Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 freem Edition

[freem]

Official website
BeBetterGamer's preview video (early November 2018 version)

Current Version: 2023/07/30 version (about 80% done)

Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 freem Edition is a hack of AKI Corporation's Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 on the Nintendo 64. The hack replaces various default VPW2 wrestlers with other wrestlers, most of whom have been in other AKI wrestling games. Unlike most other AKI wrestling game modding projects, the changes in VPW2 freem Edition are made by editing the ROM, meaning the resulting hack can be played on real hardware.

In other words... I needed a project to test VPW Studio's usability in a "real world" scenario.

A quick rundown of what's been changed:

• Replaced various wrestlers with wrestlers from other AKI wrestling games.
• Replaced a small amount of wrestlers with new wrestlers (who haven't been in an AKI game before).
• The game starts out fully unlocked; nothing is hidden.
• Increased amount of points available for changing offensive and defensive parameters.
• A bunch of graphical changes. This includes the user interface, as well as some arenas.

Here are some WIP screenshots from the official site:

No idea when a "final" version will be completed, much less released.

2nd place in the NextWave 64 2019 Beginning of the Year Awards for Favorite Project:

 

[bluntfello]

You got my attention. Will you be hacking arenas as well? I'd love to see arenas from WCW/NWO Revenge in this game.

 

[The NekoMancer]

Seeing the progress on discord and now seeing it shaping up is so cool!

 

[freem]

Will you be hacking arenas as well? I'd love to see arenas from WCW/NWO Revenge in this game.

At some point, yes. Right now, the edits are primarily limited to textures (in the AKI Hall shots from the first post, the guardrails, outside mats, wood floor, and ring skirt + mat are changed), but I'd like to replace the ramp-less Tokyo Dome with a different arena design.

If I could edit arenas in VPW Studio, this would be easier, but I suck at 3D programming...

 

[bluntfello]

I'm just saying Revenge had the absolute best arenas. They had 3d objects and moving lights and even tv screens that changed. Halloween Havoc, Nitro, and Bash at the Beach were the best.

 

[dafamily]

Looking good so far man, can't wait to make videos of the final product 

 

[freem]

New ringmat and skirt for Dome Road:

 

[freem]

As progress moves forward, I feel comfortable sharing the planned release date for the first preview version:
January 28, 2019

 

[AKIFan1998]

Awesome!! ^w^

 

[G.M.Spectre]

As progress moves forward, I feel comfortable sharing the planned release date for the first preview version:
January 28, 2019

I'm really looking forward to this, for the roster update as well as the preview to see what can be edited into the rom.  Awesome work so far!

 

[BlackJesus420]

I am not going to lie. 

WWF No Mercy (including the revised edition from AKI) is a good game but unless you have 4 rosters in  the ring, you will hate the game because it feels too slow whuch is a shame because it is such a good game. this problem does not exist in other AKI games.

Since Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 comes out after No Mercy, i think it is about time we get more activity built around this game as opposed to WWF No Mercy.
Some questions:
- this works on the latest glide 64 graphic plugin ?
- since it is a rom hack, are you able to unlock unlimited roster slots? i ask because i think it would be nice if you can have all the AKI models ever existed in one game all in one rom hack. i wonder what the limitation would be.

edit: in regard to slowness in no mercy, i am using Project64 2.3 with GlideN64 Plug for graphics (https://github.com/gonetz/GLideN64/releases) on the WWF No Mercy (USA) (Rev A). The game seems to be running fine now it seems. it must be the emulation or something else, either way, i will not think about it any more and just enjoy what i am in front of me. it is a pleasure playing this game on the latest hardware and software tech.,

 

[freem]

We're 18 days out from the first preview release... I've been hard at work importing wrestlers and textures, performing other costume hacks as well. Nothing super fancy yet, I'm afraid. Right now, there are only seven wrestlers who need data, and most of them haven't been in an AKI game before.

There won't be any moves added or changed in the first preview release, aside from the Women stance being replaced. Even that has some issues, as running still uses the female running animations.

this works on the latest glide 64 graphic plugin ?

It should; I don't foresee any problems there.

since it is a rom hack, are you able to unlock unlimited roster slots? i ask because i think it would be nice if you can have all the AKI models ever existed in one game all in one rom hack. i wonder what the limitation would be.

Sadly, not at the moment. The maximum amount of wrestlers you could have without re-coding the game to handle two-byte indexes is the following:
223 default/in-ROM wrestlers + 16 on-cart/sram edits + 16 memory pak edits + 1 ("no wrestler" slot)
The worst part is rewriting all the pointers and other stuff to handle the shifted data...

I wish I could have unlimited slots; that's part of why I'm hesitant to call this a "best of" hack. However, we'd need the game to be disassembled and re-assemble-able to get to that point.

 

[BlackJesus420]

We're 18 days out from the first preview release... I've been hard at work importing wrestlers and textures, performing other costume hacks as well. Nothing super fancy yet, I'm afraid. Right now, there are only seven wrestlers who need data, and most of them haven't been in an AKI game before.

There won't be any moves added or changed in the first preview release, aside from the Women stance being replaced. Even that has some issues, as running still uses the female running animations.
It should; I don't foresee any problems there.
Sadly, not at the moment. The maximum amount of wrestlers you could have without re-coding the game to handle two-byte indexes is the following:
223 default/in-ROM wrestlers + 16 on-cart/sram edits + 16 memory pak edits + 1 ("no wrestler" slot)
The worst part is rewriting all the pointers and other stuff to handle the shifted data...

