Welcome to Wrestling Gamers United Newsletter #467
1) Blender 2) New Forum 3) Finlay Fake 4) WWE PC Game Canceled
1) Blender ************** Woooo! I'm really getting the hang of how this PWX game works. Our lead programmer trained me to adjust adjust some things in the source code and I've been polishing stuff up all week. There are two things that I can't do anything about, though. First, Some animations just plain suck and are technically just wrong. The last frame of any animation should always match the first frame of the next animation. That's not always the case and when it happens you can seen a visible (snap) between animations. It's noticeable but it's not too grotesque. I'm told we wont see such snapping once we have animations blending added before release but we'll have to wait and see. They use the same blending technique in the old AKI N64 game and you probably never even noticed.
Another early development decision that will bite Uprising in the ass is our character models and the way they're put together. We decided early on that Uprising would not have an in-game CAW tool, just open mod support. So each character was modeled and textured as it's own stand alone character file. This was all fine and good except that we recently upgraded the way all of our character models, animations, and textures are loaded into the game and do you know what this new system works perfectly for? Create-a-wrestler. So we find ourselves in a similar situation as the early Smackdown games in that we could let you create new wrestlers from scratch but you couldn't really edit the existing roster. So even though we said there would be no CAW in Uprising you can expect us to at least try and implement some kind of basic editor to hold you over until we can reboot our art content for a proper kick-ass CAW.
2) New Forum ***************** I'm really excited about where this new Axe Bomber project is going. They just added a huge new forum and I'd like to see it really take off so please drop by and say hi. Read the rules before posting and help build a respectful new community:
http://axebombermag.com/forum/
Axe Bomber has the potential to become a large very well run community for all wrestling gamers with a focus perhaps on love for imports, indies. and rare gems. I wish it well. I suppose Gaming Ring fills a similar niche but it's always good to see something fresh and new on the scene.
3) Finlay Fake ************ Don't ask Fit Finlay if wrestling is fake. Just don't:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFvmJt82eLM
4) WWE PC Game Cancelled ********************* Threatened by the impending release of PWX Uprising, THQ recently announced that they have canceled their previously announced WWE Online PC game:
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/67369
I would like to take a moment and apologize. It was never my intention to deal such a crippling blow THQ and cause a WWE game to be canceled. They must have spent a lot of time and money developing WWE Online and I know their decision to quit wasn't made lightly. But when faced with the cultural sensation and commercial juggernaut that is Pro Wrestling X I can see where the situation must have looked hopeless to them. I still maintain that there is enough room in the market for two PC wrestling games but who am I to argue with the experience and expertise of the THQ/WWE marketing geniuses? They did the right thing for the well being of their shareholders and their families and I respect that. I only hope there are no lasting hard feelings and that we can all still laugh about it over a beer in the future. It's just business.
Chin up, THQ, we all make mistakes.
In the meantime and in between time, that's it, another edition of Wrestling Gamers United. Thank you for your support, Dave Wishnowski
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