How steep is the learning curve?

[damientheomen3]

I know nothing about pro wrestling and such, and every time I tried TEW2005 I quit within a half hour because I couldn't really figure everything out.

That being said, I am still very interested in this. For any fans of the series who may have started at the same point that I'm at right now, how long did it take for you to really feel comfortable with the game and such?

[Teh_Showtime]

If you don't know pro wrestling then you will likely have to get down the basic terms of wrestling.

Things like face = good guy, heel = bad guys, overness = popularity

those are probably the most important things to know that aren't found in the help file. The help file though has everything about the game in it so while some people would advise reading the entire thing at once, I would advise you to just open it and search for the problem you are having in the file. If somehow it's not in the help files asking on the forums is sure to get you an answer.

I think most of the problems new players face have to do with the interface which might be why as you play the game more, booking shows takes less and less time. I would recommend downloading the demo of 2010 and starting there. There are a lot of features in 2010 not in 2005 though, but if you play a few test games in the trial you would probably fare better when/if you get 2013 simply because there were 200+ changes/improvements made from the 2008 ---> 2010 games alone.

[MJStark]

Well personally I kept plugging away at TEW05 till I understood it, then downloaded the demo for TEW10 when it came out and replayed the demo over and over till I understood the new features, then bought TEW10.

You've probably already seen it but I found D-lyrium;s TEW05 FAQ (http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46989) invaluable in getting to grips with 05 :)

[Nedew]

Honestly, i think you're going to have to get into wrestling on at least some level to enjoy this - it's just so fundamental to understand what you're booking i think.

Even if you're just browsing WWE clips on YouTube, it'll go a lot further to helping your understanding if you actually see one form of this art.

[Thevampire]

The learning curve of this game is a big one. i have been playing this since the first version, made my own mods, played hours and hours off different games. and i still learn some new things.

If u are not a wrestling fan u, better be a movies or story fan. because the booking part is about telling a story.
my advise
Play the game and keep playing.
read the help file, it gives u all the clues u need.
fiddel around in the editor
if u make your own wrestlers own compenies you get more clues about the game.


i found these threats usefull but are all about tew10:

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=466273

especily this one is about booking a show
http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460200

[rancid_milk]

For someone who doesn't watch wrestling much or at all it's a huge learning curve. For an avid fan it's still a pretty good learning curve. I have deleted and started over many promotions from TEW 05 and 08 and TEW10 I have been doing alot better. You just have to put in the time just like with any game or sport you play.

[MitchHedberg]

For a person that hasn't had any contact with professional wrestling, yes, the learning curve is going to be a bitch.

Take me, for example. The year is 2003. The month...probably December. I had just began watching pro wrestling on television. The first PPV I can remember being advertised to me is June's Bad Blood '03 (yes, the one with HHH/Nash HIAC and the Austin/Bichoff contest bullcrap...poor me, I know). Kane was newly unmasked and psychotic, Goldberg was there, and even then I recognized HHH as a total doucher. The storyline leading into that match had me enthralled. I had also just stumbled across EWR, and was bound and determined to create the best Armageddon card that I possibly could. I don't remember what the card ended up being, but I remember bugging the kids in my foods class at school four years later in 2007 and 2008, printing out little make-believe flyers for all of my pretend PPVs. The point is, if you've known the magic of professional wrestling, these games will take hold of you and MAKE you conquer their learning curves, just so you can get the most out of them.

Apologies. Just kind of wanted to share a little bit more about myself. I don't post here often, even though I've been here for a while. :)

In closing: I used to love TEW. I still do, but I used to, too.

[Blackman]

I would REALLY advice you to at least watch SOME wrestling as you will have a very hard time enjoying a game like this if you do not understand the game and the rules. The enjoyment of the game is for a large part induced by imagination, due to the lack of graphical content. No pro wrestling experience means no imagination whatsoever. If you like the 'managing' in general, honestly I'd advice games based around a context which you do know something about. Furthermore: why play a game about something you don't like anyway?

So watch some wrestling: WWE RAW episodes, Impact tapings, ROH PPV's,... Plenty of free stuff on youtube. If you're not willing to invest time in that, good luck beating the (indeed steep) learning curve. Without some xp, the curve will probably be too high for you, no matter who you are. If you can't figure out TEW'05, you'll be dumbstruck by TEW'12/13 as it's improved quite a bit.

The game won't be out for a couple of months. Time enough to get a grasp on the phenomenon that is Pro Wrestling. :D

[damientheomen3]

I would REALLY advice you to at least watch SOME wrestling as you will have a very hard time enjoying a game like this if you do not understand the game and the rules. The enjoyment of the game is for a large part induced by imagination, due to the lack of graphical content. No pro wrestling experience means no imagination whatsoever. If you like the 'managing' in general, honestly I'd advice games based around a context which you do know something about. Furthermore: why play a game about something you don't like anyway?

I got hooked on and learned baseball through OOTP. Same (to a lesser extent) with boxing (TBCB 2.5) and MMA (WMMA 3). I was never more than a casual soccer fan until I found Football Manager. And don't even get me started on how much Madden helped me learn football.

