WreSpi3 Developer's Journal

[Adam Ryland]

Welcome to the developer's journal for Wrestling Spirit 3.

 

I'm going to try something a little different for this year's journal. Those of you who have been around for previous releases know that normally these take the format of each weekday being an announcement of a new feature. For this one, I'm going to try running it as more of a conventional diary instead, where each weekday I'll talk about the progress, the thought processes that have gone into it, and explain the features as we go along.

 

We'll get into the journal properly on Monday, but for today's entry, which will follow this post shortly, I'm going to start by covering the basics so that everyone is on the same page.

[Adam Ryland]

May 31st: Frequently Asked Questions \ An Overview

 

When is the game coming out?

 

Currently we're working toward a release in the last quarter of 2013; ideally I'm aiming for October, but that will depend on how well testing goes.

 

What will the price \ licensing be?

 

No decision on the price has been made at this point. The game will be protected by ELicense, as with all Grey Dog games.

 

Has work on the game started?

 

Yes, the game has been in production for several months.

 

Is this an entirely new game or is it built on top of WreSpi2?

 

The game has been written 100% from scratch, primarily so that it could be switched to use the same style of database as TEW2013, thus making it far faster and more powerful than before. This has also allowed me to incorporate some of the new, better techniques and concepts that I've developed since WreSpi2 was released, so the new game will fit nicely with the more modern GDS games like TEW2013.

 

Is the concept of the game the same?

 

The heart of the game, the match engine, will be instantly recognisable if you've played either of the previous two games - although it's been improved dramatically, it still retains the same concept and has a very similar screen design. I think most people who liked WreSpi and WreSpi2 agreed that the match engine was pretty good, so this was definitely a case of looking to hone and improve what we already had, not throwing away a great concept for the sake of newness.

 

Everything else, however, has been totally redesigned, especially career mode which has been redone to offer a much more interesting experience for players. The redesigns of the various modes will be covered in future entries.

[Adam Ryland]

June 3rd: Attributes

 

Although matches follow the same concept as in the previous games, there are several new or improved features that enhance the experience. The first we will look at are Attributes.

 

Attributes, in WreSpi3 terms, are "extras" that give wrestlers special strengths, weaknesses or cosmetic changes, thus allowing each person in the game to be more unique and life-like. You may remember that in the previous games a wrestler could have a "Samoan Skull" that allowed him to shrug off blows to the head - this would be a good example of an attribute. However, rather than the two or three attributes that WreSpi2 contained, WreSpi3 contains hundreds of them, allowing for a massive level of customisation.

 

Every wrestler can have as many or few attributes as desired, and - to save the mod maker effort - these can also be combined into Attribute Sets (similar to Move Sets) that can be assigned. Almost all the attributes also come with different levels or variations, allowing for even more accurate tweaking.

 

This enhanced feature therefore bring several new things to the table. Matches are now more unique, and the player's strategy is also affected - for example, you may want to avoid trying to slug it out with an opponent who has attributes that give him extra accurate and powerful kicks. It also allows the mod maker to better model characters, by enhancing strengths and weaknesses to push them into acting in certain ways.

 

This also ties into the overall goal of improving the role-playing feel of the game.

[Adam Ryland]

June 4th: Calculations

 

One of the surprising aspects of the previous games was how many people struggled with the concepts behind the combat system - I think this is probably because there's a certain stigma or fear attached to the words "maths" or "probability theory", and as soon as they got mentioned some people became unduly panicked. This was something that I definitely wanted to address, as the system is so simple that there's really no need for anyone to feel excluded from understanding it.

 

To counter this, WreSpi3 is much more transparent, and this is due to the Calculations button. Any time something happens in the game, the user can click Calculations and get an exact breakdown of exactly what happened. This shows what the original probability was, how and why it was raised or lowered, and even shows exactly what random number(s) was generated. The hope is that by showing exactly what is happening in simple steps, even the most maths-phobic players will be able to master the concepts.

 

This also, hopefully, should allow players to develop better strategies through trial-and-error, as you will be able to see exactly what is working, what isn't working, and why - therefore this new button will benefit even experienced players who already understand the system.

