Jedi Arts: The Ways of the Force

http://i6.lbp.me/img/bl/b165963d842b...9ecc5e2208.png Jedi Arts: The Ways of the Force

After a hiatus of over two years, I've finally published something new! "The Ways of the Force" seeks to improve on all of the worst shortcomings of my first lightsaber level. If you liked the first Jedi Arts, you'll find that the new one is a vast improvement.

http://i2.lbp.me/img/ft/7a29a696706c...a5e6989367.jpg

Features

• Smaller level means you can play multiplayer locally as well as online (previous level was too big so players would time out).
• It now takes two hits to die instead of one, giving more opportunity to "fence" before one of you is killed.
• Force powers have been added to give the gameplay more depth. Pull or push your opponents or double jump to get higher or save yourself from a fall.
• Death by ringout is now possible: more ways to kill an opponent adds depth to the gameplay.
• Background is more interactive: lava fountains that can be pushed with the force.
• New boss fight: General Grievous wields four lightsabers against you.

Controls

• Like the previous level, use R2 to wield your lightsaber while moving it with the right thumbstick.
• Hold L2 to sacrifice running speed in favor of a stronger stance to easily bat away opponents' sabers.
• Hold R1 to turn on an attract-o-tweaker (force pull) to bring opponents closer to you (using force pull makes you immune to opponents' force pull)
• Push left or right on the d-pad to push in those respective directions (push comes out as a blue aura that can be dodged).
• Press X in midair to double-jump.

Like my previous level, this is a versus level, however, A.I. bots are provided so that single players can enjoy the level: bots will appear when there are one or two players present but will be absent in three or four player games (except for the boss fight, which will always appear, and the boss' henchmen: two henchmen will appear in single or two player while only one will appear in three or four player games). A.I. bots have the same sabers, health, and force powers as the player, except for the boss and his henchmen.

After about two and a half minutes of gameplay, the level's shields go down and lava eruptions can reach you. After 6-7 minutes, the A.I. bots will stop spawning and the boss, General Grievous, will arrive. (Note that these events will be triggered sooner if a player achieves a high enough score).

That's about it. This will probably be my last published level in an LBP game: I just don't have the free time that I used to; so I hope it's good.

http://lbp.me/v/km82qc

queuequeuedqueuedqueuedqueuedqueuedqueuedqueued

what the deuce!? queued...like a boss!

Yeah! That was funny :)

I am the worst light sabre fighter ever ;)

Very nice level :)

Oh my, the sequel for one of the most popular levels of LBP2 all time (still played nearly every minute) ---> Must play!!
I have one question: What's that thing in the level badge? :)

Thanks everybody! I had a lot of fun making this level and it's good to hear that many of you enjoy it playing it.

I played a round last night against somebody and got the fight of my life... well, the fight of my LittleBigLife anyway: we were constantly taking turns in the lead when, finally, he was ahead of me by somewhere between 10 and 30 points and he finished off Grievous before I could run in and steal his kill, so he got the 500 point bonus and trounced me! It was a blast. I hope some of you have as much fun playing it as I do!

There's been a few updates but they're purely artistic and have little to no bearing on the gameplay: mostly I just added some more sound effects to the part where Grievous' ship crashes, so that it's more obvious that something significant is happening and you're not suddenly wondering when Grievous showed up. I might make a few more tweaks, but I doubt it'll be anything major: I've noticed that the game can get a bit laggy when Grievous and his two bots are attacking and lava is erupting, so I might try to tone it down a bit to keep the frame rate up. Also, it seems as if the boss fight comes too soon so I might try lengthening the time/requiring a higher score to trigger it.

Question: does anybody know why the scoreboard isn't keeping any scores? I know that at least a few people have finished the level in actual multiplayer rounds because I've participated in them, yet the scoreboard is still blank.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kapum

I have one question: What's that thing in the level badge? :)

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That's a closeup of General Grievous' eye.

Updated the level a bit. Mostly bug fixes: I had like three different bugs that caused Grievous to get stuck in the lava without dying (one of which I inadvertently introduced while fixing the other two), but it's all sorted now. Toned down the lava a bit and I've played a few lag free games so I guess it's good now. Up to 6400 plays: not nearly the runaway success that the first one was, but I haven't been promoting it as much and the community is smaller these days. Also, I think the fact that I released at the same time as Hansel and Gretylbot last time helped.

And yes, this is a shameless bump.

I recently played this, is their an end game? or do we just battle till we get tired of battle each other?
I found the controls fluid and scenary great, felt smooth in multiplayer. Good Job and great fun. now only if I can do the jedi mind trick :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by L-I-M-I

is their an end game? or do we just battle till we get tired of battle each other?

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Yeah, it ends. After two to three minutes, the shields go down and lava eruptions start entering the level. After, I think, seven minutes, the A.I. bots stop spawning (they only spawn if you've only got one or two players) and the boss fight shows up. Once you defeat Grievous, the game ends.

I thought about using Jedi mind trick. It would probably be fun against the A.I. but it would be annoying against other players. Nobody wants to get stuck and watch helplessly as they're butchered or marched to their own doom. It's fun to do to others, but not fun to be on the receiving end. Sure, I could've come up with some sort of contrived defence (button mashing or something), but the only time that was ever fun was the first MGS game, and every game that's tried to use something similar has been annoying.

I probably could have squeezed in a few more force powers, but it was also about keeping the controls simple. I didn't want to make players sit through a long annoying tutorial (those aren't fun) and I didn't want too many multi-button combinations that make you pretzel your fingers to pull them off (that can be fun, but only for games you're willing to invest the time in to learn all the ins and outs).