FireRed hack: Pokémon Orange

[Logan]

Pokémon Orange

Introduction:

Let's start this off with a little bit of background on the project then shall we? Pokémon Orange is a file that has been solemnly sulking about on my laptop since around 2008. My ambition with this project is outlined in this post. That post basically outlines what I want to do with Pokémon Orange. Essentially I want to follow GameFreak canon game making and create a the game that should have been created prior to the Orange Islands anime series. The Orange Islands anime is the only series that isn't based upon a game. I commend serg!o for his work with Pokémon Naranja but that is nowhere near the game which I wish to create, Naranja (and some other Orange Islands attempts) are based upon the anime which is nearly the exact opposite to which I wish to do, I want to create the game upon which the anime could be based upon just like every other Pokémon game. This hardest task for me is to choose what to include and what not to include where it comes to the anime's involvement in the game, I know for certain events like Ash's Lapras are coming nowhere near the game. This will be the game that GameFreak should have created prior to the Orange Islands anime! Okay... I think that's enough of a background and an outline of what this project can and will be and it's time to get on with the rest of the thread.
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Storyline:

As this game will essentially be completely following canon there is no real storyline compared to other hacks. This game will follow the natural progression style of the earlier Pokémon games which is essentially; receive Pokémon, go on journey, encounter evil team multiple times, defeat 4 gyms and catch yourself a legendary or two on the way! Obviously while there will be some storyline within the game there isn't going to be anything extraordinary or unrealistic for an earlier canon game.
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Features:

• Original 251 Pokémon only
• Explore the Orange Islands the way GameFreak should have intended
• Fight a whole new Team Rocket
• Mapping and scripting style reminiscent of GameFreak pre-5th gen
• Four Gyms and an Elite Four challenge
• Near free roam adventure for the most part around the islands, some events won't occur on certain islands until you've been elsewhere though
• No badge check for HMs

Screenshots:

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Team:

Manipulation - Everything
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Credits:

Truality - Being the spiritual co-founder of the hack

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[Winter Wonderland]

Finally. I've been waiting for something like this for a while, and after Sienna, I find you to be very qualified for the job. I've abstained from watching the anime much, so I'm completely ignorant as to the story behind the orange islands. However, I'm excited to play this.

Since only 251 are available, you're going off of 2nd gen--assuming--will there be a day/night system? And I don't just mean palette changes at times, I mean like some events/pokemon only at night/day, etc.?

Also, why is it only four gyms? Or is that just how it was in the anime? I feel like four gyms isn't enough to cover a full game, but I trust your judgement.

I'm happy to see something like this come about, and I wish you the best of luck, Manipulation. If you need anything in terms of mapping, just give me a holler, but I'm sure you've got that covered.

 

[siper x]

I, when i still sucked at everything hack related, attempted this. Many have, all failed. I wish you good luck. The Orange Islands has always been my favorite anime season, second favorite region (Orre trups all). Good Luck, I can't wait to play this.

 

[Mana1]

Interesting, the lack of 'skill' gyms is particularly interesting - it was a defining feature of the Orange Islands anime. I understand that, gaming wise, the normal pokémon style gameplay is more desirable but will you be implementing any skills challenges alongside the gym battles? Perhaps to win the right to battle (similar to completing tasks before gym leaders will battle you ala Claire, etc.).

How is progress going so far? With regards to mapping/scripting/additional features.

 

[Logan]

Finally. I've been waiting for something like this for a while, and after Sienna, I find you to be very qualified for the job. I've abstained from watching the anime much, so I'm completely ignorant as to the story behind the orange islands. However, I'm excited to play this.

Since only 251 are available, you're going off of 2nd gen--assuming--will there be a day/night system? And I don't just mean palette changes at times, I mean like some events/pokemon only at night/day, etc.?

Also, why is it only four gyms? Or is that just how it was in the anime? I feel like four gyms isn't enough to cover a full game, but I trust your judgement.

I'm happy to see something like this come about, and I wish you the best of luck, Manipulation. If you need anything in terms of mapping, just give me a holler, but I'm sure you've got that covered.

