Sooooo, Devs | Forums

[Colors_of_Life]

I see that the activity of developers on the forums has spiked in the past couple weeks which leads me to believe that the game is either done or, at the very least, in it's final stage and just needs certification from Microsoft so that it can get an official release date. With that being said, I have a few technical questions about the final stage / complete version of the game that having the answers to would have nothing to do with "being surprised". I apologize if most of these questions have been answered in an interview in the past 2 weeks. Since I cannot read, I am unable to know of any possible repeating questions. Also, many things are subject to change over time anyway.

How much have the game's physics changed in the last, say, 3 months or so on a scale of 0 to 1000? 0 = exactly the same

If the game is still not done then what, exactly, is still being tweaked? Physics? Tracks? Minor Bugs? Graphical Glitches?

While watching you guys have a good time doing back flips the whole time in the Trials Evolution gameplay trailer, I noticed that the bike rotates noticeably faster than in Trials HD, is this the case? If so, this should intensify techniques like tapping the brake in order to speed up forward bike rotation.

In the trailer, I noticed something called "Redlynx Picks". Who, exactly, decides what goes in that section in track central? Is it all of Redlynx, community managers, or what. This matters because the normal track central top rated list is just going to be filled with gimmicky tracks that make nooby players (99%) go "WHOA, THAT ELEPHANT JUST TOOK A CRAP IN THE BACKGROUND." While this is going on, the practically underground track makers who actually make tracks with well thought out driving lines that take skill to ride efficiently will be pushed down by noobs because they don't contain defecating elephants and afterburners. So hopefully Redlynx picks will be the place where these tracks can go.

Do all skill games have a finish line? If not then PLEASE do this, having to wheelie the whole track AND get to the end in the fastest time takes much more skill than wheelieing the whole track and then trying to smash into the wall as hard as you can.

Can you fender hook? (see first 5 seconds of Tripping the Plywood in Trials HD)

Do roll bounces work? Or is bouncing off your back tire the only way to bounce? A roll bounce is the action of landing on your front tire and then the back tire in order to achieve an upward bounce. If it works, how well does it work? Would it work well enough to come into play in many different scenarios?

Does coasting work and do you have any tracks designed for it? Coasting is when you don't touch the gas and "glide" down a steep downward slope to move much faster. If you have tracks where this is possible but the track is not designed for it, then i'm going to be a sad panda because then it's going to be faster to coast down it and then awkwardly slow down in order to match the track's driving line.

Can you still launch from explosives to gain speed? I know with the complexity of the editor that this probably varies depending on your settings, but does this work in any in-game tracks? For example, sub 13 seconds is possible on Trials HD's 'Middle Name: Danger' by launching from the dynamite box in the beginning of the track.

Does the bike sound better than it did several months ago at PAX? I couldn't care less what the bike sounds like. Infact, if your rider was a stick figure I wouldn't mind at all. But there are some people who do so...

How does the global track leaderboard work? In an interview you confirmed that the leaderboards were going to be 100% skill this time around since skill games will no longer be a part of them. Will it be overall time or overall score based on your times in the tracks. The second one is better because it values all tracks in the same way. For example, shaving .1 second off of a beginner track should be the same value as shaving 1 second off an extreme track.

Can you rewind replays? ...

Have you had pro players test your game? Pro players like cannibalshogun would be able to make sure there are no miscalculated jumps in any tracks.

How long would it take to unlock the last clothing item? If it's just getting all platinum medals to unlock it, then it would only take a day or two to get. Please tell me there is some kind of huge money requirement in order to unlock it so that it takes a long time to get.

Spring 2012? In the trailer it says the game will be releasing in Spring 2012 which is anytime around March - June. Is this the official time frame that we can count on a release?

Review Codes? Many developers give out codes to gaming sites prior to release so that they can write reviews for their game. Will you all be doing the same?

[Colors_of_Life]

[rlmergeuser]

well thats my elephant taking a dump track completely wrecked ! Thanks for that......

[willyums]

the only defecating elephant ive ever seen in trials was from boris and he is by no means a noob

and a 'miscalculated jump' is a very grey area anyway regardless of who is testing them.

[JoeRegular]

Some excellent questions there MJ, followed by a reaffirmation you haven't changed that much

I was actually gonna start a thread asking if you'd be doing a tips list for killing time till Evo drops like you did for Big Thrills

[RetiredRonin]

ANBA said Track Central's Redlynx Picks will be selected by a group of employees headed up by Jorma. I have not been invited to join this group, so you can expect good riders to find tracks and skill games to Highlight.

There are no review codes for Trials Evolution.

I never understood the whole "miscalculated jumps" idea. Ride so that you can run the track smoothly. It's how the track was designed.

I'll have to read your essay again to reply to more, sir.

Edit 1 - sipe or sebbbi said that the bike sound grew on them. Take that however you wish. I assume that it will sound close, if not the same, as the tradeshow footage. That's an assumption.

[Colors_of_Life]

If Murdoc wants to explain miscalculated jumps, he can. I can't be asked

EDIT: But it has nothing to do with "finding the flow" of a track.

EDIT 9: Mystical Journey and Blast from the Past are good examples of tracks with miscalculated jumps.

EDIT 952: Actually, I've got a great example. Look at Flight School. The afterburner shortcut wasn't tested properly and if you ride the track too well you are penalized by the afterburner not going off. You have to do the part before the afterburner badly or else you'll lose time. This clearly has nothing to do with finding the flow of a track and the track clearly wasn't designed with the intention of making you slow down right there.

EDIT 2,966: Essentially, a miscalculated jump is riding the track the way it is intended, but so well that you actually end up losing the flow. The only way to keep the flow is by dumbing your skills down to the level of the person who play tested the track. Noobs are the ones that shouldn't be able to keep the flow, not the pros just because their skills are beyond "left and right to switch jump".

EDIT 7,629: Miscalculated jumps are really easily misunderstood so hopefully you know exactly what I'm talking about. I don't mean to sound like an elitist, but if you still don't know what I mean, it's because you most likely aren't in the top .00001% of trials players. Don't take that the wrong way, I'm basically saying it's one of those things you won't understand unless you've actually experienced it. Which most average players (even above average players) won't experience.

[rlmergeuser]

two questions:

1. will we be able to modify physics of the bike? like adding full brakes that stop the bike, and hopefully the possibility to make it not withstand unnatural drops. making it more realistic.

2. will we be able to share these custom bikes?

[Colors_of_Life]

Made like 5 million edits in my last post explaining what a miscalculated jump is.

[RetiredRonin]

EDIT 952: Actually, I've got a great example. Look at Flight School. The afterburner shortcut wasn't tested properly and if you ride the track too well you are penalized by the afterburner not going off. You have to do the part before the afterburner badly or else you'll lose time.

Ahhhhh. I do understand!

two questions:

1. will we be able to modify physics of the bike? like adding full brakes that stop the bike, and hopefully the possibility to make it not withstand unnatural drops. making it more realistic.

No, all phoenix/scorpion bikes will handle the same. There is no performance difference between your bike and mine.