[Other] Changing Rival's Name In-Game

[WiserVisor]

I was wondering if it would be possible to create a script that can be used to change the rival's name in game, similar to FireRed. I know something similar has been done for the player's name. I know you can change the rival's name by changing it in the files, but I was hoping there was some way to let the player name the rival in the game.

 

[ThomasWinwood]

Emerald doesn't have a changeable rival name. The naming screen setup which in FireRed lets you rename the rival was repurposed for Walda. You'd need to add the rival name to one of the save blocks (FireRed uses save block 1) and extend the naming screen code.

 

[WiserVisor]

Well, now there is a custom rival name process! For anyone else who wants to have a custom rival name, here's the code you'll need:

In src/naming_screen.c:

Spoiler:

extern const u8 gText_MoveOkBack[];
extern const u8 gText_YourName[];
extern const u8 gText_BoxName[];
extern const u8 gText_PkmnsNickname[];
extern const u8 gText_TellHimTheWords[];
extern const u8 gText_RivalName[];

.........................

static const struct NamingScreenTemplate wandaWordsScreenTemplate =
{
    .copyExistingString = 1,
    .maxChars = 15,
    .iconFunction = 4,
    .addGenderIcon = 0,
    .initialPage = KBPAGE_LETTERS_UPPER,
    .unused = 11,
    .title = gText_TellHimTheWords,
};

static const struct NamingScreenTemplate rivalNamingScreenTemplate =
{
    .copyExistingString = 0,
    .maxChars = 7,
    .iconFunction = 1,
    .addGenderIcon = 0,
    .initialPage = KBPAGE_LETTERS_UPPER,
    .unused = 35,
    .title = gText_RivalName,
};

static const struct NamingScreenTemplate *const sNamingScreenTemplates[] =
{
    &playerNamingScreenTemplate,
    &pcBoxNamingTemplate,
    &monNamingScreenTemplate,
    &monNamingScreenTemplate,
    &wandaWordsScreenTemplate,
    &rivalNamingScreenTemplate,
};

Add this at the end:

void RivalNameChange(void)
{
	if(gSaveBlock2Ptr->playerGender == 0)
	{
		DoNamingScreen(5, gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName, 1, 0, 0, CB2_ReturnToFieldContinueScript);
	}
	else
	{
		DoNamingScreen(5, gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName, 0, 0, 0, CB2_ReturnToFieldContinueScript);
	}
}

This code allows you to create a naming screen to give a name to your rival. Right now, even though I've given text to be displayed on the naming screen (like "YOUR NAME?", which is used in the player naming screen), no text appears at all. That's just an aesthetic issue, since the rival's name is assigned just fine.

In data/specials.inc:

Spoiler:

Add this at the end:

def_special RivalNameChange

This just allows you to access the RivalNameChange function from naming_screen.c in a script.

In src/strings.c:

Spoiler:

Add this at the end:

const u8 gText_RivalName[] = _("What's her name?");

This is the text that SHOULD be appearing when the naming screen appears, but doesn't.

In include/global.h:

Spoiler:

