Adding Gender Selection (original tutorial done by Mateo)

First, I want to say that this tutorial is not mine. This tutorial was originally done by Mateo, I just adapted it to modern Pokered.

edit from DavidWhite-Vulpin: The tutorial was incomplete in some places, bugs that were present in the previous version have been fixed.

First thing you have to do is to add the graphics for the other gender: the front sprite, the back sprite, the walking sprites,the cycling sprites and the fishing sprites.I decided to use the name "Green" for the sprites. Then insert them in these folders:

/gfx/player/green.png  (front sprite)
/gfx/player/greenb.png (back sprite)

/gfx/sprites/green.png(walking sprites)
/gfx/sprites/green_bike.png(cycling sprites)

/gfx/overworld/green_fish_back.png
/gfx/overworld/green_fish_front.png
/gfx/overworld/green_fish_side.png
(fishing sprites)

Now we have to include the sprites. Open gfx/player.asm and add GreenPicFront:: INCBIN "gfx/player/green.pic" after RedPicFront.

Then open gfx/pics.asm and modify it as follows:

	PidgeotPicBack::       INCBIN "gfx/pokemon/back/pidgeotb.pic"
        StarmiePicFront::      INCBIN "gfx/pokemon/front/starmie.pic"
-       StarmiePicBack::       INCBIN "gfx/pokemon/back/starmieb.pic"

        RedPicBack::           INCBIN "gfx/player/redb.pic"
+       GreenPicBack::         INCBIN "gfx/player/greenb.pic"
        OldManPicBack::        INCBIN "gfx/battle/oldmanb.pic"

[...]

        VictreebelPicFront::   INCBIN "gfx/pokemon/front/victreebel.pic"
        VictreebelPicBack::    INCBIN "gfx/pokemon/back/victreebelb.pic"
+       StarmiePicBack::       INCBIN "gfx/pokemon/back/starmieb.pic"

We moved the StarmiePicBack sprite location to avoid a bank overflow, and to account for something later.

Then, open gfx/sprites.asm and add these lines of code:

	RedBikeSprite::          INCBIN "gfx/sprites/red_bike.2bpp"
	RedSprite::              INCBIN "gfx/sprites/red.2bpp"
+	GreenBikeSprite::        INCBIN "gfx/sprites/green_bike.2bpp"
+	GreenSprite::            INCBIN "gfx/sprites/green.2bpp"

It is important that Red's and Green's sprites are in the same Section. This is done on a fresh install of Pokered so when attempting to compile all this the bank will overflow. Move 2 random sprites; for example, let's move Lorelei. So, we'll have this:

	OldAmberSprite::         INCBIN "gfx/sprites/old_amber.2bpp"
	GamblerAsleepSprite::    INCBIN "gfx/sprites/gambler_asleep.2bpp"
+	LoreleiSprite::          INCBIN "gfx/sprites/lorelei.2bpp"
	SeelSprite::             INCBIN "gfx/sprites/seel.2bpp"
[...]
	AgathaSprite::           INCBIN "gfx/sprites/agatha.2bpp"
	BrunoSprite::            INCBIN "gfx/sprites/bruno.2bpp"
-	LoreleiSprite::          INCBIN "gfx/sprites/lorelei.2bpp"
	SeelSprite::             INCBIN "gfx/sprites/seel.2bpp"

You shouldn't move Seel, as it is necessary for the Surf graphic to display properly. Same principle as keeping all of Red and Green's sprites in the same section.

Open fishing.asm and add:

	RedFishingTilesFront: INCBIN "gfx/overworld/red_fish_front.2bpp"
	RedFishingTilesBack:  INCBIN "gfx/overworld/red_fish_back.2bpp"
	RedFishingTilesSide:  INCBIN "gfx/overworld/red_fish_side.2bpp"
	RedFishingRodTiles:   INCBIN "gfx/overworld/fishing_rod.2bpp"
+	GreenFishingTilesFront: INCBIN "gfx/overworld/green_fish_front.2bpp"
+	GreenFishingTilesBack:  INCBIN "gfx/overworld/green_fish_back.2bpp"
+	GreenFishingTilesSide:  INCBIN "gfx/overworld/green_fish_side.2bpp"

Sadly, bank 1E is too big now, so I moved "engine/items/tm_prices.asm" to bank 1C. This is in main.asm

