The Intergalactic Highway

Bwint gamers, unite!!! Those who have played War for Cybertron will be pleased to hear that a sequel is indeed real and headed our way! Here's the gameinformer article:



In 2010, High Moon Studios released War For Cybertron, finally giving Transformers fans a game worth getting excited about. Afterwards, the developer settled back and listened to what the fans wanted, going back to the drawing board to craft a new and improved follow-up.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron continues the story of the Autobots and the Decepticons and their bitter civil war, but changes and improves upon so many of the fundamental ideas that the developer considers the game a natural successor rather than a true sequel. We have over 12 pages of exclusive details on High Moon's new project, including extensive story and gameplay explanations, concept art, and dozens of screenshots. Whether you love the Transformers, or you just love hearing about the next great story-driven action game, Fall of Cybertron should be on your radar.

To celebrate the announcement of the new game, we're thrilled to reveal two stunning cover images. Our primary cover depicts Optimus Prime alongside a long-absent hero within the Transformers fiction. To view any of the images at an even larger size, either click on the image, or right click to view image.

November Cover

Entire Spread

Our second, limited-run cover reveals some of the darker tone High Moon Studios hopes to explore in Fall of Cybertron. Dangerous days are ahead for the heroic Autobots.

A fallen hero?

Spread

On top of our cover story, we'll be rolling out a a tremendous wealth of additional details throughout the month here on gameinformer.com. Check back every couple of days for more info and additional assets, many of which go above and beyond what you'll find in our print story. To begin exploring all our content, click on the banner below to visit our Transformers: Fall of Cybertron hub page, which will be updated as we add new features.

Gameinformer Transformers Hub

Beyond our exclusive look at Fall of Cybertron, the November issue of Game Informer has a visit to 343 Industries (the new stewards of the Halo franchise), a peek behind the curtain of one of gaming's biggest publishers in our uncensored history of Ubisoft, and brand new details on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim through our extensive new hands-on feature. Plus, previews of Assassin's Creed Revelations, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and Twisted Metal deliver the latest must-read news. And just how good is Batman: Arkham City? Our full review is finally here.

All this and more is on the way to your mailbox in the coming days. If you read Game Informer Digital, look for the new issue to arrive in your inbox on October 11.

Gameinformer Source

Aw yeah baby! I can't hardly wait to play this game. I loved the first one and hoped this one can beat it. I hope the campagian is longer than the last one.

That cover with Optimus and Bumblebee makes me really want this game to come out. I want to see where they are taking this story of theirs.

Awesome! War for Cybertron was great! Can't wait to play this.

I'm also very hyped for this game. I was afraid that High Moon Studios would move to Earth in the sequel (at least put the majority of the game on Earth). It's a good thing imo that they're letting up spend more time on Cybertron. Sure, most of the criticism was that the environments were too bland and monotone, but I loved the aesthetic direction in WFC. I'll gladly play another game with the same cities.

Some info pre-Game Informer coming that is definitely coolies. A few people say the WFC sequel back at PAX, but they had an NDA. Now that the unveilment is official, they've spilled the beans (and these are reliable people, BTW-- plus the Bruticus info turned out to be real a few days later due to a Gamespot preorder page, so...):

-Bruticus, PLAYABLE(!)
-Metroplex, PLAYABLE(!!!!)
-Other planet(s) besides Cybertron
-Lots more enemies on screen at once, one part where Optimus is gunning down literally waves of Genericons on a turret
-Grimlock's transformation is painful, takes a few seconds (the Dinobots and Insecticons are Shockwave's experiments)
-Can swap out parts of chassis for MP, not just a palette swap this time around

Sounds awesome! Truth be told I bought the War for Cybertron game, but I never got around to even opening it so it's still sealed, packed in one of the boxes from before we moved. I have not played a single x-box/ps3 game since we moved into our own home. In fact the only game I have played at all in over half a year was Portal 2 (great fun!).

I'll get around to playing it.. some day.. like I will with Mirror's Edge, Halo Reach, Halo ODST, and other games I got that I have yet to try..

As the most iconic Transformer to ever roll out, High Moon Studios spent a lot of time rebuilding Optimus Prime from the ground up for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. The war on Cybertron is coming to a dramatic climax, and Optimus has proven himself both a leader and a mighty warrior. His new look is battle-scarred, powered up, and ready for action. Check out the video to see the in-game model for Optimus Prime, complete with commentary from the High Moon team on creating a new look for the leader of the Autobots. Keep in mind that this footage is pre-alpha and was shot in a test area for the new game, so it does not represent the final appearance of the character. Enjoy!

