Released Pokémon Black Spirit (Demo Version 1.2.1 + Year 1 Update!)

Virum · Jul 23, 2022

I personally like the idea of law vs chaos in games so I'm all here for it

Aurora · Oct 27, 2022

Dark, I like it. I hope u ll make a female character too.

nitroussbc1 · Oct 28, 2022

As soon as i go into a battle with a wild pokwmon it says script error on joiplay playing on note20 ultra

Pacifist · Oct 28, 2022

The survey implies there is a discord server somewhere. You should probably put that here so people can join it lol.

JYoshimon · Nov 7, 2022

Pacifist said:
The survey implies there is a discord server somewhere. You should probably put that here so people can join it lol.

Haha, sadly there's no discord server at the moment. Discord is an option because I happen to be in a ton of mutual servers where my status is advertising the game, and it did indeed gain some traction from there which I am very grateful for. I will definitely try to have one by the time I release the next set of chapters, but as it stands I am currently fixing up reported bugs/typos and such on the currently released chapters so that people may play Black Spirit without some major screw ups I left in. I would love to have a way to update people who are currently interested in the project who aren't my mutuals, but at the moment I have no idea how I would go about that ^-^'

Pacifist · Nov 11, 2022

JYoshimon said:
Haha, sadly there's no discord server at the moment. Discord is an option because I happen to be in a ton of mutual servers where my status is advertising the game, and it did indeed gain some traction from there which I am very grateful for. I will definitely try to have one by the time I release the next set of chapters, but as it stands I am currently fixing up reported bugs/typos and such on the currently released chapters so that people may play Black Spirit without some major screw ups I left in. I would love to have a way to update people who are currently interested in the project who aren't my mutuals, but at the moment I have no idea how I would go about that ^-^'

Alrighty! Looking forward to the next update, the game was really fun when I played through it!

GamerGoddess4life · Jul 16, 2023

This was great hope it gets completed

GameFighterCJ · Aug 11, 2023

Where do you find in which spot of the forest past route 2 to get the shack key?

JYoshimon · Aug 11, 2023

GameFighterCJ said:
Where do you find in which spot of the forest past route 2 to get the shack key?

You may find the Shack Key at the top left of the forest! You will need the Rock Smash Key Item however and you may only get that once beating the first Gym Leader!

Nutcase71733 · Aug 12, 2023

Is there a means to enhance IVs or change natures? I see the PBS file suggests there is but I've personally found that doesnt necessarill reflect what actual content is in the game at times.

JYoshimon · Aug 13, 2023

Nutcase71733 said:
Is there a means to enhance IVs or change natures? I see the PBS file suggests there is but I've personally found that doesnt necessarill reflect what actual content is in the game at times.

As of this current build, there is methods to change IVs but no Natures quite yet. You can find Bottle Caps through sidequests that can be exchanged for candies that can max out IVs at a town's local Inn. There ARE plans to put in Mints and even items that set IVs to Zero in the next release of the game. I actually have a status update regarding this game's development but I personally don't know how to post it here on Relic Castle...

JYoshimon · Aug 13, 2023

Black Spirit Year 1 Update
(I'm a month late on this, but had uploaded this to my twitter a while ago, whoops..)

Howdy!

As of today, it’s been a whole year since I released the Chapter 1 Demo of Pokémon Black Spirit to the public! From the bottom of my heart I want to thank everyone who has played the demo and given me feedback! Every bit of feedback I’ve received I’ve done my best to help mend one way or another, and some of those changes have made their way into the current build that’s available right now. I’m still working hard with what I have, and I know in general that Pokémon Essentials is glitchy all around if you actively look for things to break, so I apologize as there are somethings that are out of my control that I straight up cannot fix… but I at least want to give some insight of what I plan on getting done for the next demo! (Whenever that may come out…)

What to Expect for the next Demo!

Truth be told, I can’t remember information I’ve given exclusively to mutuals vs information I’ve let out on twitter (or X now I guess) already so let’s just take it from the top.

Chapter 2 & 3

The next demo will contain the next TWO chapters of this game and will give you access to all the major towns and cities that are on the west side of the Teron Region. There will be more sub areas to explore, and honestly I’m quite proud with how they’re turning out. As story heavy as this game is, I still want to give the player much to explore outside of the beaten pathway and reward them for doing so. With that said…

Side Content and Optional Bosses?

