Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Requirements
  3. Patching the ROM
    1. Identifying a ROM
    2. Converting ROMs
    3. Applying the Patch
    4. Base and Patched ROM Information
    5. Game Save Type (IMPORTANT! READ ME)
  4. Changelog
  5. Controller Setup
  6. Recommended Edits
  7. Navigating the Menus
    1. Exhibition
    2. Challenge
    3. League
    4. Tournament
    5. Event
    6. Ranking
    7. Options
  8. Playing the Game
    1. VPW2 for Revenge/WM2K/No Mercy Veterans
    2. VPW2 for Everyone Else
  9. Arenas and Title Belts
    1. Arenas
    2. Title Belts
  10. Edit Mode
    1. Profile
    2. Mask/Costume
    3. Moves
    4. Parameters
    5. Logic
    6. Clone from Fighter
    7. Reset to Default
  11. Save Data
    1. Controller Pak (.mpk)
    2. Game Save ("SRAM", .src, .srm, etc.)
  12. Roster
  13. Extras
  14. Errata
  15. Known Issues
  16. Questions and Answers
  17. VPW2 freem Edition Credits

Introduction

Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 freem Edition is a ROM hack of AKI Corporation's Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2, with a number of the default wrestlers swapped out for other wrestlers (mostly from other AKI wrestling games). You can kind of think of it as a "best of" the AKI games, though a true "best of" would have every character from the first eight VPW games, as opposed to having to replace people.

Since this is a ROM hack, it will work on original hardware, as well as N64 emulators. This isn't exactly the first ROM hack of an AKI game... S.K. Stylez and Zoinkity did an English translation of VPW2, which also runs on original hardware. WldFb used some ROM hacks for a WWF No Mercy hack named "Back 2 Basics". I can't recall if that hack used emulator plugin texture replacement or not, however...

Also of note is the VPW2 freem Edition Character Guide, which provides details on all of the wrestlers in the hack... or it will, once all the changes are done.

Changes from Original Game

A short list of changes in VPW2 freem Edition:

General Notes

This game is not licensed by AKI Corporation, Asmik Ace, Nintendo, or any of the featured wrestling organizations and wrestlers. For that reason, I request that you do not sell reproduction cartridges of this hack. Making a reproduction for personal use is OK, but the use of a re-flashable cart is recommended, since this hack will be updated in the future.

Most of the screenshots in the manual are up to date, though some small details may be different from the playable version.

This manual does not serve as a substitute for your emulator or flash cart's manual. Please refer to those references for anything not related specifically to VPW2 freem Edition.

Notes on the 2023/07/30 Release

The most important thing to note is that this is (still) a work in progress release. Not everything will be 100% perfect or complete. Furthermore, the original game does not give me a lot of choice when it comes to replacing certain costume items. For example, there are only three available Elbow Pad designs. The amount of items that can be replaced is a large part of why some wrestlers don't have 100% accurate costumes yet.

Another thing to note is that this hack accepts Controller Pak saves from unhacked Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 (game code NA2J). This behavior is intentional, allowing you to import your edit wrestlers and belts from your original VPW2 cartridge and/or save file. Future versions of the hack will save Controller Pak data to a unique, non-VPW2 file. More specifically, this is being targeted for the first release of the decomp-based version of the hack (whenever that happens).

Requirements

In order to play this game, you will need the following:

This game is not supported on PAL systems. If you manage to bypass the PAL lock, you will find that the game has not been 50fps optimized. I don't believe anyone has looked into or documented what changes were made between NTSC and PAL regions of AKI games yet.

This hack will not work on Project64 v1.6, and probably will not work on Project64 v1.7 either. Please upgrade to Project64 v2.0 or later if you plan on using Project64.

Patching the ROM

The patch is provided in xdelta format, and is meant to be patched to an unmodified Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 ROM in Z64 format. If your ROM is in a different format (e.g. V64 or N64), you will need a tool to convert it. DO NOT apply this patch to any existing VPW2 English translation. It will not work. (This hack includes its own English translation.)

Legal reasons prevent a pre-patched ROM from being released. If you are not able to follow the below instructions, see if one of your more technically-minded friends can help you.

Identifying a ROM

If you are uncertain if the Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 ROM you have will work with this patch, there is a Windows-only tool available for verifying your ROM. It is located on GitHub, with a download available in the Releases tab.

Converting ROMs

In case you do not have a Z64 format ROM, you will need to convert it. This is NOT as simple as changing the file extension, as the byte order is different between various formats.

Some tools that can be used to convert ROMs to the correct format:

uCON64 (frontend)

The easiest way to use uCON64 is the uCON64 frontend program. This needs to be downloaded separately from the regular uCON64 download and put in the same directory.

uCON64 frontend, showing the N64 tab. The Conversion option is found on the left side of the dialog, about halfway down.

Go to the N64 tab, and in the Conversion section, change the "ROM to" drop-down box to "Z64", then hit the "Convert" button. Select your VPW2 ROM and press "OK". The frontend will show a log of the conversion process, and the converted ROM should be in the same directory as the frontend executable.

uCON64 (command line)

Some people prefer to use the command line instead. Others don't really have a choice in the matter...

ucon64 --z64 path_to_rom.v64 (or .n64 if your ROM has that extension.)

Tool64

Upper left portion of the Tool64 user interface. The selected menu option is Edit → Change Byte Order → Big Endian.

Tool64 is a bit more user-friendly than uCON64, even with the frontend. To convert the ROM to Z64 format, choose Edit → Change Byte Order → Big Endian after highlighting your VPW2 ROM.

Mobile

On mobile platforms, the only known solution is to use the N64 ROM swapper page on Hack64. The other mentioned programs only run on a computer.

Applying the Patch

Once your ROM is in the correct format, you're ready to patch the game. This should be a fairly straightforward process if you're using one of the xdelta frontends/user interfaces.

Every time an update is released, you will have to re-patch the base/original VPW2 ROM, not the already patched VPW2 freem Edition ROM.

xdeltaui

The xdeltaui user interface, on the 'Apply Patch' tab by default. There are three text boxes labeled 'Patch', 'Source File', and 'Output File'. Buttons sit next to these text boxes, each of which leads to an Open File Dialog (or in the case of the Output File, a Save File Dialog). There is a 'Patch' button at the bottom of the dialog.

Make sure the "Apply Patch" tab is selected, then follow these instructions:

  1. Press the "Open" button next to the "Patch" text box.
  2. Select the .xdelta patch file in the dialog that comes up and hit the "Open" button.
  3. Press the "Open" button next to the "Source File" text box.
  4. Select the unmodified Z64 format VPW2 ROM in the dialog that comes up and hit the "Open" button.
  5. Press the "..." button next to the "Output File" text box.
  6. Type vpw2freem.z64 into the dialog that comes up and hit the "Save" button.*
  7. Once all three fields have been set, hit the "Patch" button.

The "Output File" field is not optional. I have seen people fail patching ROMs because they leave it blank.

* You don't have to name the rom vpw2freem.z64; you can name it whatever you like, as long as it has a .z64 extension.

xdelta Command Line

If you need to use the command line/terminal version of xdelta, here is how to apply the patch:

xdelta -d -s (base_rom_file) (xdelta_patch) (output_rom_file)

Hack64 Web Patcher

Hack64's Web Patcher interface. There are 'Browse' buttons for selecting the base/unmodified ROM, as well as the patch file. There is a text box labeled 'Save as', where you are meant to enter the filename of the output/patched ROM. There is an optional 'Skip checksums' checkbox on the lower left; it is recommended to leave this unchecked. Finally, there is a 'Patch' button on the lower right, which will patch the ROM and provide you with a download of the patched ROM.

Hack64's Web Patcher interface should be relatively simple to understand.

Once all fields have been filled out, click/press the "Patch" button. The ROM will be patched and then downloaded.

ROM Patcher JS

The primary interface of ROM Patcher JS (logo not included). The top left has a 'Creator mode' switch, which should remain in the off/left position for the remaining steps to work. There are fields for 'ROM file' and 'Patch file', along with 'Browse' buttons to select the relevant files. The lower left has an 'Apply patch' button.

ROM Patcher JS is another web-based patcher. Unlike Hack64's Web Patcher, it is capable of creating patches via the "Creator mode". You need to ensure that this is disabled/off (white dot to the left, gray background) for these steps to work.

Once the ROM file and Patch file have been selected, click/press the "Apply patch" button. The ROM will be patched and then downloaded.

Base ROM Information

Information on the unpatched, unmodified VPW2 ROM in Z64 format:

Patched ROM Information

ROM information after patching with VPW2 freem Edition (2023/07/30 version):

The two-letter product code VF was chosen in 2018, when there were no known N64 or Aleck64 games using this product code. In the event that a prototype or previously unreleased game is using this product code, I will change this hack's product code back to A2. Regardless of this situation, the changed product code has caused some issues...

Game Save Type

IMPORTANT! Please do not skip this portion of the manual.

If you skip it, it's likely the game won't actually save anything. When in doubt, try to find the settings that unhacked Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 uses, and use those.

