Pokémon Love Link - Weekly Dev Blog (Current: Week 15 - Cancelation)

[Luximora]

Week9 (9/7/2024):

This week was actually pretty productive! I've been getting my sleep schedule in order and made a list of things I wanted to get done on sunday. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about what I got done this week.:

New Mini-Game: Café Challenge:
I started this week wanting to flesh out the side activities in the game. In the northeast part of town, you'll find three shops. One of these is a café where you can play a mini-game for money.

The game is straightforward but (IMO) pretty fun:

• You have one minute to serve customers their specific coffee orders.
• Mess up, and you'll earn less.
• It's simple, but coding it took a long time!

I definitly want to code more simple minigames like this in the future sprinkled around the game, it was pretty enjoyable to code all of this together.

Gifts and Affection System :
Next was making gifts, this is a dating sim after all, I made a bunch of things you can gift to the girls in game some being pokemon themed, I briefly mentioned gifts in a dev blog way back, but you can give gifts and how many affection points you net is dependent on the gift and the mood of the girl your gifting to, (the mood is highlighted in the gifts description), all gifts will always net some points but you can really min max it if your paying attention.

Gameplay Mechanics Updates:

• Trainer Scaling: Trainers now scale with your badge count.
• Wild Pokémon: They don't scale, maintaining a natural progression, and making it so you actually can feel yourself getting strong in comparison to the rest of the game world.
• Post-Battle Rewards (EXP): you will be rewarded EXP candy distributed in equivalent to normal battle EXP. (So if you fought a pokemon that would normally give you 300xp, you instead get like 3 exp candy XS').
• Post-Battle Rewards (BP): You will also get 1 BP (Battle Points) - a semi-important currency for Pokémon Centers and battle facilities.
• Phone Call Event: I added a phone call event that happens shortly after getting your starter, you will get a call from the Pokemon League Assistant briefing you on these mechanics.
• Evolution Changes: Removed trade evolutions replacing them with either normal level up evos or leveling up while holding an item. You won't be able to experience this in the first build because of the level cap but y'know it's there for like the future and stuff.

World Building and Side Quests:

• Trainer Battles: Self explanitory, added trainer battles to route 2 and Orion cave (except route 1, since it's not really going to be a main route in version 1 and I don't want the player to have to much extra EXP in reserve as that could really throw off future balance)
• Route Encounters: I've added encounters to each routes. I was thinking of having one super rare encounter for each route (like 1 percent) but I'm not sure, I'd like feedback here, my worry is that it could really mess up team building and balance in the early game if the player gets super lucky, but it could also be super exiting to encounter a rare powerful pokemon, like that same feeling you get seeing a shiny. I was also thinking of locking rare pokemon behind quests, so that's an idea to, I'm not to sure yet
• Created two side quests (aiming for at least 5 at release):
  • Show max friendship Pokémon to an wise old man resting in Orion cave will give you a Riolu egg if you do so.
  • Help a clothing designer in Lyra Town by gifting her a Sewaddle (a nod to Burgh from Pokémon Black and White who is a fashion designer in Unova).

These side quests are pretty simple, but I think that'll be fine for now since these are literally the first 2 side quests, I also added a plugin to give you a UI to track your quests.

Thats about it, college starts on the 9th and I am not exited at all for that, hopefully it doesn't slow work down here.

Pictures:

 

[zARRR]

I was looking forward for this dev log today, it didn’t let me down, it always great reading your excitement and progress.

Week9 (9/7/2024):

This week was actually pretty productive! I've been getting my sleep schedule in order and made a list of things I wanted to get done on sunday. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about what I got done this week.:

New Mini-Game: Café Challenge:
I started this week wanting to flesh out the side activities in the game. In the northeast part of town, you'll find three shops. One of these is a café where you can play a mini-game for money.

The game is straightforward but (IMO) pretty fun:

• You have one minute to serve customers their specific coffee orders.
• Mess up, and you'll earn less.
• It's simple, but coding it took a long time!

I definitly want to code more simple minigames like this in the future sprinkled around the game, it was pretty enjoyable to code all of this together.
Pictures:
View attachment 4010158

The minigames idea sounds fun! It’s always engaging to have these side activities scattered around the world to lose time and gain resource.
I suggest to galvanize the experience with the addition of hidden rewards and an hard mode (Could be less time, dialogues where the clients fumble at their words or unnecessary extend conversations). Speaking of which have you pondered about adding achievements in the same vein of Pokémon Black and White 2? It could push players to complete everything but be a laborious to code.

