Ruby hack: Pokémon Rift Version (Version 1)

[ShadowSorcererX]

Pokémon Rift Version - a Pokémon Ruby hack

Story:
In the Guar region, weather patterns are changing the region for the worse. At the same time, a rising organization by the name of Team Purge has risen from the shadows. Their goals are unknown, but they are additionally causing trouble throughout Guar. The region professor, Jasmine, has taken it upon herself along with the Pokémon Ranger organization, to find out the causes of these weather patterns and the Team Purge commotions. But a fateful encounter on a certain mountain will change the events of Guar, forever.

Features:
Updated Pokémon sprites- Older Pokémon have been given a sprite job and look much cleaner now.
Updated trainer sprites- Trainer sprites have been given an update to their Black 2 & White 2 counterparts. (D/P/Pt for some)
Updated Pokémon learnsets-Pokémon learn moves as they do in OrAs. (Poochyena learns Bite at level 13 in R/S/E, but in Rift learns it at 10, like its OrAs learnset)
Pokémon from all generations-Specific Pokémon from generations 1-6 are in the game.
Music from other games- Music from other games have been incorporated, such as Kingdom Hearts 2's "The Encounter" theme and Fire Emblems "Together, we ride" theme, and others as well.
New starter Pokémon & starter Pokémon buffs- The starters have been changed to Chikorita, Bagon, and Larvitar, and have gotten buffs. (Chikorita has become a grass/dragon type, Bagon can learn water pulse, and a few others I don't want to spoil)
New region, rivals, original towns, cities, and routes-Every region has been custom made, as well as routes. The rivals are based off my good friends.
New story, centering around the evil team and legendaries-The main game plot is stopping Team Purge from capturing the legendary Pokémon and finding out who you are, instead of the traditional collect 8 badges gig.
Difficulty curve- Trainer have stronger than normal Pokémon, and the bosses in this game are not to be trifled with.
Reusable TMS-Earthquake on everything!
Can't see opponents switching in Pokémon- Changed the Pokémon the opponent is going to switch in to "???". This is much more realistic and it increases difficulty.
Trainers give less money than normal-Trainers give out very little money and if you lose your wallet takes a big hit.

Screenshots:
Sorry for low quality images, not too sure what to do about it. :(

Team:
ShadowSorcererX (busy w/ college)
Pokemon, Storyline, Mapping, Music, Scripting
Lambries22 (busy w/ school)
Pokemon, Storyline

Special thanks & credits:
Pokémon Emerald Styled Font
Chaos Rush
https://www.pokecommunity.com/members/47122
https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/321951/page-2

Pokémon Ruby All Instruments Patch
Alisa180 (and their supporters)
https://www.pokecommunity.com/members/474277
https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/332272

64x64 Pokémon DS Style Sprites (Gens 1-5)
Chaos Rush
https://www.pokecommunity.com/members/47122
https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/267728

64x64 Pokémon DS Style Sprites (Gen 6)
MrDollSteak
https://www.pokecommunity.com/members/123025
https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/314422

New Pokémon Pokédex Entries
Bulbapedia
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page

D/P/Pt Barry & Galactic Grunt Themes
https://floatzel.net/
https://floatzel.net/pokemon/dpmidi.zip

Metal Slug 5 Fierce Battle Theme
GoDichi Ilustrador
https://www.mediafire.com/download/loa3em0sl5nso8k/Fierce+Battle+(MIDI).mid
https://www.youtube.com/user/VRC2008

Kingdom Hearts 2 The Encounter Theme
https://hamienet.com/
https://www.hamienet.com/33355_Encounter-The.mid

Fire Emblem Together, We Ride Theme
https://www.khinsider.com/
https://files.khinsider.com/midifiles/gba/fire-emblem/together-we-ride-.mid

Aurous Overworld Sprite
KidKatt
https://kidkatt.deviantart.com/
https://kidkatt.deviantart.com/art/Aurorus-465627497

For their informitave scripting tutorials
PokemonXSE101
https://www.youtube.com/user/PokemonXSE101

For their benevolent users, you know who you are
PokeCommunity

For some music help & other things
NewDenverCity
https://www.pokecommunity.com/members/470717

For inspiration to create a Ruby rom hack
destinedjagold
https://www.pokecommunity.com/members/48504

Tools used:
Advanced Text
Mid2Agb
Sappy
StartMapChooserAdvance
Tile Molester
YAPE
Advance IntroEd
Advanced Pokémon Icon Editor
Advanced Pokémon Sprite Editor
Advanced Pokémon Position Editor
AdvanceMap
APE
A-Starter
A-Trainer
FSF
GBA Intro Manager
HxD
IntroEd
Lunar IPS
NMTE
OverworldEditorRE
unLZ-GBA
XSE

Awards:
None :<

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Q: Why is Chikorita Grass/Dragon type and have Serene Grace?!
A: Chikorita doesn't get the love the other starters do. I'm not kidding either. The entire Chikorita line has been buffed, with Chikorita having a Base Stat Total of 400.

