[Other] Looking For Starting Help!

[TheJZard]

So I'm looking to start a rom hack as a way to make use of my freetime as I feel it'd be fun. However i'm not sure where I should start? I've got the basic idea of the map and storyline figured out, its just in terms of development i'm not sure where I should start off? Thanks to anyone that can help me!

 

[naksile]

Hey TheJZard!

I'm pretty new to rom hacking as well, but these are the things I've been having fun with learning, so I'll just tell you where I started haha:

1). Get a good fire red rom, it seems like a lot of the tools for hacking are available for this game.
2). I started by trying to figure out how to make new pokemon. The hardest part of this step was figuring out how to use the Nameless Sprite program to work properly so I could insert new sprites in the place of originals. YAPE (yet another pokemon editor) is good for changing all their stats and movesets, types, names, etc.
3) then I started working on map editing. Make an NPC give me a pokeball, pokemon, etc. Start learning some of the XSE and Advance Map workflow so I can get NPCs to behave properly. A good example is I wanted an NPC to approach the player immediately after their first battle with their rival, have the NPC describe the rules of the nuzlocke challenge, and ask them if they want to play the game using those rules.
4). Level scripts are what I've been working on recently. Making it so a script loads every time the map is loaded. It's useful for me because I'm trying to make a Nuzlocke challenge rom so I need the fainted pokemon to be deleted.
5). Once you have all the tools and skills you need, it's time to make a working game!

That's kinda the flow I've been having for rom hacking pokemon and so far it's fun (except I still can't figure out how to properly implement an end-of-battle script...)

 

[Trev]

Hey! Welcome to the world of hacking!

The above advice is a bit problematic so ignore it. I'll give you a few steps.

1.) Get either a FireRed or Emerald ROM. These are the main options that people create tools, ASM, and features for. The other ROMs aren't as documented and don't have as many options. FireRed has more options and I prefer it over Emerald, but both have their ups-and-downs.
2.) You only really need a few things to make a hack. The main tools you will need are Advance Map v. 1.92, eXtreme Script Editor, Free Space Finder, and a hex editor (I prefer HxD). With these 4 tools, you can literally make your entire hack, and I'm completely serious about that. If you have a plot and some scripting knowledge, you can do just about anything with these tools (unless you want to implement unique features, which might require extra tools).
3.) For scripting help, diegoisawesome's tutorial and tajaros' tutorial are the best reference guides. You can literally script just about anything using these tutorials.
4.) If you want to find tools to use, head over to the Tools forum in the ROM Hacking section. Do not use YAPE - it's extremely outdated and there are far better tools for editing Pokemon. I personally recommend Gen 3 Tools, but you can also use Gen III Hacking Suite or Pokemon Game Editor.
5.) Always search before asking questions. Search using both Pokecommunity's search function and Google. Inevitably, you will find what you're looking for.

Good luck!

 

[Green Pidgeot]

A lot of it dependds on which ROM you're hacking.

If you have a plot and story-line you already have somethng to build around.

Other than that, posted this in response to a similar question, hopefully it's slightly helpful:

For maps you only need A-Map [a]nd stuff. There's a guide to that here:
https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=161616

You can edit and add dialogue in the script or in hex. Trainers can be edited [with tools or in hex. You might prefer trainer editors at first]. Scripting is more complex, here are some guides:

https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=279345 (Bascs.)
https://m.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/comments/vktsj/tutorial_1_xse_scripting? (Might be easier.)
https://pokeromhacks.freeforums.net/thread/22/scripting-introduction (Covers relation to hex, useful for hacking earlier games.)
https://pkmnromhacking.proboards.com/thread/187/xse-tutorial (Explains a simple script example.)

Other than that, you can also look for ASM info. That might be more difficult though. I would recommend scripting major events first so you know you cn do them, and avoid bugs! Good luck!