ORAS Changes to the Hoenn Region's Design

[Bolt the Cat]

With the shift towards 3D graphics in 6th gen, there's potential for huge changes in region design for Hoenn in ORAS. New areas will most likely be added and old areas may be redesigned to better fit the 3D design. So this thread is for discussing any kind of change in the region design in ORAS that you'd like to see.

My ideas:

-The cities will probably be designed to feel a bit larger, maybe with extra buildings added. We probably won't see any the size of say, Castelia City or Lumiose City, but fairly large nonetheless.
-On this note, Slateport Market will probably be a separate area from the rest of the city.
-I'd like to see Mt. Chimney redesigned so that it feels more connected, especially if Magma Hideout is returning. So maybe a new path in Fiery Path that leads further up the mountain that you can unlock by using Strength. Also, put some lava through the areas to add more flavor to the design and environment. They could even let you ride Torkoal to cross the lava.
-A redesign of Mt. Pyre that makes the main path more straightforward. I really hated the design of the original because the most obvious path leading through the mausoleum is in fact, completely optional and just leads you through a gauntlet of trainers. The path you're supposed to take to progress is a bit too hidden, you have to veer left from the entrance and climb the outside of the mountain. I think a new design that makes it easier to tell where you're supposed to go is in order. In particular, I think they could take a page out of modern mountain areas like Mt. Coronet and HGSS Mt. Silver, where it's basically one long path weaving in and out of the mountain as you climb to the top (with of course, plenty of optional paths along the way to get your fill of exploration).
-I think in general, the late game water routes will probably be redesigned to be easier to navigate, the wide open, empty nature of the those routes makes it a pain to navigate. So I think at the very least, they're probably going to add all kinds of shallows, islands, and other kinds of aesthetic landmarks so you know where you're going.
-Evergrande City should be made into an actual city. A flower field with a Pokemon Center is unacceptable for something that they call a "city".
-A new or significantly altered design for Victory Road. Several of the recent Victory Roads (particularly BW2 and XY) also take the Mt. Coronet approach by structuring it as a long road that weaves through different environments, and this kind of approach certainly feels appropriate for the final gauntlet before reaching the Pokemon League. Since Evergrande Island is a vibrant, flowery island, they can add a new outdoor area of this environment, and maybe throw in a river and waterfall(s) to essentially replace the bottom floor of the original. This would also be interesting for the distribution as they could fill it with stuff like Nuzleaf/Lombre, Roselia, Altaria, Azumarill, Swellow, maybe even Zangoose/Seviper, many of which are only obtainable in a handful of areas.
-Post game could use some major improvements in terms of areas. Like XY, there's only a handful of areas that open up after you beat the game. Fortunately, there's an archipelago of unused islands surrounding the Battle Frontier that would work very nicely. Other areas which are ripe for new areas include the south side of Dewford Island (accessible from the room where you meet Steven in Granite Cave), the southeast half of Evergrande Island, and the island southeast of Mauville.

 

[Mistryss Nite]

I like many of your ideas. ^.^ I really like the idea of having a Pokemon ride across the lava. And, we really need more post game content.

I haven't played Ruby or Sapphire in years, so my memory on the details is not too good. But, I would like to see some of the other, unused islands to open up (unless they were for special events). I wouldn't mind some island hopping.

 

[NoDice]

Personally, Id really like to see Fortree expanded on a bit. I remember seeing that while playing and thought "Wow, if I were a kid, Id love to play in a city of nothing but tree houses and rope bridges." I definitely think they could do something along the lines of Ramos' gym 'puzzle'(if you can even call it a puzzle), and have the city be multi-tiered with rope swings and bridges and ladders between all the different levels. The climbing and swinging pace needs to be sped up though.

As far as a city that could be made to rival Lumiose or Castelia, I sincerely think that Lilycove is the only contender. It has a department store, a contest hall, motel, and several other buildings. Obviously, these buildings would have to be completely exaggerated in order to get the size and scope close, but I feel Lilycove is the main contender for "major city".

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Personally, Id really like to see Fortree expanded on a bit. I remember seeing that while playing and thought "Wow, if I were a kid, Id love to play in a city of nothing but tree houses and rope bridges." I definitely think they could do something along the lines of Ramos' gym 'puzzle'(if you can even call it a puzzle), and have the city be multi-tiered with rope swings and bridges and ladders between all the different levels. The climbing and swinging pace needs to be sped up though.

