Maruno
Lead Dev of Pokémon Essentials
- 5,286
- Posts
- 16
- Years
- Seen May 3, 2024
This is NOT a help thread! If you want help with something, ask elsewhere.
Essentials v20.1 has now been released. This version mainly adds bug fixes, including ones tackling memory leaks and maps appearing in the wrong places. Download it today!
You do not need the v20 Hotfixes plugin. v20.1 contains all the fixes it provided and much more.
It's been almost a year since v19.1 came out, so it's about time for a new release of Essentials. Look below for a summary of the bigger features, and read through the change log linked above for a more exhaustive list of what's new.
Gen 8 Content
A lot of Generation 8 content has now been added to Essentials. This includes the usual collection of PBS files defining the new species/items/moves/abilities/etc. and code to make it all work, but it also includes a variety of new features that were in the Gen 8 games. The content is from the BDSP games, because Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a spinoff game with notably different mechanics, and its new content isn't easy to incorporate into the main series game mechanics... so I didn't. For comparison, content from the Let's Go games isn't in Essentials either.
Affection mechanics (Pokémon shrugging off status problems if they really like you, and so on) are in. The Town Map now appears in the pause menu if you have it but don't have a Pokégear (and if you can use Fly, you can do so directly from the Town Map). The Day Care can be turned into the Nursery, complete with sharing of egg moves. There are brand new types of evolutions, one that triggers after every battle regardless and one you can trigger on demand. The Pokédex entry for a new species can now show after evolution, hatching, trading and obtaining. You can now be asked what to do with a newly caught Pokémon if your party is full (and you can turn off that prompt via the Options screen). You can now use multiples of certain items at once, such as Rare Candies.
There are now also PBS files provided that contain Gen 6 data.
A Whole New World Renderer
The map renderer is how the overworld appears on your screen. The old one was laggy and wasn't designed to work well with connected maps. So now there's a new renderer that fixes all this. It even re-adds the ability to change tiles on the fly, so walking through sooty grass will now make the soot disappear (you could also add a way to use Cut on tall grass to get rid of it if you wanted).
Autotiles are useful things, but a map could only have up to seven of them. Not any more! You can now use the top part of the main tileset graphic to add as many extra autotiles as you want. Autotiles can now animate at their own rates. A new autotile format has also been added, which is the same as the usual large autotile format but with four extra tiles for concave corners (instead of needing the top right tile to contain all four corners at once).
Hello, Follow Me
Dependent events (now called followers) have always been glitchy. Try to walk from one map to a connected map and they start teleporting. Walk over a bridge and they teleport even more. Enter a door and... I don't know what happens, but it probably involves teleporting. I fixed all that.
Follower code has been rewritten to work much better, thank you, now supporting connected maps and bridges and all kinds of things like a pro. You can also easily use move routes to make a follower walk around on their own, and there's now an example in the maps that come with Essentials of how to properly deregister a follower and make them stay where they are. The maps also contain improved doors which let the follower enter a building after you, rather than slamming the door in their face. Oh yes, and followers now have reflections, so put your garlic away.
(The name of this section is a reference to my avatar, Abe from the Oddworld game series.)
Battle Bonuses
A lot of new animations have been added. Not ones for using moves, though; I'm talking about the battle intro animations (the flashing and things that fade the screen to black just before a battle starts). There are now animations for facing off against a member of Team Rocket, a Team Rocket Admin, the Elite Four/Champion, and a new kind of Vs. animation - all of these are based on animations from HGSS. And once you're in battle, you'll soon notice all the new animations that play when a Poké Ball opens up (to send out a Pokémon, to withdraw a Pokémon, or to catch a Pokémon), and the sparkles when a capture succeeds.
Battles now have a debug menu, in which you can make all kinds of changes to the battle and to the Pokémon and trainers involved in it. I'm sure you'll find some kind of use for it.
The battle-starting methods have been renamed and simplified, as well as generalised. `pbWildBattle` becomes `WildBattle.start` and can do single/double/triple battles all by itself, and the same is true of the trainer battle-starting methods. There are new battle rules, one which disables the use of Poké Balls and one that forces a newly caught Pokémon into your party.
For The Developer's Eyes Only
A bunch of the PBS files have been overhauled and renamed. Pokémon sprite-positioning metrics now go in their own file, which can be easily distributed in sprite packs. Several files have different formats that are easier to read and edit. ID numbers are now completely abolished.
`$Trainer` is now known as `$player`, and `$PokemonBag` is now `$bag`. Any mentions of these in script commands in your events will be automatically changed by the Compiler (which will also make a few other changes like that). The methods in `$bag` have been renamed to be shorter and simpler.
In events, multiple adjacent "Show Choices" commands will now merge into one big list, making it much easier to make the player choose between 5+ options at once. You can also easily remove or rename individual choices without duplicating the whole thing for each permutation of available choices.
Plugins can (and should) now say which versions of Essentials they're compatible with. Text in plugins can now be translated. You can recompile plugins by holding Shift when starting up the game in Debug mode (holding Ctrl will also recompile plugins as well as compile PBS files/maps).
Oh yes, and the messages in the Debug console are prettier.
And So On
The fonts have been tidied up and new characters/symbols have been added to make nicknaming your Pokémon even more fun.
Pokémon markings can now come in multiple different colours.
The exclamation bubble animation when a trainer spots you now looks better.
All the BGMs that come with Essentials have been replaced with better/more appropriate ones, and contain some ogg files with custom loop points.
The game now records a whole lot of stats, such as the distance you've walked, how many times you've used Flash, how long it took to beat the first Gym, and how many free drinks you've won from vending machines. The Pokédex now records which shiny Pokémon and eggs you've seen. You might find some of this useful.
