Transformers What-If: Behind the Scenes

Hmm, where to begin with this one? First of all I'd always wanted to see what the Transformers would look like SHSO-fied, especially movie Optimus because he's so complicated.

I've been a Transformers fan for a really long time, so I'm familiar with the characters and I felt I could create an alternate game pretty easily. In the end, this project took a few weeks to finish, which is an awful lot of work.

So, first I'll talk about the character models.

Movie Optimus

Movie Optimus took me a whole day to model and I created every texture from scratch just for him. I got a few reference photos of the real movie Optimus and scaled it to SHSO sizing, copying almost every part of him, and simplifying it. He even has a tiny Autobot logo on his chest!

I needed more then one hero to play as, so I also modeled G1 Optimus! I used fan art from around the internet as reference, and faithfully duplicated him to a tee. I cheated a bit though by reusing the same texture for the pipes as I did for movie Optimus, and reusing his hands.

Shockwave's model was based on the War of Cybertron videogames. I copied Shockwave's chest texture almost exactly. I reused Optimus's hands again, even though Shockwave usually has claw-like hands, because I was originally not going to show a mission picture and so I only needed to show him from the waist-up.

For the car forms I tried to reuse as many parts from the robot models as possible to sell the idea that they turned into the cars. G1 Optimus actually comes closest to transforming, but I had to remodel a lot to get movie Optimus to fit into his truck form. The end result was worth it though, since he really does look like a mini movie Optimus truck!

In order to create each screen, I carefully copied from SHSO screenshots and relied on gradients and overlaid textures to complete the final image. Shanix is the main currency that the Transformers use, and Galactic Credits are like the equivalent of silver. I didn't know what either looked like, so I made shanix look like sticks of gold and silver and credits like silver coins but with the Decepticon Cybertronian letter for "E" on them. Notice how the hand you use as a mouse pointer in the game is Optimus's.

To make the "Courage" booster pack, I took an image of Optimus and used Corel Painter X's Sketch filter. Then I made another image of Optimus where all the colors were flat, and combined that with a toon-shaded version of him, and that's how I got that final result!

The mission image is one of my favorite images in the What-If. I modeled Transformers versions of the pick-up barrels and a giant eye-like spotlight to stick behind Shockwave.

The wheel hubs are an interesting story because, despite how small they are, I spent more time working on them then any other element of the user interface graphics.

It was fun to think up different icons for the hub and each part of the hub represents a different part of the game. The gear represents the settings, the axe represents the store, the fist is for missions and the Autobot icon is for the heroes in the game.

In the actual SHSO game, they just flipped the hub icon they created horizontally instead of making a new one. A bit lazy, to be sure, but it made it easier on me because I only needed to model one. When it was all said and done, the hubs were 15% the size that they used to be. Oh well.

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Well, that's it for my Behind-the-Scenes of the Transformers What-If!

I have two What-If Bonuses to complete before I go on a What-If break for a while.

I saw that White Phoenix was made available for a week but I didn't report on it, sorry if you were expecting a post. Anyway, if she truly has more powerful attacks then I'd pick her over normal Phoenix any day, since I like her costume more.

I hope you had a happy 4th of July!

-- SHSOFan.

What-If: The Transformers Come to SHSO!

The following post is a fictional exploration of what a Transformers SHSO would look like.

This week Hasbro and Gazillion Entertainment, (the makers of Super Hero Squad Online), released Transformers Squad Online, a new game set in the universe of Transformers!

When I set up my account and pressed the "Start" button on the home page, I was greeted by a loading screen with Optimus Prime from G1 and Optimus Prime from the movies, and their transformed modes.

I was walked through a tutorial where I purchased both Optimus Prime and G1 Optimus Prime. Unfortunately those were the only playable characters at the time, however they've promised to include a Decepticon version of the store where you can play as Decepticons and fight Autobots in missions.

