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Emerald hack: Pokémon Modern Emerald (Complete, 2.1 Released! Following Pokémon, Modern Battle Frontier, and more!)

192
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen yesterday
MJUVMHm.jpg





🔍WHAT IS THIS HACK? (Updated to 2.1)

To put it simply, "Pokémon Modern Emerald" is a modernization of the original "Pokémon Emerald" game. This game offers all the QOL features and improvements that I've always wanted since I got my hands on the original game in 2005. Think of this as a 2.0 update for the original game. This game is not a "difficulty hack-rom", and never will be. If you want a super difficult version of Pokémon Emerald there are already a lot of good hack-roms available. The idea behind this game is to play it instead of the original "Pokémon Emerald", especially for those who want a vanilla experience with more features: simple difficulty modes, move splits, QOL features, new Pokémon, new areas, new rematches, and a large etc.

This hack is a "3rd generation hack", meaning that it doesn't try to mimic later generations and, although certain features and improvements from later generations are included, this hack is a 3rd generation game at its core. Don't expect all the new moves from later generations, or being able to catch 900 different Pokémon. This hack does not include the "Battle Engine Upgrade" or anything similar, but it does include certain mechanics from it (like the OPTIONAL Physical / Special split that happened in Gen. IV, or the Fairy Type). There are a total of 423 Pokémon, including 2 from Generation 8 and 3 from Generation 9.

In addition, the game is incredibly modular. When you start a new game, a menu that contains dozens of options to customize your experience will appear. This includes:
  • Gamemode: Select a preset to have a closer experience to the original Emerald, or a more up-to-date experience.
  • Features: Select a ton of new features that will enhance the game. Includes a Fake-RTC for those with flashcards / emulators without RTC.
  • Randomizer: Randomize every aspect of the game, from inside the game.
  • Nuzlocke: Create your Nuzlocke rules!
  • Difficulty: Customize the difficulty of the game with pretty simple options. Hard, or easy? Your choice.
  • Challenges: Select some challenges to test yourself.
pokeemerald_modern-0.png

The code is available on Github, and you can report bugs over there or in this thread. The game works on any good emulator (tested on: mGBA on PC / Switch) and on real hardware (tested on: EZ Flash Omega (BUT YOU HAVE TO SELECT FLASH TYPE 128KB MANUALLY), Everdrive Mini). Some emulators can cause crashes (OpenEMU, MyBoy, VBA) probably because they are too old or they are missing features other good emulators have.

This is my "dream emerald" version but now even better!


✨FEATURES
There are a lot of things!

Spoiler:



🕶️EXTRA INFORMATION (SPOILERS)

Evolution changes and improvements:

Spoiler:


New wild Pokémon available for every mode (for Classic mode encounters):
Spoiler:


New static encounters:
Spoiler:



📸SCREENSHOTS

Spoiler:



🔧FAQ

Spoiler:



🐛KNOWN BUGS

PLEASE DON'T REPORT BUGS IF YOU ARE NOT USING MGBA EMULATOR OR REAL HARDWARE. Decompilation hack-roms may crash or have strange bugs if you are using other emulators. To report a bug first use mGBA or real hardware, then DM me or comment here.
  • None (for now?)

📒CHANGELOG

Spoiler:



🆙INSTALLATION AND DOWNLOADS

Download the attachment
You need the ROM: Pokemon - Emerald Version (USA, Europe). sha1: f3ae088181bf583e55daf962a92bb46f4f1d07b7
Patch using flips.

You can check where all Pokémon are and more using my personal document.
You can check all the game code in my Github. My code can be messy and probably bad, especially the names of my commits. Sorry in advance. Modern Emerald has to be compiled with "make modern". Older compilers won't work.


🎞️CREDITS

I think it's easier to say that all my edits came from Pret's pokeemerald wiki. If you want to appear in this section, just message me and I will edit the post.

You can use this game as a base for your rom-hack, if you so desire.
You can use any code from the Github repository, if you really want to.
No need to credit me, just have fun.
 

