BUS Route Confusion.

[kingdaniel]

Hello Guys,

Hope you all are doing great and having FUN gaming ?  :)

Apologies for this post of mine if it's already been discussed elsewhere, but I'm unable to find a solution. And I'm too lazy to search for it.

OK. My problem is with choosing the correct BUS route/path, during the gameplay. There are actually 4 options to choose from, so which is the correct one ?

I mean, suppose my current Objective marked by the RED ring is at the North-West location, so do I need to take the similar one marked on the BUS route map ? But sometimes there are 2-3 similar BUS map routes, so which one to go for ?? On one map the 'distance' between the RED objective and the player's current location marked by GREEN, is long, and on the other map it is short. So do I need to see the distance or the location i.e. N-S-E-W ?  :-\

I'm sorry If I sound stupid/dumb, but I'm not good with maps and I once tried doing this, but I landed up somewhere FAR from the objective. And again I had to travel by road some distance to reach the objective.

So many times I have to try all the 4 options to teleport myself 'nearest' to the objective.  :(

PLEASE Help. Thanks in advance.  :)

[deadman1]

When taking the bus the red marker on the busmap (the one in the busstation) shows the destination for that bus. So you´ll want to go to the one that is closest to the red ring on your map. I hope that clears it up for you.

[Art Blade]

Additionally, no matter what bus route you take, it will always take four hours of your FC2 day away (get in the bus at 12, arrive at 4).

Sometimes your target area lies between two bus stops, the best thing to do is check the map (best to download D_B's world maps v8) and compare the route on road from bus stop to target area, if you can drive on mostly straight routes from the bus stop to the target, good. If you have to surround mountains and deviate a lot to get to the target, not so good. Except the longer route leads through areas with fewer guard posts, or prevents you from driving through hostile areas like Dogon village or the likes.

You see, it's not that simple  ;)

[spaceboy]

another thought on reaching objectives that are not conveniently located to the bus stops is to look at the waterways.  I didn't do this as much at first because you were attacked from the shore, but it definitely helps alot in getting around.  Switch to your mounted gun on the boat clear out the baddies.

This works better I think in Bowa, because the waterways often cut through mountainsides and of course the large lake helps connect the map.

On the bus route choices though...there is no right answer.  It's open world so you can get to your objective however you wish.  I know some of us here have taken certain routes just because we like going through a specific part of the map so much.

[deadman1]

When using a boat it´s a good idea to travel at night, the darkness hides you pretty well  and you can quite often slip by the GP:s unnoticed.

[TopHat01]

It helps to whip out your map and GPS right in front a bus stop map.  Try and match the specific colored objective on your map (the one you're holding your hands) to the map at the bus stop, and choose which station seems the closest.  Sometimes you'll need to drive a bit because not every objective is close to a bus stop, but usually there is a vehicle free for the taking at each bus stop.

[retiredgord]

TopHat01 has nailed the right way to do it. I'm a frequent user of the Public Transit System in this area. It's free and you can get some nice rest. I never worried about time-tables as I'm sure the mercs weren't in any real hurry to die. They can wait till I get there. There's some cool n/p routes to get from the bus to where you need to go so you're not diving for a dirt sandwich all the time. Some good trnsportation can be obtained if you know what to look for and what you want to "borrow".

[kingdaniel]

Thanks a bunch everyone for the replies.  :-X  :)

So this seems to be a bit tricky after all ? But let me try it again.

THANKS for all the Tips.  :)

[PZ]

As has been mentioned, there is no right or wrong way to approach travel; it is mostly a matter of how much trouble you want to endure along the way, how much time you want to spend to get there, if you want to keep your vehicle, or perhaps how much scenery you want to view during your travel.  I often consider the shortest route (which often has significant threat along the way), or sometimes a sneaky way into an area - look for footpaths through narrow cuts in the mountains.  The rail yard, OCC growers are favorites of mine for sneaky approach.

[kingdaniel]

Thanks for the reply PZ.  :)

Yes, I know about the routes actually. But I was kinda confused when it came to choose between 4 options at the BUS stop. So that led me wondering sometimes, but on many occasions I was lucky enough to make the right decision.  ;D

I usually prefer taking the swamp boat at night, to evade the patrols. And I also love going on foot as much as I can. Good for grabbing some of the 'hidden' diamonds along the way.  ;)

Anyways, thanks for the tips.
Cheers.

[TopHat01]

^Traveling at night with the camo suit and using silenced weapons is probably the best way to travel.  I've also noticed that if you disable the headlights on your vehicle, assault patrols and guard posts have a harder time spotting you.  I've literally drove right past an enemy AT several times before, and by the time they released I was hostile, I was already too far off for them to catch up.

[PZ]

That's a great reminder TopHat01, I'll bet that at least some of the people reading this thread don't know that you can turn your headlights on or off.  Personally, I always drive with lights off for just the reason you mention.

[TopHat01]

You could either increase the brightness of the game (in the graphics settings) or by physically increasing the brightness of your monitor if you find it too dark; but I think the default values set are perfect.

[fragger]

you can turn your headlights on or off.

Also, if you don't want your headlights coming on automatically when you start up a vehicle, you can smash them out with your machete (or shoot them out). The dash will still light up, but no headlights will come on.
Of course, you have to do this each time you commandeer a new vehicle.

[mandru]

A thing to remember about the patrols that you encounter as you play through the game is that if you bush whack them and take their ride, then for as long as you need to be working within or just beyond their patrol route, they can't respawn.

This is true with any patrol, Swamp boat, AT or Datsun dummy. There's even a fishing boat patrol out on the lake in the 2nd half of the game. You can't control the respawn at a CP but if you wish you can have a say in the behavior of the patrols so that they are not charging in behind you while you are attempting a sneak up to ambush a CP, obtain a Cell Tower mission or some other objective.

Oh, and when an Arms Dealer mission is taking place, the Patrols on the target's route are suspended. Which also means that as soon as the mission is completed, depending on where you are, you can have a patrol breathing straight down the back of your neck.

Some people like to keep a single vehicle as long as they can through the game and that is an interesting objective to try to maintain but sometimes for the convenience of having some lasting effect on the patrols and adding a bit of realism (in real life a patrol wouldn't respawn as soon as you turn your back  :P) try playing around with this tip.

Also as an after thought, you can go from Sephapane in the second half of the game to Port Selao and even out to meet the barge skipper for that first mission and only pass one CP that pretty much ignores you as long as you hug the opposite side of the river and blow through quick.

The only place along that entire route that I ever draw fire is at the bridge patrolled by an AT just beyond the safe house off the river.

I'm not too concerned about doing missions after dark but if night has just set and it's pounding down rain coupled with a thick heavy fog so that there is only a visibility of 50 or so feet, I'll take a bus and hope that the longer transit time will give the weather a chance to blow over.

[Art Blade]

re: headlights - read the "(funny) tactics and tips" topic, or read it again after some time. There are tips like that and more, all easily accessible using the first post's index.

re: hope for better weather / avoiding nights - read the Cheats topic, use the "-GameProfile_timescale 0" command to fix the weather and time of day/night.

:)

[PZ]

A strange aside is that I have not been able to shoot out the headlights on my Unimog - they are evidently bullet-proof  ;D

[Art Blade]

you need bigger guns, mate  ;D

[kingdaniel]

Thank you guys for the additional input and tips. Thanks to you too mandru.  :)  :-X

Yup, I know about the headlight stuff and the cheat/code timescale. Good for freezing the day/night cycles.  ;)