[Developing] Pokémon: Homeward Bound™

[Nickalooose]

Spoiler:

Pokémon: Homeward Bound™ (Link Removed Due To Major Update.)
Demo: ??
Size: ??mb
Date: ??/??/????
Update: Continuous From 17/11/2011 To ??/??/201?

Spoiler:

Known Problems:
Some sprites look horrible. (Slow process in re-creating these)
No trainer sprite at the start of battle. (In process of creating something)

Known Errors:
None thus far.

Welcome To The World Of Pokémon: Homeward Bound.

I originally had a thread a long long time ago, before I took the time to actually update my fan-game, now, I am back and the fan-game has come along way since then, and is now coming up for a release date, so I thought a new thread was in order.

Becoming A Pokémon Trainer: (Warning, this is only the story behind the hero, and is quite alot to read.)

Spoiler:

You were born and raised in the Orange Archipelago Region, also known as the Orange Islands, but moved to Pallet Town, KANTO, so that your mother can begin her new career as a professor-in-training, along side the one and only, Prof. Oak, who was looking for someone to become his successor after he retired.

Knowing very little about Pokémon Battling, you are not too worried about all the new young trainers getting a Trainers License and a beginner Pokémon. While watching the T.V, you notice that, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander were the choices of Pokémon, you begin reading and learning about Pokémon Battles.

While sitting in a chair on your front garden you notice some rustling in the bushes, you check it out... Out pops a Pokémon, "What is it?" you ask yourself, as you flick through your trusty Pokémon Manual, you see what Pokémon it is, "It's a Poliwag", you tell yourself.

What do you do? Well, nothing of course because you have no Pokéballs, no Pokémon, no nothing, as you watch this Poliwag run along and dive into the water, you begin to wonder and head indoors.

As you enter your house, your mother has decided to run an errand, you tag along... You are now in Celadon Department Store, as the size of this building astounds you, a shiny flicker from across the room catches your eye, you walk over, "A Pokéball." you mutter to yourself, looking around at all the people, happy, laughing, having fun with one another talking about what Pokémon they have caught and how many Pokémon League Badges they hold, "I have to become a Pokémon Trainer." you shout, the store assistant smiles at you and chuckles, you hear in the background, "If you dream high enough, there is nothing you cannot accomplish." as you turn around, who is stood there, none other than Prof. Oak.

Back in Pallet Town, you grab your backpack and shoes and leave your bedroom to become a Pokémon Trainer.

Characters:

Spoiler:

Please Don't Use Or Steal or Edit, Etc... I'm not too good at spriting, but I am proud of what I have.

Heroine

Heroine;
Name: Nici Mirak.
Age: 16.
Height: 5'6"
Hometown: Ascorbia Island.

Hero

Hero;
Name: Dwayne Johnson.
Age: 17
Height: 5'8"
Hometown: Kumquat Island.

Character Wish:

Spoiler:

Beginning your journey you wish to somehow re-visit your home town, but a few Pokémon battles here and there couldn't go a miss.

Leaving everything you had in another region was hard, this youngster, has very little friends in KANTO, going on this Pokémon journey could be their chance to make new friends and learn something new about themself.

Prof. Oak, the man of many talents, gives you your very first Pokémon and a Pokédex and tells you that there is nothing more thrilling than a Pokémon Battle, and explains Pallet Town is usually where beginner trainers start, this is because the Pallet Town lab is 1 of 2 labs occupied by a professor, also mentioning that the other lab has a questionable motive as people that have gained Pokémon from there have become a notorious gang called "Team Rocket", who are always up to no good, but continued to say, not all are bad.

The World Within Pokémon: Homeward Bound:

Spoiler:

You must engage in Pokémon Battles and collect at least 8 badges located around KANTO to gain access to the Pokémon League, where all challengers go to test skill and knowledge in a Tournament like no other.

Meeting new friends and enemies is key to raising Pokémon to full potential, at the beginning of your journey you have very few friendships and even less enemies.

Catching and/or training, different types of Pokémon, is a main part to having a successful journey.

Features:

Spoiler:

KEY: All writing in this colour is all *

* edits.

• Pokémon Pink is now called Pokémon: Homeward Bound...

• Money is VERY hard to come by, not really, you just don't win any from battles.

• HM's not necessary, Pokémon big enough to carry you can Fly, Surf and Climb... Cut is irrelevant (pointless HM that it was)... Pokémon that naturally dig or can dig, can use "Dig" as an "ability". (HM's are still available... They now have another use.)

• A new ability "Rock Break" is now available for Water, Grass, Psychic and Ice type Pokémon (Pretty much the same as Rock Smash, just renamed to fit more mental/elemental as opposed to physical.)

• Evolution has changed considerably... Traded Pokémon also no longer need to be traded. (always hated this... By changed, I mean, some Pokémon Evolve differently now, by day/night, happiness, training, plus more.)

• Mini, Pokémon Card, Collectors Game. (Um, gotta' find them all, I guess.)

• Rarities have changed considerably. (some Pokémon are rare by area or kind, catching a Dratini for example should automatically become, like, super hard, therefore, it is, no longer is the 5% chance of encounter the lowest, the lowest is now a 1 in 100 chance of encounter... Some Pokémon are only available through Overworld encounters.)

• Gym Battles have changed considerably. (Not easy to explain how, but no more can you challenge a fighting gym leader and beat him/her with a team of 6, Psychic and/or Flying Pokémon, etc.)

• Some trainers ambush you, others ask you for battles, others you can challenge. (If you press "S" or "D", they do different things to different NPC's.)

• NPC's can "give" you valuable Pokémon... Sometimes.

• HYPE, Pokémon can get hyped up towards a battle which gives them an extra boost in stats.

• You can set your own age. (Providing you are old enough ;).)

• Lots of events to play throughNPC's to talk to within the world. Battling is NOT the only way to gain Levels, New Moves or Stat Boosts, now even a lower levelled Pokémon can outsmart the highest levelled, this means you can now use your most favoured Pokémon.

• A new "mystery ball" has been added within the Pokémon Centers around the Pokémon world. (Don't get this confused with a PokéBall, it has nothing to do with that.)
  

• Gym badges can be made redundant by you... Can you figure out how?

• Lot's of
  
  areas have been mapped in.

• In-game tutorials have been introduced, to keep you up-to-date with new additions to the game. (so you don't forget.)

• New unlockables have been added.

• For those of you who don't like to complete a game the conventional way, cheats/glitches have been added. (for your amusement I guess.)

• Character face graphics have been changed.(check here.)

• New mini games have been added, like Bug Catching Contest. (will post pictures.)
  

SCREEN SHOTS:

Spoiler:

These Pictures Are The New And Improved Homeward Bound. (a little outdated, only a couple of changes.)

1.) Pallet Town. 2.) Outside Pallet Lab. 3.) Inside Pallet Lab. 4.) Route 01. 5 & 6.) Viridian City.

1.) Pidgeot. 2.) Viridian Gym. 3.) Pewter Gym. 4.) Pewter Police. 5.) Pewter Museum. 6.) Route 03.

All maps have been updated to new tiles, I have also taken the liberty of Updating events, Scripts and Maps themselves. (If I new how to print screen the whole map without my events and stuff on screen I would show you the changes, this will have to do.)

