[SaltRoad]

Progress: I am DONE with Maxx's mission. Finally. I've been working on Raticate's mutagen form, but haven't been really happy with what I've come up with. Trying to make it look part-Psychic is tricky, somehow.
I've also been working on sidequests a little bit. I'd like to have a few focused around the people you recruit for Team Rocket.
The next big mission will be focused on Cerulean, I'm aiming for something similar to the Cinnabar mansion but without the switches and ciphers. Nothing too complicated, so once I start on it things should move quickly.
So all in all, progress is going well.

I'm loving the game so far, i'm only up to the silph mansion right now (these guards are really frustrating especially with their touch based triggers meaning i can't follow a tile behind very wll, it's probably my own fault more than anything though) but it's shaping up to be a really memorable game

I'm glad you're liking the game!
I need to fix the guards, and will do that by the next update to make them a little easier. I like things to be challenging, but with the guards at Silph I think I went overboard.
I hope you continue to enjoy it though!

That's alright. There appears to be a 'busy wave' all over the world. People everywhere have been very busy, including myself. I STILL haven't got round to play through Cinnabar.

Personally I'm hoping that busy waves are like the cold, and happen less in the summer. Hopefully, hopefully.

 

[LastOne]

One thing I've noticed about this game, is how we're 'given' our Pokemon. It's handled well enough to not be a bother though.

Have you tried posting this game around Reddit? There's a sub completely dedicated for Pokemon Rmxp games, which could possibly give this a little more attention.

 

[SaltRoad]

Progress: I'm checking things through from the beginning, and trying to streamline things a bit more. The world has started to become big enough that I'm getting lost (in sidequests, events, NPC's, etc.), and so I'm working on a simpler system to keep track of things.
I'll let you all know about changes and updates.

One thing I've noticed about this game, is how we're 'given' our Pokemon. It's handled well enough to not be a bother though.

Have you tried posting this game around Reddit? There's a sub completely dedicated for Pokemon Rmxp games, which could possibly give this a little more attention.

Yeah, I want there to be more stealing, but right not I'm not sure how to distinguish "stealing to get new Pokemon" from "stealing for Team Rocket".

Oh, I'll look into Reddit. I don't spend a lot of time there, but you're right, that would be a way spread this around a bit more. Thanks.

 

[SaltRoad]

Progress: Once the next update hits, I'll make a post on Reddit about Rocket Rising. If you'd like to send a complaint, an idea, a bug report, or anything else that comes to mind, you can e-mail [email protected]
And if you want something more anonymous than that there is http://rocketrising.tumblr.com, which will be empty until I take more screenshots or something to put there.

Otherwise, I've been working on the infrastructure of the game, and also polishing things up as I go. I've also been adding a lot more little things, like how people talk to you depending on Rocket events, or how the grunts advice changes in different points in the game. I'd also like to adjust player morality more. So if you want to play 'true-evil' from the beginning, you can do so without your character going on and on about how stealing is wrong. That sort of thing.

TL;DR: Update won't be for awhile yet, but it'll be big when it happens. There's also an e-mail and a tumblr now.

 

[Woah]

I absolutely love stuff like this. The story is fundamentally different from the Pokémon games, the battle mechanics actually require strategy, and bloody Mu! pokémon, man! I think some people turn their noses up at any fan-game that isn't exclusively identical to the real games, but in my opinion everything about Pokémon is boring except for the pokémon themselves; the battles are slow, beating gym leaders is a grueling experience, and grinding is just terribly boring and arduous. Maybe I'm just not hardcore enough or I'm not a genuine Pokémon fan, but man, other games really test my attention span. (Send all hate mail to [email protected])

This page has been bookmarked. I'll try the game out when I get the chance, and I'll try to give good feedback on the balancing and fun and all that.

 

[SaltRoad]

Progress: I've been adjusting how sidequests work, and making them easier to find. You can find sidequests now by looking for people with large, yellow exclamation points above their head.
This way, if you want to find a sidequest, it won't involve talking to every person in town trying to find it.