struct SaveBlock2
{
    /*0x00*/ u8 playerName[PLAYER_NAME_LENGTH + 1];
	     u8 rivalName[PLAYER_NAME_LENGTH + 1];
    /*0x08*/ u8 playerGender; // MALE, FEMALE
    /*0x09*/ u8 specialSaveWarpFlags;
    /*0x0A*/ u8 playerTrainerId[TRAINER_ID_LENGTH];
    /*0x0E*/ u16 playTimeHours;
    /*0x10*/ u8 playTimeMinutes;
    /*0x11*/ u8 playTimeSeconds;
    /*0x12*/ u8 playTimeVBlanks;
    /*0x13*/ u8 optionsButtonMode;  // OPTIONS_BUTTON_MODE_[NORMAL/LR/L_EQUALS_A]
    /*0x14*/ u16 optionsTextSpeed:3; // OPTIONS_TEXT_SPEED_[SLOW/MID/FAST]
             u16 optionsWindowFrameType:5; // Specifies one of the 20 decorative borders for text boxes
             u16 optionsSound:1; // OPTIONS_SOUND_[MONO/STEREO]
             u16 optionsBattleStyle:1; // OPTIONS_BATTLE_STYLE_[SHIFT/SET]
             u16 optionsBattleSceneOff:1; // whether battle animations are disabled
             u16 regionMapZoom:1; // whether the map is zoomed in
    /*0x18*/ struct Pokedex pokedex;
    /*0x90*/ u8 filler_90[0x8];
    /*0x98*/ struct Time localTimeOffset;
    /*0xA0*/ struct Time lastBerryTreeUpdate;
	/*0xAC*/ u32 encryptionKey;
    /*0xB0*/ struct PlayersApprentice playerApprentice;
    /*0xDC*/ struct Apprentice apprentices[APPRENTICE_COUNT];
    /*0x1EC*/ struct BerryCrush berryCrush;
    /*0x1FC*/ struct PokemonJumpResults pokeJump;
    /*0x20C*/ struct BerryPickingResults berryPick;
    /*0x21C*/ struct RankingHall1P hallRecords1P[HALL_FACILITIES_COUNT][2][3]; // From record mixing.
    /*0x57C*/ struct RankingHall2P hallRecords2P[2][3]; // From record mixing.
    /*0x624*/ u16 contestLinkResults[5][4]; // 4 positions for 5 categories.
    /*0x64C*/ struct BattleFrontier frontier;
    /*0xA8*/ u32 gcnLinkFlags;  //Read by Pokemon Colosseum/XD
}; // sizeof=0xF2C

The only thing that's changed here is that I added

u8 rivalName[PLAYER_NAME_LENGTH + 1];

in there. This is the variable that's used to hold the rival's name.

In src/main_menu.c:

Spoiler:

static void NewGameBirchSpeech_SetDefaultPlayerName(u8 nameId)
{
    const u8* name;
    const u8* rivalname;
    u8 i;

    if (gSaveBlock2Ptr->playerGender == MALE)
	{
        	name = gMalePresetNames[nameId];
		rivalname = gText_ExpandedPlaceholder_May;
	}
    else
	{
        	name = gFemalePresetNames[nameId];
		rivalname = gText_ExpandedPlaceholder_Brendan;
	}
    for (i = 0; i < 7; i++)
	{
        	gSaveBlock2Ptr->playerName[i] = name[i];
		gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName[i] = rivalname[i];
	}
    gSaveBlock2Ptr->playerName[7] = 0xFF;
    gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName[7] = 0xFF;
}

I tweaked this bit of code so that it makes sure that the rival has a name even if the player never gives them one. If the rival is female, the rival's name will be "MAY". If they're male, their name will be "BRENDAN", just like in the vanilla game.

In src/battle_message.c:

Spoiler:

static const u8 *BattleStringGetOpponentNameByTrainerId(u16 trainerId, u8 *text, u8 multiplayerId, u8 battlerId)
{
    const u8 *toCpy;

    if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_SECRET_BASE)
    {
        u32 i;
        for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_COUNT(gBattleResources->secretBase->trainerName); i++)
            text[i] = gBattleResources->secretBase->trainerName[i];
        text[i] = EOS;
        ConvertInternationalString(text, gBattleResources->secretBase->language);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else if (trainerId == TRAINER_OPPONENT_C00)
    {
        toCpy = gLinkPlayers[multiplayerId ^ BIT_SIDE].name;
    }
    else if (trainerId == TRAINER_LINK_OPPONENT)
    {
        if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_MULTI)
            toCpy = gLinkPlayers[GetBattlerMultiplayerId(battlerId)].name;
        else
            toCpy = gLinkPlayers[GetBattlerMultiplayerId(battlerId) & BIT_SIDE].name;
    }
    else if (trainerId == TRAINER_FRONTIER_BRAIN)
    {
        CopyFrontierBrainTrainerName(text);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_FRONTIER)
    {
        GetFrontierTrainerName(text, trainerId);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_TRAINER_HILL)
    {
        GetTrainerHillTrainerName(text, trainerId);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_EREADER_TRAINER)
    {
        GetEreaderTrainerName(text);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else
    {
        if(!StringCompare(gTrainers[trainerId].trainerName, gText_ExpandedPlaceholder_May) || !StringCompare(gTrainers[trainerId].trainerName, gText_ExpandedPlaceholder_Brendan))
		toCpy = gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName;
	else
		toCpy = gTrainers[trainerId].trainerName;
    }

