[Idea] Pokemon: Condensed Dreams

[Nijiri]

Hello to anyone who reads this! Although if I haven't started development on this game, I'd like to get some feedback on the plot / characters I have here so far on a Pokemon Fan Game that I've thought about for some time (will edit in more information when I make more). If this isn't the place to post this then Mods, feel free to move this. I apologize of this idea/concept is so bad that it makes your retinas burn - it's my fault, really.

EDIT 12/26/2011: Added (somewhat) translated Japanese names to this. I'm not sure if it's correct either, but okay.
EDIT 12/28/2011: Added information on Professor Erebus, who gives you your Pokemon and guides you on how to use them. He's also a pretty strange fellow... Look down to find more.
EDIT 12/29/2011: Added some artwork (sort of) on Professor Erebus, including a sprite! I've also listed the jobs that I'm doing for the game.

11:02 AM:
So. I've planned this out for a long time. I'm going to add Dark themes to Pokemon: Condensed Dreams, and I'm not talking about Dark as in Darkness, I'm talking about Dark as in betrayal, horrible truths, and reality. I'm planning to make this a game with a little allegorical and serious side to it - which is why I don't recommend kids playing this if they aren't mature enough. Sure, there's definitely going to be comic relief! It's just that this game is based heavily around, like I said four times, Dark themes. Of course, I'm definitely including the Pokemon in Azea themselves to have a shady side of them as a whole - after all, this is a Pokemon fangame.

POKEMON: CONDENSED DREAMS

ポケットモンスター: 凝縮夢
Poketto Monsutaa: Gixyoushuku Yume

Welcome to the Utopian Region of Azea.

Azea is an island, known by its people not only because it yields plentiful harvests and resources from the earth (which makes up Azea's ridiculously booming economy), but approxamitely a hundred of its unique Pokemon which can be found nowhere but Azea - making this paradise surrounded by sea house many of the rarest Pokemon out there. Many fair kinds of Pokemon battles, contests, and other recreational activities are avaliable to you and your allies. It's miraculous to see that this stretch of habitable area is so far away from most of the outer-world's reach, which has been consumed by only chaos and corruption unlike here in Azea, where the abundant communities of people and Pokemon live together in perfect harmony in their entirety. It is the place of your dreams - to escape from the growing unruliness of this planet without having to worry about it ever again.

...But, in reality, is Azea really a perfect place?

People seemingly get their knowledge out of nowhere, but how? They are all equal in strength and potential; but of course still retain individual looks and personalities. Pokemon in Azea, unlike those in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova appear to be more tolerable - is this really just a natural trait that they all possess? Why isn't anyone permitted to leave beyond the wall that surrounds Azea except the government in which we barely know? There are so many inquiries about Azea that so many who read this topic can ask. All we know that Azea has some questionable concepts in their law and environment - so much that people from the other regions that somehow manage to stumble into Azea don't come back.
So you, the player and rising trainer, will answer these queries yourself.

Meet the Characters.

Male Protagonist: Lester McCage / Shitsukoi Zakendai (しつこい・ざけんだい)
Female Protagonist: Imelda McCage / Shitsukoi Nazemei (しつこい・なぜめい)
(Behind their Japanese names: "Shitsu" is used to silence someone in Japanese, or so I've read. "Koi" can mean "bad faith", so their family names can somehow mean "be quiet of your malevolence" or something like that in alien-Japanese lingo of sorts. For the boy's given name: "Zaken" is taken from the phrase "zakennayo" which means "don't mess around" (or replace mess with the F bomb; it works well too); which is a pun on how usually some of us people mess around in games when we have freetime or whatnot. "Dai" comes from "daibu" which means "a lot". Zakendai = don't mess around a lot? Anyways, for the girl: "Naze" means "why", while "mei" comes from "meiwaku", which means "bother". Nazemei = why even bother (again, another pun of us gaming in real life; where there's hidden secrets and extra stages or so, but some of us are too lazy to go after them.)?
~
A trainer that spent his/his whole entire life growing in Azea. Both at the age of fifteen, they are determined but newcomer Pokemon trainers who are focused on getting high ranks, like his/her mother and father, who too are competitive with their Pokemon. Although if he/she is one of the millions of people in Azea, they can't help but be curious of Azea itself and what the world outside of Azea's borders looks like. Their in-depth histories and gameplay names are up to you, the player, to write about, as these to-be-named trainers are your avatars...

