RELEASE! 1996 The War Begins Beta

[ccfc1927]

looks like i was having a stupid moment!

 

burninghamster> the download link was down for a little while earlier, (page not responding), dollardollar may be reffering to that?

[Johnny Fenoli]

Any pic packs that will "plug in" for this? Any ideas fellers?

 

Oh and thanks Hammy!

[Woodsmeister]

you have Golddust but im sure its just Goldust.

 

just wanted to point i asked (a few seconds before this post) why you had WWF on tuesday but i checked and it was taped on tuesdays was just confused why WCW was shown on the first monday and WWF wasnt.

[Chuck]

Any pic packs that will "plug in" for this? Any ideas fellers?

 

Oh and thanks Hammy!

 

The OCD in me kicked in last night and I downloaded the Montreal Aftermath pic pack and am going through the WWF/WCW/ECW Rosters and assigning them pictures from there... if they don't match then I go to to thewho87ewr's photobucket page and find a picture... I love that guy.

[BurningHamster]

you have Golddust but im sure its just Goldust.

 

just wanted to point i asked (a few seconds before this post) why you had WWF on tuesday but i checked and it was taped on tuesdays was just confused why WCW was shown on the first monday and WWF wasnt.

 

Yeah you are right on Goldust, it'll be fixed in the next version.

 

And yep, pretty sure back at this point RAW was prerecorded the previous tuesday whereas Nitro was live.

[wilts]

Any pic packs that will "plug in" for this? Any ideas fellers?

 

Oh and thanks Hammy!

 

I grabbed the Montreal Aftermath pic pack from Bobinc.net

In fact, it was the 2007 pack, didn't think to check 08.

I fits ok, not too much tweaking needed, but I suppose that depends on who you play with and who doesn't matter to you.

[Hive]

And yep, pretty sure back at this point RAW was prerecorded the previous tuesday whereas Nitro was live.

 

Actually, you are only 50% correct. Every second week, the show was actually live on mondays - but the other weeks it was pre-taped on tuesdays. They only showed it live half of the time because of costs. They later changed it to show live on mondays because of competition from WCW, though.

 

So in a way, both having it taped on tuesdays and having it shown live on mondays would be correct. But for my own mod, I made the same choice as you, and had it taped on tuesdays.

[Nightshadeex]

Here's what I've noticed so far.

 

- The Gambler profile incomplete

- Bobby Heenan has no profile in WCW.

- Lord Steve Regal age debated. Some sources say 1965, some say 1968.

- Scott Hall's contract should expire in 3 or 6 months, like Nash's

 

I'll see what I can find as I get a chance to play. Sadly, that probably won't be until Friday.

[BurningHamster]

Thanks Nightshadeex, I'll get on it.

 

And yeah, right you are Hive. Been so long since I set up the WWF TV slots I forgot that they ran live and taped RAW.

[SasoreGatame]

Shawn Michaels being supposedly underrated and still being #1 on the power 100 cracks me up. Pretty sure I was harsh on his skills so as not to make him "too good" in the game world. I might experiment with his stats a little more to see if I can bump him up a bit without making him unstoppable.

 

I haven't gotten through a full year yet, so I'm hoping to see him at #1 by the time it's all said and done. But I'm near WrestleMania XII, and he hasn't had a match below B yet (Highest rating being A* in a cage match with Diesel at In Your House), so I'm actually fine with the stats he has. It just looks weird to see him with those stats, if you know what I mean.

[justtxyank]

There is an entirely custom pic pack that will plug in once complete.

[Nachtfalter]

Okay, here we go. First, I've looked at the alignments and assigned gimmicks in the WWF and I found quite a bit that might need fixing:

 

 

1-2-3 Kid as Heel is fine (he turned on Razor sometime in November 95), but his gimmick shouldn't be "Underdog" since that's basically his face gimmick. I'd go with either Old School Heel, Turncoat or something Weasely. Plus, he should be managed by Ted DiBiasi and perhaps put into a team with Sid. It was short-lived, but the Kid & Sid team was active January 1st 1996.

