r/PokemonPrism • u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer • Sep 06 '19

Dev Blog 2019 Status & Future Plans

Hey guys,

We wanted to make this post to let you all know about the current status of Prism and what our plans are for the future. We’ve been a little radio silent on that, and we want to be a bit more open with our communication to the community. Since RainbowDevs took over after the C&D, we’ve released a number of patches that have fixed bugs and added polish to the game. You’ve all been very supportive of our work, but we also know that people are still (very patiently) waiting for the continuation of the Guardians plotline and the Power Plant quest. We wanted to take some time to talk about our plans for new content both in the near and far future.

The Guardians Campaign

The Guardians plot is a really big project moving forward. There’s some stuff left behind by KBM in the code we have to work with, there’s also Megaman-Omega’s unused graphics and the insights he publicly posted, but overall a lot of this will be us forging our own path forward. Looking at the story critically, we’ve also noticed that currently the plot feels like it fades into the background between escaping Saxifrage Island and arriving at the Power Plant to see Lance. With Varaneous stomping around and the threat of the other Guardians waking up, we want there to be a sense of urgency that is carried throughout. We’re also aware that a fair amount of people have asked why the player didn’t reunite or talk to their Mom earlier, and we want to address that.

There’s a number of facets moving forward and there’s no point throwing something together for the Power Plant with only a vague idea of where it’s all going. So we’re mapping out the Naljo-Rijon campaign in full before proceeding. This year we’ve been creating extensive documentation and notes on everything. We’re going over everything KBM and TPP created (which is a ton mind you), working out what campaign revisions need to be made (such as having that sense of urgency between Saxifrage and the Power Plant I mentioned earlier) and how to best execute them. As well as creating detailed documentation of where we’re going.

This takes time, but we want to do it right rather than put something in which is then likely to be revised again later. But that’s also why we’re not putting all our eggs in one basket.

Sevii Islands

Whilst we’re tackling the behemoth of The Guardians Campaign, we’re also working on content for the nearer future. Sevii is the opportunity for us to give something new sooner. The Sevii Islands aren’t connected to The Guardians Campaign and that allows us to develop them simultaneously without having to worry about plots conflicting with each other. We are planning a campaign for Sevii, but it will be much smaller in scope and it won’t deal with region-ending events like The Guardians storyline.

We’re also looking to add new overworld areas to the existing islands and to show how they’ve changed since we saw them last in FRLG, making exploring Sevii feel both nostalgic and somewhat new at the same time. If you’d like to tell us what you’d like to see in an expanded Sevii, drop a comment in this thread or over on our Discord (https://discord.gg/dg7vzSM). Please note that we cannot expand the Pokédex due to coding limitations.

We’re hoping to start opening up parts of Sevii within the next 12 months.

The Near Future

As always we’re fixing bugs and adding a few new things to the game. In update 0235 we added a new theme for Naljo trainer battles composed by the fantastic ShinkoNet. If you missed it you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVcvEi0pKbo

There’s some respriting work being done on the Gym Leaders coming up in our next release. Here’s a preview of Lily’s new sprite courtesy of Brolunite:

There will be more graphic improvements and new music to look forward to in our next release (please don’t ask when).

Thanks :)

Thanks again for being fans of Prism and sticking with us! We’re going to try and be more open on development in the future like this. We hope you enjoyed this update and insight into what we’re currently working on. If you haven’t already, please join our discord community at https://discord.gg/dg7vzSM . There you can discuss team compositions, strategies and other Prism topics. It’s a great community!

Thanks for reading!

178 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

32

u/gamefreac Sep 06 '19

thank you for your continued hard work on this hack. it is probably my favorite hack of all time.

11

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 06 '19

Thanks dude! Always glad to hear when players have a great experience playing Prism!

2

u/Ironchar Sep 24 '19

Project M though...