Your Rival: Theodore Friedhelm / Nozoiwa Jinyuu (ノゾイワ・ジニュー)
(Behind his Japanese name: "Jin" can mean "compassion", "yuu" can mean "possession". His given name can mean "having compassion" in some sort of odd way. "Noizoi" is taken from "noizoite", which means "except", while "wa" can mean "I" or "me". His family name could mean "except me" in some strange form as well. I try to make his family name and given name, when put together as shown above, mean "I don't have compassion" or "Everyone has compassion except me". Yes, I used fusion without knowing it...)
~
A mysterious man who dresses like an officer. He doesn't look like he's from Azea at all, especially with that accent of his. He doesn't seem to appreciate Azea either - and asks loudly to people of his interest on what they think of Azea and if they think what they see really is as they seem to be. He appears to be serious in his beliefs and is cold to mostly everyone he meets. Under that unpredictable and irrational exterior may lie something different due to his vast knowledge of Azea and his attitude to Pokemon not native to Azea. This guy constantly appears during your travels and challenges you to a battle - not only to test your strength, but to question if you truly believe in Azea. Even though if he's nice enough to guide you on where you need to go sometimes, even I wonder what he gets out of you when he battles...

The Strangers: Wren & Raven / Sasagi & Jichou (ササギ & ジチョー)
(Behind their Japanese names: I keep this short - Sasagi can mean "winter wren" while Jichou can mean "raven".)
~
This duo of brother and sister appear to be very authoritative of others. They appear from time to time in cities to speak about their progress on Project "R.E.D.E.M.P.T.I.O.N", in which is said to purify the world outside of Azea and make it "clean enough for us Azeans to get out of this cramped island and populate the world". They are shown to have a dislike to other regions other than Azea. For some reason, one of the two (Wren or Raven, depending on the choices you choose) has taken an interest in the protagonist and wants him / her to assist in working on R.E.D.E.M.P.T.I.O.N. Sometimes, they appear constantly throughout your journey to challenge you to a battle to see how strong you are. The only things that you hear about them is that they're daughter and son of Azea's administrators and command two different sides of Armies - Wren is the leader of the Outlookers, while Raven is the leader of the Inlookers. This duo, despite their large statuses, like to keep themselves under a low profile for some reason. Nonetheless, it's up to you to find out whether or not their approaches are a blessing or a curse.

Wren is the older brother of Raven, but he is soft-spoken and stands firm in his beliefs, not caring about those with different opinions. He's much more mature than his younger sister and gives a certain level of respect to everyone - including you - until you agitate him enough. Unlike Raven, Wren tends to isolate himself from others and likes to work independently. He tends to get straight to the point and is said to specialize in defensive Pokemon. Rumor has it that Wren has minor Stockholm Syndrome... Raven, on the other hand, is the younger sister of Wren and is loud, making herself want to be heard. She is mischievous, joking around and tricking others when she has free time. Raven is a little proud of herself though and thinks she's a step ahead of everybody - even her brother - up to the point where she becomes rude to everyone that she doesn't like. When working, Raven tends to work in groups rather than being by herself without knowing that she can become too reliant on her team members. Even if she is childish, she stops to listen to what everyone says when it sounds important and takes mind to it. Raven specializes in offensive Pokemon. Rumors also say that Raven has some kind of Lima Syndrome, due to her releasing being seen her Pokemon after she catches them after a while being with them.

