Pokemon Empire: Official Game Thread

[Noctelis 12]

The point is that all vegetation gets severely damaged when struck by lightning.

[kithas 118]

52 minutes ago, Noctelis said:

The point is that all vegetation gets severely damaged when struck by lightning.

Well, that would cross paths with fire, being vegetation burned by lightning. In this case, I think electric type could get another strenght, but also Grass has maybe too much weaknesses? (Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying and bug) but it could very well do neutral damage ^^

[Octavius 77]

Well, most things are severely damaged when actually struck by lightning, but we probably shouldn't have electric be super effective against normal, bug, fighting, and psychic, too. And while we want to be as realistic as possible with our balancing, we have to pick and choose what we can actually do that doesn't also completely throw the entire game out of whack. For example, I wanted Ice to be super-effective against Water, but it makes too many drastic changes to some Pokemon suddenly becoming way too powerful and others way too weak. And we don't want to completely scratch the current type chart and start over, because that will upset way too many people. We do want to maintain a level of integrity with the canon games, after all.

 

So ultimately, we are looking to make some significant adjustments to help bring about better overall game balance without being unrealistic or completely turning what people know about the current type chart on its head. 

[Yagami 109]

That's a lot of changes.You guys need to make a big "read me" file when you release your first demo.

 

[Commander 876]

8 hours ago, Octavius said:

This is a lengthy post regarding balance changes in Pokémon Empire. This is essentially a teaser for gameplay changes/information that will eventually culminate in a Pokémon Empire Wiki.

But until that happens, we hope you enjoy this teaser and thinking about all of the possibilities we have in store for Pokémon Empire!

 

Now before getting into specific examples, there are a few balance changes to key gameplay mechanics that are EXTREMELY important and change how we are balancing the rest of the game. These changes correspond with Empire's overall vision of creating more fun, common-sense, and balanced gameplay that still captures the core identity of the gameplay mechanics of the canon games. We are seeking to improve/fix existing features/problems from the canon games in a positive way. So here we go:

• Freeze. This status condition has long been aggravating and unoriginal. To bring it in line with its counterpart status conditions: poison, burn, and paralysis, we are changing freeze from preventing the Pokémon from taking any action to "The Pokémon's Sp. Attack is halved. Each turn, the frozen Pokémon has a 25% chance to be fully frozen, rendering it unable to take any action that turn." We believe this, along with new moves that emphasis freezing the opponent's Pokémon, will create more interesting and varied strategies in battle, especially for Ice-types, which have long been maligned defensively.
• Grievous Wounds. A gameplay element that exists in many other games already, we intend to implement Grievous Wounds to Pokémon as well. In this case, applying Grievous Wounds to a Pokémon will reduce the effectiveness of all sources of healing on that target by 50% for the next 3 turns. It works as a secondary status condition, similar to confusion, so it can be cured by switching out. Grievous Wounds can be applied by the effects of moves or abilities. For example, we have changed the move "Searing Shot" to be a 65 power 100 accuracy single-target Special move that has a 100% chance to apply Grievous Wounds to the target. We have also introduced a new ability called "Vicious," which causes the Pokémon's contact moves to always apply Grievous Wounds. Some Pokémon with this ability are Seviper, Weavile, and Haxorus.
• Type Chart. We didn't want to tamper too much with this, and it's honestly impossible to fix everything without creating a brand new type chart, but we agreed that leveling out some of the imbalances between type interactions would outweigh the negatives of having everyone be angry that they have to acclimate to a slightly different type chart. Our overall design philosophy is to make types that barely interact with other types (like ghost, normal) interact more, and types that interact with other types A LOT (fighting, rock) interact less. This should give room for more variation in team building instead of always having to have certain types on your team because of how much coverage they give you. Here are a few specific examples, but do not take them out of context. This is not the full list of changes, and probably means if you think a type is going to be too powerful, there are other changes to make it less powerful. Enjoy.
  • Fighting: now neutrally effective against Steel and Poison
  • Normal: now super effective against Fairy, resists Fairy, resists Ghost (no longer immune), and is weak to Dark
  • Electric: now super effective against Steel, not very effective against Psychic, and is weak to Psychic

 

And now for some of our specific balance changes: new items, updated items, new abilities, updated abilities, new moves, updated moves, and some specific Pokémon changes.

New Items:

• Terrain Boots: holder is immune to entry hazards
• Master Belt: holder's non-STAB (same type attack bonus) moves deal x1.3 damage
• Fake Rock: The effects of Wonder Room, Magic Room, and Trick Room created by the holder last for 8 turns

Updated Items: (these are new effects that will replace the current effects of these items already in the game)

• Full Incense: (consumable) after 5 turns of not switching out or using protect moves or substitute, this item is consumed and raises all of the holder's stats by 1 stage, heals for 25% Max HP, and cures status
• Wave Incense: holder takes x0.8 damage from neutrally-effective attacks
• Muscle Band: holder's physical attacks have x1.2 power, but holder can only use physical attacks

New Abilities:

• Opportunist: moves with 40 base power or less gain priority +1     (barbaracle, beautifly)
• Duelist: boosts Defense and Sp. Defense by 1 stage when you land a Critical Hit on an opponent     (gallade, escavalier)
• Ghoulish: when this Pokémon faints, reduces the PP of the opponent's last move used to 0     (banette, gengar)
• Pitch-Black: opponent's moves that do not have 100% accuracy decrease in base accuracy x.5 (50% less accurate)      (umbreon, spiritomb)
• Dragon Force: user's Dragon-type moves deal x1.5 damage. User also gains Dragon-type resistance.      (gyarados, aerodactyl)

