FireRed hack: Pokémon Cobalt [Indefinite Hiatus]

[Spherical Ice]

Your loss.

Anyways, I don't know why I've looked over this hack before, you've got something amazing going on here. I'm a big fan of hacks that can use FR graphics and still be a breathtaking experience. The Virtopia and Berry Juicing features have been my favorite so far, and I know you have more up your sleeve heh. Keep up the good work!

Thanks! I think my hack gets overlooked a little because it's always there - the thread is so old no-one tends to notice it as much as newer hacks. I don't particularly mind :3

Whats so bad about a few fakemon? A few fakemon won't ruin anything. But it's your choice anyways. The current features you showed us look really amazing and makes me want to play it. The Bank, Berry System and Virtopia looks really interesting. I also really like how you're gonna put the Hoenn Region in this game. Are we going to be able to collect all the badges or we just be there for a little while? So far this hack looks pretty amazing overall. I wish you the best of luck and hope you complete it! Not Rush Though :)

To be honest, I'm kind of considering releasing a version that doesn't have fakemon because I do see where people who dislike them are coming from. I'm not sure how much people would want that sort of thing though and it may just be extra work for me.

I do plan you to be able to get the badges from Hoenn - I haven't decided all the logistics yet.

HOLLY GAME O.O
The Berry feature is awesome.
I love the Success/Failure screen.
It's really well done.

Thanks!

I've mostly been working on organising the variables and flags that the hack uses because to be honest they were very disorganised and some of the flags/variables I used where unsafe and would lead to glitches like the PC glitch so I've not done much work apart from small changes as I've gone through the hack again.

I do however have this to show:

 

[miksy91]

I've personally been keeping an eye on (some of the) updates from you since I saw the first version of... (Virtopia?) there.

I like the things you've been pulling off, yet I don't find any of them so exciting that would make me want to play this game. I don't know... I guess no hack/game really interests me so much anymore. You don't have to take this in a way I'm calling your hack bad, it isn't. You may have some "aces" in your pocket you haven't told about at all, or not, but anyhow, this one looks pretty good.

Thanks! I think my hack gets overlooked a little because it's always there - the thread is so old no-one tends to notice it as much as newer hacks. I don't particularly mind :3

I don't think your hack is actually being unnoticed but instead, it's about the fact that people really don't care. Only a few go around saying positive things about hacks made by others, and rest of the posts are just "Where I can get Abra? Is P/S split in this hack? Am I supposed to go to this dark cave? If so, where I can get Flash?"

It's more like, the hacks being "noticed more" are often worse (of course, this doesn't apply for all the hacks out there, but some). Being developed in a bad way that people regularly have to ask for help and stuff.

Edit:
Kinda noticed I made my own post sound like "I couldn't care less about your work on the hack either." But, I'm actually quite tired at the moment and all, university life sometimes takes it toll...

 

[Spherical Ice]

I've personally been keeping an eye on (some of the) updates from you since I saw the first version of... (Virtopia?) there.

I like the things you've been pulling off, yet I don't find any of them so exciting that would make me want to play this game. I don't know... I guess no hack/game really interests me so much anymore. You don't have to take this in a way I'm calling your hack bad, it isn't. You may have some "aces" in your pocket you haven't told about at all, or not, but anyhow, this one looks pretty good.

You know, I have been kinda worried that the features I'm implementing are only really impressive from a technical standpoint (which is an overstatement tbh) and won't actually be fun to play. I'm not sure.

I don't think your hack is actually being unnoticed but instead, it's about the fact that people really don't care. Only a few go around saying positive things about hacks made by others, and rest of the posts are just "Where I can get Abra? Is P/S split in this hack? Am I supposed to go to this dark cave? If so, where I can get Flash?"

It's more like, the hacks being "noticed more" are often worse (of course, this doesn't apply for all the hacks out there, but some). Being developed in a bad way that people regularly have to ask for help and stuff.

Edit:
Kinda noticed I made my own post sound like "I couldn't care less about your work on the hack either." But, I'm actually quite tired at the moment and all, university life sometimes takes it toll...

Haha I understand what you're getting at. I don't particularly mind the lack of activity except for when it stops me from updating, really. It also makes posts that more personal :3.