The Professor: Professor Erebus / ...Professor Erebus (教授エレバス)
~
A scientist who studies Pokemon and teaches newcomer trainers on how to handle one; also giving a starter Pokemon out for free whoever stops by his lab (which resides in your hometown). It seems nice of him to offer assistance to beginners; but it's evident that he doesn't really enjoy his job doing so. Unlike other Professors, this one likes to keep a low profile and has a somewhat eerie air around him. Because of the fact that Erebus has a rather eccentric yet cheerful personality and enigmatic attitude, scary stories and rumors have been circling around Professor Erebus and his way of dealing with things such as the leftover Pokemon that haven't been chosen by trainers. That's why most newbies, often times after they are lectured about Pokemon, don't come back to his lab. His sanity's always questioned by those daring because of his infamy around the town that he lives in; and people are looking for someone who's daring enough to find out if the gossip about Erebus is true.

ARTWORK:

Spoiler:

Professor Erebus head, plus a pixellated version of it.​

JOBS:
- I'm trying to do this independently (which means the artwork, plot, and programming will all be done by me). This would be an indie fangame of sorts - maybe I'm just pushing myself. I'm capable of handling a lot of things with this project; but that doesn't mean I'll reject those who'll lend a hand for me.



Again, like I said, I haven't started on working on the game at all - just planning the story and how it revolves. You won't expect to see any graphics such as banners, sprites, screenshots anytime soon. You might get to see some concept art, however. Please, no sticky fingers.

 

[Ratty524]

It's not a bad idea by any means, in fact it's something that is very unique. I question why you are including separate names for your main characters, though.

Do you have anything in mind as far as how this game will be played? Is it a typical Pokemon game where you go around and catch monsters, or is it something else?

 

[Nijiri]

It's not a bad idea by any means, in fact it's something that is very unique. I question why you are including separate names for your main characters, though.

Do you have anything in mind as far as how this game will be played? Is it a typical Pokemon game where you go around and catch monsters, or is it something else?

Thanks! For the names, I'm using first and last names (ex. Lester McCage is a full name). The reason why I added their Japenese names was only just for fun and an "iffy" if the game somehow gets translated into Japanese (that's just one in a million though).

I envision the game to be, yes, centered around catching and battling Pokemon. There can be some mini-games to spice up the game a bit; but I guess the only major thing that I would implement are choices (leading to alternate endings) and exploring (as in discovering new dungeons, etc). There might be more interactions you could do with Pokemon (like playing with them, etc.) and unique NPCs (such as your rival), like challenging him/her to minigames or just have a conversation to raise your friendship. The friendship sytem for people, I might include in the post later when I'm done doing my finals at school. The friendship system for Pokemon is almost the same thing as your Pokemon's friendliness towards you in most of the games.

Coding-wise, of course this wouldn't be easy to do, so I'm afraid that if I program the game then it wouldn't have any features that make this game "stand out" as much as the other fangames I see here have.

 

[Ayutac]

I like the idea. One point amused me especially:

"Theodore Friedheim[…] Pokemon not native to Azea."

Wonderful, you don't only have an annoying rival (who, maybe, always seems to be a step ahead of you), but he has Pokémon you won't even able to catch! Wonderful!

If you need any help, I would be glad to give you a hand. Scripting interests me the most.

 

[Nijiri]

I like the idea. One point amused me especially:

"Theodore Friedheim[…] Pokemon not native to Azea."

Wonderful, you don't only have an annoying rival (who, maybe, always seems to be a step ahead of you), but he has Pokémon you won't even able to catch! Wonderful!

If you need any help, I would be glad to give you a hand. Scripting interests me the most.

No offense, but where in earth did you get the idea that Theodore uses Pokemon that aren't native to Azea? I didn't say that he's going to use Pokemon from outside regions. Maybe post-main-scenario, he's going to use Pokemon outside of Azea. There's a reason why even though if Theodore looks like he came from the outside regions, he uses Pokemon that's native to Azea. XD;

Anyways, thanks for the offer and the comment on my project. I'll be sure to contact you once I need help.

 

[Ayutac]

No offense, but where in earth did you get the idea that Theodore uses Pokemon that aren't native to Azea?

The start sounds funny :D

//EDIT: Yes I somehow got it as you where speaking about his Pokémon instead of his attitude to Pokemon in general. Would have been funny through.

 

[Nijiri]

The start sounds funny :D

//EDIT: Yes I somehow got it as you where speaking about his Pokémon instead of his attitude to Pokemon in general. Would have been funny through.

