[Other] Silver or Ruby?

[Rich Boy Rob]

I can't decide whether to make my hack a GBC or GBA hack. I'm tempted to do a Silver hack, as there are so few of them, but I'm also tempted to do Ruby because I hear it is easier to hack and as I have little to no hacking experience I thought it might be the better option.

For those that are interested, it's set in an as yet unnamed region located near New Island (where Mewtwo was created). The main character sees a news report about destruction of the lab there goes to investigate. He finds it full of Team ------ Grunts who are gathering information on cloning and a (sort of) new mystery Pokémon. And that's as far as I'm saying story wise.
But back on subject, which do you recommend I do my hack on?

By the way I made some test sprites for each possibility, if you want me to post them just say.

 

[PlatniumPiano]

If you really want to do a Silver hack, go for it, as it would be very nice to see a Silver hack with a new idea and fresh maps ^_^

But if this is your first hack, as i am presuming it is, you may want to stick to Ruby until you acquire some experience. Don't put the Silver idea off though! Once you understand how hacking works, I really think you should go ahead and do a Silver hack :D

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Important thing is how ya feel as hacker ;)
If ya believe in your abilities then hack Silver if you aren't sure then hack Ruby :)

 

[Vrai]

Important thing is how ya feel as hacker ;)
If ya believe in your abilities then hack Silver if you aren't sure then hack Ruby :)

what is this I don't even

He's obviously not hacked before, so he probably has no idea what exactly is involved with hacking either. Also, "believing in your abilities" doesn't make any difference between choosing Silver or Ruby. Honestly.

Seriously now, you should start with Ruby, I think. At least, for a little while. You see, there are many, many more tutorials and tools for the advanced generation; XSE and AdvanceMap being a couple of standouts. It's much easier to get started with hacking the Advance generation, so I think it'd be best for you to begin there. GSC and RBY are a different story, though - not only are there not a lot of tools (is there even a mapping tool for RBY? I've heard of Goldmap, but never anything for RBY.. :/), but scripting (making events, signposts, people talking to you, trainers, basically any action in-game) is done through mostly hex editing, which is complicated in itself.

So, I'd say start with Ruby, and when you want to start learning to hack Silver, go for it.

 

[PlatniumPiano]

He's obviously not hacked before, so he probably has no idea what exactly is involved with hacking either. Also, "believing in your abilities" doesn't make any difference between choosing Silver or Ruby. Honestly.

Seriously now, you should start with Ruby, I think. At least, for a little while. You see, there are many, many more tutorials and tools for the advanced generation; XSE and AdvanceMap being a couple of standouts. It's much easier to get started with hacking the Advance generation, so I think it'd be best for you to begin there. GSC and RBY are a different story, though - not only are there not a lot of tools (is there even a mapping tool for RBY? I've heard of Goldmap, but never anything for RBY.. :/), but scripting (making events, signposts, people talking to you, trainers, basically any action in-game) is done through mostly hex editing, which is complicated in itself.

So, I'd say start with Ruby, and when you want to start learning to hack Silver, go for it.

[/THREAD]

Just kidding lol. But yeah Atlus has the right idea. Altough there is a map editing tool for R/B/Y (PokeMap, I think it is called) I have not tested it out. The part about hex editing is true, and it is a pain to learn all of the different values for map data, trainer data, etc.

To help you potentially hack Silver later on, start out editing some hex values in Ruby. Though it can be tough, it is necessary to build a good foundation on hex-editing before attemping a 2nd gen hack.

 

[Rich Boy Rob]

Ok, I think I will start with a Ruby hack but as you said I will try a Silver hack afterwards.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

Yes, hack Ruby, there's a few good reasons why (which I'm quite amazed by why there aren't more Ruby hacks out there):
1. Versatile. You can do a lot with it.
2. Almost every 3rd generation tool works with it.
3. It runs faster.
4. +6. MB. OF. FREESPACE.
5. Clock. But this is really for comparison with FR.

 

[IIMarckus]

Seriously now, you should start with Ruby, I think. At least, for a little while. You see, there are many, many more tutorials

GSC have been extensively documented. Chances are if you have a question, it can be answered by one of the active hackers. I would also argue that the signal‐to‐noise ratio is much higher in the GBC hacking community—when tutorials exist they tend to be of good quality.

but scripting (making events, signposts, people talking to you, trainers, basically any action in-game) is done through mostly hex editing, which is complicated in itself.

The majority of GSC scripters probably do so with a hex editor, but that is starting to change. PKSV is a scripting program that is compatible with Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and I've been using RGBDS, an assembler with great macros (in fact, it was used for several official GBC games).

As for hex editing, it is possibly an acquired taste, but it isn't hard to learn at all, and it gives you a huge understanding of the ROM. It certainly makes more sense to use one for text editing or changing TMs or some such. Even assembly on the GBC is pretty straightforward.

