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Beta 0.1.0 - 25 Jan 2014 17:47
Available for Download at….
Download PokePP Beta-0.1.0 here!
PokePP is an excel-based, graphical program in it's early stages of user testing.
This version comes prepackaged with X/Y pokedex information, for other generations/games please see the instructions on the first sheet.
What's new in PokePP Beta 0.1.0?
Since this is the first release since X/Y were released, that has been my focus for all the features.
Bug Fixes
- When changing your pokedex, users no longer experience errors when updating their current party pokemon (previous work-around was to remove and re-add the pokemon)
Improvements
- X/Y is now an available pokedex option from the Welcome Page!
- Information about the game version of your current party is displayed and saved
- When loading a party that was created/saved for a different generation, PokePP prompts the user if they want to switch to the matching pokedex
- Able to export your party into human-readable text!
- Use this to save your parties outside of PokePP
- Post these to various pokemon communities to discuss and show off your party!
- Able to import your party from human-readable text!
- Imports the same format as export, so you can easily share your party or load it in to a new version of PokePP
- The import allows for a wide range of formats and acronyms (a guide to Import Format's is coming soon!)
- Pop-up messages are now formatted better
- Uniform font type and size
- Message box changes size to accommodate shorter or longer messages, adding a scrollbar when necessary
- Further improvements to party loading, now it's even faster!
So How About It?
If you've tried out this program, please let me know what you think in the comments, or email me at: moc.liamg|jabemllactsuj#moc.liamg|jabemllactsuj
If you have a suggestion for an improvement or new feature, please submit it at the PokePP Wishes Page
For more information about potential bugs, or if you find an issue of your own, please submit it at the PokePP Bugs Page
Enjoy! - Comments: 0
What Players Say.... About building a Pokemon Party - 07 Nov 2013 04:35
Tags: question
So as I was starting out with development for PokePP, I considered all the things I thought about when building a pokemon party and used that to base the concept and design on. As I developed I thought it would be good to let others have a crack at it and see if it could help them, so I began asking questions on local forums such as PokeCommunity and Serebii.Net.
Question: What do you take in to account when picking pokemon for a party?
This question was asked at three forums: PokeCommunity - Gaming Central, Serebii Forums - General Pokemon Discussion, and Bulbagarden - Pokemon Video Games.
Feel free to have a look at the original discussions, but if you want a simple summary, have a look below!
Results: What did users consider most?
Although I'm not going to name all the things mentioned in these threads, I will point out some of the key points made, and also some of the interesting ideas that were brought up:
Aesthetics
This was probably the most talked about aspect out of all the replies I received. I think this isn't a very surprising result considering most of the time it was in the context of casual-gaming.
But this gives me something to think about: Should I only cater to the competitive teams, or is it worth it to add 'casual-gaming' features to PokePP?
Types
This was the biggest competitive aspect that nearly everyone mentioned. Types are a huge part of the Pokemon games and can make or break a team, so again, not a very surprising result. A fair amount of people mentioned having no overlapping types (both for pokemon in the party, and for moves in an individual pokemons moveset), and also a sense of 'balance' among the pokemon through their types.
As for PokePP, it already covers these concepts in it's current Type Analysis sheet to help users prevent doubling up on types, and also showing how balanced the team is. I think PokePP could definitely benefit from a more comprehensive analysis though, to bring more attention to the points that these users made.
Availability
Now this is a gaming aspect that I had never considered before when developing PokePP: When/How can I get a pokemon? Do I have to trade for it? Is it natural in my current game? Do I have to jump through hoops and dance in order to get the exact nature/ability/stats/moves I want?
Definitely a hole in my plans, but one I plan to fill. The first idea's that come to mind would be a funky thing called a "Chrono-Report". This Chrono-Report would provide a chronological viewing of how your party would form, showing when you could get each aspect of your pokemon from the first opportunity you get to catching the pokemon, to when you can catch the egg father you need, to when they evolve (if you assume a natural leveling curve), etc… In my mind it's a very useful aspect to have, especially if you plan to battle competitively before you finish your game, or even if you plan out a team to go against the Elite Four, only to realize you can't complete your party in time.