	INCLUDE "engine/gfx/palettes.asm"
	INCLUDE "engine/menus/save.asm"
+	INCLUDE "engine/items/tm_prices.asm"
[...]
	INCLUDE "engine/movie/evolution.asm"
	INCLUDE "engine/overworld/elevator.asm"
-	INCLUDE "engine/items/tm_prices.asm"

Alright! We included the graphics, but we need to make use of them, to add the option to be a girl. Open data/yes_no_menu_strings.asm . We'll replace an unused menu with the Boy/Girl option.

	two_option_menu 4, 3, FALSE, .YesNoMenu
-	two_option_menu 6, 3, FALSE, .NorthWestMenu
+	two_option_menu 5, 3, FALSE, .BoyGirlMenu

The numbers are the sizes for the menu. So in order for the menu to fit in the screen we decreased the number from 6 to 5. Also let's add the text for the options.

	.YesNoMenu:
		db   "YES"
		next "NO@"

-	.NorthWestMenu:
-		db   "NORTH"
-		next "WEST@"
+	.BoyGirlMenu:
+		db   "BOY"
+		next "GIRL@"

Open wram.asm and edit:

	wGameProgressFlagsEnd::

-	    ds 56
+	wPlayerGender::
+		; $00 = male
+		; $01 = female
+			ds 1
+	
+		; unused
+			ds 55

By adding these lines of code we make sure that the gender is stored in the save file.

Open engine/movie/oak_speech/oak_speech.asm . Scroll to the bottom and add these lines of code:

	; displays boy/girl choice
	BoyGirlChoice::
 	   call SaveScreenTilesToBuffer1
 	   call InitBoyGirlTextBoxParameters
 	   jr DisplayBoyGirlChoice
    
	InitBoyGirlTextBoxParameters::
	   ld a, $1 ; loads the value for the unused North/West choice, that was changed to say Boy/Girl
 	   ld [wTwoOptionMenuID], a
 	   coord hl, 13, 7 
 	   ld bc, $80e
 	   ret
 	   
	DisplayBoyGirlChoice::
   	   ld a, $14
   	   ld [wTextBoxID], a
   	   call DisplayTextBoxID
   	   jp LoadScreenTilesFromBuffer1

This will load the text box where the options will appear. Scroll up to the OakSpeech label and find these lines of code:

	xor a
	ldh [hTileAnimations], a
	ld a, [wd732]
	bit 1, a ; possibly a debug mode bit
	jp nz, .skipChoosingNames

Under these lines of code add these lines of code:

	ld hl, BoyGirlText  ; added to the same file as the other oak text
  	call PrintText     ; show this text
  	call BoyGirlChoice ; added routine at the end of this file
   	ld a, [wCurrentMenuItem]
   	ld [wPlayerGender], a ; store player's gender. 00 for boy, 01 for girl
   	call ClearScreen ; clear the screen before resuming normal intro

Search these lines of code, they're under.

	ld hl, OakSpeechText2
	call PrintText
	call GBFadeOutToWhite
	call ClearScreen
	ld de, RedPicFront
	lb bc, BANK(RedPicFront), $00
	call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight

Edit them:

		call ClearScreen
		ld de, RedPicFront
		lb bc, BANK(RedPicFront), $00
-		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight
+		ld a, [wPlayerGender] 	; check gender
+		and a      				; check gender
+		jr z, .NotGreen1
+		ld de, GreenPicFront
+		lb bc, BANK(GreenPicFront), $00
+	.NotGreen1:
+		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight
		call MovePicLeft

Scroll down until you see:

	.skipChoosingNames
		call GBFadeOutToWhite
		call ClearScreen
		ld de, RedPicFront
		lb bc, BANK(RedPicFront), $00
		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight

Edit these too:

	  .skipChoosingNames
	 	call GBFadeOutToWhite
 	 	call ClearScreen
  	  	ld de, RedPicFront
  	  	lb bc, Bank(RedPicFront), $00
-		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight
+   	  	ld a, [wPlayerGender] ; check gender
+   	  	and a      ; check gender
+  	  	jr z, .NotGreen2
+    	  	ld de, GreenPicFront
+          	lb bc, Bank(GreenPicFront), $00
+	.NotGreen2:
+    		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight

Search now these lines of code:

	call DelayFrames
	ld de, RedSprite
	ld hl, vSprites
	lb bc, BANK(RedSprite), $0C
	call CopyVideoData
	ld de, ShrinkPic1
	lb bc, BANK(ShrinkPic1), $00
	call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight

And modify:

		call DelayFrames
   		ld de,RedSprite
		ld hl, vSprites
    		lb bc, BANK(RedSprite), $0C
-		call CopyVideoData
-		ld de, ShrinkPic1
-		lb bc, BANK(ShrinkPic1), $00
-		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight
+    		ld a, [wPlayerGender] ; check gender
+    		and a      ; check gender
+    		jr z, .NotGreen3
+    		ld de,GreenSprite
+    		lb bc, BANK(GreenSprite), $0C
+	.NotGreen3:
+   	 	ld hl, vSprites
+   		call CopyVideoData
+    		ld de,ShrinkPic1
+   		lb bc, BANK(ShrinkPic1), $00
+   		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight

What we just did is added some gender checking routines, so the game will load the sprites for the other gender if that gender is selected.

Search for OakSpeechText3, and add this at the bottom:

BoyGirlText: ; This is new so we had to add a reference to get it to compile
    text_far _BoyGirlText
    text_end

We're done with the first oakspeech file. We move onto oakspeech2.asm. We will edit these lines of code at the top.

	ChoosePlayerName:
		call OakSpeechSlidePicRight
-		ld de, DefaultNamesPlayer
-		call DisplayIntroNameTextBox
+               ld a, [wPlayerGender] ; load gender
+		and a
+    		jr nz, .AreGirl ; Skip to girl names if you are a girl instead
+    		ld de, DefaultNamesPlayer
+               call DisplayIntroNameTextBox
		ld a, [wCurrentMenuItem]
		and a
		jr z, .customName
		ld hl, DefaultNamesPlayerList
		call GetDefaultName
		ld de, wPlayerName
		call OakSpeechSlidePicLeft
		jr .done
+	.AreGirl ; Copy of the boy naming routine, just with girl's names
+   		ld de, DefaultNamesGirl
+   		call DisplayIntroNameTextBox
+    		ld a, [wCurrentMenuItem]
+   		and a
+   	        jr z, .customName
+   		ld hl, DefaultNamesGirlList
+   		call GetDefaultName
+  		ld de, wPlayerName
+   		call OakSpeechSlidePicLeft
+ 		jr .done ; End of new Girl Names routine
	.customName
		ld hl, wPlayerName
		xor a ; NAME_PLAYER_SCREEN
		ld [wNamingScreenType], a
		call DisplayNamingScreen
		ld a, [wcf4b]
		cp "@"
		jr z, .customName
		call ClearScreen
		call Delay3
		ld de, RedPicFront
		ld b, BANK(RedPicFront)
-		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight
-	.done
-		ld hl, YourNameIsText
-		jp PrintText
+		ld a, [wPlayerGender] ; Added gender check
+		and a      ; Added gender check
+ 	        jr z, .AreBoy3
+   		ld de, GreenPicFront
+    		ld b, BANK(GreenPicFront)
+	.AreBoy3
+    		call IntroDisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight
+	.done
+    		ld hl, YourNameIsText
+   		jp PrintText

You can see what this is supposed to do. Load the other names. Now let's add some names to be loaded. Open data/player_names.asm and add:

	IF DEF(_RED)
	DefaultNamesPlayer:
		db   "NEW NAME"
		next "RED"
		next "ASH"
		next "JACK"
		db   "@"

+	DefaultNamesGirl:
+  		db   "NEW NAME"
+   		next "GREEN"
+    		next "LEAF"
+    		next "AMANDA"
+   		db   "@"

	DefaultNamesRival:
		db   "NEW NAME"
		next "BLUE"
		next "GARY"
		next "JOHN"
		db   "@"
	ENDC

	IF DEF(_BLUE)
	DefaultNamesPlayer:
		db   "NEW NAME"
		next "BLUE"
		next "GARY"
		next "JOHN"
		db   "@"

+	DefaultNamesGirl:
+  		db   "NEW NAME"
+   		next "GREEN"
+    		next "LEAF"
+    		next "AMANDA"
+   		db   "@"

	DefaultNamesRival:
		db   "NEW NAME"
		next "RED"
		next "ASH"
		next "JACK"
		db   "@"
	ENDC

We do pretty much the same thing on player_names_list.asm.

