I think that could have worked actually. It turned out good. And transform is a wonderfull tool to have. I will sometimes use it with jets. To shrink the farther away parts slightly...giving a slight depth effect in a way. Well, I didn't expect it, but it was a great way to tie everything together. Yeah, if you just take on pic with and one without like that...it should help a lot. Plus, it means the lighting will match up. I didn't even notice jetfire was in the convoy at first. lol And since you had mentioned armada jetfire earlier...I assumed it would be him when they mentioned it. I guess I should pay better attention. Yeah. Pretty fitting title for this one. I think your titles have been fine so far. Yeah it helps. especially when so many characters are "onscreen" at the same time. Yeah the fallen is pretty over used. That fact, combined with him being one of the few toys that are a multiversal singularity, made me expect him. Yeah, something like that it's pretty important that you can reproduce it. Yeah...he kinda had the "dialouge of my world" of course, i made that a long time ago now. I don't have anything solid yet....just a vague idea for him to show up again sometime much later. Of course that depends on how the delorean story arc plays out. It's probably to early right now to really know. But I figured since he is a time travel it sorta works for the scene he was already in. Of course, I didn't have any of his weapons out that day either. This is all true. I can't wait to see more of him in action. I always loved it when rattrap went into "demolitions" mode. And he would have that bomb in the hidden compartment on his arm. And of course sneaking around. Yeah i really should have known that. I ws expecting it to do something crazy-because it was wheeljack's. like transpiort him somewhere or something. Lol so this means wheeljack's invention actually worked as inteneded lol Yeah. that picture still looks funny though. Something weird about a t-rex with minicons. I got it because the colors were right. I only have the weird maroon universe repaint of the original ultra primal. I found him. SKyhammer was the name. Skyhammer - Transformers 3 Main Line - TFW2005 Man that really sucks! That is like the whole point of having balljoints like that wtf?
Perhaps, but I'd've had to add an extra speech bubble to the panel, & it didn't feel right to do that. Hadn't thought to try to use it that way... I was just trying to get the face to look right on the cube... (drew the cube myself... drew a line, cloned the layer 8 times ... or was it 12? ..., rotated & connected the 2 squares, added the red face, then rotated the cube to have the corners orientated to show all 3 sides realiastically, then the gold face was transformed to look right). I added the Maximal symbol kinda as a "what do I put in the other face?" thing... But it represents the 3 primary teams: Classics, Animated & Beast Wars. If I have a distant flight shot, I might have to try that... It's what my entire comic is based on. ^_^ I think I had the basics of it in my head for a long time, but I'm not sure. However, just because Primus made Voltron, doesn't necessarily mean he runs on Energon... Keep in mind, Voltron was the Frist. Yeah, getting the lighting close is important. Part of why the early Ops may have stood out is 'cause I had to splice together 2 pics of Op, as only 1/2 was lit each time. @.@ His legs were brighter in one pic I took, his chest in another (I took 2 pics to make sure it wasn't blurry... neither were). Why do you think RotF Prime didn't transform when & where everyone else did? (Granted, part was to catch people off guard & do something different, but then panel count was running high) His Jetfire was ridding him in (the black blur is Jetfire getting off), as he might fall apart if he flew & would've taken forever to walk. My mention of Armada Jetfire had nothing to do w/ him being in the comic, just using his doors for Astrotrain's cargo bay doors when open. This title also had the extra kick of including Vector in the procession of one Prime making a grand entrance after another. I had debated before getting to making this update whether I wanted to end the update w/ Vector's portal opening. Rattrap's I picked because of it's name: Snap something... I think it fits him nicely. I have most of the character's fonts set now. There are still a few I need to decide on, but they are more background than most of the ones I have special fonts for. Lets see: Unicron, Primus, Vector Prime, Fallen, Sideways. There aren't many, but there are several... & I'm probably forgetting a few. Easy way to reproduce it: Copy & paste. Well, if you use him again, you have to remember he is overly serious. Some people have a Fannon about Vector Prime becoming Rhinox during the Great Upgrade, & that coupled w/ Vector & Rhinox sharing similar roles & the same voice actor are why I'm going to try to base his personality on Rhinox, if he had been a Knight of the Round Table... I think that cross should work well, since Vector Prime is supposed to be chivalrous & speak using ancient words. May not come out quite right, as I forgot some of the Old English I used to know... I'd use an Old English font for Vector, but some people find it hard to read, & I gave it to Hoist, who had a British accent/ personality in G1. Well, he MUST have his sword, as he can't cross realities w/o it. I'm not going to tie his dimention hopping ability to his Planet Key, but his Time Stop power is. The Minicons I need to know if they're going to be in my reality or if they'll be w/ him. I hope to be able to reproduce his arms opening to reveal demolishions charges or other tools when I get to a point where I can use them. I have an idea on how to do that. I'm still trying to figure out where to go now, as I did Vector's bit differently than I had planned... I have an idea of what to try, however. Well, Wheeljack's inventions do occasionally work... This one just worked UNPLUGGED! It also wasn't finished yet... & kinda blew up in the overload... Meaning if Op is to return to normal, Wheeljack will have to build another working one, & Optimus risk getting in it again... I'm still debating weird after effects... Yeah, really, any Beast Era TF doesn't look right w/ Minicons. I gave TM Rhinox's Minicon to Armada Cyclonus, & Airrazor's is loose, near other TFs. Not sure if I'm going to use any of them... I don't have any representation of Optimus Primal's initial form. Just TransMetal (which was originally my brother's) & Optimal. But really, they're the 2 better ones, & are in scale to everyone. He REALLY doesn't look familiar... & Didn't Vortex's Marvel/ IDW art work for his pre-imprisonment Cybertronian alt mode do something similar w/ the blades? Wonder if they took that from him? At least the beast & bot modes still are usable... But the Robot mode is nolonger balanced/ symetrical/ stable (due to uneven weight distribution, not the part being integral to his stability). I'm not saying who broke, as I may yet use him soon.
