[Released] Pokémon Academia [Demo: v0.1.1 - 3 Gyms & 3 Dojos available]

pkmnacademia · Mar 8, 2024

Made using Pokémon Essentials v20.1.

v.0.1.1 demo now available
play through Gym 3
(9-14 hours of content)
DOWNLOAD

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Story

After a mysterious mass extinction event, Pokémon in the Cyniir region were sparse for centuries, with very few remaining indigenous species and a general lack of trainer culture entirely, outside of ultra-rich circles. But recently, after the dictator Supreme Leader Gharal took power, he enacted Operation Migration, sending his Pokémon Rangers across the seas to other regions in order to bring hundreds of species to Cyniir for the first time. With the operation brought to a standstill due to increasing tensions with Paldea, he has other plans for the second phase…

Because of the new influx of Pokémon in Cyniir, there's never been a better time to study them. So as top of your class at the Naranja Academy in Paldea, you've been selected to assist Professor Ginkgo to help him develop a Pokémon lab. The biggest questions he seeks to answer: what caused the Pokémon in Cyniir to go extinct? And could it happen again?

Discovering seemingly endless floors beneath your new lab, Ginkgo decides to turn the lab into a service hub to generate income that will fund his scientific endeavors and bring life back to the town of Bismuth Village. But rumors say the town is cursed, and there may be more secrets hiding deep beneath the lab…

Features

898 Pokémon available; all through Gen 8, start the game with a National Dex; Mega Evolutions and alternate forms available (~320 in v.0.1.1)
New region with 8 Gyms + 8 Dojos, using challenging custom movesets and a tough Elite 4, plus rematches for them and most trainers (3 Gyms + 3 Dojos in v.0.1.1)
Reputation system, 4 factions that affect the plot and your rewards - work with the anarchist Team Autonomy, the communist Team Unity, the capitalist Team Fortune and/or the fascist Pokémon Rangers of Cyniir's government (and there may be another secret faction lying in wait...)
Recruit system to build out a gargantuan hub and home base for shops and services, inspired by Suikoden and Legion Saga; upgrade it in a variety of ways; unlock deeper and deeper basement floors of your Research Lab as you progress, renovate them, and populate them with 40+ recruits (12 available in v0.1.1)
Crafting system with 100+ unlockable recipes (46 available in v.0.1.0); many Pokémon hold (and drop) crafting items
Study system that provides your character with new perks and other benefits the more you learn and experience in the world, ex. expertise in Hacking lets you break into computers, Negotiation gives you a word up in negotiation events, Botany gets you extra Apricorns, Finances gives you access to investment machines, etc.
Built-in task log to keep track of loads of quests and side quests (53 completable in v0.1.0, many more to come); some have multiple solutions (ex. unlock a locked door for a heist by bringing a Klefki or a Pokémon that knows Thief, crafting a Lockpick, or negotiating with the person holding the key)
Combat updates including Z-Moves, new Mega Evolutions, and Strong and Agile Styles, and statuses from Hisui
A variety of useful Pokégear apps to discover, including ones that show type matchups, track available wild encounters, and access a portable PC
Every NPC has something to offer, no more useless one-liner NPCs - my least favorite quality of all RPGs!: get usable advice, quests, items, Pokémon, crafting recipes, new mechanics, Pokégear apps, faction reputation, recruits for your lab, eggs, battles, clues to get ahead in negotiations, information to help solve quests, and more; if an NPC seems like they provide nothing, they'll likely offer something later (or you've made a choice that's closed them off from you!)
Interacting with items that normally gave nothing of substance may now provide new benefits (ex. books, TVs, sinks, fridges, binoculars, etc.)
Choices matter; many different decisions you make will affect the plot, your standing with the four factions, who considers you an ally, how tough your battles are, and what rewards you'll earn, as well as how well you make it through negotiation events
100 TMs, 100 TRs, and 50 SRs to customize your movesets even further, with revised eligibility so more Pokémon are able to learn more moves; SRs are all former signature moves that were previously usable by only one or very few Pokémon
Reworked HM system; some obstacles only require an HM Device, but others require consumable HM Charges, offering limitations to HM field moves but without requiring HM slaves or entirely blocking progress
No day/night system; no more limitations to when Pokémon can be caught or evolved, play whenever you want
New ways of acquiring shiny and other different-colored Pokémon
An assortment of QOL upgrades (quicksave, multisave, and autosave, egg groups in the UI, new evolution stones for easier evolutions, name randomizer, IV/EV indicators, unlockable happiness tracking, text skipping, in-battle move and stat change details)
Legendary breeding (with plot-related reason), new Natures and moves, a Berrydex, and numerous other new concepts and features!

