[In-Making] Pokemon AKB48 Mod Project

Foreword

As the title says, I'm looking to make a Pokemon hacked rom replacing everything with AKB48.

Before I start anything, I guess I should mention that I'm a guy that, once I get started with something, tends to stick with it to the end, unless the difficulty of doing do defeats me so utterly that there I see no way around it. But what with work and other obligations, I may not be able to do this as fast as one would've liked; and I don't foresee this project being completed anytime soon this year, or even by 2015.

Introduction

Hi, I'm EraMemory, long time lurker of Stage48. I discovered AKB48 while serving the army during one of my darkest days in 2011, not long after I failed my GSCE 'A' Levels, and they brought a light to my life that very literally gave me hope to live on. Since then supporting their success and the 48G has been my goal in life.

In my spare time I translate the AKB48 based manga, AKB49: Renai Kinshi Jourei; even though I don't read manga nor watch anime nowadays. Purely to spread knowledge of AKB48 out there.

I speak Japanese, English and Chinese. My 神推し is Watanabe Mayu; 二推し Takeuchi Miyu, and 三推しYokoyama Yui. My short term dream is to see AKB48 make it to a successful 10 years; long term to see AKB48 go down in history as an icon on the level of stars like Elvis or MJ.

Enough of the introduction. Let's get to the topic at hand.

The Idea

Once upon a time I somehow stumbled upon a Touhou hack of Emerald; and was amazed by the game. The many Touhoumon available, how much more interesting it made gameplay and interest; etc etc. I enjoyed the game, which was saying a little something for me, who hadn't played any Pokemon games since, well, ironically... Sapphire. But I never thought, nor dreamt, of making something like that, or even imagined it possible.

That was, well, before I came into touch with AKB48. Since then, I'd thought- hey! Wouldn't it be great to play a AKB48 hack of Pokemon? So I went looking... and surprisingly, didn't come up with anything.

I was disappointed.

The mass variety Pokemon and AKB48 both offered had so much potential, and a crossover would have been awesome.

But since coming to work, I've got in touch with a few private courses; programming, digital and live drawing, game making etc etc. I'm not exactly good at them. I won't even claim to be familiar with it.

But for AKB48, I feel like I could make a try.

So here it is, me making an attempt for something that I don't even know can work.

The Game

I'd intended to go with Heart Gold/Soul Silver series, because I felt Gold and Silver had the most expanded worlds out there among Pokemon; offering both Johto and Kanto, 16 gyms in total, and the Final Boss at the end. But after some digging I couldn't find a reliable Heart Gold/Soul Silver editing software that would work in concert with all the other multiple other programs needed to fully edit the game.

In the end I went with the Diamond/Pearl series- though me not having any knowledge about the Pokemon or the events there is a bit of a backlash to me. If anyone can find a working, reliable Heart Gold/Soul Silver editing software along with its other components- map modding, event modding, Pokedex modding and so on, so forth- the full package, it would be much appreciated.

(Edit: Found a wonderful editor PPRE to work on Heart Gold/Soul Silver. Guess the plan's back on)

I intend to set the game in concert with the timeline of 2014's AKB48 and its sister groups; as much as is possible within our limits, anyway. KKS will probably be left out, due to my insufficient knowledge and their -hypothetically speaking- in-permanence of them anyway. It would be great if graduated members such as Maeda Atsuko, Itano Tomomi, Shinoda Mariko or even ancient fossils- cough Noro Kayo, Ohori Megumi, Oshima Mai- could be worked in too.

If feasible I'd like to rework and write over events and in-game characters even; allowing us to create a story of our own, allowing a bit more action/ excitement to be including, like big tournaments such as Sousenkyo and in-RL parodied stories (laugh). But that's probably going to be a lot of programming, so let's not go into such issues too early and be overly ambitious yet.

What can you do to help?

Game Making/Programming

As mentioned before, I've a little bit of experience working with C++ Programming, Game Maker programming and some other related programs; but trust me, when I say 'little', I'm not being humble; I honestly mean something like 'I've touched it before'. And I've never tried to do a Pokemon hack before. So this is all new territory with me.

