Released Pokemon Bonfire Stories

Pokemon Bonfire Stories is about a group of friends having a night out and trying to spook each other with some creepy storytelling. It doesn't matter much what order you play the stories in, as nothing carries over between them except TMs. If you're going for completion based on collecting all the TMs, there is a text file included to tell you which ones are in each story; it doesn't tell you where to find them though! One last note: you can only play each story once. You'll have to start a new game if you want to go back or play in a different order.

Here is the latest version of Bonfire Stories!
Not sure if you're up to date? The newest version says 4 STORIES on the titlescreen.


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Features:

• Four original stories to play though!​
• Play the stories in any order you choose!​
• Multiple protagonists to play with!​
• TMs to collect in use in other stories!​
• No need to choose starters or grind through any early game annoyances. Jump into the lives of established trainers!​
• Dev feature: The files are open for you to look at and mess around with, and I encourage you to create your own stories if you're interested​

Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Why won't my emulator run this game? What emulator do I need?
A: This isn't a hacked game. It's made with RMXP, so no emulator needed!

Q: Can I play this on mobile? Can I play on a Mac?
A: For mobile you can try JoiPlay, but I haven't tested it myself. For Mac, I believe there's something called Wine? Sorry, the game really works best on PC.

Q: You allways add special cheat code names so what are they?
A: I didn't really add any this time! Since each story is completely separate, any special gifts would quickly be lost before you could use them. There might be some special greetings, but the only special names really are the storyteller character's names being banned as player names.

Q: Can I rip or take stuff from this game?
A: No. The game isn't compressed because I'd like to let others add their own stories if they want. It is not an invitation to rip any resources from the files, as they're not all mine. This game was made for a game jam though, and one of the rules of the jam was that any resources I made for the game became public, so here's some free stuff you can use in your own projects. You don't have to credit me for any of these.

Q: So I can edit this game to add my own stories?
A: Yes! If you took the time to develop a whole new story for the game, I would be glad to release an official update including it. Please don't re-release it yourself! If everyone did that there'd be several incomplete versions floating around instead of 1 game with all the content!

This game was made in one month for the Relic Castle Game Jam 2016, by Aki.
#===============================================================================
Pokemon Essentials starter kit
#===============================================================================
Flameguru
Poccil
Maruno
#===============================================================================
Graphics
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UltimoSpriter
BoomxBig
Shiney570
SailorVicious
Radical Raptr
SyleDude
Pokegirl4ever
Dragoon
Pikachumazzinga
Sun/Moon Battler Sprite Pack
#===============================================================================
PBS files for gen 6 Types, Abilities, and Moves
#===============================================================================
Deouen
Cilerba
I think when this was posted on old Relic it had credits, but now it doesn't require them. Either way, thanks!
#===============================================================================
Script Help
#===============================================================================
Epic
Kiedisticelixer/Mr. Gela
#===============================================================================
Other help and special thanks
#===============================================================================
Extra special thanks to Dunc for being an excellent, A+ playtester
All of Relic Castle; every single person who's ever offered encouraging words or taken the time to write serious critiques, you make the fan game community a wonderful place that I'm so happy to be a part of.
Big huge thanks to everyone mentioned on this credits list. Whether we're best friends or never met, your work is appreciated.
And thank you to all of my friends; you allways brighten my day just by existing, and make me want to do my best.​

 

[Djaco75]

I love this game for two reasons: it's creative and it looks amazing! The tiles you've used are brilliant and the sprites match them perfectly. The animated sprites also look amazing, especially the Espeon. Also, I love the story behind it - the bonfire stories add heaps to the game due to their originality.

One thing on a critique note, the Zorua looks a little out of place. This probably means that a few are out of place in the actual game. It's a small issue, but if you have time, it would look heaps better if you corrected it.

Anyway, the game looks really good. I can't wait to see where you go with it if you decide to continue development.

 

[Radical Raptr]

Underrated game, best game ever played 200/10 would play every day

This is the cutest game ever, it has so many stories, the main character is called Cupcake, and you play through a ton of different stories and the eventing is A+ on point!!
I love it so much, and you get to play as a maid, so already best game feature of all time

Having multiple stories told at a campfire is so relaxing and just a really chill concept, and you handled it so perfectly. The creepy stuff was creepy, the silly stuff was fun, and the cute stuff was hecking adorable!!!