Spoiler:

CREDITS:

Poccil Starter Kit.
Flameguru Starter Kit.
Avatar A Couple Sprites. (I forgot which ones.)
Nintendo.(c) Creating Pokemon.
Ho-oh. A few scripts.
Jocelyn A Couple Sprites. (I forgot which ones.)
Pikushi A Couple Sprites. (I forgot which ones.)
FL .. A Few Scripts.
RebornKefka A Couple Sprites. (I forgot which ones.)
Black Fly A Couple Sprites. (I forgot which ones.)
Khkramer Pokémon: Homeward Bound Logo.
Alina_Mau. Trainer Sprite.
CNG Scripting Help.
I forgot the guy who ripped most the sprites for HG/SS tilesets. (sorry.)
and myself... Sprites, Tileset Edits, Script Edits, Events, Mapping,
Story, Plot, Thread... So Basically, Everything Else...

Let me know if I have missed you off the list, but I'm pretty sure I haven't at the moment, but you never know.

Special Credits And Thanks To:

Maruno
KitsuneKouta

Please Give Constructive Criticism and/or Praise, Please... This Is NOT A Hack, Its Created VIA RPGMakerXP, All Mapping and Events Are Fully Created And Thought Up By Myself and somewhat copied from the original games/anime.

Spoiler:

Pixel Spriter:

• Pokémon Back Sprites.
• FakeMon, if any body is interested.
• Trainer Back Sprites (like 2, although probably unneccesary).
• Trainer Front Sprites (not too sure off the top of my head, not alot though, maybe around 7).
• Face Graphics (alot haha!).

That is all for now, show me some of your work before requesting a go please, I like Alina_Mau's style, so if she is/you are, around to help me out with some trainers, that would be great.

Update Posts By Myself.

May 27th 2012 Update
June 14th 2012 Update :FakéMon
June 27th 2012 Update :Rival and Starters
June 29th 2012 Update :$Trainer.info

 

[dolarmak]

Your overall premise sounds very much like every other pokemon game that exists. Do you have anything unique to add to your story that isn't in the others to make it stand apart?

I do like the changes you're making with the mechanics.
I like the idea of no EXP bar and no showing enemy lvls. I've been considering it in my game as well.
As well the idea that not every trainer will outright challenge you, and that you have a right to refuse some.

I am curious how you intend to set up the way you find out how powerful a person is compaired to you?
An idea might be to let you see how many badges that opponent has, to kind of judge their power. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to figure it out.
Maybe have dialog options?

As for the ingame money, I was always under the impression that they had a currency similar to japan or china where 200Y for a drink is more to the sum of 2$.

Just curious, how did you changed the rarities?

Screen shots look good, do you have a lot of pokemon showing up out in the open?

 

[blue]

Bout' time somebody did a game named Pokémon Pink, looks good!

 

[cruciFICTION]

I like the look of this so far. I have only a few things to say.
In the first screenshot, why are there so many signs?
In the last screenshot, I recommend you change back to the original enemy box graphic thing. The steps on the right side of it? They don't look so hot.

I like the use of the Mystery Dungeon character images, but you've got the fisherman one a bit wrong. It needs to have the gradient background, like pidgeotto's.

Now, we don't have much of a story here, so what I'm going to ask next is more of a question for yourself. I repeat: I'm not looking for an answer to this.
What exactly is the point of this game?
It's obviously set in Kanto, and that's okay. Not every game needs a new region or new pokémon, and if it's your first game, you need to keep things simple until you know you can handle something big. That doesn't mean you should just remake the original games, though. I just want to be able to see that this will have new features that will make it worth following. It's kind of your duty as a game maker.

Good luck.

 

[Nickalooose]

Your overall premise sounds very much like every other pokemon game that exists. Do you have anything unique to add to your story that isn't in the others to make it stand apart?

Well, other than the fact it starts in Kanto, there are new areas, more events, alot more to do with each town, the main incentive is to gain badges, reach the Pokémon League, but, battles are different, you can lose, it doesn't matter, Gym battles are considerably changed aswell, the starter types are all part of the Pokémon Pink™ story (the starters are a secret though.)

I do like the changes you're making with the mechanics.
I like the idea of no EXP bar and no showing enemy lvls. I've been considering it in my game as well.
As well the idea that not every trainer will outright challenge you, and that you have a right to refuse some.

I think, with being able to see enemy levels, you can "cheat", by keeping a high leveled Pokémon in position 1, then switching to a lower leveled Pokémon to gain exp, and vise versa, but, this game is clever, it counters this by Pokémon not just being a range of levels, as you see in the screen shot, that's a Pidgeotto, on route01, trainers are not who they appear either... Yes, trainers that are just walking around don't exactly challenge you, you can also challenge other trainers, i've hated the fact you HAVE to battle every trainer that spots you, when all your have remaining is a Level 4 Caterpie with 11HP remaining and you come across a trainer with 2 Weedle and a Metapod, that's a losing situation, so i give you the choice to skip (but we all know nobody will refuse a match, right? ;))

I am curious how you intend to set up the way you find out how powerful a person is compaired to you?
An idea might be to let you see how many badges that opponent has, to kind of judge their power. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to figure it out.
Maybe have dialog options?

Ahh, you got me, that is exactly how you can tell, you can see how many badges a trainer has, unless you come across a meanie, haha! But, saying that, there are other ways to find out, but will let you find those.

As for the ingame money, I was always under the impression that they had a currency similar to japan or china where 200Y for a drink is more to the sum of 2$.

Sorry, i didn't know about the Chinese currency rates, but nevertheless, everything will appear cheaper, but money is very hard to come by in this game, since when does a 16 year old child get the means to own so much money, you get what you earn.

Just curious, how did you changed the rarities?

Ah, this you will have to find out for yourself, within the game, nothing is a secret, people talk, books help, buildings are useful, ask around, i know how we like to talk to everybody haha.

Screen shots look good, do you have a lot of pokemon showing up out in the open?

as a matter of fact, there are roamers, so strolling endlessly in grassy areas, swimming up and down in route19 or back and forth in Rock Tunnel is not the only way to find your favorite Pokémon, will add more screenies soon, i will have to shrink the size but this will make the picture blurry... Hope you don't mind.

Bout' time somebody did a game named Pokémon Pink, looks good!

haha, thanks, demo soon, keep an eye out :)

I like the look of this so far. I have only a few things to say.
In the first screenshot, why are there so many signs?
In the last screenshot, I recommend you change back to the original enemy box graphic thing. The steps on the right side of it? They don't look so hot.

Ooh, those signs are help signs, they explain a few changes within the game...
the only reason i changed the box in the first place was because removing the levels gave me a big empty space, those steps make up for the space, but will consider this for the future, thanks.

I like the use of the Mystery Dungeon character images, but you've got the fisherman one a bit wrong. It needs to have the gradient background, like pidgeotto's.

I know what you mean, only one problem, say i add 50 new speakable trainers, that's 50 new face graphics i will need to add, and i'm not too good at the spriting part, i do my best, but sometimes that is not good enough, ya know?!

Now, we don't have much of a story here, so what I'm going to ask next is more of a question for yourself. I repeat: I'm not looking for an answer to this.
What exactly is the point of this game?
It's obviously set in Kanto, and that's okay. Not every game needs a new region or new pokémon, and if it's your first game, you need to keep things simple until you know you can handle something big. That doesn't mean you should just remake the original games, though. I just want to be able to see that this will have new features that will make it worth following. It's kind of your duty as a game maker.

Good luck.

The point is for you to enjoy Pokémon in a free manner, once you've beaten the Pokémon League in the games, you kind of give up, once you've leveled your favorite Pokémon to level 68, you're unbeatable, and you restart, maybe... This game is here to change this, there is more of a vast outlet to what you can do, your character is new to the region, no friends, no enemies, you give her the chance to have friends and foes, it's your choice...