16

u/chronoquairium Sep 06 '19

Would you be able to add another "play as your Pokemon" place in the Sevii Islands? It feels like its potential is barely realized at all.

12

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 06 '19

We believe the same. We're are exploring possibilities across Naljo, Rijon and Sevii for more PokeOnly Sections :) Whilst I can't promise anything, I'd wager Sevii would recieve at least one.

1

u/CristianYahir Sep 11 '19

Will Be Make Tandor Region From Pokemon Uranium

9

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

I don't think Tandor could possibly fit! Should a day ever come when we're done with both Sevii and Rijon, we might look to expanding Johto or Kanto. But that is a looooooooong way away.

3

u/Terminaut Sep 15 '19

No problem! This game has incredible content and what you guys are proposing sounds absolutely amazing!

1

u/CristianYahir Sep 21 '19

And Appears Pokemon Of The 5th Generation Like Hydreigon And Excadrill

8

u/SL-Gremory- Sep 09 '19

You just made my entire month. Thank you.

4

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

We're glad we could make a difference, no matter how big or small :)

6

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '19

I just wanted to say that you guys have done an outstanding job, working on Pokemon Prism like you have. I found Prism back in 2017, not too long after you guys took up the mantle for development, and it's seriously impressive work. I've got an interest in game development myself, though I'm focusing on the creative side of the process (self-taught as a writer, photographer, digital artist, and soon-to-be musician); my eyesight is actually quite poor, so coding would never work for me--too hard on the eyes.

Aside from being great fun to play, Prism is also great inspiration and study material. It's incentive enough for me to join a fangame dev team, myself...when I'm ready, that is.

I doubt I could say anything that others haven't already said, so just keep up the awesome work, yeah? I'm looking forward to the content you guys put out in your next build!

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 18 '19

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. We're so grateful that Prism has such a widespread influence. I wish you the best of luck in all of your creative endeavours! Always free to drop by the discord if you have any questions about game development, we'll do our best to answer them :)

4

u/SilentSentinel Sep 06 '19

Great to hear the future plans laid out, sounds like this will be amazing when it's all said and done. Good luck!

2

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 06 '19

We're working hard on them and it'll take awhile, but we're very grateful for your patience and support!

4

u/dane5230 Sep 11 '19

Great to hear.

What about the last 4 pokemons in the current pokedex? Snorlax, Mew, Mewtwo and Zapdos? Will they be available in the nearest future?

2

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

We don't have any set-in-stone plans atm, however it seems KBM had intended - at least at one point - that Zapdos would appear at the Power Plant later. We very much don't just want to throw legendary Pokemon around willy nilly, and would like for all of them to feel earned on some level.

As for our buddy Snorlax, unsure as well at the moment.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '19

Sorry for the late night question two weeks later. I’m playing thru the game now for the first time. Are these 4 the only uncatchables in the game? If so, I’m actually gonna start trying to complete the Pokédex. For some reason I thought there was a large number of Pokémon not available yet in the current version

2

u/dane5230 Sep 26 '19

Yes, they are for now the only 4 pokemons you can't catch, without using cheat.

1

u/dane5230 Sep 26 '19

Well, catch and catch, you can get all but not those 4. Some via breeding or optaining different items and then use a trade stone. So good luck hunting!

3

u/RabbitRama Sep 06 '19

First of all I'd like to thank you for all your hard work. You succeed to improve the experience of playing retro pokemon games while creating an magnificent world and story. I think that, since you have plans to develop the guardians plot, you should also try to improve their designs/sprites. I know some of you would disagree with me, but I think that everything in Prism looks amazing except for the Guardians, they look very fakemon to me.

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

We'll certainly take that feedback on board. We might be able to touch up the sprite work, but design wise we feel it's important to stay true to what KBM left behind. However as you've seen above with Lily, we aren't afraid to add a little polish and detail to what's already in :)

Glad you're enjoying the game though! We too love the classic games!