Updated Abilities: (these are new effects that will replace the current effects of these abilities already in the game)

• Symbiosis: after this Pokémon faints, heals the next-Pokémon switched in by 1/4th Max HP (before entry hazards)
• Anger Point: raises the user's Critical Hit Ratio by 1 stage when an opponent uses a status (non-attacking) move
• Speed Boost: raises the user's Speed by 1 stage at the end of each round if the user is not holding an item
• Vital Spirit: when the user is above 50% Max HP, its attacks deal x1.2 damage, but consume double PP
• Battle Armor: user takes x.5 damage from attacks when below 50% Max HP, but can only use attacking moves

New Moves:

• Sandblast: Ground-type, 70 power, 100 accuracy, Special, deals double damage if opponent has no held item     (palossand, claydol, flygon)
• Bedrock: Rock-type, 40 power, 100 acc, Special, changes target's ability to truant      (corsola, cradily, aurorus)
• Hallucinate: Psychic-type, disables your opponent's Special attacks with less than 100 base power for 2 turns      (beheeyem, dusknoir, shiinotic)
• Dragon Fire: Dragon-type, 70 power, 100 accuracy, Special, deals Fire-type damage (but still applies dragon type STAB)     (hydreigon, altaria, noivern)
• Soul Sucker: Ghost-type, 75 power, 100 accuracy, Physical, restores 100% damage inflicted as health to the attacker if it knocks out a Pokémon      (trevenant, banette, drapion)

Updated Moves: (these are new effects that will replace the current effects of these moves already in the game)

• Rock Throw: now deals double damage with 100 accuracy if stealth rocks are on your field. Using this move twice removes stealth rocks
• Worry Seed: now works as an entry hazard that changes the ability of non-Grass type Pokémon switching in to Insomnia
• Withdraw: now raises Defense and Sp. Attack by 1 stage
• Razor Wind: now Flying-type and executes in one turn
• Astonish: now 40 base power and works like Fake Out

Updated Pokémon: (these are new effects that will replace the current effects of these Pokémon already in the game)

• Masquerain becomes Bug/Water type and gets the abilities Levitate, Intimidate, and Disguise
• Qwilfish gets Rough Skin instead of Swift Swim and gets +10 HP and Sp. Defense
• Various Normal/Flying type Pokémon become pure Flying type: includes, but not limited to Braviary, Staraptor, Fearow
• Flygon becomes Dragon/Bug type, has its Attack and Sp. Attack stats switched, and learns Dragon Pulse by level up
• Beartic gets remodeled so it looks much more intimidating, gets +5 Speed, and Weak Armor as an extra ability

New Pokémon: (More Information will be released when these Pokémon become available in-game)

• Volcarona gets a pre-evolution (after Larvesta) and Volcarona itself becomes a Pseudo-legendary Pokémon (600 Base Stat Total)
• Hoothoot evolve into Noctowl at Level 30, Noctowl gets +18 Defense and Hoothoot gains an alternate evolution called Philosiphowl (Flying/Psychic type), which has high Special Stats and a brand new ability
• Dewgong gains an evolution called Colosswhal. It has massive bulk and attack, its design is based on a narwhal, and it has access to 3 excellent abilities and a variety of 'horn' moves
• Many Pokémon that need evolutions will get them. Examples include, but are not limited to: Corsola, Magcargo, Spinda, Pachirisu, Emolga, and Cherrim
• New Custom Megas and re-balanced current Megas will be introduced. Mega Butterfree and Cofagrigus are confirmed, and Mega Kangaskhan gets -10 Attack, +10 Speed, and the second attack from Parental Bond deals x.3 damage instead of x.5

 

And that's all for now! Again, apologies for the excruciating length of this post, but we wanted to let you know the types of ideas we have and how we intend on implementing them. It's a lot of work, and a lot of changes to implement (and get used to as a player), but we are absolutely confident that they will feel natural and make Empire into the best Pokémon game you've ever played.

 

And as always, we're here to field your questions, listen to your criticism, and consider your opinions. But most of all, we hope you're getting (or staying) hyped as we take you through Pokémon Empire's development process every step of the way!

So I have been watching this project slowly, but it's this idea that really, really has made me lose any interest in this project. If someone presented this to me, I'd go "what the hell" and ask that over half of it be removed. This is an example of people who have not been paying attention to the last 20 years of game franchises and their evolving gameplay. Now I have to give the bloody lecture on why you should be reluctant to changing Pokemon and not throw a lot of changes to it.

 

Most people who will even acknowledge this game's existence are people who play Pokemon and more than likely are current players of those games. It works due to being a dumbed down RPG using many of the basic RPG elements with their own little twists allowing for a very heavy focus on customization. That's why every run is different. The design itself is not balanced, but small changes are made in each gen so that the series doesn't go stale (it hasn't changed enough since Gen VI came around) and some Pokemon can keep up with the slow power creep going on. Some Pokemon are made to be intentionally bad so that they are dropped early on (like the birds) or let the player feel the progression of strength as their weak Pokemon become a lot stronger. It also allows people to do special challenges or make use of different Pokemon like me who uses the "weaker" Pokemon to showcase their skills and knowledge. Though it is overall a very simple, easy-going RPG series which is why so many people are found of it.

 

Small edits on Pokemon aren't THAT big of a deal (I know BlazeBlack does it) because it only effects a very small area of Pokemon. The type effectiveness changes is a very, very, very dumb idea. Raise your hand that before playing Reborn, you actually remember Gen I had Ice do neutral damage to ice or Poison and Fighting were super effective to each other (or something like that). In Gen VI, it was a big annoying relearning the type chart but that was made to implement fairy in to balance Dragon and Steel, much like Dark and Steel were made to help balance Psychic for Gen II. The difference here is that I have to remember two different type effectiveness charts at the same time which is so easy to get jumbled up. I'm sure GF would love to completely redo the type chart, but they don't because it'd turn off so many players who have grown attached to it.

