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Open Interview With Oliver
| leftsaidfred | Posted on 08/05/03 at 04:26:54 All right, so I e-mailed Oliver earlier, proposing that he do an interview of sorts on this message board where each poster would be able to ask him questions concerning what went on behind the development of SE, his opinions of the current state of wrestling, etc. Basically, use your imagination (and common sense) for what to ask him. Since I created this monster, I might as well kick it off with a few questions. *g* 1) About how many man-hours did you put into creating SE? 2) What do you think of the announcement that EWR is going "professional?" (i.e., Ryland's now part of a development company and will work with them to put out any sequels in the future) 3) Do you think that wrestling will ever rebound to the heights it reached during the Monday Night Wars, and do you believe that those days were truly the best days for professional wrestling? 4) Do you think that anyone will come around to challenge the WWE for their spot as the top fed in the world? If so, whom, and if not, will the WWE be able to survive without the competition that seemed to be so vital to the Monday Night Wars of the late 90s? |
| Dominus | Posted on 08/05/03 at 10:20:01 I have a question. I know it's kind of stupid and I probably wont get a for sure answer but: 5) Oliver do you think this is it for TNM? Do you plan on doing more major work on TNM in the future? Even 5 years from now, do you think that we might see a TNM 8? If so what plans do you have or what would you like to see in TNM or TNM become? Well I guess that was sort of more then 1 question, but it's basically the same. Sorry : Þ :P |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/05/03 at 11:06:45On 08/05/03 at 04:26:54, leftsaidfred wrote:1) About how many man-hours did you put into creating SE?I started with it in early April and have been putting between 12 and 18 hours a day into it since. I'd estimate between 1,500 and 2,000 hours of work. Mind you, programming only accounted for about half of this time. The other time was spent interfacing with the beta testers, keeping the website up-to-date regarding development and fielding the questions here. If it's programming alone you're asking for, I'd estimate about 700 to 800 hours. That sounds like awfully much but when you consider that we're talking about a source code that has grown over a period of almost ten years, you're bound to spend one third of the time coding the new features and two thirds looking for places that you also need to change as a consequence. Considering how configurable TNM 7 SE is compared to all its predecessors, it's pretty obvious where the work went ;) First off, I think it is the right step at the right time for Adam. I'm told he's being very smart about this and I'm sure it wasn't a decision he rushed into. On the other hand, I did follow the split of the OOTP baseball crew from .400 Studios somewhat closely and am wondering if that particular choice of publisher is such a good choice. It all boils down to this: Adam needs to retain control of EWR/TEW and needs to be able to concentrate on his product. Precisely that is the reason why when offered a similar deal in 1997 from a British studio I turned it down. You're bound to spend time interfacing with your partners and if that time exceeds the time working with them saves you, there isn't much reason to take the route. I am somewhat skeptical of the aspect some have mentioned that Adam could get help from .400 Studios with programming. My experience in this field is that it is very hard producing a professional product when the team members are thousands of miles apart. Notwithstanding the magic of the Internet, in software development, more often than not roadblocks are more easily tackled by being able to brainstorm locked up in a room with the people you're working with instead of having to do it over a long distance. Bottom line - and this is only my personal opinion - is that partnering with a studio is a two-edged sword. For every success story, there are ten failures. I wish Adam the best in becoming a success story. Historically speaking, every wrestling boom in the US was bigger than the one proceeding it. Ten years ago, the WWF was so far in the hole many considered it a hopeless cause. Yet, due to the competition of WCW and due to Vince McMahon seeing the talent of Steve Austin and The Rock, they overcame that obstacle and WWF/E had the biggest years in their existence. It will be harder this time around. There's no Steve Austin that is being let go and waiting in the wings. There is no ECW anymore creating a new style with new stars. And most of all, it appears to me that Mr. McMahon is totally out of touch with his customer base. I've been a strong proponent of his stepping down for two years now but the problem is... I'm not sure Shane, Stephanie and Hunter could even put out a product at the level of current WWE. It's also the little things that make a product seem major-league or minor-league. When I did commentary for WCW, had anybody crashed into a commercial break like Coach has been doing again and again, they'd have been fired on the spot. Yet, the man is still providing live commentary every Monday night. He simply doesn't have the talent and he doesn't have the dedication of staying on top of the product he's working on. The only thing he has going for him is good looks which appear to be more important to WWE brass than having announcers that can actually get the product over. A good announcer emphasizes the strong points of the product and camouflages its weaknesses. To do that, you have to know what you're talking about and that's where Coach is severely lacking. Why am I using this example? Simple: shows begin and end with the announcing. Having a great announcer on a mediocre show will make the show appear much better than it is. Having a mediocre announcer on a great show makes the show appear less good than it really is. And having two bad announcers on a mediocre show - RAW - will make the promotion come off as bush league. Contrary to most, I won't blame the writers for the quality of the shows. That blame should go exclusively to Vince McMahon and his point-man Kevin Dunn. As supervisor, Vince should be the glue holding the storylines together, taking the idiocy out of some of what is being written and putting everything in the right context. To put it bluntly, he is failing. Miserably. Yes, Mr. Gerwitz's writing is a bit on the comedic side but that is what he