	IF DEF(_RED)
	DefaultNamesPlayerList:
		db "NEW NAME@"
		db "RED@"
		db "ASH@"
		db "JACK@"

+	DefaultNamesGirlList:
+    		db "NEW NAME@"
+   	 	db "GREEN@"
+   		db "LEAF@"
+    		db "AMANDA@"

	DefaultNamesRivalList:
		db "NEW NAME@"
		db "BLUE@"
		db "GARY@"
		db "JOHN@"
	ENDC

	IF DEF(_BLUE)
	DefaultNamesPlayerList:
		db "NEW NAME@"
		db "BLUE@"
		db "GARY@"
		db "JOHN@"

+	DefaultNamesGirlList:
+    		db "NEW NAME@"
+   	 	db "GREEN@"
+   		db "LEAF@"
+    		db "AMANDA@"


	DefaultNamesRivalList:
		db "NEW NAME@"
		db "RED@"
		db "ASH@"
		db "JACK@"
	ENDC

We go to data/text/text_2.asm and add these lines of code.

_BoyGirlText::
    text "Play as a boy, or"
    line "as a girl?"
    done

Hurray! We added the option on the intro. Now let's add the girl sprites in the main game. Open engine/overworld/player_animations.asm and look for FishingAnim and add these lines of code.

	FishingAnim:
		ld c, 10
		call DelayFrames
		ld hl, wd736
		set 6, [hl] ; reserve the last 4 OAM entries
-		ld de, RedSprite
-		ld hl, vNPCSprites tile $00
-		lb bc, BANK(RedSprite), 12
-		call CopyVideoData
-		ld a, $4
-		ld hl, RedFishingTiles
-		call LoadAnimSpriteGfx
+ 		ld a, [wPlayerGender] ; added gender check
+    		and a      ; added gender check
+    		jr z, .BoySpriteLoad
+    		ld de, GreenSprite
+    		ld hl, vNPCSprites
+    		ld bc, (BANK(GreenSprite) << 8) + $0c
+    		jr .KeepLoadingSpriteStuff
+	.BoySpriteLoad
+    		ld de, RedSprite
+    		ld hl, vNPCSprites
+    		lb bc, BANK(RedSprite), $c
+	.KeepLoadingSpriteStuff
+    		call CopyVideoData
+    		ld a, [wPlayerGender] ; added gender check
+    		and a      ; added gender check
+    		jr z, .BoyTiles ; skip loading Green's stuff if you're Red
+    		ld a, $4
+    		ld hl, GreenFishingTiles
+   		jr .ContinueRoutine ; go back to main routine after loading Green's stuff
+	.BoyTiles ; alternately, load Red's stuff
+   		ld a, $4
+   		ld hl, RedFishingTiles
+	.ContinueRoutine
+    		call LoadAnimSpriteGfx

Next, we'll look for this:

RedFishingTiles:
	fishing_gfx RedFishingTilesFront, 2, $02
	fishing_gfx RedFishingTilesBack,  2, $06
	fishing_gfx RedFishingTilesSide,  2, $0a
	fishing_gfx RedFishingRodTiles,   3, $fd

Red has his fishing tiles defined so let's give Green some defined tiles.Add these under:

GreenFishingTiles:
	fishing_gfx GreenFishingTilesFront, 2, $02
	fishing_gfx GreenFishingTilesBack,  2, $06
	fishing_gfx GreenFishingTilesSide,  2, $0a
	fishing_gfx RedFishingRodTiles,   3, $fd

We only added fishing tiles. Let's add walking and cycling tiles too. Open home/overworld.asm and look for LoadWalkingPlayerSpriteGraphics. Add these lines of code:

	LoadWalkingPlayerSpriteGraphics::
		ld de, RedSprite
-		ld hl, vNPCSprites
-		jr LoadPlayerSpriteGraphicsCommon
+               ld a, [wPlayerGender]
+   		and a
+    		jr z, .AreGuy1
+    		ld de, GreenSprite
+	.AreGuy1
+    		ld hl,vNPCSprites
+    		jr LoadPlayerSpriteGraphicsCommon

	LoadSurfingPlayerSpriteGraphics::
		ld de, SeelSprite
		ld hl, vNPCSprites
		jr LoadPlayerSpriteGraphicsCommon

	LoadBikePlayerSpriteGraphics::
		ld de, RedBikeSprite
-		ld hl, vNPCSprites
+	    	ld a, [wPlayerGender]
+    		and a
+    		jr z, .AreGuy2
+    		ld de, GreenBikeSprite
+	.AreGuy2
+`    		ld hl, vNPCSprites

Now, let's add her backsprite. Open engine/battle/core.asm and look for LoadPlayerBackPic so we can edit it.