Tricky 'shopping Because I went on & included Vector Prime's knowledge of Voltron's past w/ his reveal, rather when I had planned (everyone in transit to Planet Arus, w/in Vector), it's thrown my ideas for the following update out the window. It also messed w/ the timing of other non-Autobot scenes. Doing Vector's dialog fit better the way I did it, timing wise. It didn't make sense to wait 'til they left to explain what Primus was talking about... There are still details to explain yet, but later. Also, the way they're going to leave was originally to board Vector, but I've got something else in mind now for that too. I think I've worked out some of the timing issues. & the next update will include a new, unplanned scene I never thought of including, which should get things back on track. What I'm going to do I think will catch you ALL off guard, but you'll enjoy it all the same (if not more so). Unfortunately, to do this will require more 'shopping than ever (I've worked out a way to simplify it from what I had been doing for similar sitiuations, on a smaller -- one or 2 figures -- scale). Since this will take a while to 'shop, & I'm still planning it, it may take a while before I get it posted, but if I can get it to come out nice, it will be worth it. This update also runs the risk of getting away from me, like what wound up as Chapter Zero did. Which means Planet Arus may be several updates away, when I had planned it for maybe 2 or 3 Updates from now. The shoot is also more complex than the Council of Primes, so just getting it shot may take longer too. But I assure you, most, if not all of you should find it quite interesting. I guess this is the price of 1/2 winging things. Also of note, in case people missed my editing the last update to include the notice: A link to the update of Vector Prime's reveal (which includes his rules for use beneath) is in my first post, under the Update Index. I didn't want people to have to track it down. As I think of more things to add, it will also make it easier for me to find it as well.
I've finally started shooting my next update. I have the first 1/2 or 1/3rd 'shopped already (though, it was the easy part). Getting the next part 'shopped will be tricky, though... & the following update I'll finally reveal who that mysterious voice that has been around for a while, that only so far Blackarachnia has seen, is & who he serves. Does anyone have any speculation as to who he is? There are clues in the updates he's in. Though I've hid him every time so far, it hasn't been 100% completely.
Oh, I understand now. Yeah. it looks pretty good. for some reason my brain is just imagining it spinning. It can work wonders. but for that it's just a very slight transformation-too much and it looks stupid and fake. Sorta like creating you own vanishing point in a way. Yeah, that should make things very interesting...especially where starscream is concerned I see. I would say just keep having one pic with and one without. I had a similar issue with the battle damage terminator scenes. When dinobot got the damage, i was shopping in a pic of a "real" terminator. Later i got the idea to just take a pic of the toy terminator in the same pose and lighting as the bots. This is why the long haul battle damage looked closer. Of course, i still ran into proportion issues...but that's a different problem. I see. I really didn't see jetfire in the begging the first time i read through it. Another thing i see comic makers do is to make each characters speech a different color. I never do it...mostly because it's that many more extra steps and I am lazy..but just an idea. I think that is about all I know without looking it up. I thought that nexus prime club exclusive was one, but i could be wrong. lol yeah. Yeah that makes sense about his personality. I agree about old English font...it would make sense, but I do find it very hard to read sometimes. Well, obviously this is a long ways off yet, as I'm pretty far behind compared to where I think I should be right now. I Do have his sword..both colors, as I have both normal and gold vector prime flavors. I know I don't have the minicons though. Cyber key is around here someplace in one of these tubs of accessories. Without going into spoilers the basic idea was to have vector help marty this time..by sending him back to repair damage. So another one-shot of him, not anything really ongoing. That would be awesome if you could work the charges in. Man I love that episode where everyone thinks he is a traitor and it was all a ruse to get into megtron's base. Yeah, it may have been unplugged, but it did what it was made to do for once. Weird side effects can always come later...way later if needed. You can just be like "remember when wj's machine shrunk mp prime?" Yeah, I never used em on the terrorsaur from armada that I have. there is just something...not right..about it. I don't have transmetal, but from what i can tell, all of primals Beast Wars toys were dead-solid. The original ultra is really cool. He may have a simple transformation..but he makes up for it in major play value and articulation. I don't even mind having the weird repaint, as it was a chance to actually have the mold. I should have sprung for the tru two-pack of the ultras with the show accurate heads. At the time, I didn't want to spend full price on two molds I already have, but man, do i regret that decision. It wouldn't surprise me. Will be cool if you can still use it. but that does really suck.
