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Darthatron February 15th, 2009 4:57 AM

The New ROM Hacking Newsletter
 
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CSS by Darthatron


Issue 23 - Sunday, 16th Feburary 2009
Introduction
Opening Notes
Well, it's finally here! What is it you ask? Well it is... The NEW ROM Hacking Newsletter!
Don't pretend to not be excited, because I know you are. Anyway, there are going to be some changes in the new RHN, first of all it will be released fort-nightly (every two weeks) instead of weekly. This will give the team much more time to get their articles in, and will make the RHN even better!

Also, if you find you have some free time inbetween hacks, and you have good grammar and some writing skills, why not join the RHN team? We are always looking for new reviewers.

Well, that about sums up the introduction for this issue, I guess I'll see you next time!
Opening by Darthatron


Hacking News
Keep up with the latest in the ROM hacking scene
Tutorial boom!
This week has shown a rather dramatic increase in the amount of tutorials, and most of them are pretty good. They are detailed, and easy to read. You might want to check them out. Here's a list of some good ones.
HackMew's Knowledge (ASM Tutorial)
The ELF Method of inserting Music into a Rom
Take/Return Pokemon (ASM)
Compiled by Darthatron


Hack Review
Spotlight on a special hack!
Pokémon Eclipse – Rise of the Moon [Link]
Hack Author: Binary
Reviewed By: Vrai

The bland thread easily hides the greatness that this hack could hold.

It introduces one of the more opted-for baby evolutions (Lapras had a baby! :D), and it's a central piece of the story. The story, by the way, is a good one. Binary has spent a little while on this, and his effort shows through, quite well.

The story tells of the player's father dueling his rival for the leadership of the village. Through a close battle, the player's father wins, and his rival, named 'Eclipse', runs away from the village, hiding from the humiliation that he brought upon himself. Turns out the guy becomes a madman, writing about how he's going to show the player's father and his son what power is. I, personally, find this to be one of the more interesting stories to come across a hack. It's got good flow, and I don't really know of a whole lot of hacks that are similar to this. Good job on that, Binary.

As far as playing the game.. well, to be honest, Binary could've spent a little more time on working out the bugs out of the alpha. The spelling and grammar are somewhat poor in certain places, and a few scripting errors allow for some event s to occur too soon (i.e. I went upstairs to Violet's room before I even met her). There were a few other things that bugged me, like a female Picnicker who just happened to have a male Picnicker sprite, and an abundance of people with pink hair. Every other person in the game had pink hair. I'm pretty sure most people don't have naturally pink hair. :/

I was unable to “finish off” the alpha, as I accidentally got stuck in a little empty trigger script in the last room of the gym, and I was too lazy to go back through the whole hack. But I did like the idea of the gym leader being in the basement of the gym, forcing the player to explore the whole gym before finding the leader.

After playing through Eclipse, I realized how much Binary could improve on, and how much he had already to build off of. This is a hack that can become a lot, or it could break down and become a pile of nothing.. It all depends on how much Binary wants to make it work. It's a good hack, but it can be improved in every dimension.
Article by Vrai


Hack Review
Spotlight on a special hack!
Pokémon Turquoise [Link]
Hack Author: Tropical Sunlight
Reviewed By: iPro.

Ohohoho, the first thing I notice about this hack is the cool tiles and fitting palettes. Rhevarhe_duh sure can make some cool tiles, I say. He's one of the new rising tilers, If I do say so myself. Ahem, enough on that subject. On to the review.

Mapping. Mapping is an ideal and needed skill in ROM Hacking, and this guy has it down. Yes, that's right, the maps in Turquoise look great. I have to admit, the first few maps were...err...not very polished, and really lacking. Tropical Sunlight apparently noticed this problem, because the maps as of late are pretty slick. The cave mapping really impresses me, it looks great as well as having plenty of walking room. On top of that, the caves look really natural, which is what most mappers aim for. Just the opposite of the cave mapping is the graveyard map. It is really symmetrical, which is a no-no. This is probably something he will have to compromise for the natural look, I mean, go to a graveyard, all the tombstones are symmetrically placed, like in this map.

