FC2 revival (yet another playthrough)

[fragger]

Thanks heaps for the nice responses, guys :)

True, it's made for a more challenging game. I'm surprised that I've made it this far without requiring a rescue buddy - well, I did cop it on the barge, but no rescue buddy is available at that point, so that's a technical "1".

I have a couple of small items to add. Since I'm not doing any buddy side missions, I've rarely had any occasion to visit the Marina this time around. Once during the diamond hunt, again to help Nasreen after the barge mission, and just once more to visit the Weapon Shop there after escaping from the Prison. There just haven't been any reasons to go there.

I did discover a footpath near the Marina though which I'd never known was there - no doubt some of you have already found it. For anyone who may not have: If you go down the road towards the Marina, it curves first to the right and then to the left. Just at that left-hand bend, in the bush on your right, is a path with a solitary merc walking up and down it. It cuts westward through the bush and brings you out just where the west-patrolling DD does his turnaround. There's a hut halfway along the path with an ammo and flammables store, which has come in quite handy for me since my safehouses have no ammo supplies. I've often wondered where the merc who sometimes surprises me at the Marina comes from, now I know - he must see me drive down there on occasion and follow me. If you're coming from the west, this footpath provides a good way to detour around the DD and get to the Marina - just watch out for the walking merc.

I've found a few more places to climb around in, though nothing near as big as the one at the Polytechnic. I'll post some locations anon.

I had a bitch of a day at w@&k today, so after dinner I'll be getting stuck into the game again - gotta vent a little >:D

[Art Blade]

I know that path and I remember the merc. He never remembers me, though. Must have to do with him dying every time he gets to know me. :-()

[mandru]

I'm familiar with that path running from the marina road over the hill and down to the small cemetery with the AT and the lone merc patrolling it.  Parking my AT at the mouth of the path and walking up a bit I like to use him to keep my 1 shot 1 kill accuracy stats pumped up every time I drive through there.   ;)

Having that lone merc show up at the marina has most often occurred for me when I've picked up a new weapon at the gun shop and spend a few clips experimenting with it there over the lagoon before entering the bar to accept a buddy mission.  He'll regularly come puffing down the hill to check out the disturbance and be snooping around when I emerge from Mike's.  I've learned to listen for him stomping around so he doesn't surprise me.

I've even had him show up as a late arrival after receiving the barge mission completed flag and as for getting the drop on him and taking him hostage he's not much fun.   :-\\

He knows that he's alone and he knows you are alone so eventually he always tries to pull a fast draw on you if you attempt to push him around with almost no variation so I've become accustomed to plugging him as soon as I have a clear line of sight.

That path over the hill also has the advantage of an overlook for the road between the marina intersection and the bend before the cemetery that's perfect for using the grenade launcher on the DD as he patrols past for the sheer fun of it.   >:D

[PZ]

Nice tips guys!  :-X

[fragger]

And so, the final few missions before the endgame...

Kankaras offered me the job of offing Voorhees at the Mine, who "doesn't like me anyway". Fair enough, I never liked him either - tit for tat.

Because I hadn't blown up the control valve during the earlier Pipeline mission, the mine was still unflooded, which meant that there were more mercs to deal with than there would have been otherwise, including the sniper in the tower. A crossbow bolt fired from the big rock across the way persuaded him not to be so uppity. After a spirited running firefight through the surrounding shrubbery I got into the mine office and knocked off Voorhees' lieutenant (I think it was Carbonell) and accepted the offer from a chastened Voorhees to go back into town and do the dirty on Kankaras.

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Because the mine hadn't been deluged it meant that the explosive store there was still dry and accessible, which came in handy for restocking on crossbow bolts and grenades.

Back in Port Selao, I left my AT parked in the street behind the UFLL HQ, and used the burnt-out truck in front of it to climb onto the awning outside Kankaras' office window. Firing through said window, I used a single Makarov round to adorn him with a new earhole before sprinting back around the awning, jumping into the street and thence into the waiting AT, getting out of Dodge forthwith and heading for the eastern Weapon Shop to obtain some fresh hardware. I got a call from my old mate Reuben along the way, who wanted me to meet him at the Marina.

