Rocket Robin Challenge

[Gameflyer]

Play: http://www.topgear.com/uk/games/rocket-robin

This game has me absolutely hooked. Every time I go to the page, I promise myself I'll just give it a few times, yet each time, I find myself cursing at the monitor a half hour later. I've basically maxed out around 4000 feet, give it a shot. This will serve as your one and only warning!

[SkyPaulusPlus]

did it 1st try

[Zoeff]

Bah 4000 is my limit as well. >_<

[Chupacabras]

4500 or so was mine a few weeks back

[arcticfox]

How do you calculate the score? I got 341534 for my altitude.

Edit: I realize that the last two digits were decimals.

[Chupacabras]

I think they are not counting the last 2 digits... dunno why though :S

[Jacobfox]

4056.56m.

[Mineworksfine]

I don't play the game (never could get above 3850 or so and I'm not really a game player anyway) but can I suggest if there's going to a be a todger measuring competition here that no claims are accepted without a screencap as evidence otherwise you might all as well be entering random numbers from the phone book?

[LurkerPatrol]

2nd try after i didn't hold down the left and right arrow keys the first time and the damn thing assploded.

[f1freak]

I was hooked on this game a while back. I've done a few 2-3 hour sessions without even realizing it. I've gotten one 4700+ meter launch and I can almost always get in the 4500m range. I'll try to get a screen cap soon. I've been trying to get really scientific with it but the game doesn't make much physics sense, unsurprisingly. I seem to do about the same whether I let the boosters burn out or ditch them right at the start. I think the highest launches are always when it's dead calm, no angle in the wind sock. The temperature pisses me off to no end. The 5000+ run in the high scores just seems impossible.

I've gotten the landings down, though. I let it fall straight backwards, ass end to the ground then when it's most of the way down pitch over so the nose is juuuust above horizontal. You can usually get a good bounce and land on the wheels.

EDIT:
Ok, did it. First try in a while so I'm pretty proud of this. Stuck the landing.

[Archie411]

Danm I cant even get 3000
Any tips for the newbie?

[skogen]

The one time i got the landing after going 4000+

[f1freak]

It seems to me that the left engine is "more powerful" than the right, requiring the left throttle to be a little below the right at launch to stop the rocket always turning to one side. I hold the left and right arrow throttle buttons so the throttles are pegged at the top then release them just before launch with my finger leaving the left button just before the right, but so that they both land somewhere in the middle of the green, again with the left just below the right. You can see in my picture how the difference in throttles should be, though I landed them too low in the green at launch. It's tricky business. It takes a lot of clicks of the Relaunch button to get it going straight but that part's not terribly difficult. After launch let go of the buttons and only use them in tiny bursts to steer, as using the engines uses fuel and generates more heat. Use the tiny bursts and keep the smoke trail as perfectly vertical as possible. I think it's best to always reset until the wind sock points straight down. I'm not sure when the best time to ditch the boosters is but do it before they completely run out. Same with the center tank and watch the temp gauge. It seems that you go all Challenger (sorry) about 2 seconds after the temp needle pegs so you have to balance that with the tank fuel. Hopefully that and what I said before about the landings should help you out. More investigation to come from us all I hope but for now I've finished my paper and my bed beckons. I could get seriously obsessive about this.

[pattyt]

how the hell can u land this thing lol, btw im a newb all i can get is like 2500

[skogen]

After a few hundred tries i maxed out on 4600ish, the highest attempts were with 0 wind and both rockets with same throttle at launch.
And most importantly the throttle level abit low (still inside the green area), then you get to use all your fuel before releasing the last rocket And as f1freak said, 2-3 seconds after your temp gauge peaks you will go boom, use the flashing red lamp to time the release.

[f1freak]

Pattyt, I have a description of my landing method in my first post up there.

Skogen, I'm surprised you're getting as high as you are with the throttles level at launch. Does the Robin tend to want to turn right on you as it climbs?

I'd really like to get a few of us to really try to figure the best way to do this game. That 5300 score seems impossible.

[nate_bartlet]

thought i'd give it a go for a few minutes while i was trying to connect to a Gears of War 2 game and i swear the game just sucks in the time. took me a while to figure it out since i kept exploding the robin on the ground.
highest i got is just under 40000.

[skogen]

Another go this time throttle barely in the green area, still fairly close to 4600. And yes it looks like it wants to go right most of the time.

[f1freak]

Anyone else give it a go?

[f1freak]

Also I've noticed that if you hold one of the booster buttons while you release the boosters, the little flame ball for that booster stays there through the rest of the flight. I can't tell if this actually adds any thrust, it probably doesn't, but it's something neat. You can sometimes get it to do both boosters if you're lucky. But there's gotta be some trick to this.

On a good note my landing technique really works. I've only crashed it once or twice all day