One of the most important parts of the game is, of course, the trainer battles.
Honestly, this should be one of the funnest parts of the project. We need trainer types (Bug Catcher, Hiker, etc.), trainer names (feel free to name them after people you know), reward for winning, and a list of their pokemon with level, moves, abilities, and items.
The ones neccessary for the demo are Routes 201-204, Froy's gym trainers, Therma's gym trainers, and Chartree Forest, so lets start there, finalize the list, and move on to the next set.
Hiker Marcus (Double Battle w/ Beau)
Sandshrew (Sand Veil) Lv. 14 Scratch, Defense Curl, Poison Sting
Whispaw Lv. 14 Ember, Tail Whip, Safeguard
Camper Beau
Lupine Lv. 14 Scratch, Growl, Odor Sleuth, Vine Whip
Ampure Lv. 14 Thundershock, Charge, Thunderwave, Quick Attack
P313
(Marcus's Pokemon/Beau's Pokemon)
This is just in case we do these double battles (like in Emerald). Otherwise, one or the other.
Hiker Marcus (Double Battle w/ Beau)
Sandshrew (Sand Veil) Lv. 14 Scratch, Defense Curl, Poison Sting
Whispaw Lv. 14 Ember, Tail Whip, Safeguard
Camper Beau
Lupine Lv. 14 (I'd actually prefer if Inflare not be in yet) Scratch, Growl, Odor Sleuth, Vine Whip
Ampure Lv. 14 Thundershock, Charge, Thunderwave, Quick Attack
P313
(Marcus's Pokemon/Beau's Pokemon)
This is just in case we do these double battles (like in Emerald). Otherwise, one or the other.
I put all of the trainers from "other" into an area. We can move them around. I think there's too many in Chartree.
06-12-12 08:19 PM
ImmunityBow
I think you're right about Chartree. There should probably be about 7-8 encounters there but instead there's a whopping 13. I think the concern was that it was better for trainers to be overleveled for Froy than for people to fall flat to Therma and be forced to grind levels on wild Pokemon to beat her. Perhaps if some of the trainers can be refought after you defeat Froy?
06-12-12 09:13 PM
Cyndadile
So, if we pull the first 8 Chartree trainers, we get:
Hiker Bill
Sandshrew Lv. 9---Scratch, Sand-Attack, Defense Curl
Money: 206
They should also have different rewards, updated movesets, and some of them might have gotten new pokemon, or evolved the ones they had.
06-14-12 02:45 AM
Reliability
Recall that there is plot in between Froy and Therma. Perhaps some of the Chartree trainers can become some of that plot?
06-19-12 07:25 PM
locknessjohnson
just wondering, why does a level 9 pineco know more moves than a level 10 pineco?
06-19-12 07:37 PM
Cyndadile
TMs? :p
06-19-12 08:16 PM
Black Temple Gaurdian
This isn't just any Pineco, this is a tMS Pineco! :p
06-20-12 09:03 PM
Cyndadile
Added Froy and Therma, so that we'd have a reference for how much higher the player's level needs to get. They're labeled as finalized, but I'm sure we could tweak a couple things if it seems unrealistic.
06-24-12 07:50 PM
ImmunityBow
Okay, so here is how you define a trainer in trainers.txt
1st line: Internal name of the trainer's type. Just assume it's whatever it's named ALLCAPS and no spaces. I'll correct it when I add it in.
2nd line: Trainer's name. If they are a trainer that will rematch or are a Orion Grunt or Rocket Grunt, add a comma and a number from 0-255 increasing
3rd line: Separated by comma: # of Pokemon, An item (like those full restores the E4 have, they'll use them automatically when necessary), another item, another item, another item (ignore commas for non-existent values)
4th+ line: These are the Pokemon the trainer has, 1 pokemon to a line, aspects separated by comma: SPECIES,LEVEL,HELDITEM,MOVE1,MOVE2,MOVE3,MOVE4,ABI LITY(0 for first ability, 1 for second),GENDER(0 male, 1 female),FORM(for Pokemon who have them),FALSE(Shinyness),NATURE,10(IVs, 10 is default),70(Happiness, 0 for Rockets, 255 for Orions),NICKNAME(if applicable),FALSE(Shadowness)
NOTES: For the 4th+ line you can leave certain elements blank (like Held Item and such). If you leave all moves blank then that Pokemon will have default wild ones. If you have any moves filled the Pokemon will have ONLY those moves. Ability, Gender: leave these blank for the most part, they will be determined naturally via trainer Personal ID (ie semi RNG). Exceptions are: Gym Leaders, E4, gender-specific trainers (ie Ladies and Lasses can have all female Pokemon). You can buff up the IVs of certain Pokemon for rival/E4/gym leaders for more challenge. However, that number is used for every IV (so if you have 31 the Pokemon will have +31 in all stats).
