Emerald hack: Obsidian Emerald v1.4 Release [VGC/Doubles Challenge/QoL/Modernization Hack, Story Completed]

[Skolgrahd]

A PvE experience for VGC Fans
Hello Pokécommunity! This is my first post, and it's to tell you about my ROM hack, Pokémon Obsidian Emerald, made together with co-designer Speaker. We love the VGC format of competitive Pokémon, which pits players against each other in Double Battles. It has always been our opinion that 2v2 battles offer a much richer experience than singles. We have also been huge fans of difficulty/enhancement hacks for a long time. A little over a year ago, we began to wonder whether there were any ROM hacks that would offer a VGC fan like ourselves a fully Doubles experience that would force us to craft competitive teams with well-thought-out synergies to overcome powerful VGC-inspired opponents, all with a modernized battle engine and quality-of-life features. After a lot of searching, we came up empty, so we decided to make it happen! The result is Obsidian Emerald Version.

Obsidian Emerald Version is currently on v1.4, which has just released! We will continue to update the game, and have already implemented many community-suggested features, balance changes and more. Currently, the game is complete through defeating the Champion. The post-game will be updated in version 2.0, which Speaker and I will begin working towards soon!

To download the game, you can use this Google Drive link, which also contains a full Changelog and the documentation:

Pokemon Obsidian Emerald Version - Google Drive

drive.google.com

If you're up for it, please join our discord! We have a great community growing there, and would love to hear your suggestions, receive your bug reports, and see your Hall of Fame teams!

Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games

Discord is great for playing games and chilling with friends, or even building a worldwide community. Customize your own space to talk, play, and hang out.

discord.gg

Trailer (outdated):

Spoiler:

Editing by Ogshinokami, music by Dr. Pez

Screenshots:



Features:

Spoiler:

• All non-legendary, non-mythical Pokémon through Gen 8 and their evolutions are available
• Updated Gen 9 battle engine with modern abilities, moves, and typing
• The DexNav is fully implemented
• Every single trainer has a completely revamped party optimized for Double Battles, with Poképastes in the documentation's Master Sheet
• Mega Evolution returns with custom Mega forms for select Pokémon
• Minimal Grinding Mode sets EVs and IVs to 0 and 31, respectively, for all Pokémon
• Candy Mode allows access to an Infinite Candy that instantly takes Pokémon to the level cap
• Nuzlocke Mode enforces Hardcore Nuzlocke rules and causes the Hall of Fame screen to state that you completed a Nuzlocke Challenge
• The Pokédex+ displays the base stats, learnsets, abilities, evolution methods and more for all Pokémon
• The AI has received many Doubles-specific enhancements, and will continue to see improvement going forward
• All Gym Leaders have a unique field effect, heightening the difficulty and giving the feeling that you are challenging the leaders on their home turf
• To challenge a Gym, Pokemon League rules stipulate that the player must have no more Pokemon in their party than the Gym Leader does
• The monotony of traveling from town to town has been replaced with grueling gauntlets, forcing you to battle many trainers consecutively to reach your destination
• A hard level cap prevents overleveling and keeps the fights fair
• Retooling and customizing your team is streamlined with Exp. Candies, Vitamins, Nature Mints, Ability Capsules and Ability Patches and Feathers all available early on
• Moves can be relearned from the party menu
• Field moves like HMs can be used by any Pokemon that can learn them, regardless of whether they actually know the move

FAQ:

Spoiler:

• What emulator should I use?
  The game was developed and tested on a physical cartridge and on mGBA, so if you want to be 100% safe, use mGBA. You can run mGBA through Retroarch on mobile. Many other emulators have worked well for other players, with one major exception: Obsidian Emerald is not compatible with MyBoy!
  
  
• How do I download the game?
  Click on the Google Drive link above. There, you can download a .ups patch file. Apply this to a clean vanilla copy of Pokémon Emerald Version (USA/Europe) using your favorite patcher (mine is this one). The resulting .gba file will be the most recent version of Obsidian Emerald.
  
  
• Is there post-game content?
  As of now, there are a few secret fights in the post-game, but otherwise, there is no post-game content that has been altered from vanilla Emerald Version. The scope of our version 2.0 is to revamp the Battle Frontier and provide a replayable post-game experience.
  
  
• What Pokémon are in this hack?
  Pokémon up to Gen 8, along with evolutions of Pokémon from Gens 1-8 introduced in Gen 9, are obtainable, besides legendaries.
  
  
• How do I apply a new patch to my version of Obsidian Emerald?
  Repeat all of the steps you took to download the game, as if you'd never downloaded it before. Do not apply the patch to your version of Obsidian Emerald, apply it to a vanilla copy of Pokémon Emerald Version.
  
