[Hype] A Brave New World - January 1984

[Bigpapa42]

 

Brave New World - January 1984

Details

Start Date: January 1984

Estimated Release Date: Literally No Idea

 

No real reason to post this, but also no real reason NOT to post this. My focus is still on the May 2013 mod but I have done a small amount of work on the next project... titled Brave New World, a mod starting in January 1984.

 

This mod will be fully from scratch for TEW 2020, with no imported data.

 

Why January 1984?

 

Mostly nostalgia. Some backstory - because why not... I'm a child of the 80s (although born in the 70s), so the 80s are pure nostalgia for me. I grew up on WWF and Stampede Wrestling. I can remember watching WrestleMania III at a neighbors house because they had a satellite dish - one of those monstrous ones. Awhile back, I got on an 80s nostalgia kick. Seemed like every show I was watching or every podcast I was listening to was somehow related. I went back and watched some territorial era wrestling from the early 80s and had to translate that to TEW, obviously. But I couldn't find the exact right mod to scratch the itch just right. The Golden Age is one of my favorite mods, but the WWF was already too big and had too many stars, and the territories were pretty much done. I also love Matty Shannon's Risky Business and had some fun with it, but I still felt like I wanted to be earlier. 1980 was a bit too early and 1983 sounded but I don't think a proper update of DOTT ever got released. So I started to mull doing a mod...

 

At first, I thought maybe converting over Risky Business, but that's being done. Maybe using that or TGA as a base to move back to an earlier year (with permission, of course), but the depth of work required to convert made me rethink that process. Felt like it would go very messy. so maybe something from scratch. I didn't lock onto a set date yet at this point.

 

I chatted with a few folks, some of whom are extremely knowledgeable. And the options just kinda naturally narrowed. Options like 1986 and 1988 just felt too late. 1983 was appealing but a bit too early. So somewhere between late 1983 to mid 1985. From 1983 to 1984 kinda feels like this transition point in both the wrestling industry and society (at least here in North America). It seems weird to call the 1970s and early 1980s an age of "innocence", but it kinda was. Or at least an age of respect for traditions, and it gave way to this era of glitz and glamor, style over substance. That applies to wrestling and to culture. So I started looking at specific events in wrestling in the year from later 1983 to later 1984. But the very start of 1984 just made sense.

 

In America, Vince has only begun putting his stamp on the WWF. Hogan has been hired but hasn't won the title yet. The roster is still heavily guys from the Vince Sr era and the athleticism added in 1986 and 1987 is still miles away. And because the hiring spree hasn't really started yet, the territories are still loaded. Georgia Championship Wrestling is still around. David von Erich hasn't passed away yet and WCCW is still pretty hot. MSW is doing good business and great booking. Jim Crockett has just promoted a very success first Starrcade.

 

In Canada, Maple Leaf Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling are both still around.

 

In Mexico, the UWA is doing pretty good business and is a legit threat to EMLL.

 

In Japan, the group of New Japan talent that would leave to form the UWF in later 1984 is still on the roster but the seeds have been planted. Tiger Mask I has already left. The golden generation for New Japan would debut in later 1984 as well. All Japan has a wonderful combination of current stars and young talent (Tsuruta, Tenryu, Misawa, and Kowada), plus some great gaijin talent. And AJW was absolutely loaded with talent.

 

In the UK, there was talent like Rollerball Rocco and Marty Jones.

 

Basically, it makes for an interesting divergence point in my opinion. You are still a bit away from having PPV. Its a race to see which of the territories can pull ahead and start to lock down the key talents, and steal from other territories. I feel like a lot of companies would be interesting to run.

 

One upside is that game world at the start of 1984 feels a bit smaller. There are 31 companies in the data currently and I expect to have somewhere just over 1000 active workers. There will need to be a lot of future workers, obviously, but they tend to be easier to create.

 

The Methodology

 

I'm not sure anyone really cares about this so skip if you need. But some seemed to find it interesting when I explained my methodology for the 2013 mod. For that one, I wanted to emulate the overall gameworld balance of the Cverse and Tverse, so I used the idea of slotting. Basically I created the RW workers by finding a worker in the CV or TV who filled a very similar role (talent, popularity, etc), imported them, and converted them over. It worked in the sense that I like the balance that The Yes Mod offers. But it also presented some negatives. But I didn't even consider that method in large part because the game world is so vastly different than either the CV or TV. It is, quite literally, a different time.

 

When I started out with a blank database, I did import the basic required data (names, angles, etc). And then I started creating companies. When I moved onto starting to create some workers, I stumbled into a method. Basically, I created a set of templates that are the bare outline of a worker in a given region. One for US male worker, one for US Japanese worker, etc. They provide a baseline of skill and popularity. I can then clone the appropriate template and add the name to create workers. Of course, that isn't actually the worker - its just an outline. I can go in and add in all the details, skill them appropriately, given them more correct popularity, Attributes, etc. So what's the point of having that outline worker first? Well, an issue I ran into on TYM is that I wasn't systematic in adding workers to a given area of the world. I quite intentionally skipped around. The upside to this was seeing all of the game areas fill up. The downside was that it made testing all but impossible until I was well into the process of adding talent. Focusing on a given area and filling it in has a major advantage in that regard... but I feel like jumping around was helpful in avoiding burnout. By using the "baseline worker" method, i can create a bunch and fill a given roster with workers who are just useful enough that I can sorta see how a company will grade.

