Emerald hack: [COMPLETED] Digimon Emerald Project

[Guzeinbuick]

We're going DIGITAL!

For those of you tired of playing out the same strategies with the same mons over and over and over again, I present you something completely different…

FEATURES

350+ new monsters with unique stats, abilities, Typing, and movepools built from the ground-up!

No more filler mons!

Every single Digimon is viable! Don't be afraid to build a team out of your favourite Digimon!

As many as five or even six stages for prominent Digimon!

Custom moves from the Digimon canon!
Every single Digimon has its signature attack! Diversify your strategies with over 350 new moves!

Digidex Entries state criteria for evolution so you never need to feel out of the loop!

Convenient Shop Data
Tired of random encounters? Repels are cheap as heck now.

(Also Move Reminders in every shop)


HM Moves are no longer garbage!

Cut now raises ATK, Flash now deals 50 Electric damage and still lowers accuracy, and Rock Smash always goes first.

(Suggestions on how to improve Strength, Dive, and Waterfall? Feel free to post a comment. :) )



EV/IV Checker, Up to Gen VII Abilities and Moves, Reusable TMs, Deletable HM moves, Fairy Type, Physical-Special Split, Poison Survival, BW Repel System, etc.

Minor Dialogue Tweaks:

Dive is a TM now.
So don't freak out when Steven gives it to you and you can't find it at first.

Credits:

Spoiler:

Most sprites were ripped and modified from official sources (Digimon World DS and Digimon Adventure 02: D-1 Tamer) by me.

The following sprites were ripped and modified from original pixel art from Wooded-Wolf (https://www.deviantart.com/wooded-wolf):
Motimon
Puroromon
Fanbeemon
Honeybeemon
Nohemon
Chapmon
Raidramon
Quetzalmon
Digmon
Yokomon
Pichimon
Gazimon
Monmon
Xiaomon
Bucchiemon
Datirimon


Spinomon, Rafflesimon, and Gusokumon sprites ripped and modified from original pixel art by DragonRod (https://www.deviantart.com/dragonrod342)

Turuiemon sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by Agirl3003 (https://www.deviantart.com/agirl3003)

Kazemon sprite ripped and modified by original pixel art by mysticdragon234 (https://www.deviantart.com/mysticdragon234)

MetalGreymon sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by kimardt (https://www.deviantart.com/kimardt)

Darcmon sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by MOC-7 (https://www.deviantart.com/moc-7)

Hexeblaumon sprite and Lucemon X sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by AnimaThesq (https://www.deviantart.com/animathesq)

Venusmon sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by KajiAtsui (https://www.deviantart.com/kajiatsui)

Lilithmon and Imperialdramon Paladin Mode sprites ripped and modified from original pixel art by Hamurand22 (https://www.deviantart.com/hamurand22)

Wingdramon and SkullMammothmon sprites ripped and modified from original pixel art by SergioGranSol (https://www.deviantart.com/SergioGranSol)

MetalPhantomon and Chamelemon sprites ripped and modified from original pixel art by Herolnuzuka (DeviantArt account deactivated! :0)

Jotumon sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by garuda9, Garmmon, and StriderTheReaper (https://www.deviantart.com/striderthereaper/art/Sprite-Sheet-Jotumon-562072191)

BanchoMamemon and Kleptomon sprites ripped and modified from original pixel art by neegasai (https://www.deviantart.com/neegasai)

Labramon sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by Bre-Ishurna-SpriteAC (https://www.deviantart.com/bre-ishurna-spriteac/gallery)

Meicoomon sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by TheLuca (https://www.rebornevo.com/forums/profile/61524-theluca/content/)

Hydramon sprite ripped and modified from original pixel art by Sharkmon (https://buhitter.com/author/Kr_Pixel_Artist)

Pusurimon sprite ripped from original pixel art by rayjt9 (https://ko-fi.com/rayjt9)

Apollomon sprite ripped from original pixel art by Demo9ic (https://www.deviantart.com/demo9ic)

Thanks to Li Yun for the wicked Emerald rom base! (https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=451990)

Thanks to Ortz3 for the awesome animation editor! (https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=457087)

Full Digidex:

Spoiler:

:

DOWNLOAD:

Spoiler:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/f9g17g6doeyzfyt/Digimon_Emerald_Project_2.0.zip/file

​

Known glitches:

Spoiler:

No game-breaking glitches so far. There are a few graphical glitches which can lead to certain awkwardness/hilarity.