World Building and Side Quests:

• Trainer Battles: Self explanitory, added trainer battles to route 2 and Orion cave (except route 1, since it's not really going to be a main route in version 1 and I don't want the player to have to much extra EXP in reserve as that could really throw off future balance)
• Route Encounters: I've added encounters to each routes. I was thinking of having one super rare encounter for each route (like 1 percent) but I'm not sure, I'd like feedback here, my worry is that it could really mess up team building and balance in the early game if the player gets super lucky, but it could also be super exiting to encounter a rare powerful pokemon, like that same feeling you get seeing a shiny. I was also thinking of locking rare pokemon behind quests, so that's an idea to, I'm not to sure yet
• Created two side quests (aiming for at least 5 at release):
  • Show max friendship Pokémon to an wise old man resting in Orion cave will give you a Riolu egg if you do so.
  • Help a clothing designer in Lyra Town by gifting her a Sewaddle (a nod to Burgh from Pokémon Black and White who is a fashion designer in Unova).

These side quests are pretty simple, but I think that'll be fine for now since these are literally the first 2 side quests, I also added a plugin to give you a UI to track your quests.

Thats about it, college starts on the 9th and I am not exited at all for that, hopefully it doesn't slow work down here.

The super rare encounter personally it’s both a compelling and bad concept. On one hand you can be surprised by good RNG to find rare Pokémons and it boosts replayability in exploration. On the other hand RNG is fun only when favors you, if not it’s a frustrating hell that’s simply not fun (Like searching Marill in Hearthgold or Chimeko and Duskull in sapphire), other than that it can completely ruin the balancing! So it’s an hazardous choice.
Since you want to create an open world game, you could make that super encounter a Pokémon from late game routes or those rare encounters are side quests Pokémon.
Therefore you could do the clothing designer quest and get a Sewaddle or you could run in the grass for hours praying to find back that Pokemon.

Also best of luck with the college

 

[Penumbral Evanescence]

(Like searching Marill in Hearthgold or Chimeko and Duskull in sapphire),

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....... :3 lmao

you could make that super encounter a Pokémon from late-game routes or those rare encounters are side quests Pokémon.

Yeah, for mid-late game routes that makes sense. Because having access to a godly Pokemon in the early game (even if its a super low chance) might be a bit too exploitable me thinks.

Also, I concur...the mini-game idea sounds very intriguing. Maybe (and not sure how complex this is from a coding POV) but something like tiered rewards like zARRR mentioned would be nice to make mini-games more lucrative in a sense...so the more successful customers you serve in a row (e.g., like 5/5 successful customers) and you get to choose 3 randomly generated mid-tier rewards, and nothing to OP to avoid mini-games being too exploitable in a sense.

Maybe even like custom encounters at certain times of the day, you can meet some interesting NPC's who will give you some useful tips/tricks, or other rumours that could open up new areas for exploration....that would be probably be really difficult to code in I would imagine, but just an idea thinking out loud here ^^

Loving the progress on your fan game btw!!

 

[zARRR]

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....... :3 lmao

View attachment 4011148

It doesn’t reach the level of rage but getting a shiny male combee in Diamond and Pearl can also turn you into a blasphemous nihilist for half an hour

Yeah, for mid-late game routes that makes sense. Because having access to a godly Pokemon in the early game (even if its a super low chance) might be a bit too exploitable me thinks.

Also, I concur...the mini-game idea sounds very intriguing. Maybe (and not sure how complex this is from a coding POV) but something like tiered rewards like zARRR mentioned would be nice to make mini-games more lucrative in a sense...so the more successful customers you serve in a row (e.g., like 5/5 successful customers) and you get to choose 3 randomly generated mid-tier rewards, and nothing to OP to avoid mini-games being too exploitable in a sense.

Maybe even like custom encounters at certain times of the day, you can meet some interesting NPC's who will give you some useful tips/tricks, or other rumours that could open up new areas for exploration....that would be probably be really difficult to code in I would imagine, but just an idea thinking out loud here ^^

Loving the progress on your fan game btw!!

It is unreasonably explotaible (In fact I am dubious on giving a RioLu egg this early in the game Luximora when the other side quest rewards you with a sewaddle instead), it can break the game, which don’t get me wrong I love breaking limits (That’s why I play Roguelikes all day) but for an RPG you should balance each offer the game gives you if not, every player is going to decide the most favorable choice and that’s no more an optional conclusion.

Indeed, it can recompense you with food related items from the Pokémon world such as healing creams or cookies that have the same healing hp of a small potions by nothing extremely powerful.