Video preview included in the source link.

Gameinformer

***DOUBLE POST***

I'm just copy/pasting a list of things I wanted to see improved in a sequel game. Let's see how many of my wishes come true:


- Better netcode because WFC has terrible lag from time to time. Sometimes, I can't even connect to lobbies and would sit there choosing "join" over and over again until I'm successful. Sure, my connection isn't the best (download speed is like 5 mbps) but I'm not paying $32 for internet and $60 for a game just to hop into laggy matches.

- More escalation maps during release day. Two just seems a bit lacking to me and by the time DLC was released I had already traded in the game.

- No DLC or pre-order content that's already on the game's disc. Jazz's model can be found in Kaon so he should have been available in-game, not because I pre-ordered WFC from Best Buy.

- Voice variations would be nice. You can get a group of soldiers, scouts, scientists, or leaders and find that they happen to have the same voice actor. Even Jazz had the generic scout voice actor which was a major disappointment.

- More weapons if possible, but not at the expense of balance. I love the current weapons and the energon sword was the #1 inspiration for Orcariner. If High Moon Studios keeps the same weapon sets, then I'm not complaining.

- Hit boxes could use some improvement. I can't remember how times I accidentally clicked the melee button a few feet away from the enemy and somehow killed him. Other times, I'd walk a little closer and still miss. This could be lag, but these occurrences happened during smooth games, as well.

- Bigger cast is always welcomed in the campaign. Throw Jazz in there with Wheeljack, Blur, Ultra Magnus, etc. More cast members = more multiplayer models to choose from. Having a bigger color wheel for both factions would be nice, although I completely understand their decision to limit our options.

- Since Unreal Engine 4 isn't due to be utilized until the 8th generation of consoles/PCs, I'm hoping that High Moon Studios could rebuild their textures from the ground up. Don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful game. It's just that when you compare it to Gears of War, Batman: Arkham City, or any other game that boasts UE3, you notice that player models and certain environments look fuzzy and pixilated up close. This isn't noticeable when you play it on a 1080p television that upgrades anything you put into it, but it's more noticeable on 720p plasmas and standard definition screens. I saw that the Dark of the Moon game also had this issue, but it was more noticeable due to more lighting.

- Local co-op would be swell because that will help me get some of my friends to invest in the game. Yeah, the game would have to re-render itself to accommodate split-screen but more shooters are doing it now (Halo, Gears of War, Army of Two, Call of Duty, etc.) so I'm sure High Moon will be able to pull it off. Online co-op was blissful and I have no doubt that local will be just as fun.



Based on my previous post, it seems like they've addressed the textures issue. Although, I'll have to refrain from getting too excited until I play the demo on my tv. I'll probably add more to this list once I get into my trip down WFC memory lane.

Holy CRUD, guys. I got the Game Informer issue in question today and WOWzers. This looks like an incredibly high-quality game they're getting ready here. I'm obviously not going to quote the entire 12-page article, but some highlights:

-Instead of a campaign for the Decepticons and then for the Autobots, it'll all be one long story campaign in three acts. For the most part, the beginning and end of the campaign are Autobot-heavy while the middle is Decepticon-centric. Also, the story "begins" near the end, and then it goes back in time to show you how things got there. Also, it looks like you may have control of more than 1 TF in a level-- it talks about Starscream going up to and taunting Grimlock in one level, and then control switches to Grimlock as you break out of your imprisonment.
-METROPLEX confirmed! About 2-3 times as big as Omega Supreme.
-You get some individual Combaticon action, too, you don't "just" play as Bruticus. At the very least you get to play as Vortex, who is actually a bit of a triple changer as he convert to a helicopter AND jet.
-Because of the much-more-involved story and tailoring each level to the characters, the tough decision was made to axe single-player co-op.
-Tons of great guns are in the works, and all can be upgraded over the course of the game (and can be used by any character). A special online article about them is here: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/ ... rmers.aspx
-Cliffjumper's special ability-- he can cloak. His bits are stealthier than others.
-Jazz' special ability-- a grappling hook shoots out of his arm, letting him zip among platforms like Spider-Man.
-Insecticons! Shockwave plays a major role in this one, as he experiments on a lot of these guys (who were driven above ground after the planet's core was contaminated) and he's also responsible for the Dinobots. The reason Grimlock looks like a dino is because of data he's gathered from a distant planet called Earth (which at this early point in the timeline, has dinosaurs as its dominant lifeform).
-Grimlock is the only Transformer in the game who CAN'T transform at-will. Instead, with every enemy he kills his rage meter builds up. When the meter reaches max, it's T-rex time.
-Even on Cybertron, the environments are much more-varied-- a lot of research went into discovering metals that look and behave differently than you'd expect so the environments aren't so same-ish.
-Wonderful graphical upgrades from WFC.
-Megatron's undergone a transformation as well as Prime-- now Megatron looks about halfway between his WFC and Prime forms, with small wings on his tank mode.
-Not ready to divulge MP details yet, but for each class there's at least 6 different "chassis pieces" for each body part, and each affect speed, armor, etc. differently. You unlock more parts as you level up.
-Enemy AI is much more complex and devious.
-Enemies present different problems for different characters-- for small guys like Cliffjumper and Jazz an Insecticon may prove a handful, but for a huge guy like Grimlock a whole swarm of them isn't much of a problem.
-From the description Grimlock's personality is Furman-esque-- pretty intelligent, but a speech impediment caused by Shockwave's experiments masks this intelligence. Also has "creative differences" with Prime, doesn't want to abandon the planet.

