[MP5]

I like to confirm some data I've gathered recently. It seems driving skills (as are bike and cycling skills) increases with driving distance. So far repeated tests estimate that every 45,000 feet driven ups the skill level a notch. When my driving skill hit 50%, game stats have shown I've driven around 1,688,000 feet. This seemingly indicates that in order to max out driving skills without going to driving school, one has to drive twice that amount, an estimated 3,200,000 feet (3,200 miles).

I'm also conducting similar tests on bike, cycling, and flying skills, but data gathered seem to be inconclusive or insufficient. I've maxed out my cycling skill at 161,500 feet, but the distances need to level up are inconsistent. My bike skill has yet to reach 50% to make any assessment (being at an estimated 40% = 1,876,000 feet), and I have yet to sufficiently test the flight skill using the Cropduster in Whetstone.

Some data comparison is welcomed.

This post has been edited by MP5 on Friday, Sep 21 2012, 11:50

[lil weasel]

Early Access to the Airport Flying Fields:
Jump onto the Guardhouse roof (if CJ is too Fat use a car as a stepping stone)
or otherwise sneak onto the field.
Steal either the Dodo or the Jet.
Fly in circles over the Los Santos Island.
If you enter the air space of the other islands (before they are opened) you will be shot down.
If you fly the Dodo it will take about 32 minutes RT (real time).
If you fly the Jet if will take 12 minutes RT.
If you chose to wait and enter the San Fierro field you can only fly the Maverick ‘copter. It takes about an Hour RT
If you think you can play it cool by taping down the control and fly out to sea for the time you will Glitch the game.
When you succeed the game will tell you “You have a Pilot’s License”. Yes, you do have access to all the AirPorts, BUT you will still have to do the “Learning to Fly” School later in the game. There is no way around it. After getting the Official License from the School you can fly any of the planes at the Airports. At 30% flying skill a parachute is automatically added, while flying, too.

[Distance = minutes]
Shamal:
61148.13 :03
113139.77 :06
165619.84 :09
216186.55 :12 (Gate Pass)

DoDo:
81694.00 :08
162984.08 :16
243582.52 :24
325185.94 :32 (Gate Pass)

This post has been edited by lil weasel on Friday, Sep 21 2012, 11:50

[0909090]

lil weasel, obtaining pilot license early may cause glitch with Mike Toreno mission / Taxi mission ,though that never happened to me I guess it's quite rare.

[MP5]

Starting up a new save and riding the starter BMX for an extended period of time leads the game to give me inconsistent data again. In my first attempt, I rode the bike aggressively, leading to the game upgrading the cycling skill earlier, at only 838 feet and again at 7,658 feet. However, when I cycle softly or coast excessively, the rate that the cycling skill improves is delayed (I attempted this on my second try and only had the player character's cycling skill upgraded at 6,484 feet). It seems sprint-cycling could also be a factor for the rate of increase in cycling skill.

[lil weasel]

QUOTE (0909090 @ Friday, Sep 21 2012, 11:53)

lil weasel, obtaining pilot license early may cause glitch with Mike Toreno mission / Taxi mission ,though that never happened to me I guess it's quite rare.

You're thinking of the 'flying out to sea'. I circle the available island(s).
This Glitch is mentioned in my post.

[OrionSR]

You may want to look at the ar_stats.dat file in your SA\DATA folder. It might provide some insights into how the stats are altered. Editing this file has long been an easy way to increase skills quickly.

However, in my experience this information hasn't been consistent with increasing skills quickly without modification. For me, the faster I travel the quicker skills increase. For vehicles, I usually try to unlock the Hotring from 8-track and then run the Into the Country race route, replacing the Hotring at the stadium if I take too much damage.

I think the Mountain Bikes are faster, so they might increase skills faster.

I once read about a trick for increasing cycling skills faster. It involved balancing a bike on the back of a flatbed car on a moving train. The trick didn't work well early in the game when the barriers are still up so I never investigated this thick much.

[0909090]

What about getting golds in driving school? I saw video where someone gets increased his driving school almost after each test( he got golds in every test) that seemed really fast .

[AuSsIeThUnDeR36]

I have found doing bunny hops increases cycling skill and complete Roboi delivery. After that my skill was up to around 50% from very start of the game.
In regards to having to do Flight School, they should have made a different cutscene if CJ already has the pilot licence. Eg:
CJ enters the red marker at tv screen
'Calculating flight time data...please wait'
Below the required level=enable Flight School
Above the required level=enable next mission
'Your data is [][][][][][]_____ ]
Toreno says 'Oh I see you already have your pilot licence. I'm impressed.'
Then CJ says 'Hey wait a minute! How you find that out Toreno?'
'Are you forgetting something Carl? I see all.'
Something along those lines would have been good and then you just jump straight into the next mission like a boss

This post has been edited by AuSsIeThUnDeR36 on Saturday, Sep 22 2012, 11:33

[OrionSR]

The schools offer a scripted boost to CJ's skills. The TC seemed more concerned with increasing skills by time and/or distance, but...

I took a quick look at the scripts, but I'm not completely sure what's going on. It would be easier to test the skills earned while doing the schools, but I'm not curious enough to run the tests.

Bike school: if I'm reading this right, CJ earns 50 (out of 1000) for completing the school with bronze, 100 more for silver, and another 200 for gold.

Driving school has two skill increases, one for +40 which I'm fairly certain is completing the school with bronze. and another for +30 which might be for each lesson at gold level, I'm not sure.

Flight school seems to offer +60 for each bronze medal.

[GTA Phreak]

Flying school adds 6% for each test passed, you need 18% for the license (gates at airports open) and 40% for the complimentary parachute.
Flying distance adds skill in 5% chunks, and I'm pretty sure it's 50.000 ft for 5%. However there appears to be some deductions(?) so not all distance in the stats count for skill.
Flying the Vortex adds driving skill, not flying skill.