I absolutely love stuff like this. The story is fundamentally different from the Pokémon games, the battle mechanics actually require strategy, and bloody Mu! pokémon, man! I think some people turn their noses up at any fan-game that isn't exclusively identical to the real games, but in my opinion everything about Pokémon is boring except for the pokémon themselves; the battles are slow, beating gym leaders is a grueling experience, and grinding is just terribly boring and arduous. Maybe I'm just not hardcore enough or I'm not a genuine Pokémon fan, but man, other games really test my attention span. (Send all hate mail to [email protected])

This page has been bookmarked. I'll try the game out when I get the chance, and I'll try to give good feedback on the balancing and fun and all that.

I'm glad you like what you've seen! I agree completely on the slow battles thing. I love Pokemon, and the world and the cities you get to explore, but the battle system was always hard for me to get into. The battles took up so much time, and I guess I was just too impatient for that.
Definitely let me know when you try things out!

 

[Heaven Canceler]

This is a pretty interesting concept and I really like the idea of joining Team Rocket. It is something quite different from the Standard Pokemon game. Though from my first look... it seems like you aren't sugercoating Team Rocket at all, so I wonder if at some Point there will be the Chance to be a sort of double-Agent who spies out Team Rocket for the good guys. I doubt the main character has much of a positive Impression of the Rockets, especially early on, so I guess that possibility could exist. Maybe talking with Erika or some other Gym leader could Trigger that? Would be interesting if there was a conflict between developing relationships with other Rockets and the growing conscience Problems of the main character. (Unless you Chose to go full uncaring villain I guess...)

 

[SaltRoad]

Progress: I've made the 9th level of Silph Co. a bit more forgiving. It should be easier to get through it now.

This is a pretty interesting concept and I really like the idea of joining Team Rocket. It is something quite different from the Standard Pokemon game. Though from my first look... it seems like you aren't sugercoating Team Rocket at all, so I wonder if at some Point there will be the Chance to be a sort of double-Agent who spies out Team Rocket for the good guys.

Well... I think I'm still sugarcoating them a bit. I don't want things to get unnecessarily dark, so most stuff is just implied. Like the Marowak, or the Secretary and President's fate, or people that try and leave Team Rocket...
But yeah, in the games and show, Team Rocket almost never succeed in anything they do. So, here, where they DO succeed, it's a little bit more serious.
As for Double-Agent stuff, I have been thinking about that sort of thing! I like the idea of it, the good guy doing bad things for a good cause.

I doubt the main character has much of a positive Impression of the Rockets, especially early on, so I guess that possibility could exist. Maybe talking with Erika or some other Gym leader could Trigger that? Would be interesting if there was a conflict between developing relationships with other Rockets and the growing conscience Problems of the main character. (Unless you Chose to go full uncaring villain I guess...)

Yeah, that would definitely be interesting. Finding a way to betray Team Rocket from the inside if you wanted... and doing it all secretly could be a really fun side thing. Maybe tricky to pull off, but definitely fun!

 

[Heaven Canceler]

Or maybe you could betray them for another Group which you think is less evil. I think Ruby and Sapphire plot takes place at the same time as the Red/Blue plot?


Edit: PS: Can you Play this game on a phone? I have been having less time to Play on the PC recently. If not, anyone know good Pokemon games that you can download for the Phone?

 

[Zavytar]

Or maybe you could betray them for another Group which you think is less evil. I think Ruby and Sapphire plot takes place at the same time as the Red/Blue plot?


Edit: PS: Can you Play this game on a phone? I have been having less time to Play on the PC recently. If not, anyone know good Pokemon games that you can download for the Phone?

Maybe not the Aquas and Magmas, since they are Hoenn-based team that only want to expand the sea/land.
Perhaps the Kanto Pokémon Federation (the Biker gang) could help out...

 

[Heaven Canceler]

Okay, I have stolen 3 Pokemon etc... (I find it amusing that you can actually tell the dinner owner that you are so poor you had to join Team Rocket and he gives you Money btw.) and now I am with the Casino. But I cannot Exchange my stolen Mons for anything, the Lady just repeats the same words every time I talk to her...