	LoadPlayerBackPic:
		ld a, [wBattleType]
		dec a ; is it the old man tutorial?
-		ld de, RedPicBack
-		jr nz, .next
-		ld de, OldManPicBack
-	.next
-               ld a, BANK(RedPicBack)
-               ASSERT BANK(RedPicBack) == BANK(OldManPickBack)
+		ld de, OldManPicBack   ; Load the old man back sprite preemptively
+               ld a, BANK(RedPicBack) ; Default Red back sprite will be used as a means to load in the Old Man back sprite
+    		jr z, .next
+    		ld a, [wPlayerGender]
+    		and a
+    		jr z, .RedBack
+    		ld de, GreenPicBack
+               ld a, BANK(GreenPicBack) ; Load female back sprite
+    		jr .next
+	.RedBack
+    		ld de, RedPicBack ; Load default Red back sprite
+               ld a, BANK(RedPicBack)
+	.next
+               ASSERT BANK(GreenPicBack) == BANK(OldManPicBack) ; These two ASSERTs make sure to cover
+               ASSERT BANK(RedPicBack) == BANK(OldManPicBack)   ; both sprite cases

Next, Hall of Fame! Open engine/movie/hall_of_fame.asm and go to HoFLoadPlayerPics so we can change some stuff:

	HoFLoadPlayerPics:
-		ld de, RedPicFront
-		ld a, BANK(RedPicFront)
-		call UncompressSpriteFromDE
-		ld hl, sSpriteBuffer1
-		ld de, sSpriteBuffer0
-		ld bc, $310
-		call CopyData
-		ld de, vFrontPic
-		call InterlaceMergeSpriteBuffers
-		ld de, RedPicBack
-		ld a, BANK(RedPicBack)
-		call UncompressSpriteFromDE
+   		ld a, [wPlayerGender] ; New gender check
+    		and a      ; New gender check
+    		jr nz, .GirlStuff1
+    		ld de, RedPicFront
+    		ld a, BANK(RedPicFront)
+    		jr .Routine ; skip the girl stuff and go to main routine
+	.GirlStuff1
+    		ld de, GreenPicFront
+    		ld a, BANK(GreenPicFront)
+	.Routine ; resume original routine
+    		call UncompressSpriteFromDE
+   		ld hl, sSpriteBuffer1
+    		ld de, sSpriteBuffer0
+    		ld bc, $310
+   		call CopyData
+    		ld de, vFrontPic
+    		call InterlaceMergeSpriteBuffers
+    		ld a, [wPlayerGender] ; new gender check
+    		and a      ; new gender check
+    		jr nz, .GirlStuff2
+    		ld de, RedPicBack
+    		ld a, BANK(RedPicBack)
+    		jr .routine2 ; skip the girl stuff and continue original routine if guy
+	.GirlStuff2
+    		ld de, GreenPicBack
+    		ld a, BANK(GreenPicBack)
+	.routine2 ; original routine
+    		call UncompressSpriteFromDE

The last thing we're gonna do is make sure that her sprite shows up on the Trainer Card. Open engine/menus/start_sub_menus.asm and go find DrawTrainerInfo so we can finish this.

	DrawTrainerInfo:
		ld de, RedPicFront
		lb bc, BANK(RedPicFront), $01
-		predef DisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight
+		ld a, [wPlayerGender]
+    		and a
+   		jr z, .AreBoy
+    		ld de, GreenPicFront
+    		lb bc, BANK(GreenPicFront), $01
+	.AreBoy
+    		predef DisplayPicCenteredOrUpperRight

And there we have it. Another gender in Pokemon Red. Huge thanks to Mateo for writing the tutorial.