1. #1

    Medal times - How to guesstimate them?

    Now, I'm new to the Trials scene (started in TE : GE) and I've taken a liking to creating tracks more than anything. Being now and not really aspiring to platinum everything there is, I'm presented with a problem: Medal times for tracks that I create.

    I like creating tracks that are, in all honesty, too hard for me to complete with any real flow and decent times and / or faults. I really do not enjoy creating easy tracks though, so these are the types of tracks I propably will be pumping out. I like the challenge of completing these too much, I guess.

    What I would like to know, however, is that are there any methods to accurately (as in, even in the same ballpark) estimate the time it would take for a good player to finish a certain track?
    Those that have played my tracks have propably noticed that medal times are something that I struggle with, among other things.

    I'd like to hear how some of you guys figure them out, besides riding the track of course
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  2. #2

    Re: Medal times - How to guesstimate them?

    Originally Posted by InquisitorFIN

    I like creating tracks that are, in all honesty, too hard for me to complete with any real flow and decent times and / or faults.
    Unless you have friends who are more skilled and willing to test your tracks before release, I would suggest building tracks that are more appropriate to your skill level. The reason I say this is that if you can't thoroughly test your track and set reasonable medal times, chances are it isn't gonna turn out very well.

    Obviously this is just my opinion, so do what you want. But imo, you should be running your track enough during the building process to be able to put in a decent enough run to set medal times.

    I haven't made many tracks, but Ill usually take my fastest time and add a few seconds for platinum. From there, you can check the differences on medal times for some ingame tracks to get an idea of how Redlynx sets them. I've only built medium difficulty tracks, so my method may not be practical in your case.

    In any case, good luck on your track building!
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  3. #3

    Re: Medal times - How to guesstimate them?

    Originally Posted by Ikes
    Originally Posted by InquisitorFIN

    I like creating tracks that are, in all honesty, too hard for me to complete with any real flow and decent times and / or faults.
    Unless you have friends who are more skilled and willing to test your tracks before release, I would suggest building tracks that are more appropriate to your skill level. The reason I say this is that if you can't thoroughly test your track and set reasonable medal times, chances are it isn't gonna turn out very well.

    Obviously this is just my opinion, so do what you want. But imo, you should be running your track enough during the building process to be able to put in a decent enough run to set medal times.

    I haven't made many tracks, but Ill usually take my fastest time and add a few seconds for platinum. From there, you can check the differences on medal times for some ingame tracks to get an idea of how Redlynx sets them. I've only built medium difficulty tracks, so my method may not be practical in your case.

    In any case, good luck on your track building!
    My problem kinda is that while I CAN complete everything I create (obviously) and test it all to work right, I am not consistent in my riding technique I'd hate to stop creating tracks that I love to ride just because I have issues setting the medal time to be appropriate
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  4. #4

    Re: Medal times - How to guesstimate them?

    You say you can pass it all. Tell me, can you pass three CP's together, or just one at a time? If you cant link CP's together then it must make it hard to create any flow to the track.

    As for the medal times, if you must guess at them, then guess on the easier side instead of harder. But if you cant even set the gold medal for your track then, imo, you probably arent really equipped to be setting the medal times at all and should create slightly easier tracks that you are better equipped to run.

    But, tbh, as long as you have fun making them then it will only affect the "success" of the track on TC. So keep making what you enjoy making and have fun with the game.
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  5. #5

    Re: Medal times - How to guesstimate them?

    Originally Posted by Barrybarfly
    You say you can pass it all. Tell me, can you pass three CP's together, or just one at a time? If you cant link CP's together then it must make it hard to create any flow to the track.

    As for the medal times, if you must guess at them, then guess on the easier side instead of harder. But if you cant even set the gold medal for your track then, imo, you probably arent really equipped to be setting the medal times at all and should create slightly easier tracks that you are better equipped to run.

    But, tbh, as long as you have fun making them then it will only affect the "success" of the track on TC. So keep making what you enjoy making and have fun with the game.
    I usually run the CP I am currently building constantly until that single obstacle / CP is done, then I run the whole track once or twice up to that point. I guess I'll keep guessing the times for now since I just can't create easy tracks, no fun in building them
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  6. #6

    Re: Medal times - How to guesstimate them?

    I timed myself between each pair of checkpoints, then added it all up, on my track to come up with medal times. I see my skill as being around no faulting to <5 faulting official Hard difficulty tracks within Gold time limits. So, I based my testing off that assumption.

    My track was a Hard difficulty.

    To time for Gold, I did each checkpoint as fast as I could. I tallied my good but not great runs, and left some wiggle room: that was my Gold time. My best official run is 1min 4sec, and my Gold time was set to 1min 10sec, so it seems I set it mostly appropriately.

    When timing for silver, I would ride slower and use inefficient paths/methods/techniques to pass obstacles. I'd also stop if there was a difficult transition, which was me "simulating" a less skilled player catching their breath before proceeding. Set it to 1min 45sec.

    For Platinum I had to use more guesswork. I don't think I'm good enough to Platinum Hard tracks (haven't tried yet). So, I took my absolute best runs between checkpoints and shaved seconds here and there. I also took off time or tested across multiple checkpoints at once to account for the fact that a Platinum run would be done without losing momentum. I timed it assuming the rider did NOT take either shortcut, so the goal was more fair. Ended up at 52sec. Maybe that's too hard, I'm not sure. No one has liked my level enough to want to try for Plat. I think Rajado, who's on my leaderboard, could do it. But he didn't. I assume, because of the reason just mentioned.

    I also looked at how relatively far apart medal times were on the official tracks to help gauge mine, as well.

    I would agree with the others; don't build outside your skill level (unless you have very generous, dedicated testers). Build a track you can no fault, so you can test it better.
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