dev-updates

[keen escarp]

Pif Hoenn Dev Update #1 : Improved trainer rematches

I initially posted this in #pif-hoenn-discussion but someone suggested I post it here instead to make it easier to find.
I'm going to be using this channel to post development updates for the new Infinite Fusion: Hoenn game.

The first new feature that I want to share is a complete rework of how trainer rematches will work in PIF:Hoenn.

In IF1, when you talk to trainers after battling them, some of them will offer to rematch or trade with the player and their levels will increase based on the number of times they've been rematched. So I decided to take that basic system and expand on it and make it more dynamic.

In PIF Hoenn, you'll be able to rematch or trade with any normal trainer NPC and the game will keep track of their team. This is all done dynamically so it will be possible with every normal NPC in the game.

Rematches

• The NPC trainer's Pokémon will gain experience naturally after each rematch. The amount of experience they get will be calculated from the player's team instead of an arbitrary increase in levels like in PIF1.
• Their Pokémon will evolve when they reach the appropriate level

Trades
Each NPC will be assigned a favorite type or a list of Pokémon they're looking for. If you have a Pokémon that matches the criteria, you can offer it as a trade and the NPC will offer you one of their Pokémon in exchange.

• The Pokémon you traded will be added to the NPC's team and gain experience like the others.
  (More on trades later)

Random events
As you rematch or trade with NPC trainers, they will randomly change up their teams. The trainers will be able to:

• Catch Pokémon: A new Pokémon that can be caught on the current route (at that time of the day) is added to the NPC's team
• Fuse Pokémon: The NPC fuses two unfused Pokémon in their party
• Unfuse Pokémon: The NPC unfuses one of their fused Pokémon
• **Reverse Pokémon: ** The NPC reverses one fused Pokémon

[steady stratus]

PIF Hoenn Dev update #2: Music!

• Hi, I'm Pory, and I've been going through and revamping most of the soundtracks for Hoenn!
• I am going through the Hoenn tracks and rearranging and composing them to be in the gen 5 style of music!
• I am also making it so that the tracks properly loop, so (hopefully) no more audio jank when the track loops!

My process:

• 1: Find what track I am working on
• 2: Grab a .midi of it (or arrange/compose my own, if one doesn't exist) and open it on MuseScore (could be any midi editing software, this is my favorite)
• 3: Fine tune the instrumentation and rhythms, to get as close as I can to a blend between Hoenn's music and gen 5's feel
• 4: Once that's done, I export it from Musescore as an .ogg and open it in Audacity
• 5: Once in Audacity, I equalize the audio and set tags in the metadata of the file to indicate where the loop should start and how long it should loop, as well as a loop end
• 6: I trim out the silence at the beginning and end of the track, making sure to export it at the correct sample rate
• 7: Feel happiness for 0.7s and go back to step 1

But enough talking, here are some samples!

[keen escarp]

<@&1374133084626354306>

Pif Hoenn Dev update #3: Dynamic Weather

One of the new features introduced by the Hoenn games was overworld weather effects so I wanted to expand on that game mechanic for IF:Hoenn.
But instead of simply having maps where there's a chance for rain or other weather conditions like in most Pokémon games, overworld weather will be fully dynamic in IF:Hoenn and will evolve naturally.

How the system works

There are three main weather conditions which can occur naturally on most outdoor maps in the game. Each of these can be at an intensity anywhere between 1 and 10.

• Rainy
• Sunny
• Windy

Every time that the weather updates, any of these things can happen for each of the maps that have a weather condition :
The weather...

• Spreads to one of the neighboring maps
• Moves to one of the neighboring maps
• Increases in intensity
• Decreases in intensity

The higher the intensity, the more likely it is that the weather will spread to the surrounding areas.

On top of that, there are additional weather conditions that can appear when the weather spreads

• Foggy: If rain spreads to a sunny map
• Stormy: If rain spreads to a windy map
• Snow: If rain spreads to Shoal cave

Each of these can also spread just like the main weather types. Sandstorm and ash also exist, but cannot spread.

Pokémon encounters

On top of having their typical effects during battles, overworld weather conditions will also affect Pokémon spawns.
Each route/city/etc. in the game will have special encounter tables for each weather conditions on top of the regular daytime/nightime encounters. The more intense the weather is on that map, the more likely you are to get a weather encounter instead of a regular one.

For example, on route 102, instead of the Zigzagoon and Poochyena you'd typically find you might get

• Fletchling when it's sunny
• Surskit when it's raining
  And so on!
  This video shows how the weather spreads! (sped-up )

[keen escarp]

<@&1374133084626354306>

PIF Hoenn Dev update #4: Transferring Pokémon!

