Ninja Trials

Narrative

Sensei Shinji believes his students are ready to attempt the ninja trials. Combat, stealth and spirit will be tested.

Puzzle Solutions

Trial 1 Trial of Combat

Sakura blossom, fall gently over your head, the trial begins

This trial will test the players combat abilities, through multiple phases, they will have to dodge shurikens, strike dummies, and throw shurikens to complete the trial. Players begin each phase by striking the gong with the mallot or a sword.

Phase 1: Players will be provided with shurikens to throw at floating lanterns, they must strike all the laterns within the time limit. there will be multiple rounds of this phase, players only have to repeat the current round if they fail.

Phase 2: Dummies outside the arena will throw shurikens at players, they must dodge or block them with their swords. Any player hit by a shuriken will result in failure and they must try again.

Phase 3: Players must strike all the floating lanterns while also being attacked by dummies with shurikens. A lantern returning to the ground hatches or getting struck by an enemy shuriken will result in failure.

Phase 4: Players will be surrounded by Hwachas (arrow launchers) and must avoid the volley of arrows. Volleys will be represented by a red spotlight on where they will land. Being struck by an arrow will result in failure.

Phase 5: Dummies with swords will enter the arena while swinging their swords, players must cut the head of each dummy before they leave the arena. any dummy that leaves the arena and exits through a floor hatch will result in failure.

Phase 6: Dummies with swords will enter the arena and hwachas will fire arrows at players. failing to defeat a dummy will result in failure.

Trial 2: Trial of Stealth

The darkness hides you, their lanterns will reveal you, stay hidden to pass

Players must avoid detection from the guards. Using fire and ice spells, players can use the environment to disrupt the guards ability to complete their patrols.

First Guard: This guard can be seen approaching from the ground floor hallway, They will walk to the open door under the hanging crates and shine a latern onto the playspace. Players can burn the ropes holding the crate to drop it, blocking the doorway. Players can also hide by crouching behind the barrier as a solution.

Second Guard: This guard can be seen approaching from the second floor hallway. They will walk to the balcony overlooking the playspace and shine a lantern onto the playspace. There is no hiding from this angle. Players must light the cauldron below the balcony and use the steam to block their view.

Third Guard: This guard can be seen descending stairs from the second floor. They will walk down the stairs towards the water pot and shine a lantern onto the playspace. Players have to freeze the pot of water, which will break the pot, and then melt the water to cause it to spill, creating a puddle. Then they must freeze it again to create a sheet of ice. The guard will slip on the ice and fall unconscious.

Trial 3: Trial of Spirit

Doors sealed by magic, Show honor to the dragons, The way will open

Players must use their fire and ice spells to gather the 4 dragon statues to open the door. They will also have to gain access to the shrines for the 4 statues.

Dragon 1 This dragon is given to players for free, it rests on the window sil next to the rotating cage.

Dragon 2 This dragon statue is covered in wax. players must hit the mound of wax with a fireball 3 times to melt the wax and free the statue.

Dragon 3 This statue is held up to the ceiling by a rope net. Players can free the statue by buring the net with a fire spell. The Statue will fall and break. Players must light the candle above the puddle of wax and hold the statue under the dripping wax, then they can combine the statue pieces, making it ready to place. Players can also cover the statue in water and freeze the pieces together with an ice spell.

Dragon 4 This dragon is behind the gear operated door mechanism. To move this mechanism, players need to freeze the pipes above the water wheel and find the gear and gear mould behind the bird scroll. place the mould under the running water to fill it with water, then freeze the water in the mould with an ice spell, creating an ice gear. once players place both gears onto the gear slots next to the mechanism, they can melt the ice above the right side of the water wheel to start the flow of water again, and spin the wheel, which will move the mechanism up, players will then be able to grab the dragon statue.

Shrine 1 This shrine is in the center of the playspace and can be accessed immediatly.

Shrine 2 This shrine is the rotating candle puzzle, the solution can be found by burning the bird scroll.

Shrine 3 This shrine is behind a cage held closed by a rusty chain. Players need to freeze the bamboo pipes until the water flow pours into the sink, a crack in the pipe above the chain will begin to leak water onto the chain. Players can then freeze the chain and break it with the hammer. The shrine is now available for a statue to be place inside.

Shrine 4 This shrine is in the bottom part of the gear mechanism. To move this mechanism, players need to freeze the pipes above the water wheel and find the gear and gear mould behind the bird scroll. place the mould under the running water to fill it with water, then freeze the water in the mould with an ice spell, creating an ice gear. once players place both gears onto the gear slots next to the mechanism, they can melt the ice above the left side of the water wheel to start the flow of water again, and spin the wheel, which will move the mechanism down.

The Final Trial

Lessons have been taught, the final trial begins, time to prove yourself

This is the final Trial, Players must use what they’ve learned to defeat Sensei Shinji and become true ninjas

Boss Fight Sequence

Phase 1: Shinji will smoke bomb teleport around the room throwing shurikens at players, Spells will be absorbed by the floating mask, meaning they players can only hit the boss with shurikens they catch or pickup from the ground. the first phase will be completed after 3 hits

Phase 2: Players are transported to a snowy mountain top. Shinji will create 6 attack masks that will orbit the playspace and periodically attack players. Shinji will not appear again until all the masks are destroyed. Players can destroy the masks with spells or with swords. Once they are all defeated, Shinji will begin throwing shurikens at players until he is hit. Then the pattern will repeat for 3 hits.

