Binnatics' FC2 experience

[Binnatics]

Hey hello,

Well, bought the game yesterday and today I started my first playthrough. I found the hugh amount of FC2 topics, that's quite impressing.
Thought I could make one more, since it's kind of memorial that I actually bought the game. You guys convinced me and so far I don't regret it. The game is great. I started at hardcore difficulty, and that's oke for the missions. It's getting raugh when passing through one of these guard posts, which is unavoidable when doing a mission it seems...

These guys just start shooting at me for no reason and really don't give up, lol!
That's a new experience in an open world game; that I can't just drive round without having enemies on my tail every second.  :knockout
So saving the game is quite important there ;)

The first thing that surprised me in the game was the great noizes. You really imagine yourself in Africa, which is quite impressing; the drums, the animals, it's great, really.
The graphics started to be a desillusion, but I found out the game started in 600/800 resolution so as soon as I fixed that, the graphics were great. I was surprised by the damage a molotov can do to the surroundings. I set a whole forest on fire the first time I threw one  B-))

Gathering buddies is quite easy, I expected it to be more difficult. They just like you right away. In GTA you had to do all sorts of different activities and missions before they start to like you and help you out.
The gameplay is great so far, except for the driving. I don't get used to the rigid steering, but that will come along I guess. Usually it's a matter of time to the moment you don't even realize it anymore.

Last thing I've done was the first arms-dealer mission. I got shot on my way to the meeting point where by one of these @#$%^@ guardposts. So I'll have some rest now, and go on tomorrow  (:)

[Art Blade]

Ahhh, memories :-()

Hardcore, is it? So you're one of those cracknuts that start off right away on hardcore?  Geez ^-^

Maybe settle on normal first so you get an idea of what the game is like, there will be a couple of missions that are tough even on easy, let alone hardcore  ??? :)

I started a new playthrough myself today after having found out that it doesn't matter if the game had been installed on the same windows partition or not, in my case it is an XP installation but still runs under win7. So I tried MP and for the first time it worked (after about two years  :D ^+-+ )

Have fun, matey  :) :-X

[mandru]

It will be fun keeping an eye on your impressions of the game Binnatics.   :-X

I'll toss out one tip here and that's to learn to interpret what you're seeing on you GPS/map it actually gives you a lot more important information than it would seem at first glance. 

Once you get an idea of the lay of the land you'll figure out which GPs you can drive up on, jump out and unload on 'em and which GPs need the finesse of a silent approach and ambush to clear.  Very few will let you get away with simply driving through with your skin intact and even fewer with the difficulty level set to Hardcore.   ;D

[fragger]

Welcome to the jungle, Binnatics :-D

Straight onto Hardcore, eh? You're a braver man than I am! I always start any new game on an easy level to get familiar with it before graduating to the harder skill levels. Be aware that in FC2 there's quite a difference between Normal and Hardcore, not just in how much damage you take when you get hit but also in how much ammo you can carry. Hardcore is actually my favourite skill level as I find it tough enough to be a challenge while still giving me a fighting chance. Infamous level is very tough - you can't carry much ammo at all and just a couple of well-placed hits from the bad guys are enough do you in, but I do play on that level occasionally when I feel like making life difficult for myself :-()

If you grow to like the game enough, there's an add-on for it called the Fortune Pack which will give you two new vehicle types and three new weapons (which don't have to be purchased from a Weapon Shop, they're available from the first time you visit the shop at Mike's Bar). I may be wrong but I get the impression that the Fortune Pack is somewhat hard to come by these days, but if you become a FC2 fanatic like some of us you may want to keep it in mind. It's certainly not necessary to have the FP to fully enjoy the game.

Anyway, have fun with FC2! I'm going there myself in a bit :-X

[Binnatics]

hmmm. maybe you're right about the hardcore Art, but I usually start with a more advanced difficulty. Most games are just too easy if you set the diff. low. Maybe this is an exception. I'll go on for a while on Hc and see if it works, if not I'll go back to normal.
Another thing that caught my attention is the day-night scale. It really takes long for a day to pass by right? In GTA I remember that 2 minutes were equivalent to an hour in-game. This is different. More realistic though, it gives you the feeling of spending an entire day on vacation, only not so relaxed, hahaha

[deadman1]

Welcome to Africa Binnatics  ;D. Since it´s your first visit I would like to give you a few pointers to help you get around.