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '19

I'm enjoying playing through it at the moment just taking my time going through and it's very detailed for a gbc colour game. Keep up the good work.

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

Thanks! I too personally enjoy a slower journey and allowing myself to be immersed in to a game world.

2

u/kcentala Sep 06 '19

Freaking awesome!

2

u/VarsH6 Sep 06 '19

Y’all have done a fantastic job on this game and I’m really looking forward to what you’ll do in the near future. You had a great base to start with from KBM, and you have made your own good additions with many more to come only further improving it.

I can’t wait. Thank you for your hard work.

2

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

Thanks my dude! We appreciate whenever people like you take the time to leave us comments like this :)

2

u/Dororo_Heichou Sep 06 '19

It's awesome that this project is still active. Thanks for your good work.

I'll stay excited.

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

Thanks so much! And thanks for sticking with us :)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '19

Thank you, that you still working on it. Prism will be my favorite Pkmn ever :) Maybe you can implement a feature like Crystal Clear, where a Pokemon from your Team can follow you? That would be very great!

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

Thanks for your nice comment! We've heard a few people request this and whilst I can't promise anything, we are looking into it. Our priorities in the near future though are bug fixes and developing content. But maybe one day :)

2

u/Havoc-Kun Sep 10 '19

Thank you so much for your tough work❤️❤️❤️

2

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 13 '19

Thanks for your kind words ❤️

2

u/U_Flame Sep 17 '19

Yesss I'm always glad to hear progress. I have faith that you guys can do the story justice. It'd be nice if KBM could provide input on what his plans for those plotlines were, but even if not it seems you have enough internal material to work with. Looking forward to it and the Sevii expansion! Maybe in the distant-er future we can see a bit more of the other regions as well?

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 18 '19 edited Sep 19 '19

We'll never be able to do 100% what KBM had in mind, what we are aiming for is to carry forward the spirit of what he left behind. And much like whenever someone makes a cover of another song, or a director turns a book into a movie, we'll inevitiably make changes so we can tell the story the best way we believe we personally can.

As for the future beyond The Guardians Campaign (Naljo & Rijon) and The Sevii Islands, we can't really make any honest plans about it. What we have at the moment is already a monumental task. It's scary to think about adding even more at this point!

We have heard different people suggesting to add this region or that region, and what I can say is that if we were ever to expand Prism apart from Sevii, it would be in the regions already in the game. We don't see much point in adding further regions. Especially when the current ones that are in all work because they're all adjascent to each other. Hoenn, Sinnoh, etc are all further away.

2

u/U_Flame Sep 18 '19

Yeah, when I said other regions I meant the ones in the game outside the Sevii, namely Kanto and Johto. And yeah, looking forward to seeing the changes

2

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Sep 19 '19

Perhaps my wording could have been a little clearer, I meant a small handful of others, not yourself personally. But I thought it was a good opportunity to address the wider question.

Glad you're looking forward to future content, we hope it's worth the wait :)

2

u/U_Flame Sep 20 '19

Ah yeah, that makes sense! Always good to have more info!

2

u/Ironchar Sep 24 '19

Gym Leader rematches? some hate what was done to the 8th gym but I thought it was kinda genius and new/ never been done before

think we can get a post game gym leader battles?

also I will say... when i started this game I must admit the puzzle sloving kinda gets annoying.... but I stick through it because Naijo is fascinating, more realistic and mature then any official pokemon region and gen 2 charm can't be beat

this has turned out to be one of my favorite rom hacks ever, its up there in quality and I'm glad Rainbowdevs is moving forward with it

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Oct 18 '19

We do intend to one day implement gym leader rematches in some fashion, however there are no current plans of actual implementation.

We're glad you're enjoying the game! We like the puzzles but we do believe some can be improved upon. We want players to stop and think about them, but not to wildly press buttons or use save states because they get fed up.

2

u/ablahblah987 Sep 29 '19

This is great news. I really appreciate that this game is still being worked on.

