Are my ideas feasible?

[Adam19842004]

Hi. I'm Adam. I want to create my first Pokemon ROM hack and I've found a detailed guide to ROM hacking on the internet. However, I don't know if all of the ideas I have for the hack are feasible. I would hate to start hacking then discover that I can't do what I want. So I'd like to ask the other people on this site who have already created Pokemon hacks if they think my ideas can be implement. If not, it would be useful if you could offer any alternative ideas that can be implemented. I will be hacking Pokemon Ruby.

Firstly, I need to know if I can change things so that, instead of getting gym badges, the player can get points by completing certain tasks, like catching all the Pokemon in the Pokedex or battling 100 trainers. Is this possible? If not, would it be possible to have a trainer raking system, in which you have to make your way up from the weakest trainer to the greatest trainer in order to beat the game? The Pokemon champion could have rank 1 for example, whilst an ordinary trainer might be closer to rank 50 or 100.

I would also like it if the game could skip the intro, in which you have to choose your name, gender etc...
Also, would it be possible to change the sprite for the player, and to make the trainer you play as be an adult instead of a kid?

Would it be possible to make the itemfinder and the bike available to buy in PokeMarts? Would it be possible for there to be a Itemfinder-like device which makes reacts when a legendary Pokemon is near? Or, alternatively, to have a map with the locations of all the legendary Pokemon on it, in addition to the normal map? Would it be possible for evolution stones and master balls to be hidden items?

Would it be possible for the legendary Pokemon, including those not in the original version of Pokemon Ruby, to stand around in an area like the trainers you battle do? Also, would it be possible to have Mewtwo in the game, and have him talk to the player like a NPC would?

Would it be possible to change what the TV channels say during the game? (I think there were TV channels in Pokemon Ruby, but, if there weren't, then forget this question.)

Would it be possible for the gyms to still give you badges, without you needing to collect them? I want going into gyms to be a way of making your Pokemon obey you at high levels, and getting HMs. However, as I said, I don't want collecting gym badges to be the way to beat the game. Also, can I change what the gym badges do? For example, could the first badge allow Rock Smash to work outside of battle? Or make Pokemon of any level obey you by beating the fifth gym? Whilst I'm on the subject of using HMs, would it be possible for the Pokemon to unlearn HMs, in the same way they can unlearn TMs, or replace TMs with other moves? Can I change the number of HMs that exist in the game, so that there are fewer HMs than there were in the original version of Pokemon Ruby?

Would it be possible for a Pokemon to attack you if you touch a certain map tile, like a rock for example? Would it be possible to show the police catching an NPC during a cutscene?

I think that's all my question (for the moment anyway.) Sorry about the large amount of text.

 

[DizzyEgg]

I will be hacking Pokemon Ruby.

Firstly, I need to know if I can change things so that, instead of getting gym badges, the player can get points by completing certain tasks, like catching all the Pokemon in the Pokedex or battling 100 trainers. Is this possible? If not, would it be possible to have a trainer raking system, in which you have to make your way up from the weakest trainer to the greatest trainer in order to beat the game? The Pokemon champion could have rank 1 for example, whilst an ordinary trainer might be closer to rank 50 or 100.

I would also like it if the game could skip the intro, in which you have to choose your name, gender etc...
Also, would it be possible to change the sprite for the player, and to make the trainer you play as be an adult instead of a kid?

Would it be possible to make the itemfinder and the bike available to buy in PokeMarts? Would it be possible for there to be a Itemfinder-like device which makes reacts when a legendary Pokemon is near? Or, alternatively, to have a map with the locations of all the legendary Pokemon on it, in addition to the normal map? Would it be possible for evolution stones and master balls to be hidden items?

Would it be possible for the legendary Pokemon, including those not in the original version of Pokemon Ruby, to stand around in an area like the trainers you battle do? Also, would it be possible to have Mewtwo in the game, and have him talk to the player like a NPC would?

Would it be possible to change what the TV channels say during the game? (I think there were TV channels in Pokemon Ruby, but, if there weren't, then forget this question.)

Would it be possible for the gyms to still give you badges, without you needing to collect them? I want going into gyms to be a way of making your Pokemon obey you at high levels, and getting HMs. However, as I said, I don't want collecting gym badges to be the way to beat the game. Also, can I change what the gym badges do? For example, could the first badge allow Rock Smash to work outside of battle? Or make Pokemon of any level obey you by beating the fifth gym? Whilst I'm on the subject of using HMs, would it be possible for the Pokemon to unlearn HMs, in the same way they can unlearn TMs, or replace TMs with other moves? Can I change the number of HMs that exist in the game, so that there are fewer HMs than there were in the original version of Pokemon Ruby?

Would it be possible for a Pokemon to attack you if you touch a certain map tile, like a rock for example? Would it be possible to show the police catching an NPC during a cutscene?

I think that's all my question (for the moment anyway.) Sorry about the large amount of text.

All of those ideas are feasible and possible to implement. Some are harder while some could be done by a newbie like you(tho it would take some time ;P).

While all of this is possible in Ruby, I suggest switching to Emerald or Fire Red, because the latter two games are far more researched, more people hack it and could possibly help you with it.

 

[Adam19842004]

I heard that Emerald is hard to hack. Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to know that these things are possible (if hard to do.) I have another question: is it possible to change the shape of the world map? I want to base the world map on Russia, but the maps on Ruby, Fire Red and Emerald are islands, as well as being the wrong shape.

 

[DizzyEgg]

I heard that Emerald is hard to hack.

Then you heard wrong. Where did you get that one from?

I have another question: is it possible to change the shape of the world map? I want to base the world map on Russia, but the maps on Ruby, Fire Red and Emerald are islands, as well as being the wrong shape.