If anyone has any experience in creating Pokemon hacks, their tips/advice or instructions would be greatly appreciated. If you are interested in formally helping, please PM me and let me know what have you done before, and your particular skillset.

Spriting

Ah! This!

Say we disregard JKT48 and SNH48 (sorry overseas group ), forget about the forgotten SDN48, ignore the KKS and just concentrate on AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48...

That's a lot of girls.

That's a lot of spriting.

For each girl, we're going to have to do multiple sprites.

Say we have a Sashihara Rino. We can have a Sashihara Rino KKS sprite. Then a Sashihara Rino Hetare for its next evolution. And after that, a Sashihara Rino Scandal *cough* I mean Center! for its final evolution.

That's already 3 sprites for one Sasshi alone.

Spriting is going to be a lot, a lot, a lot , a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of work.Thus people willing to help out with spriting would be much appreciated.

Which doesn't mean we're going to have lousy, third rate ugly sprites. The sprites will have to require decent quality, and enough consistency between styles with the others to be accepted.

Anyone looking to help with Spriting, please PM me, along with examples of previous works. However, please give me some time to experiment on my own; so that settling on a style, a format and file size will not be a problem.

Map Editing

Meh. Ideally we're going into this; but I'm afraid to put the scope too big and never be able to finish it. Let's set it as 'if we can do it' first. But if anyone has expertise in the area, feel free to PM me too, with some examples, as usual.

Scenario Writing/Programming

No, you're not going to write your own fanfics and ships. You're going to actually need to know how to write them into the game.

Again, a 'if we can do it' list item. But if you're interested, especially with skills in the programming part, volunteer via PM.

No Donations

We will not be collecting donations for this project. It is an entirely fan-based project. Go save your money and buy voting tickets during the Sousenkyo and vote for Takeuchi Miyu



Everything above so far is just a rough guideline, as I start on working with the game concept for now. Once that's settled I expected I may be able to put some more concrete guidelines and so on to hit the road with. Hopefully things work out without too much hassle, and in between juggling work, sports and going to AKB concerts, this project may eventually go somewhere. Cheers!

Test Version 1.0

Spoiler

Test Version 1.0 is out!

Edits made:
Sprites for starter Pokemon, Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile has been replaced succesfully with the Three Musketeers, Nishino Miki, Kojima Mako and Okada Nana.
Evolution for Chikorita has been changed to Nishino Miki evolution sprite.
(In-game Pokedex, status and battle sprites only; overworld sprites and other selection sprites unchanged)

Tested: Nishino Miki front/back sprite
Kojima Mako front sprite
Nishino Miki evolved form front/back sprite

Untested: Kojima Mako back sprite
Okada Nana front/back sprite

Known Bugs: An incident where overworld sprites for trainer and pokemon fizzes out after battle, and later main screens blacks out. Not sure if one-time incident, as overworld sprites has not yet been touched. Recommended advice: save often.
Nishino Miki's back sprite looks like crap
In the 0.000000???% chance you get a shiny for any of the three starters, their colors are going to look jacked up; due to color palette for shiny remaining unchanged i.e.; they use the original pokemon's shiny colors. (You're going to get blue-skined Kojima Mako and so on)

Download Link for Test Version 1.0: https://copy.com/t9xL8sbiW4cOIykB
Emulator used: DeSmuME_0.9.10_x64 (NDS Emulator)

Spoiler: Test Version 1.1

Test Version 1.1 is ready.

Edits made:
Evolution sprite for Kojima Mako added
Evolution sprite for Okada Nana added
Route 29 allows you to catch all three starters (Just a testing for now)

Tested: Nishino Miki front/back sprite
Kojima Mako front sprite
Nishino Miki evolved form front/back sprite
Okada Nana front/back sprite
Kojima Mako evolved form front sprite

Untested: Kojima Mako back sprite
Okada Nana evolved form front/back sprite
Kojima Mako evolved form back sprite

Known Bugs: Overworld sprite fizzing out and later turning mainscreen to black seem to persist at unknown triggers/intervals, albeit rarely. Solution to problem is to save the game in-game with the save function, not the shift-Number quick save slot function. The shift-Number will load with the bug persisting. Resetting the ROM and loading the saved in-game file should, however, bring the bug back to normal. As the save is located in the lower screen which is not affected by the bug, this seems a viable solution for now.