High Moon Studios essentially confirmed that the campaign will be just as good (if not better) than the first game's. I'm a bit disappointed that they never addressed the problems with multiplayer. More and more online games are running on dedicated servers now (Gears of War 3, Battlefield 3, Resistance 3, Bad Company 2, Team Fortress 2, etc.). That's not to say that dedicated servers are perfect, but after they've been tried and tested through betas and demos, they destroy P2P netcoding in regards to playability. Only Halo: Reach was able to run smoothly enough to virtually eliminate host advantage and hit detection errors. I know I've brought this issue up a lot with the original WFC game, and I'm sorry if I sound like I whine too much about it, but the lag really killed the game for me. Don't get me wrong, I still performed well during laggy matches due to experience with the glitchy nature of PC gaming and the broken mess known as Call of Duty. When I had the host advantage, I made sure I wouldn't get less than 30 kills in that TDM game. The demo was surprisingly smooth so it makes you wonder what went wrong with the final product.

Considering that Activision is the publishing company, I highly doubt we'll dedicated servers any time soon. Still, it's worth addressing or at least they can compensate for latency by forcing a delay to both players like Bungie did with Reach.

Screenshots:

Cliffjumper

Jazz

Starscream

Optimus Prime


Keep in mind that HMS is claiming that these are pre-Alpha stage models. While the design seems finalized, the textures and skins might be touched up before the final release in Winter 2012. The weapons on them have already been described in the most recent Gameinformer article. The list of armaments is currently incomplete, and I'm glad because I'm frankly not impressed with most of the new guns thus far. Give me back my null-ray. The new scrapmaker actually looks fun, but I doubt it'll be available to scouts off the bat in multiplayer. Looks like it'll be WFC all over again where I have to hunt down a Soldier class player, kill him, and jack his gun for my own enjoyment.

Grimlock Reveal Teaser

The Illustrated Tour of Cybertron



Transformers: Fall of Cybertron has an ambitious vision. The game makers at High Moon Studios are looking to broaden the appeal and excitement of the Transformers brand by expanding the fictional backdrop in new and exciting directions. As exhibited in sci-fi franchises like Halo, Killzone, or Gears of War, a key component of a believable mythology lies in authentic and surprising locations and environments. Fall of Cybertron aims to bring the metallic homeworld of the Transformers to life as never before with an array of exciting locales.

Take our illustrated tour of the game’s many sites in the pages ahead. On any of the many art images and screens, you can click the image for a larger version.



Cybertron

The home planet of the Transformers is a world of metal on the far side of the galaxy from Earth. No known organic creatures exist on the planet, but life has found a way through sentient robotic beings that have the ability to transform their shape at will. Cybertron holds within itself the essence of Primus, the god-like creator of the Transformers.

Long ago, Cybertron and its inhabitants experienced a golden age of expansion, scientific growth, and peace. Cybertronian civilization spread out to colony worlds across the galaxy. That civilization came to a tragic end millennia ago, leaving behind relics and remnants of a time when the Cybertronians were more powerful than they are today.

More recently, a horrific civil war ravaged the planet, fought between two armed factions, the Autobots and Decepticons. The Decepticons poisoned the planet’s core with an insidious substance called dark energon, and the entire planet has shut down to repair itself. Cybertron is now a world in stasis, and most of its inhabitants are being forced into exile or face extinction.



