Welcome to Wrestling Gamers United Newsletter #315
1) Uprising is... 2) Link of the Week 3) Question of the Week
1) Uprising is... *************************
Everyone knows that Uprising is essentially a casual little wrestling game aimed at showing where PWX development is heading and showcasing the basic game mechanics like movement, striking, grappling, flying moves, submissions, etc. This week I'd like to get into a bit more detail so everyone knows what to expect when our little baby is released (soon I hope) in terms of gameplay, move sets, reversals, etc.
Uprising is what some people refer to as a "vertical slice" demonstration of what we intend PWX to ultimately be. The only game mode is 1p vs. 1p or 1p vs. CPU exhibition match, no DQ rules and pinfall only. The idea is to show "one of everything" in terms of available move slots. Each character has three standing strikes (weak, medium, strong) and three levels of front grapple (weak, medium, strong). Each character has at least a few moves in each move slot for front grapples and there are a few common moves shared between some characters. More than one character can do an arm drag for example. All characters can also switch back and forth between standing grapple positions. Like most other wrestling games you can switch between front and back grapple positions but I'm also thrilled to announce that we successfully resurrected the side grapple position from the Giant Gram wrestling games. You can switch directly from front to back grapple position by holding the button or you can just tap it to switch from front to side. Tap it again to go from side to back. You can also switch back to the front grapple position directly from the side or back position. Overkill? Possibly, especially considering we only animated one side grapple move so far (an elbow smash to the back of the head) but we wanted to have this system in place so we can develop a chain wrestling system next. Mission accomplished in that respect.
Uprising will have running strikes but no running grapples. There are a variety of strikes to downed opponents (knee drop, flipping splash, elbow drop, etc.) and submissions for every situation (opponent lying face down at head, face up at head, face down at feet, etc.). There is an actual pin button and you don't have to guess which move is a pinning move as in Fire Pro games.
You can exit the ring and stand on the apron. You can also run on the apron. If you get lucky you can also grapple an opponent from the apron to the ring and powerbomb him (or her) to the floor. You can climb the turnbuckle from either inside the ring or outside on the apron. The weapon in Uprising is a steel chair which you can also bring inside the ring. It can be dropped anywhere and picked up again. It does not disappear when dropped. With the chair you can tap or hold the strike button for a weak jab or strong swing. You can also hit a downed opponent with the chair. If an opponent is on the apron you can knock them off onto the floor with a strong chair shot. You can taunt with a weapon. Speaking of taunts, there are standing, apron, and turnbuckle taunts.
Reversals are animated from the grapple position. Move specific reversals had to be saved for the next release. There are separate shoulder buttons assigned to block either grapples or strikes.
Of course, you can run up the stairs and fight up there if you wish as well as jump from the balcony into the ring.
The AI is very basic but it works. Our next goal is to work individual behavior into the mix.
In short, Uprising is tight little 'coffee break' game as is. Boot it up and beat someone up, get your wrasslin' fix. This next week coming up will decide if we ship it as is or if we go ahead with another company and their plan to refund all pre orders and give Uprising away for free with online multiplayer. Or, do we go with another company that wants a story mode added instead and expansion packs every three to six months? Wednesday or Thursday we find out if the free distribution option will be funded or not. Personally, I think that would be a fun option to explore. The matter is complicated somewhat by the fact that one of our major investors gets approval rights over distribution so even if we do get the funding for the free distribution it seems we'll need to still get another level of approval. Investors generally want to get their money back so free distribution isn't exactly an easy sell.
The crew needlessly to say is eager to get working on one option or the other. We've been spinning our wheels for the last few months and the uncertainty isn't always easy to live with. Not knowing if you'll get a raise or lose your job isn't a big deal when you live for free with your parents but when you making a living at this it can be stressful as hell.
But on the plus side, at least it gave me time to clean the carpets at the studio. Always look at the bright side, eh? Darrell also rendered up some shots that we'll be using to promote Uprising (character bios, etc) as well as updating our brutally out of date Gamespot page. I hope to get those pics to Eric so he can post them on the website for y'all this weekend.
2) Link of the Week ********************
Don't let anyone tell you WWE is the most childish wrestling there is:
I love that we have side grapples in Uprising and I want to add more grapple positions. It would (in my opinion) be a great way to add depth and variety. However, maybe you've played games like King of Coliseum and Legends of Wrestling and didn't like that the match pace slowed somewhat compared to other games because of the added positions. So what do you think? Can it be done well and should we pursue it? Or should we keep everything simple?
About the link of the week Read the rest about the Mucha Lucha characters :D I used to watch that show. Can you believe they used only Flash to make the animation?