{"id":96256,"date":"2019-07-06T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-06T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/07\/feature_inside_the_world_of_pokemon_rom_hacks"},"modified":"2019-07-06T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-06T15:00:00","slug":"feature-inside-the-world-of-pokemon-rom-hacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/07\/06\/feature-inside-the-world-of-pokemon-rom-hacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: Inside The World Of Pok\u00e9mon ROM Hacks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Games often inspire their fans. Sometimes they make tournaments. Sometimes, players bring themselves into the world of the game. The core of this inspiration, though, is when players take a game they love and mould it into something completely new<\/em>. This is the way of the Pok\u00e9mon<\/strong> ROM hacking community; people who dive into the source code of the Pok\u00e9mon games we know and love, and bring out the creativity within.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a whole world out there of passionate creators showcasing the potential Pok\u00e9mon has, and it\u2019s filled with unsung heroes and unique origins.<\/p>\n

New Mechanics<\/h3>\n
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One of the most notable things about these reimagined Pok\u00e9mon games is the great level of detail that goes into them. With such a strong shell, taking the tried-and-tested Pok\u00e9mon format and extrapolating it into something larger, players are able to build on those strong foundations.<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon Prism<\/a><\/strong>, created by Koolboyman<\/a>, is a brilliant example of this. As soon as you start the game up, you\u2019re greeted with fully-fledged character customisation, with choices of skin tones and clothing colours, as well as a whole host of sprites to pick from. The game also has a delightful segment close to the beginning where the player sends their newly met Larvitar into a cave to chat to another Larvitar who had run away.<\/p>\n

There are so many mechanics at play, but they aren\u2019t used to the game\u2019s detriment. Rather, they are mixed into the more traditional gameplay loop in a way that fits fantastically. Koolboyman (henceforth referred to as Adam), mentioned that he “had the idea before Game Freak presented theirs, but their use of it inspired me to go forward with my own customization system, with even more options than X and Y.” Adding such a feature that came in the later games whilst retaining the old-school style is a fantastic combination of modernity and nostalgia that you don\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n

Have you ever thought about how much more player-friendly early Pok\u00e9mon games would be if they implemented just some of these little ease-of-access features? We were somehow awestruck at the text “you found 2 repels”. Sometimes these feel prophetic, such as being able to gain experience points for catching Pok\u00e9mon, and allowing players paths to wander through routes in the Naljo region without having to face nine Weedles and a Pidgey. The way that Pok\u00e9mon ROM hacks iterate on the Pok\u00e9mon world in numerous subtle-yet-beneficial manners is a delight, and with each different game you\u2019ll find a host of new and exciting mechanics.<\/p>\n

Unique Stories<\/h3>\n
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Ever wondered what the Pok\u00e9mon world would be like without those pesky series constraints? Diegoisawesome<\/a>, a mod of the Pokemon ROM Hacks subreddit<\/a>, is in the same boat.<\/p>\n

“People have been trying to break out of the repetitive ‘eight gyms, Elite 4 and Champion’ story for as long as I can remember, and there have been plenty of creative ideas that still give a satisfying sense of progression while not being nearly as rigid. One that always comes to mind when I think of hacks like this is Pok\u00e9mon Ruby Destiny: Rescue Rangers<\/a><\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

This hack, led by Joseph “destinedjagold” Demium<\/a>, channels the Mystery Dungeon series in a big way. The player character, who has turned into a Pikachu, is forced to team up with two companions, a Torchic and Chikorita. You form a rescue team together and go on your own adventure.<\/p>\n

In something completely different, Cutlerine\u2019s Pok\u00e9mon Snakewood<\/a><\/strong> brings with it a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested Hoenn region, filled with undead versions of existing Pok\u00e9mon with punny names (Boilbasaur and Gorelax are personal favourites). It\u2019s a hack that really opens your mind to the potential these games have; you never know what you\u2019re going to get, and these are just singular experiences in a wider world of reimagined Pok\u00e9mon stories.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t to insult or diminish the Pok\u00e9mon games in the main series, of course. It\u2019s just cool to see the lengths people are able to stretch the existing Pok\u00e9mon formula, and the unique stories that can be told if that formula is deviated from.<\/p>\n

Where Do You Even Begin?<\/h3>\n
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One reason the ROM hacking community has been challenged recently is that it\u2019s hard to know how to go about starting. Maybe the idea of going out of your way to play something that could be broken and time-consuming is a hurdle many don\u2019t want to jump. The subreddit often devolves into \u2018recommendations for ROM hacks?\u2019, which isn’t conducive to a solid discursive platform, so how do you have any idea where to start?<\/p>\n