A Party with a Purpose
Again, never really considered this one too much, but definitely a lot of features come to mind. How about a feature to analyze how your party would do against the Elite Four? or a particular Gym Leader? Or do you know of a party/pokemon-combo that a lot of people use that you have difficulties with? If you were able to see how your party would fair in a very specific battle, I think that could help you plan and prevent against some nasty surprises. While a certain weakness may not seem all that bad, perhaps it's your Achilles Heel for that important battle.
The Next Question: How would you cover a pokemon's type weakness?
Since types were such a huge response to my previous question, I think it's appropriate to have a follow up question on that topic.
Got an opinion you'd like to share, or a vote you want to cast in the poll?
Make sure you visit PokeCommunity Thread - Do you make your pokemon try to cover its own weakness or aim to cover party weaknesses?!
If you have any questions, or ideas for the next PokePP Question, be sure to voice them in the comments!
~~~~ - Comments: 0
Code Cleanup - 08 Oct 2013 17:59
Tags:
Although I doubt anyone actively follows this release blog I'd like to still keep viewers updated on the status of PokePP. Despite the lack of updates I am still working on this project, I've just been doing some backend cleanup that will make my development life much easier. The easier the dev work is, the more time I will be able to put in to it and the more rewarding the results in the future. - Comments: 0
How-To.... Sort and Filter the Pokedex and Movedex! - 22 Sep 2013 00:33
Tags: how-to
Now that Beta 0.0.2 is released, we've got some more tutorials for you! There were a couple of major structural changes that I think are worth explaining. First, lets start with how to generate a new pokedex…
Pokedex: Now by Game Version!
Previously, you would select a generation from 1 to 5 and you'd be on your way. Now obviously there were some flaws with that, one of the big ones being that pokemon sometimes had different movesets in different games. With the latest update you don't have to worry about that anymore, each set of games has it's own pokedex now!
Another change is that there is no 'Generate Pokedex' button anymore, so what gives?
Well, without this button, if you were to click on a game version, you would be immediately prompted as to whether you wanted to generate the pokedex for that game.
Yes? Then voila! Pokedex generates as you would expect
No? The selected game version flips back to whatever pokedex version you have generated, meaning that this set of radio buttons will always accurately display which version you are using!
Pokedex Sheet: Now with sorting and filtering! (Movedex too!)
Now lets move in to the pokedex itself! Notice that the pokedex is now formatted for easier viewing. In addition to the pretty colours, it's also got a nicer set of headers, each with a nice arrow beside it. Clicking on those arrows will bring up quite a few options, allowing you to sort and filter the entire pokedex to your pleasing.
Want to find a pokemon with high attack? Go to the "Attack" column, click that arrow, and select "Sort from Largest to Smallest". Now the entire pokedex is sorted from those with the highest attack stat, down to the lowest, making it much easier to find the one you need for your party!
But what if you're looking for a certain type of pokemon? Like a Dragon, for example? Simple, just go to one of the Type columns, click the arrow, select 'Text Filters' - 'Equals' and fill it out with whatever type you want! Don't want to look at Dragons anymore? Just click that arrow again and select 'Clear Filters' and bam! You got your pokedex back to normal.
Well, that concludes this How-To. Got more questions? Let me know at moc.liamg|jabemllactsuj#moc.liamg|jabemllactsuj! - Comments: 0
Beta 0.0.2 - 21 Sep 2013 23:57
Available for Download at….
Download PokePP Beta-0.0.2 here!
PokePP is an excel-based, graphical program in it's early stages of user testing.
This version comes prepackaged with Black 2/White 2 pokedex information, for other generations/games please see the instructions on the first sheet.
What's new in PokePP Beta-0.0.2?
I have dubbed this release as Pokedex Corrections.
This means every bug fix and improvement is dedicated to giving you the most accurate pokedex as possible.
Bug Fixes
- 'Fairy' types leaking in to pre-gen 6 pokedex generations
- Pokedex Generation sometimes failed due to incorrectly set up internet connection
- Moves weren't guaranteed to have correct data for early generations
Improvements
- Pokedex is now generated based off a Game Version instead of a Generation, which now leads to more accurate movesets
- Example: The pikachu in Red/Blue had a fairly limited moveset, but in Yellow this was expanded. In previous PokePP versions you would automatically get the information for Yellow when generating Gen 1 pokedex
- Supports multi-formed pokemon
- Added support for 'Special' and 'Dream World' moves in pokemon movesets
- Pokedex and Movedex now displayed as a table with the following features:
- Sort the pokedex using any of the available information shown
- Filter the pokedex by certain values to reduce number of shown pokedex entries
- Example: Only show pokemon with total stats above 550, and/or with a certain type, etc..