I wish I could have unlimited slots; that's part of why I'm hesitant to call this a "best of" hack. However, we'd need the game to be disassembled and re-assemble-able to get to that point.

thanks for the information. glad you made it real clear for us. i think 256 wrestlers is plenty for this game. again, it is your vision and we are all thankful for all the mods that are put out for us AKI fans.

i look forward to this project once it is released. I will make a Youtube video as well showcasing this project.

 

[freem]

The official site has been updated with the roster that will be included in the January 28th, 2019 preview release. It's also below in the spoiler section.

Spoiler

Group 00

    Mitsuharu Misawa (VPW2)
    Toshiaki Kawada (VPW2)
    Akira Taue (VPW2)
    Kenta Kobashi (VPW2)
    Jun Akiyama (VPW2)
    Yoshihiro Takayama (VPW2)


Group 01

    Shin'ya Hashimoto (VPW2)
    Masahiro Chono (VPW2)
    Riki Choshu (VPW2)
    Kensuke Sasaki (VPW2)
    Yuji Nagata (VPW2)
    Hiroyoshi Tenzan (VPW2)
    Satoshi Kojima (VPW2)


Group 02

    Jyushin "Thunder" Liger (VPW2)
    Great Sasuke (VPW2)
    TAKA Michinoku (VPW2)
    Chris Benoit (Revenge, No Mercy)
    Eddie Guerrero (Revenge, No Mercy)
    Dean Malenko (Revenge, No Mercy)


Group 03

    Atsushi Onita (VPW2)
    Terry Funk (VPW2)
    Cactus Jack (WM2K, No Mercy)
    Hayabusa (VPW2)
    Sabu (VPW PS1/WCW vs. the World)
    Masato Tanaka (VPW2)
    Mike Awesome (VPW2)


Group 04

    Steve Austin (WM2000, No Mercy)
    The Rock (WM2000, No Mercy)
    Triple H (WM2000, No Mercy)
    Shawn Michaels (WM2000, No Mercy)
    Bret Hart (Revenge)
    Hulk Hogan (Revenge)
    Randy Savage (Revenge)


Group 05

    Ric Flair (VPW64)
    Sting (Revenge)
    Goldberg (Revenge)
    DDP (Revenge)
    Booker T (Revenge)
    Curt Hennig (Revenge)
    Rick Rude (Revenge, originally manager-only)


Group 06

    Undertaker (WM2K, No Mercy)
    Kane (WM2K, No Mercy)
    X-Pac (WM2K, No Mercy)
    Steven Regal (World Tour, VPW64)
    Tazz (No Mercy)
    Perry Saturn (Revenge, No Mercy)
    Raven (Revenge)


Group 07

    John Cena (N/A)
    Brock Lesnar (N/A)
    AJ Styles (N/A)
    Samoa Joe (N/A)
    Daniel Bryan (N/A)
    Kurt Angle (No Mercy)
    Big Show (WM2000)


Group 08

    Scott Norton (VPW2)
    Rick Steiner (Revenge)
    Scott Steiner (Revenge)
    Kevin Nash (Revenge)
    Scott Hall (Revenge)
    Chris Jericho (WM2000, No Mercy)
    Rey Mysterio, Jr. (Revenge)


Group 09

    Tiger Mask (VPW2)
    Dynamite Kid (VPW64)
    Great Muta (VPW2)
    Katsuyori Shibata (N/A)
    Jinsei Shinzaki (VPW2)
    Tajiri (N/A)
    L.A. Park/original La Parka (Revenge)


Group 0A

    Akira Maeda (VPW2)
    Naoya Ogawa (VPW2)
    Masakatsu Funaki (VPW2)
    Minoru Suzuki (VPW2)
    Bas Rutten (VPW2)
    Nobuhiko Takada (VPW2)
    Kazushi Sakuraba (VPW2)


Group 0B

    Karl Gotch (VPW PS1/WCW vs. the World)
    Rickson Gracie (VPW2)
    Volk Han (VPW2)
    Aleksandr Karelin (VPW2)
    Ken Shamrock (WM2000, No Mercy)
    Don Frye (VPW2)
    Dan Severn (N/A)


Group 0C

    Rikidozan (VPW64)
    Giant Baba (VPW2)
    Antonio Inoki (VPW2)
    Jumbo Tsuruta (VPW2)
    Yoshiaki Fujiwara (VPW2)
    Gen'ichiro Tenryu (VPW2)
    Ultimo Dragon (VPW2)


Group 0D

    Andre the Giant (VPW2)
    The Destroyer (VPW64)
    Road Warriors (VPW64)
    Stan Hansen (VPW2)
    Vader (VPW2)
    Bruiser Brody (VPW2)
    Dr. Death (VPW2)


Group 0E

    AKI man (Revenge)
    Spider-Man (THPS2)

 

[ChillCappity]

What a line-up! so happy to see the shooter/catch wrestlers who's still in it

 

[G.M.Spectre]

I wish I could have unlimited slots; that's part of why I'm hesitant to call this a "best of" hack. However, we'd need the game to be disassembled and re-assemble-able to get to that point.

Well it's understandable, there are limits but I'm sure the roster will be good.

(sees massive roster list posted including VPW64 and new wrestlers listed)

 

[BlackJesus420]

wow. that is a big roster selection for a game that is still in work in progress. only 13 more days till the game will be out! you rock!

 

[freem]

One week out...

Gonna mostly go dark on project updates until then.

 

[bluntfello]

cannot wait.

 

[dbs64]

really cool stuff