Point is, I guess I'm weird, but I usually come to love sports through management sims (for the most part, text based, as I also always play Madden by simming all games in franchise mode). The only sports that I love because of these games and actually follow in real life are football, as it was the first sport I got into, and boxing since TBCB doesn't have a proper way to simulate careers. I love fictionality in my games and leagues, I love innovation, creation and creativity. That's why TEW intrigues me so much; I would absolutely have a blast writing the storylines. I just need to be able to motivate myself to keep going and learn everything. :p

[Astil]

Funny thing is, I never watched a full wrestling show until TEW 2005 took me over. Now ... well ... I go to indy shows and comment on booking decisions. Point is knowing wrestling isn't necessary to start, but eventually you may want to watch a show or two. You may even like it.

[juggaloninjalee]

I don't think the learning curve is too bad to be honest. Obviously there are a lot of options but it is easy to pick up on. What are you struggling with the most?

[Remianen]

That being said, I am still very interested in this. For any fans of the series who may have started at the same point that I'm at right now, how long did it take for you to really feel comfortable with the game and such?

Well personally I kept plugging away at TEW05 till I understood it

This.

When TEW05 came out (or shortly thereafter), I picked it up and started playing it. Hardcore. Took me about two weeks of playing before I became any good at it. In that two weeks, I bankrupted four or five promotions I played. Also during that two weeks, I figured out how to "fluff" show ratings with sex sells angles. I learned how powerful the Cutting Edge style is in that game and I used that almost exclusively from that point on. A lot of trial, a lot of error, and I finally got the hang of it. As with most games, once I learned the game's processes (the "guts", so to speak), picking up the rest was easy.

[AlaricRose]

I know nothing about pro wrestling and such, and every time I tried TEW2005 I quit within a half hour because I couldn't really figure everything out.

That being said, I am still very interested in this. For any fans of the series who may have started at the same point that I'm at right now, how long did it take for you to really feel comfortable with the game and such?

I had the same problem with TEW 2005. Awesome with EWR 4.2 etc, but not so much with TEW '05. If you don't feel like waiting, I would actually recommend paying the $35 to get TEW 2010. It seems infinitely easier to play.

[Blackman]

Well in that case I would advice the same as the rest: play TEW 2005 a lot until you learn the basics. A lot will have changed at 2013, but you'll probably have build some affinity with wrestling.

But is it too much to just watch 1 (just 1) event at the very least? You do know the extreme basics, right? Structure of the shows and the basic in-ring rules? You don't even have to watch an event. Just play one of the WWE SvR games on console or something?

As far as managing games go, this one is one of the more deep once (much like Football manager). So the investment is worth it. :)

[FINisher]

Slightly off-topic but what the hell: Whatever happened to trial and error? Exploring different options? Not fearing to fail? What happened to .. Playing?

I see this in every single game forums wherever I go nowadays :p People want to know everything before they venture out to the wonderful world of whatever game is in question. They read everything about the game, FAQ's, tips, lists of stuff that can be acquired. For instance Skyrim or Terraria, I know a lot of people who, after playing the game for an hour or two, pause the game and then start reading about where to get all the good stuff / what materials / special items will be found in what location and so on whereas I'm one of those people who don't want to know, anything, before hand. To me finding out and figuring out stuff on your own is one of the best things in life.

Just play, play, play and play even more. You'll get the hang of it in the end. I know it might look really complex at times but in the end it's really rather simple. In TEW2010 there's this cool feature called 'Dirt sheet' which, if toggled on, will show you all the + and - that affect the match or angle in question which is hugely beneficial for a new player as they'd get a lot more information on what actually caused a match/angle's rating. :)

[ltjdude]

I really enjoy wrestling but in my opinion, this game seriously just takes too long to play for me. I actually love WMMA because it is so quick to put fights together. When me and my brother used to play EWR or TEW 2005 it used to take us on average about 20-30 minutes to book one single event because you need to make sure it's heel vs face and then after a while you have to turn characters. Basically the reason why i chose to buy WMMA 3 is because you don't really need to do all that. That is only my opinion though. I personally find the game takes too long to play an event. But if the features do look good in the game, i'll try out the demo just to see how this new game is

[Teh_Showtime]

I really enjoy wrestling but in my opinion, this game seriously just takes too long to play for me. I actually love WMMA because it is so quick to put fights together. When me and my brother used to play EWR or TEW 2005 it used to take us on average about 20-30 minutes to book one single event because you need to make sure it's heel vs face and then after a while you have to turn characters. Basically the reason why i chose to buy WMMA 3 is because you don't really need to do all that. That is only my opinion though. I personally find the game takes too long to play an event. But if the features do look good in the game, i'll try out the demo just to see how this new game is

most of the time spent playing the game (I think) is on the creative side. Planning storylines, angles, etc.

