FireRed hack: Pokémon: Liquid Crystal [3.3.xxxxx Live Beta]

[Letzebuerger]

LaZ repointed the song table like 5 times. I started a sappy.xml for it a while ago, but it isn't finished yet. I'll post it here when I manage to get everything documented.

I was working right now on Mother 3 ? the Sappy table goes to the 1500s, but a lot of the slots are empty. There are over 250 different songs, and since there are the "remixes that are slightly different just to throw you off", it is really difficult to identify them. It also doesn't help that unlike Pok?mon which has a decently organized Sappy table, M3 just throws songs anywhere.

True when I opened Sappy, some songs had like the 'wrong' title. And I also found some songs when I searched through all the 250 songs/sounds. Was a bit confusing, but well I hope I can find a file for the Team Rocket Battle theme and Orange Island Battle theme and import them to my own private hack. Would be awesome.

 

[ICameHereForHacks]

Why hasn't this thread been locked yet? Isn't there a rule where a project is considered dead when a creator stops updating? Liquid Crystal is just as dead as Shiny Gold. Close the thread already, it's just pollution at this point.

This game was updated last time in september 2016, 6 months is not an extremely long time so stop being salty for no good reason because YOU are polluting this thread.

 

[easyaspi314]

True when I opened Sappy, some songs had like the 'wrong' title. And I also found some songs when I searched through all the 250 songs/sounds. Was a bit confusing, but well I hope I can find a file for the Team Rocket Battle theme and Orange Island Battle theme and import them to my own private hack. Would be awesome.

Okay, I think I have most of it.

Download sappylc.xml and copy it to your Sappy directory (where sappy.exe and sappy.xml are). Do not rename it to sappy.xml or overwrite the original, you will hate yourself for that.

Now, open Sappy (don't open the ROM yet) and go to Options > Settings.

Under the Playback section, next to ROM database, change it to sappylc.xml. Make sure to change this back to sappy.xml if you are going to open any other ROM.

Now, in Extra, set the slider on DirectSound voices limit to 12, then press OK. Like most modern ROM hacks with custom music, Liquid Crystal uses the tweak to increase the limit of "real" instruments from 5 to 12, allowing for richer, more complex music with less chiptune. Also, another bonus is that the drums are less likely to disappear when you use Surf. :P

Then, open up Liquid Crystal and enjoy.

NOTE: For some strange reason, the Pokémon Center music crashes Sappy if you try to play it. So don't. I made note of this.

Additionally, LaZ and friends changed the soundfonts/voice tables, so if you want to have accurate sounding music in a MIDI editor, you have to use gba_mus_riper again. Just try not to get them mixed up like I did. :/

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@ICameHereForHacks - According to your username, you came here for hacks. Well, that's funny, because I came here for hax. Gotta love those crits. :D

 

[Kunal Sarkar]

Has it been completed?

 

[Letzebuerger]

Okay, I think I have most of it.

Download sappylc.xml and copy it to your Sappy directory (where sappy.exe and sappy.xml are). Do not rename it to sappy.xml or overwrite the original, you will hate yourself for that.

Now, open Sappy (don't open the ROM yet) and go to Options > Settings.

Under the Playback section, next to ROM database, change it to sappylc.xml. Make sure to change this back to sappy.xml if you are going to open any other ROM.

Now, in Extra, set the slider on DirectSound voices limit to 12, then press OK. Like most modern ROM hacks with custom music, Liquid Crystal uses the tweak to increase the limit of "real" instruments from 5 to 12, allowing for richer, more complex music with less chiptune. Also, another bonus is that the drums are less likely to disappear when you use Surf. :P

Then, open up Liquid Crystal and enjoy.

NOTE: For some strange reason, the Pok?mon Center music crashes Sappy if you try to play it. So don't. I made note of this.