 

The new items and status changes I think are good additions, but then a whole bunch of old abilities and items now have new effects that need to be learned. Some abilities are really terrible, but vital spirit is useful if you know how to use it. Underrated ability, but certainly not the greatest. Not a fan of additional fakemon (especially to serve as a mid stage evolution), but that's not a can of worms. This is on top of field effects and all the other previously added stuff.

 

So when a player picks up this game and starts to play it, they'll be expecting something that plays more or less like Pokemon (even Reborn does this when first introducing players to its world). Players who played Reborn had to learn and deal with the complex system that is field effects that has mixed opinions as it's an additional layer to the gameplay meant for opponents to have an advantage over the player. This game does that, plus changes how older Pokemon work and function, plus changes the super effective type chart, plus changes some status effects, plus changes some old items and abilities, plus is centered around a choice based storyline, plus has a side quest system that locks you out of certain side quests by joining the guild, plus has fakemon. I hope your writer knows what they're doing because that is a lot of stuff to slowly implement and teach the player the mechanics of.

 

Don't get me wrong because there are some pretty good ideas that I know fans would enjoy, but it's just my personal belief you're trying to do too much here. It makes me wonder how this area is going to be quality checked along with all the other areas that need quality checked as well. Sometimes it's best to reevaluate the game and reexamine the original idea to make sure you aren't veering too far from it. After all, what you CAN do isn't what you SHOULD do.

[uberle 203]

This game really looks interesting and I'm definitely going to play it once it drops

I like the new Pokemon, abilities, moves, and other additions as well.

 

As for the starter list [My comments in brackets in case you couldn't tell]

 

• Normal: Lillipup (learns elemental fangs via level up) [With the level up moveset change I'm good with it]

• Flying: Starly [Kind of generic, but ok]

• Bug: Venipede (Poison jab instead of venom shock as well as a small stat buff) [Depends on the stat buff, but the better STAB move is good]

• Dragon: Axew (No dragon rage, evos slightly earlier) [I can understand the nerf and the earlier evo balances it out]

• Dark: Zorua [Considering how few choices there really are Zorua seems like a good choice]

• Fairy: Flabebe (Florges evo at 34) [Yes! No annoying stones!]

• Electric: Shinx (Luxray is electric/dark) [I like the type change, and I will never say no to a Luxray]

• Fighting: Timburr (evos at 20 and 33) [Hmm... It's not that I don't like Timburr, it's just that I feel there are other options]

• Poison: Nidoran (2nd stage evo for both get a 20 points added to their BST) [The buff is nice though a little annoyed to see I still need a stone]

• Ground: Phanpy (stone edge at 30, new ground move given upon evolution) [Oooooh, new move. I like it]

• Rock, Rockruff (Midnight form lycanroc is Rock/Dark) [Type change makes sense, though the x4 weakness to Fighting might hurt it]

• Ghost, Duskull (evos at 25 and 40, has pound lv 1) [All Ghost's seem to have bad early movesets, so at least one somewhat decent move is good]

• Steel, Magnemite (evos at 25 and 40) [Glad to see no location specific evo]

• Fire: Darmaka (evos at 27, movepool switched around) [Never used a Darumaka before. Not a bad choice though]

• Water, Clauncher (evos at 27, new ability and several new moves) [Clawitzer got a bad ability, so it's nice to see it get a buff]

• Grass, Tangela (evos at 30) [Tangela? TANGELA!? Sorry just.... It's such a weird choice]

• Ice: Sneasel (slight stat nerf on sneasel, learns ice punch and icicle crash via level up) [Again a little iffy here as Sneasel is already near incapable of taking a hit so the nerf has me worried]

• Psychic, Solosis (evos at 16 and 31, energy ball and focus blast via level up) [I like it. Solosis is a mon I've wanted to use, but haven't been be to, also great new moves]

 

[Filthy Casual 176]

Hello, everyone! I'm excited to reveal to you a new Guardian, as well as share some more information regarding their role in the game! First, let's say hello to the newest Guardian...

Spoiler

 

In regards to Guardians themselves, there will be a total of nine in the game. Their stats are identical to their normal counterparts. However, each carry unique typings and movesets. For example...

Spoiler

...a regular Dedenne has access to the move Thunder at level 45. However, instead of Thunder, Guardian Dedenne will be able to learn the move Solarbeam at that level. Also, while a traditional Gigalith learns Stealth Rock at level 36, Guardian Gigalith learns Toxic Spikes instead.

 

Of course, all Guardians will be able to be caught and trained. However, you will not be able to breed any of them. This means there will unfortunately be no Guardian variations of pre-evolutions, such as Roggenrola or Boldore.

 

That's all for today! Let us know what you think! Thanks again!

[Octavius 77]

Yeah, @Commander, we have discussed how absurdly ambitious this project is ad nauseum. But we have a huge development team that's committed to something new (even drastically new), which is something you know nothing about because you have a very narrow vision of how games should be developed. Which is fine, but we please ask that you don't "lecture" us like we have no idea what we are doing and saying that this project will fail because it isn't another Reborn or Insurgence carbon-copy. So thank you for the criticism, but we are well aware of what we are doing. We also kindly ask that you consider not trying to undermine this game and make people think we're idiots way in over our heads. Empire has a dev team of over a dozen very talented, intelligent, and open-minded individuals who are willing to do what Gamefreak won't: re-balance their game, and implement new and exciting gameplay features that increase game re-playability. And yes, people are going to be turned off by all these changes, but if you don't want to try something new and maybe better than what you're used to, then feel free. Reborn and Insurgence (and many others) exist, and they are great games in their own way. But Pokémon Empire is going to be great in its own unique way by doing things no other fangame has done before, and to extents they haven't before. And we have a team of professionals capable of making that more than a pipe dream. So best stay tuned; you might end up saying how refreshingly great a surprise Pokémon Empire turned out to be.