    return toCpy;
}

The only change here is in the final brackets. When the game looks at the trainer's name to print in battle, if it sees "MAY" or "BRENDAN", it will instead print the custom rival name.

In gflib/string_util.c:

Spoiler:

static const u8 *ExpandPlaceholder_RivalName(void)
{
    return gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName;
}

This makes every instance of {RIVAL} in every piece of text (except in battles) prints the custom rival name.


The rest of the changes are just making sure all of the dialogue doesn't use the original rival's name, and instead uses the custom one.

In data/maps/EverGrandeCity_ChampionsRoom/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LavaridgeTown/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LilycoveCity/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LittlerootTown_MaysHouse_1F/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LittlerootTown_MaysHouse_2F/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LittlerootTown_ProfessorBirchsLab/scripts.inc,
data/maps/OldaleTown/scripts.inc,
data/maps/Route103/scripts.inc,
data/maps/Route104/scripts.inc,
data/maps/Route110/scripts.inc,
data/maps/Route119/scripts.inc,
data/maps/RustboroCity/scripts.inc,
data/text/match_call.inc, just replace every instance of MAY and BRENDAN in the text sections with {RIVAL}. If you're using Notepad++, (which I highly recommend), you can just search and replace every instance of MAY and BRENDAN with {RIVAL} in each file. Just make sure to make the search case-sensitive. Otherwise, you're going to ruin a ton of scripts in each file.

To actually use this code, within any script of your choice, just type

special RivalNameChange

At that point in the game, a naming screen will pop up, and you can name your rival whatever you want.
And with that, unless I missed some other change I made that I forgot, you should have a fully functioning custom rival name!

 

[Dr. POP]

Well, now there is a custom rival name process! For anyone else who wants to have a custom rival name, here's the code you'll need:

Spoiler:

In src/naming_screen.c:

Spoiler:

extern const u8 gText_MoveOkBack[];
extern const u8 gText_YourName[];
extern const u8 gText_BoxName[];
extern const u8 gText_PkmnsNickname[];
extern const u8 gText_TellHimTheWords[];
extern const u8 gText_RivalName[];

.........................

static const struct NamingScreenTemplate wandaWordsScreenTemplate =
{
    .copyExistingString = 1,
    .maxChars = 15,
    .iconFunction = 4,
    .addGenderIcon = 0,
    .initialPage = KBPAGE_LETTERS_UPPER,
    .unused = 11,
    .title = gText_TellHimTheWords,
};

static const struct NamingScreenTemplate rivalNamingScreenTemplate =
{
    .copyExistingString = 0,
    .maxChars = 7,
    .iconFunction = 1,
    .addGenderIcon = 0,
    .initialPage = KBPAGE_LETTERS_UPPER,
    .unused = 35,
    .title = gText_RivalName,
};

static const struct NamingScreenTemplate *const sNamingScreenTemplates[] =
{
    &playerNamingScreenTemplate,
    &pcBoxNamingTemplate,
    &monNamingScreenTemplate,
    &monNamingScreenTemplate,
    &wandaWordsScreenTemplate,
    &rivalNamingScreenTemplate,
};

Add this at the end:

void RivalNameChange(void)
{
	if(gSaveBlock2Ptr->playerGender == 0)
	{
		DoNamingScreen(5, gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName, 1, 0, 0, CB2_ReturnToFieldContinueScript);
	}
	else
	{
		DoNamingScreen(5, gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName, 0, 0, 0, CB2_ReturnToFieldContinueScript);
	}
}

This code allows you to create a naming screen to give a name to your rival. Right now, even though I've given text to be displayed on the naming screen (like "YOUR NAME?", which is used in the player naming screen), no text appears at all. That's just an aesthetic issue, since the rival's name is assigned just fine.

