1996 Mod for 2008 Coming Soon

[BurningHamster]

Just an update on my old postings in the 2007 mod forum. I am now focusing on making this project for TEW 2008 and look to have the [B][I]beta released within the next 3 weeks [/I][/B]or so. I understand this mod has been a long time coming and with the release of 2008 many are eager to have mods ready to play as soon as possible, but rather than rush through a poorly executed mod I am working hard to make this as detailed, accurate and fun as possible. I am excited to say that this is coming along well, I currently have around 1000 workers in the database with more still to come. 20 starting promotions (and more to open later in the game) and a real global feel to the mod with the US, Japanese and Mexican wrestling scenes all presented in detail. I am even more excited to say that justtxyank is working on a pic pack for this mod, with cuts in a similar style to the DOTT pictures. The ones I have seen so far have been nothing short of excellent and will no doubt add an authentic mid 90's feel to the mod. For those of you who may have missed my old postings in the 2007 mods forum, Here is a slightly updated version of what to expect from the mod when it is released. [QUOTE] [I]1996 … The Monday Night Wars …. nWo …. The Attitude Era …. The Rise of ECW .. The explosion of hardcore wrestling ….. Lucha Libre crossing the border ….. The rise of the internet and smart marks …. This was a turbulent and exciting time in wrestling, a boom period built upon rabid competition. This was the era that new stars were made, wrestling was redefined, an era that changed the course of the business for ever.[/I] [B] The Promotions UNITED STATES World Wrestling Federation [/B] The promotion which brought wrestling into the mainstream with Wrestlemania during the 1980s has been in somewhat of a slump over the past few years. Many of the stars of the ‘80s are gone and the WWF has been relying on a few men such as Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Diesel, Razor Ramon. The WWF undercard consists of a cartoonish pageant of hillbillies, garbage men and fitness enthusiasts. With a number of up and coming youngsters like Steve Austin and Hunter Hearst Helmsley and a controversial writer named Vince Russo, WWF looks set to take a new, edgy direction. The challenge for the WWF will be to quickly establish new stars and try to find a way to compete with the more talented wrestlers and established stars on the WCW roster. [B] World Championship Wrestling[/B] Ted Turner’s WCW is under the command of Eric Bischoff who has seemingly been given a blank cheque book and told to go headhunting. With an already formidable roster combining major names such as Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage with some of the finest wrestlers in the world like Guerrero, Malenko and Benoit, WCW looks set to take the fight to WWF as the two promotions struggle for supremacy during the exciting period which would be known as The Monday Night Wars. The challenge for WCW will be to manage the egos of the popular yet aging veterans while creating new stars to fill their shoes. [B] Extreme Championship Wrestling[/B] During the mid 90’s ECW was on fire, their controversial approach and gritty style of hardcore wrestling revolutionized the business while making stars out of a number of workers who would otherwise have gone unnoticed. While they have a ton of momentum and a youthful roster on their side, WCW’s talent scouts keep a close eye in ECW and have already raided the promotion to gain the likes of Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Eddy Guerrero, and so the challenge of ECW will be to continue to create new stars and keep costs low while facing the likelihood that WCW will poach much of their talent. All this while trying to bring a violent, alternative style of wrestling to a larger audience in a far more conservative time, especially in regards to TV. ECW stars include Shane Douglas, Taz, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Raven and The Sandman. [B] United States Wrestling Association[/B] Memphis Wrestling was at this point steadily sinking. The style was a mixture of cheap entertainment and outdated territorial era wrestling which in the age of the Monday Night Wars looked distinctly out of place on the wrestling landscape. Used almost as a developmental federation for the WWF, a sort of precursor to Ohio Valley Wrestling, USWA was primarily built around Jerry Lawler but also had a number of second generation wrestlers such as Jeff Jarrett and Jesse James Armstrong as well as some veterans making appearances like Tommy Rich, The Rock N Roll Express, the Moondogs and Koko B. Ware. For USWA, the main challenge will be to survive and somehow stay relevant in a rapidly evolving wrestling landscape. [B] East Coast Wrestling Association[/B] One of the few small indies I have decided to include in this mod, ECWA is based in Deleware and is largely unknown outside of its home area. At this point the ECWA has not yet introduced their Super 8 tournament, and simply promote small, family-oriented shows. Not so much a competitive promotion as a developer