OrochiGeese's OG-FPD: Of Lessons and Lutefisk (11/1)

The first thing I did for this show after getting the match videos was get the pics and animated gifs for the handshake/rainmaker lariat set-up. I'm not so great with special effects stuff but that red light lariat (sounds like a seedy downtown district, LOL) really turned out nicely. The whole "handshake" angle was really satisfying for me playing off Matt's promo. Also, that suplex move he did for the neck limb break (after the rainmaker lariat) was like an "evolution" of Matt's usual windmill hold finisher.

As for production: I got REALLY lucky for the majority of the CRITICALS! and limb breaks in the gifs. It didn't take that many tries to get CRITICALS! I was using the edits as 1P, of course. And since I don't do that too often, I was pretty patient with the process. I actually found all the angle pics and animated gifs pretty easy to produce. I turned CRITICALS! on high and also made specialty edits for each situation where the guy I was controlling had all 10's in offense and the opponent had all 1's. The stat change helped for the limb break part.

Honestly, the most frustrating part of producing the show was GIPHY not accepting my animated gif uploads normally. I'd upload, get an error message, and then see the gifs on the site like an hour later. It kept happening that I just got used to that method but it was far from the peak of efficiency, LOL.

The second hardest part was when I had Matt holding Geese from behind as Ruby came down to ringside. That was a "time entry battle royale" where Ruby and Geese were CPU and I was Matt. The CPU edits did NOT want to cooperate on that one for some reason. I kept messing up the timing too in advance of Ruby's timed entrance. But it wasn't too bad. The next scene, where Ruby hit the CRITICAL! Cutter on Geese was actually done in an entirely different match: a 2 on 1 handicap match. That way I was able to control when Ruby would try the cutter and I made sure Geese was beat up enough in case I couldn't get the CRITICAL! but got a limb break instead. I actually did get the limb break first but then a few seconds later got the CRITICAL! and used that GIF instead.

The way I see the majority of shows going forward will be a combination of very quick text summaries combined with animated gifs for the finish of each match. They all won't be CRITICALS! of course! but I really liked the animated gifs to do some spots the game can't do - like when Palido did that springboard cutter on Jack after irish whipping him. That's the kind of stuff I used to do 1P in FPD in the old days and I think it can bring some color to the presentation of matches. I'm only going to do standard sim videos in certain situations.

I already have a RYOMA/Jasper singles match simmed from a few months ago, LOL.

And you are right, that grudge tag match is exactly where it's going, but with a little twist to it.

Kurt has Tetsu's belt and that will give him all sorts of leverage.

I got a ton of sims for this match. The one I used was my favorite because it felt like both guys really wanted that Title. Some of the other matches I got were a little bloated. I don't mind when it's Kurt who is "playing with his food" and trolls rather than tries to win but I hated when Tetsu was just biding his time. I really loved the finish here with Tetsu fighting off that armbar and almost immediately hitting his finish.

Plus, for those who remember the final days of FPR - I was OBSESSED with getting that Apron flying knee to properly sequence into a pin. For some reason, the opponent would always get up after it!! I spent months trying to find ways to even give Tetsu a chance at that move pinning. I just couldn't pass up him winning his first Title with his finisher - a move that he can finally reliably pin with in FPW. Also like that Kurt actually hit his finisher (the running knee to the throat) but it was a little too early in the match. He still got it in there though as well as 2 other specials. So it was a close match but Tetsu really just wanted it more.



Thanks! I had a lot of fun setting up that beatdown. At one point I actually managed to get Jeff directly on top of Jack but somehow I kinda botched it and rolled Jeff over and couldn't get him back on Jack. My original plan was to have Yoshirozuna do his rare special (the corner banzai drop) on BOTH men - the visual of Jeff on top of Jack taking the banzai drop. But the truth is that the banzai drop animation just wasn't all that impressive and so I went with the flying senton instead because the impact came across better in the animated gif. Plus he gets more air. Out of all the moves done in the show, Yoshirozuna's front grapple finisher is actually the one that has caused the most CRITICALS! in regular sims. If anything, I probably had to work harder in 1P to get them then the CPU tends to get them, LOL.

I'm really glad that you liked the GIF representation there. In the old days I probably would have done one videos that showed it all off but I've had problems finding a good video editing program where I can do that. So I tend to just upload the matches as they are. I'm enjoying the more agile approach that GIFS give me, despite the recent GIPHY issues. Sometimes just regular pics help tell the story too. I'll definitely be using more GIFS and featuring them prominently in future shows, way more than videos.



I LOVED that finish. Geese had two chances to win with submissions then Matt just immediately turned it around into that crossface - which is SUCH a perfect move to jump off the mat and do when time is about to run out. Rivers seemed like the face in this match due to that comeback (a comeback i didn't think would even happen in this sim) and that face comeback made the post match that more heartbreaking.

For this match, since I wanted to guarantee the TLD, I actually made alternate versions of both edits and dropped their offensive parameters by 1 and raised their defense by 1. It didn't make a HUGE difference - and I even got a few sims that ended before the 20 minute mark, but it was a useful strategy.

Much like the fans, I do wish I knew who would have won that sim had the TLD not happened 😀




3-4 days ago, I had the show end with just Matt's attack and the last paragraph with Thunder Strike, medics, etc. I didn't have Ruby. I was thinking that I wanted Matt's attack to stand on its own and people to wonder WHY he did what he did. I suppose people can still wonder that though. I was going to milk the intrigue about the Matt/Ruby connection for a little longer. I even put some subtle hints into the show earlier on connecting Matt's "distant" look to the distant look of both Monroe Brothers. (I kept those hints in even when I added Ruby cause the question of WHY their looks are so distant is still relevant.) But I went with the Ruby reveal for a specific storyline reason that I'll showcase in an RP in the next few weeks. The thing is, i'll always kind of wonder whether or not I should have had Ruby show up immediately OR if I should have had Matt's turn stand on its own. I think there were equal reasons for both but I may have shortchanged Matt in having Ruby join in right after Matt's HUGE moment - I mean, this is like Hulk Hogan turning Hollywood or like Sting joining nWo. Matt has been a face his entire career and the morale leader of the UBL since 2010. For him to do this is shocking on its own (the motivations are as well). But, ultimately, I went with the Ruby moment too and I understand why. But this show could have ended with just Matt's turn and not his alliance with Ruby, and it would have worked in its own way.  I suppose i'll never know which way was more impactful but there is a method for my madness! Stay tuned 😎