[HN Gopher] An automatic shiny hunter for any Pokemon game
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       An automatic shiny hunter for any Pokemon game
        
       Author : guiambros
       Score  : 74 points
       Date   : 2023-08-09 11:52 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.tomshardware.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.tomshardware.com)
        
       | mid-kid wrote:
       | Machine vision? Back in my day we just checked how long the
       | screen remained black.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moBGHUfw-Ho
        
       | DizzyDoo wrote:
       | There is also a physical USB cheat/hack/mod[0] that you can plug
       | into your Switch that lets you automatically farm eggs, move you
       | about automatically to hatch eggs, and then release entire boxes
       | of Pokemon you don't need[1]. It's like factory farming Pokemon!
       | There's support for other games and even other game console
       | controllers too, it's an interesting device.
       | 
       | For Pokemon I think it's more interesting than simply memory
       | hacking your save file and altering the Effort Values of the
       | Pokemon, which is the simple way to go about this, though a bit
       | boring and as I understand it very widespread if you battle
       | online.
       | 
       | [0] - https://collectiveminds-
       | ca.myshopify.com/collections/nintend... [1] - https://www.switch-
       | up.ca/pokemon-sword-and-shield-mode
        
         | brirec wrote:
         | This is basically an open source version of that, which uses
         | Bluetooth rather than USB
        
           | DizzyDoo wrote:
           | I... guess, if you're only looking at the outcome (boxes of
           | caught Pokemon) it is similar?
           | 
           | But the linked post describes a Raspberry Pi + Capture Card +
           | OpenCV solution that is scanning the screen to detect when
           | Shiny Pokemon are found, which is much more involved.
           | 
           | The $30 'Switch Up' device I linked to seems to operate only
           | on emulating button inputs. Like, you can record and playback
           | a macro.
        
         | lewdev wrote:
         | Interesting; the modern Game Genie
        
           | ethbr0 wrote:
           | The wrinkle about "modern Game Genie" is that when the
           | original debuted, there were no microtransactions.
           | 
           | Now, hastening grind runs directly counter to most(?) game
           | revenue models.
           | 
           | Interesting times!
        
             | lapetitejort wrote:
             | The Nintendo Help Line could be argued to be a
             | microtransaction. However, callers talked to knowledgeable
             | players who had the game in front of them, with maps, boss
             | strategies, etc, available.
        
               | msla wrote:
               | Don't forget Nintendo Power magazine, with all of the
               | "helpful" (read: all-but-required sometimes) walkthroughs
               | and tips!
        
               | lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote:
               | Even if I'm convinced it's a microtransaction I'm not
               | convinced that it was a significant portion of game
               | revenue.
        
         | pxmpxm wrote:
         | Probably a stupid question, but to what end?
        
           | DizzyDoo wrote:
           | There's lots of reasons people 'cheat' in games. In this case
           | it might be:
           | 
           | * You enjoy playing Pokemon but you don't want to or cannot
           | find the time to grind out the few hours of leveling up you
           | need to progress, or to find your specific favourite handful
           | of Pokemon, so you use a device like this to save yourself
           | some time.
           | 
           | * You want to succeed in the competitive space (yes,
           | competitive Pokemon is a thing[0] and is ongoing right now in
           | fact[1]) and you don't want to grind for Pokemon with
           | specific Effort Values, which are the randomly generated
           | numbers that effect how strong your Pokemon attacks are. So
           | you use a device like this, though probably altering a save
           | file would be just as easy and not detectable by Game
           | Freak/The Pokemon Company.
           | 
           | * You don't really care about Pokemon, but you know you can
           | sell Pokemon on eBay[2], so you automate it with a device
           | like this.
           | 
           | [0] - https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/pokemon-
           | events/pokem...
           | 
           | [1] - https://worlds.pokemon.com/en-us/
           | 
           | [2] - https://www.ebay.ca/itm/225598189077
        
           | Aromasin wrote:
           | Many people play competitive pokemon. Pokemom randomly
           | generate with different "IVs", meaning different
           | attack/defence/speed/etcs. To get "perfect IVs" takes hours
           | if not days of searching. Many automate this process as all
           | they're interested in is the competitive game; not
           | catching/hatching the perfect pokemon.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | Cu3PO42 wrote:
           | I've built something similar close to ten years ago for
           | Generation 6 Pokemon games on the 3DS. At the time that meant
           | soldering to a bunch of test points to send inputs.
           | 
           | Why? Mostly because it was fun and a good learning
           | expereince. I barely used the Pokemon I obtained, but I did
           | use them to build a competitive team.
        
       | rigrassm wrote:
       | I haven't used or contributed in a while but if this is something
       | that interests you I highly recommend taking a look at the
       | Pokemon Automation project[0].
       | 
       | It goes away beyond just automating shiny hunting and a bunch of
       | the programs they have run completely on cheap microcontrollers
       | (teensy/pro micro boards) and there's a very active community
       | that's been going strong for years.
       | 
       | [0] https://github.com/PokemonAutomation/About
        
       | brikwerk wrote:
       | Oh wow, awesome use-case. This actually uses my Switch Bluetooth
       | Controller emulation project [0] under the hood for automating
       | the button presses. If you have a RPi on-hand, you can grab a
       | decent USB capture card for around $15 on Ebay or Amazon, last I
       | checked, for a cheap(er) entry point into automation projects
       | like this.
       | 
       | [0] https://github.com/Brikwerk/nxbt
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2023-08-11 23:01 UTC)