With Pics: Car Experiment "keep and lose"

[Art Blade]

Something to add

Quoting from another topic...

Well, it's a great find Ricamundo - I'm now playing the game a different way than before, and keeping my favorite vehicles.  I must say that it generates a different mindset when you adopt a new technique.

...PZ reminds me:

Thank you, Ricamundo, for finding a way to extend the "how to keep your car" method. It allows for more freedom... Interestingly, now the fanatics of the factions "Bus drivers" and "Car drivers" can use the respectively other method too, without giving up old habits  ;D Even pedestrians have a choice now LOL

That is the conclusion I was looking for :)

[Art Blade]

I've just had a moment of utter disbelief... I left my car in Cock Fights, where I had started a war with the eastern GP. My car was parked at the western end of the road, to keep it out of trouble. CF was almost destroyed but a handful mercs were running around. So I walked along the road eastwards, into Pala, all the way trying to provoke and extend a merc war. Mercs were following me up to the bridge, then I went shooting inside Pala, and out again. On my way back I found the mercs who had followed me, and enticed them into following me again to Cock Fights, where another war started. But then... I saw my car was still parked at the end of the road in CF! That was quite a bit of distance, CF itself had respawned all the items that were destroyed in the first war. Crazy.

Well, the distance is roughly the same as during the original experiment if you measure it diagonally across the map from CF to Pala, but what's astounding me is the fact that the entire area had respawned yet left my car untouched. Perhaps because it was slightly out of range, being parked at a far end of the area.

That's what makes me think, if the car is parked in an area where nothing happens like a bus stop (no respawning items especially on roads, no patrols ) the car might stay there. Hmmm :)

[JRD]

That's what makes me think, if the car is parked in an area where nothing happens like a bus stop (no respawning items especially on roads, no patrols ) the car might stay there. Hmmm :)

I was going from Mike's to Mokuba and left my car in the middle of the road west of the Lumber Camp. Walked  through the bushes towards south and entered Mokuba from west, After I finished my business there I left Mokuba through the north and, again, walked towards the Lumber Camp to get back to Mike's for debriefing with my buddy.
If you check the map you'll see that I changed maps twice on my way on and twice going back and guess what was there, in the middle of the road, waiting for me??
Yeap... my AT...think you are right, if you leave a vehicle in an area where nothing respawns and there is no patrols, it may stay there  ;)

[Art Blade]

thanks for that information... just checked the map, from what you said, it's again roughly the same distance, diagonally across the Bowa map. I might try once again, and find out if the car sustains even a longer distance that lies between it and the farthest point of a walk.

[Art Blade]

I'm back from a long walk. Here, first have a look, a rewarding and true déjà-vu:

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Alright, check the Leboa map. Down in the s/w corner, that's the arms dealer you see in the pic. From there I walked along the railway to the Claes Products Chemical Corporation (I stopped two times in between, made a savegame, walked from there back to the arms dealer to check if the car was still there, which it was, and reloaded so I could walk on). From there I walked a little until I reached the river to the north of it, and swam to Pala. There I took a bus to the s/w bus stop and walked back to the arms dealer, what you see in the pic is what I had for reward. Incredible  ;D

[JRD]

So even taking a bus won't flush your vehicle from an area/

[Art Blade]

Indeed. I think important points are maintaining "ownership" of one particular vehicle combined with a "item-free zone" (be it as small as a spot on a road without patrols or a bus stop) that doesn't need to respawn stuff to make the place look as it used to be. Just imagine, I walked to that Cemical area and back, what a distance! I'd never have guessed it was possible.

As to the distance in the original test, remember I changed vehicles, hence lost ownership, and that made some cars disappear I reckon.

[KingRat]

The other day when I was still in Leboa I thought I'd rescue a couple buddies I hadn't seen yet. Drove the blue truck from Mike's NW to the slaughterhouse, pulled the truck up the trail on the high ground and took out the attacking horde. Left the truck and released Marty (iirc). Walked west following the RR tracks and circled around to the cock fights where I released Josip. Swam back to Mike's and noticed my truck hadn't respawned.

I guessed it was probably still where I left it. Oh, and when I came to the GP east of cock fights there was a burning truck and 3 dead mercs lying about. Must have gotten into it with the CF mercs when I started sniping  ;D

[Art Blade]

I tried something else:

Again in Leboa, the Airfield in the south, I left my car in the middle of the runway next to the big gas tank and fuel crate (which I blew for the fun of it). My car was an obstacle for the patrolling AT, it had to swerve around it (to make a point, I shot the crew).

I then walked as far as Mokuba (taking the route east of the big rock formation to get there, across the Health GP), stopping at the northern entrance, outside Mokuba, and walked back. You already guess it... my car was still there, everything around had respawned, the ATP was on patrol again.

This makes it look, after all, as if ownership alone is the key.

And it makes me wonder, why the hell did we lose our cars at all? When we think back... sometimes a car disappeared although it was way closer than anything I did during those tests.

I also thought maybe the patch 1.03 helps it a little, but that doesn't seem true. When Ricamundo came up with that idea of leaving his car at a bus stop, or someone (he?) said the blue AT hadn't spawned at Mike's... that was before the patch. And it reminds of what KingRat just posted "I guessed it was probably still where I left it." And that reminds me of the red Wrangler, when I returned to its spawn point and it hadn't respawned... because I was still sitting in it :)

I see some patterns but still there is something involved that I can't explain yet. Maybe we'll find out, one day  ;D

[PZ]

I tried similar this morning - was at PetroSahel and needed to go to the mortuary in southeast Leboa (opposite corner of the map).  Because I had my favorite Unimog and didn't want to lose it, I took the bus to the southeast stop and walked to the underground house to complete my mission.  Then i walked back to the stop and took the bus back to the northwest stop to return to my Unimog.  Then I drove it to a GP on the railroad tracks west of the fort, killed all the guards, and parked the Unimog in front of their AT.  Then I walked to the north central armory to re-equip and walked back to the GP.  Yes, the guards had re-spawned, but my Unimog was still there blocking the AT - they couldn't chase me with it so they were also on foot.

