Fan Made Games

[Moonface]

We had this on the old board but I want to discuss the topic again hence I'm remaking the thread here.

What do you think about fan made games in general? Have you played and/or seen any that you thought were really good or had potential if they were/are still a work in progress? Should the original publisher of the game IP stop any fan games, or only in certain circumstances?

Recently, Nintendo shut down a Metroid Prime 2D fan game and a few years before that also shut down AM2R, another Metroid fan game. I don't know what the first game looked like, but I have recently seen AM2R being played on Twitch and I didn't realize it was a fan game until I asked what game was even being played.

It seems that Nintendo games are the most common for people to make fan games of, considering all the Mario rom hacks and the various Pokemon fan games that have been getting made for over a decade, while for other games the only other one I've seen with fan games that garner notable attention are Fallout related. One of them was even good enough that Bethesda straight up hired the developer of it before the fan game had even got out the door.

Am I right in thinking that fan games become more common when the original IP isn't being used well or at all by the owner, or is it a case of things like Nintendo being easy to break apart and rebuild into something else, and the same for Fallout?

[Monocle]

well, they really become more common when tools are made to modify the original games easier. It's why they're are TONS of Super Metroid rom hacks. because there's a tool, SMILE, which makes modifying the games much easier.

Thing is, popular games have more people working on creating said tools so it ends up getting more fan games. Those that are built from other engines or from scratch, like the two Metroid ones you mentioned, take way more work but they can do things that can't be done with rom hacks because of limitations from the game itself.

[Moonface]

@Monocle: Good point. I find it funny to consider that Nintendo hates people using their work, and yet it seems their games are the easiest ones to make tools for so people can make their own content.

I remember there were some really promising Spyro fan games being made prior to the announcement of the Reignited Trilogy, and as far as I'm aware all of them had to get cancelled, which really sucks because they were absolutely stunning:

• Spyro 2: Spring Savanna
  
• Spyro: Dream Nexus
  
• Spyro: Myth's Awaken
  

I believe the last one is the only one that didn't entirely die; instead, the developers reskinned the game (and likely removed any levels directly referencing Spyro such as in the video linked) and are/were working on it as a new IP instead. Last I saw it it was basically Spyro in everything but name and character; everything else like the art style, gem collection, and other stuff stayed the same.

[Nightingale]

I thought Pokémon Crystal Clear was far superior (and a downright better game) that anything Nintendo or Game Freak had ever made.

It is so good that it is now rough for me to get back to any game other than Yellow.

[Moonface]

Is that the only Pokemon fan game you've played @Nightingale?

[Nightingale]

Not at all, but it WAS the first one I actually LIKED.

[Moonface]

What does Crystal do different to an actual Pokemon game that makes it superior?

[Nightingale]

What does Crystal do different to an actual Pokemon game that makes it superior?

It is open-world.

It lets you re-challenge gyms.

The difficulty spikes as you level up.

All Pokémon are catchable.

Certain items are only available after you have beaten gyms.

Everything is buyable, provided you have enough badges.

There is free travel from all points of the map.

Safari Zone has no time limit and lets you use your own equipment.

It lets you choose which music tracks play for each action.

Nurse Joy doesn't talk to you and you face AWAY from her once you have been healed.

It is crazy customizable.

Pokémon follow you.

There is one dude at the malls on both Celadon and Goldenrod that trades back with you so you can evolve your trade-exclusive Pokémon.

And a BIG ETC.

[Monocle]

@Nightingale

This sounds like the one for me! I haven't been able to get back into pokemon since Diamond but all the perks of that sounds way too good to pass up. is it PC or just a romhack?

[Nightingale]

It is a ROMHack and was also what got me back into series after the royal disappointment that was Bland and What

[Moonface]

Wait, ROM hacks aren't just a term for a fan made game that runs on the OG hardware and PC?

[ShiraNoMai]

Monocle is wondering if the game is an executable for PCs, or a ROMhack of the Crystal ROM that can run on an emulator regardless of hardware (PC, phones, etc). ROMhacks are basically patches for the original base ROM (the original game executable).

[Moonface]

So does a ROMhack require you have the original game to then run the patch on it? Like without base Crystal, you can't run Crystal Clear? Just still trying to wrap my head around how it all works now because I didn't even know there were differences. XD

I've also never seen this before, but there's a Smash fan game (?) that's based on Smash 64 and it got a large update today:



I assume the reason it's based on 64 is because it's going to be significantly easier to make models and stages for it due to the simpler visuals, since I've never heard Smash 64 being spoken about for its gameplay. Normally that goes to Melee or something.

[Monocle]

Yeah. A romhack, like a mod, needs the base game to be modified, unlike fan games made from scratch using whatever engine they choose as a, normally, pc program. Some of those games can and have been ported like AM2R to Vita and Switch.

[Moonface]

I never knew that. I always thought every ROMhack I saw was independent of the base game because it's not like a mod that changes things within the base game.