FireRed hack: Pokémon Sandstone

[Ach7AC]

Introduction:
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Greetings. I've been working on this hack(Which is also my first, to tell the truth) for the last few weeks, and I believe that it is finally far in development to create a thread on it(Albeit I'll wait until the 5th gym to release a beta). Anyway, it's best for this image to introduce Pokémon Sandstone.

The Story:
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As said above, I've been trying to make Sandstone seem much alike any main series Pokémon game. You obtain a starter from Professor Yew(Same vein as Oak, Elm, Birch, and the rest.), the local archeologist, who then asks you to deliver a Baltoy Figurine to his friend in Mason City. In the city, an old man notices your prowess and informs you about the local Pokémon league, the Spiral Head. Upon hearing the news, you've decided to accept the challenge and put your skills to the test.

The Differences:
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Aside from the obvious fact that this is a whole new region, with a whole new evil team (Who are much more ambitious and fanatical than Team Rocket, to put it mildly.) I decided to add a few touches in. Firstly, you'll notice that both trainers' and wild Pokémon will have their levels grown in a faster rate than the average Pokémon game, combining this with Weisswald(The region)'s size means that there will be noticeable level jumps between each gym battle. Another big difference is that aside from all Gen.I-III mons being obtainable, I've added 25 Gen IV mons, all of them are either evolutions of prior-gen mons (Such as Froslass or Electivire) or legendary Pokémon that somehow fit in the storyline.

The Difficulty:
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As said before, I'm planning this hack with a higher difficulty in mind. Aside from boosting the level curve, other methods were used to make the game more of a dynamic challenge and less of a boring cakewalk. You'll find more trainers on the road, who will often have Pokemon whose levels match yours. You will also find the uncommon trainer who will have one single Pokémon, but there's a catch: that Pokemon will often be much higher leveled than the average of the map (Such as how there is a Hiker with a Steelix before the first gym.) Other methods of improving difficulty are giving important trainers(Gym leaders, E4, rivals, High Priests) a full party. Gym leaders will also have a prepared team waiting for any savvy player (Such as how the Electric-Type gym leader will not only open up the match with a Lanturn, but his main Pokémon will be also have an Ice-move to counter any Ground-Type mons you may use against him.)

The Evil Organization:
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Once again, as mentioned above, the organization that's been plaguing Weisswald is a shady group called Team Celes. Members of this team wear odd raincoat-like robes, they also seem to be keen of calling anyone who opposes them "heretics" and "blasphemers." This team is lead by a mysterious leader, who grunts often mentioned by calling him "Him." Below the leader, there are the three High Priests, who are the Celes version of Team Admins. Team Celes' objective is unclear, as they do not seem to be keen on stealing Pokémon nor spreading their message.

The Region:
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Weisswald, named for the seemingly white forests in the middle of White Island, is a region composed of Valley Island and White Island, the two main islands in the center, Permafrost Island, the one small island to the north, and Fruitsalad Archipelago, the group of islands to the west. Even though the main character(Blanc/Bianca) starts in Valley Island, there are frequent small boats that ferry travelers between Weisswald's main islands.

The Features:
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I do plan to add a "Hunt Quest." Think of FFXII's Marks. There will a building somewhere in the world (Hidden due to spoilers, but it'll be easy to find it in-game.) that contains the office of a group called "Rare Hunters"(No relation to the one in that anime, the name's purely coincidence.) In that building, there will be posters giving out rewards for trainers who catch/faint certain special Pokémon. These Pokémon will be of a much higher level than the ones found wild. Plus, I'm also adding "Hiker Harold's Hints." These hints are on signs that you can find in routes&caves. They will usually give a brief summary of the map's geography and Pokémon.

The Mons:
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As said before, all 386 mons are available, along with 25 Gen IV mons. At first, I though about adding in a few of my own fakemon in the mix, yet the idea has been abandoned as even though I try to make my fakemon as Nintendo-style as possible, it just won't feel like a Pokémon game at all.

The Screenshots:




The F.A.Q.:
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Q: When can I play it?
A: The first beta release will be after I finish the 5th gym. I'll update my progress frequently.

Q: What are the starters?
A: Gen I's. Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur.

Q: Are there any sort of references/shout-outs in this game?
A: Sparingly. I've also edited the text of trainers. Honestly, I've seen a female swimmer talk about her weight in over 3 hacks, all with the same text. This sort of gets annoying after a while, so I replaced their text with either humorous content or useful information, and some random stuff, of course.

