idea Pokemon Black/Black2 hack: Triples and Rotations

[yourfavorite]

Hello~ I am YourFavorite and I am completely new to rom hacking and to this community.

Even though Gen 5 has been out for several years, I feel that news of Gen 6 is coming a bit too soon. Black 2 and White 2 were just recently released, and (more importantly) I feel that Gamefreak hasn't really given us a chance to explore triple and rotation battle mechanics. In 3rd and 4th gens, Genius Sonority was hired to make spin-offs, which explored double battles in 3rd gen, and more in-depth mechanics (like trick room) in 4th gen. These introduced me to double battles, were a lot of fun, and gave me a pretty big appreciation for both double battles and pokemon battling in general. For 5th gen, triple and rotation battles haven't recieved the same treatment. Sure, in B2/W2 there are a few trainers that will surprise you with triple or rotation battles, but you can never see them coming, and they feel very out-of-place. I feel that both have some potential, but there haven't been a lot of opportunities to explore them outside of multiplayer, (where a first-time player is likely to get wrecked).

So, to get to the point: I am planning on making a Black or Black2 hack that features primarily triple and rotation battles. I want it to be its own game in its own right (eg. different region, different gym leaders, different evil team), but all of the core gameplay mechanics will probably stay the same. I may use this for progress or recruitment later (If you're interested in helping, that's awesome, but since we are still in concept/planning stages I don't even know what help we will need), HOWEVER right now I mainly want to discuss the idea and the logistics.

GAMEPLAY/story-wise, here are my ideas:

-Evil team plays dirty, will wait to ambush you two or three at a time.

-An order of monks that values team synergy and the ebb and flow of battle, who will train you in rotation battles.

-Start the player off on single battles (first gym), then introduce doubles (second gym), then have the remaining gyms split between triple or rotation battles. This is so the player can get used to the game, then slowly get used to other playstyles.

-Triple-battling gyms will likely use a lot of spread moves, but I want to incorporate some other common strategies from the metagame as well (eg. fake-out, follow me/rage powder, maybe even anger point and/or justified)

-Perhaps have one elite-four member for each battle style (singles, doubles, triples, and rotation). However, this brings up the question of which style does the Champion use? Perhaps the player gets to pick?

-Perhaps centering the story on the three legendary birds, because there is very little lore about them and therefore plenty of room to make stuff up.

My gameplay/story concerns:

-I want triple battles and rotation battles to make sense in context.

-I'm worried about putting triple battles in too many places, since giving commands to three pokemon makes them take longer. But I'm also worried about not including them enough, and making them feel like a misplaced gimmick.

-I'm also worried about the synergy between triple battles and rotation battles. They are pretty different styles of battle, with different viable strategies for each. While this may encourage team flexibility, it may also discourage having more support-focused pokemon and/or restrict what strategies the players can use.

My technical concerns:

-I plan on changing the types that the gym leaders use, but have heard that it's difficult to edit the gyms. Worst-case-scenario, I would be fine with leaving the gyms as they are, but changing the trainers and leader.

-The FAQ seems dubious about editing maps in roms, but I have seen a tutorial on editing the maps in B/W. How practical is editing maps in gen 5?

-I am not quite sure whether or not to use Black or Black2. Pros and cons:

Black:

+Gyms and elite 4 seem easier to edit?

+Probably better documented than Black2?

-Fewer maps than Black 2

-Complicated ending, with a champion battle, a legendary battle, and another battle, plus a castle rising out of the ground. Seems pretty hard to edit (but also could be edited to become a pretty epic ending).

Black2:

+More maps than Black?

+Features a desert-like section (Lentimas Town area); I would really like to use some of those assets and make a larger desert-like section of the region.

+Ice sliding mechanics; could make some fun puzzles with those

+I'm a fan of pokestar studios, and like the idea of making my own "battle puzzles"

+Has both white forest and black city? (If I feel a need to use those for something)

-Gyms and elite four seem more difficult to edit

-Hasn't been around as long as Black, probably less documented

-Do I really want to take the time to mess around with pokestar studios, when it would delay finishing the hack?

So, I would very much appreciate if anyone would like to discuss my ideas and concerns, and help me hammer things out. I'd especially like help choosing whether I should start with Black or Black2. I'm still doing research on the whole process, and have a lot to read, but would appreciate any feedback that would help guide my research. Thanks for reading! <3

[aninymouse]

I think you have a lot of good ideas and aspirations. I think that triple and rotation battles are definitely worthy of further exploration... though I do think that the power creep in Pokemon will keep them painfully short. Perhaps something to consider in a game where all trainer battles are double or more is to beef up defenses of Pokemon, or, perhaps to achieve a less subtle effect, to halve the BP of most attacks. If the base power of Close Combat is just 60, for instance, then Pokemon could keep the same stats and the battles would last long enough for there to be an increased reliance on strategy and swapping teammates from left to right and vice-versa. Right now, triple battles are so fast that swapping from left to right is almost never a good idea. But, that is only my opinion.

[yourfavorite]

I don't think that would be as much of a problem early-game, where the moves aren't as strong, but I could definitely see that happening as the game progresses. I will do some playtesting and consider it. Thank you very much!