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Hack Series: X/Y Rebirth - a light, 'adjusted difficulty'/Vanilla+ hack of X and Y

DynamoKota

DynamoKota

  • Poké Ball Great Ball
    • 29
    Posts
    3
    Years
    Hey there.
    I am NOT an experienced hacker, but this has been something I started working on in 2020, off and on.
    Everyone knows about how easy X/Y are, and while there are "challenge hacks" of X/Y, I personally wanted to find a more 'rebalanced/fixed' version of the games that makes the games harder, without the brutal difficulty said challenge hacks are known for; basically something closer to say Platinum or B2/W2 Challenge Mode (or BD/SP without the baked-in Exp. Share and affection). Turns out, those types of hacks aren't as common; the closest I could find was an abandoned hack and many theory-crafting videos/threads. So, I decided to make a light hack of my own essentially "fixing" the major boss battles, as well as a few minor stuff.
    In short, this is a small and light "fixed/adjusted difficulty" hack of X/Y; the game is meant to be harder, but it's not a "challenge hack" in the traditional sense.

    The summary of the major changes can be found in the Google Drive, but in short, most major battles have been changed either slightly or significantly (with either new Pokémon, better movesets, and/or held items. Higher IVs as well). A decent handful of minor trainer battles have gotten minor buffs as well (many trainers with only 1-2 Pokémon have received 1-2 more, especially in the Gyms and Victory Road). All the patterns of Vivillon can also be found in the wild.

    There is also an optional patch to make wild "version exclusive" Pokemon present in both versions.

    Wild Vivillon pattern locations:
    Spoiler:


    NOTES:
    - The game still isn't designed with keeping the Exp. Share on in mind. You may be a tad underleveled if you don't use it at all, but leaving it on WILL make you very overleveled. I didn't want to give the game a huge level curve to balance out X/Y's non-scaling Exp. system. I recommend toggling it on and off when needed. If you want to impose level limits based on the Gym Leader's/Elite Four/Champion's aces, it goes as follows:
    Spoiler:

    - The game still uses mechanics from Gen 6. I considered adding in Gen 7 onward mechanics (move changes, stat changes, ability changes, etc.), but ultimately decided against it.

    - Don't bother using Writs in the Battle Chateau. As of update 1.9.8, I've increased the levels of the postgame Gym Leader/E4/Champion fights to match the Black Writ of Challenge; using any Writs messes up their movesets.

    - Like many hacks/mods, you probably have to play on Version 1.0 of X/Y. Installing updates may make the game crash, so just be wary of saving in Lumiose City; save in buildings rather than on the streets, just to be safe. If your game is updated and crashes occur, uninstall any updates (delete update files on your emulator or delete update data on your modded 3DS).

    - The Mega Stone merchant in Coumarine only has his text altered in English. If you're playing in another language, he'll still mention that he sells Incense rather than Mega Stones. English is my native language, and is the only language I speak fluently, so changing this would be difficult for me (I don't want to rely on Google Translate).

    - While the difficulty of this hack is greater than vanilla X/Y, it's not nearly as hard as other well-known hacks, as stated before. Because of this and because I haven't changed any Pokémon's stats/moves/etc., some Pokémon are still overpowered, ESPECIALLY Aegislash and the optional Speed Boost Torchic (once fully-evolved). Be wary that using these overpowered Pokémon could easily trivialize the entire game.

    - I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but obviously Pokémon-Amie will make the game easier, as with enough Affection, your Pokémon will get more experience, crit more often, occasionally survive with 1 HP, and sometimes shake off status conditions. Obviously it's part of the game, and I obviously can't stop you from using it, but just keep the effects of it in mind.

    Screenshots
    Spoiler:



    Be sure to check the FAQ doc; any question you may have might be answered there already!


