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What to do first and step by step stuff

Stardust666

3
Posts
6
Years
    • Seen Sep 4, 2020
    Hiiii! Sooo I've always been super interested in rom hacks, having played so many of them and enjoying them more than the original games lol. I finally wanna buckle down and make my own! I have a story and stuff planned and I have the necessary tools ready, I'm just not sure where to start. Do I make a map first? Or do I create character sprites first? Can I add new maps without deleting any? Can I make it so I don't start in Pallet Town, but in my own custom region? So many questions, sorry, I just really wanna get to work since I know this project will take a very long time. Thanks for taking your time to read this!
     
    Avara

    Avara

    1,309
    Posts
    12
    Years
    • She/Her
    • Seen Nov 24, 2023
    Hiya! I'll just answer your questions one at a time.

    Q: Do I make a map first? Or do I create character sprites first?
    A: Where to start is completely up to you! Big additions, such as adding new Pokemon/moves/abilities/mechanics (if you want them) are probably best done at the start, then once you're successful with that you can make a backup of it, and then if you make a mistake later you won't need to do all of it from scratch. There are engines that can do those things for you, depending on which base ROM you're going to use.
    Then, it's definitely easier having your region planned/maps done before you start looking at scripting, but those are about the only "rules" or recommendations I can think of. You can start doing your sprites pretty much whenever you want.

    Q: Can I add new maps without deleting any?
    A: You definitely can do, whether you're making a decomp/disasm based hack or with Advance-Map.

    Q: Can I make it so I don't start in Pallet Town, but in my own custom region?
    A: You sure can! If you're planning on keeping the Kanto region in your hack, all you have to do is pick a new map you'd like the player to start in. There are tools that can change the start map for you.

    Best of luck with your hack, and don't hesitate to ask questions if you need help x
     

    Stardust666

    3
    Posts
    6
    Years
    • Seen Sep 4, 2020
    Avara said:
    Hiya! I'll just answer your questions one at a time.

    Q: Do I make a map first? Or do I create character sprites first?
    A: Where to start is completely up to you! Big additions, such as adding new Pokemon/moves/abilities/mechanics (if you want them) are probably best done at the start, then once you're successful with that you can make a backup of it, and then if you make a mistake later you won't need to do all of it from scratch. There are engines that can do those things for you, depending on which base ROM you're going to use.
    Then, it's definitely easier having your region planned/maps done before you start looking at scripting, but those are about the only "rules" or recommendations I can think of. You can start doing your sprites pretty much whenever you want.

    Q: Can I add new maps without deleting any?
    A: You definitely can do, whether you're making a decomp/disasm based hack or with Advance-Map.

    Q: Can I make it so I don't start in Pallet Town, but in my own custom region?
    A: You sure can! If you're planning on keeping the Kanto region in your hack, all you have to do is pick a new map you'd like the player to start in. There are tools that can change the start map for you.

    Best of luck with your hack, and don't hesitate to ask questions if you need help x
    Click to expand...

    Hii thank you so much for answering and I appreciate the in depth explanations! Will most of the rom pretty much be done within Advance Map or what's the final program if there is one? Do you know of any engines that can do the Pokémon moves/abilities/mechanics?
    So, about not starting in Pallet Town, do I just make a new map and script it to start there or? And do I have to use a rom base? What is decomp/disasm?
    Sorry for all the questions... I really wanna get started, just need a push in the right direction...
     
    chumon

    chumon

    The Chu Monster
    12
    Posts
    13
    Years
    • Although I'm still learning myself I believe the site HackRomTools has pretty much everything you would need. They have explanations on everything each program does and such. All you have to do is put in the password when you unzip them but its just the name of the website so its easy.
     
    jensmoking

    jensmoking

    Little boygirl.
    69
    Posts
    4
    Years
    • You should first decide if you're gonna work with a decomp or ROM:
    A decomp is a 'project' of the game: instead of one rom file, you have the game splitted in parts, it's easier to find something, but some people prefer working with ROM.
    The ROM is the file that you usually load into an emulator to play; using a ROM for your rom hack means that you are going to edit the ROM file to do the stuff.
    As far as I know, there are more tools for using ROMs, but with the decomp/disassembly you don't have to care about pointers everywhere, or finding free space.
    Once you decided which one, you have to find the Tools and maybe tutorials. You wanna add sum' pokemons? Search 'How to add a new pokemon'. You want higher leveled trainers? Search 'How to edit trainer battles'. I'm pretty sure that you'll find almost everything you need to start. If you can't find out how to do something, you can post your questions here. If you created something, but didn't find a tutorial for that, you can create one and help the others with your discovery. Good luck!

    PD: I'm sure that you will need to look for: A map editor; A script editor; Trainer editor; Sprite insert/edit. So you should start searching for somkething like that.
     
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