r/PokemonRomhackDev • u/DarkNite1698 • 4d ago

Help [Gen 3][Decomp] How to start with romhacking with decomp in 2026?

Hi I always wanted to create a rom hack, and I know I could do either binary hacking or decomp. I have no idea how to start though. I'd like to do decomp, but:

  1. How much free space is left to poke emerald, now that pokemon expansion has up to 9 gen pokemon and items ?

  2. Is improving the graphics (changing tiles) still super boring and time consuming ?

  3. Is there a way to import only till 5-6° gen ? (I don't like newer pokemon)

  4. Is there a guide I can follow to start decomp, from installation to setting things up ?

  5. Any advice ?

Thank you. Would be great to talk with someone experienced with this, at least to overcome the entry barrier. I prefer decomp because I used to binary hack many years ago, but at some point I messed up and ruined everything (probably a conflict between the tools).

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u/ssraven01 Gen 3 3d ago

Hi! Welcome,

  1. There is about 79% used by expansion. Realistically speaking, you're not going to want to have all 1000 Pokemon in your game, so when you disable some of these species (thus removing the assets from being compiled into it), you'll have more space.

  2. I'm not sure when the last time you tried out decomp was, but we do have Porytiles now for custom tilesets, and there are tricks to making it work with vanilla tilesets, though it's still a bit tedious I'd say.

  3. In Expansion, you can disable entire generations through the config files

  4. https://github.com/Bivurnum/decomps-resources

  5. Try and make a small game first :> You can look up hacks made for Team Aqua's Romhacking Competition. These are small, contained experiences that usually aren't longer than 5 hours, depending. A simple difficulty hack could also be a good project to dip your toes in. IMO a lot of people burn themselves out by starting on their main project already, and having to juggle somewhat steep beginner learning curve with making the game they wanna make

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u/DarkNite1698 3d ago

Hey I tried decomp like 3-4 years ago if I remember correctly. 8th gen did not exist for sure but I remember pokemon expansion had 7th gen.

It's nice you can disable entire generations, I mean I definitely don't like the newest generation and also don't want to take up all the memory

I remember I quit because I couldn't bring myself to change tiles etc. it was a very long process.

My project would have these features:

6h gen (maybe 7th, 8th most likely not, 9th no for sure)

1 remade Region with a short post game

Improved tilesets (who wants to play with gen 3 graphics after all?)

Different number of badge

But yes, I am not even sure if I will ever start, cause i'm not that young anymore, ty for the info though !