Developer Interview: Smackdown vs Raw 2011 Gameplay

We recently had the chance to talk to a few of the Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 developers at an event in Dallas, and from them we’ve learned a ton about the game. We aim to give you the info you’re dying for, and we’re going to do so by offering a “straight from the developer’s mouth” interview feature. This interview focuses on gameplay improvements, as well as a couple of the new features found within Smackdown vs. Raw 2011.

Â

Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your role on Smackdown vs. Raw 2011?

What’s up everybody, my name is Brian Williams and I am a gameplay designer on Smackdown vs. Raw 2011. My impact can be felt in just about all aspects of the gameplay, from your basic one on one match to the Hell in a Cell revamp, you’ll find my finger prints all over that stuff!

What are your favourite improvements in this game that you worked on?

There are a bunch of improvements I worked on that turned out nicely this year, so it’s hard to pick just a couple. One thing that I’m very proud of is the directional grapples though. This is something I try to talk about as much as I can because I think it’s very important in terms of how the game is played now, especially with the addition of our new physics system. Essentially, we’ve implemented functionality this year where during the performance of grapple moves, you’re able to “steer” in the direction that you’d like to drop or throw your opponent. Without it, playing a TLC match or a tables match, or any match that involves weapons really would be an exercise in frustration. This year, knowing that you have directional control of where you want to drop your opponent completely broke open the game and made it that much more freeform and improvisational. I think it really is a game changer, and I don’t think I’ve ever played any wrestling game that had this kind of functionality attached to it, so I’m very happy with how that came out.

Outside of that, I’m very proud of the improvements we made to the Hell in a Cell match type. That’s something the fans have been asking us for years to revamp and give a new face lift to. Last year was the Royal Rumble, which desperately needed it, and this year it is Hell in a Cell’s turn. We’ve expanded the structure itself to allow contextual grapples outside of the ring in that space between the apron and the cell wall. We’ve added weapons to Hell in a Cell as well, which probably sounds odd considering the name of the match and all. It’s been a long time coming and was actually a bit harder then you’d expect, but we’ve basically revamped the Hell in a Cell match to be that much more authentic and representative of what you see when you watch the WWE. I’m very happy with the way that match has turned out because of this.

Â

What do you think the fans asked for most that you were able to put in the game?

I love our fans to death, and man are they passionate. They definitely know what they like about the games and what they don’t. There are two things that I’m happy we addressed this time, and I think the first big one was our online experience. Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 is a great game offline, but it really suffered playing online because of some severe lag issues, which almost made the game unplayable. I’m happy to say that we put a concentrated effort into addressing that issue for this year’s title. I can honestly say that this is the best SvR has ever played online since it made the jump several years ago. This is where we set the standard, and this is where we should be so that now we can move forward even further.

Another big thing that fans were animate about us implementing also revolved around an online feature – more specifically our community creations. This was another feature we debuted in 2010, where you could download player’s superstars and upload your own created stars as well. It’s a great feature, and it’s back again bigger and better then before, but the one thing fans were asking for the most was the ability to take a character that they downloaded and customize him. We weren’t able to get that into 2010 and for that I apologize, but we listened to everyone and we’ve implemented it in 2011. Now if you download a character from community creations, you can then take that character and change his move set if you aren’t fond of the moves that the creator of the superstar applied. You’re free to edit his appearance, tweak his in ring moves, or change his entrance to your hearts content. All facets of that character can now be altered by the player, so we know fans are definitely going to be happy about that.

What changes have been made to the core gameplay? How has that changed from last year for instance?

I’d say the biggest change we’ve made to the fundamental gameplay experience is a tweak on the grappling controls. In 2009 and 2010, you had to use a modifier button to initiate a strong grapple, which worked fine and there really wasn’t anything wrong with it exactly. At the same time though, it seemed a little unnecessary, because it was just one more step that needed to be taken in order to perform the grapple you wanted to do. This year we got rid of the modifier button, so that all of your grappling; whether the opponent is in the corner or he is standing in front of you, is all done on the right stick without the need to press a secondary modifier button. It’s made the whole gaming experience just that much more streamlined, intuitive, and responsive. We broke down the grappling into two categories: grappling an opponent that’s not groggy, where you just move the right stick in one of the 4 primary directions to grab an opponent. This will get him locked up in what we call chain hold, which could be a front face lock, a side headlock, a waist lock, or a wrist lock from this position. This is where you’ll be able to perform your weaker set of grapple moves, or strike if you want to. In order to perform your stronger set of moves, you have to get your opponent into a standing groggy state, wherein they’re on their feet, but they are noticeably wobbly and kind of look punch drunk. When you grapple an opponent in this state, (again without the need of any modifiers) you’ll then be able to perform your powerful grapple moves. It just makes for a much more fluid and authentic recreation of what people see when they watch Raw, Smackdown or the pay per views month to month.

Â

Could you talk briefly about the match creator in SvR11?

I’m pretty excited about the match creator, which is something that is brand new to this year’s title. It’s kind of a create mode, because it essentially allows players to create and set up matches using any of the rules and match stipulations that we have in the game currently. It gives them the ability to freely toggle on and off certain aspects of a particular match, as well as change the environment that the match takes place in. We already have a lot of match types just out of the box, but now with this match creator, the amount of options and variations this year is damn near infinite. It’s one of my favourite modes, and when I play SvR11 I’m always creating wacky and random matches to play through for fun, like first blood steel cage matches.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I just want to say that this really is a culmination of fan requests and great work on the designers’ part, because we’ve put out a game that everyone is proud of. If you’ve played Smackdown vs. Raw last year or perhaps in the past, or even if you haven’t given it a try yet, I would implore you to do so. This is the year, so come on back because you will not be disappointed! I give you a Brian Williams guarantee on that. Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 will be in stores October 26^th, so give it a shot and hopefully I’ll see you online!

Â

We’re not done the Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 coverage just yet, as there is still one more interview to be posted shortly. Cory Ladesma is the last person to feel the wrath of my scatterbrained questions, but that didn’t stop him from providing some great info on the game. Stick around for it, and then be sure to check out Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 when it comes out!