In the PIF:Hoenn announcement, I mentioned that it's going to be possible to transfer Pokémon between PIF:Hoenn and PIF1. There have been a lot of questions and speculation about it, so I thought I'd take a moment to show you exactly how the transfer system is going to work, it's actually really simple!

Transfer Box

Once you've unlocked the ability to transfer your Pokémon, you'll see a special box in the PC called the "Transfer Box". Basically, this box is a special box that's shared across every save file of both Infinite Fusion 1 and Infinite Fusion: Hoenn that exist on your PC. You can think of it as a shared folder for your Pokémon

What this means is that if you deposit some Pokémon into the transfer box in your PIF:Hoenn save file, you can then load up your PIF1 save file and all of those same Pokémon will still be there. And then you can just withdraw them like you would any other Pokémon in other boxes. And of course, if you have multiple save files of the same game, you'll also be able to transfer between them using this!

Exclusive Pokémon

All Pokémon will exist in both games data, so everything will be transferable without any restrictions. This includes all of the new Hoenn Pokémon ||as well as all future additions to the pokedex 👀||.
Some Pokémon, however can only be naturally caught in the Hoenn game and vice-versa*, so you'll have to transfer them if you want to use them in the other game. Those Pokémon that can't be caught will not be required to complete the Pokédex.

-# *In classic mode. Everything will be available in Randomized mode

Check out this video to see an example of the transfer system in action. (Keep in mind that this is a dev build, so visuals are likely to change in the release).

[solemn raptor]

<@&1374133084626354306>

PIF Hoenn Dev update #5: A bunch of cool miscellaneous things!

Hi I'm Paya! Besides my usual server duties, I am also on the dev team for the Hoenn project. Some of the things I contribute includes map making, creative asset managing (overworld sprites for npc and pokemon, tileset stuff, etc), event/quest designing, story, and more. But mostly, the biggest part of my job is giving Frog more work to do.
And so sorry for the lack of updates guys, a lot has been going in the background for each of us. This is a passion project, but please keep in mind that even if we want to work on the project every day, we're volunteers and unfortunately real life has to come first. But don't worry, we've still been hard at work on Hoenn despite everything! With that said, lets get into the fun stuff. Here are some things I'm excited to share with you all~

-# Keep in mind that everything that's being shared is beta footage and could possibly change.

Maps:

One of the biggest (and fun) parts of creating Hoenn, is literally shaping the world around the player. I can say that we have about 80% of the groundwork in this aspect completed for the demo. There is some tweaking that needs to be done, but we have the base cities, routes, water routes, and most interiors and caves completed. Soon enough we'll fill it with plenty of trainers and other things! And yes, I made sure there is plenty of water on those early routes especially since Frog has been too busy with scripts and coding in the background to keep an eye on me. Enjoy a screenshot of my favorite map so far!

Neat Grass:

We now have the option to include special grass on certain maps that will spawn different pokemon from the usual encounters. I'd say that's pretty sweet.

Character Customization:

Character customization hats/hair/and clothing for Brendan and May are completed! Now we have their full outfits from Ruby and Sapphire. Finally no more adventuring around in pajamas during testing. Also.... Frog added a silly little thing where you can give your rival clothes that they'll wear for the rest of the game! This is a feature that's in the early concept stages, so it will probably function differently by the time the demo and full release comes around. Still, I wanted to show you guys anyway cause it's pretty neat.

Player and Rival's Families:

Both May and Brendan's moms are now individual NPCs! No longer will Mrs. Birch be a default boring sprite. Also I'm so excited to announce that your mom will now match your selected skin color! Not only that, but you'll also be able to select the skin color of your rival, which will also alter their mom and sibling as well. So cool!

Wildlife:

One of my goals was to make Hoenn feel more alive, so we have been working to allow more pokemon to be seen in the wild. Originally it was just going to consist of simple sightings, like a bunch of wingulls hanging out on the beach and flying away when the player gets close. However as time went on, we started experimenting and expanding on this. The last video in this update is a quick sneak peak of this special feature we're in early development of The next dev update will showcase exactly what this is in detail. Personally I think it's awesome, so please look forward to it!