-When meeting Steven in Sootopolis, he takes you on a magic walk-though-walls trip before finally dropping you off in the Cave of Origin. Again, completely graphical and doesn't harm the progression of the game. Certainly looks funny though.

-Sometimes Cyberdramon will pop out of a rock after you Rock Smash it. It's catch rate is 0, so don't waste pokeballs trying to catch it.

-Poyomon will evolve into all sorts of wacky things when given DigiEggs. PGE won't let me edit this for whatever reason so there's nothing I can do.

-I haven't edited the postgame AT ALL. So don't bother checking out the Battle Frontier unless you feel like entering Glitch City lol

Installation Instructions:

Spoiler:

• Step 1: Find a clean Rom of Pokemon Emerald off Google. Look for the "Trash Man" version.
• Step 2: go to RomPatcher (https://www.marcrobledo.com/RomPatcher.js/)
• Step 3: Upload the vanilla Pokemon Emerald and the Digimon Emerald Project patch file.
• Step 4: Hit "Apply Patch." The patched rom will download automatically.
• Step 5: Enjoy!

System Requirements:

Spoiler:

The game runs on VBA for Desktop and MyBoy and MyBoy for mobile. I haven't tested it with other emulators but these three seem to be the most popular GBA emulators.

Plans for future expansion:

Spoiler:

• Doing away with HMs entirely. One day I'll figure out how to replace HMs with key items. One day…
• Replace the word "Poke" with "Digi" in every piece of dialogue. Trust me, it is mind-numbingly boring to go through every single event in every single map changing "Pokemon" to "Digimon," "Pokedex" to "Digidex" for hours on end… I did it for the better half of the day and I got so sick of it I gave up lol
• Hammer out those glitches. I'm sure I'll figure out the above two glitches one day, and hopefully any more glitches my playtesters find. I'm counting on you guys!
• If I could figure out how to include MIDIs of songs from the anime's ost that would be sweeeeeettt.

Advice:

Spoiler:

• Save often. If you use VBA like I do, then you're probably used to abusing the speed-up button. Go easy on that. Using it too much will make the game freeze, especially during battles.
• Don't go "Shiny hunting" because there are no shinies in the game. Sorry.
• No need to go fishing more than once. Only one Digimon can be caught via fishing: Manbomon.
• Breeding is not possible because the Day Care only takes one Digimon at a time.
• While all Digimon are viable, some have higher stats than others. They generally run on "short-term gain, low investment" vs. "high investment, high payoff" archetypes. If you come across a horribly weak baby Digimon, chances are it will grow up to be a total monster if you put in the time.
• The game is about 1.5 times harder than vanilla Emerald. I've playtested the game four times now and was able to beat it pretty easily, but then again I made the damn thing so of course I'd know all the best strategies.
  My advice is to use stategy. Grinding is not the answer. If you lose against a Gym Leader once, don't go off and grind for five hours. Try a few more times and see if you can figure out his movepool. Using brute force will not work in this game because all Gym Leaders have an "ace" with full coverage. Use strategy instead.
• This game is a bit easier than Digimon Nova Red (my previous romhack), if you've played that.
• You crazy nuzlockers should probably keep the dex open so at least you know what you're up against.

Change log:

Spoiler:

• 5/25/2022: Version 2.0 - Definitive complete version. Dex is now at 352. HM moves are now deletable. A few bug fixes.
• 5/8/2022: Version 1.1 - Every Digimon now has a signature move. Also a few minor bugs fixes.
• 4/9/2022: Version 1.0.3 - Day care no longer allows breeding, fixed some Typing issues for attacks and a few mons ("Cool type," lol). some catch rates have been improved, some Mons have been given better Abilities, etc. Minor fixes like that.
• 3/27/2022: Version 1.0.2 - Patched a few bugs, all signature moves have custom animations now, item pickups are actually useful
• 3/18/2022: Version 1.0.1 - Waterfall now obtainable (next to Juan in gym)
• 3/16/2022 : Version 1.0 initial release

FAQ:

Spoiler:

Where do I find _____mon?

