FireRed hack: [HotM October 2009] Pokémon ToxicPurple (Team Rocket hack)

[ckret2]

NOTICE! First Alpha is POSTED!
Info at bottom!

Pokémon ToxicPurple

Intro stuff
Enter ckret2, another beginner to ROM hacking with a big idea and little
experience. Much progress is being made, though! I can even script now, oh
boy. I'll admit right here that the inspiration for this hack was Rocket's
Revenge, although I'm certainly not trying to copy it; I discovered the hack
after it was long canceled, and all I really know about it is the basic info
included in its first post, and the YouTube video of the first few minutes of
gameplay. Mine isn't anything like Rocket's Revenge. Although it is Team
Rocket centric. And I should probably move into the story now.

Storyline
Congratulations, you've just graduated from Team Rocket's boot camp and are
ready to get your own Pokémon and start wreaking havoc! You and your
partner are being sent to the hidden Rocket base in Saffron City, where you
will get your first assignment to go to Lavender Town. Don't bother trying to go
to any other city: all the other security guards are on the look-out for Rockets
and won't let you through. We've bribed off the East Gate guard, though...

You'll be involved in all of Team Rocket's most impressive schemes. Poaching
Cubone in Pokémon Tower is only the beginning. You'll be helping Team Rocket
as it slowly moves towards its ultimate goal: Taking over Silph Co. and, after
that, Kanto. There will be some kinks in the plan, of course. There's this twerp
named Red who seems to show up on the scene just after you leave, undoing
all of Team Rocket's hard work. There's a rookie Officer named Jenny who just
won't leave you alone. There's the constant threat that Mewtwo might come
back from his self-imposed exile to wreak havoc. And then, then there's the
fact that Team Rocket is about to break up for three years.

Three years into the future, you'll be involved in the effort to bring Team
Rocket back from an undeserved defeat: cutting off Slowpoke tails, taking the
Radio Tower director hostage, rigging up complicated radio signals, searching
for your missing boss, the works. But Red's example has spawned more
ambitious young twerps, and the glorious comeback won't last long. Team
Rocket will fall a second time.

Its third incarnation will be all up to you...

Main Characters

The two on the left are the male and female Players; the one on the right is
the Rival. They've actually been slightly edited, but I don't feel like posting the
edits right now. Only the female has a full set of walking frames; the male and
rival are all done except for the left/right walking frames. The Player
(whichever gender you decide to be) has a default name of Corey (which is
conveniently unisex), and the rival is named Leone, because I've been reading
too much Godfather and Team Rocket reminds me of the Mafia. Corey is
a kid from Mahogany Town whose family has a history in organized crime,
although you don't meet the parents for over half the game; he/she got
recruited quite easily while traveling Kanto and hearing the pitch from the
Nugget Bridge Grunt. Leone grew up in Cerulean City, so he's actually known
that Grunt for several years and signed up for Team Rocket as soon as they
would let him. Corey and Leone went through training together and thus are
now partners upon graduation.

Screenshots and Videos
Apparently, on some computers/browsers (or, for all I know, all of them), the
new spoilers act funky. If there's one on a page, any subsequent spoilers on
the same page don't work. So, for the time being, I'm putting all screenshots
and videos into one spoiler, so that nobody will have a problem with the
spoiler.

Spoiler:

A bunch of new Grunts, lining up to get their starter. (Your
partner/Rival is up at the top.)


And the exciting starter is...

... darn.

Various interior images of various rooms:

(And yes, that is a Nurse Joy giving the all-your-Pokémon-fainted speech. Right
now, you cannot be taken to the Saffron Pokémon Center at all when all your
Pokémon faint, but you can go back to the Rocket Base. When I start putting in
more Rocket Operatives, the same will be true for all towns.)

