Why do we ROM-hack?

[Skeetendo Inc.]

I would have to say that I (Mateo) Hack for a variety of reasons, some of which I do not fully understand. Partially it is because even though I am now a freshman in college, I have never fully grown up by a longshot. I still enjoy Pokémon, in fact I have a plush Pikachu hanging from the rear view mirror of my 4x4.(VERY Ironic, I know). Another reason is because regardless of what people think of them in the mainstream, they are very good games and it gives you a good outlet to bring up ideas we have liked since the days of Red and Blue when we first were introduced to it. It gives us a means to express our creativity and it gives us a way to do things that Nintendo never thought of.

I realize some of you have noticed I all but completely dissapeared from the community for some time, but I am coming back. One reason is hacking helps me with stress, any of the other problems you expect a college student to go through. It gives you an escape from the real world. Afterall, you have to be pretty lucky to be able to hold a moch pokemon battle on a sheet of notebook paper with your buddy during math class and make outbursts about Magikarp in comp class and people know what you are talkign about. (for the record, I have done both of those things)

 

[stead573]

I would say that I [try to] hack games to become more creative as well as experienced.

As I have just started out, I like the idea of learning as you go. You learn something new everyday, be it, how to create a specific code, how to insert tiles, or something as little as a pokemons offset in unLZ.GBA. :)

To sum it up, I like to think of someone, someday, playing a game that I've put time and effort into to show my best qualities and experience/knowledge.

 

[Coolboyman]

I'll tell you why I want to hack.

When Gold was released when I was only 12 years old, I was very impressed of adding a region to the Pokemon universe, where you could go from Johto to Kanto. To my curiousity, I called Nintendo to ask if you could go beyond Kanto and Johto, but I found out I couldn't. I remember my words "So... you're trapped in Johto and Kanto?" with the reply of "uh... yeah." Great service for $2.95 a minute huh?

To my disappointment, I wish someone could create a new region for people to explore, whcih would expand the Pokemon universe. I had a dream where you went to a Pokemon convention, you plug in your cart to somewhere, and it adds a new region and new Pokemon (they should and could totally do this with future Pokemon games, come on.) For fun, I made sketches of regions connecting to Johto and Kanto. (10 bordering them all.)

I later on discovered you could edit ROMS! What fun huh? The idea of a new region escaped my mind at the moment as I made lots of experiment hacks. While playing a hack one day (A short hack called Orange Islands, where the cities, routes, caves and forests were in a DIFFERENT ORDER THAN THE OFFICIAL POKEMON GAMES. It was glitchy and buggy with totally unfair battles, but its overall layout was something I never saw before.), I put two together and thought, "Why can't I make a brand new region in a Pokemon game?" I then saw the beauty of making my OWN region that other people could explore and have fun on, just like Nintendo did. Pokemon Brown's idea was based off that premise, to feature a new region, or "world"; a complete overhaul of the original game. After I released Brown I knew I could do better, thus Prism was born, and I am doing my best to make Naljo actually look and FEEL like a fresh, original, and "official" region from a new Pokemon game that Nintendo COULD release.

So I hack to not just make a hack, but to make a whole new game and adventure for others to enjoy.

Something you might not know:
Someone asked me to make an M rated Pokemon hack for their website, and I agreed. In about 2 months I completed it, of course it was poor with immature humor everywhere (I was 14!) and the best part of it were the map changes. I decided to work on a sequel of such hack, and my friends website vanished. That's when the idea of a new world clicked upon me. I worked on a new region, and later and I decided to drop the M label and make it look and feel like a new real Pokemon game as much as I could.

What did that hack turn into?

Pokemon Brown.

 

[destinedjagold]

Wow Coolboyman... I'm very touched by your speech. I envy you that your friends (were?) supporting your hack all the way.

Zel.., and everyone posted here, thanks for your time posting, and sharing your reasons. It really enlightened me. *cries*...

 

[master pokemon]

I want to learn how to hack

Because I want to do the ideas in my head to improve the pokemon games in my way

 

[Hackbeginnerdylan]

:D

Well i recently started hacking (about 4 days now) and i have the hang of it.. I started to hack for a friend because.. idk.. then i was like WOAH and just made it my hobby.... and now i'm working on a pokemon ruby hack!
I guess i hack.. because i can >:)

 

[Luck]

Well i hack because it calms me down and i had a lot of ideas about a new region and a new storyline where everything was different.
Also there is nothing to do at my house and my brothers ignore me.

