FireRed hack: [COMPLETE][pokefirered] Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen+

[Jeenius]

Thank you

 

[Jeenius]

Just going to slip my own one here: https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=458595

Use ROM Patcher JS: https://www.marcrobledo.com/RomPatcher.js/

Use a clean FireRed ROM and use the patch I've provided as the ROM file and Patch file respectively.

And make sure you download the latest FRLG-Plus patch while you're at it!

If I do this, can I patch my current save or do I need to completely start over? The only 2 Pokémon I need are gengar and machamp. Is there any way to catch them without trading, like how I caught alakazam and golem in cerulean cave?

 

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

If I do this, can I patch my current save or do I need to completely start over? The only 2 Pokémon I need are gengar and machamp. Is there any way to catch them without trading, like how I caught alakazam and golem in cerulean cave?

Just reuse your existing save file and obtain the item. You can ensure this is happening by temporarily replacing the .gba file for the original FRLG-Plus ROM with this patched version (so, rename and reuse the same name when replacing with the patched hack, and then rename back). Grab the item, leave the area, save the game, and then switch the ROM back.

 

[Deokishisu]

Hi. I have read through this thread and from what I understand I'm supposed to get the trade evolution item from my rival in Shilph co. I beat him and he didn't give me anything. Is my game bugged or am I missing something? I accidentally skipped Shilph co and came back to it at the end of the game when I realized I didn't have my 6th gym badge. Did that possibly bug it? Thank you for any help.

I see that Hiroshi Sotomura has helped you out, but it seems that you don't know how to patch ROMs? This may be a stupid question, but are you sure you properly patched FRLG+ and aren't just playing vanilla FR? No one has reported not getting the Link Bracelet item except for you. If you downloaded a prepatched ROM from somewhere, you shouldn't have. It may not be updated, may include malware, and it screws up my metrics that I use to track downloads.

I just checked the script, and the Rival should unconditionally give you the Link Bracelet. The fact that you saved Silph Co. for later shouldn't matter as long as you battled him. You mentioned that you caught Alakazam and Golem in Cerulean Cave, but FRLG+ does not add them into the cave. This is why I'm suspicious that you may not even be playing FRLG+.

I have a few questions

I think the biggest thing that bothers me with trying to keep things legal while doing everything on one version is doing certain things that are usually impossible (what this boils down to for me is having different ID/SID for version exclusive Pokemon, because I do think a huge part of keeping Pokemon legal & forwards compatible is being able to filter out Pokemon by OT & ID)

Does your hack currently change the ID/SID based on which version you choose? If it doesn't, is there a way to implement that?

How does this effect the legendary beasts, given my concern with the ID/SID issue? Would implementing multiple save files be viable to make that a possibility?

Theoretically, you could have multiple people with the same name, gender, and ID/SID combo. It's unlikely, but different versions having the same ID/SID is possible and therefore legal in Gen III. FRLG+ does not generate two sets of ID/SID for the different versions. Both versions will use the same set (i.e. there is only one unique savefile that plays both versions). I don't want to implement that because I don't really think it's necessary, could confuse players, and it could make the player's own Pokemon disobedient without the right badges and give them boosted experience gains if I don't write a work around for that. For all we know, you and another player have the same ID/SID right now completely by chance.

As an aside, all of my legit cartridge saves were RNGed with the same ID/SID, all have the same trainer gender, and the same name. Intermingling the Pokemon between them doesn't create legality issues (nor would transferring them up through the generations), but no matter where the Pokemon come from they're never considered traded when in any of my savefiles.

 

[Deokishisu]

This is actually a really good explanation & I thank you for that. I guess my next question is, does that ID/SID manipulation also work for Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald?

I was originally thinking about requesting a toggle to turn off encounters that aren't available in FRLG normally (like the Emerald Johto encounters & the Faraway Island Mew) but if this is legitimately something that works, I may also just try doing the same

I guess now my final question is, is there a similar hack for Ruby/Sapphire that exists? Because that would vastly change the way I played these games moving forward haha

It does indeed. Google how to RNG the TID in those games and you'll see. My legit cartridge Emerald and LeafGreen from when those games first hit the stores have the same ID/SID on their current savefiles, for example.

If you do want to avoid the extra encounters, it shouldn't be that difficult to do. All of them are in the newly-added areas, so just don't catch Pokemon there and the problem's solved. There are no new encounters mixed into the vanilla encounter tables. When in doubt, you could look at the Pokemon in question in PKHeX and if it doesn't have a FR or LG met game then it's a new addition.

