Far Cry 3 details.

[Binnatics]

I've read a Dutch article about a preview of FR3. Must say I'm worried. I predict a 'Better CoD'. I mean truly better. Supergreat playthrough and a fantastic MP setting. But definitely no FC2.1. That Island and the gameplay on it will be revolutionary in many ways and will give us much joy, but it won't be like the desolate Africa with endless free roaming joy. I'll post a link, for anyone interested and willing to translate parts of it.  ;)

http://tweakers.net/reviews/2485/preview-far-cry-3.html

[Art Blade]

we will still have our FC2  :-D

[TheStranger]

Haha: If everything else fails...play FC2  :-()

[Binnatics]

Well, it doesn't mean I'm NOT running wild for the game, I liked playing CoD Black ops a lot. And what frustrated me there (too linear) will NOT be present in FC3.
Something that also caught my attention in the article, and might be in favour of the contrary, is that there is "...a world living its life on its own, even is Brody isn't there" so to speak. What they mean is that you can run into places who normally looked like small, tranquile villages, that suddenly get overwhelmed with the psycho-squad, and all the village people are being executed. Then they mention that "...as a tourist, it might not be cleaver for Brody to mess with these guys and it seems that these happenings are just for graphics show off, but what if we had the guts and get involved in situations like these :o ::) >:D >:D >:D?"

[PZ]

Once the publishers complete a game, it would seem that it would be relatively easy to create new scenarios.  I wonder why there are so few mission packs created for games.  I'd certainly purchase all they would offer for FC2 and the AC series.

[ninzza]

@Binn: Dont worry, mate. From what I've see and read so far about FC3, It's still a free-roam, open world FPS just like its predecessor, except it's 10 times bigger in size and variety.

GR-UK: Far Cry 3 interview

GR-UK got to ask game director Patrick Methe a few questions about the upcoming Far Cry 3 in an interview.

While that latest trailer is still sizzling our senses, it leaves plenty of unanswered questions: Gamereactor's Kristian fired a barrage of questions to game director Patrik Methe to unearth some solid facts about Far Cry 3.

Can you point out some examples on things you weren't satisfied with from Far Cry 2, and how you'll improve those aspects in Far Cry 3?

Far Cry 2 was a great game, and we tried to keep all the best elements of it while improving on a few key areas. We focused on improving the mission variety, the impact of the player's action on the world, the different types of enemy units you'll be facing, and the variety of things you can do in the open world.

For mission variety, we go from all-out action missions to more tactical missions where you need to protect someone or accomplish a specific task. We even have out-of-this-world exotic missions that will totally surprise you. For the enemy units, you'll be facing a large variety of enemies, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In order to be successful, you'll have to adapt your approach and choice of tactics based on the enemies you're facing.


How will you mix open world gameplay with a more linear mission-based experience?

One word: value. Exploring the island is fun in itself but we made sure that each thing you do or discover while roaming in the open world brings real value to the player.
When we talk about value, we talk about making the player stronger, faster and more efficient. As Jason spends more time on the island, he learns how to survive and adapt to the environment. New skills are learned to help him fight his way through captors and rescue his friends. The player is free to stick solely to the single player campaign if they want to and they'll have a fantastic adventure.
However, they'll most likely enjoy roaming around on the island to discover ancient mysteries, to face deadly situations, to help natives in trouble, to hunt a wide array of animals, and to gather exotic plants because each and every one of these actions will reward him in one way or another.

In a shooter like this, AI is crucial. Will the AI show us something we've never seen before - something new?

One of the things that set the Far Cry franchise apart from other shooters on the market is that we're an open-world game. From the very beginning of the project, one of the key elements for the team was to come up with a AAA shooter experience set in an island begging to be explored.

This means our goal is to create AI as polished as the ones you see in popular linear shooters while ensuring that the enemies can tackle all the different situations you encounter in an open-world game, and this, in a systemic way.
The AI isn't scripted and thus it will react and adapt tactics based on the knowledge it has in a given situation. They can use vehicles, react to diversion, trigger alarms, disarm bombs you placed, search for you, protect an area, retreat to defensive positions, fight against other NPCs, fight against aggressive animals, etc.


Will there be a hardcore-mode - were you only have one life and the save game file is erased if you die?

Are you talking about the Insane mode?

What kind of weapons and vehicles will be in the game, and will there be customizable weapons like in Crysis? Silencer on, silencer off, silencer on, silencer off...

We have a strong suite of weapons, each of them customizable with different attachments. One of our key focuses is to make sure that each weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages so that you play with your full arsenal. Also, we want the player to use different weapons for different situations. There are even some "exotic" weapons that will be a blast for the player as they allow you to do some nasty things to your opponents. I can't tell much more but stay tuned...

At this point, what is the one thing about Far Cry 3 you're most satisfied with?

To be honest, there's not one specific thing I'm most satisfied with. The real satisfaction comes from seeing this enormous amount of features coming together to build a never-before-seen experience. A gorgeous island with multiple environments, a deep and rich campaign, an insane cast of characters, the freedom to roam in the open world to discover dozens of things to do, vehicles to drive, animals to hunt, treasures to find, the satisfaction of becoming stronger, faster and deadlier as you progress in the game, all of this with the AAA shooter feeling you normally only see in linear shooters. That's a huge undertaking and that's what FC3 is all about.