For the random NPC idea it is cool, they could even be cameos, the LIs (But only one time per event) or even Cynthia, imagine her entering the coffee shop and her theme starts, but still a nice random idea even if I don’t know if it’s worth it for a singular minigame.

And yes the progress is admirable

 

[Luximora]

Y'know i completly forgot that lucario is a friendship evolution, I didn't think riulo would be that big of a deal since at the time i was thinking it was a level evolution and with the level cap and all it'd be fine but like early lucario would be broken as hell, i may need to change that. Yall both raise pretty good points to with low percent pokemon, it'd definitely be better to make them normal encoutners mid to late game, I also do love the idea of making them quest rewards, at least for special pokemon like psuedo legendaries and unique pokemon like riolu or zorua where you need to work to get those strong guys on your team. Sidequests in general are kinda tricky, ive been looking at pokemon legends and legends of zelda sidequests for some ideas on how to do those. Adding depth to the coffee minigame is an idea I could work with, it was meant to be a simple mini game to kill time and farm some poke dollars if needed, I do wonder how difficult it'd be from a game designer perspective to code some ideas but I think a "rush hour" time could be cool, less time but more rewards, maybye if your to slow reading or something the customer gets mad and tips you less, therefore you get less money. I think I'm going to scrap the Riulo npc for a later update, maybe early mid game just cuase he does evolve via friendship, I'll be able to think of a replacement for him fine, I was thinking of a weak miner in the cave, you can catch a Machop and gift it to him to help him do his job or something like that. I do wonder how people feel about giving away your pokemon to npc's, I think in pokemon legends arceuse it was fine since you caught so many pokemon and likely had a ton of duplicates already, I think it would be cool to see pokemon you gave away to an npc running around with that npc in the overworld, I'd never make the player give away a pokemon that isn't very common and easy to encounter but it might be a hassle. Achievements are a dope idea, I'm unsure how I'll code them but I think this might be one of those things I can look online for, surely some other fan game creator has had a similar idea and coded a plugin or something, and if not, it probobly won't be hard to code.

 

[zARRR]

Y'know i completly forgot that lucario is a friendship evolution, I didn't think riulo would be that big of a deal since at the time i was thinking it was a level evolution and with the level cap and all it'd be fine but like early lucario would be broken as hell, i may need to change that. Yall both raise pretty good points to with low percent pokemon, it'd definitely be better to make them normal encoutners mid to late game, I also do love the idea of making them quest rewards, at least for special pokemon like psuedo legendaries and unique pokemon like riolu or zorua where you need to work to get those strong guys on your team. Sidequests in general are kinda tricky, ive been looking at pokemon legends and legends of zelda sidequests for some ideas on how to do those. Adding depth to the coffee minigame is an idea I could work with, it was meant to be a simple mini game to kill time and farm some poke dollars if needed, I do wonder how difficult it'd be from a game designer perspective to code some ideas but I think a "rush hour" time could be cool, less time but more rewards, maybye if your to slow reading or something the customer gets mad and tips you less, therefore you get less money. I think I'm going to scrap the Riulo npc for a later update, maybe early mid game just cuase he does evolve via friendship, I'll be able to think of a replacement for him fine, I was thinking of a weak miner in the cave, you can catch a Machop and gift it to him to help him do his job or something like that. I do wonder how people feel about giving away your pokemon to npc's, I think in pokemon legends arceuse it was fine since you caught so many pokemon and likely had a ton of duplicates already, I think it would be cool to see pokemon you gave away to an npc running around with that npc in the overworld, I'd never make the player give away a pokemon that isn't very common and easy to encounter but it might be a hassle. Achievements are a dope idea, I'm unsure how I'll code them but I think this might be one of those things I can look online for, surely some other fan game creator has had a similar idea and coded a plugin or something, and if not, it probobly won't be hard to code.

You can always check other fangames and how they do side quests; Pokemon reborn and Rejuvenation are very inspiring. They are simple, scattered everywhere and most of them avoid the fetch quest missions.
Of course we have legendary games such as Fallout 1,2 and new vegas (and even 3 with a couple) for the side quests.
We could even hazardously talk about quests from giants such as the Witcher 3 or Vampire the bloodlines; but those are triple AAA games with branching choices.
So trekking down the line of classic rpgs is the safe choice

Giving pokemon away is fine as long as they are common and it doesn’t become a repetitive task.
In Pokemon Arceus capturing Pokémon is fast paced and it helps building the village.
But I wouldn’t make it a constant quest for each town.