of young talent, ECWA boasts a number of future stars including Steve Corino, Lance Diamond (later Simon Diamond), Kid Flash (Later Billy Kidman) and ‘Dangerous’ Devon Storm as well as long-time ECWA stalwarts like Ace Darling, Cheetah Master and Boogie Woogie Brown. [B] All Pro Wrestling[/B] Based in Northern California, this small indy promotion was formed in 1991 by carny sleaze Roland Alexander and is based around graduates of their Boot Camp training facility. APW is fast becoming a hotbed of future talent with the likes of Michael Modest, Matt Hyson (Spike Dudley) and Mike Lockwood (Crash Holly) and Steve Rizzono all working for the company. For All Pro Wrestling the challenge will be to continue to grow as a company and find new talent as graduates will naturally start looking for opportunities in the larger promotions. [B] NWA New Jersey[/B] Following the controversy surrounding ECW breaking away from the NWA and the NWA Title being thrown down by Shane Douglas, The NWA was perhaps at its weakest since the beginning of the organisation. While a few NWA territories still existed, it was Dennis Coraluzzo who was dedicated to seeing the NWA name live on and who controlled the NWA Heavyweight title. His perennial champion was Dan Severn who along with a roster of up and comers, indy no-names and a few second string veterans continue to run small shows in the shadow of their far more successful former ally, ECW. [B]PUERTO RICO World Wrestling Council[/B] Puerto Rico is in wrestling terms the land that time forgot. Despite the time period, WWC continues as it has done since the territorial days, with a solid but unspectacular mixture of old school grappling and bloody brawls. While it has never attracted the same level of talent since the murder of Bruiser Brody, WWC steadily imports wrestlers from around the world to complement their own Caribbean talent. Despite his age, Carlos Colon remains a powerful figure both in and out of the ring, and along with the likes of Invader #1, Bronco #1 and Huracan Castillo Jr. the legacy of Puerto Rican wrestling continues. Also on the roster are a young Canadian tag team consisting of Sean Morley and Shane Sewell, known as The Canadian Glamour Boys. [B]MEXICO Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre[/B] The oldest active promotion in the world and one of the most consistent over the years, CMLL (also known as EMLL) have built a massive fanbase in Mexico thanks to their traditional approach to lucha libre. Long the dominant promotion south of the border, CMLL has been challenged in more recent times by upstart promotions such as Antonio Pena’s AAA. Despite this, CMLL continues to deliver solid, consistent wrestling rather than by trying to change their style. Some of CMLL’s stars are Dos Caras, Atlantis, El Hijo Del Santo, Blue Demon Jr., Dr Wagner Jr. and Los Brazos. [B]Asistencia Asesoria Y Administracion[/B] Formed by Antonio Pena and made up largely of workers from within Pena’s clique not satisfied working for the highly traditional CMLL. AAA have grown quickly and delivered some of the most exciting wrestling ever seen in Mexico, most notably the When World’s Collide pay per view. Unlike CMLL, AAA has not hesitated to push younger talent and the result of this has been exciting and agile young workers like Rey Mysterio Jr, Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera quickly becoming stars. Other popular workers for AAA include Konnan, Volador, Fuerza Guerrera and Los Villanos. [B]JAPAN New Japan Pro Wrestling[/B] The King of Sports, Antonio Inoki’s New Japan is arguably neck and neck in the race with All Japan to be the top promotion in Japan. Lead by ‘The Three Musketeers’ Shinya Hashimoto, Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono, New Japan have maintained their popularity by taking a different approach than the more traditionalist All Japan. While AJPW remains largely isolated, NJPW works with a number of promotions including WCW and WAR which has allowed New Japan to offer a much greater variety of matches. NJPW also has the stronger junior heavyweight division with the likes of Jushin Liger and Koji Kanemoto leading the way. However, New Japan is perhaps not as consistent as All Japan and must be careful not to simply rely on talent trades to find workers but also build their young lions into stars. [B]All Japan Pro Wrestling[/B] All Japan during the early to mid 1990s is often considered as some of the greatest wrestling ever seen. With a roster that includes the likes of Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, Akiyama, Akira Taue, Stan Hansen and ‘Dr Death’ Steve Williams as well as aging stars Jumbo Tsuruta and Giant Baba, there is little wonder how they attained such high praise. While the talent level is very high, All Japan does have some weaknesses. A very limited junior heavyweight division at a time when high-flying is becoming very popular makes them appear a little out of touch with the overall trends in wrestling. This coupled with the isolationist approach of Giant Baba in comparison to New Japan’s cross promotional efforts with the likes of WAR and WCW limits the possibilities and number of