1. You don´t have to drive through the GP:s, very often you can go cross country and avoid tangling with them.
2. Do all the wWeapons dealer missions first in order to unlock some weapons that will be in better condition than the ones you start with. Less chance of having them jam in the middle of a fight  ???
3. Dweller_Bhentos made some very nice full colour maps for FC2, detailing useful stuff like were the patrolroutes are, you can find them in the media section.

[Ricamundo]

Welcome to Africa Bin. In order to get a good start, i'd stay off the roads completely. Take your Jeep offroad at night and explore the open areas for diamonds, which you need to buy some good weapons. While you're doing that fiand as many safe houses as possible and kill the 2 to 4 guards outside each, to open them up for your future use.

The other option you have to road travel, is using a swanp boat at night, which is much faster and easier than trying to drive thru guard posts. if you hav e a long journey to your  target, you can take a bus to the nearest bus station, then walk, or find a car near the station.

Remember, that on hardcore, your ammo loadouts are way less than Normal, so scavenge ammo from dead mercs whenever available. If you do attack a guard post, you can have some fun, and save some ammo by shooting the red or yellow barrels, or the propane tanks you see at most guard posts. Some real fireworks there. ;D

Enjoy!

[Fiach]

I agree with Art, playing at extreme difficulty could make you wind up hating the game, as there are so many guard posts and roving patrols to encounter, that respawn rather quickly.

I actually liked the fact they respawned quickly (I didnt buy a shooter to just drive :)), but it was a major annoyance for many players, couple that with HC difficulty and I can see frustration looming on the horizon for you :(

Anyway, great to see another member firing up FC2, looking forward to reading further impressions :)

[Binnatics]

To get it better going, 2 questions: How can I minimize the game? Is that not possible?
And: Is it possible to make screenshots?

Thanx for the respons, just finished my first weapondealer mission ;)

[Art Blade]

Screenshots yes: hit the PRNTSCR key (next to F12) :)

Minimise the game?

As in windowed mode? Hit ALT+ENTER to toggle between windowed and fullscreen mode. Depending on the game's screen resolution you'd see a bit of the desktop. However, it is recommendable to always use your monitor's native resolution so neither the graphics card nor the monitor have to scale down and blur the result. Crisp, clean and fast like that.

I think you're trying to make use of the maps while the game is running. I prepared the maps in a way they fit my windows desktop (wallpaper) so I could simply alt-tab out, check the desktop, and go back in again. :)

[mandru]

In your "Documents" folder there is a sub-folder that was created when you loaded FC2 on your computer called "My Games".  There you will find yet another folder called Far Cry 2 and this is where you will find all the snapshots that you have taken by hitting the PRNTSCR key as Art described.

As for minimizing the game, if something comes up and I need to go to my desktop, I will first hit the "Esc" key to shift over to the Menu to pause the game safely and then if I hit "Alt + Tab" keys together it toggles me to the desktop so that I can do whatever I need to there.  Then to return to the game I click the FC2 page button at the bottom of the screen in the Taskbar which brings FC2 up again in full screen mode.   :-X

[Binnatics]

Alt-tab didn't w@&k for me. The game got uncontrollable and I needed to ctrl-alt-del to get in the taskmanager. Then the game was shown as 'not responding'. I'll try it again.
The reason why I want to minimize the game is because of wanting to check the forum in between and also to be able to shut down the pc without having to close and later fire up the game again. That takes so much time ;)
And since you can't save any moment and it takes a while for me to find the next hide-out... it just consumes quite some time at the moments that I don't have any  :-D

Funny thing is the game is starting to breed this desire in me to have 2 (or more) days entirely for my own and my PC. No wife and kids around, no w@&k, just losing myself in this endless environment ::)

I'm not worried about getting frustrated jet, since I manage to kill these freeks at the GP's by sneeking in and not rush through with my jeep. It only gets nasty once they send reinforcements in jeeps who all of a sudden spawn up just when I examine the direct surroundings of the post  :D

One thing bothers me atm. I bought 2 ammo supply upgrades for both pistol and assault, but it didn't do a thing to the amount of ammo I can carry with me. Spent 17 diamond on that stuff, and got in fact nothing in return  >:(( Maybe I don't get it jet with these ammo upgrades, so if you see my problem please help me out there.

