First things first: This IS NOT a lost beta, a recreation of any one specific beta, or a faithful demake of Gold & Silver onto Red & Blue's engine.
This ROM Hack is a nostalgic, beta-inspired reimagining of Pokémon Gold & Silver Versions, built from the disassembly of Pokémon Red/Blue with a LOT of changes. It takes inspiration from multiple prototype versions, along with the vanilla games, in order to be its own thing. It reboots the timeline after the events of Gen 1, replacing vanilla Gen 2 and ignoring Gen 3+.
Over 20 years ago, when the community discoved the beta Johto cities leftover in Gold & Silver Versions, they were an obvious point of interest for a lot of people, and there were many hacks started (and never finished) over the years attempting to recreate beta Johto. Some of those maps were also used as the basis for cities in Pokémon Brown, as well. But we never had a hack turning those specific beta cities into a proper game of their own. Then, when the Space World '97 demo leaked, I was hoping we would finally get to see what that version of beta Johto was actually like. Of course, we did not get that, we got an entirely different region, and a lot of other interesting things. But I was still a little disappointed that in all of the leaks, we still never got an answer for that version of Johto that caught my interest all those years ago. So I decided to make my own take on it. There are a lot of gaps to fill in, even taking all of the leaks into consideration and combining them together, so this game will certainly not be faithful to what Gamefreak actually had in mind, as I am not a mind reader. But I hope it will be a fun and interesting journey through a region heavily based on that version of beta Johto.
Things you SHOULD expect to see in Pokémon RedGold & BlueSilver include:
- The Kansai Region, heavily based on beta maps found leftover in the final versions of GSC, remapped in the style of the SW97 demo, with routes and landmarks that are from or inspired by multiple leaked prototype builds, though some areas are invented by me to help flesh out the region.
- A storyline inspired by a combination of SW97, vanilla GSC, and things indicated by beta NPCs and scripts (with creative license to fill in the gaps.)
- A Pokédex list combining Pokémon from SW97, SW99, and final GSC.
- Custom skill sets for Pokémon, not copied from current Gen or vanilla Gen 2.
- A combination of vanilla Gen 1 and 2 attacks, beta attacks, and custom attacks to suit the Pokémon that are available.
- Game mechanics that combine aspects of Gen 1, Gen 2, beta content, and custom changes.
Things you SHOULD NOT expect in this game:
- Vanilla Gen 2 with a different coat of paint.
- The Region from the SW97 Demo.
- Pokémon, characters, locations, etc. from Gen 3+.
- Modern game mechanics such as Natures, Abilities, IVs and EVs, the Physical/Special Split, Mega Evolution, etc.
- Obnoxious self-insert boss trainers, "Kaizo" difficulty, Nuzlocke mode, or anything "overly fan-gamey" like that.
I know this hack may not appeal to everyone, and that is ok, but I hope the people that find this interesting will enjoy it once it is ready. Because not everything will match the vanilla games, there will of course be documentation available for people that want it.
- A full list of features can be found in FEATURES.md.
- A full list of credits can be found in CREDITS.md.
- To see a list of all Pokémon included, look here.
- To see Pokémon skill sets and evolutions, look here.
- To see Pokémon base stats and which TMs they learn, look here.
- To see which Pokémon are found in the wild in each area, look here.
- To see a list of Pokémon you can find via Headbutting trees, look here.
- To see all the In-Game Trades and where they are found, look here.
Additional reference materials will be made once the project is closer to a release, to document some of the new content in a more user-friendly way instead of just digging through the source code.
A: Vanilla cheat codes do not work anymore, because memory has shifted way too much. A list of the most commonly requested Gameshark Codes (such as item/pokemon modifiers and infinite money) will be placed here once there is an actual release, and will indicate which version they are for when the time comes.
A: Primarily superficial changes, such as the title screen and other graphics. While some Pokémon will be more common in one version than the other, ALL Pokémon will be obtainable in both versions without having to trade. A full list of version differences will be put together once more content is in place.
A: This hack is not directly related to Super Gold '97, G/S '97 Reforged, Pokémon October, or any other beta hack. The source material (the beta leaks) have a lot of missing and placeholder data, and have no official English names for Pokémon and the like. While these hacks contain some of the same Pokémon and other things, and draw inspiration from some of the same material, we all had a lot of gaps to fill in, and chose to fill them in differently, in the ways we each liked best. Just appreciate them all for what they are - different fan interpretations of unfinished content that was originally lost.
A: To help emphasize that this is a reimagining, and not just vanilla Johto with a new coat of paint, city names have been replaced with new (but fitting) names. In the case of Pokémon, if a beta design felt "different enough" to me, I chose to give it a different name from the final version to help it stand out. Such as "Purrleaf" for Beta Hoppip, since the beta designs still felt more cat-like with their faces and tails, for example.
A: Since this is a reimagining, I found it more fun and interesting to come up with a unique blend of gameplay mechanics, combining Gen 1, Gen 2, Beta Content, and custom changes for personal preference or balancing reasons.
A: The only tools used were the RGBDS compiler, Notepad++, Polished Map, Tilemap Studio, and a paint program to edit .png files.
A: Gen 2 is my favorite, Gen 1 has the most nostalgia for me, and I have always been fascinated with the beta Gen 2 content. I wanted to make something that brought that all together.
A: Short answer? Because I could.
A: Longer answer? I learned a lot about hacking Gen 1 while making Red++ (before moving it to pokecrystal) and I wanted to make use of that knowledge in something new, doing something that I found more interesting. I also felt that pokered would do a better job of capturing the nostalgic feeling it was going for, and would work well with the SW97 aesthetic. I also figured it would be a fun challenge trying to get this working the way I wanted it to on pokered.
A: Maybe, maybe not. Suggestions will be taken into consideration, but it is impossible to please everyone, or to include everything that is ever suggested. Do not be upset if you suggest a change, and the answer ends up being "no".
To set up the repository, see INSTALL.md.
For pret's disassembly projects, see pret.github.io.
For more information on hacking Red & Blue, check out the pokered Wiki (includes tutorials)