How to beat Hu Lao Gate Shu story mode

[JesusChrist]

This is a probably a dumb question and I can't find the answer. I played this game before for many hours many years ago and I can't seem to pass this part in Hu Lao Gate. How do I use the catapult? I use Logitech controller. What button do I click? I watch a youtube video and when I am near it, I am suppose to see an visual effect that let me know I can use it. But in the game on steam it is not showing up. How do I make it show up????

[JesusChrist]

Please, someone help me... ... ... >_>

[anonyyyyyyyyymous]

Story Mode -> Shu -> Battle of Hulao Gate -> Zhao Yun

Specifying Zhao Yun in case of some 'Zhang Fei / Guan Yu can't use this catapult' bug. I used Zhao Yun and it worked for me.

The game wants the jump input for entering the catapult.
The game wants the musou attack input for firing the catapult.
The game wants the normal movement inputs for aiming the catapult.

The catapult at Battle of Hulao Gate is stationary. There are other catapults in the game that are mobile.
The game wants the normal movement inputs for moving and steering mobile catapults.
The game wants the aim camera up/down inputs for how far away to fire with mobile catapults.

I say "inputs" because I play on keyboard only and I want my language here to be as controller-neutral as possible. Try going into 'Options -> Controller -> 1P Settings -> Button Settings' and make sure jump and musou attack inputs have an assignment on whatever controller you are using by pressing the button you think it should be assigned to. If your movement are camera controls are working fine then leave those alone in the options because I have not seen those weird readouts for controller directional inputs in any other game. You might want to assign backup buttons on your keyboard for jump and musou attack as well. Once you finish changing input assignments and exit that layer of the menu, press Apply. If you have Assisted Controls set to on, try turning them off. I have my Assisted Controls set to off and while I think it's unlikely to be causing your problem, it's something you can try. After you have pressed Apply and exited two layers of menu, go to 'Save/Load -> Save'. Would you like to save the game? Yes. Exit the Options menu. Go to Quit. Quit. Once Steam has finished turning the game off, syncing, and whatever else it does, then start Dynasty Warriors 8 again. DW8 seems to have an issue where it only tries to detect controllers when the game is started, so after changing controls and saving we're turning the game off and on again to let it detect controllers again. If you plug in a controller in the middle of playing, DW8 probably won't detect it, even if you set up button assignments for the controller before starting the game.

The stage has several gates, enemy officers, and allied officers that keep talking between you and the catapult. The gates won't open until the enemy officers / gatekeepers near them are dead and all officers shut up for long enough to let the gate open.

*Testing how generous the catapult is about where the player must stand to get in it.* It's pretty generous. You don't need to be exactly at the same ground height as the catapult to get in it. Anywhere that is directly beside the catapult seems to be good enough. The catapult is more generous on the east side than the west side, but it's not a big difference.

The marker that shows up on the ground for 'get in the catapult' is the same marker used for climbable ladders and for mountable animals. The game tries to automatically move mountable horses away from the player if the player gets too close to the horse, unless the player is holding down the Horse input. This is usually enough to avoid 'my horse isn't letting me get in the catapult / climb the ladder' problems. If you're somehow still having a conflict like that, then move your elephant or whatever further away and try again.

I have seen DW8 have a 'fail to open a gate' bug that would make a stage unwinnable. You might be getting a similar 'fail to make a catapult usable' bug. I'm not sure if DW8 does the 'make the catapult usable' function when the stage starts or when the gate nearest this catapult goes down. Either way, if this sort of bug is going on for you, try quitting the stage, saving, Quitting the game and starting the game again(a mid-battle save might not be enough). That has fixed my 'fail to open a gate' bug before.

[JesusChrist]

Originally posted by anonyyyyyyyyymous:

Story Mode -> Shu -> Battle of Hulao Gate -> Zhao Yun

Specifying Zhao Yun in case of some 'Zhang Fei / Guan Yu can't use this catapult' bug. I used Zhao Yun and it worked for me.

The game wants the jump input for entering the catapult.
The game wants the musou attack input for firing the catapult.
The game wants the normal movement inputs for aiming the catapult.

The catapult at Battle of Hulao Gate is stationary. There are other catapults in the game that are mobile.
The game wants the normal movement inputs for moving and steering mobile catapults.
The game wants the aim camera up/down inputs for how far away to fire with mobile catapults.

I say "inputs" because I play on keyboard only and I want my language here to be as controller-neutral as possible. Try going into 'Options -> Controller -> 1P Settings -> Button Settings' and make sure jump and musou attack inputs have an assignment on whatever controller you are using by pressing the button you think it should be assigned to. If your movement are camera controls are working fine then leave those alone in the options because I have not seen those weird readouts for controller directional inputs in any other game. You might want to assign backup buttons on your keyboard for jump and musou attack as well. Once you finish changing input assignments and exit that layer of the menu, press Apply. If you have Assisted Controls set to on, try turning them off. I have my Assisted Controls set to off and while I think it's unlikely to be causing your problem, it's something you can try. After you have pressed Apply and exited two layers of menu, go to 'Save/Load -> Save'. Would you like to save the game? Yes. Exit the Options menu. Go to Quit. Quit. Once Steam has finished turning the game off, syncing, and whatever else it does, then start Dynasty Warriors 8 again. DW8 seems to have an issue where it only tries to detect controllers when the game is started, so after changing controls and saving we're turning the game off and on again to let it detect controllers again. If you plug in a controller in the middle of playing, DW8 probably won't detect it, even if you set up button assignments for the controller before starting the game.

The stage has several gates, enemy officers, and allied officers that keep talking between you and the catapult. The gates won't open until the enemy officers / gatekeepers near them are dead and all officers shut up for long enough to let the gate open.

*Testing how generous the catapult is about where the player must stand to get in it.* It's pretty generous. You don't need to be exactly at the same ground height as the catapult to get in it. Anywhere that is directly beside the catapult seems to be good enough. The catapult is more generous on the east side than the west side, but it's not a big difference.

The marker that shows up on the ground for 'get in the catapult' is the same marker used for climbable ladders and for mountable animals. The game tries to automatically move mountable horses away from the player if the player gets too close to the horse, unless the player is holding down the Horse input. This is usually enough to avoid 'my horse isn't letting me get in the catapult / climb the ladder' problems. If you're somehow still having a conflict like that, then move your elephant or whatever further away and try again.

I have seen DW8 have a 'fail to open a gate' bug that would make a stage unwinnable. You might be getting a similar 'fail to make a catapult usable' bug. I'm not sure if DW8 does the 'make the catapult usable' function when the stage starts or when the gate nearest this catapult goes down. Either way, if this sort of bug is going on for you, try quitting the stage, saving, Quitting the game and starting the game again(a mid-battle save might not be enough). That has fixed my 'fail to open a gate' bug before.

Thank you so much. I was almost pulling my hair because this.