Q: There are shading errors in the second screenie.
A: I'm aware of that. That was one of the first maps I made, so it's to be expected. I did improve my mapping by a lot, so I'll be revisiting several of those old maps.

Q: How far are you in mapping?
A: Up to the 5th gym. I decided to do most of the mapping in advance.

Q: The High Priests' clothing are...
A: Yes, I know. Just now that I've realized the unfortunate implications they hold. I was basing them off the Spanish Capirote, but I seemed to have overlooked a slight detail.

Q: I've seen the custom sprites, will there be custom music/tiles/etc?
A: Unsure. Right now my priority is actually finishing the game, so maybe in the future.

Q: Will there be any changes to the battle system?
A: So far, I only plan to power up the HM Moves, so HM slaves shouldn't even be part of the player's concerns.

Q: Where will I be able to find the HMs? Custom methods of evolving?
A: An often-asked question. I will put in a guide here after the first version will be released.

The Team:
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So far, I'm the only one working in this project. But I've been using AdvanceMap(Credits to Lu-Ho), XSE (Credits to HackMew), FSF, and many other tools. I'd also like to credit diegoisawsome for his scripting tutorial. More will be done later.

The Progress:
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Right now I'm at the second gym. So far a large part of OWs have been done. All sprites except the E4, one of the High Priest, and the Celes leader has been done.

 

[DarkRisingGirl]

This looks very interesting. Why aren't you adding more of the newer pokemon from 4th & 5th generations though? I just feel they'd be nice in a hack like this. Maybe Yamask or Cofagrigus for Team Celes? They look like they'd use them as their pokemon.

 

[Ach7AC]

This looks very interesting. Why aren't you adding more of the newer pokemon from 4th & 5th generations though? I just feel they'd be nice in a hack like this. Maybe Yamask or Cofagrigus for Team Celes? They look like they'd use them as their pokemon.

To put in simple words, because even if I put some of the newer mons they would technically be incomplete without their abilities and the physica/special split. Take a look at Gallade for example. Even though it gains a lot of ATK once it evolves from Kirlia, it's special attack is severely drawfed by Gardevoir's. This would be remedied by Psycho Cut, but the problem here is the lack of Physical/Special split. Another great example of a problem caused by the lack Physical/Special split is Darmanitan. He has an extremely high ATK stat(140), but he lacks a lot in the Sp.ATK department(30). This is remedied by the split as he learns Physical moves, but in GenIII, all fire moves are Special, which means that he will do crap damage for all the attacks with STAB. Another problem is space (Only about 411 Pokemon spaces in total.) I know both problems can be solved with a little bit of hacking, but I am quite inexperienced, to put it mildly.

And about Team Celes, they use a mixture of Psychic, Poison, Fighting, Dark, and Ghost-Types. If I can actually extend the amount of Pokemon to be over 411, then I can possibly add a few GenIV and GenV mons (Right now, I know an excellent place to put the Bronzor and Klink lines.)

@Ludicolo Dude:
-When it comes to mapping, I usually try making several different biomes. Take my Weisswald region for example. Even though White Island is one whole island, it's northwestern portion is a desert, its western portion is a valley with a stream running in the middle, and so on. I've actually become quite good in mapping. Another question, have you used the weather effects yet? Rain makes a great environment for regions that would be swampy/damp, sunlight adds an interesting effect on areas that should have tropical climates, such as beaches or small islands. Sandstorm makes deserts seem more like... deserts, hail and snow adds a lot of effect on northern regions, and I often use the mist/fog on haunted areas, to add a more spooky atmosphere(Which is further intensified by Lavender Town's music). If you just mean mapping in general, then try adding detail to the slightest things you do. Sparsely add rocks and flowers to open fields, make small streams run through the map, play around with AMap.

 

[DarkRisingGirl]

You could try JPAN's patch to get the Physical/Special Spilt for your hack. Goodluck! Can't wait to try this out. ^.^

 

[glaceon12]

Isn't there a patch which allows you have all. 649 Pokemon in your game? Couldn't you just use that to insert more Pokemon from B/W?
Oh and the screenshots look amazing. Really real

 

[DaleFails]

This hack looks very interesting, I like it. Maybe adjust the pallettes for the grass and that however, the whole game looks as if it's featured during the night! :)

 

[Ach7AC]

Update: Due to family and technical issues, the game was somewhat delayed for the last few days. I did manage to fix the script, so now unless a new problem arises, the progress shall be smooth. For my test file, I've already defeated the second gym (Which was a pain, considering that I've been building the gym leader's team around what a player would use).