It starts in Kanto, there is so much more to this game that what you can see at the moment, sometimes i think i should show screen shots, sometimes i think that will give away too much, still considering my options, the more fan base Pokémon Pink gets, the more i would reveal, i guess... I only have one new Pokémon, this Pokémon is special to the game, it's my avatar.

i'm not a pro scripter, i can do what i can do, i use my strengths to do what i think is best, i have added so many new things in, that i can't remember them all, haha, which is bad on my part, but as i test the game myself, i realise some new changes as i play, as a "tutorial", the game shows a few new additions at the start, just so you can get a feel to the changes, nothing more irritating than playing a game and the changes are so big that you just aren't enjoying yourself...


A side note to the comments so far, i do need some spriters that can work in HG/SS style, i'm okay, but not Pokémon game standard, if you get that :(

I have also removed that boring dialog that everybody should know by now, with Oak saying "Welcome to the world of Pokémon..." blah blah blah, when you click new game, boom, you're in-game... if you read the 'Becoming A Trainer' spoiler, the game, literally continues from that...

I may have a demo release soon, with what i have at the moment, and update the game as you play, just trying to work out how to use this updater thing i have... I should really ask Desbrina for help haha, never mind.

Spoiler:

QUICK UPDATE.

Fully completed up to Vermillion City, but fully playable thus far up to Mt. Moon, until i check for errors and grammar mistakes etc.

 

[Ratty524]

This project seems okay. Do you plan on having the story centered around this single character? Is the main character also going to be talking/giving input, or is that completely controlled by the player as with the mainstream games? The reason I'm asking is because it kind of looks like that is the direction you are heading towards based on the fact that you revealed the character's personality.

You also have some nice screens, though the pixellated facesets of the human characters looks a bit jarring when paired with the clean facesets of the pokemon.

Also, I have questions about your features. Sorry if I come off as a whiner:

No visible exp bar or how much exp you gain. (always hated this.)

... Why do you hate this!? The exp bar, since it's introduction in Gen 2, has always been helpful for keeping in track of the progress you are making in training your pokemon. It was much better than constantly going to the status screen at every end of battle and checking how much exp the pokemon has. Removing this would create too much of a guessing game as to what pokemon I should grind against and how many, in my opinion. You should also keep in mind that almost every RPG, not just pokemon, also have visible exp requirements.

Money is VERY hard to come by, use what you have wisely. Prices have changed considerably, everything has been made cheaper, because of the money shortage within the game. ($200 for a Potion, really? That's the equivalent of me and you paying $20 for a can of Coke...)

I guess this is good for making the game a little harder. Do you have a plan for balancing it out, though?

HM's not necessary, Pokémon big enough to carry you can Fly, Surf and Climb... Pokémon with claws or the nature to cut/eat trees can use "Cut/Devour", Pokémon that naturally dig or can dig, can use "Dig" as an ability. (HM's are still available... Pokémon still need to be taught these abilities though, just not exactly through HM's.)

Technically speaking, the whole concept behind who can learn TMs/HMs is based on the pokemon's "natural" abilities to begin with. Of course a bird can fly into the air, but it doesn't have powerful enough claws to cut, which is why you can't teach a Pidgey the Cut HM. If you are planning to have these skills learned through other means (i.e. a move tutor) then I guess this is fine. Oh, and Dig is not an HM :P

Rarities have changed considerably.
Gym Battles have changed considerably.

... Elaborate? HOW have to changed these features? Are pokemon that are usually rare more common? Do gym battles have stupid requirements like in the anime? Please explain.

No visible, opponent, levels, in actual fact, different trainers have different abilities, just because you are battling someone outside of Viridian City, doesn't mean his Pokémon are ranged from levels 2-6, talk to people, find out a little about them or other trainers, some trainers ambush you, others ask you for battles, others you can challenge, not just the once either .

So, do you have to talk to the trainer first to gauge how experienced they are? I'm not quite sure what you are saying, and personally I would prefer the original system where trainers from earlier routes are weak, and then get stronger later on. While it may not be "realistic" it's done for a reason as to create a balanced difficulty curve. Alternatively, you could go down the route of Pokemon Emerald where trainers you battle become gradually available for a rematch with stronger pokemon.

HYPE, Pokémon can get hyped up towards a battle which gives them extra boost in stats.

Sounds interesting, but how will the pokemon achieve this in-game?

Lots of events to play through within the world.

Not to sound rude, but whooptie-doo? Almost every decent game I've seen made in RPG Maker has some events running through a parallel process on maps, depending on whether they are needed. It's not really a distinguished feature.

Other than that, I am highly anticipating your demo.

 

[dolarmak]

Ratty524: By "Events" I don't think she is refering to 'scripting events', I think she means like story events: festivals, small tournaments and such.

Nickalooose: can I ask how you changed the script to remove the XP bars and Lvl text. This is definatly something I want for my game.

 

[AquaticWartortle]

I love how when you talk to characters they have a small box with their sprite! :) I always wanted a Pokemon game to have that.

 

[Nickalooose]

This project seems okay. Do you plan on having the story centered around this single character? Is the main character also going to be talking/giving input, or is that completely controlled by the player as with the mainstream games? The reason I'm asking is because it kind of looks like that is the direction you are heading towards based on the fact that you revealed the character's personality.

Some conversations depend on you giving answers etc., but she is going to be fully controlled by you, there are several ways a conversation will or can, go, the story always changes depending on the route you take, believe me, this has took ALOT of testing, but is all working fine... In saying this, that is the character as a whole, each player gives the character a whole new BIO, you play how you want to play, and you will never play the same as any other person, thus, a new personality, i've created her as an impression of myself, well, a younger version haha, so other than age, her personality is of myself IF i were a Pokémon character.

You also have some nice screens, though the pixellated facesets of the human characters looks a bit jarring when paired with the clean facesets of the pokemon.

I know exactly what you mean, but until i can find a nice person to help create, me some good looking face sets, i guess i will have to stick with these for the moment, sorry... making the game and spriting is all a big time clash, while making to maps etc. spriting gets pushed to the bottom of the list, it's a nice big long line of rotating what i do.

Also, I have questions about your features. Sorry if I come off as a whiner:


... Why do you hate this!? The exp bar, since it's introduction in Gen 2, has always been helpful for keeping in track of the progress you are making in training your pokemon. It was much better than constantly going to the status screen at every end of battle and checking how much exp the pokemon has. Removing this would create too much of a guessing game as to what pokemon I should grind against and how many, in my opinion. You should also keep in mind that almost every RPG, not just pokemon, also have visible exp requirements.

Well, in my game, you don't need to just battle to become stronger, Pokémon can "Train" to become stronger, Leveling up in theory is to gain new moves and an extra bit of stat boost, it's almost irrelevant otherwise, which is why i have removed it off the battle screen... Saying this, i have a new system that you can give a Pokémon new moves without the requirement of leveling up, so what's the use of EXP Bars, when i have all this?

I guess this is good for making the game a little harder. Do you have a plan for balancing it out, though?

This is what making friends and foes will help, there are little jobs to do, which you can earn money as what other games have done, but, its realism i guess...

Technically speaking, the whole concept behind who can learn TMs/HMs is based on the Pokemon's "natural" abilities to begin with. Of course a bird can fly into the air, but it doesn't have powerful enough claws to cut, which is why you can't teach a Pidgey the Cut HM. If you are planning to have these skills learned through other means (i.e. a move tutor) then I guess this is fine. Oh, and Dig is not an HM

Oh haha, now you've said that, i realise Dig isn't an HM haha, oops!
Well, if a Pokémon can fly, then it can fly, haha! this is also implemented in a few other games, but i like this idea, also, cut trees are stupid, never like them much, the story becomes the creators if cut trees are involved, i like freedom.

... Elaborate? HOW have to changed these features? Are pokemon that are usually rare more common? Do gym battles have stupid requirements like in the anime? Please explain.

