Crystal hack: Pokemon Lunatic Crystal v1.7

[GetKosiorekt]

@

GetKosiorekt

Any news about the next update my friend?

Wasn't able to do that much since I have exams right now.

Right now, I'm updating all the documents since there were changes to the trainers' rosters, new bosses, some changes to the encounters, as well as TM/HM location changes, moveset and some stat changes. Also doing a small test run to make sure all the level cap changes and all the new stuff added into the game works properly, I'm done with the main game content as is, so the only changes from here might be some minor ones like updating movesets or tiny stat buffs, etc.

The only thing left is the Battle Tower, but I honestly might release the new update sooner and drop the Battle Tower stuff as a small update, I don't think it's that big of a priority for players anyway, but it would be nice for completion sake.

I like your suggestion with the grindless mode. The ROM I'm currently testing has Rare Candies in all marts starting with Violet City and I will drop that ROM, as well as a classic one without the Rare Candies when I release the new update.

 

[JamesNorritom]

Wasn't able to do that much since I have exams right now.

Right now, I'm updating all the documents since there were changes to the trainers' rosters, new bosses, some changes to the encounters, as well as TM/HM location changes, moveset and some stat changes. Also doing a small test run to make sure all the level cap changes and all the new stuff added into the game works properly, I'm done with the main game content as is, so the only changes from here might be some minor ones like updating movesets or tiny stat buffs, etc.

The only thing left is the Battle Tower, but I honestly might release the new update sooner and drop the Battle Tower stuff as a small update, I don't think it's that big of a priority for players anyway, but it would be nice for completion sake.

I like your suggestion with the grindless mode. The ROM I'm currently testing has Rare Candies in all marts starting with Violet City and I will drop that ROM, as well as a classic one without the Rare Candies when I release the new update.

My friend, you are an ABSOLUTE LEGEND. The fact that you take the time to work on a new update and reply to me just shows us what a good person you are. And no, I'm not exaggerating. I'm telling the truth!
I confess that I was so hyped for the new update that I came here to check your post almost every day. When I saw that a fair amount of time had passed, I thought it would be good to ask you directly about the update.

And I'm so glad I did. Thanks for replying, I really appreciate it! And God bless you!

 

[Dilphacophogus]

Is there anything similar to bottlecaps in Lunatic Crystal that would allow me to maximize one of a Pokemon's DVs?

 

[GetKosiorekt]

POKEMON LUNATIC CRYSTAL v1.7 UPDATE

​

It has taken longer than expected due to various reasons, but I'm happy to finally be able to release this new version of the game!

Lunatic Crystal v1.7 features:

- Lunatic Crystal v1.7 introduces a secondary rival: Lyra, who will obtain the starter weak to the player's and she challenge the player at various points in the main story, both in Johto and Kanto for a total of 7 battles.
- New mandatory battles in Johto with extra Rival fights, a second battle with Eusine and trainers normally only fought in Kanto.
- More generic trainers available for the player to fight, with examples including Jasmine having Gym trainers, trainers being in Ice Path and various new trainers in multiple locations in Kanto.
- The progression of the main story has been changed and made more linear, with new events being included.
- The player can now obtain more Kanto exclusive TMs in Johto.
- Kanto now features Level Caps, just like in Johto. The progression in Kanto is a bit more linear, but the player is free to challenge some Gyms in any order they wish, with the Level Caps and the Levels of the Gym Leaders scaling accordingly.
- The rosters of both bosses and regular trainers have been updated.
- Moveset and Stat Changes to some Pokemon.
- A couple of moves have improved Power and Accuracy.
- Cerulean Cave, Viridian Forest and Pewter Museum have all been restored.
- 3 New Post Game level 100 battles.
- Every Gym Leader has a unique battle transition with their respective Gym Badge, the Elite Four have new battle transitions as well.
- Mewtwo and Mew both have a new battle theme exclusive to them.
- Switch mode has been removed from the game. Every single trainer battle will be on Set and in the most important fights the player will be unable to use items.
- EXP. Share no longer displays individual EXP gain for all Pokemon, instead it now displays a single message.
- Resetting the Clock is now a pernament Menu Option, removing the need for any button inputs and passwords.
- Lunatic Crystal v1.7 features a Grindless mode, giving the player the opportunity to buy Rare Candies in every Mart, starting with Violet City and it's located in a Grindless patch. If the player prefers the previous leveling method they can choose the Classic mode patch.

One important thing to note is that the Battle Tower is inaccessible for now, I do have some ideas that I want to implement for in the future and I will drop it a smaller update when I finish it.

Also, I have updated all of the documents to reflect the new changes, and I have written a new file containing the line-ups and movesets of every single generic trainer in the game, since a lot of them do use
custom moves and I felt like it'd be helpful for players doing challenge runs.

Download Lunatic Crystal v1.7: https://workupload.com/file/CwMth2t4nDw
Download Lunatic Crystal v1.7 Documents: https://workupload.com/file/q85rHcdRR5H

 

[GetKosiorekt]

Is there anything similar to bottlecaps in Lunatic Crystal that would allow me to maximize one of a Pokemon's DVs?

