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Ruby hack: Pokémon Dragonstone Version [ALPHA 1.63 FINAL EDITION]

Alexander Nicholi

what do you know about computing?
5,500
Posts
14
Years
Pokémon Dragonstone Version
Alpha 1.63 Final Edition, released January 2024
Quick stats
Initial publication date: February 28, 2012
Current release version: Alpha 1.63 Final Edition
Current release date: January 6, 2024
Original fanhack author: Alexander Nicholi (SITE | GITHUB | X.COM)
ROM base: Pokémon Ruby Version (en-US) SHA-1 checksum f28b6ffc97847e94a6c21a63cacf633ee5c8df1e
Introduction
Welcome to the PokéCommunity Forums' original thread for my first public Pokémon fan hack, Pokémon Dragonstone Version. I created this game a very long time ago, when I was only 14 years old! Needless to say, a lot has happened since then – I have grown up, gotten married, and forged an incredible career in informatics which got its true start when I decided to get into ROM hacking all of those years ago. Furthermore, this fan hack, and its sequel, Pokémon Citrite Version, demonstrated not just my knack for technicals but also my creative talent as a game designer. This would set the stage for the founding of ARQADIUM in 2016 and later Xion Megatrends.
At the start of 2024, I decided to give Citrite and this game a final re-release of sorts, to commemorate how special and seminal these games were for me, showing you all what became of me because of them, and finally archiving them in several redundant, fool-proof ways so that they are never lost again. Believe it or not, I only managed to recover Dragonstone thanks to those spammy fan hack reuploader sites! Lord knows any original copies I possessed bit the dust years ago.
I would like to thank that site for saving Dragonstone, as well as the YouTuber TELLEMATEMATIKA for being the only let's player to feature it fully. I've embedded part one of their two-part walkthrough below. Lastly, I am happy to say I have fully re-done all of the in-game screenshots, not only rebuking those nasty Photobucket watermarks, but saving and post-processing them as high-resolution screenshots taken with VBA-M, scaled back with CSS so they look perfect even on Retina displays like mine.
You may remember the old thread looking a bit different. You can view it as it was for years before the final edition's commemorative thread rewrite on Archive.today by clicking here.
Concept
Pokémon Dragonstone was the first coherent game I ever did design or writing for. The concept came to me from a series of inspirational creative revelations I had sporadically at the time, where the names and ideas for much of the world originated, including the Opal Metropolis, Deadwood, and so on. I also knew that I wanted to build on the existing evil Teams from Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, but I wasn't sure how just yet; this idea would persist not only into Citrite but even Pokémon SwowS. The names of Quaz and C.C.A.C.C. were lifted from a long-since-lost fan-made re-colour sprite sheet I found on Google Images, where somebody had poorly recoloured Team Aqua twice to make them. Beyond this expanded villain story arc and the worldbuilding however, Dragonstone never had a coherent story that followed from beginning to end. As my skills improved, it would be Citrite that received the benefits in its execution instead.
When Pokémon Citrite matured beyond being a fan hack and became known as Project Trinity, I sought to rescue the ideas I had originally with Dragonstone as well. As fan hacks, Citrite was a sequel of Dragonstone, but as fully-fledged video games, I reformed this game into being a sequel for Trinity. It is called Project Unity and has some worldbuilding likewise stored in folders in my office to this day. God willing, I will return to finish creating Project Trinity, its sequel Project Unity, and the third instalment in the trilogy called Project Eternity, all of which have beautifully coherent themes and worldbuilding lying in wait. Life has a way of keeping you, y'know?
This game ends after delivering Professor Yew's letter to Hinkage and beating Sammi, the first Gym Leader. As this is the final edition release, there will be no more updates for new content nor bug fixes. See the Known issues section if you are stuck.
Screenshots
Playthroughs
Known issues
None in the latest version~
Downloads
Alpha 1.63 Final Edition: IPS | XDelta | ( base64-encoded gzipped IPS | XDelta )
IPS patches are the conventional method and is the easiest on Microsoft Windows using Lunar IPS. XDelta is easier if you are used to a Unix-like command line, such as those on macOS (brew install xdelta) or GNU/Linux (repo). If the direct downloads are broken for some reason, I kindly invite you to download the base64-encoded backups uploaded to GitHub Gist, decode them into binary, gunzip them, and then apply them as usual. My CDN has been fairly reliable for the last few years, but anything could happen, so there you go.
 
Last edited:
10,078
Posts
15
Years
  • Age 32
  • UK
  • Seen Oct 17, 2023
I like the story so far, however what you have written is basically a summary of the first 10 minutes of gameplay. It would be nice to include some background or hint at what could be happening in this new dimension. Information about MEGA-Corp would be great as they seem to have importance? ;D

I like the choice of Starter, Surskit is one of my favourites :3. I also appreciate how there is an emotional connection to the starter rather than just being given it.

Some criticisms:
Spoiler:


Keep up the good work and I look forward to finding out how the story develops.
 

Alexander Nicholi

what do you know about computing?
5,500
Posts
14
Years
I like the story so far, however what you have written is basically a summary of the first 10 minutes of gameplay. It would be nice to include some background or hint at what could be happening in this new dimension. Information about MEGA-Corp would be great as they seem to have importance? ;D

I like the choice of Starter, Surskit is one of my favourites :3. I also appreciate how there is an emotional connection to the starter rather than just being given it.

Some criticisms:
Spoiler:


Keep up the good work and I look forward to finding out how the story develops.

