JB0

That 2012 added nothing. The love triangle was cleanly finished at the end of the series. ... Actually, had Hikaru not suddenly regressed past the majority of his character development, it would've been finished at the showdown with the Bodol Fleet.

Ya know, I checked the Macross Design Works book last night, and again just now. The wings DO NOT descend down to the nose tip on the line art, which is the official design and what the animation is supposed to match. The wings should end where the legs connect to the nosecone. They go all the way to the tip when they scissor down and don't change size. So it's a more realistic design, but not a more ACCURATE design.

Definitely.

It might not've been possible without major changes to the engine. Could've hit time constraints that prevented it. It could've just looked ugly when they tried it. I think just slapping them down as shamelessly lazy is a bit harsh. The PS2 Macross came out a full year later, Bandai'd done other polygon-based Macross games before, AND had the benefit of Kawamori's input. So they had someone on-hand to warn them in advance "Yeah, those wings have to change size during the transformation, or the legs will go through them." Knowing issues like this are coming in advance makes it a lot easier to fix(though I can't verify that the issue IS fixed). *fires emulator up* VF-X2 does the transformation, then after it reaches battroid mode the wings suddenly change size to ALMOST not there(I had to change to a hardware graphics plugin and up the resolution to be sure they were still there because they were shredded by jaggies). It's a garishly visible artifact. Not even sure that solves the walking animation problem Vicious Cycle had, since I don't have a save file on a ground level or a real urge to shoot until I see land. But UNIT didn't even TRY to hide the size problem. They just swapped a pair of polys out on the battroid model and shipped. At least in Battlecry there's not a "POP" at the end where the wings vanish while you're staring right at them. I'd cut them some slack if this wasn't VF-X2. They knew well in advance there was going to be a serious animation issue, and they just ignored it. ... Okay, I just went back and studied Battlecry's transformation animation. The wings actually shrink as they scissor down, which is why there's no "pop" at the end. They ALMOST had it, they just shrank them too far. I'm actually really surprised. I thought that would've been a very visible artifact, but the transformation sequence is so fast you don't have a lot of time to notice it. Implication is that either they ran out of time to keep trying wing sizes, or they couldn't find a wing short enough to let the legs move freely.

Not to mention the game was released in October '02. The Yamato 1/60s had only just come out, and those were the only toys that were useful as a reference at the time. The wings change size between modes on the original VF-1 design. It's a rather ugly issue for transforming models of the mech, be they plastic, resin, metal, or digital. If I had to guess... The dev team probably didn't realize the wings changed until they were doing the animations and trying to figure out why the legs kept hitting the wings. They were on a schedule so they couldn't play with the model and animation until they had everything just right. The wings "fell off" because it was the least disruptive solution. Personally, I'd slide them up towards the shoulders... but that breaks the continuity of the lines down the back. Slide them up and swing them out a bit to maintain the lines? Sure the VF-1 would have coattails, but ...

Perhaps. The Beetle design is distinct enough that VW might could push it on body styling, but they'd have a difficult case given G1 and G2 both used it a few times without lawsuit. That would boost the odds of Bumblebee and Soundwave relative to Hot Rod. A Masterpiece Bumblebee could be repainted as Cliffjumper(He really SHOULDN'T be, since they're supposed to be different cars, but it hasn't stopped anyone before), and Soundwave is Soundblaster. Oooh, if they did Superion AND Devastator... BEST. SHELF BATTLE. EVER.

Grimlock's also got the Classic 'Rex. Which is just now hitting shelves. Of course, Classic/MP overlap didn't stop Starscream. Classic Megatron and Prime don't count since neither was designed to look really close to the cartoon, and Classic Prime was designed well after MP Prime was out of production(though reissue plans were probably being kicked around). But MP and Classic Starscream likely had some overlapping design phase, and if they were really afraid of double-dipping, one would've been killed off. I think the big thing is that they're going for the most iconic characters for the Masterpiece line, and anything else is because it's just a repaint. What are the most-recognized Transformers characters? Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, and Bumblebee? Maybe Hot Rod? ... Actually, aside from Soundwave, that's the first Classics series(Boo Astrotrain!!!!). They were probably chosen for that reason, with Soundwave being skipped over because his alt mode is less fun. Assuming I read it right, that means Soundwave, Bumblebee, and Hot Rod are candidates for next new-mold MP. Probably Soundwave or Bumblebee, depending on when and how often Starscream gets repainted. I doubt the Decepticons will be allowed numerical superiority, so if Starscream gets a repaint before the new mold, Bumblebee gets the MP treatment to keep the Autobots from falling behind. Unless VW raises hell... Merciful Primus, it may be Hot Rod! Please no!