There are some issues with the current maps, however, such as playability. The playability factor is sub-par on a few maps. There is one or two tiles to travel on, which is notsogood(I'm guilty of this also, but lets not get into that). As I said abouve, the tiles and palettes are pretty nice as well. That is, however, besides the grass path palette. A good rule of thumb with path palettes is to never make the border colour lighter than the inner contents. I really like the addition of Ruby/Emerald tiles, they mix well with rhevarhe_duh's tiles.

As far as scripting goes, Tropical Sunlight hasn't really shown anything except for a couple of beginning scripts, so there's nothing to really talk about on that subject.

I really like all the special additions Tropical Sunlight has implemented/plans to implement. Samson's wonderful Fakemon will make a great addition to the hack, as long as they are inserted properly, which Insecreep has been. It seems he plans to add a new item called "Pikachew". The Pikachew is a key item, so I'm assuming it deal with a quest of some sort or something along those lines.

There's nothing really left to talk about, so I'll just sum up the review now. Overall this hack has potential, and it looks great, but who knows where it will be in the future. I'll be keeping an eye on this hack, just to see what becomes of it.
Article by iPro.


Tips and Tricks
An interesting Tip or Trick that you may not know
Hello, today we are going to learn about how to use variables as flags!

You see, a flag is a two way thing, it is either set, or cleared. ( 1 is set, cleared is 0 )
But a variable can be used up to 65535 times! That is alot of different choices!
In this example, I will be using the variable 0x5000. That is a variable that is not used in the game, much like how flag 0x1000 is not used in the game.)

Now, a flag can be either set, or not, so a compare for a flag can only go 1 of 2 ways!
Click the spoiler for an example of a flag.

Spoiler:

Note, I am leaving the messages out of this script, since they are not needed to show what I mean.
Code:

#dynamic 0x800000

#org @start
compare 0x1000 0x1
if b_true goto @set
msgbox @clear-text 0x6
setflag 0x1000
end

#org @set
msgbox @set-text
clearflag 0x1000
end




You will notice that only 1 of 2 possible messages can be displayed at any time.
But by using variables, we can get more results!
Also, when using variables, you can use more than just compare, with variables, you can use comparevars and more, but I'll get into that later.
Click the spoiler to see it in action

Spoiler:

I dulled this one down a bit to save space...
Code:

#dynamic 0x800000

#org @start
compare 0x5000 0x1
if b_true goto @1
compare 0x5000 0x2
if b_true goto @2
compare 0x5000 0x3
if b_true goto @3
compare 0x5000 0x4
if b_true goto @4
compare 0x5000 0x5
if b_true goto @5
....
end



As you can see, variables have more versatility when it comes to determining events!
Now, you can also use a command called comparevars
What it does, is it compares 2 variables against each other, and then if they are equal, greater, less than, not equal, or a combination of them, then the game makes a different decision.

Code:

comparevars 0x5000 0x5001
if b_== goto @equal
comparevars 0x5000 0x5001
if b_>> goto @greater-than
comparevars 0x5000 0x5001
if b_<< goto @less-than


Finally, a variable can be set to a different value in different ways than a flag, a flag can use 'setflag' but a variable has a whole array of different commands! Much of these are like simple math problems.



Keep in mind, that variables can not be used as 'Person ID' in A-Map, only flags will work, and finally, if a variable is set to 0xFFFF, and you use addvar to it, and add 1 or more, then it will loop around back to 0x0, and start adding from there, same with subvar, if a variable is set to 0x0, and you subvar 1 or more, it will loop around to 0xFFFF, and subtract from there.
That is all for now, check in next week for another helpful beginners tip!
Tip donated by 0m3GA ARS3NAL


Interview
An in-depth chat with...

