Cobblemon: Field Investigations

An unknown Pokémon has been reported nearby. Find out what it is, track it down, and catch it.

Field Investigations adds a full detective loop to Cobblemon: collect evidence in the field, analyse it in lab mini-games, rule out suspects, then hunt the target with a radar, a map and a scanner. Everything fits in a single item, the Field Kit, with its own pixel-art screens.

The cleaner your investigation, the better the reward: up to four perfect IVs, better shiny odds and richer loot. Investigate alone or as a team, and climb the investigator ranks to upgrade your kit.

How it works

1. Pick a case with the Field Kit. Up to three leads are reported, each with its rarity, its distance and sometimes a special rule. The one you pick comes with a line-up of suspects that really spawn in that biome.
2. Sample the traces. Residue, deposits, footprints, nests, claw marks: each has its own sampling mini-game. The kit's proximity radar leads you to them, even when one hides in a shallow cave.
3. Dig up the buried clue. A bone, eggshells, a fang or a claw lies underground. Dig carefully and uncover it with a brush. Break the block and the clue is lost.
4. Analyse your samples in the pocket sequencer to reveal the genetic markers of the target.
5. Work the case board. Compare each suspect with your results and cross out the ones that do not fit. It is your deduction: the mod does not do it for you.
6. Name your suspect and start the hunt.
7. Track the target by its cries. Take bearings from several spots and the kit map gives you a fix.
8. Scan it from afar to confirm its identity. Get too close too soon and it runs.
9. Sneak in and catch it.

Features

• 32 mini-games: memory, timing, rhythm, steady hand, code breaking, colour mixing, pattern matching and more, including games tied to the kind of case (free dive, tree climb, abseil, UV lamp, thawing, cry filter, rockfall). Each one explains its rules the first time you meet it.
• Ten kinds of special investigations, several tied to the biome: aquatic cases with traces on the bottom of the water, dig sites in the desert, canopy cases in forests, highlands, frost, mist, plus nocturnal, skittish, restless and exceptional targets. Each has its own rule and its own loot.
• Team investigations: invite nearby players to a shared case. Everyone gets the stars, the loot and the experience.
• Investigator rank: seven ranks, each unlocking a kit upgrade (sharper radar, spare vial, quick scan, a forgiven failure…). Your logbook and the archives of your past cases live in the kit.
• A 5-star rating for every case. Failed mini-games, a fleeing target or a wrong guess cost stars; stars decide the perfect IVs, the shiny odds and the loot.
• Buried clues to dig up and brush out, like suspicious sand, and traces hidden in shallow caves.
• A scanner view with zoom, like a spyglass.
• Sound effects made for the mod, on every mini-game.
• Suspects taken from the real spawn pool of the biome, so the investigation matches your world.
• Advancements for your first steps and your best cases.
• Accessibility: a colour aid for the colour-based mini-game and a server-side pace setting for all mini-games.
• Data-driven loot: loot tables per star level, per rarity and per kind of investigation, overridable with a data pack.
• Fully configurable: number of leads, special case chance, team size, distances, number of suspects, cooldowns, difficulty of the hunt, excluded species labels.
• English and French included; other languages only need a JSON file.

Requirements

• Minecraft 1.21.1, Fabric
• Fabric API
• Cobblemon 1.8+

Required on both the client and the server.

Getting started

Craft a Field Kit (redstone, two iron ingots, a compass and a glass pane) and a few Empty Vials (three glass panes), bring a vanilla brush, then right-click with the kit.

Legendary, mythical, ultra beast and paradox Pokémon are excluded by default.

Credits

• Design, game direction and playtesting by me, with the players of the CobbleScout server.
• Pixel art generated with PixelLab. Sound effects made with Bfxr. (If you are an artist interested in working with me I'm open)