PokéStory

New Icon V2!

2012-02-05T19:42:00.000-05:00

Well, after seeing a lukewarm reaction to my first icon, Silver told me to make another. A few changes, first, its better, clearly. Second, no more maplestory leaf. I hope you all enjoy this one more than the last one.

Hope you guys like it!

Changing up the Blog

2012-01-15T18:41:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has noticed that I have switched up the blog layout. It looks bare and naked, but this is only the beginning. I will try to have Zinc start creating a GUI for the blog because I've decided to use the blog as PS's main website! :D

Take a look around, note the cleanliness of the new layout and try to remember where everything is. I'm going to be heavily reorganizing everything so it's cleaner and easier to follow.

One more thing to note: the url of the blog will be changing soon so I hope you all will be able to find us once I do it; you'll have to switch up your bookmarks and such as well. Don't forget that!

Anyhow, I don't really have any real development news, so just continue to enjoy PDoA! :D Hope you guys have fun! Until next time, I'll see you guys later!

PokéStory Icon!

2012-01-12T22:11:00.001-05:00

Hey there, this is Zinc. First post on the blog, exciting!

Anyway, I've gone and created the Icon for PS, as per request of Silver.

Let me know what you guys think of it in the Discussion boards!

Its transparent behind the Pokéball/Leaf. Again, leave feedback!

PokeStory Secured! :D

2012-01-07T02:10:00.000-05:00

I've been redoing the coding for PokeStory and it's rough. But, I'm slowly trekking along.

I just wanted everyone to know that I had a good holidays and I'm refreshed. I've also gotten a few methods for backing up the source code ready. =]

So, everyone, sit tight! I'm going to get this all done eventually. >.>

:D

No hope for PokeStory...

2011-12-20T00:26:00.002-05:00

So, the source code... I recovered it! But... It has already been corrupted with data. There is absolutely nothing I can do other than restart the coding.

Again, I didn't want to have to do this but it looks like I have to. D:

I'm sorry a million times over for the unfortunate situation that has befallen PS, but I will be working diligently to get it back up and running. Thanks, everyone for your patience, and I am so sorry about this. =[

I have made a horrible mistake...

2011-12-15T03:38:00.003-05:00

So, I made a really birdbrained move. I compressed PDoA and PS so that I'd be able to to put them on my 8gig hard drive (each one uncompressed would be about 5-6GBs each). Compressed, it came down to a light 2.26GBs. I accepted it without any second though. I believed that those files could compress that small.

Days later, I've fixed my computer at the cost of a format. No big deal, I though I had everything.

I was wrong. Everything was corrupt, nothing in that archive was saved properly. I had to scrap the file. I lost everything I had done on PS.

Now, this isn't all bad. Thankfully, I have PDoA Classic saved on a different machine, because I was paranoid about this very thing happening. Build 77's source code is safe and snug on my server machine (it acts as a sort of backup drive). So I lost nothing in the sense of PDoA. However, Pokemon Story I wasn't so cautious about. Now, I admit, this is a few steps back but I can recover. Do not worry about any of the database files or the maps. Those are all saved remotely (thank god!). I would have just about quit if I came out of this reformat with absolutely nothing.

At any rate, I'm just reporting the loss on a public forum so that people would be in the know about what's happening.

Right now PDoA isn't too popular of a game. Mainly due to lack of updates and anticipation of PS. I'm going to have to push that back a bit.

So, I'm guessing the only other option I have is to release a holiday event involving the Rainbow and Silver wings (as suggested by Zinc) to remedy the fact that PS isn't going to be ready as soon as I thought. I said the process would take about a year to complete; thank god I didn't undershoot. Alot of people would have been upset, haha.

And if you tl;dr this then all you need to know is I lost PS, have PDoA Classic backed up, and I'm going to be starting PS over from PDoA's build 77 source code. A large step back, but I'll do it. I love Pokemon and this community too much to bail. The internet deserves a good, plays-like-the-handhelds Pokemon MMO. My goal is to build that MMO.

Virus Attack

2011-12-08T02:22:00.001-05:00

My developer's machine suffered a nasty virus attack. I need to repair the PC, but it's taking some time to transfer all of my important files onto a drive. Transfer speeds are okay, but it's finding all the files that's troublesome. The server machine, thank goodness, has been scanned for viruses and the results were returned clean; so the servers haven't been affected. But my personal development time has been majorly hashed on. Not only am I dealing with this virus, but I usually go off the radar during holiday season, only to return a few days after January first. I hope you guys have a happy new years and I'll keep you guys updated on my issues. :D

PDoA2 is now known as...

