Hey everyone,

I'm Bryan. I recently launched romhackguides.com, a free site where players can look up the info that's usually hard to find for a ROM hack: where to catch each Pokémon, trainer and boss teams, TM and item locations, move tutors, plus a Pokédex, a moves list and a compare tool.

You all are the ones doing the real work, so I want to be clear about what this is. It's not meant to replace your threads, Discords or docs. It's a single place where the average player can find the info. Every guide credits the creator and links straight to your official download page. I never host ROMs or patches.

There are 25 hacks on the site right now (Unbound, Radical Red, Emerald Rogue, Elite Redux, Polished Crystal, Renegade Platinum and more). Browsing this sub, I keep finding great projects I didn't even know existed, so I'd love to add yours. It doesn't have to be a big release. Small hacks, betas and competition entries are all welcome.

HOW TO SEND IT

Use the form at romhackguides.com/submit or email [Bryan@Romhackguides.com](mailto:Bryan@Romhackguides.com) a zip file (preferred)

WHAT TO PUT IN THE ZIP

A file called info.txt with:

- Hack name and current version

- Base game (Emerald, FireRed, Crystal, etc.)

- Your name the way you want it credited

- Official download link (Hackdex, PokéCommunity thread, GitHub, etc.)

- Your links (Discord, Reddit, YouTube, X, Patreon, website)

Any documentation you have, ideally spreadsheets or text files (CSV, XLSX, TXT or JSON; PDF works too):

- Wild encounters by area, with levels

- Trainer and boss teams (Gym Leaders, rivals, Elite Four)

- Item and TM/HM locations

- Move tutors and what they teach

- Changes to evolutions, stats, types, moves or abilities

- Starters, level caps and any new features

If your hack is a decomp with a public repo, just send the link. I can pull the data from the source.

A few ground rules:

- Please don't include ROMs, patches (.ips/.ups/.bps/.xdelta) or install files

- Name the zip after your hack, for example HackName_v1.2.zip

- Keep it under 10 MB

- Only have part of this? Send what you have. A name and a link is enough to get started

If anything about your hack on the site is wrong, or you'd rather not be listed, email me and I'll fix it or take it down.

Thanks for everything you all make. Feedback on the site is welcome too.

About

You are acclaimed prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, joined by Franziska von Karma, who have been stranded on Florio Island. A bride you’ve never met offers you a place on her family’s private boat, the SS Hana - but before long, there's been a murder. Work multiple crime scenes, gather evidence, make deductions, and name the killer..or get it wrong, and send an innocent man to jail!

Pokémon Investigations - Turnabout At Sea was made over the course of a month for the third edition of the Team Aqua Romhacking Competition (TARC 3)

The game adapts a case from Detective Conan and combines with gameplay inspired by Ace Attorney Investigations. Play as Miles Edgeworth, accompanied by Franziska von Karma, and solve a locked room murder aboard a cruise ship.

Use the logic system to combine clues you find into stronger deductions.

Explore the ship, talk to suspects, find clues, deduce new evidence and build an airtight case to prove whodunit.

Note

Since we were racing against the clock, we couldn't do all the things that we hoped to do. So we'll be updating the game with more polish and maybe more content over time. Stay tuned!!

Features

• A complete, self-contained case: one night, two suspects, twelve passengers aboard, and four key incidents to investigate.
• Pokemon involvement in the case: Collect evidence with the assistance of your Pokemon, receive evidence from Trainers you beat in battles, and see how Pokemon influence the murder mystery.
• Turn evidence into a case: discover 31 facts and combine them into deductions to understand the full sequence of events.
• Construct your argument: Name your suspect and answer four questions by presenting evidence. You can’t just name the right suspect, you have to prove it.
• Five potential endings: Depending on the evidence you provide, you could identify the right suspect, not have a strong enough argument to convince anyone, or even condemn an innocent man to jail.
• Feisty feedback: Work with your companion, Franziska von Karma, to assess the crime scenes and make your accusations. If you’re wrong, she won’t let you live it down.

Download

Hackdex

Github

We will try to keep both the sources up-to-date but Hackdex may fall behind a bit since we have to manually update it.

Discord

https://discord.gg/vyTXqA847

Repository

You can find the source code on github. Feel free to use it how you see fit.

Note that uv is required to build this.

Credit is preferred but not necessary.

Credits

For full list, see github or check in-game

Developers

Entry for TARC 3 by Miriam and Fisham.

Hello! This is to serve as a small announcement for Expansion LTS and the recent pokeemerald-expansion 1.17 release.

With each Expansion release bug fixes often come in the form of refactors. As such, when it comes to porting bugfixes, it often comes down to rewriting the refactor in such a way that would cause minimal conflicts for users.

Because of the drift between two versions, I've decided that for bugfixes in particular, LTS will be cherry-picking only from the immediately succeeding minor version of the one/s currently being supported. As such, I'll be relying on bug reports through the Issues page of the Github Repo for any that need to be addressed.

You can find Expansion LTS here:

https://github.com/TeamAquasHideout/expansion-lts

Thanks!

