Finished the game, what now? Here are a few tips

[Hacko]

Thanks guys....can't wait to get off w@&k and do some exploring...hehe :-()

[Art Blade]

finally got 100% on the SP game (click here to jump to the starting post with the new screenshot)  :-D

What you can do, additionally to those tips posted, is to consider playing with game mods. I recommend regular "patch" mods rather than DLL-hacks because patch mods can be undone easily and the savegame turned into a vanilla savegame thereafter. DLL-hacks may cause your game to crash after loading a savegame once you replace the modded dll with the vanilla dll.

[PZ]

Congratulations!  ...and thanks for the .dll warning

[Art Blade]

thanks, and welcome :)

[Ricamundo]

I've finally got to the point where I have to fight Hoyt with a knife. All those cool weapons, and the finale (I'm assuming this is pretty much the finale)  is a stupid knife fight?? Sigh, this game has sadly almost killed the joy of a good PC FPS game for me. Too many peeves for me to list. I can almost certainly say that I'll never play this game all the way through, thanks to the main missions being mostly awful.

Sorry to be such a killjoy, as everyone else here seems almost giddy as to the coolness of FC3, but I just can't feel it. I'll give FC3 a 6/10 and I think i'm being generous. It's back to the older shooters for this old grouch. :)

[Art Blade]

you've not exactly reached the end yet, Ric  :-D Go on before you rant  :-()

[PZ]

I think the high expectation and anticipation of FC2 is what caused the great disappointment for me when I first played through.  I fully agree about many of the main missions, especially that stupid Hoyt fight at the end.  I did another play through mostly avoiding the main missions (never did finish all the way though) and focused mainly on the side activities, but even those were not enough to keep me going for long.

However, once I applied several different mods, one of which allowed much more flexibility in weapon accessories I became more interested.  The weapons were also better balanced.  That kept me going for a while.  Just a couple of days ago I installed Ziggy's mod, which essentially re-balances almost everything in the game, including that awfully cluttered HUD, the goofy icons above animals and enemy, and a large number of other annoyances.  Makes me feel much more like I'm fighting mercs in FC2, only better.

[Art Blade]

I think the high expectation and anticipation of FC2 is what caused the great disappointment for me when I first played through.

I can tell you're thinking of FC2 when posting about FC3 :-D

I wasn't expecting anything good from FC3 and didn't even want to buy it at all until the day it was released a friend of mine convinced me to get it as he had already started to play. I dislike the linearity of the main story and the return of a HUD (and hate the effin bugs) but admire all the rest of it. It is the first game ever I completed without a single cheat and the first time ever I played on a harder difficulty level than "easy." Hell, I even played on the maximum hardcore modes there are, both SP and co-op which is a first time, too. The latest patch 1.05 introduced the best feature I can think of: reset all outposts so you can do them all over again and again and again..  :) And indeed, there are mods which is adding to the fun. Overall, a great game :) But a really shabby linear story  :-D

[PZ]

I can tell you're thinking of FC2 when posting about FC3 :-D

yes indeed; virtually all games I play are in one way or another compared to FC2, which in my opinion is still the best game I have ever played.

One good thing about becoming old is that one tends to forget more.  One of these days I'll look at my game collection, see the FC2 disc and ask myself "hmmm... I wonder what that game is all about"  then the fun will start all over again :-()

[Art Blade]

As long as you don't start a new topic every time, the likes of "hey, I found a new game!"  :-D

[PZ]

   I probably will!

Of course, think of all the fun I'll have with that brand new game  >:D

[Art Blade]

OK. Just remember: don't buy it over and over again, then  :-()

[fragger]

  You guys!

Rica, I totally get what you're saying. I was ready to give up on FC3 even before I reached the point where you're at now. I since learned to tolerate the linearity of the main missions and concentrate on the fun open-world aspects and have enjoyed the game a lot more as a result. Once you've done the main missions a couple of times you'll find it a lot easier to blat through them quickly in order to get at the fun stuff. But I know just where you're coming from, I dissed the game in this thread not long after I started playing.