Spoiler:

All encounter locations listed in the Excel file included in the download link.

Legendaries?

Spoiler:

The game has 6 Legendaries: Goldramon, Megidramon, Neptunemon, Lucemon, and Lucemon X.

Goldramon

Spoiler:

Goldramon is the replacement for Rayquaza. Obtained the same way.

Neptunemon and Megidramon
Neptunemon and Megidramon replace Kyogre and Groudon, narratively speaking.
However, they are not obtained in the same way because I think the original Kyogre
and Groudon quests are tedious and boring.
Instead,

Spoiler:

Neptunemon and Megidramon can be found at Navel Rock. You can travel to Navel Rock
after beating the Champion and obtaining the Mystic Ticket. The Mystic Ticket can be found
at the end of Victory Road.

Don't bother doing the normal Kyogre and Groudon events because I didn't bother editing the mons that
will appear in their place.

Lucemon

Spoiler:

Mew is replaced with Lucemon and is obtained the same way (found at Faraway Island after beating the Champion and presenting the ferryman at Slateport with the Old Sea Map.
The Old Sea Map can be found at the end of Victory Road).

Lucemon X

Spoiler:

Lucemon X replaces Deoxys and is obtained the same way (found at Birth Island after beating the Champion and presenting
the ferryman at Slateport with the Aurora Ticket. The Aurora Ticket can be found at the end of Victory Road.

Regi Trio?
Didn't bother. The Regi quest/event/whatever is tedious and boring so I didn't bother changing the mons that appear in it.

BONUS Legendaries
This game also has three "bonus" Legendaries that are so ridiculously powerful they can one-shot anything that moves.
However, obtaining them is absurdly difficult.
Warning: no sane person would ever do this:

Omnimon

Spoiler:

Train either WarGreymon or MetalGarurumon up to level 100. Yes, 100.
BST is 1200.

Imperialdramon Paladin Mode

Spoiler:

Train ImperialDramon up to level 100.
BST is 1200.

ZeedMilleniummon

Spoiler:

Train Moon=Milleniummon up to level 70.
BST is so high you woudn't believe me if I told you.

Pseudo-Legendaries

Spoiler:

Apollomon, Dianamon, and Venusmon are this game's pseudos. They evolve from Sunmon, Moonmon,
and Puttimon, respectively.

Ultras:

Spoiler:

First things first:
Buy a Harbour Mail from the Herb Shop in Lavaridge Town.
Head back to Mauville and visit the house next to the game corner. Talk to the lady inside and she'll trade you a coin case for the Harbour Mail.
Hit the game corner and gamble your ass off. Once you have enough coins you can buy an item called a Mega Bracelet. Once you have this item, you're good to go.

Alphamon:

Spoiler:

Make sure you have the Mega Bracelet.
In the sunken ship off Route 108 you will find an item called "X-Antibody." Allow Dorumon to hold that item.
In battle, press the start button and select an attack. Dorumon will then warp digivolve into Alphamon for that battle. But be aware, after the battle Dorumon will de-digivolve back into Dorimon. It will need to gain a level to evolve back into Dorumon before it can use the X-Antibody again.

ShoutmonX3SD:

Spoiler:

Make sure you have the Mega Bracelet.
Defeat Team Magma at Meteor Falls. Interact with the machine they were messing with to obtain the Meteorite.
In one of the houses in Fallarbor Town you'll find Professor Cozmo. Give him the meteorite and he'll reward you with an item called a "Xross Code."
Allow SwordShoutmon to hold that item. In battle, press the start button and select an attack. SwordShoutmon will then warp digivolve into ShoutmonX3SD for that battle. But be aware, after the battle SwordShoutmon will de-digivolve back into Shoutmon. It will need to gain a level to evolve back into SwordShoutmon before it can use the Xross Code again.

Any Cheat codes?

Spoiler:

Don't know! Maybe try some out and get back to me?

Why isn't BlahBlahBlahmon in the game? He's my favourite Digimon?

