[Archive] ROM Hacking Newsletter 2008 | Issue 1 - 18

Rom Hacking Newsletter

Opening words

Yes, yes, I realise its late, I apologise, I just had school stuff to deal with and I forgot to post it. Its nice to see how much RHN is appreciated though, thanks everyone. Since I don't have much to write about I'll take this opportunity to recap all of RHN's segments. We may not have all of them each week. Some of them you may have only seen once or twice. Hopefully we'll get to see more of the segments that are rarer.
» Hacking News
» Hack Reviews
» Map of the Week Review
» Interviews
» Hack of the Week Review
» Tips and Tricks
» Question of the Week
» Beginner's Corner

Article by Thrace​

Staying current with the rom hacking scene

Hack of the Year - Nominations Round
The nominations round of Hack of the Year have officially begun! In this round you nominate your favourite hack to compete in Rounds 2 and 3! Do not neglect to nominate a hack just because someone has already done so! The hack with the highest number of nominations will win the Fan Favourite award. To have your say simply post your nomination in this thread, make sure to read the first post though! It has very important information in it that you need to know before making your nomination.

Hack of the Year Nominations Coverage
So far we've had 49 acceptable nominations in the HotY Nominations thread. The nominations round ends on the 26th of November so make sure you try as many hacks as possible before making a nomination!

Current Leaders:
Pokemon Genesis - 15 votes
Pokemon Distant - 10 votes
Pokemon rijonAdventures - 5 votes

Hack Rating System
RHN will follow a standardised rating system similar to that of IGN, ratings and their meanings are described below.



Spotlight on the Hack of the Week

Pokémon Thunder Emblem [Link]
Hack Author: mitchel1
Reviewed By: Kaizer-X

And this week's HoTW winner goes to Thunder Emblem by mitchel1. From the quality of the graphics itself, this hack undeniably deserves the award. But graphics is not everything, a hack with good graphics but a lousy storyline is only good to see but not fun to play.

This hack has greatly improved in terms of storyline and the graphics from the last time it was reviewed. The story seemed to have progressed well from the one before the update. The idea of the three emblems is original and interesting nevertheless. The main plot of the story revolves around the three legendary dogs and Team Rocket.

From what I have seen, this is one of those hacks with the best graphics around. It is a surprise to me, how can you fit all those pallets and tiles into the game. It shows that the effort you put into a hack decides the attractiveness of it. The new tiles are really eye-appealing. The globe and the gold building is one of my favourite part of the hack. The maps in this hack are original and unique. The only thing I don't really like is the bright pallets of the ground and the TV which seemed a bit unrealistic but other than that is fine with me.

I personally like the new OWs and sprites of this hack. The OWs of the hero and the intro sprites are amazing and the boot screen and the titlescreen a fitting additional to the hack. The new OW of Nidorino which replaces the bicycle or as the author called it Poke Ride is very creative and appealing.

The scripts in the hack are really good but the main point of the story is a bit confusing as you progress along the hack. I personally would like to see more scripts that progresses along with the story and more improvement in the grammar. But inspite of all that, mitchel1 again shows his creativeness when he introduces the climbing shoes into the hack

Overall the hack is enjoyable and I personally recommend you to check it out if you haven't. This is one of those hacks that I wouldn't miss out on.

Article by Kaizer-X​

Hacks in review

Pokémon Flame of Rage [Link]
Hack Author: Rom Reaverz Inc.
Reviewed By: Darthatron
Reviewer's Rating: 8.1

I've liked this hack from day 1. So much so that I helped with a few things, and still do whenever X-Buster asks. Anyway, enough about me, here is the review...

It starts off the same as many other FireRed hacks, kind of. You wake up next to your bed (?), then go down stairs. But then something different happens, your little sister comes to tell you that your dad wants you to see him in his office. It's a good replacement of the Pokémon Lab, and it's where you get your very first Pokemon. I don't want to ruin any more of the story, but let me tell you this, it's not like any other Pokémon game you've played.

