Yeah this has been discussed to death since the first movie came out in 2007 but I just want a civil discussion. Would you prefer blockier Transformers or the is the movie style good enough for you? Keep in mind that I'm not talking about G1 cartoon/comic kind of blocky, more like IDW designs, like this: File:ForAllMankind-Breakdown.jpg - Transformers Wiki Personally I like Movie designs but I can't help but wonder what would G1 designs look like in a movie.
If Barricade's design is anything to go by, we're getting some characters in a blocky appearance. But I honestly don't care which designs they use for the live action films. As long as they look good blocky or non blocky, I'm good.
I don't want blocky, I want solid. Megatron and Barricade are excellent steps in that direction, still being covered in detail but much more compact and streamlined with less jagged small bits sticking out and little gaps like every part not on the torso is held together by two invisible bolts on either end. Megatron still looks pointy and vicious despite not every surface being covered in small little details, and if nothing else I look forward to seeing how it looks realistically rendered. This new wave of readable, character-focused designs is very much welcomed. Again, I never disliked the movie aesthetic itself, but it's been done and I'm ready for something even a little different. I'd like a level of detail/blockiness like Pacific Rim's Jaegers, except not as man-made looking obviously. Those were super detailed but still had solidity to them. Basically a middle ground between that and Barricade/Megatron would be my ideal aesthetic I'd like to see realised.
As much as I do love the current designs, they do look rather fragile, and are too complex for the inferiority of modern Hasbro. As long as we're not talking G1 levels, then I guess I would like to see more blocky designs.
Obviously G1 designs wouldn't work, they look like people in cardboard boxes (especially Marvel G1 TFs). What I'm meaning by blocky is more in the lines of IDW designs, they look both realistic and G1 enough.
WFC/FOC may be the single worst aesthetic I've ever seen applied to Transformers in hindsight, but while a big part of that is the proportions, that is the kind of "blockiness" I hope to never see revisited. They were absurd, so chunky and square they looked totally unnatural just walking, like every step was overly deliberate and cartoonish so their big fat asses wouldn't trip from the immense density of their own limbs. Furthermore, they had the annoying tendancy to be so blocky it was ridiculous to think they could transform at all. To the credit of the movies, the designs are so complex and so many itty bitty parts move that you can kind of be led to believe the totally kibble-less designs are possible within that universe, but the FOC designs aren't as detailed and organic, and so come across as silly when they cheat so obviously. Plus, the Tron-but-failing-to-understand-the-idea-of-solid-light-strips-contrasting-simple-designs-lights made every robot look messy and overdone. So yeah, I hope we stay clear of that nonsense.
I kinda like them but all of them were pretty generic (aside from Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee etc.) were too generic and they also looked... fat.
I respect what High Moon Studios with WFC and FOC.. because of these, we have newer iteration of Transformers and the TFs are more epic than before. But, yes... although you could see HMS give so much nod and respect to G-1, there was just some funny, awkward designs that i couldn't help but notice with some of the characters. Optimus's lower leg was kind of funny; so out of proportion in comparison to the other parts of his body. FOC Megatron was just fat Lol. so was Optimus at this point. Every time i look at that first trailer for FOC when Megatron was running to confront Optimus, i always kept seeing a fat man rushing another fat man lol. but all in all, i still enjoyed the tremendous effort put forth by HMS. and i kind of miss the "Cybertron" games as i still play FOC on PS3 when i can. All in all, like i said, HMS gave respect to G-1 even going as far down as the blocky designs go. some of them turned out well... but the most noticeable ones were from Optimus and Megatron that were awkward. also, the over-displays of the Autobot and Decepticon symbols were noticeable. subtlety is lost with the WFC/FOC designs lol. but overall, not something that bothered me in-game.
Abso-freaking-lutely. The tron thing didn't work for me at all. If you're gonna do subtle glow spots, do it like IDW/Prime/RID2015. That I'm cool with. In fact if we took the Prime style and made it even more movie-ish, I'd be all over that. Kinda like what they did with the cancelled Universe game. There were some seriously killer designs there. (Brawl had to be my favorite.)
Yeah, that's a really good middle ground. Pretty much my only complaint with that game was the rather standardized set of porportions, and unemotive, kinda generic head designs for some. (not all, though) But even that Brawl design (which IMO is too skinny for Brawl) has those pointless little purple lights. I just find them distracting more often than not.
I think something along the lines of the Iron Man from the Marvel movies. Insanely complex when you need complex in a close up shot, but nice and solid looking when you pull the camera back, easy to recognize even with the changes from comic to big screen, and lots and lots of color. You need complex to get a wow factor to the transformations, but too complex all the time tends to distract the eye as there are just too many moving bits to follow. Something solid because as humans we tend like the solid look. While not the only reason it is part of the reason things like cars were not just a frame, a motor, and a steering wheel even in the early days. Recognizable because hey nostalgia can help to make money. Color. Oh my goodness these designs have needed more color. It's an old cheat to keep characters apart but it is still used for things like Voltron and Power Rangers because it's a cheat that work. Plus it's just more visually appealing to me to have more color.
As long as I cannot see through their bodies then I'm good. The 2007 designs, a majority of ROTF/DOTM designs did good by me. AoE too. So far TLK is alright.
If 'blocky' means 'not what they're doing for AoE/TLK' and more 'what they did for ROTF/DOTM' then yes please. I consider the original movie Optimus Prime deign to be a fine example of how to do blocky shapes while not being straight up blocks.