2011-11-15T03:37:00.001-05:00

Pokémon Story! (Will be referred to as PokéStory, or simply PS).

Such a simple and sweet, but EXPANSIVE name. That was the goal.

Thank you everyone for help with the naming!

A Look at PDoA2

2011-11-09T05:27:00.002-05:00

Alright, I decided it's time to show you guys what I've actually been doing to the game. I know I keep talking about it, but I'm not posting any pictures; for that I am sorry. Heh. The first private beta phase is going to happen sometime soon. Those who made it as private testers, this is the kind of stuff you should expect.

The Union Room is making a stunning comeback in PDoA2, calling for more space and organization only sacrificing clutter.

The battle screens are all being updated with a chat box in the screen. So, even if you're in the most intense of battles, you can still communicate with whoever you want to.

Pay attention to the marker on the top right! It'll tell you exactly where you are in a clean and stylized manner.


The city of Anastacia is a booming port city crawling with life. It is where you will encounter a grand bridge, the likes of which you've never seen on PDoA Classic!

A sneak peak at the Victini summary screen. Upon PDoA2's release, everyone will have the chance to obtain this rare Pokemon!


Taking a lovely stroll on the outskirts of Anais.

I hope this is enough to get you guys excited to play. You can only imagine how much excitement I'm feeling anticipating release day!

GUI and Battle Screen done by Zinc.

[Fixed] Beta Map and Continental Map Progress

2011-11-02T06:11:00.000-04:00

The first map is a map of the Beta Area and the second map is an updated progress map. Check it out, and leave behind your thoughts.

PDoA2 Database Help!

2011-11-02T05:19:00.003-04:00

If you are interested in helping me add data to the database please shoot me an email at matt.nwachukwu@gmail.com! I will walk you through everything you need to know to be adding data to the database in no time! The quicker this gets done, the quicker I can start releasing betas! =]

Database Files

2011-10-20T01:09:00.001-04:00

First off, I'd like to thank Navarr for actively being part of this project.

Without his help, I wouldn't know about the beautiful open source database I found. Most of you might know the website veekun. I got a hold of their data and I'm now taking the time to convert all of it to useable data to upload to my database. =]

So, while I'm redoing PDoA's backbone, you guys can rest assured; the PDoA development train is moving along! Thanks for being part of the project.

Private Beta Information

2011-10-18T20:39:00.002-04:00

Interested in helping out? Follow this link!
Redirect to PDoA2 Beta Information

Has it really been a month?

2011-10-14T05:44:00.001-04:00

Wow! It's been one month and four days since I've written in this blog. It's been feeling lonely and neglected.

Now, the reason for my absence was that I had gotten up and tangled up in the rush of real life. Nothing to terribly bad happened. And I was always online, developing for PDoA. Pulling off all nighters and such.

Well, regardless of the excuse, I do terribly apologize for keeping you guys in the dark for so long.

Now, what you've all been waiting for. More development news.

PDoA2 Beta News I - Shedding Light On The Private Beta
Mapping for the 'Beta Area' has been completed. Only a small section of Taeyl has been completed. This small section is known as the 'Beta Test Zone'. Pretty much, mapping will cease, so that I may be focused on adding features. This 'Beta Test Zone' serves as the test map.

Anyhow, a private beta is is the conception stage. Private beta access and more details will be posted on the Pokemon: Den of Ages Classic website. The private beta will be a shoot and go kind of thing. More involvement with the development process. I plan on coding and adding features, and once features are administratively tested, I will allow a 3 day (up to a 2 week) testing period to test the integrity of the new features. Anyhow, you'll just want to keep the PDoA website on your radar for the next day or two until I solidify these details for you.

PDoA2 Beta News II - Breeding!
Lastly, a confirmed feature (which will mark the release of the first private beta release) is breeding! EVs need to be tweaked a bit, I admit; however, IVs and Natures need to be implemented (well, they were implemented in PDoA Classic but were not active). These are crucial for any Pokemon game, I understand; so, yes! I will be making those additions before the first release.

PDoA Classic News - Updated Development: Introducing TMs
This next bit of news also covers the status of Pokemon: Den of Ages Classic. I do believe that if I'm to garner support for PDoA2, I have to actively be a part of that game too. And just for those who are unaware, I try to be as close to that game as possible. The more support I get for PDoA, the more support PDoA2 will receive upon public release. That being said, I've decided to partially support PDoA.

