FireRed hack: Pokémon FireRed: Rocket Edition (Completed)

colonelsalt said:

Time flies when you're locked down, and it appears today marks a year since the "final" release of Rocket Edition. Though this was inadvertently spoiled on Discord recently, I figure this is a good time to officially announce that a complete revamp of the game is in the works!

This will feature (amongst a ton of other things) a much more involved battling and stealing system, streamlined mechanics and an expanded postgame. Gen IV evolutions and randomiser support will be added by popular demand, and veteran players will be pleased to hear that there'll be features to speed through cutscenes and more monotonous battles built in to the game. Oh yes, and the long-awaited female playable character shall make her debut (currently pending whether a talented pixel artist is up to drawing her well).

As such, I've added back a #suggestions channel on our Discord server, so if you've thought of a cool mechanic that you think would add to the game, feel free to chime in here. (With the pre-warning that plot ideas will most likely be ignored.) I'll get around to posting more regular mini-updates in there (as I did leading up to the last release) presently...

I have been pondering whether or not to do another update of the game or not over the past year, but seeing the massive developments that have happened in decompiling the Gen III Pokémon games during that time have made me unable to resist. Since this has essentially opened up everything the GBA is capable of doing, I think we've only seen the beginning of the clever new things ROM hackers will be able to come up with in the time to come -- and I'd like Rocket Edition to be a part of that.

Also, to respond to assorted queries that have popped up in the thread: The move relearner is in Fuschia City, the game plays best on VBA-M (Windows) and MyBoy (Android) and Flash Cannon is a glitchy move at the moment - I'm sorry. ;O

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colonelsalt said:

So you thought you knew the story of FireRed...​

Introduction

Play as a member of Team Rocket!

In Pokémon FireRed: Rocket Edition, you will cheat, lie and steal your way to the top as you engage with the thriving gang scene of the Kanto region. Featuring a story that takes place at the same time as the original FireRed, Rocket Edition will play with your expectations and allow you to experience the classic story from a whole new perspective. Along your journey, you will unravel secret conspiracies, explore a side of Kanto you've never seen before, engage with familiar characters in unfamiliar situations – and, most importantly: steal their Pokémon!​

Story brief

One fateful morning in Pallet Town, a newborn hero takes his first steps along his journey to becoming a Pokémon Master. With a love for Pokémon battle, and a burning desire to be the very best, he takes on the region's Gym Leaders, and eventually conquers the Pokémon League. A well-trodden tale if there ever was one… but it is far from the whole story.

Behind Red's seemingly simplistic Pokémon adventures lies a darker, more sinister plot – one that its original hero never hears of, but which holds significance for both him and the fate of the Kanto region. Sociopathic scientists, revenge-hungry nurses and corrupt Gym Leaders are just a few of the characters who show their true colors once Red turns his back, and the very people who appeared most friendly and considerate through his naïve eyes may in fact be secretly harboring the most malicious of intentions.

What is the connection between Lance, Giovanni and Professor Oak? What exactly happened during the Great Pokémon War? How was the mysterious Mewtwo created? Not to mention: what is the fate of the hundreds of Trainers Red so ruthlessly defeat? The answers lie in the story behind the story, and it begins deep in Kanto's criminal underworld…​

Features

• Steal Pokémon from every single Trainer in the game. Unlike other Team Rocket-based hacks, Rocket Edition allows you to steal a Pokémon from every single Trainer in the game once you've defeated them in battle. As you rise up the ranks of Team Rocket, you will gain the opportunity to steal from more and more Trainer classes.
• Experience the true story behind Red's adventures. The game's story runs parallel to the original FireRed, revealing hidden secrets about what goes on in the Kanto region when Red is not around. Incorporating numerous popular fan theories about the Pokémon universe, Rocket Edition presents an original take on the classic FireRed narrative that is filled with twists and surprising revelations.
• Engage well-known characters in Pokémon battle. All of the significant characters from the original game make their appearance in Rocket Edition, and many of them will challenge you to battle as well. Depending on your rank within Team Rocket, you may even be able to steal one of their Pokémon for yourself!
• Morality system and branching sidequests. Although you are a Rocket, you are free to choose whether to play it nice or to go out on a villainous rampage – the game will reward you for either. Many of Kanto's citizens, innocents and criminals alike, will request your help for independent criminal missions, offering additional perks and bonus items. Whom you decide to help and whom you decide to double-cross may turn out to have far-reaching consequences as your journey continues...
• Gen. VI-style mechanics and presentation. Courtesy of MrDollSteak's patch, the Fairy type, the modern physical/special split, and attacks from generations IV, V and VI are all present in Rocket Edition. Proper names of Trainers, Pokémon and locations have all been decapitalized in the style of the modern games as well.
• Overall improved interface and gameplay. Run – inside or outside – from the very start of the game, or use the HM for Fly at your leisure from the moment you step outside. Encounter rates in caves and in water have been significantly reduced, and the player faces every challenged Trainer before battle.

