Me Vs. Tile Racer

[enusi]

So...

Just before noon yesterday I downloaded Tile Racer and gave it a whirl. In next-to-no-time the clock had struck 2 PM and lunch had passed me by.

The problem with Tile Racer is it reminds me too much of this "Darda" race track toy I had as a kid. Most of the fun was in the creation of different courses, and the same can be said of Tile Racer.

Anyway... By 2 PM I had created eight tracks, and decided to "fine-tune" the one I found most fun. Here is the "fine-tuned" result:

http://www3.telus.net/public/tpdemos/simple.map

I actually spent five hours (!) cleaning this thing up. It ended up quite short, and for aesthetic reasons, I used several sections of superfluous elevated roadways in an attempt to make the track appear more interesting.

My best time is about 1:40. It runs pretty decent at 1920x1200 on my six-year-old computer.

The only thing that still bothers me is the two big jumps. The second set is spaced one tile apart, and works just fine. However, the first set works better at two tiles apart, but if I do that, the symmetry between the two sets becomes displeasing. In the end, I left them both one tile apart.

Next weekend I'll try some of the tracks posted on this board, and maybe use them as inspiration in the creation of another "fine-tuned" track.

[T4b]

If you want more maps, then just download the Community Map Pack, almost every published map is in it. Only bad thing about this map pack is, that not every included map is good - you'll have to delete some maps.

[enusi]

Yes, I downloaded the track-pack last weekend and have subsequently played two-or-so a day.

One thing I've noticed is how easily one can cheat by simply heading across the grass/sand straight toward the next checkpoint. (Along with the help of Mr. Arrow at the top of the screen...) It's especially bad in lengthier maps as I was often able to shave several minutes off the included best time.

Keeping the above in mind, I once again edited my track to make it more difficult to cheat. During this process I also tested some "theories" regarding hand-editing of the XML .map file. The results have given me a bit more design freedom.

For example, if one edits the .map file "manually", it is possible to have a sharp turn snuggled up-close to a regular turn. (It's also possible to run S-curves in parallel, etc...) Unfortunately, overlapping tiles must not have identical positioning coordinates otherwise one of the two will disappear into the binary void. This means only multi-tile objects, such as large curves, can have overlapping tiles. Because single-tile objects will always have the same coordinate, it's not possible to place one over top the other. (In addition, due to the above limitations, small curves can only be placed inside large curves in three out of the four rotation positions.)

If you look at my version 2 map via the editor, you will see small turns nestled closely inside banked turns, and some other details not possible without manual tinkering. However, do NOT re-save with the editor or random track sections will disappear from the file.

I've also made it more difficult to cheat.

My current best time is about 1:32.

http://www3.telus.net/public/tpdemos/en ... ple_v2.map

Another semi-decent track is about 80% complete. I'll post it here in the next couple of days.

As a final note in regards to cheating, it's too bad the amount of time the vehicle drives on the grass/sand is not added as a penalty to the final time. For example, if one completes a course in five minutes, but three of those five minutes were spent off-road, an additional three minutes is added to the course time, resulting in an eight minute total score. I think this would eliminate any advantages one might gain with off-road cheating. (Unless you were driving on a particularly lame course.)

Oh well, the devs are dead so no joy for me.

[T4b]

Have you tried the map "Versuch 1"? This is mine.

[creation]

The second map is nice, i don`t know about the first one because i can`t download that map.

Code: Select all

Oops! 404 Error...

404? In other words, the file you are looking for was not found.

Keep up the good work. If you add a special feel to you game add some songs (in mp3 or ogg format). You can download them from mininova.

[enusi]

Here is my second track:
http://www3.telus.net/public/tpdemos/enusi_ramps_v3.map
My best time is 3:12.29.

The course design began as an "L" shape, but during the editing process it morphed into something similar to my first effort.

If you view the track in editor mode, please do not re-save or random bits of tile data will disappear. (I once again did some hand-editing of the XML file.)


Creation:
I deleted the first file from the intarwebs. Only six tiles were changed so it's not much different from the second version. You've missed nothing.

Interestingly, your tracks are amongst the few that I actually kept from the community-made tracks.


T4b:
Yes, I tried your track, but found it unplayable. At many points the game slows to less than 1 fps, making it a frustrating experience. I even dropped my screen resolution to 640x480, but the frame-rate remained slow. (This would indicated the problem is CPU-bound rather than GPU-bound.)

To give a specific example, early on you have a banked corner that leads directly into a corkscrew. The best strategy for exiting a banked curve at speed is to drive near the bottom, and in this example that means the right-side of the road. However, the corkscrew entrance is immediately to the left, and even under normal circumstances this sudden right-left maneuver would be quite tricky.

However, as I approach the exit of this banked curve on my computer, the frame rate drops to less than 1 fps, leaving the game an unresponsive and uncontrollable mess. In the end, I just cheated and drove on the grass, finishing the course in about 8:30.

[T4b]

T4b:
Yes, I tried your track, but found it unplayable. At many points the game slows to less than 1 fps, making it a frustrating experience. I even dropped my screen resolution to 640x480, but the frame-rate remained slow. (This would indicated the problem is CPU-bound rather than GPU-bound.)

I've got a quite good computer, I have always at least 15 fps

However, the corkscrew entrance is immediately to the left, and even under normal circumstances this sudden right-left maneuver would be quite tricky.

I wanted it to be tricky.

In the end, I just cheated and drove on the grass, finishing the course in about 8:30.

When you don't drive on the grass you need at least 18 minutes.

[enusi]

When you don't drive on the grass you need at least 18 minutes.

I've been doing a little thinking on this issue of "cheating". Perhaps if the developers added an off-road penalty system it would deter short-cutting bastards such as myself.

For example, if a course is completed in 5m30s, but four of those minutes were spent off-road, then an additional four minutes could be added, making the final time 9m30s. In other words, make off-road driving equal double time.

This probably wouldn't be too difficult to implement as Tile Racer already detects when the player has gone off-road. (After all, it does seems to know when to use the road-driving-sound versus the off-road-driving-sound.)

I've got a quite good computer, I have always at least 15 fps

Is it a Commodore 64? That's quite a good computer. In fact, it's a great computer. Although I'm convinced it could run Tile Racer at 15 fps.

[creation]

Here is my second track:
...
Creation:
...
Interestingly, your tracks are amongst the few that I actually kept from the community-made tracks.
...

Thanks, same goes for me, i have the map that i have tested from you saved on my PC. Did you tested my marathon maps?