Bakken31

Oh absolutely, the gen 5 and below 3DS cries are horrible lol. Won't be changing those! The gen 5 cries are already rips from BW2, so the weird clicks aren't due to the cries themselves - they could be due to a flaw with the compression algorithm used on them.

Hey!
- From what we've seen so far the Arceus game isn't a standard Pokemon game - it doesn't look like it's going to have the usual turn based battles, so it might not even have abilities etc.
- At some point I'll badger Ultima over RHH to teach me how to rip cries from the 3DS games so I can update them. That will mean they'll be high quality, have lower sample rates, and it'll be possible to compress many of them to save space.
- Should be fine! Hopefully I'll get the game to a stable-ish point (apart from the battle engine) before lockdown ends so there'll be no rush to fix things.

I'm not annoyed, if my responses seem shorter than usual it's just because a lot of people are messaging me lately!

I'll probably end up using the generic gen 4 legendary theme for most legendaries as it's the only one that isn't meant for a specific group of mons. More legendaries are a long way off though so that might change! Will keep your suggestions in mind.

Hey!

- Yeah, that's why the giant red text box on the first page says they aren't all available! There's not enough room for all of them.
- Maybe! I'd like to, but it'll require some major UI changes as 12 character names don't fit in the vanilla text boxes.
- Ooh I'll fix that!
- Depends on what they are. I'm not sure anything other than the new forms will fit in a standard Pokémon game, we'll see though.
- I'd like to add at least some BW2 tracks for legendary battles etc., but it'll probably need more space than I have. I'll be able to cut down on some wasted space in future (mostly due to uncompressed cries) but for now it's probably not doable.
- I'll definitely have sprites for the PWT trainers, got one done already (only a lot more to go...)
- I've already got new (well, HGSS) overworld sprites for some legendaries. Gne IV facilities are unlikely I think, the existing ones are enough work!

I hope so! They've done well keeping them updated so far.

Yeah, might be a good idea. I'll worry about that once the game stops freezing though!

That's a good point, I'll add a note to the first post! I haven't actually checked what's been made so far, guess I should take a look some time.

Hey!

- Much like my other hacks the exp share is integral to the level curve and shouldn't ever be off; I can't just remove over half of the trainer experience from the game and expect it to work! That said there are definitely some issues with the current exp system and I'll be working on solutions today.

- One thing I learned from the 3DS hacks is that too many versions is a bad idea; the more I make the harder it becomes to update the game, so I'll be sticking with two patches only this time. The discord patches are being made by someone else, which is fantastic - the hack is open source, so I've got no problem with other people making their own patches if they want to change some part of it. If enough people really can't handle the exp share someone might eventually make a patch to remove it, and all the balance issues that come with that change will be something they need to fix.

- Yup looks like there a re plenty of bugs to fix! Doesn't help that some people are playing a modified source version instead of a release version.
- For bugs I either fix them immediately or add them to the issues page on github if they're big ones. For suggestions I add them to a text file full of notes.

- I thought there were more but that's not so bad if that's most of them. It can be quite time consuming to convert spritesheets into decomp format, usually due to palette issues that have be fixed by hand. Will try to get them done once RHH is working on pull requests again (otherwise I'll have to do it twice!).

- Yeah I'll either remove some duplicate encounters in the Safari Zone or just add them to the game corner with the other regional forms (maybe both).

Sounds good! Looking forward to seeing what your team ends up being!

That's pretty close to what I'll end up going with I think, they all fit thematically! It depends on space in those locations of course, as I want to avoid overcrowding maps if possible. A few of them might have to be gift mons but hopefully most will fit somewhere.

Hey!
- That's something I could look at doing once the hack is 100% finished; the tricky part is removing the custom stones from the overworld due to the format the scripts are in. Wouldn't be too time consuming but it will make the source code a little messy.
- Yeah I'll wait until they're done here; looks like Mr. Dollsteak is making good progress on the gen 6 ones, but I expect gen 7-8 will be a while away.
- It's nice to finally have the tread up, looks like I've already got bugs to fix!

