Released Pokémon: Split

Hi everybody and welcome to my fan game, Pokémon: Split

A quick bit about me!

My name is Dale. I am a true OG Pokémon fan, having being given Pokémon: Blue for Christmas back in 1999, when I was 5 years old. I then owned every Pokémon game up until Platinum, including the same-gen variants as well as the Gamecube games and spin off games. I still love Pokémon to this day. I have a huge Pokémon card and product collection and have spent hundreds of hours developing this game and playtesting it.

I have done my best to make this game as fun as possible, so please talk to every NPC you find and look out for the hidden Easter Eggs and references within! Creating and developing this fan game has been so much fun, and I've tried my hardest to put out a high quality and fun game.

Now, for the game...

Pokémon: Split

Split takes place in a region which goes by the very same name Split.

Split is a region which is unique geographically, in that it is completely symmetrical down the centre divide. One side of the region is the Good / Sunny side, with the other side of the region being the Bad / Dark side.

Law and order prevails over the sunny side of Split, whereby people go about their daily lives with little-to-no crime or corruption to worry about. However, the same cannot be said for the dark side of the region. A side corrupt to its core, criminally and politically dominated by Team Rocket and their fiercely loyal supporters. A side of the region which many choose to avoid at all costs, and maybe you should do the same?

Your story begins at the prestigious Pokémon school within the city of Beautitude, the capital city of the sunny side of Split. You and your starter Pokémon will go about your school studies as normal, before things take a sudden and dark turn. You will have to download and play the game to find out exactly what happens!

You will battle your way across the region, earning the 8 badges of the Split Gym Challenge and ultimately taking on the Champion's Path and the Split Pokémon League! Your adventures will take you back and forth between each side of the region, forcing you to explore and venture through the dark and corrupt side of the region just as much as the sunny side. You will fight criminal gangs and look to put a stop to their evil plans to mutate and genetically modify Pokémon to gain an advantage. You will do what you can to stop them taking control of the entire region of Split.

This demo release takes you beyond the fourth gym. You will end the demo with 5 Pokémon around level 45. This game features many hours of content so there is plenty to play for.

Now, a few features of the game:

Spoiler

• Pokémon from all generations.
• Unique mutated forms of Pokémon.
• Regional variants of existing Pokémon.
• A unique and especially fun region.
• Well thought out coincidences, symmetries and fun moments which reward exploration.
• A plethora of Easter Eggs and references to the main line Pokémon games, the Anime, and real life!
• Challenging battles and gym. You won't steam roll this game too easily!
• Mid-battle dialogue to make key battles feel immersive and more interactive.
• Well thought out choice of in-game-music to give you the best atmospheric and nostalgic feelings when playing.

Essentials version and Plugins used:

Spoiler

• Pokémon Essentials v20.1
• Pokémon Essentials v20.1Hotfixes
• Essentials Deluxe
• Always in Grass
• Generation 8 Pack Scripts
• Overworld Shadows EX
• Public tiles as sourced from Relic Castle
• Tiles and Overworlds from various sources across the Pokémon from over the years
• and a huge thanks to the developers of all of the above!

Credits:

Spoiler

Game development (mapping, scripting, eventinmg, everything!):
Myself - DaleFails

Pokémon Essentials:
"Pokémon Essentials" was created by:
Flameguru
Poccil (Peter O.)
Maruno

With contributions from:
AvatarMonkeyKirby<s>Marin
Boushy<s>MiDas Mike
Brother1440<s>Near Fantastica
FL.<s>PinkMan
Genzai Kawakami<s>Popper
Golisopod User<s>Rataime
help-14<s>Savordez
IceGod64<s>SoundSpawn
Jacob O. Wobbrock<s>the__end
KitsuneKouta<s>Venom12
Lisa Anthony<s>Wachunga
Luka S.J.<s>
and everyone else who helped out

"mkxp-z" by:
Roza
Based on "mkxp" by Ancurio et al.