(Note to any present or future N64 game hackers: Changing the product code of your hack is not recommended, as most emulators and flash carts determine the save data type by the product code.)

64drive (Normal Usage)

When loading the game, pick the 256K SRAM option.

Everdrive64

These instructions from BlueCanti should enable saving:

"On your everdrive 64 directory, click 'ED64' and there should be a txt file called 'save.db'. Click on it and on the bottom type 'VF=3' without the quotations, save document and try that, it should save data on the cart from now on."

In case you are using CRC values for ROM identification, you will need to update them when the hack updates.

Older Backup Devices (V64, Z64, CD64, etc.)

It's been so long since I've used them that I don't know if there's anything special you need other than a cartridge with 256K SRAM.

64drive (USB Loader)

Most people will not need to use these instructions, but they are provided for special use cases (currently, this is limited to using GameShark/Action Replay hardware).

The following instructions assume a few things:

Loading the game for the first time:

64drive_usb -c 1 -s 3 -l vpw2freem.z64

Dumping the save data (DO THIS WHILE THE GAME IS STILL RUNNING, preferably on the main menu screen):

64drive_usb -d vpw2freem.sra 2 0 8000

Loading the game with save data:

64drive_usb -c 1 -s 3 -l vpw2freem.z64 -l vpw2freem.sra 2

Everdrive (USB Loader)

As I do not have an Everdrive, I am unable to provide reliable instructions or support for this use case.

SummerCart64/SC64 (sc64deployer)

I do not own a SummerCart64/SC64, so I can not provide reliable instructions or support. However, there are instructions that explain the general steps.

Emulators

N64 emulators handle cartridge save data differently. Some emulators also need configuration or other information in order to run the hack. I can not test all emulators, but my research leads to the following:

Project64 v2.4.0

This is the primary emulator the hack is tested with. This version of Project64 is able to detect save type and react accordingly, meaning you need to do nothing special to get saving to work.

Project64 v3.0+, or anything after v2.4

Later versions of Project64 should work the same as v2.4. Hopefully.

Cen64

Command line usage for cen64 should use the -sram parameter, for example:

cen64 -sram vpw2freem.srm pifdata.bin vpw2freem.z64

Bizhawk, OpenEmu, Retroarch (Mupen64 Core)

See "Mupen64Plus" section. Information and steps required may be different. Check your emulator's documentation for further details.

Retroarch (ParaLLEl N64 Core)

Though this emulator is based on Mupen64Plus, I could not confirm if it uses the same save type detection as regular Mupen64Plus.

Mupen64Plus

Mupen uses a ROM database dependent on ROM file hashes. This works well for commercial games, which will typically not change once released, but not so much for hacks that are a work in progress (but distributed publicly)...

You will need to find the Mupen64plus.ini file, open it, and paste the lines below at the bottom of the file:

[(hash1)]
GoodName=Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 freem Edition
CRC=(hash2) (hash3)
Players=4
SaveType=SRAM
Mempak=Yes
Rumble=Yes

Then, you then need to replace the three hash placeholders. (hash1) is the MD5 of the ROM, which is given in the "Patching" section as "MD5 hash".

(hash2) and (hash3) are internal checksums found in the ROM. These values were not documented before the 2021/01/28 release, as I did not realize the need for them in the hack's documentation. Oops.

These values can be found in the Patched ROM Information section. Replace (hash2) (hash3) with the "CRC ROM checksum hashes" value.

Don't forget to save your changes (and restart the emulator, if necessary).

When the hack is updated, you can either choose to add a new entry via the above steps, or edit the previous entry to have the new values. If you are keeping multiple copies of the hash data in the database, it is best to append the date to the GoodName parameter (20xx-yy-zz format).

MAME

Open the n64.xml file in the "hash" directory with a text editor and paste the following at the end of the file, before the closing </filelist> tag:

<software name="vpw2freem">
	<description>Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 freem Edition</description>
	<year>2023</year>
	<publisher>Asmik Ace Entertainment</publisher>
	<info name="release" value="20230730"/>
	<part name="cart" interface="n64_cart">
		<dataarea name="rom" size="33554432">
			<rom name="virtual pro wrestling 2 freem edition.bin" size="33554432" crc="(hash1)" sha1="(hash2)" offset="000000" />
		</dataarea>
	</part>
</software>

Then, you need to replace the two hash placeholders.
(hash1) is the CRC32 hash of the full ROM file, which is not the same value as the "CRC ROM checksum hashes" values used for Mupen64Plus saves. This value was also not documented in previous versions.

(hash2) is the SHA-1 hash, which is given in the "Patching" section as "SHA-1 hash".

When the hack is updated, you must edit the existing values in order to avoid duplicate entries. Updating the release and year values is also recommended.

Other Emulators

Any N64 emulator without a section above is missing information. Help and information is welcomed. If the emulator in question has trouble running the unhacked version of Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2, then there's not much that can be done.

Changelog

As of the 2023/07/30 version, the changelog is no longer a part of the manual. To see the changelog, please view changelog.txt in the docs directory.

Controller Setup

If you're playing this hack on original hardware, the controls should be easy to get used to. But if you're playing this on an emulator instead, you might not have access to an N64 controller. Luckily, the VPW series started out on PlayStation, so it's possible to make a decent default control mapping for most modern controllers.

Action N64 Playstation Xbox
Movement   D-Pad D-Pad D-Pad
Grapple   A Button X Button A Button
Strike   B Button Circle Button B Button
Run/Dash   C-Down Button Triangle Button Y Button
Ring Interaction   C-Up Button Square Button X Button
Block   R Button R1 Button RB Button
Dodge   L Button L1 Button LB Button
Switch Focus   C-Right Button R2 Button Right Trigger
Flip   C-Left Button L2 Button Left Trigger
Does (mostly) nothing   Z Button Select Button Back Button

Make sure to map the   Control Stick to one of the controller's analog sticks, so you can taunt and use Specials.

If you are using an emulator, please consult your emulator's documentation for setting up controls.

Players coming from AEW Fight Forever must note that there is only a single attack/strike button here, and that the above control mapping does not match the default layout of the AEW game.

p.s. Press Z + C-Down while in a Battle Royal to switch control from human to computer and vice versa.
Just don't do this during a normal match as a second/manager and leave it on...

Recommended Edits

Once the game is up and running, there are a few changes you should make in the Edit Mode before continuing. These changes need to be performed manually due to how VPW2 handles default names.

Default Costume Updates

In order to see the updated default costumes, you will need to either reset your save file (not recommended), or manually go to each wrestler with changes in Edit Mode and reset the costumes (tedious, but you get to keep your other data). The list of wrestlers who need to be reset with each update is included in the changelog.

Navigating the Menus

After getting through the first few screens, you're greeted with the Main Menu:

The Main Menu consists of two columns containing four buttons each. Starting from the top left and going by row, the buttons are: (row 1) 'Exhibition', 'Challenge', (row 2) 'League', 'Tournament', (row 3) 'Event', 'Ranking', (row 4) 'Edit Mode', 'Options'.

Exhibition

Here, you're free to fight in whatever match you want. Five match types are available: Singles Match (1v1), Tag Match (2v2), 3 Way Match (1v1v1), Battle Royal, and Elimination.

Singles Match

A match between two wrestlers. In this mode, you can fight under traditional pro-wrestling rules, or a set of mixed martial arts rules.

Wrestling Rules

The Rules screen for a pro-wrestling match. The top left corner contains three boxes, reading 'Exhibition', 'Single Match', and 'Dome' (the selected arena). Just below that, to the right, is a box reading 'Kobashi vs. Muta', referencing the two wrestlers selected for this example. A gray 'Accept' button is found above the first column of the available rules. The rules themselves are split into six rows and two columns. A blue 'Options' button sits below the last row of the available rule options.

Rules for regular wrestling matches consist of the following options:

Martial Arts Rules

The Rules screen for a Martial Arts match. The top left corner contains three boxes, reading 'Exhibition', 'Single Match', and 'Dome' (the selected arena). Just below that, to the right, is a box reading 'Kobashi vs. Muta', referencing the two wrestlers selected for this example. A gray 'Accept' button is found above the first column of the available rules. The rules themselves are split into six rows and two columns. A blue 'Options' button sits below the last row of the available rule options.

The ruleset for Martial Arts matches is as follows:

Tag Match

A match between two teams of two wrestlers.

Tag Match Rules

The Rules screen for a Tag Team match. The top left corner contains three boxes, reading 'Exhibition', 'Tag Match', and 'Dome' (the selected arena). Just below that, to the right, is a box reading 'Rick S., Scott S vs. Nash, Hall' (commas not found on screen, only added for clarity), referencing the four wrestlers selected for this example. A gray 'Accept' button is found above the first column of the available rules. The rules themselves are split into five rows and two columns. A blue 'Options' button sits below the last row of the available rule options.

The rules of a Tag Match are similar to Wrestling rules in Singles Matches. The major difference is the "Tag Cut Time" option, which determines how long wrestlers are able to stay in the ring after coming in. This can also be set to "No Touch" for a Tornado Tag Match.

3 Way Match

A match with three wrestlers fighting each other. The first person to win a fall wins the match.