Exterior, featuring the oh-so-brilliant place where Team Rocket decided to stick
their "hidden" base:

Yep, we've got a video! Here's a video of the first few minutes of gameplay.
Including the "how to use a GBA" tutorial, because I found it amusing. The
video unfortunately doesn't have sound, because my recorder doesn't do sound,
for some utterly insane reason. The Oak, NidoranF, Hero(ine), and Rival sprites
in the intro haven't been changed yet, nor have the Hero(ine) backsprites, and
the Rival's OW isn't 100 percent finished yet, which is why when he's walking
right/left he'll sometimes randomly change into an orange haired Gary. Other
than that, though, this is pretty much the whole intro vid.

Features

• Custom sprites (including overworld), new story, new plot, Johto access,
  new characters in addition to old ones and a few animé ones (no, you aren't
  playing as Jessie and James...). All Kanto and Johto Pokémon available, no
  plans at this point to include Hoenn or Sinnoh Pokémon.
• New starters, naturally. Not a hundred
  percent sure what they'll be yet. Not Ekans, Koffing, and Meowth, though.
  Seriously, you're a Grunt. You might be getting the wonderful choices of
  Rattata, Rattata, and Rattata. I repeat: you're a Grunt. It'll inspire you to go
  get better Pokémon.
• Like I said, this was inspired by Rocket's Revenge, and so (with permission
  from EarthsVisitor) PokéCenters won't heal your
  Pokémon, and most of the time when you enter a house the
  homeowners will battle you.
• Stealing Pokémon and smaller team sizes. These two tie into each
  other. Sometimes, after a battle, the poor loser you beat will be forced to give
  you his or her Pokémon. Unfortunately, if you don't have an open space in your
  party, you can't accept the Pokémon, and you'll never have another opportunity
  to accept it. So, you can have a full team of six, but if you want to do
  your job as a Rocket, you'd better keep your team size small.
• No gym challenge. You'll have to do other
  things if you want to get promotions, but so far the only gym leader you'll be
  battling is Sabrina. Like she's going to let Team Rocket take over her city and
  lock her up in her own gym without a fight. Other Super Epic Fun Battles
  include beating up an innocent mother Marowak (who somehow, despite all
  rules of evolution, is level 10... Hey, she's the first Epic Battle of the game, I
  did what I could), a pack of wild Starters in the East-West Underground Tunnel
  who hate your guts for some yet-to-be-disclosed reason, and a bunch of lousy
  Viridian kids who attempt to take over the Gym while Giovanni is away.
• A whole bunch of rivals. Mostly mini-
  rivals, I suppose. (Kinda like Wally.) First there's your own partner (your
  official rival) who loves challenging you to show off his newest steal, but then
  there's also Red in Kanto, and Kris in Johto, as well as Jenny. Plus (not a true
  "rival" but still...) Mewtwo's newest hobby is collecting trainer underlings--
  willing or not--and bothering Rockets with them.
• No HM slaves! Every single HM needed in
  ToxicPurple will be made available through Key Items. No Cut, no Surf, no
  Strength, no Rock Smash, no Waterfall. Definitely, definitely no Flash. And now
  I've actually figured out HOW to script all these things, so we're completely
  good to go on an HM-free game. However, for people who really liked Surf,
  that HM will still be available if you just want to teach it to your Pokémon.
  It won't be necessary, though, since you'll have a raft already.

Those are the biggest features I can think of now. I've got other ideas, but the
most important detail about all of the above is that I actually have good ideas
for how I'm going to do them. I could also barrage you with a
bunch of tiny details for particular characters and particular encounters and so
on, but that wouldn't be interesting for long.

The Team (so far)
Assuming I didn't forget anyone. :P

• ckret2: leader, scripter, most-of-the-time mapper, OW/Trainer spriter... er... storyliner? Sure, let's call it that.
• Disturbed: mapper
• The warden: mapper
• Zanny77: item spriter
• Surf: level scripter (eventually)
• TombolaMan: part-time storyliner
• Ricchan (not on PC): part-time storyliner and muse extraordinaire
• Vrai: the guy who made the first awesome support bar.
• flyin_hawaiian: the guy who made the second awesome support bar.
• Fail-Z: the guy who made the third awesome support bar. Speaking of which...