I'm assuming you mean, "HOW have you changed these features?" not "how to..."
Well, not exactly, common Pokémon being rare and vice versa, more, Pokémon Essentials has like a 5% encounter rate for the rarest Pokémon, but i have made Pokémon rarer and so forth... this is better played than read, when demo comes out, you will get to see yourself ... I'm not quite understanding the "stupid requirements" thing, i like things to be a challenge though! Don't get this confused with being hard...

So, do you have to talk to the trainer first to gauge how experienced they are? I'm not quite sure what you are saying, and personally I would prefer the original system where trainers from earlier routes are weak, and then get stronger later on. While it may not be "realistic" it's done for a reason as to create a balanced difficulty curve. Alternatively, you could go down the route of Pokemon Emerald where trainers you battle become gradually available for a rematch with stronger pokemon.

that's one way to find out, but, you can also see how many badges they got if any at all... If for example, you came across someone with 4 badges, and you have a pathetic Pikachu by your side, do you challenge, realistically, no, but never the less, you still could, what's to say they don't have a team of Water and Flying Pokémon, Pikachu will almost smash this trainer to the ground...

Sounds interesting, but how will the pokemon achieve this in-game?

I suppose in theory, it's like a Pokémon holding an item, i guess that's best way to explain that...

Not to sound rude, but whooptie-doo? Almost every decent game I've seen made in RPG Maker has some events running through a parallel process on maps, depending on whether they are needed. It's not really a distinguished feature.

Other than that, I am highly anticipating your demo.

I no how this sounds, and your not being rude, it's almost inevitable that you would judge this game before actually playing it, i judge B/W, and i haven't played them... most of these features, plus many more, are not throughout the game, they become available as you progress through the game... Don't want to over crowd the features.

Ratty524: By "Events" I don't think she is refering to 'scripting events', I think she means like story events: festivals, small tournaments and such.

right you are hehe! But i do understand Ratty524 questioning.

Nickalooose: can I ask how you changed the script to remove the XP bars and Lvl text. This is definatly something I want for my game.

in PokeBattle_actualscene, search "lv{1}" around line 587, and comment that out.
and for XP Bars, around line 624, comment the line with

self.bitmap.fill_rect(@spritebaseX+expGaugeX,@spritebaseY+expGaugeY,self.exp,4,PokeBattle_Scene::EXPCOLOR)

out... then scroll down and comment out "pbSEPlay("expfull)", so you don't hear the ping when bar reaches full.
anything you want to edit after that is up to you.

Spoiler:

QUICK UPDATE

Will release more screenies to update those, that i have.
Added in-game tutorials.

Known Issues;
None (So far, until you guys start playing. haha)

Spoiler:

The Countdown Begins.

 

[Chiar]

I would like to point out the flaws of the graphics, which were not covered so far. The mapping so far is horrible and full of tile errors, and the fact that the game is set in a badly mapped edit of a canon region just daunts off people of the game. I don't know why you have cut the part of the textbox to create "steps", it makes it look weird and unaesthetic. You might also insert DPPt sprites and textboxes if you are using the battle background.

 

[KitsuneKouta]

I would like to point out the flaws of the graphics, which were not covered so far. The mapping so far is horrible and full of tile errors, and the fact that the game is set in a badly mapped edit of a canon region just daunts off people of the hack. I don't know why you have cut the part of the textbox to create "steps", it makes it look weird and unaesthetic. You might also insert DPPt sprites and textboxes if you are using the battle background.

This isn't a hack, as is made clear in the first post as well as the title.

The graphics do need some work, however that only requires superficial changes. Switching out tiles and cleaning up maps isn't too big of a deal. In fact, that seems to be about all of what many fan games do, before ultimately failing from lack of actual progress and bad planning. They spend so much time mapping, spriting or creating nifty new menus, making the game LOOK awesome, and then fail to implement a story or features worth mention. It's just coming up on the first demo, so graphics can wait a little longer for the sake of actual progress. I'd much rather see this become a completed game with average graphics (though only one style should be used) than another one of the beautiful games that never gets even half finished.

I can't really say much about the added features yet until actually playing the game, but it sounds like it will be different from the standard Pokemon games. It may take some getting used to, but it seems like it's thought out well enough so I don't expect it to be much of an issue.

 

[Nickalooose]

I would like to point out the flaws of the graphics, which were not covered so far. The mapping so far is horrible and full of tile errors, and the fact that the game is set in a badly mapped edit of a canon region just daunts off people of the game. I don't know why you have cut the part of the textbox to create "steps", it makes it look weird and unaesthetic. You might also insert DPPt sprites and textboxes if you are using the battle background.

quite right you are, i do have map errors, but they are simple fixes, i choose to get the map, created, before i find the errors, but nevertheless, as i post pictures and demo releases, you guys will find them for me, the ones i totally miss...

this game is also, NOT a hack... I fully mapped this myself... And believe me, this game will have plenty of map errors, which is a shame, but the story and game play should hopefully make you forget little errors... Those errors in the pictures, by the way, have been fixed, i can see which ones you are speaking about too...

as for the battle boxes, i did that to remove pointless space, clearly its a huge change for you to oversee, so hopefully as you play the game you will come to like the boxes, i don't see the point in using the same stuff as everyone else, at least with my battle boxes, they are unique, given, they look shardy and could use a hella of a lot of work, but that's a given when i can't sprite to save my life haha.

The battle backgrounds, i don't see the problem, they are just colors mixed together, you cant put a style or game to those... the battle bases, i used to show where the encounter was, was it in long grass, short grass, caves, water, fishing, you will see when you play what i mean.

This isn't a hack, as is made clear in the first post as well as the title.

Very true... Some people take no time to read the finer prints at all... *Sigh*

The graphics do need some work, however that only requires superficial changes. Switching out tiles and cleaning up maps isn't too big of a deal. In fact, that seems to be about all of what many fan games do, before ultimately failing from lack of actual progress and bad planning. They spend so much time mapping, spriting or creating nifty new menus, making the game LOOK awesome, and then fail to implement a story or features worth mention. It's just coming up on the first demo, so graphics can wait a little longer for the sake of actual progress. I'd much rather see this become a completed game with average graphics (though only one style should be used) than another one of the beautiful games that never gets even half finished.

I can't really say much about the added features yet until actually playing the game, but it sounds like it will be different from the standard Pokemon games. It may take some getting used to, but it seems like it's thought out well enough so I don't expect it to be much of an issue.

I fully agree, graphics need a lot of work, nobody has agreed to help me with that part yet, or i have no-one who comes close to my standards, and that isn't very high haha...

believe me, i intend on finishing this game, until i die... Which i hope is not soon haha, me dying i mean haha, oh dear... So, little graphic errors or mapping errors at the moment are no bother to me, i will fix them when i'm not creating a nice non boring storyline for you, the story i have so far, isn't even complicated, i see so many games with stories that you just know are going to be prolonged and you will get sick of playing, each story i have created is short and sweet, like meee :laugh:... I also understand the, "use one style" thing, but generally, that is a persons opinion, which i don't exactly disagree on, but, the game can become a huge hit none the less...

the added features i hope will make people impressed and want to continue playing, all the way to the end, but, one can only assume what is being implemented is the "right" thing to do, until tested... You are right, some things need the user to adjust to, like when automatic cars were invented, that's a big change, people probably complained, but then again, are there still automatic cars around, yes... One persons peeve is a next persons fetish.

@Everyone
When the demo is released, i would like criticism, of course, but please don't go on and on and on about the same things that have already been posted or pointed out, i can answer your questions and give you answers to why i haven't changed anything or why it was changed, we will see.