 

[Aki]

Thanks for the praise guys but it's excessive! Matching gen 5 sprites with gen 5 tiles is brilliant?? 200/10 would play every day??? :cold_sweat:


One of these days I need to finish that update though, I think Radical Raptr would appreciate that the maid playtime like...at least doubled in length.

 

[Radical Raptr]

Just make the whole game where you're a cute maid :eyes:
But heck yeah!!!
FINISH.THE.UPDATE!!!!!

 

[Mozart]

The download link says it's no longer there, is that normal?

 

[Aki]

The download link says it's no longer there, is that normal?

Thanks for telling me! I checked and it didn't work for me either, so I just changed the link to a fresh one.

 

[Mozart]

No problem! Looking forward to actually playing it now :3

 

[Hawky]

When I tried to open the game I see either white or black and nothing else

 

[Aki]

When I tried to open the game I see either white or black and nothing else

Since you're posting this same problem in other game threads it sounds like this could be an issue with something outside the game. Would you mind posting a help thread? Including some info like if other RMXP games work, what program you're using to unzip, maybe even what OS you use could help.

 

[Hawky]

Actually whatever had been the issue seems to have resolved itself, I deleted, redownloaded and re-extracted the files and now they work fine, I don't know what the issue was, but thank you for listening anyway :)

 

[NuclearOmega]

This game is truly something magical. It's a totally unique experience I've never had playing a Pokemon game, & I enjoyed every second of it! The characters, the sprites, & of course the mystery surrounding each story was so fun! :grinning:

 

[princessprt]

um hi, quick question/request.Could I have permission to record Pokemon bonfire for youtube and have it link back to this thread?

 

[Deo]

um hi, quick question/request.Could I have permission to record Pokemon bonfire for youtube and have it link back to this thread?

I'm 100% sure Aki is fine with it since there's other videos doing the same thing, but she's also on vacation right now and I asked her to made extra sure:
"Linking back to the thread is awesome, and I'd love to watch the video!"

 

[Darren]

I cant play this game A win rar diagontic message pops up when i open it.....

 

[Aki]

Sorry Darren, I don't know what the diagnotic message is...from my end the file still looks like it's working.


Sooo I wanted to write some stuff I was thinking about today; I'm well aware this would be better as a blog post but I haven't talked much about Bonfire Stories on my Tumblr and I don't feel like compressing my words into tweets so the thread seems like the relevant place.

There's not any kind of game update in the spoiler so feel free to ignore but if you're interested in Dev motivation/inspiration kinda stuff then maybe you'll like.

Spoiler

Today while eating dessert it struck me that the last time I'd had peanut butter pie was at my grandparent's bonfire.

A few people have said that the bonfire in Bonfire Stories has a really cozy/comfy feeling to it, and that makes me really happy to hear, because I based that feeling off my own that I got at my grandparent's bonfire every October. When I made BS I didn't know that I'd already gone to my last bonfire with them or that it'd already been the last time I'd have Grandma's pie...

Some people may have noticed that while the player character looks like a lady, they're actually set as a male trainer in the metadata; it's not a mistake but just me telling a joke to myself. At the bonfire my grandpa would allways start the night by wearing a costume and often it was him crossdressing. This isn't in the current release, but in my working version of BS the default name for the player character is his. Grandpa allways said, "If I was as cute as you I'd have at least 5 boyfriends" so tbh the offscreen canon is that the player character has 5 boyfriends, I'm calling it.

On a less depressing note, while the tone came from my grandparents, other aspects of the bonfire hub came from time with my friends. The setting is from a night we spent in a field far out of the city. It was so dark that our flashlights weren't much help, but the fire was bright and we had a couple of logs to sit on and roast hot dogs.

On a different night we made s'mores in the backyard; that's where the stories an the characters really came from. In particular I remember Mimi telling a story about a dark hallway where we kept having to choose between 2 doors to go through, and then she'd pause after each choice as if remembering where that would take us (as if the choice mattered) and at the end the choice was between two doors leading to different deaths.

