An automatic shiny hunter for any Pokémon game

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-hunts-shiny-pokemon-while-you-sleep

by guiambros • 3 years ago

82 19 3 years ago

rigrassm• 3 years ago

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

DizzyDoo3• 3 years ago

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

lewdev• 3 years ago

Interesting; the modern Game Genie

ethbr0• 3 years ago

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!

brirec• 3 years ago

This is basically an open source version of that, which uses Bluetooth rather than USB

DizzyDoo3• 3 years ago

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.

delecti• 3 years ago

I would argue that this is actually closer to an open source version of asking an older sibling for help. Or maybe, depending on how you view it, like tricking your younger sibling into doing the boring part for you.

pxmpxm• 3 years ago

Probably a stupid question, but to what end?

DizzyDoo3• 3 years ago

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• 3 years ago

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.

Cu3PO42• 3 years ago

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 Pokémon I obtained, but I did use them to build a competitive team.

brikwerk• 3 years ago

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

mid-kid• 3 years ago

Machine vision? Back in my day we just checked how long the screen remained black.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moBGHUfw-Ho

An automatic shiny hunter for any Pokémon game

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