There are other things we have brewing in the background that I wish I can share, but for now I hope you liked this update

• As always, feel free to hop over to #pif-hoenn-discussion to discuss this dev update
• If you have any ideas for Hoenn you want to suggest, go over to #server-forms and click on the the [Opinions] Wishes / Ideas for PIF: Hoenn tab for a link to the suggestion form. We're accepting anything! Story, mechanics, ideas for pretty much everything

[keen escarp]

<@&1374133084626354306>

PIF Hoenn Dev update #6: Overworld Encounters

PIF:Hoenn will have overworld encounters. We've prepared a little Pokémon-direct style video to showcase the feature. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/YH_g6ELbBpU

If you can't watch the video at the moment, here's also a Google Docs with a summary of the feature:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t83M2n9BAZ98K04uxLuPsI88QOZOAE16RHqFioRUnuE/edit?usp=sharing

[keen escarp]

<@&1374133084626354306>

PIF Hoenn Dev update #7: PokéNav

Hi! I'm sorry for the dev lack of dev updates recently, I've been hard at work on polishing the first release of PIF Hoenn. We've been through a few rounds of QA already and it's looking pretty good so far! I can't wait to share it with you guys. Now this dev update is all about the PokéNav and its various features.

The PokéNav is an iconic feature of the generation 3 Pokémon games and their remakes and it will also be making its return in Pokémon Infinite Fusion: Hoenn! In PIF: Hoenn, you'll gradually unlock new Pokénav apps with different functions as you progress through the game! The PokéNav is also built to be modular, so new applications can be easily added with new game updates. Here are a few of the applications that will be in the demo:

**Town Map **

A classic. Like in the OG Hoenn games, the town map is now accessed through a DexNav app instead of an item

**Weather Map **

A map that shows you what the current weather is like around the region. Handy for catching weather-exclusive Pokémon!

Quests

The Quest Journal for PIF 1 has been relocated to the DexNav, along with a few visual adjustments.
Quests in PIF Hoenn will be found a bit differently than in PIF1 , but look forward to even more variety! More on quests later

**Jukebox **

A simple music player that allows you to replace the current background music with any track that you've heard before while playing.

PokéChallenge

This app provides you with 4 random daily challenges that you can do to earn money and items. Once you complete a challenge, you can claim the rewards directly from the app. These are some examples of challenges you might get:

• Catch a Pokémon on the first try
• Max out one of your stats during a battle
• Get two wild Pokémon to fuse before a battle
• etc.

PokéRadar

PokéRadar is back and improved! This time around, it works a bit more similarly to DexNav from ORAS. Once you've encountered a Pokémon in the wild, you will then be able to Scan for it to make it appear somewhere nearby.

• You charge the Pokeradar's battery with steps. Rarer Pokémon will cost more battery to scan
• When you scan for a Pokémon, it will appear somewhere close to the trainer. You will need to sneak up to it and defeat it into a battle to keep your chain going.
• If it sees you before you can start a battle, the Pokémon will flee and your chain will break
• After you defeat the Pokémon, a new one will appear until the chain is broken. The higher the chain, the more likely shiny Pokémon are to appear
• The PokéRadar can be used in grass, in caves and while surfing

[keen escarp]

PIF Hoenn Dev update #8: Battle Backgrounds!

<@&1374133084626354306>
<@&392803830900850688>

Something we've been working on for PIF: Hoenn is improving the battle backgrounds. Instead of the generic backgrounds like the ones that are used in the first Infinite Fusion game, IF2 will feature custom battle backgrounds made by the community! The ultimate goal is to have individual backgrounds for every unique area in the game! (or as much as possible anyway ) We needed to make a few backgrounds to serve as examples and to help with having a consistent artstyle before we invited more people to contribute, but we want this to be a community project and we're now pretty much ready to open it to everyone.

The feature is still WIP, but I wanted to showcase some of the backgrounds we have been working on so far. These backgrounds showed here were made by @cold garnet and @neon wolf, with the first one being a touched up version of the original concept by @coral parcel .

This is a community project and we need more talented artists to help make these backgrounds! If you're interested in making battle backgrounds for the game, please apply here:

Fill out this form if you want to contribute!

If you're interested, also check out this technical document explaining the process of making backgrounds for the game:

• Background creation process

[solemn raptor]

Figured it would be a good idea to have this very important update in the actual dev update channel

[solemn raptor]

You know as cool as the Orre region is, we decided that... it just didn't have enough water for our liking! Besides, I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Also terrible news guys, when we were about to add the elemental monkeys, it seems they were scared off from all the trumpets. Weird.

Happy April Fools~
-# || We will actually be adding the trumpet version of the soundtrack to the game! But how do you unlock it? Guess you'll have to find out when the time comes ||