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HeartGold hack: [HGSS Hack] Pokémon UnovaHGSS

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ascension7

Creator of UnovaHGSS
39
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Sep 30, 2023
Pokémon UnovaHGSS
Rom info:
Hack of: Pokémon SoulSilver (USA) (HeartGold will be supported at a later date)
Language: English
Current Version: Alpha v1.1 (goes up to Ilex Forest)
Last Updated: 10th April, 2012

Summary
UnovaHGSS is a hack of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver that integrates the new fifth generation Pokémon from Black and White into the game. The new Pokémon are not meant to replace the original 251, rather, my intention is to have them alongside the original Pokémon. Not all Pokémon will be included in this hack – very few third and fourth generation Pokémon appear. To include the Unovian Pokémon, I had to replace existing Pokémon, so most third and fourth gen Pokémon are gone. This is my first actual hack, so I'm still new at this.

The battle sprites for the new Pokémon are placeholders, simply taken from Black/White and put into the game until I create original sprites for them. All but a few overworld sprites for the new Pokémon were created through a community endeavor over at DeviantArt; I made a few myself, notably the larger Golurk sprite. Shiny Pokémon are also fully supported, in-battle and overworld.

Features:
-Every Pokémon from Unova will be obtainable in this game, alongside every first and second generation Pokémon! Some third and fourth generation Pokémon also available!
-All Unovian Pokémon will follow you around for the first time!
-Slightly increased difficulty – stronger trainers, wild Pokémon, etc.
-More features will be added in future versions

FAQ:
Spoiler:


Screenshots:
unovahgssalphapatched02.png
unovahgssalphapatched16.png
unovahgssalphapatched18.png
unovahgssalphapatched21.png
unovahgssalphapatched22.png
unovahgssalphapatched52.png
unovahgssalphapatched59.png
unovahgssalpha114011496.png
unovahgssalpha114523494.png


Videos:
(Might be loud - complete silence for a few seconds, then music starts)


Credits:
Tools used:
Spoiler:


DeviantArt community – for making all the Unova overworld sprites. Link

Chaos Rush – for his wonderful endeavor in creating resized sprites. I'm using the Reshiram and Zekrom in the game for now - Link

Poryhack – for pointing me in the right direction for hex editing Pokémon icon palettes (whenever I learn how, I will make a program that will make editing the icons and palettes easier than hex editing them). Also thanks to Poryhack and the Project Pokémon community for creating a list of the HGSS File system - Link

Stratocaster - for creating a guide on how to change every aspect of a Pokémon. This hack would not have happened without it - Link

PokeCommunity – for giving me the desire to hack Pokémon games back in 2007 when I knew even less than I do now :P

MediaFire – for continuing its services through this stupid anti-piracy craze…

Bugs:
Spoiler:


Changelog:
Spoiler:


Downloads and Documentation:
Link to patch and xdelta (used to patch the original rom)

List of Changed Pokémon
 
3,830
Posts
14
Years
  • Age 26
  • OH
  • Seen Feb 26, 2024
Wow, this is really impressive. It's nice to see more hacks for the 4th generation.
Great work.
 

KingDrapion

dual-type Poison/Dark Pokémon.
123
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Jul 20, 2014
For a first time hack, this is really good. You have my support in this, I can't wait to see the finished product! But I hope you keep at it, as ROM hacking at this level can be exhausting and uses up a lot of time. But anyways good luck!
Also, that Golurk Over World is HUGE!
 
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Hacker Bisharp

Bug reporter
332
Posts
12
Years
  • Age 26
  • Seen Aug 28, 2019
Wow, fantastic hack!
I really like it^^
This is fantastic Heart gold hack^^
Good work man, You have my support!
 
35
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Jun 7, 2014
I am supporting you 100% on this hack. Love the idea and it is good to finally seeing someone producing a hack with 4th gen and the capability to have your pokemon follow you. If you need any help or beta testing contact me. Much support on completing this hack!
 
1
Posts
13
Years
  • Seen Apr 19, 2012
A very good hack!!
I was watching tutorial video yesterday and I learned how to change the pokemon's overworld sprite (the pokemon that follows you) . It takes me a long to finished one overworld sprite~~ Therefore I did appreciate you for making lots of Unova pokemon's overworld sprite!
 
Last edited:

ascension7

Creator of UnovaHGSS
39
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Sep 30, 2023
Thanks everybody! Glad to see you all enjoy it so far! :)

And yeah, I probably spent around 4 months on the overworld sprites alone, figuring out how to do them, and how to do them fast, but it was a labor of love.