Spoiler:
<Disturbed>
*Thank you for taking the time for the interview, EarthsVisitor.
*I'll open up with questions right away
*How did you discover hacking?
<EarthsVisitor>
*Well, unlike the vast majority of people who find Pokémon Brown or Shiny Gold, I didn't even begin in the hacking section. I started off with the Game Making. I was interested in Booda Sack's "Call of Latios". Amazing game! I downloaded RPG Maker, and started playing around with the Pokémon, but then I realized I hated the program, and slowly found myself exploring the hacking section. Before I knew it! I was hooked.
<Disturbed>
*That's different from what I've heard in the past
<EarthsVisitor>
*Haha, what have you heard in the past? Now who's interviewing who?
<Disturbed>
*>_< Playing around with ROMs and linked to PC.
*Now, back to you, what interested you the most in hacking?
<EarthsVisitor>
*Well, what attracted me the most at first was just the mapping. I think that's every beginner’s cup of tea, but as I learned more and more, scripting became my favorite aspect.
<Disturbed>
*Is it true you taught countless hackers how to (or how to start) script?
<EarthsVisitor>
*I think I abuse that statement, ahaha. I didn't really "teach" that many people how to script.
*I just helped a lot of people.
*Me and TheTheTheThe, learned more about scripting together in Rocket's Revenge.
*I started you off in the right direction.
*And I've done a fair amount of researching in scripting to help others.
<Disturbed>
*Great, and I will always cherish that xD
<EarthsVisitor>
*You better.
<Disturbed>
*What inspired you to start Rocket's Revenge?
<EarthsVisitor>
*The fact that every hack I saw bored the heck out of me.
*I also just wanted the attention of having a hack.
*Like every other "noob" I love getting 100 PMs every day.
*:D
<Disturbed>
*What aspect of Rocket's Revenge gave it the fame, and lead it to third place in HotY 2007?
<EarthsVisitor>
*Solely it's story and hype.
*I think every other hack was.
*Yay, let's go get 8 badges and become a Pokémon master.
*Oh, by the way.
*THE WORLD IS GOING TO BE DESTROYED BY TEAM OMEGAWESOME
<Disturbed>
*ZOMG!
<EarthsVisitor>
*But, you better still get those badges.
*So, instead I went with something original.
<Disturbed>
*At the time ^
*Now, I'm sure you've seen Rocket hacks sprouting like multiplying bunnies.
<EarthsVisitor>
*Yes, I've seen a fair share of Rocket Hacks.
*I've even been PMed by people who want permission to use similar ideas.
*In fact, I still get PMs saying:
<Disturbed>
*Orly?
<EarthsVisitor>
*WHENS THE ROCKTS REBENGE BTA COMEZ OUT??!?
*Which usually ends in me being a real jerk. :]
<Disturbed>
*I know that feeling >:-}
<EarthsVisitor>
*But it's Valentine's Day, so I'll be nice. ;]
<Disturbed>
*And I'll be a walrus.
*Now, moving on
*What do you think of hacking today?
<EarthsVisitor>
*It continues to bore me.
*I actually spend more time looking at the Games Showcase, then the Hacking Showcase.
*Things like Kyledove's MMO, interest me much more than these Hacks out today.
<EarthsVisitor>
*I haven't played a single hack, besides Pokémon Prism, because they just don't look fun.
<Disturbed>
*So, let's go for a personal question, because all people have lives outside of hacking. Describe yours a bit
<EarthsVisitor>
*Well, I spend most of my time on the computer nevertheless. I just moved to Texas, near Mexico, so I have no friends. Ha. I'm working on my future career. I am majoring in Computer Science, so I've been working on C, C++, Java, and all that other fun stuff. I'm actually very shy, and I love to eat, but I'm very skinny... and… I love Video Games, obviously. I've been playing Guitar Hero and stuff.
<Disturbed>
*Ah, Guitar Hero. Good game :]
<EarthsVisitor>
*And I play the guitar. :]
<Disturbed>
*Now, as we wrap up, would you like to give a tip to all the new hackers, and/or recommend a hack?
<EarthsVisitor>
*Tip for new hackers. Don't be shy about all these people making fun of your maps and your game because it sucks. It does suck, but the more time you spend with it, the better you will get, don't let people get you down. AND BE ORIGINAL!
*As for hack recommendation...
*hmm…
**visits the showcases*
<Disturbed>
**LOOK AT GRAY*
*:]
*Just kidding
<EarthsVisitor>
*Kyledove's MMO. It's not a hack, but check it out. His tiles! AMAZING! His Pokémon, AWESOME. Use it for inspiration guys. :]
<Disturbed>
*And that's it, thanks for your time, EV!
<EarthsVisitor>
*Anytime.