"RPG Maker XP" by:
Enterbrain

Pokémon is owned by:
The Pokémon Company
Nintendo
Affiliated with Game Freak

This is a non-profit fan-made game.
No copyright infringements intended.
Please support the official games!

Essentials Deluxe: Lucidious89

Always in Bushes: Kotaro, Titania318, Kleinstudio, derFischae

Overworld Shadows EX: Golisopod User, Marin, WolfPP

Generation 8 Pack for Essentials v20.1:

Battler Sprites:
Gen 1-5 Pokemon Sprites - veekun
Gen 6 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon X/Y Sprite Project
Gen 7 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon Sun/Moon Sprite Project
Gen 8 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon Sword/Shield Sprite Project

Overworld Sprites
Gen 6+ Berry Tree Overworlds - Anarlaurendil
Gen 6 Pokemon Overworlds - princess-pheonix, LunarDusk, Wolfang62, TintjeMadelintje101, piphybuilder88
Gen 7 Pokemon Overworlds - Larry Turbo, princess-pheonix
Gen 8 Pokemon Overworlds - SageDeoxys, Wolfang62, LarryTurbo, tammyclaydon
Gen 1-5 Pokemon Overworlds - MissingLukey, help-14, Kymoyonian, cSc-A7X, 2and2makes5, Pokegirl4ever, Fernandojl, Silver-Skies, TyranitarDark, Getsuei-H, Kid1513, Milomilotic11, Kyt666, kdiamo11, Chocosrawlooid, Syledude, Gallanty, Gizamimi-Pichu, 2and2makes5, Zyon17,LarryTurbo, spritesstealer, LarryTurbo

Icon Sprites
Gen 1-6 Pokemon Icon Sprites - Alaguesia
Gen 7 Pokemon Icon Sprites - Marin, MapleBranchWing, Contributors to the DS Styled Gen 7+ Repository
Gen 8 Icon Sprites - Larry Turbo, Leparagon

Cry Credits:
Gen 1-6 Pokemon Cries - Rhyden
Gen 7 Pokemon Cries - Marin, Rhyden
Gen 8 Pokemon Cries - Zeak6464

Script Credits:
Golisopod User, Luka S.J.

Compilation of Resources:
Golisopod User, UberDunsparce

v20.1 Hotfixes: Maruno

Public tiles and overworlds: SailorViscious, Magiscarf, Kyledove, WesleyFG

Officially licensed Pokémon credits:
The Pokémon Company
Nintendo
Affiliated with Game Freak

Thank you again to all the above - these are some incredible resources.

And some screenshots too!

An example of why the region is called Split!

Mutated forms of Pokémon (fun fact: this is actually the beta Cranidos sprite)

Spoiler

Some mid-battle-dialogue (easily my favourite feature in any fan game!)

Spoiler

Some example Easter Eggs in the game (and look out for more, I have filled the game with them!)

Spoiler

Showcasing my love for the Gen 2 art style (check out retro_pokesprites on Instagram, his work is fantastic!)

Spoiler

And finally some more general screenshots

Spoiler

Now - for the game itself!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD - Google Drive Download Link - demo v0.0.6

To run the game:
1. Download the .zip folder
2. Extract the contents of the .zip folder
3. Run the 'Game' executable file and the game will run, no emulator required!

Release notes

Spoiler

v0.0.1
Initial demo release

v0.0.2
Bug fixes:
Eevee Fan battle no longer repeats
Sunnyshallow town name now appears correctly on Town Map
McBeauty Burger item now works as intended
Route 1 map connection realigned
Game Title corrected - should solve crashing

v0.0.3
Bug fixes:
Route 20 trees no longer passable
Random umbrellas removed from Willowroot
Duskridge trade now works as intended
Route 3 warp re-aligned
Some trainers LOS tweaked

v0.0.4
New features:
Increased selection of starter Pokémon choice
Fishing encounters added
Old Rod and Good Rod added
Fishing Overworld for player added

