[Released] Pokécurse: BloodRed Version (ALPHA 0.8 Update)

[yonicstudios]

Have you ever heard of the story of CURSEDONE?

Not really, what's it about?

The story goes about someone who got a copy of POKéMON FireRed from the Internet...
But the game wasn't exactly like it.

A fake cartridge?
No wonder...

But that's not all... The game was titled... POKéMON BloodRed. The legend says the cartridge was cursed by the blood of a demon.

Do demons bleed?

I don't know, what kind of question is that? Regardless, the game seemed fine, apart from the title screen, but after a certain point...

What happened then?

Nobody knows... This person suddenly... Disappeared alongside their Gameboy, but the cartridge was found on the bed...

Disappeared? How?

We'll never know... But the story doesn't end there. Five years later, CURSEDONE simply popped out of nowhere...

Dead?

No! CURSEDONE was alive! But their mindset had undergone... Radical changes. CURSEDONE wasn't as happy as before, and spent all the day crying.

A couple days later their body was found at their parents' house.

Suicide?

You bet... The scariest thing is that one of their friends got the cartridge and sold it at an auction on the Internet...

Sounds like he got a ton of cash.

Indeed. But can you imagine for a moment? What if that cartridge has fell onto bad hands?
If the ROM of the cartridge gets dumped and uploaded to the Internet...

Then everyone would be able to play it, and...

It would be a total massacre.

But what are the chances of that?

Beware with...

...GHOUL POKéMON

GHOUL POKéMON are frightening, ferocious and very dangerous lookalike POKéMON creatures from THE REALM. Their stats, types and even attacks are very different from your regular POKéMON.
Be extremely careful when trying to tame them... If you can!

...MOVING AROUND WITH NO POKéMON

Sometimes, you'll be forced to explore this dangerous world without POKéMON. Be careful, as the consequences will be dreadful.

...WHAT CHOICES YOU MAKE

You'll be tested with many difficult choices. Even the most insignificant one could have a great effect on your ultimate destiny.

...WHO YOU DEFEAT

Sometimes, you will regret victory, so choose wisely which TRAINER or which POKéMON are you battling with. Not being careful could make you fall into complete madness. However, this could be a myth.

...THE FOUR TORTURED SOULS

There are 4 very powerful GHOUL POKéMON wandering around the KANTO region. Unless you have the right means, you should try your best and not face them, or else you'll be punished by their rage.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

​

Screenshots

"Dumping" Progress
Current version: Alpha 0.8

DOWNLOAD if you dare...
< < Base Game (Milestone 7) > >
Mirror 1
Mirror 2

<< Download latest update patch >>

Features implementation: 77%.
Story: 45%.
Maps: 33%.
Re-skin sprites: 25%.
New graphics: 25%.
Music: 33%.

Update information

Save files are carried over to newer versions of Pokécurse.
Not all updates are backwards compatible with previous versions. This means that to update to the next version, you may have to delete your save file and start over from the beginning.

To do so, delete the folder name Pokécurse: Blood Red Version located at your Saved Games folder. (usually in C:\Users\{{YOUR-USERNAME}}\Saved Games).

Here is a small chart of how new versions can be compatible with older releases.

• Compatible: You can play with your current save file with no problems.
• Semi-compatible: It's not necessary to delete your save file to progress in the story, but to enjoy all the features in the new release, you'll have to delete it.
• Incompatible: You must delete your save file to continue.

​

Release date
Expecting release date at Christmas 2018.

Staff Credits

 

[f-croco0708]

Good game. The idea is interestingly amazing! I enjoy when playing it very much. It brings me true shiver, especially when I enter the Cerulean Cave and Mysterious House.
But there's something make your game quite sketchy. The map isn't built very well, when going to the corner, the black side can be seen. I guess that this would make the game unique after entering another Realm, but before the point this makes your game quite unnatural. Just fix some of your early maps.
The second thing that's quite hilarious in the game: the soul of the Houndour can be caught! I success in the first time. Just change the capture rate to 0 or rescript so that noone could catch it.
The last thing I want to mention is that when player shoul has been captured, just force player to save without informing. This will surely put an end and force player to replay.
Anyway, I just love the game so much! Hope you a success in this game =)).

