#slashdash

Spike traps are the only way to die other than getting slashed! They'll poke up as you walk over them, giving you a brief window to run or teleport to safety!

Capture the Flag: The left path is your safest bet. Just be careful not to get knocked into the spikes by enemy shots. The right path is closed off to flag carriers by the bottom wall, but it's still useful for approaching the enemy base, especially for the Blue team. The middle stairway is a big risk, with two rows of spikes so close together. A persistent ninja can carry a flag across alone, teleporting off and on the spikes with proper timing, but getting SlashDashed across is much faster.

The TeleSlashDash: Did you know you can teleport while slashing? It's called a TeleSlash & it lets you slash in two places at once. Did you also know the teleport distance is the same as the SlashDash distance? If you TeleSlash your teammate with the flag, they'll get SlashDashed twice in a row. This double boost is tricky to pull off, especially when there are spike traps involved, but the center path in CTF Feudal Fortress is designed around it.

Assassination: Thankfully the Shogun is impervious to spikes, making this a great level for passing him back and forth. Try to knock your opponents into a trap before going in for the Shogun kill.

Mirror Match:  Be careful not to lose your ninjas to the spikes! The spikeless corners of the map, including the two towers, are prime territory. Try trapping part of your team in a safe corner and sending one or two ninjas on a mission around the spikes to chase down an enemy.

Deathrace: Dying in a spike trap is just as detrimental to your Deathrace score as dying by the sword. Sniping from the towers is a viable strategy, but be ready to bail if the other ninjas come for you. Notice the bottom wall is interrupted on this map, meaning you'll have to time your teleports properly if you want to stay elusive. The bottom dead-ends are the best place to corner a winning ninja.

I was determined to get a rooftop level into the game, with dramatic Japanese architecture and Shachihoko statues. Forcing the perspective to work in a top down game was a real challenge. There aren't multiple tiers in SlashDash; the stages are flat. Feudal Fortress had to communicate that while still evoking a multi-layered castle. 

For this last level, the art choices dictated some of the level design, which is most apparent in the asymmetrical CTF level, where the towers and right hand path can feel vestigial and are there mainly because we need some ground to light up when we show the score. I'm still proud of Feudal Fortress and what it represents as a culmination of SlashDash's level design. 

That wraps up this project! Thanks for taking a closer look at the game with me. A collection of all these level-centric posts can be found here.

Till next time,

Capture the Flag: This level is straight up asymmetrical. Red has two flags while Blue only has one. It's usually an advantage for Blue, as they can split their efforts to score twice as quickly, but it's hard to plan ahead in a level that asks you to carve your own path through messy clusters of bamboo. With the proper weapon selection, Red can take advantage of that confusion. Knowing when to split up or work together is essential here.

Deathrace and Mirror Match: When an area is cleared of bamboo, take advantage of the open field before it grows back! The yellow and brown rice fences are low enough to shoot across, so bamboo is the only thing blocking shots!

Capture the Flag: The Flag Slides on Ice! You can teleport to drop the flag and score from afar, ice hockey style.  If your opponents try this with your flag, you can shoot it to stop it from sliding too far. 

The flag slides in the direction the ninja was moving before the drop, so it can wind up moving into a far corner, or back towards the enemy goal.  The ice is faster, but walking over the center island is more predictable and can be easier for setting up a SlashDash.

Mirror Match and Assassination: Staying off the ice feels safer, certainly. But a little unpredictability in your movement is a good thing if you're being hunted down. The Assassination level feels especially sparse. While these maps aren't divided into definite paths, they do have three distinct areas: the center island, the ice rink, and the rim of ground on the edge of the village.

Deathrace: This map does away with the center island – it's ice all the way through. Try ricocheting off the edges of the ice rink for maximum speed!

Capture the Flag: The most open map in the game, a steady stream of fog is the main obstacle. As with other open maps, shooting is emphasized over teleporting. We liked the idea of ninjas hiding under heavy fog and the pressure it put on keeping track of all the other players. The fog was too distracting on levels with, say, water, bamboo, and forking paths. We cut back on the fog for Hot Springs, but for Phantom Island we simplified the level itself until it the heavy diversion worked.

Deathrace and Mirror Match: While the bottom left and top right of the map may feel like the most defensive positions on these "S" shaped maps, there's really very little cover other than the fog. Don't be afraid to fight for dominance over the center of the map!

In the Rock Garden post, I said Mirror Match Maps require more room, but as we get to later levels, we're obviously breaking that rule, especially around the spawn points. Here the Deathrace map has less obstacles in part because taking advantage of fog makes Phantom Island an easy level to play keep away.

Hot Springs is dominated by a wide, open pool – perfect for shooting matches. Sorry ninjas can't take a dip. Not sure you'd want to as the Hot Springs have been overtaken by a family of Japanese macaques. 

Capture the Flag and Mirror Match:

The bottom path is closed off by bamboo, making it slower and safer than the top path. That bridge is the fastest rate across the Hot Springs, but offers less cover. Beware of enemy ninjas SlashDashing and TeleSlashing over the bridge! Also, you may want to think twice before using the tiny island as a shortcut across.  It's easy for a single ninja to get trapped there by enemy shots.

Mirror Match squads each spawn with bamboo between their ninjas, making it easier to split your team at the start of the match.

Deathrace and Assassination:

The center island is much larger on these maps, so it's easy to teleport on and off of. It's a good place to shoot from, but there's plenty of bamboo on the edges to hide behind for more defensive players.

See the Shoguns hiding behind stalks of bamboo? They'll stay corralled in on the wooden walkways at the start. You might not want to leave them lingering in the middle of the map for long.

Sliding shoji doors are this level's signature mechanic. Slashing will open and close the screen doors, but you can also slash the gongs to close all the doors on that side of the field — useful for impeding your opponents from afar.

CTF Players Take Note: The Red Team spawns closer to the Blue Goal and the Blue Team spawns closer to the Red Goal! The center of the map is totally open. Take advantage of all that space with some well-aimed shots. Matches on Shogun's Palace used to drag on until we swapped the player spawn points. It makes for matches that escalate quickly but often have last minute comebacks. In most CTF maps, you enter enemy territory to pick up the flag, but in Shogun's Palace the the most dangerous spot is in front of your own base, right before you capture it.

Game Mode Variations:

In Deathrace and Mirror Match it's easy to keep away from the action in your own nook of the palace. Use the gongs to your advantage — slashing one will close three sets of doors at once. Closed doors force a ninja to either slash it open or teleport over it. Be ready with an ambush on the other side.

Shogun's Palace Assassination is split in two, so it's important to take note of which path your opponents move to. Do they keep their Shogun on the bottom path and send their offensive ninja along on the top? Are they concentrating their forces in a single corner? This level really highlights the offensive & defensive roles Assassination asks players to take.