 

This also has the added advantage that everyone will be able to see that there is absolutely no "cheating" going on - a recurring theme in the previous two games has been that people seem to think the AI cheats in certain cases, which is untrue. The hope is that by showing exactly what is happening, this myth can be put to rest.

 

It should be noted that you do need to click the button to see all of these calculations - therefore, if you have no interest in seeing them, or even if you want to actively avoid them, you literally don't have to do anything and you'll be fine.

[Adam Ryland]

June 5th: Auto-Generated Move Sets

 

A new feature that is primarily designed to make life easier for mod makers is Auto Generated Move Sets. In short, this allows the game to create move sets on the fly.

 

The system is quite simple. Each move can be assigned various Cultures (i.e. Western, Lucha, Japanese, etc) and Categories (i.e. Suplex, Brawling, Power, MMA, Comedy, etc), and each wrestler has the same two selections too. The AI can then simply look for moves that match at least one Culture and at least one Category. For example, if the wrestler was set as Western plus Brawling \ Power, and the move Powerbomb was set as a Western \ Japanese \ Lucha and Power, it would potentially be a move he could use (assuming he had the required skills and other criteria). Similarly, someone who is set as Japanese and Martial Arts \ MMA is unlikely to end up using Comedy Eye Gouge (unless it had some very odd settings).

 

Wrestlers can either be assigned their own custom move sets (as they were in the previous games) or to use Auto Generated Move Sets. This takes a lot of weight off the mod maker's shoulders, as rather than having to make countless move sets he could instead choose to make custom move sets for the big names and let everyone else use auto-generated versions, safe in the knowledge that the wrestlers using auto-generated move sets will still act entirely in character.

 

Of course, this does mean a little extra work at the start of the process for the mod maker, as he will need to correctly set up each move and wrestler, but this is a case where a little extra work at the beginning will save a lot of time later on. It does have the big advantage that editing becomes much easier too - as the move sets are generated on-the-fly during matches, altering a move's settings does not require a lot of messing about modifying existing move sets, as the game will automatically take the changes into account when the next match happens.

 

It should be noted that moves can also be set to have no Cultures or Categories; this essentially makes them ineligible for auto-generated move sets, and can therefore be used to guarantee that some moves don't appear where you don't want them.

[Adam Ryland]

June 6th: Dramatic Comebacks

 

There have been lots of smaller enhancements added to the match engine to help keep things interesting for the player, and we will look at one of them today.

 

Dramatic Comebacks, as the name suggests, is a feature that sees one wrestler turn the tide of the match in an instant. The full requirements are as follows: a wrestler in trouble (Low or Danger health + low momentum + defending + against an attacker with high momentum) can create a dramatic comeback by successfully executing a High or Finisher level counter move. This instantly gives him full momentum while simultaneously reducing his opponent's momentum to empty (and of course putting him on the attack, as any counter move would).

 

This therefore not only simulates something that occurs in reality and adds some extra drama to matches, but encourages defenders to take risks by going for counter moves, something that normally wouldn't be advisable.

 

Dramatic Comebacks can be enabled or disabled for each company via the editor.

[Adam Ryland]

June 7th: Wrestler Skills

 

To help mod makers plan for WreSpi3, I thought I'd go over the wrestler skills today.

 

With the previous games, they intentionally shared a lot of stats with the TEW series so that there could be a heavy crossover between the two. The downside to this was that a lot of the stats didn't do much, or in some cases, anything. With WreSpi3, I decided to rethink this approach, and instead go with a smaller amount of stats but to make each one really important to gameplay - this would hopefully not only making modding easier, but also make the game easier to understand and smoother to play.

 

Therefore, the Skill stats in WreSpi3 are:

 

Overall Rating (i.e. how successful they are; used for decided how much health they start with, etc)

Spirit (i.e. their 'fighting spirit', which is used in some of the features that will be announced later)

Strength

Striking

Grappling

Ground

Speed

Stamina

Athleticism

 

Each skill is not only used in deciding which moves a wrestler has the ability to perform, but is also used heavily in in-match calculations (much more so than in previous games), making them much more vital to the actual gameplay. I think a small number of very important skills is a much more intuitive approach than a large number of skills that include plenty of duds, and this will also allow wrestlers to be crafted much more accurately by mod makers.