 

Another element I learned from TYM is that tweaking things from testing and from feedback is vital. So with that in mind, the intent won't be to get everyone "perfect" in terms of skills, popularity, etc, but just get them decent. The testing and feedback process will therefore be even more important. In a way, its crowd-sourcing the polish to a mod.

 

Progress

 

Intended Features

• Approximately 1000-1200 active workers
  
• Loads of future workers
  
• A balance between accuracy and gameplay
  
• Custom pick pack (using nGo style from a variety of sources
  
• Hall of Immortal and Hall of Fame cuts in sepia tone
  
• Full employment histories, where possible
  

 

The Mod Details

Estimated Percentage Done: 2%

Start Date: January 1, 1984

Active Promotions: 30

Future Promotions: x

Total Workers: 18

Active Male Workers: 17

Active Female Workers: 1

Future Male Workers: x

Future Female Workers: x

Non-Wrestlers: x

Yet to Debut Non-Wrestlers: x

Agers: x

Alter Egos: x

Dojo Graduates: x

Mask & Hair History: x

Stables: x

Teams: x

Titles: x

Last Update:

 

Companies in the Data

All Japan Pro Wrestling

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling

All Star Wrestling

All-Star Wrestling Vancouver

American Wrestling Alliance

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling

Catch Wrestling Association

Central States Wrestling

Championship Wrestling from Florida

Continental Wrestling Association

East Coast Wrestling Association

Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre - aka CMLL

Georgia Championship Wrestling

Houston Wrestling

International Championship Wrestling

International Wrestling

Joint Promotions UK

Maple Leaf Wrestling

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling - aka JCP

Mid-South Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Southwest Championship Wrestling

St. Louis Wrestling Club

Stampede Wrestling

Universal Wrestling Alliance

World Class Championship Wrestling

World Wrestling Association

World Wrestling Council

World Wresting Federation

[hailthebulldog]

Can't wait man. All of your projects are super high quality so I know this one will be great.

[Stennick]

I love that there are only 18 workers in the data. I mean I don't love it because this likely means its a long long ways off, like still commenting in this thread in a year ways off but on the other hand its exciting to see this literally at the ground floor and be able to follow the journey along with you. I just downloaded your other mod. Good luck and most importantly try to enjoy the journey yourself.

[Bigpapa42]

Can't wait man. All of your projects are super high quality so I know this one will be great.

 

Thanks. Long ways off but hoping this one delivers.

 

I love that there are only 18 workers in the data. I mean I don't love it because this likely means its a long long ways off, like still commenting in this thread in a year ways off but on the other hand its exciting to see this literally at the ground floor and be able to follow the journey along with you. I just downloaded your other mod. Good luck and most importantly try to enjoy the journey yourself.

 

I honestly wasn't going to put how many are actually done but thoughts its kinda funny. That number would grow pretty quick if I focused on this but I just do a worker here and there for a distraction from TYM. There are about 250 workers in the mod in total but most of those are the "blanks", which is just a name on a template worker.

 

Definitely trying to enjoy the process. One thing I do really enjoy about this process is that my knowledge of the 1980-1984 period is weaker than the rest of the decade, so I'm having to learn stuff. Even just adding the work history for a given worker can be eye-opening, as you can discover they spent a ton of time working for a territory that you never associated them with.

[scmurph01]

Cannot wait for this. This era was when I got into wrestling, especially the NWA & WCCW.

[Spectre]

Love this. I've always been incredibly intrigued by how earth-shattering the period about August '83 to August '84 was for the wrestling industry -- Inoki's Brazilian scandal that led to Tiger Mask leaving and the formation of the UWF, Starrcade '83, Hogan jumping from the AWA, David Von Erich dying, Black Saturday (and the ramifications for GCW, Crockett, WWF/Wrestlemania, and Mid-South), the WWF/MTV alliance, WWF buying Stampede and Maple Leaf and ownership changes in Montreal, etc. There was also some interesting stuff going in Mexico in 84/85 -- lucha libre was banned on TV in Mexico City, but AWWA briefly got onto TV there. They got shut down in 84, only for the lucha libre union to successfully challenge that law in 85, although it took years for lucha libre to return to TV. I always thought it was interesting that if the AWWA had been able to challenge the law before losing their show, they might have been able to use TV to challenge the traditional (and much more conservative) companies in Mexico. There's so many interesting alternate history jump-off points from that one year.

 

I'd probably want to play the game from November or December '83, but that should be easy enough to edit.

[Jaysin]

Good luck buddy.

[Bigpapa42]

Cannot wait for this. This era was when I got into wrestling, especially the NWA & WCCW.