The problem with Pokémon Sienna is I've progressed so much since I begun that hack and I keep wanting to redo nearly everything from the beginning which vastly slows down progress, this is something I hope to avoid with Pokémon Orange. Indeed four gyms was the same as the anime but I'm going to make sure the game is jampacked with events and sidequests so that you'll end four gyms with the same level curve as any ordinary game's eighth gym. Only 251 will be available and there won't be D/N or P/S.

I, when i still sucked at everything hack related, attempted this. Many have, all failed. I wish you good luck. The Orange Islands has always been my favorite anime season, second favorite region (Orre trups all). Good Luck, I can't wait to play this.

They have, but the majority of those games are trying to replicate the anime which is something which I am not wishing to replicate.

Interesting, the lack of 'skill' gyms is particularly interesting - it was a defining feature of the Orange Islands anime. I understand that, gaming wise, the normal pokémon style gameplay is more desirable but will you be implementing any skills challenges alongside the gym battles? Perhaps to win the right to battle (similar to completing tasks before gym leaders will battle you ala Claire, etc.).

How is progress going so far? With regards to mapping/scripting/additional features.

Maybe, as I've mentioned in this post I want the level curve to remain so that each gym badge is the same timeframe as battling two in a regular game if you know what I mean.

Progress is still slow, I've mainly posted the thread to help motivate myself into posting updates on the game and to show people the hack of course. Mapping isn't going to be too difficult to do but the scripting is going to take a while as I'm going to jampack the game, especially the beginning, with events to get your levels up to scratch etc.

 

[Chaos Rush]

While I absolutely despise the Pokémon anime, this hack interests me because of how it's more like a Game Freak-interpretation of the Orange Islands, and you're not trying to go overboard with post-Gen-III features, so this will be like a simple Gen III-style-game (but with only Gen I and II Pokémon), so I'm looking forward to it.

As long as Ash is nowhere near this hack, I'll try it out :)

 

[Alice]

Looking pretty cool. I love island based regions, so I've always wanted to play a hack of the Orange Islands, but none of the current ones really caught my attention. Looking forward to playing this one.

Near free roam adventure for the most part around the islands, some events won't occur on certain islands until you've been elsewhere though

Yes please.

 

[Logan]

While I absolutely despise the Pokémon anime, this hack interests me because of how it's more like a Game Freak-interpretation of the Orange Islands, and you're not trying to go overboard with post-Gen-III features, so this will be like a simple Gen III-style-game (but with only Gen I and II Pokémon), so I'm looking forward to it.

As long as Ash is nowhere near this hack, I'll try it out :)

Yeah exactly, I tend not to count post Gen IV as actual Pokémon :P. Don't worry, the only anime characters who will be making into the game are the main NPCs such as the gym leaders and the elite four.

Looking pretty cool. I love island based regions, so I've always wanted to play a hack of the Orange Islands, but none of the current ones really caught my attention. Looking forward to playing this one.


Yes please.

Thanks! Obviously it'll only be to a certain extent but it's definitely a feature that I'm massively excited for and one that was touched upon but not utilised as well as it could be in Pokémon Naranja.

Here's a screenshot to whet some fancies. Just a not though, I've only scripted the first two towns/cities/islands/stuff but there's a good 10-12 events in there that can be done by the player and it's taken ages! Which is a good thing to me! So it might seem like a lot of the screenshots are from the same areas but it's because there's a lot of events there and there's still more that I'm not actually showing.

 

[Winter Wonderland]

Can I ask why you did the capitalization the way you did?

I mean, I get that it's in the original 3rd Gen Pokemon game and is still seen(just not as extensively) in the latest games.

In some games it looks good, and some games, decap looks better. So, I was just wondering why you decided to go with the capitalization. It looks like it'll work, but I'm just curious.

 

[RecursiveAcronym]

Oooh, this sounds interesting! I like the angle you're taking with the whole thing.

The only thing that bothers me vaguely is the free-roam thing. I don't know if I just grew up in the wrong time or something, but I've never been a fan of exploration games, most notably most 3D Zelda games. I love checking every nook and cranny of places a lot, but I always hate it when I swear I've talked to everyone and checked everything and I can't progress and it turns out I've missed this one little thing. That's more my complaint with free-roam games in general, though.

I know you've stated you're limiting the anime influence to the bare minimum for events and the like, but what about the number of islands? In the anime it makes it feel like an actual archipelago, but it might be a little overwhelming in game.

