Creating an intuitive Android user interface wrapper around the Universal Pokémon Game Randomizer significantly simplifies the process of customizing and generating Pokémon game ROMs on mobile devices. This project aims to develop a comprehensive, user-friendly front end utilizing Jetpack Compose, supporting all features available in the desktop version of the randomizer. By streamlining the experience, players and developers alike can access powerful randomization tools with ease directly from their smartphones or tablets.
How to Use
Getting started is straightforward. First, download the latest APK from the Releases section of the project repository. When opening the APK file through your web browser or file manager, ensure that your device is configured to permit app installations from unknown sources. To do this, navigate to Android Settings > Apps & Notifications > Advanced > Special app access > Install unknown apps, then grant permission to your browser or file manager. Once installed, launching the app will display the main interface, ready for your operations.
Pressing “Open ROM” allows you to browse your device’s file system to select a Pokémon game ROM. After choosing a ROM, you can modify its settings by replacing the existing configuration string with a new one, pasting a preset, or customizing a seed for randomness. The filename will automatically update with the new seed for easy identification. To save your changes, press the check button; an error message will appear if the input is invalid.
For more granular control, access the settings menu by swiping right or tapping the icon in the top left corner. Here, you can select specific categories to tweak. Returning to the home screen is as simple as pressing the back button.
When you’re satisfied, tap “Save ROM” to choose where to store your newly randomized game. Similarly, “Save Log” enables you to save the detailed log of the randomization process, which is saved as a .txt file for easy viewing. Be aware that logs can become quite large depending on your selected options.
FAQ
Q: Which Android versions are compatible?
A: Official support extends to Android 10 and above. However, there is a compatibility APK built for Android 8+ that may work on older devices, albeit with limited features and fixes.
Q: Can I randomize 3DS games?
A: Due to the large size of 3DS ROMs and Android’s memory constraints, support for 3DS games is not feasible. The application primarily supports Game Boy, DS, and other compatible Pokémon titles.
Q: What causes the randomizer to fail?
A: Failures often stem from invalid source ROMs, such as improperly applied patches, or unsupported settings for the specific game generation. Ensuring your ROMs are valid and using supported configuration strings helps prevent errors.
Q: Why does the app consume so much storage?
A: Every ROM you open is duplicated into internal storage, which allows faster subsequent access. These copies remain until manually deleted via the app’s storage settings. To free space, you can clear app data through Settings > Apps & Notifications > Storage & cache or by long-pressing the app icon and selecting “Clear storage.” To optimize storage, especially when batch randomizing multiple DS games, force closing the app after use can help delete temporary files.
Q: How can I generate multiple ROMs efficiently?
A: The “Batch Randomize” feature opens a dialog where you specify a filename prefix, starting number, and ending number. This allows for automated creation of multiple ROMs with sequentially numbered filenames, which are saved to your chosen directory. Progress updates are shown as notifications, and on Android 13+, notification permissions are required. The process runs in the background, so you can leave the app while it works.
Q: What does the X setting do?
A: Tapping on a setting label will display a hint dialog describing its function, helping you understand the impact of each option.
Q: How can I disable extra berries introduced in Generation 4?
A: To play without the additional berries added in recent versions, simply uncheck the box associated with that feature in the settings string.
Development
This project includes both the randomizer engine and the Android application built with Kotlin and Jetpack Compose. To customize or contribute, you can import the project into Android Studio, ensuring support for Kotlin 1.9. The randomizer is integrated as a subtree, avoiding the need for separate forks, and includes modifications such as fixing source code characters, generating Java-based GUI components, and adding a Gradle build configuration. For more details on creating similar applications, visit the mobile development guide.
The code structure supports running the randomizer JAR directly from the IDE, facilitating testing and customization. This setup allows developers to implement new features or adapt the interface for different user needs, making it a versatile tool for Pokémon enthusiasts and Android developers alike.