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RHN 2010
- Thread starter altariaking
- Start date
altariaking
Needs NO VMs...
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- Seen Aug 3, 2015
[CSS-DIV="text-align:left; color: #000; background-color: #E2EADD; margin-left: 2px; border: 2px solid #262439;"][a id]top1[/a id]
![[PokeCommunity.com] RHN 2010](https://i54.tinypic.com/2vao12b.png "[PokeCommunity.com] RHN 2010")
Pokémon AshGray.
Author: metapod23.
Hack of: FireRed.
Reviewed by: altariaking.
![[PokeCommunity.com] RHN 2010](https://img804.imageshack.us/img804/491/pokemonmythiclegends06.png "[PokeCommunity.com] RHN 2010")
Pokémon Mythic Legends
Author: Psychicboy.
Hack of: FireRed.
Reviewed by: Spherical Ice.
It's simple to access, and I've got into quite a cool rhythm when inserting my text. Here's quick guide on the TA. First, type the text out without putting the equals sign. If want to start on a new textbox, hit enter twice, and if you want to start on a new line, hit enter once. Once you've typed it all out (and grammar/spell-checked it in a word processor!), select it, hit CTRL + C (copy), CTRL + T (open up the Text Adjuster) and then CTRL + V, which should paste it into the box. All you've got to do now is click convert, and then insert. And that's it. :D
RHN 2010
navigation: introduction | news | review 1 | review 2 | beginner's corner | interview | conclusion
The ROM Hacking Newsletter
Issue 2; Sunday 24th October 2010
[a id]in[/a id]Introduction
Welcome to Issue 2 of RHN 2010. Last week we received quite a bit of negative feedback; although we've been slightly offended, we won't let this affect RHN - it will simply make us get better. Note how I said us - I'd like to welcome a new member to the RHN Team, Spherical Ice! Also we've got a neat-o CSS design; unfortunately though, there's no tip this week. If you think you've got a neat tip, though, be sure to send a PM to either myself or Spherical Ice. Hope you guys like it~ :D[a id]ne[/a id]ROM Hacking News!
Some of you may have noticed that, whilst Hack of the Year is underway, the ROM Hacking Get-togethers will not be held. Speaking of HOTY, don't forget to vote for your favourite hacks here![a id]sp[/a id]Hack Review: Pokémon AshGray
Pokémon AshGray.
Author: metapod23.
Hack of: FireRed.
Reviewed by: altariaking.
Okay, the first thing I noticed in Pokemon AshGray, is that the pixel art on the title screen is pretty poor. There are no outlines, making it look very jagged, and it lacks highlights, which is a shame because the background and text was quite good, but the pixel art really needs improvement. The same goes for the hero sprite, both in the intro and on the trainer card.
Storywise, there isn't really much to comment on, as it is based on the anime.
The scripting is pretty good, and is backed up by JPAN's hacked FireRed to enable events that follow the anime almost perfectly, although a lot could've been added to bring it closer to the anime, for example the Team Rocket battles. A lot of them have been missed out, and probably should've been kept, as there are a lot of high leveled trainers very easrly on; there were trainers with Pokemon in their thirties whilst mine were still in their low twenties.
Another thing which could've made it feel more like the anime, would be to have Brock and Misty in all the cities, telling the player what they must do, sort of like a help feature, and for the sake of having two major characters actually doing, well, stuff, as they are barely in the hack at all.
There are also a lot of bugs. A lot. After battling Brock I was told I had to battle him again, and I did so, but nothing happened afterwards except for me being trapped inside the gym. There are also bad eggs appearing randomly in the PC, and a lot of things are left for you to do without knowing you have to do them to progress, such as the Squirtle Squad episode, the player is not told what to do in order to progress, and when I finally found out by searching the thread, the solution to pass the episode was something that nobody would've expected, which goes back to my idea of having Brock and Misty there to help.
The mapping and tiles...oh dear the mapping and tiles.....they are terrible. There is no other word for it. The mapping is really empty, and has quite a few tile errors, whilst the tiles all just clash with each other, there are the original firered palettes on tiles that should never have used them, it just does not look good.
In terms of scripting and gameplay, this is a really great hack, but there are so many things that really put me off it. I give it a 6/10.
Storywise, there isn't really much to comment on, as it is based on the anime.
The scripting is pretty good, and is backed up by JPAN's hacked FireRed to enable events that follow the anime almost perfectly, although a lot could've been added to bring it closer to the anime, for example the Team Rocket battles. A lot of them have been missed out, and probably should've been kept, as there are a lot of high leveled trainers very easrly on; there were trainers with Pokemon in their thirties whilst mine were still in their low twenties.
