Real world historical mod. Where's the challenge?

[redhilleagle]

I'm interested in hearing from people who play historical mods.

What do you see as the challenge? can see playing them from a fantasy booking point of view (I want to book 96-2000 different, etc.), but what about you guys who like a challenge?

 

I'll explain what I mean...

 

I've tried historical mods, usually 1991-1995, but I know who to hire, I know who to push. I know Steve Austin will be a star, I know The Rock will a star, I know who has potential, it kind of ruins it for me because I don't have that element of the unknown, can I get this guy into the main event? Will his star quality improve?

 

When I play mods with new gens or created "verses", I have no idea, and sometimes it's a case of "Suck it and see", "Let's see if this works".

 

Just wondering how you all treat histrorical mods......

[Taker4455]

<p>I try to have some discipline about it and not just hire everyone under the sun.</p><p> </p><p>

Hopefully, this won't even be an issue in Tew 2020, as per the developer's journal:</p><p> </p><p>

"Instead of just being on or off, the start data variance setting can now be Minor, Medium, Major, or Extreme. This allows the user to customise the level of randomness that the stats will encounter when starting a new game."</p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/eek.png.0e09df00fa222c85760b9bc1700b5405.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[edenborn]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="redhilleagle" data-cite="redhilleagle" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="47317" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'm interested in hearing from people who play historical mods.<p> What do you see as the challenge? can see playing them from a fantasy booking point of view (I want to book 96-2000 different, etc.), but what about you guys who like a challenge?</p></div></blockquote>This may not be the challenge you're looking for but...<p> </p><p> Sometimes when playing a historical mod, I'll go about my business of hiring the workers I like and who I know are going to be stars. But then I make a point of hiring their worst enemies. Especially if those enemies are also talented stars who are sure to improve.</p><p> </p><p> The fun comes from trying to juggle a toxic locker room -- especially if you set zero points to Diplomacy. You look to get everyone over but eventually you have to give up one or more of your best weapons, which the AI can then (in theory) use effectively against you and make for a more challenging game.</p>

[BigINMoldova]

The challenge for me is usually to put the WWF/WWE out of business. I've taken the number one spot from them a couple of times but I've never managed to actually put them out of business completely. This is probably the main reason why I've always struggled with having a long-term WWF save, without a white whale to chase, the game does get boring. The year-end awards also give you a goal to shoot for. I' think Daniel Bryan averaged a 95* for the year in my TNA save and still lost out to John Cena.

[nerodragomir1]

It depends on the company. If it's WWF I'll try to book the company how I'd want to, but try not to just hire people that don't fit the build of the company at that time. This usually results in like 8 months to a year of playing then I get bored & quit. WCW never gets past a month except for one 94-95 save I had where Austin was the top Heel & Pillman was the top babyface. That eventually ended after a year "although I could see myself going back to it sometime." I have a NJPW save from the 2006 shifting sands mod that has been going for almost 2 years & that one is just plain fun to play. Starting the year with a clear plan for who will be Heavyweight champion & then seeing where the rest of the company falls in place. It's been my favorite save. I've never really been able to click with the corrnellverse or thunderverse. TEW2013 UJP was the only company I could ever get into booking. That one went on for like 2 years but after the switch to 2016 it just didn't feel the same.

[nerodragomir1]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Taker4455" data-cite="Taker4455" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="47317" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> </p><p> "Instead of just being on or off, the start data variance setting can now be Minor, Medium, Major, or Extreme. This allows the user to customise the level of randomness that the stats will encounter when starting a new game."</p><p> </p><p> Oh that's cool! I didn't know they were adding variance to that.</p></div></blockquote>

[noknuckles]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="redhilleagle" data-cite="redhilleagle" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="47317" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I know Steve Austin will be a star, I know The Rock will a star, I know who has potential</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Is it a sure thing though? I don't know the inner workings and how destiny rolls work for mods, but what's stopping Steve Austin's popularity from capping at say 76</p><p> </p><p> He'll almost guarantee entertaining segments and good matches due to high SQ/Charisma, but I don't see the difference between real world and CV, where you can just get anyone with high SQ and push them to the moon and see how far destiny rolls take them.</p>

[joshspicer]

Yeah, there's a difference between playing a historical mod and booking it exactly like the original company did and taking the historical mod and booking it the way you want to.

