V2 will let you choose your possible damage level
I was thinking to myself: how far do I really want to push the effects? Am I risking to mess up the vibe of v1, which some people actually liked? And what about those who want more?
Well, I finally made up my mind — V2 will include 4 levels of "intensity" you can choose from depending on the kind of result you're after.
LVL1 just adds some tweaks to the vanilla bruises — more depth, more weight behind the hits, and a stronger sense of skin damage.
LVL2 brings in visible physical damage like black eyes, broken noses, cuts and scrapes.
LVL3 is the natural successor of my v1: it adds blood on top of the bruises, while keeping the enhanced skin damage. The blood stays within the boundaries of the original bruise maps.
LVL4 takes it all the way — blood is no longer limited to the bruise areas, and it’s pouring all over the face.
NOTE: So, what you see in the pics above is NOT a damage progression — it’s 4 different types of visually maxed-out damage version.
The map you're watching is bruise_color_head_A, which is one of the possible maps the game applies to a wrestler during a match.
Keep in mind the game goes from texture A to G, so I’m building 4 levels across 8 face textures and 8 body textures.
A few extra notes:
Body effects will follow the same logic — each pack includes both face and body damage for the chosen level.
All four packs will also include an upgraded blood texture (the one that shows up when the forehead gets actually damaged). It looks more realistic and less repetitive than the vanilla version.
As always, the mod will be free for Patreon members, and it’ll be released on PWM with a slight delay — just to say thanks to those who chose to support the idea early on.
This will probably be the final version I make for this game. With multiple effect levels I think I’m already covering most people’s tastes. A v3 wouldn’t really make sense.
When’s it coming out?
Hopefully soon — I’m aiming for the end of the month.
It all depends on how much time my actual job leaves me, but I won’t drag this out too long. Promise.
One last thing:
If the black eye, blood or anything else looks odd in these previews, keep in mind that in-game the final result is filtered by the engine’s own effects.
What you're seeing here is my reference layout while working in the graphic software — I thought it’d be more useful than in-game screenshots (which are coming!) to explain the logic behind the damage placement.