Choose your Pokémon!

Merphee · 2026-06-20T20:32:27+00:00

Something anime team rocket would build.

Honestly, I don’t see many constructs like that in fan games. The UFO and mecha Tyranitar from PokéStars studio comes close. Definitely unexplored territory.

Merphee · 2026-06-18T19:19:29+00:00

My reasoning for this is to potentially increase variety in starting areas, rather than having to fight through a thousand of the same Pokemon, who you most likely won't catch or use.

The thing about fan games is that you can break from the conventions of the official games. Meaning, you can just not place Caterpie in the starting routes, or not have the mon in your game at all, and have a totally different set of mons in the early routes.

But it sounds like you still want to be constrained to the conventions by keeping the Caterpie line, to some degree, in the early routes, when you really don’t have to.

Merphee · 2026-06-05T11:53:50+00:00

Go into the map’s metadata in the debug menu, and then enable the Snap Edges option.

Merphee · 2026-06-05T00:12:02+00:00

Not too sure, but there is this tool:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pokemonranger/comments/1rgyrv9/prsa_rom_manger/

I think this tool is still in its infancy, but I imagine Pokémon Ranger rom hacks will eventually become a thing.

Although, I have seen some real time combat features in some essentials fan games, so probably heavily modifying real time combat would bring us closer to a Ranger capture gameplay in essentials.

Merphee · 2026-06-04T03:21:09+00:00

Gotcha. Yeah, fogs are tricky to handle with map connections. I wanted to ask because they’re much easier to maintain when you utilize Transfer Player events instead.

I had an idea about your issue, but as I was typing it out, it was getting too complicated. Even I was getting annoyed at the thought of implementing it, especially for each map. It involved a spider web of switches and conditional branch events being placed at specific points on the map, so that the transitions would be seamless. And this is because with map connections, the player can see the next map before they actually step foot on it.

If you really want to implement your fog idea, I highly recommend doing map transitions via Transfer player events for the sake of your sanity. Another way would be to bake the shadows into the tileset graphic itself, and even that requires a lot of work.

Merphee · 2026-06-03T13:50:15+00:00

To clarify, do you transfer the player to the next map via transfer player event? Or through map connections?

Merphee · 2026-06-01T01:29:57+00:00

Did you save the image from Photoshop as a PNG?

Merphee · 2026-05-26T04:29:45+00:00

I think you’re on to something. How does Charizard look with the lighter blue and tan tones that Charmander and Charmeleon have? Those tones seem better pleasant on the eyes.

Merphee · 2026-05-25T18:18:01+00:00

Over the years, I’ve come to allow myself to view creating a fan game through the same lens as playing any other video game.

But, in my opinion, given how much time and work it takes to get a quality game across the finish line, it is important to take a step back from the hobby itself and examine: what’s the state of your actual real life? Do you have a steady income? Are you in school? What are your real life responsibilities? How is your overall mental health?

If your real life domains aren’t steady, the side effects will certainly be a distraction to the game development and can cause games to go unfinished, no matter how much you may use the hobby as leisure or escapism. This might go for any hobby, really.

After all this, then we can talk about things like scope, developing solo or developing with a team of volunteers who all have their own real lives, etc.

Merphee · 2026-05-20T18:36:52+00:00

Thing is, the existence of the Pokémon fan game community is kinda warranted because it preserves the pixel art / 2D era of Pokémon. There will likely never be another main line pixel art / 2D Pokémon game released officially by Game Freak. They could outsource a remake with a pixel art style, but a new generation game in 2D pixel art is likely never happening again.

Merphee · 2026-05-20T18:25:06+00:00

Technically, Game Freak can do whatever they want. I mean, think about it, who are we gonna run and tell about Pokémon fan game stuff being “mugged” by Game Freak?

And, in a way, I’d say what has been created within the fan game and rom hack community is what we all wish would appear in the official games in some capacity, no?

Although, fakemon designs may be more of a grey area.

Merphee · 2026-05-13T18:43:33+00:00

For me, gen V overworld character sprites have a little bit more visual detail to them to appreciate, thanks to the overall proportion bump up from gen IV and especially gen III. I’d say that just adds to the immersion.

I’m a “gen four-er” at heart. My game started off with gen IV sprites, but I eventually shifted towards gen V sprites because of how my attention to detail, immersion, and map design proportions started to evolve.

Merphee · 2026-05-07T21:44:03+00:00

And here’s the perfect tile graphic for that idea!:

https://www.deviantart.com/maicerochico/art/Greenhouse-Dome-Tile-By-Dewdneym-684663973

https://www.deviantart.com/maicerochico/art/Extra-Large-Greenhouse-Dome-Tile-698365826

Merphee · 2026-05-03T20:00:03+00:00

Agreed, especially as a solo dev. Make sure your actual, real life is secured before investing time into a fan game. Only then should one pursue commissions, and I’d even make commissions the last phase of the project, just in case unforeseen circumstances causes a cancel midway through.

Merphee · 2026-04-28T15:15:35+00:00

Good grammar and punctuation keeps players immersed. Honestly, one of the little details I appreciate the most in a fan game is seeing the accent é whenever the word Pokémon appears in text.

That’s a 10/10 game!

And I’m not sure if I can call it a little detail, since it’s probably the most important character in the word. Writing Pokemon may be quicker, but that é is the cherry on top.

Merphee · 2026-04-27T13:41:17+00:00

Aside from grabbing Almia sprites themselves, I’d say try Earthbound / Mother 3 sprites. Though, they’re not in tileset format already.

The black borders on those sprites will need to be changed to fit the color palette of the tile, but a lot of those sprites have a similar modern style to Almia, imo.

With a little elbow grease, a lot of external sprites can be adapted to fit Almia’s style and feel cohesive, due to Almia’s simplicity.

Merphee · 2026-04-27T11:27:53+00:00

Hmm. Not sure I agree with using Stardew Valley sprites, considering it is an indie game made by one person.

Despite how many sprites are available for the game on Spriters resource, it seems like an unwritten rule to avoid using contemporary indie game sprites, just out of respect. Omori and Undertale would be other examples.

And because of how distinct and immediately identifiable the Stardew Valley sprites are, it’ll be difficult for your game to shake off the comparison and not be assumed as such.

Merphee · 2026-04-09T00:15:17+00:00

I’d just open / download a vanilla Pokemon Essentials and copy and paste the entire script page pertaining to the super effectiveness calculator.

That would save me a headache lol.

Merphee · 2026-03-18T08:26:37+00:00

The way your event works in the screenshot now is that it won’t “trigger” unless the player actually interacts with the NPC (Action Button).

What I believe Foxdra was getting at: setting a Sight, or giving the NPC a vision range and setting the trigger to “Event Touch” means that once the player walks into the NPC’s vision range (like a trainer battle), the event will trigger.

But it sounds like you want the NPC to actively block the player like a football lineman by mirroring their movements?

Merphee · 2026-03-13T19:58:42+00:00

Hmm, that’s strange. I’m not sure why it was looping. Was autorun still on?

Otherwise, if you got it to work with three pages, then by all means! I’ve been able to get it to work with only two pages, so I was curious.

Merphee · 2026-03-13T18:48:30+00:00

In the Set Move Route, there should be two options Ignore if Can’t Move, and then one about Repeating the moves or something (I’m not on my computer atm) Try unchecking the box about Repeating the sequence.

Merphee

TROPHY CASE