EmeraldNova
Pluto Supporter
Many of you have heard me say that I'd likely never try to do a Pokemon fan game for fear of Nintendo drawing and quartering me. A complete engine rebuild on Saturn would either entail massive copyright infringement, or way too much work on my end making some translation software to run on Saturn to unpack a player provided ROM. Well, I don't actually want to program a game, I just want to make a game. With that in mind, there is a wonderful tool called Hex Maniac Advance developed by a fellow called haven, who runs a discord server full of pokedevs and actively supports new game devs with his tool. It's because of this tool that, even with Emerald Jr. demanding my time, I am able to work on:
Pokemon Emerald Nova. A complete map and story rebuild of Pokemon Emerald, or rather generation 3 Pokemon as a whole. All the mechanics, battles, move pools and such stay the same. What's different is a massive map, 38 routes, 15 gyms (not counting your own), 17 towns, and at least 15 dungeons.
The maps and routes are actually quite expansive relative to the original game. Currently Routes 4, 6, 8, and 15 are implemented along with the towns of Draco and Sculptor. You can compare the world map above to the size in game to set expectations for the completed version.
All Pokemon in the game with be catchable or evolvable (without trades or soul rending mechanics like "beauty".) This includes all legendaries and mythicals, whom will largely be found in dungeons. Don't worry, there'll be some indication where to go. And you won't need to fish a few hundred squares or bang your head against the wall to find a 1% encounter rate Pokemon.
Pokemon are spread out into the environments that make sense for them to be in. Unfortunately, without SURF, you may not be able to unlock the full potential of the map in the current version. Stay tuned for updates!
The story is a retelling of the feud between Team Aqua and Team Magma, with the core of it being seeded by the player character's father disappearing. You will end up exploring the entire Nova region to find out what happened to him, and how it relates to the ongoing turf war and upcoming Pokemon League Certification.
Trainers are scaled to your rank (number of badges.) Because there are 15 badges in the game, that means that the total number of trainer characters is vastly reduced in size, and increased in quality. You can rematch trainers and they will get stronger as you earn more badges. Many of these trainers will try to challenge you in your gym when you go to accept gym challenges.
Because of this structure, after the first story event, the game is highly nonlinear. You will be able to challenge any gym in any order (save a few for what will be obvious story reasons when you get to them.) The wild Pokemon remain at a flat, reasonable level throughout the main routes. The dungeons, however, kick up the difficulty a bit, so don't go off the beaten path without being prepared.
Anyway, this is my main game project for a bit. Development is super fast with HMA, I can squeeze out a few story points and a route or two in an evening with HMA. Hopefully to be finished before Xmas to give me time to do a Saturn game competition entry. Saves should remain compatible throughout the development cycle, so I'd appreciate testers to comment on it. Find the patch download in the Sega Xtreme resources section: Pokemon - Emerald Nova
Pokemon Emerald Nova. A complete map and story rebuild of Pokemon Emerald, or rather generation 3 Pokemon as a whole. All the mechanics, battles, move pools and such stay the same. What's different is a massive map, 38 routes, 15 gyms (not counting your own), 17 towns, and at least 15 dungeons.
The maps and routes are actually quite expansive relative to the original game. Currently Routes 4, 6, 8, and 15 are implemented along with the towns of Draco and Sculptor. You can compare the world map above to the size in game to set expectations for the completed version.
All Pokemon in the game with be catchable or evolvable (without trades or soul rending mechanics like "beauty".) This includes all legendaries and mythicals, whom will largely be found in dungeons. Don't worry, there'll be some indication where to go. And you won't need to fish a few hundred squares or bang your head against the wall to find a 1% encounter rate Pokemon.
Pokemon are spread out into the environments that make sense for them to be in. Unfortunately, without SURF, you may not be able to unlock the full potential of the map in the current version. Stay tuned for updates!
The story is a retelling of the feud between Team Aqua and Team Magma, with the core of it being seeded by the player character's father disappearing. You will end up exploring the entire Nova region to find out what happened to him, and how it relates to the ongoing turf war and upcoming Pokemon League Certification.
Trainers are scaled to your rank (number of badges.) Because there are 15 badges in the game, that means that the total number of trainer characters is vastly reduced in size, and increased in quality. You can rematch trainers and they will get stronger as you earn more badges. Many of these trainers will try to challenge you in your gym when you go to accept gym challenges.
Because of this structure, after the first story event, the game is highly nonlinear. You will be able to challenge any gym in any order (save a few for what will be obvious story reasons when you get to them.) The wild Pokemon remain at a flat, reasonable level throughout the main routes. The dungeons, however, kick up the difficulty a bit, so don't go off the beaten path without being prepared.
Anyway, this is my main game project for a bit. Development is super fast with HMA, I can squeeze out a few story points and a route or two in an evening with HMA. Hopefully to be finished before Xmas to give me time to do a Saturn game competition entry. Saves should remain compatible throughout the development cycle, so I'd appreciate testers to comment on it. Find the patch download in the Sega Xtreme resources section: Pokemon - Emerald Nova
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