[Adam Ryland]

June 10th: Move Extras (Part 1)

 

Today and tomorrow we'll be looking at the eight new 'extras' that have been added to moves; these are special states or conditions that allow a move to simulate something different from normal. Note that all of the existing extras from the previous games (such as 'requires a chair', 'through a table' and 'against samoan') remain.

 

Only Used Once - This setting, specifically intended for use with 'mist' attacks although it can be used on others, means that the move can only be performed by each wrestler once per match; once used, it will no longer appear in the wrestler's move list.

 

Requires A Cage - Like the existing 'requires a chair', this is used to have certain moves unusable unless inside a cage. This could be for things like slingshot into the cage, rubbing the opponent's head on the bars, etc.

 

Followed By - This allows a move to be preset to be followed by a specific other move. This is used exclusively by the AI. So, for example, you could link a spinebuster into a 'remove the elbow pad' taunt into a signature elbow drop, or a big boot into a legdrop. Where possible, the AI will follow this sequence. Obviously this is primarily meant for trademark moves within custom move sets, but it can be used elsewhere too.

 

Active From - This is made up of two years, To and From, and indicates what time period a move is active from. Outside of these years, the move will become ineligible for selection.

[Adam Ryland]

June 11th: Move Extras (Part 2)

 

Following on from yesterday, we'll now look at the remaining four extras.

 

Can Be Used By - This is a companion stat to the existing Can Be Used On (Anyone \ Male \ Female) and allows moves to be set to only be performed by a specific gender. This is primarily to give mod makers more freedom and to help with auto-generating move sets.

 

Time Taken - This says how long the entire move takes to perform, ranging from 3 to 30 seconds. This is mostly just to add an extra touch of realism to the game rather than having everything take 5 seconds like in previous iterations, although it also does come in handy for stalling type moves and taunts.

 

Effort Required - This indicates how much physical effort the wrestler has to put in to perform the move. This ties in directly with a new section of the match engine whereby wrestlers, rather than tiring in regard to how long they've been in the ring like in the previous games, tire based on what they're actually doing, thus making the system more realistic.

 

Saps Opponent - This new stat allows moves to be set to specifically "sap" energy from an opponent. This is specifically designed to be used on wear-down holds like chinlocks, sleepers, etc, thus allowing them to be used in a much more realistic and strategic way as wrestlers can purposely weaken or soften up their opponents over time in preparation for bigger attacks later on.

[Adam Ryland]

June 12th: Flash Points

 

Flash Points are a newly introduced concept; they are random scripted events that can change the course of a match. By default they are active, but they can also be switched off on a company-by-company basis via the editor if the mod maker wishes.

 

The reason for Flash Points is to help throw in occasional curveballs and keep matches from getting stale. There are many that can occur, ranging from three counts getting overturned because the referee noticed that the wrestler had his foot on the ropes to wrestlers hitting the corner so hard during an irish whip that they flip all the way over onto the apron.

[Adam Ryland]

June 13th: Managers

 

Managers now have their own special section in order to help make them more realistic. There are five stats in this section that are particularly important:

 

Overall Rating: This indicates how skilled the manager is, and its effect is that the higher the rating, the more the manager can interfere before the referee gets tired of their shenanigans and throws them out.

 

Can Distract \ Can Attack \ Can Trip \ Can Interfere: This group of four informs the game in exactly what ways the manager can get involved, helping to keep their behaviour realistic. Attack and Interfere differ in that attack is a physical assault on the outside (for bodyguards, etc) whereas interfering in this context means being able to get onto the apron and physically shove an opponent off the top rope.

 

The other major difference in how managers work is that the player now has full control of how and when they want their manager to get involved; rather than being a randomly occurring incident, having a manager causes special 'manager actions' to appear as part of the move list. This gives the user more control.

 

Having a manager does have a drawback however; the player will have to pay a percentage of their pay to their manager. This stops the player from getting the benefits of having a manager for free.

[Adam Ryland]

June 14th: Progress

 

I've decided to experiment with using each Friday's entry as more of a general progress report.