I've tweaked the game to allow you guys to catch the starters (all sprited) and play around for now, test their sprites, e.g.
Any feedback would be appreciated. If the game does not load properly or the sprites fail to load, please contact me too. If alternate download links is preferred, please state.

I still need, like, all the spriters in the world. Like seriously. How many goddamned girls are there?
Anyway I've done the Three Musketeers (for now). I actually plan to include more evolutions for them, but I figure I should get started on the other girls first.
@edisonaguitar: It seems that there is no problem with the slowing down of the game concerning sprite movement on my end. Does anyone else have any issues like this? Otherwise, you might look into adjusting the frame rates, or updating your DeSmuME emulator.
Also, while Mariko I won't do yet (she's fittingly probably rare and powerful anyways ) I'll do Aanya and Renacchi, since you requested. Is there anyone else anyone wants to see get sprited?
Additionally, the evolved form costume for Miki, Nana and Mako, does anyone recognise? Hint hint, the first time I noticed Nana was in ADS77, and Mako's first senbatsu is Mae Shika Muka nee. Enjoy!

Download Link for Test Version 1.1: https://copy.com/SXjjpp2ADeklijuf
Emulator used: DeSmuME_0.9.10_x64 (NDS Emulator)

Spoiler: Test Version 1.2 (with screenshots and sprite shots)

Hey! Wassup! Wassup? Wassup!

Apparently nothing.

But I have made a couple more sprites for the game. I've also taken a screenshot or two to compare how the game so far looks like.

So here's Test Version 1.2!

Edits Made: Final evolution sprites for Okada Nana, Kojima Mako and Nishino Miki added
Added a Murashige Anna sprite to a certain must-encounter pokemon
Added Kato Rena sprite to a rather common pokemon you'll find at the start of the game.



So here are examples of some of the sprites I've made so far.

If anyone is willing to help me sprite, because God forbid I'm going to commit suicide by the time I finish a single group, or die of old age, whichever comes first- contact me, and I'll walk you through on a basic tutorial on how to do it. Having Photoshop is a plus. And If your quality of spriting is equal or better than mine, which I reckon isn't too hard, I'll be sure to have it in the game. Cheers!

Download link for Test version 1.2 https://copy.com/EolAlIX3JexJL9ww
or https://copy.com/Bm2zEvjodcqi8a8C
Emulator used: DeSmuME_0.9.10_x64 (NDS Emulator)

Spoiler: Test Version 1.3 (screenshots and sprites included)

Ladies and Gentlemen!

You love me. You really, really, love me.

I bring to you AKBmon test version 1.3!!!

Download the latest version here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0ixdwg6n02q1qfv/AKBmon?dl=0

Updates:

I've made sprites- by that, I mean literally vomiting them out- for some versions of Maeda Atsuko, Itano Tomomi and Takahashi Minami. They are in the placeholders of kanto starters Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle at the moment- wait, do I hear that yell of woe, that you're going to play through the whole game just to get to Kanto? Never fear, because in this beta version, the whole point is getting you guys to try them out and tell me how they work.

So I've tweaked the rom so you can catch them at route 46, the route slightly above the first route 29 that you'll see.

So basically you'll be able to catch all starters within 5 minutes of starting the game. Go wild with it while it lasts. Do tell me if any of the sprites have floating pixels in the background I forget to remove or anything.

Additionally, Sraco has offered to do a little bit of contribution. Here's his sprite of Iriyama Anna, as Majisuka Gakuen's Yoga!



Pretty good, eh? Unfortunately it's not in the game, because I've still got to tweak it a little bit yet. I'll do it next time.

Here are some screenshots of the AKBmon game so far.




(shiny)













As usual, I am looking for spriters- by that, I mean extremely desperate for- willing to help, so please put the word out!!!

Also, @UlgadApaWota48 , the issue may have been that I screwed some vital data up, but I don't think so, please try this one and tell me if it works. If it still doesn't, try a vanilla Soul Silver rom, and tell me if THAT works.