Currently not, no.

 

[JamesNorritom]

Thanks for the update man! i really appreciate it and God bless u!

 

[LD99123]

Thanks for the updates man. I played this upon release and I'm itching to test all the changes. This hack has flown under the radar, but I'll be sure to spread the word.

 

[bobzilla512]

Thanks for the updates man. I played this upon release and I'm itching to test all the changes. This hack has flown under the radar, but I'll be sure to spread the word.

Definitely one of the best Gen 2 hacks out there, no doubt.

 

[Ribafish]

Hey GetKosiorekt,

it's been a while - over a year actually. I'm impressed that you're still improving your hack. Was this your final release? If not, I'm curious to know what's on your roadmap for a future version.

 

[GetKosiorekt]

Hey GetKosiorekt,

it's been a while - over a year actually. I'm impressed that you're still improving your hack. Was this your final release? If not, I'm curious to know what's on your roadmap for a future version.

Yeah, I've been busy with IRL stuff so I didn't have nearly as much time to work on the hack as I would have liked, plus there was all the testing and updating documents.

As far as the main game is concerned this hack is finished, I'm satisfied with the amount of content I've put in. On a technical level and in terms of Quality of Life features I think I've managed to implement everything that I wanted, at least all of my main priorities, there were some other features I was considering but they were definitely smaller things.

My only real main focus when it comes to a potential future release would be the Battle Tower. I 100% will look to change Battle Tower AI teams, and I also have some more ambitious goals like creating a "Little Cup" format for Level 5 Pokemon, implementing a custom currency as a reward which could be spent on things like Move Tutors (There would be a new reward shop in general), making the battles 6v6 amongst other things.

Since the Battle Tower is pretty outdated compared to the rest of the ROM seeing as it is Vanilla content it's currently inaccessible in the hack, until I work on it.

So yeah, the Battle Tower is the only real main focus left with perhaps some smaller QoL features being added in a potential update.

 

[Ribafish]

Thanks for giving me a through reply!

I haven't been playing Crystal ROMs for years. Your Crystal version looks inviting and as you've described there's no reason to wait for another update.

So let me ask you just one more thing. Did you playtest a run in your newest version? As someone who loves challenging hacks... I am curious to know if this hack would actually show me a "Game Over" screen in some (tougher) boss battles. Though I'm aware that this battle engine isn't nearly as advanced as in FireRed hacks using CFRU.

Now I'm not a competitive player... Radical Red & Unbound (on Expert) gave me quite a hard time and at times it was rather frustrating. I'd like to play like this: Just have fun but also not beating everyone without ever losing a single battle. Would you say Lunatic Crystal is exactly what I've been looking for?

 

[GetKosiorekt]

Thanks for giving me a through reply!

I haven't been playing Crystal ROMs for years. Your Crystal version looks inviting and as you've described there's no reason to wait for another update.

So let me ask you just one more thing. Did you playtest a run in your newest version? As someone who loves challenging hacks... I am curious to know if this hack would actually show me a "Game Over" screen in some (tougher) boss battles. Though I'm aware that this battle engine isn't nearly as advanced as in FireRed hacks using CFRU.

Now I'm not a competitive player... Radical Red & Unbound (on Expert) gave me quite a hard time and at times it was rather frustrating. I'd like to play like this: Just have fun but also not beating everyone without ever losing a single battle. Would you say Lunatic Crystal is exactly what I've been looking for?

There isn't really a "Game Over" screen in this ROM, but some trainers do actually have text messages if you happen to lose to them.

I've done multiple runs with a variety of Pokemon, and in fact some of the battles have been adjusted as I went along, being either scaled down or up in terms of difficulty.

You can beat Lunatic Crystal with a decently balanced team (Type, stat and role wise) without the need to specifically craft teams for every boss battle. The beggining can be rough and of course there are pretty challenging sections later with some very hard battles so you will likely lose some battles, maybe even multiple times but you don't need perfect preparations but you might need to rotate if your team is unbalanced.

With the available encounters, improved learnsets, some earlier evolutions and infinite use TMs, some of which being available earlier, and Move Tutors and a Move Relearner you always have plenty of options to prepare your team with good movesets, so you always have multiple ways to get through.

 

[Ribafish]

Do you think it's possible to beat your hack by just using a monotype team? Do you have a recommendation how to make your game even more difficult but not impossible to beat?

 

[Pasta Master]

1.7 was worth the wait, this really felt like the definitive gen 2 experience. Playing without the rare candy patch, I only had to grind once when I got Larvitar from the game corner. The sensible wild levels really helped with that so I didn't need to massacre level 40s on the victory road when the trainers' Pokémon are leveled much higher. All the Pokémon and move changes were welcome and my steel-type Blastoise was especially helpful. I wouldn't recommend a Nuzlocke of this since the opponents' focus bands and quick claws screwed me over on many occasions lol
Here's my Johto Hall of Fame:

 

[GetKosiorekt]

Do you think it's possible to beat your hack by just using a monotype team? Do you have a recommendation how to make your game even more difficult but not impossible to beat?