 

[supereffective]

it stops downloading halfway for me, anyone else have this problem?

 

[yonicstudios]

Good game. The idea is interestingly amazing! I enjoy when playing it very much. It brings me true shiver, especially when I enter the Cerulean Cave and Mysterious House.
But there's something make your game quite sketchy. The map isn't built very well, when going to the corner, the black side can be seen. I guess that this would make the game unique after entering another Realm, but before the point this makes your game quite unnatural. Just fix some of your early maps.
The second thing that's quite hilarious in the game: the soul of the Houndour can be caught! I success in the first time. Just change the capture rate to 0 or rescript so that noone could catch it.
The last thing I want to mention is that when player shoul has been captured, just force player to save without informing. This will surely put an end and force player to replay.
Anyway, I just love the game so much! Hope you a success in this game =)).

Thank you very much for your feedback!

About the catch bug, I'll fix that in the next big update, when a new feature will be introduced.

Funny enough, originally the game over screen forced the game to be saved, but testers from the closed demo said that it was very frustrating to force you to start over from the beginning, so we scrapped it.

it stops downloading halfway for me, anyone else have this problem?

I'm uploading a couple of mirror links if Dropbox is having trouble with downloading the demo.

 

[supereffective]

hey finished your demo, def looking forward to more of it...had a nice silent hill feel in some of the places and the puzzles weren't dramatically difficult... nice suspence look forward to the next update

 

[yonicstudios]

Milestone 6 & 7 Update
NECRA BALL update
Milestone 7 Demo in August 2017


Milestone 7 is semi-compatible with Milestone 5
This means that you can use the same savefile you have in Milestone 5, but you might miss some stuff that has some importance, but it's not vital.

New features & additions

• GHOUL POKéMON won't be able to be caught using regular BALLS.
• Introducing NECRA BALLs, a modified version of a regular BALL that can only be used to catch GHOUL POKéMON.
• Likewise, regular POKéMON will always break out of NECRA BALLs.
• Obtaining NECRA BALLs will affect the story progress. (Not obtainable as of Milestone 6)
• The FOUR TORTURED SOULS will throw any BALL back at your POKéMON, hurting it, including NECRA BALLs. When this happens, you'll recover the BALL.
• Rock Tunnel, Route 5 and Saffron City will become available in Milestone 6.
• Route 7 and Celadon City will become available in Milestone 7.
• At least 3 new POKéMON GHOUL will be added in Milestone 6.
• At least4 new POKéMON GHOUL will be added in Milestone 7.
• The third TORTURED SOUL will be revealed in Milestone 7.
• New Trainer battle theme while inside the Realm. The old one will be reused in the future.
• The last room of the Mysterious House will be available in Milestone 6.
• Running Shoes will be obtainable in Milestone 7.
• A new featured involving CURSEDONE himself will be available in Milestone 7

Bug fixes & improvements

• The ball containing the ROOM KEY won't appear twice anymore.
• Improved dialogues in the MYSTERIOUS HOUSE.
• Statuses icons have been customized and correctly placed.
• Fixed a glitch where you could select a non existent POKéMON while switching during a POKéMON battle.
• Opening the bag in battle will now use the vanilla bag interface.
• The bag interface will be customized to look like in Pokémon FireRed.
• Fixed a buggy trainer in Route 4 that made you battle her again right after defeating her.
• HP gauge bars now turn color at the same amounts.
• Expanded maps outside the Realm in Milestone 6.
• Expanded maps in the Realm in Milestone 7.
• The third TORTURED SOUL will be revealed in Milestone 7.
• Viridian Forest theme will finally be added in Milestone 7.
• Milestone 6 will test BetterRandom against Vanilla Random algorithms.
• If BetterRandom turns out to suit better, it'll replace the vanilla algorithm in Milestone 7.

​

 

[Nonagon]

Review, version 5.1

Going through some recent demos and chronicling my thoughts as I go. Today, Pokecurse BloodRed Version! Right from the get-go, I can tell that a lot of love has gone into this. The "cursed cartridge" angle is kind of stale, but it doesn't look overly cheesy and there appears to be a solid, actual game in here. Time to dive in and get cursed.

