Lego Star Wars II: Stuck at Echo Base?

So, the Wee Lad got this rather fun, puzzle-oriented game from his uncle (my brother) for his birthday, and we've been having a lot of fun with that. He gets to play it as time allows, but if he has a particularly good day at school, I reward that by setting aside time that night to specifically work with him on a spot or unlock that is giving him trouble. If you are having trouble in Episode 5, scene 2 (Escape From Echo Base) as we did, read on.

We've had a *lot* of trouble with the very end of the 2nd scene in Episode 5. What follows here will contain a spoiler to the end, but it won't matter because if you are playing the PC or Mac version of the game, you have a high probability of hitting the same known bug that we did. If you are playing on a console, I'm told this level doesn't end the same way.

So, the problem we were having is that we are supposed to shoot the force field generators until they go boom three times, thus freeing the Millennium Falcon and letting us proceed on our merry way. However, they only go boom once each. I don't know whether they are supposed to boom three times each or just three times total, but the first two booms come in the first 30 seconds of shooting, and the remaining booms don't come at all (after 30 minutes of shooting).

The workaround from the publisher is to turn off all the advanced video options. A few other forum users suggested that doing "everything" you can actually do in the main story (leave no stone unturned) also seems to help. People for whom the workarounds work seem to agree that if you aren't able to destroy the generators within the first 5 minutes of switching cannons, and shooting again, at both generators, with the workarounds, that you aren't going to see success. Conceding that some systems at the low end of the graphics compatibility list simply can't complete the level normally, the publishers refer us to the thread in the next paragraph containing a cheat code. If you don't want to know it, stop reading now.

If this happened to you, then you need to enter a cheat code. It allows you to use the action button while controlling C3PO or R2D2 to self destruct. It has the same area effect as a bounty hunters' grenade, and this will destroy the generators. You need to destroy them both.

To apply the cheat, go to the cantina (yes, you have to start over.) and talk to the bartender. Scroll through the options to cheats, then enter the code: DRX728 and then hit enter/return. Now you can go into the game menu any time during the level, select "Extras" and scroll down to "Self Destruct." Hit enter to enable it. While it is enabled, the droids will self destruct when using the action button (J or 1) unless they are immediately in front of a droid panel.

May the Force be with you. Always.