Pokemon Z Advance - A Kalos demake

[u/Hoplytes]

Hello everyone!

I’m excited to share an early look at Pokémon Z Advance, a GBA demake of Pokemon X & Y built using pokeemerald-expansion and free public ressources (tilesets, sprites...)

Here is a video showing the first 7 minutes of the game.

The game will release in French (it is Kalos after all 🇫🇷) and English, and a public demo (up to the first visit to Lumiose city) is planner before the end of the year!

[u/Hoplytes]

[u/leob0505 → u/Hoplytes]

Is that part of the Rustboro tileset that I did in the past inspired by Pokemon ORAS? You did a GREAT job there for the first town. I'll definitely learn some French, just to play your ROM Hack here. Amazing work!!!!!

[u/Hoplytes → u/leob0505]

Hey Leob yes it's your ORAS tilesets I absolutely love them ! Never had the chance to thank your for your amazing work for the community !!

[u/Strict-Signature-106 → u/leob0505]

I’m pretty sure OP said it’ll be releasing in English too

[u/Salty-Fee-9868 → u/Hoplytes]

AI HANDS SPOTTED!

[u/DarkEater77 → u/Hoplytes]

One of my favorite Gen, this time with GBA graphics, i'm in. Just need to know if cut content from Gen 6 will be there.

[u/BlazingImp77151 → u/[deleted]]

Can you explain why you think that? I'm not seeing it.

[u/BlazingImp77151 → u/[deleted]]

Oh yeah, that does look strange.

[u/Salty-Fee-9868 → u/BlazingImp77151]

yeah also as I already said plenty times in this sub, when ppl REALLY don't use AI they will make sure to say it, bcse is a reason to be proud, so when theres no disclaimer is where probablly the AI was used most lol (who uses it in a fair way / or dont use it at all will say it) ppl hide it our of ego, also zero ideia why my other coment was deleted since I didn't flame it, just pointed that it does look a lot like AI gen...

[u/magiciantricks]

this using u/Lethesis animated sprites guide right? look great hope its gets legend z a megas (and megas only)

[u/Hoplytes → u/magiciantricks]

Indeed, good catch! As for the megas, it will include ZA but apart from that the dex will be the same as the original games 🙂

[u/magiciantricks → u/Hoplytes]

true to the original but in its absolute best that how it should be. best luck

[u/AndreiMallare12 → u/Hoplytes]

That makes me really excited but are you going to put some gen 7-9 mons that are capable of mega? I think putting them as post-game exclusive would be excellent.

[u/ThatBoiDon98]

The greatest refresh I ever pulled on this app holy smokes!

[u/sarcasticdevo]

Oh, this is cooking! It's so cool we're now getting gens 6-8 getting the demake treatment. Great work so far!

[u/bywaterboy]

Looks very promising! Awesome work.

[u/cheggnogg2]

Looks amazing! Are you planning on keeping the game close to vanilla or adding new content?

[u/Hoplytes → u/cheggnogg2]

For the 1.0 release, it will be as close as possible to vanilla, the idea is to offer a true demake But I'm still thinking about adding the deteled South Kalos part of the map post-launch

[u/The_VoidTermina → u/Hoplytes]

Please do! I'm so salty that gamefreak cancelled Pokémon Z and then did nothing with the extra content in Legends ZA and it's DLC

[u/TyrRev → u/Hoplytes]

Would also love for some areas of Kalos to be fleshed out in the future too if possible, like the poor neglected Power Plant!

[u/JustOutOfRadley → u/Hoplytes]

I’d love if you did, a demake adding the deleted content is my dream romhack as someone with a soft spot for kalos.

[u/magiciantricks → u/Hoplytes]

if u are going to add extra content i think you should add z/a events since its already a squeal

[u/MMF_259 → u/Hoplytes]

might be out of scope, but it would be very cool to see some of the scrapped mons (cassowary, flamingo, peanut lizard) from one of the big leaks (i forget which) if you're doing cut content :3

[u/schwiftybass]

This is so exciting, been hoping for something like this. Good luck on the rest of development, looking forward to following the progress!