 

[Nickalooose]

Demo available: Check first post, click first spoiler.

Please post any problems you find here.
any suggestions, also, post here...
If you would like to help, post here :)

so, we've worked out that you should post here haha, enjoy.

 

[khkramer]

want me to make you a better logo?
Pm me

 

[KitsuneKouta]

I imagine there's only 3 reasons this game doesn't get more attention: graphical quality (many users can't look past bad graphics), the name "Pink," which some of the male community (except us tough guys ;} ) may find threatening to their masculinity, and the restriction to only playing as a girl (see previous). These are just opinions though.

So, first, good job actually making it to the demo stage. Many game developers here never get that far (myself included :D). Since you actually have something working, you just need to refine it to get the proper attention. So, I'll lay out some recommendations that I feel will get your game more attention.

First, graphics. You have those who judge a game's quality by the graphics, and those who don't but find quality graphics a definite plus. In other words, everyone likes good graphics (though "good" is subjective. Just appeal to the mainstream and you'll do fine). Here's what I think you should do (and be aware that you may need to either practice or ask for help):

• Create some new (quality) menus. The default menus went out of style when gen 4 came around in 2007. Besides, everyone (ok, maybe not everyone. Myself at least) likes to see interfaces that are original and attractive, rather than the same thing over and over. You will likely need to rearrange the layout of the information and images in the menus, but I can give you pointers on that if you need it.
• Pick a tile style and stick with it. Design everything based on that style (custom tiles are perfectly fine, as long as they fit in well). If you plan to use the gen 4 character sprites, you may need to either switch to gen 4 tiles, or touch up the gen 3 tiles (how do those monstrous gen 4 characters fit through those tiny gen 3 doors?). And by touch-up, I basically mean make the gen 3 tiles bigger, and play with the pallets and lighting.
• Spruce up the sprites. Some of them really need it. Referring to official sprites is a great way to check your quality. Just be careful when splicing or recoloring official sprites. Often times, it will show.

Second, plot. This is where the meat is (for those who look past the graphics, and appreciate a good story).

• There's more detail in your written plot in this thread than what's actually in-game. I didn't know that the main character was wanting to go back to the orange islands (or that their hometown was there), since it was never mentioned in-game. Be sure to get those details into the game itself, since players generally don't want to have to read a back-story before playing. Anyone should be able to pick it up and understand what's going on.
• Put some thought into the little things as well. Writing good scenarios adds some depth to the game (or alternatively, you could take the standard Pokemon approach and keep it short and simple, with minimal plot development. That doesn't appear to be your goal though). What I mean is, when you encounter other characters in a given scene, or a particular event of some kind happens, don't write the scenario (dialog, events, etc.) to cater exclusively to the overall story. Keep the overall story in mind, but follow the good story-telling practice of sub plots. The scenarios should be interesting on their own, rather than existing solely to advance the general plot. Well thought out character interactions and character development will make this a smoother process.

Third, features. See if any of the ones you have so far can be improved at all (if not, then it's probably good). Also consider coming up with additional features to help you game establish itself as being unique. Things to note:

• Too many little things may distract the player. Pretend we all have ADHD. In other words, make sure each feature you add is meaningful.
• You decided to remove the exp bar, which is fine and all, but I think it needs a little more to go with it. The easiest thing to do that would go along well with this is to remove any reference to exp in-game (otherwise players just check it in the menu). For consistency, you should also remove the message telling the player how much exp their Pokemon just got from killing something (and possibly even every reference to levels and levelling up). This does not mean get rid of exp/level gains, just the indicators of them. Just be aware that this feature in general will probably drive number-crunchers and level grinders nuts.
• I like the inherent ability to use "HMs." I had that idea as well, so obviously I like it. I'm sure others have at least considered it as well.
• It may be a good idea to give some specifics on what you meant by "evolution has changed considerably."
• I already know about what you meant by changing gym battles. It can be very cool if you do it right. I didn't actually get to fight Brock because of the initial bugs that you've since worked out, so I don't know if you've implemented it or not.
• When playing the demo, I never could get the 'S' and 'D' keys to do their special thing. It just did the same thing as the 'C' key.
• I like the HYPE idea. It's similar to another idea I had.

I ordered those more or less by what I think should be a priority. Graphics, though superficial, will get your game more attention. Plot will make the game more interesting (but you have to attract the players first). Features will make the game more fun (but only if the first two are good enough to keep the player from losing interest).

Somewhere in between you should do some grammar-checking. Open up every Text command in every event and revise it (you can type everything in Microsoft Word before you put it in game if you have to, or copy/paste what you have already into Word. It'll check grammar and spelling for you). You can save this for later though.

You've already started. You just need to expand on what you have and tidy it up a bit. And remember, pretend we all have ADHD (I'm sure some here on PC legitimately do, so all the more). And scenarios are important and all, but 10 minutes of straight-up text will probably bore some people even if you have an interesting story.

As for bugs, you can encounter OW Pokemon as many times as you want even after they disappear, as long as you stand on the square they spawn from. You need to make it based on some condition to keep players from exploiting that. There's also the issue with the 'S' and 'D' keys I mentioned. Oh, and the game crashed when I opened the pokegear (I didn't notice it right off since I never even think about the pokegear. Let alone use it).

Now you can just throw in some eye candy and work on everything else afterwards. A cool logo, as khkramer suggested, would probably be a good start. Be picky though. You want something that will convey how your vision of this game. In all aspects of developing this game, you need to put in a lot of thought and effort to adequately express what's in your head to the players (since none of us have ESP, as far as I know).

And I know your preference for Pokemon is a bit different from the general male audience that will be (hopefully) playing this, but I'd suggest throwing them a bone and giving them the ability to choose starters that are more...manly? Cool? I don't know how to better express it. And if you want to keep with the all-pink starters thing, you could always recolor some "cool" Pokemon pink (like Charizard's evolution family) ;)

Also, I realize that it probably sounds a lot like I contradicted what I said above (and I would have had you not released a demo since). So, let me qualify what I've said. I suggested putting off graphics for the sake of progress, but you have enough progress now that you've released a demo (not a particularly long one, but you just need to go back and flesh things out once progress reaches the later part of the game. You'll see it with fresh eyes and the overall story in mind at that point), and I'm assuming you've kept working on it and probably have a little more than that even. Here I've implied that progress is not necessarily lots of content, just enough content to direct the player through a reasonable portion of the game. Now that you have a demo, there's no rush to jump into the next one. You can start working on making it look awesome so that the next demo will be more successful. This demo is mainly a proof of concept from my perspective, so you should aim to make the next one your hook. If it looks great, plays great, and is fun, you're likely to get some followers.

Even after I've said all that though, you are by no means obligated to follow my or anyone else's suggestions. They're just tips to point you in the right direction (right being subject to personal perspective). I don't want to make you change the game or features you've implemented (since it'd lose the personality you've given it), I just want to encourage you to improve what's already functional so that it may potentially become more successful. Measure any suggestions against the vision you already have for this game, and implement them in a way that complies with it.

---------------------
EDIT: See? Even a pink Charizard is still more awesome than 90% of every other Pokemon that Sugimori created.

 

[Nickalooose]

I imagine there's only 3 reasons this game doesn't get more attention: graphical quality (many users can't look past bad graphics), the name "Pink," which some of the male community (except us tough guys ;} ) may find threatening to their masculinity, and the restriction to only playing as a girl (see previous). These are just opinions though.

Game name has now been changed to Pokémon: Homeward Bound, to appeal to both sex's... The option to be a guy or a girl has now been re-added, the only reason I removed the choice was to separate this from other games, nevertheless, why would a guy want to play a girl, right?