Interview by Disturbed


CSS by Darthatron

Chimchar 9 February 15th, 2009 5:13 AM

Awesome work you guy's !!
The tips sure helped me alot, well i can't wait for the next one. ;)

Tropical Sunlight February 15th, 2009 5:18 AM

lol My hack got reviewed!
I'd just like to say thanks to the Map Rating Thread for helping me improve my maps.

Vrai February 15th, 2009 5:54 AM

Nice job, Darcy. Looks good.

..and Jake's interview made me smile a few times. :)

TB Pro February 15th, 2009 10:18 AM

Jake, mate. Why didn't you give Eclipse a rating? Meh, no big deal. Looks great guys. The interview made me lol a couple times. (:

Disturbed February 15th, 2009 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vrai (Post 4353613)
Nice job, Darcy. Looks good.

..and Jake's interview made me smile a few times. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by iPro. (Post 4354002)
Jake, mate. Why didn't you give Eclipse a rating? Meh, no big deal. Looks great guys. The interview made me lol a couple times. (:

Seems I'm always an idiot when trying to be serious. Bah, what am I going to do?

Anyways, nice job with the article everyone! It turned out great. I don't see any spelling errors at first glance, so that's a plus!

Surf February 15th, 2009 2:11 PM

Jakes interview made me laugh.
It was great.
I didn't notice any spelling errors for once XD
Also that tip is definatl gonna help the newbie scripters.
Thats the only way to check a flag in a level script, no?

TB Pro February 15th, 2009 3:36 PM

I found a spelling error. "What it does, is it compares 2 variables against each otehr,"

Vrai February 15th, 2009 4:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iPro. (Post 4354002)
Jake, mate. Why didn't you give Eclipse a rating? Meh, no big deal. Looks great guys. The interview made me lol a couple times. (:

Uhh, did you give Turquoise a rating? :/

Besides, we never give HotW winners ratings, do we?

Surf February 15th, 2009 4:39 PM

We only give out ratings if the hack has a playable game

Vrai February 15th, 2009 5:56 PM

Don't make fun of me for not knowing things. :/

'specially when I forget them all the time.

0m3GA ARS3NAL February 15th, 2009 10:20 PM

Well, I am glad to see the RHN is back, and I am on the team, I had better think about what my next article will be about...
In any case, stop your arguing you two, this is a NICE PLACE!!! And I know, I made a spelling mistake when I sent my article off to Darthatron, my bad!

Taisuru February 15th, 2009 10:45 PM

Good work guys! I'll have to check out those hacks, they sound nice ^_^

TB Pro February 16th, 2009 3:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 0m3GA ARS3NAL (Post 4355335)
Well, I am glad to see the RHN is back, and I am on the team, I had better think about what my next article will be about...
In any case, stop your arguing you two, this is a NICE PLACE!!! And I know, I made a spelling mistake when I sent my article off to Darthatron, my bad!

Hey...Shaddap. D: Yeah, Next week should be longer, since we'll have more time to prepare, and thing of/write articles. :D

Darthatron March 1st, 2009 12:32 PM

This issue will be a little late, as I still don't have all the articles. If I still don't have them by the time I get back tonight, I will post it without them.

Vrai March 1st, 2009 12:34 PM

Mmk. I might write an extra one to make up for it. :/

ckret2 March 1st, 2009 5:50 PM

Eheh, I guess I'm one of the noobs EarthsVisitor was referring to, when he said people PMed him to ask permission to use similar ideas...

