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ROM Hacking Discussions

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Equin

Got it memorized?
55
Posts
13
Years
  • Seen Dec 14, 2010
Hello, fellow ROM hackers, being new and all to this has brought about the need for me to discuss, among other matters. So, hereby, I would like to ask a few things about the whole pokemon hacking thing with you:


  • How well do you know your ROM?
Right, so, beginning from a certain almighty tool, and ending with hexadecimal editing, do you play around with your rom? are you a lousy messer that wants to detach something before creating one, or do you keep it simple and use everything you can gather from around to do your desire?


  • How fast did you learn?
Surely, you were all newbies once like I am now, but how fast did you get to 'level up', learn about stuff you wanted to do but didn't know there was a way to, and/or start using your software efficiently?
No, I do not want a measurement in time. I ask for examples that made you become experienced, these 'moments' where you felt like a ladder of knowledge descended and you climbed it.


  • Are you a fan of alteration?
Do you like to change more than what's meant to change in your hack (alternatively said, something I consider a taboo)? Here are some examples:
-Alter pokemon stats and movesets to non-canon values
-Create fake pokemon
-Merge tiles (the way I see it is like when you put a gym door tile-per say-to another house as a door)
-Make the main character talk already discussed
Moreso, what's your 'alteration taboos'?


  • Fancying an insider?
In other words, do you like working in something secret about your hack? I'm not exactly telling you about progressing without letting anyone know, but more like hide surprises or easter eggs in a demo you're about to release, while keeping it a secret.

Well, that's about it. I'm really looking forward to your insight.

 

Ninja Caterpie

AAAAAAAAAAAAA
5,979
Posts
16
Years
Pretty well, very, depends and yes.

...

...okay, I'll elaborate.

How well do you know your ROM?
In terms of Pokemon hacking, I really don't know much. I really don't want to or, really, need to know about it. I'm fine with the tools doing the work, and knowing how they do it is fine. I don't need to know who, what, when, where or why.

In Fire Emblem, though, I know a brickload more, because of how undeveloped it is compared to Pokemon. In Pokemon, I don't need to know anything (or even where my scripts are lol) to be able to make a hack. In Fire Emblem, well, yeah, I do. :D

How fast did you learn?
I don't mean to sound conceited or anything, but I have to say I learned pretty fast. Unlike a surprising majority of this community, I learnt to both map and script by myself, with small bits of help. So many people take forever to learn to script; I found it really easy. Maybe it's just because I work well with languages and stuff like that. :D Aside from that, working on Moonshine was pretty helpful.

Are you a fan of alteration?
I have no taboos in terms of hacking, as long as it's done well. If it's done badly, don't do it, or at least don't release it. That goes for everything else in hacking too (and most of life, but that's another story). If your maps or scripts are terrible, get someone else to do them, or don't release a hack. If you make your own tiles and they're terrible, don't insert them. If you can't compose for jack (like me lol), don't insert your own music. If you're drawing Fakemon for kicks, no problem, just don't insert them into your hack. That's about it, really. If it looks terrible, sounds bad, or works horribly, then it's not good. Otherwise, it's fine.

Fancying an insider?
Yes. Nobody's going to find it, though, because nobody hardcores a ROM Hack like a Nintendo game trying to find good glitches, lol. That's about it on this.
 

Vrai

can you feel my heart?
2,896
Posts
15
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen Oct 24, 2022
How well do you know your ROM?
Oh, geez. If you're talking like the quality of knowledge I actually have about ROMs and stuff, I have very little. I'm trying to figure out how to find out information on my own, though. It's a lot more satisfying for someone to go through and figure out how something was done, then change it, as opposed to opening up a dinky tool and clicking a couple times. I'm not one of those guys that advocates "WE'RE ALL JUST ROM EDITORS! DON'T CALL YOURSELF A HACKER! MEWTHREE9000/COOLBOYMAN IS GOD!" etc but I know that what I do isn't solidly "hacking" and honestly I don't care. I'm here to share my story with everyone else and that's about it, though it's pretty neat to think that you could create your own features and stuff.

How fast did you learn?
Oh man, I was the noobiest of nubs for the longest period of time. I was working in solitude for ages, but I finally got into a partnership with someone and my aptitude for hacking grew from there because I learned from him even though he was pretty bad. I got to know a lot of other people and I slowly developed my skills, I suppose. I was naturally good at scripting because I'm familiar with language and I enjoyed doing that sort of thing. IMO, you'll never get good at anything you don't like doing, so if you don't like ______, then don't do it. It really was just a "work harder get better" sort of thing for me as far as hacking goes. As long as you have a drive to keep on going, things will go well. Also, have a respect for older members. They tend to know what they're doing. I learned that the hard way, ehehe.