You're not offering strategy advice that involves turning on god mode, though. Right? I cut the cheating out a long time ago, personally. I realized I was getting a lot worse at games since I'd gotten a Game Genie and games that used to give me no trouble were slaughtering me. I try to just push my own skills as far as they'll go instead of cheating now. Exception is FPS save-whoring. But let's face it, the genre's largely been designed around that paradigm ever since Doom.

If they intend to respect the original, shouldn't it look like Vietnamese anime?

Cheaters have no honor. Besides, Cat Scan was easy. Stay near the Cat's Eye, shoot everything that moves. Trial by Fire was the QBert stage. I'm proud to say I beat all the escort missions honestly. Now, those property defense missions(bridge stage, base evac stage) where I turned 1-hit kills on... I'm less proud of that. In my defense, they were boring as hell. Now for a REAL strategy... the fighters lob missiles. The battlepods and NosGer don't. But the pods and Nos don't care about the Cat's Eye. So ALL the Cat's Eye problems are missile-related. Stay near the Cat's Eye, and drop a flare over the recon plane when you see missiles incoming on radar. If you see a NosGer, cap him. They're the only real threat here. Keep an eye on your radar, you don't want any fighter pods getting too close to your "partner" while you're playing tag with Kamjin's little brother. Make sure you keep your health up, because towards the end of the stage you won't have time for defensive maneuvers. You'll just be riding the recon plane's ass dropping flares one after the other, and you WILL take a beating. Or that you don't understand momentum? Go play Asteroids for a while. Seriously, the delayed deceleration is for animation fluidity. There's no brick walls in space, you don't need to change speed like you hit one. If anything, you change speed too FAST. But realistic momentum simulation doesn't work well for a 3D action game. Battlecry came out before Zero, so it would've proven that time travel was possible! EIGHTY-EIGHT MILES PER HOUR! Ignoring temporal issues, it would've gotten Big West to bring the hammer down on HG. Can't let them run around stealing your designs, right? THAT would've been worth it. That doesn't work as well as it sounds, sadly. It's a lot harder to gauge what you're gonna hit in a first-person view. Hence why I pretty much ignore the option in Star Fox. Every stage it's available has me weaving through space debris, and I take too many hits. Also why the feature disappeared from later 3D shooters.

Speculation and wishing are different things. I WANT to see Shockwave, but I THINK we'll see Starscream repaints.

Nothing quite like a dimensional pocket, is there?

Very long interconnects? The cannon is counted separately from Battle 7?

I'm gonna snag Soundwave if he pops up in my area. He holds up better than a lot of the other G1 toys do, and I have a soft spot for the cassette robots.

Mad scientist maybe?

Oooh, that's actually nice... Backpack has hinges, I hadn't seen that before either. So I guess he can do a Strike Valkyrie bootleg shoulder cannon too? Pity there's no missile racks on the wings. It'd be hilarious if someone posed him blasting Megatron with everything at once, DYRL-style. ... Better yet, posed him and a Hikaru 1S blasting each other, scale differences be damned! (Are the Banpresto valks close enough to the same size?)

Wave 2 hasn't shown up here yet that I've seen. I hadn't seen rifle photos, and assumed Hasbro was doing a 1-weapon-type rule. Guns OR missile launchers, but not both. It's actually a hint that MP08 will be Shockwave, with 07 being the Starscream anime paint scheme. </wishful-thinking>

Aww, be nice. It's a LOT better than anything you can make out of Legos. He's no VF-1, but we all knew that was coming. Almost every Jet/Skyfire design I've seen has been chunky, it'd be crazy for the toy to NOT be. GERWALK is iffy, but it probably wasn't a design goal. I'd be VERY surprised if it's even an official triple-changer. GERWALK was only barely official in the original toy release, with the instructions illustrating it under the caption "alternate transformation", but offering no directions to attain said mode. The big blue missiles in the arm launchers is all I can really fault them for. But that's just Hasbro's gimmick of the moment. Sure he lacks a rifle, but I can fix that as fast as I did with Bumblebee.

I still don't like the Beast Wars aesthetic, though. Regardless of how well the story came out.

