Esjaylian Obstacle Course

[Welcome to the Esjaylian Navi Training Obstacle Course!]

It's here you can pit your operator/navi combo against a series of tests to see who has the fastest combo, testing many of your abilities. Your results are timed, so you can see how you REALLY did compared to others. Let's get started on how this works:

[THE COURSE]
The course is made up of 5 seperate areas, each involving your navi to complete a certain task to move on. Each task is not impossible, but may require some thought before you start.

Area 1: Blast Wall
Area 1 is simple: a solid wall blocks your progress. Solution? Break it down using your battlechips, signature attacks, or just your basic buster attacks. Once the wall is destroyed, you may continue to Area 2.

Area 2: Speed Tyres
Area 2 involves fancy footwork through a system of tyres. There are several rows your navi must pass through, but choose wisely: only one tyre from each row will give you a clean run. All the others will slow you down; some more than others. Sorry, you'll have to work that out on your own. Luck, maybe? Or past experience, whatever. Once you clear the tyres, it's on to Area 3.

Area 3: Anchors
Surrounding you in Area 3 are suspended anchors, held on by tight cables. You need to knock each anchor with enough damage to continue. The anchors are arranged in a ring around you, so attacks with wider ranges may affect other anchors. Knock them all, and Area 4 awaits you.

Area 4: Cargo Nets
Area 4 is a large cargo net against a wall, with rows of squares to help you ascend. Many people say "Isn't this just Area 2 in a vertical direction?" That's where you're wrong: teams with attacks containing Microburst or Knockback can use these to launch themselves up the ropes quicker. Each use will save you climbing two rungs. That doesn't sound like a lot, but guaranteed no penalties is pretty sweet as well. Once you reach the top, it's time for the final area.

Area 5: Log Roll
Area 5 consists of knocking a log along a swampy flat and into a ditch using your available attacks. Simple, right? Wrong. Along this plain are small cracks. "Why does this matter?", you ask? The problem is that the log cannot be moved unless you are in melee range. So, once the log is past the first crack, you must also move past the first crack before you can keep moving. This involves you moving through the swamp, and, just like Areas 2 and 4, that means successfully moving through the terrain as fast as possible. The only really quick and effective way to complete this course fast... is to move the log with ONE very strong attack that knocks the log over ALL the cracks in one movement and into the ditch. Otherwise, you'll have to move with it to complete the task.

More information on how much damage you must do, or how many columns you must move through, are in the [DIFFICULTIES] section.

[HOW YOU PLAY]
At the moment, whenever you start a netbattle, your navi has all of its chips available to it, as well as its signature attacks. That's the same here. At the beginning of each area, your entire inventory is available to you; just keep doing whatever is required of you. Don't worry about how many actions you can use, that only affects timing, which I'll explain later.

In Areas 1, 3, and 5, hit the targets like you would a virus, that's pretty self-explanatory. In Areas 2, 4, and 5, though, when moving through the areas, select a number for each column. For example, if there are 5 columns you have to pass through, each with 2 options, one correct way to move through would be 11221. Also, 12212. If it had 7 columns with 3 options in each, a correct way to move through would be 3213123.

[DIFFICULTIES]
What, you didn't think this course would be ruled by uber navis, did you? There are 5 difficulty categories, each with restrictions on who can enter. Each category has two main times attached to it: "Goal Time" and "Blitz Time". "Goal Time" is the time you would expect to beat. If not, you have a goal to work for. "Blitz Time", on the other hand, is bare minimums maxing out the possible upgrades with time to get the best possible time. These times are beatable though, and if you can do exactly that... damn. On top of these, there is an extra time on the Insane difficulty: "Insanity Time". If you can beat this time, your navi is a network GOD.