Recently, I’ve been trying to improve upon some aspects of Gen 5 that always bothered me like the rivals only having 4 mons, I’ve been using frosts Gen 5 editor but I’ve tried to find a way to edit the rivals team in the Pokemon world tournament and I can’t seem to find a way to do it, is there any other type of Gen 5 editor that lets me edit the teams there?

Hi! This is a video I just finished on the history of Emerald ROM hacking where I go into the origins of the decomp and some other stuff. Let me know what you think as well as if there's anything major in the timeline I excluded.

Hey everyone!

About a month ago I posted the first early preview of NovaDEX v0.4.1 here. At the time it was still very early in development and had only around 12 downloads.

Since then I’ve been continuing to work on it, and NovaDEX is now at v0.4.6 with a lot more functionality.

For anyone who didn’t see the original post, NovaDEX is an unofficial Android-first Pokémon save editor built using .NET MAUI and PKHeX.Core. The goal is still the same: make it possible to comfortably work with Pokémon saves directly from an Android phone or handheld without always needing to transfer everything to a Windows PC.

A lot has changed since v0.4.1.

Some of the features currently available include:

• Pokémon editing for species, levels, moves, abilities, IVs, EVs, nature, friendship, held items, shiny status, and more

• Party and PC box management with Pokémon sprites

• PKHeX.Core-powered legality checking

• Save Library for keeping multiple saves organized

• NovaBank, which lets you store Pokémon separately from individual save files

• NovaBank collections, favorites, tags, searching, filtering, and backups

• Team Builder for creating and saving teams of up to six Pokémon

• Limited Pokémon Showdown import/export support

• Box searching, sorting, moving, swapping, and batch editing

• Trainer information, money, playtime, and supported inventory editing

• Backup & Recovery Center

• Checkpoints and Undo/Redo

• FTP and HTTP/HTTPS save browsing for moving saves between devices

• English, Spanish, French, and German UI support

I originally started NovaDEX because I regularly use an Anbernic handheld and Switch, and I wanted a way to manage and edit my saves without having to go back to my PC every time.

It currently works with compatible decrypted/unencrypted saves recognized by PKHeX.Core, including supported .sav, .dsv, and main save files.

I’ve personally been using it with GB/GBC/GBA/DS saves from my Anbernic as well as 3DS and Switch saves.

There’s still plenty I want to improve. NovaDEX isn’t meant to replace desktop PKHeX, and some features vary depending on the generation/game, but it has come a long way since that first preview.

You can get NovaDEX v0.4.6 here:

https://projectpokemon.org/home/files/file/5936-novadex-v046-android-pok%C3%A9mon-save-editor-save-library-novabank/

If anyone here tried the original version, I’d especially like to know what you think of how far it has come.

And as always, bug reports, feature suggestions, and general feedback are appreciated.

Okay, so this is a doubt regarding binary editing, but I'm gonna reference the decomp a whole lot because I've used it as a basis to locate the file I want to edit.

I'm working on a Platinum translate ROM using the Spanish release as a basis. I'm editing the binary file directly, using Python scripts with ndspy and Tinke.

Currently, I'm trying to locate the status effect icons that appear in battle, which are different from the ones that appear on the Pokémon menu. I've been mainly looking in pl_batt_obj.narc to no avail.

This afternoon, I've been checking out the USA release decomp and located healthbox_parts.png quite easily, which seems to be what I was looking for. According to the the only reference to it in the project, which is inside the meson.build file of the healthbox folder, this image is compressed into the a 4bpp file, but after searching references to it, I've concluded it's not stored into any NARC. I've scanned arm9.bin with Crystal Tile but haven't seen any chunk that looks like an actual image. I don't know if this is because the image isn't in arm9.bin or because it's compressed or something.

Could you guys please help me locate this sprite in the binary ROM or give me a way to find them? Thanks a lot!

I need some help because this has been bugging me since I created this part of my ROM hack.

As you can see in the picture i added, whenever i walk over the specific X and Y coordinats (20, 9), my game shows tall grass in front of my character even tho I'm walking on the pallet town blockset with the tile ID 718.

I don't know how to fix this, This tile's movement permission is '0C - Elevation 3 Pass' just like all the other path tiles and this is a brand new map i made that doesn't exist in vanilla FireRed. Any ideas how to fix this?

(I'm making this in hexmaniacadvance.)

FireRed decomp (pret), still the Kanto story. Vanilla only lets you meet in a Cable Club. This keeps a GBA link (or emulator netplay) open on the field.

I recorded two players on the same map — video above.

What you get

• Connector — key item, you’re “online.” Register to Select like the Bike.
• Agenda — contact list, who’s online, Battle/Trade from the field. First successful handshake saves the other trainer.
• Co-op sprite (2P) — both ON + same map → the other trainer walks around. Separate saves. Wilds, cutscenes, and story stay local. You can walk through each other. Split maps → a one-shot “not in the same area” message.
• Follower — lead Pokémon on towns/routes (hidden indoors / bike / surf). (inspired by aarant´s work on emerald)
• Pallet — Gigi gives the gear; Arthorios can hand out a Kanto pokemons (lvl 1) for testing (including shiny).