 

Also a quick aside, all of the starters will evolve via level up. So to get weavile, dusknoir, nidoking/queen, etc. you will not need specific evolution stones or items. Furthermore, you won't need a specific location to evolve magneton into magnezone, or any other weird evolution methods. Again, every single starter evolution will be by level up. Sorry if there was any confusion about that.

 

Closer to release, we will have the full information about the starters, their level-up moves, abilities, evolution info, and the new moves, abilities, etc. that they will receive. Until then, take care and stay tuned!

[Commander 876]

3 hours ago, Octavius said:

Yeah, @Commander, we have discussed how absurdly ambitious this project is ad nauseum. But we have a huge development team that's committed to something new (even drastically new), which is something you know nothing about because you have a very narrow vision of how games should be developed. Which is fine, but we please ask that you don't "lecture" us like we have no idea what we are doing and saying that this project will fail because it isn't another Reborn or Insurgence carbon-copy. So thank you for the criticism, but we are well aware of what we are doing. We also kindly ask that you consider not trying to undermine this game and make people think we're idiots way in over our heads. Empire has a dev team of over a dozen very talented, intelligent, and open-minded individuals who are willing to do what Gamefreak won't: re-balance their game, and implement new and exciting gameplay features that increase game re-playability. And yes, people are going to be turned off by all these changes, but if you don't want to try something new and maybe better than what you're used to, then feel free. Reborn and Insurgence (and many others) exist, and they are great games in their own way. But Pokémon Empire is going to be great in its own unique way by doing things no other fangame has done before, and to extents they haven't before. And we have a team of professionals capable of making that more than a pipe dream. So best stay tuned; you might end up saying how refreshingly great a surprise Pokémon Empire turned out to be.

First, you asked for criticisms which I said that you were trying to do too much which can overwhelm players. Field effects are very overwhelming when they are first experienced. Secondly, I never said this project would fail. If anyone here is closed minded, it would be you for calling out on things that were not said. I guess a better way of describing this is to use a plate of food. You can only fit so much on a plate and I'm the type of guy who like Spaghetti. Instead of just spaghetti, you offer the dish along with lasagna, bread sticks, texas toast, salad, and a slice of pizza. That sounds like a good idea until you realize I don't have that much spaghetti to eat which is what I wanted. You can't make that plate bigger so something has to be removed to fit that all in. There's a lot more depth to that analogy but I'm sure you guys probably could figure the rest out without me explaining.

 

Now don't assume what I'm saying is because you said these things to me, but I would say this exact same phrase for anyone you said this to. I do not tolerate members of a team treating fans, critics, or even haters in the way that you just did. I would have given you one warning and if you did it again, I may consider kicking you out. You do not make personal claims on a player even if you despise them. That line is very disrespectful and I will never touch this game because of that line alone. It could be the best game ever, but if someone treats me like that, I wouldn't want to support it especially with accepting that kind of behavior. You can disagree with me which I have nothing against as I have my own opinions, but don't ever accuse anyone of false claims just due to something they said. Don't apologize either because you know damn better. Just take this as a lesson so that you avoid it in the future.

[Noctelis 12]

@Commander, this isn't a game that people are trying to make just so it would fit YOUR tastes, instead it's a completely new fangame with a lot of new features that probably a lot of people (myself included) will enjoy.

As to your remark that you never said that the game would fail, that's pretty much false, as you stated that the developers were trying to do too many things to make any of it work out.

Lastly, nobody likes people like you who are far too full of themselves and tells others that they suck.

[groniack 56]

6 hours ago, Filthy Casual said:

Hello, everyone! I'm excited to reveal to you a new Guardian, as well as share some more information regarding their role in the game! First, let's say hello to the newest Guardian...

  Reveal hidden contents

 

In regards to Guardians themselves, there will be a total of nine in the game. Their stats are identical to their normal counterparts. However, each carry unique typings and movesets. For example...

  Reveal hidden contents

...a regular Dedenne has access to the move Thunder at level 45. However, instead of Thunder, Guardian Dedenne will be able to learn the move Solarbeam at that level. Also, while a traditional Gigalith learns Stealth Rock at level 36, Guardian Gigalith learns Toxic Spikes instead.

 

Of course, all Guardians will be able to be caught and trained. However, you will not be able to breed any of them. This means there will unfortunately be no Guardian variations of pre-evolutions, such as Roggenrola or Boldore.

 

That's all for today! Let us know what you think! Thanks again!

 

To be honest, I thought that these guardians would be some pretty powerful pokemon since they have survived the war and stuff. It turns out that they are something like what deltas are in insurgence which is definitely not bad but not exactly what I was expecting.

Why are they called guardians?

 

Side-note: Please guys calm down. It's not pretty to see people arguing like that in the development blog of the game...

[ssbCasper 33]

Gone for a day or two and seems a bunch has happened. First of all I probably should have noted that all starters will be changed to evo upon levels and not items or other conditions. Secondly @groniack its pretty hard to talk about guardians without making them sound weaker or stronger then they really are. So I'll just go on record now and say that what separates them the most from deltas besides lore is that they survived the war because they were blessed by a legendary that happened to stumble upon them in a near death state. So an example that isn't real would be a Pikachu saved by Reshiram, besides the type and physical changes it would have access to Fusion Flare and Reshi's ability. A cool thing about the guardians is that they are all dual typed but alot of them practically have a 3rd typing or STAB but I won't get into anymore details. 