Spoiler:

Adding in new Babies, In-Trainings, and Rookie Digimon are very simple. Assuming a quality sprite exists online, I can whip up a movepool, some base states, encounter rates, and evolutionary paths in about ten minutes.
Champions, Ultimates, and Megas, on the other hand, rarely have sprites that are going to fit into a 64x64 pixel box with only 16 colours. That means I'll have to spend the next few hours editing the sprite pixel by pixel until it fits the parameters.

Spoiler:

Why only 350 Digimon? Other hacks have a much more complete dex.

Spoiler:

Quality over quantity, my friend. The other Digimon hacks online don't take the same approach to their spriting. When it comes to Champions and up, most other Digimon romhacks simply compress the sprite until its small enough to fit into the 64x64 box. Their backsprites also tend to follow a similar procedure of simply enlarging an overworld sprite.
I totally respect the approach of other Digimon romhacks. But this is not the direction I chose to take with Emerald Project. Digimon Emerald Project is supposed to provide a clean, consistent experience in which every Digimon looks good. And despite my best efforts, there's still about three or four sprites I failed pretty hard at lol

Why am I still playing as Brendan and May? Shouldn't I be Tai or Sora?

Spoiler:

The Digimon world is fundamentally different from the Pokemon world. In Digimon canon, Tamers do not go around capturing Digimon and keeping them on their person for friendly competition.
Therefore it would make no sense for Tai to go around capturing hundreds of Digimon and storing them in his PC on a quest to become the "Digimon League Champion." That sounds more like the behaviour of the Digimon Emperor than anything (haha).
It's helpful to think of Digimon Emerald Project as taking place in an alternate universe identical to the Pokemon world in every way, except this world is inhabited by Digimon instead of Pokemon. No other narrative or structural changes.

Level 18 at the first gym?? How grindy is this game? Why did you make it so hard?

Spoiler:

The game is about 1.5x harder than the original Pokemon Emerald. At the time of writing, I've played through the game four times now and I've never needed to grind against wild mons. You do, however, need to fight with careful strategy and diversity to come out on top. Gym leaders will always be a higher level than you so you might need a to take a few tries to figure out your opponent's movepools and how to exploit their weaknesses. But it's not a grindfest.
I do recommend fighting all enemy trainers for exp though. Not sure if you consider that grinding or not.

ExpAll?

Spoiler:

Devon Corp will now give you an ExpAll instead of an ExpShare. I personally think it takes the fun out of the game by removing the challenge but hey, you play your game the way you want.

These "back sprites" don't look like back sprites at all.

Spoiler:

They're supposed to be "side sprites." Wouldn't you rather see the profile of your beloved Digimon in action instead of staring at the back of their heads?

Can you add in ____mon in a future update?

Spoiler:

Sure! If you want to provide the sprite and it's up to quality, then I would be happy to add in more Digimon at other users' request. If no compact sprite is available, I can still work my magic if the particular Digimon is in "high demand."

What about antibodies-X (evolution X), BM's and Jogress? How about more variations of each Digimon's evolution? Alter-S/Alter-B/Omega X, Jessmon, etc.?

Spoiler:

Huh?

Digimon are supposed to de-digivolve back into their Rookie forms when they're not battling. Any chance of making that into a mechanic here?

Spoiler:

You can use your imagination. When you check your party Digimon, you can imagine them in their Rookie forms but the DigiDex is displaying their potential strength (as in, how far they are capable of Digivolving at that present moment). Or something. Idk

Why are the female Digimon designs so... horny?

Spoiler:

Yooo, in case you haven't noticed, Digimon is slightly more "adult" than Pokemon. So some of the female designs are bit more sexy. I kept them all true to their canon appearance with the exception of Kazemon and Mermaimon.
Kazemon has a good design but I consider her a bit... problematic, seeing as how she's supposed to be the Digivolution of a 4th grader and all. I "aged up" her design a bit (bigger boobs, wider hips, longer legs, etc.) when making the sprite and even her Digidex description reads she's fully matured into adulthood.
As for Mermaimon, I don't know. I must have been in some kind of a mood that day lol

Constructive feedback and play testers welcome! Thanks!​

 

[vanblag]

It sounds very promising, I'll give it a try right away! Thanks for the rom!

