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Forged to Fight's Writer Q&A!
Kabam Vydious
Posts: 1,758Administrator∙Moderator ›
Greetings Commanders!
Last week I asked you all to submit questions for our writer to answer. After going through all of them (and sorting a few out), he answered almost all of them! He was told he didn’t have to, but he was more than eager to share with y’all the answers you were dying to know.
Please keep in mind not ALL the questions went through, but a lot of them did! Enjoy the read!
P.S. He made the art below.
1.) How are bots able to fight themselves?
Basically there are many timelines smashing together and crossing over, so Bots are seeing reflections, echoes, alternates, and other disruptions to the overall time-space continuum.
2. ) Vin used ST:TNG episode names for the spotlight missions this month. What is your fave episode, and which is the best Star Trek series, in your opinion?
I’m a fan of any Q episode. Specifically “Deja Q” where he has to deal with the horrifying reality of a human body. I think Star Trek series are a lot like James Bond actors, you cling to the one that you were introduced to as being “the best”. I’m an easy to please fan-boy and swap between OG, TNG, Deep Space, Voyager and more. TNG is what I watch most of.
3.) How closely do you work with the Developers?
Very closely. I pitch them an overall idea for a story, workshop it with them, then they provide me a list of Bots and I form my story around that to make sense of why you’re fighting them in that order. On RARE occasions I may request one or two Bots swapped around in a story. For things like “Fog of War” or special mini-events the Developers come up with their awesome new plans and I try to fit that into the narrative in my head. It’s a lot of collaboration to balance the story and the people working hard to make the fights engaging and interesting.
4.) Do you come up with the plot ideas or do you talk amongst the team to create the narrative?
We will have some group meetings to come up with the overall story arcs and then I figure out more specific character motivations.
5.) What's your general working ethic? Do you work in short multiple intervals or go for hours running off of inspiration?
I like routine. I’m usually one of the first people in for the office (even work from home I stick to signing on at 8 am) and I break the day down into smaller tasks so I can see that my time is being used correctly. If I get a burst of inspiration it’s not irregular for me to just stay a little later until I feel that a script has the right polish to it.
6.) How long are the scripts for what you write generally?
Somewhere between 120-135 lines of dialogue. I try and keep individual lines limited to under 240 characters to make sure things fit after translation.
7.) Do you have a general idea of what you're writing or do you work through the acts chapter by chapter?
I have a finish line in mind, and then see where the Bots wanna go. On a few occasions the story has slightly changed as I get into it because the Bots had different ideas than I did.
8.) Where did Necro come from?
A love of fantasy novels, horror movies, and heavy metal album covers.
9.) What happens to Necro if he gets destroyed again?
Guess the Bots will have to find out, because him surviving means some BAAAAAD stuff went down.
10.) After all the spotlights and story missions, did you often get confused where some stories fit the timeline?
I have a spreadsheet that lays out every story written from game launch to current. So it’s as easy as clicking a tab to see where I’ve left off.
11.) Can I ask a question regarding the NEW Spotlights story?
I imagine you can. I believe in you.
12.) Is it fun being the writer?
It is very fun. Hasbro has been an absolute dream to work with, they are very supportive of our specific brand of weird and give us a lot of room to make engaging and strange stories.
13.) How long have you been writing for?
I’ve been a writer in one way or another for about 15 years. I have a bachelor of arts degree with a focus on English Literature and have worked in short film, feature film, television, video games, comic books, learn to read books, radio plays, stage plays, and more.
14.) How do you keep from getting burnt out?
Diet Dr. Pepper and a supportive workplace.
15.) How did Scientist survive and stay hidden for so long? And HOW did he lure Waspinator and Scorponok into being his experiments?
Scientist dug into an Energon deposit and made his lab there. The deposit masked his signals until he could get better cloaking tech made. As far as Waspinator and Scorponok being lured I think it was as complicated as shouting “Hey you guys wanna see something cool?”.
Last week I asked you all to submit questions for our writer to answer. After going through all of them (and sorting a few out), he answered almost all of them! He was told he didn’t have to, but he was more than eager to share with y’all the answers you were dying to know.
Please keep in mind not ALL the questions went through, but a lot of them did! Enjoy the read!
P.S. He made the art below.
1.) How are bots able to fight themselves?
Basically there are many timelines smashing together and crossing over, so Bots are seeing reflections, echoes, alternates, and other disruptions to the overall time-space continuum.
2. ) Vin used ST:TNG episode names for the spotlight missions this month. What is your fave episode, and which is the best Star Trek series, in your opinion?
