The Energon Pub

News Credits: 5 · by **Omega Sentinel** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:57 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xbrKnASHAk

Sorry the quality is kind of bad. Best I could do with a short amount of time.

News Credits: 1 · by **Venomous Prime** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:06 am

The Spark Points thing sounds kinda ehhh to me, but everything else was pretty cool sounding

News Credits: 9 · by **Editor** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:15 am

Hot Damn, thanks OS.

News Credits: 5 · by **King Henrik** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:19 am

the spark points thing is interesting. i was guessing spark points was going to be like mp for using tactics rather than for transforming. if i saw correctly, it takes 35 points for the solstice to transform. assuming we start with a hundred that's not many transformations. so based on that i have 2 overall questions.

1) i can see we now have a hp system that can go over 100 hp. will we also be able to increase our maximum spark points?

2) once we transform to an alt mode, how long do we stay in in that state? just for the duration of use of the alts special ability? what happens if the special ability doesn't fire?

thanks for all the hard work you're putting into this OS!

*edit* also very excited with idea of dual wielding weapons!

by **Raphael Prime** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:29 am

I'm with Original Sin on the Spark Points. They sound a little iffy right now, but hopefully there is a good way of managing them for when in battle.

Overall though, that teaser trailer, makes me want this game to come out this weekend or sooner.

by **neliz** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:53 am

needs moar €nergon..

Way to go OS!

There's a lot of stuff that hints at origins in D&D like or some deaper hack&slash RPG's like the advantages and drawbacks of two handed weapons feels very dungeon sieg"y". Good work!

by **Kickyourassacons** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:09 am

Sounds pretty cool and I am very excited for the opening day. These new features wont take more time will they? I like this game because I can play while I am at work but I wouldn't have time for the game if HMW2 requires much more of it. I like how I can just throw guys in missions and forget about it.

News Credits: 3 · by **Serpent O - R** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:10 am

Cool, can't wait!

I was curious at what rate we would get our spark points back.

Question- What determines range? Is there a gameboard that the pieces move across or is it an abstract of [back line] - [front line] vs [front line] - [back line]?

[edit]

News Credits: 32 · by **UltraPrimal** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:42 am

My only question is when? I haven't played HMW in ages, but this is the sort of thing that could get me back into it.

News Credits: 226 · by **Burn** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:47 am

Raphael Prime wrote:I'm with Original Sin on the Spark Points. They sound a little iffy right now, but hopefully there is a good way of managing them for when in battle.

Overall though, that teaser trailer, makes me want this game to come out this weekend or sooner.

I've seen a lot of what OS is planning and i've been iffy towards a lot of it, but once you see it in action all iffyness is quickly forgotten.

Hence why I spent half my weekend playing the damn game .... oh and then there's the logging on before and after work trying to play as much as possible.

Stupid addiction.

News Credits: 1 · by **Venomous Prime** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:13 am

Burn wrote:
Raphael Prime wrote:I'm with Original Sin on the Spark Points. They sound a little iffy right now, but hopefully there is a good way of managing them for when in battle.

Overall though, that teaser trailer, makes me want this game to come out this weekend or sooner.

I've seen a lot of what OS is planning and i've been iffy towards a lot of it, but once you see it in action all iffyness is quickly forgotten.

Hence why I spent half my weekend playing the damn game .... oh and then there's the logging on before and after work trying to play as much as possible.

Stupid addiction.

Are you really trying to convince us or are you just trying to rub it in that we can't play and you can?

News Credits: 226 · by **Burn** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:15 am

I'm ... trying to convince you ... of course!

...

*runs off to see if i've earnt another robot point to upgrade*

by **Raphael Prime** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:35 am

Burn wrote:I'm ... trying to convince you ... of course!

...

*runs off to see if i've earnt another robot point to upgrade*

..I say we go over and smash his computer, don't you Original Sin?

But that's good to hear Burn, thank you.

News Credits: 1 · by **Redimus** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:57 am

Most of my tf toys are left handed (where possible) as I am left handed. Can I equip a weapon to the left hand if I only have one, or can you only equipe your second weapon to the left hand?

