Firstly, story time. Once, a long, long time ago, six years ago, if memory serves... BYOND was graced with what could only be called a Pokémon clone. There was a fangame, called Pokémon Tyzua, and its intent was to mimic the then current GameBoy Advance Pokémon titles perfectly. And after several years of work, it did just that. In 2007, the game was in its prime, with new content being added regularly, bugs being fixed and a community that was thriving.

And it was in this year that I joined the project. I was recruited at first for work as a Moderator, or Enforcer as our system called it, due to how I always helped enforce the rules. Over time, I proved my diligence and came to find myself in multiple promotions, and even my skills in mapping eventually being put to good use. Somehow, I became co-owner of a Pokémon game that was like something out of my dreams: a perfect online clone of my favorite series.

But, it was in this year that Generation IV was released by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. And it was here our mistakes began to get us. Jumping the gun, so to speak, on incorporating the new Pokémon, we didn't even wait until the English names of the Pokémon or Attacks were available. Double Battling had become more integral with Generation IV, and as Tikey (Mega fart cannon) would sadly realize, our code wasn't capable of supporting this. Months of failed attempts later, and a messed up Japanese to English switch-over that resulted in a p-wipe, we were kind of dumbfounded on where to go. The game lasted for another year, attempts to rectify the code made, and minor work done, but Pokémon Tyzua was dead in the water, in essence.

But... Our desire to see our beloved Pokémon series thrive on BYOND in its true form never died. In 2009, Tikey decided it was time to rectify our previous mistakes and start from scratch. And so, we did. Its been a year and a half since then.

In that time, our new project was born. A clone of the DS games, and as fortune would smile upon us, Generation V retains almost the exact same interface, thus, when it comes to time to convert, it'll be simple and painless. Its name is...

Pokémon Hiyusha.

And now our story is over. From here on out, I discuss our (hopefully) soon to be released project.

Firstly, I stated that this is a DS game clone. That's... not entirely accurate. There is one major difference. BYOND is not yet capable of drawing true 3-D graphics, and as such, it is impossible to render the Generation IV and beyond world as it appears in game. So, we created a compromise: Use the GBA turfs and sprites for the map graphics, and the DS interface and fonts for everything else, as well as in battle sprites and effects. The proportions are perfect, counted down to the exact resolution of the DS's screen, then doubled in size. Thus, on Small icons mode, it looks like a normal DS screen, and on large, its easy to look at while still being pretty, as well as a bit retro.

In terms of gameplay though, this is everything you've come to expect from the DS Pokémon games.



So, that brings us to our first picture. A wild Caterpie appears! What will Bulbasaur do? Hopefully, use tackle. I mean, its a level three Caterpie, after all. Now, I'm sure some of your heads are spinning at where our Touch Screen has been moved to. While a bit strange, it lends itself to a BYOND game better for some reason. And it lets our text window be nice and wide.

Speaking of that text window, note something different than almost all BYOND games (though becoming a bit more the norm, admittedly). Through a clever use of skins and channels, we've got tabs for your chat related commands, instead of a command pane. This will make it easier to chat in general, but also it has the benefit of allowing you to switch between chat channel views relatively easier. As you can plainly see, there are panes that modify which channel you are viewing, which allows you to isolate the chat channels in a way that doesn't involve having to stumble through annoying options pop-ups to turn off various channels then turn them back on. Something that is a rarity I think I've only seen once or twice in all of my BYOND days. Eight years worth of them, it should be noted.

Back to the core that is Pokémon however, nothing at all is out of place (barring the decision to put the Touch Screen on the right, mind you), and it looks as it should. And reacts thusly as well.



Such as when that annoying Caterpie String Shots you. That is an animated effect with alpha transparency that takes the shape of whatever its superimposed over... Kind of exactly like the effect on our DS games. Neat, eh?



Also neat is party management. Word for word from our official media, these in game windows display everything there is to know about your Pokemon. Nature, date captured, level met at, Individual Value notation... All of that lovely business. With the pane over on the Touch Screen, one can cycle through your Pokémon and enjoy their (surprise!) cries as the Pokémon shows up on screen, just like the real game.



And of course, one can switch the information view to one of the three options at the bottom, once again, total clone style. Switch attacks, scan your stats, etc. You know the drill. Its nice to look at though.

So, there's a bit of a first look at Pokémon Hiyusha. Expect many more, this game has tons of features completed and many more on the way. Do look forward to our release! Its not very often a true Pokémon fangame finds its way to BYOND.

And I'll try and answer as many questions as possible by responding to comments left behind, so don't be shy!