[u/LrdDrkkn]

These insane ROM hacks have been the only way I've experienced anything Pokémon past Black & White 😂

[u/DarkEater77 → u/LrdDrkkn]

Sword and Shield GBA is a blast!

[u/horny_shit_face_lift → u/DarkEater77]

oh wow do you have a link where I can get it?

[u/DarkEater77 → u/horny_shit_face_lift]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonROMhacks/comments/1ekxmq3/sword_and_shield_ultimate_plus_gba_english/

[u/Ghalldachd → u/LrdDrkkn]

Honestly, Gen 6 was tolerable. It has a lot of cool Pokémon in it and mega evolutions were fun. I recommend giving the originals a try, if you can. Gen 7 onwards is where I lose interest in the official games.

[u/chuckbud → u/LrdDrkkn]

Us bro 🥲

[u/metalflygon08]

Good luck, I'd say the graphics need a lot of work and touch ups.

Lots of tiles are just cut off or not properly done.

The stairs in your room are just pasted in, and the step tiles are broken for example.

The roof tiles just cut off into the void too.

[u/Samulady → u/metalflygon08]

Semi-related: I'd work on shrinking maps down some. Your house doesn't need to be so big that the living room doesn't fit on the screen, for example. There's nothing wrong with making things fairly compact.

[u/metalflygon08 → u/Samulady]

A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to see something of note on screen at any time, and not just barely visible clipping at the edge of the screen.

Whether that is an NPC, item, furniture, trees, you just don't want a big screen of floor.

[u/Hoplytes → u/metalflygon08]

Hey guys thanks for the feedback ! Will defintely check it out

[u/DatAdra]

As someone who loves kalos but not the slow gameplay of the 3d games this is so exciting! Investing in this for sure

[u/GoldenRush47]

You absolute amazing human!!! This is the most excited I've been for a rom hack in a while. Thankyou!!!!

[u/najacobra]

whooooa

[u/ParkWyDr]

Oh shit. I've been replaying X lately and I didn't know I needed this until now. This looks amazing! Great project, can't wait for the demo.

[u/SamueleRG]

Amazing

Little request: I've only heard a few tracks in this 7 min video and I know gba has hardware limitations but I loved the og music so pleeease make sure the music is accurate if you can, it's one of the most nostalgic memories I have from gen 6!

[u/OMG_A_TREE]

Personally, Pokémon never needed to go beyond this or gen 4 in art style

[u/Blunited → u/OMG_A_TREE]

Gen 5 graphics were peak. Everything after started to take on the lazy, but new models.

[u/FabulousOven_ → u/Blunited]

Gen 5 art style is not as good as gen 4, the 2d/3d is awful

[u/10minOfNamingMyAcc → u/FabulousOven_]

Agreed, gen 5 looks good but gen 4 looks a bit better imo

[u/SimbaSeb]

I know it’s basically impossible but imagine if we could implement the roller blades lol

[u/Giantbomb64 → u/SimbaSeb]

I don't think it's impossible. it could be a resprite of the bike. also I think gen 3 has two types of bikes so they could replace the mach bike?

[u/SimbaSeb → u/Giantbomb64]

Yea, I mean on a grid it’s basically not possible to implement the free flow Typa movement from the games. Maybe it’d be best if it replaces the acro bike and the mach bike is left as is

[u/Phaneropterinae → u/SimbaSeb]

People have made diagonal movements in pokeemerald. It’s possible.

[u/Giantbomb64 → u/SimbaSeb]

eh the skates are cool. I don't think the lack of diagonal movement is enough of a reason not to add them. also apparently it is possible

[u/leob0505 → u/SimbaSeb]

Not impossible with the current decomp features/pokeemerald-expansion, in my opinion

[u/wolf143]

As someone who never played Gen 5 or 6 I will definitely be grabbing this! Does anyone know of an Unova demake?

[u/No_Sun_3000 → u/wolf143]

Pokémon Kanto Black

[u/peacefighter → u/wolf143]

Not what you are asking but Unova red is a great version of the original gb title but all the original 151 replaced with Unova pokemon. It also has some other changes like strategically placed stationary legendary Pokemon (like Mewtwo was) placed in interesting places. I played through the whole game and it is well done.

