FC2 revival (yet another playthrough)

[ninzza]

 :-() I've never seen levitating mercs before.
FC2 would have been much less enjoybale if there hadn't been funny glitches like this.  ;D

[Art Blade]

Nice one  ;D I liked the expression "they just hung in the air like a couple of bad smells" ^+-+ :-X

[ninzza]

Just noticed that the driver's hands were in the wrong direction  :-D

[Art Blade]

lol ninzza  ^+-+

There was one more thing I always wanted to do and never managed to until now:

Getting back into the hotel room where it all started  :-D
[smg id=3420 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 revived 022"]

[fragger]

Cool :-X The old place is still the same, I see :-()

I love how there's so much we can still think of to try in this game :-X

@ninzza, yeah, that definitely looked weird - and uncomfortable ???

[Art Blade]

Indeed :)

Like, how bold can you be? You guys know that cell tower mission where you have to take out a suit in the back seat of a Jeep Liberty driving around in a convoy at the airfield of Leboa.

I always liked that mission and usually ended up ambushing the convoy with whatever explosives I had at hand. I remember having tried to use a Dragunov on them but ended up firing like a madman at them -- not exactly sniper-like.

This time I thought heck with it, let's just try, not thinking much about it. So I climbed up that observation tower and saw the target, aimed, one shot.. and I was, err, surprised  ??? Maybe I was kind of too lucky.. then again, maybe not.. so let's try that again (reloading save game). And again, target down after just one shot  ??? Erm, what's going on.. Having duelled a lot with Binnatics online, using sniper rifles, apparently was very good exercise :-D

The mission, target ahead (the other arrow is to Bowa, meet the Jackal)
[smg id=3423 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 revived 023"]
View from the target to my position
[smg id=3424 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 revived 024"]
My view on the target
[smg id=3425 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 revived 025"]
Almost can't see it with bare eyes
[smg id=3426 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 revived 026"]
Reloaded a save game, new target position, almost too far to see
[smg id=3427 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 revived 027"]
View through the scope, dead target to the left (the cars drove on a bit)
[smg id=3428 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 revived 028"]

That was a really, really satisfactory way of completing this mission (twice, even)  :)

[fragger]

Nice w@&k Art, I'm impressed :) :-X Seems there's always a new approach!

Playing the game this way (no buddy or side missions) has yielded some interesting results. So far I've managed to get all diamond cases before doing anything else, which I've done before. But then I started doing the main missions without doing the accompanying buddy missions, which is where it got interesting, because without accepting the buddy missions they were of a completely different character.

First off was the UFLL mission to destroy the Special Forces' equipment. This of course took place at the south-eastern Oasis instead of Mokuba, where I found myself up against a bunch of crewcut guys in camo pants who I've never seen before.

Then came the ARP mission to bump off the police chief. This I did while he was riding in his motorcade – I nailed him down the road from the Slaughterhouse. Three well-placed crossbow bolts did the trick.

Next job was to blow up the tanker at the Railyard, again for the APR. One crossbow bolt from the high ledge followed by immediately running away completed the mission (no train wreck to deal with).

Then a toughish one, another APR job – destroy the compressors at the Scrapyard. Tough because all I had was the Makarov, Goldie and the crossbow. I managed to start some nice fires though which took out a few baddies, which helped.

Then an interesting development. The game wouldn't let me progress until I sprung a new buddy from the Lumberyard. The bouncer at the UFLL HQ gave me this job, and when I immediately ran over to the APR HQ the doorman there was on the phone, probably with the same offer because he wouldn't respond - no doubt because I'd already accepted the job from the UFLL. So it seems you have to spring a buddy at that point to continue the game.

After freeing the buddy, I drew the King's Gold mission from the UFLL. This time all the guards were already at the Oasis when I got there and I was able to get up onto the high ledge to the west and take them all out turkey-shoot fashion, as opposed to myself getting clobbered after emerging gopher-like from the hole in the ground. Once all the guards were down, I tagged the gold and that was that, mission complete.

Next up, the mission to destroy the hardware at the OGC. Another tough one with just the aforementioned weapons on hand, but done nonetheless with a lot of hitting and running.

Finally it was up to Goka Falls to give Kouassi his comeuppance. This time after doing the mission I decided to see how far back down the river the hang glider would take me. The answer was, a surprisingly long way – almost all the way back to the riverside village with the dock.

Generally speaking, not only is it a lot quicker through without the buddy and side missions, but the main missions are more easily accomplished even without  lot of fancy weaponry. It's taken me about 11 hours, but the majority of that time was spent collecting all the diamond cases. Actual mission time would have been about 4 hours including the underground ones. But it's fun and challenging. I even tried to take out Gakumba at the troop rally with the mortar from the sandstorm shack. I judged the distance fairly well but didn't get the bugger. A .50 cal round from the moggy which I'd borrowed from the nearby GP finally shut him up.