was hired for. Can you really blame a guy who was used to writing sitcoms for trying to write funny segments for the wrestling show he was hired for? I'm not so sure. HLA - Vince's idea. Katie Vick - Vince's idea. The buck stops with Vince, whether business is good or business is bad. He gets the kudos, he should get the blame. WWE has really good wrestling minds on its writing staff, from Bruce Prichard to Dave Lagana. It's just that Vince's over-the-top-is-good attitude is still exactly where it was in 1998. Back then, it was cool, hip and in. Now it's dated. The business has changed. The world has changed. Vince McMahon has to change if he wants to bring the company back to the heights where it used to be. And if he feels he can't do it, then he should step down. Bottom line. I don't think there's going to be a viable challenger for WWE anytime soon. There are several reasons for that, the biggest one being that wrestling on TV is a dead issue at the moment, and for a new promotion to even get the chance to challenge, they will need weekly prime time programming which they aren't likely to get as an unproven commodity. Not even NWA TNA can be considered competition. I'm sure Vince and everybody else at WWE realizes it's in their best interest to keep NWA TNA strong and not to raid its top talent. For one, only when there's competition, you can bring in somebody and have it mean something. Secondly, if WWE raided NWA TNA, I'm pretty sure there could be legal complications regarding striving for a monopoly. There are even some who say that WWE will suffer the fate of Roller Derby which was a big thing in the late 70s and out of business altogether two years later. That isn't likely to happen given WWE's cash reserves which should easily last them through five to ten really bad years. It's not WWE I'm concerned about, it's more the wrestlers whose contracts are structured such that their money goes down when revenue goes down. Expenses stay the same, though, so it may become economically tough for everybody but the high mid card to main event guys to make a good living if the going gets tough. Crunch time will be next year when the Viacom deal expires. I expect the new deal (if one can be made) to bring in no more than 40 percent of what WWE is currently receiving. As I said, the climate has changed and wrestling is no longer a hot item. The quicker Vince lets that sink in, the better his chances of making WWE a success again will be. P.S.: Parity booking isn't the solution. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/05/03 at 11:26:27On 08/05/03 at 10:20:01, Dominus wrote:I have a question. I know it's kind of stupid and I probably wont get a for sure answer but:Never say never. The creative juices are flowing again, and after the five years gone from the scene, there are several things I'd like to see if there were a future TNM. There are three key aspects a new version of TNM would bring to the table, otherwise I wouldn't even bother. 1) Multi-player play over the Internet 2) A Windows interface 3) Adding the business aspect To be perfectly honest, though, I wouldn't count on it happening. As I outlined in the earlier posting, programming TNM is a full-time job, otherwise it won't bring any results. I took five months off of work to make the new version of TNM 7. Looking at it in business terms, that means approximately $40.000 in lost revenues that would have to be recouped through the product. I honestly don't think this figure will be recouped. Speaking strictly in business terms, making TNM 7 SE was most likely going to be a money-losing proposition. This is what people need to realize: when you work fulltime on a wrestling sim, your life still goes on as it normally would, only there is no immediate income - you're living off of your savings. This is something that is often overlooked by those e-mailing and saying "why don't you give it away for free". While I don't know what business deal Adam has with .400 Studios, there is one truth he will eventually realize (although I'm sure he knows it already): only a tiny fraction of the people playing a free sim with pay for that same sim. It's a fact of life - freebies are always appreciated but if something that you're used to for free all of a sudden costs you money, many are going to complain. If one user out of 1,000 who download the software, pays, you can consider yourself lucky. Fact is that wrestling sims are a fringe market in a fringe market and that's the reason why no publisher has yet touched it. To get back to the main point: I will be starting in a senior position with a national cable channel within the next four weeks so chances of my being able to put in another x months of full time work anytime soon are slim. What I do promise, however, is to keep the community strong this time around by staying around and updating the site regularly. Maybe innovation will come one step at a time, who knows. |
| leftsaidfred | Posted on 08/05/03 at 15:56:46 Interesting replies so far. While reading through them, I came up with a couple more questions - 6) Does the roster split for the WWE currently emulate, or is it even capable of emulating, strong enough competition between the two shows where interest in the product could be reproduced? 7) Do you think that if say, a Mark Cuban or someone else with a very large amount of money were to decide to start a federation in an attempt to compete with the WWE, would they be able to succeed? Or is there just not enough space in the present market for this to occur? #8 If you could only pick one wrestler to become the next Steve Austin/nWo, who would you go with? Thanks again for the replies, Oliver. |