  
• Will my save file be okay after applying a new patch?
  Yes, hard in-game saves will always be okay with new patches unless otherwise noted in all caps and bold letters. As long as you rename the patched file so that it has the exact same file name as your old version of Obsidian Emerald, and you place it in the same location, your save files will be fine. Save states will always be corrupted when applying a new patch.
  
  
• Where is xxx item?
  All battle item, evolution item, TM/TR, and Mega Stone locations are detailed in the documentation. Click on the Google Drive link, choose the relevant tab of the spreadsheet and use ctrl+f to find what you're looking for.
  
  
• How does xxx evolve? When does yyy learn move zzz?
  All information about Pokémon evolution, level-up learnsets, egg moves, teachable moves, abilities, base stats, alternate forms and more is visible in the Pokédex. Click on any Pokémon in your party and choose the Pokédex+ option, then navigate to the relevant tab to get the information you want. Use A, START, and the D-pad to navigate within a Pokédex+ tab.
  
  
• How do I use the DexNav?
  Press L in the overworld after getting the Pokédex from Professor Birch.
  
  
• What does Minimal Grinding Mode do?
  Minimal Grinding mode sets all IVs to 31 and all EVs to 0 for all Pokémon.
  
  
• What does Candy Mode do?
  In Candy Mode, and NPC in Oldale Town will give you the Infinite Candy item, which instantly brings your Pokémon to the level cap.
  
  
• I brought my Pokémon to the level cap with the Infinite Candy, and now I can't evolve it since it cannot level up again. What do I do?
  Just use the Infinite Candy on any Pokémon that meets its level-up evolution requirement. It will trigger the evolution even if the Pokémon cannot level up.
  
  
• What does Nuzlocke Mode do, exactly?
  In Nuzlocke Mode, you will not be able to heal fainted Pokémon, and you will only be able to capture the first Pokémon you encounter on any given route. Eggs will not hatch if you have already encountered a Pokémon on a route, and if you hatch an egg on a route where you have not yet had an encounter, you will not be able to catch the wild Pokémon on that route. If you wipe in Nuzlocke mode, Nuzlockde mode is turned off. Becoming the Champion on Nuzlocke Mode results in Nuzlocke Mode being printed on your Hall of Fame screen, and screenshotting this and sharing in our Discord server gets you the prestigious Nuzlocke Champion role.
  
  
• Every time I leave Route 104, I have to fight the stupid youngster again. What gives?
  Route 104 is the first of many Gauntlets in Obsidian Emerald. These are sequences of trainers that must all be beaten without ever leaving the area, or else they will all reset. It is a feature of the game, not a bug!
  
  
• Can I buy healing items in any shops?
  No. Use them wisely.
  
  
• How do I turn on debug mode?
  You can't. There is a screenshot from the alpha test on Pokéharbour that is misleading people!
  
  
• How can I give feedback?
  Positive feedback is awesome and we love to hear it anywhere you like! If you have an idea for an improvement, we're most likely to see it quickly if you join our Discord and use ⁠#suggestions to let us know.
  
  
• I found a bug. Where should I report it?
  You can tell us here, or preferably, join our Discord and use #⁠bug-reports.

Many thanks to everyone who worked directly on or provided features for this project!
Contributers:

Spoiler:

• Skolgrahd and Speaker: Main creators, devs and designers for Obsidian Emerald
• pret: This project, and many others like it, would be impossible without the Pokémon Emerald Decomp/Disassembly project, pokeemerald. Thank you for your work!
• RHH: Likewise, the modernization of pokeemerald is due to the hard work of the team at the Rom Hacking Hideout. Thank you!
• IridescentMirage: Custom sprites
• Archie: Gen 5 Party Screen
• TheXaman: Pokédex+ (main dev), TM Case (main dev)
• RavePossum: Gen 5 Summary Screen (main dev), Pokédex+ (dark theme)
• Againsts: Gen 5 Summary Screen (tiles)
• Sphericalice: Gen 5 Summary Screen (grade sprites)
• Vexx: Gen 5 Summary Screen (move description formatting)
• Buffelsaft: Gen 5 Summary Screen (IV/EV viewing code)
• Dizzyegg: Gen 5 Summary Screen (nature color code)
• Zeturic: Gen 5 Summary Screen (wrapping)
• Greenphx9: Gen 5 Summary Screen (provided reference code)
• Ghoulslash: DexNav (base code)
• Pokabbie: Reference code for additional menus in party screen and overworld
• Winter, JustMonikaThings, Dathobbitfrodo, Rosalynn, CluelessLemon, Thunder, James Blackthorn, Rentoid: Playtesting
• Alex, Lunos, Griffin, RavePossum, Archie and AsparagusEduardo: Truly, thank you for answering the many questions I had over the course of the past year, no matter how silly. Engaging with a new ROM Hacker and sharing your love for this community has really allowed this project to become a reality for me. I really appreciate it.