3 Way Match Rules

The Rules screen for a 3 Way match. The top left corner contains three boxes, reading 'Exhibition', '3 Way Match', and 'Dome' (the selected arena). Just below that, to the right, is a box reading 'Scott S, Angle vs. Joe' (comma not found on screen, only added for clarity), referencing the three wrestlers selected for this (possibly familiar) example. A gray 'Accept' button is found above the first column of the available rules. The rules themselves are split into six rows and two columns. A blue 'Options' button sits below the last row of the available rule options.

The rules for 3 Way Matches are essentially the same as a Single Match held under Wrestling rules.

Battle Royal

There are two types of Battle Royal matches: Random and Team Battle. Random is easy to set up; just pick the number of wrestlers, the first four participants, set the rules, and you're ready to go.

Team Battle, on the other hand, begins with setting the number of members on each team.

The Battle Royal Team Battle allocation screen. The top left corner contains three boxes, reading 'Exhibition', 'Battle Royal', and 'Dome' (the selected arena). Below the 'Exhibition' box is another box reading 'Team Battle'. To the right of the 'Team Battle' box is a box with a '1P' label and three 'CPU' labels. Five blue boxes take up most of the middle of the screen. The first four boxes are labeled '1P' to '4P' for each of the slots, as well as either 'Player' or 'Computer', depending on who's controlling them. The number of assigned slots per team is shown after the control text. The last blue box is labeled 'Remaining', and the counter found next to it shows how many slots have yet to be assigned to a team. A gray 'Accept' button is found below the final blue box.

Notice: Please do not give this screen psychopathic input.

Battle Royal Rules

The Rules screen for a Battle Royal match. The top left corner contains three boxes, reading 'Exhibition', 'Battle Royal', and 'Dome' (the selected arena). Below the 'Exhibition' box is another box reading 'Random'. To the right of the 'Random' box is a box with 'Misawa, Kawada vs. Kobashi, Taue' (commas not found on screen, only added for clarity), referencing the four wrestlers selected for this example. A gray 'Accept' button is found above the first column of the available rules. The rules themselves are split into four rows and two columns. A blue 'Options' button sits below the last row of the available rule options.

For the most part, the Battle Royal rules consist of common options. Only the major differences from other modes will be explained.

Elimination

The Elimination match setup screen. The top of the screen contains a gray box reading 'Booker T [MAN] VS [CPU] Curt Hennig'. Both '[MAN]' and '[CPU]' are graphics representing player control. Two columns of wrestlers are found below the box (one on the left, and one on the right), representing each team's members. The left side uses red colors, and the right side uses blue. Each entry consists of a number from 1 to 5, and the wrestler's name. The next match to be scheduled is shown via a white line connecting two wrestlers with a 'VS' emblem in the middle of it. A red 'Start Match' button is found on the lower left, and a label reading '(STA)Options' ('(STA)' representing a Nintendo 64 controller's red circular 'Start' button) on the lower right.

Two teams of up to five wrestlers each fight until one side defeats the other. Probably better known in non-Japanese regions as the "WCW vs. nWo" mode of WCW vs. nWo World Tour, but without the roster limitations.

Elimination Setup

The Elimination team setup screen. Two columns of wrestlers are found below the box (one on the left, and one on the right), representing each team's members. The left side uses red colors, and the right side uses blue. Each entry consists of a number from 1 to 5, and the wrestler's name. Below each column of wrestlers is a gray 'Accept' button, which confirms the team order.

After selecting the number of wrestlers per team, and the wrestlers on each team, you are given the option to re-arrange the team's orders. Lower numbers will wrestle first, compared to higher numbers. Select a slot using the D-Pad, then press the A button to begin swapping. Choose the destination slot in the same way, and press the A button to swap. Once you are finished, choose "Accept".

Challenge

In the original version of Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2, this mode was called "王道継承", which roughly translates to "Royal Road Succession" (or less roughly as "King's Road Succession"). Other (earlier) names for the mode include "All Japan Mode" (based on an unused texture leftover in the ROM) and "Champion Road" (from Asmik's website, circa 2000). That mode had you run through a year of All Japan Pro-Wrestling's schedule, with all the fun that goes along with it. It was used as the primary way to unlock items (mainly wrestlers), but in a hack where everything is unlocked by default, it lacks purpose.

In this hack, Challenge Mode is more of a "world tour", spanning multiple continents over the course of a year. The inner workings of the mode have not changed too much, however.

Wrestler difficulty has been bumped up from the original VPW2 RRS/KRS, primarily for the sake of veteran players who can blast through the original mode relatively quickly. Players with less experience may not find this mode very fun as a result.

Promotion/Relegation System

An important, yet nearly-invisible portion of the RRS/KRS/Challenge Mode is the Promotion and Relegation system. Details of this system were largely unknown until Melonbread figured it out.

Wrestlers and tag teams move up in the rankings based on their win percentage. Relegation/promotion between groups happens on the completion of certain event cards.

In the below tables, slots that will be relegated downward will have a light red background, while slots that are promoted upward have a light green background.

It is important to note that the Title Shot Percentage applies to the ranking slot, and not the specific wrestler.

For more details, please see the following posts by Melonbread:

Singles Competitors

This table shows the default configuration at the start of a fresh Challenge Mode.

Wrestler Title Shot Percentage
Group 1
Mitsuharu Misawa 25%
Toshiaki Kawada 20%
Kenta Kobashi 15%
Steve Austin 15%
The Rock 10%
Goldberg 10%
Group 2
Kurt Angle 0%
Vader 0%
Jun Akiyama 0%
Scott Steiner 0%
Satoshi Kojima 0%
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 0%
Masato Tanaka 0%
Group 3
Kevin Nash 0%
Scott Hall 0%
Rick Steiner 0%
Mike Awesome 0%
Tajiri 0%
Steven Regal 0%
DDP 0%

There are also twenty "guest" characters who can appear in matches. Some of them may even challenge for the Triple Crown championship. (A 5% chance spread out over five specific wrestlers; this might not happen in your run.)

Tag Teams

This table shows the default configuration at the start of a fresh Challenge Mode.

Team Members Title Shot Percentage
Group 1
Rick Steiner/Scott Steiner 30%
Hiroyoshi Tenzan/Satoshi Kojima 25%
Kevin Nash/Scott Hall 20%
Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama 15%
Kurt Angle/Vader 5%
Group 2
Steve Austin/The Rock 0%
Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada 0%
Masato Tanaka/Mike Awesome 0%
Tajiri/Steven Regal 0%
Goldberg/DDP 0%

There are also eight "guest" teams. They mostly appear during tag tournaments and leagues, but a small amount of guest teams can challenge for the two Tag Team championships. (At a combined 5% chance, it might not happen in your run.)

Initial Champions

Upon starting Challenge Mode for the first time, the default Champions are:

If you complete a full season/run of Challenge Mode, the previous champions will carry over the next time you play.

League

The League screen for a singles match league. The top of the screen contains a gray box reading 'Yuji Nagata [CPU] VS [CPU] K. Shibata'. This represents the current match taking place. Both '[CPU]' items are graphics representing player control. A table is shown, with the numbers 1 through 8 on the top edge. The left edge of the table also has these numbers, along with the names of the wrestlers in those slots. To the right of the wrestler labels is a table containing the status of the league. In this screenshot, it is mostly empty, save for diagonal lines in matches that can't happen (e.g. 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3). The far right of the screen contains a number for each wrestler slot, representing the number of points they have achieved in the league so far. On the bottom left side of the screen are two buttons, a red 'Watch' button, and a gray 'Skip Match' button. A label reading '(STA)Options' ('(STA)' representing a Nintendo 64 controller's red circular 'Start' button) is found on the lower right.

League mode allows you to hold a round robin league with 3 to 12 wrestlers (or tag teams).

Points are given based on the result of the match:

The C Buttons are used to navigate the match table once a league has begun.

League Setup

if this text is here, it means freem did not update the screenshot and needs to do so before he can write the proper alt text

First, select the number of wrestlers (or teams) participating in the league. After picking the wrestlers, you are given the option to re-order the participants, as well as toggle the control between human ("MAN") and computer ("CPU"). The "All Players" and "All CPU" buttons switch control of all slots to human or computer, respectively.

Tournament

The Tournament screen during an active singles tournament. The top of the screen contains a gray box reading 'K. Kobashi [CPU] VS [CPU] Y. Fujiwara'. This represents the current match taking place. The middle of the screen contains a tournament bracket. The left side of the bracket contains an entry for each wrestler, consisting of a number and the wrestler's name. If there are enough entrants, wrestler entries will also be found on the right side of the bracket. On the bottom left side of the screen are two buttons, a red 'Watch' button, and a gray 'Skip Match' button. A label reading '(STA)Options' ('(STA)' representing a Nintendo 64 controller's red circular 'Start' button) is found on the lower right.

Tournament mode allows you to hold a single-elimination tournament with 3 to 16 wrestlers (or tag teams).

Tournament Setup

Setting up a tournament involves picking the match type and the number of entrants, followed by selecting them. Once all wrestlers have been selected, you are given the option to re-order the brackets, as well as set player ("MAN") or computer ("CPU") control. The "All Players" and "All CPU" buttons switch control of all slots to human or computer, respectively.