[Vinsmoker]

<p>I think you're underrating the challenge of playing as a lower-end company.</p><p> </p><p>

I'm using a 2001 mod for my Road To Glory playthroughs and it's difficult as hell to get a company going. All great workers (future and at the start of 2001) in Mexico and Japan are loyal to the bigger companies, that tour almost every day. In territories such as the British Isles, Europe and Australia there is a lack of standout talent at that time. The British wrestling scene was basically at its low-end and the others are just now, in the 2010s+, becoming great competitively.</p><p> </p><p>

Every decent worker gets written contracts with WWE or WCW in the USA and all the others will jump over to ROH, TNA & co., once they're available.</p>

[Supermercado]

One of my better games was starting in Australia and heavily using locals out of my training camp. I usually can't stand fictional characters, but weaving them into the real wrestling world and bringing in internationals to fight them was good fun.

 

The only downside was that I knew no matter how over I got my stars I'd never lose them because they never got popular enough overseas.

[Icecold]

Personally I just give myself goals to work off... For instance my current WWF 1980(now in 81) goal is to have Dusty Rhodes and "friends" as the main draws as opposed to Backlund and later Hogan thus creating an alturnate reality where WWF looks like JCP/Florida of the 80's but based out of the east coast..

 

For instance Starrcade is approaching but instead of being a JCP show, it's a WWF show on closed circuit from the Garden headlined by Dusty battling Harley Race for "title vs title"...

[Zero]

The challenge is booking things that you always wanted to see. In my game, I wanted to see Bruiser Brody challenge Hogan for the title. I wanted to give Vader that monster run in the WWF that he never got. My game is currently in 2006, but Vader (still hasn't hit time decline) is the biggest MONSTER in the game besides Brock Lesnar.

 

Certain things I do repeat (Mankind vs. Rock saga from 98-99). Also, don't hire everyone. Have some self-control. Build competition for your game. I drop top talent all the time.

 

For example, I'm opening ECW back open. I'm going to release around 40 pieces of talent including Paul Wight, Kurt Angle, and Brock so Heyman can be competiton.

 

Also, I would take the advice of booking a smaller promotion.

[justtxyank]

I don't think most people who play historical mods try to book them historically accurate.

 

I don't know if I've ever felt "challenged" by TEW so can't help you there, but the fan has been in booking history differently. Normally the first few months run pretty close to history and then I go off script. I enjoy booking guys who never got real runs for example.

[Blackman]

If you want a challenge, try getting everyone over. I'm sure it's not a cakewalk. There is always the option - real world or not - to sign the top dogs and just "book them" and you'll eventually reach the top without "effort". I know there's some players here that make a game out of promoting some of the worst workers, like Giant Redwood.

 

I personally don't play these mods as there's always something off and I will probably go on a frenzy modding it all, which can and will only lead to oblivion and less playtime. While the C-verse "is what it is", and though workers might not always become stars due to "destiny', there's a silver lining. Brent Hill or Craig Prince, for one, are never going to suck.

 

But imo these games aren't about challenge. Just like CK2, for instance, it's a game that is hard to learn (due to the curve) but once you do master it it becomes easy as long as you plan it out properly. There isn't one 'achievement' that is 'hard' as long as you know what you are doing. The game is about management or playing around to your liking.

[BrokenCycle]

The only challenging mod I've ever played was Shifting Sands because the stats are so low and consistent throughout the world. It's so finely crafted, and beautiful.

