FireRed hack: Pokemon Lapis Version

[ChaosNinjat]

INFO
ROM: FireRed USA
LANGUAGE: English
AUTHOR: ChaosNinjat

Introduction
My name's ChaosNinjat, but you can call me Chaos. I've not released any work before, though I am an experienced spriter. This hack I'm showing you now is the product of a few months work, which I now feel is ready to be shown to all you guys. All feedback is greatly appreciated, and I'm also looking for help, but there'll be more details about that further down. Meanwhile, let me introduce you to…

The Story

Spoiler:

Long ago, in a time of legends, and a place of mystery, war raged between two exceedingly powerful Pokemon. One shaped the land, pushing up whole continents in an attempt to obliterate the oceans, whilst the other controlled the water, creating huge, crashing waves, using them to wipe out the land. During these conflicts, the face of the world changed many times over, with new areas of land being thrown up above the waves, only to plummet back down again under a colossal wall of water. However, just as another piece of land had been pushed up from the dark depths, the sky suddenly cleared, revealing a fantastic, green, flying Pokemon, which flew down to the two warring Pokemon, who had grown quiet since the flying beast's arrival. The creature roared long and loud, then, after a brief pause, the Pokemon of land, and of sea, both turned and left the site of battle, never to be seen again. The green Pokemon, after seeing the other two leave, then roared once more, and flew up, back into the sky, returning to wherever is once dwelled before. The new region that had been created just before the fighting was quelled soon became inhabited by Pokemon and people alike, working to create a new and a better life than the old one they once had, before it had been destroyed. This region became an honored as a special place, recognized as the spot where the world had been saved from certain destruction, and it soon became known as, the Aeonn Region!

You put the passage down. It used to be your favorite story as a child, and your mother would read it to you every night, just to keep you happy. Of course, you grew out of children's stories as you became older, and you lost interest in these old legends, surely the work of exuberant authors and writers, with no truth to them. But that's a lie. The legends are true, well, this one at least. However, it had told that the beasts were never to be seen again. That was also a lie. You've seen it with your own eyes, albeit, not first hand, but you've seen the TV reports. Reports of two huge beasts, one that caused the sun to shine relentlessly, and one, which caused it to rain without stop. And of course, the great flying beast, that quelled the fighting. That too, had shown up and one again dispersed the warring creatures. That had taken place in Sootopolis City, of the Hoenn region, just over 2 months ago. Since then you've found yourself pondering over the ancient legends more and more, wondering what else could be true. Professor Redwood seems to have no end of old tales and folklore in his lab. That's of course where you work, as an assistant to Professor Redwood. You've done so since you were 10 years old. That was just over 8 years ago. You hit 18 just as the first reports from Hoenn had come in. Of course, both you and Redwood had wanted to leave immediately, to find out what you could about the events, but living in Petayre Town, one of the most remote areas of the Aeonn region, it is difficult to get any form of transport, never mind in such a hurry, so you both missed out. However, you were both filled in on the events by the former champion of the Hoenn Pokemon League, Wallace, and since then, you've been working long and hard, pouring over ancient writings and scripts that might lend a clue to the recent happenings. So far, you've had no luck, but just this evening Professor Redwood burst into the lab, completely riled about something or other. You questioned him about it once he'd calmed down, and he just told you to go home, and get some sleep, then come into the lab earlier than usual the next morning, so he could talk properly to you. So that's where you are now, in your bed, pouring over this old passage for the billionth time, still not getting anything more out of it. What could Redwood be so bothered about? Could it tie in with his other recent worries about the… the… zzzz…

POKEMON LAPIS takes you deep into the heart of the Pokemon world, into the Aeonn Region, a place full of untold mystery and unknown danger! Something is awakening, deep beneath the earth, something no one has ever seen or heard of before, and it's bringing with it, the power to end all life. Never before has a Pokemon game taken you on this much of an adventure!

Can you rise to the challange... and stop the rolling thunder?

