Spectrum Computing

How would a game based on the transformers licence look.....if you could redesign it now

Evening @Wall_Axe,

Have you played the original from Ocean?

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... ansformers

Not calling it "Transformers Transformed" was a missed opportunity...

Good question. I love Transformers! I'm actually working on a game based on an 80s cartoon about robots (The Telebugs) so I'd also love to do Transformers as well one day. Off the top of my head, here's a few thoughts on how I would do a Transformers game…

It would be a scrolling platform shooter with a similar feeling similar to Robocop or Turrican:



It would be strictly G1, the only generally I really like. You'd get to play as one of 3 car Autobots such as Jazz, Sideswipe or Sunstreaker. (Not Optimus, who does appear in the game but he's the boss and too important to be running around in the game.)



The levels wouldn't merely be linear left-to-right, but would involve travelling back and forth around the environment, activating and collecting things. The game would therefore require a little intelligence and patience.

There would be "indoor" areas where you mostly walk around on foot, as well as open stretches where you mostly transform into a car to drive across the stretch.

As for enemies, the most plentiful assailants would be smaller Decepticon robots, such as the cassettes Laserbeak and Rumble, these smaller ones can be killed relatively easily.



In each level you would also face several larger Decepticons. These encounters would be like "bosses", in that the screen would be mostly static, the music would change, and it would be a prolonged battle, sometimes like a shoot-out from one side of the screen to the other. A battle with Soundwave (my favourite) is an absolute must - he could eject small cassette bots which attack you.

You will also meet other Autobots along the way. They don't move but are there to give you hints, such as an item or weapon you could use to kill a Decepticon, which may mean going back somewhere to get something you didn't collect before you face them.

Big names such as Optimus and Megatron don't arrive until the final battle, though I'd like them to make brief appearances throughout the game, to move the narrative along and tease the forthcoming battle.

I'd also like "bonus rounds" between levels similar to Robocop and Batman, where you play a slightly different style of game, such as light-gun or puzzle.

Overall, I'd like the whole game to be framed with a hefty dose of 1980s-style technology, robotics and weaponry. Text appearing on computer screens. That kind of thing. And I would make LOTS of cool music and sound effects to give it lots of atmosphere.

In slightly unrelated news, I done two Transformers stop motion videos years ago:

Not bad animations haha

Yeah I played the ocean one but it seemed rushed.

The game idea could be implemented in the first game's engine.

A battle with soundwave could be like actual soundwaves being used.
I might have to watch the tv show to get some ideas

A great fit for this would be a Chaos style strategy game where each robot form has different attributes based on the original tech specs and a bit of additional info. So for example in robot form might only have a movement speed of 1 but in plane mode he's a 9. Things like courage could work like the morale system in Rebelstar. Skill could affect how quickly you can transform etc etc.

That's a great idea actually.

It seems like when they are cars they have weak guns or are incapable of firing. I haven't seen the cartoon in many years though.

But when they are robots they have guns axes etc

They need energon cubes,so flying could be expensive in terms of energy

The whole flying thing is a mess, in terms of who could and couldn't fly. In the early cartoons most of them could fly, unless the story needed them to fall into a pit or dangle off a ledge. It was later suggested that Megatron started his uprising with a group of robots who had figured out flight, but the Autobots never got the hang of it, unless they transformed into an aircraft that itself could fly.

The Ocean game is made a bit rubbish by having three modes of moving around (walking slowly, driving faster as a car, or flying), none of which are really suited to the flick-screen platform levels. Not being able to transform back into a robot when falling as a car was the crappest bit of all, even crapper than dying instantly from bumping into a platform when flying.

An overhead view in an open map of roads, trails, canyons and tunnels might even things out; maybe you could drive around a bigger map heading for a marked waypoint, giving you the option to try to outrun / bump / cause to crash any enemies that appear, or stand and shoot them before carrying on. Then at certain points you could enter a building or military base and you'd play that mainly in robot mode, side-on like Robocop, with jumping and shooting, and maybe just having the ability to briefly transform to rush-attack an enemy. And in these you'd face boss fights against specific Decepticons, who'd each have a unique attack method.

I did enjoy the overhead view of the first mask game.
The way the car handled seemed well done.
Anything like that could be a good game.

In an overhead view flying would have to be scrapped altogether.

Wall_Axe wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 6:36 pm I did enjoy the overhead view of the first mask game.

Yes, the M.A.S.K. games came to mind when considering a Transformers game, there's a lot about them that's highly reminiscent of Transformers.

Swainy wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 10:26 pm In slightly unrelated news, I done two Transformers stop motion videos years ago:

The thing I'm most impressed with (which no one seems to have mentioned) is the STUNNING audio. The vocal performances and effects are simply incredible. The Peter Cullen impression in uncanny! I'm guessing you must have a background in professional audio/voice acting?

Yeah sounded very similar

Lee Bee wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 1:00 pm Yes, the M.A.S.K. games came to mind when considering a Transformers game, there's a lot about them that's highly reminiscent of Transformers.


The thing I'm most impressed with (which no one seems to have mentioned) is the STUNNING audio. The vocal performances and effects are simply incredible. The Peter Cullen impression in uncanny! I'm guessing you must have a background in professional audio/voice acting?

I didn’t actually voice Optimus Prime, that was my partner on the project, Jon Bailey (aka Epic Voice Guy on YouTube) who did actually go onto voice a number of Transformers in the Bumblebee movie. I did voice Starscream & Soundwave plus a couple of others though in these videos. Apart from podcasting I had no other experience in audio and the first episode suffered as the audio quality is pretty bad in places. Thankfully the voice acting by Jon was pretty decent.

Unfortunately the 3rd episode that we had planned never got finished as I didn’t have a studio and and my young daughter kept trying to play with the figures whilst I was filming it

Starscream ain't bad on the videos

This should be right up my street, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment...

Some form of strategy game would offer the best options: transformation as a gameplay mechanic where you're disguised from humans, if not the enemy. Option to play as Autobots or Decepticons, with a full campaign for each...

But then the idea of full-on shoot 'em up/punch 'em up action is quite tempting... Top-down would be most adaptable for vehicle and robot modes, but then multi-directional scrolling might slow things down to a crawl. Side scrolling might allow for more interesting transformation animations but, either way, you wouldn't want to make the same mistake Denton Designs made, in that the character has to be facing in a particular direction to transform... A specific button would be ideal, but they you've got the problem of controls split across joystick and keyboard.

Would it necessarily have to be G1/G1-adjacent? That has the largest cast of characters by far, so continuity with a smaller selection might make things simpler.

Was there a reason to be disguised from humans?

Swainy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 7:38 pm I didn’t actually voice Optimus Prime, that was my partner on the project, Jon Bailey (aka Epic Voice Guy on YouTube)

Oh wow! I thought it was an excellent Cullen impression… I had no idea you had fricking Jon Bailey doing it, possibly the world's best Cullen impersonator! I'm stunned how well-connected you are!

I can really appreciate the impressions as I do a few myself. I've even attempted to do Peter Cullen (last voice on this):