    Link to the files and documentation

    Newest Update: Ver. 2.1.4 - (3/15/25)
    Another Diantha adjustment. I felt like her Roserade being yet another hazard-setter was unnecessarily slow, so now it's more of a dedicated attacker with Expert Belt instead of Black Sludge, Energy Ball instead of Giga Drain, and Extrasensory instead of Toxic Spikes. This means that her team is overall more aggressive, with the exception of her Klefki lead.



    Credits:
    Made entirely with pk3DS, kudos to Kaphotics and SciresM!
    r/pokemonROMhacks and my Discord server for suggestions and allowing me to bounce off ideas!
    Buffel Saft; many of my evolution changes, purchasable Mega Stones, and a few misc. changes were taken from inspired by Eternal X/Wilting Y!
     
    Last edited:
    This sounds great actually. I've been wanting to play an XY rom hack that improves difficulty and balance but without going overboard with Pokémon typings, stats, and movesets changes.
     
    Corveone said:
    This sounds great actually. I've been wanting to play an XY rom hack that improves difficulty and balance but without going overboard with Pokémon typings, stats, and movesets changes.
    Click to expand...

    Thanks! Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I admire the work the creators of those famous "challenge/difficulty hacks" do, but I just wanted a hack that adjusted the difficulty a little bit (since I kinda feel like every Gym Leader having 6 Pokemon + double battle is overkill), and obviously nothing like that existed.
     
    000000_11111 said:
    Does this work to play on 3DS? How do I patch it?
    Click to expand...

    EDIT 3/19/24:
    On a modded 3DS, make sure you have 'enable game patching' enabled in Luma (you can check by holding Select during launch to open Luma's config menu). If it's not enabled, use the D-Pad to select it and press A to enable it.
    Press Start to save your settings and reboot the system. Put your SD into your computer, and look for /luma/titles/<titleID> ("<titleID> in this case should be whatever the Title ID is for either X or Y, depending on what version you're using. In this case, it's 0004000000055D00 for X, 0004000000055E00 for Y). If you don't already have /luma/titles on your SD, just make it yourself.
    Place your downloaded RomFS folder and code.ips into the Title ID folder, boot up your 3DS, and launch X or Y. If done correctly, Luma will patch the game automatically.
     
    Last edited:
    It says in the instructions txt document that the 1.5 update can be done after but when I add 1.5 it crashes not long after it loads? Am I doing something wrong or do I have to stay on 1.0? This is my first time using Citra so I have no clue if I'm doing something wrong or not. I'm really hoping to have this on 1.5 to avoid the Lumiose City save glitch but I would rather be forced to save in a building than not have this mod.
     
    Frozen Giratina said:
    It says in the instructions txt document that the 1.5 update can be done after but when I add 1.5 it crashes not long after it loads? Am I doing something wrong or do I have to stay on 1.0? This is my first time using Citra so I have no clue if I'm doing something wrong or not. I'm really hoping to have this on 1.5 to avoid the Lumiose City save glitch but I would rather be forced to save in a building than not have this mod.
    Click to expand...

    Hm... At some point I had playtested the hack with the 1.5 update installed, but now as I try to do it, the same issue occurs for me. I've looked into it, and I can't find any solution that seems to work for me either. Apparently even Eternal X/Wilting Y is only compatible with 1.0, so this isn't the only X/Y hack having issues with the 1.5 update.

    Sorry about that, I wish I had a fix for it. For now, I guess just be careful where you save in Lumiose; save inside buildings, or anywhere except North and South Boulevard.

