FC3: Just arrived on Rook Island...

Started by B33 ENN, December 28, 2012, 07:41:28 AM

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B33 ENN

I know, I know, I'm late to the party!  Been caught up on Panau, you know how it is!   ;)

Avoiding many of the discussion threads in case of spoilers, but getting into the game over the last couple of days. I had both good and bad impressions, but mostly loving it so far...

I'm not far in (I don't think). Been to the crazy doctors place to pick shrooms, but apart from that just free roaming and hunting for crafting upgrades, captured 3 towers and bases. Some initial impressions then:

Things I miss from the old game:

1. Don't much like the artstyle of the menu screens or the graphic style of the map. I just find it distasteful compared even to most other games. The old book and sketches of FC2 was simpler and more raw, adding to your immersion with the environment and character.  :lamp:

2. The old map and GPS device opening inside the game world was very much part of the wilderness experience and a new signature style of the series. Now having a permanent mini-map and going out of game to view the map isn't as fluid. Also that Crysis style tagging camera is not only implausible, but just not as immersive and "survivalist" as the old monocular lens. They should've just given him a set of binoculars this time!  :o Also gone seems to be the sleeps system, now I'm awake 24/7  :laugh:

3. The return of Reuben (a.k.a. Dennis) is way cool...  8) but why do all my Rakyat faction guys look exactly alike, was the native island population the result of genetic experiments resulting in inbred clones? The pirates mostly wear old Western style bandana masks so it's hard to tell if they are clones too, but it looks like it as they all speak in the same voice!  :laugh: FC2, as I recall, had many different character models and accents... Having said that, the actual character models up close and laying on the ground is far more real with true depth perceptable from this newer Dunia 2 engine.

4. The overheard conversations of the NPCs also seem more limited, bland and less enjoyable than the African mercs. So far I'm just hearing maybe three different sentences from both rebel and pirates guys - another symptom of cloning?  ???? And the "humour" of the guy that wrote the guide in the handbook menu was unecessary: who cares if his in-laws have qualities that resemble the animals and plants?    ::) Would have preferred a serious tone with stats and nothing more.  8-X

5. I loved the fact in the old game you could pick your character. They added so much wonderful RPG to this iteration, why remove that? The story is good so far, but Jason Brody is all kinds of wrong. He's the wimpy younger brother of the army reservist, Grant, who would have been a far more believable choice as the main protagonist since you quickly default to the same skilled survivor and killer you were in the previous two games.

6. Dunia engine was amazing in FC2 where it was perfect for the environment and cutting edge in every way for 2007. Dunia 2 here has obviously added things for DX11, but much of it doesn't look 'better' than the previous game to my eye. I think that's partly because they changed the artstyle of the game to make things look more 'real' (a la Crysis) rather than a painted canvass look. They also tried to colour things up artificially to respond to those that criticised that "brownness" of the previous game. By tweaking the gamma and contrast settings, I found a happy balance to sort that out to my liking although I still prefer the old game's aesthetic.

However the long distance object quality hasn't been upgraded to serve the new environment. In this Island world, the horizon is a alot more visible most of the time and so just creating murk to hide a lack of quality wasn't ideal given this is a 2012 game. I'd at least have expected it to match Just Cause 2 which is stunning even now in how things look as you go from far away to close in. As a result, I changed the settings file to turn off the "postfxquality" attribute completely (which it doesn't let you in the game menu) getting rid of the DOF etc completely. That makes the distance objects look more as they did in FC2 at least which I can live with more.

In addition, that horizon issue makes the transition effect for day-night cycles unrealistic at the rate they were acceptable before, and I think they've replaced the sun globe with just a blinding light effect, making sunrise vistas that were picturesque in the FC2 savannah, a non-event here. Furthermore, the stormy/rainy weather effects now just appear too suddenly and obviously for this new envronment: one second it's clear blue sky, the next a sheet of gray cloud as far as the eye can see!  ???

Things I love so far about the new game:

1. Yes the RPG mechanics are totally welcome. The skills system  is fun and I'm enjoying that process even though the way they have implemented it, it doesn't look like I have a huge amount of choice of routes to take within each section (Heron, Shark, Spider). I'm probably wrong on that though, we'll see...

2. The animals! Thank goodness they responded to that as the environment just comes alive because of them! And hunting them for skin to craft wearables is cool, as is the plants for meds and other concoctions. However, it looks like they didn't use the opportunity to replace the malaria with the food every so often.

3. Being able to "loot" boxes and bodies and then sell items from the inventory is great, although I'd have liked it if there were more modes to items you find rather than just sell. Like maybe craft some of those things, or use them as an extended currency to unlock new areas/missions? But it seems this isn't the case unless I've missed something major!? So far it seems like anything you find you should just sell, whatever the item info says about it. Maybe I'm asking too much, after all this is a shooter from Ubi, not Skyrim from Bethesda?

4. I love the fact there are friendly NPC factions (even if they are genetically inbred clones) and areas you conquer become safe to travel. It doesn't suit the storyline they've created at all, but I'm likely going to ignore the Jason Brody factor from now on anyway and just pretend I'm the same guy from the last game!  >:D

Okay this is turning into an article so that's enough for one post!  :angel:
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

Dweller_Benthos

I pretty much agree with everything, I just never thought about it that much, but you've spelled them all out, I was never quite sure what felt "wrong" with the game. Mind you, I'm enjoying it quite a lot, and it must be something to drag me away from Minecraft, let me tell you!

