Decompilation-based Hacking or Binary Hacking?

[dDragonMoon]

Hey^^
i wanted to resume/rework my Pokemon rom hack i made like 10 years ago. That time i used Advance Map and Pokescript. I already saw that pokescript is not used anymore and everyone instead uses XSE for scripts. After i made 2 wrong posts already i also saw that there is a new way with decompilation-based hacking. Since im 10 years behind i wanted to ask what is the best way to make a rom hack nowadays if i want to make something like ruby destiny, dark rising or light platinum that is like a complete new hack from scratch with new map, pokemon, moves, abilitys etc.? Second i wanted to ask wich game would be better in wich ways? Emerald or Firered? If this question already got an answer in an other thread, tutorial or something like that feel free to link that to me^^

Thanks in advance

 

[Gavoca]

Tbh for me Fire Red bcs it has more resource like Cfru and many more

 

[Anon822]

I would say that decompilation hacking is better. it allows you to make changes that would be difficult or impossible with binary hacking.
I also think that the lack of buggy tools, hex editing and repointing makes the workflow with decompilations nicer than with binary.
I think decomps also make the rom corrupting/breaking less likely to happen.
And for larger projects I would use decomps over binary for the better stability and workflow alone.

The main reason to use binary hacking over decomps is the lower barrier to entry.
It's easier to download a rom and a bunch of executables, than to install the decomps and their dependencies.
There are also way more tutorials for binary hacking, so it is easier to learn to edit basic things and to get started.
Binary hacking also currently has more pre-made code modifications/patches, which is another reason to use binary over decomps.

The best rom for decomps is pokeemerald, as it is the most developed and there are more resources for it than the others.
For binary hacking Fire Red is the best, because it has the most resources and documentation.

 

[Dr. Seuss]

It is always better to work with the code directly instead of modifying the game with buggy tools and dealing with glitches caused by improper modifications that are really difficult to find and fix

 

[Lunos]

Decompilation-based Hacking or Binary Hacking?

Objectively? Decomp hacking.

Pros:
-No worrying about offsets.
-No worrying about hex editors.
-No worrying about inserting ASM Routines.
-No worrying about making backups.
-No worrying about tools that are out of date and no longer supported breaking your ROM.
-No worrying about managing your free space, as the compiler handles that automatically.
-No worrying about overlapping sprites, scripts, patches or whatever by accidentally putting them in the same area of the ROM.
-All the source code is laid bare in front of you, meaning you can change every single function that composes it. Something that you can't realistically do in binary hacking.
-Even working on simple sounding things like abilities or moves effects in binary hacking is seemingly a gigantic pain, but in the decomps, it's all quite easy to do.
-Thanks to Git, looking up specific things is pretty easy. There's this command called git grep that allows you to search specific words or sentences in the entire repository.

Cons:
-A slightly harder entry barrier. Mainly because it requires a bit more of set up than just "booting up a tool and modifying a ROM with it".
-It doesn't have as much content as Pokémon FireRed in binary hacking does (yet).

I've been using the decomps since... I don't know, the last quarter of 2018 I think? And after experiencing by myself how easy and painless changing anything in the code is even for someone who doesn't know about programming properly like me, I just don't want to go back to binary never again.
I can do many more things here than I could do in binary hacking, and it feels damn good.

Second i wanted to ask wich game would be better in wich ways? Emerald or Firered?

In binary hacking, FireRed is the superior option as it's the most supported one. It has C Injections like the CFRU and the DPE that greatly enhance the gameplay experience by adding in a bunch of modern Pokémon features.

In decomp hacking, all the options are virtually the same, but Pokeemerald is the most supported project out of the 3 that relate to the mainline GBA Pokémon games.
As you can see it has a wiki with a lot of useful guides on how to implement many basic features, and the Simple Modifications Directory of the Decomp & Disassembly Tutorials & Resources section of the forum mainly contains code that is created in and tested on Pokeemerald.