COMING DECEMBER 2019
Posted: August 2019
Designing Modern Mania Wrestling has proven quite exciting thus far as we have both the advantage of using a proven, working model as our foundation (8MWR), and also the unique opportunity to explore different ways of approaching some fundamental "wrestling game rules."
This brings us to the topic of this blog post: Factions.
8MWR players who've seen the MMW character promos we've revealed thus far have noticed the new Faction classification. So what does it all mean, and how will it affect game play exactly?
Well, while all things aren't yet completely locked in (we've got a few months of work left ahead of us!), enough conceptual groundwork has been laid in order for us to elaborate a bit more on what we intend to be an exciting new way of grouping wrestlers together and utilizing existing game rules.
Depth and Diversity
Factions allow us to add new layers of depth to each wrestler's story by identifying them as being a part of a team along with other characters. For example, simply labeling both Lord Evermore and Winter as part of the Northwood Kingdom faction speaks to both character's backstory without needing an additional write-up. It's safe to assume they're a couple of some sort; that they'll fight alongside one another; that they share common enemies.
Consider also that the alternate versions of these two characters might not even be a part of the Northwood Kingdom -- that they might even be members of a completely different faction! What is Lord Evermore's perspective on the alternate version of Winter? Are they still allies? Or are they now enemies?
If every MMW wrestler eventually ends up having at least two different gimmicks, you can imagine the virtually infinite number of ways for players to diversify the landscape of their own promotions through collecting wrestlers and utilizing these alternate gimmicks to populate and shuffle various Factions.
Synergy
Wrestlers who are part of the same Faction are naturally familiar with one another (outside as well as inside the ring). How does this translate into game mechanics? Consider that in addition to official Tag Teams, members of the same Faction will have similar bonuses when teaming with one another. Therefore, a larger faction with six members will allow the player to utilize several combinations of tag teams, couples and trios that can receive stat bonuses. There are even plans for additional bonuses when a player collects all members of a Faction (as some might be harder to come by than others).
Feuds
A promotion full of various Factions means that the sky's the limit for the amount of potential feuds that can erupt. If, for example, the Northwood Kingdom feuds with the Imperial Dynasty, then it's only natural that any member or tag team within each faction could naturally feud with the other. This creates a more customizable experience where players can explore different rivalries while still reaping the benefits of traditional Feud card bonuses.
As we hope you can tell, we're quite excited for the countless ways the Faction feature can expand upon the playing experience of Modern Mania Wrestling and hope you are too!
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Posted: June 2019
Fans of 80s Mania Wrestling Returns will notice some familiar as well as some brand new categories on the Modern Mania Wrestling wrestler preview promos. Let's touch on each one briefly.
HEIGHT & WEIGHT:
Mostly for cosmetic purposes (to give players a sense of how the character sizes up), but will also factor into game formulas at times (such as in the case of battle royals).
HOME:
Mostly for cosmetic purposes (to give players a sense of character backstory), but will also factor into game formulas at times (such as in the case of Venue advantage).
FACTION:
Wrestlers that are in the same faction will gain bonus stats when teaming with one another.
FANS:
Represents how the MMW in-game fans view the character. Modern Mania Wrestling has an expanded scale of fan statuses as compared to 8MWR and new mechanics that allow for more intense feuds between certain statuses.
FINISHER:
The name of the wrestler's finisher as described in their victory line flavor text.
CLASS:
Essentially a weight class that not only helps to further illustrate the wrestler's stature but also allows them to compete for specific championships.
HARDCORE:
If a wrestler is classified as hardcore, they will gain bonuses in certain violent match types. Those who are not may be more susceptible to defeat and injury in certain violent match types.
STYLE:
As is the case in 8MWR, Modern Mania wrestlers will be categorized into different styles that will provide bonuses when properly synced with various segment types on a show.
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Posted: May 2019
Artistic presentation is one of the very first aspects we focused on when conceptualizing Modern Mania Wrestling, and we've broken it down into two primary parts: character art and user interface.
Character Art
As mentioned in our previous blog, while MMW and 8MWR do take place in the same universe, we're excited to leave the Saturday morning cartoon look to 8MWR and explore more of a comic book style with MMW. Along with this new art style comes more of a sense of realism to the characters as well.