 

[Penumbral Evanescence]

Pokemon reborn and Rejuvenation are very inspiring. They are simple, scattered everywhere and most of them avoid the fetch quest missions

I've played Reborn/Rejuvenation TONS of times :3 Great fan games, and can be quite challenging at times.

They handled side quests really well tbh. A lot the side quests made you work to attain specific Pokemon that would help spice up your team, but not in an overly broken way. I genuinely liked the side quest system in reborn/rejuvenation, as well as

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too.

but getting a shiny male combee in Diamond and Pearl can also turn you into a blasphemous nihilist for half an hour

LoL - yeah I remember this very well. I have fond memories of trying to get a female Combee in Diamond, because as a kid I saw a Pokemon episode with Vespiquen, and I thought it was the most coolest thing ever :3

 

[Penumbral Evanescence]

I think it would be cool to see pokemon you gave away to an npc running around with that npc in the overworld

I think in the anime, it was quite a common occurrence sometimes. Like Ash trading his aipom for Dawn's buizel.

But for NPCs, I think there was a Trainer (called

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) in the anime, who traded his shiny Magikarp for a Charmeleon because he didn't know the value of it, which was quite interesting.

 

[Penumbral Evanescence]

Achievements are a dope idea, I'm unsure how I'll code them but I think this might be one of those things I can look online for, surely some other fan game creator has had a similar idea and coded a plugin or something

Speaking of achievements,

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might be worth checking out. Although, not sure of how updated the script is and how to integrate it into your fan game.

 

[zARRR]

I've played Reborn/Rejuvenation TONS of times :3 Great fan games, and can be quite challenging at times.

They handled side quests really well tbh. A lot the side quests made you work to attain specific Pokemon that would help spice up your team, but not in an overly broken way. I genuinely liked the side quest system in reborn/rejuvenation, as well as

You must be registered to see the links

too.

They are phenomenal games, especially Reborn, I played that one so many times.
I should replay Rejuvenation absolutely.
Challenging yes, but not unfair, I love the atmosphere of Reborn the first area (the entire city) is phenomenal, with all of the tall buildings, the pollution, the unhappiness and violence.
Starting with a terroristic attack is a great way to begin the game.
And of course Desolation, how could I forget that one, I also finished it (well it ended in the middle of the plot that built), but even such fan game is able to construct a functional side quests system with even an affection base that is fun to use.
For the story tho, even if the ideas are definitely intriguing and the writing has some great moments, it’s probably my least favorite of the trio.
Still a good source of inspiration

 

[zARRR]

LoL - yeah I remember this very well. I have fond memories of trying to get a female Combee in Diamond, because as a kid I saw a Pokemon episode with Vespiquen, and I thought it was the most coolest thing ever :3

View attachment 4014493

View attachment 4014496

It should be illegal imo, at least with Snorunt and Ralts you can get their other evolutions.
But fucking combee is egregious

 

[Penumbral Evanescence]

with even an affection base that is fun to use

Absolutely. I love the reputation/relationship variables in desolation 100% was one of the main selling points of the game for me.

love the atmosphere of Reborn the first area (the entire city) is phenomenal, with all of the tall buildings, the pollution, the unhappiness and violence.
Starting with a terroristic attack is a great way to begin the game.

I loved the world-building and ambience of Reborn myself. I did hear people in the forums say that Reborn came off as too edgy at times, but the plot/narrative was still amazing IMHO.

Rejuvenation had a TON of characters and an amazing plot too. Probably even better than Reborn in some respects I would say.

The games are a major source of inspiration for sure. In terms of plot, gameplay mechanics, world-building, side quest system, and other aspects of the game were nicely implemented.

 

[zARRR]

Absolutely. I love the reputation/relationship variables in desolation 100% was one of the main selling points of the game for me.

View attachment 4014544

Indeed, I wonder how they continued developing (Does it end in romance now?) but it was a major point creating bonds and having some actual characters that you can really interact with, Reborn has also solid characters but in its linearity I could never experience the same feelings I had with saving Scarlett from her death.
Fangame should aim at that imo; I don’t want just a good Pokémon game akin to Hearthgold, I want something different, I want a plot, a relationship mechanic, going over the limits, limits that the official Pokemon franchise would never pass over.

I loved the world-building and ambience of Reborn myself. I did hear people in the forums say that Reborn came off as too edgy at times, but the plot/narrative was still amazing IMHO.

Rejuvenation had a TON of characters and an amazing plot too. Probably even better than Reborn in some respects I would say.

