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Topic ID: 2114
#0, Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Matrix Dragon on Mar-06-11 at 05:21 AM
... Well, my brain is slightly broken here.

The wargames are very impressive, with Thundercracker getting the chance to really shine. His dealing with Runamuck was very nicely done, but his fight with Razorclaw was brilliant. The fact Megatron was planning/hoping for this development had the effect of showing a much smarter side to Megs then he usually gets.

Soundwave having an online identity cracked me up, especially as it let you show the side of his character we don't normally see is already there. The entire hacking arc was nicely done, with everyone getting the chance to be awesome. The followup in Little Iacon... You brought the Geth in, which worked remarkably well (Although I suspect they're obeying a different ancient evil robot this time), then you had Stinger, Sari, Bulkhead and Miko. The last one threw me for a moment, possibly because I'm only just starting with Prime and in the eps I've seen, she's rather irritating. Still, merging the Prime and Animated versions of Bulkheads is nifty, and she seems a bit better suited for the madness here :)

Then there's Starscreams return. No matter how I look at it, it was awesome. From landing the dropship, generally being amusing, and his scene with Alexis... Not only did you blend in elements of his Armada version, the choice of lines there now has me seeing him as the Raggedy Decepticon.

Loved this chapter, curious at the cliffhanger, eagerly waiting for more.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter


#1, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Star Ranger4 on Mar-06-11 at 01:53 PM
In response to message #0
I hate being reduced to Me too posts, but MD pretty much covered everything I was going to say. Might go back and do a line by line later, gonna want to re-read the first 4 chapters again first though, just to be sure I've not misremembered anything.

Only one question that does stick out a bit... Alexis and Starscream. Is their mixed backhistory something I should be digging into the web to educate myself on or is it 'new' to CR and I just need to wait for it to be relevant and therefore revealed?


#2, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on Mar-06-11 at 01:57 PM
In response to message #1
>Only one question that does stick out a bit... Alexis and Starscream.
> Is their mixed backhistory something I should be digging into the web
>to educate myself on or is it 'new' to CR and I just need to wait for
>it to be relevant and therefore revealed?

Alexis and Starscream had kind of a thing in Transformers Armada, but you wouldn't really gain much insight into what the deal is with them here by researching it, since the contexts and specific events involved are both almost entirely different.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


#3, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on Mar-06-11 at 02:06 PM
In response to message #0
>Stinger, Sari, Bulkhead and Miko. The last one threw me for a
>moment, possibly because I'm only just starting with Prime and in the
>eps I've seen, she's rather irritating.

Aw! I think she's brilliant. Best human supporting-cast in years. Miles ahead of anybody in the live-action franchise, although admittedly now that I've typed that I could see it being taken for damnation with faint praise. Anyway, maybe it's just me, but just the two seconds of the opening credits she's in would have convinced me that she and Bulky are awesome. And she owns a Gibson Flying V.

Mind you, she and Sari are both a little older here than their screen counterparts. This is an artifact of having placed them at NAIS, not a deliberate modification for its own sake, but still. She doesn't have body armor or an antiarmor weapon in the original, and there are, I submit, few female characters, however awesome, who cannot be improved with both of those things. :)

>Then there's Starscreams return. No matter how I look at it, it was
>awesome. From landing the dropship, generally being amusing, and his
>scene with Alexis... Not only did you blend in elements of his Armada
>version, the choice of lines there now has me seeing him as the
>Raggedy Decepticon.

That correspondence is... not entirely accidental.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


#5, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Matrix Dragon on Mar-06-11 at 03:15 PM
In response to message #3
>Aw! I think she's brilliant. Best human supporting-cast in years.
>Miles ahead of anybody in the live-action franchise, although
>admittedly now that I've typed that I could see it being taken for
>damnation with faint praise. Anyway, maybe it's just me, but just the
>two seconds of the opening credits she's in would have convinced me
>that she and Bulky are awesome. And she owns a Gibson Flying V.

Well, after reading this I got around to downloading the episodes that have aired since it started up again last month. While she's not my outright favorite character, I'll admit to finding her a lot less irritating and a lot more likable then her first appearances.

"... Did you just scream like a little girl?"

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter


#4, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by The Traitor on Mar-06-11 at 02:18 PM
In response to message #0
Not a huge Transformers fan, and -definitely- not au fait with the universe thereof on the level that would enable me to form a cogent and useful opinion on the characters, but I love a good ol' fashioned UF Villain Redemption Arc. And since Megatron and Starscream both seem to have done this*, I will now squee.

