New Gimmick File

[mrwhippy]

I'm thinking of completely overhauling the gimmick file from scratch. It doesn't seem right to me. Far too many gimmicks are rated too highly and many are rated at 0 for difficulty/subtlety, even the most basic gimmicks will have some sort of rating, even if it's just in the single figures.

 

If anyone wants to contribute then please do. Throw out some suggestions of what gimmicks can go in (and list all the details that go with it if possible), and what shouldn't go in (like Tecnico and Rudo).

 

Thanks.

[bro4dway]

<p>We could definitely use a new gimmicks file. Have you read Derek B's Mod-Making Guide? There's a <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1900947&postcount=5" rel="external nofollow">hugely detailed post</a> on how gimmicks work as well as a reeeeeally good concept explanation for a new gimmicks file that nobody's pounced on making yet. It's a long read but before doing anything I'd make sure to at least go through the gimmicks section from end to end, if not the entire guide, if you haven't. It's pretty shocking how many things a lot of us were misunderstanding about the way the game works.</p><p> </p><p>

That being said, I think the first major hurdle to get around with a new gimmicks file is past-proofing it. Pretty much every mod I've seen uses a modified version of the default Cornellverse file with their own added gimmicks and problems. As such, I think the smartest idea is to start with that file instead of from scratch. Use Derek's guide to fix all the issues with it, leaving the names alone so people can plug it into other databases and not end up with all the gimmicks getting set to none or Brock Lesnar running around with a Girl Next Door gimmick or something. Once the default stuff has all been gone through and changed I'd release that before adding anything else. People can playtest it and just generally have a vanilla, improved default file to use.</p><p> </p><p>

Anyways, the biggest change I'd recommend aside from fixing subtlety/difficulty/risk/etc. is making sure gimmicks aren't arbitrarily set to gender-specific, age-specific or race-specific when they don't really have to be -- Fandango, for example, has gotten crazy over with the Dancer gimmick, but the default database has it set to "Female Only" so he's bound to incur penalties when he shouldn't. Likewise, Awesome Kong can't work a Monster gimmick because it's "Male Only". I mean, yeah, Mountain Man should absolutely be "Male Only" but there are too many gender-specific gimmicks that shouldn't be gender-specific.</p><p> </p><p>

Another one would be making sure the Skill Requirements aren't too high. Look at the default Show Stealer gimmick -- to pull that gimmick off you need: good aerial, good technical, excellent athletic ability, good psychology, good selling ability, good charisma, medium microphone skill, and medium sex appeal. A properly stat'd ECW-era RVD or 2008 Jeff Hardy couldn't pull off that gimmick, even though they absolutely should be able to. You could remove the technical, psychology, charisma, mic, and sex appeal (especially that one, since in data that's actually optimized for how TEW works males aren't really supposed to have high sex appeal; only the John Morrisons and Rocks of the world should have it set that high) requirements entirely. I'd leave the aerial where it is, drop the athletic to good, and drop the selling to medium -- anybody who can hit those requirements can absolutely pull off the go-out-there-and-drop-everyone's-jaw gimmick.</p><p> </p><p>

Stuff like those two problems are awful because when you're playing you assume Jeff Hardy can portray a Show Stealer gimmick because that's his thing and you assume Fandango can be a Dancer because he's over like rover and people love the gimmick, but they can't in-game and incur unjustified penalties before you even notice because the game doesn't really tell you when a pre-set gimmick doesn't work unless you go out of your way to check.</p><p> </p><p>

Once the default data is fixed, I think the key thing to remember for adding new gimmicks would be that less is more -- we don't need six gimmicks that are basically the same thing. It's so annoying when you're trying to pick a gimmick and there's both Machine and Wrestling Machine, which are exactly the same thing and yet both are options with entirely different statistical requirements. Even the default data is guilty of this to some extent -- see: Hillbilly, Redneck, Trash. This also includes reeeeeeeeeeally specific gimmicks people add to mods like "Rated-R Superstar" that are more monikers than actual gimmicks. The in-game Scoundrel gimmick, or even just the Old School Heel gimmick, or at most a much more generalized created gimmick like "Opportunist" would work much better, because then you can actually assign it to people who aren't Edge without it feeling off.</p><p> </p><p>

A final suggestion would be to make sure the spelling, grammar, and general diction is both correct and consistent. Too many gimmick files floating about are full of spelling mistakes, awkwardly placed apostrophes, poorly explained descriptions, etc. It's a little thing but it definitely helps with immersion when flavor text is well-written. I'd probably be willing to help out with the flavor text and stuff to keep it useful and consistent since that's one of my bigger TEW pet peeves.</p><p> </p><p>

I'm sure you weren't expecting a novel but I thought I'd throw out some quality feedback since I'm really interested in getting some more solid non-mod-specific TEW data out there. Lately we've gotten injury mods, location mods, and angle mods that all actually work the way TEW was designed for them to and it'd be really cool to add a good gimmicks file to that list.</p>

[Mattywood]

I would definitely love a great gimmick mod. I may even wait on adding more workers to my 1985 mod just so I can delete the gimmicks I currently have in it, import the gimmicks from a proper gimmick file, then add those gimmicks to the correct workers and contracts. Broadway, you mentioned Sex Appeal. Old School Face is another gimmick I've noticed that has high Sex Appeal as a requirement when a lot of wrestlers who used that gimmick in real life were not exactly the best looking guys ever. And then there are gimmicks that are assigned as "Gimmicky" when they really shouldn't be because of how Gimmick gimmicks are not made for workers who take part in lengthy matches and/or those working in the main event. A good example would be "Cowboy." While you could make a case for it to be Gimmicky when applied to the Smoking Gunns in the WWF(since they weren't working main events and their matches were no more than ten, maybe fifteen minutes), I definitely wouldn't consider Stan Hansen's interpretation of his Cowboy gimmick to be Gimmicky as he worked in Japan as a main event star.

[Jaysin]

I always use a personally modified version of the default gimmick pack. It's basically "easy mode", but it always gets above average ratings for sports entertainment promotions.

 

Also, I always give Stan Hansen the Bad Ass gimmick. Almost every gimmick you can think of can be simplified to the default gimmicks really.

[Mattywood]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="36782" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I always use a personally modified version of the default gimmick pack. It's basically "easy mode", but it always gets above average ratings for sports entertainment promotions.<p> </p><p> Also, I always give Stan Hansen the Bad Ass gimmick. Almost every gimmick you can think of can be simplified to the default gimmicks really.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> You know, I actually got to thinking about that. So maybe Cowboy should be just Gimmicky based anyway. Because you can put forth the idea that Stan Hansen is a cowboy via writing a diary but using the Bad Ass or Old School Heel gimmick with him.</p><p> </p><p> Speaking of which, isn't Old School Heel a Gimmicky based gimmick? If anything, I would think it would be a Weasel based gimmick. I could be wrong though.</p>

[Jaysin]

It's gimmicky in the default, but I switched it to wholesome, I really should switch it to weasel.

[mrwhippy]

<p>Thanks for this guys. I was expecting a start today or tomorrow with being off work but I had to go to one of our sites this morning and need to again tomorrow. I'm also drafting up a business plan for a new bar me and a partner are looking to open so time isn't of the essence at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>

Don't think I'm putting this off though, I'm going to try and dive into this tomorrow afternoon and once I'm started I can't leave it. I'm not going to put a time frame on this though; it could be a day, a week or a month considering what I have going on.</p>

[Dawn]

You should put the Repo Man one. I didn't like the gimmick that much, but it's from my favorite tag team wrestler, so i couldn't forget it.