New video, showing gender differences in overworlds, shiny overworld compatability, and large overworld sprites. Also includes complete Pokedex (except for footprints):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF4sjeGXX_E
 

InMooseWeTrust

Jack of All Trades
803
Posts
16
Years
Why replace only 3rd and 4th generation Pokémon? There are plenty of useless Pokémon in the first two generations that people hate and will almost never use anyway. For example, almost all the Pokémon on this list:
http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Novelty_Pok%C3%A9mon
You can also remove Pokémon like:
-Sunkern/Sunflora
-Dunsparce
-Stantler
-Delibird
-Corsola
-Pidgey family (Fearow and Dodrio are superior in every way)
-Rattata family (you can find lots of things better)
-Drowzee/Hypno (who uses them? ever?)
-Zubat family (seriously? we can't go through a cave seeing something more interesting?)

And then there are Pokémon only useful in competitive battling, so there's no point in putting them in a fan hack:
-Ledian
-ALL LEGENDARIES, ESPECIALLY ARCEUS (You get them all very late in the game at very high levels, and they take forever to level up. Movesets are generally terrible and they're pretty much only useful in wifi battles, where they're usually banned!)
-Shuckle (even if it's a wall, its base HP and speed are terrible)
-Anything that relies on Baton Pass

Just to name a few. If I were to look at the National Dex I'd add another hundred to this list, half of which are from the first two generations.

If you want to have a lot of legendaries in this game, what I recommend is putting half of them as event legendaries or catchable in the wild relatively early in the game. Also tweak the catch rate so they're more catchable (this early), and tweak their exp. growth so they grow faster. That way they'll actually be useful. Otherwise, most people will go through this game like they do in regular games, with the same 3 or 4 Pokémon they caught early on plus one or two HM slaves. I mean, if they want HM slaves so badly, why not give them two really early so they don't have to constantly switch around?

One huge problem I consistently see with hard hacks is how fast levels go up from route to route, and how slow your Pokémon grow in comparison. It really makes no sense to level grind for several hours after every Gym battle. And it makes even less sense to triumph over a Gym leader and so many Trainers, only to get whited out by wild Pokémon in the next map. Also, would you rather level grind with the same Pokémon that you had a few minutes ago, or catch from the wild these new untrained Pokémon that are 10 levels higher? Then you still have to grind them another 5-6 levels EACH if you want to have a chance of winning. I played Blaze Black and Bloody Diamond, and had this dilemma after every Gym battle on both.

What are some features I'd like to see changed in a hack?
-Most of the hard to find, useful TM's (like Brick Break) are only obtainable once per game.
-Move tutors can only be used once.
-More stones
-Many items (heart scales...) are hard to find and require massive treasure grinding. That just becomes a waste of time. If you want your Charizard to learn Heat Wave, why not just learn it faster? It's not fun when you have to spend hours and hours in a game to grind and get the exact right combination of things TO USE IN COMPETITIVE BATTLING in a game where no competitive battling will take place.
-Exp. growth faster (grinding is always a pain, and the least tedious games tend to be the ones that require little grinding or the characters level up quickly)

Before you say anything about the Battle Frontier, they're much easier to beat than the people who read Smogon and hang out on Shoddy Battle all day.
 
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ascension7

Creator of UnovaHGSS
39
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Sep 30, 2023
Spoiler:

Thanks for the feedback, I do appreciate it :)

The new Pokémon are not meant to replace the original 251, rather, my intention is to have them alongside the original Pokémon.

I'm replacing only third and fourth generation Pokemon because I want to keep the Pokemon that were originally in G/S/C in the game. I don't care about them being novelty; some 5th gen Pokemon are novelty, but I'll still keep them in.

I agree about the legendaries, but none outside the ones originally in the game will be available until the Beta release. I'll explain my planned releases later in the post. Rest assured, I have almost all of them planned out, or at least an idea about how they should be integrated into the game in a way that makes sense.

Please report here if the level curve seems too high. I'm just trying it out, and if it doesn't work, I'll put their levels back to their original ones. I just know that Johto had the weakest E4 in the series, and I wanted to make it a little stronger by a gentle curve in levels through the adventure. All things considered, the levels by the time the player reaches the E4 shouldn't be higher than 15+ the original levels, if that high.

I'm actually planning on making TMs infinite like in the 5th gen games if I can figure out how to do it. So far, I'm no sure how to do it, so that's something that's still in limbo. As of now, I don't plan to touch the move tutors. I do plan to include more stones (maybe even a new one or two if I can get it working).

I hate having to use Heart Scales to use the Move Re-learner as well, and so I'm planning on just making him usable whenever the player wants to. Any other items I can think of, I'll try to make a reasonable way for the player to get them.

The level curve is also something I put in to hopefully cut down on the amount of grinding. I haven't playtested this must (not enough time, only played through 3 times. this is a one-man hack), so I'm sort of relying on the input of others to see how that is.

______________________________________________

I plan to release Alpha 2 by the end of May. I hope to have this playable up to and including the E4. After this release, I will have a Beta version released sometime after the release of BW2. This Beta version will NOT be compatible with any save file created with any Alpha version. This is because the Alpha version is only a playtest of the game, meant to introduce the public to the general idea, as well as receive feedback for the future version of the hack. The Beta version will include custom sprites (in the style of 4th gen, ie full back sprites) and script events. Also, if I figure out how to do so, it will have most 5th gen moves and abilities, new items, and other things I won't mention right now.
 