... Partially? What do I mean by partially? Well, I wont be tailoring to those who lost Pokemon in a glitch or anything like that. Those days of PDoA Classic are over. However, due to the recent banning of Pokemon with TM moves, I have decided to make TMs work in PDoA Classic before cutting off all support for it. This way, those of you who have ordered Pokemon with TM moves can start to actively use them without reprimand; and those of you who don't want to order Pokemon because of this new ban; fear not! Hopefully with this addition, the sudden ban on TM moves will disappear completely. I will post more details about TM moves and their addition to PDoA Classic on the website hosting that game. I'll reiterate: you may want to keep PDoA Classic's website under your radar for the next few days.

[HEAVILY REDONE] New Chat System

2011-09-10T04:14:00.002-04:00

So, I'm sure we all like the old ways of chatting. You can see everyone's presence whenever you wanted and you can chat on all open channels freely. There was really no reason to have any channel turned off. Well, on PDoA2, I strive to change that.

Let's get the first thing out of the way.
1) More channels. Yes. More of them.

Here's my list:
- Map: Speak with people in the same 'area' as you.
- Trade: Setup Pokemon and Item trades in this channel.
- Team: Talk with your teammates here.
- Admin: Reserved admin only channel.
- Friend: Talk with all your friends here.
- World: Off topic server-wide discussion.
- Battle: Setup Pokemon battles here.
- Miscellaneous: No rules chatting.

8 different channels. Now, by default, the only channels that will be turned on are Map, World, and Friend. Admin Chan is only unlocked if you're admin (otherwise, you don't get the option to turn it on.). Team is only unlocked if you're a team (otherwise, you don't get the option to turn it on.). And Trade/Battle channels can be entered and left freely. Misc is only for those who are 18+, once you're in here, no one is holding your hand... It's rule-free chatting. Of course, you can always turn it off if the heat gets to be too much for you.

2) I plan to make 'Who's Online' only display people who are in your selected channels. So you only see the presence of those talking with you. (This option may be removed in the future.)

So, yes, look foward to that new system of chatting!

*New GUI concept on the way, by the way. Chat will be MUCH bigger, do not worry. :]

Mapping Progress Update

2011-09-08T10:10:00.003-04:00

If you all haven't noticed, you should check out the continental progress map. Alot more mapping has been done.

Here is a screenshot of the starting town, Anais.

Click to Enlarge

Yeah, we've gotten a major update to our tile sheet. No more Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald tiles. Everything is now purely D/P/Pt/HG/SS/B/W style now. =]

Give us some feedback!

Future Insight + New Dev Feature

2011-08-21T04:00:00.006-04:00

Well, Silver here. Letting everyone know what the deal is with mapping. I figured, rather than just increasing the number, I'd go ahead and throw up a really useful link to the side in the Progress Center.

The link is this. Too lazy to click? Here.

Click to enlarge.

Alright. "This just looks like Taeyl" Well, that's because it is. This new feature I'm talking about is... This picture will be updated constantly. I'll put a link to it in the Progress center. Pretty much, the roads in highlighted yellow have been named and completely mapped. The cities, towns, and special areas that are crossed off with an X have been completely mapped and named. The untouched parts of the map represent an area that is completely mapped, but with no name, or aren't mapped at all. Keep in touch with this map, I should update it every so often.

Now, the future insight I promised... Here.

Click to enlarge.

"Ahh! Silver, quit spamming me maps of Taeyl!" Well, calm down for a minute. Haha. See, this map has been marked differently. This is a map displaying all of the 'port' towns that will be available in the game. "Why so many port towns?" Well, I have lakes and rivers n' such, but I don't want those to be the only fishing spots. I don't want to limit where a player can fish, especially considering the fact they are surrounded by an ocean! The cities or towns marked with yellow are towns that are ports, but only contain docks for fishing... Fishing docks. The towns marked in red are the only ones with both fishing docks, and a boat docks to enable travel between the two cities. The boat docks will house the boats (obviously) where the fishing docks can be used to fish!

I'm doing this, so that some towns are more than just a place to pass by and say you've visited. I want to give every single town and city a specific use and purpose, to enable traveling between all of them. That's why so many paths are circular and nonlinear.

I hope some of you found this update to be of interest. Thanks for being a part of PDoA2's development! =]

Mapping Has Begun

2011-08-15T05:05:00.000-04:00

Go to the forums to contact Ameyathed if you are interested in being part of the mapping team. For right now, a mapping server has been opened up, so only mappers may log on and what not.