Thank you for putting up with it.

---
"Together we will build an empire of a million shining suns." -- Dave, Dictator of Utopia.

*Of course this rather depends on Gryphon not going "No, today I shall be evil but nobody shall find out until 2025! Mwahahahahahaaaa!". Although possibly not quite with that level of scenery-chewing...


#6, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by mdg1 on Mar-06-11 at 04:15 PM
In response to message #0
I gotta ask, Gryph... why did you give Starscream (traditionally mostle white & red) Skywarp's colors?

"There was a maroon-and-black Decepticon Sky Soldier standing on
the upper hull of the geth transport, just above the blackened, cratered
scar where the forward sensor heads had been"

Confused the heck out of me....


#7, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on Mar-06-11 at 04:56 PM
In response to message #6
LAST EDITED ON Mar-06-11 AT 04:59 PM (EST)
 
>I gotta ask, Gryph... why did you give Starscream (traditionally
>mostle white & red) Skywarp's colors?

Because right now he's wearing this body, with some deco cues (like the "battle damage") taken from this one.

Also, I think you will find that Skywarp is black and purple, not maroon and black.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


#8, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by mdg1 on Mar-06-11 at 05:56 PM
In response to message #7
Ah, OK.

Maroon is at that weird boundary between purple & brown. I wasn't sure which you meant.


#14, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by trigger on Mar-07-11 at 02:14 PM
In response to message #7
I don't care how he looks. You bought back my favorite transformer. That is the awesome.

t.

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - HST


#9, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by fb111a on Mar-07-11 at 09:23 AM
In response to message #0
And Bumblebee's got a new form?

What does he look like?


#10, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Star Ranger4 on Mar-07-11 at 11:27 AM
In response to message #9
>And Bumblebee's got a new form?
>
>What does he look like?

This version, I believe based on what has been read in the text so far


#11, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by BZArcher on Mar-07-11 at 11:36 AM
In response to message #10
Actually, based on the "Dodge" comment, I think it's closer to this.

#12, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on Mar-07-11 at 12:31 PM
In response to message #11
LAST EDITED ON Mar-07-11 AT 12:32 PM (EST)
 
You never studied.

--G.
Though to be fair you're right, that is closer than whateverthehell the Prime version is supposed to be. :)
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


#13, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Peter Eng on Mar-07-11 at 01:33 PM
In response to message #12
"...whateverthehell the Prime version is supposed to be."

2007 Dodge Super Bee?

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.


#16, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on Mar-07-11 at 03:16 PM
In response to message #13
>"...whateverthehell the Prime version is supposed to be."
>
>2007 Dodge Super >Bee?>

No, I'm thinking "2009 Camaro, except the license doesn't actually extend to the new TV series." :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


#15, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by BZArcher on Mar-07-11 at 02:46 PM
In response to message #12
I dunno, I actually like the Charger a bit better...oh, well. :)

#17, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Meagen on Mar-08-11 at 03:21 AM
In response to message #0
>You brought the Geth in, which worked remarkably well (Although I suspect
>they're obeying a different ancient evil robot this time)

Overanalyzing fangirls want to know: Was this another one of those "Hm, I could- but then- and with- *Aha*." moments where a new idea gave an older story new life?


#18, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on Mar-08-11 at 03:43 AM
In response to message #17
>>You brought the Geth in, which worked remarkably well (Although I suspect
>>they're obeying a different ancient evil robot this time)
>
>Overanalyzing fangirls want to know: Was this another one of those
>"Hm, I could- but then- and with- *Aha*." moments where a new idea
>gave an older story new life?

Sort of, yeah. The pieces had been floating around in discussions I'd had with Phil for a while now; they started coming together during the construction of an only-peripherally-related Mini that I now have to wait to post until Adapt & Survive comes out, which will hopefully take less than four years. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


#19, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by fb111a on Mar-08-11 at 07:56 AM
In response to message #18
>Sort of, yeah. The pieces had been floating around in discussions I'd
>had with Phil for a while now; they started coming together during the
>construction of an only-peripherally-related Mini that I now have to
>wait to post until Adapt & Survive comes out, which will
>hopefully take less than four years. :)
>
>--G.
>-><-
>Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
>Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
>Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Look forward to Adapt and Survive! Sooner, rather than later, please! :)


#20, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by s3yang on Mar-08-11 at 08:06 AM
In response to message #18
LAST EDITED ON Mar-08-11 AT 08:07 AM (EST)
 
>Sort of, yeah. The pieces had been floating around in discussions I'd
>had with Phil for a while now; they started coming together during the
>construction of an only-peripherally-related Mini that I now have to
>wait to post until Adapt & Survive comes out, which will
>hopefully take less than four years. :)

We all hope so I'm sure, that ending is just a wee bit more cliff-hangerish than usual. Though I suppose it's more anticipation than anything else.