What follows is a lengthy text-based Let's Play of sorts, so allow me to bundle it up like so:

Spoiler:

1. Right out the gate, we've got a grammatical error. "Turn up the volume until you get to clearly listen the sound effect, then continue." My enthusiasm has been dampened sligtly. Still, headless Pikachu!

2. I can't stop reading CURSEDONE as curse-ed-own. Makes an otherwise spooky moment slightly hilarious.

3. This is a good Pallet Town recreation. It kind of bugs me that you have to read signs by running into them, instead of selecting them. And when the Professor led me to the Lab, why did he wait outside, then somehow teleport in front of me when I went in? (Speaking of the Lab, found another gem: "PROFESSOR OAK is a very working man!")

4. Off we go! Adventure ahoy! I like the inclusion of the Bad Egg. It's just the right amount of same-but-different for this kind of game. I did, however, note that the "The egg seems to be moving..." event could be walked over and triggered multiple times. Also, the left side of Route 1 has a huge, visible black map border, which is a shame since the game's otherwise looked pretty good so far.

5. So... bug? Oversight? I took the Egg down to Pallet Town, reached the point where the Egg wouldn't let me go any further, turned to go back, and then got attacked by a Rattata and blacked out. I warped back to Mom's house and was able to head straight to Professor Oak. He took the Egg without complaint, but I definitely feel like I skipped part of the story. Later I'll reload and go back to the forest like I'm supposed to, but for now, I want to see where this goes.

6. So far, Viridian Forest is a bit broken. None of the signs work, and in several places I walk over the tops of trees instead of under them. Do we ever get the Running Shoes? Did I miss them? Trudging all the way back and forth to train isn't very exciting, especially since by now the game has pretty much gone back to being FireRed. The abundance of Pikachus is making me regret choosing Squirtle.

7. Made it to Pewter City! There are still lots of map issues, with exposed map borders all over the place and buildings I can't enter. For some reason that includes the Gym. Giving up that Egg seems to have turned the game into FireRed with fewer features, so to heck with it, I want to get back to the story. Restarting.

8. Playing as a girl this time! Although the male sprite still appears on the name selection screen... and I seem to have spawned as a boy. Okay, odd.

9. With my trusty Bulbasaur by my side, I made it to the Forest with the Egg. The Egg tells me it's protecting me from the forest's curse, which isn't very helpful, because the only reason I know about the curse of random damage and status effects is because I used an exploit to get rid of the egg and enter the forest without it. I suspect that the average first-time player will be entering these woods with egg in hand and no idea what curse it's talking about.

10. Entered Pewter City. There seems to be nothing here, and the Egg has nothing more to say. The only way forward is a gauntlet of trainers, so... sigh... time to start grinding.

11. I didn't stock up on Poke Balls before I left, and the shop here won't sell me any, so with just Bulbasaur and Pikachu I fought my way to Mount Moon. And I can tell you, this took way longer than it should have. In the regular game there's a sense of progression as you level up your team to take on increasingly powerful Bug Catchers and then the Gym, but here all progress came to a screeching halt for more than half an hour as I did nothing but build up to fight the first real enemies of the game, who would normally come after the first gym. And after a quick cutscene which indicated that something interesting was finally about to happen, it looks like I'm back to training to get through Mt. Moon...

12. Just as I was starting to get properly bored, the game suddenly kicked into high gear! Out of nowhere, suddenly there's plot! Intrigue! Suspense! Mystery! And those corrupted Pokemon sprites are absolutely gorgeous. The preview images really don't do them justice, they look fantastic in motion. I just wish it hadn't taken so long to get here. I was seriously on the verge of giving up when the map started to change. I recognize that a horror game needs a slow-burning start, but it's badly in need of a more interesting change to gameplay well before Mt. Moon.

I'm surprised the Egg hasn't had more to say by this point, as well. Come to think of it, why did it want to go to the forest? There wasn't anything there. Some kind of event there, just a small one to assure players that they're on the right path, would help a lot. Now, onward! Sure wish there was a Pokemon Center I could use...

13. For a couple of minutes of vast disappointment I thought that I was stuck. I didn't see the cave entrance within Cerulean Cave and thought that the game had come to a dead end. Putting up a wall on the map and something on the ground to guide me would make that clear. All these black map boundaries are really hampering the game experience.

