PoryMap/Rom Hack Basics

[Disclaim]

Hi all, I am new to the community and Rom hacking, so please bare with me if these are stupid questions. I am attempting to create a ROM hack of Pokemon emerald with an expanded pokedex and a completely revised story. This involves new town/route maps and scripts as well. I have already secured a copy of Porymap, Poryscript, with a working Pokemon Emerald expansion decomp. I've been following a Youtube tutorial by Mantager for using Porymap and general decomp knowledge.

So with that being said...I am trying to understand what element of the hack to tackle first and what is the PROPER way to start working on the hack? I'd preferably like to keep the rom "buildable" so i can playtest as i go. I would like to approach this from a high level overview first. Then I can dive into specifics.

For example: should I start creating NEW maps/scripts without messing with the existing Emerald game, THEN delete the existing components of the Emerald game when i am finished? OR simply edit the existing maps (say Littleroot Town with my starting City) and constantly edit the Map Connections overriding each route/town until my game is done?

Hopefully this makes sense. Any and all help with Porymap or decomps is appreciated. If anyone has any suggestions for "decomps for dummies" guides please drop them below as well!

 

[Lunos]

So with that being said...I am trying to understand what element of the hack to tackle first and what is the PROPER way to start working on the hack? I'd preferably like to keep the rom "buildable" so i can playtest as i go. I would like to approach this from a high level overview first. Then I can dive into specifics.

For example: should I start creating NEW maps/scripts without messing with the existing Emerald game, THEN delete the existing components of the Emerald game when i am finished? OR simply edit the existing maps (say Littleroot Town with my starting City) and constantly edit the Map Connections overriding each route/town until my game is done?

You can do whatever. You're free to follow whatever flow feels most comfortable to you.
If you want to delete all the maps in the base game, you can do that.
If you want to overwrite them with your own maps instead, you can do that too.

You should do your work, whatever work, however you want.
You can design your maps and then write the scripts for them.
You can design a map, write its scripts and so on.
Really, there isn't a defined workflow here. It all comes down to personal preference.

 

[Disclaim]

Thanks for the reply I appreciate this. I suppose for play testing I'll keep the existing emerald maps until I don't need them. What is the proper process of deleting maps? I understand it's not as easy as going to the Maps directory and clicking delete…the map is also saved in additional directories and even code, correct? If so where?

 

[Lunos]

Thanks for the reply I appreciate this. I suppose for play testing I'll keep the existing emerald maps until I don't need them. What is the proper process of deleting maps? I understand it's not as easy as going to the Maps directory and clicking delete…the map is also saved in additional directories and even code, correct? If so where?

Yes, effectively, deleting the folder of your map in data/maps is just the first step.
After that, these are all the files you'll need to modify in order to fully delete a map:
- data/event_scripts.s // Delete any inclusion of the map's scripts.inc file
- data/layouts // Delete the folder that contains the layout of the map
- data/layouts/layouts.json // Delete the info of the map's layout
- data/maps/map_groups.json // Delete the entry of the map's map group if there is one here.

After that, you'll want to open your project with Porymap so it can rebuild your include/constants/layouts.h and include/constants/map_groups.h files.

And I think that's just about it.
Personally, I think it's much easier to modify the existing maps, but if you want to try to delete them and make new ones instead, you're free to do so.

 

[Disclaim]

Thank you so much I don't know how to repay you. I'm sure I'll have more questions over time if you don't mind.