WWE ‘12 | Gameplay Q&A

For those unaware I am a huge WWE fanboy & in saying that I am just as big of fan of the Smackdown Vs Raw series on the PS2, in fact many of my readers know this from my guide for SVR11 (https://fhl09.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/svr11-guide/) that I found to be quite popular among gamers.

So moving on to the topic at hand, Smackdown VS Raw is no more as many WWE Games fans likely know already, it is now simply WWE ‘12 & as Cory said countless times it isn’t just a name change but rather a whole redesign of a game.

Now more to the point, the WWE Games development team, mainly Cory Ledesma & the community relations team mainly @THQTank & Marcus “The Hammer” Stephenson have been very active in the community, in fact more so than previous years & they have provided, WE (the WWE Games Universe, no WE is not a typo, every WWE fan will get it I’m sure) with a weekly Q&A on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/WWEGames).

I wanted to take the chance to now answer the questions YOU asked along with answers provided in the videos, now understand it won’t be word for word as seen in video but enough of an answer to give you the answer that you require.

You are more than welcome to ask questions further via the comments below this article here & I may know the answer to them thus I will reply to your comment with an answer.

Contents

1. Updates

2. WWE 12 Developers Answer To The Community #1 – AWESOME!

3. WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #2

4. WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #3

5. WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #4

6. WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #5

7. WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #6

8. WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #7

9. Bonus Questions

10. Stay Up To Date

Updates

September 10th 2011
WWE 12 Developers Answer To The Community #1 – AWESOME!
(http://youtu.be/dpFqEMe6Qo8)

Question: Will there be better environment interactions with the stage & will there be more different weapons?
Answer: This year that has been put on hold to focus on Core Gameplay, things like AI, Reversals, Downtime. So unfortunately this year there won’t be anything new with the stage or with weapons. In future games you can expect to see some improvements with the stage area.

Question: Are the different directional grapples similar to Here Comes The Pain & like we see in Smackdown VS Raw 2011 going to be in WWE ‘12?
Answer: Directional Grapples are still going to be in WWE ‘12, that hasn’t changed at all.

Question: Can we defend titles this year whenever we want to?
Answer: Unfortunately that cannot be answered as yet, however feedback has been heard & is being taken seriously & the universe has has significant improvements this year.

Question: Are Comeback Moments available for every WWE superstar?
Answer: No, Comeback Moments are more an ability so they are tied to certain superstars, there are about 10-12 that will have Comeback Moments, once the game is in the final tuning stages they will reveal who has them, what they are & maybe even show videos of what those comeback moments are.

Question: Will there be more cut scenes in universe mode this year?
Answer: Universe Mode is something that can’t really be discussed, there are massive improvements to Universe Mode so of course you can expect new cut scenes.

Question: Will there be Side-trons & Curve-trons to go along with the Mini-trons?
Answer: We are working to obtain assets to them via the WWE, as long as we get those we will put them in the game.
Updated Answer: Mini-trons, Side-trons, Curve-trons, banner movies are all in during entrances (https://twitter.com/#!/RealCoryLedesma/status/93019220463460352).

Question: What is that meter we see in videos represent?
Answer: It is like the stamina meter as seen in the last games, it’s there to prevent spam running & to give you an advantage with limb targeting, so once you start wearing down the legs you will notice the one with the sore legs won’t have as much adrenaline as you. So it’s called an adrenaline bar, once that bar has been ran down (by running) you won’t fall (like in past games) but you will just start walking & if you get Irish whipped unlike past games where you would fall you would still run regardless of if you have adrenaline or not & of course if you don’t like that meter you can turn it off.

WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #2
(http://youtu.be/J-npbwCNrD4)

Question: What is your favorite thing about WWE ‘12 Cory Ledesma?
Answer: Cory says (and I quote); I am really excited about the roster, ‘cause I think it’s one of the strongest rosters we’ve ever had. We are planning on having DLC (Downloadable Content) & have a lot of surprises tied to that. Gameplay is also another favorite thing of Corys, along with Universe Mode, Road To Wrestlemania & it goes on forever.

Question: Did all the struggle submission moves make the transition to the new breaking point system?
Answer: Cory believes all the moves are in there, however said not to quote him on that, there are however a lot of new moves in there, around 6-8 new breaking point submission moves.

Question: Will divas be able to compete in 6 person matches this year?
Answer: Unfortunately divas will not be able to fight in 6 person matches, this is due to females having much higher polygons than the regular models, because the long hair & curves, this is why it is not supported at this stage, it’s not impossible but it will require a little more work so it won’t be in this years game.

