Tips and Tricks

[PZ]

I'd recommend starting over on casual eor123 - I'm very happy at this difficulty level, and believe me, there are areas where you'll think that the level has automatically changed to difficult without your knowledge, so you'll never be without a challenge.  ;D  Don;t worry about the lost progress collecting things - there are plenty, and you'll see patterns emerge in the military and civilian areas, so collections will come quicker.

Besides, starting over will allow you to focus on the easier stronghold missions, which are great fun and gets you the experience to become proficient in handling the controller.  **Slight Spoiler** One hint - grab a minigun as soon as you can - you have unlimited ammo, and will need it while the technician hacks into the stronghold's system.  ;D

The nice thing as spaceboy mentioned, is that the game does keep track of all you have accomplished so when you die, your stats are preserved.

I could be mistaken, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the black market extractions are free because I've not noticed a decrease in funds.  However, I've nearly $2 million now, and may not notice a small fee.

I've noticed that I use most if not all of the buttons in combinations of 3 when I do the hijacks.  later in the game, when you disarm bombs and accomplish other feats, you use all 4 buttons in combinations as high as 8 (in my experience).  Because these are timed, being on casual is probably an advantage here as well.

[spaceboy]

Extraction costs a small fee, but it's immaterial.

The bomb defusing is actually easier I think than hijacking because it shows the whole sequence you have to follow instead of the quick time pop ups that are easy to miss or get frazzled by.

[eor123]

My brain doesn't process those quick button sequences needed for disarming bombs and such very well. I hope in the future I can memorize where they are on the controller. I still have to look at it.

And yes..the minigun's usefulness was an early discovery. 

[PZ]

One thing I noticed when clearing an area - I usually get rid of the SAMs so if an opportunity to hijack a helo arises, I won't be shot out of the sky.  However, I frequently find myself dead in the more difficult areas at least once.

On such an occasion, I returned in a helo thinking I'd be safe for a while because I'd already dispatched the SAMs on my prior visit, but was surprised to find a Carl-G govman in place of the SAM site!  These guys are nasty, because as you know, the Carl-G follows your path  :D

[eor123]

Hijacking helicopters with relative ease now.  ;D

Came across an alternate method for doing so without having to make the series of button pushes.

I'm a big fan of the revolver, especially after it gets upgraded a couple of notches. It will shoot through the helicopter windshield and kill the pilot with a couple of rounds usually. Then a simple one button push to get in.

I've tried this before with other guns without success.

[batdog]

Nice to know.  :-X  I've just been under the assumption that you HAD to hijack the helo.  I'll try with my trusty revolver tonight.

Has anyone noticed that you can't hijack the transport helos or some of the attack helos?   If you try to hijack, Rico just dangles underneath but you can't swing onto the front of the helo. The attack helos are pretty tricky as they fire missiles, so you'll need something to shoot them out of the sky.

[PZ]

Although I've not been able to hijack the transport helos, I've managed to do so with the all of the attack helos so far.  Have you tried just entering the copter rather than swinging?  Some of them only have the pilot so you cant swing up, but you can enter the bird (in my experience).

[spaceboy]

great find eor - I've tried shooting the pilot with my SMG - no luck.

I haven't tried a transport chopper, but PZ is right, with no passenger to shoot, the attack helis only need the hijacksequence (thus shooting the pilot on those may not w@&k since there is no "stunt" position in front of the chopper)

[eor123]

Panau Falls Casino Completion Issue. 

This will only matter to those of us who are obsessive about completing all settlements but there is a glitch or oddity regarding completion of the Panau Falls Casino area. I thought it was just me but found a couple of other gamers who have reported the same thing on a different platform. 

I've played through that area twice, the first time getting 100% but only able to get 88% on the second time through.

I climbed the towers several times, searched each floor, flew overhead in a helicopter, checking -- but nothing else to be found or destroyed. I completely left the area, cleared out a few settlements and performed a couple of faction missions before returning to the casino for another thorough check. 

I'm not certain about the mechanism involved but suspect it has to do with the mission being completed before all the items have been retrieved . This only seems to be an issue at the casino area so far. Some have suggested that it has something to do with when the statue is torn down. Whatever the cause, you may find yourself stuck at 88% with no possibility of reaching 100%.

So if your thing is 100% completion of all settlements, make sure you have everything before you rescue Karl Blaine and the game goes to the cut scene. If you don't and are shooting for 100%, don't proceed further thinking you can come back and get whatever you might have left.

It doesn't matter too much now but if I get to the point at which I have completed all settlements, that missing 12% is going to be a real ball buster.   

[Art Blade]

thanks for the advice, mate. I don't mind it too much if I don't have 100% everywhere as long as it is a free decision , but I do mind bugs that prevent me from completing stuff.