...Oh. Well then, I guess that can be understandable.

I'm thinking about giving Theodore just one or two Pokemon outside the region of Azea by default, but I don't want to get him too much hate factor.

Late post is late.

 

[Pharetra]

I really like the way you described the characters, your description is very detailed and your story is decent too. It's pretty impressive: I look forward to future developments.

I'm thinking about giving Theodore just one or two Pokemon outside the region of Azea by default, but I don't want to get him too much hate factor.

I'd open a poll with this question: I think a rival with a big hate-factor would add something to your game, as the player develops a hate towards the rival, and that'd make for a better RPG game.

 

[Nijiri]

I really like the way you described the characters, your description is very detailed and your story is decent too. It's pretty impressive: I look forward to future developments.

I'd open a poll with this question: I think a rival with a big hate-factor would add something to your game, as the player develops a hate towards the rival, and that'd make for a better RPG game.

I appreciate your comment on the story and character descriptions!

Yes, I can see a rival would be a nice addition to the game, but I'd like to say something about hating your rival. I'm not disagreeing with you (as a matter of fact, many people find rivals annoying anyways), but I want the player to develop mixed feelings for Theodore. I want him to be a "different" rival who, in your own accord, can hate in-game. I've also developed an option to like Theodore as well. I want Theodore to at least have his story told before anyone gets bad impressions of him as a whole throughout the player's experience playing the game and I'd like Theodore to be dynamic in a way for people to get a few second opinions on him. Note that again, this isn't meant to be an objection to what you've said.

...Maybe that whole thing I've said about Theodore sounds like gibberish; but that's why I don't want to just make Theodore someone who gets up in your face and spits in your face just for a battle. I want him to be way more developed as a human rather than an annoyance. I'm aiming to find a way to do that. I'm not saying that I'm going to be mad at people bashing my character - go hate him if they want; I don't control their opinion on things.

...Ack, I really am speaking gibberish somehow, am I? I hope I didn't spark a debate with this, I didn't mean to... ;_;

 

[geoisevil]

hey if you need a fakemon spriter im pretty good and would love to help pm me if your interested and I can show you some examples of my work but I need a visual of the fakemon designs as i i need teaigb the fakemon for myself id use them for my own region so if u can provide a visual such as lineart or a drawing and i can sprite them to ay size you need

 

[Nijiri]

hey if you need a fakemon spriter im pretty good and would love to help pm me if your interested and I can show you some examples of my work but I need a visual of the fakemon designs as i i need teaigb the fakemon for myself id use them for my own region so if u can provide a visual such as lineart or a drawing and i can sprite them to ay size you need

...Er, thanks for the offer! It's nice to see someone who's confident in their works!

However, I've planned to do the spriting myself most of the time - it provides a good challenge and art practice for me when it comes to designing and making creatures. If I do need help, then it's good to know who I could call. c:

EDIT: Wow, I feel flattered now that I have someone with one post who's interested in this.

 

[geoisevil]

well its cuz i just made an account although ive been browsing through this site for a while and have many projects im interested in but i want to take part in a begginer project thaat has fakemon in it to practice and refine my art skills on deviantart ive done sprites for a few people for the same reason and im only saying im pretty good because thats what theyve told me anyways yah lemme know if u need sprite help.

 

[Nijiri]

well its cuz i just made an account although ive been browsing through this site for a while and have many projects im interested in but i want to take part in a begginer project thaat has fakemon in it to practice and refine my art skills on deviantart ive done sprites for a few people for the same reason and im only saying im pretty good because thats what theyve told me anyways yah lemme know if u need sprite help.

Oh well. Thank you again. I guess it wouldn't hurt to look at some examples... PM'ed you.

EDIT 1/2/2012:
Hello to those who still have interest in this topic - I have a favor to ask of you guys!

This is one of the fakemon who's going to be in the game. It's a legendary Pokemon, and its name is Ragnatio.
Its design is (mostly) set in stone; the only thing that I desire is a color palette to use for this guy. Don't mind the red extensions on it though - it's just a reference for me to see that the details are in different layers. I'm going to ask the audience - what color do you think Ragnatio would look in best?