Are you a fan of alteration?
This is the question I don't get. What do you expect for answers here? Clearly every ROM hacker wanted to alter something about the game. Like NC said, I don't care if anything is altered as long as it's in good taste. The only problem with that and the general public is the difference in opinion; while I appreciate good fakemon, others won't stand it regardless of quality. That's just something you have to make a decision on, because there's no solid opinion that the whole community accepts as their own. But take that lightly; you should hack for yourself, not the community. Don't put as much to their words as you put to your own ideas and stuff. That's not to say "ignore the public's opinion", because it generally tends to be positive reinforcement, but go with what you want to have. If you want fakemon, have fakemon. If you don't like how you're hacking then no one else will either.

Fancying an insider?
Yes. I live and die by the extras. Honestly I go out and look for the extra things that people put in because a) I'm a freak, clearly and b) they tend to be lighthearted and in good humor. Plus, if someone spent the time to put in extras, they usually have spent the time to make a good hack. /recommends Snakewood
 
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colcolstyles

Yours truly
1,588
Posts
15
Years
How well do you know your ROM?

Not very well, to be honest. The ROM is a large file and there's still plenty of uncharted territory. But honestly, that's what I enjoy. I like to think that I have the ability to find anything that I want in the ROM. The satisfaction comes not from the fact that I know where everything is but from the fact that there's still so much out there to discover and learn about. After all, that's what hacking is all about, isn't it?

How fast did you learn?

Hum, I'm not sure about this one. On one hand, it took me about a year and a half to really get into the good stuff (tinkering with the game's code to do some really interesting things). However, I like to think that I picked up the basics of hacking (mapping, scripting, etc.) fairly quickly. As a very left-brained person, scripting came very easily to me and it's not much of a surprise that it led me to much greater things.

Are you a fan of alteration?

I'm ambivalent on this issue. I seem to prefer the classic 8-gym format of games but at the same time, destinedjagold's hack "Rescue Rangers" is far and away my favorite hack of all time. So I guess I can't say with certainty what is acceptable and what isn't (though I'd like to mention that Vrai's point about hacking for yourself and not for the public is a very important one to consider when deciding just what "acceptable" means). I think it's completely up to the hacker to alter whatever they want.

Fancying an insider?

Yesssssss. I love easter eggs and I love seeing the amazingly creative ways that people come up with for hiding them. I try my best to put as many little goodies in any of my creative works (be they hidden items or pop culture references) because when if the player finds them, it's like the hacker and the player are in on a little secret and it's super awesome and stuff (obviously, I'm running out of words to describe it but really, it's amazing).
 

Equin

Got it memorized?
55
Posts
13
Years
  • Seen Dec 14, 2010
First of all, thank you everyone for the passionate answers. Exactly what I wanted to hear from you!


This is the question I don't get. What do you expect for answers here? Clearly every ROM hacker wanted to alter something about the game.
Dear Vrai, let me clarify that; I probably phrased the wrong question, because what I really wanted to hear about is things that you personally would like to alter in a hack, but the public is considering as a taboo (by majority). That is, if you have any of these thoughts at all.
 

Perri Lightfoot

Let's give it a go!
173
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 38
  • Seen Apr 17, 2022
How well do you know your ROM?
The two of us are barely on speaking terms XD When it comes to how ROMs work, I could tell you very, very little; other than stuff I picked up in tutorials or by examining the offsets displayed by tools. Unlike colcolstyles above me, I'm a very right brained individual and anything involving numbers; logic; strange, convoluted codes (which are what hex and ASM are to me ^^' ) and the ins and out of programming tasks gives me a headache. I've researched it, read dozens of tutorials, and tried to play around with the ROM; but I'm a dunce and it doesn't make any more sense to me now than it did when I first started XD Yes, I'm a ROM editor, and like Vrai, I honestly don't care that that's all I am. I'm in the hobby to engage in and explore my artistic and creative side; not to struggle through futile attempts to make sense of pushing and popping and stacking and struggling with hex strings =D