potential matchups. [B]Wrestle Association ‘R’[/B] Genichiro Tenryu’s WAR promotion is only a few years old at this point, but has had some success thanks to the name value of Tenryu as well as a working agreement with New Japan. WAR has some exciting young talent in the junior heavyweight division such as Chris Jericho, Lance Storm and Ultimo Dragon. However, WAR has a relatively weak heavyweight division and is constantly struggling to find top draws to face Tenryu and also suffers from having one of the most unusual misfit rosters in wrestling. WAR will need to find some other major names to join the promotion while somehow holding on to their talented juniors who are in high demand outside Japan. [B]Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling[/B] Following the second but not final retirement of Atsushi Onita in 1995, FMW has been struggling to create new stars. Hayabusa has been the man chosen to lead the company into the future but after putting Onita over in his retirement match, Hayabusa is not yet really a true star in the minds of the fans. With a number of other early FMW stars currently working for other promotions, FMW must build the likes of Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, W*ING Kanemura, Megumi Kudo and The Gladiator Mike Awesome into major names as well as possibly steal back some of their past stars from IWA Japan while being careful not to let the more frequent schedule and violent matches take too much of a physical toll on their wrestlers. [B]Michinoku Pro Wrestling[/B] Formed in 1993 by The Great Sasuke, this lucha style promotion has an extremely talented but rather inexperienced roster. Kaientai DX has recently formed and during 1996 they would become one of the hottest stables in wrestling after Taka Michinoku and Shoichi Funaki joined Dick Togo, Men’s Teioh and Shiryu in a feud against the Sekigun which includes the likes of Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Super Delfin and Gran Naniwa. Michinoku Pro could rise quickly but must also face the possibility of their talent being poached by the larger promotions. This, along with the small roster and limited finances will be the main challenges for Michinoku Pro. [B]Big Japan Pro Wrestling[/B] Only recently formed and still made up primarily of young, inexperienced trainees of The Great Kabuki; Big Japan is the smallest of the deathmatch promotions in Japan. While they do have some more experienced workers on the roster, the key to running Big Japan is to develop their young workers into the violent psychopaths they would later become during the Deathmatch Revolution period. Major stars are few but Shoji Nakamaki and Kendo Nagasaki are capable at the top of the card along with US imports Action Jackson and Jason Knight complementing the young talent such as Yosuke Kobayashi (later Abdullah Kobayashi) and Seiji Yamakawa (later Ryuji Yamakawa). [B]IWA-Japan[/B] 1995 was a big year for IWA Japan. Their King of the Death Match tournament, including the final between Cactus Jack and Terry Funk, was a big success and would go down in history as one of the most violent shows ever staged. Unfortunately in late 1995 the main man in charge of booking overseas talent, Victor Quinones, would leave IWA-Japan and without his influence it is unsure whether the promotion will be able to hold on to their top foreign stars. A new direction may be in order if this company is to survive. Major Stars include Cactus Jack, Shoji Nakamaki, Mr Pogo and Tarzan Goto. [B]All Japan Women’s[/B] The longest running active promotion in Japan also happens to be the greatest women’s company in the history of wrestling. While AJW is perhaps on a downswing after some phenomenal matches in the early 1990s, they still have a formidable roster which includes the likes of Manami Toyota, Kyoko Inoue, Aja Kong, Akira Hokuto and Takako Inoue. While AJW look likely to remain on top of the joshi world, their main challenge will come from a shallower talent pool as joshi wrestling declines in popularity, as well as competition from an increasing number of women’s promotions each trying to gain a foothold on a shrinking market. [B]JWP Project[/B] The second largest women’s promotion in Japan by a fairly wide margin, JWP Project rose out of the ashes of the original Japan Women’s Pro and use many of the same workers. While JWP cannot boast the same level of talent as AJW, they do have a solid roster including the likes of Mayumi Ozaki, Dynamite Kansai and Cuty Suzuki. The main challenge of JWP will come from the growth of smaller upstart joshi promotions such as GAEA who look to challenge JWP for their place on the joshi scene. [B]GAEA[/B] Chigusa Nagoya’s recently formed promotion made up of her young trainees, GAEA is at this stage still a very small company who would hold monthly shows at Korakuen Hall. While they have some good young talent, GAEA is lacking in major stars and has been using a working agreement with FMW to fill gaps in their roster. GAEA will need to make some big signings in order to establish themselves on the joshi scene. Their stars include Chigusa Nagoya, Lioness Asuka and the young Meiko Satomura.[/QUOTE]