| 91 | Posted on 08/05/03 at 16:28:37 #9 So how much money have you made from TNM after all these years? #10 So what would you do, if you had the power, to get the WWE out of its current rut? #11 Are you going to buy the next version of EWR/TEW? #12 Are you ever going to update your WWF circuit? It was weird in an enjoyable sort of way (or should that be enjoyable in a weird sort of way). |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/05/03 at 18:56:46On 08/05/03 at 15:56:46, leftsaidfred wrote:Interesting replies so far. While reading through them, I came up with a couple more questions -I don't think the consumer is that stupid. Whether it's WWE RAW or WWE Smackdown - it remains WWE, hence real competition can't be assumed. I do think the approach of having RAW as the star-driven vehicle and Smackdown as the workrate-driven show is the right way of differentiating between the two but at the core, it remains one company. Never say never but in my opinion, it doesn't matter who gets involved in wrestling and how much money they have but they won't get a chance. Wrestling isn't seen as a premiere TV format anymore because even when the ratings are good and the demographic is excellent for advertisers, wrestling fans are considered less desirable than for instance the clientele watching Friends. The only way a new company really can become a success is if they have the backing of somebody who has money AND is in charge of a major TV network. If I had my way, I would give the nod to Chris Jericho. I would have also mentioned Booker T but he seems to be determined to call it quits in the not-too-distant future. The obvious answer would have been Kurt Angle but I'm pretty sure that he can't be at the Austin / Rock level because while he is a great wrestler, possibly the best, there's something missing from making him the type of person drawing fans to the arena (as opposed to getting a great pop from those already there). |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/05/03 at 19:03:14On 08/05/03 at 16:28:37, 91 wrote:#9 So how much money have you made from TNM after all these years?Sorry, that information isn't public. I don't think any one person could get the WWE out of the rut it currently is in. It's easy to say that they should de-push the "older" stars and use them to get over the younger guys but that is far easier said than done. The three most obvious things that need to be done are getting continuity back into the storylines, reinstituting quality control and giving the book to somebody who understands the audience and isn't 57 years old. If EWR4 is an indication, no. I installed EWR4 on Monday and uninstalled it on Tuesday after playing for three hours. If he makes the business aspect (which is the core of the program) more realistic, I'll gladly buy it, though. I'm going to start a new one this week because I'd like to sim cards for both RAW and Smackdown and see if I can come up with something better than Vince ;) "Perversely entertaining" may be more like it ;) |
| Tom_Imp | Posted on 08/05/03 at 19:32:37 Here's one that popped into my head recently. When exactly do they show RAW over there in Germany? I believe you are 6 hours ahead of us in the U.S. so that would put RAW on at 3 am in Germany if they do show it live. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/05/03 at 20:01:40 It works differently. For years, WWF/WWE sent tapes to Germany. The tapes are then voiced over and broadcast. Typically that meant a three-week delay. A few months ago, we finally were able to convince WWE to uplink their shows and send them to Europe via satellite. Due to this, we're now approximately half a week behind. Unfortunately WWE insists on supplying the international versions (40 minutes) of both RAW and Smackdown despite all efforts to the contrary... |
| Sauron | Posted on 08/05/03 at 23:45:09 Thank you for making yourself accessible so often and readily. You are admired by many. 14) You mentioned online-play with other users, which is a very exciting prospect. At the same time - say if you somehow developed the time to make such a feature - how do you envision that going down? I can't see how the program could have two players playing in its current status. 15) Have you ever ran into copywrite problems since you sell a game using all WWE wrestler names and such? 16) Ever think of going into a partnership with Tom Filsinger of Champions of the Galaxy fame? I can envision a tremendous program with all character's moves in TNM format, perhaps with a dice system, and having a .jpg of each wrestler card picture appear on the top during each match they are involved in. Here's another vote for doing your WWE league again. I have been with you since Beta two of the first version of TNM. Keep up the great work. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/06/03 at 01:23:37On 08/05/03 at 23:45:09, Sauron wrote:Thank you for making yourself accessible so often and readily. You are admired by many.This would basically encompass competing for the same talent pool and scheduling against one another. For instance, if one user had an indy promotion that ran in Flint, Michigan and the other one ran in Detroit, they would certainly draw each other's audience, maybe even away. Or you could have a promotion with wrestlers being handled by people from all over the world with one promotion manager. The possibilities are there, and usually when you get the ball rolling on something like this, ideas will come to mind. No. An agreement is in place. Besides, being that this is a text simulator, not containing any audio or video material, it is likely to fall under the same Freedom Of Speech rights that protects publications such as the Wrestling Observer who make money reporting on trademarked names. Essentially, TNM is very alike to the Observer because the text output it generates also falls under journalistic freedom of expression according to counsel. The only thing that needs to be avoided is using protected media of any kind - images, video clips, themes, audio clips etc. One other thing to remember is that TNM has never been sold using real wrestlers as the promotional vehicle. The program itself is being sold, all wrestlers have always been available for free. Aside from that aspect, starting with TNM 7 Second Edition, the base install doesn't come with any wrestlers anymore so the point is moot anyway. That thought hasn't entered my mind so far because the two games (I'll just call both that for now) are very different. As far as images go, I've been experimenting with a feature lately that shows a second window in addition to the main TNM window which always shows the current match with the wrestlers' pictures, the stipulations and maybe even the tale-of-the-tape. It's just a proof of concept so far, though... let's see how far it can and will develop. Thank you very much :) |
| TecmoNick | Posted on 08/06/03 at 01:30:30 I agree with Sauron, thanks for making it so easy to stay in contact with you. Best customer service you can ask for. 17.) What wrestler in the WWE do you think deserves the biggest push, and why? 18.) What wrestler is being pushed and doesn't deserve it? 19.) When you restart the WWE circuit, will you be starting with next week's RAW and Smackdown, or with SummerSlam's projected card? |
