Brainstorming : new challenges

[Kinsu]

Current challenges in STK are a little bit limited. What kind of challenge would you like to see in STK ?

Here are some ideas :
- Undisputed leader : Finish a race being first more than 80% of the time
- Stealthy & accurate : finish a race without colliding any opponent kart (for light karts only ?)
- Heavy brute : crush more than (formula : x*(tracklength/y)) opponent karts, using only physical contact (cake & bowling bowls not taken in account)
- Survivor : being rescued / explode more than X times, and still finish first / in the top 3 of the race
- Bomberman : give more than X bombs to opponents in a race.
- ...

Maybe also medals could be added for each track, like in trackmania, depending on the best time done in this race ?

[qubodup]

- Undisputed leader : Finish a race being first more than 80% of the time

This would need an indicator (progress bar or number display, ideally with sounds when you reach the target/lose the target). Alternatively an absolute time value could be given to players as a target (might be easier to comprehend?).

Sounds like an interesting challenge, especially because it might tell people a new info about how they play the game. Unless they are never or always ( 0% or 100%) the leader.

- Stealthy & accurate : finish a race without colliding any opponent kart (for light karts only ?)

Sounds extremely frustrating. Would have to be combined with a time requirement or player just can drive behind all to avoid collisions.

- Heavy brute : crush more than (formula : x*(tracklength/y)) opponent karts, using only physical contact (cake & bowling bowls not taken in account)

x = ?, y = ?
"crush" means "collide with"?

- Survivor : being rescued / explode more than X times, and still finish first / in the top 3 of the race

Perhaps something like "collect 5 banana peels and finish in top 3"? Relying on opponents to shoot you might be too random.

- Bomberman : give more than X bombs to opponents in a race.

This would be extremely frustrating in default mode because of the small chance of bananas giving bombs so either presents and/or bananas would have to be rigged to always give bombs (ideally the 3d model of the pickup would also change to a bomb) or the player would be given a new bomb whenever he has none. Sounds quite fun!

[Kinsu]

Stealthy & accurate : finish a race without colliding any opponent kart (for light karts only ?)

Sounds extremely frustrating. Would have to be combined with a time requirement or player just can drive behind all to avoid collisions.

Yes, maybe a kind of special "shield" or "magnet" item that would repel opponents, with 3 loads for instance...

- Heavy brute : crush more than (formula : x*(tracklength/y)) opponent karts, using only physical contact (cake & bowling bowls not taken in account)

x = ?, y = ?
"crush" means "collide with"?

The formula is just to say that the number of opponent karts to crush depends on the track length.
Crush = collide an opponent, and make him get a rescue

For survivor & Bomberman why not changing the object loot rate...
Or maybe instead of making this kind of random actions some challenges (in STK meaning), just adding them as "feats", so that it is possible to achieve them in every race (at the difference of challenges which can only be achieved when the player clicked on it), could be cool...

Indeed these ideas are for challenges, so these are not actions easy to realize...

[coug36]

There are all kinds of achievements in racing games that we can use. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game ... ievements/
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game ... ievements/

I like the idea of using challenges to promote re-playability by having players beat their own high scores. These can of course be gamed with little effort, but in the long run does that really matter?

I especially like the "Catch em all" achievement in PGR4:

Swap paint with every opponent in an eight vehicle race.

[qubodup]

Crush = collide an opponent, and make him get a rescue

How does that work? I have noticed that when I make AI slow down to ~0 by blocking their way, they will reset. Is this the same with collisions?

[Kinsu]

Yes, if the shock is big enough, the rescue is triggered (or maybe it's if the opponent kart is being up side down... not sure of it ). But it can happen not so hardly if you're big enough (heavy kart vs light kart) and if you go fast

[Tuxfan]

@Kinsu: I like your suggestions and tried to test how some of your suggestions could be carried out.

Stealthy & accurate : finish a race without colliding any opponent kart (for light karts only ?)

a) The difficulty of this mode depends on the track's width. It is quite easy in oliver's math class or startrack to avoid other karts and more challenging on skyline or fort magma.
b) This game mode is hard at the beginning of the race. But once you are first, there is almost no contact with other karts and the game does not feel different from a normal race.
c) The game should immediately end after the first contact with an enemy kart.