Iacon

Once the capital city and headquarters for the Autobot cause, Iacon has crumbled into a war torn and depowered ruin by the time Fall of Cybertron begins. A snow of soot and ash coats the sprawling city. Dead robots lie scattered in the streets, with no one to mourn their passing. Once vibrant lines of energon that lit the city now sit dark. The Autobots lost the war for Cybertron, and few places so clearly show that loss as their home city.







Sea of Rust

The vast desert called the Sea of Rust exists beyond the boundaries of the towering metal cities currently populated by Cybertronian civilization. Rust storms scour the harsh landscape, threatening to eviscerate any robotic lifeform that might dare to cross its expanse.

Deep in the heart of this forbidding wasteland is a lifeline – a last reservoir of energon that could be used to power the Autobot’s final exodus from the planet. Some cataclysmic event created the desert, but the crumbling ruins hold secrets left behind by the ancient Cybertronian civilization that came before. In fact, while traveling across the Sea of Rust, players will see the fallen corpses of massive robots – members of the fallen civilization that once traveled the stars. Now, these robotic bodies are like mountains and valleys in the wastes, memories of a forgotten power.





Space Bridge

Of all the great inventions and advancements from the lost golden age of Cybertron, none is so powerful as space bridge technology. This remarkable innovation allowed instantaneous transport across the galaxy by opening a path through time and space. Utilizing these portals, Cybertronian civilization spread to distant planet colonies, now cut off from their home planet. The space bridge network collapsed along with the ancient Cybertronian civilization, and its secrets were presumed lost – until now.

The calculating Decepticon scientist, Shockwave, has uncovered a last functional space bridge, and is slowly unraveling its secrets. He has already used it to examine a far distant planet filled with organic life – a place that will later be called Earth by its inhabitants. On Earth, he observes hulking reptilian beasts that inspire his dark science experiments. He has captured a powerful squad of Autobot warriors led by Grimlock, and those unfortunate soldiers will fall victim to Shockwave’s experiments as he tries to recreate those distant dinosaur creatures here on Cybertron.



Insecticon Invasion

While the surface of Cybertron is populated by intelligent, sentient robots, the underground is filled with dangerous metallic creatures of a more sinister and mindless variety. Many of these creatures have been forced to the surface after the core of the planet was poisoned by dark energon. Shockwave has taken the already dangerous Insecticon hordes and further modified them, making them an even more malicious threat.

As a result, large sections of Cybertron have now been overrun by the Insecticon menace. These dangerous creatures devour metal, and repurpose existing landscapes to match their own hive purposes. New Insecticons burst forth from pulsing pods positioned among the towering spires and web-like bridges that interconnect the hives.





Shockwave’s Lair

Surrounded by the Insecticon technology that he hopes to cultivate, Shockwave’s lair is a cold and sterile fortress of mirrored surfaces and dark laboratories. It is a house of horrors to the unfortunate Autobots who are captured and brought here. Most will never leave.





Kaon

Iacon was once the brightest city on the face of Cybertron, but that privilege now belongs to the Decepticon capital of Kaon. The city brazenly flaunts its remaining supply of energon, even though it too will soon fall dark as the entire planet continues to shut down.

Kaon was once a smoky industrial cesspool where the lowest castes of Cybertron slaved away. As a distraction from their unfortunate lives, gladiatorial combat became common in and around the city. From the ranks of these gladiators there arose a champion named Megatron. His ambition would turn his quest for freedom into a war for tyranny, and all of Cybertron would pay the price.





The Nemesis

The Decepticon’s largest and most powerful battleship is a force to be reckoned with on its own, but filled with Decepticon soldiers, it is a dreadnaught of unstoppable power. The secrets of its creation remain mysterious, but one thing is known for sure. The Nemesis is the ship Megatron uses to pursue Optimus Prime and the Autobots into space. The two armies clash in a titanic battle in outer space before continuing further out into deep space.



The Ark

Optimus Prime commissions the Ark as a great transport ship to carry the last of the Autobots into space, away from their dying planet. Unfortunately, the Decepticons’ continued assaults against Iacon rapidly deplete energon reserves, and the massive ship may not have enough power to even get off the planet. Much of the story in Fall of Cybertron focuses on the quest for energon to power the Autobots’ final exodus.



Teletran

A comprehensive computer system and planetwide network, Teletran contains vast amounts of data. In-game, Teletran locations offer an opportunity to upgrade new weaponry. Teletran also holds the entirety of known Cybertronian history and culture, so Optimus Prime opts to load a portion of Teletran’s vast database onto the Ark, in the hope that some portion of Cybertron’s legacy will survive the planet’s fall.

