Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

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Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

I would make that a limitation on the Xenocyte Transformation; it can't affect any target that's inorganic or covered in an inorganic shell (the latter being largely speculative' date=' but the Xenocytes seem to be based somewhat on Starro, and that's how he worked last I knew).[/quote']

 

Good line of thought. I'll probably leave it as is for now, but might come back to that one later.

 

Like I said, I felt the Power Defense was a good catch all for other effects that should would work against biologicals, but would probably fail on Crystalsapiens.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Interview

: http://www.newsarama.com/tv/090922-Animated-Shorts-McDuffie.html

 

Oh, and since I noticed this I feel obliged to add it here:

Corrections to new Dwayne McDuffie Interview

September 22nd, 2009 | Permalink

 

I did a Ben 10 interview for Newsarama that has somehow morphed into a JLA and Ben 10 interview, despite the fact that we talked about Ben 10 for about 30 minutes and JLA for 5, ostensibly in preparation for a future JLA interview. There are a few incorrect implications and inferences in the piece, I’m going to take a swing at correcting some of them:

 

“It’s fair to say that Doc Paradox is returning and David McCallum is still in the role,” quips McDuffie. “

 

The character’s name is “Professor Paradox,” usually referred to as “Paradox.” He’s never referred to as Doc Paradox.

 

As it turns out, the movie is based on a script that McDuffie submitted to a never-completed season of “Justice League,” entitled “Worlds Collide.”

 

Nope, It’s based on my script for an unproduced Justice League Direct-To-Video movie originally called “Fearful Symmetry,” then later renamed “Worlds Collide.” This movie would have bridged the end of the Justice League with the beginning of Justice League Unlimited. It proved to be too much work to make a movie while designing the new JLU show, so the project was shelved.

 

“The story is ‘Mirror Mirror’ from ‘Star Trek,’” says McDuffie. “So we both did our take on that.”

 

I don’t have a tape, but my full quote was something like, “The story is ‘Mirror Mirror’ from Star Trek. Actually, they did it in JLA before then, what was it, JLA #29? James loaned me a copy (back when I wrote the movie originally). So we both did a take on that.” If I didn’t say precisely that, that was my intention.

 

 

Working on Humongousaur, but ran into some issues with the way Growth works now, so it's been taking me a while to puzzle some stuff out.

 

His official profile says that at his normal size, he can bench press a pickup truck. This only requires a STR of about 35 or so. But in my last batch of 5E writeups, I pegged his base STR at 55. I just can't remember what events brought me to that conclusion now... as of Inferno, him and Jetray are tied for first place for most often used forms, so I have a lot of reviewing to do...

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Well, saying he can bench press a pickup truck isn't saying he can't bench press a lot more. I think I've seen Humongosaur lift and throw (and break) things to warrant at least a 50.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Well' date=' saying he can bench press a pickup truck isn't saying he can't bench press a lot more. I think I've seen Humongosaur lift and throw (and break) things to warrant at least a 50.[/quote']

 

Probably, but I want to check it out before just blindly converting from my previous writeup, especially with the way 6E Growth works. Based on his size template (18m or Gigantic), that base level of STR would probably put him at a STR of 110-115 at full size. In my 5E writeup he was only a 90 STR at max size.

 

Way Big was only pegged at 100 STR (though again I think he's supposed to be a lot bigger and stronger now, so that may well change once he has a few more appearances)

 

Regardless, Vilgax is going to end up CRAZY powerful in order to replicate some of the stuff he pulled off

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Hmm. Vilgax vs. Doctor Destroyer?

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Hmm. Vilgax vs. Doctor Destroyer?

 

I don't know that he can quite compete at Destroyer's level at the moment. Maybe after another appearance or two

 

Fool's Gold was... goofy, as was expected. Wasn't too much new stuff to note, unless I come up with some interesting uses for Echo Echo's apparently silicon based biology...

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

I don't know that he can quite compete at Destroyer's level at the moment. Maybe after another appearance or two

 

Fool's Gold was... goofy, as was expected. Wasn't too much new stuff to note, unless I come up with some interesting uses for Echo Echo's apparently silicon based biology...

 

Yeah, then Ben started asking about silicon, I was expecting Diamondhead for some reason.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Yeah' date=' then Ben started asking about silicon, I was expecting Diamondhead for some reason.[/quote']

 

As was I.

 

But hundreds of chewy little Echo Echo's made for a much more disturbing final scene than a single indestructible Diamondhead would have

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

As was I.

 

But hundreds of chewy little Echo Echo's made for a much more disturbing final scene than a single indestructible Diamondhead would have

 

I was thinking that DH would trick/maneuver the big Dekka into eating some of his crystal creations. I was so NOT expecting hundreds of Echo Echoes standing around shouting 'BITE ME'.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Did a quick post of Humongousaur. Need to redo the formatting and whatnot, but too tired. Stupid allergy meds

 

Humongousaur is normally a Large character, but he can grow up to Gigantic size. Since stacking the two together with the Growth power wasn't getting the results I wanted, I decided to build his growth piecemeal. I think it worked out ok.

