Posty

Much appreciated my guy, all the support has been phenomenal and it motivates us to continue working on the project 1. So I actually gave the stone to Crescent Nova because even though this "dream" sounds bizarre, theres something about Shiv that was always a bit off for me :'] also I like Nova lmao 2. Funny you mention this, Ruby and I were actually discussing this then we saw your question but I also have to say Hardy, he has some great character development! 3. Well Ruby answered this one already but yes, there are change of music, some of the tracks are absolute bangers I tell you. But yeah we can't wait to drop E5! its been a wild ride developing AND playing through the game, we hope everyone enjoys it! Yup Yup new starters, new trainer teams, new encounters, story adjustments.. its worth playing through again Also if I say whether or not Tristan gets more story, that could potentially be a spoiler so, all i'm going to say is.. :']

I mean.. who knows? There is a link to the official club on the main forum page under "Developing Games". At the end of the day that would all be up to the site owners, and even though I'm a moderator, I'm not about to push for Deso to get its own separate tab lol. So we will have to wait and see how things develop.

e5 is a ride alright :'] also yes there is! in the Options settings, you can adjust the volume, alternatively you can just use the Volume Mixer on Desktop lol but yeah you can adjust ingame

:'] So the early game plays out exactly the same as it did in v4, with a few minor edits to the actual story, meaning if you played from the start of v5 you won't have missed anything important! However we do still recommend playing from the start because a lot has changed, Trainer re-balance/every single important trainer's team has been updated (so if you're confused to like why for example Scarlett has __ then its best to play through from the start lmfao), Gen 7 and a new set of encounters in every route, the actual intro has been polished up similar to how they polished it in Rejuvenation you get to see Rosetta in all her glamour. But yeah since its been a long time since theres been an update, this is the other reason why we mention a fresh start, to remind yourself about parts of the story you may have forgotten about! But yeah if you wanna start from v5, thats completely fine! just note you may have missed a few events early game so you may wanna go back and investigate them areas :]

Howdy partner We're all doing pretty good right now! morale and spirits are high as we crack on with the game :] even though we are dying doing edits In the midst of Dev Testing right now, which hopefully be finished up soon (by soon I mean by the end of this week? we'll see) then we shall start the Beta Test and them... release the kraken (Aiming for an end of June release).

Can't believe Green Charlotte is dead this is so sad.

I've already mentioned about this, we are in the midst of testing as a dev team, beta testing will begin the moment we finish off that stage of testing and then it'll be released to the public. We are aiming for Late June. This may change depending on the results of testing.

So best way to put this, since every team in the game has been revamped in some sort of way, teams that were horribly difficult were nerfed and others were buffed, take that as you will, if you remember from v4 what battles were harder and what battles were easier, hopefully now they have been balanced out. I will say that the additions to Scarlett's team has buffed her overall, Aurora's team suits her more and the fight in Cellia and has been slightly adjusted. I can't say anything about newer battles but yeah lol.

Yeah its gotta be Amelia.. though I do like Emily quite a bit, and Ava you'll see why :]

All I can really say to this is... nothing cause that would be spoilers :] Okay but Moltres is valid though, no need for a history lesson

Oh for sure, a good handful of people you will face in v5 but spoilers so cannot say!

oh sorry my bad I didn't read the question properly there will be 7 in total, 2 new gyms for v5. I won't say who the new Gym Leaders are, you will have to wait and find out

1. So I've said previously that we just started internal testing, which will take a week or two, then beta testing will begin, which again will take a week or two, so we don't have a set date yet, we wanna aim for a release around Late June, just keep an eye out for updates! 2. Um.. that has been answered a few times here now and on the FAQ, but its 12 (guys please read the FAQ before asking questions incase your question has already been answered :]) So we had plans on adding a new custom move this version which we ultimately scrapped in the end, I won't say what that move was because s p o i l e r s but we "might" add custom moves in the future? no idea yet lol, appreciate the offer, if we end up doing so I'll probably hit you up!