 

Currently WreSpi3 is shaping up quite nicely. The match engine is running very smoothly, although as we're using converted data from WreSpi2 at this point there are some features that aren't yet active (for example, every move still takes 5 seconds to do as that's the default), and the matches that it is producing are fun and interesting. Some of the new features that are working are definite improvements over previous games.

 

In terms of different game modes, almost all are in a state where they can be actively played but are using a very basic temporary interface, so it's more a case of tidying them up rather than actually having much left to write. Career mode, which as has been mentioned before is radically different and will feature later in the journal, is playing particularly nicely thus far.

 

The editor is all but finished, albeit with only a basic interface at present and no working filters \ searches at present. Filters are always the last to be added though, so this is not an issue.

[Adam Ryland]

June 17th: Converters

 

WreSpi3 comes equipped with two data converters.

 

The first converts a WreSpi2 database into WreSpi3.

 

The second converts a TEW2013 database into WreSpi3.

 

In terms of post-conversion work, a database is fully playable as soon as the conversion is done (except for TEW2013 conversions, where you'd need to import moves first - this literally takes seconds though); that is, all modes can be played instantly and without issue without any extra work being done at all. Of course, however, this would mean that a lot of the new features would be disabled or set to a default (as the data wouldn't exist), and some of the modes would not be optimally set up. However, the extra work required to fully integrate all the new features is not that huge, and as it can be done in stages is set up well for mod makers to work on it in small chunks.

 

For reference, the converters use the same concepts as the one that comes with TEW2013, which means that it will automatically detect and link characters by name, saving the mod maker from having to re-do lots of links.

[Adam Ryland]

June 18th: Free Pictures

 

Given their success in TEW2013, the Free Pictures feature will also be moving across to WreSpi3.

 

For those who don't know, this allows you to add in unused wrestler pictures to the game which can then be used by the AI when it is generating new characters. As each picture is tagged with information on gender, sizes, race, etc, it means that only appropriate pictures are used.

 

This therefore helps keep games fresh even when they've been running for a while, as there aren't so many missing pictures.

[Adam Ryland]

June 19th: League Modes

 

WreSpi3 contains two league modes, singles and tag team.

 

When starting a new league, the user can customise them to his requirements; this not only extends to picking the number of divisions and how many people are in each, but also selecting which styles, sizes, gender, etc, are eligible.

 

Once a league has started, it is broken down into seasons. Each season sees every wrestler \ team compete once against each other wrestler \ team. New to WreSpi3's version is the fact that the total time the wrestler has taken to earn his victories is recorded; this is then used in the case of two or more people having the same score (i.e. it rewards the people who have won their matches in the shortest time).

 

At the end of each season there are promotions and relegations depending on final places, and some stat changes. The user can play as many or few seasons as he wants, and can change character at the end of each season if he wishes.

[Adam Ryland]

June 20th: Tournament Modes

 

As with the aforementioned league modes, tournament modes come in two flavours: singles and tag.

 

Also as with league modes, the user can customise exactly who is eligible for entry.

 

Whether singles or tag, each tournament can be set up with 8, 16, 32, or 64 wrestlers \ teams, and the format is single elimination.

 

At each match, the user can choose to control one side, both sides, or neither; at no point is the user 'locked' into a selection, so you could take a specific wrestler all the way to the final, then decide to swap and play as his opponent.

 

You can also choose which company, if any, hosts the tournament; this will be reflected in the rules and other settings that are used.

[Adam Ryland]

June 21st: The Streak \ Tag Team Trauma

 

Two new game modes are The Streak and Tag Team Trauma.

 

In The Streak, you pick any wrestler and then face a continuous wave of randomly selected opponents (in separate matches, not a winner-stays-on format) until you are defeated. The idea is to try and rack up as high of a winning streak as possible.

 

Tag Team Trauma is the same concept, except that you control a tag team rather than a singles wrestler.

 

You can save after each bout for reference!

[Adam Ryland]

June 24th: Progress

 

The game is starting to take shape now, with a good portion of the match engine now using graphics. In fact, the match engine is pretty much complete, it just needs updating every so often to take into account new attributes that are added.

