I would focus more on the psychology of the Transformers and the motivations of the Autobots and Decepticons. Essentially like IDW but with the feel of the MCU films.

 

I have a big pitch for an alternate version of TFP, but I'm saving that to hopefully make my own web-comic someday.

I would make a big push regardless, for an original series, to have more females in the cast, and I would absolutely have a female Optimus in a cross between TFA Optimus and Commander Shepherd in personality. That would be my biggest push, for more females as part of the main cast. I'd have more same-sex relationships and hopefully build them up as gracefully as Korra and Steven Universe. I would also seek to use lesser seen and heard characters, as well as newer additions to the mythos. I would refrain from 86 references. If I was doing the series in an anniversary year for Animated, BW, something like that, you can be damn sure I'd devote a special episode to pay tribute to it.

I can only hope that I get writers as skilled as the ones for Steven Universe, what with how they've crafted a huge, spiraling, well-plotted mythology with heavily fleshed out, human characters.

 

I'd create a vast space-opera timeline spanning several generations of Transformers, planned out at the "big picture" level from beginning to end. I'd then have each individual story line (again, endings planned in advance) set at different important times or locations along that timeline. I'd include ideas from as many past versions of Transformers as possible, although likely with a bias toward the Sunbow mythology. The first storyline would cover the Transformers revolting against their Quintesson overlords and the origin of the Autobot and Decepticon factions, as well as introducing Primacron and his plan to destroy and rebuild the universe. Then a story covering the start of the Great War, then an Earth story to parallel G1, and so on, eventually leading to a distant future climax where the descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons are caught in an endgame between the various surviving universe-destroyers that were introduced back in the first story.

As far back as 15 years ago, I had wanted to see version of Megatron very similar to what IDW ended up doing with him--initially an idealist revolutionary who eventually becomes obsessed with power, losing sight of why he wanted it in the first place. It's pretty cool to see what they've done along those lines, but I wouldn't have him end up joining the Autobots. He'd reach his epiphany only at the moment of his death--just in time to be enslaved by Unicron and reformatted as Galvatron. The inner conflict between Unicron's influence and what's left of an anguished and remorseful Megatron would be what fuels his spiral into insanity.

Lots of other ideas, but I don't want to write a book here!  

 

Mine would be a tale spanning across the years of Transformers, going from the beginning with Primus and Unicron to the far flung generations of Transformers after the combined powers of the Autobots and Decepticons stopped Unicron.

It would be a lot more of a serious series with bits of humor here and there. Using and inspired elements from different anime. My Transformers is an action packed, humorous, some romance? story about the Robots in Disguise.

It would also feature a VERY large cast of Transformers and other non-Cybertronians. There would be less focus on the humans as well and more on the Transformers who I've humanized just a bit. There is a bit of social commentary as well with why the Decepticons do what they do and how some just don't believe fully in the Decepticon ways since The Fallen founded them to fight Nova Prime and his Autobots.

The series would mostly focus on the sixth Prime, Optimus Prime and his Autobots. The main storyline starts with them crashing on Earth after being chased by Megatron and his Decepticons and after some time Optimus dies and Rodimus Prime is the seventh Prime. But Optimus Prime would soon return as a Powermaster and Hot Rod returns to his place now as the commander of the Targetmasters and over time Optimus Prime becomes second fiddle to the main Autobot named Sparkplug. While the main story tells of Optimus Prime, Sparkplug, Bumblebee and the Autobots of the 1984 to 1987 lineup in their battles against Megatron, Galvatron, and the other Decepticons some side stories would be told. Some about Optimus' rise as leader from humble beginnings as Orion Pax, a warrior with a brother like relationship with Megatron until he becomes who we all know. Alpha Trion and his time as an original Thirteen to being the aged warrior fighting against Sentinel Prime's dictatorship and mentoring Optimus Prime. To stories told not on Earth but on places like Paradron, Athenia, Junkion, and Cybertron where we see others from the 1988 and beyond line up.

Not all survive to the end of the many stories, some like Hot Rod, Ironhide, Brawn, Trailbreaker, Starscream, & Megatron do die.

This would all accumulate with the final battle against Unicron and his forces that would end the war between Autobots and Decepticons. Some stories would be told afterwards like about Shockaract and his attempts to turn the Decepticons back to their old ways.

 

I'm not sure about a lot of it, but one I know I would prioritize one thing in particular: world-building.

 

Well I would have the series focused on the war but I would want to keep the battle aspect of the transformers, I mean they're giant robot. I would say to strike a balance between the character building and the action, make sure there's plenty of action to keep thing intense and exciting but at the same time make sure not to have too much of it to overwhelm also perhaps maybe shift focus on different groups, get perspectives of the war from different leaders. For a few episodes we get Rodimus' view, then Elita's, then Ultra-Magnus', and so on. At the same time though there shouldn't be too much focus on character's personalities otherwise it makes things feel drawn out and slow.