Another thing which could've made it feel more like the anime, would be to have Brock and Misty in all the cities, telling the player what they must do, sort of like a help feature, and for the sake of having two major characters actually doing, well, stuff, as they are barely in the hack at all.
There are also a lot of bugs. A lot. After battling Brock I was told I had to battle him again, and I did so, but nothing happened afterwards except for me being trapped inside the gym. There are also bad eggs appearing randomly in the PC, and a lot of things are left for you to do without knowing you have to do them to progress, such as the Squirtle Squad episode, the player is not told what to do in order to progress, and when I finally found out by searching the thread, the solution to pass the episode was something that nobody would've expected, which goes back to my idea of having Brock and Misty there to help.
The mapping and tiles...oh dear the mapping and tiles.....they are terrible. There is no other word for it. The mapping is really empty, and has quite a few tile errors, whilst the tiles all just clash with each other, there are the original firered palettes on tiles that should never have used them, it just does not look good.
In terms of scripting and gameplay, this is a really great hack, but there are so many things that really put me off it. I give it a 6/10.
[a id]re[/a id]Hack Review: Pokémon Mythic Legends
Pokémon Mythic Legends
Author: Psychicboy.
Hack of: FireRed.
Reviewed by: Spherical Ice.
Within ten seconds of playing Mythic Legends' third beta I found a glitch. That's never a good thing. Unfortunately, as I played on, there were more and more things that put me off from carrying on playing.
Firstly, the player's overworld sprite is horrid. If you can't make a good one, keep it as the default one. On the subject of the player; he speaks. It just doesn't work in RPGs in general when the player speaks, especially in Pokémon.
The scripting in Mythic Legends isn't that great, either. There are some parts where I expect a level script to automatically occur, but instead it's an interact script which really doesn't fit in well, with nonsensical unpassable tiles to stop you from continuing. And this is the first event, by the way.
Legendary starters. In Mythic Legends, an mysterious old trainer gives you the choice of befriending the "three guardians" (which are actually Entei, Raikou and Suicune). And after you choose one, the overworld reappears again; once again, inconsistent scripting by Psychicboy. Not to mention Legendary starters just break the game.
Guess what? Self-insertion is next up in the pet-peeves! And guess what else? Psychicboy throws in a bit of dialogue, full with emoticons and three exclamation marks/question marks/a combination of the two! Oh joy!
It also seems that Psychicboy lacks the knowledge of the Text Adjuster (covered in the Beginners Corner :D), with strings of text that just come off as messy. Psychicboy also seems to not know about flags and variables, scripts repeating themselves.
Finally, the mapping in Mythic Legends isn't very nice either. There is a lot of empty space, and most of the maps are failed attempts at natural (i.e noob ntrl) maps.
All in all, Mythic Legend is a very unpolished hack. I think Psychicboy should've beta tested this much more, as this is Scrapbox quality... I may have been very harsh here on Psychicboy, but I honestly can't see the appeal of Mythic Legends...at all.
I give this a 3/10; mediocre.
Firstly, the player's overworld sprite is horrid. If you can't make a good one, keep it as the default one. On the subject of the player; he speaks. It just doesn't work in RPGs in general when the player speaks, especially in Pokémon.
The scripting in Mythic Legends isn't that great, either. There are some parts where I expect a level script to automatically occur, but instead it's an interact script which really doesn't fit in well, with nonsensical unpassable tiles to stop you from continuing. And this is the first event, by the way.
Legendary starters. In Mythic Legends, an mysterious old trainer gives you the choice of befriending the "three guardians" (which are actually Entei, Raikou and Suicune). And after you choose one, the overworld reappears again; once again, inconsistent scripting by Psychicboy. Not to mention Legendary starters just break the game.
Guess what? Self-insertion is next up in the pet-peeves! And guess what else? Psychicboy throws in a bit of dialogue, full with emoticons and three exclamation marks/question marks/a combination of the two! Oh joy!
It also seems that Psychicboy lacks the knowledge of the Text Adjuster (covered in the Beginners Corner :D), with strings of text that just come off as messy. Psychicboy also seems to not know about flags and variables, scripts repeating themselves.
Finally, the mapping in Mythic Legends isn't very nice either. There is a lot of empty space, and most of the maps are failed attempts at natural (i.e noob ntrl) maps.
