Pokémon Evoas

Hello SpritersResource! I'm a huge fan of this site and its community of talented sprite artists, and I've borrowed a lot of assets from here in the past. I thought I'd show off this project of mine I've been working on for about 8 months now. I welcome any comments and criticism regarding gameplay, graphics, etc. Especially graphics... art has never really been my strong suit. I'm also recruiting sprite artists for the project, so Pokemon Evoas is interesting and want to help out, please let me know! A large portion of the custom pokemon sprites are made by Joshr, from his amazing database here.

(this entire post is copy/pasted from it's post on pokecommunity, which can be found here)



Introduction
Pokemon Evoas is a unique reinterpretation of the classic pokemon formula, with a new battle system, overworld, and other various tweaks to make the game feel more refreshing. It's being made completely from scratch, without the aid of a ROM hack or RPG Maker. This gives me the freedom to make many revolutionary changes to prior games, thus creating an original and exciting pokemon experience.



Playable Preview: An early version of the game can be played in-browser here! Check it out! I think it'd be a better way to find out what innovations Evoas brings to the table than just reading a list, but I provided that too below.

Features:

A new battle system built from the ground up to be more strategic while staying familiar:

• All pokemon battles are 2 on 2. The traditional pokemon battle system, which is designed primarily for 1 on 1 battles, has been completely revamped to account for this fundamental change.
• ~75% of moves are completely new. Returning moves are given new animations and are tweaked for balance.
• Cooperation between allied pokemon is crucial. Many defensive or stat-boosting moves now benefit the other pokemon instead. For example: Defibrillate will revive an allied pokemon if they faint that turn.
• Certain attacks can be combined to become more powerful. For example: X-Slash is twice as effective if both pokemon use it at the same time on the same foe.
• "One shot" moves are introduced. These are especially powerful moves that a pokemon can use at most once in a battle, regardless of how much PP is left.
• Moves no longer have an accuracy stat. They will always hit unless something else interferes. Several returning powerful moves that were balanced with low accuracies will instead be "one shot" moves.
• The number of moves a pokemon can learn is dependant on its species. Some pokemon can only learn 3 moves, while others can learn as much as 7. Most pokemon, however, will only be able to learn 4 or 5 moves.
• New abilities are introduced. For example: A pokemon with the Nectar Feed ability will regain a bit of health each turn after the move Pollenate is used by an ally.
• Each species of pokemon has an "innate ability", but each pokemon can also learn one "learned ability". These essentially replace held items.
• Pokemon can learn techniques as well as battle moves. One technique every pokemon knows is Swap, which allows a pokemon to swap positions with its ally. Pokemon can learn abilities that allow them to use other techniques (like mega-evolving, perhaps...?)
• 2 new types, Metal and Light, have been added. Also, the types Bug, Dragon, Steel, and Fairy have been removed, with pokemon and moves being revised accordingly. A third mystery type has been added as well.
• Status ailments such as paralysis and confusion have been altered or removed to remove the luck element. Also, all status ailments have counters that display the amount of turns until the ailment is healed. Lastly, ailments can also be stacked; a burned pokemon isn't magically resistant to poison.
• More intricacies of battle exist for the player to discover!
  

Battles look more exciting than ever before:

• Animated pokemon sprites: All pokemon idle, attack, and receive damage with unique animations.
• Each attack causes pokemon to move around the field in various ways. If a pokemon uses Tackle, it will actually move up to and ram the foe, instead of whiffing at the air while the foe somehow takes damage. The camera moves around accordingly too.
• In-game animation speed control: Simply hold "right" to make animations go faster and hold "left" to make them go slower.
  

Revamped Overworld Gameplay:

• Gyms and the pokemon league do not exist in Godell. Instead, the player will be tasked of going through "dungeons" at certain points in the game, each with their own themed pokemon and trainers to battle. More emphasis is placed on puzzle solving.
• Movement is no longer restricted to a grid, and you can move diagonally.
• Commands are introduced, which roughly replace HM moves. The player will obtain several commands at key points during the game. After which, pokemon that have the ability to use these commands can do so to solve puzzles in the overworld. The commands a pokemon can use are constant to its species.
• The first 2 pokemon in your team can be summoned at will to follow you around on the overworld. Follower pokemon are important in using Commands.
• The formation of follower pokemon can be switched around. If a pokemon is leading, then certain commands can be used, and the encounter rate can decrease.
• Screenshots can be taken at any time by pressing F12 on the keyboard. Screenshots can also be taken during battle.
• Stone and other unconventional methods of evolving have been removed. Secret new methods of evolution have been introduced, however. Will you be able to unlock your pokemon's full potential?
  

Brink Mode: This is the game's most interesting new mechanic. It works as follows:

• If a pokemon faints when fighting ruthless trainers or pokemon, the player can choose to keep it in battle and continue fighting. When this happens, the pokemon musters up some HP for the battle and enters an extraordinary state known as brink mode.
• All stats for a pokemon are increased while its in brink mode.
• However, if a pokemon loses all HP again while in brink mode, IT DIES. Dead pokemon cannot be revived by any means. Use caution when deciding whether or not a pokemon should enter brink mode.
• With a few exceptions, entering brink mode is completely optional. Likewise, it will be possible to complete Evoas without a single pokemon dying.
• Brink mode cannot be activated in friendly battles against ordinary trainers or wild pokemon.
• Many secrets surround brink mode. Will you be able to utilize brink mode to its maximum potential?
  

TL;DR: Brink mode is a high-stakes risk/reward mechanic. In some circumstances, you can force a pokemon to continue fighting after it faints in battle. But if it falls again, it dies, and can never be revived.

Story: (Note: graphic is a bit outdated)

Software/Engine
The game is being developed with Adoble Flash CS5.5 and the programming language ActionScript 3. Paint.NET, ShoeBox, and Audacity were used for creating and tweaking certain assets. The Evoas battle engine is a completely original engine created by me in AS3.

Screenies

Credits
Program/design by th3shark (also my pokecommunity, reddit username)
Concept art by DeviantArt user joy-ling.
Pokemon sprites by DeviantArt user JoshR691.

I most frequently post updates for Evoas at reddit.com/r/pokemonevoas! There is a more comprehensive list of credits there as well.


Thanks for reading, and I hope I've piqued your interest for the Evoas project!