Features
• Brand new region
• New Protagonists
• New Rival
• New Professor
• New Evil Team
• New music
• In-depth, exciting storyline
• More challenging battles
• Less common gym types
• A new Legendary Pokemon

Bugs
None yet, I haven't gotten far enough to release a beta…

ScreenShots:

Spoiler:

Sprites:

Spoiler:

From left to right: Male Protagonist (Default name - Flint),
Female Protagonist (Default name - Sammy),
Rival (Default names - Steve, Blue, Kaz),
Professor Redwood

Maps:

Spoiler:

Petayre Town

Spoiler:

Route 231

Spoiler:

Sangrale Town

Spoiler:

Sangrale Falls

Spoiler:

Route 232

Spoiler:

Route 233

Spoiler:

Update News/Progress Report
Ok, so after reading some of you guy's feedback, it's made me realize that I might not be able to map as well as I thought. I've completely redone Petayre Town now, but before I put it up on here, I've submitted it to the Map Rating/Review Thread, like Deokishisu suggested. I'm gonna wait for feedback on that map before I decide whether I can edit the other maps myself, or whether I need to request for a mapper as well. I'm also contemplating about using custom tiles, though that's completely out of my area, so I'd definitely need a hand with them. I'll be adding a few of the new sprites onto the thread soon, so you guys can have a look.

Joining the Crew

Spoiler:

Ok, so thus far, the team is me… and I know absolutely nothing about scripting and other complicated elements of hacking. So what I'm hoping for, is some budding., enthusiastic people who are willing to take part in the making of this hack. I'm in need of a talented and experienced scripter, as some of the things I'm planning on doing are fairly complex. I'd also like a second spriter, someone who would be able to sprite the Intro sprites of the trainers and the professor (I'd really appreciate it if you were able to insert the sprites into the game too), as well as someone who would be able to hack the title screen, title credits, and probably the town map as well. I'd also like someone to perhaps makes some support banners, and maybe some other artwork, possibly a map, some box art or something, if anyone is good at that kind of thing. The only other job that could need doing is a music inserter, as where I am capable of composing the music, Sappy doesn't like me, so it won't work, so a music-esque person would be awesome too. If you are interested, send me a PM detailing your Username, your job position, your experience in your chosen job, and evidence of your work (if possible). I look forward to hearing from all you awesome people :D!

Hacking Team
ChaosNinjat – Spriter/ Mapper/ Animator

Tools
Advance Map 1.92 (AM1.92) - LUHO
eXtreme Script Editor (XSE) - HackMew
VisualBoy Advance (VBA) - VisualBoy Advance
Adobe Photoshop CS2 - Adobe
unLZ.GBA - HackMew
FSF – HackMew
OW Editor Rebirth – HackMew
Advanced Text – Scizz-Soft
SMCA – HackMew
​

Here you are guys, a nice, and very crummy banner until we can get a decent one.

Spoiler:

https://img132.imageshack.us/img132/9281/banner1vm.png[/IMG*][/URL*]
[I]Delete *'s before placing in sig, for those of you who are struggling.[/I][/SPOILER]

[I]PS. This is the first version of this thread, and I will be adding more details later on in development stage, such as [B]Gym Types[/B], [B]City Descriptions[/B] and other things, including teasers of the [B]New Legendary[/B]![/I]

 

[vietazn654]

Hey, this looks really good! I love the sprites. =D And the only problem I see is the trees. They need shadows. That's it. Other than that, it's good. =] Except Route 231. The sand/water (beach edge) messes the whole thing up.

 

[psychicboy]

Hey, this looks interesting. If you need any help with scripting, I'll be glad to lend a hand.

 

[Deokishisu]

First off, I love your story, and the features are basic, but it's refreshing to see a newer hacker not promising what he can't deliver. Then I got down to the maps. Oh my. You have many errors and oddities, grass placement isn't good, mountain tiles messed up, no tree shadows, stairs being used incorrectly... The list goes on. The concepts for your towns and routes are wonderful, don't get me wrong, but their implementation would, honestly, make this game nearly unplayable for me. Take a look in the map rating and review thread in the ROMHacking section. Study the maps there and the reactions they got, you should see what you're doing wrong after a couple pages. Or better yet, post a map in there for review. Also, open up the original Firered in Advance Map and study how certain tiles should be used, especially stairs and mountains. Improve your mapping, and this will be one of the more interesting hacks out there! Good luck!

 

[dragoniteuser]

First off, I love your story, and the features are basic, but it's refreshing to see a newer hacker not promising what he can't deliver. Then I got down to the maps. Oh my. You have many errors and oddities, grass placement isn't good, mountain tiles messed up, no tree shadows, stairs being used incorrectly... The list goes on. The concepts for your towns and routes are wonderful, don't get me wrong, but their implementation would, honestly, make this game nearly unplayable for me. Take a look in the map rating and review thread in the ROMHacking section. Study the maps there and the reactions they got, you should see what you're doing wrong after a couple pages. Or better yet, post a map in there for review. Also, open up the original Firered in Advance Map and study how certain tiles should be used, especially stairs and mountains. Improve your mapping, and this will be one of the more interesting hacks out there! Good luck!