    EDIT: I may have been able to update it before because I had been playing a ROM that was changed using the 3dstoolkit method (as seen on my new installation guide in the Drive folder or on one of my other replies here). I'm not completely certain, but there's a good chance that ROMs that were physically changed with Rebirth's files and 3dstoolkit rather than patched using Citra or Luma may be able to be updated to 1.5. Just thought I'd make that known since it just occurred to me
     
    Last edited:
    DynamoKota said:
    Hey there.
    I am NOT an experienced hacker, but this has been something I've had in the works for about 2 years, off and on.
    So, basically everyone knows about how easy X/Y are, and while there are "challenge hacks" of X/Y, I personally wanted to find a more...rebalanced/fixed version of the games that makes the games harder, without the brutal difficulty said challenge hacks are known for; basically something closer to say Platinum, B2W2 Challenge Mode, or BDSP (without the baked-in Exp. Share and affection shenanigans). Turns out, those types of hacks aren't as common; the closest I could find was an abandoned hack and many theory-crafting videos/threads. So, I decided to make a light hack of my own essentially "fixing" the major boss battles, as well as a few minor stuff.
    In short, this is a small and light "fixed/adjusted difficulty" hack of X/Y; the game is meant to be harder, but it's not a "challenge hack" in the traditional sense.

    The summary of the major changes can be found in the Google Drive, but in short, most major battles have been changed either slightly or significantly (with either new Pokémon, better movesets, and/or held items. Higher IVs as well). A decent handful of minor trainer battles have gotten minorly buffed as well (many trainers with only 1-2 Pokémon have received 1-2 more, especially in the Gyms and Victory Road). All the patterns of Vivillon can also be found in the wild.

    Wild Vivillon pattern locations:
    Spoiler:


    NOTES:
    - The game still isn't designed with keeping the Exp. Share on in mind. You may be a tad underleveled if you don't use it at all, but leaving it on WILL make you very overleveled. I didn't want to give the game a huge level curve to balance out X/Y's non-scaling Exp. system. I recommend toggling it on and off when needed. If you want to impose level limits based on the Gym Leader's/Elite Four/Champion's aces, it goes as follows:
    Spoiler:
    - The game still uses mechanics from Gen 6. I considered adding in Gen 7 onward mechanics (move changes, stat changes, ability changes, etc.), but ultimately decided against it.
    - Don't bother using Writs in the Battle Chateau. As of update 1.9.8, I've increased the levels of the postgame Gym Leader/E4/Champion fights to match the Black Writ of Challenge; using any Writs messes up their movesets.
    - This hack really only works with the original 1.0 version of X/Y; installing the 1.5 update will likely make Citra crash. Sorry about that! Just be wary of the Lumiose Save Glitch (avoid saving on North/South Boulevard. If you save the game in Lumiose, do it either indoors or on any of the inner streets of the city).
    - The Mega Stone merchant in Coumarine only has his text altered in English. If you're playing in another language, he'll still mention that he sells Incense rather than Mega Stones. English is the only language I speak fluently, so changing this would be difficult for me personally (I don't want to rely on Google Translate, lol).

    Screenshots
    Spoiler:


    Link to the files and documentation

    Newest Update: 1.9.8 - 8/5/24
    Changes: The postgame fights against the Gym Leaders/E4/Diantha in the Battle Chateau have had their levels raised to what their level is at the highest Writ, complete with new teams.

    Credits:
    Made entirely with pk3DS, kudos to Kaphotics and SciresM!
    r/pokemonROMhacks and my Discord server for suggestions and allowing me to bounce off ideas!
    Buffel Saft; many of my evolution changes, purchasable Mega Stones, and a few misc. changes were taken from inspired by Eternal X/Wilting Y!
    Click to expand...
    You mention that this does not work for beyond version 1.0 for citra, but how about a modded 3ds? Can that run this from enhancement with an updated pokemon x version? (same question for your oras mod)
     
    Hammetje said:
    You mention that this does not work for beyond version 1.0 for citra, but how about a modded 3ds? Can that run this from enhancement with an updated pokemon x version? (same question for your oras mod)
    Click to expand...
    I've had mixed results with testing. Sometimes it seems to be okay, other times the update seems to cause crashes. My suggestion would be to just try it yourself; if it doesn't work, just delete the update data (and make sure to not save on the streets of Lumiose, only inside).

    For ORAS, you would have to not install the Rayquaza Nerf for sure if you wanted to update it, and then if that doesn't work, just like before, you can delete the update data.
     