 

Aldo Montoya should be face. Also, he tagged with Avatar (Al Snow) at the end of 1995. Not sure if they had a match together in 1996, though.

 

Bob Backlund having "Clean Cut" as a gimmick doesn't seem right. Basically, his main gimmick at the time was that he claimed to candidate for the next presidential election. Maybe you coul create a Politician gimmick for him?

 

Bob Holly probably should have "Dual-Sport Superstar" as a gimmick rather than Old School Face. He was still playing a NASCAR driver at the time.

 

British Bulldog should be heel. He turned against Diesel in Summer 1995. By January 1st he was also part of Camp Cornette and thus should be managed by Jim Cornette.

 

Brooklyn Brawler doesn't have a gimmick as it is. You could go with "Slob" but not having a gimmick would work, too, I guess.

 

With Buddy Landell, I really have no clue because I don't remember seeing him. But I looked as his matches and he seemed to mainly have jobbed for Babyfaces (Ahmed, Holly), so maybe he should be Heel, but I really don't know.

 

Diesel should still be face in January 1996. And after a year as WWF champion I don't think his gimmick should still be that of a Bodyguard. You could go with Bad Ass or create some Powerful Face gimmick specifically for him.

 

Duke Droese was also face. He feuded against Triple H in January and February.

 

Hakushi was face in January 1996. He aligned himself with Barry Horowitz sometime in 1995 which made him face. He also wasn't managed by Shinja anymore at that point.

 

I don't think Henry Godwinn was already managed by Hillbilly Jim in January. I think that only started when he also began teaming with Phinneas as The Godwinns. But I'm not entirely sure about that one.

 

The "Legend" gimmick might be better suited for Jake Roberts than the "Underdog" he has now.

 

Paul Bearer, just like The Undertaker, should be Face and because of that also have a different gimmick. Probably "Old School Manager".

 

Razor Ramon should be face and his gimmick some babyface gimmick out of the "Cool" family. I think I labelled it "Oozing Machismo" at some point

 

Roddy Piper doesn't have a gimmick has it is. You might want to dub him "Legend". Or Authority Figure, but technically he only became an Authority Figure after Gorilla Monsoon was attacked by Vader which must have been sometime in February.

 

Savio Vega should be face and have some sort of Caribbean feel-good-gimmick. "Old School Face" or "Fun Babyface" would do as well, though.

 

Shawn Michaels should be face. As for the gimmick, I'd go with "Showstopper" even though he didn't call himself that until 1997.

 

Shinja probably shouldn't be in the WWF anymore January 1st, 1996. He only managed Hakushi until sometime around SummerSlam 1995, I believe.

 

Sid Vicious should be managed by Ted DiBiasi.

 

The Ringmaster should also be managed by Ted DiBiasi.

 

The Undertaker should be face and be managed by Paul Bearer.

 

Yokozuna should still be heel in January. He didn't turn face until February. Also, he should be managed by Mr. Fuji (who should be added to the WWF) or Jim Cornette. Technically, he was still managed by both at the time.

 

Zip should be managed by Sunny.

 

 

On top of that, I missed King Mabel and Sir Mo. It's true, Mabel was in the Royal Rumble and Mo managed him, but Mabel was also active before that in January.

I guess you could also add Jeff and Matt Hardy as well as Chaz Warrington and Glen Ruth (later Headbangers Mosh and Thrasher) who worked as jobbers at the time. Jeff Hardy actually even got to win a match against Razor Ramon because Razor was distracted by Goldust.

You're right about Road(ie) Dogg Jesse James Armstrong, btw. He stopped appearing in the WWF in Summer 1995 after some kind of contract dispute, I think. When Jeff Jarrett returned in December, he was flying solo without his trusted Roadie.

 

Also, you could add Camp Cornette (with Cornette, Fuji, Yokozuna, Owen Hart and British Bulldog) and the Million Dollar Corporation (with DiBiasi, Sid, Kid and The Ringmaster) as stables if you want, but it's not really that important I guess.

