Ok so I haven't actually been keeping up with the development of this project, but looking through the posts a few things kinda bother me. For the record, my ROM-hacking experience only really includes Super Mario World and a bit of Gen 3 Pokemon, so feel free to take anything I say with a grain of salt.
Question 1: What is the purpose of this ROM-hack?
So apparently you'll be making "edits to the map and story", but what does that entail? Is it going to be a massive overhaul with a new plot and characters, or just a basic edit of things to make them more convenient? Please consider your target audience when deciding between these choices, because the latter option has a considerably smaller range. I completely understand if this is a test-run before something larger.
Question 2: Who is your target audience?
Ok yeah probably should've asked this first. If it's just for NSM I really don't know what to say but if you're releasing it elsewhere then please make sure there's enough unique to your hack to be marketable (even though you don't really "advertise" these things, it's still important). Your target audience is also important in deciding how many of the fundamental elements of Pokemon you should change. If you are going to make heavy edits, it would be nice to inform people who don't know.
Question 3: Is your story already planned out?
If so it would be good to let a few of us assess it. It would also give me peace of mind to know that you aren't just making edits to Pokemon without having everything else ready in your mind or written down somewhere (which is the better option really).
Question 4: Have you managed everything you need for this hack?
Say if you need new textures (which is good for one with a new plot), are you able to make them yourself? Do you need to ask someone? Is someone available to do so? I believe I can trust you with music, but if there's any other assets you need make sure you can get them. This one is generally more lenient than the other three.
While this project is in stage Alpha no map or story edits will be made. Almost all edits will be on the Pokemon. I'm not sure about everything I'll need yet it terms of testing but I'll let you know.
What this quote tells me is that you have time to consider all of these things, if you haven't considered them already. I'm very interested in your response.