Next thing I do is the second armsdealer-mission, to get the AK unlocked. Man I love that weapon  >:( :-()

[mandru]

The upgrades bought you better accuracy and reliability so that weapon will last longer before jamming.   :-X

The pistol belt will give you more ammo as will the other types of belts for other weapons that you can buy on the 3rd window at the gun shop.   :)

[mandru]

Binnatics, on the Alt + Tab method to toggle to the desktop you might try to press and hold the Alt button with your left thumb then with a finger reach up and tap the Tab button once to see if that gets you to the desktop.

You might also want to save first while there on the menu screen before trying that move again so that you don't lose your place in the game if it crashes.

[Art Blade]

you can save at any time hitting F5.

Oh, if you open anything small, like wordpad, you can often alt-tab to it rather than the desktop alone. Makes it easier if alt-tab to desktop doesn't seem to w@&k.

Shutting down the PC with FC2 still running might not w%&k because the temp file needed to restore it would be massive, and I've seen windows choke on it.

You can get a couple of free golden AK47 which are very reliable.. check out D_B's maps :)

[PZ]

One thing bothers me atm. I bought 2 ammo supply upgrades for both pistol and assault, but it didn't do a thing to the amount of ammo I can carry with me. Spent 17 diamond on that stuff, and got in fact nothing in return  >:(( Maybe I don't get it jet with these ammo upgrades, so if you see my problem please help me out there.

Next thing I do is the second armsdealer-mission, to get the AK unlocked. Man I love that weapon  >:( :-()

Strange about the ammo upgrades - are you sure you actually have them in your inventory?  I ask because when I go through the purchase routine too quickly, I sometimes exit the monitor before I actually complete checkout.

If you like the AK, then you'll love the golden ones that can be found in several areas - although they do not offer increased hitting power, they do last a long time without degradation - check D_B's maps for the locations of these AKs.

I'm impressed that you can start out on hardcore!  Although like the others, I'd recommend a lower level so you can enjoy Africa without the constant assault.  I play on easy just so I can drive through many of the guard posts  :-()

One bit of advice I can add - many people have claimed FC2 is a "buggy" game, and while there are a few that were easy to reproduce, some of them are annoyances I believe you can avoid.

For instance, when you speak with a buddy, let them completely finish their dialog before you move on.  Also, I'd not recommend going into the headquarters for a main mission and then leaving without taking it.  I did that once, and Africa became immensely violent - the mercs always knew where I was, and viciously attacked me even before I could see them.  Might be totally unrelated, but it is the only time in dozens of plays through on two different gaming platforms.

Finally, here are a few acronyms we use in the posts:

   
• DD - Datsun dummy - the single mercs that drive the small cars
• AT/ATP - assault truck/patrol - with some kind of mounted weapon, from SAW to .50 to grenade launcher
• GLAT - grenade launching assault truck
• RSM - rock solid merc - there is a bug in the southern map that has this guy embedded in a rock "

[Art Blade]

and GP = Guard Post

all guys that are not on your side are called "mercs" as in mercenaries. 

(some people wanted to call guard posts checkpoints but that's something different, you don't save the game while passing a GP, do you :) )

[Binnatics]

Lol, You guys give me a lot of info. I don't regret having started this topic. I read some of the hugh amount of info around here, but didn't know what or where or how to take benefit of it. The info you're giving me now is just what I need, and all understandable. I'm too enthousiast to get that golden AK, that should be great.

[Binnatics]

some people wanted to call guard posts checkpoints but that's something different, you don't save the game while passing a GP, do you :)

I can understand that they use the word checkpoint, since it's more or less a point where the armies are checking everything that comes by the roads there. But I'll call it GP like you guys.
The game crashed twice on me today. And the graph card is working overtime. It's the first time I hear it blowing. Maybe because of the open world gameplay. I should adjust some graph settings I guess.

