[Discussion] Pokémon Essentials for iOS?

[UltimateNPC]

As much as I am personally more of a PC/Console gamer, I tend to use my phone in more casual situations, and I don't have many good pass-time games on my phone. One thing I've always wondered is what it'd be like if various video games had full-fledged games on mobiles, rather than spin-offs. Fan-games count too, I know that Mario fan-games have been developed for mobile before but never seen released publicly, and I believe the same goes for Sonic, amongst other various great franchises.

However, Pokémon fan-games on mobile is something that's intrigued me for a very long time. Would it be possible to run a fully-functional fan-game on iOS? I know that Essentials can be simulated on Android, and therefore games can be played, but for those using iOS, it's not as easy to emulate things like that. Quite unfortunate for people like me who use iPhones and would LOVE to see a proper Pokémon game or fan-game (rather than a spin-off or minigame) on mobile.

So, let's entertain that concept for a little bit - if Pokémon Essentials was on iOS, how would it even function? Would it require a complete overhaul of the coding, or would it just be an emulation? Would people make fan-games specifically for Essentials on mobile, or would fan-games simply be made playable on there? This concept has intrigued me for a long time, so I'd love to hear some other opinions on the topic. (I apologise if there's already a thread on this, I haven't seen one)

 

[mgriffin]

I think you'd probably make it work as a compatibility layer, like how Wine or WSL function. So the bulk of the Essentials code would stay the same (maybe you'd want to change the controls bits), but you'd have effectively rewritten the whole of RMXP underneath it. I assume that's how the Android ones work, anyway.

 

[LegendaryZacian]

First, you should be aware that games are not made "for" Essentials - Essentials is not a platform, it's simply a tool that works with RPGMaker for creating games. While it may seem simple to just port over a PC program to a mobile device, it is definitely not an easy task. It would require, as you stated, a complete overhaul of the entire program code to be able to function on another platform. First, RPGMaker itself would have to be rewritten for iOS, then Pokémon Essentials would probably have to also be rewritten to work on a new platform. Then you would have to have a device powerful enough to actually run the RPGMaker program, and you would probably need an external keyboard if you were doing any serious coding. I personally don't really see a mobile port of RPGMaker to mobile ever happening, but you COULD use a Remote Desktop app to use your phone to access your PC if you really want to develop fan games "on your phone".

PLAYING fan games made with RPG maker on mobile is an entirely different matter, as that would just require a special iOS Build of the game's executable. However, as far as I know, RPG maker XP does not support developing for mobile devices. (GameMaker Studio 2 and Unity both support cross-platform development, if you're interested in that). Thus, If you want to develop fangames for mobile, I would suggest making a rom hack of one of the GBA or GBC games, then using an emulator on your phone to play them.