There are plenty of bug fixes too, and other things I haven't mentioned here. Have a look at the change log to find out more.
Enjoy!
Essentials v20.1 has now been released. This version mainly adds bug fixes, including ones tackling memory leaks and maps appearing in the wrong places. Download it today!
You do not need the v20 Hotfixes plugin. v20.1 contains all the fixes it provided and much more.
It's been almost a year since v19.1 came out, so it's about time for a new release of Essentials. Look below for a summary of the bigger features, and read through the change log linked above for a more exhaustive list of what's new.
Gen 8 Content
A lot of Generation 8 content has now been added to Essentials. This includes the usual collection of PBS files defining the new species/items/moves/abilities/etc. and code to make it all work, but it also includes a variety of new features that were in the Gen 8 games. The content is from the BDSP games, because Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a spinoff game with notably different mechanics, and its new content isn't easy to incorporate into the main series game mechanics... so I didn't. For comparison, content from the Let's Go games isn't in Essentials either.
Affection mechanics (Pokémon shrugging off status problems if they really like you, and so on) are in. The Town Map now appears in the pause menu if you have it but don't have a Pokégear (and if you can use Fly, you can do so directly from the Town Map). The Day Care can be turned into the Nursery, complete with sharing of egg moves. There are brand new types of evolutions, one that triggers after every battle regardless and one you can trigger on demand. The Pokédex entry for a new species can now show after evolution, hatching, trading and obtaining. You can now be asked what to do with a newly caught Pokémon if your party is full (and you can turn off that prompt via the Options screen). You can now use multiples of certain items at once, such as Rare Candies.
There are now also PBS files provided that contain Gen 6 data.
A Whole New World Renderer
The map renderer is how the overworld appears on your screen. The old one was laggy and wasn't designed to work well with connected maps. So now there's a new renderer that fixes all this. It even re-adds the ability to change tiles on the fly, so walking through sooty grass will now make the soot disappear (you could also add a way to use Cut on tall grass to get rid of it if you wanted).
Autotiles are useful things, but a map could only have up to seven of them. Not any more! You can now use the top part of the main tileset graphic to add as many extra autotiles as you want. Autotiles can now animate at their own rates. A new autotile format has also been added, which is the same as the usual large autotile format but with four extra tiles for concave corners (instead of needing the top right tile to contain all four corners at once).
Hello, Follow Me
Dependent events (now called followers) have always been glitchy. Try to walk from one map to a connected map and they start teleporting. Walk over a bridge and they teleport even more. Enter a door and... I don't know what happens, but it probably involves teleporting. I fixed all that.
Follower code has been rewritten to work much better, thank you, now supporting connected maps and bridges and all kinds of things like a pro. You can also easily use move routes to make a follower walk around on their own, and there's now an example in the maps that come with Essentials of how to properly deregister a follower and make them stay where they are. The maps also contain improved doors which let the follower enter a building after you, rather than slamming the door in their face. Oh yes, and followers now have reflections, so put your garlic away.
(The name of this section is a reference to my avatar, Abe from the Oddworld game series.)
Battle Bonuses
A lot of new animations have been added. Not ones for using moves, though; I'm talking about the battle intro animations (the flashing and things that fade the screen to black just before a battle starts). There are now animations for facing off against a member of Team Rocket, a Team Rocket Admin, the Elite Four/Champion, and a new kind of Vs. animation - all of these are based on animations from HGSS. And once you're in battle, you'll soon notice all the new animations that play when a Poké Ball opens up (to send out a Pokémon, to withdraw a Pokémon, or to catch a Pokémon), and the sparkles when a capture succeeds.
Battles now have a debug menu, in which you can make all kinds of changes to the battle and to the Pokémon and trainers involved in it. I'm sure you'll find some kind of use for it.
The battle-starting methods have been renamed and simplified, as well as generalised. `pbWildBattle` becomes `WildBattle.start` and can do single/double/triple battles all by itself, and the same is true of the trainer battle-starting methods. There are new battle rules, one which disables the use of Poké Balls and one that forces a newly caught Pokémon into your party.
For The Developer's Eyes Only
A bunch of the PBS files have been overhauled and renamed. Pokémon sprite-positioning metrics now go in their own file, which can be easily distributed in sprite packs. Several files have different formats that are easier to read and edit. ID numbers are now completely abolished.
`$Trainer` is now known as `$player`, and `$PokemonBag` is now `$bag`. Any mentions of these in script commands in your events will be automatically changed by the Compiler (which will also make a few other changes like that). The methods in `$bag` have been renamed to be shorter and simpler.
In events, multiple adjacent "Show Choices" commands will now merge into one big list, making it much easier to make the player choose between 5+ options at once. You can also easily remove or rename individual choices without duplicating the whole thing for each permutation of available choices.
Plugins can (and should) now say which versions of Essentials they're compatible with. Text in plugins can now be translated. You can recompile plugins by holding Shift when starting up the game in Debug mode (holding Ctrl will also recompile plugins as well as compile PBS files/maps).
Oh yes, and the messages in the Debug console are prettier.
And So On
The fonts have been tidied up and new characters/symbols have been added to make nicknaming your Pokémon even more fun.
Pokémon markings can now come in multiple different colours.
The exclamation bubble animation when a trainer spots you now looks better.
All the BGMs that come with Essentials have been replaced with better/more appropriate ones, and contain some ogg files with custom loop points.
The game now records a whole lot of stats, such as the distance you've walked, how many times you've used Flash, how long it took to beat the first Gym, and how many free drinks you've won from vending machines. The Pokédex now records which shiny Pokémon and eggs you've seen. You might find some of this useful.
There are plenty of bug fixes too, and other things I haven't mentioned here. Have a look at the change log to find out more.
Enjoy!
Last edited:
