... And how to make it Better.

When last I left off, I was trying to used car salesman Adam Ryland's Wrestling Spirit 2 as a viable entry to any gaming library. But like all used car salesmen, I wasn't entirely up front concerning the less than shinier bits.

While there are several tournament-type modes in Wrestling Spirit, the drawing card of the game is in its Career Mode. It is there that you have the option of either starting your own wrestler from scratch, or taking on an existing wrestler and guiding their career. Promotional inner workings (card lineups, title matches, hirings and firings, etc.) was largely built off the core of Ryland's Total Extreme Wrestling 2004.

Frankly, it never really worked for me. Besides the actual 'fight engine', for lack of a better phrase, the single most important aspect to a wrestling game needs to be a logical method of match-making.

Mr. Ryland's booking engine works... for Total Extreme Wrestling. After all, the player is doing the booking of their own promotion in that series. What the AI-controlled promotions do is always on the peripheral - and even when studied, makes enough sense.

In Wrestling Spirit, the AI controls all promotions; your character takes the bookings assigned to them. Sometimes those bookings make sense. Sometimes not so much.


The game, like all of Mr. Ryland's games, comes with an in-game editor. This allows the player to go in and tweak Ryland's default data (called the CornellVerse). Or, if they wish, to create their own game world of wrestlers, promotions... and promotion settings.

Being such a fan of the territorial era of wrestling (70s-80s), the first thing I did was create a data set that paid homage. The Death of the Territories, as it was called, grew to be quite the project. With over 1,000 workers, 38 promotions (including those from England, Mexico, and Japan), close to 800 unique move sets, and over 2,000 era-specific moves, I think I succeeded in my goal.

One of the things I was most proud of was my expansion of Ryland's taunt moves in the game to a full-blown role-playing experience appropriate for the era; the Sheik might bust out in his awesome camel walk, Abdullah the Butcher might stop his fork attack due to 'Receiving Messages from Allah!', Hulk Hogan might start wagging his finger, or Jake 'the Snake' Roberts might threaten his opponent with his snake Damien.

In ways beyond the attention to territorial detail, the heightening of the role-playing element that I achieved made the game fundamentally better.

The default data, while good, was simply a tad too wooden when it came to the fights themselves. Moves that I added such as the 'Heel Exaggerated Loading Of...' {In broad and exaggerated motions, the attacker begins attempting to Load his... (fill in the blank; glove, boot, mask, forearm pad, etc.)} or the 'Heel Beg Off' {A trademark move of many old school heels: the attacker reverts to a state of cowardice by falling to his knees and begging for mercy. Failure results in the hero punching the villain. Success results in the hero momentarily unsure of himself} simply enhanced what Mr. Ryland had intended all along.


But even that wasn't enough.

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the games I grew up on was a wrestling game I created as a young teen. One of the better aspects of that game was that I could play match-maker for my very own promotion and then run the (dream) matches myself.

While Wrestling Spirit features the best representation of kayfabe era wrestling I have come across, computer controlled booking can only get you so far - no matter the coding or data settings that drive it.

So what do you do? Set up match-ups in Wrestling Spirit's Exhibition Mode and track results in a well-worn notebook? Nope. You find someone with talents and pester them to do it for you.

Troy Perry, a talented programmer out of England, was just the cat. Mr. Perry had previously created an Excel application that acted as a match maker for a user controlled promotion using the Retro Wrestling Game core mechanics as means of resolving fights. Like just about every wrestling-related project Perry worked on, it was snazzy.

Enter Keyfabe, an Excel sheet* that acts as Match-Maker mode for Wrestling Spirit 2. I threw just about every aspect of territorial-era professional wrestling I could at Mr. Perry, and he obliged all of them. The end result is a true piece of art.

"After enabling sheet macros, select your promotional roster from a choice of close to 600 D.O.T.T. era wrestlers and managers - many with their own special match bonuses, tag team partners, and finishers (for AI generated results). Or even let Keyfabe recommend roster additions for you!

After selecting your World and Regional Champions, fire up the Launch Promotion button. Keyfabe will then formulate and dynamically track your title challengers, title defenses, promotional rankings, monthly feuds, and suggested bookings for each of your shows; including your weekly television and house shows, plus the end-of-the-month spectaculars.

'Booked' matches are either played out using Wrestling Spirit 2's Exhibition Mode - with the player manually entering the results to the excel sheet, or by the spreadsheet itself determining the winner through a variable method.


Noted Features:

* National (40 man) or Regional (22) roster packages.
* User defined Company Titles (Singles, Tag Team, and Television).
* Possible 'End of Month Spectacular' World Singles and/or World Tag Team Title bookings against your promotional stars (to replicate outside/traveling champions) - as well as Special Attraction bookings, such as Andre the Giant, Haystacks Calhoun, Giant Baba and Ted the Wrestling Bear.
* Dynamic Title (and promotional) Rankings based upon monthly wins, losses, and managerial influence.
* An automated Championship tracking sheet for Regional Title Histories.
* Suggested Bookings (for house shows, television shows, and end-of-month super cards).
* Text-based Outputs of show results, promotion rankings, and roster listings for record keeping.
* Suggested Monthly Feuds (blow offs booked on end-of-month cards).
* Touring Schedule Generators (rather than sticking to Virtual Arena or specific geographic locations in Exhibition Mode play).
* Injury and Suspension Checks.
* Break My Hold Challenges and Unmasking Attempts.
* Promos.
* End-of-Month User Roster Manipulations (to spice up your promotion).
* Worker Progression Tracking.
* And much more...


'Keyfabe: Unlocking Progress to the Past'"


- Cheesy testament to the heathens at Grey Dog Software's Fan Forums

In all, the Death of the Territories modification for Wrestling Spirit 2 had around 4,000 downloads in its lifespan; the last update alone had 513**. Many of them were people downloading the various updates I released. Not to mention those that un-and-then-reinstalled the game from their machines. But the numbers are accurate.

Keyfabe has had 45 people download it since being released in December of 2010.


Hobby in the form of a niche cubed: Kayfabe era Professional Wrestling Video Game... Text-based at that... with an excel sheet add-on to a game over five years old.

I think there is a lesson to be learned somewhere in there.

But that's for the game designers to figure out.



* Made with Excel 97

** Besides correcting various errors in my final update to D.O.T.T. in 2009, I introduced Legends (such as Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne in their primes) and... a Bear and Midget promotion. Hah! If you're going out, go out with a slam.