[u/Viroro → u/wolf143]

Not exactly a demake in a literal sense, but Black & White 3 Genesis is a Gen II hack that recreates most of the region in a new story.

[u/SamueleRG → u/Viroro]

yeah it's a good one, I suggest it. Story is not that good but the rest is awesome, loved hearing the gen 5 music in the GBC style

[u/Viroro → u/SamueleRG]

Story-wise is definitely closer to Gen II's light plot than Gen V standard, yeah, though it is a pretty impressive effort as the closest thing to a demake of the Unova region I am aware of. Really looking forward to the Polished engine port and additions from it.

[u/Dark_Aggron → u/wolf143]

Was just about to say the same thing

[u/Purple-Syllabub-9246]

YES YES YES YES, PLEASE YES!!! I love Kalos and I've always thought it was a shame that we didn't get Pokémon Z to fix this flaw. 😭

(The fact that there's a French version delights me since I'm French.)

[u/LevelBand6779]

Super cool! How long have you and your team been working on this?

[u/Bronson4444]

Make sure to upload this to Hackdex when its done!

[u/_CapriSon_]

Wow, definitely gonna keep my eyes on this one. I've only just gotten into ROMhacks this summer and demakes sound so interesting!

[u/BillyBadgerDad]

This is EXACTLY what I’ve been waiting for. Arguably my favourite region in regard to design and maybe music with some of my favourite new mons too with a great regional dex. To have it demade to my favourite generation (with a slight difficulty increase?) sounds incredible! Thank you!

[u/TurnToShadow]

C’est fantastique, monsieur! Je pense que je le voudrais jouer quand tu es finis. Si je voudrais savoir boucoup aussi. Bon travail, vraimont. Nous a besoin de plus jeux video pour le région de Kalos, et je le dis quand je appréie Pokemon Legends Z-A.

Je le anticipe ces’t va être tres amusant!

[u/Phaneropterinae]

Love this. If you need help with anything let me know. Always great to have more demakes!!

[u/nazomawarisan]

Nice!!!! Looks great!

[u/Raikayoshi]

Bravo :)

[u/Rawkapotamus]

This looks awesome.

Is it Z advance because it’s ZA for short?

Also, have zygarde and Z in the name has me expecting it to be the unmade third version. But I see you’re keeping it vanilla as for the initial development/release.

[u/Hoplytes → u/Rawkapotamus]

Haha no it's not intentional To be fair I had to think a lot about the names, I wanted to be a unique version to avoid having to release 2 separate versions, so I chose a Zygarde bases game. Only calling it "Z" was too obvious and there is already a popular fangame called that way so I decided on "Advance" like many games realeased on GBA did at the time 🙂

[u/Bajbouj]

Very excited for this!!

[u/Vast-Satisfaction730]

It was Real!! Let's goo!

[u/ghambimybestest]

so beautiful. thank you! would lovve following partner pokemon if possible 🤞🏻

[u/Majestic_Doctor_2]

Very promising! Bonne chance, mon gars :-)

[u/clothesallowence]

Oh this looks awesome! Gen 6 is what got me back in to Pokémon. I’ll be keeping an eye on this for sure!

[u/mrbro4life]

This looks amazing, can't wait

[u/ReadyCartographer765]

About damn time. Thank you for your contribution to the gaming community.

[u/godsaveourkingplis]

I am so pumped for this! Thank you for sharing your art!

[u/Wakessc]

It look so cute tbh!

[u/ThirdBurnerAccount3]

Finally a Gen 6 demake! I’ll finally be able to play some semblance of all the generations now once this thing comes out!!

[u/Zlatan13]

I feel like this project is something ive been waiting so many years for someone to attempt. Definitely my most anticipated release going forward! It looks so amazing already! Hope you give Kalos the love and completed story and good gameplay that it deserved! Between it having a beautiful region and OST, the best gimmick mechanic, great rivals and the best story from the anime, theirs so much potential here. Can't wait to see how this looks once its completed!

[u/Uchiiiiah]

I've never played the X and Y games so this could be what I actually love and play!