News Credits: 42 · by **Psychout** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:58 am

Nope, your dudes can be left handed if you want, all mine are.

Edit: This has now been NEWS'D!!

So, opinions please people...

News Credits: 1 · by **Hoistimus** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:49 am

I assume this will mean a reset (for everyone) once HMW2 is started?

Not that I mind, wouldn't be the first time I lost a top 10 position, I'll gain it back

Anyway, my original meaning to post was to ask the question: Any estimate on when we might actually get to see HMW2 implemented?

And if Burn and friends need any bots to help beta test HMW2, I'm always available..

News Credits: 5 · by **Omega Sentinel** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:03 am

Hoistimus wrote:Anyway, my original meaning to post was to ask the question: Any estimate on when we might actually get to see HMW2 implemented?

The goal is May

Kickyourassacons wrote:Sounds pretty cool and I am very excited for the opening day. These new features wont take more time will they? I like this game because I can play while I am at work but I wouldn't have time for the game if HMW2 requires much more of it. I like how I can just throw guys in missions and forget about it.

If you want to dump players into missions and go to work you can continue to do so. The goal with the game is to offer depth while allowing the simpler game to be played for those that choose it. So far that seems to be coming together nicely.

News Credits: 9 · by **Editor** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:05 am

So those of us that play at work can continue to dump and run, Excelent planning, OS.

Thank you for thinking of these aspects, that shows again how much thought you've put into this. Kudos.

News Credits: 7 · by **Dragonslayer** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:23 am

I must say, this look pretty damn cool. I'm a little confused about how stuff works, but I'm always confused about stuff, especially when it comes to starting new games like this

But it looks as if I can figure stuff out quickly on the fly (experimentation/trial and error). I'm eager to see the new weapons system myself, and the altmode system looks interesting to me too.

Awesome work, OS! Can't wait for this to come out!

Like Me, Grimlock! on Facebook · by **Me, Grimlock!** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:27 am

When will this be released for the Xbox 360?

Huh? What? What? Stop laughing at me.

by **devast8or** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:05 am

UltraPrimal wrote:My only question is when? I haven't played HMW in ages, but this is the sort of thing that could get me back into it.

Good grief! UP, you've got a lot of questions to answer in your "what advice would UP give" thread... :lol:

good to c ur still around these parts

by **Scantron** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:38 pm

Looking great so far. With all the times V2 has been 'just around the corner', I was fairly cynical about this attempt going anywhere...but this trailer's convinced me that this is for real and the new game is going to be very impressive. May is a long way off, but I can't wait to give V2 a shot.

by **Booda** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:56 pm

Psychout wrote:So, opinions please people...

Are you sure...?

The whole thing gives me an overall "meh" feeling. It's like the original game, but with more numbers. I don't necessarily construe that as an improvement.

There's something about alt modes and spark points that just seem totally counter-intuitive to me. First, that transforming from a robot warrior into a slowly accelerating, difficult-to-maneuver Earth vehicle (aka a semi-truck) has any advantage at all doesn't make sense. This is a limitation on the gameplay itself I think, as it reserves itself almost entirely to combat, so aspects of alt modes that would be beneficial outside of combat are either not going to make sense or are going to be omitted.

Second, there's never been any inherent cost to a transformation other than the time to do it and perhaps some exertion comparable maybe to walking up a short flight of stairs. In the lore, transforming was actually a method of conserving energy; not expending it.

It sounds like Spark Points are going to be used like "Mana Points," or "Magic Points," or "Action Points," or whatever tub-o-resource the game uses. Can't say I'm excited about this. I was disappointed in HMW1 that alt modes did nothing aside from random special attacks. Spark Points say to me that alt modes are just going to be represented by "So-and-so transforms into a whats-it and does a special attack!" Except now there's an MP cost.

I always wanted to see my transformers transform and... well, stay that way. If you have a strategic advantage as a fighter jet strafing the battlefield (no, not that strafing), why would you bother with robot mode? I feel like there's a lot of design space missing.