GMP Chats with UE4Luchador!

The Game Marks Podcast sat down with the one-man-team behind UE4Luchador. We asked our Discord channel for some questions they had in mind as well as some of our own. We hope you enjoy!

The typical basic questions first… Is there a release date planned? What consoles do you plan to release to, if any? Is this going to be a full release, or just a passion project?

This is the very definition of a passion project. I started this as a way to teach myself how to program in Unreal Engine 4. I’ve actually worked in games for about 16 years now, but almost exclusively in art. So, while I’ve pretty familiar with creating and preparing art for games, coding and scripting have absolutely never come naturally to me. I’ve actually tried to start work on a wrestling game several times over the years, but would burn out quickly because I’d just get lost working with the code. UE4 presents a really nice alternative to traditional scripting with Blueprints. Essentially, you’re hooking together nodes that represent blocks of script as opposed to actually writing out the code yourself. While still complicated, for a visual person like me it’s definitely easier to wrap my head around!

Additionally, the Unreal Marketplace offers some great tools that you can integrate into your project so you don’t have to start from scratch on everything. Late last year, a gentleman named Jon Van Dam released a grapple component on the Marketplace that actually had a pair of figures in a collar and elbow tie-up in its cover image. I think that was the moment where the stars aligned and I said, “OK, time to actually do this!” Additionally, I’m working with a fantastic lock-on targeting component from AleeZL, which had also made some of the core development so much easier!

So, it’s important to be clear that – for now – this is just a hobby project that I’m working on in my spare time. Everything that is currently in the game is the result of a ton of research and hours of trial and error. The reality is that wrestling games have a lot of unique needs, so the creation process isn’t particularly straight forward. A good example of this: one of the first things I actually tried to figure out was the running system. I am a huge fan of the classic AKI N64 wrestling games (which you’ll be hearing about a lot throughout this interview), and I knew I wanted to pattern a lot of the game on AKI’s gameplay principles. This includes how the wrestlers run. Tap run to charge straight at your opponent, tap a direction and then run to hit the ropes…. that kind of thing. The problem is that, while there are plenty of tutorials on making a character run in UE4, there really isn’t much information making this specific kind of running. Then you have to factor in the concept of wrestlers rebounding after hitting the ropes, which is a separate bit of coding all together. It’s all just really complex stuff.

I think a project like this makes it really important to scope things out and give yourself bite sized chunks to work on. So, rather than saying I’m making a wrestling game, I just think about an individual system I want to see about implementing and stick with that. The current build of the game was all about meeting some specifically scoped goals: running, melee, grappling, camera, etc. The next “sprint” I have mapped out is similar: I’m working on back grapples, top rope moves, and ground moves. Nailing those will constitute the next build. As I write this, I’ve actually just figured out not only how to get the luchadors to leap from the top rope, but also allow for running to the corner and transitioning directly into a top rope move! It’s those little goals that help me stay motivated and keep things moving forward. I want to be certain that core gameplay is solid before anything else.

That’s a really long-winded way of saying that I really don’t have any sort of official, commercial launch in mind at this point. This project is likely to stay firmly rooted in the prototype phase for a long time. Also, there is a lot of copyrighted sound in the current build that I would need to replace if I were to make this more than just a passion project, which is a whole other mountain to climb! That said, I will be keeping the itch.io page updated regularly with new builds that people will be able to enjoy 100% free! If ever this does move in a more commercial direction, I am hoping that people will have enjoyed the proof of concept and would consider supporting a more polished, finished product!

Is there anything that will differentiate this from the typical wrestling game we see out today?

This is a great question, and I hope that you’ll allow for a round-about answer. You see, I absolutely adore the old N64 AKI games. I received WCW/nWo World Tour for Christmas in 1997, and ever since those AKI titles have been the absolute pinnacle of wrestling video games for me. One of the motivations for me sitting down to work on this project was that I simply missed the way those games played. A lot has been said over the years about the “AKI engine,” which often means the light vs strong, tap vs hold button mechanic. That’s obviously a big part of the equation, but when I think about the way those games played, so much more comes to mind. There is the highly responsive nature of the controls, the way the characters run, the really impactful feel of the animations, the way characters react if they have a running collision, the awesome J-Rock soundtracks…. to me, the AKI engine is summed up in “thoughtfulness in approach.” While I wouldn’t say I’m trying to do a 100% replication of this gameplay style, I want to very much align with the spirit and feel they present.

All of this is to say that, from a gameplay standpoint, I’m actually less focused on trying to reinvent the wheel as opposed to take what works and run with it – stand on the shoulders of giants, if you will. It’s a tried-and-true path vs a newly beaten one. But, the thing is, I’ve seen the reactions from a lot of people over the years that express the sentiment that this kind of gameplay should make a comeback. I’m hoping those people will follow me for the ride! Now, of course, on the artistic side of things, I think there are a lot of things in this project that will help it stand out, and I think some of your other questions will address that!

What will give this a “lucha libre” feel?

This is certainly one of the areas where I feel this game will find its own voice. Growing up, my main wrestling interests were in the US and Japan. And, while I certainly appreciated what the luchador cruiserweights were doing in WCW, I never really felt compelled to check out lucha libre directly. Then, about three years ago, I moved to Austin for work. Being so close to Mexico sparked interest in looking at the history and qualities of lucha libre, and I really become enamored with it. It is a tradition that goes back decades – CMLL is the world’s oldest wrestling promotion after all. I really enjoy lucha libre’s portrayal of good vs evil and the free flowing & high flying nature of the matches. The cultural impact is also extremely impressive. A couple of years ago, lucha libre was declared a part of cultural heritage in Mexico City, which shows just how revered it is!

