Honesty, yeah, fair enough. More than familiar with how that sort of thing can get out of hand, no matter what you're developing. Sorry you had to deal with that. I would've probably preferred some sort of internal detector to figure out if things have been edited and some big 'Do not bug report' text blurb in response if you open it up. But I do understand that even with that, some people will simply do it anyway.
If you don't want to or don't have the time to use a website set up better for bug reports, such as github or creating your own google forms or something similar in premise, then it's simply a difference in priorities or it's my own ignorance. You're welcome to do what you need to for your situation.
If that's unavoidable, that's unavoidable. I certainly didn't develop it, so I would have no idea. However, for me personally bricking the game is a marginal inconvenience at worst and expected at best. By this point I've spent more time modifying games than actually playing them, so I am the minority. The only thing I would have found grating would possibly be breaking it and not realizing it until evolution, since that tends to be somewhat later in the game, but I usually avoid editing anything which would evolve further specifically because I know the edits don't persist.
Sprite editing is a godsend, lol. Not too great at the art part, but some edits here and there are within my ability. Wouldn't have known that was possible with your hack if you didn't mention it, though, since my primary edits tend to be related to typing and abilities, as well as level-up and tm/hm moves. When those ended up being blocked, I glanced around the responses to see if anything had been mentioned, and then provided my own. It's the same reason you've baked personal edits into the hack in Charizard being a fire/dragon type, for example.
One edit I do often is changing the TM/HM learn list so I can learn any TM. It can be argued that that's somewhat cheaty, but I find that far more fulfilling when doing a randomizer than coming across a TM and finding that no one can use it, since there's often no way to know until you pick it up. It's even worse if it's sticky, so without it, I end up neglecting TMs, often entirely. That also means that any pokemon can be viable if I find the right TMs for them, so I can build as I like even if I get unfavorable moves.
Another edit I do when randomizing abilities is keeping abilities on evolution, if I bother with evolution at all. I dislike having to grind a pokemon to evolution to merely find out if they're worth having because, surprise, their ability will not be the same. Personal preference, I know, some people prefer it that way. I do that less with Sky, however, and more with other games.
In that sense, I agree with you. However, I wasn't referring to that sense when I made my original post. An example I'll give in how restrictive the in-game randomizer is compared to the tool is in move and item lists. Based on initial playing, that didn't seem possible, at least not in a way I found.
The reason I find the tool more or less restrictive is exclusively because of my ability to weigh the odds. Perhaps a particular move is killing countless runs? I don't have to worry about that move, then. Perhaps a particular item I find too overpowered? I won't come across it, and it doesn't take away from another possible item I may have had.
The reason the tool could be less restrictive is because I can choose exactly how much random I want. One day I may want more monster rooms literally every room, another day I may not want any at all. One day I may want random weather, one day I may not. The ability to choose is why it's less restrictive. Don't mistake that for me saying that's your fault, though. I wouldn't expect you to independently replicate all possible options for every tool that ever edited Sky. It's for that reason that taking the option away from me makes me believe that I won't ever have it exactly as I prefer.
My problem is not that you have not added my variety of customization. My issue is a bit more nuanced. I treat Sky like a sandbox, so I don't ever expect all ways I could customize it to be catered to, especially since, as you've said, hack design could make it impossible. It's an unreasonable expectation to place on you, especially for a 1-person hack, so I don't. Giving me more options is nice, but that's not the point.
If you've made design choices that make it impossible to edit metadata at all as a 3rd party, that simply means it's not my hack, and it isn't intended for me. I would personally prefer the ability to edit the options of base game Sky to any amount of QOL or options you could provide, even if they are quite incredible, and they are. They are far and above the best I have seen for a hack of this game, to the point I'll probably play through it at least once even with my disappointment.
However, I won't get to enjoy that as much as I want for the simple reason that I can't make Charizard a Flying/Steel type and change his colors to reflect that, for whatever ungodly reason I'd do so at the time.
It's your hack, and you're allowed to do as you want, but I would like if you added a disclaimer when describing your hack that it has a guard. Had I known before I put work into trying to make edits, it would be a lot less irritating. I would still be less keen to try it, but I wouldn't be upset.
Hopefully that qualifies as constructive?