 

[s l u g]

Why do We Hack??
yeah ok..
Maybe For Me Hacking Makes Us Relieve A Classic Rom In Our Own Way We Can Add Our Own Events And Share It with People..
And Friends Do appreciate It and Apart From It..It's Interesting And Makes You feel That You are Capable fo doing something and it seems like an different art itself :D
the story the intensity and all it really makes one feel happy..
and You won't Believe This DestinedJagold ... That i actually made up my mind in Rom-Hacking after playing You're Beta :D

 

[+Sneasel™]

For me, its just because its fun.
I enjoy hacking roms adn making them to my likeing.
Its fun, and passes the time too.

 

[Lady Berlitz]

Well, ever since I was a little kid, I've always loved Pokémon video games, toys, etc. I've even made my own "fan-games" using just a simple piece of paper. Now that I'm much older, I've found out that it's possible to make my own games, also known as hacks. I still do things with pieces of paper, but it's all just for writing lists of trainers, maps, etc. for my hacks.

I will try to continue hacking for as long as I can, so I can learn to get better and better.

 

[Satoshi Sugimori]

I think my reason for hacking is that when I started (in 2004/2005) I was curious I was just surfing the internet looking for pokemon stuff...
I found a so called ROM and I played it on my VBA loved it..:D
But as soon as I tried to find more ROMs I found non official pokmon games...
Then I tried to find info about that and so oon I got involved in hacking and I loved it (still do) and I never stopped its my nr. 1 hobby..XD So the readon is I think computer addiction and my love for pokemon...and out of that comes rom hacking...

I think I will be hacking pokemon untill I get bored of it (never) or get to old to do it..XD

 

[Darthatron]

I originally did it cos I was bored.:D Then I stopped and started to play RuneScape. Then Jagex, the creator of RuneScape, screwed it up and thus I came back to my roots and started making programs for the new, younger hackers. FUN! :D:D:D

 

[Zeturic]

I do it because I have lots of ideas that I can put into them, and it's a good way to pass the time. mentally stimulating

Ditto. Minus the idea part. I have no ideas. Yes, I do know the saying if you have no ideas you are dead, so... Well, I have ideas, but no creativity.

 

[TB Pro]

Why do I hack?
Hmmm..
I hack to make the GAMEFREAK games into my vision.
I hack for fun.
I hack to pass the time.
I hack to test myself.

 

[rjmarvel]

im not sure y

i pokemon hack because i am not a fan of pokemon. i think by hacking i can make the game my own and its way more cooler

 

[avatarteel]

people hack becuase they feel like it

where do you download Pokemon Spark Yellellow

 

[bradenm]

I hack coz ive always wanted to make my own game!
honestly, who doesnt want to make thier own game?

 

[kebbles]

Well i've always grown up with Pokemon games...
My first game Red Version when I was like 6 or something, it was the best game EVER!
But i always wondered what it would be like to make a game based around my actual hometown and towns near by, which resulted in early stages of clover green.
But i messed up tons of times and slowly learned new stuff and got better, and all my new ideas have replaced my ideas of my hometown hack and now its the clover green you see today.
But still I hack to make a game that I would like to play, with what I would like to see and the Pokemon I would like to start off with and the Pokemon I would like to catch, dosn't everyone?​

 

[Blazichu]

The reason most of us hack is for a challenge. Hacking can be a simple task, yet a difficult task. Many people strive to complete their ROM hacks, but from what I have seen many people don't. Seeing as Quartz and Brown are the only two that are complete so far. Starting a hack is also great to see and you can accomplish so much from doing so, finishing is the hard part. So setting a goal is also very helpful. Many people are also learning many different ways to hack a ROM which is very good and this helps to make the ROM hack standout more.

So the main reason is because it gives us something to do, it gives us goals and difficult challenges which we try to finish, most peoples goals would probably be to complete the hack though. Even so, it is a great goal and it should influence the user to complete their project no matter what it is.

 

[liuyanghejerry]

wanting to hack makes me come here~