Don't get us wrong, the characters will still be presented in a kayfabe manner, but that doesn't mean we won't sometimes call a wrestler by both his gimmick name and his shoot name. You know, just like people do sometimes in modern day wrestling. You'll learn more about this when we do a deep dive in future blog posts about new ways wrestler cards will be presented in Modern Mania.
But for now, while on the subject of character design, we'd like to thank and praise the artists who allowed us to bring our concepts to life.
Artists Nolan Harris, Butch Mapa, and Antonio “Nunoh” Diaz have been wonderful to create with and we're thrilled to finally start showing off some of their character pieces next month.
That's right. Starting in June, we'll kickoff full blown promos that will reveal new pieces of character art every week leading up to our December release!
User Interface
Whereas the 80s Mania menu layouts attempt to visually honor a retro feel (we've heard it described as a Super Nintendo menu with a Miami Vice color palette), Modern Mania will obviously attempt to look more...modern. Easier said than done! In today's vast landscape of games, what exactly is modern looking?
That kind of question got us to the point of agreeing that while MMW should still present an interface that works and feels like 8MWR, the UI should also display a bit sleeker, cleaner, streamlined presentation. And of course it should attempt to look more on par with some of the extravagant production levels you see in pro wrestling today.
Below you'll get a sneak preview of a background animation and music track that will be featured in the game so as to give you a little taste of the artistic presentation we're aiming for with Modern Mania Wrestling.
Stick with us, Modern Maniacs! It's going to be a fun summer as this train really gets moving down the track towards December!
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Animation: Greg Rozeboom Art: Werner Mueck Music: Kevin MacLeod
Posted: April 2019
What exactly is Modern Mania Wrestling?
Modern Mania Wrestling will be a brand new free-to-play mobile game. It is completely separate from 80s Mania Wrestling Returns. It will be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play and played on any Apple or Android device that you might use to play 80s Mania Wrestling Returns.
What effect does this new Modern Mania Wrestling game have on the existing 80s Mania Wrestling Returns game?
None whatsoever! 8MWR will continue to have our full support and continue to evolve through regular updates and the addition of new cards. In fact, the creation of MMW will help 8MWR in the long run as you'll see by reading on.
What about Modern Mania Wrestling is different from 80s Mania Wrestling Returns?
Most notably, Modern Mania Wrestling isn't set in the 1980s, 1990s or even the early 2000s. MMW is set in current day.
While MMW will still be a booker sim / collectible card game at heart, it will be presented in a style more representative of modern day wrestling. It will also still include many nods to pop culture. In addition, the character art will have a more comic book feel as opposed to the cartoon character feel of 8MWR. Our brand new team of artists for MMW is simply amazing!
We're also implementing new animated features throughout the game. You'll see character art and demo videos for yourself in the many promos planned for the months ahead!
Do Modern Mania Wrestling and 80s Mania Wrestling Returns exist in a shared universe?
Yes! The characters and concepts within MMW reside within the same universe established in 8MWR. You will see definitely see some aging wrestlers and family trees from 8MWR appear in MMW.
Even though it's official backstory begins in 8MWR, Modern Mania Wrestling itself will feature a huge influx of new characters, storylines and concepts.
Do I need to play both games?
Simply put: no. Though familiarity with 8MWR will help you to quickly dive into MMW, new players can just as easily pick up either game and start playing.
We understand that it takes more time to play both! This is why we encourage fans of our games to play whichever one they prefer, as our hope and intent is that each will provide a completely unique and enjoyable experience.
But of course, players of both 8MWR and MMW can expect to see plenty of crossover bonuses between the games!
Will you continue to develop 8MWR as regularly as you have been?
Yes! And this is something we're very excited about! We've got major plans in store for 80s Mania Wrestling Returns in the months leading up to the release of Modern Mania Wrestling. In extremely general terms we are exploring and in some cases already working on new features such as:
-Achievement System
-Mid-Match Event Cards
-Competitive Booking
Whatever features we add on to the 8MWR engine in the coming months will also be a part of the Modern Mania Wrestling game! And vice-versa! After MMW releases, both games will reap the benefits of regular updates to the overall game engine.
Wow! This is huge news! Can I be anymore excited?
No. You cannot be. This is the most exciting thing to happen in any decade ever. You are now, from this day forward, both an 80s MANIAC and a MODERN MANIAC!
In all seriousness, we thank anyone reading this. Without interest there is no support. And without support there is no game. And without the game there is no this. We love this. We hope you do too.
MORE MODERN MANIA WRESTLING NEWS IN MAY!
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