So, yeah. Progress on Taeyl will be updated almost daily. =]

Updated Tree GFX

2011-08-14T00:37:00.003-04:00

Wildedge, one of our lovely GFX designers went ahead and threw this official image for the class tree together. It's in the previous post, check it out.

Spoiling the new Class System!

2011-08-12T08:50:00.009-04:00

Alright, so there has been a lot of talk and speculation over what will happen to PDoA's skill system. It's being majorly redone. And I mean, majorly redone. Instead of them being "Trainer Skills" they will be referred to as a "Trainer Class". Unlike skills, you can only have 1 class at a time. Your class bestows a title to you. You are allowed to forget your class and take on a new path, but you'll have to start from the beginning.

There is tree advancement, I'm sure people would love to hear about that one. I'll proceed to explaining what each class title gets after I've displayed the tree.

Click to enlarge

Pretty nifty tree, right? But what does it all mean? Well, a novice is what everyone will start out as. No skills, no title. You are then able to pay a fee to pick up one of the class trees: Craftsman, Ranger, and Handler.

A Craftsman is the beginning to the Craftsman skill tree. Craftsman have a unique ability to take something from nature and turn it into something mankind and Pokemon alike can use. Craftsman, in the game, will have basic Pokeball and Potion making skills. From here, you are able to advance to either a Herbalist or a Researcher.

A Herbalist focuses on creating healing items from items found in the wild. Retaining a few Pokeball making techniques, they completely give up learning additional Pokeball making skills and focus on making more potent medicines. From the Herbalist, you can advance to Chemist or Forager.

A Researcher loves science. They study everything about Pokeball technology, thus, they learn more about how to make more advanced Pokeballs, though they still remember a few medicine making tricks. From here, one can advance to Forager or Engineer.

A Chemist has absolute knowledge on Potion making skills. They completely abandon their ability to make Pokeballs and thrive on making the best medicines they can. For all Craftsmen who become Chemists, their long journey of learning has ended.

An Engineer knows everything there is to know about Pokeballs. They can create even the most rarest of Pokeballs while abandoning their medicine making skills. For all Craftsmen who become Engineers, their long journey of learning has ended.

A Forager is one who enjoys both the art of Pokeball making and the art of potion making. They're unique in that they can find the most useful way to use the items they forage in the wild. They have intermediate potion and Pokeball making skills. This is for the one who just can't go without knowing how to do either or. For all Craftsmen who become Foragers, their long journey of learning has ended.

A Ranger is the beginning to the Ranger tree. Rangers enjoy the interactions of Pokemon. They are friendly and can guile Pokemon to do things that even their trainers couldn't do. Rangers ingame will have the ability to spot rare Pokemon easier and also spot items on Pokemon that other trainers would miss. From here, a Ranger can become either an Assistant or a Tracker.

An Assistant researches Pokemon and their habitats. They are almost an authority figure when it comes to spotting Pokemon that others would find harder to see. They do also retain some ability to spot items as well. An Assistant can either become a Professor or a Hunter.

A Tracker loves to find items. Pokemon know where all the rare items in the world are located, humans do not. Trackers, however, train themselves to be like the Pokemon that find rare items on the sly. They are also able to guile Pokemon into handing over their prized items because of their sheer love for the creatures. Trackers retain some ability to spot rare Pokemon easier. A Tracker can either become a Hunter or a Locator.

A Professor is an absolute authority on all things Pokemon. Their word can not be denounced by anyone else. For this, they are able to find rare and even shiny Pokemon as a much more accelerated rate. However, they lose their ability to spot the rare items they were once able to find. For all Rangers who become Professors, their long journey of research has ended.

A Locator is a rare item hunter. They are cunning and sly with Pokemon and can talk Pokemon into giving them rare items. They find so many items from the wild that are of value, Locators will rarely have trouble with money. However, in becoming so sly and devious towards Pokemon, Pokemon tend to stay away so they inadvertently lose their ability to spot rare Pokemon at all. For all Rangers who become Locators, their long journey of research has ended.

A Hunter is, in the most basic sense, a hunter. Their love for Pokemon has deepened and developed to the point to where they can both find rare Pokemon and locate items on the sly. However, these trainers will find that though their skill is more versatile, a Locator or a Professor would certainly win a duel pertaining to the craft. For all Rangers who become Hunters, their long journey of research has ended.