[groniack 56]

1 minute ago, ssbCasper said:

Gone for a day or two and seems a bunch has happened. First of all I probably should have noted that all starters will be changed to evo upon levels and not items or other conditions. Secondly @groniack its pretty hard to talk about guardians without making them sound weaker or stronger then they really are. So I'll just go on record now and say that what separates them the most from deltas besides lore is that they survived the war because they were blessed by a legendary that happened to stumble upon them in a near death state. So an example that isn't real would be a Pikachu saved by Reshiram, besides the type and physical changes it would have access to Fusion Flare and Reshi's ability. A cool thing about the guardians is that they are all dual typed but alot of them practically have a 3rd typing or STAB but I won't get into anymore details. 

 

I totally forgot about the new abilities you are going to add. I wan under the impression that they would have the same abilities as their cannon counterparts. This changes a lot. Well, I will be waiting to hear more about them then, when information becomes available  

[Filthy Casual 176]

37 minutes ago, groniack said:

 

To be honest, I thought that these guardians would be some pretty powerful pokemon since they have survived the war and stuff. It turns out that they are something like what deltas are in insurgence which is definitely not bad but not exactly what I was expecting.

Why are they called guardians?

 

Side-note: Please guys calm down. It's not pretty to see people arguing like that in the development blog of the game...

I'm glad to see you're interested! I don't want to reveal too much about the Guardians. I'll just say more when I reveal the next (and final) Guardian before we release.

[Matt_ 5]

In this post, when I say "you" or "your",  I am referencing the dev team as a whole in the first paragraph, and primarily Octavius in the second paragraph.

 

This game is bringing some very interesting ideas to the table, I definitely plan to check it out. I really like how you can catch the Guardians, I always liked deltas, and these sound even more interesting. As long as the Guardians are not too strong, since I think most people on these forums enjoy a challenge. Although, I do agree with Commander on the topic of type chart changes. I understand your motivations, but I personally think it would have a fairly negative effect on fans checking the game out. If you really want to use the type chart as another way to distinguish Pokemon Empire, then I understand it from a development standpoint, but I find it unappealing from a fan standpoint. In my opinion, a large portion of the beauty of Pokemon fan games comes from developers channeling their love for Pokemon into a journey featuring a side of Pokemon that fans have never experienced through the canon games. Although, there are only so many changes you can make before the game stops being the Pokemon journey that players started the game to enjoy, and it becomes something else. Not to say that this "something else" cannot be an incredible game in it's own right, but the majority of people on these forums are not here for "something else". They are here to enjoy, as mentioned above, a new journey featuring a new side of Pokemon. Originally, I saw Pokemon Empire as an incredible example of the mentioned new, interesting side of Pokemon. It took aspects seen only before in very different games or animes, but it was still a new journey with the same Pokemon that we have all grown so attached to. As the game continued, more and more unique features kept on coming, and with the latest balancing update, I feel as though it stopped being the Pokemon adventure that people here play fan games to experience. I am not trying to imply that a new take on Pokemon fan games is a bad thing, and I understand that you want Pokemon Empire to stand out among the crowd as something that we fans have never seen before. While this idea is a good one, you have to keep in mind that nearly everyone playing Pokemon fan games are doing so because of their love for the original Pokemon games. You have to know your audience, and understand their motive for playing your game. As I originally said, I think one of the main aspects leaning your game away from a Pokemon fan game and towards "something else" is the type chart changes. Personally, if I was playing Pokemon Empire and my Electrivire got one-shotted by some flying/psychic type Hoothoot evolution that I had never seen before, then I wouldn't even feel like I was playing Pokemon. Please, don't misinterpret my message; I am in no way saying that your game will not be successful or entertaining, I am confident that Pokemon Empire will still be an enjoyable game, and I definitely plan on playing it. In fact, the reason I spent the last half hour writing this post was because I really believe Pokemon Empire could be an outstanding game, and I want to give you my feedback so help your game become better. Anyways, I am only saying that I think you should make sure that you don't stray so far from the original Pokemon games that Pokemon Empire loses the natural beauty of Pokemon fan games.

 

On another note, the tension has raised quite a bit from the last few posts, and I don't believe anybody wants to see it progress any further. Just calm down a bit, since there is honestly no reason to be fighting. When Commander originally posted about the balancing update, his intention was not to put Pokemon Empire down, or to tell you that your project is terrible. He is giving his honest feedback on what he thinks about the update, in an attempt to help you make your game better. Even if he may have been harsh, he just wanted to express how he felt in order to help you. I am fairly confident that he didn't spent such an evidently long time writing that post in order to put you down. The reason he spent a large chunk of his free time was to give you feedback to consider as you develop Pokemon Empire. As a game developer, it is your job to consider his feedback, and the feedback of everyone else, and incorporate it into your game as you see fit. I am not saying that whatever feedback Commander gives you should be incorporated into the game, but the point of feedback is to hear the individual opinions of different people so that you can adjust your game so that it will be more enjoyable for players. Everybody has different opinions on your game, and Commander simply expressed his. So, as I mentioned, it is your job to consider his feedback, along with the feedback of other fans, and decide what to do based on that feedback. Anyways, I just wanted to clear up the reason why there is no reason to argue, since everybody has the same intention of making Pokemon Empire the best that it can be. Also, I don't mean to say that everything about your game should be what the fans want; obviously you should make a game that you are proud of, or else there is really no point in creating it.

