I've been working to make every location as interesting a wrestling arena, and the subway in the latest example - as it now lets you fall onto the tracks to be hit by a train! You can also wander further down the sides of each platform and up the stairs. Let me know if the extra dimension causes any inconsistencies, but I'm satisfied I've caught most of them. Back in the arena, the work I've been doing even extends to being able to step from one section of the railings to the other.
There's also a new "Swing" move to have fun with at the legs, which lets you spin for as long as your strength allows before pressing any button to release. A folding chair is also available as a piece of furniture as well as the classic handheld weapon. There's also a healthy dose of the usual bug fixes to refine your experience: http://mdickie.com/guides/wempire.pdf
Title Chase
June's v1.4.7 update fixes a fistful of niggling bugs, whilst also introducing its fair share of new content - including our first taste of vehicles, as wheelchairs & crutches give more mobility to injured characters! Modders may be interested to know that the game also now reads any correctly named additions to the belt sprites/textures to bring more variety to those. Dozens of (low quality) themes from older games have also been added with one eye on replacing them if you weren't already nostalgic for them!
As ever, the fine print can be found towards the end of the manual: http://www.mdickie.com/guides/wempire.pdf
Crowd Work
v1.4.6 introduces alternate metal railings, and the crowd behind them even sounds different thanks to a wider variety of FX! New phone gestures even make it possible to take "selfies" with them if you want a cheap pop.
Under the hood, the most significant change is that training gains are easier to keep. I had tried to discourage becoming superhuman through training, but at least it's less exhausting this way. You should find that weight changes are also more pronounced if you literally want to see more muscle from your strength training!
The other bug fixes too small to mention can be digested here: http://mdickie.com/guides/wempire.pdf
Plane Ride From Hell!
An airport & plane become the latest locations on the map, along with a little fine-tuning to existing ones. It's not as if there's anywhere to fly to yet, but you can at least enjoy recreating the "plane ride from hell" in exhibitions!
There's also more food to eat, as fruit offers a healthier (albeit less satisfying) alternative to junk food. And if you've ever felt there isn't enough time to roam before a show, the clock now pauses on conversations to avoid wasting any. There's not yet enough to do for roaming to become 100% immersive.
Ready Player Two
If you've ever tried to enjoy multiplayer only to find that P2 cannot use their left trigger to switch characters, you should find this is fixed in a tiny addition to yesterday's v1.4.2 patch. A handful of other issues too small to mention have also been smoothed over.
Food Fight!
Thanks to some of the more constructive feedback from the 1st week of roaming, there's already plenty that has been refined in v1.4.2: http://mdickie.com/guides/wempire.pdf
As the wrestlers haven't eaten all week, there's also now food as well as drink - with weight changes that are reported in real-time! It's only junk food so far, so your long-term health will suffer if you rely on it for an energy boost.
In memory of Scott Hall, this week's update also sees dozens of new taunts and the "Fallaway Slam" move - along with a cheeky remark from his alter ego...
Let's Take It Outside!
Wrestling may have a new heavyweight champion, but I won't drop the lightweight title without a fight! Available now as a free upgrade, v1.4.1 introduces a whole other "roaming" mode that challenges you to take responsibility for what happens behind the scenes in real-time. Seamlessly woven into (and out of) existing careers, you now have as much (or as little) control over your life as you choose to have. Please consult pages 10-11 of the expanded guide for a better understanding of how it works: http://mdickie.com/guides/wempire.pdf
Coming after just 3 months of focused development, i's only about 50% of what I envisioned for the concept - but there's just enough here to see if it has the potential to go further. I felt compelled to put something in the hands of anybody who feels left out of the next generation of wrestling games. Let's take it outside!
Pause For Thought
Nothing too exciting coming just 1 week after the last update, but some important bug fixes bring stability. If you've ever noticed the Pause menu overheating your computer at an uncapped frame rate, that pesky oversight has finally been fixed once and for all! A couple of issues with health meters and cloning have also been ironed out. http://mdickie.com/guides/wempire.pdf
Chance Of Cloud
v1.3.8 accidentally went live while I was testing it yesterday, so if you grabbed the version where the new "Cloning" tab doesn't actually work then be sure to upgrade to the v1.3.9 fix!
That's not the only cloud hanging over it, however, as this version also now backs up your save data to the cloud if you want a consistent experience across multiple devices! It's primarily intended for Steam Deck, of course, so consider opting out via your Steam settings if it's an unwelcome complication.
Not many of the promised new locations are ready to go public yet, but the gym is and now provides an alternate backdrop for matches as well as meetings and editing. Don't forget that the arena balcony can also now be climbed for the first time since 2008! And new weapons include a guitar and tennis racket.
You can find the small print on every other little tweak here: http://mdickie.com/guides/wempire.pdf
All Hands On Deck
As a Switch port, Wrestling Empire has a good opportunity to hit the ground running on the Steam Deck! I've yet to get my hands on the hardware myself, but I'm already doing everything on my end to blindly prepare for the handheld. We can no longer assume that everyone is using a physical keyboard, so entering names with a controller now triggers the game's own virtual keyboard. This is also optional under the "Cast > Controllers" tab if you need to change it back, as implying there's no keyboard will also remove it as a control method for the matches themselves. Even keyboard name entry has improved a little, as it clearly highlights what you're changing instead of leaving you guessing.
Ahead of next weekend, this v1.3.7 update also introduces yet another twist to the ONLY wrestling that can legitimately handle a 30-man Royal Rumble! Getting tossed over the ropes now has a 50% chance of scrambling back in, which makes things 100% more interesting. The same process is also used to smash into the office window, as panes of glass join the growing array of weapons: http://mdickie.com/guides/wempire.pdf
