KindOfABigNeil.com

About

Young Martial Artist

Now available in the Multimorphic online store!

Young Martial Artist is an add-on game for the Heist playfield module on the Multimorphic P³ pinball platform in which you play the part of a youth trying to learn karate. Complete training modes to learn a variety of techniques and advance in belt rankings. Earn a black belt to qualify for a tournament, and then play a multiball to celebrate your achievement.

Skill Shot

At the beginning of each ball, you have an opportunity to hit a skill shot. The ball should be launched out of the right orbit, and you can use the upper flipper to hit any of the following shots:

  • The left orbit
  • The left ramp
  • The side loop
  • The left inner loop

Hitting any of these shots will award a modest amount of points. However, because the left orbit and side loop shots return the ball to the right orbit (and therefore the upper right flipper), you can make another skill shot attempt, and succeeding again will award twice as many points as the previous attempt. If you can loop the skill shot repeatedly, its value can quickly become substantial.

The opportunity to hit a skill shot will end after any of the following occur:

  • Hitting the right orbit, right ramp, or right inner loop
  • Rolling through an inlane or outlane
  • Draining the ball (regardless of whether the ball save is active)
  • Five seconds have passed since the ball was launched

Note that hitting either the left orbit or the side loop will extend this timer so that they can be repeatedly hit again. The timer is not extended by hitting the left ramp or left inner loop for a skill shot because those shots return the ball to the lower playfield rather than to the upper flipper.

Training Modes

Once the ball reaches the lower portion of the playfield after a potential skill shot attempt, you can select between any of six different training modes. To choose a training mode, hit any blinking shot twice. The first time will make it blink more quickly, and the second time will light it solid and open the door to the dojo (the Heist jail). Enter the dojo to start the mode.

In each training mode, you need to get a target number of shots within a specified amount of time. The available training modes are:

Circular Blocks

  • Qualified at the left orbit.
  • Hit 4 orbit, inner loop, or side loop shots within 60 seconds.

Vertical Blocks

  • Qualified at the left ramp.
  • Hit 4 ramp shots within 60 seconds.

Side Blocks

  • Qualified at the right orbit.
  • Hit 4 side targets or slingshots within 60 seconds.

Balance

  • Qualified at the left inner loop.
  • Hit 3 pairs of shots within 60 seconds. Each pair consists of hitting an orbit, ramp, or inner loop shot on one side of the playfield, and then hitting the corresponding orbit, ramp, or inner loop shot on the opposite side of the playfield.

Punches

  • Qualified at the right inner loop.
  • Get 100 spins from the spinner within 60 seconds. The more spins you get from a single shot to the spinner, the more powerful that punch will be, and the more points it will be worth.

Kicks

  • Qualified at the left inner loop.
  • Bash the crane 6 times within 60 seconds.

For each of these training modes, the number of shots required and time allotted can be configured in the Settings → Gameplay → General menu. In addition, you can also configure the kicks mode to use the standup targets on either side of the dojo as an alternative to the crane, and you can configure the inner loop shots as an alternative to the Heist jail as the entrance to the dojo. These adjustments allow you to play the game even if the associated mechanical components (the crane and jail door servo, respectively) aren’t working properly.

In each of the training modes except for the kicks mode, if the mode timer ticks down to five seconds remaining, a random scoop will be raised, and shooting into that scoop will add an additional 30 seconds to the mode timer. This option isn’t available in the kicks training mode because the scoops shouldn’t be used while the crane is active.

If you hit all of the necessary mode shots but fail to enter the dojo before the timer expires, then both orbits, both inner loop shots, the left ramp, and the side loop shot will light to act as alternative dojo entrances. However, if there are still mode shots to hit when the timer expires, then you will be returned to the mode selection phase. You will be able to re-attempt the mode, and by default, it will remember progress made during previous attempts.

Completing a mode will award a finishing bonus, both at the time you complete the mode, and in the end-of-ball bonus (where it can be further increased by your bonus multiplier). This finishing bonus is based on the total number of points you got in the training mode, but its actual size depends on a number of factors:

  • If you complete the mode on the first attempt and enter the dojo before the timer expires, then the finishing bonus gets a 10X multiplier. Further, if you didn’t need to add extra time to the mode, then your end-of-ball bonus will also include extra points for each second remaining in the mode.
  • If you complete the mode on the first attempt by hitting all of the mode shots before the timer expires, but then enter the dojo after the timer expires (whether in the Heist jail or via some other shot), then the finishing bonus gets a 5X multiplier. You won’t get any additional bonus for time remaining.
  • If you complete the mode on a re-try attempt, but enter the dojo before the timer expires, then the finishing bonus will be equal to the number of points you got during that retry attempt.
  • If you complete the mode on a re-try attempt, but don’t enter the dojo until after the timer expires, then the finishing bonus will be half the points you got during that retry attempt.