Versatile. You can do a lot with it.

GSC are versatile too. Just look at Pokémon Prism.

Almost every 3rd generation tool works with it.

Not surprising that more third-gen tools work with Ruby than GSC…

+6. MB. OF. FREESPACE.

What would you use that much space for? Gold and Silver have plenty of free space, anyway.


If you like hacking the GBA games, feel free—we hack because we like the games, after all. But I think most of these comments about GSC are unwarranted, and made by people who haven't worked with the GBC games to any real extent.

 

[thethethethe]

2. Almost every 3rd generation tool works with it.

Not surprising that more third-gen tools work with Ruby than GSC…

I know what you're trying to say Charon the Ferryman, but I had to quote this because it made me smile.

Now serious...
Please don't do as some others have said and hack Ruby first and then move onto Silver. If you're not going to read through documentation and look at the Ruby ROM through a hex editor and learning the way different types of data are structured (because let's face it, Gamefreak hasn't changed too many things in the way of general data structures in these games), you're just going to be wasting your time. If all you're going to do is use hacker programmed tools on your Ruby ROM you'll learn nothing but how to click buttons and change numbers in a text boxes, and for the most part, that isn't going to help you with hacking a Silver ROM.

 

[Vrai]

GSC have been extensively documented. Chances are if you have a question, it can be answered by one of the active hackers. I would also argue that the signal‐to‐noise ratio is much higher in the GBC hacking community—when tutorials exist they tend to be of good quality.The majority of GSC scripters probably do so with a hex editor, but that is starting to change. PKSV is a scripting program that is compatible with Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and I've been using RGBDS, an assembler with great macros (in fact, it was used for several official GBC games).

As for hex editing, it is possibly an acquired taste, but it isn't hard to learn at all, and it gives you a huge understanding of the ROM. It certainly makes more sense to use one for text editing or changing TMs or some such.

Ah. Well, you're perfectly right; I haven't a clue about much of the GBC hacking, nor of their tools and tutorials, which are probably of high quality, as you say. So then, Silver is as good of an option as Ruby, although you'll have to be ready to learn a lot of things, either way. :3

 

[Rich Boy Rob]

Hmm.. Back to square 1, I still don't know which one to do... I think but Ruby will be easier, but as you said I'll learn more by doing Silver.

 

[BananasGoMoo]

ruby is a nice rom.

oh and for those saying "what would you do with 6 MB of freespace??HURRDURR?????"

maybe they want to have two regions in their game... like i do. i even expanded mine so i can (try) to put all 3 regions

 

[Vrai]

ruby is a nice rom.

oh and for those saying "what would you do with 6 MB of freespace??HURRDURR?????"

maybe they want to have two regions in their game... like i do. i even expanded mine so i can (try) to put all 3 regions

Uhm, if I recall right (and I'm fifty percent sure I don't D;), I think you can just as easily put a second region in RBY/GSC (didn't Brown have a second region? o.o).

 

[BananasGoMoo]

Uhm, if I recall right (and I'm fifty percent sure I don't D;), I think you can just as easily put a second region in RBY/GSC (didn't Brown have a second region? o.o).

welllllll idk then, but i didnt think so (probably wrong tho xD)

 

[IIMarckus]

oh and for those saying "what would you do with 6 MB of freespace??HURRDURR?????"

My point was not that free space is unneeded, but that you wouldn't need nearly six megabytes to implement another region. That's a huge amount of space, and the amount of space in GSC is more than enough for practical purposes.

For the record, Pokémon Gold has about 1.6MiB of free space. That's nearly half the ROM, and doesn't count the large number of unused beta maps that can be overwritten. I know for sure that I could implement another region or two in that amount of space.

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

For the record, Pokémon Gold has about 1.6MiB of free space. That's nearly half the ROM, and doesn't count the large number of unused beta maps that can be overwritten. I know for sure that I could implement another region or two in that amount of space.

And that already has two regions.

 

[Chimchar 9]

Hack Silver, as there isn't much silver hacks around the forum.
And yeah, thethethethe is right, you'll learn more by hacking silver.;)
Well whatever you choose, i wish you the best of luck!:)

 

[Luck]

I suggest hacking silver. The basic tools are there already(goldmap i think and PKSV) and the rest is easy once you get the hang of it(from what I've heard). With ruby, you will most likely take too much advantage of the many tools that can do almost anything for you. Even then, you won't be much different from the rest of the people who hack 3rd gen games.

 

[Rich Boy Rob]

I suggest hacking silver. The basic tools are there already(goldmap i think and PKSV) and the rest is easy once you get the hang of it(from what I've heard). With ruby, you will most likely take too much advantage of the many tools that can do almost anything for you. Even then, you won't be much different from the rest of the people who hack 3rd gen games.

I think you're right, I will learn more and it probably will get more attention. I will hack Silver, thanks for your help everybody.