Screenshots

​

Downloads

(Note that registered Pokécommunity members may also download the newest playable version from the attachment at the bottom of this post.)​

• Rocket Edition Completed Version 1.0.1
  Released: April 9th, 2020 (minor dialogue edit March 17th 2021)
  Notes: The game ends shortly after the credits roll. Save files from all earlier betas are compatible with this release. Recommended emulators: VBA-M (Windows) and MyBoy (Android).
  Known bugs:
  
  • The player's surfing sprite can occasionally appear buggy. Refreshing the screen (opening/closing the menu or entering a building) solves the issue.
  • Using Fly against a Koffing or Weezing in battle may cause the game to crash.
• Rocket Edition Completed Version 1.0
  Released: April 9th, 2020
  Notes: Identical to the version listed above -- but contains a line of dialogue deemed offensive and thus against Pokecommunity rules by forum moderators.
  
• Rocket Edition Beta v3.0
  Released: October 1st, 2017
  Notes: This third playable beta lasts up until a little after your seventh mission (which takes place in Saffron City) has been completed.
  
• Rocket Edition Beta v2.1
  Released: November 4th, 2016
  Notes: This second playable beta lasts up until a little after your fourth mission (which takes place in Lavender Town) has been completed.
  
• Rocket Edition Beta v2.0
  Released: September 14th, 2016
  Notes: Only a slightly buggier version of the above. For history's sake!
  
• Rocket Edition Beta v1.0
  Released: January 2nd, 2016
  Notes: This first playable beta lasts up until a little after your first mission (which takes place at Mt. Moon) has been completed.

Please note that Rocket Edition is a hack of "1636 Pokemon Fire Red (U)(Squirrels)" – trying to apply the patch to any other version of the game will not work.

Check out Poli's Rocket Edition guide for details on evolving trade-evolved Pokémon and where to find special items.

Never played a Pokémon ROM hack before? Check out this video for instructions on how to play. (I recommend that you use Lunar IPS to patch your ROM file.)

​

Credits

Art team:

• Magnus Nyborg Berg [Spotify | Soundcloud] (Backwaxed on our Discord server), who has composed a series of original tracks scattered throughout the game
• strange_kid, who has made significant graphics contributions in the form of original sprites and tilesets
• Brolunite, who has drawn a lot of key sprites in the game (notably a complete revamp of all Rocket Admins and several of the Player overworld sprites) - DeviantArt here
• Paul Aamodt Brandal, who has composed a strikingly menacing remix of a FireRed track that features late in the game
• Bacson Dias Graça for drawing the main character's Admin backsprite.

Beta testing team:

Spoiler:

• Just Politoed
• PrimalFan on Discord
• Jalen Washington (F14m3rz)
• InfernoFire (I steal memes on Discord)
• serif_Aizawa (serif on Discord)
• SILVER on Discord
• Agent Coulson on Discord
• Xtimertx
• IHM3000 on Discord
• Obelisk1232
• OliveBandit (Perverted vehicle on Discord)
• IAmYES (yes. on Discord)

Special Thanks:

Spoiler:

• ckret2, the creator of Pokémon Toxic Purple, to whom I owe my original inspiration for creating a Team Rocket hack. In spirit, Rocket Edition owes so much to ckret2's wonderful hack – everything from the blasé dialogue style right down to the Rattata starter gag (which is, of course, a shameless case of artistic theft on my part, I won't hesitate to admit). I would largely attribute my motivation to stick at making Rocket Edition to the memory of how much fun I had playing through the original alpha version of Toxic Purple back in 2009.
• FBI, without whose comprehensive, yet simple assembly language tutorials, many of the game's more advanced functions (of which Pokémon stealing is a notable mention) could never have been. Also for making public many of his ASM routines for novel mechanics, which have been used in this game.
• JPAN, who deserves credit not only for his excellent ASM tutorial, but also for the myriad of extremely useful functions and fixes included in his FireRed Hacked Engine, of which Rocket Edition makes use of quite a few.
• Touched and daniilS for answering my newbish ASM questions, and for providing me with in-depth explanations of unfamiliar concepts where they arose. daniilS also deserves credit for properly introducing me to knizz's database, which brings me to…
• knizz for his ridiculously comprehensive FireRed disassembled database, without which Rocket Edition couldn't have been what it is today.
• CinderGhost on DeviantArt (whose profile you can check out here), whose work the player character's backsprite, as well as large parts of his OW sprite can be attributed to.
• MrDollSteak, whose Decap and Attack Rombase has made Rocket Edition a lot cleaner-looking and more balanced.
• Navenatox, whose dynamic color palette patch has made putting together maps and story scenes so much easier during development. His dynamic map music script, as well as his finding of the tweak that allows for changing preset option settings have also made Rocket Edition cleaner and smoother.
• Jambo51, routine for class-based Trainer music, and for making the player face every challenged Trainer.
• HackMew, as should go without saying, for making all the excellent ROM hacking tools that I have relied on so heavily during development. He should also, of course, take credit for locating the simple tweak that lets the player run inside.
• Ghoulslash, for quality-of-life hacks used in the game, and for very generous personalised help in fixing their errors!
• Jambo51,

Support banners / promotional materials

Official Rocket Edition poster by strange_kid:​

You may also use either of these banners if you want to support the game:

Other fan art contributions are heartily welcomed as well! If you'd like to display your banner / fan art in this main post, you may post it in this thread or send it to me by PM.​

​

Source code

All scripts and assets used for the final release of Rocket Edition are publicly available at this repository: https://github.com/colonelsalt/Rocket-Edition

Final thoughts

Join us on Discord! https://discord.gg/eFUGHCy

A splendid time is guaranteed for all.​

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KillerDraco said:

Can you get Leafeon or Glaceon in this?

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Seth Pegasus said:

Hi all! I need to know if there is a way to fix an issue with my character. When I got promoted, the character in a pokemon battle is a missingno. As far as I know, I have the latest version of the hack.

Click to expand...

colonelsalt said:

Time flies when you're locked down, and it appears today marks a year since the "final" release of Rocket Edition. Though this was inadvertently spoiled on Discord recently, I figure this is a good time to officially announce that a complete revamp of the game is in the works!

This will feature (amongst a ton of other things) a much more involved battling and stealing system, streamlined mechanics and an expanded postgame. Gen IV evolutions and randomiser support will be added by popular demand, and veteran players will be pleased to hear that there'll be features to speed through cutscenes and more monotonous battles built in to the game. Oh yes, and the long-awaited female playable character shall make her debut (currently pending whether a talented pixel artist is up to drawing her well).

As such, I've added back a #suggestions channel on our Discord server, so if you've thought of a cool mechanic that you think would add to the game, feel free to chime in here. (With the pre-warning that plot ideas will most likely be ignored.) I'll get around to posting more regular mini-updates in there (as I did leading up to the last release) presently...

I have been pondering whether or not to do another update of the game or not over the past year, but seeing the massive developments that have happened in decompiling the Gen III Pokémon games during that time have made me unable to resist. Since this has essentially opened up everything the GBA is capable of doing, I think we've only seen the beginning of the clever new things ROM hackers will be able to come up with in the time to come -- and I'd like Rocket Edition to be a part of that.

Also, to respond to assorted queries that have popped up in the thread: The move relearner is in Fuschia City, the game plays best on VBA-M (Windows) and MyBoy (Android) and Flash Cannon is a glitchy move at the moment - I'm sorry. ;O

Click to expand...

Seth Pegasus said:

Hi all! I need to know if there is a way to fix an issue with my character. When I got promoted, the character in a pokemon battle is a missingno. As far as I know, I have the latest version of the hack.

Click to expand...

mudkipz_bruh said:

I'm actually having the same issue, except my character sprite is just completely gone. I'm playing on an EZ Flash Omega, so it could possibly be a flaw with that.

Click to expand...