Eh, IDK that they'd go as far as incorporating vines into the design, that seems pretty dangerous from a realistic point of view. But I do like the idea of making the city multi-tiered, that would be fun. Speaking of speeding things up, I was really annoyed that you couldn't run on the bridges in the original, it made getting around Fortree really annoying. But fortunately with the changes made to the Running Shoes, I don't think that's going to be a problem anymore.

 

[Aerodactyl]

These are all fantastic ideas!!! The last two remakes, HGSS and FRLG, really just improved on the map without drastically changing it. I hope that, even with such a huge jump (none of the remakes had to suddenly jump to 3D!) they really keep all the different cities and landscapes and just improve on them in Hoenn. However, I really don't feel like we can look to past remakes for answers on how they're going to do things this time. Not that we exclude past remakes as evidence, just that we take into account how much the systems capabilities and graphics have improved. I'm worried they might completely change Hoenn because it's too hard to duplicate it in 3D.

One thing I'm really excited about and hoping to see, is just the different looks of buildings. That's what I LOVED about Kalos. There were so many different styles of homes... and I'm not talking about just the outside. I'm talking about the inside!!!! There wasn't just one standard layout for homes, I really felt like they were buildings people lived in. I actually admired the open concept living and simple but functional decor. I often find myself pondering what it would be like to live in one of the homes in Kiloude city, or Ambrette or any of them really. I really hope they continue that in ORAS, and that we get to see how the inside of homes in Fortree differ from those in Mossdeep. I'd love to see new layouts for home that differ from those even in Kalos.

I'd be lieing if I said I hadn't thought about where I'd live and what kind of house I'd buy if I was suddenly and magically transported to Kalos. I hope Hoenn makes me rethink where in the pokemon world I want to live.

(I secretly hope we can buy a house in ORAS and decorate it instead of secret bases, but that's a topic for another time).

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

The design is my main problem with 3D. Back in 2D we could had large cities because there was plenty of space but with graphics improving and in order to save space, the creators tend to concentrate the buildings and reduce their size. Just Compare Celadon from LF/FR to HG/SS. My main concern about this is with Rustboro and Slateport.
Both felt huge and I hope they keep it that way. Also, I hope they don't make the Slateport market a different area. The market is something that doesn't need to be something fancy. It was simple and I liked it that way.

Oh, make the Slateport beach actually part of Slateport and not just a route.

Since I'm expecting a day/night cycle, the Slateport Lighthouse must have a light, that's obvious!

Oh, add a sublevel to Slateport Museum and make it like the Marine Tube, but with an aquarium!

A new and decent pier for Slateport (and the shipyard), perhaps made of stone, instead of just a covered building.

Keep that small grassy area and fountain in Rustboro. Also, lamps that work like in HG/SS are a must in every city and in a lesser number, towns.

I want more grass in Verdanturf.

A prettier route between Verdanturf and Mauville. It was nice to see the first time but I think it could be more colourful and less simple.

I hope to see more bushes in Petalburgh City.

Keep the wood docks on Mr. Briney's house (and make this one surfable...or not, it isn't a big issue) and in Dewford.

After using Rock Smash when heading north of Mauville, make those rocks dissapear, like in Rusturf tunnel.

I subscribe the tips given by Bolt the Cat regarding Fiery Path, Mt. Chimney the water routes and Ever Grande City.
Like I've said before, I'm also hoping to see new locations on those islands that appear in the map (some near Pacifidlog and other somewhere near New Mauville!

Edit: after reading NoDice's post, I'd like that the PkCenter and Gym were atop trees, because it doesn't make sense for them to be on the ground. Make it look like a Wookie village.

Make a Dive entrance/exit (access from Archie's room) for Aqua's hideout.

Make Mauville with stone sidewalks/"roads" instead of earth/grass and give it an entrance like the one from Goldenrod!

---

(...)
(I secretly hope we can buy a house in ORAS and decorate it instead of secret bases, but that's a topic for another time).

I want both!

 

[Aerodactyl]

I don't really agree that the cities are smaller in Kalos, after all we have Lumiose CIty for one, Coumarine is split into two areas, Couriway town is pretty big and so is Dendemille town. I feel Kalos is the same as other games.... smaller towns in the beginning with bigger one's later. Besides, towns is other games were mostly the same buidlings in a square village. Kalos had windmills, waterfalls, giant statues... really awesome I think.