[u/Amoligh]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3oz8xHpIFb5NO2Exl6

[u/how2change_username]

man, this is the type of romhack that the child me back in 2015/2016 was dying to play. im excited to try this

[u/Pewpewpew1899]

J'ai hâte de voir le progrès !

[u/Senshi4life]

This looks amaaaaazing 😍😍😍

[u/wangnutpie1]

Okay now we're talking 😎

[u/bngrofchns23]

I love Kalos so I am very excited to follow this project. Great work so far!

[u/speedguru]

Can't wait for this! XY is underrated

[u/victorcoe]

I loved the fake balconies reference

[u/Davespritethecrowbro]

This is so cool, cannot wait

[u/acefluff]

Finally! a proper demake with matching sprites

[u/LimerickLegend]

This looks absolutely incredible. Someone remind me when this becomes available please!

[u/Emotional-Vehicle884]

Looks great! Is there going to be a English version of it as well?

[u/Hoplytes → u/Emotional-Vehicle884]

Yes!

[u/Emotional-Vehicle884 → u/Hoplytes]

Okay 👍. I'm gonna look it up

[u/cataclytsm]

If this isn't AI you should advertise it as such because that's like a free boon to community good will.

If this is AI you should advertise it as such because to not disclose it comes off as scummy at best.

[u/Apart-Imagination393 → u/cataclytsm]

is not should, he must it's literally a rule in this sub to disclaim it lol I don't know why no one is following the rules tho...

[u/poikolle → u/cataclytsm]

The hand in the last imagine he shows looks like an ai fumble

[u/WenKaaa]

Attends je rêve ou c’est en français ? Laissez ce gars cuisiner bordel !

[u/Juan_0306]

Et puis c'est en français quoi!

[u/archaom]

Amazing job! Thanks!!!

[u/wallygon]

verry confusing name but based

[u/ParticleToasterBeam]

This looks awesome!!! Will be keeping an eye out!!

I love gen 3 music and no nothing about making a ROM, so excuse me if this is an ignorant question, but is it possible to put in this generation's music?

[u/iceberger3]

So excited for this!

[u/Aipmac]

Looks amazyng can't wait to try ir out

[u/TheShowGoesOnAllDay]

please make the UI dark mode! i would love to play it that way

[u/XennLu]

nice

[u/AngyJessicaTomboy]

I will glaze XY Kalos till I die.
Looks great, however I’m not a fan of the GB and GBA look of Pokémon but I’ll definitely keep my eye on this…it’s got a one up being Kalos…

[u/Eastern-Bluejay-8912]

Gotta say, looks decent. The big work will be story and graphics. Definitely recommend trying to do something akin to Pokemon emerald to handle the number of legendaries vs activating 1 big gun. Something like awakening or finding both legendaries and team flair capturing both only for you to search out Zyguard in some cave or as a game you started at the beginning of your journey vs your rival and lead to check marks through the journey where your rival blocks the way unless you get more Zyguard cells and if you do have them, it triggers a pokemon battle. Then say 1/3 of the way through you get the living Zyguard and 10% then 2/3 with the threat of the legends you get 50% and then due to your rival also being at the incident it leads to 100% form. Acting akin to raquaza in emerald and causing the weapon to short circuit and break down as the legendary pokemon abandon it. Oh! An maybe this causes Zyguard to split except for its cell form that remains in your party. Then if you go back to where you first met and found the Zyguard cell, maybe there will be a 50% form Zyguard to battle and catch and merging with the cell become the 50% form at 80% only needing 20 cells for 100% form. Then have the other 2 legendaries be triggered by a relic or something to summon them 🤔 would be interesting and akin to emerald.

[u/Training_Helicopter6]

!remindme 3 month

[u/RemindMeBot → u/Training_Helicopter6]

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1 OTHERS CLICKED THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

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[u/Kooky-Plenty8979]

So is this like a Pokémon X and Y remake demake

[u/abigailofdarkness2]

I'll play this.

[u/carrieshot]

Could immediately recognize it from that table alone. If it was just randomly shown to me

[u/Icy_Contribution2187]

Any chance at characters from the anime making an appearance? Sawyer, Alain, and Mairin, perhaps?