Additionally, LaZ and friends changed the soundfonts/voice tables, so if you want to have accurate sounding music in a MIDI editor, you have to use gba_mus_riper again. Just try not to get them mixed up like I did. :/

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@ICameHereForHacks - According to your username, you came here for hacks. Well, that's funny, because I came here for hax. Gotta love those crits. :D

Wow thanks a lot man! Very much appreciated (Y)! :D

 

[easyaspi314]

Wow thanks a lot man! Very much appreciated (Y)! :D

No problem.

Might as well share the hard work I put into (Q)! :D

 

[ThaSkaah]

EntHi LaZ,this hack is amazing,it remind me of my childhood while bringing a little extra to it! i've worked so far with the 511. might as well patch the 512. soon,saw some glitches that often were funny(sometimes not haha)managed to beat the e4 three times because i've pass through the emulator phase not saving in game,this forum as been really helpul all along the problems thanks to all of you!! I now have a little problem regardless Raikou,my Suicine is trained to level 50 and to catch Raikou with a repel they showed that you have to just be slightly over the +40 to appear,he didn't seems to appear to me while others were thrown in my face,will he or it will be for another re-run? Anyway hope you bring back the end of this piece of work !!i'm not yet through the orange islands,(like to take my time re battling the gym leaders :P)but this game y'all made is incredible,i've devour each seconds spent on it

Hey everyone! I'm currently trying to get the sapphire outta the undersea dungeon and instead i'm offered a red scarf.Does it mean i'll never get it?

 

[HeavyMecha]

Anyone have a download link? the current one is broken...

 

[solidsmeagol]

Anyone have a download link? the current one is broken...

The download link works fine for me. Just verify that it's the latest according to the build history. If I remember correctly, the build number is displayed in the intro screen.

 

[mikeru]

This looks awesome, can't wait to play! Just so I know, are trade evolutions altered?

 

[easyaspi314]

This looks awesome, can't wait to play! Just so I know, are trade evolutions altered?

Yep! There is a Psychic in a house at the northern part of Cianwood City. She will tell you how to evolve it.

 

[MrRikiEro]

Hey Guys
Where's the Pokedex of this fabulous game?

 

[easyaspi314]

Hey Guys
Where's the Pokedex of this fabulous game?

Press START and select POKéDEX.

Or look at the unofficial location map here. Can't guarantee it's 100% accurate, though.

 

[supereffective]

i wonder if he will dare and join the crowed of hacks that remaster with megas and aloen and such

 

[easyaspi314]

I would like people's opinions on a few previews of my remixes/repairs/rebalances of the soundtrack.

Aside from Vs. Champion which I want you to listen to at a normal volume, I recommend using a lower volume as some of these aren't the correct volume; some notes will be loud.

Vs. Champion (a.k.a. Vs. Three Inappropriately Loud Guitars)

Spoiler:

• This was recorded from Sappy because volume is the main goal here.
• Instrument volume rebalanced (especially those damn guitars - they either make it or break it) so it won't blow out your earbuds like it did to me.
• I still want it to be loud. Just not too loud.
• I added a bassline to the beginning of the song as well as reharmonized a few things. Thanks to B2W2.
• Additionally, the harmony in the guitar riff at the intro was also tweaked, and some more notes were added via 8-bit magic. :D
• There was a timpani beat at the beginning of the main melody which I really liked, so I extended it.
• A few notes are still a little bit off.

Ecruteak/Cianwood City

Spoiler:

• Low bass notes were added into the first half that mostly are extensions of the first piano note.
• Simple, slow drum beat added to the first half.
• Some harmony notes in the first half. Some were borrowed from HGSS's Cianwood.
• Second half is pretty much redone:
  • The high piano notes were downgraded to chiptune, which I think sounds better anyways.
  • The main melody is now string (well string + one chiptune track) chords.
  • The drum beat is more slow rock-ish.
  • I felt that this was kind of the original feel that the song was going for (Yet another song that HGSS butchered…TWICE).
• This was just recorded from my audio editor, so the volume isn't proper.
• Additionally, some fades are a bit odd.
• I am out of PP on the last few seconds.
• There are some REALLY difficult notes to harmonize with in this song, so there is a plethora of sour notes. Give me a break, I am not perfect!
• I am considering adding flutes because flutes are awesome. Thoughts?