[angeldelayette]

Really looking forward to this one!

[D16NJD16]

This is going to be a good one I'm almost certain.

[justtxyank]

I have to say that I am pumped to play it and thrilled to be working on graphics. I'm so excited about it that I actually gave up cutting DOTT and KYKY images for myself entirely and have only been cutting for this! I'm not sure if BH would want me to release any samples ahead of time, so I won't, but I'm pretty pleased with most of them. Because of the detail BH is putting into the mod, I've really tried to nail the specific year for gimmicks and stuff. He's been great and providing accurate gimmicks for all the workers.

[D16NJD16]

[QUOTE=justtxyank;437690]I have to say that I am pumped to be playing it and thrilled to be working on graphics. I'm so excited about it that I actually gave up cutting DOTT and KYKY images for myself entirely and have only been cutting for this! I'm not sure if BH would want me to release any samples ahead of time, so I won't, but I'm pretty pleased with most of them. Because of the detail BH is putting into the mod, I've really tried to nail the specific year for gimmicks and stuff. He's been great and providing accurate gimmicks for all the workers.[/QUOTE] yeah your cuts are awesome bro, hope you dont mind me using some of them for my mod. It wouldnt look the same without really.

[justtxyank]

[QUOTE=D16NJD16;437696]yeah your cuts are awesome bro, hope you dont mind me using some of them for my mod. It wouldnt look the same without really.[/QUOTE] As I've said before, anything I work on is public domain for the community as far as I'm concerned. I require no one to ask my permission and no credit. All I ask for is feedback when requested. :) Although, the cuts that I'm doing specifically for this mod I kind of lend the rights to them to Burninghamster. It's up to him whether they get used for other mods. Edit: I appreciate the compliment by the way :)

[BurningHamster]

I don't mind if you let people see a sample of your work, justtxyank. It really is looking awesome so far and I could not have hoped to have a more talented man volunteer his skills. I also have no problem with D16NJD16 using any work you do for this mod, while the pics may be a few years late for his 1992 mod but if he finds that they fit he might as well make use of them.

[justtxyank]

Seeking help on this pic pack. If you are interested in assisting, please send me a message. I need help tracking down some pictures and maybe a little help with cutting. All help is appreciated.

[paulskln]

some pics you needed i couldnt send in private message for some reason.

[Sartagis]

Looks good, definitely gonna try it as WAR, FMW or M-Pro.

[WCW Mark]

I am very excited about this one, just one question, what is the actual start date gonna be. Is it 1st January 1996 or another date, my preference would be for the day after the Bash at the Beach where Hogan turned heel. But thats just because I want to do WCW vs NWO right

[D16NJD16]

[QUOTE=WCW Mark;444984]I am very excited about this one, just one question, what is the actual start date gonna be. Is it 1st January 1996 or another date, my preference would be for the day after the Bash at the Beach where Hogan turned heel. But thats just because I want to do WCW vs NWO right[/QUOTE] Couldnt you argue though that it would be even cooler to have it start prior to the NWO, so that if you decide you want to do it or not(and not everyone will), you can start from the very beginning, by negotiating Hall and Nash away from the WWF, and maybe using Bret Hart instead of Hogan which was originally planned? I dont know, to me it would be more fun playing it out. And I think the answer from the peek I've had of the mod is January 1st 1996 anyway.

[troy10]

I though it was from just before Hall and Nash were signed because I remember BurningHamster posting a question asking whether Hall and Nash should be on P.P.A. contracts so they could be stolen, which leads me to believe that it is around mid 1996.

[D16NJD16]

[QUOTE=troy10;445053]I though it was from just before Hall and Nash were signed because I remember BurningHamster posting a question asking whether Hall and Nash should be on P.P.A. contracts so they could be stolen, which leads me to believe that it is around mid 1996.[/QUOTE] Could be that too yeah.

[keon]

Can someone tell me what the potential rating is for?