I have played with the idea of doing an RSE+, but I have been very busy of late and don't have time to jump into developing another hack at the moment. I would say that Emerald Cross by Jaizu is probably the closest you can get to a FRLG+like experience in a Hoenn game. After all, he was directly inspired by FRLG+, lol.

 

[Wufaris]

I have played with the idea of doing an RSE+, but I have been very busy of late and don't have time to jump into developing another hack at the moment. I would say that Emerald Cross by Jaizu is probably the closest you can get to a FRLG+like experience in a Hoenn game. After all, he was directly inspired by FRLG+, lol.

I love your hack. I've been playing it for a few days now and its exactly what I've been looking for so thank you for making it. Also, since you brought it up.. do you have any idea if you can trade back and forth between FRLG+ and Emerald Cross?

 

[Deokishisu]

I love your hack. I've been playing it for a few days now and its exactly what I've been looking for so thank you for making it. Also, since you brought it up.. do you have any idea if you can trade back and forth between FRLG+ and Emerald Cross?

There are optional settings toggles in Emerald Cross that also prevent trading. As long as you don't toggle those settings, Emerald Cross should be trade compatible with FRLG+. Anything trade compatible with vanilla FRLG should be fine to link up with FRLG+.

 

[bobbyssbm]

@Deokishisu thanks for this hack, it's great. Is there any Emerald hack you would recommend with a similar level of quality and feature set?

 

[bobbyssbm]

nvmd, I learned how to use the search function. I see you have pointed people to Emerald Cross :q

 

[Jaizu]

@Deokishisu thanks for this hack, it's great. Is there any Emerald hack you would recommend with a similar level of quality and feature set?

Pokémon Emerald Cross :)

 

[PolarBair]

Just logging in to say this is a great hack, and I can't imagine going back to vanilla again. I love all the new stuff you added to the Sevii Islands, the accessible events, and new encounters to fill out the Pokedex. It's making me want to buy a flash cart so I can see it trade with the official games.

I ran a nuzlocke on Challenge Mode and wiped on Erika, tried again, made it to Bruno. It's pretty well made, but tough luck if you don't pick up a Poison type by Erika (Ivysaur can't really handle it), and I entered the E4 at level 58 because it was my first time sticking to a level cap, maybe I would've done it if I got up to 64 first. Not the fault of the hack lol

Anyway I found a few bugs in the latest release. Most of these have to do with Master Trainers:
1. Dragonite Master in Cerulean City has a Dragonair. It has Ice Beam so you have to get very lucky.
2. Golbat Master in Victory Road has Wish, a move which as far as I can tell Zubat and Golbat have never been able to learn.
3. Using Selfdestruct/Explosion or the Master Trainer using Destiny Bond will give you the "win" message but you don't receive the title. I assume you're supposed to lose here so it's just a visual bug.
4. Talking to a Gym Leader in the rematch house and saving before you battle acts weird. They won't challenge you when you get into place, you can talk to them again to get ready, and they'll walk again, usually through a wall and off-screen. Not sure if this is fixable, but it's hard to run into anyway.
5. Entering Trainer Tower and losing on Nuzlocke Mode leaves you with a fully fainted party and all that implies. If you make it back to a Pokemon Center and heal, you'll softlock. Again, this one is only something you could trigger on purpose, so whatever.

Some criticism of Master Trainers.
Feel free to ignore tho, I imagine it took a lot of work to design interesting movesets for 151 Pokemon.

Spoiler:

I'm not sure how challenging the Master Trainers are ultimately meant to be tbh. It's not a bad thing that you have to consider everything down to the IVs, EVs, and egg moves at your disposal. If players are expected to breed a perfect mon from each line it's a little excessive, but I was able to get through a lot with either Brightpowder + Substitute or Toxic/Protect/Dig (or Fly)/Substitute. It could just be me feeling the need to complete Master Trainers as I fill out my Pokedex. I've beat about 50 now.

The most fun ones were Machamp (Counter), Rattata (I tried using Facade but I'd always get full Paralysis first turn, so I used a Cheri Berry and Thief, then Substitute), Ekans (using Earthquake to hit it during Dig). Some of them give me the satisfaction that Pokemon XD did with the Battle CDs, but the setup feels less forced than there, so good work. I just think the reliance on matchups where they outspeed and OHKO with Hidden Power is annoying, since the odds that you get something like that without cheating are low.

 

[Tunak23]

Can only hope one day you can port the entire battle frontier!
Having lots of fun messing around with the upgrade.

 

[Deokishisu]

Just logging in to say this is a great hack, and I can't imagine going back to vanilla again. I love all the new stuff you added to the Sevii Islands, the accessible events, and new encounters to fill out the Pokedex. It's making me want to buy a flash cart so I can see it trade with the official games.