At this point it should be noted that SPs ARE ALLOWED to join as well. However, and as you can see, there are restrictions on these as well:

Easy
Anybody could beat this, but it's a good starting place to learn the system.
Goal Time: 13 minutes
Blitz Time: 4 minutes 40 seconds
Navi Level Restriction: 0-3
SPs Allowed: 0

Medium
For those who want something slightly harder (and their support program).
Goal Time: <working>
Blitz Time: 3 minutes 36 seconds
Navi Level Restrictions: 1-7
SPs Allowed: 0-1

Hard
For those who want a more pressing challenge.
Goal Time: <working>
Blitz Time: 3 minutes 50 seconds
Navi Level Restriction: 3-12
SPs Allowed: 0-2

Expert
For navis whose mettle needs testing to breaking point.
Goal Time: <working>
Blitz Time: 4 minutes 50 seconds
Navi Level Restriction: 6-18
SPs Allowed: 0-3

Insane
For those who want to be remembered as GODS.
Goal Time: <working>
Blitz Time: 20 minutes
Insanity Time: 6 minutes
Navi Level Restriction: None
SPs Allowed: 0+

"But", you might complain, "I want to compete on the Easy level, but I'm a level 31, it's not FAAAIIIRRR..." When you enter, you may remove upgrades and chips from your folder just for this activity. That means you can hand-select from your arsenal the best Level 5 navi configuration you can think of from the equipment you have. That's where it gets interesting.

[COURSE STATISTICS]

We described the areas, we described the difficulties, now we get to see the two combined.

Area 1
One target with a bunch of hit points. Shoot to kill.
Easy: 500 HP
Medium: 1000 HP
Hard: 1500 HP
Expert: 2000 HP
Insane: 5000 HP

Area 2
So many columns with so many options. Think you can find the fastest path?
(Each figure is the amount of columns, with how many options in each.)
Easy: 5 x 2
Medium: 6 x 3
Hard: 7 x 4
Expert: 8 x 5
Insane: 15 x 7

Area 3
Multiple targets. Can you take them out quickly?
(Spread => Take out one along the line clockwise. Higher spread = more enemies clockwise. Clockwise = 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2)
(Blast => Take out one in both directions. Higher blast = more enemies to the left and right.)
Easy: 4 x 200 HP
Medium: 6 x 225 HP
Hard: 8 x 250 HP
Expert: 10 x 275 HP
Insane: 20 x 300 HP

Area 4
More columns. Remember to pack your Microburst and Knockback attacks.
Easy: 7 x 2
Medium: 8 x 3
Hard: 9 x 4
Expert: 10 x 5
Insane: 20 x 7

Area 5
Finally, the log roll. Each crack has a certain amount of hit points. If you hit it and destroy it, any spillover will affect the next crack. Example: if there are 4 cracks, each with 50 HP, and I attack the log with a 140 HP attack, it will have enough force to roll over the first and second crack, but not the third. However, the third crack only has 10 HP left, so another attack of 60 HP would finish both this crack and the last one, finishing this area off. Just remember, you have to follow the log over all the cracks if your attacks aren't strong enough: this means traversing the swamp.
Easy: 4 cracks, each with 40 HP. 2 columns between each crack, with 2 options each.
Medium: 5 cracks, each with 50 HP. 3 columns between each crack, with 3 options each.
Hard: 6 cracks, each with 60 HP. 4 columns between each crack, with 4 options each.
Expert: 7 cracks, each with 70 HP. 5 columns between each crack, with 5 options each.
Insane: 10 cracks, each with 100 HP. 8 columns between each crack, with 8 options each.

[TIMING]
You've probably been wondering the whole time "How am I timed doing all this stuff?" Time to find out.

Every navi has a speed, usually between 3 and 6. Each set of actions that equal your navi's speed costs you one minute. Sets of actions not equal to your speed are timed by the fraction of actions taken over total actions that can be taken (eg. Speed4 navi performing 2 actions = 2/4 = 0.5 = 30 seconds.) Don't worry about any SPs; they attack for free once every minute. Note though, this is total minutes, not fractions; a Speed5 navi would be allowed to use its SP attacks after every 5th action (regardless of its speed.)

On top of this, when you are moving through columns, different options will add further time penalties to those actions (unless you can find the right ones). You don't know these, of course: when you submit your list of actions, I'll let you know your total time after analysing it.

Each difficulty has a hall of fame, 5 spots to each area. You can find those at the end of this post.

[EXAMPLE TIME]

This is a lot to take in, so I think an example of how to play would be best.

