Malaria

[spaceboy]

Anyone ever let your Malaria run rampant?  I've always taken the pill as soon as the screen goes blurry.  Last night I rode it out and got better, walked around etc.  I'm not sure if I asked this before, but is it possible to just keep getting sicker?  What would happen?

[JRD]

I read a post of a guy saying he let the malaria kick till he passed out and woke up in the clinic.
I think you are prompted to do the underground mission immediatly and if you don't, you just keep coming back to the clinic.
Maybe the game "knows" if you are not going towards the underground place....
I gulp one pill as soon as the vision blurs too, never had the patience to let it roll.........

[PZ]

I also read somewhere that your stamina is reduced when you are stricken with malaria and don't take your medicine.  The implication is that your sprint would be shorter in duration.  I'm not positive, but I have experienced reduced stamina at times.

[DKM2]

There are 5 different sickness levels I think, but ya, I always take it right away.
Seems to always happen just before a fight,
or while driving, like;
Damn blurry again... pop... TREE!!! CRASH..... ah crap.

This gives me an idea thou, if I let the malaria go, will it trigger a underground mission, hmmmm

[JRD]

If you don't take the pill, a flask icon will appear at the bottm left corner of your screen.







As if it helps at all!!!!!! :P :P :P :P

[spaceboy]

I see where you're going with that DKM2, but I bet the answer is no if you still have pills.  It may be hard not take the pills I tried walking around a bit after the attack to see if comes soon, but a) the little annoying pill box icon was in the corner of the screen and b) it's the same button as syrette, so although it triggers syrette first, it'd be easy to accidentally take a pill.

And yes, I'd say 60% of my attacks come while driving, 30% in a fire fight or just before, 10% walking around. 

I've been so stupid that I always take the pill while the truck is still moving, nothing like hitting the brakes and stopping to take your meds.  I didn't know the attack would pass...

[PZ]

I remember once going into a malaria attack in the middle of the Dogon village right when a group of angry mercs were trying to hasten my demise...

... talk about feeling overwhelmed...

[JRD]

Thats why I like those malaria strikes...
They're impredictable

[spaceboy]

I agree JRD, I read others complaining about it (not here) that it adds nothing to the game, but I think it does.

[PZ]

Yes indeed fellow FC2 aficionados, I can see the dev team brainstorming on how to create a truly diverse mission experience, and the malaria idea coming up.  Even though we've all read the complaints about almost everything from re-spawn to malarial, I feel that each of the characteristics of the game has it's merits, and I am beginning to enjoy them all, including the re-spawn and malaria.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I usually take a pill ASAP, just because I don't like the blurry vision. What is strange, though, is when the blurriness doesn't go away. Not quite sure what the cause is, but it seems sometimes the blurry goes away as soon as you swallow the pill. But other times, it will hang around for some time. I found that taking a swim usually clears it up faster, though I haven't tested it enough to be sure.

[JRD]

Well, did my research...
Two situations...
1) Had my pills but decided not to take any and see what malaria can do. Suddenly I fell to the ground, couldn't move at all... all I could see was my hands, breathing hard and that annoying flask icon flashng. The message was obvious - TAKE THE PILL. So I did, and the fun resumed :P
2) Had no pills and was wandering around, just waiting for the kick. Actually I had just cleared the TaeMoco mine. The malaria hit took me to the ground and I woke up in the clinic, the medic giving me the papers to be delivered to one of those underground guys.
In a few words.. DO IT NOW.
Maybe I could just pretend I didn't get the message and proceedto some other mission, but the result would be the same.
Anyway, now I've seen what malaria can do... no big deal, will keep taking my medicine!!!!

[PZ]

Interesting experiment JRD,
I wonder why the people on other forums have so much trouble with malaria.

[JRD]

Maybe because people wants to control everyting in a game. And malaria is unpredictable!

... kids... hah...

[Art Blade]

*mumbling to myself, how could I have missed this thread?*

I've had my share of malaria myself, let me share my experiences with you.

There are two job streams.

One, an underground job is pending (triggered only by [and only after completing] some main missions). Upon completing such main missions, you'll find an entry in your book asking you to find someone who provides you with medicine, showing that underground mission symbol. Now you're on your second last pill, only one left in the flask, until you get resupplied. When stricken by malaria without having any pills left, you will have 3 more attacks coming, the last of which will take you to the church (during campaigns in the north) or the hospital (in the south).

Two, no underground job pending (obviously). During that time you will never run out of pills. If you refuse to take the pill, 3 more attacks will strike you, the last of which will put you to the ground forcing you to take the pill.

I have no idea if it affects your stamina, but the sickness level is irrelevant. You cannot change the current level by your actions regarding taking the pill or wait it out. The sickness level is plot dependant, meaning it is triggered by main missions only.

Hope this will help you :)

[retiredgord]

Art..very interesting observations. I'm sure all of us will benefit in gameplay from your "medical experiments". Thanks for a job well done

[Art Blade]

cheers, glad if I can help :)

I tested so much because in my first through I had run out of malaria pills and I was in fear that might happen again at any time.

[Art Blade]

a few more things:

- When you should take a pill and if you are injured right then, you can cure the injury by drinking a bottle of water (full health restore). If I remember correctly, the guide tells us you first take the pill and then tend the wounds, but I think you first cure the wounds, then malaria.