*laughs* And lemme tell ya, that damn hippie wouldn't EVER quit playing his freaking guitar. It'd be 2AM, I'd be trying to finish an essay due the next day, and he'd be behind me shouting "LISTEN TO MY SONG!" I'd've never noticed the title if you hadn't pointed it out, though.

Your point is valid. Shame Hasbro's taste is notoriously questionable. I remember saying something to that effect about Beast Wars, though. I never "got" the whole Pretenders++ thing.

Interesting. I hadn't made that connection, but now that you mention it... It was the Macross 5 in Macross 7, though. Macross 13 gets smashed in VF-X2. Well, the network was probably weighted more towards larger objects like ships. Raw power over precision. And using debris to hide yourself like that isn't an unworkable solution, especially when you're talking about a planet that had over a million capital ships destroyed around it. Sure it's 30 years later, but there should still be a LOT of crap in Earth orbit. ... Actually, the defensive network might have originally been sold as a way to prevent major impacts. There was a lot of large debris in orbit and no easy way to get rid of it. So put a bunch of cannons in a low orbit taking potshots at anything big enough to survive re-entry or intersecting an orbit you want protected. Anti-attacker capacity would be a bonus short-term, though far more important in the long run.

To be fair, Sharon hacked the entire UN defense force, including the people. She had soldiers running around blasting machine guns at Myung, so she'd probably hijacked the pilots for those conventional piloted aircraft(though whether the brainwashed pilots were coordinated enough to fly is another story...). It's not like she just stole the Ghost. She already had control of everything and everyone around it, from the top admirals and central computer to the guy waxing the armor and probably the Pepsi-bot pushing drinks on unsuspecting visitors. If anything, it's a point about the dangers of excessive networking She gained access to ONE machine inside the Macross and took over everything, from the Macross' anti-aircraft guns up to the defense satellite network. Not just the military systems, either, given the video billboards and hologram projectors she was using. For a few hours, she owned everything in the world except an annoying pair of prototype VFs, the 3 people riding them, and Myung. And for a few seconds, she owned everything but the YF-21, Guld, and and Myung. That's a LOT of damage for one computer. It's also appalling computer security... The UN should NEVER have brought a strange computer inside their central command facility and hooked it in like that. It's even more absurd than holding a Quake tournament in the Pentagon. You wanna hold a concert, that's great... go outside and hook your computer up in the concert hall like everyone else does.

But the REAL question is do auto-focus cameras in the future reliably identify the correct subject? Seriously, it does stand to reason. More advanced technology = more powerful computers = more advanced AI routines that can be run at a reasonable speed. If nothing else, the X9 proved the promises of superior speed and maneuverability were accurate. I doubt the neural chip issue really factored into things much in that case, honestly. The Ghost was probably just following orders issued by Sharon. But it's possible the chase with Guld that led to it's destruction(in the movie) was a result of that annoying self-preservation instinct. If it'd blasted Guld as he came in instead of running from the kamikaze strike... ... Of course, Sharon may've ordered it to harass, but not destroy, the 2 VF prototypes. She knew exactly who the pilots were, and since she "inherited" Myung's feelings... we KNOW she wanted Isamu for herself, and it's possible she had something similar in mind for Guld. If those were the orders the X9 was given, it performed magnificently.

There's some indications that Deep Blue likely would've lost a fair contest. First, Kasparov went in blind. Deep Blue had every available game Kasparov had ever played programmed into it, Kasparov had not one game log. Deep Blue had no public games other than the dozen Kasparov games, and IBM refused to supply any private match data when it was requested. Second, IBM was altering the AI between games(and the entire computer, both software and hardware, was overhauled between the first and second series). So Kasparov wasn't playing against the "same" opponent in each game. This could be argued as a sub-point of the first one(not only did he go in blind at the beginning of the first series, but also in every game afterwards). Conspiracy theory time! Deep Blue might not've been the only player. No one but IBM saw the move suggestions, and there were a few moves made during the series that a computer wasn't supposed to be capable of coming up with at the time. Requests for logs to prove they were moves suggested by Deep Blue were refused at the time, which is really the only reason I give this argument any credibility. Not to say that Deep Blue wasn't an impressive piece of hardware, but it was hardly a level playing field. As far as Macross goes... The AI won't take over, despite the massive gains(if nothing else, removing the "cream filling" and necessary support gear increases physical maneuverability because you have a lighter vehicle that no longer needs to not kill the pilot). Solely because no one wants to write a story about AI drones fighting wars and the computer nerds that tune them. That was actually the point of Plus. People are better. Even if machines are better, people are still better.