Thanks to DrFuji for some help getting these World Maps completely functional.

Those little icons will be changed.

 

[giradialkia]

Those world maps look great! As I've already said, I can't wait to play this hack, having recently had another look at the first post and the various videos you've posted. As well as the small things you've been telling me about implementing, now and again :D

One thing... Assuming I'm not missing something, is there a reason Sootopolis, Mossdeep and Pacifidlog aren't in Hoenn?

 

[Spherical Ice]

Those world maps look great! As I've already said, I can't wait to play this hack, having recently had another look at the first post and the various videos you've posted. As well as the small things you've been telling me about implementing, now and again :D

One thing... Assuming I'm not missing something, is there a reason Sootopolis, Mossdeep and Pacifidlog aren't in Hoenn?

Thanks dude!

I excluded them because otherwise Hoenn would have to have stretched onto two maps and that's ugly. Also I found the water levels extremely tedious.

Maybe I'll add them in and make it accessible by Ferry or something, but I'm not sure. I might move the gyms in those cities onto the mainland to give areas like Oldale Town have a purpose.

 

[miksy91]

You know, I have been kinda worried that the features I'm implementing are only really impressive from a technical standpoint (which is an overstatement tbh) and won't actually be fun to play. I'm not sure.

You've got to move to the "next level" of hacking scene then ;)

When you've gotten the hang of it, it's easy to think "How am I going to implement this feature in the game?". But a whole different thing is, "Is this feature worth making?" and even more importantly, "Will this feature make the hack stand out?".
Even having minigames in the game is not that good, unless they have a certain purpose behind them. Try linking things to each other.
If there is a sidequest or minigame you can do, it could have some correlation to the main story and perhaps give some background information on what's going on.

I'm personally doing a rom hack where the events focus on happenings in two timelines; the present and time of "The Crisis", ~1000 years in the past. There are lots of sidequests around of which some reveal secrets about the events that happened in the past. They're not necessary to see, but will make the player understand things that are otherwise being left unsawered. And that kind of stuff.

So, try to develop your imagination. You could try playing some existing games, I personally have picked up a lot from RPG games I played when I was young, but you could of course go for something different. Reading books can give a total new aspect into way of thinking too.

And, you could always try getting someone who could help you out with planning though. The only real problem with that though is the fact that most people, who would have ideas, don't know a thing about programming/hacking and so... having someone else help out with planning aspect is not that useful.

 

[Spherical Ice]

You've got to move to the "next level" of hacking scene then ;)

When you've gotten the hang of it, it's easy to think "How am I going to implement this feature in the game?". But a whole different thing is, "Is this feature worth making?" and even more importantly, "Will this feature make the hack stand out?".
Even having minigames in the game is not that good, unless they have a certain purpose behind them. Try linking things to each other.
If there is a sidequest or minigame you can do, it could have some correlation to the main story and perhaps give some background information on what's going on.

I'm personally doing a rom hack where the events focus on happenings in two timelines; the present and time of "The Crisis", ~1000 years in the past. There are lots of sidequests around of which some reveal secrets about the events that happened in the past. They're not necessary to see, but will make the player understand things that are otherwise being left unsawered. And that kind of stuff.

So, try to develop your imagination. You could try playing some existing games, I personally have picked up a lot from RPG games I played when I was young, but you could of course go for something different. Reading books can give a total new aspect into way of thinking too.

And, you could always try getting someone who could help you out with planning though. The only real problem with that though is the fact that most people, who would have ideas, don't know a thing about programming/hacking and so... having someone else help out with planning aspect is not that useful.

I've sort of started to kind-of understand ASM, so that will make implemented some more ambitious features that much more likely. I do have quite a few ideas, so that shouldn't be too bad. Hopefully things will get better! Thanks for the insightful advice!

Anyway, here's something that completely disregards that post :P

Just a small little bootscreen.

I've gone through and given unique names to the Hoenn routes so it seems more consistent. Some research went into some of them, like Verbena Jungle for Route 119 and Arbor Pass for Route 114.

I've started mapping some of Hoenn too. Here's the area around Fallabor Town, with the town's music (which is also used for Lavaridge Town) inserted and the route's music inserted too.