That said, great story. I swear that Eyrie stories cause me to go on more wiki-dives than anything else I read. I haven't really watched/read anything transformers related other than the original series and the recent movies, and this I think, will have to change.

Also, is it just me or does the newer transformer designs(the animation stuff) seem I don't know... cluttered? It's like someone looked at a classic transformer and said: Needs more Dakka, let's spot weld some more on.


#21, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Mephron on Mar-08-11 at 11:43 AM
In response to message #20
I just started watching Prime, and they seem to have a bit less dakka than most.

--
Geoff Depew - Darth Mephron
Haberdasher to Androids, Dark Lord of Sith Tech Support.
"And Remember! Google is your Friend!!"


#22, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on Mar-08-11 at 02:55 PM
In response to message #20
>Also, is it just me or does the newer transformer designs(the
>animation stuff) seem I don't know... cluttered?

In some cases very much so, for the simple reason that the character designers are working under the looming, terrible shadow of the live-action film franchise. They're trying to carry across a simplified impression of the design style from said franchise - Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, in particular, are clearly intended to call to mind the movie versions - and since the robot designs in the live-action films are utter and complete crap, we end up with... well, with what we've got... in Prime.

Some are better than others. Ratchet's not bad, because his design (for some reason) owes much more to the version from Transformers Animated than the movies (without the mysterious and baffling need for a shave), as does Bulkhead. Arcee, even if she does have that movie-Transformer spindly-jaggedness going on in places, would be fine if she had a nose. Prime, 'Bee, and all the Decepticons, on the other hand... sigh. Headshake.

The makers of the live-action film series have much to answer for in Sto-vo-kor, that's all I'm saying.

--G.
The opinions expressed in the interview segments are strictly, etc.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


#23, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Vehrec on May-21-11 at 05:01 PM
In response to message #0
So, Sari is apparently still not 'mature' in physical development, but is going to post-secondary school? I know the girl was learning more about economics when she was physically eight than I'll ever know, but jeez if you're the child of a super genius industrialist and you got your GED at age 12, why not kick off for a few years and tour the galaxy absorbing culture and society? Inconsistent physical and mental development my old arch-nemesis, we meet again! Was Mir Teiwaz Artonelico 15 or 30 when she tried to commit genocide? Why is Rozalin so much more developed than say Etna? And does it even matter?

Starscream is...well, I'm surprised it took him this long to show. Seriously, ham it up some more, I wouldn't know it's him without the Ham. Ok, not really. He's Starscream, follower of at least two of the Eight Glorious Paths, and maybe a third. Incidentally, I wonder if Slipstream(Fem-seaker from Animated) is currently online, or if she's a yet-to-come character in this setting.

Thundercracker...well, I have always suspected that a lot of Decepticons had hidden reserves. Theirs was a very cut-feedline community, putting all your cards on the table was dangerous. Additionally, they're all warriors. Every Autobot can build in a pinch, and every Decepticon can fight and hide. That's how I've defined them for years. He's probably not the only or the best one with untapped leadership potential.


#24, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on May-21-11 at 05:45 PM
In response to message #23
>So, Sari is apparently still not 'mature' in physical development, but
>is going to post-secondary school? I know the girl was learning more
>about economics when she was physically eight than I'll ever know, but
>jeez if you're the child of a super genius industrialist and you got
>your GED at age 12, why not kick off for a few years and tour the
>galaxy absorbing culture and society? Inconsistent physical and
>mental development my old arch-nemesis, we meet again! Was Mir Teiwaz
>Artonelico 15 or 30 when she tried to commit genocide? Why is Rozalin
>so much more developed than say Etna? And does it even matter?

I don't understand a word you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to confuse me.

Also, you might want to keep in mind that she's an automorphic robot, which basically means she can look like whatever the hell she wants to look like. If she really felt like it, she could reprogram her default configuration* to be six-foot-four and built like the chick from the old magazine ads for Rumple Minze schnapps, but it would totally screw with her backhand in tennis, and anyway, she happens to like the lean-and-speedy look.

>Incidentally, I wonder
>if Slipstream(Fem-seaker from Animated) is currently online, or if
>she's a yet-to-come character in this setting.