[PZ]

What a great interview!   :-X

I'm now curious as to what the "exotic" weapons will be.  ????

[JRD]

A gorgeous island with multiple environments, a deep and rich campaign, an insane cast of characters, the freedom to roam in the open world to discover dozens of things to do, vehicles to drive, animals to hunt, treasures to find, the satisfaction of becoming stronger, faster and deadlier as you progress in the game, all of this with the AAA shooter feeling you normally only see in linear shooters.

I read it as "explore the island and you shall be rewarded"  ;D

It seems clear to me that your side quests will get you more than just diamonds to buy more weapons. Jason will probably "learn" new skills to use. I remember a discussion about the (defunct) Warhound; the idea would be to have your character learning things like rock climbing or bomb assembling before taking some missions. If you have to reach a higher spot to snipe a target or blow up something you need to know how to do it.  8)

It would be nice to "learn" things like rock climbing, bomb assembling... and also scuba diving, hang gliding...    :-X

[Art Blade]

JRD..

It would be nice to "learn" things like ... scuba diving

.. I have a very decent coach for you. Here, see pic..

[smg id=3222 type=link align=center width=500]

[PZ]

Scuba-Moo, my old friend!

[Art Blade]

 :-D

[JRD]

   :-X

[Binnatics]

Damn Ninzza, great post of that interview. Imo worth a thick fat kodu :-X
It kind of gives answers to all the things concerning my doubts. And in a positive way I guess.  :-X ^-^

In fact, this begins to sound like a GTA jungle with CoD cream on top ;) Oh, forgive me, it's beginning to sound like FC3, as in; the legendary FC3 :-()

[TheStranger]

Great interview! Sounds really promising.

[ninzza]

Another very good interview with Producer Dan Hay.
- The fire come back! Yes!  :-X
- After clearing out an area, the AI dont respawn when you come back.
- No gun jamming.
- No malaria

http://gamerant.com/far-cry-3-dan-hay-interview-robk-134445/

[PZ]

Excellent interview  :-X

For me the re-spawn in FC2 was a bit too fast (should have been at least one in-game day), but I did like the fact that enemy would eventually reappear.  The only problem with doing away with re-spawn is that you eventually end up with a dead world.

Ideally there would be a menu choice to control the re-spawn rate, from very fast to not at all to give the gamer the choice.

[ninzza]

I agree with you that if the AI don't re-spawn then the world would become empty.

[mandru]

Cool find ninzza.  :-X

[fragger]

Thanks ninzza :)

It's hard to be sure at this stage when we don't know a lot about how the game will w@&k, but no respawning does sound like a bit of a bad move for an open-world game :-\\ We'll see, I guess.

[TheStranger]

Hmm I don't like that they cut the weapon jamming because it was really a cool factor added to the firefights in FC2 and the animations were just great. But then maybe it doesn't fit into the FC3 scenario, because it was perfect in that "dirty - Africa - scenario" from part 2.

[Binnatics]

I liked the malaria attacks as well, in a way. When you do your 3rd or so playthrough I can imagine it getting irritating, but the effects were great. There'll be something else to replace it  I guess, maybe trippy flashbacks after a visit to this special cave ;)

[mandru]

The detail of your character's tattoos filling in to mark your progress through the game is an exciting concept.

In the interview the idea was tossed out that as you play you are going to go through a metamorphosis.  Hitting those moments of "turning" forcing you to change away from your basic nature and the thought is injected "will the friends you are trying to save even recognize you".  It's completely possible with enough of a personality rework through trial by fire and our character having passed through enough of those turning points that when we are able to rescue our remaining friends we may find that we can't because it would be in conflict of whatever new values and goals we have been forced adopted in order to survive as the character we are playing.

Even if it doesn't go that direction I suspect we are in for some substantial gut-wrenching moments through our character's self realizations.

[JRD]

I too like both malaria attacks and gun jamming. It adds some unpredictability to the game which fits with the improvisational nature of FC2. But I also think there could be an option in the menu to control that as well as the respawn rate, as PZ suggested.

Another thing I read on the interview is the guy saying "checkpoint system" which I'm not really a fan.  ????

[ninzza]

Far Cry 3: Interview With Robert Purdy

Feb 24, 2012 by Rob Keyes

At Ubisoft Montreal, we chat with 'Far Cry 3′ Animation Director Robert Darryl Purdy about the game's characters and respective actors. It's not easy crafting insanity.




A few weeks ago, Game Rant visited Ubisoft Montreal to preview the single-player offerings of Far Cry 3. At the event we had the opportunity to interview some of the creative leads behind the game's development, including Animation Director Robert Darryl Purdy.
In our chat, we discuss the crazy cast of characters that define the Far Cry 3 experience, their origins, and how Ubisoft took an actor centric approach to crafting the people protagonist Jason Brody (pictured up top) meets in his quest to survive the island.

What makes the characters of Far Cry 3 unique?