Attachments

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Last edited:
4
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 27
  • Seen Jul 25, 2023
I love the difficulty options, thats awesome!
However Trade Evolutions and version exclusive Pokémon are some features I heavily despise in the franchise so I gave up after noticing I wouldn't be able to get Gengar and Medicham for my playthrough.
They were cool 20 years ago with actual GBAs
 
192
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen yesterday
I love the difficulty options, thats awesome!
However Trade Evolutions and version exclusive Pokémon are some features I heavily despise in the franchise so I gave up after noticing I wouldn't be able to get Gengar and Medicham for my playthrough.
They were cool 20 years ago with actual GBAs

Thanks for your input! You're right about version exclusives. My idea is to keep FireRed and LeafGreen relevant since I am planning to do a similar hack with them, but there is no point in keeping Ruby/Sapphire relevant. In a few minutes I'll upload version 1.0.1 which will include Meditite, Lunatone, Surksit, and Zangooze before post-game. Roselia (Budew, actually) was already available via trade.

Ghastly, on the other hand, won't be available until post-game via Wonder-trade.

Trade evolutions are available when you get to Lilycove, as there is an Auto-Trader to trade to yourself.

EDIT: 1.0.1 is out.
 
Last edited:
4
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 27
  • Seen Jul 25, 2023
Thanks, there was really no point in locking Ruby/Sapphire Pokémon out.
Also I thought Gastly was available in Ruby's Mt. Pyre for some reason, foggy memories.
EDIT: Btw have you thought about a option to turn off the PokéNAV? I forgot how annoying it was, every 50 steps someone is calling to tell me useless info
 
Last edited:
192
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen yesterday
Thanks, there was really no point in locking Ruby/Sapphire Pokémon out.
Also I thought Gastly was available in Ruby's Mt. Pyre for some reason, foggy memories.
EDIT: Btw have you thought about a option to turn off the PokéNAV? I forgot how annoying it was, every 50 steps someone is calling to tell me useless info

I might have a look at the Pokenav thing.
 
4
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 27
  • Seen Jul 25, 2023
Just beat Juan, I'm at 21:00 Hours IGT and on my way to Victory Road so heres some feedback:

Positives:
- Way too many positives, copying and pasting almost the entire Features section would be pointless so I will focus on the stuff I didn't like as much.

Negatives:
- Gen. VI EXP. SHARE:
Personally I preffer vanilla EXP Share because micro-managing your Pokémon is more fun than turning your brain off and only using whatever strongest mon you have, plus the flood of EXP gain notifications gets REALLY annoying when you have a party of 6. Also I hit the level cap with all my mons effortlessly even while skipping many trainers(max lvl GYM cap and 1.0x EXP multiplier difficulty settings).
- Reusable TMs:
Personally I preffer the decision making involved with 1-time-use TMs, giving your whole party Earthquake, Thunder bolt and Ice Beam is just too busted. Of course there should be a way to get a infinite supply of every TM post game though.

Nitpicks:
- While the introduction of Ruby/Sapphire exclusive Pokémon was a great change, they should be on their original locations IMO. I like the idea of keeping things as vanilla as possible while removing the bad stuff so people can try this hack as a definitive R/S/E experience and use their prior knowledge of those games. Introducing Meditite in Granite Cave instead of Mt. Pyre and Victory Road and not making Roselia available in Route 117 because Budew is available via trade seems rather pointless.

Suggestions:
- PokéNAV as I said previously is a terrible feature, it interrupts the gameplay waaaay too often. A option to mute every call besides the story related ones would be great!
- Way higher payout on Game Corner. Idk why Gamefreak expected players to spend hours and hours in the slot machine, savescumming every time they run out of money for a freaking TM or Pokémon!
- Late gen moves availability. I noticed some pokémon learning Moves they couldn't before as part of the buffs and nerfs changes, like for example Horsea learning Dragon Breath via level up(Gen VIII change) which was only a Egg Move before in Gen III. However I couldn't check if mons got new moves they couldn't learn at all in Gen III, like for example Skarmory learning Swords Dance which was a Gen IV change. I think it would be a good change if it wasn't implemented already.

