Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Gameinformer Special Edition Podcast

Jeese, a podcast? I got enough at the roundtable. It's either more game footage/reveals or I'm not interested... getting tired of hearing how great its going to be when I have to wait a year to actually play it.

Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

Sabrblade wrote:Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

You wanna know how he got these scars? His father was...a drinker...and a fiend.

In all seriousness, I guess their going for the more robotic-looking facial design.

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

You wanna know how he got these scars? His father was...a drinker...and a fiend.

In all seriousness, I guess their going for the more robotic-looking facial design.

Haha, yea they seemed to have gone a little overboard with the detail in the face in a wierd way. But i'm sure its so that when you normally view Jazz in game where your not super close up, it'll help distinguish parts of his face better in the blur of action.

MINDVVIPE wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

You wanna know how he got these scars? His father was...a drinker...and a fiend.

In all seriousness, I guess their going for the more robotic-looking facial design.

Haha, yea they seemed to have gone a little overboard with the detail in the face in a wierd way. But i'm sure its so that when you normally view Jazz in game where your not super close up, it'll help distinguish parts of his face better in the blur of action.

But all other FoC pics of Jazz show him with a normal-looking mouth.

Sabrblade wrote:

MINDVVIPE wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

You wanna know how he got these scars? His father was...a drinker...and a fiend.

In all seriousness, I guess their going for the more robotic-looking facial design.

Haha, yea they seemed to have gone a little overboard with the detail in the face in a wierd way. But i'm sure its so that when you normally view Jazz in game where your not super close up, it'll help distinguish parts of his face better in the blur of action.

But all other FoC pics of Jazz show him with a normal-looking mouth.

Looks the same to me.

Guess I didn't get a close enough look at it.

Still don't like it, though.

Sabrblade wrote:Guess I didn't get a close enough look at it.

Still don't like it, though.

I was just lookin at my collection the other day, and damn, does Generations Jazz have a sick headsculpt. He looks so freakin' badass! Especially with the speakers deployed on each shoulder I don't mind the complex face of the game version though.

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

You wanna know how he got these scars? His father was...a drinker...and a fiend.

Dude it's 2011; Dark Night references are so 09.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

You wanna know how he got these scars? His father was...a drinker...and a fiend.

Dude it's 2011; Dark Night references are so 09.

I believe you are referring to Dark Knight


*shoots himself for saying that*

MINDVVIPE wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

You wanna know how he got these scars? His father was...a drinker...and a fiend.

Dude it's 2011; Dark Night references are so 09.

I believe you are referring to Dark Knight


*shoots himself for saying that*

*Sigh* That's what I get for trying to be funny after 2 AM

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Before I hear the podcast, I gotta ask why is Jazz's mough all cracked apart?

He looks like ROTF Alice during mid-transformation.

You wanna know how he got these scars? His father was...a drinker...and a fiend.

Dude it's 2011; Dark Night references are so 09.

Dark Knight references are forever. Until Dark Knight Rises comes out and almost invariably give us a whole new mess of memes.

Sabrblade wrote:Guess I didn't get a close enough look at it.

Still don't like it, though.

Me neither, actually. It's fine for, say, the movie designs, where it's all a bunch of parts that shift and move as the Transformer talks or emotes. But here, it just looks like parts for the sake of parts, just to look more robotic.

Unless he got suckerpunched in the jaw and hasn't repaired it yet or something, I won't be happy about it.

dp

Podcast Q&A summary

Q1: Does one have to play WFC in order to understand the FoC story?
A1: Nope. But doing so may give you an extra level of enjoyment.

Q2: Which TFs did not make it into the game, and where would they want the series to head next?
A2: Arcee. Being a female character, her animation skeleton would have required twice as much animation, which was too much for their system. Also, no Primus (as Cybertron's robot mode) or Unicron. As for where the series would go, there's a big gap of time between the TFs leaving Cybertron and arriving on Earth, so there's that to explore. And it'd be awesome to flesh out the era of the Thirteen, either Knights of the Old Republic-style or RPG style. Then again, Hasbro is very precious with that timeperiod.