So, first, good job actually making it to the demo stage. Many game developers here never get that far (myself included :D). Since you actually have something working, you just need to refine it to get the proper attention. So, I'll lay out some recommendations that I feel will get your game more attention.

Thanks haha! I do believe the hardest part to making a game is release to the public, in any case, this is what I have done and was hoping for criticism, instead, got private messages asking how I did things and would I like an eventer to create me events that no other game has got... Moving on... It's nice to get recommendations (that's a big word haha).

First, graphics. You have those who judge a game's quality by the graphics, and those who don't but find quality graphics a definite plus. In other words, everyone likes good graphics (though "good" is subjective. Just appeal to the mainstream and you'll do fine). Here's what I think you should do (and be aware that you may need to either practice or ask for help):

I understand this, but, B/W graphics are awful and there are no completed HG/SS tilesets anywhere :(.

• Create some new (quality) menus. The default menus went out of style when gen 4 came around in 2007. Besides, everyone (ok, maybe not everyone. Myself at least) likes to see interfaces that are original and attractive, rather than the same thing over and over. You will likely need to rearrange the layout of the information and images in the menus, but I can give you pointers on that if you need it.

I have tried making menus in the past, none of which have ever worked, i can get all sorts of things to work, but menus, are a no go for me, i would need hella help (although, those tutorials you are helping me with, i'm playing around with)

• Pick a tile style and stick with it. Design everything based on that style (custom tiles are perfectly fine, as long as they fit in well). If you plan to use the gen 4 character sprites, you may need to either switch to gen 4 tiles, or touch up the gen 3 tiles (how do those monstrous gen 4 characters fit through those tiny gen 3 doors?). And by touch-up, I basically mean make the gen 3 tiles bigger, and play with the pallets and lighting.

A little help on how to make tiles bigger, if i just re-size them, they look worse.

• Spruce up the sprites. Some of them really need it. Referring to official sprites is a great way to check your quality. Just be careful when splicing or recoloring official sprites. Often times, it will show.

This, i'm practicing at, i feel i'm getting better, i can't be awesome at everything right away, and I was looking at getting a release of a demo, and work on everything graphic wise after, the release was just to get a feel of events, game play and new features.

Second, plot. This is where the meat is (for those who look past the graphics, and appreciate a good story).

• There's more detail in your written plot in this thread than what's actually in-game. I didn't know that the main character was wanting to go back to the orange islands (or that their hometown was there), since it was never mentioned in-game. Be sure to get those details into the game itself, since players generally don't want to have to read a back-story before playing. Anyone should be able to pick it up and understand what's going on.

Because the demo is short, the story of the main character is not heard upon just yet, you meet new characters and the story fits together, why they moved, where they live, what you are doing, etc... Because I have all my notes wrote in text files, I can see all this, and minor things get missed out from the game, will work through this.

• Put some thought into the little things as well. Writing good scenarios adds some depth to the game (or alternatively, you could take the standard Pokemon approach and keep it short and simple, with minimal plot development. That doesn't appear to be your goal though). What I mean is, when you encounter other characters in a given scene, or a particular event of some kind happens, don't write the scenario (dialog, events, etc.) to cater exclusively to the overall story. Keep the overall story in mind, but follow the good story-telling practice of sub plots. The scenarios should be interesting on their own, rather than existing solely to advance the general plot. Well thought out character interactions and character development will make this a smoother process.

I'm getting an idea of what you mean, but, i'm a little weary, because, I have no story line characters thus far, most NPC's are there to make the world look "busy", "occupied" and/or "populated"... A little more info on this would be useful.

Third, features. See if any of the ones you have so far can be improved at all (if not, then it's probably good). Also consider coming up with additional features to help you game establish itself as being unique. Things to note:

• Too many little things may distract the player. Pretend we all have ADHD. In other words, make sure each feature you add is meaningful.

This I thought of, this is why, I have only added a few little things to the game, nothing to big nothing to special, I believe some sort of realism is the way to go, I'm not one for saying I appreciate being ambushed every 10 steps by a biker using poison moves going down a 3 route area with no center half way :(.

• You decided to remove the exp bar, which is fine and all, but I think it needs a little more to go with it. The easiest thing to do that would go along well with this is to remove any reference to exp in-game (otherwise players just check it in the menu). For consistency, you should also remove the message telling the player how much exp their Pokemon just got from killing something (and possibly even every reference to levels and levelling up). This does not mean get rid of exp/level gains, just the indicators of them. Just be aware that this feature in general will probably drive number-crunchers and level grinders nuts.

I'm pretty sure I have removed all EXP things within battles and such, the only thing I didn't remove was the EXP on Pokémon info screen, EXP is only considered valuable during the first badge faze, after that, the Pokémon world has a little change (don't want to reveal too much of this).

• I like the inherent ability to use "HMs." I had that idea as well, so obviously I like it. I'm sure others have at least considered it as well.
• It may be a good idea to give some specifics on what you meant by "evolution has changed considerably."

The evolutions for some Pokémon no longer apply, traded for example, now no longer need trading (hated this from the get, go!). Some Pokémon need to be raised properly and some evolve depending on lust and some combine... There will be "tutors" around the world who can help your Pokémon learn, Fly, for example, which cost money, you leave your Pokémon with them for a certain amount of time, different tutors take different time, they have ratings and comments within their structure!

• I already know about what you meant by changing gym battles. It can be very cool if you do it right. I didn't actually get to fight Brock because of the initial bugs that you've since worked out, so I don't know if you've implemented it or not.
• When playing the demo, I never could get the 'S' and 'D' keys to do their special thing. It just did the same thing as the 'C' key.

Gym battles work ;), I like what i've done, but many people will find it unfair or stupid or something, sometimes you got to plan your battles instead of flying in all guns blazing... There are many NPC's in the first few towns and routes that 'S' and 'D' are applicable to, I think maybe you spoke to the few in Viridian City, most of them battle later in the game, like after badge 1 haha... Try using it against Viridian Forest NPC's or Pallet Town or Pewter City or Route 02.

• I like the HYPE idea. It's similar to another idea I had.

I hope mine will appear just as good as yours will be :).

I ordered those more or less by what I think should be a priority. Graphics, though superficial, will get your game more attention. Plot will make the game more interesting (but you have to attract the players first). Features will make the game more fun (but only if the first two are good enough to keep the player from losing interest).

Will look through this.

Somewhere in between you should do some grammar-checking. Open up every Text command in every event and revise it (you can type everything in Microsoft Word before you put it in game if you have to, or copy/paste what you have already into Word. It'll check grammar and spelling for you). You can save this for later though.

Ergh! Have you ever looked at the same thing so much it just looks right, even when people point out that it's not haha.

You've already started. You just need to expand on what you have and tidy it up a bit. And remember, pretend we all have ADHD (I'm sure some here on PC legitimately do, so all the more). And scenarios are important and all, but 10 minutes of straight-up text will probably bore some people even if you have an interesting story.

I think the longest conversation you have is during the choosing Pokémon stage, should I remove most of this?

As for bugs, you can encounter OW Pokemon as many times as you want even after they disappear, as long as you stand on the square they spawn from. You need to make it based on some condition to keep players from exploiting that. There's also the issue with the 'S' and 'D' keys I mentioned. Oh, and the game crashed when I opened the pokegear (I didn't notice it right off since I never even think about the pokegear. Let alone use it).

I actually thought of this when testing myself, I think this was fixed during Viridian Forest and I haven't got around to correcting the others... The PokéGear should be irrelevant, I don't think i've given that to the player, I know it fails which is why I haven't given it, PokéGear is not my expertise, so unless I can find a fix, it will probably be a gift much later in game.

