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Hack Series: Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Repolished - a light, 'adjusted difficulty'/Vanilla+ hack of OR/AS

DynamoKota

DynamoKota

  • Yellow Heart Poké Ball Great Ball
    • 33
    Posts
    3
    Years
    Hey again!
    Back in August of 2022, I posted a thread here on PokéCommunity of my light X/Y hack known as 'X/Y Rebirth', which was focused on making those games a little bit harder (without going overboard), almost like Black 2/White 2's Challenge Mode, but for X/Y.
    Now that Rebirth is more-or-less complete (apart from occasional bug fixes when I'm notified of them), I began working on a similar hack for OR/AS.

    Now, I don't think OR/AS were quite in need of this type of hack compared to X/Y, but I can't deny that some of the choices made in terms of trainers' teams were underwhelming, to say the least (such as Wattson and Liza/Tate's teams, low AI on the rivals, too many trainers with one single Pokemon, etc.).



    Major changes can be found in the changelog, but to summarize:
    • Most major trainers have had overhauls (Gym Leaders, Rivals, Team Magma/Aqua Admins & Bosses, Elite Four, Champion, and Zinnia), with new moves, abilities, held items, high IVs, etc.
    • Regular trainers around the region are a little closer to Emerald in terms of the amount of Pokémon they use, so now there a lot more trainers that use 3+ Pokémon!
    • Trade evolutions are mostly removed. A few can still evolve via trade but have received an alternate method. Check the changelog for details.
    • Some other Pokémon evolve at lower levels, but most (if not all) of them aren't native to Hoenn. (So you'd really only notice this change in postgame, after transferring, or if you randomize the game)
    • There is an optional patch to make wild "version exclusive" Pokemon present in both versions.

    Screenshots:
    Spoiler: Gym Leader screenshots



    Other notes:
    • The game still uses mechanics from Gen 6 (move changes, stat changes, ability changes, etc.)
    • The 'dllfield.cro' file is optional; it lowers the level of the wild Rayquaza (and Deoxys for consistency) in the Delta Episode. It's there to make it harder to sweep Zinnia with Mega Rayquaza, though it will likely cause your game to crash if the game is updated at all. You can easily delete this file (or don't add it at all) if you want to skip this change.
    • I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but obviously Pokémon-Amie does make the game easier, as with enough Affection, your Pokémon will get more experience, crit more often, occasionally survive with 1 HP, and sometimes shake off status conditions. Obviously it's part of the game, and I obviously can't stop you from using it, but just keep the effects of it in mind.
    • I adjusted the level curve as much as I could, but note that the game still isn't designed with permanently keeping the Exp. Share on in mind. You may be a tad underleveled if you don't use it at all (depending on if you skip any optional trainers or not), but leaving it on WILL make you very overleveled. If you're super-intent on not being overleveled, my advice is to follow "level limits" and avoid optional trainers if you need to. If you WANT to know the 'level limits' (level of the aces) for the Gym Leaders/Pokemon League in the main story, it goes as follows:
    Spoiler: boss ace levels



    Be sure to check the FAQ doc; any question you may have might be answered there already!


    Link to the files and documentation
    Newest update: Ver. 1.7.1 - (5/12/25)
    I was made aware that 'Trade While Holding Held Item' evolutions were coded to only evolve while leveling up with said item in the daytime, but not at night. This should be fixed.



    Credits:
    Made entirely with pk3DS, kudos to Kaphotics and SciresM!
    r/pokemonROMhacks and my Discord server for suggestions and allowing me to bounce off ideas!
    Buffel Saft; I originally based the evolution changes on his in Eternal X/Wilting Y (as well as a few of my own), and copy-pasted them for this hack as well!
     
    Last edited:
    How do i know if i successfully ran the hack is there like a banner or a custom text that i can look for, im not sure if i ran it correctly, my game's in petalburg woods.
     
    Emberious said:
    How do i know if i successfully ran the hack is there like a banner or a custom text that i can look for, im not sure if i ran it correctly, my game's in petalburg woods.
    Click to expand...
    The very first change in the game would have been the first fight with May/Brendan on Route 103, if their starter had a Status move (Growl on Torchic and Mudkip, Leer on Treecko).
    If you don't remember, you'll come across some changes soon anyway.
    In Petalburg Woods, Bug Catcher Lyle should have 4 Wurmple now instead of 3, and Bug Catcher James should have both a Surskit and a Nincada rather than just the latter.
    You'll also notice the trainers in Rustboro Gym having new Pokemon, like Youngster Tommy with an Anorith in addition to his Geodude, or Schoolkid Georgia with a Lileep in addition to her Geodude (and obviously, Roxanne's team will be different).
     