Meteor Falls - with inserted music!

Other Hoenn mapping I've done. Credit goes to Fangking Omega for the house tile in Verdanturf Town and to Mateo for the Oldale/Littleroot Town house tile and Professor Birch's Lab's tile.

Oh, and I changed Felith's worldmap ever so slightly.

 

[Shadowraze]

Wow, this hack is turning out well!

The updates are just slick I can't wait for more. Great Job on this Spherical Ice! :)

 

[Forbidden1]

I don't know what else to say besides that this hack looks amazing. Can't wait to play it.

 

[DrFuji]

Why is this hack so good? No seriously, why? ;_;

You're pumping out great stuff as always man. Are you going to be doing any major changes to Hoenn (other than names) or are you just going to C+P everything?

 

[socko]

Wow... that's the best hoen porting I've ever seen :D I like your new nicknames and everything seems so sleek to me for some reasons o.O

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

This is looking really nice!
I would add something like "If you bought this hack you have been robbed" to the boot screen if I were you =D

 

[Spherical Ice]

Wow, this hack is turning out well!

The updates are just slick I can't wait for more. Great Job on this Spherical Ice! :)

Thanks!

I don't know what else to say besides that this hack looks amazing. Can't wait to play it.

Haha, thanks man!

Why is this hack so good? No seriously, why? ;_;

You're pumping out great stuff as always man. Are you going to be doing any major changes to Hoenn (other than names) or are you just going to C+P everything?

because reasons.

Thanks dude. I do plan to do quite a few changes, but for now I'm just C+Ping so I have a "blank canvas" for when I do edit Hoenn.

Some ideas I have include:

• Merging Oldale and Littleroot to make one, big city.
• Moving the features like the space centre and gyms from the water-based cities on land.
• Completely reconstructing Rustboro City, the in-game reason being that the League decided it was a tarnish on the Hoenn landscape and so they reconstructed it to make it look more tourist-friendly or something.
• Redoing caves and forests to add more challenge. This wouldn't be too hard to explain in-game (deforestation, landslides, cave-ins, etc.)

But for now, copying and pasting it is ;)

Wow... that's the best hoen porting I've ever seen :D I like your new nicknames and everything seems so sleek to me for some reasons o.O

:) Thanks!

This is looking really nice!
I would add something like "If you bought this hack you have been robbed" to the boot screen if I were you =D

Thanks! I don't think that's really necessary, I think the age of selling bootleg Pokémon games is long gone and I'm sure you'd be able to figure out that a ROM Hack isn't an official game anyway.
Also it implies that this hack will even get pirated, lol

Small update, like before with the variables, I've now gone through and replaced all the flags with ones I know are safe.

 

[Ryujin1]

Is there any download to this? Or am I missing it o_O...

And if it is, how far is the hack along?

 

[Spherical Ice]

*image removed*. It end at the third gym.

The current beta I'm working on is about 75% to Beta 1. I've done three gyms, which encompasses about six main events and three side events, through about five towns. I plan to add one more gym which will include about three more town/cities. I hope that gives you a good idea!

Here have this as an insight to some of what I've been doing.

 

[xGal]

Spherical. Wow man wdf!!! This hack is so Damm smexy! I've never said that before, ut i'd LOVE to help you!!! Just Pm me and tell me what to do W0W! I guess you saw my topic 'bout my hack and i hope you like the music cuz i can help you with everything you want about music editing. Fufufu (as like maxie says usually). Sorry about my grammar - im writing dat from my galaxy cuz there's no battery on my ipod... P.s I've some advices about that devon world ;)))

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Dat lava...
Can we surf on it? xD
You know... "The lava is deep red, would you like to surf" :D

 

[Ace.]

this hack just keeps getting better and better :]

 

[socko]

I love your consistency of updating! That is one badass looking screenie there. I'm guessing we can lava surf, like in light platinum, to get to the heatran. Keep on amazing us, Spherical! Rock on!

 

[Varion Bluefire]

Dat lava...
Can we surf on it? xD
You know... "The lava is deep red, would you like to surf" :D

''The lava is deep red, would you like to burn"

Regardless, that screen looks amazing! <3