| psz | Posted on 08/06/03 at 01:32:39 Ahh... My greatest Wrestling Sim envisionment: TNM + Super Fire Pro Wrestling X Premium.... The Ultimate Wrestling Sim >:-> Anyway, on to the question: What are your most memorable moments, as a fan of wrestling, in the business itself, and regarding TNM? What moments stand out most as "The Best" or "The Worst? What things, in hindsight, do you think should have been handled differently, if you knew then what you know now, regarding TNM (Not just 7, but ALL the way back to that Savage vs Hogan(I think?) match you started with)? |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/06/03 at 01:44:25On 08/06/03 at 01:30:30, TecmoNick wrote:I agree with Sauron, thanks for making it so easy to stay in contact with you. Best customer service you can ask for.Have to make up for the time I was virtually gone. I had my reasons but still some making-good is in order ;-) Chris Jericho - hands down. He has it all. He's a fantastic worker, great on the mike and oooozes not machismo but charisma ;-). The only thing working against him is the lack of credibility he has. As much as it pains me to say it - Zach Gowen. Don't get me wrong, I admire him. He's a phenomenal athlete and human being. It's just that he's in no way ready for being anything more than a special attraction. There's no doubt he can work but many peers are already voicing concern over credibility issues and rightfully so in my opinion. I honestly do not know. SummerSlam would be a good starting point, a good kickoff because it's a combined event. If I start with the weekly shows leading into SummerSlam, it might not be as clear a start as I'd like to see. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/06/03 at 01:59:55On 08/06/03 at 01:32:39, psz wrote:What are your most memorable moments, as a fan of wrestling, in the business itself, and regarding TNM? What moments stand out most as "The Best" or "The Worst?I'm sorry but I can't and won't comment on anything that went on behind closed doors or that hasn't been reported. As a fan of wrestling, a few things stand out. The first time attending a WrestleMania, the first time in MSG, the first time being in Tokyo, being at probably the best WrestleMania ever (17), seeing Curt Hennig in action for the first time in person... too many memories to list actually. Professionally, being a presenter for the first ever wrestling PPV coming out of Germany was a definitive highlight, being one of the announcers for the consistently highest-rated wrestling show over a period of two years was a highlight, doing voiceovers for the Stihl Timbersports Series in English for ESPN was a highlight... and of course setting foot into Titan Tower for the first time (which had been a childhood dream of mine). As for the bad things... seeing WCW collapse and being directly involved in it was pretty bad, as was seeing Mick Foley lose his ear on a sloppily-executed spot, being there for the Sid-Arn stabbing incident definitely was a lowlight. The biggest hit was receiving the call that Derek Thorell, my right-hand and probably the best friend I ever had in this business, had passed away totally unexpectedly only two months after we had been vacationing together with our fiancees in Las Vegas. On the TNM side, there really isn't anything that I'd categorize as the "Worst", although having to step away to pursue another dream of mine was definitely bad. Other than that, the entire TNM experience has been very pleasant because through it I got to know many many people both in wrestling and in the wrestling sim community and I wouldn't want to miss a single contact. Hmmm... I never should have announced plans for TNM 7 Gold back in 1998 because in hindsight, the writing was on the wall from the first day that I wouldn't be able to pull it off up to the standards that are expected from a program carrying the TNM name. I would never ever release a business simulator which is either predictable (the business isn't) or relies heavily on random numbers, that has completely ridiculous data (regarding wrestler prices, TV ratings, revenues of other sorts etc). Had I followed through with it, the result still - while not perfect by any means - would have been better than anything out there today. That is something I regret looking back. It also was a mistake walking away in 1998 after TNM 7 got released. I had my reasons back then and they were mostly related to burnout and working more and more doing voiceovers but I often wonder where we'd be today if we (with that I mean the people feeding me ideas and the people working hard on making TNM fly on a wrestler-export level) had continued at the same pace. As they say, hindsight is always 20:20 :) |
| HugeRockStar760 | Posted on 08/06/03 at 02:52:51On 08/06/03 at 01:23:37, Oliver Copp wrote:That would be a great addition to TNM! Hope it works out. |
| 91 | Posted on 08/06/03 at 05:32:23 No revealing your profits? Boooo. ;D Seriously though, the thread chucks up more questions in my head. And since I've lost count, let's start at... 1) Sorry, did you say you were there for the Sid/Arn stuff? If you don't mind my asking, what's the story there? 2) So I was flicking through your circuit a while back and I noticed a distinct lack of Shane Douglas, even though the others say you love him. What's up with that? 3) If you saw Vengeance - U.S title match or tag title match, which did you prefer? And what do you think of the WGTT? 4) Is there any other sim that you got a lot of use out of and downright enjoyed? Older versions of EWR, Zeus perhaps even or Promotion Wars, or that other one? 5) "I got to know many many people both in wrestling and in the wrestling sim community and I wouldn't want to miss a single contact." Even me? |
| leftsaidfred | Posted on 08/06/03 at 05:59:59 If one may alternate the profits question in an attempt to make some people satisfied with your answers :P - how many approximate sales of TNM have you had? Or is that off the playing field as well? Oh, and also - if you were the head booker of a fed where you had to give your World Title to either the Warrior or Shane Douglas, who would you choose? On a serious note - |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/06/03 at 10:26:49On 08/06/03 at 05:32:23, 91 wrote:1) Sorry, did you say you were there for the Sid/Arn stuff? If you don't mind my asking, what's the story there?I wasn't there in the sence that I was handing Sid the scissors he used. I just happened to have a room in the same hotel that night (being a mark and all, wanted to be as close to "my" superstars as possible *g*) and was speaking to somebody in the lobby when the bloody guy came running down. That's personal, although the decision to not use him was based more on