You could play as a pure wrestling promotion (Japanese companies or NOTBPW/CZCW) and just ignore characters

[Blackman]

Indeed. My history in TEW has always been ROF, NOTBPW, 5SSW, PGHW, and that's pretty much it. Even monthly promotions I tried like AAA tend to get a chore for me because of all the necessary segments. In TEW10 I made my own TCW in the 97' mod, and this worked for me, though it rarely, if ever, produced A+ matches (all matches were minimum B- though).

But, for people like the thread starter, that probably won't be a problem as he likes the creative side of things.

[Capelli King]

I know nothing about pro wrestling and such, and every time I tried TEW2005 I quit within a half hour because I couldn't really figure everything out.

That being said, I am still very interested in this. For any fans of the series who may have started at the same point that I'm at right now, how long did it take for you to really feel comfortable with the game and such?


If you do not like Pro wrestling, chances are the learning curve will be huge because a lot of the parts to the game use real life terms as mentioned above

[MitchHedberg]

Slightly off-topic but what the hell: Whatever happened to trial and error? Exploring different options? Not fearing to fail? What happened to .. Playing?

Carlin's got a point, guys.


...as usual.

[James Casey]

Slightly off-topic but what the hell: Whatever happened to trial and error? Exploring different options? Not fearing to fail? What happened to .. Playing?

Marriage, children, full-time jobs...

When '05 came out I was doing a part-time job with time in work to play. I wasn't even engaged to Mrs C (or just barely). When we got married she was working on the other side of London, meaning that I got home at 4:30 and she got home at 7. Plenty of time to play, plenty of time to experiment.

Nowadays I find I have an hour of 'me' time a day, less any time spent doing ironing, DIY or whatever. I went through my shelf of 360 games the other day, and realised that I have at least half a dozen (GTAIV, COD: Black Ops, Force Unleashed II, Arkham Asylum, Ghostbusters, Portal 2) that I've bought at full-price and never completed - let alone games like Mass Effect that I bought cheaply against a time I'd have time to play. There's also my annual investment in Football Manager, and about one year in three I find myself sufficiently caught up in a game that I put in more than a few hours in the first few days.

I'll never have all the time I used to, and what time I do have all goes on TEW :p

[damientheomen3]

Wondering, are there any video tutorials? I'm very much more of a visual learner than anything else. I've watched some video playthroughs of TEW but they went too fast for me. :o

[juggaloninjalee]

I really enjoy wrestling but in my opinion, this game seriously just takes too long to play for me. I actually love WMMA because it is so quick to put fights together. When me and my brother used to play EWR or TEW 2005 it used to take us on average about 20-30 minutes to book one single event because you need to make sure it's heel vs face and then after a while you have to turn characters. Basically the reason why i chose to buy WMMA 3 is because you don't really need to do all that. That is only my opinion though. I personally find the game takes too long to play an event. But if the features do look good in the game, i'll try out the demo just to see how this new game is

If you go into your product you can set heel/face. If that is part of what bogs things down then change that part of your product. On sports video games it takes longer than 30 minutes to play the game so booking doesn't seem too long for me. I think the way it is now on TEW10 is pretty efficient. Could probably be a little more efficient.

Wondering, are there any video tutorials? I'm very much more of a visual learner than anything else. I've watched some video playthroughs of TEW but they went too fast for me. :o

This would be a great idea. I would LIKE, and SUBSCRIBE to these videos just to support a TEW channel on youtube.

[Blackman]

Marriage, children, full-time jobs...

I'll never have all the time I used to, and what time I do have all goes on TEW :p

This.

A lot of the 'evolutions' in gaming that are deemed bad (the whole 'casualisation' so to speak) are all because of this sole reason.

People don't want to spend hours navigating a map in Skyrim to find the eventual destination. You want to get there right way. Ok, maybe Skyrim is fun enough to explore in, but in most other games I just quit when I'm tired of searching. You want progress eventually.

[Thevampire]

I always found tew the game wich u can do next to something. i ussaly played monthy based promotion and with my old laptop this meant book a show see the results and skip through to the next show.

making this the perfect game i can play during the commercials when watching a movie on tv..

[Luchador Canadiense]

Marriage, children, full-time jobs...

When '05 came out I was doing a part-time job with time in work to play. I wasn't even engaged to Mrs C (or just barely). When we got married she was working on the other side of London, meaning that I got home at 4:30 and she got home at 7. Plenty of time to play, plenty of time to experiment.

Nowadays I find I have an hour of 'me' time a day, less any time spent doing ironing, DIY or whatever. I went through my shelf of 360 games the other day, and realised that I have at least half a dozen (GTAIV, COD: Black Ops, Force Unleashed II, Arkham Asylum, Ghostbusters, Portal 2) that I've bought at full-price and never completed - let alone games like Mass Effect that I bought cheaply against a time I'd have time to play. There's also my annual investment in Football Manager, and about one year in three I find myself sufficiently caught up in a game that I put in more than a few hours in the first few days.

I'll never have all the time I used to, and what time I do have all goes on TEW :p

Amen.