The bracket can be scrolled via the L and R Buttons.

Event

The Event portion of the game lets you run a card of matches, to either watch or play. It's known as "Pay Per View" in the WWF AKI games, as well as S.K. Stylez's VPW2 English translation. In the original version of VPW2, this mode played a small role in unlocking items. It's left in VPW2 freem Edition for fun, and because I don't see a good reason to remove it.

Setup

The setup screen for a new Event. A small box reading 'Event' is found in the upper left corner. The center of the screen contains four fields reading 'Name', 'Date', 'Event Time', and 'Arena'. In the bottom left corner is a small gray box reading 'Cancel'. Not shown is the 'Accept' button, which appears to the right of the 'Cancel' button when all fields have been filled out.

When creating a new event, the setup screen will appear. You can set the event's name, date, start time, and the arena where it will be held.

Booking Matches

The Event mode match booking screen. A small box reading 'Event' is found in the upper left corner. Below that, in the top center portion of the screen, is a green box with an example event date ('2022/1/28'), example event name ('Clash Royale'), example event time ('12:00'), and example event arena ('AKI Hall'). The event's match list is found in the center of the screen. For this screenshot, only a single gray box reading 'New Match' is visible. In the bottom left corner is a small gray box reading 'Cancel'.

Once the Event setup has completed, you are able to set up all the matches that will appear on the card. Match setup is similar to Exhibition mode (without Elimination mode), though you are also allowed to give the match a special name.

Note: Any Battle Royal will be fixed to 40 wrestlers in random order.

Running the Event

After finalizing the card, you are able to run through the event. A small introduction will play, followed by the event card screen.

A screenshot of an Event in progress. For whatever reason, this screenshot is from a previous version of the hack, where the time display is incorrect. Please tell freem to fix this screenshot.

You can either watch or play the match, or if you don't want to do either of those, you can let the computer simulate the result via the "Skip Match" button.

At the end of the Event, the total attendance will be revealed. The better your show turned out, the larger the audience will be.

Ranking

Ranking mode tracks win/loss statistics for up to 16 profiles, and ranks all participants accordingly.

Ranking mode is likely to be removed from the hack in phase 2, as it takes up valuable save data space.

Edit Mode

Edit Mode has its own chapter of the manual.

Options

Various game options can be changed in this menu.

Difficulty

The difficulties available are: Beginner, Easy, Normal, Hard, Expert.

Spirit Meter

Toggle the display of the Spirit Meter (as well as the Combo Meter).

Referee

Toggle the display of an animated referee. The referee only appears in Singles matches.

Name Preview Notes
Off N/A Disable referee display.
Wada Kyohei All Japan Pro-Wrestling's main referee.
Dandy K Bowtie man. Will be replaced by Tiger Hattori in a future version.
(Fun fact: Sprites are based off Earl Hebner's from
WrestleMania 2000, or possibly the other way around.)
Johnny H Counts slower than the other referees.

Quick Replay

Toggle the use of a three-angle replay for powerful moves. I recommend turning this off, but I'm not going to force you to.

Match Color

A unique option only found in VPW64 and VPW2. You can turn the match into a monochrome broadcast. However, the Spirit and Combo Meters still retain their color (as do other UI elements, such as messages).

Sound Options

Sound-related options live in this sub-menu.

Controller Setup

This section allows you to change the game controls. Navigate to the control you want to change, and press the desired button. If you want to reset any changes, choose "Default".

The only controls that cannot be remapped are the D-Pad, the Control Stick, and the Z and Start buttons.

Data Menu

The Data Menu contains functionality related to wrestlers and belts. If you're looking to use the Controller Pak for something, this is the place to go.

Belt

In this section, you can view, move, and delete any created title belts.

Wrestler Data

The Wrestler Data section allows you to view Edit Wrestler data on both the cartridge and the Controller Pak. Wrestlers can be moved or copied between the Controller Pak and cartridge.

Wrestler Records

The game keeps track of win/loss/draw records, which can be viewed in this section. The list can be sorted by Group, number of Matches, number of Wins, and Win Percentage.

Legend:

Exhibition Matches

The game also keeps track of the results of the last 25 matches played in Exhibition mode for Singles, Tag, and 3 Way matches. This also includes the match length and finishing move/method.

Mic Appeal

Unique to Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 is the ability to "say" things before and after a match. In this menu, you can modify each phrase. Each phrase is split into two parts. The left side is the first line displayed, while the right side is the second line.

You can set which lines are used by each wrestler in the Profile portion of Edit Mode. Then, by holding one of the C buttons at the end of your character's (or team's) introduction, or after the match is over, your character will say their lines.

If you have played previous versions of the hack, some of your Mic Appeal phrases may still be in Japanese. Here are the final phrases, in case you need to update them:

Message 1 Message 2
Got a problem? Bring it on!
This ends today. Get ready!
I'm #1 wrestler! Come on!!
Oi, look here. No fear!
This is... This is AJPW!!
This is the best moment ever!!
My future begins Thank you all!!
Thank you for supporting me!

Of course, you can change them to whatever you'd like, as long as they fit the character limit.

Playing the Game

This section assumes that you are using the default controls. When in doubt, check and/or change the current control mapping at Options → Controller Setup.

VPW2 for Revenge/WM2K/No Mercy Veterans

Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 plays similar to the other AKI wrestling games. If you have experience with WCW vs. nWo - World Tour, Virtual Pro-Wrestling 64, WCW/nWo Revenge, WWF WrestleMania 2000, or WWF No Mercy, then playing VPW2 (freem Edition or not) will be easy.

Important differences include the following:

VPW2 for Everyone Else

If you don't have experience with a previous AKI Corporation wrestling game, the above section may look a little daunting. The good news is that the core gameplay is simple. The following section is not a complete overview of the game, but should be enough to get you started.

You may also wish to check GameFAQs for guides to other AKI wrestling games, as the core gameplay is similar.

Movement

Move your character around with the D-Pad. The C-Down button makes your character run. You can hold a direction on the D-Pad while pressing C-Down to run in that direction. Without holding a direction, your character will run towards the currently "focused" wrestler. During a run, you can press the R button to evade (roll or cartwheel), or the L button to go around the other wrestler.

Hold towards the ropes or apron using the D-Pad and press the C-Up button to move between areas. You can hold the C-Up button while doing this to fully transition between the ring and outside. When outside, you can run into the ring by holding C-Down, or run onto the apron by holding C-Down and C-Up. (This is why you shouldn't map the C buttons to an analog stick.)

Focus

The AKI wrestling games use a "focus" system to direct attacks. You can change your current focus by pressing the C-Right button. This will only work if there is another fighter to focus (e.g. a tag team member, second/manager, or interfering wrestler).

Striking

By default, the B button is used to throw strikes, such as kicks and punches. The B button can be tapped (Weak Strike) or held (Strong Strike) to produce different strikes. You can hold a direction on the D-Pad for another strike variation. There is also a strike done by holding down the A and B buttons for a few seconds.

Blocking and Reversals

To Block, hold the R button. Reversing strikes and grapple moves involves pressing the R button at the right time. You can dodge backwards with the L button; pressing it at the right time during an opponent's grapple attempt can cause you to block it. Grapple attempts can also be reversed to a back grapple with a well timed press of the A button.

Grappling

There are two main types of grapples. The Weak Grapple is performed by tapping the A button. The Strong Grapple is performed by holding the A button down for a second or two. Once the grapple connects, you can press the A or B button, along with holding a direction, to perform a move. If you wish to break a grapple without doing a move, press the R button.

If you have a Special, you can use it from a Strong Grapple by moving the Control Stick. You can also steal the opponent's Special by pressing the A and B buttons at the same time.

To throw a wrestler, hold the D-Pad in the direction you want them to go, then press the C-Down button. Some wrestlers can not be thrown unless you have Special.

When in a front grapple, pressing the L button will transition into a back grapple. During a back grapple, pressing the L button will grab the opponent's arms for a double team attack. (Re-transitioning to a front grapple was added in WWF No Mercy, and sadly does not appear in this game.) Pressing the C-Up button during a back grapple will attempt to lift the opponent on your shoulders for double team attacks. (See "Double Team Moves" section for more information.)

Corner Moves

Most of the corner moves fall under the mechanics for striking and grappling, but there are a few extras. When the opponent is in the corner, you can turn them around by using the C-Left or L buttons. You can also remove the opponent from the corner by using the R button. During a front corner grapple, you can attempt to transition to a Tree of Woe by pressing the L button.

"Ducking"/Crouching

When you come up from being knocked down, hold the R button to maintain a crouching position. From here, you can press the L button to roll back, the A button to attempt a grapple, or the B button to attempt a strike.

Taunting

Taunting allows you to gain Spirit. To taunt, move the Control Stick in any direction. The taunt performed depends on the wrestler's current location, as well as the direction of the Control Stick. You can copy your opponent's taunt by moving the Control Stick in a circle.