 

When you have "every" mod (--and this is a generalization--) have The Undertaker and Hogan with A* psychology, and Austin and The Rock with A* popularity and whatnot, you're basically just playing an e-fed instead of a video game at that point. The issue is that modders want statistical accuracy, when what they really should be thinking about it making a balanced video game.

[MainOffender]

I'll join the chorus saying that I don't necessarily play RW mods for the "challenge" or really play any version of TEW for that reason. Different people play the game in different ways!

 

One thing I like to do to keep things interesting: if I'm playing as a big company like WWF and WCW, I pick a couple guys who I want to see get into the Hall of Immortals and then keep track of their scores until they're there, then move on to someone else. I also tend to play in a non-optimized way -- not signing the best talent, pissing people off on purpose, pushing Dino Bravo, etc.

 

The only challenging mod I've ever played was Shifting Sands because the stats are so low and consistent throughout the world. It's so finely crafted, and beautiful.

 

When you have "every" mod (--and this is a generalization--) have The Undertaker and Hogan with A* psychology, and Austin and The Rock with A* popularity and whatnot, you're basically just playing an e-fed instead of a video game at that point. The issue is that modders want statistical accuracy, when what they really should be thinking about it making a balanced video game.

 

Going on a tangent here! I agree that stats for RW mods do tend to be too high. The idea of accuracy in mods has always been kind of silly to me, though. All these ratings are so, so subjective. I think the mods that get popular and stand out tend to be ones that best capture the "feel" of an era rather than achieving some kind of impossible accuracy standard. I'm still always compelled to edit certain guys when I'm playing to suit my own tastes (and I think if more people were willing to just quietly tweak the data on their own, the community would be a much happier place!). So, to loop this back around to the original poster -- if the game seems too easy, edit it! I'm very much looking forward to having a WMMA5 style Mod Maker+ in TEW20 so that it'll be easier to find and tweak ratings I don't agree with.

[Levinux]

I've played the '91 Rising Storms mod extensively as well as the '95 War of the Worlds, '97 Montreal Aftermath and currently I'm playing off the Nov '19 Real World Chronicles mod (currently in July '20). For me, this game is all about the real world historical mods, here is how I play.

 

I try to mix real history with my own ideas. I try to stick with some history. For example, when playing WCW in the early '90, I don't go crazy after WWF guys every chance I can, because that wasn't WCW back then. I think about 'What was WCW trying to accomplish then and what was their product?" then I think og ways to change it without "fantasy booking", so to speak. For example, lets say I'm playing WCW in early '96 and I want to have the nWo storyline in my game. Maybe it's not Hall & Nash that kick that off. Maybe it's 2 other guys. To me, that's a nice blend of accuracy with a twist enough to keep people interested (I post my saves in the forums).

 

I don't think I'd be able to play as the WWF in any of the mods because the competition isn't there. Playing as WCW always gave me the goal of trying to beat out Vince, whether it be TV/PPV ratings or just show ratings. My current AEW game, I'm killing them in show ratings and gaming about 2 pop per month US-wide. That keeps me going.

 

My advice would be ask yourself what did you like about what was going on around that time, running with it in general, but the details are all yours. Push someone you always liked, or wish WCW or WWF pushed.

 

The challenge of being authentic, interesting and creative does it for me.

[Levinux]

I'll join the chorus saying that I don't necessarily play RW mods for the "challenge" or really play any version of TEW for that reason. Different people play the game in different ways!

 

One thing I like to do to keep things interesting: if I'm playing as a big company like WWF and WCW, I pick a couple guys who I want to see get into the Hall of Immortals and then keep track of their scores until they're there, then move on to someone else. I also tend to play in a non-optimized way -- not signing the best talent, pissing people off on purpose, pushing Dino Bravo, etc.

