epseta presents: Pokémon Prime: Purple Edition
A hack of Pokémon Red (USA)
About me and this hack
I'm epseta.
I make rom hacks and get into Internet fights.
I spent 16 months making this hack in my free time, and I hope it was all worth it.
This hack is more or less complete. If you find any major bugs (probably in the ending, as I've changed more stuff there) PM me and I'll see what I can do.
This hack was tested using VisualBoyAdvance.
Story
You are an 11-year-old boy living with 151 different Pokémon. Are you a bad enough dude to catch 'em all?
It's basically the same old story as before. No complicated narratives, no dark and angsty pasts, just good ol' fashioned Pokémon journeying.
Features
- Accelerating Difficulty: The biggest change made in the hack.
The hack starts out with the same difficulty as regular Red/Blue but gradually gets harder relative to the original Red/Blue as you progress. For example, Purple's Viridian Forest is about the same difficulty as found in the original game, whereas Purple's Cinnabar Mansion is significantly harder than its original counterpart. This hack essentially uses more of the level 1-100 spectrum as did the original games, and was meant to give players of those originals a new challenge.
This new difficulty is accomplished through:
- Meaner Mons: The difference between the levels of this hack's Pokémon and those of the original increase the farther you go. You won't notice anything early on, but as you collect those Gym Badges, the level difference increases.
Also, enemy Pokémon will always evolve upon level-up, if given the option. So no more level 23 Pidgeys for you!
Thankfully it works the other way around; a Rocket Grunt won't throw an underleveled Raticate at you.
This applies to both wild and trained Pokémon. - Populated Paths: Walking in tall grass, caves, and the like has a greater chance of encountering wild Pokémon than before. This almost shouldn't be in this section because you'll get more XP and find rare Pokémon in a shorter amount of time, plus there's the fact that you have Repels, but I'm putting this here in case you feel compelled to take down every Pokémon that crosses your pass, like I am.
- Tougher Trainers: As you progress, enemy trainers carry more Pokémon on their team. Your friendly neighborhood bug catcher might be carrying two, whereas the elite trainers are commanding a full party just like you. They'll evolve their Pokémon through trading, and elemental stones if they feel that it's worth it to do so at that level. Some of the tougher Pokémon have Smogon competitive-inspired movesets, so beware!
- Advanced AI: A enemy trainer will almost always attack with a super-effective move, if one is available. Many gym leader and elite trainer AIs have also been tweaked. Also typings of most status moves have been changed to Normal. Why is this relevant here? Because this prevents situations in the original like a level 3 Weedle defeating Lance's Dragonite because it keeps spamming Agility from happening.
- Laborious Gym Leaders: You're going to have to work for your Gym Badges now. All eight leaders carry a full team of Pokémon, representing the best of their respective types. Even when restricted by level, they are masters of their elements.
- Grueling Gyms: ...that is, if you can even reach them. Each gym and their puzzles within have been redesigned to be more challenging, confusing, and expansive. Not only that, but wild Pokémon also roam inside the gyms, ready to pounce on any challengers. At least you can catch them.
- tl;dr: This may as well be Pokémon Red: Hard Mode. It's not like Kaizo hard; at least I'm trying to be (mostly) fair. But this is still no walk in the Safari Zone.
- Meaner Mons: The difference between the levels of this hack's Pokémon and those of the original increase the farther you go. You won't notice anything early on, but as you collect those Gym Badges, the level difference increases.
- All 151 Gen I Pokémon can be obtained without trading, fiddling with Stadium, none of that. This is done through changing wild Pokémon spawns, gift Pokémon, in-game trades, and the like. All you need for a complete Pokédex is the emulator of your choice, and about 110 hours of free time.
- You'll also fight all 151 Pokémon. Ever wanted to battle an Articuno but didn't want to ruin your Pokédex? Now you don't need to worry.
- Some in-game trades have been changed to allow obtaining trade-only Pokemon, and others were changed regardless.
- Contents of Marts have been changed. Most of them have a good selection of products, and you're bound to find a TM on their shelves.
- To reflect this, the contents of some item balls have been changed. All TMs can still be obtained at least once.
- Changed the prize listings in the Celadon Game Corner. This time, the 9,999 coin Pokémon will be worth it...
- Changed the Pokémon that scroll in the title screen.
- Minor text fixes. (Memes aside, I had to change some dialogue that referenced specific things like Pokémon in a trainer's party, the contents in a certain Mart, that sort of stuff.)
- Pokémon use front sprites from the 1996 Red/Green, for the sake of consistency between front and back sprites.
- Changed the learned move lists of a few Pokémon.
- Aerodactyl now can learn Rock Slide via TM. You'll find out why soon enough.
- Pikachu and Raichu now can learn Surf via HM, no trading to Stadium required.
- Voltorb and Electrode now use the red palette if playing on Super Game Boy.
- Dire Hit and Focus Energy should work as intended.
Screenshots
Programs Used
- ClassicMap by Charlie
- Cygwin by Cygnus Solutions, et al.
- Free Space Finder by HackMew
- HxD by Maël Hörz
- Pokémon RBY Wild Poke'mon Editor by Harrison
- PrizeEdit GB by Swampert Tools
- Sokoban YASC by briandamgaard, megerian, and sokobano
- TitlePokéEdit by Swampert Tools
- TradeEdit by Swampert Tools
- VisualBoyAdvance by denopqrihg, kxu, and pokemonhacker
- YY-CHR by YY
Special Thanks To
- PokéCommunity, for allowing me to host and share this hack.
- Data Crystal, for hosting ROM and RAM maps of Pokémon Red.
- Game Freak, for making a great set of games that captured the imaginations of millions everywhere.
- dannye, huderlem, iimarcus, Sanqui, and all other members of the pokered team on GitHub. Without your hard work in understanding this great game, neither my nor a lot of people's hacks would be possible.
- GitHub, for hosting pokered.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q. Why not just call it Pokemon: Purple Version? Why is there a Prime?
- A. I wanted to call my hack Pokemon Purple because it's a hack of Red/Blue, and red and blue make purple. I didn't see any hacks with the name Pokemon Purple, but just in case, I added a Prime in there. Also, alliteration points.
- Q. Why does Professor Oak have an eyepatch?
- A. It's a homage. You'll understand at the end.
- Q. Why is it that when I try to surf at this one location I keep getting pushed downward?
- A. Don't worry, it's not a bug. There's a current. Dealing with it is part of the puzzle.
GET IT!
http://www.mediafire.com/download/tlpbh1kcd085c1f/PKMNPRPL.zip