After having a yak with Reuben at Mike's, Queippo suggested bumping off Greaves at Sepoko. Jumping at the chance to let some of the hot air out of the plummy-mouthed one, I accepted. I took the bus to the NE stop, where the patrolling GLAT guys were good enough to bring their vehicle along right on time, for some reason travelling very, very slowly. It turned out that they were losing traction due to there being a dead buffalo stuck under their car. This gave me the chance to line up a nice pistol headshot on the grenadier – which missed. A short, sharp squabble ensued, but I came out of it a GLAT ahead. I used this to come at Sepoko from the north, despatching the sniper and generally raising Cain with the grenade launcher before moving in and mopping up.

Since I'd spared a principal player back at the mine, I thought I'd dispense with one out here, so Greaves ate dirt while his lieutenant Purefoy upped the ante by suggesting a doublecross of Queippo.

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Or he would have, only for some reason he didn't pitch his offer but instead just stood there with his hands up. When I looked though, the doublecross mission had indeed been logged, so I went with it, and an odd thing happened.

When I drove back into Port Selao, I heard someone declare that they had a live one and all the mercs immediately opened up on me. There was no "Escape the ceasefire zone and lose your attackers" message, and no "You have safely escaped the ceasefire zone" message even though I drove all the way back to the eastern Weapon Shop again. When I went back into town everyone had cooled down and they were back to their old routine of drinking, smoking, wandering around and arguing with each other, so who knows what that was all about. Maybe just some of the boys letting off steam – you know how it is.

The thug on the APR HQ door gave me a thumbs-up and invited me and my Makarov inside, so I went upstairs, made Queippo eat floorboard and ran away amid much shouting and banging. Reuben then called me to ask if I would be so kind as to come and save his hide, so I took my GLAT to the Airfield, coming in through the hidden trail east of the field and using the crossbow to take out the mortar guy and the RPG guy before wreaking havoc by 'nading everything in sight, then mopped up the stragglers. Once all the mercs were quietly introspective, I happened to run past the hanger containing Reuben when I heard him call out "I'm in here" through the wall. When I didn't go in but instead went off looking for ammo, he yelled again through the wall, "Damn your selfishness! Come here and listen to what I have to say!" Fine way to talk to me after I'd just saved his hide! So I went in, bitch-slapped him, and listened to what he had to say.

What he had to say, after laying a bunch of stuff on me to give to his wife and daughter should he not make it, was that there'd been an altercation at the Prison and that the Jackal was probably responsible and may even be hanging around there, no doubt to clap me on the back and tell me what a sterling chap I was. So off I went, eager to reacquaint myself with this fine upstanding gentleman, and maybe to thank him for all the kindnesses he'd shown me – pointing a pistol at me, swinging a machete at me, setting me up for a stint in the joint, and leaving a bootprint on my face.

So, here I am at the prison:

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And here's the pre-endgame stat sheet. 996 diamonds accrued, primary mission accomplished:

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My accuracy stat is pretty lousy, but hey – I was under duress a lot of the time.

Now for the endgame – uh-oh. I think I'll be doing the bolt once I pick up the diamond case at the LZ...

[Art Blade]

May I say that your accuracy stat is pretty lousy, but hey – you probably were under duress a lot of the time.

:-D

[PZ]

Nice story fragger!  :-X

[fragger]

The final chapter...

The endgame was tough with just the Makarov, gold AK and crossbow. Fortunately there's a good deal of ammo to be had along the way, but no Weapon Shops, so my Makarov only just lasted the distance and was starting to jam towards the end.

I thought the Heart of Darkness was going to be tough, but the mercs made it easy for me by having a cosy little get-together in one spot (maybe for a jolly session of "row row row your boat"), thus allowing me to take almost all of them down with a single exploding crossbow bolt:

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With one exception, they all went down like bowling pins:

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A couple of AK bursts allowed me to pick up the spare. On to the swamp, where I acquired the eighth and last Goldie:

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The swamp was tough and I used up almost all of my ammo fighting off the mercs. I did manage to pull off the best pistol headshot of my FC2 career, plugging a guy at extreme range with one shot while he was at a full run from left to right. Lucky shot maybe, but no less satisfying. He fell in the water before he could reach the mounted grenade launcher, which I think was what he was going for.