Well, the Original G2 Cybercube, where the idea came from, spun, so it's only natural. I partly just wanted something to learn how to use TransForm, & also wanted a new Faction change panel. I used the Transform Tool in the update I'm working on now... Though, this is the only time I'm shopping things like I am. Couldn't get the 2 test panels to look quite right, which I expected... Anyway, I am now 1/2 done w/ the update. ^_^ Where it ends up should surprise EVERYONE! Oh, I understand perspective. I just make attempts not to need to change things more than I have to. Why do you think he wants Shockwave, & why do you think Shockwave insisted on bring Soundwave too? My Starscream thinks ahead. Just in case Voltron's systems aren't immediately compatible, Starscream wants Shockwave on hand to modify it. Shockwave wants Soundwave there in case they need Energon Cubes to convert the energy into Energon. GIMP's Transform tool can help w/ that too... Though, it could distort the details, so it's a balancing act. Yeah, it was pretty dark. I either couldn't use the light I have been yet, or I was trying to limit moving it, as I'd've had to unplug it repeatedly. Though, I did make sure to point out that this Jetfrie was a Decepticon. Not an Autobot spy, an exDecepticon. I'll stick w/ just playing w/ the fonts. That's enough trouble as it is. Some of the fonts I'm using ones that have MNEMONIC attributes to them, like Rattrap's Snap whatever: he has Snappy combacks, etc. I'm going to start using an online thesaurus for Vector Prime, when I remember... Use the original word, or one early in the etemology at least, when I can. Though, I haven't had the chance to yet... Well, you need his blue sword. He can get by w/o his Planet Key. Stoping time is a bad idea, & a last resort move. & a oneshot is fine. If we coordinate, I can have Vector step out of my comic for a panel to deal w/ your Alternity... Assuming, he's still in mine... Though, you're going to have to have him explain why he changed his mind about Marty's time travel so it'd make sense... Well, just like he isn't Rattrap if noone tells him to shut up when he complains about dying, he isn't Rattrap w/o his charges. Spoiler Or his gun. RIGHT after I got his TM toy, I made a little Lego gun for him to use. Simple, but close enough to the one he used in the show... Was debating keeping this tidbit secret, so I blacked it out... Well, Wheeljack hadn't finished building it either... & whose to say it wasn't built to make things bigger? & worked backwards? Well, the Minicon ports on the Beast Wars toys didn't DO anything. They were just added to use the line gimick. Well, I've seen some things I'd have issues w/ in a review I watched, but nothing major. Can't remember what they are, though. His SIZE is an issue. He's WAY too big. I prefer my toys to either be close to scale to one another, or complicated enough to justify ignoring scale. The Ultra didn't fit either requirement. Well, I can still use him... He just is overbalanced to his left now in Robot mode... He has nice articulation, so I should be able to compensate the overbalance on some surfaces.
Sounds awesome. Kinda sucks that the test aren't working out for you though. Yeah. that always helps. I did it a lot with mindwipe, as certain angles of that figure in jetmode always looked somewhat weird when taken out of the original picture. Yeah it all lines up. Kinda refreshing to see a screamer with a good plan for once. My issues stemmed from the normal shape of long haul's body. There was just now way the terminator shoulder joints and head were gonna line up together. So i had to use one terminator layer to line up the head and torso, and another to make the shoulder and arm bits line up. Makes sense. He claims he switched sides to the autobots in the movie, but no actual autobots are shown to accept him into the ranks, he just sort of tags a long. Yeah. It is a bunch more steps to make the fonts all their own colors. I wouldn't want to do it. Heck, I can't even be bothered to use different fonts for characters. I'm just too lazy lol The only exception was fonts used for terminator vision. Yeah, that would help sell the character a lot. That scenario could work out well. I do have the blue sword. Just found it again actually. Kinda a glaring error on my part there. He showed up without the sword, and I even usedthe "tear in reality" as the portal...which he would have needed his sword to make lol hindsight. As for why he changed his mind....it will be explained. I don't want to give away too much, but basically-last time Marty had inadvertently caused changes to the timeline that were bad. By taking the matrix from PN prime back in the beginning, he avoided the original timeline where Biff ruled, but caused many more deaths because it allowed skynet to come to power. Basically Vector didn't want him screwing up more by trying to help again. This next time around...let's just say the damage will already be done and someone will have to repair it. (Think beast wars time storm type deal) Of course, all of this is at the end of the predator story....and I'm only about halfway through it right now. Well, just like he isn't Rattrap if noone tells him to shut up when he complains about dying, he isn't Rattrap w/o his charges. Spoiler Or his gun. RIGHT after I got his TM toy, I made a little Lego gun for him to use. Simple, but close enough to the one he used in the show... Was debating keeping this tidbit secret, so I blacked it out... Spoiler That sounds pretty sweet. That toy really needed his gun. But a nice solution to the issue. Gotta love legos Nice...I didn't even think of that. I guess whith guys like mega and soundwave, I always Thought of the mass shifting as them shrinking for altmode...rather than altmode growing for robot mode. if that makes sense? Yeah..but they still looked stupid with minicons on them. Yeah, it does throw scale way out of wack. But I just always liked that toy. Posability, swords, mace, flipot cannons, Rocket launchers-that guy was loaded!