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

I don't really agree that the cities are smaller in Kalos, after all we have Lumiose CIty for one, Coumarine is split into two areas, Couriway town is pretty big and so is Dendemille town. I feel Kalos is the same as other games.... smaller towns in the beginning with bigger one's later. Besides, towns is other games were mostly the same buidlings in a square village. Kalos had windmills, waterfalls, giant statues... really awesome I think.

I can't speak that much for Kalos since I have yet to play one of the games but when comparing Kalos to other regions and going just by their map artwork, it seems to have smaller cities/towns and with smaller buildings. And again, it was something that I've notice with the HG/SS remakes when comparing those to the originals is that detail and quality is surpassing open space. While that is welcome to a certain extent, the feeling of a bigger city where we can get lost no longer happens. Another example: in Gold, I got lost quite a few times in Goldenrod because there were many smaller houses - empty and without doors - that made the city feel like a true maze. Back in HG, that wasn't the case and those houses were all the same, without differences in size, without a hint of difference. Cerulean - back in LG, the houses were much larger than the player and the city was somewhat expansive to its sides, but in HG the houses were smaller.

 

[Aerodactyl]

I can't speak that much for Kalos since I have yet to play one of the games but when comparing Kalos to other regions and going just by their map artwork, it seems to have smaller cities/towns and with smaller buildings. And again, it was something that I've notice with the HG/SS remakes when comparing those to the originals is that detail and quality is surpassing open space. While that is welcome to a certain extent, the feeling of a bigger city where we can get lost no longer happens. Another example: in Gold, I got lost quite a few times in Goldenrod because there were many smaller houses - empty and without doors - that made the city feel like a true maze. Back in HG, that wasn't the case and those houses were all the same, without differences in size, without a hint of difference. Cerulean - back in LG, the houses were much larger than the player and the city was somewhat expansive to its sides, but in HG the houses were smaller.

Yeah... you've obviously never been to Lumiose city then

See, personally, I only ever got Lost in Gold not because the map was bigger, but because everything looked exactly the same. All the buildings are the same. In HG, there was more detail, so I could be like "Oh that's the name raters house" etc. But I see some of what you mean.

I think though, that if I had to choose between size and detail, I'd pick detail. But maybe we'll get both!

 

[iNecrosis]

Game Freak, call this guy in! These are great ideas! I approve of all of them except the Victory Road one. I don't think we should get continuous repeats of the same thing every game that comes out. Other than what I had to say, keep up the fresh ideas!

 

[iNecrosis]

Game Freak, call this guy in! These are great ideas! I approve of all of them except the Victory Road one. I don't think we should get continuous repeats of the same thing every game that comes out. Other than what I had to say, keep up the fresh ideas!

 

[tigre]

Hope they make big changes to Evergrande City. That was such an epic letdown.

Of all the cities, I think the "big ones" will be Sootopolis, Mossport and Slateport.

All of the locations should look totally stunning with the new graphics. Pacifidlog and Treefort in particular.

So much opportunity with this region.

 

[Robot_Fishy]

Im looking forward on how Mr.Briny's boat rides would be like, pokeblocks, and the abandoned ship.

What if we get to travel to sinnoh :O that would be AMAZING.

considering sinnoh too is an island, it is even based off of an area in japan.

 

[Teal]

There better be a load of postgame content like FRLG Seevi Islands. Any less would be simply unacceptable.

 

[Robot_Fishy]

There better be a load of postgame content like FRLG Seevi Islands. Any less would be simply unacceptable.

Assuming that they did the celebi event in HGSS AND in gold and silver, they had these things i believe called celebi machines where you can get a celebi.

Im thinking that with the deoxys,mew, latios/latias, and ho-oh lugia event that was in emerald, they might become official legendaries in the game.

Back to the celebi events in hgss they might make deoxys an event pokemon. So maybe a small portion of the legendaries will go into the game

I also really really want to see some content where there is backstory for another legendary (besides rayquaza). They really don't do anything else in the game storywise for the other pokemon. its either oh hey its in a cave or a small cutscene that lasts a couple of seconds. usually its the main legendary obviously. More puzzle would be great.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

There better be a load of postgame content like FRLG Seevi Islands. Any less would be simply unacceptable.