 

Anyways, I hope you take everything I said into consideration, and remember that all of this is simply my opinion. Good luck with Pokemon Empire!

 

[ssbCasper 33]

Was hoping I wouldn't have to make a PR post here until release. Was already prepared for the virtual pitchforks and torches. Anyways this will be relatively important info for anyone who is already an established fan and for those who are on the fence with our ambitious little project.

 

For the first time in the past few weeks the dev team was not on the same page, type chart changes were posted and mentioned without us having a formal discussion about the topic as we normally do with everything game related. So the majority of you will be happy to know that after the discussion we massively scaled back the total amount of type chart changes to like 5 total and none are game breaking or not intuitive. The new items, moves, abilities and such are staying. Slight stat buffs/nerfs and type changes will be looked at on a individual Pokemon basis. New pokemon(like pre evos to existing ones) will be made and added over time and only given to Pokemon who we feel need one (like dewgong) and they will be balanced accordingly. As I have mentioned in the past my background isn't in the world of Pokemon fan games as I have only played a few but in the realm of RPG development. This forum board is not the only place this game is being advertised so if a ton of people here are turned off by some of the rpg elements or non traditional fan game feel I'm okay with that as I can't please everyone. I hope I addressed the bulk of your concerns @Matt_

 

Now to touch on the elephant in the room for a moment, I would hope that it is common knowledge that one person's opinion doesn't represent the group (in this case the dev team). But I stand by anything anyone on my team says within reason. Passively saying we are in way over our heads and bound to fail isn't really criticism but hey its the internet so everyone is entitled to an opinion. Proving people wrong is part of the fun in working on a project. Regardless hopefully we can avoid normal debates going off the rails in the future. Pretty sure thats all I wanted to say so as always drop any comments, questions or concerns in the thread or direct them to my pm's. Til next time. 

 

Edit: I am a firm believer that its better to be honest with any community you are a part of then to keep things like this behind closed doors. With this flub in our communications I doubt something like the type chart incident will happen again so it may have honestly been for the best that this happened before beta testing and release. 

[Commander 876]

1 hour ago, ssbCasper said:

Now to touch on the elephant in the room for a moment, I would hope that it is common knowledge that one person's opinion doesn't represent the group (in this case the dev team). But I stand by anything anyone on my team says within reason. Passively saying we are in way over our heads and bound to fail isn't really criticism but hey its the internet so everyone is entitled to an opinion. Proving people wrong is part of the fun in working on a project. Regardless hopefully we can avoid normal debates going off the rails in the future. Pretty sure thats all I wanted to say so as always drop any comments, questions or concerns in the thread or direct them to my pm's. Til next time. 

I wasn't implying you all are like that, but one person can really dampen someone's experience and then there's the obvious thing that you represent the company when you enter the workforce. Sorry about the hell I caused because I really don't spend time trying to misinterpret the messages I'm saying. By that, I simply mean not noticing implied information. And please for the love of Arceus if anything I say offends anybody, either try to kindly say that you feel like I was saying something or want clarification or if you can't do it professionally, take it to a PM with me. I've dealt with numerous frustrated customers at my old job so whatever you say there won't bother me. I will then clarify it. I was probably a little bit flustered as it is frustrating seeing stuff you don't like.

 

I'm usually a little wary seeing projects try to implement a whole bunch of stuff before getting a first release out because rarely are first releases any good. Reborn was pretty bad iirc, Rejuv was pretty bad, and Hardcore I'll admit was bloody awful (who remembers HC Terra with the Ice Punch Diggersby). Once we found a stable level, that's when we all started more and more stuff in because it's a lot of work getting the gameplay and experience just right. Even very successful companies have major issues building new gameplay systems. Legend of Heroes Skies First Chapter has horrible gameplay. The first three Final Fantasies are all very bad (well mostly II and III). Your first release likely will have a lot of jarring issues which is perfectly normal, but if you feel confident you can handle all you said and redoing stuff a few times, then by all means go for it. The less things you do now, the easier it is to fix is all I'm saying. Releasing a game is a scary thing because you have no idea what people are going to like if they like anything. But hey if you feel confident, then go for it.

 

1 hour ago, ssbCasper said:

For the first time in the past few weeks the dev team was not on the same page, type chart changes were posted and mentioned without us having a formal discussion about the topic as we normally do with everything game related. So the majority of you will be happy to know that after the discussion we massively scaled back the total amount of type chart changes to like 5 total and none are game breaking or not intuitive. The new items, moves, abilities and such are staying. Slight stat buffs/nerfs and type changes will be looked at on a individual Pokemon basis. New pokemon(like pre evos to existing ones) will be made and added over time and only given to Pokemon who we feel need one (like dewgong) and they will be balanced accordingly. As I have mentioned in the past my background isn't in the world of Pokemon fan games as I have only played a few but in the realm of RPG development. This forum board is not the only place this game is being advertised so if a ton of people here are turned off by some of the rpg elements or non traditional fan game feel I'm okay with that as I can't please everyone. I hope I addressed the bulk of your concerns

 

While I'm not a fan of the type chart changes, I'd only advise changing the uncommon ones like poison being super effective to normal and avoid stuff like making poison super effective to steel. Every year there's a new Pokemon game plus other people who make fan-games which can lead to the type chart being hard to follow. The type changes would need to be very involved and easy for players to read and access IN-GAME because it's something so easy to forget and can get frustrating. It could work, but tread carefully there. The rest of it I'm fine with and can understand some of the changes which can certainly turn boring Pokemon into fun and interesting new tools. Fakemon grind down to the artist skills. I'll admit the protag sprites are good and are something that perked my interest.

