Shockwave

Transforms from futuristic weapon to robot and back!

DECEPTICON: SHOCKWAVE

FUNCTION: MILITARY OPERATIONS COMMANDER
"Clarity of thought before rashness of action."

Cold, brutal, scientific approach to war. Seeks to overthrow Megatron as leader of Decepticons because he believes logic says he would be better. As laser gun, can emit lethal beams of energy from anywhere on the electromagnetic spectrum; gamma rays, x-rays, light, infrared rays, radio waves, etc. Flies in laser gun or robot mode. High fuel use, but can be powered by nuclear sources. Often confounded by initiative, emotional thinking.

• Strength: 10
• Intelligence: 10
• Speed: 7
• Endurance: 7
• Rank: 9
• Courage: 9
• Firepower: 9
• Skill: 9

Shockwave was and is one of the coolest, most unique-looking Transformers ever, mainly due to his one-eyed face and laser-gun hand. His appearance is a quick giveaway that he didn't originate from Takara like most Transformers did; he was licensed from the plainly-named Japanese company ToyCo, which colored him grey and named him "Ultra Magnum". After the Transformer version was released, Radio Shack also licensed the toy in hopes of some easy sales. It actually worked.

The tech spec describes him as being ambitious for Megatron's job, but the cartoon depicted him as being unwaveringly loyal to the guy -- a modification Soundwave enjoyed as well. Too bad he was stuck as Megatron's representative on Cybertron for the duration of the cartoon; he never seemed to do anything except sit at a console day in and day out waiting for somebody to come through the space bridge. What a gyp.

Shockwave is a form of digital media developed by Macromedia and is now in version 8.5. It is closely related to Flash but is far more sophisticated in its scope for interactivity and programmability. It is used on the internet as a component of a lot of flashy webpages, adding memory and download time-light but graphically heavy GUIs, games and more recently 3D animation to an otherwise fairly static medium. It is also the most commonly used medium for interactive CD-ROM content and online training manuals.

Shockwave files are created in Macromedia's "Director Shockwave Studio", an incredibly expensive and complex application. It allows the user to animate in a similar manner to Flash, upon a "stage" using a technique called "tweening", (in which the user plots position points and the program interpolates the paths in between), but it also has uses way beyond just animation, and can be used to create many types of interactivity, especially when using it's native language, "Lingo".

Director can export Shockwave media in several different formats:

• .DCR - For embedding into HTML files for internet use. This kind of internet content requires that the end user have the Shockwave plugin embedded in his or her web browser. This plugin contains universal elements needed by all .DCR files to function, but this saves webspace for the designer and download time for the user.
• .CXT - The "cast" members used in the .DCR file, (eg. pictures, sounds and scripts) can be exported separately for use by more than one .DCR, also generating a saving in space and time.
• .EXE - Shockwave can be exported as stand-alone executable files from Director in three variations of the format, (This is more often than not the .EXE file you will run on most CD-ROMs):
  • Standard: Fully self contained program which will run on any computer regardless of whether the Shockwave browser plugin is installed or not.
  • Standard Compressed: Also self contained but with a few KBs shaved from images and suchlike, slightly lower quality but easier on the RAM.
  • Shockwave Compressed: This requires the presence of the Shockwave browser plugin, though it still acts like a stand-alone program.

See:

• http://www.shockwave.com
• http://www.macromedia.com
• http://aaapha.com

for examples and more information.

A short-lived world record holder and now dismantled, Shockwave was a massive multielement roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL. When Shockwave opened on June 3rd, 1988 it held the record for the world's longest drop but was quickly defeated by Magnum XL-200, and lost by 40 feet. Built by Arrow Dynamics, Shockwave was to be a world contender but in its later years was nearly forgotten. Shockwave was shutdown in 2002 and dismantled in 2003 to make room for a new flying coaster: Superman - Ultimate Flight.

Riders strap in with OTSR (Over The Shoulder Restraints) then depart to face the 170-foot lift hill. After cresting the top, adrenaline junkies see the massive drop, complete with a twist going into it, which plummets riders 155 feet. Cruising at 65 mph the riders are greeted with intense vertical g-forces as they ride through three vertical loops before the midcourse brakes. The second half of this beast ushers riders through a twin corkscrew and a Kamikaze Curve for a total of seven inversions during the two minute and twenty second ride.

• Built by: Arrow Dynamics
• Length: 3900 feet
• Max speed: 65 mph
• Max height: 170 feet
• Drop length: 155 feet
• Duration: 2:20
• Inversions: 7