ROM hacks, also known as hack games or ROM spots , are video games that have been edited or altered by fans.
The core series Pokémon game system is thought to be very versatile and lends itself well to modification, giving anglers a great deal of creative freedom along with a sound, well-tested pokemon sword rom game engine. These factors, in addition to Pokémon's notable popularity around the globe, has resulted in the development of thousands of distinct games spanning several generations, which range from minor adjustments to additional new attributes andmuch increasingly more often, entirely new fan-made Pokémon games. Though the core-series is absolutely the most popular collection to hack on, in addition, there are many fan-created Pokémon games that do not use these as premise, and rather are, as an example, modified versions of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon collection and Pokémon Conquest.
All these are unauthorised copies of published games that are offered to consumers, frequently flashed onto multi-player sport paks or game titles and lacking the official Nintendo Seal. But as ROM hacks are usually distributed over the Internet for free, they are often sold as bootleg games, normally contrary to the consumer's wishes. The reliability of these bootlegs are often poor, and is becoming such a problem that hackers have started to introduce warning screens into their games, even cautioning users who if they paid for it, they might have been scammed.
These were often relatively minor adjustments such as sprite or dialogue changes, and could generally follow the flow of the original game. These early ROM hacks were notorious for being particularly crude in nature, ranging from swapping Pokémon and human sprites about to replacing the dialog with disgusting text.
This trend continued until the release of Pokémon Brown by consumer Koolboyman in the early 2000s, among the very notable Pokémon hacks ever. This was the first hack to completely re-invent the game, with a brand new area and completely new plot. Later editions included an enlarged Pokédex (such as Pokémon in Generations II, III and IV), added dungeons and additional plot tweaks. It is but one of the very few completed hack games which has been successful enough to justify a sequel (Pokémon Prism, that a Pokémon Crystal-based hack) plus also a Generation III variant (Pokémon rijonAdventures) according to Pokémon FireRed.
Since Brown,'' Pokémon hacking notoriety has expanded exponentially, together with programmers creating many software tools for desktop operating systems to help generate maps, edit sprites, images as well as creating scripting languages specifically for the Pokémon game engine. It has also inspired many hackers to understand to edit the matches' assembly code directly (known as ASM hacking). Many hacks have been published, frequently with FireRed as a foundation, including Pokémon ShinyGold, Pokémon Naranja and also the Pokémon Ruby Destiny series, merely to mention a few.
There are lots of websites dedicated to Pokémon ROM hack creation. Notable examples include Skeetendo, PHO and PokéCommunity's ROM Hack department, the biggest known English-language Pokémon ROM hacking community. Many of these sites hold award nominations and services to showcase a few of the greatest talents of their neighborhood.