In data/specials.inc:

Spoiler:

Add this at the end:

def_special RivalNameChange

This just allows you to access the RivalNameChange function from naming_screen.c in a script.

In src/strings.c:

Spoiler:

Add this at the end:

const u8 gText_RivalName[] = _("What's her name?");

This is the text that SHOULD be appearing when the naming screen appears, but doesn't.

In include/global.h:

Spoiler:

struct SaveBlock2
{
    /*0x00*/ u8 playerName[PLAYER_NAME_LENGTH + 1];
	     u8 rivalName[PLAYER_NAME_LENGTH + 1];
    /*0x08*/ u8 playerGender; // MALE, FEMALE
    /*0x09*/ u8 specialSaveWarpFlags;
    /*0x0A*/ u8 playerTrainerId[TRAINER_ID_LENGTH];
    /*0x0E*/ u16 playTimeHours;
    /*0x10*/ u8 playTimeMinutes;
    /*0x11*/ u8 playTimeSeconds;
    /*0x12*/ u8 playTimeVBlanks;
    /*0x13*/ u8 optionsButtonMode;  // OPTIONS_BUTTON_MODE_[NORMAL/LR/L_EQUALS_A]
    /*0x14*/ u16 optionsTextSpeed:3; // OPTIONS_TEXT_SPEED_[SLOW/MID/FAST]
             u16 optionsWindowFrameType:5; // Specifies one of the 20 decorative borders for text boxes
             u16 optionsSound:1; // OPTIONS_SOUND_[MONO/STEREO]
             u16 optionsBattleStyle:1; // OPTIONS_BATTLE_STYLE_[SHIFT/SET]
             u16 optionsBattleSceneOff:1; // whether battle animations are disabled
             u16 regionMapZoom:1; // whether the map is zoomed in
    /*0x18*/ struct Pokedex pokedex;
    /*0x90*/ u8 filler_90[0x8];
    /*0x98*/ struct Time localTimeOffset;
    /*0xA0*/ struct Time lastBerryTreeUpdate;
	/*0xAC*/ u32 encryptionKey;
    /*0xB0*/ struct PlayersApprentice playerApprentice;
    /*0xDC*/ struct Apprentice apprentices[APPRENTICE_COUNT];
    /*0x1EC*/ struct BerryCrush berryCrush;
    /*0x1FC*/ struct PokemonJumpResults pokeJump;
    /*0x20C*/ struct BerryPickingResults berryPick;
    /*0x21C*/ struct RankingHall1P hallRecords1P[HALL_FACILITIES_COUNT][2][3]; // From record mixing.
    /*0x57C*/ struct RankingHall2P hallRecords2P[2][3]; // From record mixing.
    /*0x624*/ u16 contestLinkResults[5][4]; // 4 positions for 5 categories.
    /*0x64C*/ struct BattleFrontier frontier;
    /*0xA8*/ u32 gcnLinkFlags;  //Read by Pokemon Colosseum/XD
}; // sizeof=0xF2C

The only thing that's changed here is that I added

u8 rivalName[PLAYER_NAME_LENGTH + 1];

in there. This is the variable that's used to hold the rival's name.

In src/main_menu.c:

Spoiler:

static void NewGameBirchSpeech_SetDefaultPlayerName(u8 nameId)
{
    const u8* name;
    const u8* rivalname;
    u8 i;

    if (gSaveBlock2Ptr->playerGender == MALE)
	{
        	name = gMalePresetNames[nameId];
		rivalname = gText_ExpandedPlaceholder_May;
	}
    else
	{
        	name = gFemalePresetNames[nameId];
		rivalname = gText_ExpandedPlaceholder_Brendan;
	}
    for (i = 0; i < 7; i++)
	{
        	gSaveBlock2Ptr->playerName[i] = name[i];
		gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName[i] = rivalname[i];
	}
    gSaveBlock2Ptr->playerName[7] = 0xFF;
    gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName[7] = 0xFF;
}

I tweaked this bit of code so that it makes sure that the rival has a name even if the player never gives them one. If the rival is female, the rival's name will be "MAY". If they're male, their name will be "BRENDAN", just like in the vanilla game.