The games are a major source of inspiration for sure. In terms of plot, gameplay mechanics, world-building, side quest system, and other aspects of the game were nicely implemented.

Reborn had its edgy moments for sure, in a fourth playthrough (Yes fourt) you start to notic’è that some lines are kinda over the top and some characters aren’t fleshed out enough to evolve from their base personality BUT it’s still phenomenal, hands down.
You can overlook any of the flaws when the pros are just better in every way.
Phenomenal atmosphere? Check.
Thrilling plot? Check.
Engaging gameplay with new mechanics? Check.
Tons of side quests and secrets? Double check.
Finally a well written asshole rival who progressively gets more hatable on each new encounter? Check, fuck you Fern.
It’s just that good, another element that I loved is that people actually interact and USE Pokémons in their literal Pokédex entry, they aren’t just there to hang around.
I don’t remember Rejuvenation and I have played it less than Reborn, which is a good reason to return and play it again.

So yes they are great source of inspiration, if not for the plot, for everything else you just said.
It’s respectable to even manage to balance those challenging fan games with that many pokemons and side quests at the beginning of the game.
They were purposefully crafted to be replayed and experimented with.

 

[Darkfox1525]

I also do love the idea of making them quest rewards, at least for special pokemon like psuedo legendaries and unique pokemon like riolu or zorua where you need to work to get those strong guys on your team.

I think a good way to salvage the old man sidequest (if you still intend to keep him) is to have him give out multiple quests with the rewards being good/rare pokemon eggs, with him giving out more quests after you obtain a badge or 2. The riolu egg could be the third reward of the sidequest line after you obtain your 3rd/4th badge, right in the mid-game where your Pokemon are starting to obtain their final forms. The first egg could be a good water/fire/grass type pokemon to compliment your starter, like what they did with the monkey trio in Black 'n White. The Pokemon could be something like Staryu, Vulpix/Growlithe, and Exeggcute. These Pokemon could be obtained later and are good Pokemon, but need a stone to evolve so they're kept in check until they're sold/given out as a reward for another quest.

 

[Luximora]

I think a good way to salvage the old man sidequest (if you still intend to keep him) is to have him give out multiple quests with the rewards being good/rare pokemon eggs, with him giving out more quests after you obtain a badge or 2. The riolu egg could be the third reward of the sidequest line after you obtain your 3rd/4th badge, right in the mid-game where your Pokemon are starting to obtain their final forms. The first egg could be a good water/fire/grass type pokemon to compliment your starter, like what they did with the monkey trio in Black 'n White. The Pokemon could be something like Staryu, Vulpix/Growlithe, and Exeggcute. These Pokemon could be obtained later and are good Pokemon, but need a stone to evolve so they're kept in check until they're sold/given out as a reward for another quest.

oh I really like that idea a lot, I'm just reading this while writing this weeks blog post so it won't be there but it definitely sounds like a great idea for next week

 

[Chuer123]

good luck，pokemon need you

 

[Luximora]

Week10 (9/14/2024):
I got sick this week so I was not very productive, it happened on Thursday so I still got some stuff done those first 4 days. I also had my first full week of college and after doing that I don’t think it’ll slow progress too much? They'll definitely be a hit to progress but it should be fine overall. Luckily most of the bones of this project are done so I’m not worried.

I started the week wanting to make some better sidequests and I think I cooked up some pretty good stuff here is what they are:

• [Side Quest] Campus Clean Up Crew!
  • Description: The academy groundskeeper is trying to keep the area clean but it seems like litter-causing Pokémon like Grimer and Trubbish have made a mess of the campus. Help the groundskeeper clean up by catching or defeating these Pokémon.
• [Side Quest] It's just a burning memory…
  • Description: An old man in Lyra town's park is losing his memories and his grandson wants to recreate a photo album of his history as a pokemon trainer. With his grandson, Jhonny, photograph a specific battle in Jenkin's life that matched his old, faded photos.
• [Side Quest] Oh Dear, my Dear Deer!
  • Description: A student at Cassiopeia Academy is trying to write a paper on pokemon that change their forms depending on their environment, catch a deerling of at least two different forms then show her your Pokedex data.
• [Side Quest] Pompous Pumpkaboo
  • Description: This smug dick head named Peter has a pretty big Pumpkaboo and keeps bragging about it. It's time to put that Pompous, Pea-brained, Pathetic, Putrid, Pitiful, Pungent PETER back in his place by catching a bigger Pumkaboo.
• [Side Quest] Mini Macho Miner
  • Description: Jill is a scientist having trouble digging for minerals in the cave on her own and wants to recruit a Machop, a pokemon she seems to be strongly infatuated with... Anyways, catch one for her to help her out.