(In my defense, though, I've wanted a Rocket-centric game for years. Discovering Rocket's Revenge just helped me realize that making one was possible, and that there are other people who'd like one, too.)

Anyway, great newsletter, and thanks for the explanation of variables and how to use them as flags! Looking forward to the next issue. (Whenever it gets up...)

Vrai March 1st, 2009 5:53 PM

It should be up by the time Darcy gets back, which means by sometime tomorrow. :D

Darthatron March 2nd, 2009 1:33 AM

Issue #24
 
Issue 24 - Monday, 2nd March 2009
Introduction
Opening Notes
Sorry it's late guys, I didn't have enough articles when I went to do it last night, luckily TehTehTehTeh and Vrai came and saved the day, otherwise I'd have had to write them all. Anyway, I'm sorry.

So, this week has been pretty hectic for me (I live in that state in Australia where everything is on fire) so I've been trying to juggle school and not burning alive at the same time, but enough about me, how about you... Have you found something about the hacking community that annoys you, why not send in a rant to the RHNT so we can put it in the newsletter? This way you get your suffering off your chest and you get to tell the community about your feelings.

Also, another idea the team has had is that you, the every day hacker, should send in a request to get your hack reviewed or someone elses hack reviewed. This also applies for interviews; if you've done something worth hearing about, or know someone else who has, you should tell the RHN about it so we can spread the word.

That's it for the intro. BAI GUISE!
Opening by Darthatron


Hacking News
Keep up with the latest in the ROM hacking scene
HackMew, you've done it again.
As some of you may have seen HackMew has released a tutorial on how to restore "screwed up" ROMs! This helpful to almost all hackers, as I'm sure you realise, it's not hard to mess up a ROM. You can find the tutorial here.

Hack of the Month - February
ҳ̸ҲRichie has one the HotM this month, so a big shout out to him! You can check out his hack here.
Compiled by Darthatron


Hack Review
Spotlight on a special hack!
Pokémon ToxicPurple [Link]
Hack Author: ckret2
Reviewed By: Vrai

I remember, back in Issue 17, when Thrace was reviewing Oblivion, the latest HotW winner:

Originally posted by Thrace
This hack has one of the most epic sounding storylines I've seen for a long time.

That line defines exactly what you're going to see. Ever heard of ToxicPurple? Well, you will now. :D

The storyline of ToxicPurple is vaguely familiar, as if we've heard it somewhere before.. Oh yeah! Remember Rocket's Revenge? Similar, but not the same, ToxicPurple has you playing as a new Rocket recruit beginning his/her career. You get to go to the hidden Rocket base in Saffron City, and you can poach Cubone from the Pokémon Tower. There's so many things that just fit there, that it's almost difficult to explain in this little tiny space I have to write in (not to mention the time I have to write this in; I've been lazy, okay? :P).
ckret2 goes into great detail of how the storyline will work, and even into the background of the player and his/her rival. One of my favorite parts of the thread is the list of features. You're getting new sprites, a new story, Johto access, new characters, and a few more surprises here and there (like the wonderful starter choices of Rattata, Rattata, and Rattata). I mean, who wouldn't love to go around beating on Nurse Joys and stealing Pokémon from weak trainers? The rivals also appeal, as they're varied, and they also make sense. :P

If you haven't looked at the thread yet, I strongly advise you to do so. There's no way that you can't get engrossed into it. :)
(Magikarp sub, anyone?)
Article by Vrai


Hack Review
Spotlight on a special hack!
Pokémon Crono Version [Link]
Hack Author: Dante
Reviewed By: TehTehTehTeh

Pokemon Crono version, the name hmm it it very catchy, lets open up the thread! Wow! It's by Dante no wander. Now to the Review...