Support
In case you want to announce your every-lasting love for this hack in your
signature. Or something like that. We've got two so far.

Vrai's support bar:

[url*=https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=167323][img*]https://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp351/Vrai_2/toxicpurpleuserbar.png[/img*][/url*]
Don't forget to remove the asterisks.. :D

flyin_hawaiian's support bar:

[url*=https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=167323][*IMG]https://i44.tinypic.com/2iw7fab.png[/IMG*][/url*]
Like Vrai said, remember to remove the asterisks.

Fail-Z's support bar:

[url*=https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=167323][*IMG]https://img44.imageshack.us/img44/1258/userbarfortox.png[/IMG*][/url*]
Again, please remove asterisks before using.

my support bar:

[url*=https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=167323][img*]https://i44.tinypic.com/15zjd5h.jpg[/img*][/url*]
I'm sure you guys remember the asterisks by now, right?

Awards
Isn't it nifty? It's even got a Rattata. An epic Rattata, I'm sure.

And some other stuff
Since I can't find any other place to mention this: it's a FireRed hack, currently.
Because I like having Kanto made for me.

This game USED to have a temporary title of Violet. For all of eight minutes.
It's now called ToxicPurple, but that name is also liable and likely to change in
the near future. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them.

I've reformatted this page, mainly by randomly hitting "return," because
apparently on some of PC's layouts each paragraph turns into just one long line
if I don't do that. If it looks funky on anybody else's screen, let me know, and
I'll look for another work-around. Too bad PC doesn't just let me make a
table...

Feedback appreciated!
Lemme know what you think. Any opinions, suggestions, advice on any and all
aspects of the hack would be appreciated. Thank you!

—————

ToxicPurple Alpha 1 available!!

Features:

• Receive an epic Rattata!!
• Steal your first Pokémon
• Play entirely through your first mission: dealing with a Marowak...
• Receive the Big Machete and mutilate those pesky trees!
• Battle a bunch of re-leveled trainers
• Attempt to figure out whether or not the dialogue has been changed on said
  trainers. (Usually it has, if only slightly.)
• Talk to a bunch of NPCs, just to say you did.
• Wonder why that Channeler has a Bellsprout.
• Wonder how a Meowth can play cards.
• Wonder why you need a Silph Scope to see Zubat and Cubone.
• AND MORE!!

Actually, that's about it. But what are you expecting from the first alpha, a
Mew egg?

"Bugs":
With "bugs" in quotes because none of them are actually "bugs," just stuff I
haven't gotten around to changing yet.
Expect these to be fixed in the next alpha:

• If you go into the Lavender Town Pokémon Center and then faint
  without visiting the Saffron Base, you'll go back to the Lavender Center.
  But Nurse Joy still gives Nurse Woe's speech. This won't take long to fix, I just
  haven't yet.
• It is possible to "beat" the Marowak by running away from it. Yeah.
  Kinda lame. I'm trusting you guys not to pull a stunt like that while I find a way
  to fix this. I've got one guaranteed-but-silly way to fix this (make it a ghost),
  and one iffy-but-cooler way to fix this (an experimental piece of code that I
  can't find an explanation for, but looks promising. We'll see).
• The start screen hasn't been changed, and all the sprites from the
  welcome-to-the-game-speech haven't been changed. They will be
  eventually.
• You can go into the Fighting Dojo and the Saffron Gym and fight
  trainers. I wouldn't recommend it, though. And the motivational speaker in
  Sabrina's Gym will try to talk you out of it. I know what I'm going to do to
  keep you from fighting the gym and dojo, but haven't written those scripts yet.
• There's a... a fence at the bottom of Lavender Town. I couldn't think
  of a better way to block it off. I'll come up with something before the next
  alpha.
• There's an officer north of Lavender Town with a "thirsty guard"
  script. It's a temporary substitute for what will be a REAL script later.
• No homeowners battle you yet... Alas! I just haven't scripted their
  battles yet, don't worry. They'll battle you soon enough.

