#svthebrokenmirror

[hamofjustice]

Support HamOfJustice

Support HamOfJustice

i don't really advertise my ko-fi, but i've been pretty stuck in a stifling living situation for a while. i've got a lot of games and stuff i'd like to create in my life - i already know which two are coming after this one - if you'd like to chip in toward helping me focus

[hamofjustice]

surprised to find 16 portraits per faceset file in #SVTheBrokenMirror isn't enough for all of my nemona moods

[hamofjustice]

The Broken Mirror

I've been working on a Pokemon fangame called The Broken Mirror for the past little while. If you enjoyed the emphasis Ham's League Club had on exploring Nemona, Arven, and Penny's characters, continuing their arcs, and just hanging out with them every day after Scarlet/Violet's DLCs didn't really deliver on that, this is kinda like that as a real standalone game -- a sequel in a new region that I'm so excited to share someday. (More info under the cut)

[back of the box blurb voice] Gather up the Zero Crew, hop on Miraidon, and train up new teams together in the misty valleys of Orgul, where one of the toughest Pokemon Leagues yet has taken form. Unexpected encounters hide around every corner, but you'll have plenty of time around the fire to reflect and plan your next move on a journey where your only home is each other.

Can't say much yet because I do love surprises, but the features I've planned out include:

A full-length adventure with 8 Gyms and whatnot

A return to dangerous dungeons with top-down puzzle design

A healthy balance of freedom to explore and structured progression

250+ Pokemon dex carefully chosen and individually rebalanced

Heavy emphasis on character stories; button-mashers will be shot

Adventure, chat, battle, and relax with the crew just about anywhere

Dozens of emotive dialogue portraits so you know how they feel

Custom GSC-era art and tilesets, as you probably noticed

The best 8-bit music I can borrow (maybe I'll make some too)

Modern mechanics, including Terastallization and improved Raids

A level cap per badge; learning will get you further than grinding

Gyms that ask you to counter their playstyles, not just their types

Tons of new or redesigned moves and items, available through...

A crafting system that actually exists for a reason (gasp)

A tastefully small handful of familiar faces from other regions

Trauma

Cuddling

Hope

A creator who knows what scope creep is

There still has to be an endless lv100 postgame though, for me

Basically any mindless task has a more engaging alternative

I'm not gonna give a concrete release date -- it'll be done when it's done. Right now i'm just flitting around doing what I can with art, maps, design, story, etc. while I wait for some of the uncertainty about the next Essentials GSC engine update to settle down. Worst case scenario, I'd have to make it look and sound retro by myself more than I planned to.

From now on, though, you can follow progress on this by checking #SVTheBrokenMirror on my socials, or read my other stuff to get an idea of what you're in for. Thanks!

[hamofjustice]

i've been steadily working on making game boy color sprites for zero crew, who deserve a series of their own. not just any sprites, though -- casual, out-of-school adventuring ones!

[hamofjustice]

i really like the idea of post-SV nemona having espeon and penny having midnight lycanroc, but also penny having espeon because she goes outside now, but also penny having some badass pokemon she has posters of in her room while nemona gets more worms and blobby goobers

and arven getting more food themed pokemon (surely he's seen tons of fidough and actively refused to get one and "replace" mabosstiff, though. ignore that maschiff he has in class) and carmine getting the humanoid pokemon she has funko pops of and kieran has like 12 pokemon per playthrough already

i've thought the most about penny, probably because her whole team is just one idea

imagine her getting more steel pokemon (with meteor mash?) as she gets along better with her dad in a post-nemona and arven mindset, or minior because it's a gacha star, or rainbow alcremie to look like her sister,

okay i shouldn't just brush over kieran like that when he has the most noticeable character arc out of any of them and also looks like a hydreigon i just don't know much about his hobbies or family situation outside of his role in the story at all

imagine peonia with shiny (gray) star alcremie to look like penny in return

too bad there's no green electric candy to put on penny's

(did you notice peonia has green pikachu tail earrings to match penny being an eevee fan, by the way?)

it could be cute if nemona got a ralts and it helped her read what people are feeling so she didn't have to (incorrectly) guess but i don't know if it suits her, or if that struggle is something that should be patched over with weird powers

it is very devoted to its favorite person like her, though

i said i'd be rambling more often and these thoughts probably deserve to not be forever buried in an unfinished #HamsLeagueClub spreadsheet with no context provided or worse an altogether unposted story

PS. also weird that nemona never gets an own tempo rockruff that evolves into the form that has her color palette, but i've accepted that midday form works for its own reasons (makes her more clearly sun to penny's moon, has the blue eyes of her namesake flower that she doesn't, etc). it bugged me more when tyme didn't have dusk form either but now she does

[hamofjustice]

Okay, here's the first of many queued posts attempting to gather up most of what I've posted about my GSC-styled Scarlet/Violet sequel fangame, The Broken Mirror, on other sites.

OP: Dec 25 2024 and Dec 27 2024

Various proof-of-concept dialogue portraits posted out of context, months before the #SVTheBrokenMirror project was actually announced. Blew up in popularity, which is really unfortunate given what I just said, as few fans stuck around. All three characters were revised soon after initial posting, and are still improving today. (The other graphics were still their GSC defaults at this point, leading some to ask "why is Kris here")

[hamofjustice]

i think soon i'm gonna start periodically transferring over posts/threads from the #HamsLeagueClub and #SVTheBrokenMirror tags on twitter/bluesky to this site because i've been kind of neglecting it and there's hardly anything in those tags here right now

[hamofjustice]

My bookmark folder for working on The Broken Mirror is like 20% 8-bit music, 20% useful scripts and features, and 60% tumblr posts apologizing to the reader that the world isn't kind to people like them and they shouldn't have gone through any of that and promising there's someone out there who will love them anyway so they have to hold on and love themselves until then

i don't know if it'll live up to what i'm imagining but know that's where the story of it is going to be coming from, what it's trying to do, what i wish the story that inspired it focused more on

unfortunately despite the comedy of it ed sheeran's celestial is a good ending theme song for SV