Pokémon Box/Bank/Home-like add-on for GBA hacks, possible?

[thedarkdragon11]

Is it possible to make an add-on external extra storage for GBA hacks?

My idea goes like this:

• The extra storage is a ripped version of the hack (because the Pokémon data has to be similar to the hack, of course), with the only feature available is to store Pokémon and its items...
• Can be accessed through modifying the trade feature (yes, external trading might get sacrificed in favor of this feature)...
• In the prompt, instead of trading, the options would be similar to the storage system... So, in theory, you can view the storage of the add-on ROM save and control the withdrawal/deposit from the main game itself...

Not sure if that's possible, but I'll be raising this issue to know if that's possible... That would be beneficial to hacks that have lots of species and form/es, especially the 890+ ones...

 

[Momoro]

I mean, MAYBE, but it would take a long, long time, a serious amount of dedication, and a big enough ROM.

...

You COULD use PGE to make your ROM "bigger" - But even then, it's very unlikely that the ROM can hold that much data, let alone process it.

 

[thedarkdragon11]

I mean, MAYBE, but it would take a long, long time, a serious amount of dedication, and a big enough ROM.

...

You COULD use PGE to make your ROM "bigger" - But even then, it's very unlikely that the ROM can hold that much data, let alone process it.

No need to expand or something, capacity remains the same, around 420 or something... Because it seems impossible to expand how much the GBA can save... But with several save files of the add-on storage ROM, you can save a lot...

Some might say, why not just have multiple save files for the main game instead? The problem is you need to continuously trade... The purpose of this is to minimize controls and data modification... I mean, when you trade, you need to control both games simultaneously and data might be modified during the process... The concept here is to access the storage system of the add-on remotely using the main game and the swapping/withdrawal/depositing of Pokémon will just use the potential modified "trading" feature as if no trading happened...

 

[mgriffin]

Oh, I see what you're getting at. Definitely possible, you're going to need to:
- Create a patch that can be applied to existing ROMs to implement the storage-over-trading interface ("the options would be similar to the storage system").
- Create a second patch that can be applied to existing ROMs to convert them into the storage ROM. This requires a better understanding of RHs in general, because expanded Pokédexes means that a lot of data may have moved around.

You're probably going to need an understanding of ASM and of the existing ROM bases and how they expand their Pokédexes. Personally I'd recommend writing your new code in C, probably by taking a decomp as the base, making the feature work for a vanilla game, and only then working out how to make it work for other ROMs. You're almost certainly going to need to build a different patch for each base ROM too, i.e. FR, Em, R.

IMHO you'd be better off trying to think of ways to expand the number of Pokémon that can be stored in a ROM and writing patches to do that. Although that would come with its own set of problems to solve.

 

[8P19]

Idk if this is helpful, but Trigger's PC might be what you're looking for.

 

[thedarkdragon11]

Oh, I see what you're getting at. Definitely possible, you're going to need to:
- Create a patch that can be applied to existing ROMs to implement the storage-over-trading interface ("the options would be similar to the storage system").
- Create a second patch that can be applied to existing ROMs to convert them into the storage ROM. This requires a better understanding of RHs in general, because expanded Pokédexes means that a lot of data may have moved around.

You're probably going to need an understanding of ASM and of the existing ROM bases and how they expand their Pokédexes. Personally I'd recommend writing your new code in C, probably by taking a decomp as the base, making the feature work for a vanilla game, and only then working out how to make it work for other ROMs. You're almost certainly going to need to build a different patch for each base ROM too, i.e. FR, Em, R.

IMHO you'd be better off trying to think of ways to expand the number of Pokémon that can be stored in a ROM and writing patches to do that. Although that would come with its own set of problems to solve.

I think the best way to come-up with a flexible engine would be creating a ROM base intended for this one... Though it will add limitations such as having a "fixed" number of specie slots which may become a problem if someone wants more than the set limit (e.g. the engine is intended for up to Gen. XII with reserved spots for all form/es)... Something like that...

Idk if this is helpful, but Trigger's PC might be what you're looking for.

Yeah, it is nice! The concept of a real box is there... But unfortunately not applicable for ROM hacks...