A small amount of wrestlers have a second level finishing move, denoted by "Maximum" in the spirit meter. If your wrestler has one, it can be activated by doing a standing taunt when having Special, and letting the entire taunt animation play. You can only use a Maximum level Special once per match, and the time period for performing it is shorter than a normal Special.

Some wrestlers have taunts that can be done when running the ropes while the opponent is outside. Hold the Control Stick while running to perform.

Ground Moves

Various strikes can be done with the B button, including running strikes. Submissions and other holds are performed with the A button, depending on how the opponent is facing, as well as if they're fully down or half down (sitting/on knees).

If you have Special, you can steal the opponent's ground holds by holding the A and B buttons.

Tapping the R button will pick the opponent up halfway, while holding the R button will pick up the opponent all the way. You can flip the opponent by tapping the C-Left button, or drag the opponent by holding the C-Left button.

Pressing the L button will either attempt a pinfall or mount position, depending on the wrestler's settings.

Flying

When in the ring or on the apron, hold the D-Pad direction of the corner you'd like to climb, then press and hold the C-Down button to either run towards it or climb it (depending on how close you are). Upon reaching the top rope, you have a few choices. To perform a move, let go of any and all buttons. To stay on the top for a little bit, hold the A button. You are also able to taunt if you move the Control Stick (maximum of two taunts). Pressing the R button will cause you to dismount from the top rope without performing a move.

Other flying move situations include planchas (when near the ropes with an opponent outside, hold the direction to the outside and press the A button), running dives (hold A when running in the ring while the opponent is outside), apron dives (same controls as the plancha, but while on the ring apron), and running apron dives to an outside opponent (get on the apron, press C-Down, then press the A button).

Opponent Dizzy

When the opponent is dizzy, you can push them around by walking into them. Pressing the C-Left or L buttons turns the opponent around.

Combo/"Fighting" Style

If a wrestler has "Fighting" listed on their profile, the Strong Grapple B button moves are replaced with a Combo system. Five strike slots are available in a combo, and all are accessed with the combination of the B button and a direction on the D-Pad (or no direction for the 5th strike). You can also end the combo early by using a Grapple move. Combos normally start out with 6 moves, but if you have a Special, this increases to 10. If you have an active Special or Maximum, you may also perform it to end the combo.

Shootfighting Style

If a wrestler has "Shooting" listed on their profile, then the Weak Grapple B button moves are replaced with the Combo system. On top of that, Strong Grapples produce takedowns, which act similar to the Combo system.

Weapons

When outside, hold towards the crowd and press the C-Up button to attempt to grab a weapon. Weapon strikes are performed by tapping or holding the B button when standing. Running weapon strikes can also be done to standing opponents. Blocking a weapon strike is done with the R button.

While not an "official" move, you can do a jumping attack from the Dome Road ramp (hold towards the floor/outside and press the A button) with a weapon.

(WWF No Mercy was the first game in the series to have re-usable weapons, so you can't pick them up when you drop them in this game.)

Double Team Moves

Most of the double team moves are performed by grappling a standing opponent at the same time as your partner. Another set of double team moves involves one person performing a back grapple and pressing the C-Up button to lift the opponent on their shoulders. From there, your partner is able to do a diving attack from the top rope or the apron.

Tag Team

To tag your partner in, head near them, hold the D-Pad towards them, and press the C-Up button. Your partner can hold an opponent by grappling them from the apron.

Rope Break in Martial Arts Rules Matches

Under Martial Arts rules, you must manually trigger the rope break by using the C-Left button when near the ropes. Rope breaks are manually triggered in this mode due to the possibility of losing points.

Mask Ripping

It is possible to rip the masks off of masked wrestlers, but the conditions to do so are pretty extreme... To quote WldFb:

Normally the game required the head health at minimum and also the general health very low (no wonder it took so long).

– from the "(VPW2) Mask Ripping" thread at WldFb Archive Forum

The move that is capable of mask ripping is "Eye Claw", move number 22 in the "Downed Head Submission (Face Up)" category.

Arenas and Title Belts

This section covers the five available arenas to fight in, as well as the belt designs you can choose from when creating a custom title.

Arenas

Nippon Budokan

Screenshot of Nippon Budokan, focused on the ring area. The upper middle portion contains cheering fans behind a row of guardrails. Guardrails also appear on the left and right side, but disappear shortly due to the perspective. A wrestling ring is the central focus, featuring a two-tone ring mat design. The design is split on a diagonal, with the upper left portion being teal, and the lower right portion being a dark red. 'VIRTUAL PRO-WRESTLING' text appears on the four cardinal edges of the ring mat. The text has a white stroke, while the fill color depends on the text location (blue fill for the red mat portion, red fill for the cyan mat portion). Outside of the ring, blue padded mats appear to the left and right. The outside corners are green and lack mats.

The Budokan has largely stayed the same as the original game. The major difference is that the ring mat and skirt emulate the old All Japan-Pro Wrestling two-tone look. IMO, AKI really missed a good opportunity to do this in the original game, especially with the text on the mat. (A similar design (sans edge text) appeared in VPW64.)

It has been brought to my attention that the diagonal should go the other way, so as to split up the red and blue corners "properly". This will be fixed in a later version.

USA Dome

Screenshot of 'USA Dome', focused on the ring area. Many fans appear in the distance, representing the far seats. There is also a contingent of fans closer to the ring. Blue guardrails separate the ringside fans from the action. The ring itself appears on an angle. The primary mat design is a gray square, bordered by a darker gray edge. This dark gray continues to the ring skirt design. Outside the ring are four sets of black mats, with the corners being a lighter blue-ish concrete.

The USA Dome is a somewhat-changed version of the original rampless TKO Dome arena. More changes are likely to happen in the future, possibly importing some assets from WrestleMania 2000 or No Mercy.

AKI Hall

Screenshot of AKI Hall, equally focused on the ring area, as well as one of the balconies. The balcony area features a few fans, guardrails, and a hanging cloth sign with Japanese text. The overhead ring lighting setup is visible in this screenshot. The ring has a mat design featuring the AKI Corporation logo. Most of the canvas is gray, but there is a border section containing a yellow stripe and larger red area. The ring skirt is blue, as are the outside mats. The outside corners (only one of which is clearly visible in this screenshot) are parquet wood floor.

AKI Hall is based off of Korakuen Hall. The ring mat and skirt design is adapted from the AKI ring in one of the Ultimate Muscle games.

One preview screenshot of VPW2 shows a banner hung in the balcony that is not used in the final version of the game, but remained in the ROM:

Preview image of Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2, featuring AKI man and Executioner fighting in AKI Hall. A banner is barely visible on the left side; this banner is not seen in the final game. Banner graphic left over in VPW2. The top portion contains some lights, while the bottom features a banner reading 'EWAプロレス!', or 'EWA Pro Wrestling!' in English.

The banner reads "EWAプロレス!", or "EWA Pro Wrestling!" in English.
(EWA, full name "Empire Wrestling Association", was the name of the AJPW-like faction in Virtual Pro-Wrestling 64.)
A similar (yet different) banner has been added in the 2019/02/22 version. The position of the new banner is not accurate to where it "should" be, but this way, you get a better chance of seeing it.

Kawasaki Stadium

Screenshot of Kawasaki Stadium, focused on the ring area. Fans can be seen on three of the four sides. Guardrails (using a sparser design) separate the fans from ringside. The outside corners are deep blue mats, while the mats around the ring are a lighter blue. The ring mat design consists of a blue square surrounded by a red border. The same shade of red extends to the ring skirt. In the center of the ring is a logo consisting of a blue oval, yellow sideways lightning bolt, and red 'VPW' text (in a block serif typeface).

Kawasaki Stadium, in the context of VPW2, is most famous for being previewed with a daytime setting:

VPW2 development screenshot from AKI Corporation's homepage showing Kawasaki Stadium in a daytime setting (as determined by the brighter colors). Also of note are two tents and four people in the background; they do not appear in the final game. VPW2 development screenshot from AKI Corporation's homepage showing Kawasaki Stadium in a daytime setting, with a blue sky partially visible. VPW2 development screenshot from AKI Corporation's homepage showing Kawasaki Stadium with a daytime sky and clouds.

In the final version of the game, Kawasaki is set at night. Originally, I had planned to recreate the daytime version, but realized that AKI probably changed it for a decent reason... (I'm assuming it has to do with the Battle Royal entrances.) Kawasaki is still set at night in this hack, but the ring mat and skirt have been replaced with a FMW-inspired design.
(Probably a little too close for Legal to approve, though...)

Dome Road

Screenshot of Dome Road, focused on the ring area. A few items in the far distance: box arts of four of AKI's US-released N64 wrestling games on the left side; a display in the center featuring a clock and some text, as well as the AKI Corporation logo; some further logos on the right hand side. A stage can be seen in the upper center. This leads to the ring area, though an unlit area separates the two. Some fans are ringside, with light trusses near the corners. The ring mat design has five 'V.P.W.' logos, each consisting of a red rectangle and white text. Most of the non-logo portion is teal, but there is a white border section at the edges. The ring skirt is a darker blue, with yellow Japanese text. Like Budokan, the outside corner areas without mats are green. The outside mats are light blue, similar to the ones in AKI Hall.