Question: THQ Tank kept sending out surveys asking fans opinions on Smackdown Vs RAW 2011 & what we would like changed, improved or added in future titles, is there anything you can speak about in regards to those surveys?
Answer: Yes everything in those surveys was taken on board for WWE ‘12 & for the things that we couldn’t cater to we keep those for the future.

Question: In the final version will we be able to climb on the announce tables?
Answer: As of now it’s not in the game, we are trying to get in in but are facing challenges with it, if it doesn’t make it it we apologize & will put it on the list for future.

Question: Will there be create a finisher modes such as create a submission?
Answer: Unfortunately at this stage we can’t go into details but will be announcing that in august around SummerSlam.

Question: Can you still throw a guy into the barricade or slam him into the ring post?
Answer: We removed some of the user controlled moves & just add back the regular controls for those, so instead of the 10 punch in the corner doing the up & down with the stick we wanted to make that simple button presses, the animations are still there just different controls & some animations are missing.

Question: Will there be special guest ref exhibition match?
Answer: This year will be a year we you don’t see to many new match types due to the focus being on Core Gameplay, but it is on top the wish list so when we do start adding new matches be it this year or next year that will be one of the ones we endeavor to add first.

WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #3
(http://youtu.be/8TOf7O1n6oc)

Question: When creating an entrance & importing a song as his/her theme song, it would amplify to the point you couldn’t hear the crowd or announcer, please tell me this has been fixed?
Answer: It’s in our radar, Cory hasn’t personally seen if it has been fixed but he knows it has been reported so hopefully that fix will make it in this years game.

Question: I know you guys said you could end a move by someone interfering in it, does that mean if someone is doing a suplex can edge come in & do a spear on the person delivering the move?
Answer: If you mean linking one move into another, we don’t have that working for WWE ‘12 but that is something we are excited about introducing, it’s so complex that you have to have all the animations sync up together & look good, we want to do it so it looks good thus making it look right, so this year you can break up animations & in future games we hope to see moves linking.

Question: Is the way you get out of a steel cage different & is the door still gone from Hell In A Cell?
Answer: We have made enhancements to the steel cage match, it’s still the same approach to getting out of the cage, pretty much the same mini-game, maybe a minor facelift to it, we have recaptured the climbing moments & also added reversals for when your climbing, so say when your climbing if someone reaches up & tries to grab you, you can reverse it rather than having it where you get pulled down. In regards to the Hell In A Cell the door hasn’t been added but we have made sure breaking out the Cell walls is an easier experience.

Question: Is there a larger move set in the game?
Answer: If you mean larger moves available then I can say we did capture some new moves, if you mean the amount of moves each superstar can do, it’s like last year but what we added was the limb targeting moves which does open up a couple new moves you can do (something like 4-5moves).

Question: Are you able to select another victory scene?
Answer: Unfortunately it was on the list but we ran out of time, but rest assured it is on our list to get in there.

Question: Do the superstars feel different from one another, like does a small man feel different to fighting than a big man?
Answer: We have added a few more attributes that help differentiate the characters, now we have attributes for grapple damage Vs strike damage, strike defense, grapple defense, also with the weight classes we have certain things like how fast you can grapple, so big guys have a slower reach whereas the smaller guys have a much quicker reach.

Question: Please let me know if the easy pin has been fixed?
Answer: Yes it has that was an unfortunate bug in last years game, that was one of the first things we made sure we fixed.

Question: Can you hold the pin button of top rope moves this year?
Answer: Unfortunately it was another thing where we ran out of time, however there are a few new pin combinations to other grapple moves.

WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #4
(http://youtu.be/cBFN9zzNo6c)

Question: We know there is a revamp to the stamina, but what about when you are thrown into a turnbuckle, can you explain the revamp to stamina?
Answer: This year we have called it adrenaline, we wanted to reduce the spamming of running, the more adrenaline you have the longer you can run, the smaller guys will have more adrenaline & will run longer whereas the bigger guys will have less adrenaline & thus meaning they can run for shorter periods. We have also added a new feature where if you target someone’s legs that will impact there adrenaline & they won’t be able to run as much. Also a bug that we have fixed is where if you were out of what we are calling adrenaline now & you got Irish whipped you would fall down, this is no longer the case & if you are Irish whipped you will run, also fixed was when you ran out of adrenaline & you went to run you would fall, this is no longer the case, now if you are out of adrenaline & you try to run you will walk.

Question: I am still confused on the break up moves, say I am John Cena & I am picking up Alberto Del Rio in a suplex, how do you break that up?
Answer: If you get a guy in a suplex a third guy can come in & strike & it will turn into a break animation, you can’t do a grapple move & transition into a 3 person grapple, however if you do a grapple that will also interrupt the animation as well. We have tuned it so the break animation is only open for a short time, so if someone is doing a suplex & it’s almost at the point where the guy is hitting the mat, that cannot be broken up. Furthermore you can also break Tag Team moves.