In src/battle_message.c:

Spoiler:

static const u8 *BattleStringGetOpponentNameByTrainerId(u16 trainerId, u8 *text, u8 multiplayerId, u8 battlerId)
{
    const u8 *toCpy;

    if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_SECRET_BASE)
    {
        u32 i;
        for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_COUNT(gBattleResources->secretBase->trainerName); i++)
            text[i] = gBattleResources->secretBase->trainerName[i];
        text[i] = EOS;
        ConvertInternationalString(text, gBattleResources->secretBase->language);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else if (trainerId == TRAINER_OPPONENT_C00)
    {
        toCpy = gLinkPlayers[multiplayerId ^ BIT_SIDE].name;
    }
    else if (trainerId == TRAINER_LINK_OPPONENT)
    {
        if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_MULTI)
            toCpy = gLinkPlayers[GetBattlerMultiplayerId(battlerId)].name;
        else
            toCpy = gLinkPlayers[GetBattlerMultiplayerId(battlerId) & BIT_SIDE].name;
    }
    else if (trainerId == TRAINER_FRONTIER_BRAIN)
    {
        CopyFrontierBrainTrainerName(text);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_FRONTIER)
    {
        GetFrontierTrainerName(text, trainerId);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_TRAINER_HILL)
    {
        GetTrainerHillTrainerName(text, trainerId);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else if (gBattleTypeFlags & BATTLE_TYPE_EREADER_TRAINER)
    {
        GetEreaderTrainerName(text);
        toCpy = text;
    }
    else
    {
        if(!StringCompare(gTrainers[trainerId].trainerName, gText_ExpandedPlaceholder_May) || !StringCompare(gTrainers[trainerId].trainerName, gText_ExpandedPlaceholder_Brendan))
		toCpy = gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName;
	else
		toCpy = gTrainers[trainerId].trainerName;
    }

    return toCpy;
}

The only change here is in the final brackets. When the game looks at the trainer's name to print in battle, if it sees "MAY" or "BRENDAN", it will instead print the custom rival name.

In gflib/string_util.c:

Spoiler:

static const u8 *ExpandPlaceholder_RivalName(void)
{
    return gSaveBlock2Ptr->rivalName;
}

This makes every instance of {RIVAL} in every piece of text (except in battles) prints the custom rival name.


The rest of the changes are just making sure all of the dialogue doesn't use the original rival's name, and instead uses the custom one.

In data/maps/EverGrandeCity_ChampionsRoom/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LavaridgeTown/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LilycoveCity/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LittlerootTown_MaysHouse_1F/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LittlerootTown_MaysHouse_2F/scripts.inc,
data/maps/LittlerootTown_ProfessorBirchsLab/scripts.inc,
data/maps/OldaleTown/scripts.inc,
data/maps/Route103/scripts.inc,
data/maps/Route104/scripts.inc,
data/maps/Route110/scripts.inc,
data/maps/Route119/scripts.inc,
data/maps/RustboroCity/scripts.inc,
data/text/match_call.inc, just replace every instance of MAY and BRENDAN in the text sections with {RIVAL}. If you're using Notepad++, (which I highly recommend), you can just search and replace every instance of MAY and BRENDAN with {RIVAL} in each file. Just make sure to make the search case-sensitive. Otherwise, you're going to ruin a ton of scripts in each file.

To actually use this code, within any script of your choice, just type

special RivalNameChange

At that point in the game, a naming screen will pop up, and you can name your rival whatever you want.
And with that, unless I missed some other change I made that I forgot, you should have a fully functioning custom rival name!

Excellent, this worked very well! Thanks a lot, it was exactly what I needed. :-)