Bless ya Dream gsiub wait i just realised you said Amber sfgub I can't believe Ruby's alter ego is Amber. I'll let the others answer for themselves but for me personally.. I have to say Amelia, I just really like her personality and more important her design you'll see why Whhaaattt? Dreamscape? what are you talking about?? sounds like a pretty cool area or something, wonder what its like there.. Again I'll let the others answer themselves for this one, but for me its Typhlosion! cheers! we both are very excited and thrilled to be working on this project, its been a lot of fun revamping Desolation and I really do hope y'all love the stuff we have done to the game! As for your question, so I mentioned it previously about starters, with the addition of Gen 7 I have gone through and made massive changes to Pokemon availability. For the Starters I looked over what there was and I did some changes, 5 Starters have been axed and replaced, don't worry though! some of these old starters will appear at different points in the game, there will still be 8 Starters! With overall Pokemon availability, I made a document and an Obtainable List to see what Pokemon were available via the Wild, Events, Trades, Credit Shop etc and then saw what wasn't available cough every single water encounter cause we had no way to fish cough. Afterwards I judged Pokemon based on upcoming battles, basically the gym leaders and thought what would be better here and there. With my work over 100+ Pokemon have now become available, thats not just the new areas in v5, throughout the game! keep an eye out for the Obtainable List which will drop nearer the release! Okay I'll spill the beans a bit on Connor's new team, I've made changes to 3 of his Pokemon, his team will somewhat utilise the field a bit more than it did before and you will probably need more than one Pokemon to take him down. With a good variety of Pokemon you can obtain before his gym, not to mention some of the new starters, I hope his battle has the same flavour as it did before just changed a bit Talking about Gym Leaders yes, they have been balanced based around the Pokemon available at that point in the game. You don't need to worry about having to buy a Magnemite from the Credit Shop in Celeste just to have a crack at Aderyn's powerhouses known as Hawlucha and Honchkrow *flashbacks to Sucker Punch, Life Orb, Moxie, I am so sorry for your suffering* Umm maybe? again we are going to be dming active members of the community to take part in the Beta Test this time around, we already have people in mind we will ask.

Best for me to post this at the end here also but, the FAQ has been released! please give it a read before asking anymore questions :]

no one saw the previous answer to this question yes the game will have full screen! lol Bless ya we are enjoying it for sure Also HA, you know its funny actually I brought this up to her the other day how I stumbled across her redraw again annnd... its now gone, removed, vanished, LOL So to answer that question no, reason for that being she made that in like idk 2017? something like that she can correct me later, its her older art style which she has vastly improved on over the past several years especially! So to then answer the second question no she wasn't on the team lmao. Hmmm Ruby will answer this later since she's asloop currently but for me.. Definitely a bad guy, god imagine like an extremely evil British villain in a Pokemon Game.. just laughing while I sip on my tea For my team I would say.. Crobat, Walrein, Umbreon, Dragapult, Metagross (Mega?) and Typhlosion :]

Wait the mad lad only made super potions buyable and nothing higher? LOL okay yeah there'll be more available ill make sure of it. 1. My favourite change to the game properly has to be all the sprite/character updates Ruby has done, she has honestly smashed it and given a lot of characters new life and really impacts the story in a different way. This answer might change since Ruby is at the time of writing this asleep but I think her favourite to work on has to be Amelia if we are talking sprites lol but also memes... lots of memes 2. New music will be added! Desolation has a reputation for the choice of music so look out for them tracks. 3. So we ain't moving to the new engine (same one as Reborn 18.3) this version so probably not, HOWEVER, you all have been blessed with... A SPEED UP BUTTON! yes! Desolation now has its state of the art SPEED UP BUTTON, so that'll help 4. Honestly the love and support y'all have given has been incredible, motivates us even more to continue working on the game, cheers guys 1. Y e s 2. Desolation form? um no we do have "Perfection Forms" which isn't a spoiler has Caz revealed "Perfection Darkrai" a few year back 3. You first encounter Megas against the 3rd Gym Leader around lvl45, the Player will be able to Mega Evolve like mid-late game? 4. Feature? um we do have new features i guess?.. lol So firstly the difficulty level is intended to be based on the normal mode for Reborn/Rejuvenation, since Desolation is mainly based on the story, the gameplay side shouldn't be terribly difficult but still proves to be a tough challenge if that makes sense. Also after having a discussion with Alex and Azery (if you don't know them idk how you don't both are Rejunvenation Devs) creating modes like Rejuvenation tends to create a LOT more hassle, therefore we will be avoiding that, however people are more than welcome to take Desolation and create their own "hard mode" versions like people did for Reborn to make Memeborn and Redux etc.