[u/R0bert24]

We have platinum, kalos and alola demakr coming we eating good

[u/JSingh326]

Dream come true, amazing work!

[u/AlternativeEnd5363]

Looks amazing. Looking forward to it. Always thought X and Y were up for a demake and this looks amazing

[u/Automatic_Dirt_8109]

Beautiful game.

[u/JVMMs]

And I was just thinking of replaying through XY in some way. Looks great!

[u/Darkestlight572]

Im very curious as to how strictly you'll be following the main game, i hope there's more changes than not. As much as i love these games they're a mess design wise (in terms of battles and difficulty at least)

[u/zombiedinosour]

by end of year is dope. good luck friend this looks like an amazing project already!

[u/Starrybruh]

skin tone customization

I will be there no matter what.

[u/GodhunterChrome666]

Oh this looks fire

[u/Due_Coffee_347]

I love I LOOOOVEEEE

[u/Emotional-Vehicle884]

Looks great! Is there going to be a English version of it as well?

[u/Strict-Signature-106]

This looks genuinely cool!
Questions:

1. Where can I follow it?
2. Will you keep it closer to vanilla or add changes (e.g. adding Mega Evolutions to gym fights, improving teams, expanding locations, expanding lore, etc.)
3. Why did you pick Fennekin? (Joke question, please ignore… or don’t, idk ¯_(ツ)_/¯)

[u/TraditionOpposite438]

A question: are you going to include southern Kalos—from that leaked map for the supposed Pokémon Z that Game Freak cancelled? u/Hoplytes

[u/That_Sorbet9839]

FINALLY THUS IS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN WANTING FOR A LONG TINE MY ORIGINAL FAVORITE GETTING A DEMAKE THANK YOU!

[u/Aggravating_Mine_434]

This is sick! Following for release!

[u/Fish_Speaker410]

I like it.

[u/JoosieJ]

This looks insane. I’m so hype for this

[u/Cemith]

!remind me 2 months.

[u/Galaxy-Pancakes]

Will there be a demake kalos OST aswell?

[u/galladash]

This looks great! Kalos is one of my favorite regions, so I'm looking forward to this!

I would suggest working on shadows. For example the arch at the end of route 1 or the buildings left and right to the plaza in Aquacorde Town look a bit strange to me without proper shadows :)

[u/SuperbMenu5200]

uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaau

[u/GuyGhoul]

Is this the secon demake of Gen 6 on the GBA in progress?

[u/NetoPF]

Ça a l'air sublime ! Je vais suivre votre projet et je vous soutiens à fond 👌

[u/National_Equipment86]

Is this Intro selfmade? It looks so nice 👌👌👌

[u/Hoplytes → u/National_Equipment86]

Half self-made I would say ! Had to analyse how the initial Groudon/Kyogre/Rayquaza intro worked to replace the sprites with a modified version of Yveltal/Xerneas, the backgrounds and the animations to have something matching the theme of each Pokemon. Still not sure about the look of Zygarde tho 🤔 I also removed the first part of Emerald's intro to replace it with FRLG's Gamefreak screen

[u/MrNouffet]

Hello, as-tu créé un serveur Discord où on puisse se tenir au courant du projet ? 😄

[u/Hoplytes → u/MrNouffet]

Hey MrNouffet ! C'est prévu, le Discord sera partagé à la sortie de la demo 1 🙂

[u/MrNouffet → u/Hoplytes]

Super ! J’ai moi même un serveur Discord où je partage tous les jeux (fan game et rom hack), dispo en français, je serais ravi de partager le tien à ma communauté quand il sortira ☺️ n’hésite pas à venir y faire un tour en attendant  https://discord.gg/5j8dwKNudz

[u/earl-the-creator]

Looks amazing!!! I know enough french that i could probably fumble through for extra immersion

[u/AnxiousTechnology7]

nice project! Quick question: Has there ever been any consideration of adding a Level Cup and a team-wide EXP Share system? I think both would be interesting features to introduce!

[u/itsmetimohthy]

This is amazing, excellent starter choice btw

[u/Special_Ad1053]

Pelo amor de Deus foca em fazer os mapas e a história eu te imploro

[u/poikolle]

How vibecoded is this?