-Drinking water always restores you to full health, at any time. edit: on difficulty level "easy"

- Malaria doesn't strike unpredictably. It has a timer to it, I think it takes about 1 hour real time (sickness level 0) until you need another pill. Sorry I don't remember the exact timings, but I remember when testing several things with malaria attacks, I realised it was always the same amount of time. You can easily find out if you take a pill, immediately check your book where you can see your time spent in game. put that down somewhere and check again when you have to take the next pill.

[JRD]

Thanks for the info Art... I thought the game was programmed to give you an attack every once in a while, but never realized it was really timed!
Anyway, I'll keep it without timing the attacks just to maintain the unpredictability for myself. Think it adds to the immersion ;)

[spaceboy]

Excellent info Art.  Thanks a lot for sharing this.  You da man with the information!

[Art Blade]

long time no reply, but I thought a new member or guest who wants to look up "malaria" should find the following info here:

Malaria attacks stop once you're around 73% game progress, that is before you go to prison and after that to the end game. So if you want to explore or play freely, that would be the perfect time. All weapons unlocked by then, you can enjoy the open world of FC2. There is a download available at OWG at exactly that stage of game, check this link :)

[mandru]

Once I figured out that it's actually doing the faction missions that determines when your pill bottle goes empty it changed the way I play the game. If I delay the faction missions until last then I've got a bottomless pill bottle that allows me to clean up all other missions and activities plus plenty of time to knock around and stir up trouble with out having to run the under ground missions until they are triggered by the faction mission count.

After doing the Tutorial at game start and getting the first bottle from the good father I've gotten in the habit of going out and grabbing one of the gold AKs and using the diamonds on that minor run to buy the IEDs to do all Arms Dealer missions and collecting all of the diamonds in and surrounding Pala and any near where the side missions take place. I will always take a different path heading out to a mission than when I'm returning so that I am expanding the area I cover to sweep up diamonds to pay for my preferred weapons as I unlock them.

I'm a sniper and prefer single shot kills so once I've got the Dragonuv the gold AK hits the trash bin.  :P

Secondly I run every buddy side mission for all of the buddies that I can collect without fouling up the faction headquarter doorman's mission to liberate a captive from one of the minor warlord's compounds (4 possible compounds North map / 2 south map). I wait to see where the doorman sends me and then I go release the indicated buddy to complete that mission. Then I go straight to the other captive buddy and turn them loose too and return to Mikes and wrap up those new buddy missions.

I use side missions as a chance to go into various new map areas to expand my diamond collection.

Once the game moves to the South, I follow the same routine there too (skipping the AK). The last refill on my pills from up North will last until I've finished the first couple Southern faction missions and this routine allows me to be outfitted with the best gear the game has to offer before getting into a really tough assignment.

This play style may not be for everyone. I know a lot of people prefer winging it.  ;)

I tend to be pretty obsessive about routines I get into. I like to eat all the veggies and any side dish on my plate first so that I have plenty of room to wrassle with my steak.  ;D

[Art Blade]

 ;D

That's basically what I do during my current playthrough. I spared the main missions but did every possible side mission, and I have collected all diamonds and tapes in Leboa. Now I'm doing the faction missions and then I'll move to the south :)

[wexer9]

I also read somewhere that your stamina is reduced when you are stricken with malaria and don't take your medicine.  The implication is that your sprint would be shorter in duration.  I'm not positive, but I have experienced reduced stamina at times.

I'm pretty sure this is correct.

For example, in the tutorial, your stamina is very low. I tried running to Mike's bar when directed to in the tutorial ("someone can help with your malaria") and found that my stamina was very low, and you are afflicted with malaria at the time, so the connection makes sense.

When the priest gave me my first set of pills - bam! - increased stamina. :)

[Art Blade]

I've found that the stamina correlates with the sickness level(s), and sickness levels correlate with game progress (playing faction missions). Also, the sickness level determins how long it takes until the next malaria attack strikes you. The healthier you are, the longer the periods without needing to take malaria pills and the amount of stamina you have to your disposal.

You start pretty sick (5) and at some point (around 50% game progress) you are almost cured, with your sickness level down to 0. This is the turning point of the game, the next couple of main missions will bring your malaria back up. Hence, more frequent malaria attacks forcing you to take medicine, and the pejoration of your health state due to malaria cuts down on your stamina.

Stamina itself changes a little depending on how much you run or jump. Jumping a lot in a short period of time exhausts you just as much as a full sprint. If you have run until you nearly blacked out, you cannot sprint for the same amount of time immediately after regaining your breath. It takes maybe 10-15 seconds to recover to your current stamina level.

You can try it: Count your steps while running on a flat surface (road, rather than slopes) until you pant as a dog presented with a juicy steak. Then run again and count, 1-2-3-4- that's it... more time to breathe... then try again, take your time to recover and count again. With your health at maximum (sickness level 0) you should be able to count about 45 paces until you nearly faint. On lower health, it may be something like 15 or 25-30 paces.

The malaria pills shouldn't have more effect than to remind you that you are sick, and to surprise you in the middle of a fight, a drive, anything you don't need a malaria attack... so if you skip your medicine while you still have pills, you will suffer three breakdowns. If you still have pills, you cannot get up until you take one. If you haven't got any pills left (oh dear, you should have taken on and completed the underground mission by now) you will pass out and wake up in the church of Pala while in Leboa or in the hospital of Port Selao while in Bowa. (Time to quickly get the underground mission done).

Hope that helps :)

Edited, read on, two posts from here I did test it /Art