Overall this is my favorite "vanilla" Emerald hack so far, it just changed the right amount of stuff.
I'm already planning on replaying it later this year on higher difficulty settings, I don't even like Hoenn that much but the Emerald engine is just the best.
 
Last edited:
192
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen yesterday
Just beat Juan, I'm at 21:00 Hours IGT and on my way to Victory Road so heres some feedback:

Positives:
- Way too many positives, copying and pasting almost the entire Features section would be pointless so I will focus on the stuff I didn't like as much.

Negatives:
- Gen. VI EXP. SHARE:
Personally I preffer vanilla EXP Share because micro-managing your Pokémon is more fun than turning your brain off and only using whatever strongest mon you have, plus the flood of EXP gain notifications gets REALLY annoying when you have a party of 6. Also I hit the level cap with all my mons effortlessly even while skipping many trainers(max lvl GYM cap and 1.0x EXP multiplier difficulty settings).
- Reusable TMs:
Personally I preffer the decision making involved with 1-time-use TMs, giving your whole party Earthquake, Thunder bolt and Ice Beam is just too busted. Of course there should be a way to get a infinite supply of every TM post game though.

Nitpicks:
- While the introduction of Ruby/Sapphire exclusive Pokémon was a great change, they should be on their original locations IMO. I like the idea of keeping things as vanilla as possible while removing the bad stuff so people can try this hack as a definitive R/S/E experience and use their prior knowledge of those games. Introducing Meditite in Granite Cave instead of Mt. Pyre and Victory Road and not making Roselia available in Route 117 because Budew is available via trade seems rather pointless.

Suggestions:
- PokéNAV as I said previously is a terrible feature, it interrupts the gameplay waaaay too often. A option to mute every call besides the story related ones would be great!
- Way higher payout on Game Corner. Idk why Gamefreak expected players to spend hours and hours in the slot machine, savescumming every time they run out of money for a freaking TM or Pokémon!
- Late gen moves availability. I noticed some pokémon learning Moves they couldn't before as part of the buffs and nerfs changes, like for example Horsea learning Dragon Breath via level up(Gen VIII change) which was only a Egg Move before in Gen III. However I couldn't check if mons got new moves they couldn't learn at all in Gen III, like for example Skarmory learning Swords Dance which was a Gen IV change. I think it would be a good change if it wasn't implemented already.

Overall this is my favorite "vanilla" Emerald hack so far, it just changed the right amount of stuff.
I'm already planning on replaying it later this year on higher difficulty settings, I don't even like Hoenn that much but the Emerald engine is just the best.

Glad you liked it! My idea was to create a hack-rom for those who want a mostly vanilla experience, and I'm happy there are people looking for that. Let's see...

- GEN VI EXP. SHARE: I know what you mean. The only problem is that you cannot please everyone. I'll think of mixing both "modes" so everyone who likes the GEN VI version can use it, and those who don't will have the GEN III version available. Remember it's an optional feature and I don't recommend using it unless your level is very low (which can purposely happen in HARD MODE). NORMAL MODE is vanilla Emerald which is pretty easy.
- Reusable TMs: Same as before, you cannot please everyone. I personally prefer having infinite TMs. This hack-rom includes many "money checks" which makes money an important currency (although it can be easily farmed post-game), so having one-use TMs would be, in my opinion, too much. It also makes building Mons for the Battle Frontier easier. In this case, it will stay like this.

- Ruby/Sapphire exclusives: Well, that was mostly a bug! Or a mistake, I should say. I didn't remember you could get Meditite at Mt. Pyre. For some reason, I thought they were in Granite Cave. And about Budew, I just forgot. They both have been added to their expected places and will be available next update.