All in all, Mythic Legend is a very unpolished hack. I think Psychicboy should've beta tested this much more, as this is Scrapbox quality... I may have been very harsh here on Psychicboy, but I honestly can't see the appeal of Mythic Legends...at all.
I give this a 3/10; mediocre.
[a id]bc[/a id]Beginner's Corner!
I'm sure many of you have seen hacks with text running out of the box, or just inconsistencies (a new textbox being started randomly). There has been a way to stop this for quite some time, that many hackers have seemed to neglected. That is XSE's Text Adjuster.
Spoiler:
![[PokeCommunity.com] RHN 2010](https://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff288/Sphericalice/TextAdjuster.png "[PokeCommunity.com] RHN 2010")
It's simple to access, and I've got into quite a cool rhythm when inserting my text. Here's quick guide on the TA. First, type the text out without putting the equals sign. If want to start on a new textbox, hit enter twice, and if you want to start on a new line, hit enter once. Once you've typed it all out (and grammar/spell-checked it in a word processor!), select it, hit CTRL + C (copy), CTRL + T (open up the Text Adjuster) and then CTRL + V, which should paste it into the box. All you've got to do now is click convert, and then insert. And that's it. :D
[a id]int[/a id]Interview: Astar_01.
Spoiler:
[a id]co[/a id]Conclusion
Well, thanks for reading. Hopefully we'll get a bit of a positive response this week. Here's hoping you enjoyed it.RHN 2010 - - - - Top
[/CSS-DIV]
Logan
[img]http://pldh.net/media/pokecons_action/403.gif
- 10,413
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- 16
- Years
- Age 30
- Salisbury, England
- Seen Nov 23, 2023
Honestly? I think I liked last weeks more. This week didn't even have a tips & tricks; in every single incarnation of the RHN the one thing I enjoy reading the most is the tips tricks section, I am very disappointed with this.
I really disliked the interview; I feel it was very badly acted out. I say acted because the whole thing seemed like it was written from a script and didn't have much realism. I'd much more appreciate it if the interviewer's questions spawned from the answers of the interviewee and acted out like more of an interview than a scene from a television show.
In real life when someone is interviewing someone they expand on the interviewee's answers by branching away from it and expanding their knowledge of the person/subject this way. I also think interview's should be conducted with someone who's got a bit more pull in the Emulation and ROM Hacking sections. I don't mean any offence to astar but who would you rather read an interview with, him or destinedjagold/Christos/thethethethe/Darthatron/colcolstyles/insert any well recognised name here?
Now, I think you're in a bit of a tough situation here. You're acting as though this is a professionally done newsletter, right? However, you're going on to add things in your articles such as smilies. Do you read newspapers in real life? If you don't I highly suggest you do as you'll get a much better grasp of the art of journalism. You definitely wouldn't see a smilie in an official article.
I still notice the array of grammatical errors and you should definitely try hiring someone to fix up everything that is seeping through your own filters on this matter. Whether it's an incorrect semi-colon usage, a misused comma or a general spelling error, it all effects your newsletter's reputation in the long run. Another add-on to my professionalism worries is your use of the word "stuff" in the articles; stuff is a very informal word, I suggest that you invest in a Thesaurus to help you out.
I may being a little harsh on you and your team here but I'm honestly doing it because I genuinely wish for this 'newsletter' to succeed.
I really disliked the interview; I feel it was very badly acted out. I say acted because the whole thing seemed like it was written from a script and didn't have much realism. I'd much more appreciate it if the interviewer's questions spawned from the answers of the interviewee and acted out like more of an interview than a scene from a television show.
In real life when someone is interviewing someone they expand on the interviewee's answers by branching away from it and expanding their knowledge of the person/subject this way. I also think interview's should be conducted with someone who's got a bit more pull in the Emulation and ROM Hacking sections. I don't mean any offence to astar but who would you rather read an interview with, him or destinedjagold/Christos/thethethethe/Darthatron/colcolstyles/insert any well recognised name here?
Now, I think you're in a bit of a tough situation here. You're acting as though this is a professionally done newsletter, right? However, you're going on to add things in your articles such as smilies. Do you read newspapers in real life? If you don't I highly suggest you do as you'll get a much better grasp of the art of journalism. You definitely wouldn't see a smilie in an official article.
I honestly don't know where you're getting this information from. I, and I only, am the only person on the forums who knows what's going on with the ROM Hacking get-togethers and that is definitely not the real reason why they're not currently running. This can be grouped together with my previous problems on your professionalism; are you running a newspaper or a tabloid? Seriously, you should make your mind up and fix the title of this thing to something suitable.