Bug fixes:
Beautitude grammatical errors fixed

v0.0.5
Bug fixes:
Mournedale gym trainer encounter crash fix
Acquiring third gym badge now enables Fly
Sunnyshallow berry trees trap fixed
Balancing tweaks from Route 1 to first gym
Given Pokéballs on Route 1
Sunkern now evolves into Duskfawna using a Moon Stone

v0.0.6
Bug fixes:
Power Plant entry getting-stuck bug fix
Fly points for Dawnridge and Duskridge fixed
Various text corrections
Various soundtrack amendments
Additional party heals added in
Various graphical fixes
Removed trade-obey levels
Multitude of other small bugs squashed

This is my first time uploading an RPGmaker project for download. Light testing seems to show it is working as intended. Please let me know of any issues.

Thank you to those who play, it really means a lot to share my passion for Pokémon with you! Please come and support / interact with me below:

Discord - Invite link!
TikTok - DaleFails
Instagram - DaleFailsGaming

Feedback and bug reports much appreciated!​

 

[NiiKitty]

Will you have a discord?

 

[Maor80]

There have brought very serious point since alot of users have discord accounts and there is even an official server in discord of relic castle too

 

[DaleFails]

Will you have a discord?

There have brought very serious point since alot of users have discord accounts and there is even an official server in discord of relic castle too

Thank you both - great idea! I have added an invite link to a Discord server above.

 

[mindbender12]

What’s the estimated time to complete the demo?

How hard is it? Do I need to be a Professional Pokémon Player or is it on par with the mainline games?

 

[DaleFails]

What’s the estimated time to complete the demo?

How hard is it? Do I need to be a Professional Pokémon Player or is it on par with the mainline games?

6-8 hours I’d say?

And it’s inbetween. You don’t need to be a professional player to get through the game, you can pass the gyms and come back to them a little later if you struggle, but it is certainly more challenging than the main line games which are a complete breeze.

 

[jatinroy]

i downloaded the game. how do i play

 

[TechSkylander1518]

i downloaded the game. how do i play

https://eeveeexpo.com/how-to-play/

 

[Ickle]

Hey so the game won't let me play

 

[DaleFails]

Hey so the game won't let me play

View attachment 12280

Hey, thanks for for (trying to, at least) playing!

Please try redownloading and extracting to somewhere new.

My game does not feature the quest system, and your error reads as if it is pointing to some form of questing module I do not use. It looks like the issue is your end rather than with the download itself.

 

[AenaonDogsky]

Hey so the game won't let me play

Hey, thanks for for (trying to, at least) playing!

Please try redownloading and extracting to somewhere new.

My game does not feature the quest system, and your error reads as if it is pointing to some form of questing module I do not use. It looks like the issue is your end rather than with the download itself.

If it is what I think it is, it's not on Ickle's end - you forgot to change the title of the game.

When opening your game, you can see, on the top left corner of the game window, that it is titled "Essentials v20.1" and presumably it tries to look for, and load, the engine's vanilla saves. Anyone who's had v20.1 of Essentials installed at some point in time, will get similar errors. This is definitely true for older versions, and I believe it's also true for 20.1.

To change the title, go to the "Game" tab in RMXP, and select "change title".

 

[DaleFails]

If it is what I think it is, it's not on Ickle's end - you forgot to change the title of the game.

When opening your game, you can see, on the top left corner of the game window, that it is titled "Essentials v20.1" and presumably it tries to look for, and load, the engine's vanilla saves. Anyone who's had v20.1 of Essentials installed at some point in time, will get similar errors. This is definitely true for older versions, and I believe it's also true for 20.1.

To change the title, go to the "Game" tab in RMXP, and select "change title".

That makes sense - explains why it would try pointing to module or plugins I do not have.

I plan to release a new version tonight with some bug fixes - I’ll include this.

Thank you so much for your insight!