14. Just to see what would happen, I went into wild grass and intentionally lost the battle. Despite the game's warning that losing a second time would kill me, I had to be defeated by a wild Paras on my way out of the cave twice before the death stuck. While I was wandering around with my soul in a Poke ball, I tried to catch a Paras with the balls I'd (finally) stocked up on in town, but since I couldn't attack without getting trapped in a loop I failed to catch one. I'm honestly unsure what I was supposed to do to get myself out of that situation. I now head back to my old save, feeling slightly miffed, since apparently the cost of failure is high and I don't have a Pokemon center to go to.

15. So touching Houndour locks me in an unwinnable battle? Gee, thanks for warning me.

Honestly though, this game has completely transformed. I'm falling in love with the design, the ambiance, the story. I never would have guessed we'd end up here after such a dull start! Though, another note: Sending out my Ekans (female) gave me an error message and made the HUD disappear. Sprites missing, it seems.

16. And that seems to be the end of the first true dungeon! I think. I found the photograph, did another circuit of the house to see if anything new would happen, and gave up. It was a great time up until then, though! Puzzles, spooks, story, boss battles, the works. My only criticism are the unexpected unwinnable battle, as mentioned above, and the sheer number of battles down in the basement. When PP is limited I'm not going to fight everything that comes my way, especially not one that knows Spite and Psywave. I very quickly started just running from every encounter, which got frustrating when on the lowest level I started running into something every few steps. The encounter rate definitely doesn't need to be that high.

And that was my experience!

This game was a blast when it finally got going, but man, did it take a while to get going. It wasn't excruciatingly long, but it was a copy of a game that I've played many times before, except with even less to do along the way and no hint of when things would finally get interesting. The actual game had excitement, puzzles, atmosphere, exploration. In the buildup, there was nothing to do but grind.

I have mixed feelings about the difficulty. It slowly started to dawn on me that I was really down a Pokemon center and had to rely entirely on items, which successfully created a looming tension that was abolutely perfect for the game. The rules have changed and the stakes have been raised. Not being willing to waste PP led to me endlessly fleeing from most battles, though this meant that I was underpowered when I reached the boss, in a game where being underpowered is a very bad thing. I don't know if I'd want to play the entire game this way; I'm just not hardcore enough for a permadeath no-healing game. For the short while that I was here, though, it was very effective.

Pros:
-Fantastic atmosphere and story.
-Beautiful art.

Cons:
-Very slow start.
-Broken and unfinished maps.
-Multiple spelling and grammatical errors.

 

[Inner Rhymes]

Dang, I really love the concept of this game. Seems to be inspired by Pokemon cursed version. Can't wait! good luck!

 

[yonicstudios]

ROAD TO CELADON update has been released!
Milestone 7
Milestone 7 is semi-compatible with Milestone 5
This means that you can use the same savefile you have in Milestone 5, but you might miss some stuff that has some importance, but it's not vital for the game progress.
You can download it from here.
You may also download the demo from the first post.

New features

• The NECRA BALLs have been fully implemented, but as of now there is no way of obtaining them. They will become available in the next update (NECRA BALL Update). We apologize for the inconveniences.
• The third TORTURED SOUL has been revealed.
  
  Spoiler:

  
• GHOUL POKéMON won't be able to be caught using regular BALLS.
• The FOUR TORTURED SOULS will throw any BALL back at your POKéMON, hurting it. When this happens, you'll recover the BALL.
• Rock Tunnel, Routes 5, 8, 9, 10, the Power Plant, Saffron City and Celadon City are now available to explore.
• A brand new section of the Rock Tunnel, the Cobalt Mines, can be explored.
• 19 new GHOUL POKéMON have been added.
• New Trainer and Wild Pokémon battle theme while inside the Realm. The old ones are still used.
• The last room of the Mysterious House can be opened now.
• Running Shoes can become obtainable if you start a new game.
• A new feature involving CURSEDONE is now available.
• Updated to Essentials version 16.2.
• Many, many bug fixes.

Bugs and crashes

• The party menu breaks when switching POKéMON. The POKéMON slots will move out, but will not return.
• While exploring the Celadon Department Store, crashes may (although rarely) occur. This is related to a currently unresolved bug regarding an update in the sound engine.