I actually would say that the Cybertron games are a good example, but not during the cutscenes but rather during the gameplay. The moment where you're in the action yet we get characters interacting with each other by exchanging dialogue. It's gets the viewers exited by the fights and gives them insight to the character's personalities at the same time.

 

I'm with you, I would definitely put an emphasis on world-building. I would also make sure the series had a sense of grand-scale war.

 

The idea of a grand-scale war has me interested as a concept. My idea is that we would first start small with Megatron's small scale army aboard the Nemesis and Optimus' crew aboard the Ark as they crash to Earth but over time expand to the idea of Autobot and Decepticon colonies/bases across the cosmos. Their war has taken them not just to Earth, Junkion, etc. No they are everywhere.

I'm going to update what I said in my first post with this... After watching the five minute sneak peek at RWBY volume 4 I'd use that animation for my Transformers series.

 

I'd make it a smaller part of a bigger universe. Focus on a smaller conflict between a set team of few individuals and make the larger war felt indirectly. Gradually the story would pick up steam while continuing to keep the scope small, but build up to a larger threat. Other characters would appear as time went on but I'd focus on keeping the action intimate and personal, with plots focused on characters and less on gimmicks. (or use the gimmicks as a catalyst for character drama) The threat would be real and affect those on a large scale, but would be beatable on a personable level. I'd put emphisis on world-building where applicable, but not overload the show with useless information that might confuse or mislead the audience's expectations. I'd try and balance action and drama, and make the action there is as unique and visceral (though not necessarily hyper-violent or anything like that) as possible to try and make the action memorable and anticipated rather than just a prerequisite. I'd also try and make it reflect the characters, with each individual having a method of fighting in the animation that reflects them. The show/story/whatever would also need it's own distinct style, and I don't mean the way characters are drawn, but the world at large. Things like technology/locale/settings would all need their own "character" as much as the actual characters. Colour itself should be an important storytelling device. Music would also be important and blend into the previous category to complete everything.

Idealy I'd like it to be high quality cel-animation, and avoid CGI like the plague. CGI has it's uses, but it's limits as well, and the current brand of low framrate cel-shaded CGI is ugly and restrictive. Unless something could be achieved like BM level of fluent, expressive CGI. Definitely avoid whatever the hell they did to the new Berserk. :'(

 

I had the same idea as you!

 

I would base a series on Titans Return. The starting point would be post-season 3 Sunbow. Characters from Combiner Wars might appear. Hints of Beast Wars connections would be given, such as a Tripredicus Council being named.

 

I would make a combination of Aligned with some elements of Unicron Trilogy. For instance, my version of Optimus Prime would resemble Cybertron Optimus Prime.

 

It would be 2D Hand Drawn, anime esque looking.

I want it to have a dark comedic tone to it kind of like how Beast Wars handled things.

 

Gritty war drama involving the Second Cybertronian War, split into several different parts.

Wreckers: Impactor (Leader), Springer (Second in Command) Whirl, Roadbuster, Topspin, Twin Twist, Scoop, Perceptor, Kup and Prowl (Wreckers guardian, there to make sure they don't step out off line)

Before I start I must say that Perceptor and Kup are not present in Parts II-VI, and Prowl isn't a proper Wrecker, hes just there via association.

Part I - Tension between the government and the "Decepticon" movement, the Decepticon movement gives everyone a choice on how the planet is run by one supreme leader, the Autobots believe that a group of people make all the decisions. After several terrorist attempts by Decepticon extremists, the Autobots begin training for war, and set up the special ops team "The Wreckers"

Part II - Autobot leader Sentinel Prime is assassinated by the Decepticons, they declare war on the Autobots and the two cities where the Deceptcions were formed are taken over (Kaon and Tarn), they begin to march into Iacon and begin taking civilians and murdering them, the Wreckers are sent in with their "guardian" Prowl.

Part III - The Wreckers re-take Iacon, but their comms are broken up between the Autobots, Zeta Prime is elected leader of the Autobots, he is a bad leader, and is focused on war, sending several Autobots to their deaths.

Part IV - The Wreckers go rogue and begin to make their way to Kaon, they get to Kaon and begin taking out the Decepticons, they encounter the war general Sixshot, Sixshot kills Scoop and takes Twin Twist captive.