 

[DaleFails]

Announcement

v0.0.2 released to fix the following:

Bug fixes:
Eevee Fan battle no longer repeats
Sunnyshallow town name now appears correctly on Town Map
McBeauty Burger item now works as intended
Route 1 map connection realigned
Game Title corrected - should solve crashing​

 

[Ickle]

Hey so is this normal?

(Great game so far btw)

 

[DaleFails]

Hey so is this normal?

View attachment 12311

(Great game so far btw)

What on earth is going on there

Thanks for the bug report - I’ll take a look and see if anything needs fixing for v0.0.3!

 

[DaleFails]

Announcement

v0.0.4 released with the below bug fixes and new features!

Bug fixes:
Route 20 trees no longer passable
Random umbrellas removed from Willowroot
Duskridge trade now works as intended
Route 3 warp re-aligned
Some trainers LOS tweaked
Beautitude grammatical errors fixed

New features:
Increased selection of starter Pokémon choice
Fishing encounters added
Old Rod and Good Rod added
Fishing Overworld for player added​

 

[mindbender12]

Ok, so I just finished the first gym, and I have some thoughts so far, but not sure where to post them, so I'll do it here.

Overall, the story is intriguing, but I'm not sure if where's it heading will be shocking, but perhaps that's not the point. The world looks very well put together and route 1/2 were streamlined and easy to follow. I could keep going on with the positives, but that's not really going to help improve the game.

My minor grip is with how the balance is during route 1 and the first gym. Route 1 is designed for fire Pokemon, with the abundance of bug, flying and grass Pokemon, but there is no indication that this is the case when you pick a starter. As such, if you pick a water Pokemon, or a grass one, (as I did), you're going to have a much harder time than someone who went with a fire one. And, as you can't catch Pokemon till route 2, you're stuck with your starter. As such, the route is basically a grind. Fight a battle, then you must go back and heal your Pokemon, every, single, time. So that's 5 back and forth on the route alone. And that's not including any wild battles, which, if you picked a water Pokemon, will require another visit to Mom. The two solutions I can see to this is to either give the trainers mons that are weak to water or grass, or give the player Pokeballs following the battle with the rival.

Now on to the gym. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but I never saw a fighting Pokemon nor a fighting move prior to the gym, so I had no counters for the cat Pokemon, and with it being several levels higher than my starter, and many levels higher than the rest of the team, basically became a RNG fest. Perhaps I'm not the best Pokemon Player, but it felt way too hard for the first gym, especially in light of all the battles around it.

Now onto my main gripe, and that's with the pacing of the story. While the intro section of the game was interesting, as soon as I saw the Gabile's level, I knew that it was going to be stolen, and as such I just wanted to get through route 9 asap to start the actual game, especially since the battles here were basically just a cutscene. As far as suggestions go, maybe make this route quicker, or have the player pick a starter, then have that Pokemon be stolen. IDK.

My largest complaint is how long it takes to the dark side of split. I'm already past the first gym, and I haven't experienced the basis of this game, (and it sounds like I won't until after the second gym.) When I passed out after the ambush, I thought for sure I'd wake up in darkside, but nope. Perhaps darkside is supposed to be the second half of the game? I could see finding out there's a second section that's the parallel opposite to be an interesting twist, but since every NPC talks about it, that's really not possible. I haven't finished the demo, but I hope that I get to see the dark side of Split before the demo ends. Perhaps my thoughts will change, but at the moment, I was really intrigued by the concept, but feel like the delivery is missing somehow.

Anyways, the visuals and soundtrack are great, so it's nice to play through. I'm interested to see what the rest of the demo does, and I'll give my full thoughts following that.

 

[mindbender12]

The game just crashed in the fourth gym, right as the first trainer battle was about to begin. I believe is has something to do with the ghost side quest.