I've found the Makarov to be very accurate. I've taken out a lot of mercs with a single head shot, sometimes from quite a distance. I've noticed that if you only use one shot, the other mercs will hear it but won't know where it came from, allowing you to relocate, but two or more shots from the same place and they can pinpoint your position.

JRD was right about the safehouses. They just become places to sleep - no ammo, vehicles or syrette dispensers. Since I'm not spending any money I don't even have the luxury of storage crate access, or additional ammo upgrades for that matter.

During this 'thru I discovered something I'd never realised before. When you need more medicine, you don't have to go to the priest in Pala or (presumably) the doctor in Port Selao. You can get an underground mission from any underground location that you've previously liberated (one with a fist icon showing on the map). Probably old news to some, but new news to me.

Right – I'm off for a diamond hunt in Bowa. Got to find a new Goldie first – I used up three of them in Leboa.

[Art Blade]

Very nice read, fragger :) and quite the challenge with just those weapons you've got there  ???

Once in a while I do a playthrough without any side missions (this last one of mine was one of those playthroughs). What you read before, the cell tower mission, was something I did after finishing off the Jackal prematurely and after finishing the game from a prior save game. So for the side missions left (just a few cell tower missions) I now use even earlier save games.

What you can do is mix both ways, you can choose to do this side mission but skip that one, do this buddy mission but skip that one and so on. That's what I once did just to "save" Sefapane and the rail track (both times explosions would have ruined a structure that I wanted to keep).

As to the underground locations, that indeed almost always works. I found out that it doesn't matter which location you visit first, could be the priest or a different underground location, they will always point you to the same new underground location where to deliver papers to and receive medicine from. I know that because when I had to find medicine, rather than going to the designated first spot with that exclamation mark (the hospital in Port Selao) I saved the game and went to an underground location I knew existed (between the marina and the airfield) instead just to see where they'd send me to. It was locked (no interaction hand symbol at the door). So I drove to a previously unlocked underground location and they pointed me to the very same house I had just found locked  ^+-+ -- I saved again and reloaded the previous save game, went to the hospital and indeed, the doc there sent me to the same previously locked underground location  :-()

[mandru]

A couple thoughts on the last few posts.

When you drop a weapon to grab a used one the act of picking up that other weapon instantly turns the weapon you drop into a used one which will void any warranty of durability that you may have expected from it.

I had a brand new (fresh from the gun shop) AS50 that had fired one shot to remove the gunner from a passing AT and as the driver jumped out to come after me on foot I nailed him too.  As I was getting into the AT I had to step over the driver to jump into the driver's seat but instead of entering the AT I picked up the dropped assault rifle laying right there on the ground.

I switched back to my AS50 and charged on into a mission which quickly became a problem when the darn thing started jamming every 3rd or 4th shot and this was all while I was using the non-degrading weapons cheat.   :D

I'm betting even the extended life of a gold AK becomes slashed once it's perceived by the game to be a used weapon.

That's what I once did just to "save" Sefapane and the rail track (both times explosions would have ruined a structure that I wanted to keep).

I've become so used to cutting off road through the patch of desert once the rail line is blocked that I hardly even notice it anymore.  An added bonus gained by becoming familiar with the off roading lay of the land through that area is that by hugging the Northern edge of that area of the map you can completely slip past the notice of the DDP and the mercs at the GP between you and the gun shop further to the East.   :-X

[Art Blade]

I too use the non-degrading weapons cheat but I haven't had my own weapons degrading after dropping and picking them up again like fragger did.

Maybe it has to do with the difficulty level? I'm on easy and only the used merc weapons degrade on me despite the cheat.

[Art Blade]

Another discovery, peeps.. I managed to literally "bypass" the prison. As you can see, there are still a lot of missions available, yet I'm already on the other side towards the Heart of Darkness. To do that, all you'll need is patience and walk around the prison to the right of the entrance. Takes some climbing and patience to actually get it done, but hell yes, it is doable  >:D

[smg id=3429 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 bypass prison 001"]
[smg id=3430 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 bypass prison 002"]

[Art Blade]

I tried to get back but that I couldn't do. Pity.. would have been cool to get back to town after the Jackal had sent you to the jungle :)

The heart of darkness bit is just the same as it was after killing the Jackal prematurely. A few mercs, no extra missions.

So I reloaded a save game and did some more stuff like blowing up a truck with a hand grenade to stop mercs from chasing me. Amazing what a single pineapple can do  :-D

[smg id=3431 type=link align=center width=500 caption="FC2 revived 029"]

[mandru]

Getting around the prison is an interesting feat Art and worthy of a slap on the back!   :-X

I know that a visit to the prison before the appointed time with the Jackal is populated with mercs including one merc that sits in a nest high up on the wall above the prison floor that cost me several grenades to clear out because I couldn't get a good line up to shoot him.

