Incredibly Stupid Question (How Do I Even Start)

[SuperRetroEx]

Bonk me if I'm in the wrong place.

I used to putz around with Pokemon Rom Hacking when I was in my teens. Suffice to say, I am not in my teens anymore, and rom hacking has come a long, long, long way since I last touched it. I still play hacks every once in a while, and since this is one of those whiles and I've been wanting to do creative things that aren't related to my job, because I do a lot of my creative job, putzing around with a romhack again sounds pretty good.

Problem 1) I have no idea what I'm doing anymore because it's been 10 years or more.

Problem 2) I am not a programmer, I am a writer and an artist but I am definitely not a programmer.

Basically, what are the available tools and resources I have to let me make a feature rich modern Emerald hack, with a new story and characters (Maybe add some spicy Pokemon variations in there), and is there a simple guide I can follow that is 2022 updated?

I know it's a lot to ask for, so feel free to make fun of me for a couple posts. I'm sorry I'm kind of a dingus and can't follow the like 400 tutorials in these forums alone, there's just a lot of information to absorb at once and I don't do so well without guidance of some sort.

Here's the bare bones of what I'm thinking about, without much detail since I might want to go in a complete different direction and I've only been thinking about this for a couple of weeks.

1 - Hoenn sequel, basically.
2 - New characters, new story, etc
3 - More pokemon (and other mechanical features, I think I've seen resources for just adding that, but I am starting from basically zero here.
4 - Revamped graphics overhaul? I've seen hacks using gen 4 sprites for characters and stuff, I have no idea how easy that is to implement. If there's already resources that can be used, I would also like to know.
5 - Slight map changes to show the passage of time and etc.

I don't want to revolutionize romhacking, I just wanna make something fun in my spare time whilst making use of my pre-existing skills.

Thanks in advance to anyone who's willing to help a total brickhead like me, I know you must get this sort of post all the time, and I appreciate y'all.

 

[Dev Deivy]

GBA ROMhacking is still the same as always imo, it's just that the average hackrom today is better than those of a decade ago due to some people's researchs. There is no 2022-updated guide for it, but this thread contains the basics and basic tools, and the basics are the only thing that matters. There are plenty of tutorials and patches to customize your ROM to your liking. You can also use a base rom to make your job a bit easier.

It's normal to feel confused at first, you'll get used to it. Good luck with your hack!​

 

[SuperRetroEx]

THANK YOU!

This is exactly what I needed, I just got overwhelmed with the sheer size of, well, everything.

By a base rom, you mean something like this, right? I saw that but I was unsure of how it was actually supposed to be used. So, I can just, say, apply that to a clean Emerald rom, and then use something like AdvanceMap on it?

 

[Dev Deivy]

Yep, that's it.​