PS: Can you actually get a third Pokemon somewhere without having to buy it from the Rocket dude in that one house?

 

[SaltRoad]

Or maybe you could betray them for another Group which you think is less evil. I think Ruby and Sapphire plot takes place at the same time as the Red/Blue plot?

I'm not sure the Aqua/Magma groups are less evil, though. They're probably more destructive than Rocket actually. But I see your point.

Maybe not the Aquas and Magmas, since they are Hoenn-based team that only want to expand the sea/land.
Perhaps the Kanto Pokémon Federation (the Biker gang) could help out...

Oh, the Biker gang? Huh, I've never thought of that. But yeah, as Rocket gets to be more of a problem, it makes sense that other gangs and criminals would get involved to stop them!

Edit: PS: Can you Play this game on a phone? I have been having less time to Play on the PC recently. If not, anyone know good Pokemon games that you can download for the Phone?

How to get RPGmaker onto a phone? A quick google search gave me a few mixed results. There's at least one emulator, Neko RPGXP Player, that says it can get XP games on Android. And most of the games here are for XP! But unfortunately not Rocket Rising.

Okay, I have stolen 3 Pokemon etc... (I find it amusing that you can actually tell the dinner owner that you are so poor you had to join Team Rocket and he gives you Money btw.) and now I am with the Casino. But I cannot Exchange my stolen Mons for anything, the Lady just repeats the same words every time I talk to her...


PS: Can you actually get a third Pokemon somewhere without having to buy it from the Rocket dude in that one house?

After stealing 3 pokmon you have to go back to the recruiter in the basement and he will give you more stuff to do.
And no, you can't get a third pokemon without buying it from the Rocket guy.

 

[SaltRoad]

Progress: I think that I have gotten a version of the slot machine to work! It's simpler, not as flashy, but it works!

Though right now I have no idea what to give out as prizes at the Game Corner.

Also, I've been working on new missions. So the update will have Maxx's, where you definitely get a 3rd party member, one where you get to interact with other Grunts, and then the Big Mission. I'm about 90% done with the Grunt mission, and have some of the mapping done for the Big Mission.

So... I would really like to have an update out by the end of July. I'm aiming for that, I'll let you know if it continues to be a realistic goal.

 

[Heaven Canceler]

Well, the obvious things to give out as Prices would be Pokemon as this is what you normally can get in the game and they presumably sell the Pokemon you and others have stolen for Money. There is no Point in stealing Pokemon if you don't do anything with them after all. And there is only so much mad scientist experimentation you can do considering that Training them to listen to the Person who stole them is likely to be a pain.


Other possibilities are various combat items, like the Scarfs, Glasses, items that give bonuses to Types like These one-Use attack gems maybe?


Furniture maybe to fill up your own Room in the Rocket Base with stuff? Do we have a room in the Rocket base? Where do we sleep and stuff?

 

[SaltRoad]

Question: Hey, would a Room be something you guys are interested in? I can probably put together something like the secret bases in Ruby/Sapphire, where you can get furniture and put it in different places.

Well, the obvious things to give out as Prices would be Pokemon as this is what you normally can get in the game and they presumably sell the Pokemon you and others have stolen for Money. There is no Point in stealing Pokemon if you don't do anything with them after all. And there is only so much mad scientist experimentation you can do considering that Training them to listen to the Person who stole them is likely to be a pain.

So... 1) Steal Pokemon and give to Game Corner 2) Play for Coins 3) Use coins to buy stolen Pokemon?
Or... 1) Steal Pokemon and give to Game Corner 2) After X amount of Pokemon get a 'Reward' Pokemon?

Both could work. Maybe in the second option there's a choice involved, so you can choose between 3 different prize Pokemon...

Other possibilities are various combat items, like the Scarfs, Glasses, items that give bonuses to Types like These one-Use attack gems maybe?