 

The project sounds very interesting! I am looking forward to how it will turn out in the end. I would have loved to help you, but sadly I don't really know anything about any of those things...

 

Test Version 1.0 is out!

Edits made:
Sprites for starter Pokemon, Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile has been replaced succesfully with the Three Musketeers, Nishino Miki, Kojima Mako and Okada Nana.
Evolution for Chikorita has been changed to Nishino Miki evolution sprite.
(In-game Pokedex, status and battle sprites only; overworld sprites and other selection sprites unchanged)

Tested: Nishino Miki front/back sprite
Kojima Mako front sprite
Nishino Miki evolved form front/back sprite

Untested: Kojima Mako back sprite
Okada Nana front/back sprite

Known Bugs: An incident where overworld sprites for trainer and pokemon fizzes out after battle, and later main screens blacks out. Not sure if one-time incident, as overworld sprites has not yet been touched. Recommended advice: save often.
Nishino Miki's back sprite looks like crap
In the 0.000000???% chance you get a shiny for any of the three starters, their colors are going to look jacked up; due to color palette for shiny remaining unchanged i.e.; they use the original pokemon's shiny colors. (You're going to get blue-skined Kojima Mako and so on)

Download Link for Test Version 1.0: https://copy.com/t9xL8sbiW4cOIykB
Emulator used: DeSmuME_0.9.10_x64 (NDS Emulator)
Base Rom: 4788 Pokemon - SoulSilver Version (US)

 

The game is impressive! Truthfully, I stopped playing Pokemon a long time ago, the last game I've played was Pokemon Emerald, I think, or Red Dungeon, I dunno.. So playing Pokemon HeartGold / SoulSilver is nice, especially with the AKB48 members as your Pokemon.

I picked Mikichan since she's my favorite out of the 3 Musketeers. Just found some bit of problems, the game slows down or lags when the character walks on a new area or house, and also lags a bit when getting near some other sprites. It also slows down while talking to another sprite, so I hope it will be fixed. Anyways, two thumbs up to you, EraMemory for coming up with this impressive project!! [clap]

I can't wait to see what my Renacchi, Aanya, and Mariko will be as a Pokemon, hehe.

 

Updates!!

Test Version 1.1 is ready.

Edits made:
Evolution sprite for Kojima Mako added
Evolution sprite for Okada Nana added
Route 29 allows you to catch all three starters (Just a testing for now)

Tested: Nishino Miki front/back sprite
Kojima Mako front sprite
Nishino Miki evolved form front/back sprite
Okada Nana front/back sprite
Kojima Mako evolved form front sprite

Untested: Kojima Mako back sprite
Okada Nana evolved form front/back sprite
Kojima Mako evolved form back sprite

Known Bugs: Overworld sprite fizzing out and later turning mainscreen to black seem to persist at unknown triggers/intervals, albeit rarely. Solution to problem is to save the game in-game with the save function, not the shift-Number quick save slot function. The shift-Number will load with the bug persisting. Resetting the ROM and loading the saved in-game file should, however, bring the bug back to normal. As the save is located in the lower screen which is not affected by the bug, this seems a viable solution for now.

I've tweaked the game to allow you guys to catch the starters (all sprited) and play around for now, test their sprites, e.g.
Any feedback would be appreciated. If the game does not load properly or the sprites fail to load, please contact me too. If alternate download links is preferred, please state.

I still need, like, all the spriters in the world. Like seriously. How many goddamned girls are there?
Anyway I've done the Three Musketeers (for now). I actually plan to include more evolutions for them, but I figure I should get started on the other girls first.
@edisonaguitar: It seems that there is no problem with the slowing down of the game concerning sprite movement on my end. Does anyone else have any issues like this? Otherwise, you might look into adjusting the frame rates, or updating your DeSmuME emulator.
Also, while Mariko I won't do yet (she's fittingly probably rare and powerful anyways ) I'll do Aanya and Renacchi, since you requested. Is there anyone else anyone wants to see get sprited?
Additionally, the evolved form costume for Miki, Nana and Mako, does anyone recognise? Hint hint, the first time I noticed Nana was in ADS77, and Mako's first senbatsu is Mae Shika Muka nee. Enjoy!