 

On a side note, the type chart has been and always will be nonsensical for some things. I mean bugs being weak to rocks despite having hard shells, Dragons being weak to Dragons, and Water being resistant to Ice (when technically it's easily frozen). Sure you could argue those make sense, but then we get into Normal and Ghost being ineffective to each other. Ice and Fire should be super effective to each other if we applied logic. So I'll probably only judge changes on a gameplay standpoint rather than a logic standpoint. Someone should find the Awkward Zombie comic on it.

 

1 hour ago, ssbCasper said:

Edit: I am a firm believer that its better to be honest with any community you are a part of then to keep things like this behind closed doors. With this flub in our communications I doubt something like the type chart incident will happen again so it may have honestly been for the best that this happened before beta testing and release. 

I'm actually glad you were honest about the communication thing because not everyone would be (I'd probably lie using a cover that we were going to review it and look into changes because I don't like throwing people under the bus and rather be the one to take all the blame). I usually make an announcement 1-2 weeks after something has been created so that I can avoid false promises. You are you so do what you want and think is best for your group. I'm not excluding myself when I say this, but can we please keep this from slowly devolving into the equivalence of a hissy fit the next time any of us disagree on anything.

 

I'm glad I did check back here because there were some good posts, but I am also keeping to my word of avoiding this entirely from now on. You are a good guy and I think we all know you are trying to make this game successful and I hope it is. It's nothing ill towards anyone, but for lack of a better phrase, I ain't putting up with that crap. I know when making that second post I was pissed off.

 

Actually looking it, I'm dying of laughter because I really deviated from what I was originally going to say in that first post and it was kind of rude (I actually have no recollection of it). I also did poorly phrase the abilities as I meant the older abilities and not the new ones when talking about them being terrible. The point I was trying to make but was probably really tired and overwhelmed by the change list (that post is really overwhelming and should've been spread out to soak in slowly) was that because you understand it and enjoy it doesn't mean it will be in a form that players will enjoy learning which requires writing designed for players to experience and teach themselves (the era of manuals is long gone). Learning that much stuff and changes can be exhausting to the point of what was a fun game is really just a chore. The second post is about reworking that so it's what a player would find enjoyable and fun (making sure you balance everything...in terms of enjoyment not brokeness and unbrokeness and having an emphasis on what you want people to focus and talk about ie the spaghetti over trying to get people to enjoy things they probably don't care about ie the other foods to the point you force it upon them).

[Octavius 77]

Well hello there, cute little fella! Wanna go an adventure with me?

Say hello to Muskoat, the tundra Pokemon! Muskoat is a poison/ground type based on the musk ox, and it lives in the colder reaches of the Telius region. When you can eventually reach level 28, this little guy will evolve into a big bristling Musktox. And while both forms have low sp. atk and speed, they have immense utility with ways to poison the opponent, support the team, recover damage, and even hit back surprisingly hard! Once fully evolved, musktox is a formidable physically defensive wall that thrives specifically on hail teams thanks to its snow cloak ability and its useful resistances. Ice, common on hail teams, is weak to rock and fighting. And its Ground attacks can hit Fire and Steel types too! And while it has an awesome specific niche, it can definitely still hold its own as a standalone Pokemon with its other ability, poison point. 

Want to know more? Well you'll just have to wait and see what he can do yourself! Because this little guy is available starting in Episode 1! Can't wait to see you there!

[uberle 203]

I want it

Give it to me now

[ssbCasper 33]

Hello everyone Casper here again, it's been a while since I interacted with everyone here (bar the PR post) so I have a 2 part question for everyone whether you are a fan, critic or somewhere in between (heck even the rest of the devs can jump in on this one). 

 

What do you like (or are looking forward to) about the game and what do you dislike (or makes you hesitant) about the game? You can have more than one reason for either part. Figured it would be good to know what people's pre-perceived notions about Empire are. I'll probably have my own answer for this and add it in an edit. 

[Noctelis 12]

@ssbCasper, things I like and I'm looking forward to are, customizable personal home, story, starters (including the changes) and my personally designed trainer.

[groniack 56]

17 hours ago, ssbCasper said:

Hello everyone Casper here again, it's been a while since I interacted with everyone here (bar the PR post) so I have a 2 part question for everyone whether you are a fan, critic or somewhere in between (heck even the rest of the devs can jump in on this one). 

 

What do you like (or are looking forward to) about the game and what do you dislike (or makes you hesitant) about the game? You can have more than one reason for either part. Figured it would be good to know what people's pre-perceived notions about Empire are. I'll probably have my own answer for this and add it in an edit. 

 

Things that I personally like about Pokemon Empire:

1) Inclusion of Fakemon. I am a really fan of the concept. I always like seeing new designs. It's always refreshing and, for me, it shows signs of creative people! I really like the fact that you have some of them play a role in the game (I am talking specifically about the guardian pokemon ).

2) Story. As far as I have read from what you have posted, the story has a lot of promise. Taking place in a post-war era brings a lot of possibilities to the table. I am a little hesitant though of the fact that there is no distinct evil guy/team in the game, since whichever choice you make in game, the opponent changes... If done well, it will turn out great. But it will be tricky making one side sound "evil" at one playthrough and "good" at the next one while having the same opinions. You should be careful here.

3) Rebalanced pokemon and new starters. I personally liked most of the starters and their rebalancing. I was a little bit disappointed by the nerf that sneasel got but I get that it was necessary. Pokemon that I wouldn't consider using before, now can be quite decent!

4) New items, abilities. This is actually one of my favorite things in fan games. From what you have posted, the items seem balanced and useful and the abilities quite well thought.

 

Things that I look forward to see:

1) More new pokemon, moves, items, abilities.