Ontop of finding and discovering sub areas, I just want there to be moments where players can stumble into danger because they chose to do so. Something they can be proud of for discovering on their own all the while getting satisfaction for what those challenges threw their way. After all, some very nice goods are rewarded for overcoming these challenges! But whatever is present in the Chapter 2 & 3 Demo is essentially how I want to handle these encounters so I’ll be looking for feedback on that come the Demo’s release.

On top of these optional obstacles, there will also be some on going Sidequests present in the demo. Y’know the ones, the “oh I got this quest early on in my adventure and there’s a good chance I’ll still be doing it by endgame!”. Yeah. Those ones. I am doing my best to avoid those really bad ones present in modern games where it’s like “find the 100+ items for reasons!” (Though to be honest, this does make me wonder how I plan on tackling Zygarde and its various forms… that’s a future me problem tho, not a Chapter 2 & 3 concern). But what’s there I feel is reasonable as is. Unfortunately these questlines can’t be finished in full in the Demo, so just enjoy what you can do as is <:

Gender Options? Character Customization?

This one is a flat no, so apologies on that front. Given how every character portrait is hand drawn by me, having to write and script cutscenes to account for those visuals sounds like a lot more trouble than it’s worth. Also given how the Protagonist of this game is their own character and not much of a self insert, I don’t really feel the want or need to add character customization either.

If I’m being honest though, if I were to give the player the option to choose between Character A or Character B, I would most likely separate those options in their own separate games. In Pokémon Black Spirit, you’ll play as Spirit. In Pokémon White Wisp, you’ll play as Wisp. But until I make full trainer assets for Wisp (I don’t even have them all for Spirit) then I’ll consider making them playable through an entire separate version of the game. Whoops.

Updated Assets

I’ve been practicing pixel stuff lately as I’ve gotten myself an iPad and I’m quite fond of what I’ve been able to do, so there are some overworld textures that have been reworked so they’re not just recolors of FRLG assets… Not everything is getting reworked but a fair amount is.

And in terms of music, I regret to inform that the music present in the current public build will not be present in future releases. Any original song will be replaced by music from the Pokémon Series or elsewhere.

Version 19.1 or Bust

As of the making of this post, Pokemon Essentials have recently released Version 21, but I’m not so distraught this time! I’m making a vow to not upgrade to future versions of Essentials for my own sanity. Essentials v19.1 works fine enough as is, but a big reason I refuse to move onwards is that it’s a huge gamble if the resources present in my game will be properly updated to the latest version of Essentials, so I’m letting it be until I know all or at least most of those resources get updated properly. However this comes with a major caveat…

Hisui Pokémon + Gen 9?

Unfortunately there are no resources that allow for the use of Hisui Pokemon or Generation 9 in v19.1 (only v20 and above…). And truthfully I would not know how to go about any of it myself (scripting those new moves and abilities is out of my skill range…) so do not expect any Pokémon beyond Calyrex to appear in Black Spirit :> tho to make up for that…

New Pokémon?!

I don’t think it’s a secret by now that I want to create new forms for Pokémon. What started as only wanting to make new Megas stemmed into me wanting to make Regional Variants and even new Evolutions for existing mon! I would love to reveal what I have in store in creative ways like making fake CoroCoro Scans but for now, do know that there are things cooking back here!

Don’t expect Mega Evolutions to be a thing in the next demo though. It won’t be obtained until Chapter 5 of the full game so you’ll be kept waiting for a long time to see those in action unfortunately.

Regional Variants are a different story however as I plan on debuting a generous amount come Chapter 2 & 3’s Release! If I was clever at giving hints I’d be all Riddler in this place :3 But I’m not, so I guess you’ll have to wait until the Demo’s Release unless I say otherwise! I will say a new regional variant already exists in one of my art pieces that can be found on twitter (X :p)… which one tho? I’ll never tell! Kudos if you find it tho :3

Lowkey it’s also because of this on why I’ve been slow with actual in game progress because making new Pokémon/Forms isn’t the easiest thing, but it’s fun nonetheless! So sorry about that ^-^’

Event Pokémon!