Download Link for Test Version 1.1: https://copy.com/SXjjpp2ADeklijuf
Emulator used: DeSmuME_0.9.10_x64 (NDS Emulator)

 

Hey! Wassup! Wassup? Wassup!

Apparently nothing.

But I have made a couple more sprites for the game. I've also taken a screenshot or two to compare how the game so far looks like.

So here's Test Version 1.2!

Edits Made: Final evolution sprites for Okada Nana, Kojima Mako and Nishino Miki added
Added a Murashige Anna sprite to a certain must-encounter pokemon
Added Kato Rena sprite to a rather common pokemon you'll find at the start of the game.



So here are examples of some of the sprites I've made so far.

If anyone is willing to help me sprite, because God forbid I'm going to commit suicide by the time I finish a single group, or die of old age, whichever comes first- contact me, and I'll walk you through on a basic tutorial on how to do it. Having Photoshop is a plus. And If your quality of spriting is equal or better than mine, which I reckon isn't too hard, I'll be sure to have it in the game. Cheers!

Download link for Test version 1.2 https://copy.com/EolAlIX3JexJL9ww
or https://copy.com/Bm2zEvjodcqi8a8C
Emulator used: DeSmuME_0.9.10_x64 (NDS Emulator)

 

This is awesome! I have always wanted to play Pokemon but just couldn't get myself to!

PS: I downloaded the file but it says I have nothing to open it with, can I get some help? (I use Windows 8)

Thanks!

 

Hey, no prob.

You can't open the file by itself; it's just a ROM, or in essence, the cartridge of the DS. You actually need a DS to paly it- or in this case, a DS emulator.

The best NDS Emulator out there I've found is DeSmuME_0.9.10_x64 , which works for Windows 64bit. There are many other versions, which I expect to work pretty well, at their home page here: http://desmume.org/download/

Of course, this is still a test version, and spriting is pretty time-consuming, especially when I take perhaps 2 hours per half-assed sprite or more, and I have to literally do maybe a thousand of these. If anyone is willing to help sprite, or even in the scripting of the game, your assistance is much needed. Otherwise, simply try out the game and let me know on the feedbacks and such, that would be good too. Hopefully one day this thing can really take off!

Edit: And one other thing I need (kinda). For members that I'm not familiar with, it's hard to find a signature song/costume to dress them in, especially when I have to match them up to different eras. For example, for Nishino Miki, and had her KKS form in one of the Nagisa no Chieri oufit, Her second form in a Tentomu Chu! outfit, and her final form wearing the Love Shugyou outfit. If you would like to see a certain girl get sprited, please post your request, and tell me which outfits/songs do you think is her signature song (considering the eras as she matures or changes teams). I will try to work in into the game best as I can. Pictures would be a help too!

 

Updates, updates, peeps.

I know it's been a REAAAAAALLLY long time since the last time I worked on this. Mainly because there was NO ONE willing to help.

And those associated with other fan groups may know I'm translating AKB49 Renai Kinshi Jourei manga for Substitute Scans as well as AKBingo, Nemousu and bunch of other videos for Aidol.

So yeah. I finally pulled myself back together and started doing some work here.

That said, I still need spriting muscle. Like, any help I can get. So please, please, please, anyone with spriting experience, your help will be greatly appreciated. The same way the Spanish conquistadors appreciate gold from El Dorado. If you have no spriting experience, but is willing to simply try, I will be more than glad to train you and and teach you how to sprite.

Yeah, so anyway...

Update:

Made sprites for:

Takahashi Minami (Sakura no Hanabiratachi version)
Takahashi Minami (Iiwake Maybe version)
Takahashi Minami (BIRD version)





I'm also planning for Takahashi Itoihisa no Accel version, Soukantoku version and so on.


As you see, a single girl in the AKB48 group can take up many sprites.

And I will need help more.

If you have any interest in helping out, please contact me. It will be helpful if you have an image editing software, such as Photoshop. I am aware that other image editing software also works, but I am not familiar with the specific steps to them; nevertheless, I will be willing to look further into it should you be willing to lend a helping hand.

Hopefully we'll have more updates soon.