Yep that's the plan!

Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing Game Freak try something new with Pokémon, looks like it could be really good.

Ok thanks, that's very helpful! Probably will have to wait until BDSP and Legends to get the tutor info.

I think the new mons from Legends will be in, but gen 9 is unlikely as new Pokémon take up quite a lot of space in the ROM (mostly due to cries and sprites), and I don't think I can get another generation in there. I really like the idea of evolutions for Stantler and Basculin though, so I might try to get them into Inclement Emerald too (once we have their stats and cries of course).

Hey, I'm in covid lockdown again but it's not so bad, just waiting for the Inclement Emerald thread to be approved. How are you?

Mm I've noticed that too, not sure what the cause is as the audio files for the cries don't have that problem, and it does seem to be just gen 5 mons. It's pretty annoying though so I'll definitely try to fix it!

Thanks, I hope so too!
Speaking of the Standard version, I actually have a few questions for you about what you'd like that version to include. It's not done yet because the hack has custom move tutors and mega evolutions, along with some battle changes which would be tricky (but not impossible) to remove from the game. On top of that some Pokémon don't exist in gen 8, so there's no official TM/tutor compatibility for them and I had to guess what they should learn (with a bit of help from Pokémon Home).

So what I'd like to ask is: would these changes bother you if they were kept in the standard version? Or is it enough to remove all the base stat, typing and ability changes, but keep the custom tutors and megas?

Hey!

- An ANZ region would be cool, though I wouldn't mind it just being NZ! I guess I'd like to see a region based on Russia, it'd be a good excuse to have some more snowy routes.
- Maybe, but only if I can figure how to get Yuzu and PKNX working without a hacked switch (or if I can hack my Switch - that'd be better!). Still haven't decided what I'll work on after Emerald.
- I'm aware of those, might have to give them a try sometime. Still want to finish Unbound and Radical Red first though!

- Someone's working on a music patch for pokeemerald which adds all the gen 4 and 5 music exactly as it is in the DS games, so I might end up using that (depends on how much space it needs). If not then yes, battle themes will be exactly as you expect!
- The Factory was my favorite facility too, even though some of the sets in there were pretty stupid. The tower in gen 4 was a close second though, co-op in that was fun.
- I won't bother updating contest effects myself, but they'll be updated if someone working on the battle engine does it.
- Not sure if I'll edit contests at all, will probably add them and a few others in if I do.
- Definitely won't have any characters from the anime, I'm not a big fan of that in hacks either (unless it's an anime themed hack of course).

Hey, not bad, I've been on leave for the last week so that's been nice. How've you been?

- The AI should switch more often than any of the vanilla games, but the battle engine's just completely revamped the AI so I need to do some testing to make sure it still does that! It's smart enough to recognise when it's been made into setup fodder, so it should be less exploitable at least. E.g. if you Encore it or drop its stats too much it might decide to switch.
- The Battle Frontier update will be after the Gen 8 update. It'll take quite some time as I want to do more than just expand the trainer rosters; if possible I'd like to have inverse and 6v6 modes too (though no promises those will actually happen!)
- The E4 tournament will just be a part of the PWT; any trainers that have been in multiple roles will appear in all the appropriate tournaments. So you'll see Olivia and Acerola in the E4 and Gym Leader tournaments (they're close enough to Gym Leaders lol). I actually haven't played the Sword and Shield DLC so will need to look into what to do with Klara & Avery; are they E4 members at the end of it?
- Yep that's the plan!

Hey!

- Wow that's really well done, will have to have a Looker quest just to make use of it!
- It's a mix of both depending on the sprite I think; I didn't assign the animations but they all look good!

I do check in occasionally; hadn't seen all those second frames til just now though! Guess I've got some spritesheet chopping to do!