Pokemon Steelheart

Get ready to return to the Orre region in Pokemon Steelheart, a brand new ROM hack of Pokemon Black 2. Taking place a decade after the events of Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, this hack explores how the region has changed over time.

The game’s creator, Cannons, is an experienced game developer who plans to release the game in chapters, with regular updates and complete transparency during the development process. This approach will allow fans of the franchise to see how the game is being made and could inspire others to get into game development or ROM hacking.

One of the key goals of Pokemon Steelheart is to provide a challenging experience while still being approachable to all players. The difficulty level will be somewhere between a regular Gen 5 game and a Drayano hack, and the game aims to capture the more mature tone of the Orre titles while still maintaining the light-hearted nature of the Pokemon series as a whole.

So get ready to return to the Orre region, battle with the new and improved Shadow Pokemon system, and explore the secrets of this fascinating world. With regular updates and an emphasis on community involvement, Pokemon Steelheart promises to be a unique and exciting addition to the Pokemon fan community.

Story

A number of years after Cipher’s collapse, the Pokémon League set its eyes on the Orre Region. Seeing the area as full of untapped potential, the League worked with the local Starline Inc. to advertise Orre as a tourism and battling hotspot – turning the motley crew of colosseums into an official gym challenge. Should one climb the ranks of the Orre League, they may face the Champion at Mt. Battle’s peak.
You play a spry young adult riding in from afar, hoping to join the Orre League and get a taste of what the region has to offer. Along the way, you’ll meet a couple of new faces, becoming their anchor as much as they will be yours. Ryker, another charismatic trainer looking to face Orre and take the champion title, and Rose, a wandering artist looking to capture the region’s beauty. It’s not all cut-and-dry though, as there might be more to the deserts and forests than you realize.

Act 1: South Orre

Prologue: Kicking Up Sand
The Starline Express is the first train in decades to connect Orre with Unova. To mark the beginning of your journey,
you meet an ambitious trainer, and an outspoken artist, both of whom you believe you’ll see more of in the future.
[Play Time: 5-15 Minutes.]

Chapter 1: A “Justy” Encounter
After getting a taste of Orre’s untamed trails, Phenac City is a breath of fresh air, providing you with a much
needed safe haven from the desert storms, as well as your first introduction to the Orre League.
[Play Time: TBD]

Chapter 2: Talk of the Town
“That glare of his is as piercing as it is golden.” “I don’t care that Cipher’s gone.
I’m not joining any gang if he’s still in charge.”
[Play Time: TBD]

Chapter 3: Impossibly Persistent
An untethered childhood can often bring the most creative and innovative of adults. There’s nothing
that will stop the community of The Under from becoming what they want.
[Play Time: TBD]

In the Works

• Custom Sprites and CharactersThis game will feature both new sprites to go alongside new characters introduced, as well as demaking 3D models of characters into sprites.
• A new take on the Orre Region, with a heavy emphasis on Punk and Naturalistic CultureThe Orre games, have a lot of the region untouched or unexplained. Jumping off what was already established in the canon, we aim to emphasize those core ideas already set in the region, with the Southern Deserts’ Punk/Mad Max-inspired world, and North Orre’s more Naturalistic and Rural environment. This also means we have plans on making new buildings and textures to better fit the setting most notably, the Colosseums.
• Double Battle centric gameOrre’s Double Battle heavy gameplay will be preserved in this game, providing a sufficient challenge and gameplay deviation from that of what we’re familiar with.
• Custom Soundtrack – A large undertaking for sure, the music is something that we feel is necessary to Orre’s core identity. We already have some fantastic composers who are working on remixing older tracks for the DSi soundtrack, and composing new ones for characters, towns, and more!
• Updated Pokémon, Moves and Pokédex
  We want the Pokémon provided to the players to feel unique and viable. Considering that gameplay will start opposite of a typical game (Rough Terrain > Plains), we needed to keep in mind that Pokémon accessible early in Orre may be too strong and overpower typical Pokémon that would naturally be found later. Many Pokémon will end up with some form of tweaking with movepools, stat distribution, and evolution levels. The exact degree is uncertain; either way, we’ll keep a keen eye on it during playtesting to make sure everything feels natural, balanced, and fun to play.“From the stockier Stoutland used by native tribes to the Boldore soaking up the desert sun, the Pokémon of Orre are similar to those found elsewhere, but have acclimated to Orre’s more extreme environments.”
• More meaningful ProtagonistsWith the inclusion of 3 different player avatars, the ability to choose pronouns independent of physical appearance, and dialog trees for the player to talk through, we hope to provide an experience that makes the world feel more lived in. NPCs are also reflective of this, and we want the players to feel like they have agency in the decisions they make.