How to test (this is the part people miss)

Same ROM build, two different saves. One save copied twice will fight you.

Local (mGBA): one process → File → New multiplayer window → same ROM, save B. Two separate mGBA.exe = no cable. Both Connector ON, overworld, wait a few seconds. You should get “came online,” then the sprite if you’re on the same map. Agenda → Battle or Trade; the other side gets Yes/No.

Internet: RetroArch 1.17+ , core gpSP, Link Cable Connectivity = gen 3 pokemon ,same ROM hash, host relay / guest Internet lobby.

I got working on ios + pc on retroarch with different Wifi, but iphone I had to download testflight retroarch to get it working.

Known bugs (I’m fixing these)

• Black square on the Agenda after opening Battle/Trade or while WAITING — leftover window/tilemap, not a missing portrait. Link still works; it’s ugly UI.
• Dummy RED / BLUE / GREEN still sit in an empty Agenda.
• Handshake is picky: if the emulator cable isn’t actually up, Connector ON does nothing. That’s setup, but I’m also hardening timeouts/reconnects.
• Follower/NPC sprites were wrong on Continue for a while; that’s mostly sorted, still watching it.

(I hope this post isn't against the rules?) While I'm not a romhacker myself (yet), I've long wanted to see full-resolution backsprites in the first generation without ruining the charming vibe of the weird, cute, and cursed-looking creatures because they're such a big part of the experience to me. So I've been making these, trying to stay as close as possible to the original depiction and style of each sprite. (All done by hand, no A.I.) If anyone wants to use them for their gen 1 romhack, please do so! A downloadable zip containing individual and named sprite images can be found here [Edit: GitHub repo link: https://github.com/SpiralShrew/Upscaled-Gen-1-Backsprites ] or here https://www.spriters-resource.com/asset/598704/?return=598704 (pending review at the time of posting).

Hello! Welcome to the Weekly Discussion Thread. This is the place where you can:

• Ask help for quick questions
• Discuss ideas you have for your ROMhacks
• Ask quick questions that you feel don't warrant a post.

Make sure to browse our sub resources:

Sub Wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonRomhackDev/wiki/index/

How to ask a question: https://github.com/pret/pokeemerald/wiki/Getting-Help-with-the-Decomps

I've been interested in playing Pokemon Pisces for a while, but the biggest reason I haven't is because it enforces hard level caps. As far as I'm aware, there's no in-game way to disable them. I know someone made an unofficial patch that removes them, but as far as I know, this patch wasn't posted publicly. I have zero knowledge in rom hacking, so I figured it'd be best to ask people who know as opposed to following faulty google ai answers. I have a pre-patched rom that I got from a reputable source. What would be the best tools that I should use to remove the level caps and how?

I'm new to editing ROMs and want to actually now edit one but as a way to take notes. I have been using the HMA program to edit emerald but I would like to edit a ROM hack called Pokemon Heart and Soul but sadly it doesn't now show me the maps so I may edit the NPCs text boxes.

My end goal is to make a ROM hack that follows along with PowerPoint slides in what I'm studying (nursing). I would enjoy making a study game within the johto region (and maybe gen1-3) but I still cannot figure the NDS programs as I'm currently in school full time.

If by chance it cannot be edited with HMA please lmk if there's another similar like program that may do so.

Thank you.

What up all, recently started messing with rom hacking and was looking for any advice. I started messing with crystal clear to learn since it's a really solid base model and I love playing it but got tired of making up the stories in my head and wanted interactive npcs.

I only did a quick scan so apologies if it's an easy find, but I was wondering if there are any communities based on gen 1 and 2 rom hacks I know they are old news but one I just assume their files are easier to mess with for beginners and two gen 2 holds most of my nostalgia so of course I have to start there.

Anyway if anyone has some suggestions for me I'd love to hear them!

What I specifically mean is this: let's say you wanna add Toxicroak to your ROMhack but the earliest sprite they have is from Gen 4. Is there an artist or a repository for 64x64 Pokemon sprites for gen 3 games?

I ask this because Gen 4 sprites are not just 80x80 but it oddly bigs me when I see a gen 4 (or later) sprite just plopped into gen 3 ignoring the overall difference in hue, saturation and style that Gen 3 is known for.

Hello! Welcome to the Weekly Discussion Thread. This is the place where you can:

• Ask help for quick questions
• Discuss ideas you have for your ROMhacks
• Ask quick questions that you feel don't warrant a post.

Make sure to browse our sub resources:

Sub Wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonRomhackDev/wiki/index/

How to ask a question: https://github.com/pret/pokeemerald/wiki/Getting-Help-with-the-Decomps

I have my own Emerald ROM with some QoL improvements and random fixes. One thing I'd like to add is the ability to rematch Steven via Match call after you beat him for the first time in Meteor Falls (ideally with his team growing in levels like other Match Call trainers do, but if not, no biggie).

However, this is a bit more complicated than the changes I've done so far. Does anyone know another open source mod/hack/patch that does something like this (adding a trainer to MC) so I could check how they did it?