Right now, I'm building the two routes and a mine that stands between the second and third gyms. Not to mention I still have to finish the technological institute for the HM sidequest. So the first beta may be released in around two or three weeks. If I finish this quickly, then the full release will be around late August, but that is a big "if."

 

[Ach7AC]

Sandstone...LIVES!
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Anyway, I know it has been a short hiatus of updates, but I'm back! And with good news to boot!
So I've decided to change a few things. The beta I was going to release after the fifth gym? I will release it once I've reached the fourth gym. Which means that it will come earlier than I imagined. Another thing. I've also finished everything up to the third gym, and all the mapping until the fifth gym has finally been inserted in the final product, which means that I only have to finish a few scripts and sprites, no more mapping for a while. This update means that no, even though it stayed dormant in the bottom of the list of threads for a while, this hack is not dead!

And more stuff that everybody loves: Screenshots!

Edit: For some reason, whenever I PrintScreen the images get a lot darker. The game has the same palette as FR, so don't mind it.
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[teejermiester]

For some reason, whenever I PrintScreen the images get a lot darker. The game has the same palette as FR, so don't mind it.

Don't Printscreen, use the screen capture button on the emulator. That works a lot better.

 

[Indigo346]

looks good but i'll wait to play until the final beta release

 

[Ach7AC]

Update: I'm close to finishing up to the fourth gym, which means a beta will be released soon. Anyway, just a heads up for most of you, I'll be traveling for the next few days, not to mention that I'm planning to take a temporary break from hot-button threads. This is because lately I've been sparking far too much discord and being drawn into several petty arguments. (See the HotQ or the RD:LoG thread for more.) Anyway, expect the beta to come at least by late August.

 

[Ach7AC]

Good news! I've just finished up everything up to the fourth gym and now I just need to polish up the game for the beta release(A few glitches left and right, some sprites are not inserted). Odds are, it will be done in less than a week. And by the way, this hack is not dead and will be completed. Albeit at a slower pace, since school will start for me at August 27th.

Even though the beta will be as complete as possible it will still miss a few things:
*The female character's back and running sprite.
*All fishing sprites.(Only the Old Rod will be obtainable at the first beta)
*The intro will be the same as FR's.

And of course, more screenshots!

 

[Winter Wonderland]

It's hacks like this that inspire me to continue to hack. Most of the time when I'm reading hack threads, they're more or less copies of each other. It's nice to see a project in which things are being thought out rather than just jumping the gun to get a thread up. Kudos. :)

 

[Mr. Black]

This one definitely has a lot of potential. But tell me WHY ???? WHY GEN I STARTERS ??? I'M GETTING SICK OF THEM ! Hey if you can please add the option to choose one of the starters from genI-GenIII like old white did.

 

[Ach7AC]

This one definitely has a lot of potential. But tell me WHY ???? WHY GEN I STARTERS ??? I'M GETTING SICK OF THEM ! Hey if you can please add the option to choose one of the starters from genI-GenIII like old white did.

To tell the truth, you're quite right. I mean, how many hacks have the old Bulbasaur/Squirtle/Charmander route? I'll change it so the players can choose between all 9 of the GenI-III starters. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Mr. Black]

To tell the truth, you're quite right. I mean, how many hacks have the old Bulbasaur/Squirtle/Charmander route? I'll change it so the players can choose between all 9 of the GenI-III starters. Thanks for the feedback.

Cool ! At one moment i thought i was too aggressive :P I'll wait for more updates :D

 

[slyly]

I am just going to take a guess and say that this is a dead project since the last update was almost 2 months ago

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

I am just going to take a guess and say that this is a dead project since the last update was almost 2 months ago

So some random user comes and says the project is dead...
Seems legit.
And no one can presume this. Metapod also wasn't updating for... I don't know how long and he came back.

 

[PokemonMasters]

So some random user comes and says the project is dead...
Seems legit.
And no one can presume this. Metapod also wasn't updating for... I don't know how long and he came back.

uhm are you guys talking abut AshGray? Because this is Pokemon Sandstone...

 

[ChaosBringer41]

uhm are you guys talking abut AshGray? Because this is Pokemon Sandstone...

Just guessing, but I think they're making a point. Someone who starts a hack might have to leave the computer for a while (work, outside life, etc). It doesn't automaticaly mean that they are gone forever.

That's what I reckon, anyway.