2) My trainer, if you manage to include him, giving nightmares to other players

3) Information about the guardian pokemon. I am curious to see how they will turn out. As for now I am quite interested but since you can't give away much info, I can't say that I like them or not. I am talking about their purpose and their actual strength. The designs were cool though!

4) How easy it will be to get used to all these reballanced stuff.

 

Things that I don't like:

1) Changes in items and abilities. I am pretty sure that whenever I find an item that in canon games is useless, it will stay in the bag forever... I am not sure if I would bother to look for its new effect. It would be just an automatic reaction. But the ideas were great so if you want to keep them, you can always create new items. If I haven't seen an item before, I would definitely check out its effect. The same goes for abilities... For some reason I am cool with changes in moves and pokemon...

 

That's all for now If I think of something else, I will let you know.

[Phi-Bi 48]

Don't know if this counts as answer of your question but here is my thought.
1. Rebalanced Pokemon, Fakemon, and other balancing attempts.
I like how you customize the official Pokemon and adding fakemon. It opens up creativity and more enjoyable gameplay.

However, I'm quite worried with their implementation. I hope that the game explains those changes even if just slightly. I believe that a good game is a game which is enjoyable without the aid of wiki, asking for help in the forum, reading a manual or any outside influences. If you want the player to be aware about all the changes so that they can enjoy them, better hint it in-game and for that to work well, you have to think the reason why the Pokemon got a change in your region from the 'narrative' perspective. An example is Reborn's custom shiny which is explained in the game as mutation due to pollution (while from development perspective, they are for aesthetics). Actually, you have explained one for Guardian Pokemon so I hope you prepare the explanation for 're-balanced' Pokemon as well. I'm aware that GF also did re-balances without explanation for an old species Pokemon but the change is not as drastic as yours so it doesn't matter to not explain. However, I feel that for this game it's best to explain the change either explicitly or implicitly. An example of implicit explanation is by adding the re-balanced Pokemon as the important character's ace. The moment the player repeatedly defeated (or nearly defeated) by such Pokemon, the player will realize that the Pokemon get a change. The similar applies to the new item and ability.

There's also worry in the art section. I have seen the Guardian Pokemon and your fakemon. What I can say right now is that I hope that they got a revamp for future episodes, just like how Rejuvenation revamp their maps and sprites. I'm hoping that the team can do better than Gen 7's Totem Pokemon so I expect more distinctive design.

Now I'm also hoping that the starters with two evolutionary stages get extra evolutionary stages so that all the starters can be seen as a group. I also hope that they get the same BST if you want to take it a little further. Now I don't know if you want to make the change again with the starter but I'm just saying this in-case a potential developer read this: I actually prefer that the starters composed of 9 pokemons with dual typing instead of 18 starters representing each type. That way, each types are represented equally. I'm aware though that the feasibility of such proposal should be questioned.

2. Gray Storyline.
I like that you plan to make story branch. That means you dedicate yourself in building each character deeply as every person has good and bad sides even the protagonist.

However, I'm not fond of multiple endings. By multiple endings I don't mean the ending of the episode but the ending of the game. Again this is based on my belief of what I feel comprise a good narrative for a game. I believe that a narrative-focused game should give the player a strong messages. A 'take-home' messages which is not only for the sake of good story but also for the player in continuing their real life. I think this is a reason why an ending is perceived as good or bad by different people. If you want multiple ending for the final episode of the game, make sure to have each endings to be preferred by around the same number of people. Make sure that each ending has the same amount of 'good' aspects and 'bad' aspects. Having it equal in one ending is hard enough so good luck for keeping the balance for having multiple ending~


Anyway, I like all your ideas so far. I'm looking forward for the implementation. Wish you luck for getting it right~

[Sceptilespy 62]

I'm loving where this is going. But the starter list needs to be worked on. People have gone into detail about it, but I'll be more blunt. Who is legitimately using a   as a starter, or makuhita. Starters are unique, and usually not completely outclassed. But uh, here they are. 

I'd make an entirely new list, but I'll just do the ones who need it. 

 

Spoiler

Normal- Tailow

Flying- Scyther

Water- Magikarp (Gyarados isn't as op as people would like to believe.)

Fire-Numel

Fighting-Mienfoo

Dragon- Tyrunt (I don't care if it's a fossil pokemon lol, at this point, Fossil Pokemon should be more common)

Psychic- Muuna(You can go with Abra. I just wanted to be consistent with my two evolution thing.)

Rock- Cranidos (I just like this mon more)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all I really have a problem with. So far the game looks nice.

[Jess 574]

8 minutes ago, Sceptilespy said:

I'm loving where this is going. But the starter list needs to be worked on. People have gone into detail about it, but I'll be more blunt. Who is legitimately using a   as a starter, or makuhita. Starters are unique, and usually not completely outclassed. But uh, here they are. 

I'd make an entirely new list, but I'll just do the ones who need it. 

 

  Hide contents

Normal- Tailow

Flying- Scyther

Water- Magikarp (Gyarados isn't as op as people would like to believe.)

Fire-Numel

Fighting-Mienfoo

Dragon- Tyrunt (I don't care if it's a fossil pokemon lol, at this point, Fossil Pokemon should be more common)

Psychic- Muuna(You can go with Abra. I just wanted to be consistent with my two evolution thing.)

Rock- Cranidos (I just like this mon more)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all I really have a problem with. So far the game looks nice.

It is an opinion... I'd prefer 3-stage evolution mons for all types starters for example... But the ones you suggest aren't bad either! Interesting and viable (with some balancing). Apart from Scyther. Flying type starter that evolves into Steel/Bug doesn't make sense (even if you choose to never evolve it).