Source

Animating the Transformers

I gotta say, Jazz has been involved in every media for this game thus far. Looks like his role isn't just any normal addition to the campaign, but HMS listened to fans and are actually making him a significant character. I certainly approve

What is this... 5 posts in a row?



While the AI systems in Transformers: War for Cybertron were completely functional, developer High Moon felt like it needed to rethink its enemy design for the follow-up Fall of Cybertron. The studio’s AI solution has affected every facet of the game, including the fundamental design of its enemies.

At any given moment in the game, a player might be undertaking any multitude of diverse actions; players read their enemy’s actions for clues about what they might do next, access their weapon load out, reload their weapons, scan the geometry for cover, weapons and threats, then ultimately commit to a decision. All of this can happen in a matter of seconds, meaning every moment of gameplay contains a nearly infinite number of variables. Since any player can approach any situation in any number of ways, a game’s AI has to be flexible enough to respond to every imaginable situation. This is only one of the challenges behind designing video game AI.

High Moon feels like it has some added AI complexities to deal with in Fall of Cybertron. “AI systems generally work by assessing the situation and then reacting,” says game director Matt Tieger. “Which is fine if your character is moving at a baseline speed, or even if you are at a run. In most games you can’t get that far from your initial position, before your enemies have decided what to do.” However, in Transformers, players can transform and fly half a mile away in the time that it takes most enemies to process and commit to an action. This means Transformers’ AI systems need to be extra speedy. “Our guys sometimes have to do some radical things in the background to compensate for this problem,” says Tieger.

High Moon has improved the responsiveness of all of its enemies for Fall of Cybertron, but that’s only one of the key changes to the AI. In order to communicate how its enemies react to the world, High Moon has implemented some overt animation and sound effects that help distinguish each character. Whenever possible, enemies in Transformers: Fall of Cybertron undergo physical transformation changes that will cue players into enemy behavior and weaknesses.

In Fall of Cybertron, Autobots and Decepticons have a variety of specialty AI classes. The Autobots have a class called the Titan (seen above). “This guy is a big dude,” says Tieger. “He’s a big hulking mass and he has minions that help him, but he’s unique to the Autobots.”

The Decepticons have a variety of different AI classes as well. Discover the best way to take down each enemy in the following analysis of three Decepticon specialty classes.

DECEPTICON LEAPER



Leapers are hulking brutes that can be difficult to take down from the front



Game AI often shapes a game’s environment. For example, the Leaper jumps around a lot, therefore levels that feature him need to be wide and open



Leapers don’t go into a full transformation, but they do shift into a wedge shape as they jump into the air. This air attack is one of the Leapers’ more powerful moves. Players will have to dodge this move and attack from behind in order to defeat these monstrosities

DECEPTICON GUARDIAN



The Guardian perfectly displays High Moon’s emphasis on enemies that transform based on their behavior. The Guardian’s base mode is their patrol form (pictured on the far left here)



When a player is spotted, they transform into battle mode, which is a heavy attack setting



Enemy AI often influences a character’s design. For example, the Guardian’s battle mode is big and bulky, which represents how tough a challenge the Guardian will be in combat



If a player hides from the Guardian’s battle mode, the Guardian will shift into investigate mode and begin scanning the environment for signs of their prey

DECEPTICON WALLCRAWLER



The Wall Crawlers are sniper enemies that have two forms. While in flight mode it quickly flies around the environment looking for a perch



Once a Crawler finds a suitable sniping position, it transforms into its spider leg form, which allows it to crawl up walls and attach to ceilings



Crawlers attack in hordes. In this shot you can see a group of enemies crawling the walls in the background



Crawlers will not attack while in flight, so their unique transformation sound signals players that it is time to crawl out of cover and find a better firing position. This is a good example of how High Moon’s visual and auditory cues aid players in combat

High Moon hopes that these AI changes will make the game more entertaining. “For me there is a deeper layer to a game’s AI,” says Tieger. “Do I understand what my enemies are thinking? Because if I understand what he is thinking then I can manipulate what he is thinking, defeat him, and that makes me feel smart. If the AI makes you feel like you flanked them, because you understood what they were going to do, that’s fun. That’s why we play games.”

If our early look at the game is any indication, High Moon is on track to create more intelligent, challenging, and entertaining enemies. Transformers have never seemed craftier.

Source

I'm just gonna post the link this time:

Resurrecting The Dinobots