 

In terms of game modes, the focus is currently on the new career mode, which will probably be covered in this week's journal entries, as that is taking a lot of time to put together - that's not because it's difficult per se, just that it requires a lot of content and that all needs to be added by hand. As mentioned before, it's a pretty radical new concept, but it's one I think will be very popular and make for a much more enjoyable gaming experience.

[Adam Ryland]

June 25th: Career Mode (Part 1)

 

A breakdown of the career mode(s) will probably be spread across most of the rest of this week.

 

As before, there are actually two career modes; regular Career Mode in which you pick an existing character and play as them until their retirement, or Rookie To Legend (RTL) in which you create a brand new character and enter them into the game world.

 

With RTL mode, as part of the creation process you will be asked to pick a Style and a Sub Style. The Style is taken from the same list as you will be familiar with from the other games - Regular Wrestler, Entertainer, Spot Monkey, etc. Each of these styles has their own set of Sub Styles; for example, Technician has Old School Grappler, Suplex Machine, Amateur Wrestler and Shooter.

 

The Style \ Sub Style choice is important as this is used to create your initial skill levels, decide the caps that are applied to them (in conjunction with your size), and will also decide what starting Attributes you get; these can be very important, as they will often inform how you will wrestle. For example, Technician -> Amateur Wrestler gives you the Counter Grappler attribute, which gives you a 5% boost to any non-striking move that you attempt as a counter - this would therefore probably mean you'll want to be a bit more daring about going for actual counter moves rather than just relying on the standard counter actions like Break, Block, etc. Some Style \ Sub Styles have multiple Attributes, and some even have negative ones.

 

Obviously the creation part of RTL also allows you to fill in the other basics like Name, Picture, Nationality, etc, etc.

[Adam Ryland]

June 26th: Career Mode (Part 2)

 

The way that career mode is broken down marks one of the most radical shifts in the way the game is played.

 

The new system revolves around storylines. It is very important to grasp early on that a storyline in this context does not mean a scripted soap opera, it means a pre-set path consisting of certain matches with pre-written objectives. For example, a very simple storyline might be nothing more than four singles matches against four different opponents in which winning all four would be considered a successful storyline, losing more than one would be a failed storyline, and anything else would be a neutral outcome. Therefore, even ultra-serious companies where wrestling is treated as a real sport can happily use storylines in this context.

 

At the start of each month the player will be given a selection of possible storylines. The selection depends on many things - previous results, who he works for, what opponents are available, etc. Some storylines are 'locked' and can only be uncovered through certain conditions; some are even time-sensitive and will only occur at certain times of the year. The player can pick one, and only one, and that will occupy him for the remainder of the month.

 

There are several big advantages to this, which address issues from previous games.

 

The first is that this system allows intelligent booking as each storyline can have its own self-contained narrative. You wouldn't, for example, end up fighting the same person repeatedly for no reason, and run-ins and other interference can be tied to what has occurred in the storyline so far.

 

The second is that it means the player is never going to be sitting around with nothing to do; he is always going to have at least one match a month at the very least, and more likely he will get a full four or five matches.

 

The third is that progress is much more logical. For example, there is no other way to win a title but to go through a "road to the title" style storyline where you have to defeat some top contenders in order to earn a shot at the champion(s), and to unlock the "road to the title" you will likely need to have successfully completed two other storylines in a row first. This means that you can't just luck your way into winning a belt, or get multiple shots for no reason, you'd have to earn it. Similarly, the only way to go up or down in popularity is via your results, so if you want to go from opener to main eventer, you have to fight your way up.

 

The fourth is that this gives the player a lot more choice in what they want to do. For example, if you want your character to be a lone wolf, you can - simply don't pick any of the tag team-based storylines or the ones where you'd have an ally. If you decide you really want to go after a six-man title, you have a path toward it.

 

Each company you work for - or each independent scene if you are unemployed - will offer a selection of storylines to choose from, so you are in total control of your career. As there are a huge number of storylines, and lots to unlock, this should ensure varied gameplay and an enjoyable career mode.

 

It should be noted that when selecting storylines you get a full description of what it involves, so you will have all the information you need to make a decision.