 

[Traiges]

I love playing difficulty hacks, but spamming single battles tends to get monotonous very fast. This will take me out of my comfort zone for sure but I am hyped for it

 

[Corveone]

Thank you very much for this. There's a lot of features I love from what I'm reading

I'm doing a test run on the Nuzlocke mode, and I found something strange:




For some reason, the game allowed me to catch a second Pokémon on Route 102 (it locked me to one in 101 and 103), not sure if it's intended or the catch limit may glitch sometimes.

 

[Skolgrahd]

I love playing difficulty hacks, but spamming single battles tends to get monotonous very fast. This will take me out of my comfort zone for sure but I am hyped for it

love to hear it, i hope it's a fun change of pace!

 

[Skolgrahd]

Thank you very much for this. There's a lot of features I love from what I'm reading

I'm doing a test run on the Nuzlocke mode, and I found something strange:

View attachment 160097
View attachment 160098
View attachment 160099
For some reason, the game allowed me to catch a second Pokémon on Route 102 (it locked me to one in 101 and 103), not sure if it's intended or the catch limit may glitch sometimes.

Thanks for the heads up! We've noticed that sometimes this happens, and are working on nailing down the reason. If you think you have a guess as to any specific circumstances that cause it to happen, don't hesitate to reach out - discord is probably the fastest way, but I'll check this thread periodically too

Edit: This has been fixed, along with a few other minor bugs, namely:

• Static overworld encounters now properly count as an encounter (like Voltorb in New Mauvile)
• New Mauville and Mauville City now count as separate maps for purposes of Nuzlocke Mode
• Shiny odds for chaining with the DexNav were too low due to a bug; they are now correct and approximately twice as high for large chains

Thanks for letting us know and hope you have fun!

 

[Scizor31]

Hola buenas tardes me podrían ayudar en donde podría encontrar al tutor de movimientos que no sea recordardor y tutor de movimientos huevo a mi me encantan los combates dobles pero si no puedo enseñarle los movimientos que necesitan mis pokemon seria muy triste al grado de dejar de jugarlo, un simple soak en buizel, un simple relevo en woobat o malamar, en si me gustaria que todos los pokemon tengan acceso a todos sus movimientos originales que pueden aprender tanto nivel especiales y huevo de una manera fácil y cómoda, acceso al cambio de naturaleza favorable y sus mejoras IV y Evs creo que si un hack tiene acceso a esto no importa su historia ni sus gráficos amaremos este juego, ya que serían infinitas las estrategias que puedes armar con tus pokemon una simple limitante te hará dejar de jugar saludos espero su pronta respuesta y una nueva actualización mejorada!

 

[Skolgrahd]

Hola buenas tardes me podrían ayudar en donde podría encontrar al tutor de movimientos que no sea recordardor y tutor de movimientos huevo a mi me encantan los combates dobles pero si no puedo enseñarle los movimientos que necesitan mis pokemon seria muy triste al grado de dejar de jugarlo, un simple soak en buizel, un simple relevo en woobat o malamar, en si me gustaria que todos los pokemon tengan acceso a todos sus movimientos originales que pueden aprender tanto nivel especiales y huevo de una manera fácil y cómoda, acceso al cambio de naturaleza favorable y sus mejoras IV y Evs creo que si un hack tiene acceso a esto no importa su historia ni sus gráficos amaremos este juego, ya que serían infinitas las estrategias que puedes armar con tus pokemon una simple limitante te hará dejar de jugar saludos espero su pronta respuesta y una nueva actualización mejorada!

Hola, y muchas gracias para tu interés. Ya existen dos modos fáciles para enseñar a tus Pokémon movimientos huevo. El primero que se encuentra es simplemente usar el DexNav para encontrar Pokémon que ya tienen movimientos huevo. Si el Pokémon ya tiene un movimiento huevo, se puede verlo en la ventana pop-up. Más tarde en el juego, un hombre en Lilycove te dará un Mirror Herb, que se puede usar como en Scarlet y Violet para transferir movimientos huevo a un Pokémon que ya has capturado. Si no te gusta el trabajo monótono de IVs y EVs, puedes jugar con "Minimal Grinding Mode", o usar los "Battle Tents" (se encuentra el primero en Slateport) y las plumas que se encuentra en el suelo para hacer perfectas las estadísticas de tus Pokémon. Todos los PokéMarts venden mentas de naturaleza para fácilmente cambiar la naturaleza.