 

 

 

Going on a tangent here! I agree that stats for RW mods do tend to be too high. The idea of accuracy in mods has always been kind of silly to me, though. All these ratings are so, so subjective. I think the mods that get popular and stand out tend to be ones that best capture the "feel" of an era rather than achieving some kind of impossible accuracy standard. I'm still always compelled to edit certain guys when I'm playing to suit my own tastes (and I think if more people were willing to just quietly tweak the data on their own, the community would be a much happier place!). So, to loop this back around to the original poster -- if the game seems too easy, edit it! I'm very much looking forward to having a WMMA5 style Mod Maker+ in TEW20 so that it'll be easier to find and tweak ratings I don't agree with.

 

You got a good chuckle out of me on pushing Dino Bravo

[cappyboy]

Personally, I find the idea of challenge over-rated. Not that it is useless or unneeded. Some challenge can fun at times. But really I look at different mods as being for different purposes. With historical mods being more for sandboxing around. Seeing what the game makes of what the company did vs what they could have done. For trying to take those personal favorites who didn't make it like it seems they could have and seeing if you can get them to the heights it feels like they deserved.

 

Could a Jim Powers or a Joey Maggs ever been more than undercarders? How would The S & S Express (Jumpin Joe Savoldi & Vic Steamboat) have fared in a more famous tag scene? Heck, could Vic have come closer to his brother's legacy or was he doomed to be a footnote in Ricky's story? Challenge can be a good thing in the right context. But in historical mods, it feels secondary to your ability to bring your inner Harry Turtledove to the wrestling world and see what kind of butterfly effects you can create.

[D16NJD16]

If the only way to make a challenge is to go into a game world completely blindfolded, then it isn't a very good game. There are plenty of challenges to be found running a real world company, even if you know every single wrestler in the game.

[BigINMoldova]

<p>I actually find a lot of Real World mod stats to be lower then what I expect them to be.</p><p> </p><p>

I can't remember a time where I've used the editor to lower someone's stats because I can remember a handful of times where I've had to bump people's stats ups.</p><p> </p><p>

Especially Psychology and Selling. Those seem to be the two that every mod maker struggles with.</p>

[D16NJD16]

I actually find a lot of Real World mod stats to be lower then what I expect them to be.

 

I can't remember a time where I've used the editor to lower someone's stats because I can remember a handful of times where I've had to bump people's stats ups.

 

Especially Psychology and Selling. Those seem to be the two that every mod maker struggles with.

 

They are probably intentionally low, because of how much psychology impacts match ratings.

[nerodragomir1]

The only challenging mod I've ever played was Shifting Sands because the stats are so low and consistent throughout the world. It's so finely crafted, and beautiful.

 

When you have "every" mod (--and this is a generalization--) have The Undertaker and Hogan with A* psychology, and Austin and The Rock with A* popularity and whatnot, you're basically just playing an e-fed instead of a video game at that point. The issue is that modders want statistical accuracy, when what they really should be thinking about it making a balanced video game.

 

I absolutely agree! Shifting Sands is my favorite mod. I always bang on about how the mod is just excellently made! Only con I can make about the game is wanting more in-depth future Japanese Joshie & male workers. Other than that, A+ mod!

[Nobby_McDonald]

I've created my own company in a real world mod that starts just before TNA opened in 2001 (Genadi's mod) on TEW13. Starting from scratch, in 2012 I'm now the number two company and slowly slowly catching up with WWE.

 

My top stars include champion Keiji Sakoda, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, tag team champions CM Punk and Colt Cabana, Christopher Daniels, Cade Thesz (a user generated grandson of Lou Thesz), Kevin Steen, Rob Van Dam, Randy Orton, John Cena and somebody who is about to start working for my company that I won't name as I will spoil the few who follow my diary.

 

I'm still really enjoying it. At eleven years, I've already beaten my previous longest game save time by six years. TEW20 might put a halt to it or slow it down.

[KingofOldSchool]

I don't play games for a challenge. If I wanted a challenge, I'd go back to college to get my Masters