I’m a fan of any Q episode. Specifically “Deja Q” where he has to deal with the horrifying reality of a human body. I think Star Trek series are a lot like James Bond actors, you cling to the one that you were introduced to as being “the best”. I’m an easy to please fan-boy and swap between OG, TNG, Deep Space, Voyager and more. TNG is what I watch most of.
3.) How closely do you work with the Developers?
Very closely. I pitch them an overall idea for a story, workshop it with them, then they provide me a list of Bots and I form my story around that to make sense of why you’re fighting them in that order. On RARE occasions I may request one or two Bots swapped around in a story. For things like “Fog of War” or special mini-events the Developers come up with their awesome new plans and I try to fit that into the narrative in my head. It’s a lot of collaboration to balance the story and the people working hard to make the fights engaging and interesting.
4.) Do you come up with the plot ideas or do you talk amongst the team to create the narrative?
We will have some group meetings to come up with the overall story arcs and then I figure out more specific character motivations.
5.) What's your general working ethic? Do you work in short multiple intervals or go for hours running off of inspiration?
I like routine. I’m usually one of the first people in for the office (even work from home I stick to signing on at 8 am) and I break the day down into smaller tasks so I can see that my time is being used correctly. If I get a burst of inspiration it’s not irregular for me to just stay a little later until I feel that a script has the right polish to it.
6.) How long are the scripts for what you write generally?
Somewhere between 120-135 lines of dialogue. I try and keep individual lines limited to under 240 characters to make sure things fit after translation.
7.) Do you have a general idea of what you're writing or do you work through the acts chapter by chapter?
I have a finish line in mind, and then see where the Bots wanna go. On a few occasions the story has slightly changed as I get into it because the Bots had different ideas than I did.
8.) Where did Necro come from?
A love of fantasy novels, horror movies, and heavy metal album covers.
9.) What happens to Necro if he gets destroyed again?
Guess the Bots will have to find out, because him surviving means some BAAAAAD stuff went down.
10.) After all the spotlights and story missions, did you often get confused where some stories fit the timeline?
I have a spreadsheet that lays out every story written from game launch to current. So it’s as easy as clicking a tab to see where I’ve left off.
11.) Can I ask a question regarding the NEW Spotlights story?
I imagine you can. I believe in you.
12.) Is it fun being the writer?
It is very fun. Hasbro has been an absolute dream to work with, they are very supportive of our specific brand of weird and give us a lot of room to make engaging and strange stories.
13.) How long have you been writing for?
I’ve been a writer in one way or another for about 15 years. I have a bachelor of arts degree with a focus on English Literature and have worked in short film, feature film, television, video games, comic books, learn to read books, radio plays, stage plays, and more.
14.) How do you keep from getting burnt out?
Diet Dr. Pepper and a supportive workplace.
15.) How did Scientist survive and stay hidden for so long? And HOW did he lure Waspinator and Scorponok into being his experiments?
Scientist dug into an Energon deposit and made his lab there. The deposit masked his signals until he could get better cloaking tech made. As far as Waspinator and Scorponok being lured I think it was as complicated as shouting “Hey you guys wanna see something cool?”.
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The Quintessons thought that Scientist had been sent off for exile or destruction. He was seen to betray them so he wasn’t exactly about to have a party with them.
17.)What is your experience with the Transformers? Are there any storylines from other games/series/comics/etc that you especially like and/or would want to build upon?
I grew up as a huge fan of the series and often had the toys around. My first job out of highschool was for Mainframe Entertainment who made Beast Wars (Beasties in Canada) and Beast Machines. So I met pretty much every voice actor in that. I spent most of my life as a fanboy, with the series and movies on vhs, then dvd, and now Bluray where I can get it.
I’d want to continue from the Beast Wars finale and show the adventures of God Waspinator on a world without other awake Transformers. Not even any fights. Just him really enjoying himself. He deserves a vacation.
18.) How different is writing for an action-filled game from just writing in general? What kinds of specific challenges do you need to overcome while making the story?
We have to rely on the Commanders to really build a lot of the story. Since we can’t show expressions, have voice inflection, or show a setting. If we can’t sell the story purely in dialogue then it’s not going to work. So we have these tiny windows of dialogue to justify a lot of fights in a lot of different ways. Also since we have such a huge cast to work with but such limited space for dialogue (I try never to do more than 8 lines per encounter) I have to really slim down who’s on each adventure.
19.) How long does it take you to write the stories and interconnect them?