the fact I don't like his wrestling than on personal dislike. WTF if WGTT ;-) ? Definitely US title. I absolutely love seeing Eddie in action. Hard to believe how far he's come. This is the first time I can remember him EVER having the crowd in the palm of his hand. I mean, he was supposed to be the heel at Vengeance and got at least half the cheers. Contrary to Meltzer, I loved the spots leading up to the finish BTW :-) To be perfectly honest, while I've tried many, I haven't given all but EWR3 and EWR4 more than just a test run. I liked EWR3, played it for a bit but then got bored by it. Downloaded EWR4 last week, used it for a few hours, realized it was EWR3 with more bells and whistles and uninstalled it. As far as sims I'm looking forward to, I'd have to mention Head 2 Head Wrestling, although I'm still convinced it's vaporware. Even you *laughs* Seriously though: this has been a VERY fun ride and it's been great working with people like Rob Bihari, Scotsman, Bill Lentz, Colin, Carp and everybody else who has been offering ideas and suggestions. That's what it all boils down to: if nobody uses your program, your time was wasted. In that regard, it's great to see how quickly everybody came back on the band wagon even after the product being neglected for five years. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/06/03 at 10:35:18On 08/06/03 at 05:59:59, leftsaidfred wrote:If one may alternate the profits question in an attempt to make some people satisfied with your answers :P - how many approximate sales of TNM have you had? Or is that off the playing field as well?And I'm going to weasel out of answering that question as well. We're not a public company and hence have no obligation to discloses any sales or profits. Just to give you a ballpark figure though - fewer than 6,000 copies of TNM 7 were sold over the past five years. Like I said, if you have a product that reaches a fringe market of a fringe market, you can't expect to sell millions, and that's the reason why no publisher will go anywhere near it. Given that choice, it would be Douglas without a doubt. At least he's good on the mike. Warrior isn't even good at being coherent ;-) It honestly was met with a reaction of indifference. Contrary to what announcers were telling you, Alex Wright never was a big name or a star in Germany which should come as no surprise if you look at the way he was booked. While he was "special" since he was a local star, he never had the aura a Sting, Ric Flair or Kevin Nash had. |
| leftsaidfred | Posted on 08/06/03 at 19:50:12 Thanks once again for the answers, Oliver. On a quick note - I racked my brain for a few minutes on WGTT, and I think it's referring to "The World's Greatest Tag Team," Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. |
| Critic_of_the_Dawn | Posted on 08/06/03 at 21:39:10 Here's a good one, Oliver: If Sid Vicious, Ahmed Johnson, and Ultimate Warrior were all running for President of the United States, who among them would win in a political debate? Also, if one of the above was elected to that office, how far would you run? New Zealand? The Moon? Alpha Centauri? Would any of those be far enough? On a more serious note, what's your opinion of "big men" in wrestling? Since you have a certain degree of insight into how the business works, would you consider them to be overpushed in many cases, or is it a simple marketing decision based on the fact that big = tough in most people's minds? And, in your estimation, who would you expect to be the next major player from among their ranks? What about cruiserweights? It's often said that WWE routinely overlooks their cruiserweight division. Do you see this as an untapped gold mine, or would you consider most WWE fans to be conditioned to mainly appreciate matches of the so-called "WWE Main Event Style" emphasizing basic brawling interspersed with a few signiture spots? And, once again, if you had to finger one cruiserweight in or out of WWE's ranks as the next major success (like Chris Jericho and Rey Misterio Jr.), who would you pick? What's your favorite food? Please compose a haiku in praise of it. Finally, if Kurt Angle and Tito Ortiz had an exhibition match, who would end up on the floor? Eric "Critic of the Dawn" |
| CGold | Posted on 08/06/03 at 22:16:00 On the topic of simulators I recall the first one I ever found on the internet and I loved it, I was wondering if you ever used James Winquist's Wrestling League Simulator, the latest version I could find was 5.3 released in 1995, if you ever used I wonder what your thoughts are. On the topic of Wrestling Video games for systems, do you prefer The THQ N64 series, or The Fire Pro Games? Are you excited that if you restart you WWE Circuit as Summer Slam you get to use The Elimination Chamber? Since your ending the old circuit any chance of adding a title histories page? there are tons of title changes, and as I havent been able to go through all the shows at once I usually find my self lost in the title picture. Wasnt there once an arena plugin, and Why cant I find it anymore? With RVD's clean win over Jericho does that mean RVD loses at Summer Slam and Jericho wins the title or is that just me? And do you think they made it RVD vs Kane because Shane wouldnt do the job? lol |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/06/03 at 22:20:37On 08/06/03 at 21:39:10, Critic_of_the_Dawn wrote:Here's a good one, Oliver:How far I'd run? How about for President ;-)? I'd *really* like to hear Jay Leno recap that debate *g* If "big = tough" were valid in most people's minds, wouldn't guys like A-Train, Test, Kevin Nash and most of all Nathan Jones be draws then? Looking at those four, I'm not sure I'd call any of them overpushed given the jobs they've done (except for Nathan J. who doesn't even seem to have A job anymore, much less TO job). Undertaker and Big Show are used very, very well given where their careers were only one year ago. Big Show in particular is showing fire again that he had been lacking for years. I don't think any of the big guys has the potential of climbing any higher than they already have. I do have a hunch, though, that Booker T will come out of SummerSlam a double champion. When presented correctly, WWE fans accept the cruiserweights. The Rey-Matt Hardy Smackdown main event rating is ample proof of that. With Dean Malenko, they probably have the best possible agent for the cruiserweights. It's pretty clear, though, that they will continue to play second fiddle ad infinitum. As far as the next big cruiserweight star goes, I'll have to go with Amazing Red, although I have my doubts it will be in WWE. Sushi and sashimi. Saw UFC 40? 