Looking back, probably the Normal Gym aka Tristan because well, as people will obviously remember his infamous Mega Lopunny with a busted moveset at that level in the game. Not to mention the Eviolite Porygon2 and other powerhouses on his team, I really needed to stare at the team and think how can I improve this, cause its canon that he keeps his Mega Lopunny spoilers he keeps it sorry guys, you may suffer still but I needed to just balance out the team, I think his new team is more suited for his personality as well as the field we battle him on. Another battle I would say has to be L...//shot Okay I can't spoil it but a battle in v5, making their team was a challenge considering the Pokemon they possess, the hardest part is for sure making it so they can have these bois without it being "completely busted", testing it out etc, all apart of the process. *stares down Tristan and his Lopunny for being op AF*

1. Ah see if I answer that question, it may be spoilers and I do not want to potentially spoil whether or not we get the ring this version. Also I should add, Z-moves are now in the game! expect some battles with em, and most likely the ring will allow you to use Z-moves but don't quote me on that, it ain't set in stone yet! 2. AH CUSTOM MEGAS, I'm not going to say how many "more" custom megas we will be adding quite frankly idk, but I will say that, like Reborn has with their Pulses and Rejuve has with their Crests, Deso's main extra feature is Custom Megas, so expect to see some more, this version, a notable character may have one in their possession :] 3. Hmm we haven't thought about any items tbh, maybe in the future we will 4. Working on Desolation has been an exciting new thing to develop on! I have always thought about developing my own fangame but never really got round to it, heck I made notes for one back in 2018 so to be able to work on a fangame, one that I never thought I would ever see again, its been great and I've loved it... besides working on the PBS for hours on end, I suffered for you guys 5. As it stands right now, no, however that may change in the future, depends on how the story develops :] As of my knowledge we haven't "got rid" of characters, but a few of the characters have been reworked! all I will say is rest in peace Green Charlotte 1. Level curve is the same as it was before, I discussed with Caz previously about adjusting it but we came to the conclusion that its fine, especially considering we have axed 4 gym leaders 2. Don't worry they got their severance pay and a specialised hamper made by Garret , he also gave them a free trip to Hoenn, what a nice guy.. Well considering that some of gym leaders COUGH Aderyn COUGH Tristan were a bit busted, they were nerfed and other gym leaders were buffed, overall considering the content you will be facing in v5, the game is going to be a bit more difficult compared to v4, considering I have put thought into these teams, and we now have Reborn's improved AI. If anything is "too busted" it will be nerfed :]

OOPS you added this while I was typing lmao 2. Yes.. There have been changes to the starter options, I won't say who, you can guess if you want but I'll say this, 5 out of the possible 8 have been changed, maybe i'll reveal it before launch? who knows. And obviously Gen 7 starters have been added to the starter room in Redcliff, if that wasn't obvious then.. lol

Bless ya cheers Smeargle yeah its been great! 1. hmm I think we are playing around the idea of 10 versions? don't quote me on that lol 2. For right now no, in the future after v5 release? potentially. As it stands rn, Ruby is taking on all the art side of the project, Caz is focusing on the story, eventing and most of the mapping meanwhile I am focusing on the gameplay aspect, I have picked up mapping throughout the course of development. We are in a comfortable state however if the work load gets a bit intense considering Caz is a med student and I'm going into my 3rd year of uni, we will consider getting another person on the team. 3. The both of us have very much so enjoyed the work we have done for Desolation and can't wait for everyone to release it to the public. Ruby has very much loved re-designing some of the characters, meanwhile I have suffered doing the pbs, 8 hours straight in one day to finish off the trainers... life is pain. But it'll all be worth it! I've loved re-doing the teams for the Deso cast, especially when have of them had Gengar. We have debated custom shinies, Ruby has done some actually for a few Pokemon no spoilers to what those Pokemon are :]. However overall we haven't focused on custom shinies this version. For v6 its a potential route we will go down, personally I do love the custom shinies in Reborn/Rejuvenation and having them in Desolation would be pretty cool! With Ruby being the main/only spriter, community work may be an option, if we do look to the community, we will make a post about it. 1. So when it came to the encounters, I created an Obtainable List specifically for Desolation, yes an Obtainable List like Reborn has that isn't a notepad file or just text on a screen like we had for v4 LOL which will drop sometime around the release of v5. This list along with a document helped me mark out what mons were available, what wasn't and where they existed in the wild. So when re-doing the encounters, I really considered my previous playthrough of Deso, what would be busted before a certain Gym, what should be available earlier and also I took inspiration from Reborn/Rejuvenation. With Desolation also having a unique factor being the Credit Shop, I played around with that to make certain Pokemon obtainable, for example Aderyn, everyone would literally buy a Magnemite because that gym was b r o k e n. Hopefully the changes I have made make for an enjoyable experience. 2. I'm going to say yes cause we have updated to Gen 7, so yes. 3. If you mean like the changes to the encounters/updating to Gen 7 affecting the story.. not really, it just changes a few teams around thats all. 4. It'll probably be explained ingame, if not Caz will talk about it sometime. 5. If you mean the gym leaders? yes they are each based around a single type. Realistically, this time around we are just looking towards active members of the community that Ruby and I have spoken to and know would be good people to ask to do beta testing. When v6 comes around, we will make clear what kind of "qualifications" we are looking for when it comes to beta testing IF we open it to the public.