After typing this reply, I'm starting work on the 2nd 1/2 of the update. I've made props, since I was having trouble 'shopping stuff... I hope to have it up w/in 48 hours... Sorry for the delay, but planning & props were needed, as I moved up Vector Prime's infodump on Voltron... Also, I recently got the "2nd Season" of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya & just had to watch it. The Endless Eight wasn't as bad as some people said it was going to be... Then again, I watched the dub, which the English Cast worked to make interesting... *edit* Special note!: when I was editing the first panel of the 2nd half of the update, I accidently got my original portal effect! What I was missing was to select the area before I blur it, rather than blurring the whole layer! I also tried to get the other side to show through... I like how it came out. *edit 2* Note 2!: I have 2/3 of the update 'shopped now. & all but the dialog & specifics of the camera of the last 1/3 somewhat planned. I'm considering a throw away gag for a panel, rather than use all 8 remaining/ available panels for the scene I have in mind... I didn't expect 'shopping as much as I was trying to was going to come out... Was kinda hoping for it to fall in place like everything else has... Didn't work out... The 2 test panels are decent enough to use, but aren't detailed enough to keep doing... Why I chose to abandon the attempt should be clear when you see the 2 panels... It's obvious what I was doing. Well, Starscream is supposed to be a genius level scientist... People forget that. & portraying him as such sets my comic apart w/o any effort. ^_^ (then again, he's a Scientist in Warring at Play too...) Well, it's not like you weren't already 'shopping them as was. It just required a few extra steps. Wasn't going for that angle, but it works. I was going for a "well, Jetfire, you were a Decepticon, what would they normally do?" thing. Like at the end of Dark Designs, when Rhinox was asked what it was like to be a Predacon, & he said his famous "3 Gigs of Attitude on a 2 Gig Harddrive" comparison, which Dinobot didn't like too much... I also occasionally use color for emphasis, & coloring the fonts would make that not work as well... (I can pic what color to make the font before I start typing, but it changes the active color too sometimes... Sometimes when a red word appears, I just filled each letter, rather than made a new text box...) There's a line coming up where I'm going to have to switch to different variation of the same font in a sentence, & that will take a few extra secs to do. Yeah, but picking which words to make archaic is the trick. I just kept his sword stored in the space craft section where it belongs. No real reason to part him from his sword, since Rhisling is such an integral part of his character & powers. Or Back to the Future II. But if we're 1/2 way, doesn't that mean PNP is due to show up & screw things over? Spoiler Not only did I make the gun, but it stores in the hollow part of his backpack w/o any modification in BOTH modes. Though, I do have to split the gun into 2 parts. Well, Astrotrain, Vector Prime, Cyclonus, Cosmos (definitely Cosmos), Skyfire, my Octane & others all Mass-shift larger to accomodate passengers... & the ep. where Perceptor shrunk some TFs to invade Megatron, he had a similar device, usually used to enlarge components for repairs... kinda where I took the idea from. So Mass-shifting isn't just to make alt. modes smaller, but sometimes to make them bigger too... Can't add to that. Yeah, for a line where the scaling was finally a concept/ factor, having Ultras like that messed things up. Though, Depthcharge, Rampage, Optimal Optimus, & "TransMetal 2" Megatron were all inscale at their larger size classes. & his original form was probably one of the most heavily armed Ops EVER! I'm glad that the makers of the show managed to work in projectile weapons for his Transmetal mode: using the handles of the maces was ingenious to add to his otherwise limited armaments!
Support Rattrap for the TF Hall of Fame! A nominations thread is up & taking nominations. If you wish to use my Sig, copy it to your own Photosharing site first. It's on a site w/ very limited bandwidth. One pic will be fine, everyone linking to it, not so much. (The URL was so long, TFW2005 was mistaking just swapping the pic as adding lines, so I had to use a site w/ no random naming.) *edit* By simplifying the wording of my editing disclaimer under my Sig, I got the longer URL to be recognized, so it is now hosted on the same site as my comic, which appears to have unlimited bandwidth, or a Bandwidth limit I'm not likely to approach. Because I worked on this Sig (some tricks used on it may make it into the comic... Don't expect me to rotate his backpack too often... LOTS of work), I have not started to finish my Update. I still hope to get it up before tomorrow, though. I DID get his Demolishions Charges into his wrist though! ^__^ *disclaimer* My Sig's quote isn't a hit on Dinobot. I like that he got in in the inaugural year. It's just what I thought Rattrap would say if he learned that Dinobot beat him into the Hall of Fame. A bit of his personality, if you will.
