Upgraded Dragon Lance Jousting System Released

On December 1, Dragon Lance Systems released v2.0 of their Jousting List, adding a fully functional score board for up to 24 jousters, a new HUD interface for easy, 1 time calibration, and a ‘de-horsing’ animation to simulate real world jousting.

As with v1.0, the new version supports several features for tournament or testing such as a separate target for a single jouster practice and ‘dummy’ target that moves down the list when activated by a single user.

Lances are still available for separate purchase, and work with both version1.0 and 2.0.

If those were the only differences, any jousting system in SL might do, but the Dragon Lance System provides a truly unique approach to jousting.

RL APPROACH TO JOUSTING

Version 1.0 released November 2014 inaugurated a new targeting method that was a bold departure from the prevailing lance and jousting lists in SL.

All lances in SL register a ‘strike’ from ‘bullets’ colliding anywhere on the avatar’s physics bounding box that is anchored head to toe. This allows for freestyle jousting moves such as side hits and sweeps to the avatar’s front or side as long as the lance bullet touches the bounding box.

The Dragon Lance system works on a different principal using the center of the avie as a target area, and measuring accuracy outward in 1/10,000 of a meter. This simulates RL jousting in several ways. It is more like shooting an arrow at a moving target.

In RL jousting, it’s all about accuracy, requiring a steady gait of horse, and fine adjustment of the lance. Jousters aim their point of impact on a small ‘targe’ or ‘target’ located on the left shoulder. The score will vary, depending if the targe is struck, a lance is broken, or the opponent is de-horsed.

With the Dragon Lance system, a single hit below 2pt accuracy adds to your score, above 2pt breaks your lance and 3 point can be enabled to de-horse the jouster.

It also discourages ‘unrealistic moves’. The steady gait required to accurately hit the center of another avatar renders erratic moves ineffective.

MEDIVAL DESIGN

The List has been simplified to a central barrier, with rope outer rails to emulate the construction of early jousting lists in medieval times.

The system supports Practice, Open Jousting, and with the addition of a new scoreboard, Tournament scoring and tracking.

In the past, jousting scoreboards have been large ‘jumbo tron’ bracket displays advancing avatar names from match to match like the final four in college basketball.

The Dragon Lance system scoreboard takes a new approach, more in keeping with days of old when jousters used their coat of arms, displayed on tunic, shield or tent to identify them from a distance.

The new board, uses banners with COA's to identify the participants of each match, moving them on and off depending on the outcome.

CREDIT

Credit for design of system goes to Nephilim Ventris and his DragonLair team and Josi Swashbuckler for the programing. Josi first introduced this method of jousting years previously in the Realm of USK. It never gained widespread acceptance due to the time it took to ‘calibrate’ the lance, lack of practical user interface, and the exclusive use in one realm. Under the guidance of Nephilim Ventris, the system became ready for primetime. Together they also offer a Dragon Lance Archery system.

Only time will tell if this ‘Targeting’ approach will become as popular as ‘Freestyle’ jousting. But several Realms are offering Dragon Lance tournaments and popularity is gaining due to a system that nullifies ‘unrealistic moves’, makes officiating easier, and adds features that simulate RL medieval tournaments of old.

Weighing in at only 18 prims and 2 scripts, it is the most efficient jousting system available in SL. See marketplace listing:

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