How fast did you learn?
Molasses is faster. =D I've actually been into ROM modding since 2004, when Quartz was still in beta; and the EliteMap tool suite was THE way to go. I couldn't figure out how to use the earliest scripting programs such as Rubicon (I think that's what it was called); my idea of "mapping" was just to add streets to Ruby's maps; and I made some fugly Fakemon (which were poorly inserted into the game via Pokepic). I dropped out of the online ROM scene for several years - briefly re-entering in 2006 to download some new tools (notably AdvanceText; the best friend to all noobs) and to pick up a tiny bit of Pokescript knowledge - and continued work on my game mod for a few more years, using only this very outdated knowledge and with no awareness of what new developments had been taking place. It wasn't until 2009, when I fully re-entered the ROM scene, did I see how far it had come - and how far behind my project had fallen, and how pathetic it was compared to the amazing work some folks produced. So even if we count my growth as a modder only from early 2009 when I rejoined the online scene and became aware of things such as tile inserting and new (and much easier to understand, for me) script editors; it took six months or so before things finally started "clicking" for me (especially scripting!). And my learning is still a process - even if we disregard "real" hacking; there are still a lot of modding techniques I can get better at. There are still new script functions for me to learn; much more mapping practice I need...it seems to be a never ending journey of improvement, and that's just the way I like it!

Are you a fan of alteration?
My hack stars a Pichu who lives in a post-apocalyptic world (where characters can and do die), who travels upon a playable world map to enter dungeons where he must avoid traps and solve mazes and puzzles. I think it's pretty safe to say I'm a fan of alteration ;) Though I have no issue playing Nintendo-clone hacks if the game is a well made one that's fun and enjoyable, I much prefer hacks that are a little strange and a little quirky. I have no issues with Fakemon - even ugly Fakemon like the Quartz gang can have an odd sort of charm. I love interesting, compelling plots; and fun new gameplay features simply add to keeping the Pokemon experience fresh :)

Fancying an insider?
My first hack had two Easter Eggs. One was a hidden cave that a series of smaller Easter Eggs dropped hints about - put the hints together and they would tell you how to get to the cave. I forgot what the cave was supposed to have in it, exactly, however ^^' The second Easter Egg was "the Ghost of Absecon" - the locals' name for a strange howling and crying sound that came from the Champion's mysterious Lab south of town. If you could find an item called the Champion Key, you could enter a hidden room in the Mystery Lab; and if you could solve the puzzles, find the "Ghost," and befriend it by feeding it a certain item, you'd have the opportunity to catch it. They were never fully scripted out (only partially); though if I ever decide to return to this project, I'll relish the chance to fully flesh them out using my new skills :)

As for my current hack - I haven't planned any Easter Eggs in the traditional sense; but a couple plot twists could be interperated that way due to the fact that they
Spoiler:
Which pretty much leads to the same thing - insider info is FUN to include in your game; and when I play the hacks of others, I love to search it out :)
 

Vrai

can you feel my heart?
2,896
Posts
15
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen Oct 24, 2022
Dear Vrai, let me clarify that; I probably phrased the wrong question, because what I really wanted to hear about is things that you personally would like to alter in a hack, but the public is considering as a taboo (by majority). That is, if you have any of these thoughts at all.

Oh. Well honestly I don't really pay attention, nor care much for the opinion that the public has so I only kind of half-know what's "taboo" in the first place. The only things that come to mind are fakemon (because that's what most people tend to go off or on about) and the "style" of mapping (because everyone had a phase where it was all about natural mapping and then everyone went back to favoring Nintendo-style mapping). I suppose I'm just going to repeat what I said and say that hacking is really about the individual hacker; you should hack for yourself and do the things you want to do, regardless of public opinion. I dunno if that answered your question (it probably didn't) but basically what I mean is I will alter whatever I want to regardless of public opinion.
 

Darthatron

巨大なトロール。
1,152
Posts
18
Years
How well do you know your ROM?
I'd say pretty well - but if I don't know something I've reached the ability to find it out. By no means am I one of the elite hackers that once roamed this forum, but I do have the skills and knowledge to help out the newer hackers.

How fast did you learn?
Honestly, for the first 2 years I was here, I learned very little and expected everything to be done for me... But that was before ROM Hacking was made this easy - with all the tutorials, XSE, etc. - after that I decided I wanted to make a half decent hack, so I learned ASM and now I can pretty much do anything I want, hacking wise. ^_^

Are you a fan of alteration?
Obviously. What's the point in making a ROM Hack without decent alteration?

Fancying an insider?
Absolutely. Easter Eggs are what make replaying a game/hack fun. ^_^
 
1
Posts
13
Years
  • Seen Dec 1, 2010
Berry Glitch

On the Berry Glitch: I've got some more info, and I'm basically ready to make the article. Stay tuned!
I've been following this topic and i am wandering if there is any news regarding the berry glitch.

Plus, while doing some testing i stumble into something rather interesting (IMHO)...
You know how pokemon save files are interchangeable between different region versions, right?

I imported my glitched USA save file into a "fixed" EUR rom, save again with EUR rom and imported back into the USA rom...
Guess what happened?
Problem is fixed (for now at least)...
Corrupt save file warning still appears but berries are growing, time is passing and tides are changing...
 

