# Skill Checks (Timing Wheel)

> The timing minigame you see when lockpicking, hotwiring, breaking cuffs. Hit the green segment.

![Screenshot: the ox_lib skill check wheel mid-attempt with indicator near green](../screenshots/10-interface/skill-check-wheel.png)
*Screenshot needed: the ox_lib skillCheck UI showing the rotating indicator and green target zone.*

---

## What is a skill check?

The skill check is a quick **timing minigame** powered by `ox_lib`. It appears during certain actions:

- Lockpicking a car door
- Hotwiring a car
- Lockpicking a building door
- Breaking out of handcuffs

You see a circular wheel with:

- A **rotating indicator** moving around the perimeter
- One or more **green segments** (target zones)
- A **key prompt** showing what to press

Press the prompted key **when the indicator is inside the green segment**.

---

## How to play

1. Action starts (e.g., you used a lockpick)
2. Wheel appears mid-screen
3. Indicator starts rotating
4. Watch for the green segment
5. Press the prompted key (often a letter) WHEN the indicator is on green
6. Success: action completes
7. Miss: action fails (item may be consumed, you may have to retry)

---

## Difficulty levels

The minigame has 3 standard difficulties:

| Difficulty | Indicator speed | Green segment size | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Easy** | Slow | Wide | Cheap car doors, apartment doors |
| **Medium** | Moderate | Medium | Most vehicles, business doors |
| **Hard** | Fast | Narrow | Police vehicles, vault doors, advanced locks |

The wheel layout is the same — only speed and target size change.

---

## Multi-step variants

Some actions have **multiple wheels** in sequence:

- "Hard" lockpicks may show 2–3 wheels in a row
- Each must succeed
- Fail any → entire action fails

You'll see something like:
```
Step 1/3 — Lockpick
[wheel]
✓ Success

Step 2/3 — Lockpick
[wheel]
...
```

---

## Custom keys

The prompted key varies:

- Most often `E` or `Space`
- Sometimes a sequence: press WASD in order
- Watch the prompt — it tells you exactly what to press

---

## Tips for winning

- **Watch the speed.** Fast wheels = react faster.
- **Don't anticipate.** Pressing too early misses just as much as too late.
- **Center your attention.** Distract by combat or chat = miss.
- **Practice on easy locks.** Apartments and cheap cars are forgiving.
- **The audio cue helps.** Hit close to green = small "tick" sound; perfect = louder "ding".
- **Take a breath.** The wheel doesn't time out fast — relax before pressing.

---

## What happens on success

- Action completes normally (door opens, cuffs break)
- Sometimes a bonus (faster animation, no cop call)
- No item consumed (most lockpicks aren't consumed on success)

## What happens on failure

- Action fails
- Item may be consumed (lockpicks: one used)
- Cooldown before retry (varies)
- Sometimes a penalty (cop alert, animation interrupt)

---

## Where you'll see skill checks

In gangwars currently, four places:

| Action | Resource | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Lockpick a car | qbx_vehiclekeys | Easy-medium |
| Hotwire a car | qbx_vehiclekeys | Medium |
| Lockpick a building door | ox_doorlock | Easy-hard (per door) |
| Break out of cuffs | qbx_police | Hard |

Sidecar plugins may add more (drilling, hacking, etc.) — those are future content.

---

## Common questions

**Why is the wheel SO fast?**
You hit a "hard" difficulty lock. Pick an easier vehicle to practice.

**Can I disable the minigame?**
No — it's core gameplay. Skipping = lockpicks have no skill component, which is boring.

**What if I'm bad at timing?**
Practice. The wheels are designed to be challenging but learnable in <10 attempts.

**Can controller users play this?**
Yes — controller bindings map to keyboard prompts. Some servers add controller-specific UI hints.

**Does my character "skill up" with practice?**
No — vanilla doesn't track per-player skill levels. Your real-life reflexes are the skill.

---

## Related

- [../09-vehicles/breaking-in.md](../09-vehicles/breaking-in.md) — car lockpicking
- [../09-vehicles/doors-lockpicking.md](../09-vehicles/doors-lockpicking.md) — building lockpicking
- [../08-jobs/police-job.md](../08-jobs/police-job.md) — cuff-break skill check