 

[Rattatack]

More Digimon, woohoo! I enjoyed Nova Red, so I'm sure this'll be even better. Thanks for your hard work!

 

[Guzeinbuick]

It sounds very promising, I'll give it a try right away! Thanks for the rom!

More Digimon, woohoo! I enjoyed Nova Red, so I'm sure this'll be even better. Thanks for your hard work!

Glad to hear it! Feedback is very welcome! (Difficulty? Too easy? Too hard? Suggestions? General feedback? etc.) Feel free to get back to me after you beat the game. :)

 

[vipwesley]

will you make a digimon from nds pokemon game? since maybe spriting in nds game is easier than gba?

 

[Guzeinbuick]

will you make a digimon from nds pokemon game? since maybe spriting in nds game is easier than gba?

I'd have to think about it! To be honest I'm not a fan of Heart Gold and Platinum since they run soooooo slowly. I haven't checked out Gen IV hacking scene but if there's some rombases out there that speed up the pace I might consider it. :)

 

[trdtrl]

love the graphical and qol changes!
congratulations for finishing the hack man

 

[PkmnTrainerKonner]

This is looking very promising. I'm excited to try it out.

 

[Luck_98]

This looks pretty cool! I've got two questions:

1) Could this be considered like an improvement version of Nova Red? Apart from being Emerald instead of Fire Red, what would be the major differences between them?
2) Would it be possible to add bst's to the mons excel? Or at least like an overall role, to see if they're a special sweeper, a tank...

 

[Guzeinbuick]

This looks pretty cool! I've got two questions:

1) Could this be considered like an improvement version of Nova Red? Apart from being Emerald instead of Fire Red, what would be the major differences between them?
2) Would it be possible to add bst's to the mons excel? Or at least like an overall role, to see if they're a special sweeper, a tank...

Hi Luck_98,

Yep! Big improvement over Nova Red. Nova Red only had 250 Digimon and some of the evolutionary lines were a bit wonky. Emerald streamlined everyone's evolution lines and bumped the Dex up to about 330. Also, Nova Red only had moves and mechanics present up until Gen IV. Emerald has moves up to Gen VII (no Mega Evolution or Dynamax though... I felt they hurt the meta more than they added to it).

As for bst, I can give you a general rule. It's not exact but it's enough to get a general idea:
If it has 5 forms, BST equals approximately: 310 > 380 > 440 > 500 > 590
If it has 4 forms: 390 > 440 > 490 > 540
If it has 3 forms: 430 > 470 > 510

It's not an exact rule but it's enough to give you an idea. Basically, the mons run on a "short term gain, low investment" versus "long term gain, high investment" framework.

 

[Luck_98]

I see. I'm glad mons like Sakuyamon are present, it felt a bit awkward only getting until the champions there.

I've got a few things to report. First, the ice/dragon mon (can't remember the name, you get it right before the fire path after third gym) has just 1 hp on its lowest form. Once it levels up, it's hp is normal again. Not sure if it's intentional, but doesn't seem so.

Xvmon attack says it does fixed damage, but all it does is like... 1 hp. Not sure how does it work.

Got two glitchy items. One is the item Moonmon has equiped when they gift her instead of Wynaut egg. I don't remember when did you get the other, but it was before that. The first is just ??????, while the other is literally "new item". Might be on the soot route? I am not sure.

And I'm not sure if it's intentional, but you cannot get a harbor mail (that I know now), so you can't get the coin case. At least on Slateport, not sure if it's moved anywhere else.

Apart from that, it's being a pretty nice game. Completed last one with a fairy mono, but now I'm trying to diversify a little.

 

[Guzeinbuick]

I see. I'm glad mons like Sakuyamon are present, it felt a bit awkward only getting until the champions there.

I've got a few things to report. First, the ice/dragon mon (can't remember the name, you get it right before the fire path after third gym) has just 1 hp on its lowest form. Once it levels up, it's hp is normal again. Not sure if it's intentional, but doesn't seem so.

Xvmon attack says it does fixed damage, but all it does is like... 1 hp. Not sure how does it work.

Got two glitchy items. One is the item Moonmon has equiped when they gift her instead of Wynaut egg. I don't remember when did you get the other, but it was before that. The first is just ??????, while the other is literally "new item". Might be on the soot route? I am not sure.