Dante is a very well known hacker who is well known for his King of Sea, so we know he has great hacking skills. Pokemon Crono version comes across as a full on hack with every aspect fulfilled, scripting, graphics,and other aspects. It is also in english unlike his other hack. Now a lot of people have been speculating that he has some stolen Alistair tiles which is false since he provided the set in which alistair provided for public and he has given credits.

He has inserted some great tree tiles and other nature aspects. His scripts so far include a dark graveyard seen with a mysterious figure in front of a grave in which is sort of dream state. Then the character wakes up, in some other screens you can see the mysterious man.

Dante is an excellent hacker and this hack looks to be a great hack. We can cut him a bit of slack on grammar since he is well Italian.
Article by TehTehTehTeh


Tips and Tricks
An interesting Tip or Trick that you may not know
Please note this is about the GB, not the GBA.

Today I will be explaining some ASM about registers.

What are they you ask? Registers are basically all the processes going on in the CPU being sorted out. Its like the 8 parts of the games brain.

The CPU of an ASM game contains 8 8 bit registers. When grouped they can be 16 bit registers.

Aside from those registers, there are two other 16-bit registers:
SP and PC.

The 8 8 bit registers are:

The "A" Register
  • This register is known as the Accumulator since almost all data passes through it.
  • This register can load data directly

The "F" Register
  • This register is known as the Flag Register
  • This register indicates the outcome of the last operation performed

The "B" and "C" Register
  • It is used normally as a counter during repetitive blocks of coding
  • This register can load data directly

The "H" and "L" Register
  • Indirect addressing.
  • This register can load data directly

The 2 16 bit registers:

The "SP" Register
  • Called the stack pointer
  • Push-pop theory which means you push it on the top and pop it off when your done.

The "PC" Register
  • Runs the game
  • Notifies the CPU what memory is to be fetched
Tip donated by TehTehTehTeh


Tips and Tricks
An interesting Tip or Trick that you may not know
This week in Tips and Tricks, we got some information on how to use the waitmovement command!

Ok, so most of you already know that you use waitmovement to end movements that happen in scripts, right?
Well, it has other functions too.
For instance;
let’s say you have 3 people in a map; there event numbers are 4, 5, and 6.
You use an apply movement to have them all walk around.

4 would move up 2 steps.

5 would move up 3 steps.

And 6 would move up 4 steps.

You can use waitmovement to wait until they are all moving to continue the script, let’s say, a message...
Content hidden:
applymovement 0x4 @2step
applymovement 0x5 @3step
applymovement 0x6 @4step
waitmovement 0x0
message @text 0x4


Well, you can use waitmovement to make it so that the message appears when only person 0x4 is done walking!
Content hidden:
applymovement 0x4 @2step
applymovement 0x5 @3step
applymovement 0x6 @4step
waitmovement 0x4
message @text 0x4
waitmovement 0x0


To do this, we change
waitmovement 0x0
into
waitmovement 0x4

You see, the number of the waitmovement is defined by the person's event number.
0x0 means the script will wait for ALL movements to finish.
0x1-0x7E are people numbers
0x7F is the camera...
0x80-0xFE is more people numbers...
0xFF is the player!

You can use this in different ways, displaying messages, starting other applymovements, and controlling the overworlds in many different combinations!
Try mixing and matching them to create different scenarios.
Pro Tip; use message type 4, it works great for these situations.
Tip donated by 0m3GA ARS3NAL


Vrai's Rant
OH NOES!
I've been around the scene for a while. And I don't like it.

Has anyone else paid attention to the most recent hacks? I mean, people have a right to be a n00b at hacking at first. But then there's some people who won't try, and put up thousands of hacks, each more bland than the last. And not only those most recent ones are having this problem. Even some of the older hackers are beginning to fade here and there.
There's something that we all need a little spark in, and that's called CREATIVITY. It's what makes a hack a good hack.

So, why don't we go in depth into this magic thing called creativity? The definition, as per Dictionary.com: (:P)

“the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.”