There is one more sidequest I want to add in the future I’m calling Trainer Quests. I think some of the generic Trainer Classes are kinda hot and want to make a side quest where you get a sex scene with that Trainer Class at the end. Basically a hook up, no affection meter for this character, and they don’t have further stages to go from, they aren't super complex or meant to be a love interest in any way. I want to start with the Lass, “Oh Dear, my Dear Deer” was originally supposed to be a Trainer Quest but it was wayyyy too easy, so I'm still brainstorming there.

Achievements:
I got an achievements plugin in, it only has the default achievements that the plugin comes with, I can now add my own achievements and stuff.

Held Items:
Held Items like Air balloons, berries etc are typically items I never use in a pokemon playthrough but are basically essential to pokemon team building when it comes to competitive team building. I was originally going to make it so all consumable held items are restored after each battle but that was very overpowered, with just one berry you could always restore some of your HP forever for every single battle from now on. So instead I think I’m going to make the item distribution pretty generous, when the held item is consumed if you have a spare in your bag it will automatically be replaced after battle (so if I have 5 sitrus berries in my bag and my starter uses their berry in battle, after the battle finishes they will automatically be holding a sitrus berry again without the hassle of needing to go into your bag and re-give it one and you will have 4 sitrus berries in your bag) and if anyone doesn’t like this I added an option in the game settings to turn this off.

Exp Crafting:
I made it so in the pokemon center you can craft EXP candies into different sizes so you can use your EXP Candy S’s to make a EXP Candy M. There is more crafting stuff I can do in the future but right now I have no ideas or plans for that.

Pokemon NPC Guy:
I added a guy who’s just there to be pretty convenient, you can change your pokemon’s nicknames here, relearn old moves, and craft here for free. It's also where you can exchange BP for random gifts. Next to him is also the normal pokemon shop guy who will sell you what you would expect.

Train:
There is a train in each downstairs area in every pokemon center. This is just fast travel, it’s that simple. I was originally going to make it so you need to go to the area before you can fast travel there but I thought back to my time playing Pokemon Crystal Clear, which will let you fly anywhere and it was really fun flying to somewhere I’ve never been to, having no idea what was around me and kinda just traveling around and eventually I’d stumble across another place I recognize again and it was just pretty cool, it won’t do much in the first version since the only two towns are Lyra Town and Cassiopeia Academy but it’ll grow with time.

Time:
When you go into any area with a name tag, it’ll also announce the current time next to it.

And that was this week, good lord, I hate colledge so fucking muuuuch.

Pictures:

 

[zARRR]

Yeeei Achievements!

Week10 (9/14/2024):
I got sick this week so I was not very productive, it happened on Thursday so I still got some stuff done those first 4 days. I also had my first full week of college and after doing that I don’t think it’ll slow progress too much? They'll definitely be a hit to progress but it should be fine overall. Luckily most of the bones of this project are done so I’m not worried.

Best of luck and get well soon, I also got ill this damned week, autumn has definitely returned.

Week10 (9/14/2024):
I started the week wanting to make some better sidequests and I think I cooked up some pretty good stuff here is what they are:

• [Side Quest] Campus Clean Up Crew!
  • Description: The academy groundskeeper is trying to keep the area clean but it seems like litter-causing Pokémon like Grimer and Trubbish have made a mess of the campus. Help the groundskeeper clean up by catching or defeating these Pokémon.
• [Side Quest] It's just a burning memory…
  • Description: An old man in Lyra town's park is losing his memories and his grandson wants to recreate a photo album of his history as a pokemon trainer. With his grandson, Jhonny, photograph a specific battle in Jenkin's life that matched his old, faded photos.
• [Side Quest] Oh Dear, my Dear Deer!
  • Description: A student at Cassiopeia Academy is trying to write a paper on pokemon that change their forms depending on their environment, catch a deerling of at least two different forms then show her your Pokedex data.
• [Side Quest] Pompous Pumpkaboo
  • Description: This smug dick head named Peter has a pretty big Pumpkaboo and keeps bragging about it. It's time to put that Pompous, Pea-brained, Pathetic, Putrid, Pitiful, Pungent PETER back in his place by catching a bigger Pumkaboo.
• [Side Quest] Mini Macho Miner
  • Description: Jill is a scientist having trouble digging for minerals in the cave on her own and wants to recruit a Machop, a pokemon she seems to be strongly infatuated with... Anyways, catch one for her to help her out.

