User:Telephone/Sandbox/Subpage2
Build 3944 is a 40% build of the game sent to the press. The build only contains the Amazon and Antarctic levels.
 | Text A |
 | Textures and Models B |
 | Dialogue B |
 | Sound and Music C |
 | Movies D |
 | Mini-Cons E |
Contents
General Changes
- An early version of Recon Mode, titled "Look Mode" is present. Traditionally, Recon Mode allows you to control the character through a first person view where you can move around (slowly) and manipulate the camera to look around and fire your weapons. Holding L1 in Recon Mode will allow you to pivot the camera in a chosen direction. Look Mode does not allow you to move the player, with the left joystick only allowing you to pivot the camera in a chosen direction. First-person weapon viewmodels have also not been implemented yet, therefore you will see the third person weapon model in Look Mode.
- Betwixt interlacing has not been enabled on player animations yet. This change was implemented near the end of Transformers' development.
- A number is present under the crosshairs indicating how far away whatever you're pointing at is. This can be seen in some pre-release footage.
- Attempting to pick up Data-Cons does not actually unlock anything in the Extras menu. The introductory cutscene also plays each time.
- The pause screen informs you of your XYZ coordinates in the top right??.
Jetbike
The Jetbike is fully usable in this build, though it's clearly unfinished. In order to use the bike, the Amazon level must be completed. Upon returning to the Amazon, the Jetbike can be found in the bridge across the position of the ??? warpgate. The player is able to hop onto it and fire its built-in machine gun which deals damage to enemies. The bike defies the physics of the engine, allowing you to easily traverse any environment and travel any cliff, no matter how steep. Idling on the edge of the map will also cause the bike to gain height for some reason.
Medium Units have some unique AI associated with the Jetbike, though it's very unrefined. If an unoccupied bike is present, then they will hop onto it and deliver other Medium Units to the player if the player moves outside the range of attacking Medium Units. If no Medium Units are outside the range of the player, then the bike will idle and do nothing. Unfortunately, Medium Units cannot use the built-in machine gun and are unable to hop off the Jetbike. If they drive too fast into something, they will likely fly off the bike and die. It is recommended to approach the Jetbikes from the direction of the temple in order to observe the enemy AI, as Bike-riding Medium Units have a habit of driving into the bridge at full speed and flying off to their doom.
PICKUPS Folder
The PICKUPS folder also exists in this build, present in the tfa.zip file. However, WIRES.ITF is now an ammo icon rather than a health icon.
Cut Enemies
As of now, it is not possible to load any of these enemies into the game.
Lightning Rod
Lightning Rod has the most data available out of all the cut enemies present in this build. Lightning Rod has a model present that seems identical to a render present in the retail game's extras menu featuring a very early medium and light unit, with the exception of Lightning Rod sporting a boat-shaped head. Lightning Rod's model was manually adjusted to replicate how it appears in the early render and thus, may not be entirely representative of how it would look like in-game. The model is present in tfa\ANIMATION as LIGHTNINGROD.VBIN.
| Lightning Rod (Resconstruction) | Early Medium & Light Unit Render |
|---|---|
|
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In the same directory as the model, there are also textures present. The textures are repaints of the Medium Unit's textures, with the addition of a new texture for its gun.
LR3FINGERS.ITF
LRARMUV.ITF
LRCHESTUV.ITF
LRFOREARMUV.TF
LRGREENGUN.ITF
LRHEADUV.ITF
LRPELVISUV.ITF
LRSHINUV.ITF
LRTHIGHUV.ITF
LRTORSOUV.ITF
Lastly, Lightning Rod's stats can be found in tfa\CREATURE.TMD. With a height of 6, these enemies are as tall as a retail Jetsniper. With 200 health, these enemies are as strong as the retail Artillery Unit.