After clearing the swamp, it was off to the leaders' compound. I never before realised that I could get into the camp from the west and complete that mission before doing the LZ:

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There's a rock ledge to the left just beyond the gate (you can see it in the first of the last two screenies) which gives a great unobstructed view of the leaders' hut – and a nice big opening to fire a crossbow bolt through to put out both leaders' lights, which I did and it did.

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Trouble was, I then had mercs swarming at me from both flanks, which led to a great deal of frantic dodging and syrette abuse. I had none left when it was all over – fortunately there was a dispenser in the camp.

Then I continued on to the LZ, which was an anticlimax due to me grabbing the diamond case and hastily absconding with it after topping Nasreen from a distance. I left all my former buddies scratching their heads and wondering where I'd gotten to.

Finally I met the Jackal again, chose the briefcase over the battery and left him in his gasoline-soaked hut, flare pistol in hand. It was during the fight to the border crossing that my Makarov started to jam, which it did twice. I'm not sure, but I think weapons will jam three times before they misfire and are chucked aside, so it just lasted the endgame out.

So here's the final stat page, though I don't know how I managed to get to 100% game completion while somehow missing two main missions...

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[JRD]

Well done fragger... what a playthrough!

Congrats mate!  :-X

Great pics and nice writting, kept me reading all along  8)

[PZ]

Indeed - great posts, fragger - I've enjoyed reading of your latest adventures, and it has me planning to enter Africa again before FC3 comes out.  :-()

[Art Blade]

yes, cool  :) Nice stats pages there, fragger  :-() :-X

[fragger]

Thank you, gentlemen :)

[Art Blade]

Today I have seen something unusual.

First off, now that we discovered how to mod FC2, I have a vehicle that doesn't seem to take any damage while I'm sitting in it which means I can ignore chasing ATPs and their .50cal cannons. I may still take damage but hey, either mod that or use god mode; I did the latter one. Alright. Car stays pristine, I stay fine.

I took on a job from Frank to go to the Polytech. I had picked up that particular red Wrangler just before I got to Frank so I decided to keep and drive it. On my way towards the Airfield/Polytech I naturally happened upon that DD but ignored him while he didn't ignore me (for whatever reason). With that dummy in my wake, I next happened, naturally, upon the .50 ATP near the Underground house.  I ignored him while, for some reason, he didn't ignore me. I drove on with the sound of their .50 suddenly stopping. Instead I heard something like a SAW, in any case it was automated gunfire. Then silence. None of them were after me. So I stopped, curiosity made me, and drove back to see what the story was.

I saw the Datsun connected with the stone fence (slammed into it) of the Underground estate, black smoke curling up from its hood. Farther down the ATP had connected with the local AT (slammed into it), the dead driver curling down from the driver seat. Now the Datsun was on fire and exploded. Silence. I couldn't make out what had happened to the dummy and the gunner of the ATP nor where they had ended up.

Looks like those two patrolling merc vehicles belong to opposing factions but I don't recall that I ever managed to get them to meet one another like that before. Hehe  :-D

PS: tried it again, different location (closer to the marina/bridge) same result. Datsun slammed against a tree, on fire, exploded; ATP right next to the tree, one dead (no idea who he was) and one lonely merc staring into the woods.  ^+-+

[PZ]

I love those merc drivers - the most zealous drivers I have ever seen.  They will stop at nothing tochase down their target, even if it means risking their own lives.  :-()

[ninzza]

A few days ago, while I'm driving, a ATP is coming at me. I'm ready to shoot them but to my suprise they dont shoot me. The driver just keeps going back and forth  ;D for a few minites , then I open fire at the guy who controls the mounted gun. He died, the driver .... runs away  :-D :-D

[Art Blade]

That.. is crazy. ^+-+ :-X

When they chase me with their supercharged cars they tend to ram and overtake me. I try to control which side they're going to overtake (by driving slightly more to the other side) so I can set up a trap for them. Either so they hammer into something like a tree, a rock, a bridge fence or so they careen down a cliff or gorge  >:D The best part is when the second engine you kept hearing (next to your own) is absent all of a sudden. Always makes me laugh, stop and return to check what had actually happened and what it looks like. ^+-+