"With all the characters we try to give them unique personalities, so everybody you meet will not be cookie cutter. They'll all have their own backstory, their own vices. So players will have a unique experience with each one."

Outside of Vaas, Dr. Earnhardt and Brody, what can players expect from the game's other key characters?

"Each one, whether it be someone who helps you along the way or who tries to hinder you, you'll have a fairly in-depth experience with each main character."

How many "insane" characters will we meet in Far Cry 3?

"It's got a fairly well-rounded cast that we've paid focus to. Obviously there's the primary cast which I'm not sure of exact numbers, but it's fairly high, it's in the double-digits, and then we have the supporting cast... We have quite a few people for you to interact with."

Jason's on this island for a long time, "a few weeks to a few months" according to Purdy, and of course this experience is what will change him along the way. For more on Brody's progression and transformation, check out our Far Cry 3 interview with Producer Dan Hay.

Do we get to see the character's past?

"For the most part, the game is in real-time. You meet them and your experience follows Jason's time on the island while he's trying to get his friends back."

Purdy continues, explaining why the theme of "insanity" worked for the story of Jason Brody, a young man in his twenties who has finished school and is exploring the world. They needed a "catalyst" to launch the story around the idea of Jason being an ordinary guy, but how they came about the focus on characters who are incredibly eccentric, yet believable and gripping, was not intentional from the beginning and was evolved out of casting.

"When we started casting, for let's say Vaas. We started casting actually for a different character and we saw Michael [Mando], we saw his audition reel and it blew us away, but it was not the character we were casting for. So we said, 'ah, this was interesting,' so we got him in and we said 'look, we really like your performance, we're going to create a character for you.'"

Once they started shooting, they kept re-doing and re-doing the scenes until they got something perfect. Out of that came the demo video showcased during the Ubisoft press conference at E3 2011, a monologue about insanity.

"Once we got this first performance from Michael that we nailed down, which you saw at E3, we kind of knew we were on to something. We hadn't seen anything like this before... So, then characters became a bigger focus. We thought this was really interesting, you know, I just watched a two-minute monologue with this guy, right, and I was riveted. So then we started to think, how can we push characters and how can we push performances... we thought how far could we go before people thought 'oh, this isn't believable'?"

They then began researching war-torn areas of the world, infamous warlords, even the sorts of cases Vice works on. They even brought vice into the studio and they felt they had met the types of characters in real life who were crafted for Far Cry 3.

"Not only are you going to have an amazing shooter experience, but when the gun goes down, you can still really have an amazing, wacky experience just with the people you meet."


What's the story behind Vaas and what are his goals?

"Vaas is basically the very dark side of an alpha male. He's on this island that has no laws, no rules, no police, and he's power hungry. He'll do whatever it takes to control people."

There are warlords vying for power, but the game's characters are not broken down into factions where players pick one side or the other a la Skyrim. The island is absolutely in turmoil and its residents are in conflict, whether it be the natives trying to survive, Vaas (pictured just above) doing his thing, natives doing their own thing, and other characters with their own agendas.

Where were characters like Vaas inspired from?

"I'd like to say 'yeah' but not really. I told you how Vaas came with Michael [Mando] and we really invested in what we call this 'actor centric' model. It's not only for the actor but it's for everybody. Like when we get a scriptwriter in, obviously we want him engaged in writing a great story and we take that script and what I love is, I take it to an actor – and the doctor's a good example – we try to find the actor that can really embody the character and is not afraid to take a bit of chance and bring his own to it."

In the demo we see Jason talking over the radio to a character named Willis. Who is Willis?

"Along the way, Jason's main goal is to get his friends and get the hell off the island. Willis is one of the people you can meet who has... means to get information on his friends and right now is helping Jason. That's pretty much as far as I'd like to go because I don't want to go too far into the story."

Jason has zero background experience, but like your or I, he's seen his fair share of action movies and played action video games so he knows which way to point the gun and where the ammo goes. "The further he goes the more comfortable he gets," seemingly hinting at the experience and RPG elements of the game.




Do any characters from the previous Far Cry games play into Far Cry 3?

"I would say no, but we're aware of our lineage... Like Mark [Thompson] alluded to after the demo, we're aware of where we came from so we try to build in... if you notice where we're fighting at the beginning is the Medusa and the Medusa was in Far Cry 1. So, you know, we pay sometimes homage to it, but are not necessary tied to it."

How does the progression and experience system affect the player and Jason?

"Well, basically the whole world is open to you to explore, and what I can say is that the island is going to leave a definite mark on Jason."

By mark, look towards the tattoo on Jason's arm which will be key in representing Jason's experience on the island. For more on that, again, read our interview with Producer Dan Hay.

Is Jason being set up as a franchise character?

"At this point, we haven't even put much thought of that. We're so focused on making Far Cry 3 the best experience, we haven't really entertained it. Myself, I'm kind of undecided on that. I love that Far Cry, to me, was a great way to say, at its core, here you are in this remote place away from civilization. This is a great vessel to tell new stories each time."

http://gamerant.com/far-cry-3-interview-robert-purdy-robk-135200/

[PZ]

 :-X

I love it that we keep receiving confirmation about the open world nature of the game.  This is going to be good...