Completing a training mode will also advance your belt ranking. You start the game with a white belt, then work your way up in the following order:

  1. Yellow
  2. Orange
  3. Green
  4. Purple
  5. Brown
  6. Black

Your current belt ranking also acts as a playfield multiplier. If you complete your first training mode and attain the rank of yellow belt, then shots will be worth twice as much as they would be if you were a white belt. And if you make it all the way to black belt, then that’s a 7X playfield multiplier.

The Break Bricks Mini-Wizard Mode

After successfully completing three training modes and earning a green belt, you qualify for the “Break Bricks” mini-wizard mode. This is a three-ball multiball in which the goal is to hit the standup targets on the upper playfield (the two on either side of the dojo, and the three Heist ATM targets).

To start this mode, hit any blinking shot twice, and then enter the dojo. The mode will automatically end after draining down to one ball left in play.

Tournament Modes

After successfully completing all training modes and earning a black belt, you qualify for the tournament. This is a four-round, single-elimination tournament. If you win a round, you get to move onto the next; if you lose, you’re out of the tournament.

In each round, you need to land three punches or kicks against your opponent, while blocking their attacks to prevent them from scoring against you. In general, you alternate between attacking and defending, but things get a little more difficult as the tournament progresses:

  • In the first round, you get to attack first, and it only takes one shot to the crane or spinner to get a point, and only one shot to an orbit, ramp, inner loop, side loop, side target, or slingshot to block an attack. By default, you get 20 seconds to make each shot. If you miss an attack shot, then you transition to defending. If you miss a block shot, then your opponent scores a point against you and you have to try defending again.
  • The second round is much like the first, except that you have to defend first, and you only have fifteen seconds to make each shot.
  • In the third round, you get to attack first again, but you have to make two consecutive shots to score a point, and two consecutive block shots to prevent them from scoring against you. In this round, you only get 12 seconds to make each shot, and the side targets and slingshots are no longer available to use for blocks.
  • In the final round, you have to defend first. As in round three, you need two block shots to successfully block an attack, and two attack shots to successfully gain a point against your opponent. However, this time you only have ten seconds for each shot, and the second shot in each pair depends on the first. Each successful attack must include one punch and one kick, and each successful block must consist of either both orbits, both ramps, or both inner loop shots.

If you win all four rounds, then you win the tournament. But even if you lose in the first round, you qualify for the Victory Laps Multiball.

The Victory Laps Multiball

After you’re done competing in the tournament, and if you haven’t yet drained your final ball, then you qualify for the Victory Laps Multiball, which you can start by hitting any blinking shot twice and entering the dojo. The number of balls that will be launched into play depends on your performance in the tournament:

  • If you didn’t win the first round of the tournament, then you get a two-ball multiball.
  • If you won the first round but didn’t win the second round, then you get a three-ball multiball.
  • If you won the first two rounds but not the third round, then you get a four-ball multiball.
  • If you won the first three rounds but not the fourth round, then you get a five-ball multiball.
  • If you won all four rounds, then you get a ten-ball multiball.

In this multiball, each orbit, ramp, and inner loop shot will be lit for a jackpot, and once you get each of those jackpots, then the side loop will light for a super jackpot worth ten times the value of a regular jackpot. The size of a regular jackpot depends on several factors, including:

  • The total number of points scored in all training and tournament modes.
  • The number of balls you still have in play in the multiball.
  • The number of super jackpots you have collected so far in the multiball.

The Victory Laps Multiball will automatically end once you’ve drained back down to one ball in play. At this point, the game will wrap back around and you can once again start playing the training modes.

Acknowledgments

Young Martial Artist was designed and developed by Neil Wilson, using P3SampleApp with P3EmptyGame as a starting point.

The primary artwork was created by Rhiannon Ferguson (@rhi.visions on Instagram), with additional artwork created by Neil Wilson or licensed from ShutterStock.

The music and sound effects were obtained from Pixabay and used under the terms of the Pixabay Content License. Some sound effects were created or edited by Neil Wilson. Background music used in the game is:

Special thanks for development support from:

Special thanks for beta testing and feedback from:

And additional testing and feedback from the following users in the P³ Owners and Fans discord channel:

  • DigitalJedi084
  • MutterFudder
  • noway_55
  • solarvalue
  • surfermk9

Additional special thanks to:

  • David Cohen
  • The entire Multimorphic team
  • Solid state pinball machines from the 1990s
  • Martial arts movies from the 1980s