Update 14: Goodbyes & Hellos Sorry for the long delay. A number of things happened. 1st, since I moved dialog up, I had to rework the little planning I had to get 'Bots where they needed to be... I hope you enjoy this update... I expect a number of laughs from more than a couple panels... let me now how I did. 2nd, due to specifics of this update (which you'll understand once you get to those panels), I had to 'shop a LOT of stuff... Some didn't pan out as well as I'd've liked, so only 3 panels got this treatment... 3rd, I was able to get the 2nd Season of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (technically loaned the money for it w/ conditions), so I had to watch that. The break probably did me some good, though. 4th, though this only delayed me a few hours, was that I made a TF Hall of Fame Sig to support Rattrap (some of the effects tried in it will work their way into the comic in time). I rather like it. But hopefully I'll be able to make a new Sig for the comic soon. I have an idea, it's just getting around to it, working out a few other details, & 'shopping it. Enjoy some Classic Rattrap (totally coincidence about it being posted the same day I made a HoF Sig for him ): Update 14: Goodbyes & Hellos There are clues to how long a Decacycle is a few panels down... See if you can find them & work it out. Primax-Malgus 211.10 Beta Iota is the designation of my Alternity Note 1: I wanted to do something TOTALLY unexpected for this impromptu Update, & hope you liked the Maccadam's Old Oil House scene. ^_^ Note 2: as you could probably tell, I tried totally 'shopping in Cybertron backgrounds... didn't quite work out... But I hope the ones I did did their jobs. At least Maccadam's ended up passable. Note 3: You do the math for how long my Decacycle is... Here's one last clue: a Cycle is roughly a minute, as per usual. Note 4: I had originally intended the Decepticons to land on Cybertron for a scene, & the AEG to head directly to Planet Arus, ridding IN Vector Prime, but I moved the dialog of Vector Prime explaining where Voltron came from up to his arrival, & forgot to include a 'Bot in the stike team, so Cybertron they went. Note 5: While I was 'shopping the AEG's arrival in Storage Unit 3, I accidently left the Circle Tool I used to make the Portal active, which resulted in the Portal effect I wanted... The first Portal blurs the entire layer. Let me know which you like better... either can easily be reproduced now... Also, the Panel where Op is stepping OUT into Storage Unit 3 has a bit of where he left showing, so let me know how that looks (though, it is a small bit). & yes, the AEG stepped through TIME & skipped a whole Decacycle, but they don't know it yet. Note 6: Forgot to mention the next update will finally reveal who the mysterious voice w/ Blackarachnia is, & who he serves. Special Notice: I posted my Alternities designation (Primax-Malgus 211.10 Beta Iota) in my first post, above the Index/ below the description, so noone has to track it down. ^_~
Awesome as usual. I love waspinator showing up. He was perfect. You just know he had to get slagged, glad i happened here. Rattrap's lines were all awesome-especially his knowledge of fine oils lol. I like the shot of them stepping through the portal too. And Macadam's oil house was very unexpected-but awesome. A perfect place to meet a contact. Pretty intense with the cybertron backgrounds too. Especially that shot of energon Prowl. Yeah, he is a sceintist, but that usually gets overlooked for a more g1-toon personality. Yeah. it was a bit tricky. Oh I see. makes sense. Yeah, that's true. I'm sure you will be able to find a balance though. I usually keep it in there two. But my collection is so huge that vector was relegated to being in a plastic tote with a bunch of other bots. Which made it fall out. Yeah. something like that. The way i have things planned right now- not until they get off this planet. That is awesome! I realize that. it's just that in my mind, whenever mass shifting is mentioned, megs and soundwave are the first ones to pop in my mind. Yeah, and then you had the show changing up scale too. Like up sizing dinobot or tigatron. Yeah, that was a cool bit.
Thanks. Though, this was mostly talk w/ a few character jokes... Well, I am doing show characterizations... It isn't show Waspinator if he isn't blow to scrap. Didn't want to try 'shopping him in pieces, so I just showed more typical Rattrap... This bit had been in my head for a WHILE now... Did you catch he was actually KISSING the floor when he arrived? He was serious about not wanting to trust such an Ancient TransFormer... If he only know just how Ancient Vector Prime is... Which portal effect do you like better? The one Vector opened, or the one Optimus stepped out of? They're done exactly the same way, except I leave the Circular Selection Tool active for the Blur for the one Op stepped through. & could you see the carpet behind Op? I know it was small, but I put it in to see if I could... I had to do something to get things back on track. Vector's explanation of Voltron's Origin was supposed to be this update, but it fit better w/ his reveal. I also left the "Wrecker" out of the group shot of who all was going to Arus by accident (forgot to grab him for the shoot, & didn't realize it till after I had 'shopped everything). & T+C wanted to see more Cybertron than I was going to do... So, kill several cyberhawks w/ one piece of scrap & do this bit on Cybertron. I figured NOONE would expect Maccadam's. I was barely aware of it, & had to look it up. & since I was doing Maccadam's, I had to include how much about drinks Rattrap knows... The drinks he ordered were the ones he was describing earlier. ^_^ The Plutonium Sunset is for himself. Now to come up w/ what they look like... As the drinks I did 'shop in were crude, but worked. Well, Cybertron isn't in my House (it's a whole 1.6 Decacycles out in space -- were you able to work out how long a Decacycle is? --, at Astrotrain's