So How About It?
If you've tried out this program, please let me know what you think in the comments, or email me at: moc.liamg|jabemllactsuj#moc.liamg|jabemllactsuj
If you have a suggestion for an improvement or new feature, please submit it at the PokePP Wishes Page
For more information about potential bugs, or if you find an issue of your own, please submit it at the PokePP Bugs Page
Enjoy! - Comments: 0
Beta 0.0.1 - 11 Sep 2013 04:11
Available for Download at….
Download PokePP Beta-0.0.1 here!
PokePP is an excel-based, graphical program in it's early stages of user testing.
This version comes prepackaged with Generation 5 pokedex information, for other generations please see the instructions on the first sheet.
What's new in PokePP Beta-0.0.1?
Although I did give a sneak preview earlier on this week of what to expect for this release, I had a change of plans. I decided to only work on the bug fixes and program improvements until it's a more stable program, and then I can continue to work on new features. So that means this release brings us…
Bug Fixes
- Moves aren't shown as learned by 'Tutor' when they should be HM/TM/Prevo/Etc
- Prevo moves aren't shown as learned by Level
- Pokedex Generation form shows incorrect values on startup
- Analysis was not properly tallying up strong/weak defense values and resulted in incorrect results.
Improvements
- Pokedex Generation now runs super fast!
- Previously, generation took quite a while, possibly close (or over) a minute due to slow insertion of data in to the excel sheets
- Now, generation takes only a matter of fractions of a second! Yay!
- No longer relies on Internet Explorer. While it's possible that no one understands the huge impact this has, I can easily say this is a HUGE improvement and creates a faster, more stable, program.
So How About It?
If you've tried out this program, please let me know what you think in the comments, or email me at: moc.liamg|jabemllactsuj#moc.liamg|jabemllactsuj
If you have a suggestion for an improvement or new feature, please submit it at the PokePP Wishes Page
For more information about potential bugs, or if you find an issue of your own, please submit it at the PokePP Bugs Page
Enjoy! - Comments: 0
Coming Soon - Bug Fixes and Improvements - 06 Sep 2013 06:10
So initial release version of PokePP is a little… rough around the edges, shall we say. But with the upcoming release of Beta 0.0.1 you can expect to see some smoother edges and even a couple new features.
As for a release date, I hope it to be sometime next week, possibly next weekend. All the bug fixes and improvements have already finished their development stages, but the new features and testing of the release have yet to be finished.
Bug Fixes
- Moves aren't shown as learned by 'Tutor' when they should be HM/TM/Prevo/Etc
- Prevo moves aren't shown as learned by Level
- Pokedex Generation form shows incorrect values on startup
Improvements
- Pokedex Generation now runs so fast you don't even see the old values!
- Previously, generation took quite a while, possibly close (or over) a minute due to slow insertion of data in to the excel sheets
- Now, generation takes only a matter of fractions of a second! Yay!
- No longer relies on Internet Explorer
New Features
- Import/Export party to a human-readable text file. Potential uses include
- Showing off your party to friends who don't have PokePP or on forums
- Saving your parties outside PokePP so they can be reimported when upgrading versions - Comments: 0
How-To.... Make better use of the Type Table! - 06 Sep 2013 03:52
Tags: how-to
As the last How-To for the basics of Beta 0.0.0, I gladly introduce: How to use the Type Table!
Type Table
So I'm sure you've all seen a type table before, so there won't be too much to explain here about that. What I DO want to go over is the extra 'analysis' feature I've used to upgrade it from your standard type table. This analysis consist of an extra column and row that sit outside the table and can offer great insight as to which types are better as moves (for attacking) or for pokemon (for defending).
Attack Rating
On the left we see an extra column just outside the attacking types, with a rating which can be either positive or negative. These values show how good (or bad) a type is when it comes to attacking, the higher the rating - the better the move. In this case we have Ground being the best attack type since it is super effective against so many attacks and isn't hindered by too many 'not very effective' results.