A Handler is the beginning to the Handler skill tree. They develop deep rooted relationships with the Pokemon they train at much faster rates than any other trainers. A Handler can only hope to become a Specialist when his or her skill develops far enough.

A Specialist is someone who has the ability to craft items to help with Pokemon growth. They can create items that help with Experience rates or Effort Values. A Specialist can become either a Tamer or a Facilitator.

A Tamer is a Pokemon training guru. They don't need fancy items to give their Pokemon a boost of Exp in battle. Pokemon respond well to a Tamer's command which is the reason for such exponential growth. Tamers, unlike the other classes that end the skill tree, do not lose their abilities as a Specialist or a Handler. For all Handlers who become Tamers, their long journey of training has ended.

A Facilitator is one who is able to develop a Pokemon's skills faster than anyone else could. They don't need fancy items to give their Pokemon an increase Effort Value in one stat or another. They have learned to literally facilitate a Pokemon's growth. Facilitators, unlike the other classes that end the skill tree, do not lose their abilities as a Specialist or a Handler. For all Handlers who become Facilitators, their long journey of training has ended.

And that is a rough sketch of what each class will be able to do. I'll go more in dept with the skill trees and what exactly each skill can do at a later date. In the mean time, go ahead and gimme some of your thoughts!

Taeyl, the first Continent

2011-08-11T08:34:00.004-04:00

PDoA2's main goal is to deviate away from the standard convention of Pokemon gaming. A set number of towns that follow each other all on a path, difficulty getting harder the further you go down this path. It was a boring concept and became an expected thing on Pokemon games. All roads were numbered Routes... It was all just a bit boring. And instead of creating my 'special' regions that do the same thing, like I did in PDoA Classic (it seems alot of you have gone and called it that now) I want there to be a vast and connected world of continents. For final release, 1 continent will be okay for now, but the plans speak of three. Of course, this leaves plenty of room for added content.

Here is a picture of Taeyl, the first continent.

Click to enlarge

Notice how there is none of that straight line crap all the Pokemon games did. This is a full blown continent. You may visit each city in any order you want to, and do whatever, and travel down the path you choose. There's not a straight shot and there will be enough mixing and mingling on the roads between each city... Everything will just feel more vast. This is a huge project in itself, do don't expect us to just throw continents together like we did with the regions.

Each piece of the key means something. A town and city are obvious towns and cities. Important cities are cities that house gyms. Special Areas will be the caves, pass overs, lakes and forests, and any other major area of interest. The Sea Route will be a route only accessible with surf. Roads are obviously roads. The Capitol is completely fluff. It will house a gym, but it will be assumed to be the capitol of the continent. It will be the biggest city in the continent. Look out because player owned shops will getting more of a make over because of this concept. And I believe it's obvious what the start town is. It's the ton you start it. Not every continent is going to have a start town, haha. Just this particular one.

And for all those Curious George's out there, yes. Taeyl is pronounced "tail" and is named that for a very distinct reason. Do you think you know why? :P /endsarcasm.

Anyhow, that's enough spoiling of stuff. I'll add more updates when they come out. I linked to the map on the side links there so enjoy the view whenever.

Comment what you think! :)

PDoA2's Beginnings

2011-08-10T02:15:00.000-04:00

Welcome everyone. I would like to take the time to say thank you for being players of PDoA. Without you guys, I would have had a boring run as a game developer! Pokemon: Den of Ages 2 is the latest project coming to you from PDoA. It is intended to be a revamp of the old PDoA Engine introducing a fresh new game concept.

PDoA2 is not going to be the name of the final project. It is just a placeholder for it now, but the game will take a more mature turn. I want to put alot of emphasis on mature turn. More mature staff, more mature content. PDoA2 will be unlike PDoA1 in many ways, but it's way too early in development to tell you guys how it will differ.

The blog has a simple set up. You can follow the blog to receive updates whenever I post. The links at the side are helpful quick links to the PDoA network. I imagine people would be more interested in the "Favorite Reads" and "Progress Center" sections. The Favorite Reads are going to be the blog posts that receive the most attention, so for those who wander here at a later date can see news everyone else thought was exciting.

The Progress Center is exactly what it says it is. Along with shiny new blog posts every step of the way, the progress center will show the overall progress of the game's completion. Unlike PDoA, PDoA2 will be released when it is completely finished, only allowing for content updates rather than crucial feature updates.

I don't know how long this project can take to roll out, but I expect it should take a few months. Until then, enjoy PDoA and don't forget to check back here every now and then for PDoA2 news!