 

Tomorrow we will look at some of the secondary aspects that are attached to storylines.

[Adam Ryland]

June 27th: Career Mode (Part 3)

 

Tying in to the storyline concept are Secondary Goals and Secondary Objectives. Both of these involve preset criteria that you have to try and pass - such as bloodying your opponent or winning in under 10 minutes - in order to succeed. The difference between them is that you must succeed at a Secondary Goal to receive a bonus (but get nothing it you fail) whereas you must succeed at a Secondary Objective to avoid getting a penalty.

 

Usually these bonuses and penalties take the form of unique Attributes, most of which will only last for one match, that cannot be accessed normally. Where possible, these goals \ objectives and the related bonuses \ penalties will also tie in to the storyline itself; i.e. if the storyline is building toward a First Blood match, the potential bonus might be one that increases your chances of bloodying the opponent.

 

The goals \ objectives therefore help to add an extra level of strategy to the game, potentially making the player come out of their comfort zone and try new things in matches.

[Adam Ryland]

June 28th: Progress

 

Appropriately enough given the last few entries, this week has been spent almost exclusively on adding more storylines into the game. Currently there 32 storylines for unemployed \ independent workers and 40 for employed workers; I'm hoping that we'll get into triple figures for both by release time.

 

The good news is that the design of the system means that extra storylines can always be added in future via patches without needing restarts, so I'm sure the amount will grow even after release.

 

The next stage, which will likely take up most of next week, is to work on the secondary goals and objectives; currently only a handful of storylines have these attached, whereas I'm hoping that at least a third will have them by release day.

[Adam Ryland]

July 1st: Career Mode (Part 4)

 

The in-game currency used during career mode is experience (XP) points.

 

The majority of XP is earned through matches. There is a standard amount for a 'normal' match, but you can earn more or less by taking harder or easier matches. There are also bonuses for being involved in title matches, and you can gain extra XP as rewards both for being in high quality matches and from completing certain Secondary Goals.

 

Once earned, XP is used primarily in two areas - upgrading your skills or purchasing new attributes. Attributes, especially the really good ones, can be quite expensive and so buying them can be a big deal.

 

XP is also used to pay your manager, should you choose to have one.

[Adam Ryland]

July 2nd: Career Mode (Part 5) / End Of Year Awards

 

New to career mode are End Of Year awards. Once you've completed a year of action you will be taken to the annual summary screen, which shows a quick recap of your performance (in terms of storylines and match win-loss record for the year), your best match, what awards you have won, and your Power 500 ranking.

 

The possible awards are Wrestler, Rookie, Female, Veteran and Independent Wrestler Of The Year, and are decided based upon your success rate during the year, together with other items such as your average match grade, your best match grade, etc. Winning an award can bring a hefty XP reward.

 

The Power 500 shows your position within the game world, and like the awards is based on your success rate over the past twelve months together with some other factors. You gain XP rewards depending on how high you managed to place.

[Adam Ryland]

July 3rd: Career Mode (Part 6) / Popularity

 

Popularity is another area that has been given a radical overhaul. Instead of a precise percentage as used in TEW and previous games, WreSpi3 now uses a system of levels to give a wrestler's popularity in each area, ranging from Unknown to Mega Star. This level then determines how far up the roster in each company the worker would be.

 

This approach has two major advantages.

 

The first is for mod makers, as it makes their job massively easier - instead of having to go into precise details with percentages to try and get everyone in the position you want them to be in, you're simply assigning a level and will know exactly what roster position that corresponds to. For example, if you were doing a modern day real world mod you wouldn't have to worry about how whether John Cena was 5%, 7% or 8.2% more popular than Mark Henry - you'd just give them both a level that'd make them part of the main event scene. This obviously therefore makes mod making considerably faster.

 

The second advantage is that this allows popularity changes to be tied into storylines; rather than having popularity move a little bit at a time based on individual matches, we can now take the more realistic step of having you work your way up until you get access to a "promotion" storyline that, if successful, would take you up to the next level (and the same is true of "demotion" storylines). This makes rising and falling much more realistic and result-dependent, as you have to earn (or fail) your way to changes.