So, it means that we should jump out of the box, and go crazy. Not like “hahaha I'm going to mass murder a village in Poland”, but more like “let's make an event that makes the player arrested by accident, and he has to brawl his way out” sort of thing.
I figure that there are three different things that can use creativity to it's maximum extent: mapping, scripting, and the storyline.

Mapping is one of the more important aspects of hacking, and therefore, it requires lots and lots of creativity. But what is creativity, in mapping? I mean, everyone has a favorite way of mapping. I, for example, tend to use lots of mountains, while Disturbed enjoys making grass routes, and someone else might like making water routes (although I can't image why o_o). But what we're looking for here in creative mapping, is to have a fluidity in your mapping, to make sure not all of your maps look the same, and to have a style apart from everyone else. Most of the more apparent mappers around the community have a distinct style, and most people can tell who made what map. Developing your own style is important, and provides a great deal of uniqueness to your hack.
Also, along with mapping, it's important to never let your maps look or feel like one another. That'd make the player feel as though they were playing the same boring map over and over and over. Part of the solution is to plan out your mapping, and spend some time thinking about what you want your map to look like.

Scripting, perhaps, requires the most creativity out of all three. It is basically the essence of any hack, and without it, a hack is boring as hell. So, to follow the format of the creative mapping paragraph, what makes scripting creative? It's not really so much as throwing together the most complicated functions you know of, and compiling them all into one giant 400+ line script. In fact, scripting like that just makes a game boring. Makes it feel like a waste.
What you are looking for in creative scripting is, honestly, creative ideas. Using scripts to their fullest extent usually is by following a realistic storyline. For example, if you were scripting out a kidnapping scene, you wouldn't have the kidnapper warp all around the screen before grabbing the victim and running away, would you? It'd make more sense for the kidnapper to ambush the victim, and beat them up or something. Another thing that makes scripting creative, is the dialogue. Would you like to live in a world where everyone only says, “Hey, [insert name here]. How's it going?”
I don't think so.

Now, creative storylines. We've been doing better as far as this goes, but there's still plenty to work on. Sometimes, the original formula works just fine. Yeah, yeah, go collect the badges, beat the league. But sometimes, you strive for a bit more than that. When being creative with storylines, it's best not to overdo it. You've gotta strike the perfect balance, between so-many-events-it's-not-funny and dude-this-hack-is-empty.
The storyline doesn't have to be a giant, epic-looking tower of words that scares your potential viewers away. It has to have appeal, and it has to stand out. Think of ideas that improve upon the current hacks you see, and make sure that your ideas are original. Unlike mapping and scripting, a storyline is extremely flexible. It's all on how you write it, and how you incorporate it into the game. :D

So, now that you've all read this, I expect you to start re-thinking your threads. Improve. Nothing's perfect, although you can easily overshoot things. :P

Just strive for a better hack. That's all I'm saying.
Rant by Vrai


Interview
An in-depth chat with...