Part V - The Wreckers meet up with two other Autobots sent out to find them after escaping from Kaon, they are known as Countdown and Drift, the Wreckers decide to set up camp in a small outpost, several of the Wreckers scout the area for Decepticons, an injured Springer and Roadbuster wait in the outpost with Drift, Drift begins to betray the Wreckers and attempts to kill Springer, Prowl returns back to the outpost and kills Drift, on his death bed Drift decides to reveal that the Decepticons know the Wreckers location and are on their way, and that he was a spy the whole time.

Part VI - Topspin begins to endure pain, unknown to him that Twin Twist is being tortured by Sixshot, Topspins spark explodes as Twin Twist begins to die in Decepticon base, the Decepticons arrive, the Wreckers begin to attack, huge battle takes place, the Deceptcions are torn down and the Wreckers begin to relax, than out of nowhere more Decepticons appear and guns down Impactor, the other Wreckers escape and arrive at Iacon.

From here on out I am not 100% on how the rest of the story goes, the Wreckers arc is the only part I'm 100% on, the only other thing I have set up fully is that the Decepticons try to re-take Iacon further down into the war, almost all of the Wreckers and main Autobots are killed.

I have a bunch of other ideas, and this whole canon I have been building up with a friend just over a year now, I just need to write a lot more basic story arcs and build up a proper plot.

For animation, I would stick to basic 2D Animation.

I have basic cast ideas, not 100% on them yet but Christopher Walken would make a great Whirl in my opinion.

I would prefer to do it as a Netflix series rather than a movie, I could have 5 episodes per arc and have it based of a certain amount of characters per arc, with the Wreckers starting it off.

 

A Speed Racer homage, with Blurr racing against the various forces of Velocitron and his old race rival, Drag Strip, as he works alongside Nightbeat to discover what really happened to his teacher, Excellion

 

A post war series with the Decepticons defeated after the death of Galvatron. A surrender treaty is created to officially end the long war. Though not everyone is willingly to accept such outcome. To track down rogue pockets of the former Decepticon army, the Autobots create the Elite Guard.

Under the command of Roadbuster, he leads one unit, the Wrecker Company from planet to planet. The team in one mission might liberate a Decepticon holdout planet through espionage and supplying local rebels. In some cases they might pair up with several other teams and have a full scale invasion to take out the remaining Decepticon garrison. While in other cases, the team might engage remnants of the Decepticon space fleet and engage them ship to ship. Once crippled, the team storm the ship(s) to capture the enemy soldiers.

I would have the series called Transformers Wreckers and it would be made in CGI.

 

A Transformers series of my design would focus on a smaller part of a larger battle. There would be a condensed cast of, say, around ten to fifteen Autobots, against a larger force of 20 or so Decepticons. The Autobots would be accompanied by no more than three human side characters, as well as a government liaison who helps them with their diplomatic relations with humans. The animation would be CG, if possible. If that proved too expensive, I'd settle for a toned down version of what RID2015 has, with a design aesthetic along the lines of something like what TF: Prime had, with semi-but-not-too-complex designs for characters. Like TF: Prime, I'd want to take the war seriously, but I also wouldn't want the humor to be completely forgotten. I'd want to gradually develop Cybertronian society, mode-of-creation, biology, and even beliefs, without getting too in-depth or detailed, as not to confuse or alienate younger viewers. More than anything, I'd want to establish clear characters. I'd want viewers to get to know these robots not just as toys, but as people, with emotions, opinions, hopes, and fears, because Cybertronians are a people unto their own right, which sets them apart from other transforming mecha, in my eyes. I might introduce more characters as time goes on, but not so many that some characters would go underdeveloped. I'd also have a clear end goal in mind for each character's story. Also, if a character is killed off, I would have them stay dead. Since they're robots, I could have them ripped apart, shot, stabbed, crushed, or blown apart, but as long as their spark was intact, I could keep them alive, but when it comes to death, I'd want to treat that seriously.

The Autobot Cast
Optimus Prime - The Leader (Red and blue long-nose semi-truck cab)
Elita One - Second-in-Command (Pink flat-nose semi-truck cab)
Prowl - The Tactician (Police car)
Chromia - Security Chief (Police SUV)
Ratchet - Chief Medical Officer (Ambulance)
Ironhide - Weapons Specialist (Large pickup truck)
Wheeljack - The Engineer (White, red, and green rally car)
Cliffjumper - The Shock Trooper (Red compact car)
Arcee - The Spy (Blue motorcycle with pink highlights)
Bumblebee - The Scout (Yellow muscle car with black racing stripes)

Grimlock - Dinobot Leader (Mechanical Tyrannosaurus)
Snarl - Dinobot Second-in-Command (Mechanical Triceratops)
Slog - Dinobot Muscle (Mechanical Saltasaurus)
Skar - Dinobot Medic (Mechanical Ankylosaurus)
Swoop - Dinobot Scout (Mechanical Pteranodon)

