The Caw creation process thread - How, what, why?

[MikeM]

One of the things I find fascinating about original caws is the creation thought process and where influences have been taken from, and evolved. Personally that's my favourite part of the process, starting with an initial idea, and then through varying factors, having to mould and shape that idea. I take inspiration from many sources, in fact the ideas for twin women caws came to me whilst I was watching "Toby's Travelling Circus" with my five year old daughter at bedtime (her's not mine) Jet was an idea kicking around anyway, so I decided to make her a twin sister - then I decided it would be cool to have a "yin and yang" type dynamic between them.

 

So I thought it might be nice to share our stories of how we create our characters, the process, the evolution (many creations were initially for games several years ago) and "the story behind the stories" if you will.

[Oz70NYC]

I'll let my brother Thr33x make his own entry, but out creative backstories are pretty much identical. (naturally since we're identical twins) It all began back in 1998 with WWF Warzone, the very first wrestling game to have a "create a wrestler" mode. It's in that game that more core character Simon Fierhart was made. Of course back then he wasn't Simon Fierhart, he was "Kayos The Destroyer". Pretty much a hybrid of Taker and "Crow" Sting. The other characters I made in Warzone that remain in my "universe" are "Mr. Showtime" Kareem Brown, Stan "The Man" O'Malley. There were more, but truth be told I don't remember any of them. (This WAS 18 years ago after all)

 

It would be in the next games my brother and I would get that our craft really began to come into their own. 1999's Wrestlemania 2000 and 2000's WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role. It's in these two games that many of my most recognized mainstays were first created. Dru Mercer (Dru Romeo), Heather Fierhart (Hannah Friedel), Elai Kalenovic (Truth), Jayson Jones (Tek-9), and others first came to be within these games, and obviously all have evolved over the years. I've created more characters then I can actually keep track of. One year if I can recall I had made well over 150 spread across 6 memory cards on the PS2. Many of those characters ultimately had their concepts assimilated into more established character...or I just plain old phased them out completely.

 

2005 was the year I can say I truly hit my stride. That's the year I tide everything together and put some weight into my wrestling universe. Kayos officially became Simon. I put together the idea of the Fierhart family, connected Heather romantically with Dru, and created a number of characters who I've made every year since, such as Ryan Fierhart, Dylan Bates, Blake Evans, Evan Fate and so on. The evolution of my characters has been kinda dramatic over the last 11 years now. Originally, like my brother...I went for a more comic book style as far as body types goes, as well as over the top attire designs. Stuff that popped visually...because things were a bit limited back in the day. However in the last 4 years, I go for more realistic looking characters. They still have my signature style of course, but I like my characters to look as if they belong in the ring with the real roster of each game. In some cases that meant removing a lot of things. Most don't remember how characters like Seth Adams, Heather and Ryan originally had a crap ton of tattoos. Now none of them due, as is the same with others.

 

Games that allow me to create characters is always at the top of my list being an artist. It gives me the chance to actually visualize a character in a 3D space, not just on paper.

 

 

[CROSS-Out]

Both Brandon X and my best friends caw, Brock Solid, started all the way back in HCTP. My best friend got the name idea from one of the signs in-game for Brock Lesnar, whereas I always just used what came to mind. Over the years both changed considerably, BX was always a powerhouse character in the early games, but around 2007 I started transitioning to a smaller, technical and speed based ideal. Eventually I started taking inspiration from japan (the likes of NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, etc.) and developed one of the aspects of BXs personality, his "Canadian Ronin" nickname. The idea being that while respectful, he had no master and authority in whatever company he's in could work with him but couldn't control him.

 

In general in terms of looks, BX tends to be based somewhat on the way I actually look, though slimmer, slightly taller, and actually capable of growing facial hair (). He has long hair when I do, he has short hair when I do, and he tends to use moves I would if I had been able to become a wrestler.

[Monarch98]

You know, it says something when it seems the creators on this site have more creativity and vision than the creative teams of WWE and TNA. Each character here has a unique look, story and personality that differs in many ways, whereas current WWE and TNA are basically cut from the same cloth, so to speak.

