Derek B's Mod-Making Guide

[Derek B]

International popularity would depend very much on how much exposure a worker has in other areas. The WWE is probably as popular in Canada as they are in the USA. They are aired on a smaller network in the UK (premium sports channel) and don't reach as many viewers as TNA does (free channel), but that just means that they are going to be getting a smaller amount of money from the UK for PPVs than they would in the USA. I genuinely don't know how long the WWE has been airing in Japan, but I'm going to guess that it's been a long while... there are a few reasons they might have a different level of popularity in another region from in the USA/Canada/UK with Japan being about the only region they may apply to...

 

1. They might've lost National battles to AJPW and NJPW. I don't know how big these companies are these days, but if they are National or have been in recent times then the WWE could be smaller in Japan than elsewhere in the world.

2. Trending Products. You gain more and lose less popularity when you are on trend. Ive covered trends in my post about products and I don't think the WWE would have a trending product in Japan, leading to slower growth. This would be particulary strong if against other companies like AJPW and NJPW too.

3. Damn... I had another one and I've forgotten it.

 

Generally speaking, if a company has been on the air in a country for a long time then they're going to be equally popular there. As such, their workers that have been with the company for that long should have popularity in other regions too. For example, if the WWE had only been broadcast in Japan for 3 months, they would barely have more than their overspill popularity and their workers wouldn't have gained much popularity there either except their overspill.

 

One thing that can arise as something of a problem with this is that the WWE will likely take their shows on tour to other areas quite often. This might not be ideal if they shouldn't be running too many shows outside the US and Canada, so you might want to lower their popularity elsewhere in order to keep them focused on their home areas. But that's a judgement call. There's a chance of a National War in Japan if the WWE, AJPW and NJPW are all National and that could be fun to see play out.

 

Another thing I'll get round to one day is TV deals... if I were making a mod I'd ditch most of the WWE's TV shows and deals as they take up a lot of time and space, and can be covered quite happily with pre-show time. Everything beyond Raw and Smackdown is more or less a tertiary show for the WWE, and dropping these would make them far more slimlined and make for a better play experience for most players, at least in my opinion.

 

I'm going to get back to writing about stats... this is going to be the longest of all my entries and I'm hoping to finish it today so that I can maybe get gimmicks and contracts done tomorrow.

[crayon]

Derek B, you are a saint among men. The patron saint of Walls of Text, but highly useful walls of text nonetheless!

 

This needs to be stickied, stat

[Derek B]

Derek B, you are a saint among men. The patron saint of Walls of Text, but highly useful walls of text nonetheless!

 

This needs to be stickied, stat

 

Soon there will be bigger walls, and smaller text sizes so fit everything I say on them. I'll sticky this at some point in future, figure I should keep writing so that I've covered everything I want to cover... I have a feeling that someone is going to ask me for something else in future, my future self is already kicking me for thinking about it.

[rodney_rankin]

Thank you! This is a big help. I don't want to interrupt your flow, but, if you wanted to share any insight on how to scale ratings for Yet-to-Debut Workers, that would be awesome!

[snakesonaplane]

International popularity would depend very much on how much exposure a worker has in other areas. The WWE is probably as popular in Canada as they are in the USA. They are aired on a smaller network in the UK (premium sports channel) and don't reach as many viewers as TNA does (free channel), but that just means that they are going to be getting a smaller amount of money from the UK for PPVs than they would in the USA. I genuinely don't know how long the WWE has been airing in because theyI'm going to guess that it's been a long while... there are a few reasons they might have a different level of popularity in another region from in the USA/Canada/UK with Japan being about the only region they may apply to...

 

1. They might've lost National battles to AJPW and NJPW. I don't know how big these companies are these days, but if they are National or have been in recent times then the WWE could be smaller in Japan than elsewhere in the world.

2. Trending Products. You gain more and lose less popularity when you are on trend. Ive covered trends in my post about products and I don't think the WWE would have a trending product in Japan, leading to slower growth. This would be particulary strong if against other companies like AJPW and NJPW too.

3. Damn... I had another one and I've forgotten it.

 

Generally speaking, if a company has been on the air in a country for a long time then they're going to be equally popular there. As such, their workers that have been with the company for that long should have popularity in other regions too. For example, if the WWE had only been broadcast in Japan for 3 months, they would barely have more than their overspill popularity and their workers wouldn't have gained much popularity there either except their overspill.

 

One thing that can arise as something of a problem with this is that the WWE will likely take their shows on tour to other areas quite often. This might not be ideal if they shouldn't be running too many shows outside the US and Canada, so you might want to lower their popularity elsewhere in order to keep them focused on their home areas. But that's a judgement call. There's a chance of a National War in Japan if the WWE, AJPW and NJPW are all National and that could be fun to see play out.

