Transformers Universe Details Revealed at Botcon 2012

Here’s a transcript (thanks Tony_Bacala) of what happened during the Botcon 2012 panel where Jagex talked about Transformers Universe:

tl;dr:

• Free to play on any browser with Java, should look and play like a console game
• Based in the Transformers Prime continuity, but independent of the show
• Third person POV, with some camera adjustment
• There will be multiple character classes to revealed later with 5 classes available at the launch
• Probably no class changing, though you can create multiple characters of varying classes
• Trailer was shown, but did not feature game play
• No beast modes or flight modes will be available for the launch, though they hope to add flight modes soon
• Character appearance will change with modes and upgrades
• Possible Beta version by the end of the year
• Humans are in the game, but only as part of the environment

Sunday April 29, 2012
2:02
We’re just kicking off here now, Jagex is taking the stage

2:03
Eddy Dew, Steve Huckle, Kerry Vero from Jagex on stage with Aaron Archer

2:03
Kelly Vero is the principal story writer

2:04
Steve Huckle is the art director

2:04
He’s responsible for all the pretty visuals

2:04
Eddy Dew is the community manager

2:05
Aaron is saying about how working with Jagex has been a great experience

2:05
Really exciting to work on these projects

2:06
Thinks it is awesome to give people a chance to make their own characters and become their own Transformers

2:06
Feels like they are working in a family

2:07
Kelly: Every day is a new challenge, has been having a great time working with Aaron Archer and Rik Alvarez

2:07
The original goal was to be heavily tied with Prime, moved away from that a bit now

2:08
Idea is to let you make your own character rather than being tied to a particular character setup

2:08
Showing some concepts of environments

2:08
Megatron’s base in the MMO is a cave with a huge Spacebridge in the middle – Spacebridge looks a lot like a Stargate

2:09
One of the scenes is Megatron standing on a platform near a waterfall with crystals coming out from the water

2:09
Comment From Pravus Prime
So there’s no character classes?

2:10
Comment From Levels
How many classes will there be?

2:10
There will be character classes, to be unveiled over the coming months. They are excited to be sharing details of them nearer that time. No details shared just yet though.

2:10
Same with the number of classes

2:10
Showing a couple of locations and the character scale

2:11
The Autobot base looks like the Prime HQ

2:11
Comment From Robotrik-1
Are they considering the inside of City Transformers as battle grounds and then the City Transformers themselves as “BOSS” characters ?

2:12
Nothing’s been shown of citybots yet, all very much “Earth” environments. No word on any BOSS characters yet either, but the panel’s still young. We’ll update here if something is said

2:13
About to show a trailer, no in-game footage, but an idea of what the game will be like

2:13
Short, but pretty slick

2:14
Comment From rxlthunder
Will the game be free to download and free to play?

2:14
Yes, free to play

2:14
Browser based
2:14
Comment From dinoraw
does megatron have his TFP look/aesthetic

2:14
Hard to say from the little bit of art shown

2:15
It’s Prime based so I assume so

2:16
It’s set around the Prime continuity, but they are definitely going forward going to different places
2:16
Kelly just teased we might even get to go to other places, maybe even back in time

2:17
looking at a possible beta release toward the end of the year

2:18
It is going to be free to play, any player can do anything they want – no restrictions, you will be able to earn / unlock anything though there might be means to speed up the process

2:19
There will be voice acting in the game

2:19
Friendly fire is a “yes and no” thing, won’t rule it out, might make it an option, they are still working on that aspect

2:20
Beast modes – the initial launch would be for vehicles only, beast modes are a potential for later

2:21
They want to make this a game to last for 10, 20 years, so want to make sure they have places to go and things to add

2:21
Comment From rxlthunder
Will the game be Canon to the show?

2:22
It is in the same continuity and they are working with Aaron Archer so it is in the Aligned Continuity, however it is its own thing so probably not the show canon

2:23
Animal followers (Minicons in other words) – might do it up the line, not at launch though

2:24
Key point they are pressing is they are not reinventing the wheel, they are letting you play as giant robots, the gameplay is decided by the player – you can play it how you want to play it. Also transformation figures into this

2:24
System requirements – a browser that can run Java, if you have a computer from the last five years you can definitely play this

2:25
Currently the viewpoint is third person, but there is freedom to adjust the camera a bit

2:26
As you get upgrades and mods there will be visual progression on your character

2:27
Air based vehicles is not planned for launch, but is planned for the near future

2:28
The challenge with the game, as with Prime, is that they need to make three models for each character – one for robot, one for vehicle, and one for the transformation itself

2:28
Runescape – they have no real idea on bringing over elements from Runescape

2:29
They will have a range of experiences from PVP to PVE

2:30
There will be a sliding characters from the first level, you will feel powerful from the begnning though. The beginning has you as a character in a major event

2:30
There will be five classes on launch

2:31
I think Levels was asking on that one

2:31
There will be a variety of combat styles in the game, including vehicle combat

2:32
There will be voice chat in the game

2:33
Someone just asked about a Shattered Glass version of the story, based on a red Decepticon in the trailer, and got a big “wait and see” from Kelly. Eddy then jumped in to say “maybe you can choose your logo color”

2:34
Multiformers – Aaron is saying that triple / six changers are currently not a part of the aligned continuity. Or more specifically “we have not got to those yet”, suggesting we might see them sooner or later

2:35
The story is focused on the player – it is shaped around how the player plays the game

2:35
Comment From Chykin
Anygameplay shown? Or is it too soon?

2:36
We saw in game footage in the trailer, not gameplay but the models, etc, done through a filter to make them look a bit sharper

2:36
Comment From Robotrik-1
Will there be 5-man “raid” type missions ?

2:36
They are still working on this. Several different mechanics and modes in there. Every opportunity for raids. The exact modes are still being worked on though

2:38
The money side is being worked out – they will have subscriptions and microtransactions. Working out specifics still though

2:38
Class changing – probably not possibly

2:39
Transformers are not morphers Aaron explains, so once they are built they stay that way. He adds “so choose wisely”

2:39
You can make more than one character though so you can always update this later

2:39
Make another character to do the other class you want to do

2:40
The key theme running through every answer is that there will be a variety of experiences

2:40
Optimus and Megatron from Prime are in, plus some other characters who might be a bit surprising.

2:41
When you choose you class you have a choice of alt modes, and then a choice of bot modes

2:42
Humans in the game – Kelly says “it would be weird not to have humans there, but it is all about Transformers. It is all about Autobots VS Decepticons”

2:42
Will look and play like a console game

2:45
Karma system – something they have thought of from a story point of view and fitting into the nature of the aligned continuity. Might be difficult to implement in the framework of the game though

2:47
The game’s story will be independent of the Prime cartoon. It carries the spirit of the show but is its own entity.

2:50
Character death – always a difficult one to get right, they are still working on balancing this aspect so that the player is not overly punished but still gets punished a bit

2:50
Okay, and that’s the end of the panel

2:51
That also wraps our coverage of the Botcon 2012 panels. Thank you to everyone at home for joining us, and enjoy the rest of your weekend! I’m off for one last lap of the dealer room before the show closes.