This update introduces the first modding featuring to CPW, making it possible to add custom stamps and overlay textures to Create-A-Wrestler mode. This comes with other minor improvements.
If you're interested into modding, you're kindly invited to join the Discord server for asking questions, making suggestions and sharing your creations!
Modding
Content: Overlay textures (diffuse and normal maps) and stamps can now be imported from files and the Steam Workshop.
They can be imported directly to a created wrestler. See the manual on Importing Content for more information.
You can also create content packs with overlay textures and stamps and share them on the Steam Workshop for others to use! See the manual on Content Packs for more information and an example.
Additions
Content: The main menu will now show a message next to the Content button if new content has been installed (e.g., from the Steam Workshop). In the Content menu, new entries are highlighted.
The first time after updating the game to this version, previously deactivated content is treated as new content even if it is not actually newly installed.
Changes
CAW: Overlay textures are now selected from a grid similar to stamps and organized into categories. This also allows selecting any clothing texture for hair, or any hair texture for clothing.
CAW: Stamps are now organized into categories.
CAW: When opening the stamp selection, the currently active stamp is now selected by default
Fixes
AI: Fixed AIs that are in a hurry running at the apron from very steep angles when already close to it, making them unable to slide in.
Technical
AI: Updated the pathfinding backend.
Engine: Updated Unity (to 2022.3.21).
Update 0.14.18
This update improves various gameplay aspects, particularly allowing to turn opponents to face you as well as more intuitive move rotation that allows you to aim for stuff!
Note that the binding for move rotation has changed from Right Stick to Left Stick.
Additions
Actions: Grappling an opponent from a side will now turn them around facing you, creating the opportunity for a lock-up or grapple.
Animation: When pressing down the Grapple button, a "charging" animation is now played while holding it to give immediate feedback.
Changes
AI: Reworked the AI's way to dispatch input so that they can no longer "hold" buttons instantly but take as much time as an actual controller would.
Animation: Updated several animations for proper transitioning from the new grapple charging animation.
Damage: Dizziness is no longer completely reset when receiving damage while already dizzy. This should reduce the time spent on the ground while being attacked.
Heavy damage (e.g., from chairs or running/flying moves) will now increase the remaining dizziness time by 25% (but at most reset it).
Weak damage (e.g., from stomps) will no longer affect the remaining dizziness timer at all.
Damage: Weak damage can no longer cause a wrestler to go dizzy.
Input: Move rotation has been changed to aim into a direction.
When slamming or throwing an opponent or similar, they will be slammed into the held direction.
For flying moves that allow rotation (e.g., the Frog Splash), the wrestler will rotate to face the held direction.
Input: Move rotation has been rebound to the left stick (WASD un keyboards).
Input: When grappling into the nothing, control is now given back earlier during the animation.
Irish Whip: Irish Whips are now available from lock-ups (with a 10% higher counter chance).
Irish Whip: Irish Whips now have move rotation enabled, allowing to choose the direction at which to launch the opponent.
Fixes
AI: Fixed AI insisting on completing a navigation link (e.g., climbing ropes) even when that failed. This should fix cases of AI wrestlers ghostwalking into walls.
Input: Fixed grapple binding from crouching to behave the same way as when standing.
Patch 0.14.17
This patch addresses miscellaneous issues.
Changes
Menus: Added a hint on the Wrestler Select screen that you can hold Y (R on keyboards) to randomize all following selections.
Menus: In the Wrestler Select screen, holding B (ESC on keyboards) now unselects all wrestlers at once and goes to the previous screen.
Moves: Disabled depenetration for several moves once letting loose: Back Drop, Body Slam, German Suplex, Powerbomb, Suplex.
Moves: The Back Drop now has the victim's position adjusted to the instigator's height and slows down for heavier victims.
Fixes
Matches: Fixed the countdown appearing sometimes even after the last participant has entered. This caused an internal loop that would never allow the match to end.