'Nuff said. Meng vs Ortiz would be a lot more interesting... or Big Show vs Ortiz. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/06/03 at 22:26:24On 08/06/03 at 22:16:00, CGold wrote:On the topic of simulators I recall the first one I ever found on the internet and I loved it, I was wondering if you ever used James Winquist's Wrestling League Simulator, the latest version I could find was 5.3 released in 1995, if you ever used I wonder what your thoughts are.I loved WLS and was pretty sad when Jamie quit. I prefer the King Of Colosseum games, both Red and Green. If I had my way, they'd use the WarGames instead. It's so obvious Vince wanted to do them and the Elimination Chamber was the best copycat he could come up with... Sounds like a good idea. Try http://home.t-online.de/home/Oliver_Stoeneberg/arena.zip They had to bring back RVD from the dead and the way the match was booked, Jericho as the loser was the real winner. Like I said, my money's on Booker... |
| TecmoNick | Posted on 08/06/03 at 22:30:47On 08/06/03 at 22:20:37, Oliver Copp wrote:What does this have to do with big men and what other title could he be in contention for? Tag? Him and Poppa Pump vs. La Resistance? Please tell me, no. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/06/03 at 22:49:13 Heard through the grapevine he's going to be substituted for Nash in the Elimination Chamber at SummerSlam because Nash seems to once again be having knee troubles. Not official yet, though. |
| 91 | Posted on 08/07/03 at 00:56:06 Oooh, that's interesting. I mean, I'd still be skeptical and all (I'm a doubty person) but at least there's a little more hope in there. Frankly I'd still be rooting for Jericho all the way, but at least there's a nice backup winner, hypothetically. Mind you, that's one less person for Trips to job to - he'll probably end up being #1 with Booker at #2, Booker gets a Pedigree in the first minute of the match, then forth minutes later once Helmsley has single handidly pinned everyone else, he'll finally get round to pinning Books (who still hasn't moved). Or maybe that's the skeptical side of me talking again. Oh yeah, Tecmo Nick - Booker already holds the IC title, hence why he'd be a double champion. Actually if he LOST the IC title at Summerslam, that'd be a good sign that Olly might be on to something. Anyway, why am I rambling like this, I have more questions, as if I haven't given you enough... #756 Best and worst match ever, in your opinion. Can't get blunter than that. #757 Whose circuit, past or present, did you enjoy the most, asides from your own of course. :P #758 How's the missus? ;) #759 Totally off the subject of anything wrestling related, you know English and German, ja? Do you know any other languages? My friend Rose knows four and I want to see if there's anyone I know who can beat that. #760 In your circuit, what one angle would you say you were most proud of? |
| H8-Superstar | Posted on 08/07/03 at 05:54:41 Here's my question: On TNM Awards 98 you made a comment DDP doesn't deserve all "worst of" votes and the criticism. Which certain wrestler(s), at this moment, shouldn't deserve most/all criticism? For me, I would say Undertaker. Also will there be time for TNM Awards 2K3? |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/07/03 at 06:58:29On 08/07/03 at 00:56:06, 91 wrote:#756 Best and worst match ever, in your opinion. Can't get blunter than that.You know, there have been so many great matches I've seen that I don't feel qualified to answer that question. When I read the question, three matches immediately came to mind. Flair-Steamboat Music City Showdown, the match where Misawa finally pinned Jumbo Tsuruta for the first time in a singles match and Savage-Steamboat WrestleMania III. I'd say that vote HAS to go to the TNMWA circuit we had going on the TNM Discussion List a few years back :) Quite fine, actually ;) English, German, French, Spanish, Thai and Japanese I'd say the entire Hogan-Rock charade in the final year of the circuit. I never had planned on doing a several-show-long angle with them but things just happened the way they did and I rolled with the punches. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/07/03 at 07:01:04On 08/07/03 at 05:54:41, H8-Superstar wrote:Here's my question:I'd have to agree with that. I never understood why he caught so much heat because he's one of the few big men who really knows how to work and despite his age and status still does as much as possible every time out. I'll also mention Triple H who is blamed for many things completely out of his control. I'm not really enamoured with the guy either but give the man a break - he's not the devil incarnate. You betcha :) |
| leftsaidfred | Posted on 08/11/03 at 08:09:26 Warning - Possible Spoilers Contained Within All right, so I'm not much of one for rumor sites, but I was a good bit bored tonight, so I swung by the Pro Wrestling Torch site just to click around for a little bit. Found a house show recap, which contained the following result: (5) Christian defeated Booker T for the Intercontinental Title. I was waiting for a swerve but Christian left with the title and Booker T was helped out but the refs and Sgt. Slaughter. Eventually he walked on his own power but looked like he was immense pain.The article can be found at http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_4879.shtml. So, if this is a legit and rather serious injury, Oliver, do you still think Booker gets the World title at SummerSlam if he's capable of wrestling? If not, what then happens? |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/11/03 at 08:41:56 I'm not sure what happened but from what I've read on wrestlingobserver.com about this, it seems like a legit injury. If they did an impromptu finish with a title change at a house show, it's likely a serious situation. If it was an angle, it would be a good indication that they're going in the proposed direction. |
| 91 | Posted on 08/12/03 at 02:10:13 Oooh, the TNM awards are gonna be back. I loved them back in the day. The way Dean Malenko was always voted the most uncharismatic (how little they knew) and how every favourable category saw WWF guys win, but they'd still finish behind ECW in the best fed category. And this poses a question - are they going to be like the old school set-up they used to have? I ask because I remember one year (possibly the last time they happened to date) they had some new layout and format and such and, no offence, I thought it sucked. I also seem to remember there being critics opinions on the results (they being you and your buddies). Everyone was fairly unbiased in their opinions, except one guy who just LOVED everything WWF. Who was that? |
