Welcome to Wrestling Gamers United Newsletter #296
1) You Spin me Round 2) Trailer Trash 2) PWX Forums 2) Link of the Week 3) Question of the Week
1) You Spin me Round ************************************
Sorry for the late newsletter today guys. I've been interviewing new job applicants today with more to come in a few minutes so this newsletter may be a bit on the short side.
Grappling. In my eyes grappling between two players is the heart of any good wrestling game. It has to work perfectly and the more ways you can grapple a player the deeper the gameplay. The King of Coliseum series is a great example. Giant Gram 2000 is another one. So this week while Bill focused on tightening up player collision and rotation (he did a great job by the way!) Sardeep worked on expanding our grapple states to more than just weak/strong/front/back. Like every other feature we've added in the past it didn't go perfectly from the start. Wrestlers would move around each other from one grapple position to the next but often times end up out of sync making it impossible to pull off moves from a back grapple (for example) as previously done before we added new grapple positions. It took almost all of this week but it is working now complete with a new move tested from the new grapple position. So yay, one thing PWX will have that no WWE game has. How much something like a new grapple position will matter to most people has yet to be determined (is Hulk Hogan in the game?) but at least we're trying to add some new game mechanics even for our first release, PWX: Uprising. It's all about building that solid as possible foundation to expand on even if that foundation is teeny weeny.
We've got a long way to go yet though. The AI needs a lot of work, the rope physics are non existent yet, and we need the menu done. The menu is a pretty small scope job though. Eric actually already has a sweet looking point to start from. Speaking of Eric, he's using some embarassing crew photos to put together a logo for Uprising. Despite the laughable source material he has to work with everyone here agrees that it's going to look really good and reflect the feel of the project's history.
2) Trailer Trash *****************
Darrell and Tim have been pumping out new video clips for the new trailer video and they're looking really good. They all deserve a lot of credit for improvements to the overall package. The Hammerlock is really buffed out compared to the last videos and the new characters are an improvement in quality as well. I'm really happy with it. Even the addition of a Skytrain (which I was totally against but the whole crew fought for) adds a lot of life to the game's feel. For anyone concerned about us spending time on level design instead of gameplay (and rightly so) it needs to be stated that all of the work building level improvements (modeling, texturing, animating) was done by Kendal who pretty much donated his time to do it. We'll have those new video clips ready for the trailer contest next weekend if all continues to go well.
2) PWX Forums *************
The PWX forums have been a huge learning experience. I'm glad we have them, we need them, but it clearly can be a full time job modding them and HUGE props need to go to Eric for taking recent steps to polish up the content on the forum. I want those forums to be a place where everyone of all levels of interest in PWX can gather and have friendly discussions on topic. I also want to thank everyone on the forum who has stepped up and started interesting on-topic discussions. I only wish I could be there for hours every day participating. Stupid running a stupid company making a stupid wrestling game stupid hell...
One last nod to Monitor, a guy you've probably noticed on the forums who has great patience with new forum members. It's not always easy for a new forum member to feel comfortable asking questions the old timers might have heard a million times so thanks again to Monitor for being there to welcome them aboard with a friendly reply.
Recently Karen Belcher left ProWrestlingDaily.com to start her own pro wrestling news site. She's been a huge help to us over the years (hooked us up with the Tips and Tricks editor and April Hunter's phone number...) and I would really appreciate it if you could all help return the favor by taking a look at her new site which features news, articles, and the ever popular wrestling Babe of the Day:
www.ProWrestlingDigest.com
Thanks again Karen!
3) Question of the Week ************************
As we get closer to releasing Uprising we need to take a look at what's left to do and what should, if possible, be left off the task list for the first release. What's really required of Uprising? Now, that is a HUGE debate that will continue until the minute the first person downloads the game but for now I thought I'd throw one simple item at you and see how you feel about it:
Running chair strikes.
We've got standing chair jabs, swings, and strikes to downed opponents but you can't run with a chair yet. So the question is, should we worry about that for Uprising or spend the time (roughly a few days of programmer and animator time) on polishing and bug testing instead?
Please email your suggestions to Dave@WrestlingGamersUnited.com
In the meantime and in-between time, that's it. Another edition of Wrestling Gamers United.
Uh...why run with a chair?Chairs are good for static shots only.No need to waste time on that.Do it in the second PWX game :) Gonna look at the LOTW as well :)
I don't know spudz it's just a couple of days making it (according to the letter) but if you guys think that Uprising should be released earlier it's not a big deal after all we don't see many people running with chairs
I definitely don't think running chair shots are a must have at this stage. But I would like to see them implemented further down the road. The selling animation for this should be different from a standing chair shot as well since a running chair shot would cause far more impact.
I emailed my answer, but it's basically the same thing I see here. Running Chair Shots will be nice, but aren't needed yet. That's something that can be worked on for the full release of PWX.
Yeah I mean uprising is going to pass with no running chairshots it's not like everyone was looking forward for the game just so they can bash a guy in the the head while running
Simple question, simple answer: Nobody shits on Fire Pro for not having running chair shots (only for using the running-button to grab them ^-^), so why should anyone shit on PWX for not having them?
[quote][cite] Tonzophunn:[/cite]I love a running Chair shot, especially Shane O Mac style, but they are not necessary for the initial build.[/quote] Hey remember the cost to cost at WM 17 he did awesome!
In regards to running chair shots. I think that working on in ring game play until it is solid and offers many unique features is top priority. I'm going to be saying that for a long while as all of you know. That said, I think that running chair shots should be the very next thing on the list. I think its a unique feature that would provide for exiting, match changing moments and an opportunity to work on balancing that type of feature.
I could write a Christmas list of in ring features I want more but a wrestling game needs folding chairs. Because of that I think a fantastic job needs to be done with folding chairs before any other outside of the ring or hardcore game mechanics are introduced. I think having improved chair mechanics would greatly improve the fore mentioned aspects of the game. Other than the running chair shots, I think being able to do moves onto them is something that should not be over looked.
[quote][cite] PunkDraco:[/cite]Other than the running chair shots, I think being able to do moves onto them is something that should not be over looked.[/quote]
Excellent idea, this is something I've been anticipating in wrestling games for a while myself.
[quote][cite] InTheZone:[/cite][quote][cite] PunkDraco:[/cite]Other than the running chair shots, I think being able to do moves onto them is something that should not be over looked.[/quote]
Excellent idea, this is something I've been anticipating in wrestling games for a while myself.[/quote] Onto them?
Yes. As in doing a DDT onto a chair laying on the mat. Actually having that do extra damage as opposed to looking cooler like most video games do. You can do the move on to a weapon in several games, but none of them do any more damage, they just look like they should.
I thnik they are also hoping for things like Sabu's leg drop with a chair, etc.
You could do a running bulldog onto the bakc of a sitting chair so their neck hits the top edge, and call it the decapitator.. Maybe that'd be too much tho :)