Emerald hack: POCKET MONSTERS SCALE X FANG (DEMO v1.0.2)

NotDWaddler said:

Hey, I'm not harassing anyone. I'm just saying that disabling an emulator function to make people pay attention to the story feels.... very icky. Its about as bad as Game Freak still not having a skip functionality for base cutscenes. Yeah, people are gonna speed, but lots of people are just like that and some also know how to slow down when necessary to read and pay heed to dialogue or plot. Fully cutting off a QoL tool to your entire playerbase that's common with every other hack under the sun to 'make people read' is just.... If that ain't A-Grade plotting and writing in return, I'll be disappointed at best.

Its a decision and I ain't gonna throw a fit over it. But I'm still gonna say that its dumb and turn away others from actually playing the game.

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Sadly the writing is dogshit to justify the anti-speed up measure. If they are gonna disable a huge QoL function for the sake of the story, might as well make the story as good as something like Tales of Symphonia.

Wouldn't need Anti Speed Up if the story was any good. People would actually want to read it, instead of feeling, rightly so, that they're being forced to sit through the author's 9th grade fanfiction.

RenElite said:

Sadly the writing is dogshit to justify the anti-speed up measure. If they are gonna disable a huge QoL function for the sake of the story, might as well make the story as good as something like Tales of Symphonia.

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I dunno how to break it to ya, but Symphonia's kinda mid. How exactly IS it bad now though? Try to keep it to a list of points or somethin instead of a blurb

NotDWaddler said:

I dunno how to break it to ya, but Symphonia's kinda mid. How exactly IS it bad now though? Try to keep it to a list of points or somethin instead of a blurb

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First off, the MC. The MC was a total asshole and a bitch to everyone without any reason at all. Like I don't find anything remarkable to his character, he's just so so annoying. Second is the dialogue, it wasn't anything remarkable (which is the reason FF is disabled), granted its just 30% of the story, but from what it has right now, idk, it seems generic and bland, sometimes even predictable and is even downgraded even more because of the MC.

I've just started exploring this game. Unsure if the drama has led the dev to hide, but I noted the reddit posts were by a deleted user and I haven't been able to find a link to a discord anywhere. Not a huge fan of oldschool forums personally, discord is far more efficient for sharing information.

Initial Thoughts:
That said, I don't have a horse in the speedup race but I do think it's a silly hill to unalive on. Good writing will encourage players to read it. Some players don't want it even if it's the greatest thing ever written. It's ultimately the devs' choice as its their project, but I don't think it's worth the amount of hate they've already gotten for it to prove a point.

I do wish more info, like a wiki (or again, a discord) were around. I don't like to pour a ton of time into fakemons if I don't like their aesthetic/look, so playing this completely blindly feels like back when BW came out and ppl didn't know the gen5 dex. Combined with a very grindy gameplay loop and no speedup, it discourages me from wanting to try out a wider variety of the fakemons. If someone could steer me to a dex I'd appreciate it, but google failed me.

Finally, I'll say (and this might just be my old(er) age showing) the MC does absolutely nothing for me. They're obnoxious, like Squall-from-FF8-forced-edgy/ego-obnoxious, and even if the story somehow humbles them or changes them it's not going to be compelling. This ain't the 80's anymore. People know bullies, people know arrogant fools, and nobody really cares to watch someone go through an epic journey to be a decent person when the rest of us started there to begin with. I felt similarly about many characters in Unbound but at least the MC there wasn't obnoxious. I think pokemon works best with a YCH silent protag, but honestly, story has never been a strong element in the mainline titles.

I do plan on (painfully) pushing through more grind to complete the demo, so I'll be back to offer feedback when I'm done.

I wonder why this hack doesn't use the Pokemon name like many other hacks here and instead uses the Japanese full name instead, is it to avoid getting a C&D?

TyphlosionKing2006 said:

I wonder why this hack doesn't use the Pokemon name like many other hacks here and instead uses the Japanese full name instead, is it to avoid getting a C&D?

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I think it's more of an aesthetic preference.

First time playing this game, also first time commenting on this.