I agree with Deokishisu, story is good, not thriling but good, but your maps really need a change! Honestly the only map I like is those falls, even though it would be better without that water current circle in the middle of the lake. Redo your maps and this will be one hell of a hack!

 

[kablamo]

Wow

That looks pretty amazing already, except in my opinion, route 232, it looks to spacious and confusing if you were to play it. e.g, unsure of where to go

 

[ChaosNinjat]

Ok guys, I've uploaded some sprites of the main characters for you guys to have a look at. I've also done a makeover of Petayre Town, but like Deokishisu suggested, I've uploaded it onto the Map Rating/Review Thread first, before putting it on here. I'm gonna wait to see what kind of review it gets before tackling the other maps, but feel free to go have a look at it for yourselves.

 

[nasonex]

Now this is a Hack that can be done this summer.

It's a great Hack and I hope You find the people you need for this Hack!

Happy HacKing! :D

 

[Ven]

I swear to god this said pokemon lupus version.

 

[Shubalabab]

lapis huh? kinda make me remember the char in kaze no stigma

 

[Sarcastic Prince]

The maps aren't really good, but the sprites are supreme.

 

[Faline]

I like the OW of the male heroine, It's professional. :O

I haven't seen any scripts in the screenshot so I can't give any advice. Just with your mapping. I think you need to learn the right usage of the tiles as well as learning and knowing what you can do or simply what are your other skills in mapping besides being creative. I bet you can do such great maps since I can see your hope within your maps.

And BTW, I love the name Lapis. <3

Good luck.

 

[Burning Glacier]

Nice hack!

The storyline is great, but you might need some new tiles.

By the way, Nice mapping at the waterfall map!

 

[nasonex]

YAhoO! I'm a supporter of this hack! :D :D

 

[Lord Varion]

This map has things wrong with it :/
When the player gets surf They can easily go down the waterfalls and be stuck because they dont have enough badges or the correct HM
and the one on the left form the path has a major error
When u go down the waterfall u'll be stuck on the Mountain bit
ANd theres a tree with a mountian behond it when tehre is suppose to be

 

[Micro SD]

Lapis... haven't heard that name in a while, so good job on originality. The maps aren't too bad it's just a few little things here and there. They're the kinda things that a little practice and constructive critique can fix.

Good job and keep it up!!

 

[Tylerbdragon]

Agreed, maybe some cave implementation would fix that :D (Of course that has to be navigable as well...)

EDIT: I agree with two spaces up (I can't quote yet... sadface)

 

[ChaosNinjat]

This map has things wrong with it :/
When the player gets surf They can easily go down the waterfalls and be stuck because they dont have enough badges or the correct HM
and the one on the left form the path has a major error
When u go down the waterfall u'll be stuck on the Mountain bit
ANd theres a tree with a mountian behond it when tehre is suppose to be

Ahh, yes, I can see where your concern is coming from, but I have thought about most of these, and I've come up with these solutions:

When the player gets surf They can easily go down the waterfalls and be stuck because they dont have enough badges or the correct HM

I'm hoping to get someone to make a script for me that stops a player from going down the waterfall too soon, with a warning saying something like "This waterfall is too dangerous to navigate down without a proper move to help". This can then be lifted when the player acquires the HM Waterfall.

and the one on the left form the path has a major error

Yehh, thanks for pointing this out, I've noticed this now, and will get onto fixing it shortly :).

When u go down the waterfall u'll be stuck on the Mountain bit

I'm planning on having a warning there saying, "Wow, there's sharp rocks at the bottom, I'd better find a better place to descend."

ANd theres a tree with a mountian behond it when tehre is suppose to be

So there is, never noticed that :P. I'm planning on redoing the tree's either side of the path, so that'll get fixed when I'm doing that.

The storyline is great, but you might need some new tiles.!

I'm hoping to get/have made a new tileset, so bear with me :D.

Hope this answers a few concerns anyone had :).

Plus I'd like to thank everyone who's shown support for my hack, it's really appreciated :).

 

[Lord Varion]

Hmm.... Those rocks look sharp(Would be good for suicide when i lose a battle xD)

Anyway
The Ow's are good
And the stroy and maps
Mountian looks complicated (WIll keep players on their toes)