What worries me about the post game content is that the originals have a comparable amount of post game content to XY, and they'll decide for whatever reason that they don't want to add any more. But optimistically, I think there's going to be a sizeable post game in this game, there's plenty of unused areas displayed on the map that they'd likely make use of. Most notably, there's an archipelago of islands surrounding the Battle Frontier, which could form a Battle Zone type post game section. That would probably consist of about three routes, two or three cities additional cities, and maybe one or two additional dungeon. Then there's the island southeast of Mauville, which is probably big enough for one extra route, one city, and one dungeon. Lastly, Dewford and Evergrande have room for at least one more route each, although I'm not as sure if they will be post game. Add in the existing post game areas from the originals (Battle Frontier, Artisan Cave, Desert Underpass, and maybe Sky Pillar depending on Rayquaza's role in the storyline). So altogether, I'd say there's probably going to be about 5-6 routes, 4-5 cities, and 4-6 dungeons give or take, which would put it roughly on par with DPPt and BW1 in terms of post game areas. That's not Sevii Islands big, but I'd say that's fairly reasonable.

 

[Mitja]

It depends on how they approached these games and how much work they invested. It could be as lame as looking identical (hopefully not lol), or each area completely reconsidered and fleshed out appropriately.

I hope they don't make the sea routes "easier to navigate", it wasn't THAT open and confusing anyway, in fact I found it exciting because it at least gives you a sense of challenge and exploration, especially with the diving areas that follow their own paths XD

 

[Bolt the Cat]

It depends on how they approached these games and how much work they invested. It could be as lame as looking identical (hopefully not lol), or each area completely reconsidered and fleshed out appropriately.

This is the second thing that worries me, that they're not going to put a lot of effort into the game (which is even more worrying due to the game being announced earlier than expected). But I think if you look back towards HGSS, they did take a few liberties in the design (for example, they added some areas back into Kanto that were cut in the original GSC and redesigned Mt. Silver), so I don't think they'll take a "copy/paste" approach.

I hope they don't make the sea routes "easier to navigate", it wasn't THAT open and confusing anyway, in fact I found it exciting because it at least gives you a sense of challenge and exploration, especially with the diving areas that follow their own paths XD

It kinda was. The inherent problem with sea routes is that they're too empty, it's just giant stretches of water that gives you absolutely no sense of direction. Most games fix this by placing rocks on the borders to create a linear path, but some of Hoenn's don't really do this, namely Rt. 124-128.

There's another issue with the water routes in this game, and that's the camera. If we look back to Azure Bay in XY, the camera was poorly placed in most of the area to the point where it was zoomed in far too much on you and you couldn't see much of your surroundings. It was pretty much Surfing blind. IDK what their reason was for doing this, but they should avoid it if possible. That would just make navigating the water routes even worse.

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

There better be a load of postgame content like FRLG Seevi Islands. Any less would be simply unacceptable.

What worries me about the post game content is that the originals have a comparable amount of post game content to XY, and they'll decide for whatever reason that they don't want to add any more. But optimistically, I think there's going to be a sizeable post game in this game, there's plenty of unused areas displayed on the map that they'd likely make use of. Most notably, there's an archipelago of islands surrounding the Battle Frontier, which could form a Battle Zone type post game section. (...)

I just hope they don't make those a Battle Zone. The Frontier is enough for battling. All I want is something like Nature Preserve but with villages and more background on some Pokémon namely the Regis (Gigas included), definitely Lati@s, Deoxys and Jirachi (these last two could be developed upon in Mossdeep) or some kind of Orangue League where we win the badges in contests like the Pokéthlon (but including regular battle as one of the phases for each).

 

[Bolt the Cat]

I just hope they don't make those a Battle Zone. The Frontier is enough for battling. All I want is something like Nature Preserve but with villages and more background on some Pokémon namely the Regis (Gigas included), definitely Lati@s, Deoxys and Jirachi (these last two could be developed upon in Mossdeep) or some kind of Orangue League where we win the badges in contests like the Pokéthlon (but including regular battle as one of the phases for each).

Um... what? The Battle Zone refers to the post game island area in Sinnoh. I was just saying that Hoenn could use a similar area, with the Battle Frontier being surrounded by a bunch of other post game areas. Not sure what you mean by a new Nature Preserve area, do you mean a similar kind of environment or a bonus area for completing the Pokedex?

And I don't think we're ever getting post game badges or anything.