What do you look for in romhacks/fangames?

>>32056655
>He plays romhacks.

I honestly dislike playing romhacks. Especially when most are just a reskin of an older game that I've already played through. *cough* Clover *cough*.

why not just make your own from scratch? it's probably easier too

>>32056655
-Lots of optional places to explore
-Either all fully functioning fakemon or ZERO fakemon, including future gens
-Not-edgy plot
-Physical special split, preferably mrdollsteak's
-Challenging but fair difficulty
-Good grammar (seriously, more important than one would think, really takes you out of it)
-No fourth wall breaking or references

>>32056697
Making a romhack is actually really difficult if you want to go beyond basic editing.

>>32056655
I hate fakemon because I usually follow a games development and Pokemon are shown to us or leaked prior to the release, but when a huge bunch of bullshit is thrown at your face it takes time to get to know each of the new mons, types, stats, if they're good or complete trash etc.

Sometimes, but I like a little bit of both, its fine to maintain the same structure as an actual game but sometimes it can get old.

I don't really give a shit, it would be okay I guess, swearing shouldn't be in a Pokemon game unless its parody.

My favorite rom hacks are the ones where they either use a different story/region etc. or heavily improve on a game (Like Polished Crystal or Drayano's hacks)

>>32056737

i can imagine. that's why i don't understand why people don't just program their own game

>What would your hypothetical perfect romhack/fangame be?
increased difficulty (but keep it fair. i mostly play pokemon to relax, having to use my brain a bit is fine but hard for hard's sake is dumb. and grinding sucks ass and is not an acceptable substitute for challenge)
mostly double battles
i guess a new region cause i like exploring, haven't been impressed by any fangame level design i've seen though. maybe just an edited map of an existing region?

>What's your stance on Fakemon? Do you prefer a game to have absolutely none, only a few, as many as GF introduces every gen, or one with fakemon only? What about new forms for existing pokemon?
never played a fakemon hack, not interested. open to the idea of new forms but never seen any i liked (not that i've looked)

>Would you prefer a fangame with a similar plot formula as main series (fire/water/grass starters, rival, mostly single battles, fight prominent figures/gym leaders, stop an evil team and maybe battle a legendary along the way), or would you prefer a game that tries something different?
something different sounds more appealing
like something in the vein of colosseum would be neat i guess

>Would you prefer a fangame with more mature themes? (By mature, I mean heavier themes, not edgy with lots of swearing)
i mean, if it's done well then sure
i'm probably going to skim/skip the majority of textboxes regardless

in fact that's part of my ideal hack/game, light on the fucking text because it probably sucks and i don't care either way. i dont think pokemon is a good vessel for delivering a story, and i can only laugh at dumb jokes so many times before i get bored

>>32056724
>-Either all fully functioning fakemon or ZERO fakemon, including future gens
>-Not-edgy plot
>-Good grammar (seriously, more important than one would think, really takes you out of it)
>-No fourth wall breaking or references

Most important ones. People think they're being creative, but they are typically teenagers with a poor grasp on design, storytelling and writing in general.

The perfect fangame:
>300 fakemon dex with no realmons at all
>fakemon are properly implemented rather than being re-skins (have their own unique movesets and cries, etc)
>region has a consistent climate instead of being a generic "all-climates-in-one" region like Kalos
>region has more exploration/freedom than BW1 Unova (Hoenn-tier exploration is perfect)
>some bizarre and untraditional themes that catch players off-guard
>a fairly simple/fun plot so I can just have fun rather than getting sucked into an uncomfortable drama zone
>some postgame content (a few extra routes, a few battle facilities, and some legend hunting)
I'm actually working on a fangame with all the above points but it's probably several years away from completion.

>>32056697
>it's probably easier too
Not really. More often than not, giving a limitation to creativity helps more than giving them liberty. In this case, making a fangame is easier than making an original game.
After all, with fangame, you already have a world to work with. The only thing you have to do then is injecting your own creativity into it.
That's not even getting into the gameplay portion.

>>32056655
-No fakemon at all. They just aren't done well and 9 times out of ten they are just the creator shilling their shitty OCs.
-Similar plot formula to the main series is preferred but if they can step out of that norm and have it be done in a way that isn't cringy or slapped together I'm all for it.
-More mature themes are fine by me. SM's parental abuse/neglect theme hidden in Lillie's story is about the level I'm okay with. Anything less subtle and you may as well not even be making a Pokémon game.

In addition, difficulty is nice but if it's balls to the wall difficult right off the bat then what the fuck are you doing, nigger. Have shit ramp up over time.

I prefer memegame romhacks desu

>>32056655
There's no reason to play romhacks. There are far better official games out there if you want something that's more mature or more challenging than Pokemon.

I just want good new maps to explore

Fakemon are okay as long as they aren't shit, try to keep the plot like mainline, especially early mainline

Also no fourth wall memeshit

>>32056655
I don't like romhacks.
If I want a break from Pokemon but similar premise I play a different game, but one with a party member collection aspect like MegaTen or dex completion aspect like Etrian Odyssey.

What are some hacks with good puzzle dungeons?

>>32056655
I prefer hacks where the game doesn't scream keywords at you.

>>32057707
Then clover is for you.

I want to actually have to consciously plan out my team and develop strategies from one section to another. Nothing else really matters.

>>32058717
What do you mean by keywords?

Recommend some good ones.

>>32056655
fakemon are a mixed bag. I think they add a nice layer of difficulty to the game because you won't know anything about them on your first playthrough, but they can also destroy any resemblance of game balance if they're not handled well (especially if there are new moves too - lookin' at you, Vega) and if there's too many of them it will get troublesome to see them all.
As far as plot goes, I'm happy with the standard stuff, same goes for bosses/region layouts/etc. The best fangames are usually those that don't go too far from the source material. "Mature" or "edgy" themes always stick out like a sore thumb (even tho I read once about a fire red hack that let you play through the main game plot from a rocket grunt perpective which seemed pretty nice).
My ideal fangame has
>new region with optional places to visit and hidden stuff to collect
>believable characters, I'm fine if they just recycle orignal ones
>modern mechanics
>slightly higher level curve and more difficult boss fights
>reasonable use of roadblocks and HMs

among those that I've played, the best ones were "improvements" like Red++ or Polished Crystal. Of the more ambitious projects I think Gaia is the best by a wide margin (or well, it will if it will ever be finished), and memes aside, Clover is incredibly well made (apart from a few frustrating dungeons) and fun to play. Vega looks like the best by looking at it, but once you start playing the novelty of fakemons wears off pretty soon and it becomes an aggravating grindfest set in a boring region that forces you to endless backtracking without putting anything that would make going back to the same routes multiple times even slightly rewarding.