By any chance as you were working your way around the prison did you gain enough elevation to be level with the top of the prison walls or maybe higher?  I want to drop back by and shoot that merc in the crows nest from a position that he can see the determined whites of my eyes.   >:D

I'm going to have to go investigate this discovery because I'm thinking if that trick of going around the wall to the right and climbing could actually let us mount the top of the prison wall it would be very cool.   :-D

[Art Blade]

Thank you, mandru  :)

Unfortunately you won't look down at the top of the walls. I too tossed hand grenades up to take out the gunners with luck, sometimes they may peek over the top so you can snipe their heads off.

Getting around the prison is possible with a "new" way of climbing.

So far, we all have always thought about "what you see is what you get" but I thought about those damned invisible walls keeping us from climbing those visible rocks. Then it occurred to me that if you scratch "invisible" there are still walls.. walls that you may climb if you "feel" your way around. Keep walking (not running) forward and watch yourself as you hit an invisible barrier, listen to the sound your virtual feet make. Eventually you'll notice a glitch, you seem to have hit a crack, wedged yourself, got slightly stuck.. that's when you may find ways previously hidden. Then you may try jumping, running, whatever it takes to get up. That's how I got onto a couple of rocks we never thought possible and that's how you indeed eventually get around the prison. Take your time, it's not simple.

I thought about that climbing style when I found my way into the end zone a few post prior to the getting around the prison, which was just some sort of "proof of concept." :)

[PZ]

Nice w@&k gentlemen - I was almost through with FC2 again for a while, but now I want to go in and experiment a bit more  :-()

[Art Blade]

Same.. when Binnatics started as a complete newbie to the game, I just had to give it another go. And look what we got :-()

[PZ]

... look what we got :-()

^+-+

[Art Blade]

I was thinking about you when I used that line  :-D

[PZ]

I suspected that you did that deliberately, remembering that it is my favorite line in the game!  ;)

The only bad thing is that I only hear it when my reputation is low, and even then, not nearly enough  :-()

[fragger]

The no-frills playthrough continues in Bowa-Seko...

After bumping off Gakumba at the troop rally, I visited the SW weapon shop to equip myself with some decent firearms before heading for the southern district. So, armed with my trusty Makarov, the crossbow and the AK-47 from the sandstorm shack (having used up three of the four gold ones in Leboa and wanting to save the fourth one until I really needed it), the first thing I did was acquire the first of the Bowa Goldies (the one near the hang-glider in the north, south-east of the Dogon village). Then it was diamond-hunt time. This took quite a bit longer in Bowa than it did in Leboa as they're generally more difficult to get at, a good number of them being in heavily-guarded locations. This actually took about ten hours all up. I also discovered that the safehouses in Bowa come equipped with ATs – no need to do any buddies' side missions to make them appear.

During the diamond hunt I came to be at the Marina. Here's what the lagoon looks like with no barge, or wreckage thereof, in it:

[smg id=3485 align=center width=400]

Eventually I parleyed with Greaves at Sefapane, leading to the barge mission, which ended up being a do-over as I got creamed by .50-cal and mortar fire first time around. I would have made it if I hadn't been frozen in place trying to cauterise an arm wound with a handful of lit matches while I could hear the fatal mortar round whistling in and couldn't immediately take cover from it. Talk about lousy timing...

With that mission done and after saving Barge Skipper Nasreen's bacon at the Marina, I went back to Port Selao to begin working for the factions. I went to the APR first and did all three of their missions in a row. As in Leboa, after the first two I couldn't proceed without springing a buddy. Completing main missions in Bowa without doing the buddies' secondaries tends to be tougher than doing the same thing in Leboa as there are still well-populated targets to deal with. Generally.

The first one was to blow up the nitrous truck at the Dental Clinic. I went in under cover of darkness along the path from the Underground house south of the Clinic and managed to avoid being spotted by the sniper in the tower. A grenade chucked under the truck completed the mish as I hightailed it out of there the same way I came in. The mercs were none the wiser as to who bent their truck. This meant that the garage in Sefapane stayed intact.

Next was the radio transmitter job near Weelegol Village. This was tough without any sniping weapons bar the crossbow, for which only five bolts can be carried (playing on Normal). But I'd earlier nicked the GLAT from that same region and approached from cross-country, east of the main road in:

[smg id=3486 align=center width=400]

This gave quite a good high view of the village, with rock outcrops protecting my flanks. This helped to clean the place out a bit but an exciting running firefight through the village ensued, which almost got too exciting when a merc jumped onto the mounted grenade launcher intent on transforming me into stew. He only got a few shots off though before I propane-tanked him into the hereafter. Once the village was merc-free and happily ablaze, my way to the objective was clear, and this time there was no DJ in the shack for me to hassle.