 

[geoisevil]

sorry but that doesnt like a very pokemony design although it is well sprited so far, but i suppose your designs dont have to be pokemony because they arent pokemon they're yours :P anyways for pallete choice it looks like maybe grays and blues would look best for the design

 

[Ayutac]

Obvious "What do Pokémon look like" question

Oh look, you silently edited your post :D

You may double post if you are the thread creator, provided that your latest post contains updates to your project.

(via)

The Pokemon reminds me a bit of Cirno. So, you mean the red lines are not existent in the end? Opposing geoisevil I would say of all colours you shouldn't use blue and grey, because I think then it would look too similiar to Lucario or Mightyena. But that's personal taste as well as I would like to see it in some warm red (through not as intensive as Groudon). And generally, I would base it on it's type and also would like to see it two-coloured, mostly blue and white, even if these colours may remind people to Manectric, Minum or Lanturn (mostly Manectric). Personal taste, after all.

EDIT: Don't forget shadowing ;)

 

[Rayziken 2]

I love the concept of this game and the ability to have alternate endings. I played through a game that had alternate endings and I've still only got the first one I unlocked completed.

 

[Nijiri]

sorry but that doesnt like a very pokemony design although it is well sprited so far, but i suppose your designs dont have to be pokemony because they arent pokemon they're yours :P anyways for pallete choice it looks like maybe grays and blues would look best for the design

Yes, I knew a comment like this was coming. ;;
I planned the designs to have a bit more serious tinge to it - I'm not sure all Pokemon designs that I do would be the ones that Ken Sugimori would think of, but I'm new to Fakemon designs. Not that I'm trying to avoid judgement though. For your color opinion; I like it, but I think it's rather opposing of its typing (see my reply to Ayutac below).

Obvious "What do Pokémon look like" question

Oh look, you silently edited your post :D
(via)

The Pokemon reminds me a bit of Cirno. So, you mean the red lines are not existent in the end? Opposing geoisevil I would say of all colours you shouldn't use blue and grey, because I think then it would look too similiar to Lucario or Mightyena. But that's personal taste as well as I would like to see it in some warm red (through not as intensive as Groudon). And generally, I would base it on it's type and also would like to see it two-coloured, mostly blue and white, even if these colours may remind people to Manectric, Minum or Lanturn (mostly Manectric). Personal taste, after all.

How is that a "What do Pokemon look like" question? It's more like a "What do Fan-made Pokemon look like" in my opinion.

Well then, thanks for telling me about this. And yes, in fact, I did silently edit my post! Oh em gee! ...I just didn't know about the double posting (plus I was a bit cautious of double posting, so I just decided to edit my post).

Whoa, I never knew that the Pokemon looked like Cirno. Now that I compare the two, they look oddly alike... I never even realized this much - I was actually trying to base it off a cathedral of sorts. And no, the red lines do exist; I'm just saying that the lines are red because they represent different parts (and layers) of the Pokemon. It's just all Paint Tool SAI stuff; I'll recolor the red lines once I have its color set in stone as well.

Anyways, for the colors, I appreciate your opinion. I guess I failed on the whole bat persona, didn't I (that's what I tried to do for Ragnatio.)? I'd like to color it Blue / White as well - but Ragnatio is Dark / Flying (since there's already too much Dragon legendaries anyways). I'm letting it use Ice-Type moves to cover its weaknesses, but that's probably the only thing that's "icy" related to Ragnatio. I apologize to those who didn't know its typing until now. I'm still taking opinions, though.

I love the concept of this game and the ability to have alternate endings. I played through a game that had alternate endings and I've still only got the first one I unlocked completed.

Hooray for positive feedback! Thank you. Right now I'm just thinking of how I'm going to implement the alternate endings to the epilogue (you know, after you complete the game, etc).

...So, any more opinions on my failmon?

 

[Riansky]

I'm loving the idea and the way you described everything. You could probably add some important features to the first post also

 

[Cilerba]

Ideas go in the Beginner's Showcase as well, so you may want to post it there.