- PokéNav calls: Working on it, I don't have much time but I'm slowly progressing on it.
- Game Corner: You can buy coins with money, so I don't think it's a big problem.
- Late Gen Move availability: Yes, all Pkm or nearly every one of them got new moves from newer generations (all within the 3rd-gen move pool). It was manually done and it took me many days, so there may be mistakes or missing moves. The example you gave me, Skarmory, is one of them. In the next update, it will be able to learn Swords Dance via Tutor (since there is no TM for Swords Dance). I'll also re-check important moves like Swords Dance for the next update.

EDIT: Update 1.1 is out. Contains an "Allow Match Call messages" option, improves battle messages with EXP. SHARE on, and improves the rate of getting a gym leader rematch. For more specific information, check "changelog" in the main post. Update 1.0.1 is still available on Github if anyone needs it.

I will think about doing a GEN III EXP. SHARE, but will mostly depend on how difficult is to implement together with the GEN VI version.
 
Last edited:
4
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 27
  • Seen Jul 25, 2023
Glad you liked it! My idea was to create a hack-rom for those who want a mostly vanilla experience, and I'm happy there are people looking for that. Let's see...

- GEN VI EXP. SHARE: I know what you mean. The only problem is that you cannot please everyone. I'll think of mixing both "modes" so everyone who likes the GEN VI version can use it, and those who don't will have the GEN III version available. Remember it's an optional feature and I don't recommend using it unless your level is very low (which can purposely happen in HARD MODE). NORMAL MODE is vanilla Emerald which is pretty easy.
- Reusable TMs: Same as before, you cannot please everyone. I personally prefer having infinite TMs. This hack-rom includes many "money checks" which makes money an important currency (although it can be easily farmed post-game), so having one-use TMs would be, in my opinion, too much. It also makes building Mons for the Battle Frontier easier. In this case, it will stay like this.

- Ruby/Sapphire exclusives: Well, that was mostly a bug! Or a mistake, I should say. I didn't remember you could get Meditite at Mt. Pyre. For some reason, I thought they were in Granite Cave. And about Budew, I just forgot. They both have been added to their expected places and will be available next update.

- PokéNav calls: Working on it, I don't have much time but I'm slowly progressing on it.
- Game Corner: You can buy coins with money, so I don't think it's a big problem.
- Late Gen Move availability: Yes, all Pkm or nearly every one of them got new moves from newer generations (all within the 3rd-gen move pool). It was manually done and it took me many days, so there may be mistakes or missing moves. The example you gave me, Skarmory, is one of them. In the next update, it will be able to learn Swords Dance via Tutor (since there is no TM for Swords Dance). I'll also re-check important moves like Swords Dance for the next update.

EDIT: Update 1.1 is out. Contains an "Allow Match Call messages" option, improves battle messages with EXP. SHARE on, and improves the rate of getting a gym leader rematch. For more specific information, check "changelog" in the main post. Update 1.0.1 is still available on Github if anyone needs it.

I will think about doing a GEN III EXP. SHARE, but will mostly depend on how difficult is to implement together with the GEN VI version.

Thanks for the update, the EXP. Share and PokeNAV notification changes are great!
About the Game Corner, yea its not a big deal since you can buy Coins with money but I just feel like the slots are a wasted feature as they are in Vanilla, I would probably still spend money like normal but some people would appreciate if the grind was viable.
Also I think you misunderstood the Roselia situation. Roselia was available in vanilla Ruby/Sapphire Route 117 and not Budew, unless making the player suffer through Happiness Evolution was the objective 😄
 
192
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen yesterday
Thanks for the update, the EXP. Share and PokeNAV notification changes are great!
About the Game Corner, yea its not a big deal since you can buy Coins with money but I just feel like the slots are a wasted feature as they are in Vanilla, I would probably still spend money like normal but some people would appreciate if the grind was viable.
Also I think you misunderstood the Roselia situation. Roselia was available in vanilla Ruby/Sapphire Route 117 and not Budew, unless making the player suffer through Happiness Evolution was the objective 😄

Budew is intentional, yes.
Might think something about the game corner. If I get a good idea, I'll change it.


I just uploaded version 1.1.1, which adds a feature I forgot to add. Pokémon now inherit 5 Iv's from their parents, without any item.
 
