Idle Mercs

[Art Blade]

That might have been what I once witnessed near a locked safehouse at the border to a desert. The area was on fire (lol) and one merc had run so far it took ages to find him (like damn, that safehouse is still locked, there's got to be one more merc)

[PZ]

It seems to me that that area is on fire many if not all the time's I've visited.  In fact, there is another safe house on the eastern side (don't recall if it is Leboa or Bowa) that also has a fire associated with it.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

It seems like every time I enter Sefapane for the first time (after killing Kouassi/Gakumba), the area between the GP and Sefapane, on the north side of the road, is ablaze and 3-4 mercs are running for their lives.  You can set your watch to it!

[fragger]

There's a safe house in the extreme NE of Bowa where there's a large log next to the fire. Every time I go there at night, the log is on fire as well. Might be the one PZ referred to. It's in a desert locale, so the fire never spreads, but the log's burning every time I go there. Odd.
On another subject, I got into a staring contest with a merc I bumped into in Port Selao. After a minute he said sarcastically, "Looks like I've got an admirer"

[PZ]

Interesting observation Foghorn - I've never seen it because when going to Sefapane after killing Kouassi/Gakumba, I turn left at the armory, head to the bus stop, and take the foot path shortcut to Sefapane.  I'll have to go your way next time to see what you described  :-X

You're correct Roaven, that's not the one I was referring to, but I remember now seeing the one you mentioned.  That's a great line you experienced - never heard that one before  :-X

[Art Blade]

On topic:

I just watched a merc picking something off a plant of sorts, looking at it, rubbing it tenderly and stuff it in his vest/waistcoat pocket. I think it was either a blossom or a bug.

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[spaceboy]

awesome find Art!  this game never ceases to amaze me...after all this time to still find new stuff.  incredible.

[Art Blade]

thanks, and my thoughts exactly  :)

[PZ]

On topic:

I just watched a merc picking something off a plant of sorts, looking at it, rubbing it tenderly and stuff it in his vest/waistcoat pocket. I think it was either a blossom or a bug.

[smg id=1726 align=center width=400]

hmmm.... looks like some sort of narcotic botanical to me

[Art Blade]

Maybe. Hehe, that didn't occur to me. Must be paradise for the animals there that live on it  ;D

[Art Blade]

hehe, look how fit our mercs are... gymnastics.

Instead of posting four images, I made a patchwork.

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[RedRaven]

I like it when they are doing that, gives plenty of time to aim with a sniper rifle at where their head is going to be.

[Art Blade]

I haven't seen that before -- maybe I killed them before they even started  ;D

[RedRaven]

Seen them do a few little A.I. induced tasks like that when on a long stake-out through my trusty Dragunov SVD sight.

[Art Blade]

today I've watched something I haven't seen either so far:

merc near a fireplace kicks stuff back into the fire

(like, brushing the floor with his feet to tidy the place up a bit, perhaps kick glowing parts back in)

[RedRaven]

A while ago saw the two mercs to the west of Petro-Sahel talking, then one lit the fire whildt the other was stood on it. Oh how I laughed.

[TheFishlord]

Hey everyone! Haven't visited in a while. Good to see my thread has taken off like this.

I have another to add to the list - at the explosive outpost east of Petro Sahal, I saw a merc picking berries (to eat) or leaves (to smoke) off a bush. I tried to screen him but my computer was going through the bluescreen blues at the time and it crashed.  :D

Let me think...anything else? An interesting chat, goes along the lines of "Hey, feel like going for a drink tonight?" "Where?" "How about that new place, that new bar called Mike's?" "Sorry mate, that place's for expats only. It was part of the ceasefire arrangements. We can't go there." I believe I also saw another making a Molotov with an empty beer bottle, but I'm not sure. I'll get back to yall when I come up with something interestin  ;)

[Art Blade]

Hey Fishlord!

Nice to see you are back and posting :)

The blueberry stuff, see this post again (pic) because it sounds like the same thing I watched there.

The chat line sounds familiar :) I understood "independants" instead of "expats" but that is a small detail.

Molotovs? lol, I still haven't seen the deodorant applying merc, and you come and post yet another cool idle animation hehehe  :-X

[PZ]

Cool.... good to see you, TheFishLord  :-X

[Art Blade]

I was entering Mokuba on a mission to blow up a supplydump when I saw 2 mercs playing what looked like checkers ( I couldn´t see the board but there handmotion made me think of checkers or backgammon). I also overheard one of them say jokingly " just so you know, I always assume you cheat"

I heard one merc ask a buddy, "wanna play a game?" The way they moved their hands and the way they "thought about moves" reminded me of chess, but who knows. Anyway, finally saw it:

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[mandru]

Looking at your post Art, the picture of the two mercs engaged in play and I had the word mancala flash through from my memory.

I had to Google it but mancala is a game played in many parts of Asia and through out Africa. While there are specific boards carved or made with 2 rows of six holes and possibly a larger catch bowl at each end to hold extra playing pieces or captured pieces to play one of the mancala variants.

I have also seen scenes of village elders in Africa squatting or sitting playing a game of mancala with simple holes scooped in the soil, so no actual board is required to play just the marker stones to track moves and count up captures at games end.

I would really like to see two mercs playing to verify chess or checkers hand movements because the merc on the right side has the posture of an aggressive mancala player nailed.

Chess or checkers would be a pinch-move forward-place hand motion while mancala is a cup handed scoop and drop into 2 or 3 places in a sideways motion.

Very cool find giving me something else to watch for in the game.

[Art Blade]

Nice, mandru. I watched them "play" and the movements were more like chess or perhaps nine men's morris. They were decisive, single, sharp, straight movements from the right player.

I didn't even know mancala. I checked both German and English Wiki, see links:

hehe, starting with this:

"In the USA, however, "mancala" is often used as a synonym for the game Kalah."

"When someone in the United States refers to "Mancala," they are probably referring to this game" (Kalah):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalah


mancala:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala


and take a look at the table of the German Wiki, the table lists traditional names (and regions of prevalence)

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#Namen_und_Varianten

[mandru]

OK, chess or checkers it is.  ;D

Funny, I was so shocked that a name for a game I'd never played jumped into my head like that. I mentioned it to my wife who had at one point been quite a backgammon player. She didn't even blink and said "Oh, Oware. I used to have that game." and there on the the table of the German Wiki (and what a table it is) it shows Oware as being from Ghana.

It was the posture of the guy on the right and the intensity of their play that fooled me and probably also let you sneak up so close to them there in Sepoko.

Also just wondering, how many of their buddies had you already cleared out without these two sharp eyed professionally trained and diligent guards spotting you?

[Art Blade]

If you don't tell anybody, I used an "ignore player cheat"  ;)

I used to play backgammon for years, because it's faster than chess and more fun (for me). The thing about backgammon is to win despite of the odds of throwing crap with a pair of dice. But usually I'm lucky, anyway  ;D

Regarding mancala, I spent some time on youtube to get an idea of how it's commonly being played, looks like a fun game. The vids I found were mostly crap, though. Nevertheless, thanks to you I now know mancala and who knows, I might happen upon it :)

[PZ]

For anyone on PC wanting to see a docile FC2 world, the ignore player cheat is just the ticket.  I know it's been said before, but it is simply fascinating to see how much detail the developers have programmed into what few people actually get to witness.

It is well worth the effort to load an old save using the cheat just to see how different the experience of wandering through a peaceful FC2 world can be - the antics of the mercs in the guard posts and other typically hostile areas are priceless.