I found 3 things VERY appealing in this hack, the maps, the overworld graphics, and the scripts. However, I was dissapointed with the lack of new tiles. You can tell the maps in this were either made by Neti, or fixed by Neti, they are brilliant, everynow and then, you'll wonder why there is a patch of empty grass, and the map connections are a bit messed up, but this simple errors are to be expected. Shadow Arcanine's OverWorlds are fantastic, and really well draw. You look at them and think "Wow, it looks like GameFreak made these overworlds!". I'm looking forward to all the OverWorlds being replaced at some point, hopefully. I was also impressed by the use of Level Scripts in this, most hacker are affraid of them, and hack no idea what they are doing, but you can tell these hackers know how to script. Not just the level scripts, though. Every script in this game is good (well atleast what I've played up to). And finally, the story in this is way different to other hacks I've seen, and that's a good thing.

All in all, a great hack and you should try it out.

Article by Darthatron​

A review of the weeks MOTW winner

Map Author: Neti
Map of: FireRed
Rating: 9/10
Map Shot: Click Here!

Of course the first thing I notice with this map is the repetitive use of snow tiles. Of course, it is okay in this case, since he's the one that made the rombase =O. Anyways, onto business. I like the realistic effect that the overall shape is giving from this map. There is a nice amount of houses, which almost causes a crammed look to the map. Almost. I also like the way how he fit in an icy pond at the left side of the map. Another thing that I love about this map is how Neti tried to incorporate all the houses to look the least bit different. Most mappers from what I see just repetitively use the same looking house, and never bother to set a diverse mark. What I don't like is that there are always two skinny trees between the large trees. It is never one, it's always two. It makes it look like he really is against the slightest bit of empty space in this map.

Article by Disturbed​

Map Author: Lucario 9
Map of: FireRed
Rating: 6/10
Map Shot: Click Here!

Hey! It's my rombase! Nobody really used it, so it sets the mark for originality of tiles. I'll point out the bad things in this map first. The shapes of the cliffs sicken me. They seem like they were rushed on at the last minute. Also, it one spot on the middle left, you'll be able to see the cliff go into the border! After seeing that, I saw that there was yet another tile error, this one was actually pretty noticeable and I'm surprised that Lucario 9 didn't notice it when mapping. Look in the upper left corner of the map, in the trees. Another thing I despise is the benches are behind the same tree twice. Usually you wouldn't see that in a normal route, maybe just one bench. I think that he used that as a filler, or to add a more realistic tone to the map. What I really like in this map is the trees. They seem like they fit the environment fairly well, and overall, leading to the map looking better! The scattering of the tall grass also seems pretty nice, and will give the player multiple battles to fight in throughout the map. I like this map overall, but I know you can do better, Lucario 9.

Article by Disturbed​

Common Problems/Questions

I bet many of you have suffered from that endless clicking when mapping a group of trees. You always asked "Isn't there a more convenient solution?" Actually, there is, and a simple one.

LU-HO has documented this function in his ReadMe file for AdvanceMap, but common thing over here is to ignore them. Afterall, it's quite boring to read such files.

To make a bigger block, move your mouse pointer to the block palette or map area you want to replicate and hold down Ctrl and right mouse button. Now, a small window will show up. Don't put your fingers off the buttons, drag the mouse instead. See? The window is larger, and it's containing more blocks. Now you are free to release the buttons. You should release the mouse button and Ctrl simultaneously, I have experienced a few oddities if Ididn't do so, like when moving the mouse pointer around the map, the contents of the "Bigger Block" window were changing and the window itself was changing size.



An in-depth chat with...



Some house keeping

Yeah, we don't have a Tip this week. To tell the truth I'm running out so if anyone has a Tip they'd like to donate it would be very much appreciated. This is the time when a lot of people have exams so of course its going to be difficult to get issues out on time. We will be making an effort to get them in on time but RHN can't always be on the top of our priorities.