Now you can just throw in some eye candy and work on everything else afterwards. A cool logo, as khkramer suggested, would probably be a good start. Be picky though. You want something that will convey how your vision of this game. In all aspects of developing this game, you need to put in a lot of thought and effort to adequately express what's in your head to the players (since none of us have ESP, as far as I know).

And I know your preference for Pokemon is a bit different from the general male audience that will be (hopefully) playing this, but I'd suggest throwing them a bone and giving them the ability to choose starters that are more...manly? Cool? I don't know how to better express it. And if you want to keep with the all-pink starters thing, you could always recolor some "cool" Pokemon pink (like Charizard's evolution family) ;)

I have successfully re-added male hero and starters account, you can now have different starters depending on gender, more manly ones for you tough guys out there haha! (men and their ego's haha).

Also, I realize that it probably sounds a lot like I contradicted what I said above (and I would have had you not released a demo since). So, let me qualify what I've said. I suggested putting off graphics for the sake of progress, but you have enough progress now that you've released a demo (not a particularly long one, but you just need to go back and flesh things out once progress reaches the later part of the game. You'll see it with fresh eyes and the overall story in mind at that point), and I'm assuming you've kept working on it and probably have a little more than that even. Here I've implied that progress is not necessarily lots of content, just enough content to direct the player through a reasonable portion of the game. Now that you have a demo, there's no rush to jump into the next one. You can start working on making it look awesome so that the next demo will be more successful. This demo is mainly a proof of concept from my perspective, so you should aim to make the next one your hook. If it looks great, plays great, and is fun, you're likely to get some followers.

Even after I've said all that though, you are by no means obligated to follow my or anyone else's suggestions. They're just tips to point you in the right direction (right being subject to personal perspective). I don't want to make you change the game or features you've implemented (since it'd lose the personality you've given it), I just want to encourage you to improve what's already functional so that it may potentially become more successful. Measure any suggestions against the vision you already have for this game, and implement them in a way that complies with it.

---------------------
EDIT: See? Even a pink Charizard is still more awesome than 90% of every other Pokemon that Sugimori created.

I don't get upset very often haha! So what you said will help in the future, the game has been worked on since, but the flooding of PM's that I received, I put progress on the hold to work on some of the things people have said, it's funny how lot's of people PM but won't post on here?! I can't recreate Pink Pokémon for the starter selection, you will see why during the game haha! As for the starter selection, I have gone with a more type choice, and all starters will be of normal type, thus having one weakness, one non-effective, making it a good type to begin with being as it can't get over powered too easy, i.e. Grass, Weak against, Fire, Flying, Ice, Bug and Poison... Fire, Weak against, Ground, Rock and Water... Water, Weak against, Grass and Electric... Grass has a big disadvantage in battle as opposed to the others.

 

[afjc]

Nice but could use some work.

Your story line seems dullish, however i give you credit for taking on this huge task of creating a game. try to make it more unique. Keep us posted. This will be something i will look forward to

 

[KitsuneKouta]

Game name has now been changed to Pokémon: Homeward Bound, to appeal to both sex's... The option to be a guy or a girl has now been re-added, the only reason I removed the choice was to separate this from other games, nevertheless, why would a guy want to play a girl, right?

I actually read a thread recently about that. Interesting stuff. You'd be surprised how many do (and the reasons are generally legitimate as well. there's just a few weird ones). Anyways, the new title is definitely a bit more descriptive of what the game is about. It also breaks away from the traditional Pokemon [insert color here] naming convention, though I personally wasn't against Pink version. It (pink) had to happen sooner or later right?

Thanks haha! I do believe the hardest part to making a game is release to the public, in any case, this is what I have done and was hoping for criticism, instead, got private messages asking how I did things and would I like an eventer to create me events that no other game has got... Moving on... It's nice to get recommendations (that's a big word haha).

I like using big words sometimes. It eliminates the inherent dryness found in communication when relying too much on standard vocabulary. It also reduces how quickly I forget items of my vocabulary (I still forget many of them eventually though, and end up having to Google them to remind myself what they mean). About the PM thing, maybe people were embarrassed to express an interest in Pokemon Pink? Haha, hopefully that's not the case.

I understand this, but, B/W graphics are awful and there are no completed HG/SS tilesets anywhere :(.

I kind of find each generation appealing in its own way. Don't think I've ever hated the graphics. I mean, should I hate apples because I like oranges? No. Apples are fine too. As are bananas, grapes, pears, and other fruits that escape my memory. Oh and lemons. I like lemons. They're all good (both the graphics and the fruits, I mean). They're just different. From the 8-bit 2D black and white generic sprites to the colorful psuedo-3D graphics of the newer games. This is part of why I suggested perhaps touching up gen 3 tiles if you desired. Rather than just resizing (which would mess up the 32x32 size limitation), it has to a be a calculated effort. Some tiles just need to be taller, but not wider. Others wider, but not taller. You can use gen 4 tiles as an example to see how doors and houses or whatever should be sized, then modify gen 3 tiles to those dimensions (or thereabout), but correct the lighting as well (and maybe add your own unique take on the pallets). You can mitigate some of the awkwardness this way.

I have tried making menus in the past, none of which have ever worked, i can get all sorts of things to work, but menus, are a no go for me, i would need hella help (although, those tutorials you are helping me with, i'm playing around with)

I kind of enjoy doing menus (sometimes), so I can help you out here. If you can provide me with a general design, and what content should be included, I can probably whip something up. And comment the code to death so you can see how it works.

I'm getting an idea of what you mean, but, i'm a little weary, because, I have no story line characters thus far, most NPC's are there to make the world look "busy", "occupied" and/or "populated"... A little more info on this would be useful.

Sometimes it helps to just kind of throw some ideas out there (even if they're garbage) and sort them out until you find things that sound good. I've had several ideas for projects, so I write them out in txt files and come back to them later. Sometimes I read them and wonder if I knew how stupid it sounded when I wrote it, but other times I dig up old ideas that work well in a newer project. So yeah, just kind of toss some idea into txt files and pick and choose the good ones (sometimes reviewing bad ideas help you think of good ones). It's a start at least.

This I thought of, this is why, I have only added a few little things to the game, nothing to big nothing to special, I believe some sort of realism is the way to go, I'm not one for saying I appreciate being ambushed every 10 steps by a biker using poison moves going down a 3 route area with no center half way :(.

This is what you call artificial difficulty. And frustration. The kind of thing you don't want to do when trying to make a game appropriately challenging for a player. Things like over-leveled enemies, or enemies with artificially boosted stats or unbalanced abilities with the same generic AI as weaker ones also fall under that category. You should make sure to avoid artificial difficulty wherever you can (though it may have a place if used sparingly).

Gym battles work ;), I like what i've done, but many people will find it unfair or stupid or something, sometimes you got to plan your battles instead of flying in all guns blazing... There are many NPC's in the first few towns and routes that 'S' and 'D' are applicable to, I think maybe you spoke to the few in Viridian City, most of them battle later in the game, like after badge 1 haha... Try using it against Viridian Forest NPC's or Pallet Town or Pewter City or Route 02.

I like flying in all guns blazing. But I like strategy games too, so I'm not disappointed by this.

I think the longest conversation you have is during the choosing Pokémon stage, should I remove most of this?

Not necessarily. As long as the material is generally meaningful or even entertaining, then it's alright. I'd wait until you make more substantial plot progress though, as it's often hard to see things as they are when analyzing them too much. It's more effective to come back to it after doing something else for a while, so you can re-evaluate it without bias.

I have successfully re-added male hero and starters account, you can now have different starters depending on gender, more manly ones for you tough guys out there haha! (men and their ego's haha).