Q3: Will there be any FoC toys?
A3: Hasbro has been quiet about that, so it's not yet known.

Q4: Were there parts of the FoC game written to connect to the Prime cartoon?
A4: No. There are a couple of things that they did to connect with Prime, but not necessarily in the story. They create the story, and then work with Hasbro to make sure it doesn't violate what goes on in the Prime series. But they did grab some things from Prime in the visual development of certain things like Cliffjumper's head, Optimus's gun, some ship designs, some melee weapons, etc. etc.

As an aside, they reiterated that the show and the two games are seen as part of the same overall continuity.

Q5: Any thoughts about single-player DLC for this game?
A5: There have been talks. They're still going through the finances of that that and haven't committed to anything yet. But they are interested and are trying to see where they're going with this.

Q6: With Teletraan I being in this game, will gamers be able to access it and learn some history info of the TFs in this continuity? Will there be any attempts in this game to decompress the narrative and add some text files (like in Arkham Asylum and Mass Effect) to expand out the lore for those who are interested.
A6: Short answer, "Yes." WFC had an okay story that didn't need to expand on the things that most non-TF fans wouldn't care about. But, there is still that hunger for that next layer down of backstory, audio logs, text logs, concept art, that was not satisfied with WFC. So, they're looking at a number of ways to give this extra info in this game should it be wanted. Don't know if it'll be done through Teletraan, but they're looking at several options.

Q7: Is Megatron fought by the player as an Autobot?
A7: A straight answer for this wasn't permitted to be given. Instead, it was described how Megatron plays an important role in the game as a character who's to be seen from many perspectives, as are a lot of the charactrs in the game. The first game was an Autobot story and a Decepticon story, while this game is a Cybertron story. It's about Cybertron itself and many play key roles of importance in its story.

Q8: More Starscream?
A8: There is definitely more Starscream in this one.

Q9: With the Insecticons showing up, will they all be mindless swarming bots or will some individual Insecticon characters (a la Bombshell/Shrapnel/Kickback) be featured?
A9: The Insecticons are in the game, but as far as for any named Insecticons, that's classified. Wait and see.

Q10: Wheeljack's presence: confirm or deny?
A10: Again, can't say yes or no.

Q11: Do all the characters that have been shown up to this point cover the basis of all the playable characters in the game?
A11: Absolutely not. There are more characters than what have been talked about. There will be more playable characters released as they go through.

As an aside, Matt Tieger asked how many Transformers there are. They figured since there's so many, at least several thousands, that they can't possibly please everyone by putting everyone's favorites in the game since there's just too many to pick from.

Q12: In WFC, one often ran out of ammo too quickly. How will this be improved in FoC?
A12: Several ways to fix this. In the first game, there wasn't enough ammo, and it wasn't easy to find. This time, however, the equipment sizes are significantly larger so you can carry more ammo with you. The ammo design has been changed and have been put in more easy-to-find places. And, the AI enemies will now drop ammo when you kill them. But they did not add a self-fulfilling ammo overheat system for the guns. Plus, there is also now the Teletraan Store placed all throughout the game's world where you can buy and upgrade weapons, and one upgrade you can buy will automatically refill all your ammo every time you go into the store.

Q13: Will there be a cover system in this game?
A13: No.

Q14: What new and interesting things are being done with boss fights and boss characters in this game? Will there be boss fights in FoC?
A14: There are some that are different from what would be called a traditional boss, but different in a good way. The experiences in this game may surprise people. They're what one might call "Transformer-y".

Q15: Difficult question. Will FoC have the same campaign length as WFC, or longer?
A15: Depends on the person. Some felt WFC's campaign was too short, while others felt it was too long. It might be about the same as WFC, but can't say for sure.