I will do Chartree Forest. Everything else is fair game for anyone else. This is pretty darn important, so I'm expecting some help on this at least.
06-24-12 09:02 PM
NyteFyre
Quote:
Originally Posted by Froy
Embear Lvl 9 Male
Abilty: Guts
- Tackle
- Growl
- Flare
- Focus Energy
Growlithe Lvl 10 Male
Ability: Intimidate
- Bite
- Roar
- Ember
- Flare
Scorchion Lvl 12 Male @ Oran Berry
Ability: Flame Body
- Bug Bite
- Flare
- Leer
- Fury Cutter
Did you check to see whether each of the planned abilities were the first of the Pokemon's? You can check in the pokemon.txt topic. In any case, I ran a check and the values for ABILITY for Growlithe and Scorchion should be 1. Also, you can leave the gender value blank unless you really want them all to be male for some reason. One more thing, instead of LEADER the trainer type should be LEADER_Froy so that you get the Froy sprite when you fight him. Otherwise, good work!
06-25-12 02:49 AM
NyteFyre
Thanks for the corrections, I'll make sure to check next time! I only put them as Male because that's what they were written as when his lineup was finalized.
Edit: Finished Therma, though it seems there is a problem:
Hey, I was looking up the abilities like you said, and, it turns out that Therma's Equill has an ability that it's line cannot have. I checked both Pokemon.txt AND it's dex entry, and Empty Head is not an ability that Equill can have! What should it be changed to?
06-26-12 08:18 PM
ImmunityBow
Use Synchronize instead. I think Equill used to have Empty Head, and Tellure used to have Color Change. And then we changed them both to Synchronize because of a dispute.
06-26-12 09:25 PM
NyteFyre
Mmk, Changed it up.
06-27-12 05:24 PM
Cyndadile
Wrote up routes 202 and 203. Soon we'll have to start getting creative.
YOUNGSTER
John
1
LUPINE,8,,SCRATCH,GROWL,ODORSLEUTH,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
YOUNGSTER
Danny
3
MOGEL,6,,POUND,CHARM,DEFENSECURL,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
MOGEL,7,,POUND,CHARM,DEFENSECURL,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
AMPURE,8,,THUNDERSHOCK,TAILWHIP,CHARGE,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
I basically have no plans for the rest of the summer, so I hope to focus on my Topaz-ing and writing.
EDIT: Realized that there was no field for reward. How's that going to work? Is it automatic?
(never mind, found out that it is determined in trainertypes.txt, so reward is related to trainer type and is not set on a case by case basis)
EDIT2:Looking at the lineups, the ones I listed for 204 might actually be Froy's gym. What do you think?
SCHOLAR
Thomas
1
SKARMORY,18,,PECK,SANDATTACK,SWIFT,AGILITY,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
06-28-12 04:16 PM
ImmunityBow
Good job.
It may require more looking into, because the Essential's wiki has a category for money, experience and prizes, but it's incomplete and red. I have a feeling it's a matter of just scripting "You got ___P from the Trainer!" and then using a script to simply add P to your character. But that is a little cumbersome. Also, for future reference, the only items trainers have been programmed to know how to use is basic Potions, stat Heal effects and "X" items. SO just use those. I'm not sure if Full Restore counts so we'll have to test and see.