As Reddit user Kaphotics<\/a> told us, “don’t try to find the perfect hack to play right at the start. Play some commonly talked about ones, figure out what you like.” It\u2019s a big world, and if you just can\u2019t get enough Pok\u00e9mon, or you\u2019re getting a bit sick of playing through Platinum<\/a><\/strong> for the eighth time, browse the subreddit and have a gander at the ones people speak glowingly about. It\u2019s all on you from there.<\/p>\n

Adam, of Pok\u00e9mon Prism fame, says that it\u2019s all a learning experience. “My first big ROM hack was Pok\u00e9mon Brown<\/a><\/strong>, a pretty vanilla hack of Gen 1. I didn\u2019t really know what I was doing. I thought ‘what if I change this game into another game, why don\u2019t I expand on a universe the game has already established, and that\u2019s exactly what I did.”<\/p>\n

Creating Them Is Hard<\/h3>\n
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How do you make a ROM hack though? According to Kaphotics, it\u2019s a far more intense task than most would think. “If you’re new, don’t try to make a full-blown hack. Don’t be an ‘ideas’ person. Start small; modify a Pok\u00e9mon’s colours or stats. Create a town. Create a new Pok\u00e9mon. Do it a few times, a little bigger in scale each time.” You\u2019ll probably make an unplayable mess before anything good happens, but that\u2019s just how you learn. That\u2019s the main thing about ROM hacks, really. It\u2019s all a learning experience.<\/p>\n

“I just wanted to make a game people would enjoy and go ahead and do something like it,” Adam told me. “I did things with Prism that I’m very proud of, but I also made a lot of mistakes. I want people to learn from both aspects and ultimately do better than I did. If Prism inspires them, whether they think it\u2019s good or bad, they can use that to make their own work and inspire people themselves.” Pok\u00e9mon ROM hacking has clearly been a helping hand, as in his free time, Adam is creating a Pok\u00e9mon-inspired monster-fighting adventure named The Wu Xing<\/a><\/strong>. The creative spark is blatant. “Progress is slow but I have big plans for The Wu Xing that I hope to work out. I have a modest budget and I’m slowly building up an incredibly talented team to help me fulfil my vision. It obviously takes inspiration from Pok\u00e9mon, but I also want to try things that no games have done before and let it hold its own identity. Most importantly, I want people to have fun with it.”<\/p>\n

Are These Things Even Legal?<\/h3>\n
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It is hard to draw the line legally with this sort of thing. The ROM hacker isn\u2019t making any money, but Nintendo does<\/em> have the right to tell anyone to stop using their game to make a new game<\/a>, no matter the good intentions. We wanted to know whether this is something seen particularly regularly.<\/p>\n

“It’s not a common part of ROM Hacking, but it’s a common fear,” says Adam. “I’m contacted by people all the time about my experiences with being told to stop and the truth is there’s always a chance if you’re doing a fan game, and you should mentally prepare yourself for such a situation if you’re going to invest a lot of time in a fan game project.” He worked with the Twitch Plays Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> team to get the hack finished, in exchange for premiering it early on their channel, which only served to make the hack more popular \u2013 and that brought it to the attention of Nintendo.<\/p>\n

“I made a lot of mistakes with Prism,” Adam continues. “I wanted to get the word out a little bit, but I didn’t know it would get as big as it did. My mistakes were incredibly obvious in hindsight. I got a Cease & Desist from Nintendo<\/a> and I understand why they had to do that. The only thing to do after that was to move on and start developing a new game using my own IP.”<\/p>\n

The Cease & Desist order that Nintendo sent Adam is a worry to a lot of ROM hackers have, but the fear is the main issue, rather than it being something most people have to deal with. There\u2019s no denying that ROM hacking inspired and educated Adam about his future game development in a big way though, and it\u2019s clear there are far fewer regrets than learning experiences.<\/p>\n

Despite the fear, the community is growing all of the time and if you’re keen to get involved, then the subreddit\u2019s a great place to start. There are also tons of fan wikis out there for the most popular ROM hacks. You might just find something really special. These hacks will clearly never replace the mainline Pok\u00e9mon franchise, but they definitely add another layer to the series and prove just how dedicated and committed some Pok\u00e9mon fans can be; ultimately, these hacks are borne out of the desire to improve the original work, rather than capitalise on its success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Games often inspire their fans. Sometimes they make tournaments. Sometimes, players bring themselves into the world of the game. The core of this inspiration, though, is when players take a game they love and mould it into something completely new. This is the way of the Pok\u00e9mon ROM hacking community; people who dive into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}