Q16: This game looks a lot more colorful than the first. What drove this design decision?
A16: They wanted to go places where they haven't been before and really push what the visuals of Cybertron could be. They really put a lot more effort into the looks of all kinds of metals that have opened up the color palette a little bit. And when making a game like this, it really needs that kind of color variety.

Q17: Will the game come to PC?
A17: Sadly, no PC version. They focused on delivering the highest quality experience as possible, which is in the console department. They wanted to support the PC community, but they weren't able to do so like they wanted to. They wish it were possible and are bummed about this, but at the same time it was a hard decision and they feel it was the right call.

Q18: What is High Moon doing to increase online mutliplayer longevity for FoC to make gamers play it longer than WFC?
A18: Beg them to play it longer. But seriously, they're trying to address the issues people had with the online multiplayer of WFC and figure pout how to make the community even greater than before.

Q19: Will one be able to customize weapons in multiplayer? Will the customizations of single player be able to carry over into multiplayer? Will Dinobots be playable in multiplayer?
A19: Can't answer about the customization of weapons because nothing is certain of it yet. for Dinobots, their skeletons are completely different form the other TFs. Their scale is huge compared to the others. Putting them with the others would detract from the gameplay experience. If they were scaled down to be better match with the others, then they would look silly (Grimlock would be a tiny T-Rex). And Grimlock cannot transform willingly, so it wouldn't work well in multiplayer. So, it's better that they aren't in multiplayer. It's not that it's a bad idea, but that it just can't be done.

Q20: What sort of customizations will there be for multiplayer?
A20: Four different classes: cars, trucks, tanks, planes. Each consists of six parts: head, chest, upper arm, lower arm, legs, (he couldn't remember the last part). You pick whichever parts you want. They'll all unlock as you play through the game and level up. The customization system is very complex. People spent hours making their own TFs out of these parts and colors. Severely better than the not-so-thorough WFC version.

Q21:Any possibility of AI bots in multiplayer?
A21: Said too much already about multiplayer, so this was not answered. But, they will make announcements later near the end of the year giving more info on the game.

I'm excited. I want to know more about the customization on multiplayer. it said it was severely different, so I'm getting excited. Customizing 6 different parts of the body would be awesome. I just hope that it's not shown super cool and then dull on the final copy like in WFC where they had alot of colors to choose from and then give us only 5. I feel the gameplay will be the same as WFC but I'm more excited about the customization of the characters

Time for me to touch and go on my absence... >: )

For Q21, I'm certain the sixth component Tieg couldn't remember was "wheels," which he mentioned in the roundtable.

I'm quite happy that in the roundtable Tieg brought up there is no autobot/decepticon in multiplayer, chassis wise. Colors differentiate, which is much better IMO. I remember Varia brought up that the optics and energon lines etc. could be the differentiating components, but I think I can live with the color restrictions.

One thing I am disappointed with is that the chosen parts for mp affect stats. I do not like that because I'm going to be fighting with myself for aesthetics versus stats. Uncharted 3 does fine without stats for character/parts choices, but again, my opinion. I'm sure it will help open up more differences between everyone in MP, and for that, I may be grateful.

Also very happy to hear the number of characters so far for chassis, and that aforementioned parts are unlockable versus all immediately available. Hope the level cap is higher as well. It gives some people reason to keep playing, as long as there's another level to reach. I wouldn't mind if they kept Prime mode as well. I thought that was a great idea on their part.

On AI: happy to hear all they said about that. Sounds like they're going in the right direction; hope they pull it off. Also very happy with what we saw for cutscenes, and level/character transitions. Very, very, exciting to me, and helps justify the lack of SP co-op. B: ALSO, VERY happy to hear more gameplay types integrated in more. I'm one of those people who prefer combining gameplay types versus sticking to one for sake of simplicity, and/or learning curve. Now let's wait and see if/how it affects MP. Likely not, but excited if it does.