I ran a nuzlocke on Challenge Mode and wiped on Erika, tried again, made it to Bruno. It's pretty well made, but tough luck if you don't pick up a Poison type by Erika (Ivysaur can't really handle it), and I entered the E4 at level 58 because it was my first time sticking to a level cap, maybe I would've done it if I got up to 64 first. Not the fault of the hack lol

Anyway I found a few bugs in the latest release. Most of these have to do with Master Trainers:
1. Dragonite Master in Cerulean City has a Dragonair. It has Ice Beam so you have to get very lucky.
2. Golbat Master in Victory Road has Wish, a move which as far as I can tell Zubat and Golbat have never been able to learn.
3. Using Selfdestruct/Explosion or the Master Trainer using Destiny Bond will give you the "win" message but you don't receive the title. I assume you're supposed to lose here so it's just a visual bug.
4. Talking to a Gym Leader in the rematch house and saving before you battle acts weird. They won't challenge you when you get into place, you can talk to them again to get ready, and they'll walk again, usually through a wall and off-screen. Not sure if this is fixable, but it's hard to run into anyway.
5. Entering Trainer Tower and losing on Nuzlocke Mode leaves you with a fully fainted party and all that implies. If you make it back to a Pokemon Center and heal, you'll softlock. Again, this one is only something you could trigger on purpose, so whatever.

Some criticism of Master Trainers.
Feel free to ignore tho, I imagine it took a lot of work to design interesting movesets for 151 Pokemon.

Spoiler:

I'm not sure how challenging the Master Trainers are ultimately meant to be tbh. It's not a bad thing that you have to consider everything down to the IVs, EVs, and egg moves at your disposal. If players are expected to breed a perfect mon from each line it's a little excessive, but I was able to get through a lot with either Brightpowder + Substitute or Toxic/Protect/Dig (or Fly)/Substitute. It could just be me feeling the need to complete Master Trainers as I fill out my Pokedex. I've beat about 50 now.

The most fun ones were Machamp (Counter), Rattata (I tried using Facade but I'd always get full Paralysis first turn, so I used a Cheri Berry and Thief, then Substitute), Ekans (using Earthquake to hit it during Dig). Some of them give me the satisfaction that Pokemon XD did with the Battle CDs, but the setup feels less forced than there, so good work. I just think the reliance on matchups where they outspeed and OHKO with Hidden Power is annoying, since the odds that you get something like that without cheating are low.

I'm very happy to be getting some detailed feedback on the Master Trainers. Thanks for coming back to the thread with it. 1, 2, 4, and 5 will be fixed in the next update. I'll look into forcing a lose message in the event of 3. I think that Wish Golbat was supposed to have Wing Attack and my IDE autofilled without me realizing it. Will probably nerf Ice Beam Dragonite because that seems unbreakable if you can't outspeed. Thanks for the reports.

As for your criticism of the Master Trainers themselves...

I'm okay with some of the Master Trainers being cheesable. For example, you could do the Dratini trainer with a newly-hatched Dragon Rage Dratini and one shot it since it matches your level. I feel like it's fine to reward players for being crafty, and it feels good when you come up with a cheese strategy that works. I'm really happy to hear that some of them feel like the Battle CD puzzles too! If only the movepools were such that I could do that for all of them.

To be honest, the Master Trainers weren't thoroughly tested for difficulty (there are a lot!), and odds are that I overdid it for some of them. I don't want the player to be required to breed for the perfect matchup for any of them, but to have useful egg moves as an option that can bring them over if they're having trouble. Similarly, I'd rather not have these battles be unbeatable without Brightpowder dice rolls because that's not fun.

The instant OHKO with Hidden Power is definitely an issue, and isn't fun either. I restricted the movepools to valid Gen 3 movesets, but they are so shallow that Hidden Power is often the only decent option to give the NPCs in mirror matchups, especially because the AI is so stupid. I'll explore perhaps changing the Hidden Power types to still be super effective but to use a worse attacking stat, or make 4x supereffective Hidden Powers only 2x, or manipulate the IVs so Hidden Power has a lower base power. I nerfed the Raichu Master based on feedback already by adjusting its nature down, reducing its Hidden Power attacking stat by ~20%, and haven't had complaints about that fight since, so that is also another option.

If you have more specific feedback about individual Master Trainers, I'd love to hear it. If there are particular Master Trainers that just feel impossible or impossibly cheap and unfun to face, please also let me know. I'm desperate for feedback on these trainers because it seems that so few players are actually battling them, and as the person who made the sets it's hard to get an unbiased assessment of their difficulty.