Anyways, this hack sounds super awesome! I'll definitely be keeping tabs on this.

 

[Logan]

Can I ask why you did the capitalization the way you did?

I mean, I get that it's in the original 3rd Gen Pokemon game and is still seen(just not as extensively) in the latest games.

In some games it looks good, and some games, decap looks better. So, I was just wondering why you decided to go with the capitalization. It looks like it'll work, but I'm just curious.

It's mainly because it's the style that is used in the third generation games and, while I didn't use it in Sienna, one that I tend to find more aesthetically pleasing. A lot of it is down to your textbox and font colourings which I did change from the default in Sienna but I won't be doing that in Orange.

Oooh, this sounds interesting! I like the angle you're taking with the whole thing.

The only thing that bothers me vaguely is the free-roam thing. I don't know if I just grew up in the wrong time or something, but I've never been a fan of exploration games, most notably most 3D Zelda games. I love checking every nook and cranny of places a lot, but I always hate it when I swear I've talked to everyone and checked everything and I can't progress and it turns out I've missed this one little thing. That's more my complaint with free-roam games in general, though.

I know you've stated you're limiting the anime influence to the bare minimum for events and the like, but what about the number of islands? In the anime it makes it feel like an actual archipelago, but it might be a little overwhelming in game.

Anyways, this hack sounds super awesome! I'll definitely be keeping tabs on this.

I take on board what you're saying and I think that that is where it's important to find a medium between complete free-roam and still some spoon feeding to the player; but, for me, the adventuring and fact finding part of the game is half the fun! The majority of the islands will remain in Orange as I want to give as much side quests and adventure as possible outside of the regular gym challenges.

I don't have anything else to show as I'm making this post from work but I'll try and see if I can make some progress to show everyone tonight :).

 

[Alice]

Yeah, because you can't change wild pokemon levels to match the player's levels having complete free roam wouldn't work in a pokemon game. In my case, I'm making making the map mostly linear, with a bunch of unnecessary side paths. Still makes levels difficult, because there's a lot of extra experience lying around, but it's manageable. You could also give the map a bunch of branching paths, and gradually increase the levels on the higher level paths to show the player that going that direction will be too difficult, without putting them up against a pokemon twice their level.

 

[Kanto's Hero]

I have always wanted an official orange island game since it was my favorite season of the anime. After I played AshGray I wanted an orange island hack that was like this. I even attempted to make my own. I even got pretty far mapping wise but I really really suck at scripting. Now that I see that you are making one, I have given up on my lame attempt at hacking and am just going to trust in your amazing skills as a hacker. After playing Pokemon Sienna I have full faith in your abilities. Knowing your skills and the Orange Islands fan base I am certain this will become one of the best hacks on PC.

I do have some questions though. What starters will we start with? Kanto, Johto, or different Pokemon? Will there be some challenges like contests or something unique like battle tournaments on some of the islands to make up for the lack of gyms? In each official Pokemon game there is something that Gamefreak adds that isn't available in other games (Like the underground in D/P/PT, the pokegear in G/S/C plus two regions, the different Bike options in R/S/E and contests, and the following Pokemon / auto run feature in HG/SS ) These are just suggestions and I know no matter what you do this will be an amazing hack so I won't rant to much. Also will you add the baby and evolve forms of gen 1 and 2 Pokemon that were made in later gens (such as Munchlax and Electivire) Thanks again for making this hack for us Orange Islands fans.

 

[GreyVirgo]

Finally another Orange Islands Hack I really can't wait to play this Hack! :chu:

 

[Logan]

I have always wanted an official orange island game since it was my favorite season of the anime. After I played AshGray I wanted an orange island hack that was like this. I even attempted to make my own. I even got pretty far mapping wise but I really really suck at scripting. Now that I see that you are making one, I have given up on my lame attempt at hacking and am just going to trust in your amazing skills as a hacker. After playing Pokemon Sienna I have full faith in your abilities. Knowing your skills and the Orange Islands fan base I am certain this will become one of the best hacks on PC.

