6th Gen Gates

[Ho-Oh]

Ever since the first generation we've had gates leading between two routes, as well as the Pokemon League, in some cases. In the original days they had no real purpose, other than giving some advice, blocking a certain route or allowing you to see through binoculars to see far away locations or Pokemon (which was awesome to imagine the actual places when younger!) In Generation 2 we even got to use the PC at two special gates, while in Generation 3 there weren't many :( However! In Generation 4 we got to see a map and finally in Generation 5 we got an awesome electrical billboard with swarms, city information and EVEN MORE! So with this in mind what do you think is in-store for this generation in terms of gates (now that they're classified as a ~separate area~)?? What would you like to see? A PC in every gate? What else? More human interaction? Or would you rather gates look like ACTUAL gates? Share yo thoughts!

 

[Correspondence]

Well..they're just gates so i wouldn't like anything too distracting other than them just being gates, the billboards in Gen V i really didn't use and i guess a PC in each gate would be nice for what Twilight Sky pointed out.Or It could be like the R/S/E games with little to no gates whatsoever which i did find better than having gates.

 

[Mark Kamill]

I personally would love if the gate sections become part of the victory road itself, each gate holding a type specific puzzle to it. It sounds stupid of course cause that's what the gyms are for, but would it be so bad to have an end game that reflects on your journey?

 

[Esper]

It would be nice if the gates could incorporate all those little things that you might, maybe, sometime, want to indulge in, but don't necessarily care to do. Like they could check how happy your Pokemon are (or friendly or whatever these new games are theoretically going to call it) and other small things that you normally have to fly off to some town to find that one NPC who can do that for you. That's all if they stay really prevalent. If they were uncommon it would make sense to give them more features, like healing your Pokemon and so on.

 

[Jake♫]

I feel like Gen 5's gates were pretty much ideal. They contained information that a gate like that in real life would hold. I wouldn't want to see much more added to them, otherwise they're going to start just being a mess. It's only a small space, how much can you REALLY put into it?

 

[SaniOKh]

Just a correction to the original post: gates had a use since Gen 1, but it was not so much to give the player something to do, it was above all for technical reasons. In Gen 1 and 2 at least, gates existed mostly between locations that used different tilesets (for those who don't know what it is: sets of terrain graphics in 2D games, like grass, houses, caves) , and they couldn't change tilesets while keeping the transitions between maps seamless. Basically, the gates were an excuse to unload the map, change the graphics to something slightly different and load it again.

And even in Gen 5, you sometimes had gates that were obviously needed to connect locations with completely different graphics (Route 4 comes to mind) or camera behavior (for example, Skyarrow Bridge and Castelia) . Even though it might seem that in Gen 5 they more or less gave up on trying to keep the transitions seamless, since we have outdoor maps with obvious edges, past which the camera wouldn't go and sudden door-type transitions occurring outside in Castelia and Nimbasa, the gates were out there to keep such very obvious transitions between maps few and far between. I think they'll return more or less in the same form in Gen 6 for the same purpose.

OK... I'm done being a nerd for now :) .

The electrical billboard from Gen 5 is great and really useful, so if there's one thing I want to keep from Gen 5, it's this.

A nice addition, IMHO would be a bulletin board where NPCs would post different announcements, so you would know what to do in the town you're going to, besides the obvious "heal Pokémon, fight Gym Leader" thing. For instance, something like "Bikes on sale. Miracle Bike" or "Will trade Jynx for Polywag. Old man in the house with the blue roof".

I also hope the binoculars from Gen 1 make a comeback, only now I want to be able to see what the character sees, not just read about it.

 

[Blue Emerald]

I also hope the binoculars from Gen 1 make a comeback, only now I want to be able to see what the character sees, not just read about it.

I was just thinking about this when the OP mentioned the binoculars; I'd almost forgotten about those from RBY.

I think the binoculars would be perfect for the 3DS: seeing wild Pokemon roaming about in the tall grass, or watching bird Pokemon fly across the route, all in 3D, and the gyro sensor would allow you to freely turn the binoculars. I could definitely see there being certain gates with an observation deck above them. It even sounds like something Game Freak would add to demonstrate what new features a Pokemon game can offer on the 3DS.

 

[Killjoy]

I actually liked generation 3, where there were no gates. It kinda gave it a more natural feel, and gave the illusion that the routes were longer than they really were

 

[Mark Kamill]

Oh, if we're talking about the route gates, then they shouldn't return. At least from the trailer, you can tell route 3, city, and then presumably route 4 are all on one map, and no gate seems to be there. If you can't tell what I'm talking about, the route 3 portion right before the city holds a route sign far into the distance. Only areas like the desert domes seem to be segmented as well from the trailer, so I do believe gen 5 was the last gate holder.

 

[Bluerang1]

I hate them! I find them slow annoyances. They should eliminate them.

 

[Cyclone]

I actually liked generation 3, where there were no gates. It kinda gave it a more natural feel, and gave the illusion that the routes were longer than they really were

It also limited the number of tiles that could be employed. I've seen them in AdvanceMap. Two tilesets per map, and going into gates allows one to lead a player into the next route with different tilesets assigned. Not having the gate means the new map isn't displayed properly.

Nowadays it wouldn't surprise me to see gates disappear. However, they were given a useful purpose at times in Gen. 5. Heading to Route 10, you learn of the new roaming storm Pokémon, as an example.

Cyclone

 

[vaporeon7]

I think if they did something like in gen V, than that'd be good. It'd be cool if the scrolling bilboards had more information, like sales or news headlines. Also I think it'd be cool if there were like signs that advertised things like Moo Moo Milk or Luxury Balls or stuff that changes every month.

 

[Mark Kamill]

As I said in my post, look in the distance, and there's a route signpost. Something tells me there isn't a gate between rout 3, the city, and route 4.

 

[Cyclone]

{Image Edited Out}
As I said in my post, look in the distance, and there's a route signpost. Something tells me there isn't a gate between rout 3, the city, and route 4.

Keep in mind this is basically a pre-release image. They can always stick in a gate if they put unique tiles in. Either that or put their caves into the story in various places that can make each visited area of map a unique area in terms of design.

Cyclone

 

[Mark Kamill]

Sure its a pre-release image, but the point still stands that route 3 city and route 4 are all on the same map, so as of now we have one a stretch of land as big as route 2 Straiton route 3 on our hands. While its not indicative of anything, I would like to assume this means the gates are not going to show up as much, and bar the desert and the equivalent of Castelia, its all one big map.

 

[Ho-Oh]

Well the gate could be behind that, I guess...? Like it could lead to Route 3, and it follows on from there through the gate, and the sign post is only indicative of which route it is.

 

[Mark Kamill]

Well then that's a really short route Forever.

 

[Cyclone]

The city could be a left turn off the route, and the signpost appearing just reminds you when you leave that you're still on Route 3. In this case, however, the city appears to stretch a bit and a new path is at the back.

The usage of the one-way jumps is interesting. Such a small indent is something one would be able to "climb" in real life. Yet somehow, we won't be able to when it's obvious we should. I think there'll be new tiling going on there.

Cyclone