Q: Why is the professor Jasmine?
A: She's my favorite gym leader of all time. And she took care of the Ampharos so I thought transition from doctor (or caretaker) to professor would work.

Q: Why are the bosses hard, trainers give not much money, etc.
A: I didn't want my hack to be a cakewalk. It wouldn't be fun if it was easy would it? Or rewarding for that matter?

Q: When will the next update come out?
A: I don't know. I'm going to try to teach one of my friends how to the way of ROM hacking and he'll help me with this hack if he really likes it.

Q: How much content will each update contain? And why not release the game whole?
A: Each update will contain about 1 hour of content if the player doesn't use the speed up button. I'm choosing to release the game in mini patches because it gives me time to add new members, think of a better plot, etc.

Q: Why wont my "x" evolve?!
A: I removed evolution from any Pokemon that evolved after level 22. The highest a Pokemon can evolve in this current version is level 21, and that Pokemon is Combee. Munna can evolve though, there's a Moon Stone trade in the game.

Bugs:
Sometimes when you lose battles, you'll be warped to Kawki Town (no matter where you are) and Brendan/May will give you the Go-Goggles. No idea why. o_O
If the player chooses the female character and steps on the right tile to activate the Mesprit event, after the battle, there is a graphical glitch.
*this is more of an inconsistency than bug* When watching TVs, the player will say Mom/Dad would like this, although at this moment in time, the player doesn't have a mom/dad.

Update 9/9/2015:
I've been really busy with college and have had almost no time to dedicate to the hack. I still plan on finishing the main storyline but it will come at a very slow pace. The guy who was working on the hack with me basically dropped helping me so I'm on my own. Rift isn't on a hiatus, or dead for that matter, but don't expect Version 2 for a few months. I will try to work on it with the very little time I have, so apologies to anyone who is still waiting patiently for version 2. :(

Downloads:
Pokemon Rift Version, MusicLESS
This version has the original R/S/E soundtrack.
"image removed"

Pokemon Rift Version MusicNESS
This version has music imported from other games.
"image removed"

 

[Murderlinez]

So I am the first who has the honor to comment your post. I must say this hack looks awesome and I also love that kingdom hearts music is included. Is this version complete or how long will be the playtime?
Looking forward to hearing from you:)

wbr Murderlinez

 

[Link4799]

This looks awesome!!! I love a challenge game like this. It looks similar to Dark Rising in that you start off with amazing Pokemon, awesome movesets, and extra abilities for max potential; but the challenge is still high. Thats something that hack did beautifully and I hope this game does too. I like the focus on catching legendaries, that should be an interesting break from the norm. I would also like to know though how long this is, cause I dont like playing incomplete hacks because the wait kills me and I know that sometimes they dont get finished or end up having to restart the game. At least majority complete anyways so I dont gotta redo everything lol anyway it looks great and ill definitely be giving it a try. Good job on the hack!

 

[ShadowSorcererX]

So I am the first who has the honor to comment your post. I must say this hack looks awesome and I also love that kingdom hearts music is included. Is this version complete or how long will be the playtime?
Looking forward to hearing from you:)

wbr Murderlinez

This looks awesome!!! I love a challenge game like this. It looks similar to Dark Rising in that you start off with amazing Pokemon, awesome movesets, and extra abilities for max potential; but the challenge is still high. Thats something that hack did beautifully and I hope this game does too. I like the focus on catching legendaries, that should be an interesting break from the norm. I would also like to know though how long this is, cause I dont like playing incomplete hacks because the wait kills me and I know that sometimes they dont get finished or end up having to restart the game. At least majority complete anyways so I dont gotta redo everything lol anyway it looks great and ill definitely be giving it a try. Good job on the hack!

This current version is what I guess one would say incomplete. I have 10% of the game done in this version so far that is available for download. (up to the first gym) The play time is about an hour to seventy five minutes if you don't use the speed up button too much for this current version. The next update will be bigger than this one, as I have already started to think of the full storyline and entire map, thanks to the help of a friend. (not on these fourms) I also can't guarantee I'll finish this hack. In a timely manner at least. I would like some feedback from people who play it before I move onto version 2 so I know what people liked, and didn't like.