"Dome Road" is the Tokyo Dome with a ramp leading to the ring. As this design was meant to emulate mid-to-late 1990s New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the ring mat and skirt textures have been changed to match. (Yes, the center "V.P.W." logo is upside-down from how it's meant to be.) The rotated corner logos are new in the 2023/07/30 release.

Pictured below is the original render of the Tokyo Dome with ramp from AKI's website. If you look closely, you'll notice the All Japan Pro Wrestling logo was already in place. Also shown are red and blue floor textures, which go unused in the final game, but remain in the ROM.

A preview screenshot of Dome Road from earlier in Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2's development. Red and Blue 'ramp' textures can be seen pointing to the bottom corners of the ring. These textures are not used in the final game.

Title Belts

When creating a custom title, there are many belt designs you can choose from.

Currently, all belts have a mirrored texture. In the future, belts may become unmirrored (and redesigned to take advantage of this).

Name Preview Notes
PWF Heavyweight Championship original VPW2 belt
NWA International Heavyweight Championship original VPW2 belt
NWA United National Championship original VPW2 belt
All-Asia Tag Team Championship original VPW2 belt
Chainplate designed by freem
IWGP Junior Heavyweight original VPW2 belt
Ring designed by freem
IWGP Heavyweight Tag original VPW2 belt
Sport Accolade adapted/designed by freem
Octaglobe designed by freem
King of Pancrase original VPW2 belt
Old NWA International Heavyweight Championship original VPW2 belt
UFC Ultimate Ultimate original VPW2 belt
NWA Heavyweight Championship
"Domed Globe" design		 original VPW2 belt
WCW "Big Gold Belt" ported/adapted from WCW/nWo Revenge
nWo "Big Gold Belt" ported/adapted from WCW/nWo Revenge
WWF Winged Eagle converted/adapted by freem
NEVER Openweight Championship converted/adapted by freem
Universe/Saturn designed by freem
PborgcrateZ adapted/designed by freem
Diplomats/Unofficial VRTLPROS Championship adapted/designed by freem
Triple Crown original VPW2 belt
Double Tag original VPW2 belt

Edit Mode

Edit Mode was introduced by Human Entertainment in Fire Pro Wrestling 3: Legend Bout on the PC Engine. Pro wrestling games would never be the same again. You can change details of the in-game wrestlers, or create new wrestlers (up to 16 slots available). Selecting a wrestler brings up the following menu:

Screenshot of Edit Mode after selecting a wrestler. In the upper left corner are two boxes; a smaller one reading 'Edit Mode', and a larger one with the costume number and name of the selected wrestler. The left side of the screen contains seven primary buttons and two secondary buttons. Five of the primary buttons are red, and lead to further sections of Edit Mode: 'Profile', 'Mask/Costume', 'Moves', 'Parameters', and 'Logic'. The other two primary buttons are blue, and perform tasks based on their labels: 'Clone from Fighter' and 'Reset to Default'. Below the last two primary buttons are gray 'Accept' and 'Cancel' buttons. The right side of the screen shows a preview of the selected wrestler's costume.

While on the main wrestler edit menu, you can use the C-Left and C-Right buttons to switch the active costume. This also works with the top L and R buttons.

Profile

Screenshot of the Profile portion of Edit Mode.

The Profile section allows you to define a wrestler's basic data.

Mic Appeal

Screenshot of the Mic Appeal portion of Edit Mode.

The Mic Appeal menu allows you to assign the phrases to the four C buttons. To assign a slot, select it with the D-Pad and press the desired C button. The phrases can be edited in the "Mic Appeal" section of the Options menu.

Mask/Costume

Screenshot of the main Mask/Costume menu.

In the main portion of the Costume menu, put the cursor on "Head" and press left or right on the D-Pad to switch your wrestler between masked and unmasked.

Head/Mask

Screenshot of the Head editor without a mask enabled. Screenshot of the Head editor with a mask enabled.

The Head (or Mask) section lets you change all the details that go into the wrestler's head design.

Costume

Screenshot of the Costume editor.

The Costume section covers the main costume items, as well as the body type, entrance costume, and entrance weapon.

Others

Screenshot of the 'Others' editor.

This section contains gloves, wristbands, elbow pads, knee pads, and boots/shoes. Elbow and knee pads can be copied from one side to the other with the C-Left button.

Color Selection

Screenshot of the color selection process.

When selecting a color, you can change the brightness by using C-Up and C-Down.

Moves

Screenshot of the main Moves menu.

The wrestler's available moves can be changed here. The moves are split up into various categories, with an "All Moves" option for showing the entire list.

Screenshot of the Moves menu while editing the moveset.

Upon selecting a category, you will be shown the list of moves.

Parameters

Screenshot of the Parameters editor.

The Parameters portion of Edit Mode lets you set various wrestler properties.

Left Column items:

Right Column items:

Offensive and Defensive Parameters

The "Offense" and "Defense" buttons on the Parameters menu open up separate menus that let you assign the offensive and defensive values for various move types. The five categories are Head, Body, Arms, Legs, and Flying.

Unlike the original VPW2, you are given 25 points to spend, meaning you can make a character with all 5s.

Rivals/Second

Screenshot of the Rivals/Second editor.

The Rivals/Second portion of the Parameters menu allows you to choose your manager/second/valet, along with up to three rivals.

The rivals only appear when Interference is enabled in the Match Rules. If both wrestlers have a second/manager, the rivals will not appear. Rival 1 shows up most of the time, Rival 2 shows up about half of the time, and Rival 3 shows up about one fourth of the time. If any option is set to "None", the computer will randomly pick a wrestler to interfere.

The manager/second always uses the fourth costume.

Logic

Screenshot of the Logic editor.

The Logic section controls the computer's playing style when using a specific wrestler. It has only ever made an official appearance in Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2, but it is accessible in WrestleMania 2000 via a GameShark code.

Type

This option allows you to change the general fighting style of the wrestler when the computer is controlling them.

It should be noted that this option is dummied out in the original version of VPW2, but it is enabled in the Logic menu from WrestleMania 2000. VPW2 included help text for this option, so they at least considered keeping it available. However, the option is absent from the final version, for reasons unknown to us. In April 2022, S.K. Stylez figured out how to re-enable it.

There has been some discussion about whether or not this value is used for anything significant in terms of the computer AI, which gives a possible reason for its removal. Upon further review, the Type value only ever seems to be checked in one place in-match, and it appears to be related to leapfrog/drop down behavior.

Strategy Versus Standing Opponent

This section determines how the computer will attack when their opponent is standing. This can be set for both Early and Late match.

Strategy Versus Downed Opponent

This section determines how the computer will attack when their opponent is downed. This can be set for both Early and Late match.

Finishing Move

The Finishing Move is the primary move the wrestler uses to win matches.

Attack Strategy

The Attack Strategy determines the balance between striking and grappling.

Offensive Balance

Offensive Balance controls the balance between attacking and defending.

Strike Reaction

Strike Reaction determines how well the wrestler will react to an opponent's strike. This manifests itself in the frequency of strike reversals. "Fast", "Normal", and "Slow" are the available options.

Grapple Reaction

Grapple Reaction determines how well the wrestler will react to an opponent's grapple attempts. This manifests itself in the frequency of grapple reversals. "Fast", "Normal", and "Slow" are the available options.

Outside Strategy

The Outside Strategy option controls how the wrestler deals with opponents outside of the ring.

Appeal

Controls how often your wrestler taunts. The three available choices are "Often", "Normal", and "None". If "None" is selected, the wrestler will not taunt when controlled by the computer, except to activate Special.

Clone from Fighter

This option lets you clone data from one of the fighters in the game.

Screenshot of the wrestler selection after selecting 'Clone from Fighter' option in Edit Mode.

Upon selecting the option, you will be presented with the game's roster. Select a wrestler to copy data from using the A button, or press the B button to cancel.

Screenshot of the 'Clone from Fighter' option in Edit Mode.

After selecting a wrestler, you are able to pick and choose specific portions of the wrestler data to copy. This includes the Profile, Mask/Costume, Moves, Parameters, and Logic data. Choose "Accept" to make the changes.

Reset to Default

Screenshot of the 'Reset to Default' option in Edit Mode.

If you want to revert a wrestler back to the factory default data, you can use this option. Each of the five categories (Profile, Mask/Costume, Moves, Parameters, and Logic) can be toggled, except for non-edit wrestlers (who can only have the Profile and Mask/Costume reset).

When the hack is updated, you will need to use this option to get the updated costumes.

Save Data

Back in 2000, when Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 was released, your options were limited in terms of sharing save data with others. Typically, you'd just go over to your friend's house with a Controller Pak. There were options for dumping save data to PC, including the DexDrive, but these devices may be hard to come by nowadays. (Not to mention the device drivers coming on a 3.5" floppy disk and the device's 9-pin serial connector...)

In the 21st century, it's simpler to just dump data from an emulator or flash cart and upload it to the Internet. However, some care has to be taken when transferring data between emulators and the real console.