From the idea of a story to delivery for Hasbro approval anywhere between a week to a month. Big stuff like Act storylines can take many months to get created, approved, and implemented.
20.) When are you going to be telling us what happened to Optimus?
Yes.
21.) Which Story/Special mission (Act 4, Shattered Storyline, Autobot Civil War, etc.) has been the most enjoyable for you to write?
I was so glad when we got permission to play around in the Shattered Glass universe. I had Megatron and Starscream’s dialogue modeled after the 1966 Batman and Robin team. Just having all the Bots be DEEPLY upset by their wholesome nature was always fun.
22.) Who's your favourite character in the TFTF story? Mine is Nemesis Prime btw.
The character who speaks the most “as me” has become Wheeljack. So I’m rather fond of him because he really is my voice speaking in most situations. Grimlock has long been one of my very fave Transformer characters so he’s also great. He’s like if your dog had an ego and could talk.
23.) What was your favorite dialogue that you have written? Perhaps it was in the scorponok and waspinator spotlight? Act 4 maybe?
Having Mirage shout out a deep sci-fi/horror reference of “KLAATU BARADA NIKTO” in the Evil Tread mini-mission was pretty great. But yeah Scorp and Wasp dialogue is always some of my fave. In the mission “Tale of Two Stingers” where Hound and Bludgeon and fighting over not wanting Wasp on their team and he announces “Wazzzpinator izzz so POPULAR!” it’s just so pure and wholesome it makes me happy.
24.) Who is your strongest bot? What are the stats?
My strongest Bot is my own drive and determination. The Spark was inside me the whole time.
25.) Do any of your experiences from playing the game inspire parts of your story writing?
The constant fighting has certainly popped up as a joke a few times (why can’t they settle things with WORDS?) and we’ve for sure adjusted dialogue to match new game modes or mod setups.
26.) Have you worked in any other Transformers media? Have you always been a hardcore fan?
Production Assistant at Mainframe Entertainment but just outside of them finishing Beast Machines. I did once wear a mascot costume of Beast Wars Megatron, but no photos are in my possession.
27.) Least favorite aspect of Forged to Fight?
This feels like a trap. Is this a trap? I declare a trap.
28.) What is your muse?
YOU ALL ARE! YOU’RE BREATHTAKING!
Best writer,10/10,10/10!
(Would recommend)
I had almost given up after Action Masters and the death of the Marvel G2 series.
Beast Wars is an against the odds, outside the box labor of love.
A true masterpiece.
Also, the sheer positivity in some of your answers should make some here hang their heads in shame.
Long may your enthusiasm (and F2F) continue.
I know, I wasn't expecting him to be a former worker at Mainframe. I thought he would be a Co writer in one or two IDW comics at least. This writer is so interesting and funny! Now all we need is a👏 MEME👏REVIEW from him!
Uh..... so.... does this mean you don’t play the game?
Indeed my Friend
of course if the writer is very busy (obviously he must be) its ok if this is the only time.
But Kabam you got an excellent writer I must say.
Scientist dug into an Energon deposit and made his lab there. The deposit masked his signals until he could get better cloaking tech made. As far as Waspinator and Scorponok being lured I think it was as complicated as shouting “Hey you guys wanna see something cool?”.
My response:
Last I saw the scientist (Act 3) ,he was attacked and ,presumable ,killed by his own creation (the S-1000). I now have another question: How did he escape the S-1000? As for Scorponok and Waspinator, I believe that. Those 2 are idiots after all.
Hmmm... Crotron... Makes my brain wander into the darkest depths of it's own playground and gleefully imagine Crow T. Robot infected with the Necrovirus taking on and destroying Baygatron, Baybee the rest with harrowing insults and devastating one-liners...
He plays. He just doesn't want to admit we're not nearly as good at it as y'all are, lol.
Ahhhhh, show our faces??? Reveal our secret identities??? We could never!!
Sure, as those are Kabam's codenames you are holding.
Lets see what your real persona is, Vydious!
*Three seconds later*
WHAT THE FUUU-
I think you missed a memo.
It's my cursed phone that doesn't let me post images and text in the same post.
LMAO,I don't know the reason why though.
Different memo.
Kabam Sidious!
AAhahhh I meant a gameplay video!! A screen recording of you playing the game!
As long as their in-game names & Alliances are blurred out/not in the video, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Kabam team in gameplay action.
Wrong admin
Good news, you’re the new Adora!
No, Vydious IS Mike! Their all clones!
It's the legendary pokemon Kabam Miike, catch him quick!