​

 

[supereffective]

hey buddy let me know when you get mirror, drop box stops 25% twice.... not a good look bro....is this part of the scary lol

 

[yonicstudios]

hey buddy let me know when you get mirror, drop box stops 25% twice.... not a good look bro....is this part of the scary lol

I've already placed the mirror links at the first post! I'm also editing it to add information about how to reset saves to enjoy all the content of this release.

 

[Frostleaf25]

Is every PC broken? Am i only going to be able to play with 6 pokemon?

How do you get the running shoes? I just started my first try but I couldnt find it.

 

[yonicstudios]

Finally I can get some time to reply to your comments!

Dang, I really love the concept of this game. Seems to be inspired by Pokemon cursed version. Can't wait! good luck!

Thank you! I actually took some bits of inspiration from Cursed Version with the Soul mechanics.

This game was a blast when it finally got going, but man, did it take a while to get going. It wasn't excruciatingly long, but it was a copy of a game that I've played many times before, except with even less to do along the way and no hint of when things would finally get interesting. The actual game had excitement, puzzles, atmosphere, exploration. In the buildup, there was nothing to do but grind.

I have mixed feelings about the difficulty. It slowly started to dawn on me that I was really down a Pokemon center and had to rely entirely on items, which successfully created a looming tension that was abolutely perfect for the game. The rules have changed and the stakes have been raised. Not being willing to waste PP led to me endlessly fleeing from most battles, though this meant that I was underpowered when I reached the boss, in a game where being underpowered is a very bad thing. I don't know if I'd want to play the entire game this way; I'm just not hardcore enough for a permadeath no-healing game. For the short while that I was here, though, it was very effective.

Pros:
-Fantastic atmosphere and story.
-Beautiful art.

Cons:
-Very slow start.
-Broken and unfinished maps.
-Multiple spelling and grammatical errors.

Thank you so much for your feedback! I'll make a more lengthy reply to your review later.

Is every PC broken? Am i only going to be able to play with 6 pokemon?

How do you get the running shoes? I just started my first try but I couldnt find it.

Yes, every PC will not work for the entirety of the game. You can only hold up to 6 Pokémon at all times. I've been thinking of a way to 'make up space' for more Pokémon, but as of now I don't know when you'll be able to do so.
The running shoes is a mandatory item, but you get it much later than in the original FRLG games. You'll get them when when you're about to leave Cerulean City.

 

[Frostleaf25]

I dont know if I will get that far to get them but good to know. I have to say you do seem to have made a certain good amount of a spooky undertone in the game. I only have my starter so far but I'm at mt moon.

One question, in viridian forest....
The last guy in the forest on the way to pewter, was i suppose to understand what gray statues he talks about or is it a reference to something? The other two trainers had me a bit spooked....

 

[yonicstudios]

ROAD TO CELADON hotfix patch 1
A Milestone 7 Patch
This patch is compatible with Milestone 7
This means that you can use the same savefile you have in Milestone 7 with no issues regarding story progress.
You can download it from here.
You may also download the patch from the first post.

Bug fixes

This hotfix patches a recurrent crash near the end of the story in Milestone 7.

Other news

From Milestone 8, Pokécurse will change to a modular format. There will be a standalone game (Milestone 7), and further updates will be released separately, to be applied into the folder with the standalone game.

Development of Milestone 8 is currently on hiatus until November, when more information about the update will be revealed, but it's expected to be released in December.
​

Replies to other users here:

Spoiler:

I dont know if I will get that far to get them but good to know. I have to say you do seem to have made a certain good amount of a spooky undertone in the game. I only have my starter so far but I'm at mt moon.

One question, in viridian forest....
The last guy in the forest on the way to pewter, was i suppose to understand what gray statues he talks about or is it a reference to something? The other two trainers had me a bit spooked....

Yes, you'll encounter grey statues sooner or later, and are very important towards progressing and surviving the game.

 

[yonicstudios]

NECRA UPDATE is finally here!
Alpha 0.8
This update is compatible with Milestone 7
This means that you can use the same savefile you have in Milestone 7 with no issues regarding story progress.
NOTE: This is not a standalone update. It requires the base version to work.

You can download it from here.
You may also download the patch and the base game at the first post.