Then came the afore-mentioned buddy-springing, followed by the Pipeline mission. I went in from the west, popping the sniper in the back of the head and using the mounted GL to thin out the crowd before hang-gliding over and completing the job. No flooding this time of course, so the nearby ravine and presumably the mine stayed bone-dry (haven't had any reason to go back there yet, but I will when it comes time to do Voorhees).

Next it was time to tackle the three UFLL missions – blow up the kilns at the Dogon Village, bump off Seth Uniya at the Polytechnic (of course making use of the newly-discovered high ground) and to permanently close Yabek's potty-mouth on his barge. This last I have never done before without dropping the bridge on his inflated head, so I tried the following:

First, to see if it was possible to get a vehicle onto the bridge, and if so, how far across it could be gotten. The results were: Yes it is, and almost all the way. There are piles of rails and sleepers at the other end, the first couple of which can be driven around but not the last lot. This is where I ended up:

[smg id=3487 align=center width=400]
[smg id=3488 align=center width=400]

Facing a railroad to nowhere:

[smg id=3489 align=center width=400]

From that end of the bridge I made my way down the switchback path, where I found this handy rock ledge on which to perch and snuff out a few mercs with the crossbow:

[smg id=3490 align=center width=400]

A bit further down the path I drilled the rocket guy with a single pistol headshot, pinched his RPG launcher, aimed at the open door to the barge's wheelhouse and let one fly, just in case there was a merc hiding in there:

[smg id=3491 align=center width=400]

To my surprise, this silenced Yabek who was in the cabin below. Apparently the blast shock from the RPG exploding in the wheelhouse was enough to plug him right through the wall and floor. Then I simply returned the way I'd gone in – never even had to set foot on the barge.

After all that, I carjacked a GLAT and went back north to do the comm tower missions there (picking up the last Leboa Goldie in the process), then came south and did them there too before taking on the case-full-of-diamonds mission. I'd had to reload after I'd discovered that once this mission is accepted, the uncompleted comm tower missions disappear, which in my case meant all of them. Since the point of the exercise here is to collect all diamonds before the endgame, I had to reload and do the Yabek mission a second time. No prob, though – I did it the same way again.

One interesting thing happened while I was back in Leboa. I drew the comm tower mission to whack the suit at Schwasana. I parked the GLAT at the hairpin bend on the road leading in, continued on foot, completed the mission and made my way back to the GLAT, where I did a save whilst standing next to it and quit the game for the night. Next day when I reloaded the game, I was in the same place but the GLAT was gone. Annoyingly, I had to do the rest of the hit missions GLATless, but do them I did. The one at the Airstrip was easy – I shot the bugger while he was asleep on the floor of the hanger. Then back to Bowa for the other comm missions, followed by the diamond case one.

Once that dirty Jackal had pinched my diamond case, stomped my face and framed me, and once I'd subsequently escaped from the prison, ALL weapons became unlocked. Since I haven't done any convoy missions at all so far, I no longer have to do any of them – all weapons are now available for purchase if I want. But I still don't want to yet. I lost my Goldie when I got busted, so the first order of business was to get a shiny new one - the one near the cliff north of Rail Xing. I'm now on my seventh one, and there's still one more near the Swamp during the endgame, so it appears that it is possible to make them last throughout the entire game.

As mentioned earlier, I'm playing this on Normal difficulty. The next challenge may be to try this on Infamous and not resort to using the Fortune crossbow, so the only available special weapons will be the occasional one-offs from safehouses and cruddy pre-owned merc ones – now that would make for a tough 'thru, especially with the greatly reduced ammo/syrette capacity and hurt tolerance.

I still have the missions to bump off Voorhees and Greaves and/or their lieutenants to go, and to rescue Reuben and the refos from the Airfield. Then it'll be on to the Prison to meet the fancy-shirted one and play the endgame. The LZ should be interesting...

[Art Blade]

Whoa. Nice read :)

Interesting to see you drove onto that bridge in an AT, nice one  :-() :-X

I have no idea why you lost your ride after saving the game. Strange  ????

When all weapons became unlocked, that explains the message we all know, "new weapons available" -- usually it doesn't make sense because we usually already had them unlocked, but in your case it makes perfect sense :)

Keep going, matey  :-()

[PZ]

One of the best reads I've yet encountered, fragger - excellent job.  Now I want to go back into FC2 following the method you have established (minus the complete diamond collection that is  :-() )

[Art Blade]

 :-()

[JRD]

Indeed a very nice read...  :-X

That's a nice way to play the game... one can tell we are milking all we can from this game when you start to put challenges to your playthrough that would not be otherwise put by the game itself  ;D

[mandru]

Way cool fragger.  Setting limitations like that is an interesting approach to raising the bar on game difficulty and exposing aspects of the game I've not encountered before.

Cheers!  :-))