Gender profiling anyone? I kid. Sounds good to me. (and is ego really just a guy thing? oh well. it can make a life that feels worthless into one that feels worthwhile, so it justifies itself in my opinion).

As for the starter selection, I have gone with a more type choice, and all starters will be of normal type, thus having one weakness, one non-effective, making it a good type to begin with being as it can't get over powered too easy, i.e. Grass, Weak against, Fire, Flying, Ice, Bug and Poison... Fire, Weak against, Ground, Rock and Water... Water, Weak against, Grass and Electric... Grass has a big disadvantage in battle as opposed to the others.

That's actually a pretty good idea. It makes the game balanced. It's not uncommon for players to pick a starter with a better type advantage against certain trainers (like the e4 or gym leaders), so this will prevent that.

Looks like you're on the right track. If I get the time, I'll go back to doing some tiling and/or spriting. I did some tiles and sprites for an 8-bit game of mine (that's still in (possibly infinite) development), so I have at least some graphical ability. I'll help you out if that time comes. Also, even if you can't find a complete tileset in a style you already prefer, you may be able to use what's there and just add pieces as needed (or ask someone to make those pieces for you. like me, but only if I have time). Just some food for thought.

 

[Nickalooose]

I actually read a thread recently about that. Interesting stuff. You'd be surprised how many do (and the reasons are generally legitimate as well. there's just a few weird ones). Anyways, the new title is definitely a bit more descriptive of what the game is about. It also breaks away from the traditional Pokemon [insert color here] naming convention, though I personally wasn't against Pink version. It (pink) had to happen sooner or later right?

I'd like to see this thread haha! Yeah I thought Pink would be the way to go cause i was lazy, couldnt be bothered to think of a name... Plus i'm a girl so was convenient i guess.

I kind of find each generation appealing in its own way. Don't think I've ever hated the graphics. I mean, should I hate apples because I like oranges? No. Apples are fine too. As are bananas, grapes, pears, and other fruits that escape my memory. Oh and lemons. I like lemons. They're all good (both the graphics and the fruits, I mean). They're just different. From the 8-bit 2D black and white generic sprites to the colorful psuedo-3D graphics of the newer games. This is part of why I suggested perhaps touching up gen 3 tiles if you desired. Rather than just resizing (which would mess up the 32x32 size limitation), it has to a be a calculated effort. Some tiles just need to be taller, but not wider. Others wider, but not taller. You can use gen 4 tiles as an example to see how doors and houses or whatever should be sized, then modify gen 3 tiles to those dimensions (or thereabout), but correct the lighting as well (and maybe add your own unique take on the pallets). You can mitigate some of the awkwardness this way.

Fine example using fruit, and love how you actually kept talking about fruit for like 2 lines haha! I tried to edit the tilesets i have, but look aweful, so i changed the colouring, instead, looks no different because of the style the graphics are in... Would need a lot of help in this department.

I kind of enjoy doing menus (sometimes), so I can help you out here. If you can provide me with a general design, and what content should be included, I can probably whip something up. And comment the code to death so you can see how it works.

Will PM you about this.

Sometimes it helps to just kind of throw some ideas out there (even if they're garbage) and sort them out until you find things that sound good. I've had several ideas for projects, so I write them out in txt files and come back to them later. Sometimes I read them and wonder if I knew how stupid it sounded when I wrote it, but other times I dig up old ideas that work well in a newer project. So yeah, just kind of toss some idea into txt files and pick and choose the good ones (sometimes reviewing bad ideas help you think of good ones). It's a start at least.

I kinda do this, only thing i never do, is go back and have a look at them haha, i have soo many txt files on my HD, that it in all fairness, is a complete mess... i tend to think of ideas when i'm doing something else.

This is what you call artificial difficulty. And frustration. The kind of thing you don't want to do when trying to make a game appropriately challenging for a player. Things like over-leveled enemies, or enemies with artificially boosted stats or unbalanced abilities with the same generic AI as weaker ones also fall under that category. You should make sure to avoid artificial difficulty wherever you can (though it may have a place if used sparingly).
I like flying in all guns blazing. But I like strategy games too, so I'm not disappointed by this.

I must admit, my game will have some dodgy battles, like ones that will seem unbeatable, but i have acctually beaten the elite4 on the original Pokémon Yellow with Pikachu, Shellder, Exeggcute, Pidgeot, Mew and Charmander, so it's possible to win these battles without strong Pokémon or even high levelled ones.

Not necessarily. As long as the material is generally meaningful or even entertaining, then it's alright. I'd wait until you make more substantial plot progress though, as it's often hard to see things as they are when analyzing them too much. It's more effective to come back to it after doing something else for a while, so you can re-evaluate it without bias.

Ah i guess, but it's hard because when i played Final Fantasy 8, i loved the stories, the cut scenes and the dialog, i pretty much hated just running around trying to gather magics and such with nothing to read or watch, i guess, i like when my characters are talking and moving on there own... This is everyones opinion in itself, you can't win if there is no speeches, "the story cannot be told" and attention could span off if there is too much!

Gender profiling anyone? I kid. Sounds good to me. (and is ego really just a guy thing? oh well. it can make a life that feels worthless into one that feels worthwhile, so it justifies itself in my opinion).

I've made substancial changes to my game by adding guy characters back in, and i actually think my game could be better with both genders being available (In writing this, i have just come up with another thing i can add to my game haha)

That's actually a pretty good idea. It makes the game balanced. It's not uncommon for players to pick a starter with a better type advantage against certain trainers (like the e4 or gym leaders), so this will prevent that.

I do believe this statement... But, not many people are like me, in the sense that, Bulbasaur is one of my favourite Pokémon, so i will always choose Bulbasaur, but in another sense, When Bulbasaur was a standard starter type, that's 6 out of 8 badges that can easily be beaten;

Brock, weak against grass,
Misty, weak against grass,
Lt. Surge, not very effective against grass,
Erika, not very effective and useless if you have Ivysaur,
Koga, almost useless if you have Ivysaur,
and,
Giovanni, I think, other than Nidoqueen who has Blizzard, by now, Venusaur should Solar Beam, Leech Seed and Poison Powder, the crap out of this badge...

obviously this strategy works when you have a nice Water type and Psychic type to back Venusaur up after he gets beaten by Nidoqueen haha!

Looks like you're on the right track. If I get the time, I'll go back to doing some tiling and/or spriting. I did some tiles and sprites for an 8-bit game of mine (that's still in (possibly infinite) development), so I have at least some graphical ability. I'll help you out if that time comes. Also, even if you can't find a complete tileset in a style you already prefer, you may be able to use what's there and just add pieces as needed (or ask someone to make those pieces for you. like me, but only if I have time). Just some food for thought.

I looked into using the HG/SS anyway, but most of the towns and cities would have the same buildings, i really would dislike this...

I need to add more screenies, but i'm only able to do this at night time and the game would be dark, which would be awful to look at... how do i disable the day/night feature?

 

[KitsuneKouta]

I looked into using the HG/SS anyway, but most of the towns and cities would have the same buildings, i really would dislike this...

I need to add more screenies, but i'm only able to do this at night time and the game would be dark, which would be awful to look at... how do i disable the day/night feature?

You can always add more buildings in that style. Simply changing the shape and/or color, and maybe adding some little changes here and there, can result in a building that matches the graphical style but isn't the exact same generic building as all the rest. Buildings are probably one of the easier kinds of tiles to sprite (not that they are necessarily easy, just easier. depends a lot on one's skill level).

You updated to a recent kit right? You can disable the shading from the day/night system by setting ENABLESHADING to false (It's in the very top script section. Maruno added it in for convenience).