There is one more sidequest I want to add in the future I’m calling Trainer Quests. I think some of the generic Trainer Classes are kinda hot and want to make a side quest where you get a sex scene with that Trainer Class at the end. Basically a hook up, no affection meter for this character, and they don’t have further stages to go from, they aren't super complex or meant to be a love interest in any way. I want to start with the Lass, “Oh Dear, my Dear Deer” was originally supposed to be a Trainer Quest but it was wayyyy too easy, so I'm still brainstorming there.

Simple quests but charming enough for the beginning, especially with those names and settings, they don’t sound like your average soulless fetch quest which are becoming more and more common in videogames nowadays.
Have you already pondered about the rewards or if a specific amount of mission will have small branching choices?
Such as receiving a different reward for completing X task instead of Y? (Dumb example: delivering a Castform or a Shellos to the student will surprise her, going against the lines).

Trainer quests can be an entertaining project, if they are just one scene per trainer and they don’t turn into another LI.
But an hook up sex scene for just delivering a couple of Deerlings is exaggerated even by porn game standards, it‘s genuinely boring obtaining banging just like that.
You can go wild with these episodic events, explore the lands of kinky actions with your MC and the strangers you encounter along the way (Akin to Summer Memories side characters).
Aiding a shy Lass in pretending to be her prom date for the academy, Helping a Ranger impressing her boyfriend only to find him cheating, discovering a fangirl of your achievements in a later town, gaining an unreachable Ace trainer who is waiting for the best trainer in the world and so on.
Perhaps these trainer quests should be longer and more complicated than the others.

Achievements:
I got an achievements plugin in, it only has the default achievements that the plugin comes with, I can now add my own achievements and stuff.

Held Items:
Held Items like Air balloons, berries etc are typically items I never use in a pokemon playthrough but are basically essential to pokemon team building when it comes to competitive team building. I was originally going to make it so all consumable held items are restored after each battle but that was very overpowered, with just one berry you could always restore some of your HP forever for every single battle from now on. So instead I think I’m going to make the item distribution pretty generous, when the held item is consumed if you have a spare in your bag it will automatically be replaced after battle (so if I have 5 sitrus berries in my bag and my starter uses their berry in battle, after the battle finishes they will automatically be holding a sitrus berry again without the hassle of needing to go into your bag and re-give it one and you will have 4 sitrus berries in your bag) and if anyone doesn’t like this I added an option in the game settings to turn this off.

Exp Crafting:
I made it so in the pokemon center you can craft EXP candies into different sizes so you can use your EXP Candy S’s to make a EXP Candy M. There is more crafting stuff I can do in the future but right now I have no ideas or plans for that.

Pokemon NPC Guy:
I added a guy who’s just there to be pretty convenient, you can change your pokemon’s nicknames here, relearn old moves, and craft here for free. It's also where you can exchange BP for random gifts. Next to him is also the normal pokemon shop guy who will sell you what you would expect.

Train:
There is a train in each downstairs area in every pokemon center. This is just fast travel, it’s that simple. I was originally going to make it so you need to go to the area before you can fast travel there but I thought back to my time playing Pokemon Crystal Clear, which will let you fly anywhere and it was really fun flying to somewhere I’ve never been to, having no idea what was around me and kinda just traveling around and eventually I’d stumble across another place I recognize again and it was just pretty cool, it won’t do much in the first version since the only two towns are Lyra Town and Cassiopeia Academy but it’ll grow with time.

Time:
When you go into any area with a name tag, it’ll also announce the current time next to it.

And that was this week, good lord, I hate colledge so fucking muuuuch.

All of those are great addition, these QoLs truly turn the game into a remarkable fan project just alone.
It’s always a pleasure reading your devlogs.

If I can recommend a solution for the holdable items, you can either create lesser version of these items that only have one usage. (and discover later the permanent versions of them).
Or code them to have a durability, when they break you can go into a poke center to repair them.
Therefore collecting money gains other uses.
Albeit this mechanic could turn into a cumbersome grinding.

Crafting is a Pandora’s vase, many games feel the need to introduce it, and the abandon it uncooked. So many AAA and indie games turn it into a skippable activity.
I wonder how you will continue it, if crafting will be an optional small activity for a set of standard items or even used for quests.
And yeah college is what it is

 

[Luximora]

Yeeei Achievements!

Best of luck and get well soon, I also got ill this damned week, autumn has definitely returned.

