In the past few weeks, I have worked on game content management, something which is commonly referred to as "modding". Casual Pro Wrestling has been developed with extensibility in mind from the very beginnings as far back as 2017. Most of the moves, the weapons, the arena, the parts that the ring is made of as well as all the items available in Create-A-Wrestler mode are basically part of a core "mod" that is integrated into the game - and all these kinds of things can be added to the game at will. Thanks to a proper content management system, CPW now fully supports the Steam Workshop, so finding and playing community-made content becomes as easy as possible!
Now, with the technical yada out of the way, let's have a look at the current possibilities and then get an outlook on the modding capabilities to come during the game's Early Access phase (which - reminder - begins around Christmas).
Share created wrestlers, play what others created!
We start with the most straightforward player-made content in a pro wrestling game: Create-A-Wrestler mode! We will have an in-depth look at the quite powerful creation system in a later dev blog post, but note that all wrestlers shown in picture or video material so far have been created with it, and there aren't even too many different items yet!
Sharing created wrestlers on the Workshop is as easy as hitting a "Share" button in the menus, and if you'v ever used the Workshop to install content, you know how installing a wrestler created by somebody else is as easy as hitting "Subscribe" on the Workshop item.
Here's a small example with a handful of crazy creations we came up with:
Naturally, your created wrestlers can be used in online multiplayer matches with your Steam friends! More on this will follow in yet another dev blog.
Outlook on content creation
Sharing wrestlers from the game's Create-A-Wrestler mode will be available immediately when the game enters Early Access by the end of this year.
However, that is only the beginning. During Early Access, a Content Creation Kit will be released that will, step by step, allow advanced creators to add the following types content to the game:
- Wrestlers imported from 3D models: No matter how much stuff is ever made available in Create-A-Wrestler mode, it will always have its limitations. Worry not, folks, CPW can use any rigged humanoid 3D model with some extra information given via the Content Creation kit! This shall turn the Workshop into a GMod level of crazy in no time!
- Weapons: Feel that a crazy weapon is missing in the game? Find or make a 3D model an import it! Any type of weapon that is in the game can be added via the Content Creation kit.
- Animation & Moves: If you happen to be versed in 3D animation, CPW uses plain old skeleton bone animation on generic humanoid rigs (see Dev Blog #4 for details), so adding custom animations in standard formats is surprisingly simple. With additional scripting against CPW's API, you will be able to orchestrate custom wrestling moves.
- Arenas: Set up the ring on a beach, inside a volcano, on the top of a tower (whoever would do that) or whatever by creating your own arena - if it fits a wrestling ring, it works!
- Rings: Speaking of wrestling rings, CPW generates them procedurally from modular parts that can be modded just as well.
- CAW Items: Dealing with 3D software is not for everyone, and you will see that the Create-A-Wrestler mode has some pretty neat features to play around with. To put it briefly - combinatorial explosion makes little new content create loads of new possibilities. Because I'm not much of a 3D guy myself, I made it as easy as possible to add new items (attires, textures, even base models). Also, created wrestlers are saved as optimized, standalone 3D models, so players won't need to install any mods to play wrestlers made with modded content.
- ... and much more? The game is modular in many regards, so once things stands and as new features are added, new ways to mod it till it breaks will be added eventually.
You may think all that is promising way too much, but remember that the game itself is made using these same tools! Making them available to the public is mostly a matter of polishing and documentation, and Early Access will be the ideal environment for getting this done.
Conclusion
Community-created content is what makes games strive over time. Some games from the early 2000s and even late 1990s are still actively played today, and in many cases that wouldn't be possible without mods. This is the long-term goal of CPW. As a solo developer, I can only fill the game with so much content, but I can and will try to make it as easy as possible to add to it. So if you are a content creator and have your eyes on CPW, please know that you are invited to help make it a long lasting and fun community experience!