However, if you use any other vehicle (boat, buggy, AT), you will lose the one you were driving.  Darn it, I was hoping that I could park my truck at Mike's and then boat to a mission, return and find it still there - no luck though.  You need to be true to your vehicle, as has been mentioned.  :'(

[Art Blade]

that seems to prove it, indeed, thanks PZ :)

I wonder, when we were lamenting the loss of the car we had used to get to a place, back then, did we use other cars on site? Maybe drive one out of the way, make a car bomb of it, the likes? I don't remember the exact circumstances, but regarding everything it seems quite likely.

[PZ]

I'm sure of it - I know that my regular routine before now was to use the nearest handy vehicle.  For instance, use the AT at the bus stop to get to the underground house, and then use the buggy there to get back to the bus stop.

[Art Blade]

Another proof that it has apparently nothing to do with respawning areas:

Currently I'm exploring Leboa, playing Xianyong, and reached an until then uncharted GP east of OGP (Occidental Growers Company). It's full of flammables, so I blew the place up and burnt it down. It has two fuel pumps that turn it into a lighthouse... I parked my car under the roof next to the burning pumps and then walked across OGC and left to the west, rounding it using the road to the south until I returned to my car... the area had respawned, the pumps and everything, but the car was still under that roof.  :)

[Art Blade]

The real question is, if you think of those cars you find at your safehouses that belong to nobody but you, do they disappear too? Why and when? :)

- It doesn't matter which vehicle, as long as it is a stationary one (not a moving patrol)

- They disappear (as in you lose them) when you change vehicles

- Why don't they respawn? Ownership. The vehicle is not destroyed and  you haven't used a different one

- When do they respawn? When you give up ownership (change vehicles) or  destroy it

If it's a moving patrol, the patrol respawns due to area respawning. You lose the vehicle same as above.

I think that's that, then  :)

[Art Blade]

I have some bad news for those who'd like to keep the Golden Jeep (the one you get from the prince if you kill the king during a side mission).

Apparently the rule of ownership doesn't apply to it. However, you can keep the Jeep as long as you manage to stay close (as mentioned in the funny tactics and tips topic, never leave the car outside the map currently displayed on your handheld).

I had no doubt that I could keep it when I got it, malaria pill mission calling, so I drove to the bus stop in n/e Leboa and took the bus to pala. Got the mission and returned by bus... to my dismay the jeep was gone! I thought that maybe I shouldn't have killed the prince, so I reloaded and did the entire mission again, returned to the bus stop and... the jeep was gone again! Reloaded, drove to pala, took a bus from pala to the previous bus stop and back, of course the jeep was gone. Drove back to n/e bus stop, took the datsun, hunted down an ATP, drove the AT to the bus stop, went to pala by bus. Took the bus back to the n/e bus stop... the datsun had respawned, and the AT was still waiting. Nice.

Since I remember people asking about the gold trimmed jeep long ago, and we replied yes, you can keep it... no one told us it didn't w@&k, so we were sure it worked. Until today.

[PZ]

Thanks for the detailed report, Art.  While the gold-trimmed Jeep looks cool, I don't use it much because there does not seem to be a significant (if any) performance benefit.  However, if you want a truly unique vehicle, this is the one and only!  :-X

[Art Blade]

Just returned from a strange loss of my GrenAT. I got it from the patrol in Bowa at Post Office. Never lost it so far, left it quite often somewhere in the fields and got it back, even when I had walked far away. Today, I left it at the arms dealer west of TaeMoCo Mine, south of Ranger Station. I got there coming from the explosives GP n/w of the arms dealer, driving cross-country. Then I walked back to the GP, blew the place up, and when I returned, the car was gone. Parked it at the GP, went to the arms dealer and back, car gone again. Drove it to the safehouse next to the arms dealer, and walked away towards the road, backwards, watching the AT, and it disappeared right in front of me! (I reloaded each time, of course)

Got another Gren AT, again from Post Office patrol, returned, tried all above mentioned variants, and the car "survived" each time... didn't lose it, no matter what...

I don't understand the "logic" of that. Looks like some bug if you actually lose your car like that, given you don't use any other vehicle. Usually you keep it, no matter how far or where you parked it :)



Oh please, don't mention "parking in a river" or some such lol

[Art Blade]

Just to make sure, I got a new GL truck (ah, that's the term, I was talking about Gren ATs lately, meaning GL truck) which again I got at Post office. Both the old and the new GL trucks have red colour in common, which I like but didn't see often, so I really wanted to keep the car. Well, I left it again at that arms dealer in the southwest, walked cross-country, picked up some diamonds, fought my way through several guard posts and took a bus in the south to travel to Port Selao. There I started a town war, escaped, and went back to the arms dealer walking. Nice, at night, several entertaining fights later I arrived. Just to see... my GL truck... was... oh gosh... still there.  ;D

[PZ]

Truly must have been a singular glitch as you mentioned - I left my Unomog parked at the bus stop in Port Selao before I did the barge mission - swam to the barge, managed to survive the mission, and my Uni was still there when I wanted it.  This was a Uni that I had obtained west of the place where I killed Kouassi at the troop rally.

[Art Blade]

ahhhhhh glad you mentioned that. Recently did that barge mission and wanted to know... look :)

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on the barge, entering Port Selao, red Jeep Wrangler still waiting

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