Time attack
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Time Attack is another term for time trial. The term is commonly used in Japan for individual time trial events for motor vehicles that involves a vehicle running around the circuit in lieu of a qualifying lap and the term is widely adopted outside the country for tuner event and medias.
Many computer and video games include a time attack (or time trial) mode, in which the main goal is to complete levels — or, in some cases, the entire game — as quickly as possible. This mode prioritizes completion time ahead of other measures of success such as high scores. In cases where a game does not have a dedicated time attack or trial mode, a fast completion is frequently known as a speedrun.
Usually the best results achieved in a time attack mode are stored in long-term memory by the game (on a hard disk or non-volatile memory), so they can be shared with friends or improved upon at a later date. Racing games often feature ghost cars which are saved when the player sets a record time. In subsequent races, the ghost car follows the path the player took when setting that record, allowing them to clearly gauge how they are performing against the previous achievement. Often saved ghost cars can be shared with other players.
The inclusion of a time attack mode can often be an effective way of adding replay value to a game. Racing games may also include ghost cars recorded by the development staff — attempting to beat their times can provide a final challenge to players who have mastered the rest of the game. Often the game provides other incentives to use the time attack feature; GoldenEye 007, a first-person shooter on the Nintendo 64, encouraged players to revisit levels more than once by offering unlockable cheat options as a reward for completing them within target times.
Sometimes the settings of a time attack mode are "locked" in order to standardize competition between players. For example, Soul Calibur features a time attack mode automatically set to two rounds for a win, the normal difficulty setting and a default time limit; but it also features an alternative Arcade mode, which allows any option settings to be used and saves record times separately.
Both speedrunning and time attacking have extensive online communities dedicated to achieving the fastest times possible.
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Many websites have been created so that players of video games can compete against each other for fast times and high scores. Some of these are listed below.
[edit] Time attack and high-score sites
- Cyberscore - High score and time attack competition for many games.
- Twin Galaxies - The closest thing to an official video game world record authority.
- Tool-assisted speedruns - Speedruns that are Tool-assisted and created to be as perfect as possible.
- Recorded Amiga Games - Speedrun, Timeattack, Highscore videos of Amiga games.
