Perfect challenge times

Ryan Douglas

Ryan Douglas

Administrator
Staff member
We are aware that a handful of challenge levels might not have achievable "perfect" times (the time to beat for a perfect score). Limbo level 4 is the prime example. Balloon Burst level 4 has been raised as another possibility.

We test each challenge level thoroughly before release, and the perfect times are all based on times that we did achieve. But at least in the case of Limbo level 4 we can't reproduce them now, and BB level 4 may be similar. Those may have been one-in-a-million events.

We might need to adjust a small number of times after some additional review.
 
Challenge times vs. system clock

In "Challenges", could, "USERS TIMES" be affected by, things like;
1) Over clocking
2) Under clocking
3) System Throttling (due to over heating)
4) Graphic settings
5) Physics settings
6) Dumb thumbs:eek:
 
Limbo level 4, throw that away completely. It took me like 500 tries to even get through it and then I didn't even get the full score -.- I'm not that bad at flying planes!
 
adrenoline 60 said:
In "Challenges", could, "USERS TIMES" be affected by, things like;
1) Over clocking
2) Under clocking
3) System Throttling (due to over heating)
4) Graphic settings
5) Physics settings
6) Dumb thumbs:eek:
Click to expand...

#1-5, no, they should have no effect--except to the extent that settings which result in a very low framerate can impede your ability to fly a model well, which is bound to impact the times you can achieve.

#6: Very much so. :D
 
Johnny31297 said:
Limbo level 4, throw that away completely. It took me like 500 tries to even get through it and then I didn't even get the full score -.- I'm not that bad at flying planes!
Click to expand...

I'm having a hard time believing you mean level 4 of the tier 1 Limbo challenge. If you can't fly under those two bars, I don't think you will have completed the subsequent levels, either.

Are you perhaps talking about level 4 of either Limbo II or Limbo III?
 
I wish there was a way to disable the times, you should be allowed to complete the level regardless of the timer.

I don't like time based challenges, it's too much like a game, it isn't how I fly in reality. You should be able to acrue points based on a combination of time and precision - I did one air race challenge and didn't even leave the ground - just ran around on the floor.

Another gripe for me is the chase cam / auto zoom that's active on challenges and can't be disabled - totally un realistic - you don't chase your model around the field - I thought Real Flight was supposed to be about honing your skills as a model pilot.

If you need a chase cam then consider it to be FPV flying.

When I bought Real Flight it was to hone my skills as a model pilot - not my skills as a computer gamer.

I find the challenges and scenarios a source of mega frustration so pretty much avoid them - can't turn off timers, can't turn off auto zoom, can't select the aircraft used, can't select the weather (wind gusts etc), personally I think they miss the point of a flight simulator / trainer.
 
Ben,

There are a lot of different people at all the various levels of flight competency. I look at the glass as being mostly full. There are a lot of activities to keep people interested. If gamers are buying the software, guess what?, they are helping to reduce the unit price for all of us.

There are many features in Microsoft Office Excel that I never use, why should I pay for them? It is that type of granularity thinking that ends up increasing the cost. Personally, I wish that I did not have to pay for Spanish Channels or other foreign language channels, or those darn reality TV shows. Fact of the matter is that you buy what is offered and use what interests you. It is not Burger King, you don't get it your way!

Not every activity is related to actual RC operations, but they do improve your hand eye coordination and get you thinking faster, and that is a good thing.
 
Perhaps but I don't work on speed at the expense of precision. Sure things go wrong and a fast response is sometimes needed - but you shouldn't be flying yourself into such situations out of choice - fly within your limitations.

Accuracy first - speed later - it has nothing to do with features missing, it has to do with various settings (which exist elsewhere) not being available in those features.

I'd be quite happy to run through the challenges and challenge myself to do better than last time - to beat my own clock.

All I'd like is the option - all the menu's are still there they just get greyed out. I want to turn off chase view etc, to fly as you would at the field, to perhaps use a different aircraft, different weather - but not get terminated by some timer.
 
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I always thought that the challenges would have been a great multi-player event. Competition is fun. We had them in G4.
 
I agree with that one - if the challenges were timer free we could go head to head and have a league table ...

I want to try balloon burst or circuit race with helicopters ... but you can't ... at least not without resorting to the console.
 
I think it would be a pretty quick fix to leave the time scoring as is, but remove the timer-ends-play feature. This would make a lot more sense for people who want to use the challenges as a way to improve their skills. You might be getting zero for a score, but you wouldn't have to keep repeating easier parts of a challenge course just so you can get to the part you really need to practice.

On the subject of quick fixes, regarding the ring race challenge at Apocalypse with the L-39, Its "Nap-of-the-Earth" (often abbreviated NOE), not "Map-of-the-Earth."

Have to agree with the comment about speed. Basically, if you design a challenge where score depends on speed but its physically possible to fly it at full throttle, then you are limiting the skills that can be developed. Since a lot of work has already gone into designing these courses, a quick fix would be to just make the challenge planes a little more powerful with a tiny bit of back pressure on the controls so that if you go too fast its no longer physically possible to maneuver the tightest turns in the course. This would help users develop deeper skills. An added benefit would be that you could go a little faster on straighter parts of a course, this would probably end up fixing your unachievable perfect score problem.

And how about a hot key to exit (esc), with a corresponding click button somewhere at the top of the screen? Very strange to have commercial software in which the only way out takes three mouse clicks, the last of which is an unlabeled upper-right-x on a screen box called "Level Select."

Putting the name of the plane in the info bar at the top would be nice.
 
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