183
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Mar 24, 2022
It looks excellent and I would love to play it. Only problem is, I can't for the life of me find a properly-working SS ROM :(

Since links are against the rules, please can you tell me what you searched on Google to find a working SS ROM?
 

KingDrapion

dual-type Poison/Dark Pokémon.
123
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Jul 20, 2014
It looks excellent and I would love to play it. Only problem is, I can't for the life of me find a properly-working SS ROM :(

Since links are against the rules, please can you tell me what you searched on Google to find a working SS ROM?

Search on youtube for a patched rom.
 

Beebeeson

A wild Beebeeson appeared!
14
Posts
13
Years
This looks awesome. Those overworld sprites are gonna take forever though, good luck with that! XD It will be nice to have Gen 5 Pokemon walking alongside the trainer, finally. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this project :)
 

ascension7

Creator of UnovaHGSS
39
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Sep 30, 2023
This looks awesome. Those overworld sprites are gonna take forever though, good luck with that! XD It will be nice to have Gen 5 Pokemon walking alongside the trainer, finally. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this project :)

I'm actually already done with all the overworld sprites (save a few that I plan on redrawing). The only graphical work that's left to be done is the custom back sprites (and possibly front sprites). Shiny colors are also already put in :)
 

InMooseWeTrust

Jack of All Trades
803
Posts
16
Years
I put things in Spoiler tags to make them easy to read.

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ascension7

Creator of UnovaHGSS
39
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Sep 30, 2023
I put things in Spoiler tags to make them easy to read.


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This semester will be over in a couple weeks, and I'm going to have 2 months off to be able to work on the hack, so expect Alpha 2 by the end of May
 

InMooseWeTrust

Jack of All Trades
803
Posts
16
Years
I have final exams next week and then I'm done. Do you want some help?

And you can PM me if you have any requests or anything like that.

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Shiny_Pok%C3%A9mon
This has some info on hex data for shinies. And it's a 8/65536 (so 1/8192, not 8196) chance.

What encoding does HGSS use? You said it would just be a simple text edit so I looked in a hex editor and I can't find any common text strings like Pokémon names. Am I using the wrong encyrpted/decrypted ROM?

Has anyone figured out how to add fakemon to 4th gen?

How about one of these for a cry replacement?
http://www.hark.com/collections/rprvsykqfh-pikachu
Or another thing somebody could do is hack Stadium 1 and 2 somehow and rip those cries.
 
Last edited:

ascension7

Creator of UnovaHGSS
39
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Sep 30, 2023
I have final exams next week and then I'm done. Do you want some help?

And you can PM me if you have any requests or anything like that.

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Shiny_Pok%C3%A9mon
This has some info on hex data for shinies. And it's a 8/65536 (so 1/8192, not 8196) chance.

What encoding does HGSS use? You said it would just be a simple text edit so I looked in a hex editor and I can't find any common text strings like Pokémon names. Am I using the wrong encyrpted/decrypted ROM?

Has anyone figured out how to add fakemon to 4th gen?

How about one of these for a cry replacement?
http://www.hark.com/collections/rprvsykqfh-pikachu
Or another thing somebody could do is hack Stadium 1 and 2 somehow and rip those cries.

Thanks for the offer, I'll let you know if I need anything! :)
There's a program (thenewpoketex) that lets me open all the text in the game and edit it in Notepad, and I can just do a Find+Replace for all their names. And if those cries will fit into the game (I have no knowledge on how the roms handle sound files yet), I'd like to use those. And about the fakemon, well, each Unova Pokemon is technically a fakemon in Gen 4, so I suppose I've figured out how to put them in.


And to everyone who's played so far, and will play in the future, regarding the next release... I don't know whether to release an Alpha 2, or just wait until I get much closer to the hack's completion.

This Alpha was only meant as a playtest for the general public to showcase all I've done with putting Unova Pokemon in the game, and more importantly, to get feedback about the slightly higher level curve to see if it's too much, or too little. I'm not sure what I'll do yet. If I do release another Alpha, it'll still be for testing purposes only, such as testing the difficulty and ironing out bugs, as all that will be changed will be the wild Pokemon and Trainer rosters, and not much else really. I'm working on implementing a new story into my hack (which will, among other things, also include a reason for the sudden appearance of non-native Unova Pokemon :o ), and this will not be in any Alpha. Any newer version after the Alphas won't be compatible with previous saves, which is why I'm hesitant to release another Alpha, lest players get really far into the game and become annoyed that they'll have to start over :( What do you all think?
 
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23
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Jan 2, 2014
Why can't I Find any Gen 5 Pokemon! :( Are the starters still Cyndaquill, Totodile, and Chikorita because Even if I patched it, it's still them. :(
 
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