 

Another thing I'll get round to one day is TV deals... if I were making a mod I'd ditch most of the WWE's TV shows and deals as they take up a lot of time and space, and can be covered quite happily with pre-show time. Everything beyond Raw and Smackdown is more or less a tertiary show for the WWE, and dropping these would make them far more slimlined and make for a better play experience for most players, at least in my opinion.

 

I'm going to get back to writing about stats... this is going to be the longest of all my entries and I'm hoping to finish it today so that I can maybe get gimmicks and contracts done tomorrow.

 

Re: WWE worker overness in Japan. The WWE hardly ever tour (apparently raw first aired there in 2005) and don't have a product that really gels with Japan; regardless of their tv exposure. Whilst it would easy to simply duplicate popularity for the company and workers internationally I dont think this is realistic. In Japan I would suggest the wwe have significantly lower popularity than the USA say 55 (this what I have in my game currently) or 60 compared to 75 in the USA. Many of their workers would also take big popularity drops on japan even of say 20 points compared to the USA because they just wouldn't draw immediately, and their WWE exposure isn't necessarily significant enough to buff this. The more established stars of your Jericho mold with Japanese experience would do better than people otherwise now on their level. Big guys who are also former world champions would do better like Kane or Big Show for example. Also I would consider a cap on their popularity. Outside of guys like the Rock, I would say around 70 popularity would be the peak for most guys (such that the top Japanese guys are actually bigger draws than most of the WWE guys in Japan rather than the other way around, which just doesn't have a precedent).

 

The WWE as a brand should be drawing more in Japan than most of their roster with guys better known to the Japanese audience through tours or excellent pedigree being the exception. So basically I would nerf most of the WWE workers overness in Japan. Mexico is tricky as the WWE outperforms the lucha promotions in mexico in terms of TV ratings, but I would suggest the lower range WWE talent would take popularity hits in Mexico too, with upper and top level guys being more consistent.

 

Some examples for Japan, I have Undertaker at 90 throughout the USA and 75 throughout Japan; Randy Orton at 78 throughout the USA and 65 throughout Japan; Jericho I have at 80 across the US and a much closer 75 in Japan. For Giant Bernard/Tensai for example he is actually more over in Japan than the US, I have him at 60 across Japan (though even 65 could be justified) and only 48 in the US.

 

I think this highlights some of the tension in the game mechanics as in TEW TV exposure will de facto increase a workers popularity in a region even where they have never wrestled. In real-life however I don't think popularity - which to an extent is really their drawing power - is so neatly built across cultures simply through television time. Whilst popularity may be justifiably similar between WWE workers in the US and say Canada, Europe or the UK - I don't think across wrestling cultures such as Japan and Mexico with profoundly different cultures and product styles/traditions, the numbers are so evenly matched. Also, as a player of real world mods it sort of bothers me to look at the list of 'most over guys in Japan' and it's just a list of WWE guys.

 

That said I do think a NJPW vs WWE show could draw huge, much more than a Raw or Smackdown house-show.

[D-Lyrium]

Also guys who've been IWGP champions (Brock Lesnar, Tensai, Sin Cara) are probably more over in Japan in than in the US (especially the latter two as they haven't really done much in the US. Sin Cara is almost certainly more over in Mexico than he is in the US too).

[Self]

It's a case of looking at guys who go over there and seeing where they fit on the card. Shelton Benjamin and MVP, for example. How popular would they need to be to fit into the correct midcard slot in WWE? How popular would they need to be to fit into where they came in for NJPW? Which depends on how you're balancing that promotion. Where is Tanahashi, Okada and Nakamura on the scale? They'd be significantly below them. As NJPW is more of a performance promotion than WWE/TNA I don't know how you'd balance it so Benjamin would get the same okay-not-great response to matches that he got in real life.

 

I think a guy like Orton could go to NJPW and immediately be put into a headline spot... but I don't think the crowd would respond to him like their current main eventers. Not until he worked there more. I wouldn't overestimate the popularity of WWE guys in Japan. Japan have their own wrestling scene that, unlike Mexico, isn't so threatened by the WWE machine. Harry Smith and Lance Archer are/were the tag champions over there, working high up the card, but I'd argue it wasn't their WWE popularity that got them there. It gave them a little base (E for Harry? F+ for Lance?) but they had to be built. I think the same should be true for any import in a TEW mod. It's better than starting from scratch, but you still need to build them.

 

So if Orton is a B- in America... I'd say D+ in Japan. With great performance skills and star quality, you can build Randy into one hell of a headliner from that.

 

Please correct me if I'm talking gibberish.

[Chriswok]

Agree with Self.