Platinum Lucario

The Legendary Master of [color=#D8D48C]Light[/colo
1,607
Posts
16
Years
Hm... yeah. I've noticed how the Berry Glitch often effects all of the Pokémon games that have berries in them. I think it's probably because the berries have a limit on how many times they can repeat their cycle. If only if there was a way of changing it to repeating their cycle infinite times. And hey look, it's even happened in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. It's when I leave the berries there for about a few days after planting them and watering them, they disappear. I guess it's normal if you don't water the berries with the Sprayduck or the Wailmer Pail, they just simply disappear. Maybe if there was a way we could even be able to change it so that the berries would only just stop growing and would only grow again if you watered them. I'm sure that would be a great idea if we were able to put in a routine like that into the berry script.
 

0m3GA ARS3NAL

Im comin' home...
1,816
Posts
16
Years
  • How well do you know your ROM?
My knowledge of ROM's is good when compared to the general knowledge about 2 years ago, haha, things have changed, and I don't have the computer necessary to keep up, or put things into practice.
I feel I have failed myself as a hacker.


  • How fast did you learn?
I started out pretty bad, like most, but after about a year I got a pretty firm grasp of many areas of hacking, like Scripts, Mapping, Graphics Editing, Music, etc etc... then my PC broke and I've been stuck with this old junker for years...


  • Are you a fan of alteration?
I generally keep the protagonist silent, and tiles as professionally placed as possible... the only taboos I can think of in MY head for a ROM hack are adult themes... though I still wish to make an adult hack someday, just for kicks... (I'm not talking just a few curse words and gore...)


  • Fancying an insider?
ALWAYS.
In fact, I work so secretly, I don't announce it until its done.
100%
And secrets? The most obscure you can imagine...


 

colcolstyles

Yours truly
1,588
Posts
15
Years
Hm... yeah. I've noticed how the Berry Glitch often effects all of the Pokémon games that have berries in them. I think it's probably because the berries have a limit on how many times they can repeat their cycle. If only if there was a way of changing it to repeating their cycle infinite times. And hey look, it's even happened in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. It's when I leave the berries there for about a few days after planting them and watering them, they disappear. I guess it's normal if you don't water the berries with the Sprayduck or the Wailmer Pail, they just simply disappear. Maybe if there was a way we could even be able to change it so that the berries would only just stop growing and would only grow again if you watered them. I'm sure that would be a great idea if we were able to put in a routine like that into the berry script.

I was under the impression that berries would disappear after a certain amount of time. As in, it was intentionally programmed that way by the developers. :\
 

Pokemonguy1990

Pokemon Shoto Saga Creator
45
Posts
13
Years
I was under the impression that berries would disappear after a certain amount of time. As in, it was intentionally programmed that way by the developers. :\

from what I've read elsewhere the berry system follows the internal clock, on 3 accounts, (my ruby once and twice on sapphire) the berry glitch went in to affect PRESICLY 1 year after starting a game, and it happens again after 1 year when i use the UP+SELECT+B method of erasing a file.

I don't know if this is just a coincidence, I also discovered that the people in R/S/E that give out berries also stop, except the lady on the bottom of 120, who gave me a (believe it was a Magost Berry) although I've recived a varitiy from here before the glitch.
 

0m3GA ARS3NAL

Im comin' home...
1,816
Posts
16
Years
from what I've read elsewhere the berry system follows the internal clock, on 3 accounts, (my ruby once and twice on sapphire) the berry glitch went in to affect PRESICLY 1 year after starting a game, and it happens again after 1 year when i use the UP+SELECT+B method of erasing a file.

I don't know if this is just a coincidence, I also discovered that the people in R/S/E that give out berries also stop, except the lady on the bottom of 120, who gave me a (believe it was a Magost Berry) although I've recived a varitiy from here before the glitch.

Emwerald should not have this glitch, only v1.0 Ruby and Saphhire
 

Ninja Caterpie

AAAAAAAAAAAAA
5,979
Posts
16
Years
I'm not talking about Emerald; my quote was directed at Pokemonguy where he seemed surprised (?) at the fact that those people stopped giving berries.
 

Shiny Quagsire

I'm Still Alive, Elsewhere
697
Posts
14
Years

colcolstyles

Yours truly
1,588
Posts
15
Years
I've thought about this myself on several occasions and I think I decided that homebrew games belong in Game Development. Even though they are technically emulated, they're clearly not ROM Hacks and that fact is more influential than the whole "emulation" business.

@Team Fail: I would be infinitely more interested in seeing the header file(s) that you used, rather than just a couple lines of nigh-pseudocode.
 
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