Now the calculations are very simple, they simply count each time a move of the given type is 'super effective' against another, and then minus any times the move is 'not very effective'/'immune' against another. On top off simply adding it up, you can assign certain 'weights' to these effects in order to better suite your preferences using the below form:
From these default settings, each 'super effective' attack will grant this type a rating of 2, each 'not very effective' or 'immune' attack will get a -1. For an example, lets use the 'Normal' type. In our table, with the default settings, it ranks as '-3'. When we break it down, we can see:
(1)Of course some people may put more emphasis on Immune attacks being worse, and potentially weight them as -2 or -3 instead of just -1. It's up to you what you prefer and what you like when building a team!
Defense Rating
On the top we see an extra row just above the defending types, with a rating which can be either positive or negative. These values show how good (or bad) a type is when it comes to defending, the higher the rating - the better defended the Pokemon is. In this case we have Steel being the best defense type since it can withstand attack from almost any type and is even immune against another!
The calculations are very similar to the attack rating calculations, except that they are reversed: rewarding better ratings when a type is immune to or resistant to an attacking type. Again, these are customizable using another form:
Since we already know how this works, hopefully another example isn't necessary, but just be aware that these are also editable! Make sure to figure out your priorities to get the most accurate ratings for your play style!
Beware
Now, these types may be rated, but that doesn't make it final. Why? Because there is more to Pokemon than just simple calculations and statistics: you have to take these with a grain of salt.
A good example is Grass type; According to this table, its a horrible defense and also a horrible attack type, but does that mean it shouldn't be used?
Let's have a look at what it's weak to as a defensive type: Bug, Fire, Flying, Ice, Poison. To me that raises a few concerns: Bug attacks are usually weak and also pretty scarce, not to mention have a tendency to be very early-game types that won't affect late game too much. Poison attacks are also weak and tend to focus on the effects rather than the power. Ice too is pretty scarce, though not as much as an attack. That's 3 out of 5 types that probably won't give you as much trouble as this table would have you believe.
Now as an attack, notice that it's super effective against Ground? And also that Ground (by these weightings at least) is the best attacking type? This means you'll probably see a few STAB attempts being made to make it even more powerful of an attack. But guess what? Your Grass Pokemon with a Grass attack is not only super effective against the Ground Pokemon, but it also has a pretty good defense against it too!
So don't always discount a type just because it rates badly (or rely on it because it rates high!). You can make almost any type work to your advantage, you just have to plan things out well. For now, it may be manually using the tools PokePP gives you, but in the future this could all be automatic! - Comments: 0
How-To.... Make better use of the Pokedex! - 06 Sep 2013 02:51
Tags: how-to
Here's yet another 'How-To' for the new PokePP. This time I'm going to focus on how to best use the Pokedex and Movedex sheets when looking for new pokemon in your party. For now most of these things will be consider a 'work around' in order to get the information you need, but I have future plans to make these automated features to make everyone's lives a little bit easier.
Some tips…
So the Pokedex is very similar to what everyone knows as the in-game Pokedex: A database of information about each of the Pokemon available in the game. In PokePP the Pokedex is ordered by National Pokedex Number and holds a lot of the basic information about the Pokemon (name, types, stats, move-sets, etc). Also, a spinoff 'Movedex' is available for a similar purpose: a database for all the available moves in the game and their basic information.
As for the Movedex, the moves are grouped according to which generation they were introduced, then by alphabet. This means you will first see all the Generation 1 moves from A-Z, then Generation 2 A-Z, and so on and so on.
The nice thing about it is you can use a very familiar 'Find' option (Control + F) to search the entire page for anything you need. Want a pokemon who knows a certain move? Is a certain type? Just use Control + F! Want a move that can 'confuse' the opponent? How about something to affect 'speed'? Use Control + F!
Another good thing is that the types of each pokemon and move are colour-coded; This makes finding a pokemon or a move of a certain type (or combination of types) much easier. For moves, they also have colour-coded categories (Physical, Special, and Status) to again make searching easier at a glance.