I still notice the array of grammatical errors and you should definitely try hiring someone to fix up everything that is seeping through your own filters on this matter. Whether it's an incorrect semi-colon usage, a misused comma or a general spelling error, it all effects your newsletter's reputation in the long run. Another add-on to my professionalism worries is your use of the word "stuff" in the articles; stuff is a very informal word, I suggest that you invest in a Thesaurus to help you out.
I may being a little harsh on you and your team here but I'm honestly doing it because I genuinely wish for this 'newsletter' to succeed.
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It's still a good effort, guys. I mean c'mon, Pink Parka Girl isn't doing her reviews anymore, so these should suffice. As for the interview, though...it didn't feel like an interview this week. And last week, well, it seemed like AK tried to dwell outside of bounds. The CSS is looking good, by the way.
It does stand out though, so I have no regrets.
Well, that was the second or third sprite request I had, back then. D:
It does stand out though, so I have no regrets.
Alignment
Revered with the stars
- 308
- Posts
- 15
- Years
- Seen Dec 25, 2016
I too liked last week's issue more than this. I noticed that you were trying to use 'fancy' punctuation throughout the thread (like semicolons and dashes), but in all honesty I spotted basic grammar errors like run on sentences and missing capitalizations. My advice would be: don't use 'em if you don't know how.
I still think that your hack reviews are too opinion based, and therefore biased. Not to mention that you should have only rated one hack per issue. Going on about the rating, your review of Mythic legends seemed like an endless river of insults. No one cares about your opinion of how lame his hack is (not implying it is lame at all). In fact, I don't see one compliment or at least beneficial piece of information about his hack; hell, why did you rate his hack in the first place if you think it's so bad? You also mentioned the 'Scrapbox'. I don't think some newer members are familiar with it, so you shouldn't use that kind of term to describe something (not to mention it's rude). I think there was a bit of disrespect and other influences here from your past experiences -you shouldn't let that affect your report on his hack.
About the interview, I agree with Manipulation. Besides that, I think it was great that Spherical Ice had some background knowledge about Astar's hack (I like your hack too Astar \ shout out) .
Summing it up:
1) Use proper grammar (especially since this is a News Paper)
2) Don't use RHN as your excuse to bash at members who you dislike
3) Provide facts and information, aside from your opinion
4) I want a more topics to be covered. (Maybe something like ROM hacking accomplishments, with a cool discovery that someone came up with).
5) I like the CSS :)
No I don't care if you decide to eternally hate me. I'm just providing some criticism about your methods and your RHN issue.
I still think that your hack reviews are too opinion based, and therefore biased. Not to mention that you should have only rated one hack per issue. Going on about the rating, your review of Mythic legends seemed like an endless river of insults. No one cares about your opinion of how lame his hack is (not implying it is lame at all). In fact, I don't see one compliment or at least beneficial piece of information about his hack; hell, why did you rate his hack in the first place if you think it's so bad? You also mentioned the 'Scrapbox'. I don't think some newer members are familiar with it, so you shouldn't use that kind of term to describe something (not to mention it's rude). I think there was a bit of disrespect and other influences here from your past experiences -you shouldn't let that affect your report on his hack.
About the interview, I agree with Manipulation. Besides that, I think it was great that Spherical Ice had some background knowledge about Astar's hack (I like your hack too Astar \ shout out) .
Summing it up:
1) Use proper grammar (especially since this is a News Paper)
2) Don't use RHN as your excuse to bash at members who you dislike
3) Provide facts and information, aside from your opinion
4) I want a more topics to be covered. (Maybe something like ROM hacking accomplishments, with a cool discovery that someone came up with).
5) I like the CSS :)
No I don't care if you decide to eternally hate me. I'm just providing some criticism about your methods and your RHN issue.
Well, last week's was honestly better than this week's, like mostly everyone else said. And there's no Tips and Tricks? )= Most of the stuff is hack reviews... And there's grammar errors here and there, but yeah. Also, I think that the RHN doesn't have to be posted every week. Once you have good, nice information, you can release a new newsletter. It doesn't have to be every week, or else it looks like you're rushing and there's not a whole lot of good stuff to read. So, I just suggest take your time on this, read thoroughly, wait some time so there will be more different stuff on the newsletter, than post the newsletter once it's ready. (=
colcolstyles
Yours truly
- 1,588
- Posts
- 16
- Years
- The Bay Area
- Seen May 19, 2019
Ah, the second issue was much better. It's nice to see that you've put some effort into improving, something that a lot of people refuse to do. However, there are still a few things I didn't like.
