The most difficult thing for a video game to represent is emotion and psychology, and it can be argued that psychology is more important in wrestling than athleticism.
With that in mind, I'm curious how PWX will approach this. Listen: if SvR tightens up the AI, and makes some adjustments to the counter frequency, it can be a solid wrestling game... for what it is. What it cannot do is simulate the psychology of wrestling.
Much like Dave here, I have spent countless hours thinking to myself "How would I do it"... unlike Dave, I'll never raise capital and venture out to do it myself because, quite honestly, if I had that kind of capital, I'd probably open a small time promotion here in Fargo. I'd fail, and I'd be broke, but goddamn it I'd go to my grave knowing I'd tried.
But I digress. Digital Wrestling Psychology... and for the misinformed, wrestling psychology is about two things: The heel getting heat, so the face can get over, so the heel can get heat, so the face can get over... etc. etc. etc.. How do you simulate the flow of a wrestling match in a video game? You can't make it go the way I real fight would go, because that would be an MMA game... it wouldn't simulate the simulated, yet infinitely more interesting, matches in wrestling.
TNA Impact has a huge advantage in this regard because, quite honestly, TNA doesn't use much psychology. Their brand of wrestling is about action... and that's fine, but I think a wrestling game that's based on fictional wrestlers should attempt to hit both audiences... those who want traditional, slowly, psychological and emotional matches, or action oriented matches. This can be done simply by adding a few adjustable features in the options menu screen, eh?
Personally, I like psychology. I like workers. I want a match to tell me the story of one guy trying to win the match, the other guy trying not to lose the match, sudden turn arounds, etc.. Momentum needs to be a factor. But how do you do this in digital form where the players really are concerned about winning?
I'm curious to hear from Dave and the rest of the staff on how this has been approached from the conceptual stage until now.
Well most wrestling matches are dramatized to kind of be the perfect match where everything happens movie-esque, the only way to emulate that is by putting on a good match, and it's not going to happen every match nor do I believe it should. There are rare games when you feel you did something amazing by making a comeback from a beating, but if it happened every game I think it would ruin the point.
I think THQ/AKI's spirit meter in No Mercy (and previous titles) captured momentum shifts the best. I don't think a developer can make a better system regarding momentum without sacrificing the competitive nature of a wrestling game. I know pro wrestling is a work, but when I watch it I suspend my belief. It is no different when playing a wrestling game. The last thing I want to be made constantly aware of is that the two competitors in the ring are not really trying to hurt each other. I think this is a point where you have to err on the side of competition, instead of story telling and psychology. However, I think a momentum system like the AKI games implemented is a good compromise.
Programming AI, in my extremely limited experience, is about conditions. If this, then that. Wrestling psychology is at it's most basic, a formula. Certain things get booed, certain things get cheered, and because there is a logical system to it, programming AI to follow that system should not be impossible.
I think the problem with THQ's game is not that they CAN'T do it, it's that they make no effort to. Each year of development from Yukes sees 3-5 very specific areas targeted for improvement. While they say they work on AI features every year, it has not been the focus of an overhaul in at least the 6 years I've been playing.
Just make ONE thing work better than THQ/AKI's games, and the psychology level'll go up by at least a factor of 25: NEAR-FALLS. A SINGLE near-fall near the end of the match could up the emotion SIGNIFICANTLY.
I think I'm the only one who liked the way Anchor Inc did their momentum meter in the first Raw game, I liked the fact that you had to share a momentum meter instead of having extra meters all over the screen and racing for your finisher. But that's just me.