Heavy brute : crush more than (formula : x*(tracklength/y)) opponent karts, using only physical contact (cake & bowling bowls not taken in account)

I tried to accomplish this in normal racing mode and realized the following:
a) It is quite difficult to crush an enemy. It takes another kind of driving skills to accomplish this. On my first attempts I could only crush a kart per lap.
b) It is easier if you use heavy karts and try to crush light karts.
c) Maps with narrow or unfenced roads like startrack and fortmagma are a must have to crush 0effectively other karts. I have not tested crescentcrossing and other tracks where karts can't fell off the track, but I guess crushing is quite more difficult on those tracks.
d) I suggest to turn off all kind of items and bananas (the goal is to crush, not to shoot or even get shot)
e) Infinite nitro for the crusher In order to crush additional speed is absolutely neccessary - or item boxes should be replaced with nitro bottles when driving in crushing mode.
f) Is it a regular crush, if I need to be rescued after the enemy got rescued ? (This happens quite a lot of times. )

[hiker]

Yes, if the shock is big enough, the rescue is triggered (or maybe it's if the opponent kart is being up side down... not sure of it ). But it can happen not so hardly if you're big enough (heavy kart vs light kart) and if you go fast

An AI kart is rescued if it can't drive for a certain amount of time. Any kart is automatically rescued if it's tilted more than 60 degrees, and a speed of 3m/s or less.

Cheers,
Joerg

[Kinsu]

An AI kart is rescued if it can't drive for a certain amount of time. Any kart is automatically rescued if it's tilted more than 60 degrees, and a speed of 3m/s or less.

Thank you for these precisions hiker.

@Kinsu: I like your suggestions and tried to test how some of your suggestions could be carried out.

Thank you for testing, Tuxfan

Stealthy & accurate :

a) The difficulty of this mode depends on the track's width. It is quite easy in oliver's math class or startrack to avoid other karts and more challenging on skyline or fort magma.

Yes, you're right. Maybe some kind of sequence could be established for the challenges ... i.e. the "Stealthy & accurate" sequence would begin by some easy tracks for these challenges (big width), and end with hard ones... And if the player finishes the challenge sequence (maybe 3 or 4 tracks ? eventually letting the player choose which tracks among the easy, medium, difficult tracks he wouldlike to try for this challenge sequence... ?), a kind of price is given to him, as an unlocked track or kart, or something else.
A little like in RPG games : you finish a series of quests (e.g. 1. Kill 5 young wolves - 2. kill 10 medium wolves - 3. kill 15 elder wolves...) to gain a cool reward (e.g. the "wolf killer" title).

b) This game mode is hard at the beginning of the race. But once you are first, there is almost no contact with other karts and the game does not feel different from a normal race.

I don't really know how to make it a little more challenging... maybe the player could begin 1 or 2secs later so we can be sure he's not first at the beginning ?

c) The game should immediately end after the first contact with an enemy kart.

Wouldn't it be a little frustrating ? We could also just display a "Challenge Failed" and let the player continue the race if he wants, like in GTA when missions are failed... I don't really know ^^

Heavy Brute :

a) It is quite difficult to crush an enemy. It takes another kind of driving skills to accomplish this. On my first attempts I could only crush a kart per lap.

Yes that's what's cool with challenges I think : it makes players play differently and discover new ways to have fun with STK, so it increases the "playing-time"

b) It is easier if you use heavy karts and try to crush light karts.
c) Maps with narrow or unfenced roads like startrack and fortmagma are a must have to crush 0effectively other karts. I have not tested crescentcrossing and other tracks where karts can't fell off the track, but I guess crushing is quite more difficult on those tracks.

Maybe these parameters could also be used for the challenge sequence... e.g. the first challenge of the sequence is with a heavy kart against only light karts, and the last vice-versa (veeeeery hard so a very good price would be required for this sequence )

d) I suggest to turn off all kind of items and bananas (the goal is to crush, not to shoot or even get shot)
e) Infinite nitro for the crusher In order to crush additional speed is absolutely neccessary - or item boxes should be replaced with nitro bottles when driving in crushing mode.

Good idea. It's even more brutal

f) Is it a regular crush, if I need to be rescued after the enemy got rescued ? (This happens quite a lot of times. )

Erm... I think we could count them as a crush... Maybe give some appreciations to crushes (a little like in burnout when you make a takeout, or in stepmania when you hit a key : "boo", "good", "perfect", "marvelous"), and give a final score based on them ?

[Arthur]

"Call the parent and animal welfare organizations; we need some violent riots to stop the mindless crushing of poor animals in SuperTuxKart!!"