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11
Posts
2
Years
  • Age 28
  • Seen yesterday
Love the fact you removed the prompts from picking/ planting berries!
Any chance we can get an autorun feature and when cutting a tree to remove the yes/no prompt?
 
1
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 28
  • Seen Apr 16, 2023
Hey there, just want to say that I recently stumbled across this site, but seeing this hack is what made me make an account, and now even post my first comment! I'm loving everything about this remake so far, playing both a normal run to see the QoL changes, and also a Randomized Nuzlocke run to test the mechanics of it in-game (which I'm loving), as I'm entirely new to rom hacks in general.
But the reason for my post is a question/bug identification: I've obtained the "Wynaut" egg in my Nuzlocke run, tried evolving it, but after trying to evolve it in a town I recently got a fishing encounter in, the egg would not evolve to due Nuzlocke encounter rules; decided Oldale would be the designated "egg encounter route," since there's no way to obtain a 'mon in the area, but even after so many steps, the egg still won't hatch!
Will the egg actually hatch after a certain amount of steps have been reached again, and I'm just being impatient? Does the step counter reset entirely, as if I'd just freshly gotten the egg? Is there any way to force the egg to hatch? It would totally help me out, cause my run has NOT been going well!

Awesome game, awesome improvements to the already-amazing Emerald, and definitely looking forward to nostalgia-filled fun!
 
192
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen yesterday
Are the new updates (and future) always compatible with previous saves?

Yes. Changes from updates are small, so saves are compatible. I don't think I will add something so big that save compatibility will break, at least for now.

Love the fact you removed the prompts from picking/ planting berries!
Any chance we can get an autorun feature and when cutting a tree to remove the yes/no prompt?

I might have a look at both, especially about reducing HM text. It's also annoying for me, so I don't know why it's still there 😂

Hey there, just want to say that I recently stumbled across this site, but seeing this hack is what made me make an account, and now even post my first comment! I'm loving everything about this remake so far, playing both a normal run to see the QoL changes, and also a Randomized Nuzlocke run to test the mechanics of it in-game (which I'm loving), as I'm entirely new to rom hacks in general.
But the reason for my post is a question/bug identification: I've obtained the "Wynaut" egg in my Nuzlocke run, tried evolving it, but after trying to evolve it in a town I recently got a fishing encounter in, the egg would not evolve to due Nuzlocke encounter rules; decided Oldale would be the designated "egg encounter route," since there's no way to obtain a 'mon in the area, but even after so many steps, the egg still won't hatch!
Will the egg actually hatch after a certain amount of steps have been reached again, and I'm just being impatient? Does the step counter reset entirely, as if I'd just freshly gotten the egg? Is there any way to force the egg to hatch? It would totally help me out, cause my run has NOT been going well!

Awesome game, awesome improvements to the already-amazing Emerald, and definitely looking forward to nostalgia-filled fun!

Hey! It's interesting to know how the Nuzlocke works exactly. All the challenges are made from a repo, so they weren't made by me. Anyway, I just tested this. I got my encounter on a route, got the egg, and the egg didn't hatch. If you look at its status it will say "Hatching stopped due to nuzlocke rules" or something similar. I just moved to a different route (not city), and that was it, the egg hatched. Looks like hatching only happens in routes. These are the rules of the Nuzlocke, so if you don't have any route left, well, you're out of encounters.


EDIT: 1.2 version is out. It features faster HM checks and an autorun option in the options menu.
 
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192
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen yesterday
Would be awesome if you could add following pokemon!

Following Pokémon are out of the scope of the project.

EDIT: The scope of the project has broadened. Next update will have following Pokémon.

how do I turn on EXP. Share?

EXP. Share is now a key item, so you need to use it from there. Of course, you need to obtain it first.
 
Last edited:
1
Posts
355
Days
  • Age 31
  • Seen May 7, 2023
Hi all, bit of a newer rom player here. Using an anbernic to download/play.

I've been searching for the gba file for this game for a bit now and cannot find it. What am I missing?
 
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