Gun jamming, guardposts may return

[mandru]

 ????

That brings up a pretty good question PZ.

What side of the road do they drive on in Africa?

Maybe that's  why they are always so mad at us when we're driving around.   :o

[Art Blade]

PZ, nice :-()

[fragger]

PZ: ^+-+

mandru: I'm assuming they drive on the right in Africa, since all the vehicles in the game are left-hand drives, but maybe that's force of habit on the part of the American devs (they are American, aren't they?) But considering the attention to detail that was paid to so many other aspects of the game, I think it's a safe assumption.

I was watching Blood Diamond a couple of weeks ago, if I'd thought of it I would've taken notice.

One can always Google, I suppose...

[fragger]

Actually I just Googled it, and it appears that different places in Africa drive on different sides of the road. I didn't look up everywhere in Africa, but for instance in South Africa, Kenya and Botswana they drive on the left, in Sierra Leone where Blood Diamond is set they drive on the right, as they also do in Mali and Burkina Faso, the regions I believe the game is set in, or at least modeled on.

This is a handy little site I found if anyone's curious about who drives where in the world:

http://whatsideoftheroad.com/

[Art Blade]

Some of the visually impaired elderly drivers prefer to stick to the nice stripes in the middle  of the road. :-()

the American devs (they are American, aren't they?)

American  devs are most certainly American  :-D

FC2 is by Ubisoft Montreal. And the Canadians still do respect the authorities.  :-()

[mmosu]

American  devs are most certainly American  :-D

^+-+

I have a similar technique I like to use when about to go head-on with an AT.  I like to jump into the gunner seat at the last second and lay on the trigger as the bobble-heads come barreling down on me.  If I time it right, what ultimately hits my AT is a smoking, unoccupied heap, and I simply jump back in the drivers spot and continue on my way.

It is nice when you live in a world where every automotive problem can be solved by tightening a radiator hose  ;D

[JRD]

It is nice when you live in a world where every automotive problem can be solved by tightening a radiator hose  ;D

Indeed... and I read people complaining it`s not realistic to have an engine fixed with a single tightening.... what do they expect? An engine-fixing simulator built in FC2?  :D

[mmosu]

Even if it's a little light on detail, the car fixing mechanic still contributes to the overall emersion of the game, as does the malaria, gun jams, healing/medicating/self-surgery, "sleeping", and the fact that the view never, not even once, cuts away from first-person.  The only thing they didn't make us do was catch and eat food, which I wouldn't have minded either as long as it didn't become an intrusion on the rest of the experience.  Fixing isn't meant to be realistic, it's meant to increase the feeling of an imperfect, chaotic world and an overall "lone-wolf" feel where the player knows they have to rely on their wits for everything.

[PZ]

Even if it's a little light on detail, the car fixing mechanic still contributes to the overall emersion of the game, as does the malaria, gun jams, healing/medicating/self-surgery, "sleeping", and the fact that the view never, not even once, cuts away from first-person.  The only thing they didn't make us do was catch and eat food, which I wouldn't have minded either as long as it didn't become an intrusion on the rest of the experience.  Fixing isn't meant to be realistic, it's meant to increase the feeling of an imperfect, chaotic world and an overall "lone-wolf" feel where the player knows they have to rely on their wits for everything.

I have to agree - there are many gamers that have complained about these features, but I found car repair, malaria, etc. to add to the thrill of the game.  I can't count how many times I was repairing my vehicle when I heard the vroom - vroom of a merc vehicle.  Talk about adrenalin.

[mmosu]

Talk about adrenalin.

Yeah, you dive into the weeds just in time to miss the AT that slammed into yours right where you were just standing.  You hide in the brush while bullets whiz by and pop up just long enough to toss a grenade back into the drivers seat of the merc AT, which sends everyone else scattering into the brush for cover.  The ensuing firefight shreds the surrounding jungle and ends with two burned-out ATs a few dead mercs, and you having to pull a bullet out of you leg, cauterize it, and then stick a needle in your arm so that you can muster up enough energy to stand back up and start hoofing your half-dead hide back to the nearest safehouse, all the while knowing in the back of your head that to get there, you're going to have to sneak past an especially well equiped guardpost and, oh, ps, you're due for a malaria attack any minute now and you're out of pills . . .