Hmm... I want to include those kinds of items, but the VX Ace system doesn't seem to be built for it.
So, I can adjust the resistance to Fire-type moves, so that when you get hit with them they can be either super effective or do nothing at all. But making only Fire-type attacks stronger... I'm not sure I have a way to do that.

Furniture maybe to fill up your own Room in the Rocket Base with stuff? Do we have a room in the Rocket base? Where do we sleep and stuff?

I've... actually never thought about where the Rockets sleep. The Trainers never seemed to sleep, so...
But a room and furniture could definitely be interesting.

 

[SaltRoad]

Progress: Still on track for an update by the end of the month. I've been trying to get rid of Null, still, with no success. But I think I've fixed the rounding problem of Attack, where your health would quickly end up at x.9999999.
I still need to test one of the new recruits, and do some finishing touches on the mission, and that's it!

At some point I will: Adjust prizes at the Game Corner, make missions where you help recruits with their stuff, make a working path from Vermilion to Pewter, come up with more Lieutenant missions, adjust the experience curve, figuring out the full movesets of all the Pokemon and Mutations... But that's probably too much stuff to get done in the next week.

 

[SaltRoad]

Coming in at a solid 5 and a half months after the last update...
It's version .3 !!!

Large version (with RTP): http://www.mediafire.com/download/bf96255w98ro61p/RocketRising.exe (294 MB)
(Actually use this one instead): http://www.mediafire.com/download/9v6ddlpjm24dylg/RocketRising2(2).exe
Small version: http://www.mediafire.com/download/sp9fqa7yxdp8g6p/RocketRising(2).rar (116 MB)

If your last save is right before the Maxx mission in Saffron City, then good! You're at a perfect spot to pick up where you left off, and the new plot checkpoint system shouldn't cause you any problems.

If otherwise... I would strongly recommend finishing version .2.5 until you get the phone call from Maxx.

Changes

Spoiler:

Internal Stuff
- New plot 'checkpoint' system! It tracks exactly where you are in the game without taking up a ton of switches, and allows more flexibility.
- Some of the beginning parts (up until Cinnabar-ish) of the game have been adjusted to feel more polished.
- Sidequests can now be identified by exclamation points over people's heads. Less running around looking for things to do!
- Characters that have names will now have those names visible whenever you talk to 'em.
- NPC dialogue changes depending on where you are in the story. This is most noticeable with other Grunts.
- Evolution should work now, lvl 20 for Rattata, and lvl 25 for Gastly.
- Adjusted experience curve. Levelling should be much easier now, but... boss fights might be too easy because of this. Expect later adjustments to difficulty.

Player Stuff
- 2 new sidequests! One in Cinnabar, from Nurse Joy, and one in Celadon, in one of the southern houses.
- Removed the "Fizzlesticks" and "House in Saffron" sidequests. Wasn't quite happy with them.
- You can now recruit Markeva in the cave between Lavender and Cerulean.
- A new scene with Redra if you go to Route 12 after the events in Lavender Town.
- Maxx's Mission in Saffron now exists, as well as two more 'plot' missions. Current demo now ends with the addition of the third and final Lieutenant: Idris
-You can now get the Flashlight from the Game Corner if you have stolen 10 Pokemon. This lets you go into the cave north of Lavender Town, and Diglett's Cave that's next to Vermilion city.
- You can now steal 5 Pokemon before Cinnabar, so you have the ability to get the Spirit Coin.
- The 9th level of Silph, and the Viridian Forest event are both easier.
- You get your third Pokemon at the end of Maxx's mission. You now can have a full party!

Battle Stuff
- New animations for Drain Punch and Low Kick
- Changed Lick to do more damage
- Guard should actually work now. Halves damage.
- Rattata learns Hyper Fang at lvl 16, since learning it through using Bite wasn't working correctly.
- Things like Burn or Poison will now kill you, instead of just taking you to 1 health.

As always, if something glitches or doesn't work or if you catch anything I've overlooked, let me know and I will try to fix that as quickly as possible.