What is it with people and using "whilst" these days? Nobody actually says it anymore (at least, not colloquially) and "while" sounds perfectly fine.
Some of us actually haven't seen many episodes of the anime, or at least haven't seen them in ten years. You might want to elaborate on that next time.
Other than that, though, this review seemed pretty good. I haven't played the hack but just from reading the new posts in its thread every day, it seems like you've hit most of the main issues (off the top of my head, you forgot that one annoying gym sign). However, I really didn't like the second hack review. Didn't Vrai specifically mention objectivity in his post? The second review is written very informally and with much personal bias. Something to strive for next time, I guess.
Though it can't fully take the place of a nice Tip/Trick, the Beginner's Corner subject is an important one and I'm glad that you touched on it. Hopefully the people that need help with textboxes actually read this.
The interview was much better this time. (edit: I finally got around to reading other people's responses (I wanted to formulate my own without reading anybody else's first) and I have to agree that it did seem a little unnatural. However, it still was a big improvement from last week's interview.) Also, you've just given me an idea for a great Christmas present. ;)
What is it with people and using "whilst" these days? Nobody actually says it anymore (at least, not colloquially) and "while" sounds perfectly fine.
Some of us actually haven't seen many episodes of the anime, or at least haven't seen them in ten years. You might want to elaborate on that next time.
Other than that, though, this review seemed pretty good. I haven't played the hack but just from reading the new posts in its thread every day, it seems like you've hit most of the main issues (off the top of my head, you forgot that one annoying gym sign). However, I really didn't like the second hack review. Didn't Vrai specifically mention objectivity in his post? The second review is written very informally and with much personal bias. Something to strive for next time, I guess.
Though it can't fully take the place of a nice Tip/Trick, the Beginner's Corner subject is an important one and I'm glad that you touched on it. Hopefully the people that need help with textboxes actually read this.
The interview was much better this time. (edit: I finally got around to reading other people's responses (I wanted to formulate my own without reading anybody else's first) and I have to agree that it did seem a little unnatural. However, it still was a big improvement from last week's interview.) Also, you've just given me an idea for a great Christmas present. ;)
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- 15
- Posts
- 14
- Years
- Seen Nov 14, 2010
Erm. Thanks for the textbox trick(I am a beginner. ;]) However, your review for the second hack was rather rude. o_O
astar_01
Creator of Pokémon Grey
- 106
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Age 32
- Warwickshire, England
- Seen Dec 18, 2015
I'm glad to see issue 2 is finally up, but I'm sad to see quite a bit of negative feedback.
I read thought everyone's comments and I can see what you meant by the interview feeling 'Unnatural'.
I don't believe it is any fault of Spherical Ice as his interviewing questions were very professional. I think It would of been better to of cut out pointless dialogue between questions so it didn't feel so dry to the reader.
On the whole, RHN is improving... It has only been 2 weeks so you've gotta give it chance to find a fomula that everyone likes. :)
I read thought everyone's comments and I can see what you meant by the interview feeling 'Unnatural'.
I don't believe it is any fault of Spherical Ice as his interviewing questions were very professional. I think It would of been better to of cut out pointless dialogue between questions so it didn't feel so dry to the reader.
On the whole, RHN is improving... It has only been 2 weeks so you've gotta give it chance to find a fomula that everyone likes. :)
Chimchar 9
(:
- 1,619
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- 17
- Years
- Age 31
- England, London
- Seen Dec 5, 2023
To be honest you need to add more to the article. It's too short, think of something fresh and NEW, that's never been seen in a RHN before. If you can't think of any ideas, ask the people here as they're the ones reading it.
I'd really like this to be better than the old one, so c'mon guys you can do it! :)
I'd really like this to be better than the old one, so c'mon guys you can do it! :)
- 3,828
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- Age 28
- OH
- Seen Apr 7, 2025
This is great! I can't wait for, issue 3? But, I feel the interview was unnatural and short, plus it went way off the point. Wasn't it a ROM hacking interview? All in all, keep it up!
altariaking
Needs NO VMs...
- 1,087
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- Age 50
- Scotland, Lesmahagow
- Seen Aug 3, 2015
Just thought I'd let everyone know, there will now be a new issue every two weeks, instead of one, as I have exams in a month, as well as having my hack to work on. So, the next update will not be tomorrow, but the week after. Happy Halloween!
I think that sounds better. Plus you can find and get more information for the newsletter and have more time to revise it.