I assassinaded a guy in the vilage, and got myself my first sniper rifle. That makes the GP's less of a problem.
Now I was just moving in to my friend, who will help me with my first mission I got from the UFLL headquarters in the vilage.

[Binnatics]

Remember, that on hardcore, your ammo loadouts are way less than Normal, so scavenge ammo from dead mercs whenever available. If you do attack a guard post, you can have some fun, and save some ammo by shooting the red or yellow barrels, or the propane tanks you see at most guard posts. Some real fireworks there. ;D

That's good to know  :-X I knew these barrels were there for some purpose ;)

[Art Blade]

When I got the game new I hadn't yet met the guys here. So I tried it on my own (missing out on a lot of things) and during the following playthroughs I started to find out all about it, together with the boys.

So don't worry, just play through as you see fit and after that you may want to find out more during a new playthrough. That's when OWG will kick in at full force  :-()

To ease it on the vid card a bit, start with AntiAliasing and AnisotropicFiltering. Both set to "off" will give your card a lot of breath. If that doesn't help, try dx9 rather than 10, and reduce shadows which are a huge performance killer. The rest of the splendour should be still on and running nicely. :)

However, if and when you want to know stuff, don't bother going through a million posts. Just ask here and we'll answer your questions right away and perhaps point you to topics/posts that may be of interest :)

That sniper rifle you just found reminds me of how happy and proud I was when I got my hands on my first sniper rifle. Until it blew up spraying sparks and dissolved into thin air. Which means: Any weapon you find will eventually jam and jam more often and finally break apart. So you have two options: Find new weapons as our beloved merc friends will be more than willing to drop some if you ask politely enough (a bullet through their heads should do) or better, do arms dealer missions and spend some stones on a weapon you really want to use. :) Once purchased, they will always be there, fresh and polished, at your armoury. Pick one and be happy with a reliable weapon. They won't last forever but a lot longer than what you may find lying in the dirt.

And propane tanks.. blowing stuff up (don't forget to use cars for that matter) will usually result in big fires that will however magically spread only so far and will only last for so long. But just as well a fine way of calling mercs to randomly act stupid, set themselves on fire or forget about your presence.  :-D

[Binnatics]

I read the 'slaughterhouse mission tutorial' here at the site trying to find these maps for the golden AK47. I never did that 'mission', nut got to the slaughterhouse by accident because I was just following the railroad. I freed the prisoner 'Michele' and got out of there, but I never got the phonecall. You guys know If I get an opportunity to free another prisoner?

[Binnatics]

I allready found out about the 'jamming' issue, so I waited with using snipers until it was unlocked and bought it ;) The only problem with this rifle is that it only permints 1 shot at the time. You have to un-lock to reload, so you have to plan your shots carefully. But that's okay, since you guys told me about the barrels ;)

I combine it with the Mac 10, which has shown his worth on close encounters allready.

About exploding cars; Don't I need to use some explosive or molotov to destroy them? I think shooting them will consume a lot of ammo... I set some cars on fire when attacking a transport of filthy AK's for the weaponsdealer ;) That was a massacre  ^-^

[Art Blade]

You can free all prisoners and a secret one (again, check D_B's maps and map legend) as well. There are four districts when you start the game, one of which is where you start (no prisoner) and one you are assigned to so you get your first buddy. The other two locations can be visited and the prisoners freed. It's Fresh Fish, Lumber Camp, Slaughter House and Cock Fights. First you are limited to Leboa, later you will unlock Bowa. There will be more buddies :)

You can blow up a car if you drive full speed towards a yellow or red barrel and jump out before it hits the barrel.. or set fire to grass where the car is parked on.. might take a few additional hits (you can even use your machete to whack the engine until it starts to send up black smoke which will lead to fire and to blowing up the car). Or toss a hand grenade next to it..  :-D

[PZ]

You'll love the Dragunov available after you do a few weapons dealer missions, and also the AS50 available later in the game.

There is also the famous "6th buddy" that is lying wounded in a valley north of Schwasana.  Each of these buddies can offer you two missions - some of them are really fun.