[Mewmin]

My main stay characters. Chad Hardy. The Machine. Kidd Cool and Chimaera have been around since for when I can remember. Since I got the Smackdown Games. Chad has always been about being a long lost Hardy boy in my head. About 6/7 years ago when I really got into wrestling. I started to take influence from my favourite wrestles around the Indies and WWE TNA etc. He became a more technical wrestler. Introduce and arm bar finisher and put on some muscle. He was like AJ Styles. Where his name was known and his abilities rebound but never seen a WWE ring.

 

The Machine. Joke made by my mate in Here Come The Pain to throw Brock Lesnar about and called him "Mr Suplex" he just had combat pants on and boots. And threw everyone about. I called him a Machine. And it stuck. Gave him then a back story of a brawler from Manchester, England. Which then gave birth to his MMA/Grappler mix now. He's always a beast. And mainly a heel, when he isn't he still doesn't like many folks.

 

Kidd Cool, always the laid back flippy, speedy fellow I created for a nephew who lover cruiserweights. He's always been bright and colourfull, loud and obnoxious sometimes. Doesn't change heel or face.

 

Finally. I made Chimaera when Story Designer came in. Never got round to it but he was to be a Taker type character. Trying to get Chad to turn to the darkness and pulled others to him and had a stable called Underworld. Think Wyatt/Taker in promos and cryptic ness.

 

All in all, my creativeness grew when the introduction of the logo upload came in, I was limited before even with CC but got buy. Now I spreading my wings so to speak, and so far had feed back has been good and appreciated.

[MikeM]

I like receiving feedback about my creations. To me, the fact someone has taken the time to look at them and actually form an opinion itself is nice, but it's great when they're well received.

 

Plus I also felt that I was criticising and suggesting things for others, when I'd never produced anything for C/C myself.

[CROSS-Out]

I like receiving feedback about my creations. To me, the fact someone has taken the time to look at them and actually form an opinion itself is nice, but it's great when they're well received.

I agree, at least somewhat. Polite, fair constructive criticism is always appreciated. Someone coming into the thread and firing on the caws simply because it's not the kind they like however is annoying and a one way ticket to getting ignored.

[jromero120]

Since I usually like downloading CAWs of actual wrestlers my only mainstay has been Jay Wolf. It all started in 2005 or 2006 I think. I had just joined an efed known as WCW:TNB and decided to create a completely new character. It started with El Latino. A hispanic gangsta with a jean vest, black pants, and a black bandana around the lower half of his mouth. This iteration of the character was basically a ripoff of one of my favorite wrestlers, Eddie Guerrero. He lied, he cheated, he stole, and he lost a lot lol. Eventually I decided to switch it up and ripoff a different wrestler, Jeff Hardy. That's when "Mr. Xtreme" Jay Wolf came to be. He became a speedy high-flyer who was meant to steal the show every time. I was never any good at creating movesets so I used a Jeff Hardy one I found online and the partnered him up with CM Punk and won the tag titles twice. Since then he has mainly been a singles wrestler and, while I've kept a few of the high flying moves in there, he has become more of a technical wrestler ala Chris Jericho. I haven't had a chance to make him yet in 2K17 but when I do I will post him on here.

[Foldy619©]

Like most here I've been creating since the first wwf/wwe games allowed us to do it. I'll be the first to admit my caw's wernt very original in the beginning, and it wasn't until we could actually upload our own logos and face images that I found my photoshop skills came in very handy lol.

That being said, my first step in creating a caw is to pick a theme, for instance horror, sporty type, then Google said theme looking for images I can edit and use for attires. And recently I've started making actual wrestlers, and have a new found respect for the guys here that knock out amazing caw's, some better than the in game wrestlers! Making an original is whatever u feel looks good, an actual wrestler, takes time and patience.

 

One thing I never do tho personally, is criticise someone who had obviously put a lot of work into a caw. It my not be to everyones liking but a little respect goes a long way! I would rather help someone than tell them there work isn't good!

Sorry for the rant! Lol ?

