October 2016 Progress Report
Hey! It's been a while, hasn't it? If I remember correctly, the last time I properly updated you all on the progress of the game was all the way back in August! And now, we're approaching November, so that's almost 3 months ago. It might have seemed like the game has died, but there's nothing to fear, I'm still working on it. The start of the academic year has slowed me down somewhat, and also I had a bit of 'developer's block'. I would like to make the progress reports larger and more spaced out, so there's most likely going to be one every 1-2 months. Anyway, onto the progress report itself!
JPAN's Engine & More Music
The game is being remade in JPAN's engine, in order for more flexibility and features for me as a ROM hacker, and for you to enjoy. Some of the sections on this update are also only made possible thanks to this excellent new engine. You can check out JPAN's engine
here, in order to understand better of the changes it will bring. Also, I figured that I used the wrong ROM base for Amaryllis in the first place, I'm sorry for that, but now I'm using the right base in the recreation of the game.
More music is in the game thanks to my friend Squeetz' excellent patch, which can be found
here. Music from RSE, Drill Dozer, PMD Red, and even some Summon Night has been added to Amaryllis using that patch. Now each area can have its own unique music! One day, there may be music from other games as well, but for now, there is a wide collection of music for you to enjoy. Thanks, Squeetz and JPAN!
Improved overworlds
If you played the 1.0 beta version released in August, you might have thought some overworlds looked a little scruffy. Well, JPAN's engine means that more palette slots can be added for overworld sprites to use! Here's some examples:
These characters (in order): Professor Basswood, Rival Mary, and Epoch Grunt M.
Some characters got a redesign, like Basswood and Mary, because with the new palette, their designs can be improved.
It is likely that all important characters will get their own palette slot. Now, don't you think the characters are much more vibrant with these great new colours?
New Pokémon!
Yeah, some Pokémon in the original release really weren't that great. Like Peppicap, which was unfortunately conceived just before Popplio's reveal, and Rookowl, which just feels redundant with Hoothoot and Noctowl around. So, some of the new Pokémon will be replaced by new ones, I'm sorry if you liked them. They could return though, I haven't made up my mind.
Anyway, replacing Rookowl, here's the new regional bird, a petrel!
Did I capture the feel of the petrel? As always, my designs aren't the best, obviously, but I hope I did a good job on this one. Here's a sample description for the theme of these critters:
"Their wings are straight, and their feathers are thin like paper. This allows them to be streamlined in the air, which makes their flight and gliding very fast! They fly in a group, and attack with the beak or with their sharp feathers."
More new Pokémon to come!
Region of Ohkai
I never really did say much about the setting of the game, Ohkai, did I? Well, it is based off of Canada and the Hudson Bay, being a cold and icy region. The south is free of snow, and as you travel north, Ohkai's winter climate starts to take hold. As you can tell, the area it's based on isn't really like that at all, it's freezing and wintry all around. However, Ohkai won't be a carbon copy, it will be similar in some ways to it's real equivalent, but different in other ways. The name reflects that: 'Ohkai' is a very different name to 'Canada'.
Actually, the name of Ohkai is based off of 'Youkai', which are Japanese creatures of mystery. It sounds deep, but really, it was just named that because the game Youkai Watch had just come out at the time of it's conception, haha. Well, that's enough of me describing what the region is like, because here it is in full glory:
Well, I hope you enjoyed the progress report. I'd like to take the development slowly, so the end result can be amazing!
If you'd like to help me, send me a PM or DM on my
Twitter! In particular, I need someone to create sprites for the new Pokémon and Trainers. Art isn't my strong point, and if someone could help the project in that department, I would be over the moon.
