Riot Games gives update on League of Legends’ Project L
Riot Games has released its second annual update on its upcoming League of Legends fighter, Project L.
Its latest trailer, directed by executive producer Tom Cannon and game director Shaun Rivera, highlights the current state of previously revealed champions, a breakdown of the game’s core mechanics and the project’s concept design.
“Project L, you can walk, run, dash, chain dash, jump, long jump, and super jump. And on top of that, many champions have their own unique air mobility options,”
Shaun Rivera
Illaoi’s progress
The Kraken Priestess Illaoi was briefly mentioned in the update. She is a “big body brawler” with access to massive buttons. In the video, Riot highlights some of her distinguishing features, such as her Nagakabouros tentacles and golden artifact.
Illaoi can summon tentacles to perform overwhelming combos. The fighter strikes a massive totem capable of dealing immense damage while attacking. Illaoi’s attacks can consume a significant amount of screen space.
Cannon claims that the version of Illaoi seen in the video is only about 30 percent complete. The character is now playable in the internal test build. Riot is still developing her animation art and deciding on her tentacle attack mechanics. According to Cannon, Illaoi “still has a lot of work to do.”
Project L mechanics
Project L started as a 1v1 fighting game. The developers decided to make Project L a 2v2 fighter about two years ago. Like any other 2v2 fighter, Project L has many mechanics that enable the player’s two characters to coordinate. Many of these mechanics are described in greater detail in the video.
“We were originally developing Project L to be a one-v-one game where two champions enter, and one emerges victorious,” Rivera said.
“But around two years ago, we made the pivot to a tag team assist-based fighter. Our tag systems are deep and flexible, aimed at helping you unlock your creativity. They work in tandem with our champions, allowing two champion teams to take down opponents together.”
Rivera described a few elements that will guide the design of Project L’s team fights — Assist Actions, Handshake Tag and Dynamic Save. Every champion will have two Assist Actions, and the moves will vary based on how the players execute them.
When both characters are on the screen simultaneously, a player can use the Handshake Tag to instantly switch to the other Champion on the team.
“Project L, you can walk, run, dash, chain dash, jump, long jump, and super jump. And on top of that, many champions have their own unique air mobility options,” Rivera said
Dynamic Save is Project L’s combo breaker. The opponent will be blown back if the Dynamic Save is successful. However, players should be aware that this action can backfire.
It is important to note that the names of these mechanics may change as development progresses.
According to the developers, the placement of one’s Champions in the right place at the right time is a skill that players will gradually gain over time. The importance of excellent positioning is emphasized several times throughout the video.
In previous Project L updates, Riot described the game as designed with an “easy-to-learn but difficult-to-mastery mentality.”
“We have a mix of big clear defensive options and some nuanced systems that reward you for reading your opponent’s next moves,” said mentioned.