String "False" "ActivationEvent" "" "" Float "False" "ActivationProximity" 70 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "ActiveRange" 120 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "Aggression" 35 " Uneditable" Float "False" "ApproxHeight" 6 " Uneditable" Float "False" "ApproxRadius" 2 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "CombatRange" 75 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "CommunicationRange" 50 "Radius Uneditable" Link "False" "FirstNode" "" Bool "False" "Generate" true "" Enum "False" "GenerationDifficulty" "Normal" "[Normal,Hard,Extreme]" Enum "False" "GenerationSpawnType" "Always" "[Narrative,Always,LevelDone]" Integer "False" "Health" 200 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "HealthPickupCount_Large" 1 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "HealthPickupCount_Small" 1 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "HearingRange" 90 "Radius Uneditable" Enum "False" "InitialState" "Patrol_Robot" "[Patrol_Robot,Combat_Robot,Combat_Vehicle,Patrol_Vehicle,DropFromSky,FollowCommandNodes,DropThenFollowNodes]" Bool "False" "IsSquadLeader" false "" Quaternion "False" "Orientation" 1 0 0 0 "" Integer "False" "PatrolRange" 20 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "PercentVehicleMode" 30 " Uneditable" Point "False" "Position" 0 0 0 "" String "False" "PrototypeName" "LightningRod" " Uneditable" Integer "False" "ScaleRobotSize" 100 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "ScaleVehicleSize" 170 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "SquadID" -1 "" Float "False" "SuspensionRange" 500 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "VisibleAngle" 40 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "VisibleRange" 100 "Radius Uneditable"
Ice Berg
Yep, literal ice bergs. These aren't enemies per se, but since they're included in the CREATURE.TMD file, they're in this category. Ice bergs have three models present in tfa\ANIMATION\MISCELLANEOUS\ICEBERG:
| ICEBERGS_01.VBIN | ICEBERG_02.VBIN | ICEBERG_03.VBIN |
|---|---|---|
|
|
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 | To do: Is that static mess actually the texture?! |
Also in the same file directory, there is a texture present.
Lastly, present in tfa\CREATURE.TMD are some stats. At a whopping 1000 health, these are some of the strongest "enemies" in the prototype (though to be fair, most boss enemies are overwhelmingly weak in this build). The ice berg has 500 less health than retail Tidal Wave, making it the strongest non-boss enemy in the game, beating out both the retail Amazon Heavy Unit boss and Dropship (each having 600 health).
String "False" "ActivationEvent" "" "" Float "False" "ActivationProximity" 6 "" Integer "False" "ActiveRange" 120 "" Integer "False" "Aggression" 50 "" LinkArray "False" "CreaturesToSpawn" 0 "" Link "False" "FirstNode" "" Bool "False" "Generate" true "" Enum "False" "GenerationDifficulty" "Normal" "[Normal,Hard,Extreme]" Enum "False" "GenerationSpawnType" "Always" "[Narrative,Always,LevelDone]" Integer "False" "Health" 1000 "" Integer "False" "HealthPercentage" 100 "" Enum "False" "InitialState" "Patrol_Robot" "[Patrol_Robot,Combat_Robot,Combat_Vehicle,Patrol_Vehicle,DropFromSky,FollowCommandNodes,DropThenFollowNodes]" Link "False" "MoveToNode" "" Quaternion "False" "Orientation" 1 0 0 0 "" Integer "False" "PatrolRange" 20 "" Point "False" "Position" 0 0 0 "" String "False" "SpawnList" "" "" Float "False" "Speed" 5 "" Enum "False" "VisualType" "One" "[One,Two,Three]"
Heavy Tank
Very little is known about this enemy. Its statistics are present in tfa\CREATURE.TMD. With a height of 12, this enemy would have the same height as a retail Heavy Unit. With 500 health, this enemy would have 100 health more than a retail Heavy Unit.
String "False" "ActivationEvent" "" "" Float "False" "ActivationProximity" 70 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "ActiveRange" 120 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "Aggression" 35 " Uneditable" Float "False" "ApproxHeight" 12 " Uneditable" Float "False" "ApproxRadius" 6 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "CombatRange" 135 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "CommunicationRange" 50 "Radius Uneditable" Link "False" "FirstNode" "" Bool "False" "Generate" true "" Enum "False" "GenerationDifficulty" "Normal" "[Normal,Hard,Extreme]" Enum "False" "GenerationSpawnType" "Always" "[Narrative,Always,LevelDone]" Integer "False" "Health" 500 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "HealthPickupCount_Large" 1 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "HealthPickupCount_Small" 1 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "HearingRange" 162 "Radius Uneditable" Enum "False" "InitialState" "Patrol_Robot" "[Patrol_Robot,Combat_Robot,Combat_Vehicle,Patrol_Vehicle,DropFromSky,FollowCommandNodes,DropThenFollowNodes]" Bool "False" "IsSquadLeader" false "" Quaternion "False" "Orientation" 1 0 0 0 "" Integer "False" "PatrolRange" 20 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "PercentVehicleMode" 30 " Uneditable" Point "False" "Position" 0 0 0 "" String "False" "PrototypeName" "HeavyTank" " Uneditable" Integer "False" "ScaleRobotSize" 100 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "ScaleVehicleSize" 170 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "SquadID" -1 "" Float "False" "SuspensionRange" 500 " Uneditable" Integer "False" "VisibleAngle" 40 "Radius Uneditable" Integer "False" "VisibleRange" 180 "Radius Uneditable"
There are a set of effects for this enemy present in tfa\EFFECTS pertaining to an attack:
- MISSILEHTBULLET.FXB
- MISSILEHTIMPACT.FXB
- MISSILEHTMUZZLE.FXB
Levels
Only the Amazon and Antarctic levels are present in this build, however some data for the other levels is also present.