Well, that square-ish area was sort of unfinished ^^; I'm hardly ever tentative when it comes to placing eye candy in a hack ;)

The hedges were part of a chain pattern, hence why there's so many of them.
 

kebbles

Rom Hacker.
616
Posts
16
Years
Hey, this looks good. I like the story its creative and original. Are there Gyms and E4 like normal? or..? And I dont think a bug Pokemon is a goiod starter, yeah now its okay but when you progress and the game gets harder wont we struggle with Masquerain? like Masquerain verses a blastoise for example? I dunno thats just my opinion, maybe make him learn some ice moves, as Masquerain is the only bug capable of learning ice attacks.

Anyway you have my support, and if u need help just pm me :)
 

Alexander Nicholi

what do you know about computing?
5,500
Posts
14
Years
Response

Hey, this looks good. I like the story its creative and original. Are there Gyms and E4 like normal? or..? And I dont think a bug Pokemon is a goiod starter, yeah now its okay but when you progress and the game gets harder wont we struggle with Masquerain? like Masquerain verses a blastoise for example? I dunno thats just my opinion, maybe make him learn some ice moves, as Masquerain is the only bug capable of learning ice attacks.

Anyway you have my support, and if u need help just pm me :)

I'll be progressively powering up Surskit's and Masquerain's stats to match that of your regular semi-tank starter (surprising, I know). Also, your note about Masquerain learning Ice-type attacks is quote inclusion-worthy; it'll probably be in the next alpha.
 

WillPowerPedro

https://soundcloud.com/cammdavidson
266
Posts
14
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen Jan 9, 2022
This sounds good. Maybe wanna change up the tiles a bit. ANd your mapping could use some work. Just suggesting, though. The only problem is that your username reminds me of some guy I knew who was a total backstabbing jerk, but other than that, keep up the good work. :D
 

playplayj

TheArchangle
83
Posts
12
Years
I'll play this when I get the time... With a name like dragonstone I was hoping for like Dratini, Bagon, and something else like bringing in Gible from gen 4, oh well it's now my hack, I look forward to the progression of this though.
 

Ultimo1991

Team Ultimo/Infinity Leader
124
Posts
12
Years
  • Age 32
  • USA
  • Seen May 19, 2023
Seems like an interesting hack, so ive decided to follow this hack and good luck to you i hope you complete it an it turns out well^^

oh also could you change the pink background to something a lil darker cause it makes it a lil bit hard to read^^
 

Alexander Nicholi

what do you know about computing?
5,500
Posts
14
Years
I'm thinking of implementing Dratini and Dragonair into a major story plot for the game… Kind of like how Groudon is Ruby's mascot, but you don't start out with a Ground-type legendary ^^;
 

DrFuji

[I]Heiki Hecchara‌‌[/I]
1,691
Posts
14
Years
Hacker Bisharp, please don't bump threads that haven't been posted in for over a month.

AlexTheRose, if you want this to be reopened then just message either myself or giradialkia.

EDIT: Reopened.
 
Last edited:

Alexander Nicholi

what do you know about computing?
5,500
Posts
14
Years
A new alpha is in the works and should be out soon, but until then I'd like you to read some character concepts I've come up with! As these are simply concepts, they may be slightly different when rendered into the game, or might not be included.

These ideas will likely be scrapped, so don't get your hopes up of the things mentioned here appearing in the game.

Pokémon Dragonstone character concepts

The player's first rival

This is your childhood friend, and will be battling you early on. His sprite will be that of Wally's from the canon games. His name is Julius, and he's very shy and likes to battle with Special moves and stats, boasting an IQ that's over 130.

The player's second rival

This is the person that lives in your insulated and heated shed (with power/water of course) since she has no home of her own. She has the sprite of a female Team Magma grunt and the battle sprite of Courtney from Ruby. Her name is Octavia, and she's that one person you know that's a crazy fanatic and is too far gone to realize the thing she's fanatical about has long since died. In this case she was a Magma grunt who didn't want to give up after Maxie retired and the group disbanded. She's friendly to most everyone and wants to revive Team Magma in the name of good all on her own.
 
Last edited:

kebbles

Rom Hacker.
616
Posts
16
Years
A new alpha is in the works and should be out soon, but until then I'd like you to read some character concepts I've come up with! As these are simply concepts, they may be slightly different when rendered into the game, or might not be included.

Pokémon Dragonstone character concepts

The player's first rival

This is your childhood friend, and will be battling you early on. His sprite will be that of Wally's from the canon games. His name is Julius, and he's very shy and likes to battle with Special moves and stats, boasting an IQ that's over 130.

The player's second rival

This is the person that lives in your insulated and heated shed (with power/water of course) since she has no home of her own. She has the sprite of a female Team Magma grunt and the battle sprite of Courtney from Ruby. Her name is Octavia, and she's that one person you know that's a crazy fanatic and is too far gone to realize the thing she's fanatical about has long since died. In this case she was a Magma grunt who didn't want to give up after Maxie retired and the group disbanded. She's friendly to most everyone and wants to revive Team Magma in the name of good all on her own.

Nice to see this is still progressing :)
I like the idea of the first Rival, but Rival 2 i don't really like, The Magma idea is great but the no home, and crazy lady idea isn't that great, it kinda seems like u got lazy and didn't want to add any new sprites. Good luck with the alpha and I wanna play it :)
 

Alexander Nicholi

what do you know about computing?
5,500
Posts
14
Years
Nice to see this is still progressing :)
I like the idea of the first Rival, but Rival 2 i don't really like, The Magma idea is great but the no home, and crazy lady idea isn't that great, it kinda seems like u got lazy and didn't want to add any new sprites. Good luck with the alpha and I wanna play it :)

I think you're right, I kind of rushed that. Maybe its because I'm not super-interested in spriting or using custom sprites…?
 
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