FC2 haters don't have any ground to stand on when it comes to emersion . . . crybabies  >:((





:-D

[PZ]

Excellent description - I've been there many times  :-()

[JRD]

You got me breathless just by reading...  ???

Hell yeah... that`s what we are waiting!  >:D :-X

[fragger]

Very few games have given me adrenaline hits the way FC2 does. Occasionally some have, but not so many hits per session, and every time I play.

Great description of events there mmosu, I'm sure we can all relate to that ;D :-X

I thought the engine-fixing thing was a fantastic innovation when I first realised it was something you could do in-game and not just a one-off tutorial activity. I don't know what the whingers are on about. FC2 is an action game, it's not SimMechanic.

[Art Blade]

entertaining read, guys  ;D :-X

[mmosu]

...SimMechanic... :-() :-X
You could definitely cross a line when it comes how involved you let the fixing be.  For example, I don't think having to change a flat tire would be that big of a deal, but if you had to manually go around the wheel and tighten all of the individual lug nuts, well now an interesting diversion has turned into w%&k.  It might still be cool the first couple of times you have to do it, but imagine it happening again... and again... and again - ughh, no thanks  :D

[JRD]

Before OFP2 came out I was reading some forums about the game and what to expect. They had a slogan going "how real you want it to be?". At one point someone, maybe an official guy at the Codemasters forums, said that the level of realism was going to be so big that to enter a tank you would have to click a button and watch a scene of a soldier climbing the tank, opening the hatch, sliding in and shutting the hatch close from inside the tank, only then you would be in control of the tank. It should take 15 seconds, during which time the player wouldn`t be able to do anything... just wait until the game allows him to take control again  :D

Needless to say that the ensuing discussion went downhill with some people saying that keeping players waiting like that was just stupid and truly a mood breaker. But the part that really scared me was some hardcore fanatics applauding the idea and uttering that a simulator should be like that, that war isn`t funny and a true sim should stress the players just like war does in real life.  ???

Some people forget that a game IS meant to entertain you. If you can bring more immersion by adding things like fixing broken engines or being sick, as in FC2, or getting fat, changing clothes, working out to get the attention of girls, have friends and hang out at bars and restaurants like GTA does, then bring it on  >:D ... but a good dose of common sense is absolutely necessary so you don`t turn a game into a chore!

[Art Blade]

good points :-X

[mmosu]

Some people forget that a game IS meant to entertain you

Amen brother!
One of my favorite games on the PS1 is MegaMan Legends 2 (in fact, I'm currently re-playing it in between sessions of RDR).  It's a little cutesy and "anime" looking, but it actually has a story, which was asking a lot back in those days, and a decent one to boot.  The game is fun and progress is smooth throughout almost the whole experience, except for the final boss.  There is this weird difficulty spike at the final battle, and being victorious means you're going to have to do some grinding in order to level up enough to beat this last boss.  Since the story will be essentially over by the time you realize you need to do this, you'll be reduced to beating up on lower level baddies for hours in order to pump the blue-bomber up enough to win the last fight.  This ends up being a lot of w@&k at the end of a game that is extremely entertaining up until that point, and it downright sucks  >:((  It's not enough to taint the entire experience, at least not for me, but planning out that last boss fight a little better could have avoided the whole thing.  Don't get me wrong, the last boss and the ending are friggin' sweet, but getting to see it is exasperating!  Just another example of how a game can become w@&k, even if just for a brief part  :D

[Art Blade]

I have to quote Fiach for that. He once said,

man that sucks more than a scuba diver with hiccups

:-D

[JRD]

 ^+-+ :-X

[mmosu]

Nice  ^+-+