[PZ]

I don't know if it is unique to this area, but I've returned to other mission areas and have completed 100%.  However, I make it a habit to get to 100% before I initiate the last part of the mission whenever possible to avoid this kind of thing.  I think spaceboy mentioned another area in which this might be an issue.

[PZ]

Saved games

I started a new game even though I'm still at 40.1% completion (mercenary mode).  The reason is to see if I can create a saved game similar to ones I have for FC2 when planning additional plays through.  (In FC2, several OWG members have submitted saved games that bypass the initial parts of the game and let you start right in.)

My plan was to start a game and then get a military jet from an airport that I know quite well, then fly over each "Undiscovered settlement" to identify it before starting any missions.  Use this as the saved game from which I start playing.

Here's what I've noticed so far:

• You do not have access to the black market dealer until you complete the first two Agency missions: "Welcome to Panau" and "Casino Bust" so you have no access to fast travel.
• Once you get access to the black market dealer, the extraction function is still locked.
• After you have completed the first two Agency missions, you can go anywhere, but you have to find your own ride.
• I'm doing the stronghold missions to have bases from which to start, and I'm hoping that the extraction function will unlock soon.
• I did manage to steal a jet after doing the first stronghold mission, and have started "Discovering" the settlements, which will make fast travel so much quicker in the future.  Once I get a clean basic save, I'll be set to start whenever I want.
  

[Art Blade]

is there a way you can upload such a quick start save game for other players to use? (PC at least)

[PZ]

I believe it should be possible unless there is something coded into the saved game that is user specific.  The game files are less than 1mb and are found in the Program files (x86)/STEAM/userdata/xxxx/remote folder  :-X

I'm planning on uploading a basic file once I've completed it, unless someone beats me to it  ;)


for security reasons removed a number and replaced it with xxxx in the folder / Art

[Art Blade]

PZ check your previous post please

[Art Blade]

Apparently precision weapons are rather useless...

...until I watched someone on a PC who actually pulled off single shot kills and indeed aims accurately and saves ammo that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvdKow-i32A

Nevertheless, I watched another guy who had a shotgun (not sawn off) fully upgraded and easily discarded of a lot of enemies with that beast, too. So in the end, at least on the PC, it is a matter of personal preference, while I think any console gamer is better off with brute force and superior firepower aka "accuracy thru volume" lol

[PZ]

Thanks Art  :)

Head shots are relatively easy to accomplish, and kill with one bullet unless the target is one of the Colonels or some other resistant govman.

[Art Blade]

I see, only of all the vids I watched, that was the first one to actually show a series of single shot kills. I watched some more of that guy's vids, he's quite good and plays on hardcore... crazy :)

[PZ]

lol, I'm lucky to stay alive on casual!  ;D

[spaceboy]

I just learned not to destroy SAM's at faction strongholds - since they are now run by your allies (the factions) - they will shoot down enemy choppers - and they don't count towards 100% of a stronghold.

[eor123]

lol, I'm lucky to stay alive on casual!  ;D

The developers' notion of "casual" and mine differ somewhat.  ;D

[eor123]

I just learned not to destroy SAM's at faction strongholds - since they are now run by your allies (the factions) - they will shoot down enemy choppers - and they don't count towards 100% of a stronghold.

Well...crap.

I sure thought they were part of the percentage count. 

[Art Blade]

space, great tip  :-X

[PZ]

I just learned not to destroy SAM's at faction strongholds - since they are now run by your allies (the factions) - they will shoot down enemy choppers - and they don't count towards 100% of a stronghold.

Dang it... I just killed the SAMS at the first two faction sites  :'(

However, in my attempt to do a save with all the settlements discovered I managed to gain a little more information:

• You need to complete the first two Agency missions
• You need to complete the first two stronghold missions

I don't know exactly how the extractions become unlocked, but when I achieved 100% in the stronghold missions (the first two), the message popped up that extractions had been unlocked.  I then transported to the nearest airport and started flying.  So far, I've resisted the temptation to cause any chaos.  ;D

For those that have not flown in a plane over all of the island cluster, I'd recommend it.  The view is spectacular, and I made dozens of mental notes to visit areas on the ground.  It is amazing how diverse the map is as far as keeping from becoming monotonous.  Even though the developers have a certain set of objects to place, the map is never the same place twice so the variety excellent.

[spaceboy]

keep in mind I only read that at the eidos forums but a few people confirmed it.  I think I destroyed all the SAMs myself so I can't test it easily, but it makes sense.   I just finished the 9th stronghold, I've done 4 agency missions I think, maybe 5, and I've done 36 faction missions.  I'll finish the factions b4 completing the agency missions.