At the same time, lucha libre has been drastically under represented in video games. Of course, luchadors have been featured in many wrestling games, but in terms of games focusing of the subject, the only one I can really think of is the AAA game from about 10 years ago.  So, it seems like a great direction to take a video game! This is not to say that I’m an expert on lucha libre in any way – far from it. But, I do feel that it can be celebrated in game form, and it has been fun learning about this style of wrestling alongside learning about UE4! Educational experiences all around.

So, the specific qualities that will give this a lucha libre feel:

The characters will all read pretty clearly as luchadors. I’m planning to lean heavily into the fantastic masks and gear that Mexican wrestling is known for. That color and flare is an important part of the presentation.

While a large part of the gameplay focus has been on getting the melee and grappling systems nailed down, I’m absolutely planning out some exciting high flying moves as well. As I mentioned, I’m just now figuring out how to implement top rope moves. That’s definitely a springboard (pun totally intended) toward other spectacular high flying moves as well!

I’ve been incorporating some Spanish into on-screen text and match graphics. While I probably won’t make the game fully in Spanish, I think that seeing certain graphics & notifications written in the language is an important part of the presentation.

Along the same lines, I am trying to arrange some Spanish color commentary to add to the game in the near future

I also realize that a true lucha libre game should involve things like trios matches and luchas de apuestas. Distant future goals – gotta nail down that one-on-one action first!

Are you planning any licensing for this game?

Right now, I am very content coming up with my own, original characters. Currently, there are  only three luchadors in the game, simply because it’s time consuming to develop unique animations for everyone. I’m glad that people have seemed to respond well to the characters so far! That said, if ever we do get to the point where commercial viability is an option, I certainly wouldn’t mind exploring the possibility of having some actual luchador guest characters!

How many members are on the team?

It’s a one-man show here! This whole thing is the result of one guy wanting to make a wrestling game. (My wife is kind enough to help playtest sometimes, so perhaps I should say it’s a two-person operation). At some point, if this does move in the direction of a commercially viable product, I will definitely need to bring more people on. But, for now, I’m content to just continue using this as a learning tool!

What wrestlers were inspired from lucha libre?

With a focus on celebrating lucha libre, the characters are all certainly inspired from lucha libre in terms of design. None of the characters are specifically patterned after any actual luchadors currently.

One note I should make: after creating all of the current characters, it came to my attention that there is an actual luchador named Fuego. My inclusion of a character named En Fuego was born out of ignorance; no gimmick infringement was intended!

Will there be any customization or creation modes?

Oh man, I would absolutely love to include those kinds of things. Honestly, I’m so laser focused on core gameplay that I haven’t really given much thought to the implementation any kind of creation suite. It would be an entirely new branch of research, that’s for sure!

What inspired the style choice of this game?

So, last year I was doing a few cartoon paintings of classic WWF wrestlers, and I kept thinking that it would be a lot of fun to see a wrestling game with a really stylized cartoon look. It actually made the decision to go with lucha libre as a framework for the game even simpler. Luchadors have an almost stylized quality by design – pushing that foundation to have a fun, exaggerated, cartoony look isn’t a huge stretch.

When I sat down to actually start designing the specific look for the characters, I drew a lot of inspiration from places like Guacamelee and Batman: The Animated Series. Specifically, those characters have a very distinct look: broad upper body with these really trim legs. It’s a really appealing look for strong figures, and I thought that could work well for wrestlers.

Beyond that, I really wanted to employ a lot of fun and color in the look of the game. I think there’s a tendency sometimes to try and present pro wrestling as realistic, gritty, and violent. While that can be a valid route to take, I personally have a lot more enjoyment with wrestling when it is big, colorful, and fun. I was a kid in the late 80’s/early 90’s when the Hulk Hogan era WWF was in full swing. I had a huge collection of the old Hasbro figures that I would play with regularly. I would also visit the arcade to play games like Superstars and WrestleFest frequently. I think these experiences engrained a sense of what I like in the presentation of wrestling games – the feeling of being a kid and piling your action figures into the ring during playtime. This has definitely had an impact on the aesthetic. In fact, when I first brought the character models into UE4 and saw what they looked like with the default specularity, it just reminded me so much of wrestling action figures that I just decided to stick with it!

I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but AKI’s old games play a role here too. People will kind of chuckle at the way those games look today, with the painted-on faces and floating arms, and say how primitive it looks. And they do have a point. However, I actually really like that style. In particular, it dawned on me that if I followed that route with the luchadors, it would save me some time having to worry about things like facial animation – we can just give everyone masks! That painted-on texture style also sort of re-enforces the toyish quality of the characters.

The other thing AKI really brings to the table is the quality of their animation. Even now over 20 years after the fact, the wrestling move animations in those games are still top notch. It’s even more impressive when you consider how primitive those animation tools were back in the mid 90’s. It’s all lovingly hand animated, and I adore it – it’s incredibly inspiring! That really snappy, impactful animation is something I’m spending a lot of time developing in this game as well. By their very nature, wrestling games require a ton of animation. It’s very time consuming, but very rewarding. People seem to be enjoying the results of that hard work even at this early stage, and I’m excited to create even more move animations!

In closing, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Game Marks Podcast for offering me the chance to talk about this project, and to everyone that has tried out the prototype. The response to the game has been extremely positive, enthusiastic, and supportive. I can’t tell you how cool it is to see folks on youtube creating gameplay videos and enjoying themselves, even in the early state! Your enthusiasm drives my enthusiasm. I really appreciate all of you, and I look forward to sharing the next build with you sometime in the near future!

We can’t thank UE4Luchador enough for this interview and insight on this game everyone has been very curious about. You can follow the game’s progress on YouTube here, as well as Twitter. The latest public build of the game will always be available here.

Game Over Marks!