The following added-in cross-referencing rival themes all had a lot of issues. I am going to pretend that I didn't notice that they were just unoptimized-for-the-GBA MIDIs downloaded from random parts of the Internet and assigned arbitrary instruments.

Unified issues between them:

Spoiler:

• For some reason, the bass was set to Flute in one song, and you can't play low notes with a flute the last time I checked.
• Aside from Axel's theme, the drums were not set to drums, instead they were low actual musical notes.
• No 8-bit tracks were used where there could've safely been used to save tracks.
• Most of the songs used two note stereo (basically they have one note playing in the left ear and one in the right) which is inefficient with a track limit.
  LaZ/Zeikku's theme had a bunch of octaves, which don't do much aside from adding depth, and the GBA isn't known for depth.
• Because of the they went over the track limit by a lot, which means…
  • Notes are forced to be skipped or cut off early.
  • There isn't room for reverb (echo for the non musically talented), which makes it sound very flat.
  • The entire melody may go out when you use moves like Surf.
  • I've had it lag my emulator because at the same time the GBA (or the emulator) is making damage calculations, finding and displaying sprites, etc, it has to render 12 notes and safely make room for new notes.
• Some things didn't really sound good in general.

Vs. That F***ing Umbreon err…Vs. Zane (a.k.a. Take Up The Cross from Tales of Phantasia)

Spoiler:

• Some notes were missing from the original, so I added them back in.
• The original drum beat was set to Xylophone, which is the low note issue. I set it properly, using both actual drums and white noise drums. I didn't change the beat otherwise.
• The bass was set to Flute. This is the lowest note a flute can actually play. Yeaaaah, let's just say that it didn't play very well. I set it to an 8-bit chiptune to also save notes.
• Volume also isn't balanced yet.

Vs. LaZ and Zeikku (a.k.a. Battle 2 from Final Fantasy Adventure)

Spoiler:

• This went wayyyyy over the track limit as it had unnecessary octaves, dual note stereo and other things. I reassigned them to chiptunes and removed the octaves that didn't make much of a difference.
• Drums also existed in this song. They were set to the synthesizer instead of the drums.
• Gaps were added between notes. This puts natural "breaths" between slurs and also helps add reverb while keeping the track limit.
• Intro was improved if you ask me. That is one place where octaves really worked. I also added a bit of an echo.

Vs. Axel (a.k.a. 13^th Struggle from Kingdom Hearts II)

Spoiler:

• Honestly, not much needed to be changed. Most of it was there.
• I made the timpani notes last a bit longer. They sound horrible, I know, but that is because the voice table seems off on the reverb.
• Consolidated tracks.
• Added chiptune duplicate notes to increase depth of the melody.
• Added chiptune bass line and French Horn harmony.

What do you all think? Any suggestions?

If you like them in general, feel free to click that Furret below that looks exactly like this:

(by the way, the filename for the image is furretwhyuhavethumb.gif. XD)

Edit: I guess I should spoiler those lists…

Edit 2:

Spoiler:

On the todo list:

• Kanto Wild Battle (ugh, guitars really don't work in a wild battle)
• Route 32
• Goldenrod (rebalance)
• Gym theme (the music that is actually in the gym, not during the battle). I feel that the GSC version was more of a rock remix of the theme, and while I love the classic Gen 3 fanfare, a new coat of paint would be nice.
• Johto Gym Battle to make it more memorable. Also, to make the intro transition less awkward.
• Union Cave and the Ruins of Alph

Other notes (heh get it? notes? music?):

• laz, y u no use zelda music in ur fight?
• I feel that a remix of the Hoenn Vs. Champion theme should be used for Brendan, as hearing the same battle theme twice in a row really makes it lose its impact.
• I noticed that we actually use the Gold/Silver title theme, but Crystal has its own version which is used in HGSS.
• Night music? I know that it is possible because we use a Wind Waker version of the Surf theme at night. It seems to use a different Sappy table for the night, so I think it could be done. We would probably have to expand the ROM to 32MB. I have a far-from-complete night version of the Johto Wild Battle theme here if you want to see what I mean (this is similar to how GSC had two Wild Battle themes).
• Crystal has its own battle music for the Legendary Dogs, and a perfectly fine mix is in RSE, and we are using the standard wild battle theme in a different key and tempo. Wut?