Menus: Fixed Attendance being unselectable when entering the Arena Setup screen.
Netplay: Fixed an error preventing that the same wrestler can be loaded up multiple times at the beginning of a match, causing connecting players to time out. This problem was specific to network games.
Physics: Fixed wrestlers occasionally being warped back to the center of the ring in the Training Gym due to overly strict world bounds.
Patch 0.14.16
This patch addresses performance problems related to having many wrestlers created and/or installed.
Changes
Performance: Fixed full-body renders of wrestlers being kept in memory at all times, potentially causing the system to run out of memory if the roster is very large. Renders are now loaded on-demand, which may cause very brief delays in the wrestler selection as a trade-off. As a side effect, this change should also lower the game's startup time.
Update 0.14.15
Thank you all for your feedback on AI Difficulty!
This update adds some customization of the AI's behaviour, allows having matches in the training gym and addresses a variety of other issues.
Additions
Menus: Added an arena selection that allows choosing from the default arena and the training gym.
Menus: Added a Custom AI mode that can be selected in the Player Setup screen and allows for tweaking some AI parameters via the Customize menu.
Counters – Scales the overall AI counter success chance.
Striking / Grappling – Tweaks the fighting style of the AI.
Decisions – Sets how fast or slow the AI takes to decide what to do next between actions.
Changes
AI: No longer attempts to block running strikes but will instead dodge.
AI: When outside and in a hurry (e.g., due to an impending count-out), AI will now run towards the ring even when close to it.
Arenas: The Training Gym has undergone some changes to allow for entrances.
Counters: To an extent, the chance of successful counters now scaled with the wrestler's Energy. This should make counters less common towards the end of the match.
Dodge: The dodge animation speed now depends on the wrestler's Speed attribute and current condition.
Grapple: Sanitized grapple and lock-up positioning.
Moves: Disabled depenetration for Suplex once the victim is lifted.
Menus: When going back from the ready screen, only the last wrestler is unselected now and no longer all.
Netplay: The match join timeout time has been increased and scales with the number of wrestlers to be loaded.
Reactions: Heavy strikes now interrupt lock-ups, grapples and ongoing moves.
Settings: Settings are now saved in the file Preferences.json in the game's data directory and no longer in the Windows registry.
Settings: The Entrances setting from the arena setup is now memorized between game sessions.
Fixes
CAW: Fixed negative weights being possible by setting an absolute minimum weight of 30 kg (~66 lbs).
Input: Fixed grappling, striking and running input being accepted prematurely while standing up, causing unintendedly rough transitions.
Match Setup: Fixed the result of matches declared unsanctioned being counted anyway.
Menus: Fixed back button in the ready screen being unclickable if there are many wrestler renders showing.
Menus: Fixed ring names not being localized.
Netplay: Ensure that connecting players receive a remote controller after joining. This should fix cases where joining players cannot control anything.
Community Feedback: AI Difficulty
Casual Pro Wrestling's Roadmap was just recently announced. One aspect that doesn't appear on the roadmap but has been discussed since release and on nearly all channels (including game refunds) is the difficulty of the AI wrestlers. Apparently, it's giving some players a hard time.
On one hand, I'm flattered: if the AI is difficult, that means I did a good job on AI programming, especially considering that it does not use any cheats, but a virtual controller that AIs have to use just like you have to press buttons on a gamepad. On the other hand, of course, it shouldn't be too discouraging to play against an AI.
The plan is therefore to introduce different difficulty levels with the default being "Hard". In that sense, I would like to introduce lower difficulties. While reversals are certainly a topic that must be addressed, I decided to turn to you with the following question:
What do you expect from a less difficult AI?
Pleas share your thoughts by replying to this Steam feed, take it to @CasProWrestling on X or join the discussion on the Discord server. Your feedback will help me get this right!
Patch 0.14.14
This patch fixes ground move warping and a few other things.
