Challenge Balancing Thread Thread - Vector Thrust

Post here if you think the challenges need to be made easier/harder or completely changed

• A-10C: either completely change it (having two rather difficult/annoying A-10 challenges only to "demonstrate" its brrtgun is redundant IMHO) or give it bombs
  My challenge idea: "Distant Thunder" - navigate through canyons to pursue and destroy fleeing convoys (at least 3 or 4 SAM + AAA combination each convoy). The canyon shouldn't be too narrow to allow more room for maneuvering, but flying too high in instant-stall. Rules: normal ammo gun, no main, AGM-65 SPW
• F-16FSW: Is the incoming missile coming out of nowhere completely intentional? I think it should be replaced to demonstrate FSW's maneuverability
  My challenge idea: "Reverse Personality Disorder" - You vs a pair of increasingly difficult FSW fighters, starting from X-29, S-32, Su-47, and finally FSW F-35 and F-22s. Rules: normal ammo gun and main, no SPW
• MiG-21I/2: I feel that the default rocket supply won't enough. Maybe replace the turrets with more ground vehicles that roam around the base?
• F-104 Doppel: No challenge complaint thread is complete without the mention of this absurdly difficult challenge. To demonstrate the Doppel's ridiculously high speed and very high gun ammunition, I think the challenge would be better with gun-only instead of rockets only.

The F-22X is friggin' nasty to fight against @ F-16FSW

Bumping since this thread will be VERY essential after the upcoming update. And yes, I'm still thinking that most, if not all challenges involving shooting a lot of turrets (notoriously A-10s and MiG-21I/2) should be completely replaced.

TS, can you please move the thread to The Round Table subforum?

Edited by: Nergal01

Done

Suggestion for A-10A challenge (while I'm figuring myself how to create it in the editor as well)
Barrier Break: Escort a refugee convoy out of hostile-infested area. Clear enemy blockades as you proceed and make sure at least one (truck/Humvee) survives through the hostile territory.

The latest loadout revision made YF-16AFTI's challenge (shoot down bombers before they enter map boundary) much more difficult since you're locked to QAAM instead of AMRAAM it originally has.

The HB-1002 challenge has certain properties that I really like, but many that I do not.

The thing I really like is how it feels a little like a shmup. What I do not like is how long it takes and how lethal a single shot is. As a general rule, the longer a further back/more severe a setback is, the chances for failure should be reduced. Since VT doesn't have a checkpoint system (which would actually be really, really nice) this means longer challenges should generally be less lethal, while shorter challenges can be extremely punishing. We could also use a Retry button straight from a fail state for a mission, rather than going to the menu screens or defaulting to starting the mission over again.

Since that challenge is originally made for A-10C, I think the turrets should be replaced with something of small caliber.

But that'll turn the entire challenge to a sniping contest since it obviously has smaller range than the current turret (what is it again? 76mm?).

Edited by: Nergal01

I mean, if anything, it'd be nice if the challenge had one or two targets at the center of the formation of guns that the player was supposed to destroy instead of having to wipe out all the gun batteries.

HB-1002 Revised (would require addition of some kind of bomb SP weapon)

Player has only guns and only one shot of SP ammo. There is only one target. It is a hardened structure that is immune/has very high resistance to guns, but has a health pool small enough that a single hit would destroy it. The target is guarded on four sides by CIWS and placed at the center of the turret formation in the current challenge. The objective is to destroy that one target.

The resulting challenge is shorter to complete and becomes more a puzzle to solve than what we have now, while also reflecting the role of the aircraft as a stealthy interdictor.

Variations on this them could also easily be implemented for other F-117 challenges. Destroy the radar installation, sneak past SAM picket and destroy high priority target, destroy military secret in shipping container, etc.

I mean, another challenge type for the F-117 family is -- evade air defenses > destroy target > return to base (same direction you came from) -- though it would be a much longer mission than the others.

Personally I would prefer it to be a canyon run mission (see: AC2's Greased Lightning) but there's no actual canyon map yet as for now.

Ground attack challenges are greatly in need of new maps meant for them, and some new targets imho.

I feel at least one of them should be made as a nice opportunity for the players to unleash constant alpha strikes.

Speaking of ground attack challenges:

A-10A - The Avengers in this challenge reset your ammo to 800 every time they're killed. No clue why, so I just purged them in this: Mediafire.com Cheap fix, but I can't see what on earth is causing it.

A-10C - Swapping this challenge out with the A-10A challenge, and giving the player access to an SP weapon in exchange for a diminished gun ammo count would greatly increase the fun factor of this challenge, and make it less of a pain in the ass for very little reward. That said, the current A-10C challenge isn't exactly entertaining either.