fastest speed), & I needed a way to show that. I had hoped to be able to do more, but I just couldn't get Cybertron to look complex enough to justify the time it took to create it from scratch. I hope to do a battle on Cybertron before everyone leaves (partly for the new Funnies Advert readers I may get), but getting a backdrop to work for it will be exceedingly tricky. There is one thing I COULD use, I guess, but it has its own challenges... One of which is it being in a VERY dark corner... Maybe if got my light & take a pic of it, shrink it & 'shop it some, it would work? Or parts would work, at least? Hmm... Maybe I'll try that... However, the battle won't be how you expect, so knowing one is coming isn't anything to black out. ^_^ I may also try to get a tight shot of Primus' Cybertron mode exterior, but Maccadam's has been as usable as I've managed so far... & it was VERY blurry... (I'm not sure if my Cell can get a clear enough shot to use) Macaddam's Old Oil House was acutally was Autobot HQ, in Iacon, on Primus; The dome. I assume the open one is the one the Ark launched from. Primus/ Cybertron is exceedingly detailed. It has Iacon, Polyhex, Koan, & several other cities (8 or 9 total, at least) molded into the surface. & the fact that the guns below his knees leave a void at the bottom of Cybertron is G1 accurate too! I don't get why? I'm doing a really good job, in my opinion, of balancing the 2. Smart, but trigger happy & power hungry. ^_^ Might be helping that his blasting those who contradict him is a running gag, but nothing so far has been out of G1 Character. His ideas just actually work. & that isn't out of chatacter either; & here are 3 examples: 1) The Combaticons, 2) giving Bruticus an "off switch", predicting he may rebel, 3) & when he was helping Dr. ArchevilleAll 3 worked wonderfully, until he either screwed up later or the Autobots saved the day. Couldn't be any harder than me doing Cybertron from scratch... Well, he was a Decepticon, so why wouldn't a Council of the wisest leaders ask what he thinks? But the fact that it worries even him should have been an indication of how big this is... & then Primus' take... It's B-I-G, especially since there's a Swindle who not only knows there are other Swindles out there in other Alternities, but that he has dealt w/ at least one! But really, few are aware of this bit. Forgot to mention the sword is also integral to keeping his vehicle form balanced. If I ever have to store Vector in a tote, I'd either put him on his side in vehicle mode, w/ the sword facing up, or keep him in robt mode, so he's standing & toys wouldn't bump the sword. That much is obvious... PNPrime isn't likely to set off on a rescue mission to another planet for anyone, not even PN Ironhide. Did you see the gun? It was fairly small in the ONE Panal I got to put it in... I hope you noted that it was Rattrap who shouted to "Look out" & to be the only one to pull his gun, ignoring the cease fire; both in characrer, especially since it was harmless Waspinator. I was just pointing out that it going the other way was at least just as common. But when I was working on how to shrink MP Op to a usable, Classics (Mega) size, Perceptor's Enlarging Tech came to mind first. But yeah, Megatron & Soundwave are the best known for Mass-shifting. They still did better than most, if not ALL, TF series before & since. Though, Dinobot probably would've been better as a Mega... & they could've gotten his beast mode to look better... I didn't get the non-TM Dinobot due to those feet being obvious in beast mode... It's funny that TM2 Dinobot uses the SAME EXACT Transformation, but makes it work so much better. Well, Optimus Primal loved making flashy entrances. He took it up a notch w/ his Optimal form... Enough for Rattrap to get a Rimshot! Trying to work something Rimshot worthy out for him, but since my sense of humor isn't all that great, it's not easy.
Yes, but it was done well and in-character. Quote: Yeah.but sometimes that works out better. Leavin us to imagined what happened to poor waspy is way more effective than actually showing it sometimes. The "scary movies" effect, in a sense. Yeah, I caught that. Pretty much in character there as well. COnsidering, he didn't even trust primal in the beginning. Actually I prefer the one he stepped into more. Although the more circular one makes more sense for a portal-the other one just looks cooler to me. It was pretty small. I saw it but i wasn't sure what it was at first. I was aware of it only because I have that Tf visual guide-scourcebook thing from a while back, and there was a section on macadam's I wouldn't worry about the looks of the drinks too much, since Rattrap already said what they were. You could really use anything. No, I still can't figure that out. I am really really bad with math. Well if you could find a suitable background to use, it would be much fatser than trying to draw one, i would think. I know all the cities are on primus/cybertron, but i never took the time to figure out what was what. If you wanted, i could try and snap a pic of the dome with my camera for you to use, see if i can get a clearer shot. Of course, I don't know which part of cybertron you are talking about. Yeah he really shined in those instances. The problem is that most people glaze over that, and only remember him being a coward. True. Yeah-layers upon layers. Lol that would be nearly impossible for me. My tf totes are full to the top like a child's toybox. I keep meaning to get some more...but i never seem to. Very true. Yeah I noticed it. Pretty sweet. And another rattrap moment. I think you have done him justice in this episode. Feels just like the rattrap we all know and love. Yeah, and since I had soundwave as a kid (he was one of my first bots) I think of him most. Yeah. That toy had some isuues. The main problem was those stupid legs on his cjest. Even the universe one still had some kibble there. They should be able to make that design right by now.