Changes
Reactions: Introduced a minimum velocity in addition to minimum impulse for a ragdoll to cause a strike when hitting another wrestler. This should mitigate issues handling really heavy wrestlers when they are grounded.
Fixes
AI: Fixed AI potentially getting stranded on the apron when in a navigation behaviour (e.g., eliminated wrestlers leaving the arena).
AI: Fixed AI sometimes still getting stuck in a loop attempting to drag an opponent.
Physics: Fixed scheduled collision enabling overriding any disabling that occurred meanwhile (and vice versa). This was the root cause for a lot of unwanted warping and displacement affecting mostly ground moves (due to the timing), including the infamous Camel Clutch warp.
**Menus: Fixed match result screen showing after making changes in the Content screen when a match has been finished earlier in the same game session.
Patch 0.14.13
This patch contains some critical fixes.
Fixes
Netplay: Fixed online matches being invisible.
Steam Workshop: Fixed only the first 50 shared Workshop items having their share information correctly displayed.
Announcing: We Got The Moves
First things first: Happy New Year!
It has been little over a week since the release of Casual Pro Wrestling. I received lots and lots of feedback - both positive and negative, but all of it very constructive. Seeing the Workshop literally explode with people's creativity and watching those streams harnessing the ragdoll madness really warmed my heart over the holiday season!
The first week proved to me that Early Access was the right decision to make for the game in its current state. It has been in development for many years, but what it really lacked was player feedback. Thanks to the fruitful discussions on the Discord server and the ability to observe people play the game, the gameplay could already be improved massively in what has only been the first week. As you may imagine, I have a long long list of plans for the game. It's time to bring some structure into those.
Announcing: We Got The Moves
The arguably - and understandably - biggest point of criticism on Casual Pro Wrestling is the fact that every wrestler shares the same set of very few moves. As a result, there has been no move selection in Create A Wrestler.
During development, to an extent, I made the decision to work on the gameplay "breadth-first": it was important to me that basic move types were in place and worked properly before going ahead and adding loads of different moves.
The first major update entitled We Got The Moves will address that with the following planned changes:
Allow wrestlers to have individual movesets and add a selection to Create A Wrestler.
Add 40 new moves into the existing systems:
8 Front Grapple Moves
8 Back Grapple Moves
8 Lock-Up Maneuvers (including some chain wrestling)
4 Standing Attacks
4 Ground Attacks and Moves
8 Flying Attacks
Add apron moves (ring to apron, apron to ring, apron to apron).
Add moves against running opponents.
Add a roll-away counter when grounded.
Add springboard attacks that work like any flying attack, but from the top rope, accessible from running against the ring ropes or from the apron.
What moves exactly will be added is going to be disclosed in regular updates, some will also be up for voting.
The update will not be released as a whole at once. The plan is rather to add a first batch of new moves, enough to justify a move selection in Create A Wrestler. This will then be released as version 0.15.0 of the game. Subsequent versions will then add more and more moves and iron out issues that may occur with added moves, until everything's done and we proceed to the next major update (see below). This approach should minimize the time you have to wait for new stuff!
A first release is aimed at Spring of 2024, but please keep in mind that this is a one-man hobby project and expect a fixed release date only few weeks prior.
Early Access Roadmap
Of course, it doesn't stop with adding moves. As mentioned earlier, there is a long long list. Part of that list is laid out in the first version of the Early Access Roadmap in the online manual. Go have a peek!
The roadmap is non-exhaustive and bugfixes, improvements, CAW content, modding support and other features will be worked on even despite not being mentioned.
In the meantime, enjoy playing Casual Pro Wrestling and stay tuned!
Patch 0.14.12
This patch contains some AI hotfixes.
Changes
AI: Made the AI slightly more pessimistic about pinfalls. This should cause them to stop dragging around rather healthy opponents.
AI: Adjusted the AI's way of determining whether an opponent is near the ropes and should be dragged towards the center of the ring.
Fixes
AI: Fixed the AI still freezing at times trying to drag their opponents to the center of the ring.
