Should we get more.. different ROM Hacks and Fan Games?

[Wobb]

I feel like there are too many that are like:

You are a 10-16 year old boy/girl in a region. The professor wants you to explore the region, catch Pokemon, battle trainers, beat the 8 gyms and complete the Pokedex. Then you fight the Elite Four and Champion. And you do all this while fighting an evil team and stopping a legendary Pokemon from destroying the world.
This is what all the Pokemon games are, but a lot of ROM Hacks and Fan Games are like this too. Some of you might have done something like playing as the evil team.. Or maybe you don't complete the Pokedex. Maybe in your game you play as the professor, or as a Pokemon, or.. you got rid of gyms in your game.
But, all of them have one thing in common. You go around the region catching and battling Pokemon.
I think we should start doing different things.

"Wobb! Are you crazy?! A game without battling Pokemon?!"
A game without any Pokemon battles can still be good. You could compete in Pokemon Contests all around the region. Or you could live on a farm (I think I've seen this idea a few times). You could be a Pokemon photographer taking pictures of Pokemon like in Pokemon Snap. Maybe you could even just explore the region without doing anything with Pokemon (Your region will have to be super pretty if you want me to keep playing, though.)
Or you don't have to get rid of battles. You could still have battles but change something else. Like.. Instead of having a whole region to go on an adventure through, you could spend your whole game in one giant tower. Instead of being on land all the time, the whole game could be underwater, or in the sky, or even in space.
Maybe you're one of those people who wants to make a Pokemon dating simulator. Go make that. You're weird though. Or you could have a game where you work at a store, or you cook for a restaurant, with Pokemon helping you.

I'm making a hack where you play as a Clefairy who gets lost in space, and you can transform into other Pokemon and solve puzzles, and stop the evil Ultra Beasts.

 

[Eon Lucifer]

That sounds like a great idea

 

[Disturbed]

I think I'd personally rather see more people polishing and ironing out these common features before venturing off into new territory with new revolutionary ideas. Then again, I prefer it when hacks are simple and feel like they were made by GameFreak.

 

[AenaonDusky]

I think I'd personally rather see more people polishing and ironing out these common features before venturing off into new territory with new revolutionary ideas. Then again, I prefer it when hacks are simple and feel like they were made by GameFreak.

Yeah, I noticed that Gamefreak follows a very minimalistic style, which paradoxically
never detracts or makes the games feel small or empty. I think it also helps with
accessibility, not everyone feels comfortable with crazy UIs and super-complex map design...

I'm all for new ideas though, as long as they don't sacrifice balance for the sake
of "innovation", since innovation doesn't mean throwing everything you already have
outta the window...

 

[FL]

I agree that there too many similar games. In fact, I made my game Pokémon Island just to avoid the "8 GYM jorney around a new region" approach, since at least 90% of project follow this Game Freak dogma when I came into Pokécommunity (2010). I believe that the majority of projects should avoid this dogma.

If I wish to play games like Game Freak ones, I... play Game Freak games!

But removing battles maybe only works well for, like, 20% of projects, since the core of pokémon series is the battle system.

 

[SpartaLazor]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the way people do their ROM hacks and fan-games now. Sure it might be nice to do some different stuff (and I am working on some different stuff myself) but at the end of the day, all that really matters in my mind is the execution.

If the ROM hack or fan-game is good and enjoyable and fun to play, no one's gonna care whether it has 8 Gyms or no Gyms or whatever it has. All that matters is that the game is good enough to get invested in, and that can be done through many different means; story, features, new Pokemon/forms, etc. Players just want a good experience, and that can be achieved in the standard formula that everyone uses just as much as something new and different.

If you think the current formula is boring, then make something different. Don't condemn other people's games simple because they stick close to the official games. Let them make what they want to make, and then let their work speak for itself.

 

[Jack Black]

Do you know a good fan Pokemon game.

 

[Derxwna Kapsyla]

I have a few ideas for some fangame that, at my current skill level, I'm not able to see to fruition yet. They actually fall into the realm of different approaches to the Pokemon world than what we've seen.

The first idea was a Breeder esque-game. You play as a Pokemon Breeder and your job is to breed Pokemon for the various clients you get. The more requests you take, the more well known your name becomes, and the more clients you get, some with harder challenges (such as breeding under a specific cycle of the year, or with a certain family tree, or specific IVs). However, that's not all there is. You can breed Pokemon for yourself, and take on Breeding Competitions across the world. These competitions are a great way to get some hard to come by items that would significantly help the breeding process, as well as to get your name known even more. There would be no designated plot, no evil team to defeat. Pokemon Battles would be few and far between. In its entirety, it would be an entirely different approach to the Pokemon World, one that I haven't seen covered yet, and think could definitely be interesting.