    DynamoKota said:
    Hey there.
    I am NOT an experienced hacker, but this has been something I've had in the works for about 2 years, off and on.
    So, basically everyone knows about how easy X/Y are, and while there are "challenge hacks" of X/Y, I personally wanted to find a more 'rebalanced/fixed' version of the games that makes the games harder, without the brutal difficulty said challenge hacks are known for; basically something closer to say Platinum or B2/W2 Challenge Mode (or BD/SP without the baked-in Exp. Share and affection). Turns out, those types of hacks aren't as common; the closest I could find was an abandoned hack and many theory-crafting videos/threads. So, I decided to make a light hack of my own essentially "fixing" the major boss battles, as well as a few minor stuff.
    In short, this is a small and light "fixed/adjusted difficulty" hack of X/Y; the game is meant to be harder, but it's not a "challenge hack" in the traditional sense.

    The summary of the major changes can be found in the Google Drive, but in short, most major battles have been changed either slightly or significantly (with either new Pokémon, better movesets, and/or held items. Higher IVs as well). A decent handful of minor trainer battles have gotten minor buffs as well (many trainers with only 1-2 Pokémon have received 1-2 more, especially in the Gyms and Victory Road). All the patterns of Vivillon can also be found in the wild.

    Wild Vivillon pattern locations:
    Spoiler:


    NOTES:
    - The game still isn't designed with keeping the Exp. Share on in mind. You may be a tad underleveled if you don't use it at all, but leaving it on WILL make you very overleveled. I didn't want to give the game a huge level curve to balance out X/Y's non-scaling Exp. system. I recommend toggling it on and off when needed. If you want to impose level limits based on the Gym Leader's/Elite Four/Champion's aces, it goes as follows:
    Spoiler:
    - The game still uses mechanics from Gen 6. I considered adding in Gen 7 onward mechanics (move changes, stat changes, ability changes, etc.), but ultimately decided against it.
    - Don't bother using Writs in the Battle Chateau. As of update 1.9.8, I've increased the levels of the postgame Gym Leader/E4/Champion fights to match the Black Writ of Challenge; using any Writs messes up their movesets.
    - Like many hacks/mods, you probably have to play on Version 1.0 of X/Y. Installing updates may make the game crash, so just be wary of saving in Lumiose City; save in buildings rather than on the streets, just to be safe. If your game is updated and crashes occur, uninstall any updates (delete update files on your emulator or delete update data on your modded 3DS).
    - The Mega Stone merchant in Coumarine only has his text altered in English. If you're playing in another language, he'll still mention that he sells Incense rather than Mega Stones. English is my native language, and is the only language I speak fluently, so changing this would be difficult for me (I don't want to rely on Google Translate).
    - While the difficulty of this hack is greater than vanilla X/Y, it's not nearly as hard as other well-known hacks, as stated before. Because of this and because I haven't changed any Pokemon's stats/moves/etc., some Pokemon are still overpowered, ESPECIALLY Aegislash, which can easily solo the game after it's fully evolved. Just be mindful of that before playing.

    Screenshots
    Spoiler:


    Link to the files and documentation

    Newest Update: Ver. 2.0.1 - (9/15/24)
    Changes: Kadabra, Machoke, Graveler, Haunter, Boldore, and Gurdurr now evolve at Level 37 (they can optionally still evolve via trade if you want them quicker). I originally had them evolve via high friendship, but this approach is more similar to how other "no trade evolutions" hacks do it.