So it's not much for now, but hopefully these little tidbits can help you when planning your perfect party! - Comments: 0
How-to.... Get Started! - 04 Sep 2013 04:59
Tags: how-to
So here is the first, official, "How-to…" blog post! In each of these posts I will try to explain a feature or capability of PokePP that will help you make the best of this program. Have a look if you're stuck and confused, or even if you just want to find a new way to use PokePP!
Getting Started
Since this is the first how to blog post, I'll start off with the basics and show you how to get set up in PokePP. I'll also give you a short preview of each sheet so you know what each is for.
Welcome Page
So the first page is called 'Welcome to PokePP!' If you haven't already figured it out, you should probably go there first and have a read. This page will outline how to pick which generation you want to work in, with a small table outlining what games belong to which generation, and which pokemon are supported in each (according to their National Pokedex Numbers).
While the PokePP you download will already come with a given generation, if you want to switch generations you can either download a version with a different preloaded generation or activate the 'Pokedex Generation' option on this page to update your current version (which will keep all your party saves and settings).
Lastly, should any updates be made to pokedex based information, such as fixing movesets or updating abilities, adding new pokemon, etc, you don't have to download a new version of PokePP, simply generate the pokedex from this generation box and you'll download the most recent data!
Party Pokemon
Next page you'll probably want to look at is your 'Party Pkm' sheet. This is where your party will come to life using many of the features shown in the toolbar above. Each button on the left deals with the party as a whole, while the buttons on the right are meant for each pokemon. Follow the guide below for a better idea of what each does:
Load Party
If you already have a party saved, click this button to pick a party to view on the party screen. This will clear the screen before adding though, so make sure you save any changes to your previous party before loading a new one!
Save Party
Save your current party to be reloaded at a later time. This party will be saved under the name in the header bar (above's picture has named the party 'White'), which you can edit at any point in time.
Delete Party
When clicked, this will bring up a selection box prompting you to pick a party out of all the ones you currently have saved and delete it permanently.
Add Pokemon
This button will add a new, specially formatted excel row that will hold all the information about your pokemon. Once generated, type in a pokemon name in the pokemon cell column (or choose from the provided dropdown list) and it's information will automatically be displayed!
Remove Pokemon
This will select the whole pokemon row of the currently selected cell and prompt you as to whether you would like to permanently remove it from your party.
Load Sprite
When you load a pokemon into your PokePP party sheet for the first time, it will not have an image. In order to load an image you must click this button, and then choose whether you would like to download the image to your program so that its available next time you select the pokemon, or to simply load it to view for your current session only (it will disappear next time you load the pokemon though).
Toggle Stats
Lastly, you're able to Hide/Unhide the base stats of the pokemon in your party, just tap this button and see!
Analysis
So, not sure whether your party is up to snuff? Well, look no farther! On your 'Analysis' Sheet you have a few tables at your disposal. First one is simple: What do you have in your party? On the left you have all your pokemon types, and on the right the types of the moves your pokemon uses. Use this to make sure you have as much (or as little?) diversity as you want.
Next is how your pokemon shape up against all the other types. The 'rating' column gives your party a rating for each type depending on how well your party will fair against a pokemon of the given type. The higher the rating, the better you will fare. If you rate a 0 or lower, beware!
Now, not all types should be feared that much. Looking at our sample chart below, lets pick out two types: Ghost and Psychic. Now on ratings alone it might look like Ghost and Psychic are about the same, but if you look at the '# of Pokemon' column (which shows how many pokemon of that given type exist in the game) you'll see that there are almost 3x as many Psychic pokemon than Ghost. Thismakes Psychic a bigger hole than the Ghost weakness, so you should have a look at fixing it before you try to fix your Ghost weakness!
Lastly, comes this next beast of a chart. It's not actually anything new, but simply a breakdown of how the previous chart was calculated. Hopefully these brief descriptions can help:
Weak Def
The number of pokemon in your party that have a weakness to the given type
Weak Att
The number of moves used in your party that aren't very effective against the given type
Overall (left)
The sum of Weak Def and Weak Att that shows the number of weaknesses present in the party
Strong Def
The number of pokemon in your party that will not be affected very much by the given type
Strong Att
The number of moves used in your party that will be super effective against the given type
Overall (right)
The sum of Strong Def and Strong Att that shows the number of strengths present in the party