OJP Enhanced

After a number of failed submissions due to what I'm presuming to be last minute spot bugs and other miscellanea, OJP Enhanced 1.2 finally gets to JK3files =_=.

At this point, I just decided to do a new review, as screwing around with said mod a little more allows for more beef. We'll attack some general features first, that will affect all players.

General Features

XP System: No longer are points just for strutting around like a chicken whilst you hawk how good you are whilst you secretly cry inside realizing you have nothing better to do than bully kids in a video game =_O Now you have to earn some kills, and gain power =_= each time you join an OJP server, you will have a minimum set of experience points that you can allocate to gain a number of weapons, gadgets, saber stances, and force powers. I screwed around in the Abregado Casino map and gambled for points, and I found that you have to actually kill either a bot or an actual player to gain experience points. General ratio seems to be 3 kills = 1 XP. There are in fact some XP allocation rules(these being but a few):

- At certain XP levels, certain stances are locked from the player.

- Force Jumpers cannot invest in Jetpack, and vice versa

- A player must have 1 point in sense minimum to be a force user.

- Certain levels of force user can only invest in one level of gun usage to prevent that "god character" factor.

A good thing to note is that if you're in a hurry to get to the real fun, you can skip the whole "Kill, kill KILL, KILL, KILL" and avoid having to stack up all those kills just to get that toy you really want by adjusting the minimum XP count in the advanced server settings. One could also lock certain powers and weapons from here as well, as well as adjust a setting on this:

- Timer System: Have trouble with people killing themselves constantly? Chill them out by making them have to wait with a modified siege timer that prolongs spawning until it runs out. Whilst it can be very annoying, it's also very useful for setting points in between bouts of madness and violence. Don't like the timer on your server? Just set 'er to 0 and you can jump right back in.

- Holster System: Gunnery is now a more important aspect in this mod(more on that later,) and as such, the team found it appropriate to make things more realistic by coding in a nice system to holster your guns on your character whilst you are not using them. Only irk I found was that saber holstering really doesn't look good strapped to the front of your thigh, nor does it look comfortable. Yes, I'm guessing it's probably the whole "belt" thing, but on most models, it doesn't seem very applicable.

- Improved Bots and NPCs: There are some of us out there that don't have the expensive equipment to fight all the time against other players on the internet. Never fear, as the bots have been tweaked to use the OJP saber and gun systems accordingly. Experiment around, as some bots are inclined to use guns, whilst some use sabers. NPCs are now no longer psycho sugar addicts like they were in JA+, and now fight normally. Even the force using cultists do something instead of standing there punching the air idly! A lot of the old functions in JASP work as well. The howler now lives up to its eponymous name(although it doesn't seem to hurt yet.)The assassin droid returns and now effectively has a working forcefield.Even more interesting is that, should you fall to the new NPC AI, most of the time it will actually register as a kill as if you were slain by a player. Example being this most recent one:

"Averus Retruthan was blasted by Boba Fett"

That was me deciding to let an NPC kill me =_,=. Naturally not all the AI is up to absolute snuff, and there are still bugs to be worked out (I.E. some of the non-human NPC's guns are in the wrong places still,) but it's definitely a 1-up on the older MP AI.

- Dodge, Force, and Mishap Meter: One of the more critical elements of gameplay now relies on these three meters. These will control how long you will in essence "live," forcify, and still remain accurate, respectively referring to the above order. More will be applied as the necessary sections arrive.

- New Animations: A plethora of new animations from ledge grabbing to a proverbial backhand attack lie in wait for you. Take a look around and see what you can spot =_o!

- New First Person view: Gunners and saber users alike can experience battle now from the eyes of their player. Gunners will notice almost immediately that the gun is no longer at like..chest height. You can now look down and see where your gun is, and not feel like a total chode when

-CO-OP Mode: Haven't had a chance to try it, but now you can try SP in Cooperative mode =_=!

and finally..

- Vehicles: An older, not-as-remembered feature of OJP was that it was going to amplify vehicle functions in some respects. Unfortunately, there's not many functions to speak of on that part, as it seems to have been lost in the quest for saber research, but some vehicles now have some new alternate functions usable only in OJP. The only examples I can think of at this time are:

- The droideka can now rotate in place instead of having to back up and go forward like a cheap RC car. (Found in - http://jediknight3.filefront.com/file/Naboo_Hills_21;31144))

- The Tie-Phantom vehicle now has an active cloaking function on it.

Interestingly enough, some of the vehicles seem to attack on their own if not possessed by a player.

These are just but a few of the new general functions, I'm sure, but hopefully enough to have kept you going up until this point =_= now we shall attack the gun and force user aspects, in that order.

Mercenaries and gunnery

Guns have finally returned as a force to be reckoned with. Guns are no longer dwarfed by saber using force users now. Cunning can be used effectively now, with the new gun effects.

General features of the weapons include:

- Ammo Clips/Reloading: every weapon now has less ammo on the count. Out of ammo? Good, reload =_=

- DEMP2, Trip Mines, Concussion Rifle? Locked out unless you use cheats.

- As forementioned, all guns are now no longer in your first person view by default. It's now more realistic =_>.

- Thermal Detonators now can be thrown with a new bind, so you no longer have to actually select the thermal and chuck it. Range is limited though,so don't try and throw it too far.

- Gun accuracy is decided by your level of XP in that slot and mishap meter. High mishap = start missing, even if aimed properly. In some cases, if you're not careful, you can be knocked down as well. Dodge will help you evade some of the more lethal attacks whenever necessary.