It's a good game. I'm enjoying it, the artwork is gorge and the redo of the sprites is a very nice touch and makes the game that bit more personal.
Would the game be better with the option to speed it up for those who want to opt in? Yes. The lack thereof is a detractor for the enjoyment of the game.

Am I gonna cry about it tho? No girl, it's not that deep.

maaarkle said:

First time playing this game, also first time commenting on this.

It's a good game. I'm enjoying it, the artwork is gorge and the redo of the sprites is a very nice touch and makes the game that bit more personal.
Would the game be better with the option to speed it up for those who want to opt in? Yes. The lack thereof is a detractor for the enjoyment of the game.

Am I gonna cry about it tho? No girl, it's not that deep.

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Game is dead.

RenElite said:

Game is dead.

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Did the developer announced something?

qazmachuck said:

Did the developer announced something?

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yes on their discord

RenElite said:

yes on their discord

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Interesting... Is it because of the fast forward dilemma?

qazmachuck said:

Interesting... Is it because of the fast forward dilemma?

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I honestly don't know, one day the creator just went and said that the hack is over.

Surely it can't be over people wanting to speed up tedious painful parts of a game with some good moments here and there. Is the developer alright?

i'm also curious to know why such a promising hack was cancelled abruptly

He has also deleted All his Social Media Accounts i,e Twitter , Reddit you name it . Very Weird .

The Hostility of the Devs and Hostility of certain players makes sense they would just drop the project.

I will fully admit just from comments here both sides looked bad but im gonna focus in on the devs because their posts carry weight being the creators of the hack.

Their stated reasons for anti speedup are non nonsensical the vast majority of people who use speed ups use it to speed up battles not dialouge or even walking (especially in this game where there are usually clear pathways to avoid encounters from what i can tell outside of the meadow area) it's pretty clear they just do not like speedhacks in general.

Their stated goal for resource management does not jive with the game designed as is there is a pokemon center it's free to use items are easily available and Pickup tables are in play what resources am I managing exactly? my 20 super potions by the end of the beach area? (you intentionally added lilipup ) To their credit Money is tight without pickup and the one non pokemon center I found costs 500 to use but its a drop in a large pond there are other hacks out there that have made do with either limited pokecenter availability (maybe after you use the metro you are "on the job" and not allowed to go back till finishing the mission) Or alternatives to pokecenters perhaps the game gives you a limited amount of revives and potions per mission? Trainer winnings go directly to your bosses (which is how they fund the revives in the first place)

The Protagonist is written as an asshole and not one with any depth to them this is the kind of character I wrote back when i was twelve and thought was cool I had assumed maybe it may have been a jab at people who seek out hacks coming into something like vega with a chip on their shoulder only to get bodied by a real challenge which again to the Devs credit they did pull off the "Final Boss" of the meadow did catch me off guard though all i needed was one potion and the tables were turned back in may favor where they would stay. This is where something like limited pokemon centers would have come into play because I did my whole team except for my last two pokemon

And the world does not feel crap sack enough to justify them being an asshole there are mentions of a war but the city looks fine even has a working metro and game corner people are on vacation on the beach and the meadows are very pretty a far shot from a hostile environment.

The Fakemon sprites are pretty wonky they look "fat" and "blobby" for lack of a better word something they share with Gen 1 sprites i'm not sure if it was intentional (google gen 1 pikachu to see this in it's extremes) but it was never something i enjoyed.

Hope this hack continues when the devs have cooled their heads and realize more people like this hack then not despite it's flaws and seriously reconsider the speedhack thing.

Thank you for people who gaslighting the developer we lost this hack

Safr said:

Thank you for people who gaslighting the developer we lost this hack

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no one is gaslighting anyone, their game design philosophies are just straight up trash and is from 1990.

This project is not dead!
I am looking for talented contributors that can assist with a "phoenix" version of the project.
We will rethink the story, characters, setting et cetera together and work to create a new version of SxF with a shared vision.
I am searching for all roles; mappers, musicians, spriters, character & Pokémon designers, even idea guys are appreciated.
So if interested, please DM me on Discord: (username: mantager)
If you have proof of previous work on another project then that would be much appreciated.
Thanks!