It all depends on the type. I wouldn't recommend Ghost and Dragon since those types don't have 6 fully evolved Pokemon. Something like Bug with low BSTs, Steel type would be a trouble since a lot of Steel types are similar role and stat wise and the AI has good coverage, same with Rock types. Fire and Electric would be rough since those are full of glass cannons, Grass type has too many weaknesses I feel.

Those are the types that would struggle the most I think. Something like Water type or Normal type can probably beat the game without extreme difficulty, but every single trainer has good coverage and ways to cover for their weaknesses so it'd be a struggle.

What I like to do is to limit myself to just one Pokemon per Route/Town, but without the Nuzlocke death clause. It makes it harder and forces you to be more creative with team buliding and shrewd with potentially delaying encounters. Also make sure to account for duplicate encounters ofc lol

 

[GetKosiorekt]

1.7 was worth the wait, this really felt like the definitive gen 2 experience. Playing without the rare candy patch, I only had to grind once when I got Larvitar from the game corner. The sensible wild levels really helped with that so I didn't need to massacre level 40s on the victory road when the trainers' Pokémon are leveled much higher. All the Pokémon and move changes were welcome and my steel-type Blastoise was especially helpful. I wouldn't recommend a Nuzlocke of this since the opponents' focus bands and quick claws screwed me over on many occasions lol
Here's my Johto Hall of Fame:
View attachment 172768

Thank you for the kind words, that's a great team you have there!

Yeah without stat EXP and all the Quick Claws and Focus Bands and the very good coverage for the AI I wouldn't recommend a Nuzlocke either lol

Hope you enjoy Kanto and the post game content! There's a lot of new content waiting there as well.

 

[Noco]

- First, this has to be one of - if not the best overhaul of a Pokemon game ever made. Thank you very much, for all the time and effort you've put into this, truly masterful.
With the addition of 1.7, the save file seems to be different from before, did like to swap out the starter with a different mon, in order to have a "fresh feel" run via Pkhax, this is no longer possible as it returns now an error.
- Is there a way to have HM's be used in the otherworld, without the need of teaching them a pokemon?
- If it's possible, have a way to enhance/change DV's, while there are now dozens of other viable choices, seeing your favourites with 00 DV's pains my heart.

Again, thank you very much

 

[GetKosiorekt]

- First, this has to be one of - if not the best overhaul of a Pokemon game ever made. Thank you very much, for all the time and effort you've put into this, truly masterful.
With the addition of 1.7, the save file seems to be different from before, did like to swap out the starter with a different mon, in order to have a "fresh feel" run via Pkhax, this is no longer possible as it returns now an error.
- Is there a way to have HM's be used in the otherworld, without the need of teaching them a pokemon?
- If it's possible, have a way to enhance/change DV's, while there are now dozens of other viable choices, seeing your favourites with 00 DV's pains my heart.

Again, thank you very much

Thank you for the kind words!

Unfortunately the older saves are no longer compatible with the outdated version due to various data shifts, which mostly were a result of me adding the new maps and new events, and that has been consistently the case between 1.5 and 1.6 saves as well. You will have to try with a newer save and see if that resolves the issue.

There are other hacks which do have the HMs used in the overworld by Key Items or just have the Pokemon naturally learn to use HMs without the need of having it on the moveslot, I went with the system that is currently in the hack for simplicity's sake, but I could adjust it to either in theory.

In this current version there aren't ways to enhance DVs, I mostly didn't mess with those due

 

[Noco]

Thank you for the kind words!

Unfortunately the older saves are no longer compatible with the outdated version due to various data shifts, which mostly were a result of me adding the new maps and new events, and that has been consistently the case between 1.5 and 1.6 saves as well. You will have to try with a newer save and see if that resolves the issue.

There are other hacks which do have the HMs used in the overworld by Key Items or just have the Pokemon naturally learn to use HMs without the need of having it on the moveslot, I went with the system that is currently in the hack for simplicity's sake, but I could adjust it to either in theory.

In this current version there aren't ways to enhance DVs, I mostly didn't mess with those due

Thanks for the fast reply!

Have tried it with created save files of multiple emulators, but it gives an error about the saves file size. Probably the most minor thing, but I thought I mention it, in case some other stumble across this.
The Key Item option one, would probably be the more fitting, since Repel and Exp-Share are already there. But, whatever works or you decide upon <3

 

[Soraftw23]

Thank you for the kind words!

Unfortunately the older saves are no longer compatible with the outdated version due to various data shifts, which mostly were a result of me adding the new maps and new events, and that has been consistently the case between 1.5 and 1.6 saves as well. You will have to try with a newer save and see if that resolves the issue.

There are other hacks which do have the HMs used in the overworld by Key Items or just have the Pokemon naturally learn to use HMs without the need of having it on the moveslot, I went with the system that is currently in the hack for simplicity's sake, but I could adjust it to either in theory.

In this current version there aren't ways to enhance DVs, I mostly didn't mess with those due

I believe it's Sour Crystal that has an HM system built into the PokeGear, you could consider using that? Thanks for your hard work 😊