Notes

This is a one-person project, and I don't have a strong eye for design. This may not be the game for you if you're looking for exceptional graphics or mapmaking; there are mismatched sprites and some bad recolors, but my hope is that it's feature- and content-rich enough to make up for what it's missing in visuals. I'll continue revising maps and graphics to the best of my ability as I work more on the game.

I'm not currently looking for additional dev team members, but I may be open to that further down the line.

There is a lot of additional content planned - and giving every NPC something to do takes extra time - so it'll be a long while until this is in its finished state.

Your feedback!

I'd love to hear any feedback that anyone has to offer, good or bad. Especially if you find any bugs!

Some specific questions I'd like players' opinions on:

What do you think of removing the day/night system?
Are there any OP items you think you got too early?
Are there areas that are too easy or too hard?
Any thoughts on the toggleable EXP ALL at the beginning?
Do the maps feel too large?
Did you get bored and drop out? What was missing?

If you get stuck anywhere, want to know something about the project, or want any specific guidance toward completing tasks/catching Pokémon/finding Crafting Plans/etc., let me know here!

Spoiler: Changes to Pokémon

Spoiler: Credits

pkmnacademia · Mar 16, 2024

v0.1.1 has arrived with QOL updates, bug fixes, new features, new areas, and more!

v0.1.1 - Update #1 - 3/16/24
New content:

Added a Speed Up function - press Q to change game speed
Added IVs and EVs to Summary screen, removed previous IV grades
Added Silicon City Training Grounds, west of Silicon City, available after beating Gym and Dojo
Added ability to check XP for each study in the Studies section of your PC
Moved Schoolhouse from Silicon City to Selenium Town with updated content
Added cutscene to Schoolhouse
25 more available Pokémon (includes evolutions)
7 new trainers
2 more completable quests

Balance:

Rebalanced levels of Pokémon and trainers in all areas
Slightly decreased overall XP gain
Decreased rate of Color Variant Pokémon
Adjusted encounters in Route 402 and Antimony Woods
Changed the TM available in Route 402
Removed ability to purchase Lucky Egg in Terbium Crossing
Decreased encounter rate in Bromine Mountain
Slightly decreased the difficulty of the Silicon City Gym puzzle

Graphics:

Updated colors and format of Summary screen
Updated Controls menu

Fixes:

Made various text edits and fixes
Fixed empty map areas in Bismuth Village and Selenium Town
Made QOL tweaks to Studies menu
Fixed bug where Rhodium Dojo quest would not complete
Removed warp tile from B2 of the lab
Fixed warp tile from B2 to B1 of the lab
Fixed double battle in Bromine Mountain F1 that wasn't working properly
Fixed flower graphic clipping in Silicon City
Fixed crash in Silicon Crafting Club blocking quest progress
Fixed 2 trainers in Silicon City that were causing crashes when talked to
Fixed Rancher that gave unlimited tries to bribe him in Terbium Crossing
Rewrote Terbium Crossing strike script to ensure all outcomes work properly
Fixed Route 404 healer to remove Poké Center glitches
Fixed the movement speed of some Silicon City citizens
Fixed tree graphic clipping in Silicon City
Removed AI plugin for compatibility issues

Misc.:

Moved NPC from Terbium Crossing Poké Center to Selenium Town
Moved School from Silicon City to Selenium Town and updated associated quests
Moved items in Bromine Mountain
Removed some purple rocks
Made rocks broken by Rock Smash Charges permanently stay broken
Added the beginning of a new quest in Silicon City
Made it easier to break into Lucius's shed in Silicon City by adding another entrance to his garden

Known issues:

Rematches have not been rebalanced yet and may be extra difficult
No colorblind fix for the third gym - DM me if you need the puzzle solution for now
A couple invisible tiles that you can bump into near the lake in Silicon City - I have no idea what's causing this

[Released] Pokémon Academia [Demo: v0.1.1 - 3 Gyms & 3 Dojos available]

pkmnacademia

pkmnacademia