Phase 3: Players are transported to a starry nightscape surrounded by floating debris. Shinji will create sword dummies that will enter and exit the playspace. players must defeat all the dummies before Shinji will appear again. Then Shinji will throw shurikens at players until he is hit. this pattern will repeat for 3 hits. On the last hit, the defensive mask will explode, leaving Shinji vulnerable to spells and shurikens. once hit for a last time, he will fall over and the players will be victorious

Hardmode Changes

Subject to Change

Trial of Combat

Shurikens thrown by players have 50% less homing towards lantern targets
Shuriken dummies round is 50% longer
Shuriken dummies throw shurikens that go twice as fast
Shuriken dummies have less delay between throws and throw more shurikens before retreating
Arrow barrage spotlights have a larger radius
Sword dummies + arrow barrage wave has 4 arrow shooters instead of 2
Trial of Stealth
Guards have a larger radius for detecting spells
Spell scrolls have more of a delay before respawning if players burn them
Trial of Spirit
Candle wheel starts with all candles unlit
Wax dripping candle starts unlit
Spell scrolls have more of a delay before respawning if players burn them
Final Trial
All phases: Shuriken speed thrown by boss increases by 2x
Boss B: Masks attack more frequently, move faster
Boss B, C: Autoaim for shurikens thrown by player is cut in half
Boss C: More sword dummies spawn in

Ninja Trials Keyboard Shortcuts

The keyboard is used from the server computer to control several in-game functions. There are some keyboard commands that apply to every level in the game, as a host a level-specific commands.

General Commands

Y - toggles ‘spectator mode’, allowing the camera to fly around and observe the game. The server computer starts in this mode automatically.

W, A, S, D, Q, E - when in ‘spectator mode’, this freely moves and re-orientates the camera position

0 - warps all players to the lobby

1 - warps all players to the Combat Trial

2 - warps all players to the Stealth Trial

3 - warps all players to the Spirit Trial

4 - warps all players to the dojo boss battle

5 - warps all players to the mountain top boss battle

6 - warps all players to the starscape boss battle

Numeric Keypad Plus - adds 1 minute to the timer

Numeric Keypad Minus - subtracts 1 minute from the timer

H - increase the number of hints the team can request (default 2)

Shift+H - decrease the number of hints the team can request

Alt+H - force reveals the next hint

Shift+[number] - loads a different game/experience, list is shown in lobby levels

Shift + L - skips the story introduction (only while introduction is being played)

Lobby Commands

Spacebar - begins playing the automated intro (VR safety, Hint description, mission), then starts the game

M - plays the mission intro only, then starts the game

V - starts the game

Shift+Insert - toggles the in-game mic feature on/off

R - toggle showing/hiding of the score message

U - cycles through a list of available languages and apply the new language after 5 seconds (It restarts the server and wipes the current score.)

Trial of Combat

Hints:

Throwing a shuriken at the floating lanterns
Slicing a shuriken with a katana
Dodging incoming arrows
Slicing dummies with a katana

V - Ends the level in victory

J - Rings the gong

K - Force victory for active event

L - Force lose for active event

Shift + J - Forcibly chop down all sword attack dummies (if any are present)

Shift + L - skip introductory message

Trial of Stealth

Hints:

Drop crate with a fire spell to block first guard
Light cauldron to create steam to block second guard
Create and freeze puddle to make third guard slip

V - Ends the level in victory

J - rings the gong

K - drops the crates

L - light the cauldron

Shift + J - freeze the puddle at the bottom of the stairs

Shift + K - skip current guard that is on patrol, or force victory if on the last guard

Shift + L - skip introductory message

Trial of Spirit

Hints:

Elevator puzzle: shows players how to create an ice gear. There is then a 60 second pause to give them a chance to try the rest of the puzzle at this stage. Then they are shown how to install the missing gears to operate the elevator with the water wheel to release the statue in the top compartment of the elevator and reveal the shrine in the bottom compartment.
Break the chain (spray water on it, freeze it, smash with hammer) and reveal the shrine behind the double doors
Obtain the statue hidden in the rope nets in the ceiling by blasting with fire spells and repair its break with wax
Stop the spinning candle wheel and reveal the shrine by lighting the combination of candles given on the answer key on the scrap of paper behind the wall scroll
Free statue from wax by blasting with fire spells

V - opens the door to the next room, ending the level in victory

J - solve the spinning candle wheel

K - solve the shrine behind the rusty chain

L - solve the shrine covered by the sliding door

Shift + J - solve the central shrine

Shift + L - skip introductory message

Final Trial

Hints:

Throwing a shuriken at the boss
Katana chopping a mask
Katana slicing a dummy

J - damages the boss (this will damage the boss no matter what, meaning it can skip waves or defeat the boss if pressed too many times.)

K - Kill wave (kills the current active wave, works with masks and dummies)

Shift + L: skip introductory message (first phase only)

V - defeats the boss, ending the game in victory