Now, I'll report the effects of each weapon:

- Blaster Pistol: Much more powerful shot. At level 3, you get a second pistol at your disposal, and your alt fire is activated, doing mishap damage to enemies, usually knocking them down if you power it enough. Suggestion: Allow the second gun to be an alternate upgrade, like the speed and ammo upgrades for the later guns.

- Melee: Effective and useful when outta ammo.

- Blaster: Good balanced weapon with an available rate of fire upgrade.

- Disruptor: Power seems to vary now with charging in scoped mode.

- Bowcaster: An effective powerhouse, now with available scope function at level 3 and a chargeable bolt (doesn't multiply.)

- Repeater: Converted into a DC-15 clone rifle. At level 3, an available ammo count upgrade can be made, and the blob can be now fired at the cost of...an entire clip. Quite effective, as the blob now induces knockdown and acts as an explosive(which will be covered later.)

- Flechette: Converted into a T-21 Rifle. Rate of fire controled by your tapping power. Damage is a little weak and sparse, in my opinion.

- Rocket Launcher, Thermal Detonator, Detpacks:

Weapons of the explosive kind don't seem to actually do immediate damage. If your dodge is high enough, and depending on where you are on the blast radius, you will be knocked pretty far. There's sadly no shrapnel or misc. damage, assuming you aren't knocked high enough where the fall will immediately kill you(a good percentage of the time.) If your dodge is low...well then, your body will be BLOWN TO PIECES AND ANNIHILATED.

Now, onto the gadgets:

- Bacta: Level 1 earns you small bacta, level 2 gives you big bacta

- Jetpack: The jetpack has been reinvented with a new dynamic animation system. Lot more heights can be reached with this jetpack, and quite quick. Runs on fuel, of course.

- Cloaking: Not much change. Still runs on fuel.

- Flamethrower: huge flamethrower effect that runs on fuel. Quite impressive to behold.

- Seeker Droid: Now fires stun charges, and if you hit the Use Item button, your Seeker will detach away from your perimeter and actively seek you out.

- Sentry Gun: Setup time required, but is a lot more durable and reliable.

- Forcefield: Now lasts longer, takes more impact, and even knocks 'tards who run into it down to the ground.

This covers the basics of mercenary combat. Now...

EPIC FORCE USER COMBAT

Considered to be the proverbial "gem" of the entire mod by the makers, saber combat has been completely redone, and converted into a powerhouse of cinematically epic system of clashing, pwnination, and strategy. Mishap, Force, and Dodge Points now are tested to their limit. Force controls force attacks, including saber swinging. Low FP = slower swings,less force ability. Low Mishap can result in a slowbounce, stagger, knockdown, or even disarming your opponent of his saber! Also, you have to be a lot more careful in watching you and your opponents movements, as you won't simply just swing and hope it hits. You can now engage your opponent with Shii-cho, Djem-So, Soresu, Ataru, Nimen, Juyo, and Makashi(<3) using moves such as:

- Parry: Move into your opponents swing and block that imbecile, giving him mishap damage.

- Feint: Fake the 'tard out, and then give him the real swing at 1.25 times damage.

- Kick: Every saber form,(mentioned later,)now has the option to kick your opponent. Be wary, though, as if you are careless, you can be easily cut down.

- Riposte: Also known as the attack parry, you can turn that parry into a counterattack =_=

- DFA: All forms now include a Death From Above (DFA) attack

- Lunge: All forms now include the blue lunge.

- Lock Blades: Saberlocks are now no longer just a "who reacted first" situation. You can now use saberlocks to gain the advantage, or even finish the enemy off.

- Manual blaster deflection: Now you can actually direct your deflected shots at your opponent =_=.

- Bounce Conversion: My favorite move, you can bounce your blade off the opponents saber and effectively spin about to continue the attack.

These are just a few of the menagerie here. Later I'll be uploading the OJP-E in game saber manual later so that can help you see what's at your disposal. Or, read the actual manual.

Force Powers have received a slight overhaul. The three meters, along with your degree of a certain force power, will help you defend against the more offensive types. The point spending has naturally been changed for powers. Here are the current ones with noticeable change.

- Heal and Drain: Gone.

- Grip: Now allows you to smack your prey into other players if you aim it right.

- Lightning: Can now cause knockdown, along with powerful damage

- Saber Throw: Now has to be activated via a bind or through the force cycle. Also calls a disarmed saber if powerful enough. Lesser throws will not return to your hand.

- Absorb: No longer has to be activated. This helps you absorb the darker force powers.

Whew...and that is where I will call it quits for now. There are like dozens upon dozens of other miscellaneous features I could drone on and on about, but I think it'd just be better for you to read the readme if you really want to find out more features, now that I've done what I could to cover a hefty chunk of the mod. With each submission, I have less and less suggestions to really add except three:

- More administrative functions, particularly teleport, and possible NPC spawning capabilities at the bare minimum.

- Emotes...add more EMOTES @[email protected]

- Pump up the T-21's damage a little more

Add these, and I think this mod could, in essence, revolutionize the JA community, and possibly even outstage JA+ permanently.

Overall, an earth-shattering mod with gigatons of more potential. Keep working, get some more ideas from the community, and this mod will soar past every other multiplayer mod. A splendid job on the current build. Bandwidth highly recommended/demanded.

- Averus Retruthan