And after all the bugs, I've probably scared you off, hah. Anyway, enjoy, and
let me know what you think--particularly on trainer levels, I dunno if they're
too hard or too easy. (I do know that at least one of the Bikers on Route 8 is
going to be a real nuisance to beat; I upped his AI a little and gave his
Pokémon some odd movesets.) Post any questions or comments or critique or
whatever here.

Enjoy!

 

[myfavouriteax]

This sounds pretty amazing! I never played Rockets Revenge, or any other hack, really. (with the exception of Shiny Gold, of course). This does sound great though. I like the idea of entering houses and battling people inside.

 

[Surf]

Unfortuatly Gamegeek's team hack is called Pokemon Violet
could you please change it?
Anyway this sounds seriously EPIC
I wish you good luck with this hack!

 

[ckret2]

This sounds pretty amazing! I never played Rockets Revenge, or any other hack, really. (with the exception of Shiny Gold, of course). This does sound great though. I like the idea of entering houses and battling people inside.

Thank you! The entering-houses-and-battling-people idea is going to be a fairly important element, actually. Without the ability to go to PokéCenters, the player will need to find a person in each city who's working undercover for Team Rocket, and most of the time that person will be living in a normal house. This necessitates going into a bunch of houses looking for the undercover Rocket. Bad news for any players who desperately need to heal right when they come to a new town and don't know where their ally is living yet.

Unfortuatly Gamegeek's team hack is called Pokemon Violet
could you please change it?
Anyway this sounds seriously EPIC
I wish you good luck with this hack!

Somehow I didn't think I was lucky enough that no one had used Violet yet. Thanks for the info, I was planning on changing the title anyway; this'll be more inspiration, and I'll edit the title as soon as I can think up another half-decent fill-in.

Was there a thread somewhere that had a list of potential hack titles and ones that had already been taken?

 

[myfavouriteax]

WHOA! God DAMN, this sounds absolutely amazing!! I can't wait for updates!

 

[Surf]

Thank you that is much apreciated.

 

[Cartmic]

Unfortuatly Gamegeek's team hack is called Pokemon Violet
could you please change it?
Anyway this sounds seriously EPIC
I wish you good luck with this hack!

Actually my game is called Pokemon Violet :P and has been just after I started it in 2003/4.

https://twilight-hacking.darkbb.com/idea-discussion-f5/pokemon-violet-t60.htm

https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/129361

 

[ckret2]

Actually my game is called Pokemon Violet :P and has been just after I started it in 2003/4.

https://twilight-hacking.darkbb.com/idea-discussion-f5/pokemon-violet-t60.htm

https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/129361

XD Looks like Pokémon Violet is a popular title. Glad I changed mine, then. (Even if the title of the thread doesn't reflect that, sigh...)

BTW, good luck on your hack! It looks pretty neat.

 

[The warden]

I realy like the idea of this and hope it goes well. I had some ideas once my self for a rocket hack and if you want any help with the hack just ask me.

 

[ckret2]

I realy like the idea of this and hope it goes well. I had some ideas once my self for a rocket hack and if you want any help with the hack just ask me.

Any help and ideas are welcome at this point! What can you do?

 

[vash0light]

mind if im a bate tester this ame sounds like fun I have allways wanted to be on team rocket or magma looks like im gonna be a rocket runt lol

 

[ckret2]

mind if im a bate tester this ame sounds like fun I have allways wanted to be on team rocket or magma looks like im gonna be a rocket runt lol

Hm, at this point I'm mainly planning to release ToxicPurple publicly when the first beta's ready, so you'll definitely be able to get it then. But if I want some people to beta it before releasing the public beta, I'll be sure to keep you in mind. I've never done this before, so we'll just have to see how it works out!