 

[DaleFails]

Announcement

v0.0.5 released to fix the following:

Bug fixes:
Mournedale gym trainer encounter crash fix
Acquiring third gym badge now enables Fly
Sunnyshallow berry trees trap fixed
Balancing tweaks from Route 1 to first gym
Given Pokéballs on Route 1
Sunkern now evolves into Duskfawna using a Moon Stone ​

 

[DaleFails]

Ok, so I just finished the first gym, and I have some thoughts so far, but not sure where to post them, so I'll do it here.

Overall, the story is intriguing, but I'm not sure if where's it heading will be shocking, but perhaps that's not the point. The world looks very well put together and route 1/2 were streamlined and easy to follow. I could keep going on with the positives, but that's not really going to help improve the game.

My minor grip is with how the balance is during route 1 and the first gym. Route 1 is designed for fire Pokemon, with the abundance of bug, flying and grass Pokemon, but there is no indication that this is the case when you pick a starter. As such, if you pick a water Pokemon, or a grass one, (as I did), you're going to have a much harder time than someone who went with a fire one. And, as you can't catch Pokemon till route 2, you're stuck with your starter. As such, the route is basically a grind. Fight a battle, then you must go back and heal your Pokemon, every, single, time. So that's 5 back and forth on the route alone. And that's not including any wild battles, which, if you picked a water Pokemon, will require another visit to Mom. The two solutions I can see to this is to either give the trainers mons that are weak to water or grass, or give the player Pokeballs following the battle with the rival.

Now on to the gym. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but I never saw a fighting Pokemon nor a fighting move prior to the gym, so I had no counters for the cat Pokemon, and with it being several levels higher than my starter, and many levels higher than the rest of the team, basically became a RNG fest. Perhaps I'm not the best Pokemon Player, but it felt way too hard for the first gym, especially in light of all the battles around it.

Now onto my main gripe, and that's with the pacing of the story. While the intro section of the game was interesting, as soon as I saw the Gabile's level, I knew that it was going to be stolen, and as such I just wanted to get through route 9 asap to start the actual game, especially since the battles here were basically just a cutscene. As far as suggestions go, maybe make this route quicker, or have the player pick a starter, then have that Pokemon be stolen. IDK.

My largest complaint is how long it takes to the dark side of split. I'm already past the first gym, and I haven't experienced the basis of this game, (and it sounds like I won't until after the second gym.) When I passed out after the ambush, I thought for sure I'd wake up in darkside, but nope. Perhaps darkside is supposed to be the second half of the game? I could see finding out there's a second section that's the parallel opposite to be an interesting twist, but since every NPC talks about it, that's really not possible. I haven't finished the demo, but I hope that I get to see the dark side of Split before the demo ends. Perhaps my thoughts will change, but at the moment, I was really intrigued by the concept, but feel like the delivery is missing somehow.

Anyways, the visuals and soundtrack are great, so it's nice to play through. I'm interested to see what the rest of the demo does, and I'll give my full thoughts following that.

Hey Mindbender, thanks for your reply and the constructive feedback!

Based on your feedback, and a self-review of the bits you have mentioned, I have made some changes, so thank you very much for the feedback.

I have made some balancing tweaks across Route 1, Route 2 and the Dawnridge Gym. I have also gifted the player some Pokeballs prior to Route 1 as suggested too!

On the other points, I personally am happy with the pacing for the prologue and then the time it takes to reach the dark side of the region. I wanted to built some form of attachment between the player and the Gabite (something I play to develop further and make more impactful within the prologue). In the time it takes to reach the Dark Side, I wanted the contract be stark and obvious, and the player to ask around and hear rumours / build up an expectation in their mind before eventually reaching the dark side.

The game with flick back and forth between the two, but it will essentially be 50/50 come the end of the game.

The lack of available Fighting types in 100% intentional. With the first gym using Normal types and the majority of the dark side of the region using Dark types, I didn't want the player to be able to steamroll the game too easily with that type advantages. Some Fighting type Pokemon and moves are available, but they are intentionally scarce.

Thanks again for your feedback, the tweaks made I am very happy with... and the Mournedale gym bug is fixed!