MATTHEWAC95'S PROFILE

So how do the element affinities and attributes work? I assume the attributes are just (editor-)user-defined variables that can be used in damage calculation, but the way the affinities work seems new to me. Traditionally values like that are handled as multipliers for damage, but if that were true then Sarah there would only be able to take damage from Fire-based attacks.

author=Ratty524
2) Pokemon Essentials resizes RMXP's default resolution from 640x480 to 512x384- This was done by the script's creator to mimic the Nintendo DS' screen resolution, in case you are wondering why this is exists. Just keep it in mind when determining how much the player sees on a map. Speaking of which...

3) I generally map using a 2x2 grid, mimicking how early Pokemon games were mapped. During playtesting, the player sees roughly three 2x2 squares from top to bottom at his position, and 4 squares across
- This is important. Another way PE edits RMXP is that map scrolling doesn't stop at the very edge of the map in the editor, and any empty void you put beyond your boundries appears like a pitch black cut-off during playthrough. This explains some of the unused, filled spaces that I have in my example maps shown below. In game, those maps will only show more of the scenery, as oppose to black voids.

So what I assume you mean by this is that the size of the game's screen is 512x384 square pixels, but the player only sees roughly 256x192 square pixels of the map at one time (meaning, what's on the game screen is scaled 2x)? I only ask because objectively that seems awfully small, but then again I haven't played a Pokemon Essentials game myself.

author=Ratty524
The trouble is figuring out how it's supposed to animate. :x

I have a Gameboy emulator and a ROM copy of Pokemon Emerald, I can use those to get what I need.

I also have some questions about Mt. Carvora.

• When in the game is the player first going to Mt. Carvora? Is it after all the Gyms or is it before then?
• How many times does the player visit Mt. Carvora? Is it just the one time to retrieve the legendary or do they graze by the upper levels once or twice before they truly know what lies below?
  
• Should there even be trainer encounters here at all? Mt. Carvora is a massive network of caves, but then again there aren't typically trainer encounters in places where Keter-class legendary Pokemon reside.
  
• Is the Flash field move a thing in this game?
  
• Do I need Pokemon Essentials to make the map? Like for programming encounters and such?
  
• How much creative liberty do I have over how exactly to get to Carvora? Seeing as it's a giant carnivorous bug that eats through rock, it seems this is a pretty important point.
  
• Which leads me to my last question, is the player going to use any key items or something of the sort to get through the cave?

author=seiromem
I kinda dislike gold for a shiny pokemon color in general.

but gold is a shiny color

I appreciate the feedback this thread has gotten, and I'm pleased to see that the information here seems to have been what other people needed as well, not just myself.

I do just want to comment, though, that in my original post I wasn't endorsing the idea that a game's story should have a bunch of random fetch quests in order to progress the plot, but I understand how it seemed that way since I guess I didn't articulate the idea well. I'm one to think that everything that happens in a story should happen for a reason, and should in some way be connected to the overarching objective; my difficulty was in coming up with the "everything"s that happen.