She's around. Or at least there is a female Decepticon Sky Soldier by that name; the characterization is different (because her origins are different, which is to say not as convoluted).

>Thundercracker...well, I have always suspected that a lot of
>Decepticons had hidden reserves. Theirs was a very cut-feedline
>community, putting all your cards on the table was dangerous.

Indeed.

--G.
* "Every time the TARDIS materialises in a new location, within the first nanosecond of landing it analyses its surroundings, calculates a 12-dimensional data map of everything within a thousand-mile radius, and determines which outer shell would blend in best with the environment! And then it disguises itself as a police telephone box from 1963."
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


#25, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Vehrec on May-21-11 at 06:38 PM
In response to message #24
>>So, Sari is apparently still not 'mature' in physical development, but
>>is going to post-secondary school? I know the girl was learning more
>>about economics when she was physically eight than I'll ever know, but
>>jeez if you're the child of a super genius industrialist and you got
>>your GED at age 12, why not kick off for a few years and tour the
>>galaxy absorbing culture and society? Inconsistent physical and
>>mental development my old arch-nemesis, we meet again! Was Mir Teiwaz
>>Artonelico 15 or 30 when she tried to commit genocide? Why is Rozalin
>>so much more developed than say Etna? And does it even matter?
>
>I don't understand a word you say, but I'll defend to the death your
>right to confuse me.
>
>Also, you might want to keep in mind that she's an automorphic robot,
>which basically means she can look like whatever the hell she wants to
>look like. If she really felt like it, she could reprogram her
>default configuration* to be six-foot-four and built like the chick
>from the old magazine >ads for Rumple Minze schnapps>, but it would totally screw with her
>backhand in tennis, and anyway, she happens to like the
>lean-and-speedy look.
>
>--G.
>* "Every time the TARDIS materialises in a new location, within
>the first nanosecond of landing it analyses its surroundings,
>calculates a 12-dimensional data map of everything within a
>thousand-mile radius, and determines which outer shell would blend in
>best with the environment! And then it disguises itself as a police
>telephone box from 1963."

>-><-
>Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
>Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
>Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Oh, she's totally capable of that in theory-my rant was about 'She's got wingy things that don't do anything yet' and how long she's got to wait for that to 'develop' fully. Might take a million years, might happen tommorow. The other names were girls with similarly confused developmental histories-Etna and Rozalin are obstensibly the same species, but Etna's an early adolescent at 1300+ while Rozalin got to the age of majority in a much shorter timeframe of two decades. Since she's a demon who reincarnated on purpose, that might be excused as getting past all the nasty hormonal bits of puberty.

Mir is even more confusing in her own way-think of her as a Boomer designed to look and think like a 15 year old girl until her reactor runs out of power in a century and a half. That'll do as a rough first order approximation. With that in mind, when she goes rogue 30 years into her design life, does she get tried for war crimes as an adult or as a minor? Has she ever passed the age of consent?

The point is that Sari's obviously still using her 'teenage' form, and while I don't doubt that her 'Adult' form will be every bit as slim and speedy, I do wonder when she'll upgrade again. After all, NAIS is a school of higher learning, and most people have finished growing when they attend. Incidentally, this leads me to question if Sari is old enough to buy beer, and if not, if she has tried alcohol to see if it has any effect on her.


#26, RE: Cybertron Reloaded 5: Intrusion Countermeasures
Posted by Gryphon on May-21-11 at 07:12 PM
In response to message #25
>Oh, she's totally capable of that in theory-my rant was about 'She's
>got wingy things that don't do anything yet' and how long she's got to
>wait for that to 'develop' fully.

I don't think it's a question of development, in the analog-to-biological-maturation sense. I think she just hasn't figured out what they're for yet. She's learned how to operate most of the newfangled systems she acquired when she upgraded to Revision 2, but for all we know those winglets are actually just passive cooling vanes, and as such have been doing their job all along.

>The point is that Sari's obviously still using her 'teenage' form, and
>while I don't doubt that her 'Adult' form will be every bit as slim
>and speedy, I do wonder when she'll upgrade again.

She's probably not all that keen on it, actually. I mean, last time she did that she went completely haywire and had to be damped with an EMP weapon (which is a little like skipping straight from "sober" to "hung over in a jail cell with no memory of getting there"), then spent the better part of a year painstakingly learning how to re-activate and control each system.

>Incidentally, this leads me to question if Sari is
>old enough to buy beer, and if not, if she has tried alcohol to see if
>it has any effect on her.

She isn't, she has, and it does, but only in human mode.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.