Anyway it's been a year since BS came out during the last game jam, so even though this wasn't a development update I hope it's entertaining or interesting to ya. hopefully next time I'll show off some progress.

 

[Tomix9tomix]

Sooo I wanted to write some stuff I was thinking about today; I'm well aware this would be better as a blog post but I haven't talked much about Bonfire Stories on my Tumblr and I don't feel like compressing my words into tweets so the thread seems like the relevant place.

There's not any kind of game update in the spoiler so feel free to ignore but if you're interested in Dev motivation/inspiration kinda stuff then maybe you'll like.

Spoiler

Today while eating dessert it struck me that the last time I'd had peanut butter pie was at my grandparent's bonfire.

A few people have said that the bonfire in Bonfire Stories has a really cozy/comfy feeling to it, and that makes me really happy to hear, because I based that feeling off my own that I got at my grandparent's bonfire every October. When I made BS I didn't know that I'd already gone to my last bonfire with them or that it'd already been the last time I'd have Grandma's pie...

Some people may have noticed that while the player character looks like a lady, they're actually set as a male trainer in the metadata; it's not a mistake but just me telling a joke to myself. At the bonfire my grandpa would allways start the night by wearing a costume and often it was him crossdressing. This isn't in the current release, but in my working version of BS the default name for the player character is his. Grandpa allways said, "If I was as cute as you I'd have at least 5 boyfriends" so tbh the offscreen canon is that the player character has 5 boyfriends, I'm calling it.

On a less depressing note, while the tone came from my grandparents, other aspects of the bonfire hub came from time with my friends. The setting is from a night we spent in a field far out of the city. It was so dark that our flashlights weren't much help, but the fire was bright and we had a couple of logs to sit on and roast hot dogs.

On a different night we made s'mores in the backyard; that's where the stories an the characters really came from. In particular I remember Mimi telling a story about a dark hallway where we kept having to choose between 2 doors to go through, and then she'd pause after each choice as if remembering where that would take us (as if the choice mattered) and at the end the choice was between two doors leading to different deaths.

Anyway it's been a year since BS came out during the last game jam, so even though this wasn't a development update I hope it's entertaining or interesting to ya. hopefully next time I'll show off some progress.

That's really heartwarming, thank you for sharing some of the backstory to the development of the game :blush:

 

[TechSkylander1518]

It's so wonderful to hear how your experiences with your loved ones shaped this game, thank you for sharing it with us! I hope BF helps you maintain a connection with them!

 

[Aki]

I shared screenshots on Twitter, so why not an update post?

From my changelog:

Remapped the Bonfire map and moved characters around a bit
Aki now keeps track of the number of stories played and how many are left
Aki now runs a PC system which automatically stores your pokemon (items need to be manually stored)
Aki now plays the credits after all the stories are completed
Storytellers now hint at their story's content, and prompt a save before starting
Increased the character limit for player names from 7 to 13
Fixed some spelling errors (Thanks Pap!)
Added/improved certain tiles
Added the National Pokedex

"Flashing Lights" was revamped
+All new maps
+Now includes a level with wild pokemon to battle/catch
+Pokedex actually gets use

"Duplicates" was revamped
+Second half completely redone with all new maps
+More story and more battles
+Swablu was given a specialty moveset, instead of the default which had no attacking moves
+Changed so that the party is not automatically healed after every battle
+Changed so that Maids heal the party
+Fixed the text error with Rotom and added support for changing to any/all of the forms

I don't like teasing; the reason I feel comfortable making an update post is because the above two stories are 100% complete, save for having someone besides myself playtest them.


I also shared this screenshot, but "The Changeling" is only like half finished, it just happens to be the one that got a significant visual change. Another story has a large forested area too, and it felt a little too similar. Changeling and changing seasons seemed like a good fit to make both forests feel unique.

 

[Aki]

Hi everyone! I managed to get the new demo out in time for Halloween! :blush:
I'm calling this version 4s because it has 4 complete stories to play through! If you've played before, I reccommend making a new save file, because although you might think you know the twists and turns of the 3 old stories, they've been doubled in content.

[btn=mode|http://www.mediafire.com/file/ds338arif6clzdi/Bonfire_Stories_4s_version.zip]Download[/btn]​