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Chit-Chat: ROM Hacking Daily Chit Chat

Is it bad I've never played Vega? Please don't hurt me
 
destinedjagold said:
...wait...
Vega has a sequel?! o.0
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I believe they're on a long hiatus but I think they're called Procyon and Deneb.
Shinx said:
Is it bad I've never played Vega? Please don't hurt me
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I think you should check it out if only for how impressive the extent at which they changed so many aspects of the game is.
 
When I find the time I guess I'll have to try it out. It's difficult because I'm a bit disillusioned with the Pokémon franchise and get bored playing Pokémon very easily.
 
I think 10 towns and cities tends to be the minimum, with 8 having Gyms, another being your hometown, and then two for either just gymless towns or for the E4. In general though I think that having gym after gym isn't great, so 12 places spread out well enough should be best, particularly if you utilise backtracking effectively.
 
reshilegend said:
Regarding the scale of custom regions in hacks, do you guys have a basic idea of how many towns, cities, routes etc. are going to be in your region right at the beginning or do you just create map for map without really planning anything in advance? I'm wondering if the former would really pay off in the long run.
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I think it'd be good to follow Gamefreak's usual trend here. One town per badge, and 1/3~1/2 that number without gyms. There should be 1-2 'big' cities, and the rest small/medium towns. For a standard 8-badge game you'd be looking at 11-12 towns total.

As for routes, on the order of 20-ish should be about right. Just connect your towns in a way that makes sense geographically and for game progression. There aren't many rules here, just be sure there's enough room to spread out Pokemon encounters without routes feeling too 'crowded' with Pokes.
 
Ideally I would go with 12 towns and cities as well, but for my own hack I'm planning two regions, so I'm going with around 10 for each region. I am, however, planning for bigger routes and more places to visit between each town/city, so that makes up for it.
 
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I was super unorganised when making my last hack; I just mapped then did whatever and the region formed itself. Definitely not the way to go, nor the way I will ever do it again.
 
The problem I've found with planning is I tend to get so caught up in the details that I never get around to actually making anything because I keep improving and thinking of things to add. While not being the most ideal way (because you'll probably have to redo things a lot too), winging it and just making it up as you go along can have its benefits.
 
It still does help to have a plan, even if you will eventually change everything, having a basic outline of how you want everything to turn out is really helpful. Making everything up as you go will probably have you going back to change things to match with your current ideas and plans at any different point.

On the note thing, I also keep ideas I think of in a text file somewhere to be implemented once I get everything else done. I get a lot of random ideas that would be great to implement, especially things like side-stories, and mini-games for later in the game or post-game. Plus, whenever I don't really feel like working on my hack anymore, thinking of any kind of features I could include eventually inspires me and keeps me motivated.
 
I do the same--whenever I think of hacking ideas, I always try to have them jotted down. Though, I rarely wind up using any of them, and start thinking of other things as soon as I'd put them to actual work. Seriously wish I weren't like this. :(
 
Spherical Ice said:
Anyway, what do you guys think about the dichotomy of "natural" mapping and Game Freak-styled (i mean good lmoa) mapping? In my opinion "natural" maps are just trying to be artistic without considering the principles of level design or navigation, and often results in a mess of trees and bushes and no clear sense of direction.
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Just like anything else in life, too much of anything isn't good for you.

I've tried to model my mapping style utilising elements of both Natural and GameFreak techniques. I like the fluidity of Natural maps, but their troublesome navigation and tendency to clutter the screen are pretty big turn-offs for me. On the flip side, straight up GameFreak maps are easier to work with and have order foremost in mind, but that can make them somewhat boring and uninspired. I will always tell people to find a balance that works for them and to not tilt too heavily towards one style or the other.

reshilegend said:
Regarding the scale of custom regions in hacks, do you guys have a basic idea of how many towns, cities, routes etc. are going to be in your region right at the beginning or do you just create map for map without really planning anything in advance? I'm wondering if the former would really pay off in the long run.
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I always do a lot of planning at the beginning when it comes to the world map as well as coming up with a general idea of what will happen in each city/ town. In the beginning when I was still learning how to hack I had a pretty intricate world planned after a year or two of designing my dream Pokemon game. Unfortunately it didn't work out due to my inexperience but if I had saved it for later I would have had a great base which I could then build upon. Like a lot of people who have replied, I generally always chosen 3-4 cities which don't have gyms so that means there are approximately a dozen cities in my regions.

I'm also pretty bad at going back to older maps and adding things/ editing them so I try to make everything as good as I can make it before moving on.
 
Ughh planning....

I spend like couple of hours planning for myhack before but I never got around it really.
 
Shadowraze said:
Ughh planning....

I spend like couple of hours planning for myhack before but I never got around it really.
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I know exactly what you mean. I've spent like hours planning ideas and jotting things down, but whenever I open A-Map (or something else) to put plans into action I'm like 'nah can't be bothered now' and it's a complete waste of time haha.
 
Shinx said:
I know exactly what you mean. I've spent like hours planning ideas and jotting things down, but whenever I open A-Map (or something else) to put plans into action I'm like 'nah can't be bothered now' and it's a complete waste of time haha.
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Yeah, when I was gonna map my hack I said "Nah, gonna find a mapper to map this ♥♥♥♥". But I got around scripting and was the only thing I become good at I guess. :3
 
Shinx said:
They no longer exist! Feel free to post any questions as a standalone thread in the Beginner's Lounge subforum.
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Spherical Ice said:
You can now just post an entire thread in the Beginner's Lounge forum with your problem. That way, repeated problems can simply be directed to a thread with an answer already, making things easier to follow and organise.
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Thanks guys! I allready was like NOOO haha
 
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