It's funny. I don't swear at all in real life, but I can do Rattrap perfectly! Not sure how that works out... Helps his swears are all fictional, so I can use them... I occasionally use them in posts on here... More so during my campaign to get Rattrap into the Hall... If you want to see my list of why Rattrap deserves to get in, check my Profile page (VMs)... I copied my post from the Vote thread to it. ^_^ Though, Rattrap is one of my ALL TIME favorite TFs, & he was given an exceptionally detailed character, so he's easier to write/ improvise than anyone else, I think. I personally picture him getting electrocuted before the bomb goes off... an artifact of accidently using the lightening effect (intentionally added the glow after I saw the shape the lines took) to lead off towards Waspinator... It was also a way to get yet another "We're all gonna die" in... I think that's 3 in what would be around 5 or 10 minutes. I KNOW Beast Wars didn't do them that close together! Well, they are both circles. I used the Transform Tool to change the plane the first portal was in, so it'd look right w/ people standing by it, side facing the viewer. The real difference is what happens to the + I put in the middle before blurring it (there're other effects in it before this step, to make the ripple/ ring effect inside). If I blur the whole layer, the center is somewhere other than the middle of the circle. Though, if I leave the Elipse Select Tool active, it moves the center to that of the circle, & + is blurred evenly. Maybe I'll keep using both: one for entering, one for the other side... It was a first attempt to do what you did w/ his portal, & show where he came from... Didn't want to do it too big, as it was only a test & there wasn't much to see: just carpet. I've heard about it from at least one of the series, I think Animated -- This Is Why I Hate Machines? -- (pretty sure it was more... & it was probably one of the places Rattrap talked about in Beast Wars, but didn't name...) Yeah, but it wouldn't look right. I can make the drinks on their own layer/s & shrink them down, to make it easier to get details... Maybe I'll have someone use the English equivalent in the next update then... I'll just have to decide who... You could always look it up on TFWiki.net... Though, there is a list for it, as different eras used it to mean different things. I'm using it consistantly for all eras & factions. Here's another clue: Vortex has been counting how many times Crazy Blitzwing asks "are we there yet" & Brawl was estimating how often... I debated including that cut to the joke for a while... Here's a hint to how dark it is, Blackarachnia & her mysterious friend (to be revealed in the next update ^_^) were shot on it this update. Waspinator "conveniently" covered the mystery voice. Blackarachnia's tracer will also come into play in the next update... I don't know ALL of them, just where the ones I named are (though, after I got Primus, I did look up some stuff, so I knew... TFWiki's page for him talks about a little, & I learned where Polyhex was from TF Exodus, when I borrowed it from my Library -- there are tons of continuity errors between Exodus, WfC & Prime, & none can be reconciled w/ other continuities due to the body count). Iacon is the Golden one in the northern hemisphere. Polyhex should be the yellow one right by it (at least that's what I'm using). & Koan is the little silver "creator" that ends up on his heel (his akelies heel, if you will). I've read Koan's supposed to come out like a Mushroom cloud, but I'm afraid mine could break if I pull too much harder than I have tried... I'll be showing something for Spoiler Darkmount Fortress , but that one I'm kinda making up from what's available. It's supposed to be in or near Polyhex. I don't need a shot of the dome. I already have Maccadam's panel done. It'd be too much trouble to recreate it... If I show the exterior again, I'll just reuse that panel. I wouldn't mind pics of Iacon & Polyhex though... Particularly Polyhex (again, the Yellow city new the Gold one on Cybertrons top 1/2), from different angles. If you could get me a street level shot of Polyhex, that's be perfect... Oh, & Spoiler the "tower" near Polyhex, w/ the Minicon port. I intend to use that as Fort Darkmount. A shot of all 3 lined up would be nice too. But that I can get clear enough to use myself... Oh, another clue for you, Iacon was in 2 of the panels. It should look familiar... Starscream's Brigade & The Revenge of Bruticus are 2 of my favorite G1 eps.! So Starscream, the Combaticons, & Bruticus get some of their traits from those eps... & they were the eps. where Bruticus was smart... But since my Brawl is supressed when combined, he's even smarter! Oh, you haven't seen layers yet! Not sure how many layers I'll get to reveal are going on, but a few more... & it will ALL make total sense once you see what's been going on off panel. I got some that I never filled... So I'd be able to plan ahead during my packing, if I ever did... I'm glad I could pull him off. I expected him to be harder to do, my not swearing & bad sense of humor & all... But, he's probably the one I have closest to who he should be... I always wanted a Soundwave. Had to settle on Cybertron's... Not bad, but not a tape player... I'll see if I can't change that w/ some GIMP trickery in time... Well, unlike the others, he did have those bones just appear from nowhere & some of him did morph a bit... Where as, skin aside, the others didn't really... & none who went Transmetal had any morphing!
Sorry for the late response. Busy times and all. Yeah. It really helps that he pretty much single-handedly started the trend of transformers curse words. Yeah. that is true. But I think really any of the beast wars guys would be easy to write for, being so well characterized. Yeah. usually only one an episode. Yeah. bad choice of words. I like the centered one more. Now that is a good idea. Yeah. It's a good idea. I just used a standard photoshop pattern for the inside of my portal. Showing the actual other side is a nice touch. Yeah. That's what I assumed. Yeah. make them big first. Well that is pretty dark. I knew they were supposed to be on there. But i never found out what was what until now. I didn' know that. I tried it on mine and i can't get it to budge either. makes sense Still kinda peeved my camera couldn't get closer shots for you. That's what I get for shooting at night. Those were pretty good. I also enjoyed the whole arc with Dr. Arkville. Crazy as it was. Awesome! Well, looks like I am going to have to get more...there is a chance I might be moving at the end of the year now. Well, I lost all my g1 bots a long time ago. I still never managed to hunt another g1 soundwave down. I saw the rissue exactly once at a tru...didn't have the cash. Never saw it again. But for now, WFC soundwave is as good as I am going to get. . They did manage to hide away the bones on his legs for the universe one. That was soo close....but then those colors wtf? That is true. Although rhinox skin did shrink a ton.