| H8-Superstar | Posted on 08/12/03 at 09:08:23 I would like the old format but I doubt that will take lots of time. There are few awards that need to be done away. But with wrestling in this state I don't see any positives right now. IMO, the best feud of the year so was Vince vs Zach/Hogan. Hopefully it's going be changed to CZW vs IWA depending how the feud goes. Best fed and best indy category should be merged. Same goes with tag team of the year both NA and International. Change Best/Worst PPV to Best/Worst event which can range from PPV or an indy supercard. Drop Best TV show since its just WWE and certain indies few citizens get. Drop the newsletter, video game, radio show award. It's just a suggestion. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/12/03 at 20:17:09On 08/12/03 at 02:10:13, 91 wrote:Oooh, the TNM awards are gonna be back. I loved them back in the day. The way Dean Malenko was always voted the most uncharismatic (how little they knew) and how every favourable category saw WWF guys win, but they'd still finish behind ECW in the best fed category.I'll use something similar to the old-school setup but not the exact one because it was a nightmare for me administration-wise. People keep misspelling names or are too lazy to scroll down on a list of nominees and I really hated that because it meant even more unnecessary work. The awards that "sucked" got in excess of 2.5 million votes in Germany alone so I don't really agree with the assessment ;) Maybe I can get some well-known writers to offer their opinions this time around. We'll see :-) |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/12/03 at 20:21:21On 08/12/03 at 09:08:23, H8-Superstar wrote:I would like the old format but I doubt that will take lots of time. There are few awards that need to be done away. But with wrestling in this state I don't see any positives right now. IMO, the best feud of the year so was Vince vs Zach/Hogan. Hopefully it's going be changed to CZW vs IWA depending how the feud goes.Yes, Best Fed and Best Indy should and will be merged. I disagree about merging NA and International because the international section will not get as many votes as North America will - that would essentially mean that the mainstream would drown out whatever legitimate voting there'd be for international stars. I like the idea of changing Best PPV to Best Event but I again don't agree with the TV show suggestion. Without even going out of my way to get the shows, I get WWE, TNA, MLW, IWA-MS, OVW, NJPW, NOAH, Pride and UFC. And that's with exactly zero effort. Anyway, maybe I'm the only one interested in whether RAW, Smackdown or TNA would win Best Show :-) Newsletter, video games and radio shows will likely be dropped with video games being the only one of those three categories that stands a chance of being continued because there's a PLETHORA of wrestling video games that came out this year or will be coming out, in NA and internationally. |
| 91 | Posted on 08/12/03 at 22:10:19 Well known writers? What are you talking about, I'm not well known... As for the ones that "sucked", what I meant by that was the layout and format as such. Of course I still voted and everything, but I prefered the old one. Still, I can appreciate the misspelling and such. Would I be right in saying that 'Mick Foley' for example would be different from 'mick foley' and leave you required to combine such votes? |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/13/03 at 10:39:10 No, the system is intelligent enough to catch that. I wanted to make it more fuzzy to "catch" single-character misspellings or typos where two adjacent characters are swapped by mistake but that would also wreak havoc on some wrestler names because Sabu and Samu also only differ in one letter but are two different wrestlers :) |
| 91 | Posted on 08/13/03 at 15:55:53 Ahhhh, that explains it. Mind you, I don't see Samu getting many votes this year... ;) |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/13/03 at 21:39:43 Don't count on it... he's back on the big scene, so to speak, with Jamal (or whatever he calls himself now) as the Samoan Island Tribe in MLW... :) |
| 91 | Posted on 08/14/03 at 01:22:10 You just have an answer for EVERYTHING. :P Well, I don't see him getting many votes, how old must Samu be now? Wasn't he defending the tag belts over twenty years ago? And Sabu's not that good either for that. Maybe I should ask another question, to keep this thread rolling... OK, I've got one. A while back, I asked what was the best thing you'd done in your circuit. What's the WORST thing you've done? Something you look back on and ask "what was I thinking??". Something you look back on and maybe cringe a little. Something that could even be described as "Wrestlecrap", dare I say. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 08/14/03 at 07:44:40 The worst? Hmmm... maybe the fact that I brought back Hall and Nash every chance I got ;-)? |
| wweboy | Posted on 02/05/04 at 10:50:31 hope I can still ask a question 8) When I stumbled apon TNM7 back in I think 1999 it was because of "wrestling simulators are dead" banner and I was like WTF are wrestilng sims? Well I found your site and bought it and have ben using it since. 1. What has been your motivation for making a program such as TNM7? I mean you said SE took a long time and cost you 40 Grand, shit if I had to blow 40 grand for a game I'd charge like 100 bucks a copy :-) But people won't pay 100 bux. Seriously though what made you want to keep going and get the program done? 2. You've said you prob won't do anymore on the sim would be willing to hand over the project? I mean if you wanted to see it continue would you give it to someone to continue where you left off for improvements or ehhancements? Thanks. |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 02/15/04 at 13:42:28 1. I had a lot of free time on my hands back then, being in college and all. And it was something that I enjoyed doing. 2. "Handing over" per se is something I definitely won't do because it would mean giving away the work of more than ten years for free. However, if somebody really was serious about taking it to the next level, I'd be amenable to selling the source code and everything that comes with it. I don't see it happening, though :) |