07-02-12 10:59 PM
Cyndadile
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyndadile
Therma's Gym:
Code:
BIRDKEEPER
Clark
3
FINCHERP,15,,PECK,GROWL,SQUAL,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
FINCHERP,16,,PECK,GROWL,SQUAL,DOUBLETEAM,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
FINCHERP,17,,PECK,GROWL,SQUAL,DOUBLETEAM,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
Took another look at these lineups, and I realized that Birdkeeper Clark has higher level pokemon than Gym Leader Therma. Is that right? I think it might be harder to beat Lass Violet than Therma. Should we raise Therma's levels/lower her gym trainer's levels?
Also, in response to IB's last post:
Quote:
Every trainer in the game, including the player, has a trainer type. The trainer type determines the trainer's appearance, title (e.g. Bug Catcher, Hiker, Gym Leader), the amount of money gained from defeating them, and associated battle music.
Oh cool. That saves us a bunch of work then since the numbers will work themselves out automatically.
I think the reason why the trainer had higher level Pokemon than Therma's was because we realized that the player would be essentially be battling Therma straight after Froy and adjusted her levels down to compensate. We can raise them now that we have additional encounters in Chartree. Does anyone think that fighting their way back through Chartree again might be a little boring for players though? What can we do to spice up the experience, and perhaps we should have fewer repeat trainers?
07-03-12 08:27 PM
Cyndadile
Well, we have 2 plot-related battles on the way back. Perhaps we could add a first sidequest here? And/or have one of the professor's aides fight you? "Professor Willow sent me here to test your skill!" and stuff like that.
He could have the third starter, if that one's unclaimed.
07-03-12 08:30 PM
ImmunityBow
I think Bradley and Alisa have the two other starters. Maybe if defeating Allard/Shook gave you a cool TM.
07-03-12 10:10 PM
Black Temple Gaurdian
No sidequests. Not for the demo. Battling for items sounds cool though.
07-03-12 10:49 PM
Cyndadile
Therma's flying typed, so Thunder, Thunderbolt, or Shock Wave would probably be most useful.
07-03-12 10:59 PM
Black Temple Gaurdian
Thunder's too early, Thunderbolt might work, Shock Wave too. How about a rock move? Rock Tomb? It's given out by Brock and Roxanne so it's not too early (like Thunder).
Or Sonicboom? :P It'd make for easy kills for leveling up (if you want to power level in the demo). Of course we could always change it to a sidequest AFTER the Demo, so people who go to him/her for the TM end up on a totally epic sidequest instead without any idea as to what they were getting into.
07-03-12 11:14 PM
Cyndadile
I was just thinking that there are two electric pokemon available (Mareep and Ampure) and no rock types. Although Sandshrew, Mogel, and probably a couple others can learn Rock Tomb.
07-05-12 07:13 AM
NyteFyre
I thought I already did the gym leaders? oh well.
Anyway, I think you should be given an HM, probably cut, that allows you to access a secret area that contains the TM that you guys decide on! Combine a little sidequesting with a little free items :3
07-12-12 03:47 PM
ImmunityBow
Code:
HIKER
Bill
1
SANDSHREW,9,,,,,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
CAMPER
Adam
5
FINCHERP,6,,,,,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
MOGEL,6,,,,,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
SANDSHREW,6,,,,,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
LUPINE,6,,,,,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
EMBEAR,6,,,,,,,,,FALSE,,10,70,,FALSE
Here's the first run of Chartree. I'm thinking of only adding 3 on the way back (shortcut way blocked by Rockets initially) since there's 3 more battles, one of which is double for Orion/Rocket. One thing that needs addressing though is the possibility of Bradley teaming up with you for the double battle. It's in the script but I can't seem to find out how to do it.
07-12-12 04:02 PM
Cyndadile
Partner trainers!
They appear to be defined in the same way as normal trainers, with a trainer type (in this case something new like "BRADLEY", since Bradley is unique), and a an individual trainer profile thing (like what we're building now). Then all we need to do is have an event register him
There would also need to be an if statement in the event, to check which version of Bradley to use (depends on the starter).
Bradley's trainer entry would be something like this:
Code:
BRADLEY
Bradley
1
ECHOISE,11,,,,,,,,,,,,255
I think Bradley's Pokemon would all have maxed-out happiness.
07-12-12 08:50 PM
ImmunityBow
I think there's also a bunch of "if statements" we can use to determine which starter he has depending on which one you chose that is used for rivals in general. Thanks Cyndadile I didn't even know to look for Partner Trainers.