[shamelessposer]

[QUOTE=troy10;445053]I though it was from just before Hall and Nash were signed because I remember BurningHamster posting a question asking whether Hall and Nash should be on P.P.A. contracts so they could be stolen, which leads me to believe that it is around mid 1996.[/QUOTE] Seems like the better choice to me. It gives the player the choice of whether or not the nWo angle will happen at all, or even to have it go forward with different members. An nWo comprised of Curt Hennig, Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior would obviously have gone down a [i]much[/i] different path.

[BurningHamster]

To clear up the start date question it is the beginning of 1996, So yeah January 1. And yes I did ask at one point whether Hall and Nash should be on PPA contracts but that was when I was working on TEW 07 which lacked the option of setting contract length. I am going to work contracts so that most of the major movements around this time can be replicated or ignored. The chance to recreate history as it was is there as is the chance to take history in a completely different direction. While Bash at the Beach would be a fun time to start the mod, I like the start of 1996 as it gives you a chance to build up some momentum before going into some of the major moments of the year. Plus, if the mod started in July we would miss the chance of recreating the birth of Austin 3:16 for those who want to play as the WWF. Plus there are so many other things which happened in 1996 by starting at the beginning of the year it gives you huge options as to which direction you want to take the game. Keon - Potential is to decide a person's ability to improve. Excellent potential means someone could become one of the best, low potential means someone isn't going to get much better. Sartagis - Good to see someone interested in the Japanese promotions, FMW and M-Pro are two of my favourites and I am pretty happy with how they play (although FMW's product is harder to nail in 08 than 07 I think). WAR is something I am less sure about. I got their weird random 6 man tag matches down, I got Tenryu topping the card against whoever he can find most of the time but my viewing of WAR is probably the most limited of all the Japanese promotions I am including in this game so if there is a weak Puro promotion this might be it. Hope you can give me some feedback when the beta is out.

[justtxyank]

I just want to let everyone know that BH is putting a ton of effort into making this mod internationally sound. I'm working hard to get the pics right and from the sounds of the stuff that BH tells me, this mod is going to rock hard.

[keon]

[QUOTE=BurningHamster;445122] Keon - Potential is to decide a person's ability to improve. Excellent potential means someone could become one of the best, low potential means someone isn't going to get much better. .[/QUOTE] So would someone Edge or HBK's potential be low cause they're already at their peak? And if so would you give them like a C or a D in potential?

[BurningHamster]

[QUOTE=keon;445135]So would someone Edge or HBK's potential be low cause they're already at their peak? And if so would you give them like a C or a D in potential?[/QUOTE] Well for my mod set in 1996 I would leave HBK's potential as random, he has already peaked and the game will take that into account so not worth me adding anything. Edge on the other hand was at this point still a rookie, so I would give him high potential as he has the ability to go a lot further and develop into a better worker. So yes, I think you are understanding the stat.

[shamelessposer]

[QUOTE=keon;445135]So would someone Edge or HBK's potential be low cause they're already at their peak? And if so would you give them like a C or a D in potential?[/QUOTE] A worker at or past his peak would not have good potential because for the most part his potential has already been achieved. But there could be "late bloomer" exceptions like Dave Batista or young guys who will never amount to anything no matter how much they're put in the ring with superior opponents.

[troy10]

Not true actually Hamster, I believe Adam mentioned somewhere that even people at or past there prime should still have true potentials. Even now someone like The Rock should have "Excellent" but once he reaches or is already at his peak age, it will not change. So I am pretty sure that means that 1996 Sexton Hardcastle and 2008 Edge would have the same potential.

[BurningHamster]

[QUOTE=troy10;445140]Not true actually Hamster, I believe Adam mentioned somewhere that even people at or past there prime should still have true potentials. Even now someone like The Rock should have "Excellent" but once he reaches or is already at his peak age, it will not change. So I am pretty sure that means that 1996 Sexton Hardcastle and 2008 Edge would have the same potential.[/QUOTE] Hmmm thanks for pointing that out Troy, I'll have to do a bit more work making sure everyone's potential is set to something reasonable then, though like several things Mr. Ryland does I miss the logic of it, but then i am no programmer. Still struggling to fully understand some of these new additions to 08.

[justtxyank]

Update: Teaser Title Screen Released [IMG]http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/2456/theproject6uz6.jpg[/IMG]

[D16NJD16]

Really good screen and I think this mod is going to be good enough to go right along with it