Here is a basic guide on how to play pokegen.
I'm going to assume you've downloaded the game from
here or
here, and are at the starting screen!
It should look very much like this:
At this screen, you'll find a few options:
Single Player gives you the option to test out your moves against dummy Pokémon. In the future, these will be replaced by AI, and more advanced features will be added. To access Single Player, click the single player box.
For
Multiplayer, you'll want to pick a name, preferably the name used here to make you easier for others to identify! Simply type your name into the box here:
Start Server is for users wishing to host a game of pokegen and have other players join in. To host a server, you'll want to know your
Public IP Address so that you can give it to other players so they can join you!
Your IP, coming from the link above, will look something like this (the asterisks will be numbers) :
Connect to Server is for players looking to join a game hosted by another person. Once someone who has started a server gives you their IP address, simply type it in this box:
Then hit
Connect to Server
You can also opt to turn off or turn back on the background music here, using the music button:
Now that you know how to jump into pokegen, let's look at some other options.
First, the Trainer Select option.
Here, you can choose to play as either the default
Red,
Blue, or a
spectator, which can watch matches without UI elements getting in the way.
Simply select the one that matches your choice before connecting to Single Player or a Server, by pressing the corresponding button here:
Pokémon Selection is next.
While normally new trainers will receive their first Pokémon from a professor, such as
Oak, we didn't want to make you wait until Pallet Town and much of Route 1 were finished before trying pokegen for yourself!
Simply select between the default
Pikachu or
Charmander before connecting to Single Player or a Server, by pressing the corresponding button here:
Now, once you've selected your options and connected to either a server or single player mode, you can begin walking with W, A, S, and D keys, and look around with the mouse.
A wild
CHARMANDER appeared!
Haha, well, he's just a dummy charmander, but he'll make a good practice target. To initiate a battle(sorry, you can't catch one yet, but if you want to use Charmander, just select him at the opening options!) first, you'll have to call out your Pokémon, using the TAB key.
This is also how you recall your Pokémon to its pokéball.
Once your Pokémon is out of its pokéball, it will follow you unless a battle is initiated. To initiate a battle, look around for wild (or another trainer's) Pokémon, and notice the red highlight.
Simply click on the red-highlighted Pokémon to initiate a battle. Your Pokémon will leave your side, and your camera will swap from your trainer to your Pokémon.
Pokémon wants to battle!
Now, battles are much different here than traditional Pokémon games. Let's notice a few things about our good friend
Blue's
Charmander.
First, we see his name. Sometime in the future, this slot will be reserved for the Pokémon's nickname. If no nickname is provided, the Pokémon's default name will be used.
Let's look at his
level. the higher a Pokémon's level, the stronger it is, and the lower a level, the weaker it is. At the moment, all Pokémon are restricted to level 5. In the future, Pokémon will be able to level up, but for now, to maintain SOME semblance of balance, an equal level is needed.
Health Points or
HP are your Pokémon's life. Once your Pokémon is out of
HP, it'll faint, and can't battle unless recalled with the TAB key. For now, recalling a Pokémon completely heals it.
Stamina, or
Stam has replaced the
Power Point or
PP system from the traditional games.
Stamina is used every time your Pokémon uses a move, and sometimes when an opponent uses a move against you.
Now that your Pokémon is in a battle, you'll notice that the controls are quite a bit different!
First, you move your Pokémon with the mouse now, clicking where you want the Pokémon to go, similar to an RTS-type game.
Now that you know how to move, let's look at attacks:
First, each Pokémon can know no more than 4 attacks. For this preliminary playable build, we've taken the liberty of selecting those for you. To use an attack, simply select the corresponding key on the keyboard. some attacks require you to target. For those, after selecting the attack, you'll click the mouse where you want to attack.
Pikachu's attacks are:
- Quick Attack [1] - A very fast melee attack that propels the user at high speed toward its target.
- Thundershock [2] - A chargeable ranged electric attack that has a chance to paralyze.
- Tail Whip [3] - A defensive attack that spins the opponent around, and deflects projectiles, like Charmander's Ember attack.
- Thunder Wave [4]- A small-ranged area of effect paralyze spell that deals some stamina damage, as well.
Charmander's attacks are:
- Scratch [1] - A close-range melee attack.
- Ember [2] - A mid-range attack that shoots multiple projectiles in a spread, having a chance to cause burn. When the projectiles hit the ground, the molten ground is dangerous to opponents.
- Growl [3] - An attack used to knockback opponents or interrupt abilities.
- Smokescreen [4] - This attack, while making it much harder to see, drains the stamina of Pokémon caught in its wake, and also slows them.
Battling an opponent means you'll have to make use of what your skills do, as well as both your
HP/
Stam and your opponent's! Keep track of your enemy's location relative to where you are, as most attacks (all attacks in our preliminary build) have limited range.
Status ailments, while not yet represented in the Pokémon nameplates (future update), are also important to take note of.
First, there's
paralyze.
Paralyze has a chance to cause the Pokémon to be unable to move or attack. At the moment, this can only be caused by Thundershock or Thunder Wave.
You'll know your Pokémon suffers from
paralyze when it seems stunned and has a lot of electricity around it, like this:
Then, there's
burn.
Burn deals damage over time. What's more, when
burn hits, it will interrupt any attack that a Pokémon is trying to perform.
Currently,
burn can only be inflicted by Ember.
You'll know your Pokémon suffers from
burn when it takes damage from being on fire, like this:
Type Matchups
While there are only two types of Pokémon in pokegen at the moment, type matchups DO still play a factor.
Notice the damage that
Pikachu, an
electric-type Pokémon, using Thundershock, an
electric attack, deals to
Charmander here:
Now let's look at the damage coming from the same Pokémon and attack combination, but against ANOTHER
Pikachu:
Wow, what a difference! Notice the
Not very effective... text, letting you know that this type of attack probably isn't the best idea against this Pokémon.
To learn more about type matchups,
Bulbapedia has a great type-chart
here.
- Note: we'll be using the Generations 2-4 chart, not the Generation 1 chart.
Critical Hits
It is also possible to score a critical hit against an opponent, dealing more damage than the attack normally would.
Let's look at
Charmander again, being struck by a normal Thundershock:
Now, let's look at the damage done by a Thundershock that happens to deal critical damage:
Notice that it says
Critical! to let you know you've dealt some extra damage here! What a sting!
Oh no! Pokémon fainted! Looks like you're going to black out, since you're out of useable Pokémon!
Haha, no not really. You'll just hit TAB to recall your Pokémon for now, and it'll be as good as new!
Far in the future, recalling your Pokémon won't heal them, instead you'll have to rely on
Pokémon Centers. But for now, it'd be awful to have to rely on something that isn't there, right?
So you've learned to battle, what else?
At the moment, this is more of a sandbox to let new trainers get a feel for pokegen mechanics. However, you can chat with each other, as well!
Notice that there is a chatbox in the bottom left corner of the screen, outlined in yellow here:
Simply press enter to begin typing your message, then press enter again to send it. Everyone on the map can see your message, so be careful with private details!
When your friends or rivals reply, you'll see their messages in the same window, like so:
Okay, so how to I take a break?
When you want to leave a map/server look in the upper left corner for the disconnect button, shown below:
Just press that button and you'll be taken back to the starting screen.
Here, you can either reconfigure and go to another map, or if you're ready to quit, simply select the quit button to be taken back to your desktop.
I actually had a bit of trouble trying to figure out how to battle when I 1st started. I feel slowpoke now. ^-^