07-25-12 12:02 AM
Will
May I bring up an issue. Currently there are 17 trainers before Froy + a couple of rival battles. In FRLG there are 5 trainers before Brock. In addition Brock's pokemon are a couple of levels higher than Froy's. Therefore the player will be significantly overleveled. Either the number of trainers needs to be reduced (to less than ten) or Froy's pokemon need an upgrade (of at least 5 levels).
However reducing the amount of trainers maybe tough when there are 3/4 routes and a forest to navigate through. Increasing Froy's levels is also not a good idea for obvious reasons. I suggest we forget about trainers on 202 and only have a couple on 203. Then we can reduce the number in Chartree to around 6/7. On 204 it might be appropriate to have trainers only accessable on the way back, in order to increase for Therma.
Also, I'm not sure if this is an issue or not buut here it goes. Due to having twelve gyms and a huge region, the player's pokemon will have levelled significantly throughout the game. They should be approaching lvl 100 by after the elite 4. However levels of evolution havent been adjusted. This means that the majority of the game will be played with all the player's pokemon in their final form. Also this will be represented in the wild, as although the pokemon maybe in their lowest form, they are likely to be levelled higher than their evolution level and thus may miss out on some key moves. I'm not sure if people deem this an issue, but i thought it should be noted.
07-25-12 01:48 AM
Cyndadile
If we remove trainers on Route 202, then we have two entire routes without any real battles. That isn't really a great way to start a game. If anything, we want to leave them on 202 and remove them from 203. However, we may not need to do anything so dramatic: I remember great frustration trying to beat that stupid Onix with Pikachu or Charmander. Brock was actually one of the hardest gym leaders for me!
On to the second issue...
The 12th gym leader has pokemon in the low 70s. In order to get that high, I'll probably have to run through a load of tall grass. Usually, I can (barely) manage the gyms through a combination of facing every trainer on the way, a lot of revives, and pure dumb luck. That's my pokemon strategy. I don't think Caldera/Kirant are that much larger than Hoenn (but I could be wrong). So, it's reasonable to assume that, if I were to use my usual strategy, I'd start to fail somewhere around leader 6 (I usually get to the E4 with levels in the low to mid 40s). I think we may need to decrease gym leader levels. A lot of the gym leaders won't have more than a short route separating them from somewhere you've already been, and it's difficult to fit a bunch of trainers there. So, I think that "approaching 100" may be a huge overestimation.
There's also an advantage to pokemon who could have evolved; they get better moves faster.
These issues are really things that needs to be playtested to make an accurate prediction. Once the demo is released, we'll be able to get feedback about what needs to be changed to improve the game. After that, I guess we'll need some sort of alpha/beta testing system and adjust according to that.
For now, we can try to deal with that first situation.
07-25-12 05:34 AM
ImmunityBow
Level 100 takes a long, long while to get to, involving loads of E4 grinding generally. I understand the sentiment though I think that numbers in the 70s are actually more likely (given that I got through my first run of FRLG with levels 36-40 things!) I think you may be right about the number of trainers, and this will probably become apparent when placing the trainers on the maps. Reducing the number of trainers a bit might be helpful, though another solution is raising Froy's level but keeping Therma's only slightly higher than his, since there aren't too many battles between them. As for Brock, I think I basically fought to Mt. Moon before facing him...
07-25-12 09:08 AM
Will
3 Attachment(s)
Ok so I have attempted to narrow down the trainers. I have 3 on 202, 2 on 203 and 5 in Chartree. That should be a suitable amount.
EDIT: Hang on ... I've just seen Therma's Equill has Ice Beam! Is that deliberate to make it more tough as the levels aren't particularly high? I think I like the extra difficulty.
07-25-12 02:46 PM
Cyndadile
Based on Cranewing gym's current design, I think we should have at least 2 trainers there. Also, ther seems to be quite a gap between the levels in Chartree and the levels in the gym. Could we raise some of the chartree trainer levels a little?
07-26-12 07:09 PM
Will
How about moving increasing the levels of the last trainer in Chartree by 1 ... Remember that this is effectively 5 trainers in a row, whereas before the gym trainer the player's pokemon will be fully healed.