And I'm not sure if it's intentional, but you cannot get a harbor mail (that I know now), so you can't get the coin case. At least on Slateport, not sure if it's moved anywhere else.

Apart from that, it's being a pretty nice game. Completed last one with a fairy mono, but now I'm trying to diversify a little.

Duly noted! I should be able to fix these in the next update.

 

[Seawheels]

The summary screen for digimon is mostly blank for me. The type symbols for moves are there but anywhere where there's supposed to be text in the boxes is blank for me.

 

[Guzeinbuick]

The summary screen for digimon is mostly blank for me. The type symbols for moves are there but anywhere where there's supposed to be text in the boxes is blank for me.

Sounds like a problem with your emulator. I recommend VBA, MyBoy, or JohnGBA.

 

[Noaved]

Really like the game so far but I found some bugs.
1. Palidramon's Cable Catcher doesn't do damage even though it says Power 65
2. Monochromamon when caught doesn't give it's dex entry, rather it gives M.Chrimaira's entry
3. I would check Hagurumon's catch rate in New Mauville. I put one into red and threw like 10 great balls at one without it shaking
4. Might have been just me but Garuramon evolved at 31 not 30 (I could have just messed up)

Overall I am loving playing this and will come back if I find anything else that might be bugged

 

[Guzeinbuick]

Really like the game so far but I found some bugs.
1. Palidramon's Cable Catcher doesn't do damage even though it says Power 65
2. Monochromamon when caught doesn't give it's dex entry, rather it gives M.Chrimaira's entry
3. I would check Hagurumon's catch rate in New Mauville. I put one into red and threw like 10 great balls at one without it shaking
4. Might have been just me but Garuramon evolved at 31 not 30 (I could have just messed up)

Overall I am loving playing this and will come back if I find anything else that might be bugged

Fixed! I'll update the download link with a new patch once a few more glitches become revealed. Thanks again for playtesting.

 

[antega34]

So excited that it's finally out congrats on another great game for us digifans to enjoy! Loving it so far, but figured I'd help out by pointing out a few glitches I noticed.

1. When you talk to the girl in first pokemart after littleroot town, it brings uo a menu with the options for petalburg city and slateport city. It proceeds to her regular dialog regardless of what u choose but ya.

2. Poromon has Hawkmon for its icon instead of its own. Maybe intentional though?

3. (This might be my emulator but worth mentioning) sometimes the sprite disappears during the opening animation for a sec, or the digicries don't play.

Can't wait for future updates!

 

[Guzeinbuick]

So excited that it's finally out congrats on another great game for us digifans to enjoy! Loving it so far, but figured I'd help out by pointing out a few glitches I noticed.

1. When you talk to the girl in first pokemart after littleroot town, it brings uo a menu with the options for petalburg city and slateport city. It proceeds to her regular dialog regardless of what u choose but ya.

2. Poromon has Hawkmon for its icon instead of its own. Maybe intentional though?

3. (This might be my emulator but worth mentioning) sometimes the sprite disappears during the opening animation for a sec, or the digicries don't play.

Can't wait for future updates!

Thanks! The missing cries are due to the rombase. I miss them too. :(

I'll look into the girl at the shop and Poromon's icon. :)

 

[vipwesley]

I'd have to think about it! To be honest I'm not a fan of Heart Gold and Platinum since they run soooooo slowly. I haven't checked out Gen IV hacking scene but if there's some rombases out there that speed up the pace I might consider it. :)

goodluck. be it GBA ROM or NDS one either is fine lol just pick what you like and want to working on

 

[Guzeinbuick]

goodluck. be it GBA ROM or NDS one either is fine lol just pick what you like and want to working on

Thanks! Actually I'd be interested in making a Crystal hack, even though Gen II hacks aren't really in demand. I just love the aesthetic of some old-school Digimon sprites and would love to implement them into a game.

But then I would have to learn how to use PokeCrystal, which is... definitely outside my paygrade lol

Well. Something to muse over for the next few months. For now I'm going to take a short break from romhacking and just patch up any bugs that show up in Nova Red and Emerald. :)