Question: Are there anymore mini games in WWE ‘12 aside from breaking point?
Answer: Yes, there are comeback moments mini games where you have to hit a random face button that appears on screen. There are also tweaks to the Royal Rumble mini games, this year the button mashing is gone & have been replaced with ones that are more timing based or guessing based.

Question: There is a limb targeting system so say if you target the arm, will they hold there arm & make it easier for Alberto Del Rio to perform his cross arm breaker?
Answer: Yes that is exactly right, the more damage you do the more the superstar will sell that, the most damaged part will be the part they hold, so if you wear down the arm you will have the advantage when you hit the cross arm breaker & go into the breaking point mini game.

Question: Has the referee AI improved?
Answer: It’s improved a little bit, we tried to make sure he stays as far away of the action as possible.

WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #5
(http://youtu.be/3jLXLGEOtvY)

Question: Is the match play much more life like, so does it start out fast & slow as the match progresses?
Answer: Yes, at the start of the match as you do moves you will notice you opponent will pop right back up, then as you do damage your opponent will start staying down longer & selling the move.

Question: How can you cash in your Money In The Bank briefcase this year?
Answer: I don’t think anything is different on how you cash in your Money In The Bank in universe mode, last year we had it & this year it’s back again, you will be prompted to cash it in, we also set up some cool things where the guy who is cashing it in has the advantage over the guy who just finished a match & the one who just finished a match will have some damage.

Question: Can you explain the new blood tech this year?
Answer: Basically now we have free flowing blood where it will start on the face & drip onto the chest, it’s dynamic & not the same pattern that you tend to see every time in past games, with created superstars due to them taking more memory the blood won’t be as good as default superstars on the roster. Blood is defaulted to off so if you would like it just remember to switch it on under options.

Question: Can you explain what you did to make the difficultly levels even more challenging this year?
Answer: We have worked on the aggression level of the AI, in the past the AI would stand around & not know what his next move should be, so he will come right at you & attack. Another thing we worked on is the AI is now able to recognize states now, it’s able to intelligently think what it should be doing, what’s it’s next step, what it’s next attack should be, it also can remember moves it’s preformed as well as moves it’s opponent has preformed.

Question: Can you give some insight into some improvements your doing with move sets & how you are aligning them with superstars?
Answer: Our researchers are spending time studying the wrestlers, ensuring we are cataloging all the moves a superstar is doing, for some of the guys who haven’t been in WWE that long we have gone back to their past matches with other companies to get what moves they are doing.

WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #6
(http://youtu.be/0ORQ8eUOu9w)

Question: Have you added anymore reversal animations this year & what have you done to ensure the reversals are less predictable?
Answer: Yes we did add some new reversal animations, I can’t go into detail as they are tied to roster characters moves, we created a bunch of reversal animations for certain moves where we wanted to have a cool reversal for that move, normally for superstars signature moves. In regards to predictable reversals we have fined tuned the window in which you can reverse so before the point of contact we have a small window in which it accepts the button input for the reversals.

Question: Can you give an example of a submission move that you cannot crawl to the ropes on VS one that you can?
Answer: Moves like the surfboard stretch you can’t crawl to the ropes & moves like the Boston crab you can crawl to the game, so basically moves that make sense that you can crawl to the rope allow you to do that & the ones where wasn’t possible looking at the animation, it’s not possible in the game.

Question: Can you perform springboards?
Answer: We have added the ability to perform springboards while running towards the ropes.

Question: What exactly are the differences in difficultly levels, what did you do?
Answer: We talked a little about reversal windows being smaller so it’s harder to reverse, with the AI their ability to match the window is greater in the higher difficultly levels so you can’t easily pull of moves, but it’s more the aggression levels of the AI on the higher difficultly levels, so they are quicker & smarter, .

Question: Has the running apron attack been fixed for WWE ‘12, Can you now do moves running on the apron like in Smackdown Vs Raw 2010?
Answer: Yes!

Question: Were you able to Mo-Cap the moves for lower card superstars VS main eventers?
Answer: Yes, we Mo-Cap moves for everyone on the roster, we try not to do more moves for the main eventers against the lower card guys, we like to keep it equal with our Mo-Cap, but some of the main eventers there is more footage of them, they have a bigger rapture of moves that their doing so naturally you may need to Mo-Cap more for them.