 

Didn't get a chance to do a full review of all the episodes he's been in, so he may be missing a few brick tricks. He's quite fond of doing a falling move through, but I don't recall him doing too much actual Leaping. Regardless, he probably deserves at least a little more Leaping that I gave him. I'll fix that after I review. I distinctly remember a flying body splash attack from season 1...

 

He's using a new prefab, so he's got a few skills and perks that will eventually be added to the other aliens.

 

Probably going to do Spider-monkey or Jetray next.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Did a quick post of Humongousaur. Need to redo the formatting and whatnot, but too tired. Stupid allergy meds

 

Humongousaur is normally a Large character, but he can grow up to Gigantic size. Since stacking the two together with the Growth power wasn't getting the results I wanted, I decided to build his growth piecemeal. I think it worked out ok.

 

Didn't get a chance to do a full review of all the episodes he's been in, so he may be missing a few brick tricks. He's quite fond of doing a falling move through, but I don't recall him doing too much actual Leaping. Regardless, he probably deserves at least a little more Leaping that I gave him. I'll fix that after I review. I distinctly remember a flying body splash attack from season 1...

 

He's using a new prefab, so he's got a few skills and perks that will eventually be added to the other aliens.

 

Probably going to do Spider-monkey or Jetray next.

 

For all his size, Humungo has some pretty stubby legs. He probably doesn't jump very well. Most of his Death From Above attacks have involved him jumping or falling from a height onto someone, rather than a flying leap.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

For all his size' date=' Humungo has some pretty stubby legs. He probably doesn't jump very well. Most of his Death From Above attacks have involved him jumping or falling from a height onto someone, rather than a flying leap.[/quote']

 

Ooo...good point on the legs

 

I might remove some of the extra running I gave him at his base height, while increasing his Reach. Compared to a human, he's got disproportionately long arms but stubby little legs. The Size Templates are clearly designed around human proportions. I mean, he doesn't seem to move slower than the rest of the gang, but he's not bounding ahead of them either.

 

While I think he usually does fall onto things (a couple of times by going Jetray first), I distinctly recall a few pro wrestling type moments too. Which is why he might deserve more leaping. Not really sure yet though. He certainly doesn't jump around like Spidermonkey or Chromastone or anything.

 

hmmm... might need some extra limited PD just for Move Trough...

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

New episode of Alien Force (Simple) wasn't shown on Friday due to the Clone Wars marathon. However, it seems no one told Apple because it's up on iTunes...

 

 

Turns out Lodestar was the alien we saw at the end of War of the Worlds.

 

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Spidermonkey is up. Once again, too lazy to do the formatting but I'll get to it eventually.

 

The Capture Web is rather expensive, but I think it does about what I want it to. May need some tweaking though still. It managed to restrain Kevin, so the entangle may need to be more potent and it captured Kevin's Ride while it was rolling down the highway, so the barrier aspect has to be pretty strong too. But since it did no damage to said vehicle on impact, I may need to revise that... perhaps just an AoE entangle.. hmmm... I'll think on it.

 

Spidermonkey seems to have weirdly inconsistent strength. I have it on good authority that he's supposed to be stronger than Spider-man (being part monkey and part spider will do that), but he only rarely demonstrates any feats of Strength. He leaps very far and high. He whipped Kevin around like a ragdoll once. His punches and flying kicks often do considerable knockback. those are the arguments for that I can recall.

 

By contrast, Gwen comments that he's not strong enough to catch a bomb in Inferno (but maybe it was just really, really heavy) he's restrained by his own webs and by ropes (admittedly, those were alien ropes and it was after being gassed). He's almost never shown to lift anything heavy. The one other Arachnachimp we've seen (Simian) was showed to need help from Ben and Kevin to move big things and was manhandled by Ben while he was in human form (Ben pined him against a wall and threw him around like a sack of potatoes).

 

Anyhow, for now I keeping him with a 45 STR, even though to be stronger than Spider-man he technically need to be higher. I was thinking about reducing his base STR and give him some extra STR with Requires a Roll at some point, but unless I see him flub some STR related tasks it's probably not worth it.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

And since Simple has aired...

 

-Have to add Tae Kwon Do to Gwen's list of martial arts.

 

- Ship apparently has a Warp Drive. I was going to write him up as Julie's Follower, but I may put him back on Ben's sheet if he's able to borrow the little guy without bringing Julie along

 

- Way Big: Ok, he's almost definitely taller now. It was a bit rough to get a good sense of scale in those shots and it doesn't help that the aliens were rather short. But he's ginormous. He's also a LOT tougher than I have listed right now, unless those alien tanks are just shooting super wimpy missiles.

 

- Lodestar: I rather like the design. Obviously his head is metal and I think he's supposed to have a metal or mineral body. Clearly has decent ED to take that many shots and just say "ow" a few times. Magnetic powers and the end of his transformation sequence makes me think he can probably fly. Obviously, he's got a pretty big AoE TK. Can't say much else beyond that, but looking forward to seeing more of him.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Re: Way Big ...