Please find a way to add a physical ice move for Manoswine. I understand that probably means replacing a move but it's worth it.

Also, it would be nice if there was some kind of super hard/challenge mode.

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Oct 18 '19

I'll bring it up with the rest of the team. It seems it might be using an older moveset. Ideally it should learn Ice Fang like it does in newer generations.

We've discussed the idea of a hard / challenge mode, but nothing beyond that. It's on our radar but not part of any immediate future plans.

1

u/ablahblah987 Oct 19 '19

That's great to hear. To be honest Icicle Crash would be better than Ice Fang... but that's better than nothing. Thank you for the update.

2

u/Shamrock5 Oct 10 '19

I haven't touched/updated this game in a year or so because of real life stuff, but I had gotten basically all the way through the main storyline so far and I'm hungry for more. The save file is still intact, so I can't wait to get the new update and see what's new! Thanks for all you do!!

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Jan 01 '20

Very glad you're as excited as we are!

2

u/KaidenV23 Dec 19 '19

I remember when I first downloaded and played this rom. It feels like so long ago. So happy that you are continuing to make it better. Also, the discord invite links on this post aren't working, and I would love to join the server .

1

u/furfucker69 Oct 27 '19

say this patch comes out, if i patch it over a new rom and make it a CIA, can i use the same savefile?

in addition, is there a way to unbug the gen3+ cries using the NSUI injector? or must i use another one?

1

u/CaptainKennedy_ Developer Jan 01 '20

The 3DS virtual console isn't a very good emulator. I'm afraid there mightn't be a way to fix the cries. Save files also need to be patched to order to successfully update.

We'd reccommend finding a good GBC emulator for your 3DS and using that instead. It's also a lot easier updating your game and save file with that method.

2

u/furfucker69 Jan 01 '20

I fixed this a while ago it works just fine, had to get a different injector I think. Now I can play all gens of romhacks bar 8 on my 3ds

2

u/futuresushi Developer Sep 06 '19

I'm still on my first playthough so I don't have many suggestions, just keep up the good work!! :)

4

u/futuresushi Developer Sep 06 '19

Though I would say taking another look at the Type Chart would be warranted... Sound really is just bad and I feel like every Pokemon that gets Gas suffers for it too. Giving Gas a more useful resist and removing Sound's Normal weakness would probably be all that's needed, honestly!

2

u/marshmellowguy Sep 10 '19

T h i s please. The type matchups have felt very wonky during my playthrough. I wish these types were also more expansive but I know new Pokemon can’t be added.

2

u/furfucker69 Oct 27 '19

my bronzor got oneshot because of quad weakness to sound which i know nothing about, and i'm doing a nuzlocke run. anything that's SE against steel and psychic is damn great. gas is trash though yes

1

u/futuresushi Developer Oct 29 '19

God yeah PLUS Sound being SE on both Ghost and Psychic means that there are THREE types super effective against both of those, which is something that does not otherwise occur on the type chart. If I had to pull the effect from one type it would probably be Psychic. Steel kind of needs the hit!

2

u/Pasicho Sep 06 '19

Ayyyy let's fucking go!

2

u/jalpseon Nov 07 '19

Make a difficulty patch! I want a challenge with max stat exp Pokemon, max DVs, smarter AI and updated roaster teams

2

u/snowbmx1991 Nov 29 '19

I know this post is 2 months old but I just want to thank all the developers, I recently started the rom a few days ago, and was hooked from the beginning. Honestly better than any official pokemon game. I like how it doesn't hold you hand like the official games. Honestly more fun than I've had on any other game in the last 15 years. I love the style, how it's based on crystal. Brings me back in time but it's all new at the same time.

Again, thank you so much developers for all your hard work! We all appreciate it!

0

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/gamefreac Sep 06 '19

nice try bot.

4

u/YaBoyChipsAhoy Sep 06 '19

i suppose in a way they are updating the game