 

And one last thing: There should be some way to get Takao Omori to appear one night only at the Royal Rumble (which he did, in real life). I tried to get AJPW to sign a Working Agreement but they rejected. I don't know exactly how the AI makes that decision, but I guess it'd be nice if either AJPW would accept an agreement or Omori would be on a PPA contract. But then again, that's obviously not all that important

 

 

I hope that helps. I greatly appreciate your efforts in creating this database and look forward to playing with it. As I said, I started really watching Wrestling around that time (Bash at the Beach 1995, to be exact ) and I'm very fond of this era in wrestling. I'll take a look at WCW when I find the time. Outside of the Big 2 I can't really give any input because I didn't watch anything else at the time, but for everything concerning WWF or WCW I'll try and help as best I can.

[BurningHamster]

That's some awesome help Nachtfalter, I'll get on the stables, alignments and gimmicks and get this cleaned up.

 

As for Takao Omori, that's a tricky one because AJPW is set to be against promotion pacts (as the Baba's were isolationist as all hell most of the time). I might try having him under a verbal agreement and see how it sims. I just want to make sure he doesn't end up working for every promotion in Japan as working agreement guys sometimes do.

[Tempest Kane]

Im excited about this. I almost dare not let myself be.. since almost all OPs go awol eventualy... i hope this one makes it.

 

Very promising.

[Nightshadeex]

AJPW and WWF had a pact at one point, much like WCW and NJPW. It was probably in the 80s though. So likely irrelevant for this discussion.

[SasoreGatame]

AJPW and WWF had a pact at one point, much like WCW and NJPW. It was probably in the 80s though. So likely irrelevant for this discussion.

 

Actually, They had a pact with them in the 90s. They co-promoted a show in 1990, and Takao Omori was at the Royal Rumble in 1996 because of a working agreement, IIRC.

[TracyBrooksFan]

im loving this im WWF starting NWO in WWF with Hall,Nash,and the mystery partner who turns is going to be Shawn Michaels

 

Formed a tag team with Jarrett and Lawler called Tennessee All Stars

 

reformed Hollywood Blonds with Austin and Pillman who i signed from WCW

 

got Owen and Bret feuding for WWF World Title

 

and got my user character (myself) as the Legend Killer of 96

[Nachtfalter]

I just realized that I forgot to mention that Owen Hart should also be managed by Jim Cornette in the WWF.

 

 

But now on to WCW:

 

Alex Wright could have "Dancer" as his gimmick because he always danced a little during his entrance, but as of January 1996 I wouldn't say that this was dominant in his gimmick. I'd rather see him as Blue Chipper or something similar. A promising, good-looking youngster.

 

The Belfast Bruiser might fit in better as a Face. He wasn't a clear cut Babyface but his only real WCW feud in 1996 was against Lord Steven Regal who was obviously heel. Gimmick-wise he should have some sort of Tough Guy gimmick. I didn't really see anything that fits exactly so you may want to create a Fighting Irishman gimmick specifically for Finlay.

 

Big Bubba doesn't have a gimmick in the mod as of now. I think you could go with "Bully" or even "Hired Gun". After all, V.K. Wallstreet did hire him to do battle against Hacksaw Jim Duggan. On another note, the game puts Big Bubba in as a Main Eventer which is way, way overrated.

 

Big Train Bart is also without a gimmick. I'd go with "Hillbilly". He never showed any real personality, but he did wear a hillbilly outfit.

 

Brian Knobbs (as well as Jerry Saggs) should be face. They were babyfaces for all of 95 and most of 96 (until they tried to join the NWO). The "Punk" gimmick isn't really wrong, but the way the gimmick is set up right now it doesn't work as Face gimmick.

 

Bunkhouse Buck is another man without gimmick in the mod as of now. I'd go with "Slob" or "Redneck". Also, he was still managed by Col. Rob Parker at the time.