Yes, it is.
Before you ask any more 'is this possible' questions, I'll just say that yes. The only thing stopping you is first, your skills and second, the hardware. That means no 3d, no triple battles, no graphics with 10000 colors, etc.

 

[Derxwna Kapsyla]

Then you heard wrong. Where did you get that one from?

Ten Years Later and the "Emerald Is Impossible To Hack Because The Tools Don't Support It Properly" mentality is still as alive as it ever was. It was born because people were so accustomed to hacking Fire Red and Ruby, and Emerald apparently changed things to where the existing tools just wouldn't work, and the mentality grew because people didn't want to take the time to make them work. They persisted on trying to get incompatible tools working on a different game, and when they didn't work people were like "oh man emerald is impossible to hack".

It's kinda depressing that this mentality still somehow exists, despite all the research we've done and improvements we've made.

 

[Megan]

It's less about what is possible to do and more about what you can accomplish yourself. The more skill you build up over time, the more you can realise and more importantly: as you learn more you also get a feeling of what can be done and what not. Just be aware that learning will take you a long time. I know a bunch of people who spend ten years to develop their game (just to give you an idea of how long it can take if you really want to develop something good).

It's kinda depressing that this mentality still somehow exists, despite all the research we've done and improvements we've made.

Part of it comes from people still being required to use multiple tools that can do only one thing. There is a need of an all-in-one editor that has all the features available in itself.

 

[Crizzle]

Hi. I'm Adam. I want to create my first Pokemon ROM hack and I've found a detailed guide to ROM hacking on the internet. However, I don't know if all of the ideas I have for the hack are feasible. I would hate to start hacking then discover that I can't do what I want. So I'd like to ask the other people on this site who have already created Pokemon hacks if they think my ideas can be implement. If not, it would be useful if you could offer any alternative ideas that can be implemented. I will be hacking Pokemon Ruby. Hack Emerald.

Firstly, I need to know if I can change things so that, instead of getting gym badges, the player can get points by completing certain tasks, like catching all the Pokemon in the Pokedex or battling 100 trainers. Is this possible? If not, would it be possible to have a trainer raking system, in which you have to make your way up from the weakest trainer to the greatest trainer in order to beat the game? The Pokemon champion could have rank 1 for example, whilst an ordinary trainer might be closer to rank 50 or 100.
Both ideas are very feasible. I'd probably just dedicate a variable to keep up with the rankings and whatnot. You'll have to learn about scripting but it can all be done.

I would also like it if the game could skip the intro, in which you have to choose your name, gender etc...
Yup, there are even tools that can remove the intro for you.
Also, would it be possible to change the sprite for the player, and to make the trainer you play as be an adult instead of a kid?
Easily done with NSE and NSE 2.0 to change the overworld and trainer sprites. You'll have to learn about palletes and stuff but it's not hard.

Would it be possible to make the itemfinder and the bike available to buy in PokeMarts?
Yup. There's a tool that lets you edit items to adjust their price value. And you can edit Pokemarts and sell any item, including itemfinders and bikes, if you know scripting and XSE, which isn't hard to pick up.
Would it be possible for there to be a Itemfinder-like device which makes reacts when a legendary Pokemon is near? Or, alternatively, to have a map with the locations of all the legendary Pokemon on it, in addition to the normal map?
It's possible but I have no clue how to do it. I'm pretty sure someone else here can figure it out.
Would it be possible for evolution stones and master balls to be hidden items?
Yeah, pretty simple. Evolutionary Stones and Master balls are already in game items. You just have to make a hidden item using AdvanceMap(looking at already existing hidden items) and just select Master ball or whatever stone. This will make sense once you read a couple Advance Map tutorials.

Would it be possible for the legendary Pokemon, including those not in the original version of Pokemon Ruby, to stand around in an area like the trainers you battle do? Also, would it be possible to have Mewtwo in the game, and have him talk to the player like a NPC would?
You'll have to make the sprites. Also Emerald not Ruby. Emerald is a newer, less buggy, more features.

Would it be possible to change what the TV channels say during the game? (I think there were TV channels in Pokemon Ruby, but, if there weren't, then forget this question.)
Yeah, a tool like Advance Text is useful for finding the text of those channels, allowing you to change it.(DO not use A-text's repointing feature though and don't use A-Text for general text editing, only for finding text that you can't find in A-Map.)

Would it be possible for the gyms to still give you badges, without you needing to collect them? I want going into gyms to be a way of making your Pokemon obey you at high levels, and getting HMs. However, as I said, I don't want collecting gym badges to be the way to beat the game. Also, can I change what the gym badges do? For example, could the first badge allow Rock Smash to work outside of battle? Or make Pokemon of any level obey you by beating the fifth gym? Whilst I'm on the subject of using HMs, would it be possible for the Pokemon to unlearn HMs, in the same way they can unlearn TMs, or replace TMs with other moves? Can I change the number of HMs that exist in the game, so that there are fewer HMs than there were in the original version of Pokemon Ruby?
All that is possible. There are tutorials on a lot of this stuff.

Would it be possible for a Pokemon to attack you if you touch a certain map tile, like a rock for example? Would it be possible to show the police catching an NPC during a cutscene?
Yup, that's what XSE and scripting is all about. Script tiles will make something happen when you touch a certain part of the map. Look at some tutorials and you'll be golden.

I think that's all my question (for the moment anyway.) Sorry about the large amount of text.

Most of this probably didn't make sense to a newbie but here's a good thread to start.

 

[Adam19842004]

Emerald it is then. Again, thanks for your help. I wasn't expecting to get this many replies.