The Decepticon Cast
Megatron - The Leader (Arctic camouflage tank)
Flamewar - Second in Command (Black motorcycle with flames)
Soundwave - The Surveillance Officer (Blue SUV)
Starscream - The Air Commander (Military jet)
Thundercracker - Air Warrior (Same as Starscream)
Skywarp - Air Warrior (Same as Thundercracker and Starscream)
Blitzwing - Shock Trooper (Desert-camouflage Tank and purple Jet)
Astrotrain - Shock Trooper (Passenger train and space shuttle)
Airachnid - The Interrogator (Small helicopter/half-transformed "spider" mode)
Blackout - The Infiltrator (Large military helicopter)
Lugnut - The Zealot (Stealth bomber)
Knock Out - The Medic (Red sports car)
Barricade - The Scout (Police car)
Rumble - The Saboteur (Mini-Con/Roof of Soundwave's SUV mode/Shoulder cannon)
Ravage - The Spy (Mini-Con Jaguar/side-car/Mace)
Laserbeak - Secondary Scout (Mini-Con bird/Motorcycle/Dagger)

Scrapper - Constructicon Foreman (Bulldozer with wheels)
Dr. Hook - Constructicon Medic (Crane truck)
Long Haul - Constructicon Transporter (Dump truck)
Scavenger - Constructicon Scout (Excavator)
Mixmaster - Constructicon Chemist (Cement mixer)
Bonecrusher - Constructicon Demolitions Expert (Bulldozer with treads)
Devastator - Constructicon Combined Form (The six Constructicons)

 

In terms of animated series, this, this and this, with the latter...

...refined to include the following cast:

AUTOBOTS sporting customized weapons in contrast to the first series' melee weapons and the second series' bulk of tools - I would probably also resurrect my CB-slang concept from an earlier TF cartoon idea for them, too...

Ultra Magnus Car carrier. Weapon - sledgehammer.
Arcee Go-kart. Weapon - grapnel-winch.
Rodimus Roadeo truck. Weapon - spoiler-blades.
Nautica Airboat. Weapon - fan blades.
Kup Old pickup. Weapon - grill-bar knuckles.
Velocity Race car. Weapon - exhaust-flamethrowers.
Springer Monster truck. Weapon - tire-piledrivers.

DECEPTICONS, not all seen regularly, due largely to their fugitive status, and also re-purposed from that earlier idea I had for a TF cartoon:

Overlord At the top of Magnus' list. Has a pair of human co-conspirators entrenched in American corporate society. Splits into a jet airliner AND a posh private bus/RV, both of which are equipped with "Stealth Mode"-type hidden armaments, and which combine to form the main robot.
Sixshot Master assassin and devout protegé of Megatron; served as a template for Shockwave's experiments. Six-changer - robot, stealth fighter, off-road assault vehicle, patrol boat, defense satellite, assault submarine.
Motormaster Escaped from Shockwave's Project: Guiltar. Wanted for impersonating a Prime (which grinds Magnus' gears even more about his own lineage). Fire engine.
Dead End Also escaped from Project: Guiltar. Wanted for impersonating an Autobot security officer. Patrol car.
Dragstrip Another fugitive from the same clone batch as Motormaster and Dead End. Wanted for impersonating an Autobot (Flareup). Undercover car.
Wildrider A more recent Guiltar subject. Wanted for impersonating an Autobot (in this case, Windcharger). Classic muscle car.
Breakdown Another more recent Guiltar clone. Wanted for impersonating another Autobot (Ironhide). Sport utility vehicle.
Menasor Combined form of the above 5.
Battletrap Hybrid clone of Swindle and Vortex. Splits into a combat support vehicle AND a stealth chopper.
Flywheels Another Combaticon hybrid clone, this time of Brawl and Blastoff. Thus, splits into a tank and spaceplane.
Roadblock He himself transforms into a motorcycle; he utilizes a Transtector-type larger robot which turns into a street racer; in turn, this street racer fits inside the armored truck which serves as his rolling headquarters.
Thunderwing Transforms into a helicopter which fits into the attack aircraft which also doubles as his Transtector-type larger robot shell.
Pounce Robot/sports car/giant puma.
Wingspan Robot/sports car/hawk.

 

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE YOUR VERSION OF TRANSFORMERS IF HASBRO GAVE YOU THE PERMISSION?

Simple... I'd make them using the same budgets Takara is given on their toys.

 

No mcGuffins, no Optimus Prime, no Bumblebee.

Actually, I'd make a sitcom about the lives of Decepticons who are ordered to fight the Autobots and constantly get their ass kicked. Megatron is a cranky boss and Prime is basically WH40K Khorne as far as the rank-and-file cannon fodder is concerned.