TUS challenges are probably much different from what you knew of a "challenge" before.
The first thing you need to know about TUS challenges is that, TUS challenges are mod-base, Which means anybody (That we qualify) can host his/her challenge in a period of time.
The mod can assign as many maps he/she wants, And can set any amount of time (We call it challenge expire date here)
This way, We won't get stuck with one taste of maps. (If we had only one mod)
More, The flexibility of the challenges makes it exciting though time.
It is even possible to host more than 1 challenge at a time. (But we don't want to make a mess here)
Ok, As I said, For each challenge there are some maps assigned to it. (Or can be only one map)
by entering the challenge page you will these maps and by clicking on their link, you can enter that specific map stats.
Under each map, There's a form to let you upload your time.
To upload your time on an specific map, You need to fill 3 fields:
1. Your time: It can be only a number. But its better you specify the exact time, for example: 33.52
2. The replay file
3. Playback time: When in the replay file the turn in which you did the time happened. It saves a lot of time for the mod. (Otherwise he has to review all the replay). The number you enter can be either a single number or followed by this pattern: 9:42 (Min 9, 42 sec)
After you upload your time, You have to wait until a mod review your time and accept it. Once it is accepted you will receive points according to how good was your replay.
You can upload as many replays as you want per each map. The only condition is that your next replay (time) is better than your previous times. To make it short, You can always report your better time later.
Points Pattern:
The thing that you must notice is that TUS challenges point system is completely dynamic. Your stats changes if someone reports a better time than you.
This is the position points lists:
1st - 20 points
2nd - 15 points
3rd - 10 points
4th - 5 points
5th - 4 points
6th - 3 points
7th - 2 points
8th - 1 point
Example:
If you do a map and your time become 3rd. You receive 10 points. If sometime later someone do a better time than yours and makes you 4th. You will lose 5 points. (As in you are 4th now)
Other than the position points for each map, There are 2 kind of other points, Which We'll call bonus points here.
1. You will receive 1 point for submitting your time. This is for encourage people to report their times. After all this is gonna be a challenge record database. So when you report your time, You will receive 1 extra point for it, Even if you are not in the top 8.
Example:
If you become 4th in a map, You'll receive 5 + 1 = 6 points
2. The second bonus point is giving when you are participating in the "current going" challenges. And the point is 4.
Why?
It is possible to submit your time for the maps in the challenges that has expired. The reason is, a player can achieve a very high level of points though some time, Since we don't want to reset them, So it must be possible for others to catch this player.
So if someone is joining TUS challenges sometime later than others, It IS possible for him to browse the expired challenges and submit his time on those. The only difference is, That he won't receive the "4" points (mentioned above) for participating in the "Current ongoing" challenge.
To sum up,
If someone upload a time in a challenge that it hasn't expired, He will receive: (If he holds the best time)
20 + 1 + 4 = 25
Same guy if he upload a time in an expired challenge, He will receive: (If he holds the best time)
20 + 1 = 21
Last things you may want to know about the points is:
You won't receive the bonus points for each replay you upload per each map. For each map you will receive them once. So uploading multiple replays won't give you any points if you have already received them.