Starship Vertical?
File directory: sounde\SOUND\ENGLISH
There is evidence to suggest the Starship level was originally two separate levels at one point. While the level files are not present in Build 3944, the soundbanks are. What's curious to note is that Starship has two different sets of soundbanks:
- SPACESHIP.TLA
- SPACESHIP_RET.TLA
- SPACESHIPVERT.TLA
- SPACESHIPVERT_RET.TLA
This is very similar to the Mid-Atlantic level, which is split into two separate level files and thus gets two sets of soundbanks. It's likely (but cannot be confirmed) that the Starship levels were already merged by this point and that these are leftovers from an earlier build. The SpaceshipVert soundbanks are also present in Build 5171.
Debug Stuff
Debug Menu
By default, 3944 doesn't boot up with the debug menu. However, by going into tfa\CONFIGS and pasting in the FINAL folder from a retail build, it will appear upon booting the game up.
Some notable commands are as follow:
- unlockAllExtras - Allows access into the Extras menu, which is normally inaccessible because opening Data-Cons do not actually unlock anything.
- unlockAllLevels - Unlocks all levels, including levels which are not available in this build. Attempting to load into these levels will result in several error handling messages to appear before finally being able to load into the level. These levels have nothing in them and do not play sound or music. Some assets or scripts may load, such as reflection textures or Cybertron's Mini-Con loadout.
- unlockAllMinicons - Unlocks all Mini-Cons that are available in retail builds, including the cut Endgame Mini-Con.
- unlockAllWarpGates - Unlocks all warpgates, including warpgates that are not normally accessible such as warpgate 16. Invalid warpgates will spawn the player at the 0,0,0 coordinates.
- unlockAndCompleteAllLevels - Similar to unlockAllLevels, but it also completes the levels for you, therefore forcing them to be in their post-completion state with tougher enemies.
CREATURE Folder
Found in tfa\CREATURE are four images which were likely used in debugging enemies. It is likely that these symbols would have shown up above an enemy.
ALERT.ITF
HEIGHTMAP_PROB.ITF
JUMPING_PROB.ITF
PATHFIND_PROB.ITF
Windows Inputmap
Present in tfa\INPUTMAP is a file named WIN32.TSM which maps out which keys on a keyboard corresponds to buttons on a PS2 controller. This file does not indicate that a PC build was being worked on. It was used for debugging purposes.
~PeripheralSymbolMaps
{
~PeripheralConfigWin32 "Keyboard/Mouse"
{
16 // Number of button mappings
"A" LEFT
"D" RIGHT
"W" UP
"S" DOWN
"J" SQUARE
"K" CIRCLE
"I" TRIANGLE
"M" CROSS
"Return" START
"Backspace" SELECT
"[" L1
";" L2
"P" L3
"]" R1
"'" R2
"/" R3
4 // Number of axis mappings
"Left-Right" LEFTX
"Up-Down" LEFTY
"Numpad4-Numpad6" RIGHTX
"Numpad8-Numpad2" RIGHTY
} // PeripheralConfigWin32 "Keyboard/Mouse"
~PeripheralConfigWin32 "Gamepad"
{
16 // Number of button mappings
"Button 12" UP
"Button 14" DOWN
"Button 15" LEFT
"Button 13" RIGHT
"Button 3" SQUARE
"Button 1" CIRCLE
"Button 0" TRIANGLE
"Button 2" CROSS
"Button 9" START
"Button 8" SELECT
"Button 6" L1
"Button 4" L2
"Button 10" L3
"Button 7" R1
"Button 5" R2
"Button 11" R3
4 // Number of axis mappings
"X Axis" LEFTX
"Y Axis" LEFTY
"Z Rotation" RIGHTX
"Z Axis" RIGHTY
} // PeripheralConfigWin32 "Gamepad"
} // ~ControllerConfigs