    Last edited:
    DynamoKota said:
    The very first change in the game would have been the first fight with May/Brendan on Route 103, if their starter had a Status move (Growl on Torchic and Mudkip, Leer on Treecko).
    If you don't remember, you'll come across some changes soon anyway.
    In Petalburg Woods, Bug Catcher Lyle should have 4 Wurmple now instead of 3, and Bug Catcher James should have both a Surskit and a Nincada rather than just the latter.
    You'll also notice the trainers in Rustboro Gym having new Pokemon, like Youngster Tommy with an Anorith in addition to his Geodude, or Schoolkid Georgia with a Lileep in addition to her Geodude (and obviously, Roxanne's team will be different).
    Click to expand...
    Thank you, i got it working, loving it so far, playing this and rebirth x y of yours aswell, big fan of your works so far.
     
    Wirawr said:
    Hey finish this, i don't know it's just suggestion but maybe if someday you decide to update maybe you can update rematch system with gym leader and gym leader use mega evolution start on gym 4 or 5 in first playthrough
    Click to expand...
    Unfortunately the tools used to edit the 3DS Pokemon games are very limited, and adding in new fights is basically impossible right now.

    And I go over why I decided to only give Mega Evolution to the last Gym Leader in the FAQ document, but to explain the best I can:
    Even if I gave Winona Mega Altaria (which isn't Flying type anymore, though that's not a deal breaker), Liza & Tate pose a problem. I either give the twins a single Mega Evolution (which feels odd), give them TWO Megas (which would be broken), or just don't give them Megas at all (which would be inconsistent if I gave Winona a Mega).
    So I decided it was better to avoid all of that, and make Wallace the only Gym Leader with a Mega.
     
    Last edited:
    Hey. I tried this ROM (Omega Ruby) as ORAS was the only entry I hadn't touched in the mainline series and wanted the games to feel a bit less of a pushover. Thank you for providing this, it was a good experience though nothing compared to challenge roms or competitive pokemon, this was a nice touch to the game.
    A few standouts for me were that one Guts Swellow with Toxic Orb spamming Brave Bird and Zinnia's team in Sky Pillar.
    Team Magma's team comp feel some samey but I'm pretty sure this is a result of the available fire pokemon in the region unfortunately.

    Some critiques I would have, giving the water pokemon around Primal Groudon event a better moveset to be able to deal with Desolate Land instead of just spamming water moves into the void would've been better (this is likely an AI problem aswell).
    The Horde battles (5 on 1) lag like hell. I'm not sure if its a ROM thing or an emulator thing.

    Nevertheless, thank you for the ROM. Rated 5 stars
     
    Furtifk said:
    Hey. I tried this ROM (Omega Ruby) as ORAS was the only entry I hadn't touched in the mainline series and wanted the games to feel a bit less of a pushover. Thank you for providing this, it was a good experience though nothing compared to challenge roms or competitive pokemon, this was a nice touch to the game.
    A few standouts for me were that one Guts Swellow with Toxic Orb spamming Brave Bird and Zinnia's team in Sky Pillar.
    Team Magma's team comp feel some samey but I'm pretty sure this is a result of the available fire pokemon in the region unfortunately.

    Some critiques I would have, giving the water pokemon around Primal Groudon event a better moveset to be able to deal with Desolate Land instead of just spamming water moves into the void would've been better (this is likely an AI problem aswell).
    The Horde battles (5 on 1) lag like hell. I'm not sure if its a ROM thing or an emulator thing.

    Nevertheless, thank you for the ROM. Rated 5 stars
    Click to expand...
    Thanks for playing!
    Yeah, a lot of the things you mentioned are things I can't do much about.

    The regional dex is small compared to, for example, Kalos's. I tried to give the Admins and Boss more varied teams, but the Grunts definitely tend to use the Zubat family, Poochyena family, and the Numel (OR)/Carvanha (AS) family, and I didn't really feel like overly changing that.

    As for Primal Groudon, I think that's just the AI not being smart enough to fully comprehend Desolate Land (the AI is usually competent enough in most other scenarios). It sees that Primal Groudon is coded as being 4x weak to Water due to its typing (with no ability that directly changes that), so it decides that using Water moves is the best option, not taking the effects of Desolate Land's 'extremely harsh sunlight' into account, and I don't think there's anything I can do to fix that. Giving Water type users' Pokémon coverage moves just to counter Primal Groudon would seem like overkill; Legendaries just tend to cheese most (non-Challenge Hack) Pokémon games anyway.

    Lagging in Horde Battles is absolutely nobody's fault but GameFreak's, lol.
    Modern Pokémon games (meaning Gen 6 onward) are notoriously not optimized very well, with a lot of repeating/unnecessary files everywhere, which affects the games' performance (Gen 6's 3D can only be used in a few select locations, and in battles, the latter of which drops the frame-rate considerably. And I think the Alola games hardly use 3D at all).