Question: What are your thoughts on Move-Set DLC, Are there chances for that in WWE ‘12?
Answer: Yea, we really want to try make it happen, to be honest we haven’t go all our ducks in a row yet for this to happen but we are really pushing hard for this to be a big part of our later DLC drops, It hasn’t been 100% confirmed but the dev team is working really hard to possibly offer that!

WWE 12 | Gameplay Q&A #7
(http://youtu.be/V94yRYPtOus)

Question: Do referees switch up in the game, so say if one referee gets knocked out will another come in to take their place?
Answer: Unfortunately not, it is only one referee this year & if he happens to get incapacitated (knocked out) the match will be a free for all until he revives himself!

Question: When you do a move with a weapon on a limb such as the legs, will it be a struggle for them to walk/use the legs?
Answer: Yes, that is the purpose of the limb targeting feature added this year in WWE ‘12, to get a certain effect or gain an advantage over your opponent, so regardless if you are using a weapon or the limb targeting moves themselves once you get the leg into a critical state the superstar will walk a lot slower & running will become impaired meaning sometimes when they try run they may collapse to the ground!

Question: In matches such as the fatal 4 way & triple threat will partners recognize each other & work together to eliminate others?
Answer: This is an A.I related question & this year the A.I has been improved to react as the question asks, developers are working towards that!

Question: Will there ever be a solution to characters repositioning themselves?
Answer: Sure, we made improvements to that this year such as eliminating a lot of the morphing you see when you hit say John Cena’s 5 knuckle shuffle, this year Cena will now perform the 5 knuckle shuffle from where his opponent lies!

Question: Can we do a finisher from a ladder to a table outside of the ring, last year when you tired to do that you stayed in the ring?
Answer: WOW That was a bug, you should haven been able to do that last year so assuming the bug is fixed this year you should be able to do that, Bryan Williams will get back to THQ Tank with an update & once I have that information I will also update this question!

Question: Can you use Smackdown Vs RAW 2011 controls in WWE ‘12?
Answer: Unfortunately no you cannot, sorry to those who may find that disappointing. We were going to do it but the cost to do so was staggering cause it effects a lot as far as the A.I.

Question: What separates WWE ‘12 from the Smackdown Vs RAW series?
Answer: The game play is more refined, there is more strategy involved, the attributes mean more this year, they are more apparent in matches, like the Big Show will feel & behave like the Big Show, Zack Ryder will feel & behave like Zack Ryder (Woo Woo Woo).

Bonus Questions
(Mainly obtained from the official WWE ‘12 forums & comments below)

Question: Is Randy Orton beard in the game?
Answer: Yes & his clean shaven look is an alt attire (http://twitter.com/#!/stephensonmc/status/83655216418926594).

Question: This year did you make championship belts larger & more realistic?
Answer: Yes, it has been confirmed: http://twitter.com/#!/RealCoryLedesma/status/82940733753004032.

Question: In Universe Mode can you defend your title at anytime?
Answer: Short Answer, Yes.
(http://youtu.be/V94yRYPtOus?t=4m39s)

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YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/WWEGames
Forums: http://community.smackdownvsraw.com/forums/wwe-12

13 thoughts on “WWE ‘12 | Gameplay Q&A”

  1. Roman says:

    Wow thanks for posting this! It’s actually gotten me more excited for the game and even more for the next game!! Haha! And glad to actually understand why divas haven’t competed in 6 person matched yet. Thanks again! 🙂

    Reply

    • Thank you for taking the time to comment & thank me.

      I am excited about the game to, hopefully Divas can compete in 6 person tag matches soon.

      Reply
  2. Roman says:

    You’re welcome and Thank you again for your hard work, seems like it took a long time. And yeah all hopes for 6 diva tags for wwe 13 but for now the features already sound great

    Reply
  3. Sivanand says:

    Great job man… I really appreciate your hard work… Hoping to see what Cory’s gonna say about that ladder to table finisher… instead of mo-cap and sync’ing the moves for that move interference feature, they can try working on the physic engine of each individual characters, So that we can see unpredictable moves interference…

    Reply

    • Here’s hoping WWE 13 addresses the fans,WWE 12 fan interaction started half way through development, they were unable to do what fans asked, they can however bring it forward to WWE 13, This is the first time WWEGames went social media with WWE 12 & it drew in a audience.

      Now to please & keep them.

      Reply
  4. Hunter says:

    Thanks for this and for taking time to compile a list of features that everyone seems to want to know about. Can not wait for this game and this post has got me even more pumped up!

    Reply

    • I don’t think that is true, however I’m sure I heard that from Cory, but in saying that I know I was told by Cory it will require getting use to the new controls but hardcore gamers will catch on quickly.

      Reply

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