Controller Pak

Controller Pak saves allow you to transfer up to 16 Edit Wrestlers and 8 Belts. The Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 save takes 29 pages on the Controller Pak. Currently, VPW2 freem Edition uses the same data as regular VPW2, so you can transfer your existing characters and belts.

To manage your Controller Pak files, either hold the Start button as the game is booting, or hold the Z button and press the Start button on the title screen.

Flashcarts

The 64drive is capable of backing up the Controller Pak contents through the main menu. Please consult the 64drive manual for more information on using this feature.

I am unsure of what support the Everdrive64 has for dealing with Controller Pak saves, as I only own a 64drive.

Emulators

Most N64 emulators tend to store Controller Pak data in .mpk files. However, this is not always the case. Please consult your emulator's documentation for more information.

Game Save

The game save data itself (which includes changes made to the profile and costumes of the default wrestlers, as well as match records and other saved items) can also be shared with others.

Flashcarts

Flashcarts, such as the 64drive and Everdrive64, give the save file the same base name as the ROM it belongs to. If your VPW2 freem Edition ROM is named vpw2freem.z64, for example, the save will be named vpw2freem.sra.

When using 64drive's USB functionality, follow the instructions mentioned earlier in the manual to load/save data.

Emulators

Emulator save files are a bit less concretely defined, in comparison. This section attempts to explain the situation between emulators and save files, but it does not cover all cases. When in doubt, check your emulator's documentation for more details.

In terms of filenames...

Unfortunately, like the N64 ROM format situation, N64 emulator save data has various complications of its own, endianness issues included.

Project64 and (regular) Mupen's .sra format is little endian, unlike the N64's native big endian. This means transferring it to a flashcart requires swapping it, much like changing the ROM format. The same instructions given in the Patching section can be used, but select the save file instead.

Various multi-emulator setups using Mupen for N64 emulation (which may or may not be limited to anything using libretro), including Retroarch and Bizhawk, create a giant blob consisting of multiple save file types in a single file. The file extensions can vary, typically showing up as .srm (though Bizhawk uses .SaveRAM). Figuring out how to deal with this file is a little less than obvious, requiring a program called pj64tosrm to extract the contents.

Roster

Roster is current as of 2023/07/23, and will remain unchanged until the hack switches to a decomp-based project. This table represents the game's internal order, and does not include information on stables.

The "original VPW2" column represents who was previously in the slot. If a name spans both columns, the character slot was kept from the original game.

ID2 ID4 freem Edition original VPW2
01 0001 Mitsuharu Misawa
02 0002 Steve Austin Yoshinari Ogawa
03 0003 Toshiaki Kawada
04 0004 Akira Taue
05 0005 Kenta Kobashi
06 0006 Jun Akiyama
07 0007 The Rock Hiroshi Hase
08 0008 Shawn Michaels Maunakea Mossman
09 0009 Yoshihiro Takayama
0A 000A Sting Masahito Kakihara
0B 000B Giant Baba
0C 000C Jumbo Tsuruta
0D 000D Ric Flair Dory Funk Jr.
0E 0101 Stan Hansen
0F 0102 Vader
10 0103 Hulk Hogan Johnny Ace
11 0104 Randy Savage Mike Barton
12 0105 Rick Steiner Kimala
13 0106 Scott Steiner Jun Izumida
14 0107 Kevin Nash Gary Albright
15 0108 Scott Hall Johnny Smith
16 0109 Bruiser Brody
17 010A Goldberg Teddy Gordy
18 010B "Dr. Death" Steve Williams
19 010C Rikidozan Takao Omori
1A 010D The Destroyer Kentaro Shiga
1B 0201 Shin'ya Hashimoto
1C 0202 Road Warriors Tatsumi Fujinami
1D 0203 Kensuke Sasaki
1E 0204 Katsuyori Shibata Kazuo Yamazaki
1F 0205 Gen'ichiro Tenryu
20 0206 Rick Rude Shiro Koshinaka
21 0207 Yuji Nagata
22 0208 Curt Hennig Manabu Nakanishi
23 0209 Dan Severn Tadao Yasuda
24 020A Naoya Ogawa
25 020B Antonio Inoki
26 020C Riki Choshu
27 020D Don Frye
28 0301 Masahiro Chono
29 0302 Hiroyoshi Tenzan
2A 0303 Diamond Dallas Page Keiji Mutoh
2B 0304 Satoshi Kojima
2C 0305 Bret Hart Hiro Saito
2D 0306 Scott Norton
2E 0307 Great Muta
2F 0401 Jyushin "Thunder" Liger
30 0402 Chris Benoit El Samurai
31 0403 Dean Malenko Kendo Ka Shin
32 0404 Perry Saturn Shinjiro Otani
33 0405 Eddie Guerrero T. Takaiwa
34 0406 Chris Jericho Koji Kanemoto
35 0407 Rey Mysterio Jr. Dr. Wagner Jr.
36 0408 Tiger Mask
37 0409 Dynamite Kid Magnum TOKYO
38 040A L.A. Park CIMA
39 0501 Hayabusa
3A 0502 Sabu H. Fuyuki
3B 0503 Tajiri Jado
3C 0504 Steven Regal Gedo
3D 0505 Raven Mr. Gannosuke
3E 0506 Masato Tanaka
3F 0507 Mike Awesome/The Gladiator
40 0508 Cactus Jack Dragon Kid
41 0509 Atsushi Onita
42 050A Terry Funk
43 0601 Great Sasuke
44 0602 Jinsei Shinzaki
45 0603 Undertaker Super Delfin
46 0604 Kane Gran Naniwa
47 0605 TAKA Michinoku
48 0606 Booker T Mil Mascaras
49 0607 Big Show Enson Inoue
4A 0701 HHH Kiyoshi Tamura
4B 0702 X-Pac Tsuyoshi Kosaka
4C 0703 AJ Styles B. Tariel
4D 0704 Volk Han
4E 0705 Akira Maeda
4F 0706 Aleksandr Karelin
50 0801 John Cena Yuki Ishikawa
51 0802 Brock Lesnar Alexander Otsuka
52 0803 Samoa Joe Daisuke Ikeda
53 0804 Daniel Bryan Minoru Tanaka
54 0805 Yoshiaki Fujiwara
55 0806 Spider-Man Rumina Sato
56 0901 Masakatsu Funaki
57 0902 Kurt Angle Y. Takahashi
58 0903 Minoru Suzuki
59 0904 Ken Shamrock Kengo Watanabe
5A 0905 Bas Rutten
5B 0906 Tazz Semmy Schilt
5C 0A01 Nobuhiko Takada
5D 0A02 Kazushi Sakuraba
5E 0A03 Karl Gotch Mark Kerr
5F 0A04 Rickson Gracie
60 0B01 Andre the Giant
61 0B02 Ultimo Dragon
62 0B03 AKI man Abdullah the Butcher

As mentioned in the FAQ, adding more wrestler slots is not an easy task, as it relies on modifying multiple parts of the game, including reading/writing the save data.

Future plans involve only adding three slots, and all three slots are spoken for:

Even these three are conditional, based on if I can manage to deal with the save data. Shortcuts will be taken for Shamrock and Severn (re-using the Profile and Costume data from the wrestling variants), but Moveset, Parameters, and Logic will differ. Joe Bruiser is contingent on getting the Boxing fighting style implemented, which is no simple task.

Extras

In case you're playing this on an emulator or have a way to use GameShark codes, there are a few codes you may enjoy using. Nothing in this section is officially a part of VPW2 freem Edition.

All of these GameShark cheats come from WldFb's Archive Forum and should work with VPW2 freem Edition.

Battle Royal Improvements

A few useful codes are in this thread:

Better Battle Royal Entrances

This code disables the forced camera change when new wrestlers enter during a Battle Royal.

D11310C0 3462
811310C2 0000
D11310F8 3442
811310FA 0000
D1131118 3442
8113111A 0000
D116C470 00A7
D116C472 000B
D10F0594 2402
810F0596 0000
D116C470 00A7
D116C472 000C
D10F0596 0000
810F0596 0021
D116C784 00A7
D116C786 000B
D10F0594 2402
810F0596 0000
D116C784 00A7
D116C786 000C
D10F0596 0000
810F0596 0021
D116CA98 00A7
D116CA9A 000B
D10F0594 2402
810F0596 0000
D116CA98 00A7
D116CA9A 000C
D10F0596 0000
810F0596 0021
D116CDAC 00A7
D116CDAE 000B
D10F0594 2402
810F0596 0000
D116CDAC 00A7
D116CDAE 000C
D10F0596 0000
810F0596 0021

Include CAWs

These codes allow edit wrestlers to appear in the Battle Royal. The game normally compares the next wrestler ID with a list of edit wrestler IDs, and if they match, it knows to roll again for a non-edit wrestler. By changing the values in this table to an arbitrary unused ID, we can force the game to accept edit wrestlers as valid.

If you've moved the edit wrestlers to other slots, check the Data section in the Options menu for the "intended" order.

Errata

Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 (even without hacks) has a few bugs that you should be aware of when playing. These may or may not be fixed in future versions of this hack.

Battle Royal Shootfighter Elimination Bug

This bug has been fixed for 2019/02/22 and later versions.