I do have some questions though. What starters will we start with? Kanto, Johto, or different Pokemon? Will there be some challenges like contests or something unique like battle tournaments on some of the islands to make up for the lack of gyms? In each official Pokemon game there is something that Gamefreak adds that isn't available in other games (Like the underground in D/P/PT, the pokegear in G/S/C plus two regions, the different Bike options in R/S/E and contests, and the following Pokemon / auto run feature in HG/SS ) These are just suggestions and I know no matter what you do this will be an amazing hack so I won't rant to much. Also will you add the baby and evolve forms of gen 1 and 2 Pokemon that were made in later gens (such as Munchlax and Electivire) Thanks again for making this hack for us Orange Islands fans.

Although I am following game freak'a lead for the most part I feel that I have room to make as many exceptions to the rule as possible. As the orange island's release is in between kanto and johto I really want to have these region's pokemon involved the most. Subsequently the two starters that you can choose from are Squirtle and Totodile. The reasoning behind the two water pokemon is so that you have easy access to Surf from near enough the beginning of the game (its power will be slightly toned down though or otherwise it'd be too powerful for the beginning of the game.) The reasoning behind having Surf early and not taking boats or something around the islands is so that the player can get started on their journey and the way that they want to go without me dictating the game's direction too much. As for the pre-evolutions and evolutions I have thought about it and I'll probably do it if there's enough support for it.

 

[jj_olli]

Sounds Awesome, I am going to play this when it comes out!
But concerning Surf: Why don't you just give the Player a Lapras, that knows surf, on the first or second Isle, so that the Player can choose from one of the Kanto or Johto Starters?
I personally think that this solution would give the Player more freedom in how he approaches the game and Lapras is known to be the Surf Pokemon ;)

 

[Kanto's Hero]

Sounds Awesome, I am going to play this when it comes out!
But concerning Surf: Why don't you just give the Player a Lapras, that knows surf, on the first or second Isle, so that the Player can choose from one of the Kanto or Johto Starters?
I personally think that this solution would give the Player more freedom in how he approaches the game and Lapras is known to be the Surf Pokemon ;)

I like the learn surf early thing but i also have to agree with jj-olli on the starters. Just makes more sense. I understand that you don't want to add a Lapras because you want to stay away from the anime for the most part but you could look at it like the anime usually takes stuff from the games but because the anime was made first you could take some things away from it. You don't necessarily have to give the lapras surf but you could like make it a gift from your father that he gives you on one of the first couple islands. It doesn't even have to be a Lapras but could be another water type. I personally like both ideas but the Kanto or Johto starters feel like an official Pokemon game to me. But these are just suggestions. Any way you chose to go is fine by me. This hack hasn't even been released and i am already in love with it ;)

Also for the villains are you planing on adding a new team or a previous team like Team Rocket or Team Aqua?

 

[El Diabeetus]

Overall this is a great idea for a game, and will be looking to see how a Game Freak-esque Orange Islands would be fun. But, I think that's why they threw the Sevii Islands into FireRed. But, the only thing that bothers me here is the avoiding the Gen 3 Pokémon on a Gen 3 base or at least have them post Elite Four or something.

 

[Winter Wonderland]

But, the only thing that bothers me here is the avoiding the Gen 3 Pokémon on a Gen 3 base or at least have them post Elite Four or something.

Nah, I agree with Manipulation's decision to exclude the Gen 3 Pokémon. The one thing I disliked about about some of the GSC remakes I've played is the fact that they tried to incorporate Gen 3 Pokémon. From that point, it ceased to be a remake and more of a "This is my rendition of Pokémon Crystal."

Honestly, I'm glad that Gen 3+ Pokémon were practically excluded from HGSS until you got the Sinnoh/Hoenn sounds. It made HGSS more of a remake in my mind.

So, while I do love a lot of the Gen 3 Pokémon, such as Absol, Blaziken, and so on, I have to agree that adding them to Pokémon Orange would affect the experience in a negative way.

 

[Logan]

Just to throw it out there: Is there anyone who would like to share the burden per sé with me and take up a co-ownership kind of role? While I like to do a lot of the mapping and scripting myself it would be nice (especially with my procrastination and lack of time due to work) to not have to do everything myself. I tend to struggle with ideas sometimes and struggle to actually keep up with stuff and having someone to help me with this would be great, plus I've always found it fun to do things with others :).