Finally, I was able to play the game. I was sent to one of two Areas, Iacon.

Because I am a reviewer and this was a prototype version of the game, nobody else was around.

Now to explain the icons, starting at the top left corner and moving clockwise.

The "Tasks" button gives you a set series of tasks to complete within the game, which awards you with XP or special characters. The button with the Autobot logo lets you switch characters.

The "Pick a Robot" screen.

The button below it with the strange symbol, (it's the Minicon logo), lets you summon a Minicon.

Clicking the Minicon button...

...lets you summon a Minicon!

The Minicons add points to your squad level as well!

Anyway, moving on, the button with the speech bubbles gives you a pre-selected bunch of phrases like, "Transform and Roll Out!", "Decepticon Alert!", or "My name is [insert character name here]".

The button with a "T" on it activates your transformation!

They've promised a racing game in the future, where you race other Autobots and Decepticons in transformed mode!

The "Buy Shanix" button lets you buy Shanix via an online form. The button to the right of it lets you toggle fullscreen mode on and off. The right hub is called the Transport Hub. It transports you to different parts of the game, like the soon to be released racing game, to the store, to different Areas, the options menu, to the card battle game, your HQ, and missions. The left hub is called the Pack. It contains items you can use in the zones, like Modifications and Enhancements.

Now that I've covered all the buttons in the main gameplay mode, it's time to move on to the store!

The store has a wide variety of categories, with more to come, I'm sure. Right now there are only the two robots to buy, but like I said earlier, they'll be coming out with a Decepticon section soon.

They have four missions currently in the game, but on my first day I was only able to get one, Shockwave's mission. However, they have a Daily Mission available every day if you aren't an Elite Guard member.

The HQ section of the store has many interesting items, like Lockdown's hook or Prowl's ninja stars. They're cheap, but you have to become an Elite Guard member to use your HQ right now, so sadly, I didn't get to try out the items I bought.

They have an awesome-looking card pack available in the Card section, however I was unable to buy it and therefore couldn't play the card game either. Oh well, I'll save up enough shanix eventually.

You can also buy Badges to increase your robot's max level. I have yet to try them, but they sound awesome!

Now it's time to review a character, and I picked Movie Optimus just because I've played on him more, though the G1 version isn't bad at all.

ROBOT REVIEW: MOVIE OPTIMUS PRIME

EXPLORATION

Optimus Prime can only jump once, and he can't fly, (still waiting for the Jetfire Upgraded Optimus Prime!), but his truck mode rolls outs smoothly and is really fun to drive around the zones, what with the physics engine and tilting and slow stops and all that fun stuff.

I give his EXPLORATION a 7/10!

FIGHTING

Optimus Prime fights really well. He has multiple missile attacks, he slices and dices with his flame-y sword, and his Roll Out move has him transforming and ramming through anything in his path.
The Shockwave mission I played was very good, with Predacon enemies and a great two part boss battle. As Optimus, it was really fun to fight Shockwave, and then Predaking, and then to get a Titanium Alloy medal for my efforts was really satisfying.

I give his FIGHTING a 7.5/10!

COOL FACTOR

The detail on Optimus is extensive, and when looked at alongside a picture of the actual movie's, the parts are replicated almost exactly. While the level of detail doesn't quite fit with the rest of the game's characters, it sure is cool!

I give his COOL FACTOR a 9.5/10!

OVERALL: I score Optimus an 8/10. He's a "prime" example of how fun the game is currently.

Well, that's it so far, be sure to watch for updates about the racing game and card battles soon! :D

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Well, that wraps up this What-If... for now. However, you can vote in the new poll in the sidebar on whether you want me to show...