 

I always perceived Chris Kanyon (and Mark Starr, the Men at Work) to be heel. They portrayed construction workers, but not really the nice kind.

 

The opposite case with Cobra. He was brought in to feud with Sgt. Craig Pittman when Pittman was still a heel. He also fought mainly heels after that. Therefore, Cobra should probably be face.

 

Dick Slater should be managed by Col. Rob Parker.

 

Eddie Guerrero should be Face, probably with an "Old School Face" gimmick. And I believe he was always spelled Eddie rather than Eddy. But I'm not entirely sure about the "ie" or "y" question.

 

Elizabeth should probably have a "Old School Valet" gimmick.

 

Eric Bischoff should still be Face at the time. He only turned heel during the NWO angle.

 

Hugh Morrus should be heel. After all, he was a member of the Dungeon of Doom.

 

Ice Train should be face in my opinion. Him and Scott Norton fought both face and heel teams but I'd say they always conducted rather face-ish.

 

Jerry Saggs (with two G, not Sags, I think) shoul be face. Same as Knobbs.

 

Jim Duggan is fine alignment-wise. But the game puts him in as a main eventer which is... well... ridiculous.

 

Jimmy Hart should have either an "Evil manager" or a "Turncoat" gimmick. He turned against Hulk Hogan in October 1995, hence the Turncoat suggestion.

 

Taskmaster Kevin Sullivan doesn't have a gimmick in the mod right now. I'm kind of torn. Maybe Evil Incarnate, maybe Cult Leader (he was the leader of the Dungeon of Doom, after all), but none seems to fit perfectly. He should be managed by Jimmy Hart.

 

I'm pretty sure Manabu Takanishi was called Kurasawa in WCW. Not Kurosawa. And he was managed by Col. Rob Parker.

 

Lex Luger should be managed by Jimmy Hart.

 

For Mark Starr, the same thing as with Chris Kanyon. I always thought they were heel.

 

Paul Orndorff wasn't active anymore in 1996. Since he was (in kayfabe) retired by The (very heel) Horsemen, he should probably be a face "Legend".

 

For Scott Norton, see Ice Train. I think they should be face.

 

I'm not entirely sure if it was already in January, but sometime in early 1996 Teddy Long started managing Sgt. Craig Pittman.

 

Sherri Martel should be called "Sister Sherri"

 

Stevie Ray should probably have a "Sucka" gimmick, same as Booker T.

 

Teddy Long should have a "Old School Manager" gimmick rather than "Staff Member".

 

V.K. Wallstreet is yet another man without gimmick. It should probably be "City Slicker" or "Rich Snob" or something along those lines.

 

 

I'm missing a trio of tag-teams that were active in January 1996:

- Bunkhouse Buck & Dirty Dick Slater (even though they had only one or two matches together in 1996, but that was in January)

- Fire & Ice (Scott Norton & Ice Train)

- Earl Robert Eaton & Lord Steven Regal were actually the more common version of the Blue Bloods as of January 1996. Regal only started teaming with Taylor sometime during the year, I think.

 

The Dungeon of Doom is missing two members in One Man Gang and Meng.

 

I hope I didn't miss anything... let me know if I can help you out with anything else.

[BurningHamster]

Thanks again man, I'll look into making the changes.

 

Although if I recall correctly Norton and Ice Train had not yet formed their team, I think they wrestled to a draw in a singles match in early 96 and then decided to team up. I think I remember adding their tag team, then deleting it when I found out they had not quite gotten together yet.

 

I remember Guerrero's name being spelled Eddy fairly often in WCW, not sure why I decided to go with that spelling, maybe I just have a thing for weird WCW spellings. It can be changed.

 

Everything else there will be sorted out.

[ccfc1927]

just a quick note

 

"A-Train" has devon hughe's (d-von dudley) bio?

[wilts]

just a quick note

 

"A-Train" has devon hughe's (d-von dudley) bio?