[PZ]

 ^+-+ so true!  It is great fun to see them come up beside you only to run into a rock or tree!  ^+-+

[TheStranger]

When I read about the DD and the AT fighting each other a sitaution from my last playthrough came to my mind. I planned to attack the Health CP on the west bank of Lake Segolo. I was approaching from the west down the hill and was very cautious because I had no syrettes left. So I was sneaking closer and closer always looking through the scope of my worn out dart rifle - but I saw nobody. When I was close enough I noticed that there were no mercs at all only their corpses and one AT was burning. So wtf? Did they fought without me? But it was very nice. What a pity it's so rare, because I was really surprised  :) Btw. started my 4th playthrough with Quarbani Singh ;)

[PZ]

I've encountered similar, but as you, saw only the aftermath.  However, I was on the rocks above a GP one time contemplating my next move when a merc walked across the street and an ATP ran him down without any kind of sympathy of compassion.  The driver and gunner didn't even have the decency to turn to see if they could be of any assistance; it was as if they had simply run over a bug in the road.

[TheStranger]

Oh a similar thing happened with my new game as Quarbani. Did a convoy mission in Leboa (the one in the northeast). The convoy had to pass a GP and I was hiding behind a rock, when I heard the arghhhh! of a merc who was obviously in the way of the convoy hehe

[PZ]

I love it when that happens  :-()

Several OWH members have mentioned finding the aftermath of some kind of battle or other disturbance that was out of eye/earshot.  I guess the biggest of these is the merc wars that I think Art? first discovered.

[mandru]

Just this last week I had the cell tower "Target of Opportunity" mission in Bowa where two AT's are escorting the target in a Wrangler as they run a counter-clockwise circle around the loop with the Crash Site, the GP with the Rock Solid Merc and the N.E. gun shop.

I was coming in from the cell tower near Sediko with the hang glider.  The target's convoy had slipped past the gun shop moments before I was able to arrive so I parked the GLAT I was driving well away from any possible harm and took up position on the rock ledge across the street from the gun shop to await their return.

Keeping an eye on their progress on my handheld map I made a save point that was comfortably a few seconds before they were due to come into view to the East near the bus station and then equipped with my trusty AS50 I was fully set to reach out and touch someone not just once but several times over and over.  >:D

One particular time playing through the assault from that set save point that stood out as particularly memorable for me was once when I'd removed the lead AT's driver and then quickly following its gunner as he shifted to the driver's position.  The Target's Wrangler bumped into the back end of the now unmanned AT and as they were backing up to have the clearance to go around the blockage the following AT hit them from  behind pinning them momentarily.

Apparently the Target finding himself in a vehicle that was no longer moving decided to bolt and try to find cover on foot so he bailed out the passenger side and started hoofing it to the North.  Backing up quickly the remaining AT in trying to get untangled and quickly to my position because of the AS50 round that had imbedded in their grill after it had killed the Wrangler's driver kicked it into hyper-drive and came around the right side of the Wrangler and rode straight up and over the Target as he was attempting to flee.  Mission completed!  ^+-+

I probably played with that save point for an hour or more before moving on and while I had quite a few good belly laughs I was never able to recreate that exact same chain of events again. 

[fragger]

Good story mandru, I can almost see that sequence of events :-X :-D That's about my fave comm tower mission pure and simply for some of the outcomes, like when the convoy runs into the patrolling GLAT - they don't get along at all and some of the resultant mayhem is a joy to behold :-() Just curious though mate - when the target got run over, did you still get the diamonds for it? I've found that sometimes if the encounter between the target and the GLAT takes place before I can get there, the suit gets killed by someone else and I'll get the Mission Complete message, but no moolah.

@TheStranger: Interesting place to find an aftermath like that ??? I've come across that sort of thing too but never at that particular GP. Wonder who they'd been fighting with?

And yeah, mercs have no road sense whatsoever. Their folks apparently never taught them to look both ways before crossing the street ::)

[mandru]

Sorry fragger I was having so much fun I wasn't paying any attention to the cash flow.   :-[

[fragger]

Completely understandable :-D