 

Japan has it's own stars and culture, which is almost the polar opposite of what is considered 'Mainstream' in-game.

[Derek B]

I don't know if it's possible to herniate your eyes, but the monster post on crafting a worker has now been added and I think it's a very long read. I hope it's thorough enough in being able to give you a guide to how good the best workers should be and for giving a good baseline for rookies. I also hope it helps to explain many of TEW's mechanics too, as understanding those is one of the best ways to make a great mod. If you know how TEW works, you should be able to make a great TEW mod on the back of that knowledge.

 

Feedback continues to be welcomed, if there are any questions I'll try to address them as I also get started on my next section about gimmick skills, assigning gimmicks and contracts.

[D-Lyrium]

It's a case of looking at guys who go over there and seeing where they fit on the card. Shelton Benjamin and MVP, for example. How popular would they need to be to fit into the correct midcard slot in WWE? How popular would they need to be to fit into where they came in for NJPW? Which depends on how you're balancing that promotion. Where is Tanahashi, Okada and Nakamura on the scale? They'd be significantly below them. As NJPW is more of a performance promotion than WWE/TNA I don't know how you'd balance it so Benjamin would get the same okay-not-great response to matches that he got in real life.

 

I think a guy like Orton could go to NJPW and immediately be put into a headline spot... but I don't think the crowd would respond to him like their current main eventers. Not until he worked there more. I wouldn't overestimate the popularity of WWE guys in Japan. Japan have their own wrestling scene that, unlike Mexico, isn't so threatened by the WWE machine. Harry Smith and Lance Archer are/were the tag champions over there, working high up the card, but I'd argue it wasn't their WWE popularity that got them there. It gave them a little base (E for Harry? F+ for Lance?) but they had to be built. I think the same should be true for any import in a TEW mod. It's better than starting from scratch, but you still need to build them.

 

So if Orton is a B- in America... I'd say D+ in Japan. With great performance skills and star quality, you can build Randy into one hell of a headliner from that.

 

Please correct me if I'm talking gibberish.

 

100% agree with this.

 

WWE stars would be almost as over in places like Australia, UK and Europe as in America because there isn't really anyone in the UK, Europe or Australia... hell, even Canada really, to overshadow them. As far as fans in those places are concerned, even though it's in America the WWE is still the biggest show in town.

 

Japan and Mexico are different though, because they both have thriving scenes (relative to the above) with national companies of their own (IMO, calling any company in Australia, the UK or Europe even Regional is probably pushing it, certainly there are no cult companies at all).

 

So while a WWE star is a big deal in Europe purely by virtue of being in the WWE, that's not good enough to get them over in Japan unless they've also done something worthwhile over there. Not saying they should have the same popularity in places like Europe as they do in the USA, just that it should be higher than in Japan and Mexico.

[20LEgend]

Just read the skills post, really good. Cleared up a lot of things I really wasn't sure about. I hope this thread is eventually stickied as it's something every mod maker should read.

[Teh_Showtime]

Just read the most recent section which is amazing

 

I must say that I also agree with little Naitch being a great ref, the best one ever in my opinion.

[NoNeck]

I agree with the above sentiment, this is top notch, both for players and mod makers.

 

I just finished moving over a savegame from '10 into a database for '13 so I could continue a diary and all of this info has me wanting to go back and re-do certain things.

 

Great stuff, Derek.

 

[Luchador Canadiense]

I'll likely never create a Mod, but I am enjoying reading this nonetheless. This is perhaps the most-needed contribution to the forum since the Belt threads started. Hopefully a few of the RW Mod Makers take the time to read this.

Great work, Derek!

[Mattywood]

On the Entertainment skills, if a worker has very good to excellent mic skills and charisma, but not that great of acting(in the movie sense, a la Hulk Hogan), will that sink the scores for angle segments involving those workers?

[Derek B]

On the Entertainment skills, if a worker has very good to excellent mic skills and charisma, but not that great of acting(in the movie sense, a la Hulk Hogan), will that sink the scores for angle segments involving those workers?

 

If the segment is rated on Mic Skills, low acting won't have an effect. If it's rated on Entertainment then it'll knock a few points off, but the segment ratings will be weighted more towards the better stats anyways (and overness will be a factor too) so you won't notice a huge effect. If you were to have Hulk Hogan rated at B mic, B+ charisma, C acting and B popularity then his contribution to an angle rated on Entertainment would be about a B. It'll vary a bit depending on whether he is scripted, momentum effects, gimmick rating, storyline heat and the other people involved in the segment (each of which would contribute their own amounts too).

 

Thanks to everyone for the kind words so far too, it's good to know I'm helping out. I'll keep writing until I feel I've covered everything... not sure how far that'll take me.

