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Lock-on

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Revision as of 15:53, November 2, 2020 by Espyo (talk | contribs) (Moving the charge mechanic to its own page. Because Pikmin 3 Deluxe completely changed the way it works, a lot more needs to be said about it.)
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File:Baldy.longlegs.jpg
Locking on to a Baldy Long Legs in the Tropical Forest.

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Lock-on (ロックオン?, lit.: "Lock On") is a combat and exploration mechanic added in Pikmin 3. This feature makes the camera lock on to and focus on a certain enemy, obstacle or other object. This allows players to maneuver around it and not lose its sight, making attacking easier. In the Wii U release of Pikmin 3, locking-on also allows the player to obtain the target's name and to order the Pikmin army to charge.

To lock-on, the player must move the cursor to an object. At that point, the cursor will change, and the player must then hold WiiU ZL.png / Nunchuk Z.png / WiiUPC ZL.png for roughly half a second so that the scan's lock takes place. Unlike other Nintendo games that have lock-on functionality (e.g. Metroid Prime), the player does not need to hold the button in order to keep it. Briefly tapping the same button again cancels the lock-on. Moving far enough away from the target will also cancel the lock-on automatically.

Once locked-on, the camera zooms in and focuses on the object, and rotates to follow it around. The manual camera controls will also not work. Dodging will make the leader and Pikmin roll around the object, as opposed to rolling in a straight line left or right. With the GamePad or Wii U Pro Controller, holding the lock-on button will place the cursor on top of the target that started the lock-on, and keeping it held will keep the cursor there.

In Pikmin 3

Visuals

When the cursor is on top of something that can be locked, it changes from being a simple circle with a dot projected on the terrain, to a circle with three triangles pointing inward, facing the screen. Once the player begins holding down the lock button, the cursor also changes aspect to indicate how much more the player needs to hold the button down for so that the lock takes place. This isn't very useful, since locking on takes a fraction of a second.

While scanning, the left and right portions of the screen darken, two curved lines appear near the darkened areas, and some textual information is shown on some corners of the screen. The bottom-right corner of the HUD shows the object's name surrounded by some Koppaite text that translates to "Space library lite" "Simple dictionary in the PIPAD" "Just has the names". The top-left corner displays an icon of the same button used to trigger lock-on, but with the string "Cancel Lock-On" afterwards: this indicates that the button can be pressed again to cancel. The bottom-right corner shows that issuing a dismiss in this state (WiiU B.png / Nunchuk shake.png / WiiU B.png) makes the Pikmin party charge at it. With Stylus mode, the dismiss button on-screen also changes caption to read "Charge".

In Pikmin 3 Deluxe

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 3 Deluxe.
Particularly: The lock-on mechanic is almost completely different now, so its new functionality needs to be documented here.

In Pikmin 3 Deluxe, several changes were made to the charge mechanic. Instead of being activated by using the Dismiss command when locked-on, the charge was given a dedicated button (Icon for the X Button on the Nintendo Switch. Edited version of the icon by ARMS Institute user PleasePleasePepper, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0. in most control schemes). The charge no longer requires the player to be locked-on, so Pikmin charge in the direction of the cursor. Finally, the command to charge is only issued to the currently selected Pikmin/leader group. If the leader group is selected and a charge issued, the current leader will go through the charge animation as normal, but the other leader(s) will do nothing.

Lockable targets

The leaf texture used in Pikmin 2's Challenge Mode menu. (Used on Pikipedia in the {{stub}} template.)

This article is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.
Suggestions: Complete the list.

To do: verify if and when Olimar/Louie are identified as Hocotatians, "???", or their actual names.
Care to do so?

Only some objects can be locked-on to. These can be identified by the cursor changing appearance when on top of them. The cursor will not change – nor will the lock-on activate – if the leader is too far away from the target. It is also possible to lock-on if the cursor is close to, but not exactly on the target. Some targets allow the cursor to lock-on to a specific location, like a Red Bulborb's eyes or back, or a section on the Armored Mawdad.

Although hard, it is possible to lock-on to some objects that are normally too far away to allow a lock-on. This can be done with the Stellar Extrusion on the Tropical Wilds: by positioning the camera such that the fruit appears on one of the top corners, it is possible to put the cursor there, and lock-on. However, shortly after the lock takes place, it will be canceled automatically given the large distance. The following is a list of objects that can be locked-on to:

This article or section needs to be cleaned up, either its format or general style.
Notes: Complete the list and add missing icons.

Notes:

  • The following objects display "???" in story mode, before they are identified by the crew:
    • The Fruit File icon for the Sunseed Berry. All fruits
    • Pikmin 3 icon for the Scorch Guard. All suit upgrades
    • The icon for the Data Glutton in Pikmin 3. Data Glutton
    • The icon for the Folded Data Glutton from Pikmin 3. Folded Data Glutton
  • Objects that Pikmin return to to get more of, usually in piles, can only be locked-onto in their original resting places. When they are, it focuses on the entire pile and is labeled in plural, even if only one object remains. This applies to:
    • The Fruit File icon for the Dusk Pustules. Dusk Pustules
    • The Fruit File icon for the Dawn Pustules. Dawn Pustules
    • Fragment icon.png Fragments
    • Hay icon.png Hay
    • Nugget icon.png Nuggets
  • The Vehemoth Phosbat can not be locked-onto while it is invisible, even though the player can still point at its faint silhouette.
  • Locking-onto a Scornet in the Scornet Maestro battle will instead lock-onto the actual boss. Similarly, locking-onto an independent group of Scornets will instead focus on the center of the swarm. It will also display "Scornets", in plural.
  • Although the legs, feet, bottom, and head of the Quaggled Mireclops can be locked-on, its grassy top cannot. When it is dead, only its head can be locked-onto.

History

In a much prerelease version of Pikmin 3 the lock-on screen appeared much more different and simpler.

Prior to version 2.0.0, the pieces of text on the left corners of the screen didn't exist. They were added with the update, in order to make it easier for players to know how to cancel the lock-on and how to charge.

Older appearance images

Prerelease
1.0.0

Gallery

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Flag of Japan Japanese ロックオン?
Rokkuon		 Lock-on
Flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Chinese
(traditional)		 鎖定
Flag of China Chinese
(simplified)		 锁定
Flag of France French Verrouiller un cible Lock a target
Flag of Germany German Kamera fokussieren Focus Camera
Flag of Italy Italian Agganciare Grasp
Flag of South Korea Korean 조준
jojun		 Aim
Flag of Spain Spanish Fijar objectivo Fix objective
Controls
Charge • Dismiss • Dodge • Jetpack • Lie down • Lock-on • Pluck • Punch • Spray • Swarm • Throw • Whistle
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