 

[fallkitten]

Looks absolutelly amazing=3 Good luck with your hack, I love chicorita and with such a boost this pokemon looks even prettier=3
P.S: Lol XD Your team for the hack is totally amazing. Really=) Chief Gant approves=3

 

[sharathbhat]

Looks good.. I love the starters.. Chikorita is my favourite pokemon.. It got dragon type cool..

 

[Vizier]

Hmm this reminds me of old hacks (dark rising, ruby destiny).. but I don't quite understand the evolution part.
No evolutions past level 22 , but why?

e.g
Does Chikorita can only goes up to Bayleef but not Meganium?

 

[ShadowSorcererX]

Hmm this reminds me of old hacks (dark rising, ruby destiny).. but I don't quite understand the evolution part.
No evolutions past level 22 , but why?

e.g
Does Chikorita can only goes up to Bayleef but not Meganium?

Since the current version of Rift only goes up to gym 1, and the leaders highest is only lv 25, there's no reason to allow pokemon like Fletchindr, which evolves at 35, to evolve. All pokemon who have disabled evolutions in this version is just because they evolve past 22. That's all. Chikorita has been disabled from evolving as well, as her evolution line now has pseudo legendary status. She will maybe evolve at 35 or 40 like other pseudo legendarys. And your example works, if we were talking about a pokemon like Fletchindr. The level limit for evolving will probably be lifted next version.

 

[Vizier]

Hmm fair enough.
I'll try your hack some time in this weekend.

 

[Zoroyoyo41]

Hey man, is there any chance you'd take help up for this rom? I could help with heavy mapping, and some basic scripting and spriting, just to speed up the process :D
I don't expect anything in return, just out for the fun lol. Message me if you're interested (Y)

 

[Chicken Fingers]

This looks really clean. I like that you're giving an old Pokemon some love though. I always liked Chikorita, but it was very outshined by Totodile and Cyndaquil.

So Meganium will have a base total of 600? That's psuedo status, right?

 

[ShadowSorcererX]

This looks really clean. I like that you're giving an old Pokemon some love though. I always liked Chikorita, but it was very outshined by Totodile and Cyndaquil.

So Meganium will have a base total of 600? That's psuedo status, right?

You are correct, it will be a comparable legend to psuedos like Salamence and Tyranitar. It will probably be a powerful special attacker with very high defenses. (Haven't thought it out fully yet)

 

[loser]

This game is really hard, and is annoying once you lose. You should a person who sells stuff, because if you go to the icicle cave its really easy to lose.
Notes:
-When you are playing on shift mode, if the opponent is going to send out turtwig, it says "blah blah blah is about to send out ???"
-Icicle cave has a really really really high encounter rate. I would reccomend toning this down.

Otherwise, fun game!

 

[dhogan]

-When you are playing on shift mode, if the opponent is going to send out turtwig, it says "blah blah blah is about to send out ???"

From the first post in the thread...

"Can't see opponents switching in Pokémon- Changed the Pokémon the opponent is going to switch in to "???". This is much more realistic and it increases difficulty."

It is a huge advantage to be able to switch based on what your opponent sends out next, so this evens the playing field against the AI. I agree with Icicle cave, but it is a great place to train with a healing station in the cave, and it forces the trainer to use money on repels.

 

[ShadowSorcererX]

This game is really hard, and is annoying once you lose. You should a person who sells stuff, because if you go to the icicle cave its really easy to lose.
Notes:
-When you are playing on shift mode, if the opponent is going to send out turtwig, it says "blah blah blah is about to send out ???"
-Icicle cave has a really really really high encounter rate. I would reccomend toning this down.

Otherwise, fun game!

From the first post in the thread...

"Can't see opponents switching in Pokémon- Changed the Pokémon the opponent is going to switch in to "???". This is much more realistic and it increases difficulty."

It is a huge advantage to be able to switch based on what your opponent sends out next, so this evens the playing field against the AI. I agree with Icicle cave, but it is a great place to train with a healing station in the cave, and it forces the trainer to use money on repels.

As dhogan stated, I added the trainers switched in Pokemon to ??? for greater difficulty. As for the Icicle Mountain encounter rate, that is being turned down on version 2. Version 2 is going to have the complete pokedex added so it won't be released for a while. (only 2 people working on it)