First impressions

[Art Blade]

I fully concur.  :-()

[mandru]

Mrs mandru is all "Let's get it for you, you've not had a new game in a year."  But I'm just not seeing a way to stay within my internet provider's download limits with all the massive patches.  As to buying and downloading complete from Steam I can't even fathom buying it there.  ???

I need to contact my provider and ask how they are dealing with other users that need to make over sized downloads to see if it's even possible.

I see D_B making the update downloads off his employer's bandwidth which is not an option available to me (as I lack the tech skill and an employer to make it happen  ) and that even fragger with his less than optimal internet provider woes has managed to get loaded up and into the game.

So there must be some kind of w@&k around.

[Art Blade]

I think fragger's internet provider isn't the same anymore as the one that you think of. Just his contract is crap. :-D

[mandru]

From his own comments I know that his access is severely limited any time there's a number of tourists in town.

The last influx he mentioned (Christmas through New Years) would have hit pretty close to when he was trying to get FC4 up and running.  :-\\

[PZ]

I'd definitely get the physical media mandru.  I did for the console, and the update was less than a gb (about 661 mb actually) - even with my wireless provider, it did not take all that long.  This is way better than trying to download the entire game from Steam.  However, I do not know if the update size will be the same on the PC.

I'm with you on the immersion in FC2 fragger - I still relive the excitement as the game was loading with the distinctive African-style music.  I really like the lone warrior feeling in the game, appreciated the lack of animals attacking you, and in general, dealing with much more realistic opponents.

FC4 is an enjoyable game, but there are issues other than the main missions for me.  For instance, when a merc fully senses your presence, there is (for me) an annoying tone that sounds.  There is already the "in-your-face" directional graphic - why do you need  the additional sound effects?  I guess they think that gamers are the dumbest people on the planet - we need double sensory impact just to notice it.

[fragger]

@mandru, I have a much better ISP nowadays and regularly get over 2Mbps download speed (as opposed to the crummy average 35Kbps via my old ISP) but to save money I opted for a 10GB per month allowance. I do very little downloading ordinarily, no music or movies or anything, so normally 10GB per month is more than enough for me. There was indeed a distinct drop in performance over Xmas/NYE period with the influx of tourists, but even then the access speed was still way faster than it was with my old ISP. The year before, there were times when I couldn't even get online ???

If only Uplay would let you pause/resume downloads, like Steam does. Then you could download the updates a bit at a time and not have to max out your allowance in one big hit. But they don't. Of course they don't. They're Uplay ::)

@PZ, You can turn off the detection indicator in Settings>Interface. I haven't yet tried it so I don't know if turning it off removes the sound effect as well. Without going into the game to check, I'm assuming it would. You can also turn off the hit indicator. There is quite a range of HUD options that can be toggled on/off, it's worth having a look to see if you can tailor the interface to your personal likings :)

[fragger]

I have to say that the more I explore Kyrat, the more impressed I am with the trouble the designers took to create the environment. I just keep coming across great-looking stuff and some cool hidden places to poke around in :-X There are lots of picturesque, nicely-detailed little gems tucked away in the landscape.

I've noticed too that the choices you make regarding taking on Amita's or Sabal's missions does have an effect. The first time around I alternated between the two, and when it came time to do the mission to capture Paul in the City of Pain my initial objective was different to what it was this time, while I've been going with Amita exclusively (so to speak ;D). I guess it does make for some variety, even though as a rule I'm still not crazy about the main missions. Some seem to be made more difficult depending on which of those two protagonists you side with, and some are made a bit easier. I breezed through some and struggled through others - for instance, I found the opium fields mission to be somewhat easier when batting for Sabal's side than I did for Amita's.

[PZ]

I too find the landscape exceptional for such an open world game.  It feels like a "real" world with the variety of objects in many instances.  Sure, there are repeat objects as in any game, but the variety of nooks and crannys seem to be endless.

I've started the game with the Sabal missions, and have only done the one where you defend the three temples.  Still having lots of fun liberating outposts and doing side missions.

[Art Blade]

I went all the way exclusively with Amita.

[TheStranger]

Just one small offtopic question:

Is there a way to change the style back to the old one in the forums?

[nexor]

I've just re-set the outposts and changed the difficulty level to hard, man, some of these outposts are hectic  :-D

[fragger]

 :-X :-D

[PZ]

Just one small offtopic question:

Is there a way to change the style back to the old one in the forums?

Easy - go to the theme changer in the bottom of the right column and choose OWG retro

[Binnatics]

... and if you don't find the right column, hover your mouse over the rightmost part of the screen, just aside the vertical scrolling bar, and press the appearing bar stating "Show the tight Panel". :)

[TheStranger]

Ah there it is. Thank you. I looked in the account settings and literally everywhere but didn't find it.

[Binnatics]

Ah there it is. Thank you. I looked in the account settings and literally everywhere but didn't find it.

Happened to me too a couple of times :-D

[PZ]

Glad you got it sorted, and thanks Binn, for pointing out the right column bar that toggles the display of the right column. I forgot about that, which is also true of the top bar that makes the graphics toggle  ^-^

[Art Blade]

body system message: "age in progress ... next stage reached ... memory bank failure ... cannot retrieve data."

:-D

[mandru]

body system message: "age in progress ... next stage reached ... memory bank failure ... cannot retrieve data."

:-D

  +1

Anything that gives me that good of a laugh deserves a slap on the back.

[PZ]

body system message: "age in progress ... next stage reached ... memory bank failure ... cannot retrieve data."

So that's my problem...  ????

[Binnatics]

 

[fragger]

 

[Art Blade]

thank you mandru.  :)

[fragger]

Finished playthrough number 2. This time when I confronted Min in his palace, I held off on shooting him. After a short while my pistol lowered and I sat down at the table with him instead. He had a bit of a monologue, then we went out to the shrine together to scatter the ashes.

After I'd done that, Min left in his chopper, but before he got too far away I hit it with an explosive arrow. I saw his body fall out, got the "King is dead" message and it went to the credits, which I skipped.

Going back into the game there was one last cut scene with Reggie and Yogi, then I was free to roam. I made my way back to Min's palace to see if I could find his body. As I understand it, if you kill Min his body remains and you can loot it. The first time I played, when I confronted him in his palace and the pistol came up I shot him, and later when I went back he was still lying on the floor next to the table. This time though I couldn't find him. He fell out of the chopper just beyond the wall next to the shrine, and I looked all over for him but couldn't find him.

Maybe he imbedded into a rock or something. Rock-solid mercs occur in this game too - earlier, I did a "kill the lieutenant" Karma mission, but when I shot the guy he disappeared into a rock with only one hand showing and I couldn't loot him.

Not to worry. Free-roam time - yay! I still have heaps of outposts and side missions to do :-X

[Art Blade]

nice  :)