 

[Jtrobles21]

Will qwilfish evolve if I just use barb barrage since I can't use strong style like regular game?

 

[Jtrobles21]

Is Hisuain braviary possible?

 

[alricrahl]

breeder Isaac on Route 117, has the same exact Pokémon as Triathlete Maria. according to the excel, he should have Magbee and Electra buzz, but he has all flying types. My version is 1.4 and I downloaded it July 15, 2024

 

[psyner]

Discord link is broken.

 

[Mantine67]

Very interesting hack - just beat Flannery after 30+ resets. I caught every available mon up until this point, and crafted teams for each battle. However after seeing how difficult Flannery was, I'm definitely stopping here. I love the way this hack utilizes gauntlets, I just can't find the energy to continue knowing it only gets harder from here. In the end, the only thing that works is cheese & luck, praying minimize goes through & the opponent misses, or Rock Slide flinches... Anyway, fun concept! Maybe if there were more game modes to turn on/off (items in pokemart, items in battle, difficulty level, etc.) I'd continue playing. :) (Also DC link is broken!!)

 

[TheOneTruePokeFanatic]

Very interesting hack - just beat Flannery after 30+ resets. I caught every available mon up until this point, and crafted teams for each battle. However after seeing how difficult Flannery was, I'm definitely stopping here. I love the way this hack utilizes gauntlets, I just can't find the energy to continue knowing it only gets harder from here. In the end, the only thing that works is cheese & luck, praying minimize goes through & the opponent misses, or Rock Slide flinches... Anyway, fun concept! Maybe if there were more game modes to turn on/off (items in pokemart, items in battle, difficulty level, etc.) I'd continue playing. :) (Also DC link is broken!!)

these are the same issues I have with it and seeing it only gets WORSE makes me stop now instead of wasting my time bothering with it further. there's making it a challenge then there's this rubbish level rom hack

 

[Macaroon23]

these are the same issues I have with it and seeing it only gets WORSE makes me stop now instead of wasting my time bothering with it further. there's making it a challenge then there's this rubbish level rom hack

Have you tried getting good? Would've wasted less of your time if you hadn't "bothered" with trying a difficulty hack, then coming to this thread complaining that it's rubbish just because you suck at difficulty hacks

 

[trollsa]

Have you tried getting good? Would've wasted less of your time if you hadn't "bothered" with trying a difficulty hack, then coming to this thread complaining that it's rubbish just because you suck at difficulty hacks

"teh game iz teh suck" is not really workable feedback - but telling someone who isn't having fun to just "git gud" isn't going to lead to more people playing and enjoying this romhack either.

People not having fun with a romhack is valuable feedback for the hack creator. However, difficulty hacks have to be mindful of hitting the right sweet spot for it's difficulty to be enjoyable. If you only had a Togepi with Metronome and all trainers had legendaries, it'd be difficult too - but it probably wouldn't be fun.

Games like Run and Bun and the various Kaizo hacks are very difficult - but in a fair way. You generally have lots of tools at your disposal to solve the issues in front of you and you aren't always forced into getting specific pokemon to counter specific fights. Radical Red is probably the golden standard for a difficulty hack that is approachable for even casual players, whilst still being quite challenging.

However, when it starts veering into the territory of essentially requiring cheese strategies and luck, it stops being fun for a lot of people. I dont know if that's the exact case down the line but its what Mantine67 mentioned it in his comment. the concept of this hack is fun, but the execution is not. Someone getting better at the game is not going to solve the issue of the game not being fun to play for them.

Personally, I like the idea of this hack a lot, I think double battles are really fun and it challenges you in a completely different way than single battles do. But on the other hand, I really hate the whole gauntlet approach that Skolgrahd took - and that is why stopped playing this romhack really quickly.

Not all romhacks are going to be to everyones tastes, that's just the way subjectivity works. My own feedback for Skolgrahd would be to remove the gauntlet feature or at least make it optional - but on the other hand, that may stray too far off Skolgrahds vision with the hack. The gauntlet feature seems to be a main selling point and in that case, he better stick to it and refine it instead. The hack wouldn't be for me, but that's completely fine.

 

[gay bingus]

• All Gym Leaders have a unique field effect, heightening the difficulty and giving the feeling that you are challenging the leaders on their home turf

I hate when I'm playing VGC and fighting Wolfey Glick and he's allowed to use his iconic Incineroar as a bonus fifth Pokemon. Feels like there's a conflict here between 'VGC in-game' and 'difficulty enhanced at every turn.' Count me among the people wanting a little less gauntlet grind.