[Creepy Bro]

Normally I let my imagination wander as I fire up the game for the first time... in one of the first WWE games to have a create-a-wrestler option (on PS1, I think), I wound up creating a psychotic doctor gimmick for my created Superstar.

 

In the case of WWE 2K17, I thought of a Hollywood stuntman turned pro wrestler (after having a near death experience) for my CAW's gimmick. As I was running through the list of call names in 2K17, I went with: "The Anomaly" Carter Benson for my created Superstar.

[PenSwordAM 2.0]

For me the earliest stages of my caw promotion came before I even bought a WWE game. It was during WWE's lackluster years that I kept imagining what I wanted to see in wrestling that wasn't happening at the time. Back then all I had was a name, DNA Wrestling. Back then it was supposed to stand for "Dynamic Nonstop Action." Not long after I bought WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 I discovered CAWs. At first I kept seeing a bunch of people recreating their favorite characters from video games and anime and putting them in the wrestling ring. So I started off doing that. My personal favorite creation up until WWE 2k14 was Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy 7 who I made into this tough as nails brawling, biker chick and then drew inspiration from hard hitting joshi puroresu stars like Akira Hokuto. Then I came across original CAW creations. It started with the XWA made by Thr33x and then eventually I came across several others. My mind was blown into the details they put into their creations from their ring attires, the movesets which emulated from real life superstars, and even the tiniest details put into their background stories.

 

I would download these CAWs like crazy and have them compete against my own creations and have them fight in my promotion, which until now I've kept all to myself. Reason being was because I was just so insecure about showing off my own work and kept second guessing every little thing I did. But I got tired of that and decided to take a chance with making my own originals.

 

I'm a fledgling creator in comparison to the others, but I learn through trial and error. I am losing myself in the creation process and becoming more confident in my skills. I also learned to let go of several old ideas and make it into something new. Like I took the idea of my Tifa Lockhart creation and made that into Sophia Riley with a more punk rocker theme. Or with Victor Renarde's background, I had it in my mind for years that he would be the Ken to Jon Payne's Ryu, both coming from a MMA background. But I'm thinking of scrapping the idea for something else. I don't know what yet, but it's gonna happen. And now DNA stands for "Defining New Attitude" which I think reflects my own growth from back then to now. Mostly my creations were based off what I would have loved to have seen in WWE or TNA up until recent years. But now it's coming from a natural curiosity and love for the creation process. I keep wanting to see what else I can do.

[Moondog]

My CAWs usually come from me just sitting and thinking about creations randomly throughout the day. i've always enjoyed creating things on games, with roots going back to Magical Puzzle Popils on the Game Gear. then most notabley making a lot of levels on Timesplitters: Future Perfect and Tenchu 2, plus tons of CAWs since WWF Warzone.

 

CAW inspiration for me usually comes from games and movies and such, and i've always preferred more outlandish looking characters to generic ones but in the last couple of years i have enjoyed making CAWs that look like wrestlers as well as my usual "interesting" CAWs

 

I don't tend to upload my CAWs as i like their movesets to be perfect for other people using them but the amount i make coupled with the lack of time i actually have, i never have the time to do all the moves for all of them.

[MikeM]

 

I like receiving feedback about my creations. To me, the fact someone has taken the time to look at them and actually form an opinion itself is nice, but it's great when they're well received.

I agree, at least somewhat. Polite, fair constructive criticism is always appreciated. Someone coming into the thread and firing on the caws simply because it's not the kind they like however is annoying and a one way ticket to getting ignored.

 

 

That's true, but to be fair I don't think it happens too much here.

[CROSS-Out]

 

 

I like receiving feedback about my creations. To me, the fact someone has taken the time to look at them and actually form an opinion itself is nice, but it's great when they're well received.

I agree, at least somewhat. Polite, fair constructive criticism is always appreciated. Someone coming into the thread and firing on the caws simply because it's not the kind they like however is annoying and a one way ticket to getting ignored.

 

 

That's true, but to be fair I don't think it happens too much here.

 

 

Not here, definitely (or at least, not as much as it used to). On other forums though i've seen it pretty bad.