[COURSE CHOSEN: EASY]
Navi: Meltdown.EXE

Level: 3
Battlechips: 2
HP Upgrade: 1

Speed: 3

Battlechips:
FireHit1 - [60 Damage + Impact /Fire] {A}
HeatShot - [40 Damage + Spread1 /Fire] {A}
Magbolt1 - [90 Damage + Stun1 /Elec] {B}
Thunder1 - [40 Damage + Stun1 + Homing /Elec] {C}
Binder1 - [60 Damage x 4 Hits, Random Targets After 1st Hit] {C}
Cannon - [40 Damage + Knockback] {A}
Guard1 - [Reflects 0-60 Damage, 1 Hit]
LilBomb - [50 Damage + Blast2] {C}
RageClaw1 - [40 Damage + Slashing / 20 Damage + Impacting, x6 Uses] {B}
Recover30 - [Recovers 30 HP]
Shotgun - [50 Damage + Spread1] {A}
Vulcan1 - [3x10 Damage + Spread1] {A}

Signature Attacks:
Raising The Heat [60] [Active Sig, 2 TCD, 40 Damage, Spread1 /Fire]
Potential Fuel Source [40] [Active Sig, 1 TCD, Large Area Terrain Change]
Heating Mismanagement [10P=40] [Passive Sig, 10 Damage]

Buster Attacks:
InCoRe [Regular, 8 Damage]
InCoRe HD [Charged, 32 Damage]

[AREA 1]
A wall with 500 HP.
[500]

Binder1 -240 [260]
Magbolt1 -90 [170]
Firehit1 -65 [105]
Shotgun -50 [55]
Cannon -40 [15]
Raising The Heat -40 [0]
(NOTES: Yes, you can assume that all multi-hitters will hit exactly where you want them to.)
(NOTES: Yes, elemental stackers for your chips do apply. Just remember, it's to your level, which in this case is Lv0-5)

[AREA 2]
5 columns by 2 options.
12212

[AREA 3]
4 targets, each with 200 HP.
[200, 200, 200, 200]

Raising The Heat [2, 3] [-40] [200, 160, 160, 200]
Shotgun [1, 2, 3] [-50] [150, 110, 110, 200]
Heatshot [2, 3] [-45] [105, 65, 65, 200]
Binder1 [4] [-240] [105, 65, 65, 0]
Lilbomb [2 => 1, 3] [-50] [55, 15, 15, 0]
Vulcan1 [1, 2, 3] [-30] [25, 0, 0, 0]
Firehit1 [1] [-65] [0, 0, 0, 0]
(NOTES: Yes, Meltdown is a break navi, which means his range is extended. So what? It can only be done once every set of actions, though. As you can see, every group of 3 has only one modification.)

[AREA 4]
7 columns by 2 options.

[CANNON]22122
(NOTES: The Cannon has Knockback, so I can use it to climb 2 rungs without penalty.)

[AREA 5]
4 cracks, each with 40 HP. 2 columns between each crack, with 2 options each.
[40, 40, 40, 40]

[TAKE 1] (Since this can be done cheaply, or done weakly. This is weakly.)
Firehit1 [-60] [0, 20, 40, 40]
Move over crack 1: 21
Magbolt1 [-90] [0, 0, 0, 10]
Move over crack 2: 12
Move over crack 3: 22
Vulcan [-30] [0, 0, 0, 0]

[TAKE 2] (Cheap version.)
Binder [-240] [0, 0, 0, 0,]
[WIN]

[COURSE CLEARED!]
(NOTES: These are times that assume that the paths on Areas 2, 4, and 5 were all correct. They're not, just so you know. Penalties could add half to double your actual time.)
(Cheap) Course Time: 8 minutes 20 seconds
(True) Course Time: 11 minutes

That's it. Sorry, but I hate describing everything. <_<

[HALL OF FAME]

Ah yes, the hall of fame.

[EASY]
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -

[MEDIUM] Goal Time:
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -

[HARD] Goal Time:
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -

[EXPERT] Goal Time:
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -

[INSANE] Goal Time:
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -

This is the workings of an idea too big for my museum.

Any help on the workings before it becomes a reality would be appreciated.

...I love it, but lets wait until some other people have to say about it.

While I can't say I'll be participating (at least for now), Sj, this is awesome.

How long did this take you?

An hour to think of, three hours to write up (due to my lack of ability to organise things while I type it.)