 

[monobi]

Wow, sounds great! I was hoping there would be a team rocket version rom. Found a few, but this sounds like it could be the best of them.
Loving the idea of recieving pokemon after battles.
Maybe like the pokedex system, you couldbe judged on different pokemon captured. That could be a badge route?
Just spewing ideas in hope that i help...
Very nice. Keep going!

 

[ckret2]

Maybe like the pokedex system, you couldbe judged on different pokemon captured. That could be a badge route?

Hmm! There's an idea. You get rewarded based on which Pokémon you catch... I'll keep that in mind. Maybe you can trade Pokémon for certain goods within Team Rocket. Two Dratini if you want a bike, something like that.

I've actually got a "badge" system worked out already: you'll get promotions for finishing particular missions. But I've yet to decide exactly what each of those missions will be. I've got three completely planned out, maybe the fourth, and a bunch of side-events and ideas that could evolve into missions.

 

[vash0light]

Hm, at this point I'm mainly planning to release ToxicPurple publicly when the first beta's ready, so you'll definitely be able to get it then. But if I want some people to beta it before releasing the public beta, I'll be sure to keep you in mind. I've never done this before, so we'll just have to see how it works out!

Thanks! Can't wait for the ame to be done.

 

[machomuu]

ckret, this is this best noob idea I've seen in a while, the story and hack are well thought out, some impossible features made possible, good luck.

 

[monobi]

My hack is under development and i haven't any work to do for a while.
I'll help sprite if you need any.
For examples and stuff, got to my profile, then albums.

 

[fortunato]

Hey dude, looks like you got a cool hack, but I was thinking about naming my hack Pokemon Purple. Would you mind? :lol: My hack would be totally unlike yours, don't worry.

 

[ckret2]

ckret, this is this best noob idea I've seen in a while, the story and hack are well thought out, some impossible features made possible, good luck.

Thank you! And I've got even more of the story developed now than what's shown up above. Complete with how to do it, since I've now got the basics of scripting down.

My hack is under development and i haven't any work to do for a while.
I'll help sprite if you need any.
For examples and stuff, got to my profile, then albums.

Hey, thanks, I appreciate the offer. Is there any chance you could do a young-ish Officer Jenny and a slightly-possessed-looking Nurse Joy? Jenny's going to be a mini-rival and Joy is going to be a one-time battle.

Hey dude, looks like you got a cool hack, but I was thinking about naming my hack Pokemon Purple. Would you mind? :lol: My hack would be totally unlike yours, don't worry.

Thanks, and it's not a problem if you want to use Purple. The only danger might be that someone else has used Purple. I expect that name's been snatched up some time ago, which is why I went with a variation. I see in your thread you went with Indigo; you probably want to check, but there's a good chance someone's taken that, too. There are quite a few hacks out there and only so many colors.

 

[ckret2]

(In the Progressing Hacks forum, it says that the thread owner is allowed to double-post if introducing new features; does that apply to the Scrapbox forum, too? If not, then I'm sorry for the double post and feel free to delete it.)

I've done some of the OW sprites: specifically, for the male and female Player, and for the Rival. I haven't done the jogging frames for the Player OWs, and only the front and back are finished on the male Player and the Rival, while the female Player has the full set of walking frames. I'm only displaying the front view of each, though, to reduce the likelihood of sprite theft. :P I'll also be editing the first post to include the OWs, but here they are:

They are tentatively named Charles, Lucky, and Salvatore, after Charles "Lucky" Luciano, born Salvatore Lucania. He was a powerful Sicilian mobster, so I thought it'd be appropriate to name some Rockets after him. Of course, the player can change their names, but those are the defaults.

Also, I've got a few maps for the interior of hidden Saffron Rocket base finished (it's in the trees just southeast of Sabrina's gym), so I'll put up screenshots soon, after I add some scripts.