CARD BATTLES

There would be images of a card battle with various attack cards and a new Decepticon opponent!

or

RACING

An awesome Mario Kart style racing game... but SHSOfied with Transformers! I'd show pictures of a cool Cybertronian race track and different power up moves.

or

A MEGATRON MISSION

You may have missed the leader of the Decepticons in my What-If above. If you choose this I'll show pictures from a mission where you fight Megatron, but this time with G1 Optimus.

or

A VIDEO

I could animate a short video of Optimus Prime running around the zones and transforming into a truck. Should be pretty cool.

Anyway, in case you haven't noticed, I'm a huge Transformers fan as well as a Marvel and DC fan, so it was really fun to blend the two worlds together. I made everything you saw in the pictures from scratch, so if you have any questions, comment below! I'll also make a Behind the Scenes post eventually. Next on my schedule will be that Playable Villains Bonus... I think I'll use DC villains instead of Marvel ones since the What-If sort of came true. :)

Keep checking in for that and more!
-- SHSOFan.

JLA Week 4 - Behind the Scenes

Yaaaaaayyyyyy! So my JLA weeks have finally ended, and that means the What-If navigation bar has been replaced with... that's right! An official list of every What-If ever, so check that out right now and then come back and read this!

To start off, I wanted to pull out all the stops and end with a bang, which was hard to do since all I had were two heroes and no new mission. So what I did was I decided to showcase a part of the Darkseid mission that you guys hadn't seen yet in my What-If pictures. With floating houses.

This image was actually really, really difficult to set up. First of all the characters are actually in the environment, which helps me a little. I had some leftover houses from an earlier version of the mission that I'd modeled, so I just created an sort of floating cliff thing like in Avatar with a house on top of it. Then I used the same exact path from the previous pictures and stuck in a red-eyed Batman. I had modeled a bow for Green Arrow from a different image, (the one that goes with the COOL FACTOR section), and then I just used that and the extended arrow I'd made to make it look like Green Arrow was shooting at Batman. This was actually really, really, hard to do because I needed Green Arrow to hold back an arrow on the string of the bow, and so I had to manipulate the actual geometry of the string, (sorry, I dropped a few big words there. Basically I said that I had to bend the string to make it look like he was drawing it back).

Now it's time to talk about a different image that I created for this What-If, and that would be the COOL FACTOR image. I know I've tried to explain how I make these gameplay images before, but often I don't have enough pictures.

So basically I take an image of the game:

(It's actually a leftover image from my Thunderbolts What-If!)

Then I select a part of the ground, which in this case is really easy to duplicate because it's lit basically the same for the whole surface, (no large shadows). I copy & paste it to cover up Elektra, then I erase the edges with a soft edge to blend it into the rest of the ground. Now it looks like this:

Now I'm ready to place my model on top of it. For this image I actually rendered my model right on top of the background, without needing to paste it in later because I used the edited image as my camera (the 3d editor's camera) background.

Uh-oh, there's a problem! The hero icon still is Elektra, and she's level 5 which doesn't make sense because I was supposed to just have gotten the character. Time for some digital magic!

I pose the model in the same position that all of SHSO's heroes take in the icon. Then I render out the image at 300x300 pixels, to be scaled down later while I'm using my hero icon template downloaded from the CBR forum's SHSO wikispace page.

Then I flatten out the image by saving it as a .png, which also keeps the transparent background.

I import the icon and drag it over the other icon, this time it's Batman's, because I use a template where I've already cut out the Heads-Up Display elements that overlap the icon in the real game, and in the template I also have the name set up and a fake level, with the colors that would be underneath them covering up the real name and level number.

Add a few blurry motion lines and

TA-DA!

Now you know how much work it is. I'm just kidding, the whole process probably takes only 25 minutes.

Okay, one other question you might have is, "How did you make Green Lantern enrobed in green light in the EXPLORATION section?"

Well, here's how.

WARNING: Lots of technical jargon will be used. You've been warned.