| JustMike | Posted on 02/19/04 at 18:29:56 Couple of questions: (1) What do you think of the H2H source code being released? You originally said this game would be vaporware and I assume you meant didn't exist now you can see the effort that went in what are your thoughts on it? (2) If you could go back and change one thing from your years doing wrestling simulation what would it be? (3) How much would you charge for the TNM7 source code? (4) Would you consider a franchise method? i.e. Let someone finish the code as part of a team but you retain the rights to the product. Negotiation would happen between the two parties in terms of pay hence it would be franchised. (5) What are your thoughts upon .400 software the team which has signed up Adam Ryland. (6) When you first produced simulations piracy was not so much of an issue. With piracy on the increase and quite a few people knowing reversing techniques do you think Adam Rylands product may suffer for this? (7) Upon calculation Adam Ryland looks set to earn around about £36,000 flat not equating into ViaTechs % and e-license charge. You said making TNM7 SE cost you around $40,000 (£21,130). Would producing a product on the scale of TEW be worth it in the long run? I mean factoring in that over time TNM7 sold what 5,000 copies now lets put that down a bit in terms of market interest decrease. Lets say the new project sold 1,250 copies now lets multiply that by $40.00. Thats $50,000 now as your not part of a team thats less of a cost. However you still have to factor in server costs which are what $125 from a good service provider and paypal type services which I am not to sure of so lets lean to the high side of $750 - earnings lost so you would be making what $9125 on top of your original income. Thats not bad but I am just factoring in rough numbers could be less could be more. Same question stands though would it be cost-beneficial in the long run? |
| Oliver Copp | Posted on 02/20/04 at 00:42:07 (1) I have no comment on that. What was released isn't really functional in any way. "Vaporware" was meant in the sense that it would never see the light of day in the way it was promoted. Apparently, that idea was right on the money. (2) I wouldn't have taken the complete break following the release of TNM 7. It was natural to choose a $100,000+ per year fulltime job vs a fulltime wrestling sim job that paid considerably less. In hindsight, it was a mistake completely scaling back, though. Also, if I could redo it all over again, I would have programmed a Windows version back for the release of TNM 7. (3) That would be a matter of negotiation. Usually, you charge $1-$5 per line of code. TNM 7 SE has 650,000 lines of code, not including the plugins. You do the math ;). See why I said that a sale likely wouldn't happen *g*? (4) Been there, done that. I worked with five different professional programmers in the past who wanted to "take TNM to the next level". None of them ever got through the phase of acquainting themselves with the code. Wrestling sims hardly are rocket science, that's a fact. However, there are certain areas where the TNM code is incredibly detailed - probably moreso than anybody sane would do. Case in point: ratings. To get back to your question: yes, that is an idea that is workable. Honestly speaking, though: experience shows that it isn't likely to happen. Every programmer so far that has seen the code has shied away from it. And that's not because it's unmaintainable spaghetti code - hardly. The reason for it is that the code contains a lot of wrestling semantic that casual or even not-so-casual fans simply won't understand. (5) I'm happy for Adam. He's done a lot for free over the years and deserves a paid job in this field. I'm sure TEW will live up to expectations. If only they got mundane things such as wrestlers' market value right this time... (6) I'm not sure. It all depends on how much time and energy .400 Studios put into their copy protection. Again, I can only speak for myself. It's been seven years since the initial release of TNM 7 and still no code generator or crack exists. If Adam and company can get a grip on their means of protecting their intellectual property, that should be the goal to shoot for. Piracy isn't a problem in my opinion, it's a given. I accept the fact that many hundred people probably are using TNMs they shouldn't be using. It's not right but it's the reality. I'm proud to say that over 90 percent of TNM users are longtime users and customers. I'll rather spend the time and energy that usually would go into prosecuting software pirates into rather supporting TNM's paying customers. This is the course that I also expect .400 Studios to take. (7) It depends on the way you look at it. Looking at it straight from the project itself, not figuring in your own monthly earnings, it's something that could be done but doesn't net enough to make it a no-brainer. That said, I have to look at the entire matter from a standpoint of personal income. I work for a major cable TV channel in Germany in a job that nets approx. $100,000 per year, plus income from broadcasting UFC and pro wrestling events. This figure wouldn't be realistic for a wrestling sim, even in the most optimistic scenario. Suppose you sell 2,000 copies (500 is much more likely, even with a good product and great promotion - remember: you're serving a fringe market of a fringe market) of a $40 product. That's an $80,000 gross. Usually you have to deduct approx. 30% for payment processor shares, webserver cost and other administrative cost. That would give you a gross income of around $56,000 - or roughly half of what I make from my regular job. So, from a financial standpoint, I'd be insane to take that route. I know this sounds quite egotistical and cold but when you have a family to feed, you have to decide what's best for your family. That said, I am currently coding Windows extensions to TNM 7 SE in my free time which will eventually be released as plugins. The goal is to simplify data management operations with a intuitive Windows interface (much like the Visualizer Image Wizard). Match generation itself wouldn't profit from a Windows version at all, so this part will likely remain DOS-driven. The big challenge in this regard is that I don't have the time to commit myself fully to coding TNM as opposed to working a fulltime job elsewhere. Please do understand, though, that I am highly committed to continuing the TNM legacy for several years from this point. I know what big a role this program plays in the life of many people out there and I won't start neglecting these paying customers again. Thanks, Oliver |