There is a somewhat major bug in Battle Royal matches related to a Shootfighter's ability to win a match/eliminate a wrestler via repeated ground pounding. When you eliminate a wrestler via this method, the elimination counts twice.

This can cause various unintended and unwanted behavior, including the computer sending out a default-looking character that has already been "eliminated". If this happens, you have no choice but to restart or quit the match, as this wrestler can not be eliminated.

WldFb successfully fixed this via a GameShark code:

D110C76C 3442
8110C76E 0000

White Screen Freeze when Controlling the Manager

If you end a 1 on 1 match with a player controlling a manager, the game will sometimes freeze on a white screen. Only VPW2 has this problem. Doing the same thing in Revenge, WM2K, or No Mercy won't crash the game.

The cause of this problem has not been found, and therefore, no fix is currently known. Honestly, it could be related to playing the game using a GameShark as an import adapter, since the GameShark is known to freeze up if you look at it wrong.

Battle Royal Team Setup Glitch

This bug exists in WrestleMania 2000, VPW2, and WWF No Mercy. Select a Team Battle Royal/Royal Rumble, and continue to the screen where you allocate the number of wrestlers per team. This glitch seems easiest to perform with four controllers, but may be possible with less. Hold left on the D-Pad of each controller, then hold right once you reach 1 wrestler. If done correctly, you will be able to add wrestlers past the usual limit. After the limit is passed in-match, the game will freeze. (I believe it's trying to introduce a wrestler that hasn't been loaded?)

As this glitch exists in multiple games, I have no plans on fixing it at the moment.

Non-Serious Bugs

These bugs are not related to gameplay, and as a result, are less serious. They are included for informational purposes.

"???" Height/Weight does not show on Wrestler Selection

Hilariously enough, I only noticed this in 2018... Instead of showing "???" for a height or weight, the wrestler selection menu will show the maximum value plus an amount equivalent to the "???" value (for weight, this is 301kg; height starts at 251 (first "???") and goes up to 253 (last "???")).

Nagata Lock Typos in Results Screen

Due to a simple typo, the move names for the Nagata Lock and Nagata Lock II show up as "&207ローク" and "&207ロークⅡ" if used to win a match. This has been fixed in VPW2 freem Edition, at the cost of the roman numeral 2... That particular error comes from VPW Studio (the tool I use for editing the games) not knowing how to handle the 'Ⅱ' character in the game's encoding.

Inconsistent Color Selection Wrapping Behavior

If you have a color modifier on and you move past color 0 to the left, it will reset. passing 31 to the right will keep it. This doesn't happen in WrestleMania 2000 (cursor can't wrap) or No Mercy (wrapping works perfectly).

Edit Mode: Turnbuckle Stolen Special changes when changing Turnbuckle Strong Grapple B

This is another recent (December 2018) discovery... When you change the move in the Turnbuckle Strong Grapple B slot, the Turnbuckle Stolen Special slot changes. This is most likely unintended, especially since the move index is not corrected for the additional moves in the Turnbuckle Special/Stolen Special slots.

Event Mode Attendance Inconsistencies

This bug has been fixed for 2023/07/30 and later versions.

Melonbread discovered an issue with Event Mode attendance calculation; full details can be found in this forum post.

Known Issues

Unlike the "Errata" section, this section covers known issues with the freem Edition hack only. This is not an exhaustive list.

Texture mapping is inaccurate on some costume items

Most visibly manifests itself with the old Yuji Nagata trunks from Revenge, but can also be seen with other imported textures. This is due to changes made to models between WCW/nWo Revenge and Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2. If the models in question were changed to make the Revenge textures look correct, all of the native VPW2 textures would change as well, messing them up... The perils of porting.

"Extra Model" clash

Attempting to use certain Entrance Attire items with Ring Attire F5 - Raven can cause part of the skirt to disappear. This is a known issue that may not have a proper fix.

Facepaint and face accessory palettes

Facepaint and accessory layers have a limited selection of colors available from a global palette. This is the reason that Dr. Frank's facepaint was changed to white/gray, along with Rick Steiner's headgear being a different color.

While it is possible to create new global palettes for facepaint and accessories, you would have to take the original limits into account.

Women's run stance is still in game

Despite changing the animation data for the Women's stance, the game special cases a running animation (among various others). This has not yet been worked around.

Missing moves

There's no Angle/Olympic Slam or Tazmission yet (as well as other moves that haven't been in an AKI wrestling game before). Porting and creating moves has been low on my priority list, as it's not as "easy" as the Gameshark way of doing things.

Missing polygon/model hacks

This is another thing that ended up being low priority compared to other tasks. For example, L.A. Park needs custom mask models. Part of the problem with this is creating different versions of the models for the different possible head and body types.

Questions and Answers

Only a few questions have come in during development so far, so I can't really call them "Frequently Asked Questions".

Questions regarding specific characters and the overall character selection process can be found in the Character Guide. The two character-related questions in this section are general enough to be in the main manual.

Can you send me a patched or unpatched ROM?

No, I will not send you a patched ROM or unpatched base ROM. Please don't ask me, and don't ask in the Discord server either. The hack is not distributed as a pre-patched ROM for legal reasons. This is common for most ROM hacks.

Why Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2? Why not WWF No Mercy?

This largely boils down to personal preference, plus Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 contains features that the other AKI wrestling games don't. Specifically, I appreciate the depth of having three fighting styles (Wrestling, Martial Arts/"Fighting", and Shootfighting). I will concede that No Mercy's weapon system is the best, the "Losing It" state is interesting, and that the ground Special move slots are a good addition.

Where are the women at?

The only known way to get women into Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 (as of 2018) is to import their model wholesale. Since I prefer a solution that lets you properly edit the women characters, a la No Mercy, this was not a good compromise. Like many other things, this requires a decompilation of the game.

Where's Joe Bruiser/Eric Bischoff (WCW/nWo Revenge version)/Andy Hug/(insert boxer or kickboxer here)?

VPW2 does not seem to contain code for the Boxing and/or Kickboxing styles, aside from a single unused string in Edit Mode. I'm of the opinion that the ability to have Boxing and Kickboxing styles in the early N64 AKI games was a result of a different moveset data format. The later games seem more rigid in their setup by comparison. Otherwise, you'd better believe a slot would be reserved for Joe Bruiser.

Why aren't there more theme songs?

Unlike WrestleMania 2000 and No Mercy, there are only a few theme songs in VPW2. Also unlike those two games, the theme songs in VPW2 use a higher sampling rate. In order to fit more songs in, I would have to 1) Lower the sampling rate of the existing songs and 2) Figure out where the song list is stored, make the edits, etc.

Small note: theme songs allow for varying wait times in the locker room. Let Giant Baba's theme play out during his entrance to see.

What are you going to do with Challenge Mode?

I'm not sure yet. At the bare minimum, it'll be an edit of the existing Royal Road Succession data.

What will be done with Ranking Mode?

I'm not sure about this either; I don't even know of anyone who uses this mode. In an ideal world, I would reclaim the space used by Ranking mode for storing more Edit Wrestlers. However, it's easier said than done.

Even if I do remove Ranking Mode, I'll have to edit the main menu to not include it, unless it's replaced with something else.

Will anything be done about the Records feature?

A long while ago, I was asked if I could remove the Records feature (presumably so the space it takes up could be used for more Edit Wrestlers)... I have no idea how to go about doing this, either.

Can you add other wrestlers?

No, all 98 default wrestler slots are taken. Adding other wrestlers would require re-pointing the ROM, as well as edits to SRAM and other various data structures, and I really don't want to do that without a full disassembly of the game.

I don't care, add [x wrestler].

If you want someone added, YOU spend 20+ years of your life figuring out the various game data structures. This is NOT "Virtual Pro-Wrestling 2 Community Edition", despite what other people may believe.

Are there going to be other stages added?

Unfortunately, it's not that simple to import a stage into VPW2, since there are so few slots. Here are the known "stage" items in VPW2:

So on top of there not being enough stages in the first place, you only get two choices when it comes to "real" stages. It's not happening without a lot of work, and that's work I don't care to do at the moment.

If actual arenas were implied instead, you only get five slots there, and much like changing the stages, a lot of work is required to add new arenas.

Are you ever going to hack No Mercy?

I have actually tried multiple times, with the last attempt, "WWF? Some Mercy" also being canceled.

The amount of work that would have to be done in order for No Mercy to be enjoyable for me is too much, which includes (but is not limited to):

And remember, I want to do all of this WITHOUT GameShark codes. For the amount of work needed, it just isn't worth the effort for me.

Can you make me a custom hack?/You should work on [hack idea X].

No. There are a lot of other projects I still need to complete (e.g. VPW Studio), and I cannot devote time to other projects.

VPW2 freem Edition Credits

Extended credits are available in credits.txt in the docs folder.

Project Lead

Hacking

Tools

Technical Assistance

Translations

Wrestler Data

Menu and UI Textures

New Face Textures

New Mask Textures

New Costume Textures

New Arena Textures

New Belt Textures

Music and Audio Conversions

Test Players

Special Thanks