I think I might reduce the levels that you may enter with. After all, a Level 10 navi could have 20 battlechips and 3 speed upgrades, and no SP; this would be no competition to somebody who didn't put thought into it and went for a navi with 30 battlechips and 4 HP upgrades. (The speed upgrades would be an instant 1-action-for-every-2 between the slower navi and the faster one, making up for any loss of power in the last 10 battlechip choices.) <_<

Although now that I think about it, anybody who doesn't think this game through before playing it deserves whatever result they get...

Still, I'm going to change them...

Easy
Old Level: 5
New Level: 3

Medium
Old Level: 10
New Level: 7

Hard
Old Level: 20
New Level: 12

Expert
Old Level: 30
New Level: 18

And since Insane has no level, it stays the same.

This is an awesome idea, Sj. o____o However complicated and tl;dr it is, since I'm playing a game right now and can't be bothered to read. ._.

Thinking about the following additions:

*Cross Boosting: If you have a Level2+ cross, it adds an extra action(s) and extra chip bonuses to your navi's base stats. This would make the course easier to traverse, but the idea of the course is the best combination of skills; this would simply be an extension of said task.

*Handicaps: Break navis have it the best for Round 3, due to their widespread ability, whereas Wind navis get Knockback to make Round 4 much easier. If your navi doesn't fall into either of these two categories, then you're disadvantaged. Handicaps make the playing field a lot more level, but would require much testing to find a fair balance. Removing abilities for the course is the other option, although that makes the fight unrealistic. I don't know, just a thought.

Also, I'll edit those level values in, as well as give the example course run the actual clear time (minus a few pieces to stop people from cheating.)

EDIT: Only 5 high scores in each category, added goal times, fixed up mistake in example, added more explanation to timing.

I've done a lot of proofreading, and I think I'm happy with how this is going. All I have left to do is add in the Goal Time on the remaining topics and this is a go.

All I need now is either approval to make it RP-worthy, or simply chuck it in the User-Created RP section and let you guys at it.

Do the latter to see how it tests out. It's better to beta test for more fine-tuning before actually throwing it as a suggestion.

Thanks to Asator, this is now in a place where it can get more serious.

WHO WANTS TO BE FIRST GUINEA PIG?????

I wouldn't mind trying it out.

Okay then.

Using the format I used above, have a go at it.

Ah, bollocks, I'll retype it here.

Quote (Obstacle Course Stats)

Operator: (Your operator's name.)
Navi: (Your navi's name.)
Support Program: (if applicable, separate multiple SPs with a comma.)
====================
Course Taken: (Difficulty)
Navi Level: (Duh)
All Upgrades Used To Reach That Level: (eg. Speed upgrades, SP levels)
====================
Battlechips: (List all your battlechips, with relevant damage and any effects.)
Signature Attacks: (List all your signature attacks, including passives.)
====================
Area 1: Blast Wall
A wall with ### HP (Enter the HP relevant to your difficulty.)

List all your attacks here, always listing after each action how much HP is remaining.
====================
Area 2: Speed Tyres
# rows of tyres, with # tyres in each row. (Replace both # with numbers relevant to your difficulty.)

[X,X,X,X,X] (Use this format to specify what tyres you want to use.)
====================
Area 3: Anchors
# targets, each with ### HP. (Same as the other areas.)

Record this area the same way as Area 1. When attacking the anchors, it's probably easiest to say [Target1,Target2,Target3,etc] to specify the remaining health. Well, for the lower difficulties anyway.
====================
Area 4: Cargo Nets
# rows of net holds, with # holds in each row. (Same as the other areas.)

When specifying attacks to boost you up, just list the attack, no more is required (eg. [1,3,2,Cannon,1,3] if it was 7 rows.)
====================
Area 5: Log Roll
# cracks, each with ## HP. # columns between each crack, with # options each. (Same as the other areas.)

When you're attacking the log, deal with the cracks in the same fashion as you did in Area 3 (except it's really one target, not multiple.) When moving through the marsh, it's Area 2 you need to replicate.

Probably the area where I'll get the most grievance on, this isn't as confusing as it sounds. If you don't hit the log with enough force, it won't go all the way, and you'll have to follow it to its current location before you can hit it again. No, you can't snipe the log, or some other fancy would-make-sense rubbish, that's the course, deal with it. ^__^

And that's it.

Just by filling out this form I've noticed a few holes in the process, which I'll get onto (the most obvious omission being passive attacks.)

If you have any questions with the run Goroke, just post.