 

Awesome! You will be one of the folks I'll be counting on for expertise then lol

 

Love this. I've always been incredibly intrigued by how earth-shattering the period about August '83 to August '84 was for the wrestling industry -- Inoki's Brazilian scandal that led to Tiger Mask leaving and the formation of the UWF, Starrcade '83, Hogan jumping from the AWA, David Von Erich dying, Black Saturday (and the ramifications for GCW, Crockett, WWF/Wrestlemania, and Mid-South), the WWF/MTV alliance, WWF buying Stampede and Maple Leaf and ownership changes in Montreal, etc. There was also some interesting stuff going in Mexico in 84/85 -- lucha libre was banned on TV in Mexico City, but AWWA briefly got onto TV there. They got shut down in 84, only for the lucha libre union to successfully challenge that law in 85, although it took years for lucha libre to return to TV. I always thought it was interesting that if the AWWA had been able to challenge the law before losing their show, they might have been able to use TV to challenge the traditional (and much more conservative) companies in Mexico. There's so many interesting alternate history jump-off points from that one year.

 

I'd probably want to play the game from November or December '83, but that should be easy enough to edit.

 

I thought about late late 1983 as the starting point. Backlund is still the champ in the WWF. You can do the first Starrcade with MACW. I just always find the game is a bit smoother with a start date in January or closer to mid-year. With November or December, the awards end up really wonky.

 

Good to know about lucha libre on TV. I'll have to try to take that into account.

 

Good luck buddy.

 

Thank you good sir!

[lastplaneout]

I am super excited about this announcement. I am new to the TEW community, but if there is anything that I can contribute I would be happy to do so. I am really invested in having a mod that accurately models schedules and cards in Japan from this era. I have been collecting data about show schedules in Japan in the 1980s (particularly for AJW) and would be happy to contribute.

[Bigpapa42]

I am super excited about this announcement. I am new to the TEW community, but if there is anything that I can contribute I would be happy to do so. I am really invested in having a mod that accurately models schedules and cards in Japan from this era. I have been collecting data about show schedules in Japan in the 1980s (particularly for AJW) and would be happy to contribute.

 

AJW, you say? Show schedule, you say? Well, it just so happens that I've had a bear of a time figuring out the AJW schedule for this time period. Both Cagematch and Wrestlingdata are missing huge chunks of AJW from the early 80s. So any help in that regard would be highly appreciated.

[lastplaneout]

AJW, you say? Show schedule, you say? Well, it just so happens that I've had a bear of a time figuring out the AJW schedule for this time period. Both Cagematch and Wrestlingdata are missing huge chunks of AJW from the early 80s. So any help in that regard would be highly appreciated.

 

Awesome. Sent a PM with some info. Will be happy to follow up if you want.

[JohnnyRaider37]

I was born in 84 and typically play 90s mods but wow, this sounds very interesting to me. Id definitely play this!

[Bigpapa42]

Update time! So this has been almost completely backburned because I didn't want to divert my focus too much from the 2013 mod. Now that's been released, I'm going to play a bit of TEW but I'm also going to put a bit of time into this.

 

I'm currently at 25 workers. LOL

 

So basically my methodology is using templates. I have about 25 of them. I have somewhere around 250 template workers, and am slowly filling those in to be complete workers. The upside to using the template method is that I can easily fill in a roster with workers that are at least an outline of a worker, allowing for testing.

 

When I fill in a worker, its adding all the details, except a biography. Leaving those blank for the moment. Undecided whether I will do some custom-written bios like The Yes Mod has, or use organic biographies. Or some combination of the options.

 

The one of the most time consuming aspects of filling in each worker is the employment history. I mean, I just filled in Curt Hennig, who debuted in 1980, and even he has a variety of companies he's already worked for. And someone like Abdullah the Butcher, its just a nightmare. I'm debating whether I should keep doing the histories. It would very much save time to do it later.... but I also agree with the advice in Derek's Mod Making guide that leaving those kind of details "for later" is dangerous because you probably never go back and deal with them. And I like having employment histories because it makes the world feel a bit more detailed, plus it really helps if I do end up using organic biographies.

 

Regardless, I doubt this gets the kind of focused attention that The Yes Mod did and is going to come together slower. Its a smaller game world so that might not matter, but this will be a long long process, I imagine.

[sabin357]

Really looking forward to this eventual release. We're in desperate need of 80s/90s mods for TEW 2020, especially since Genadi is done with TEW.

[HWRP]

<p>Very much looking forward to this when you do get round to completing it, BP.</p><p> </p><p>

It's an interesting time period for sure. There's a part of me that thinks its a shame that the WWF won't start off as a monster, because there's always that fun part in trying to take them down. In fact, theoretically, Georgia Championship Wrestling could become the monster in this data since they are on TBS, and to the best of my knowledge, TBS had a lot of nationwide exposure as far back as 1984. And of course, this data starts many months before ''Black Saturday'' ever happened.</p><p> </p><p>

I think the big selling points in America will be booking Hulkamania (WWF version, at least) from the start, creating and booking the Four Horseman from the start, pushing Magnum T.A in a ''what could have been'' without the accident, and much more. </p><p> </p><p>

You also mentioned Misawa and Kawada, who knows what will happen to their careers on the data since Jumbo Tsuruta won't become sick and Tenryu won't leave and do the SWS gig. </p><p> </p><p>

There's many history-changing moments to be made.</p>