    Credits:
    Made entirely with pk3DS, kudos to Kaphotics and SciresM!
    r/pokemonROMhacks and my Discord server for suggestions and allowing me to bounce off ideas!
    Buffel Saft; many of my evolution changes, purchasable Mega Stones, and a few misc. changes were taken from inspired by Eternal X/Wilting Y!
    Click to expand...
    Hey thank i really enjoy this, recently i feeling stressful so nuzlock is not for me but i also not wanting the game too easy and i found your hack, this become my favorite right now. Maybe the only downside is i need to delete my game update to play this . Thank you for the hack
     
    Wirawr said:
    Hey thank i really enjoy this, recently i feeling stressful so nuzlock is not for me but i also not wanting the game too easy and i found your hack, this become my favorite right now. Maybe the only downside is i need to delete my game update to play this . Thank you for the hack
    Click to expand...
    I hope you enjoy it! These kinds of hacks typically fly under the radar compared to the more popular challenge hacks, so I appreciate it whenever I find them for other games, and I also enjoy hearing from people who have found mine!
     
    DynamoKota said:
    I hope you enjoy it! These kinds of hacks typically fly under the radar compared to the more popular challenge hacks, so I appreciate it whenever I find them for other games, and I also enjoy hearing from people who have found mine!
    Click to expand...
    Hey wanted to ask before trying. Is gym leader still use 3 pokemon team?
    And is many routes trainer, gym leader and elite four still not use mega evolution?
     
    Safr said:
    Hey wanted to ask before trying. Is gym leader still use 3 pokemon team?
    And is many routes trainer, gym leader and elite four still not use mega evolution?
    Click to expand...
    The documentation goes over it, read either the 'changelog' or 'major trainer spoilers' for details.

    But in short:
    - The Gym Leaders gradually use more Pokemon. The first three Gym Leaders use 3, the next four Leaders use 4, and the last Gym Leader uses 5.

    - Route trainers don't use Mega Evolution.

    - In Rebirth NORMAL, Wulfric (the last Gym Leader) is the only Gym Leader battle with a Mega Evolution. In Rebirth MEGA, every Gym Leader starting with Ramos (the 4th Gym Leader) will use a Mega Evolution.

    - The Elite Four all use Mega Evolution.
     
    DynamoKota said:
    The documentation goes over it, read either the 'changelog' or 'major trainer spoilers' for details.

    But in short:
    - The Gym Leaders gradually use more Pokemon. The first three Gym Leaders use 3, the next four Leaders use 4, and the last Gym Leader uses 5.

    - Route trainers don't use Mega Evolution.

    - In Rebirth NORMAL, Wulfric (the last Gym Leader) is the only Gym Leader battle with a Mega Evolution. In Rebirth MEGA, every Gym Leader starting with Ramos (the 4th Gym Leader) will use a Mega Evolution.

    - The Elite Four all use Mega Evolution.
    Click to expand...
    So this also get implemented on your other hack. Nicely done i think gonna also download the oras hack now
     
    So, I've recently become aware that someone has compiled my hacks into pre-patched CIA files, uploaded it to their website, and advertised it on YouTube. While I'm not necessarily against this kind of redistribution per se, I do have some issues in these case.

    From what I've read, these websites seem to have a... questionable reputation, to say the least. I've seen a few people here and there claim that they're safe, but I've read quite a few people who have pointed out red flags, like potentially malicious ads, links, redirects, etc., which obviously worries me because I don't want anyone to download a virus.
    Also, even though I am technically credited in all of these, and the original PokeCommunity threads are linked, a few of them use a URL shortener (ouo[dot]io), which, from what I've seen and read, is very ad-heavy and forces redirects to potentially suspicious websites. You'd probably be safe with an ad-blocker, but it's better to not risk it
    And then lastly, many of these sites seem to copy and paste my description and documentation verbatim. Obviously this is pretty lazy, but the use of possessive pronouns like "I," "me," and "my" in the description (because it's been copy-pasted), as well as thumbnails containing a watermark for their website under the game's title, could mislead people into thinking they are the hack's creator and not me.

    I strongly recommend downloading ROM hacks from official sources. Even if the file is safe (which I can't guarantee, and I'm obviously not responsible for), they're bound to get outdated quickly, as it doesn't look like they update their ROMs often.