Lowkey I debate on this one! It’s very possible to do online Event Distributions in my game, and there’s only one I can really think of doing. It may be obvious on what that Pokémon could be, might not! But rest assured you’ll be able to obtain the Pokémon through the main story either way. It just depends if people are cool with receiving it the second they reach a Pokémon Center PLUS the one you can get in the story way later down the line. I’ll leave that one up to a mental debate. Or maybe I’ll just make a poll!

How can I stay updated with the game’s progress?

Truth be told I’ve been thinking about how I want to go about this because I have reservations regarding some of these methods. The biggest one being obvious. But let’s go down with what I have in mind!

An Official Black Spirit Social Media Page?

This is one that I could have done at any point but with how much Twitter has been crapping itself lately, I really don’t know what would be the best platform to post updates on. I’m very much open to suggestions regardless be it staying on Twitter, moving to Threads (HA, I’ve written this a month ago), Insta, or maybe even Tumblr.

Discord?

I’ve been wanting to do this most of all but truth be told I’ve been holding it off for a long time. I really am unsure about how to go about any of it, and the fact that almost anybody can join sounds intimidating to try and manage. It would be a place where I can consistently update on just about anything I feel like and feel comfortable doing so. If I’m in a good position to do so it’ll be the one thing I want to do most but I’m also the most apprehensive on it as well. We’ll see though.

Info Pages or Wikis of Any Kind?

I am indeed making several documents for my game that will give players any important information they might seek out. From Item Locations to Area Encounters, I just want to help anyone who will ask “When can I get this Pokémon?” Or “When will I get this item?”. Where I’ll place the documentation? Idk… maybe on the game’s main Relic Castle page come the Chapter 2 & 3 Release. If I had any know how, I would definitely like to make wiki pages akin to Bulbapedia just because I’m fond of how they layout their game data, but I don’t see that happening sadly unless it’s easier than I’m making it out to be.

Extra Promo Material?

Remember when I said how I wanted to try and make fake CoroCoro scans when I reveal new Pokémon forms? Well I would also like to make accompanying trailers for those CoroCoro scans that would be officially shown off a couple days later much like the days of ORAS. Is it a bit much? Yes. Yes it is. But I genuinely have fun with these concepts and the execution is also really neat too. This will be purely for fun though if I ever get around to it. I do at least want to have one trailer done for the Chapter 2 & 3 Demo so we’ll see how that goes.

But if I’m ever releasing those videos on YouTube, do note that the title will most likely be changed to “Project Spirit” because idk how much people can get in trouble for doing stuff like that on YouTube…

Release Date Estimate?

Unfortunately I cannot give an estimate on this. I am only one person in this endeavor and I do what I can with whatever free time I have (implying I’m not working on commissions or even playing new video games. 2023 hit me hard with these releases…). What I can say is that Chapter 2 and 3’s Script is written out in full. But the way I go about making my game is making an Area and doing everything I can event wise before moving onto the next area. So with that said, scripting out my story beats into ingame events is a HUUUUGE time eater just because I’m always having to replay and watch them in real time just to make sure they play out exactly how I want.

With that said, Chapters 2 & 3 take place in the remaining three major towns/cities of Western Teron and I am currently finishing up the story of that first major town. Two more to go after that… not counting sub areas or routes at least. But progress is being done!! I really am trying my hardest to work with what I can do and I appreciate the patience of those who are waiting on updates ;v;

One Final Thank You

Again I can’t stress how grateful I am for the friends and family who have been my my side through this game’s creation (and well before that ~ iykyk ;-;). And to everyone who has played it and even gave feedback, you have no idea HOW MUCH that actually means to me. I just genuinely appreciate it from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you all enjoy future releases of Pokémon Black Spirit!

If you have questions, please don't be afraid to ask! (also if there's a better way of going about posting updates like these on Relic Castle, please let me know, I want to make sure who follows the game gets these important updates :> )

Nutcase71733 · Aug 13, 2023

JYoshimon said:
As of this current build, there is methods to change IVs but no Natures quite yet. You can find Bottle Caps through sidequests that can be exchanged for candies that can max out IVs at a town's local Inn. There ARE plans to put in Mints and even items that set IVs to Zero in the next release of the game. I actually have a status update regarding this game's development but I personally don't know how to post it here on Relic Castle...

thats cool, I'm happy with that. Thanks!

Released Pokémon Black Spirit (Demo Version 1.2.1 + Year 1 Update!)

SIMPLE QUEST SYSTEM + UI 1.0.1 - The PokéCommunity Forums

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