[rodney_rankin]

Thank you, Derek! Your outline on rating talent was very well done. Much appreciated.

[crayon]

Fantastic read Derek!

 

Any chance you could expound on the Personality stats, and specifically what they relate to in-game and what the medians might look like?

 

For instance while I can see how how egotistical someone is might increase likelihood of backstage incidents, what does a worker's optimism play into? How well they take losses? A prerequisite to being a locker room leader? Or is it just a general thing to help add to that backstage harmony rating?

 

In reference to medians I tend to look at 50/50 as being the average for most, but skew a little higher for Dependability and Drive, (the former assuming that having the majority of workers who are flaky 50% of the time would make for an annoying experience). Not sure if this is correct though.

[Mattywood]

If the segment is rated on Mic Skills, low acting won't have an effect. If it's rated on Entertainment then it'll knock a few points off, but the segment ratings will be weighted more towards the better stats anyways (and overness will be a factor too) so you won't notice a huge effect. If you were to have Hulk Hogan rated at B mic, B+ charisma, C acting and B popularity then his contribution to an angle rated on Entertainment would be about a B. It'll vary a bit depending on whether he is scripted, momentum effects, gimmick rating, storyline heat and the other people involved in the segment (each of which would contribute their own amounts too).

 

Thanks to everyone for the kind words so far too, it's good to know I'm helping out. I'll keep writing until I feel I've covered everything... not sure how far that'll take me.

 

Thanks! So for a historical mod set in 1988(when Hogan was at his best), if he's rated B+ or A for mic, A+ for charisma and C acting, his Entertainment rated segments(before little bonuses and such) would clock out at around B+ or A? That would seem well suited for February 1988, I think, but I'm not paid to think.

[Teh_Showtime]

Thanks! So for a historical mod set in 1988(when Hogan was at his best), if he's rated B+ or A for mic, A+ for charisma and C acting, his Entertainment rated segments(before little bonuses and such) would clock out at around B+ or A? That would seem well suited for February 1988, I think, but I'm not paid to think.

 

Yes with appropriate popularity (A or higher) and gimmick rating (over C+) he should be churning out A if not A* angles on a regular basis

[Mattywood]

Yes with appropriate popularity (A or higher) and gimmick rating (over C+) he should be churning out A if not A* angles on a regular basis

 

Thank you. Speaking of pop, I'm trying to figure out where I should set the WWF pop-wise(for February 1988). They were getting huge TV ratings(their Main Event NBC special got monster ratings because of Hogan/Andre II), and they did do occasional international tours(though I'm not too sure how their TV coverage was internationally other than they had a decent, if not good, presence in Canada). At the same time, I'm trying to make the pop for the workers appropriate, and if I'm not mistaken, a worker's pop shouldn't be higher than the company's, right? If so, maybe go ahead and have them International already, maybe around 90 across the US? Maybe 85 in Canada and 70 in British Isles?

[Teh_Showtime]

They should not even be close to 90 IMO because that would mean they need to put on high B+ shows just to maintain their current level, which they weren't doing.

[NWAvsWWF]

It's hard because in some aspects they were popular but to fit it into scale I would say low 80's. There television shows were average at best mainly being squash matches with only big matches taking place on special occasions. 90 is were WWF should be at their highest point ever (between 1999-2001) as they were turning out great television every week.

[Mattywood]

It's hard because in some aspects they were popular but to fit it into scale I would say low 80's. There television shows were average at best mainly being squash matches with only big matches taking place on special occasions. 90 is were WWF should be at their highest point ever (between 1999-2001) as they were turning out great television every week.

 

So low 80s in the USA from what I'm reading. Lower in Canada, I'm assuming? And I'm assuming much lower in the British Isles? I've already got them very, very low in the other international regions, mostly so that the AI will focus on keeping them in the US for shows. And gameplay-wise, this does sound about right because the pop I had them at before, they were always having Prime Time Wrestling at Fenway Park with over 50,000 on hand. >.<

 

What about the pop for main eventers such as Hogan and Andre? Around that ballpark?

 

EDIT: BTW, here are the pop levels I have now after making adjustments to the WWF's pop:

 

75%(B-) across the USA; 70%(C+) across Canada; 55%(C-) across the British Isles; 10%(F) in both Mexico and Europe; 5%(F-) across Japan & Australia. Does this sound about right for the WWF? At this size, they're National.

[Clp605]

Incredible Derek, if I ever do decide to make a mod (be it Historical of Fantasy) I would definitely use this as a good way of balancing it out. In a small question, I noticed that you skipped over Match Intensity and Match Danger. I was wondering if you had nothing to really say about them, as they are very straight forward concepts, or if you forgot about them. Either way, thank you Derek for taking the time to do this.