Here's the image. If it looks like Green Lantern is enrobed in a green transparent coating, you would actually be right. What I do is I create a pose:

Never said it had to be a GOOD pose! Now I copy and paste the model in the exact same pose, in the hierarchy of objects, like so:

Then I "bake" the skeleton, (that is, get rid of the skeleton but keep the pose the model's in, and collapse the mesh so that everything is in one object):

Next, I use "Normal Scale" which scales things up but keeps them centered, so it goes around the model:

Then I add the transparent material and we're good to go!

Then I lower the transparency until it works, add a light and render!

DONE!

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Okay, I hope that answered all of your questions, past, present and future.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you still want to know how I created a particular image.

Now, coming up over the next couple months I'll be doing What-If Bonus features where I either update old What-If models or create new pictures with the same model. You'll be able to vote on which What-If gets the next Bonus feature in my upcoming poll, so look for that.

Bye for now!

-- SHSOFan.

JLA What-If - Week 4

Note: the following post is fictional, and does not represent any actual gameplay or announcements from Gazillion Entertainment, Marvel or DC.

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Green Arrow and Green Lantern were released today, which is really awesome because I've been dying to try out another archer character, and the possibilities of Green Lantern attacks are just unlimited! :D

But let's get to reviewing, shall we?

GREEN ARROW

EXPLORATION

Green Arrow has a standard locomotion system, no double jump and no flight, that is.

But his cool factor makes up for it.

I give his EXPLORATION a 2/5! :D

FIGHTING

Green Arrow's fighting moves are similar to Hawkeye's, and, I'm guessing, Avengers Hawkeye's.

But that doesn't mean it's bad. Actually, it's quite good, I guess SHSO learned their lesson with the first Hawkeye release. 

I give Green Arrow's FIGHTING abilities a 3.5/5!

COOL FACTOR

Let's face it: bows and arrows are cool. So are hoods. So are shadowed eyes. So Green Arrow has a lot going for him here. I may be a bit biased, seeing as I watch the Green Arrow show on CW, but Green Arrow is a cool looking character indeed-y!

I give Green Arrow's stunning duds a 4.9/5! :D

OVERALL: Cool looking hood, and cool looking archery. He's worth it, even for non-Arrow fans. I give Green Arrow a 4.1/5 OVERALL!

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GREEN LANTERN

EXPLORATION

The normal jump is expected, but aside from that it sure is fun to fly around enrobed in green! It's a cool effect that I've never seen before in the game, I wonder how they did that? Anyway, it's awesome.

I give GL's EXPLORATION a 4/5 for it's originality. :D

I think that's dynamite.

That's definitely a fist!

FIGHTING

Fighting is actually Green Lantern's best quality. You can summon baseball bats, swords, catapults, fists, dynamite, axes, hammers, chainsaws, lances, pick-axes and I think I even saw a teddy bear once.

His combo is really awesome, starting out with the usual sword and baseball bat attacks and then ending with a huge fist and dynamite. Wow! Plus he has a sweet first power attack with an enormous catapult.

I give Green Lantern's FIGHTING a 5/5! It's unique and it's awesome. When the repaints come it won't be unique anymore, but who cares? It's still awesome!

COOL FACTOR

Okay, I admit that I'm not the biggest GL fan. I didn't watch the Green Lantern movie, and I only just got into the Green Lantern show that aired on DC Nation until it's recent cancellation. I've never thought of Green Lantern as a cool looking hero. His powers are awesome, but he's never screamed cool to me the way Batman or Green Arrow or Avengers Iron Man does.

 And sadly this Green Lantern is not the best looking one I've ever seen. I don't blame them though, because they had a ton of heroes to make for this month, but I for one am looking forward to a repaint.

I give GL's not-so-COOL FACTOR a 1.5/5.

OVERALL: Overall, while not the best looking hero, Green Lantern is really, really fun to fight with. Better then Pheonix. So buy him now! I give GL OVERALL a power ring punching score of 4.3!

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Well it looks like the Justice League month has come to a close. Let's hope they do another crossover event soon!

-- SHSOFan.