    Also they only uploaded Rebirth MEGA and completely forgot to upload Rebirth NORMAL! Unforgivable! /s
     
    Last edited:
    DynamoKota said:
    I've recently become aware that someone has compiled Rebirth into pre-patched CIA files, uploaded it to their website, and advertised it on YouTube. While I don't necessarily object to redistribution in theory, there are important issues with this specific case that I want to address.

    The website hosting my ROM hack has a questionable reputation. While some users claim it's safe, others have reported red flags, including potentially malicious ads, links, and redirects. I strongly urge caution when visiting such sites or downloading files from them.

    Although I am credited, and the original PokeCommunity thread is linked, the link uses a URL shortener (ouo[dot]io), which is known for ad-heavy and potentially unsafe redirects.

    Additionally, the uploader has copy-pasted my description and documentation without meaningful edits or commentary. While not strictly plagiarism, I find it to be lazy, and the use of possessive pronouns like "I," "me," and "my" in the description—as well as the YouTube thumbnail containing a watermark for their website under the game's title—could mislead viewers into thinking they are the hack's creator.


    I strongly recommend downloading ROM hacks only from official sources. Even if the file itself is safe (which I can't guarantee and am not responsible for), unofficial versions may:
    • Be outdated and lack recent updates or fixes.
    • Be improperly compiled, causing unintended issues.

    Also they only uploaded Rebirth MEGA and completely forgot to upload Rebirth NORMAL! Unforgivable! /s
    Click to expand...
    Well mega more exciting lol but i honestly glad more people seeing this because i personally enjoying this right now
     
    Wirawr said:
    Well mega more exciting lol but i honestly glad more people seeing this because i personally enjoying this right now
    Click to expand...
    (Oof, re-reading this, I definitely made this statement sound WAY too official, lmao. Went ahead and rewrote it to sound less cringe)

    Funnily enough, I actually have a slight preference towards the NORMAL version of Rebirth because it feels more realistic, like closer to you'd actually see in some alternate universe where they didn't decide to make the game super easy.

    Yeah, my main issue is really just the website being real sketchy; my browser kept trying to redirect me to websites that I'm 90% sure might give my computer a virus. I mean, the copy-paste description was really lazy too (and again, could fool someone into thinking they made the hack instead of me if they didn't read the top of the page), but the security of the website is what I'm most concerned about.
     
    Last edited:
    DynamoKota said:
    (Oof, re-reading this, I definitely made this statement sound WAY too official, lmao. Went ahead and rewrote it to sound less cringe)

    Funnily enough, I actually have a slight preference towards the NORMAL version of Rebirth because it feels more realistic, like closer to you'd actually see in some alternate universe where they didn't decide to make the game super easy.

    Yeah, my main issue is really just the website being real sketchy; my browser kept trying to redirect me to websites that I'm 90% sure might give my computer a virus. I mean, the copy-paste description was really lazy too (and again, could fool someone into thinking they made the hack instead of me if they didn't read the top of the page), but the security of the website is what I'm most concerned about.
    Click to expand...
    I Just go there and yeah lot's of ads pop up and sketchy download
     
    Wirawr said:
    I Just go there and yeah lot's of ads pop up and sketchy download
    Click to expand...
    Yeah. Unfortunately there's nothing I can really do; if someone goes to that website to download an unauthorized CIA of my hack and gets a virus, that's the fault of the user and the website owner, not me.
    The hack hosting site in question just has a reputation for doing this, and a lot of people have brought up the red flags. I don't necessarily have an issue with the redistribution, just the lazy copy-pasted description (which could cause someone to mistake them as the creator instead of me) and the sketchiness of his website. At least I'm credited.

    This is basically a rite of passage it seems; tons of more popular hacks have their games redistributed as pre-patched roms on other sites, and they don't seem to complain about it whenever it happens (publicity is publicity), so I should probably just suck it up and ignore it, lol
     
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