 

Hi, I just found this thread while searching for something on 48 and Pokemon

atm I can't see any images cause I'm on school wifi, but I'd love to help out as much as I can if you're still working on this!
I haven't done any spriting in around 5 or 6 years, but I've still been active with digital artwork.
I also have a bit of experience in music production, so if possible we could arrange some 48 songs and replace the music?

And thanks for your work on AKB48 Renai Kinshi Jourei as well!

But to choose a gen 4 game to make a hack for, and one that requires custom sprites at that....quite the ambitious project
Around 400+ mons in DP? And DS sprites bigger than GBA as well. Are you planning on reworking everything?
(My intention to help isn't wavering, but I'm a little scared now lol)

 

@Sraco

Thank you for your support! I desperately need help with spriting. I've been taking tutorials on how to improve my sprites, and I feel I can do better now, and I intend to get things really moving soon the next couple of months, even release another version around June.

About the bigger palettes for DS, it's actually more better than smaller sprite palettes for me, I think. Even with the current palette size, I find I have not enough pixels to work with- though it may a matter of me just not being able to fully utilize the space. It's easier to do prettier sprites with bigger palettes.

I'll be contacting you to set up a form of communication, and sharing with you some of the work. Of course, you can choose to sprite any members that you like!

On another note, I'm also planning to do away with the 2 frame animation present in gen 4 for now- doing that takes too much time, and I'd rather work on more girls with 1 frame. Maybe in the future, when I have more leisure to play with.

(Shiroma Miru fan, huh? My NMB oshi too! Only recently got into NMB in 2015, now I'm much more motivated to work on NMB sprites)

 

Looking forward for the next update xD
BTW, can I play this on the real NDS? I mean, without the emulator.


(Gosh, I've never so hyped like this before ._.)

 

I think you could probably play it with an R4 card

 

@UlgadApaWota48

As the game is an hacked DS Rom, theoretically, it should be able to play in the original DS as well. However, I am not familiar with the interface to reinsert an extracted ROM back into DS- perhaps try what Sraco has said, and put it in a R4 card.

Sraco has done some excellent work to look forward to, and I'll post a new version up once I successfully integrate his sprites into the game. There's several new sprites now, but it's still a far way from completion, so I'd like to once again request for help once again.

I'll post a spriting tutorial here that I wrote for Sraco some time.

 

I've already tried but it keeps blank screen after the introduction with Prof. Oak ._.

 

That's a nice idea ! I'm looking forward to it.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen!

You love me. You really, really, love me.

I bring to you AKBmon test version 1.3!!!

Download the latest version here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0ixdwg6n02q1qfv/AKBmon?dl=0

Updates:

I've made sprites- by that, I mean literally vomiting them out- for some versions of Maeda Atsuko, Itano Tomomi and Takahashi Minami. They are in the placeholders of kanto starters Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle at the moment- wait, do I hear that yell of woe, that you're going to play through the whole game just to get to Kanto? Never fear, because in this beta version, the whole point is getting you guys to try them out and tell me how they work.

So I've tweaked the rom so you can catch them at route 46, the route slightly above the first route 29 that you'll see.

So basically you'll be able to catch all starters within 5 minutes of starting the game. Go wild with it while it lasts. Do tell me if any of the sprites have floating pixels in the background I forget to remove or anything.

Additionally, Sraco has offered to do a little bit of contribution. Here's his sprite of Iriyama Anna, as Majisuka Gakuen's Yoga!



Pretty good, eh? Unfortunately it's not in the game, because I've still got to tweak it a little bit yet. I'll do it next time.

Here are some screenshots of the AKBmon game so far.




(shiny)













As usual, I am looking for spriters- by that, I mean extremely desperate for- willing to help, so please put the word out!!!

Also, @UlgadApaWota48 , the issue may have been that I screwed some vital data up, but I don't think so, please try this one and tell me if it works. If it still doesn't, try a vanilla Soul Silver rom, and tell me if THAT works.

 

Oh God I have to try this

Envoyé de mon SM-G920F en utilisant Tapatalk

 

I have and it was sloooooooooooow .

 

If you are experiencing frame rate less than normal, it probably have to do with your emulator settings. What emulator are you using? I reccommend the latest version of DesmuME.