idea Pokémon "Solar & Lunar"

[monkeychewtoy]

Hey there. New here. Looking for feedback/suggestions, etc.

[EDIT] Apparently at some point a Gen IV mod came out called Sun & Moon. So now maybe I need to change the names? You snooze for nine years, you lose, I guess. The sun and moon are actually hugely central to my plotline, so for now the working titles are Solar & Lunar.

I've been sitting on an idea for a ROM mod since shortly after Gen III came out, but priorities changed and I left it in the dust until I picked up Pokemon Y recently and started playing again. So here's a quick rundown of my goals:

• Remake/retell the original Pokémon games with a cohesive and compelling story
  
  • Present Team Rocket as a credible threat with believable motives
  • Establish an internal cosmology using legendary and mythical pokémon as narrative focus

  [*]Add/redesign cities and landmarks in Kanto to accommodate a total of 18 gyms

  • One for each type

  [*]Gradually ramp up difficulty to surpass traditional Pokémon games without starting at an increased difficulty level

  [*]Include a higher-than-usual but not complete list of catchable pokémon

  • A complete list would be available between Sun and Moon, using breeding and evolution
  • Evolution would include simulated in-game trades

  [*]Utilize day-night cycle dynamic

  • Early versions of this plan had one game set in day and the other at night, (guess which was which!) because GBA emulators couldn't simulate a real-time clock

At the time I originally conceived this, I was only planning to have 17 gyms, as Fairy didn't exist. There's also over 300 more pokémon now. Those pokémon don't serve any purpose for my narrative, but many of them have unique type combinations that could add some satisfying depth to the gameplay without further hacks that might be less intuitive to players. So my questions here today boil down to:

• Is Black 2/White 2 the best choice to mod from? There seem to be an abundance of resources available, with people making progress on 721 and Fairy imports.
  
• Will people be satisfied if I cherry-pick pokémon from across the generations, or will they expect commitment to either 386 or 721? My original plan was 386, but now there's a Ghost/Steel pokémon and that is SO COOL.
  
• Is there still enough interest in Gen III mods and enough supported resources to justify abandoning the expanded features of DS emulation?
  
• What do people consider excessive in terms of options? How much is too much for a mod to present to players?
  
• Can we emulate clocks now? I'm so behind the times!

Thanks for your time. I'm looking forward to some feedback before I start cracking hexes open on this little pet project of mine.

Edited May 5, 2015 by monkeychewtoy

[phantomness]

This hack sounds amazing, and with 18 gyms I would definitely expect more Pokemon, maybe not a full 721 but more than 386. I for one am still interested in Gen III mods and there's still a lot of Gen III activity on Pokecommunity. I love the idea of gradually increasing difficulty instead of making the game rage-inducing hard right off the bat. Making team rocket actually threatening is also awesome, and I'd certainly like the ability to join TR as a possible mod although if that's too much trouble it's fine. These are just my thoughts. Thank you!