And I totally can't remember whatever my last thing was going to be. Guess I'll edit if I remember it.
edit: ah, maybe this was it?:
It sound like vehicle modes do not change regardless of body parts chosen. A little disappointing if true, but I don't think they said this outright. The easiest way to make body parts affect vehicle mode is to actually make the transformations to some degree, so that parts can be reflected in alt mode - like fenders, spoiler, etc. same as was done with wheels. Very similar concept to the wheels. Hardest part, as always (it's not like they don't already need to deal with this in robot mode), is making it look good regardless of parts combination chosen. Lines don't have to exactly match up, strategic gaps can be made, and parts don't always have to correlate to the same part for a chassis. For instance, say we put some sort of fun curved, spikey shoulders on our character (ala deluxe DoTM Crankcase, sort of). Say this normally correlates to the front fenders of the vehicle, but these particular shoulders jut out from under the front of the vehicle instead. In transformation, the default front fenders ensure there's no weird lack of parts there, but you also get a cool spear sort of deal coming out of the front.
What if multiple parts have similar arrangements? Create a hierarchy of which part takes precedence in the transformation. It's not any more complicated than what it sounds like is already being done. It will only take more time/effort that we can only hope they have set aside before hand. Otherwise, we can always hope for a third installment. :S
A simpler way to appease me might just be some way to alter vehicle mode somewhat, like adding a spoiler or antenna (don't ask), spikes, etc. Just something to keep the costumization going outside of robot mode.

Oh yes, and I like that it sounds like you can switch shoulders (firing arm camera is hovering over) now!

I want to be able to customize my character completely. Meaning how the body looks and how the vehicle looks based on the body parts you have. And how the character transformers too. Because of this, I can make my vehicles looks super unique and that I can place where the wheels go on my character in robot mode, what the legs transform into etc. etc. In order to make a character truely mine, it has to be how I make him/her.

wigglez323 wrote:I want to be able to customize my character completely. Meaning how the body looks and how the vehicle looks based on the body parts you have. And how the character transformers too. Because of this, I can make my vehicles looks super unique and that I can place where the wheels go on my character in robot mode, what the legs transform into etc. etc. In order to make a character truely mine, it has to be how I make him/her.

That's a bit of a far stretch. While I applaud your enthusiasm on the level of customization might be far streched for just a single disc copy. They would have to bundle a second disc with the game, and allow for a hella lot of programming.

I'm not knocking your ideas Wiggles, but it is a large task considering how much would have to be put into it.

Mind you, they managed to do it with the wwe games, but they don't have transforming. I don't think its going to be that difficult a challenge. I think it would be difficult is the custom build to transformation to vehicle and back.

It's too early for advanced thought lol

Baneblade wrote:

wigglez323 wrote:I want to be able to customize my character completely. Meaning how the body looks and how the vehicle looks based on the body parts you have. And how the character transformers too. Because of this, I can make my vehicles looks super unique and that I can place where the wheels go on my character in robot mode, what the legs transform into etc. etc. In order to make a character truely mine, it has to be how I make him/her.

That's a bit of a far stretch. While I applaud your enthusiasm on the level of customization might be far streched for just a single disc copy. They would have to bundle a second disc with the game, and allow for a hella lot of programming.

I'm not knocking your ideas Wiggles, but it is a large task considering how much would have to be put into it.

Mind you, they managed to do it with the wwe games, but they don't have transforming. I don't think its going to be that difficult a challenge. I think it would be difficult is the custom build to transformation to vehicle and back.

It's too early for advanced thought lol

you will get to customize the torso, head, upper arms, lower arms, shoulders, legs, wheels, etc. in this game. In all the times Tieger spoke of it, he described how everyone who tried out the customization spent an outrageous amount of hours just looking through the choices trying to pick out what they liked. It's that thorough and advanced a system this time around.