...And don't forget that there's a superboss for beating all of them!

Can only hope one day you can port the entire battle frontier!
Having lots of fun messing around with the upgrade.

So, pokefirered is getting more and more documented and is having much of its code and labels synced to pokeemerald. There may be a time where it becomes easy enough to port the Battle Frontier that I'll just do it. Unfortunately, I'm very short on free time right now, so working on FRLG+ is difficult.

Thanks for your post!

 

[PolarBair]

I'm very happy to be getting some detailed feedback on the Master Trainers. Thanks for coming back to the thread with it. 1, 2, 4, and 5 will be fixed in the next update. I'll look into forcing a lose message in the event of 3. I think that Wish Golbat was supposed to have Wing Attack and my IDE autofilled without me realizing it. Will probably nerf Ice Beam Dragonite because that seems unbreakable if you can't outspeed. Thanks for the reports.

As for your criticism of the Master Trainers themselves...

Thanks for the response! I don't think you really need to breed or EV train for every single Master Trainer, Weezing was the only one where I had to go grab Psybeam as an egg move. I definitely remember having to Brightpowder up for Diglett/Dugtrio since they're naturally frail. It also helped for Haunter/Gengar with Hypnosis. For the most part, just knowing the movesets was enough, and luck is just a part of Pokemon. No issue with say, pulling off Hypnosis > Focus Punch against the Poliwrath Master. I'll keep an eye out for any really annoying ones.

Hidden Power is only a big problem for me when it's a double weakness, like Rock on Scyther. I figure if you've already got SE STAB (Wing Attack/Aerial Ace) and they have optimal stats, that's good enough. Then again, the AI sometimes opts to set up unnecessarily lol

 

[Civrux]

Awesome hack! I have a question: Will it work on the 3DS or only on the emulator? VBA had a problem with it but OpenEmu didn't so I don't know.

 

[Deokishisu]

Awesome hack! I have a question: Will it work on the 3DS or only on the emulator? VBA had a problem with it but OpenEmu didn't so I don't know.

It works on hardware, so it should work on any accurate emulator. When you inject GBA games into the 3DS (not run the ROM in an emulator app) the 3DS *is* for all intents and purposes a GBA, so it will work there if that's how you are playing it. I'm not familiar enough with specific 3DS emulators to say which will work and which won't. I imagine, like VBA, many will be inaccurate and have problems. If there's a Retroarch mGBA core available on 3DS I would suggest you use that if you're not injecting it as a GBA ambassador title or whatever those were.

I highly suggest that everyone drop VBA on every platform if possible. It's a terribly inaccurate emulator.

 

[Civrux]

I actually inject a lot, so I'll try. One more question: Will Johto Pokemon be legit?
Thank you for your answer.

PS. You're right, it doesn't make sense to use VBA, but I used this emulator as a child, so... the sentiment remains 😅

 

[Explorer of Time]

Does this hack implement a way to avoid needing to teach your Pokemon HM moves?

 

[Deokishisu]

I actually inject a lot, so I'll try. One more question: Will Johto Pokemon be legit?
Thank you for your answer.

PS. You're right, it doesn't make sense to use VBA, but I used this emulator as a child, so... the sentiment remains 😅

All obtainable Pokemon should be legal in Gen 3, with the possible exception of English Faraway Island Mew.

Does this hack implement a way to avoid needing to teach your Pokemon HM moves?

No, but I did try to ease the HM burden as much as I could without gutting HMs entirely. Cut trees stay cut, Strength puzzles stay solved, etc. Therefore, you don't need to keep Pokemon that know those HMs around in your main party. Waterfall is only used once in Icefall Cave and never again. Dive, Flash, and Rock Smash are entirely optional and never block progress (though obviously you may want Flash for the one time you're in Rock Tunnel). Surf is something you're most likely going to have on your team regardless. The only HM that is technically optional that you'll probably want to have anyway is Fly, though backtracking through Kanto is pretty easy most of the time, and Fly in the Sevii Islands isn't as vital because of the ferries.

This is something that I went back and forth about during development, and decided that working around HMs was part of the original experience. I opted to make HMs less frustrating instead of removing their drawbacks altogether.

 

[000mn000]

Does this hack implement a way to avoid needing to teach your Pokemon HM moves?

I altered this on my fork back in May last year - https://github.com/00mn00/FRLG-Plus_Custom/commit/87995c8c70e9e4c36b266b13043c92894d09cb7a

If you can compile a copy of the game yourself, this is pretty much what you're looking for. Deokishisu's way of doing it is the correct way in my opinion, but I have very little time in life these days and I'm lazy...