Outside of the main missions the game has a lot to offer, but I so agree with you about those sucky linear affairs and scripted button-mashing fights :-(

[Art Blade]

Here's a new idea for you guys, something I keep doing a lot. It requires you to have finished the game so the Compound (around Hoyt's mansion) won't be a cease fire zone any more. It is also essential that you have not liberated surrounding outposts so there will be constant merc patrols that keep stopping outside the Compound's gates and keep guarding them. This is also a great exercise if you have too much money. You'll be able to get rid of it rather quickly by replenishing your ammo and armoured vest every now and then -- given you can abstain from looting enemies  :-() (takedowns are not recommendable either as you'd keep getting money and loot from takedowns) :)

DEFEND THE COMPOUND!

There are three gates, two of them are usually guarded from the outside, one (close to the bridge) usually isn't. Place one mine and perhaps one pack of C4 about a yard or two away from the mine right in the opening so no one may enter without blowing up. Once you hear an explosion, run and fight off the intruding mercs, then rig the gate again. Replenish your mines and whatever you need using the "safehouse" inside the Compound.

You'll notice that it will be quite a fight, there are mercs inside the Compound when you start, and once the fighting started it will attract nearby merc patrols and they will keep respawning, sometimes they'll add dogs or heavies. Of course you can walk outside to catch them even before they reach the gates  >:D

Can you manage to keep the inside of the compound clear of mercs, heavies and dogs? :)

[smg id=5918 type=preview align=center caption="Screenshot0716"]

[Binnatics]

Cool idea!! :-X

I'll try that out tomorrow ;)

Hope I find out how to reset the outposts ^-^

[Art Blade]

Thanks :)

You need to have finished the story and you need to have liberated ALL outposts. Then go to the game options menu where you'll see the entry at the end of the list, "reset all outposts" :)

Careful, resetting them will cause a double savegame. It will override the autosave AND the manual save. It will put you inside your safehouse in Amanaki Town.

[PZ]

You definitely know how to throw a new twist into a game, AB!  :-X +1

[Art Blade]

thanks, PZ :) :)

Try it.. it's open world style, an area you'll know well after a short while and those mercs are funny. Plus, you'll always be close to your safehouse and may quickly test all kinds of loadouts  :-()

[mandru]

There also seem to be new side missions that are activated either by resetting all the outposts or playing in the after game.

I had a local native searching the ground in one area saying "I can't find it.  Where is it!"  Nearby on the ground was a glowing book that I picked up and gave back to him.  Mission complete.

[Art Blade]

that is interesting, the glowing book thingy hasn't happened to me yet  ??? :)

[mandru]

I came across that event on a hill just above the shoreline either N or S (but nearby) the small port where Vass has the TV studio where you try to recover Liza(?).

[Art Blade]

Ah, I know where, I'll try find that local and his book  :)

[mandru]

A good discovery and a bad discovery.  :D

In trying to seek out more of these additional post game missions I tried playing around with the camera to help me locate them.  I'd noticed that there were still scores of twinkles when I looked through the camera viewfinder but that has turned out less than helpful.  Picking a nearby objective on a mountain top I spent almost 45 minutes working my way up to a highly inaccessible ledge to discover that the twinkle I was chasing was more of a Will-o'-the-Wisp.  ???

Leading off with the good discovery.  Centering the camera viewfinder on a sparkle and taking a picture of it will create a Way Point that can be seen on the pop-up map which will allow you to determine your best route to approach to the target.  The way point on the pop-up map appears as the typical " [  ] " brackets but there is a tiny solid white square centered in it to signify that it represents one of the sparkles in the camera.  There is also the additional function of the usual HUD indicators that will allow you to find the correct direction and relative elevation from your position which is helpful in determining if a target is on a high surface position or deep in a cave.  Good news so far right?  ???

Now the bad news.  The twinkling objective markers don't go away when you've gathered the associated item (relic) or completed the task.

So something like 99% of the sparkles in the viewfinder (if you've diligently collected the 120 relics before completing the game as I have  ::)  ), the ghosts of all that clutter makes this method of seeking currently relevant leads almost pointless.


  In typing this I realized that there is one more thing to try in investigating this functionality of the camera.  I'm going to try going into the map legend where it allows removal of the various types of icons on the pop-up map to see if it's possible to get clearer results by eliminating unnecessary objects but I'll have to get around to that a little later. 

[PZ]

Good investigation, mandru  :-X +1

[mandru]

Thanks PZ.  :)

And the verdict is no dice.  :(

I shut off all the appropriate toggles in the pop-up map legend and previously gathered relics and lost letters still twinkle in the viewfinder.    ???