The other idea I had was a Shopkeeper-like game. If you've heard of Recettear, think of that, but set in the Pokemon universe instead. You play as a shopkeeper and your aim is to just sell goods. You can purchase things from other stores to sell them at yours, or you can tackle the nearby dungeons and obtain different items that were left lying around or discarded. There would probably be an element of a crafting system in order for you to make certain items to sell (Two broken Pokeball halves make a whole Pokeball, A few Oran Berries and Fresh Water could make a Potion, etc). The dungeons would have different types of items (both whole items and item parts) depending on the dungeon you go into, and the items would be randomly selected from an array and refill so you don't just deplete the dungeon in a visit. Of course, to navigate these dungeons, you'd need Pokemon of your own to get through. You'd be allowed to catch your own Pokemon, but is it a good idea to cut into your stockpile of items and funds like that...? Alternatively, you could adopt a Pokemon from the nearby Adoption Agency to help you through the world.

Alas, these would require some skill with rgss that I definitely don't have under my belt yet, but I would absolutely love to see these ideas come to fruition one day, or maybe even inspire someone else to make them, or even get their own ideas as a result of it!

 

[Voultronix]

To be honest I think you're being a little harsh , there are loads of interesting ideas that are substantially different to the normal game formula. I personally love the game freak formula when there is mostly fakemon . The joys of playing a new official pokemon game was playing with the new pokemon and interacting with unseen environment , perhaps you've played too many games that are the same.

 

[NodeOfRanvier]

I'm personally praying for the day we see a decent/well executed rom hack in the style of the mystery dungeon games. I feel like they are kinda forgotten in the midst of the most recent games, but they will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

[keyzhunter]

I hope someone will improve on Pokemon Vega Minus

 

[I am Thuasluhuall]

I was planning to start my own thread for something like this, but since this is a thing.

I have noticed this too, and yes while the stories might differ they are very similar. Go to town and get the badge use an HM to get to another town to get another badge ect, or stop the machinations of evil teams.

Now let's analyze some popular fan games. The Pokemon Sweet series, Pokemon Snakewood, and The Reborn, Rejuvenation, and Insurgence games. What do these have in common? The answer is a strong theme.

Pokemon meets Candy Land, A zombie apocalypse, and Grim dark serious narratives respectively.

There are a lot of strong themes that haven't been utilized, and while there are a few fan games with some unique themes they usually aren't fully utilized or still in development.

So here are a few general themes that are either underused or unused that anyone can use if they want.

A game set in a region that is predominantly urban like Yo-kai Watch.

All official pokemon games have had a lot of wilderness, but what about a region sized city. Reborn has a setting like this. Where would pokemon live in such a place. could there be ursarings sleeping in abandoned train tunnels, pachirisu and pidoves in the parks, poliwags in drainage ditches. There is life all around cities hiding in the nooks and crannies and pokemon could easily do the same.

How about a historic setting.
There was one rom that was about the Regis and the history of man it was more like an interactive story, and I think pokemon fable is set in a medieval setting. So how about more of that like ancient rome, or ancient Egypt, or go really far back to primitive hunters with fossil pokemon.

Single biome setting.
We all know this trope a place of all desert, or a water world, or an ice world. While it can be a setting with a predominant biome there can be variety in any setting. Take the desert for example. The desert can have little patches of vegetaion clusters of palms trees and the occasional oasis. There are river deltas, and how about a path up a cliff face, or a hidden forest inside a mountain. Hey for even rarer ideas what about a completely subterranean or aerial setting. Subterra and Skyhawks anyone.

Pokemon Sun and Moon felt really refreshing because it was a very new setting Hawaii. What about Africa or South America.

How about instead of exploring a region on foot you visit places from a vehicle. Pokemon discovery started off on a ship and that got me thinking about how that would that be for a change. You could start out on a ship and be taken to places and get off and explore, and then go somewhere else. However what if it was your ship and you chose where you wanted to sail. POKEMON PIRATES! yarr!

Following on that train of thought. The previous comments about space could easily fit this narrative style. Have planets with purple grass, and fiery swamps. Really make it seem like alien worlds. Just look at subnautica.

Finally how about a difference in occupation. How about Jame Bond like espionage with secret agents. Or how about a tomb raider like Indiana Jones or Nathan Drake. What if instead of gyms our intrepid explorer goes to 8 exotic locations to hunt down cryptid pokemon.

That's all off the top of my head. I think the Pokemon Pirates is a great idea just waiting to be used.