Simple quests but charming enough for the beginning, especially with those names and settings, they don’t sound like your average soulless fetch quest which are becoming more and more common in videogames nowadays.
Have you already pondered about the rewards or if a specific amount of mission will have small branching choices?
Such as receiving a different reward for completing X task instead of Y? (Dumb example: delivering a Castform or a Shellos to the student will surprise her, going against the lines).

Trainer quests can be an entertaining project, if they are just one scene per trainer and they don’t turn into another LI.
But an hook up sex scene for just delivering a couple of Deerlings is exaggerated even by porn game standards, it‘s genuinely boring obtaining banging just like that.
You can go wild with these episodic events, explore the lands of kinky actions with your MC and the strangers you encounter along the way (Akin to Summer Memories side characters).
Aiding a shy Lass in pretending to be her prom date for the academy, Helping a Ranger impressing her boyfriend only to find him cheating, discovering a fangirl of your achievements in a later town, gaining an unreachable Ace trainer who is waiting for the best trainer in the world and so on.
Perhaps these trainer quests should be longer and more complicated than the others.

All of those are great addition, these QoLs truly turn the game into a remarkable fan project just alone.
It’s always a pleasure reading your devlogs.

If I can recommend a solution for the holdable items, you can either create lesser version of these items that only have one usage. (and discover later the permanent versions of them).
Or code them to have a durability, when they break you can go into a poke center to repair them.
Therefore collecting money gains other uses.
Albeit this mechanic could turn into a cumbersome grinding.

Crafting is a Pandora’s vase, many games feel the need to introduce it, and the abandon it uncooked. So many AAA and indie games turn it into a skippable activity.
I wonder how you will continue it, if crafting will be an optional small activity for a set of standard items or even used for quests.
And yeah college is what it is

Feeling better thanfully

Side quest naming is definitely probobly the funnest part lol

I have thought about branching sidequests, the problem I've had with sidequests are how theyre surprisingly annoying to event in game, I wouldn't mind giving some sidequests branches but even one branch really increases the time it takes to finish eventing the sidequest by alot so it definitely could never be a norm.

Holy shit your full of ideas for trainer quests, and like really good ones to, dude those are hot, like straight up im definitely going to borrow some of those ideas.

durability might honestly be a better idea then my idea of giving consumable held items in multiples but the problem is their is 0 precident for any pokemon item doing that at all so I'd need to not just make new code but comb through the code of pokemon essentials to make sure nothing breaks which would just be really damn hard. I do like the idea of an end game perma version though, it reminds me of those unbreakable versions of those fragile charms in hollow knight.

Crafting i think for now will just be so you can convert your EXP candies into different sizes, i might do something with it in a future update if i get a really good idea, but like you said crafting in alot of games just sucks especially if done carelessly so i wont tack it on to my game if i dont have any good ideas for it.

 

[zARRR]

Feeling better thanfully

Side quest naming is definitely probobly the funnest part lol

Great for you, I am still down with this illness

And yes, I can detect that you had great fun.

I have thought about branching sidequests, the problem I've had with sidequests are how theyre surprisingly annoying to event in game, I wouldn't mind giving some sidequests branches but even one branch really increases the time it takes to finish eventing the sidequest by alot so it definitely could never be a norm.

What I feared, coding is indeed a bitch.
Then it’s definitely better to just create a set number of branching side quests, an amount of challenging quests that could be found in the late game… Or a very long questline that stretches throughout multiple objectives and towns that is linear but full of plot twists.

Holy shit your full of ideas for trainer quests, and like really good ones to, dude those are hot, like straight up im definitely going to borrow some of those ideas.

Glad that you enjoyed them! I can brew it more in my mind, I have multiple ideas constantly for different things.
And kinky setting are especially important in erotic games, if the story and the spice isn’t present, then there ain’t any chemistry.

durability might honestly be a better idea then my idea of giving consumable held items in multiples but the problem is their is 0 precident for any pokemon item doing that at all so I'd need to not just make new code but comb through the code of pokemon essentials to make sure nothing breaks which would just be really damn hard. I do like the idea of an end game perma version though, it reminds me of those unbreakable versions of those fragile charms in hollow knight.

Crafting i think for now will just be so you can convert your EXP candies into different sizes, i might do something with it in a future update if i get a really good idea, but like you said crafting in alot of games just sucks especially if done carelessly so i wont tack it on to my game if i dont have any good ideas for it.

Exactly like those fragile charms in Hollow Knight or the tools in Animal crossing New horizons

An idea popped up in the meantime, you could add in crafting the ability to craft a set of vitamins (like Protein) from one basic item, so you can choice which vitamin you want to level up your Pokémons