Some resources you might want to read/watch before reading this post. If you want to take the time.
Very important:
*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_(2004_video_game) - what the game is. The article is okay, could be better.
*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X2LCACi7N0 Current WR for the "100%, recruit" category (non-TAS) by me
*
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/User:Philmonte101/TFList A to-do list of things that this game really deserves.
Some glitch videos:
* Just check out the latest videos on my YouTube channel to see some of these:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Ready1Steady1Yeti1
* Also check out my friend NewBirdman27's OoB playlist, and other videos made by him of this game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_KC4Ci-PUA&list=PLXU-ANzr6wNesUGymtb1jx9n2Dwlq4poY
Other:
*
https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/ps2_transformers_armada_prelude_to_energon.html The SDA topic for this game, containing several useful points.
*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgGn8z9Hq48 - My former WR (now obsoleted, see above) "100%, Recruit" speedrun in 1:56:56.
Okay so before you begin to say "Wow, this game is not very well-known, so it must be crap." Let me tell you; that is totally not true. I literally think this is the best game that was ever made. It has amazing graphics, it has a lot of room for glitches and sequence breaks, it is very good for speed, it's a mixture of exploration, speed, and first-person shooter. Not to mention the Mini-Cons (weapons and accessories in the game). As NewBirdman himself told me, part of the game's great variety is the fact that you can experiment with different Mini-Cons to see which ones work best for battle, glitches, or whatever else.
The game has
so much variety, so much room for exploration (even still after I've explored it since age 7). The game to me is what I'd call limitless. What does that remind you of? Oh, Super Mario 64, of course!
When I say
limitless, what do you also think of? Oh, excellent TAS material, of course!
This would probably, in my opinion, be the best TAS anyone could ever see, especially if the viewers knew the game well. The amount of glitches that can already be exploited is massive, but just imagine what would happen if we had a working TAS emulator for PS2! We could RAM watch the game, find out so many different aspects of the AI RNG, find out ways to manipulate AI RNG in order to carry out
insane glitches, use LUA scripting, etc. etc.
The amount of theoretical glitches is massive! The game probably has a large universe full of exploitable glitches that neither me nor NewBirdman know of. Especially since there are RNG aspects (particularly with the Decepticlones; the enemy soldier robots) that are nearly impossible or just a pain in the ass to try to test with a console.
The game was so well developed and modeled. I mean the levels are
huge; just look at the level "Alaska" for instance. If you tried to import one of those massive levels into, say, ToadStool 64 (a Super Mario 64 level importer), the game would most likely freeze, and be far from not freezing. So when I say the room for exploration and glitchfests is huge, I do mean
huge.
Anyway, my point is, I want to start discussing this game here. I've been uploading glitches and other videos for this game already, and I feel like I want to get this game in high discussion. Honestly, I don't feel I could TAS this game alone. It's likely that a team of TASers would be needed, seeing how there's so much room for exploration, optimization, glitch-hunting, etc. We'd literally have to look through just about every single aspect of the game and start to not just understand it enough to speedrun it like I have, but REALLY REALLY understand it, like understand how everything works, including all objects, actions, movements, etc. However, this work wouldn't be in vein. This could be one of the highest ranking videos on all of this site, and I'm being dead serious here. The result of all that work in the process of completely dissecting this game to eventually destroy it in a TAS would be an insane movie.
I think now is the time that a serious discussion about this game should begin on this site. I've been waiting for the right moment, but I feel it's finally here.
So what are the community's thoughts on this?