    Anyway, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Repolished! Thanks so much for playing!
     
    Last edited:
    DynamoKota said:
    Hey again!
    Back in August of 2022, I posted a thread here on PokéCommunity of my light X/Y hack known as 'X/Y Rebirth', which was focused on making those games a little bit harder (without going overboard), almost like Black 2/White 2's Challenge Mode, but for X/Y.
    Now that Rebirth is more-or-less complete (apart from occasional bug fixes when I'm notified of them), I began working on a similar hack for OR/AS.

    Now, I don't think OR/AS were quite in need of this type of hack compared to X/Y, but I can't deny that some of the choices made in terms of trainers' teams were underwhelming, to say the least (such as Wattson and Liza/Tate's teams, low AI on the rivals, too many trainers with one single Pokemon, etc.).



    Major changes can be found in the changelog, but to summarize:
    • Most major trainers have had overhauls (Gym Leaders, Rivals, Team Magma/Aqua Admins & Bosses, Elite Four, Champion, and Zinnia), with new moves, abilities, held items, high IVs, etc.
    • Regular trainers around the region are a little closer to Emerald in terms of the amount of Pokémon they use, so now there a lot more trainers that use 3+ Pokémon!
    • Trade evolutions are mostly removed. A few can still evolve via trade but have received an alternate method. Check the changelog for details.
    • Some other Pokémon evolve at lower levels, but most (if not all) of them aren't native to Hoenn. (So you'd really only notice this change in postgame, after transferring, or if you randomize the game)
    • There is an optional patch to make wild "version exclusive" Pokemon present in both versions.

    Screenshots:
    Spoiler: Gym Leader screenshots



    Other notes:
    • The game still uses mechanics from Gen 6 (move changes, stat changes, ability changes, etc.)
    • The 'dllfield.cro' file is optional; it lowers the level of the wild Rayquaza (and Deoxys for consistency) in the Delta Episode. It's there to make it harder to sweep Zinnia with Mega Rayquaza, though it will likely cause your game to crash if the game is updated at all. You can easily delete this file (or don't add it at all) if you want to skip this change.
    • I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but obviously Pokémon-Amie does make the game easier, as with enough Affection, your Pokémon will get more experience, crit more often, occasionally survive with 1 HP, and sometimes shake off status conditions. Obviously it's part of the game, and I obviously can't stop you from using it, but just keep the effects of it in mind.
    • I adjusted the level curve as much as I could, but note that the game still isn't designed with permanently keeping the Exp. Share on in mind. You may be a tad underleveled if you don't use it at all (depending on if you skip any optional trainers or not), but leaving it on WILL make you very overleveled. If you're super-intent on not being overleveled, my advice is to follow "level limits" and avoid optional trainers if you need to. If you WANT to know the 'level limits' (level of the aces) for the Gym Leaders/Pokemon League in the main story, it goes as follows:
    Spoiler: boss ace levels



    Be sure to check the FAQ doc; any question you may have might be answered there already!


    Link to the files and documentation
    Newest update: Ver. 1.7.1 - (5/12/25)
    I was made aware that 'Trade While Holding Held Item' evolutions were coded to only evolve while leveling up with said item in the daytime, but not at night. This should be fixed.



    Credits:
    Made entirely with pk3DS, kudos to Kaphotics and SciresM!
    r/pokemonROMhacks and my Discord server for suggestions and allowing me to bounce off ideas!
    Buffel Saft; I originally based the evolution changes on his in Eternal X/Wilting Y (as well as a few of my own), and copy-pasted them for this hack as well!
    Click to expand...

    Hey there!


    I just started playing Pokémon ROMs on my PC, and my friend and I recently came across your game. We're currently doing a Nuzlocke run and having a great time — we're really enjoying your Omega Ruby ROM so far!


    We were wondering if there's a way to get Rare Candies into the game using cheats. I checked the cheat folder/website, but I couldn't find one specifically for Rare Candies. Is there a way to add them to our current run?


    Thanks in advance for your help!
     
    Vψrus said:
    Hey there!


    I just started playing Pokémon ROMs on my PC, and my friend and I recently came across your game. We're currently doing a Nuzlocke run and having a great time — we're really enjoying your Omega Ruby ROM so far!


    We were wondering if there's a way to get Rare Candies into the game using cheats. I checked the cheat folder/website, but I couldn't find one specifically for Rare Candies. Is there a way to add them to our current run?


    Thanks in advance for your help!
    Click to expand...
    I wouldn't know myself, since I don't typically bother with cheats, but if you can't find a usable code by searching Google or Reddit, you could always use a save editor.
     
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