Spoiler:
<<Disturbed>>
*Thanks for giving up some of your time for this interview, Britney Spears. As always, we'll start off with this question. What got you into hacking?
<<Britney Spears>>
*Well, I have been making my own Pokemon games on my own since I was 12. These consisted of writing up starters, Fakemon, Gym Leaders, and story in Word. When I came to PC two years ago, I discovered ROM hacking. I eventually met Scizz, Haraken, and other prominent hackers who helped me realize my dream of making my own game.
<<Disturbed>>
*So, did you come to PC by just a random google search, and got hooked?
<<Britney Spears>>
*Well, I had been a member years ago on old PC as "Berserk Murkrow." Two years ago, I remembered this site and decided to go post a fan fiction I had written on here. I've been hooked since.
<<Disturbed>>
*So, what do you like most about hacking? I would imagine since you posted fan fictions, it would be story development?
<<Britney Spears>>
*Yeah, that's always been my favorite part of making a game. I love making new characters and new scenarios for the player to get into.
<<Disturbed>>
*How about what actually involves hacking? (i.e. mapping, scripting)
<<Britney Spears>>
*Well, I love mapping too. I have to be in the right mood for it though or be inspired to do it though. I can't script for the life of me.
<<Disturbed>>
*Haha. That's the same deal for countless amounts of hackers, new or old.
*What inspired you to create your most well known hack, (which is still closed) the Ruby Dagger Murders?
<<Britney Spears>>
*Well, I had written a scenario similar to it in one of my "Microsoft Word Pokemon Games." Then, when brainstorming an idea for a new hack, I remembered that one. And expect Ruby Daggers to come back soon, restarted (since I had to reboot my computer and lost everything).
<<Disturbed>>
*Does that mean you lost the stuff to Broken Beacon to?
<<Britney Spears>>
*No, Malin still has all of that on his computer, so that's safe. He may still have the Ruby Daggers stuff as well, but I haven't asked him
<<Disturbed>>
*I do. :)
*Moving on... did you have any hacks before Broken Beacon and Ruby Dagger Murders?
<<Britney Spears>>
*Yeah one. I was still known as Loquacity. I can't remember what it was called though, but I'd like to revisit that story again. It involves the main characters who lives on an island. One day, they are walking on the beach and found a young boy passed out. They brings the boy back to his village, and gives him a place to stay. Suddenly someone reports islands have attacked the island. They take everyone prisoner except the main character and the mysterious boy, whom the pirates are after. You then travel from island to island, training to defeat the pirates and figuring out why the boy is wanted by the pirates. It was one of my "Microsoft Word Games" as well.
<<Disturbed>>
*I see. If I remember correctly, it was Piratite?
Britney Spears says (8:54 PM):
*Yes, that's it.
<<Disturbed>>
*Interesting. Have you been doing anything behind the scenes as in terms of hacking?
<<Britney Spears>>
*I've been working on Broken Beacon a little. Nothing major.
<<Disturbed>>
*I see.
*What do you think about hacking today?
<<Britney Spears>>
*Well honestly I haven't been paying much attention to it lately. I'd like to see more completed games. The attitude's been better lately as a whole in the section.
<<Disturbed>>
*Do you have any tips to give out to all new hackers, and even some veteran hackers?
<<Britney Spears>>
*Before you get into the scripting, mapping, and spriting of a hack, have a developed story.
<<Disturbed>>
*As we wrap this up, do you have any hacks you want to suggest readers to play?
<<Britney Spears>>
*Well I don't play hacks, so no.
*There's this little hack called Shiny Gold people should look at though
<<Disturbed>>
*Well, I’m sure that’s quite unknown.

Interview by Disturbed


CSS by Darthatron

Surf March 2nd, 2009 2:31 AM

C00l Darthatron, nice issue.
The only thing that bugged me was the amount of spelling errors XD
Come on guys Darth can't edit all the articles
What about me?

Vrai March 2nd, 2009 3:49 AM

Well, I only noticed a few spelling problemz.. :0
Lol, Vrai's rant.

Nice job, Panda/Darcy/tiny bit of Disturbed. :)

Chimchar 9 March 2nd, 2009 12:40 PM

Nice newsletter ! :)
It was abit short, which is ok scince you had too rush it.
Well i can't wait for next weeks newsletter.
:)

Buizel 9 ~

Disturbed March 2nd, 2009 1:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vrai (Post 4399914)
Well, I only noticed a few spelling problemz.. :0
Lol, Vrai's rant.

Nice job, Panda/Darcy/tiny bit of Disturbed. :)

Tiny bit of Disturbed?! :@
And I hate making cave maps, FYI. They sicken me. :D
Anyways, quite a bit of spelling errors, sadly. Just document the whole damn thing in MS Word before posting it, so you can see where you made those errors.

0m3GA ARS3NAL March 2nd, 2009 2:25 PM

Hey, uhh, Mac_Mini... did you end up getting my article, you know, the one that was for a GBA tips/Tricks?
I mean, I have no input on that last RHN...

Surf March 2nd, 2009 10:06 PM

Yeah and I edited it.
Darcy, did you lose it o.0


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