 

What is the problem with that?

You realise that the A-Train at the time is Devon, right? and not Prince Albert/Giant Bernard that teamed with Test in T&A...

[Hive]

Although if I recall correctly Norton and Ice Train had not yet formed their team, I think they wrestled to a draw in a singles match in early 96 and then decided to team up. I think I remember adding their tag team, then deleting it when I found out they had not quite gotten together yet.

 

That is correct. But you could add the team is an inactive team with no experience. At least that's what I do. Of course, it leaves the problem of tag teams with the AI debuting much sooner than they did in reality... but eh, I don't think that's any worse than the AI making new arbitrary tag teams.

[ccfc1927]

What is the problem with that?

You realise that the A-Train at the time is Devon, right? and not Prince Albert/Giant Bernard that teamed with Test in T&A...

 

Ha Ha I thought it was a copy and paste error of sorts...my mistake

[Nachtfalter]

That is correct. But you could add the team is an inactive team with no experience. At least that's what I do. Of course, it leaves the problem of tag teams with the AI debuting much sooner than they did in reality... but eh, I don't think that's any worse than the AI making new arbitrary tag teams.

 

I took another look at a result database and you are absolutely right. Seems like Norton and Ice Train didn't team until April 1996. Guess my memory played a trick on me there.

 

Another thing, if you're looking to add some more lower-rung guys to WCW, regular jobbers of late 95/early 96 (that I remember) include Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker (DeWayne Bruce, who would also go on to be the lead trainer in the PowerPlant) and Lt. James Earl (his tag-team partner in State Patrol, real name Dale Veasy, but he didn't really have any other notable gimmicks) as well as Mike Winner (that's his real name as far as I can tell). Unless I'm missing them being in under some other names, none of them are in the mod as of now. It's not like they absolutely have to be in, but in case you're looking for some more cannon fodder talent...

 

Three other half-regular WCW jobbers are in the mod already, though, in Scott D'Amore, Barrio Brother Ricky (Ricky Santana) and Barrio Brother Fidel (Fidel Sierra). I guess you coul give them P.P.A. contracts with WCW.

[BurningHamster]

I took another look at a result database and you are absolutely right. Seems like Norton and Ice Train didn't team until April 1996. Guess my memory played a trick on me there.

 

Another thing, if you're looking to add some more lower-rung guys to WCW, regular jobbers of late 95/early 96 (that I remember) include Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker (DeWayne Bruce, who would also go on to be the lead trainer in the PowerPlant) and Lt. James Earl (his tag-team partner in State Patrol, real name Dale Veasy, but he didn't really have any other notable gimmicks) as well as Mike Winner (that's his real name as far as I can tell). Unless I'm missing them being in under some other names, none of them are in the mod as of now. It's not like they absolutely have to be in, but in case you're looking for some more cannon fodder talent...

 

Three other half-regular WCW jobbers are in the mod already, though, in Scott D'Amore, Barrio Brother Ricky (Ricky Santana) and Barrio Brother Fidel (Fidel Sierra). I guess you coul give them P.P.A. contracts with WCW.

 

Thanks man, I seem to recall having Buddy Lee Parker and James Earl in my notes ... but never added them. I probably was lacking info on them at the time since I don't recall ever really seeing them in WCW. Mike Winner I just plain never heard of and never came across his name in any results. Feel free to suggest some stats for these guys since I am not so familiar with them.

 

As for the other guys I am less likely to want to add them to WCW as I don't really like putting part time jobbers into the major companies who already have huge rosters. Scott D'Amore for example would be unavailable for Border City Wrestling a lot of the time, same with Ricky Santana and WWC. I've been trying to keep some balance between the big promotions and the very small since rustling up rosters for the smaller promotions is a hellish task whereas WCW doesn't seem likely to miss a job guy who wrestles once every 2 months. Obviously though, this is the sort of thing that individual players if they are always going to play WCW and don't give a crap about the indies can do with the data.

 

Let me know if you find anything else, man.