Edit 3:
Slowpoke Well (a.k.a. Dark Cave, Ice Path, or 3edgy5me)

Spoiler:

• Instead of a perfect 7.8/10 Too much edginess, this version was about a 5.4/10.
• *edginess intensifies* — The bass got real.
  • Left ear has low FRLG guitars.
  • Right ear has the original chiptune bass line.
  • Because the original chiptune is on Wave, Channel 5/6 (whether you start at 0 or not) had to be set to Square2, which makes it much clearer.
• I have made a few changes since the recording such as fixing the incorrect notes in the bass line, changing when it switches to the higger notes (I made the orinal bass line stay low, removed the second instrument switch, and panned to the center).
• The drum beat still needs improvement.
• More volume rebalancing needed.

Also, I found that the GBP issues are from changes in build 00412 that improved the GBP tracks but assigned the new voices to noise.

 

[easyaspi314]

Further proof that the Azalea Town Axel battle is completely B.S.

 

[Tendoman77]

Further proof that the Azalea Town Axel battle is completely B.S.
View attachment 81660View attachment 81661

That battle's already BS from the beginning when you then realise your fighting Silver back-to-back straight after with ZERO healing breaks, will agree that's a very dumb decision on the creator's (or whoever idea it was) part. Manage to do it all with just a Quilava, Gastly and Heracross as my main party at that point.

 

[easyaspi314]

That battle's already BS from the beginning when you then realise your fighting Silver back-to-back straight after with ZERO healing breaks, will agree that's a very dumb decision on the creator's (or whoever idea it was) part. Manage to do it all with just a Quilava, Gastly and Heracross as my main party at that point.

I know, right? Plus, the wilds outside Union are underleveled, Union Cave just seems to not spawn anything after the lost item event, and grinding Zubat and Slowpoke is annoying.

I would've rather had that battle in place of when Zane taunts you outside of Union Cave (obviously, adjusted in difficulty).

Or had a double battle with Silver. That would've been pretty cool.

Edit: Did you try listening to my remixes (top of this page)? I want to know what you truly think.

 

[easyaspi314]

A few additions to my collection.

@linkandzelda, are you there?

Please, give me feedback, especially criticism, because looping is incredibly difficult and I don't want it to suck or something and have to do it again. :/

Pokémart (DPPt)
#SinnohConfirmed
We could just import it from Emerald, but all of the ROM hacks have done that. Let's try something different. And not the HGSS version. Volume not balanced.
Pokémart (GBP) Work in progress.
Still have to work on the note timing, voices, and the noise drums.


Trainer Defeated
Because xylophones. IDK how it would contrast with the Trainer Battle music, though.

Slowpoke Well 2.0 (doesn't seem to play in Drive, but if you press Download, you can listen to it in a media player until I fix it).
I have the fixed bass line, some better (they still kinda suck) drums, and yeah. Not much else.

Vs. Champion Round 2

• More rebalancing!
• I realized that I may have made it too quiet, so I might make it louder to match the other battle themes!
• Wild PANDEMONIUM appeared! Go! STEREO! (Yes, now there is a bit of variation between both ears.)
• Noise drums! (Still needs tweaking)
• Intro harmony changed a bit.

If you REALLY want to hear what the difference was between the original (as in Vs. Three Inappropriately Loud Guitars), see here. Headphone users (and other users), you have been warned! Also, this doesn't play in Drive either.
Note: I turned the volume down when I was recording the comparison. Because otherwise, the original will actually clip.

 

[Spindaboy]

This must be like a dream come true for you... I'm so jealous X3 But seriously, it looks amazing. Excellent work!