New features

• NECRA BALLs are now obtainable.
• The Celadon Department Store and Silph Co. are now accessible.
• The third TORTURED SOUL can now be dealt with.
• Animated cutscenes (this may require starting a new savefile)
• Hidden BURNED mode is now officially active, but not fully implemented.

Bug fixes

• Ultimately fixed the crash related to the new sound engine.
• Fixed anomalous behavior of the rival at the second battle.
• Fixed the party menu displaying incorrectly when swapping between POKéMON.
• Corrected some typos and story inconsistencies.
• The Castilian Spanish translation is dropped in this version, but will be revamped in future versions.

Bugs and crashes

• Even though GHOUL POKéMON are programmed to have evolutions, it crashes the game when trying to evolve.

​

You heard that right: Yes, we've officially hit the alpha stage of development! Sorry about the long wait.

 

[yonicstudios]

A VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

I'm sorry about the triple post, thread bump, and/or any post spamming of the sort, but I have an extremely important announcement related to the development of Pokécurse: BloodRed.

This thread has been the main distribution channel for Pokécurse since it's been published, and it's clear that it's becoming very inactive, and this is quite troublesome.

Pokécurse: BloodRed is a personal side project that's been developed for about a year now, but it wasn't until half a year ago when it launched, and started being supported by the community. As of today, it has reached an overall 50% of it's development. But even so Pokécurse does not have the priority of being developed compared to my game development team's main project. Therefore, if people lose interest in Pokécurse, its development will start to stall. At worst, it may be paused indefinitely.

I understand that Pokécurse: BloodRed isn't a game of their like for most of the people that hang around here. That is why I'm considering of making a more "family-friendly" version, designed towards the average user. This version would have some censored contents to make it less gruesome, but the main story would remain the same.

Another thing that I had in consideration was to make posts on a regular basis (2 weeks or so) in which I'd include any kind of updates, even if they are minor, to make the thread more active and provide an image that the game is being actively developed. However, bumping the thread too many times seems to be frowned upon. Plus, due to the fact that we're mainly focused on our main project, these update posts may come late.

EDIT: It's a little bit too soon to ask the moderators to move the thread to the Games Showcase.

My intention with this post is to get you informed about the status of Pokécurse, and discuss about its future. I think that even those who haven't played the game just yet should have the right to express their first impressions about the game and share their opinions on what would they expect about it, too.

I'm really looking forward at least to finish Pokécurse: BloodRed, especially with the amazing feedback I got from this community, but at this moment it'll be very hard without any support from you guys. If all goes well, the development will quickly recover.

Thank you for reading this, even if you aren't interested.

 

[supereffective]

hey its been awhile since I played , but it was a blast to play I loved the hondour house. and the rain with empty lake, genioues . very very creative.. yeah seems fan games get less views then gba rom hacks. what ya gonna do right. I do look forward to the next beta....okay Stephen king of pokemon...... keep it up. ps pokemon fan house in vermillion a bunch of pokemon cannibal trainers be great hahaha

 

[Inner Rhymes]

I absolutely love how unique the concept of this fangame is, You seem to be working on it regularly so that's got me really pumped.

 

[yonicstudios]

Hey, everyone!
Although I haven't gotten a lot of support here, I have received half-a-dozen of encouragement messages across other communities.

Despite in all honesty not being what I expected, I've decided to continue the development of Pokécurse for now, and try to post updates on a 10-15 day basis. Depending on the overall interest and support, and how focused I am with our main project, the updates may come earlier or later.

With all that said, update time!

March 24th Update

• Right now, I'm mostly focused in part of the Fourth TORTURED SOUL's confrontation. It's probably going to be the hardest part of the game to "dump", and one of the most complex things I've ever done, but it's going to end up being something amazing once it's completed and fully working. As a teaser: "I want to play a game."
• I've also started planning to add a ton of tweaks to GHOUL POKéMON. However, I doubt they won't be ready for the next update, since I need to figure out how to make it backwards compatible with other updates.
• The next update, "Nightmare Fuel Update", will have a lot of nuanced gameplay extras that I've been eager to add for a long while.
• Nightmare Fuel Update will also include a way to make up space for new Pokémon if your party is full.
• Started mapping Vermilion City, but it's not in a presentable state as of now.
• Making a Pokécurse: BloodRed - Family Friendly version is still under consideration.