 

Scale is something most cartoons simply don't, or can't, do effectively. I'm certain that, if we had some objective comparison, Way Big's height would vary dramatically from episode to episode. Don't bust a capillary over it.

 

I'm wondering if Lodestar's claws can close, or if he has to manipulate everything electromagnetically.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Scale is something most cartoons simply don't' date=' or can't, do effectively. I'm certain that, if we had some objective comparison, Way Big's height would vary dramatically from episode to episode. Don't bust a capillary over it. [/quote']

 

I figure he's at least 300' or so now, which is probably what I'm going with until I read otherwise.

 

I'm wondering if Lodestar's claws can close, or if he has to manipulate everything electromagnetically.

 

They show him pinching the tips of his claws together in one shot.

 

iTunes is a week early again. I must say...

 

 

 

Ship has obviously moved on from imitating to innovating.

 

Julie + Ship Power Armor was pretty cool. I'm actually looking forward to the next time they do that so the two of them can really cut lose.

 

I think I'm going to have to change her DNPC status...

 

 

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

They show him pinching the tips of his claws together in one shot.

 

Ah, I must have missed that shot. Thank you.

 

Now, though, I'm wondering if sufficient force can knock his levitating head off his body, and what happens in that instance.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Now' date=' though, I'm wondering if sufficient force can knock his levitating head off his body, and what happens in that instance. [/quote']

 

LOL!

 

My prediction is he's fine and the head floats back, while someone (probably Kevin) cracks a joke about him getting his block knocked off

 

Of course, that might be a little too similar to how Goop and his Nanotech Personal Gravity Field Projector works...

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

LOL!

 

My prediction is he's fine and the head floats back, while someone (probably Kevin) cracks a joke about him getting his block knocked off

 

Of course, that might be a little too similar to how Goop and his Nanotech Personal Gravity Field Projector works...

 

Wouldn't be the first time. Swampfire's been decapitated (well, more like 'disintegrated from the neck up') once or twice. Just seems to tick Ben off.

 

And I think Gwen should say something about the attack 'missing all Ben's vital organs'.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

The new episode Single Handed has some interesting bits:

 

 

 

 

- I smiled ear to ear when they opened the show with Spidermonkey swinging through downtown Bellwood I'm an easy mark sometimes.

 

- I rather like Sunder and hope to see him again some time. Got a bit of a Terrax vibe from him, though instead of flying around on a rock he has a goblin glider

 

- Big Chill actually projected his Ice Block from his hand, instead of his mouth. Similarly, Brainstorm shot lightning from his hand instead of from his brain. That's quite different and I'm wondering if these were intended or if they were animation errors...

 

 

 

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

I'd lay money on animation errors. There was a BIG one in the last episode, where Gwen's force bubble when the perspective changed.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Jetray's up.

 

While I increased his toughness from my last writeup, I might need to toughen him up even more. Really depends on how strong I make Vilgax. Jetray took several hits right in the kisser in rapid succession and Ben still had the ware withal to change into Big Chill. So obviously, Jetray can take a beating.

 

Lift Off is there because Albedeo was able to fly around as Jetray while carrying Humongosuar (normal size), but it's entirely possible that Jetray is supposed to be really strong all around...

 

I may redo the Neuroshock Blasts based on the new rules for Multiple Attacks, but I think they work pretty well as is. Ben frequently uses Deflection with one location and then blasts from the other location, which the MP has enough points to do. However, when he's concentrating his fire into the triple blast, he can't use Deflection at the same time.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Another week, another early release on iTunes. This episode is titled If All Else Fails:

 

 

 

- Curse you for not giving me a real kaiju fight!!!! But we now know Humongo can jump halfway decently... Speaking of, with the expanded info on Growth templates in the APG, I might end up redoing him.

 

- Ok, Gwen needs luck based Damage Reduction or something! She got swatted around good by a giant monster and walked away from it all with nary a scratch. Also, that, was a HUGE force wall she tried to use.

 

- I'll have to remember that safety cushion trick.

 

- I wonder how Kev feels about being used as a projectile weapon? And we know his dad's name finally!

 

- Probably need to change Ben's relationship with Ship and Reiny. Still not 100% sure what to do with Ship, but Ben mainly uses him as a Vehicle, but he's basically a shapeshifting Follower. Reiny might not show up often, but when you can drag the supreme leader of an entire species halfway across the galaxy, you probably deserve better than an 8- roll for your Contact

 

 

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ben 10: Alien Force -Season 3 (6E)

 

Well, I've seen 'Singlehanded' twice now, and ... ngh. There was quite a bit wrong in the episode, but I blame the writer, Marty Isenberg, whom I wouldn't trust to write out a grocery list. Not only did Big Chill and Brainstorm fire energy from their hands, Brainstorm didn't even have a hand on the arm he fired his from; the electricity should have been launched in the Null Void. Same with Diamondhead on the bridge.

 

Although, I must admit, I did like;

Gwen: "Keep away from the big ugly guy!"

*Kevin peeks up from behind his car*

Gwen: "The other one."

*Kevin goes back to work*