1. For v5 no, theres no need tbh lol. Reason I say that is because v5 is essentially completed, we are currently in the process of doing internal testing then it will go to Beta Testing, then public release. We do have plans to drop some stuff before the release though so look out for that! 2. Yes, I will link anything important to do with Deso in the Fangame General Channel on the Discord Server unless otherwise 3. To quote what Ruby said "Too damn hard.", she told me the day Caz reached out to her since she couldn't contain her excitement :'], she needed someone to be excited with! Meanwhile for myself it was pretty hard at times, especially when people were saying like "Desolation is dead, Caz is never coming back" and I would end up being optimistic about it LOL. 4. Caz will answer that later, he is currently asleep, either here or in the upcoming FAQ 5. To quote Ruby again "I already have some experience with random people sliding into my dms, unless it’s something weird I think I’m fairly prepared, haha" For me, I'm more than fine with people dming me for stuff, just don't be over the top weird when you dm me stuff thats all I ask aha. Ruby and I have known about Deso's return for about 10-11 months, basically when the proper production started. And both of us have! even before we knew each other :') I first played it back in 2016 on v3? then v4 came out, was gassed, then was consistently looking at the deso thread for the update to come in 2018 but never did. Yes I was one of you guys LOL, I was still optimistic! For Ruby it was the reason why she reached out to Caz in the first place... in 2017, who would have thought a DM from 2017 that took Caz 2 Years to reply to would be the turning point for Desolation. I'll let Ruby answer that one 2. Again Caz is currently asleep as of writing this response, he will answer this either here or in the upcoming FAQ lol If you are talking about the multiple save file feature Rejuvenation has, for v5 no, for the future? maybe. I brought it up but we decided against it for now, The idea for v5 is to focus on the "complete overhaul", small features such as multiple save files will be considered for the next version. For right now you can just move the "Game.exe" out of the Saved Games Folder and into a safe location, then start the game and create a new save file that way.

1. So previously if people remember, Desolation was going to have 16 Gyms. After thought and consideration also the level curve Desolation will now only have 12 Gyms. This will be more suited for the story we want to develop 2. Umm I guess? Depends on your party idk 3. For the engine, most likely we will be. Since the engine was produced and released during the ending party of v5 Development, we didn't even consider it but v6 maybe who knows, we'll have a discussion about it, cause Reborn does feel extremely nice now I will admit. Nope! like Reborn/Rejuvenation, your savefile from v4 will be compatible with v5. However we highly recommended that you do create a new savefile because with the complete overhaul of graphics, trainer battles and encounters, some parts have been redone and other stuff that you may miss out on if you continue from v5. It would be worth playing again from the start, plus the game has been on hiatus for 3 years, you might have forgotten some parts of the story

For v5, we are planning on having a selective Beta Test, meaning we will be reaching out to a few people to see if they want to be apart of the testing process, we will gather a team of 4-5 testers (maybe a few more). For everyone (i'm glad someone brought this up) Please do not flood Caz's dms with inquiries about Beta Testing, we have people in mind who we will ask, and will be reaching out to them soon. As for v6, we don't know if we will be doing the same process or not, if not we will open beta testing to the public via a forum. 1. Ahhh Reborn's new AI, to answer this bluntly... Yes. I brought it up to Caz and he implemented it over the course of a few days, so expects battle to "hopefully" be balanced and smarter! :] 2. With development for v5, Caz was mainly on and off since v4's release, so I would say about the time where Ruby first got involved with the game was the start of its "proper" production, and that was Late July last year? so about 10-11 months I would say.

As mentioned in the "Meet the Team" post, I have personally gone through and redid every single Trainer Battle in the game, every major team has had a revamp, some nerfed, some buffed. Encounters have also been redone, every area has had new Pokemon added and old Pokemon removed/axed til later on. Besides that, the overall Story hasn't been changed, maps are mainly the same besides a few edits :] As of right now, Gen 7 has been added and implemented into the game! As for Gen 8, we plan on adding that for v6, yes this would mean redoing encounters and trainers AGAIN, but I think to save time for now, its the best move moving forward. Also due to the lack of community sprites at the time of development, it would have been an extra load for Ruby to sprite considering she has given every single main sprite a glow-up.