The first 1/2 of the Update is finished; but I still need to shoot the 2nd half. As promised, this update will reveal the Mysterious Voice Blackarachnia has been talking to... That's ok. That's part of why I was pushing him for the Hall. He's probably contributed the most in this area to the Fandom than any other TF. & Having such an impact, one that was even referenced in Animated, is more than enough to warrant him a place, but he has so much more behind him that he should've beaten the Slag Spoutin' Saurians. Yes, all the Beast Era had well developed characters, but I still think Rattrap was probably the most developed... followed by Tarantulas, who was always plotting 4 steps ahead of Megatron's 3-steps-ahead planning (so, 7 steps ahead of the Maximals at times). Well, in Beast Wars he didn't face total annihilation like he is now, so it's justified. ^_^ So, do you like the one Vector opened (whole layer blur) or Op stepped through (circle blurred only, making it even) better? You've said both ways now. @.@ I couldn't tell what was on the other side of your portal, but it looked like another location. I have the drinks finished (& the 1st 1/2 of the update 'shopped). It was the perfect place to put Blackarachnia & hide her "friend" w/o any 'shopping. Glad I could educate you. Though, you forgot to Spoiler spoiler block ... x.x It might be a Japanese release only thing, then. That's ok. I should be able to work w/ what you gave me... May need to 'shop in some details to get closer, though... You knew Starscream was actualy smart when the Autobots & remaining Decepticons had to team up to stop his scheming/ Bruticus. I have a feeling what's going on will be close to expectations... If not meet or exceed them. You could write the move into the comic as unexplored territory, that Marty's time travel forced exploration of or something... I still have all my TFs. I got a few reissues, but don't think I had money if I ever saw Soundwave. Yeah, TFs are definitely getting more complex now that they have Blockbusters funding the engineering... Too bad DotM is going to kill most of that... You know they're going to have to do something for the 20th Anniversary of Beast Wars, & maybe then they'll do Dinobot the Justice he deserves? *edit* I accidently ran across one of Peaugh's reviews for Universe Dinobot. I didn't get the original release 'cause the leg kibble for a chest looked terrible; I didn't get Universe 'cause the transformation wasn't even trying to be show accurate, & still had arm kibble as the chest. I did see what you were talking about the leg bones though... I don't even know what they were trying w/ Universe Cheetor... @.@ That's part of why I made the disclaimer for the skin.
Update 15: Agendas Finally, I reveal the voice from the shadows! Let me know how I did w/ the reveal, PLEASE! Update 15: Agendas Note 1: Let me know how the reveal came off. Yes, Tarantulas is a bit obvious, but I have him, I had to use him! & he isn't one to be used normally. He's one of my Favoriate TFs of all time (just below Rattrap!). & he probably has one of the more complicated transformations, completley rearranging parts, for a pre-Movie Deluxe. If you go back to other panels he speaks in (that's the TransMetal font, by the way), you can see his eyes (all be it faded out some) in his first "appearence" & parts of a leg in others. I purposefully copied the eyes & pasted them in that first panel for him just to see who'll notice! (apparently NOONE!) Note 2: That shot w/ Blackarachnia wrapped around Tarantulas' shoulder is not 'shopped (aside from the background). She CAN do that! I was surprised when I learned that TFA Blackarachnia is pretty much in scale w/ Beast Wars toys! I always thought she was on the small side for a Deluxe, but her 'bot mode isn't so much... In fact, I didn't realize how tall she was till I put her & Tarantulas standing out of the way, next to each other, as I shot the 2nd 1/2 of THIS Update. & after I did that, the panel of the 2 of them together (& the one before it) hit me! Note 3: Let me know if I captured Megatron, Tarantulas & Blackarachnia's personalities as well as I have w/ Rattrap's? A friend I ran the reveal by said I did good. Note 4: Yes, that is POL's Sideways. Yes, my Tarantulas has his webs in more Factions than even Sideways is aware of! Who expected Sideways to show up? Be honest! Note 5: I'd been toying around w/ Sideways having been behind the review from the get go, but hadn't decided till a couple updates before I brought Prowl in to investigate. Note 6: Who noticed Megatron's Rubber Ducky? W/ the talk of it in the HoF Poll, & doing a Megatron bath scene, I had to grab a pic from the TFWiki just to put it there! Note 7: For those who don't know, Mirror is the name of Armada Sideways' rider (formed from 2 Minicons: Rook & Crosswise). Note 8: & I was nice & used the Earth equivalent of a Decacycle this update: 10 Days.
Will we see a the Predacons vs Decepticons or a joined factions of the two intil otherwise? Story wise, its awesome.