The map I completely agree on, the FC2 in game map was much nicer and more fitting with the theme of the game. The minimap I could do without, it's too small most of the time to be helpful. What I'd like is a GPS that keeps track of where you've been and fills in the map as you go, and when you liberate a tower, a large chunk gets filled in, but you wouldn't HAVE to liberate a tower if you didn't want to, the GPS would fill in the map without it. As it is, if you don't turn on the tower, you're wandering in the dark, though that might be fun too sometimes.

I haven't had much interaction with the locals, I mostly ignore them, though I did watch two people sit down for a meal in the first town, and another guy randomly walked by, then bumped into them as they talked, and both ignored each other. It would be nice if they said "ooops sorry" or "look where you're going" in that case.

I still haven't gone to the mansion yet, so I'm not even as far along as you, I'm still wandering around killing animals and skinning them so I can carry more guns and ammo before I start any missions.

I will try that settings file change though, the graphics just look a little off to me.
"You've read it, you can't un-read it."
D_B

B33 ENN

Quote from: Dweller_Benthos on December 28, 2012, 07:57:07 AM...but you wouldn't HAVE to liberate a tower if you didn't want to, the GPS would fill in the map without it. As it is, if you don't turn on the tower, you're wandering in the dark, though that might be fun too sometimes.

When I first did the tower thing, I instantly thought of Assassin's Creed (made by the same studio, I believe). The mechanic is the same, where you climb a tower to reveal a section of a new area, followed by a cutscene survey of the surroundings, then do a swan dive down (or in FC3 you can zip-line down).

It's got tiresome in AC, but I think I'll be able to live with it in FC3 because there is so much more to see and do your own way in this game compared to the other.

Quote from: Dweller_Benthos on December 28, 2012, 07:57:07 AM...I haven't had much interaction with the locals, I mostly ignore them, though I did watch two people sit down for a meal in the first town, and another guy randomly walked by, then bumped into them as they talked, and both ignored each other. It would be nice if they said "ooops sorry" or "look where you're going" in that case.

Thats was one of the most fun things in FC2, dicking around with the mercs in town. I haven't got into playing silly-buggers in this game yet so don't know if they react to you in any interesting ways in the main town itself where you begin. However, everytime I liberate an outpost, a bunch of friendly rebel clones turns up to hold it. Odd these brave native warriors need to rely on an First World civillian brat into extreme sports to be their point man... ;)

Quote from: Dweller_Benthos on December 28, 2012, 07:57:07 AM...I will try that settings file change though, the graphics just look a little off to me.

To get that to w@&k, you have to:


1. Choose "Custom" in the Video Quality setup menu.

2. Then adjust each one how you want it (or make it exactly like the presets such as "Ultra" if you've been using one of them).

3. But leave the "Post FX" setting to Low.

4. Save settings and exit the game completely to desktop. Then edit the file in notepad, and find the setting below:

PostFXQuality="low"

5. ...and change it as follows:

PostFXQuality="false"

6. Save the file

Now when you start the game it'll be disabled. Hoever, never go in the Video Quality menu as it will change it back to "Low" automatically and you'll have to repeat the file edit.
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

Art Blade

Very interesting topic and posts, cheers, guys :) I agree with all of it :-D And thanks for the  PostFX tip.

Which file is it exactly you need to change and where is it located?
[titlebar]Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.[/titlebar]What doesn't kill us, makes us weirder.

B33 ENN

Quote from: Art Blade on December 28, 2012, 11:40:04 AMWhich file is it exactly you need to change and where is it located?

It's the "GamerProfile.xml" file, which should be located in your "\..\Documents\My Games\Far Cry 3" folder.

See this post on Ubi's forums for a comparison screenshot:

http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/731880-Guide-How-To-Disable-Depth-Of-Field
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

Binnatics

B33 ENN, your way of looking at the game is really clear and delighting. I like your description of where the Dunia engine lacks new skill. I don't know that much about game mechanics but I realised that it is the same engine (or based in the the same engine) with some extra gameplay-modifications and of course DX11 additional glance.

I was enormously critical to the game, and my list of complaints was fat longer than my list of 'great new features'. Anyway, the game somehow has swallowed me, like D_B says, where it doesn't matter anymore. I'm kind of in a dream, shooting and sneaking and I love the special effects that do "get me" on certain occasions which makes me take another screenshot ^-^

I bet you will get sucked in as well :-() :-X
"Responsibility is not a matter of giving or taking, responsibility is something you share" -Binnatics

PZ

Indeed; great review B33 ENN.  most of us that are well into the game can relate to just about all of what you wrote.  :-X

Thanks for the tip on Gamerprofile.xml  :-X  kudos for that!

Art Blade

Now you've earned your kudos  :-() :-() :-() Thanks, B33 ENN :-X :)
[titlebar]Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.[/titlebar]What doesn't kill us, makes us weirder.

fragger

I too agree with your analysis B33 ENN.

I don't know how much you've read here, but I'll be interested to hear what you have to say about the main missions once you get into them. You too, Dweller :)

All things considered I'm enjoying the game a lot, but I can tell you right now that I won't still be playing it in three years' time like I did FC2. Overall, it just doesn't grab me in quite the same way, despite its many improvements and innovations (some of which are terrific). It's this close to being my game of games, but some things about it prevent me from waxing completely lyrical.

I hope you do enjoy it though :)

B33 ENN

Thanks for the kind responses guys. Before I continue my first impressions, I'll reply to some of you.

Quote from: Binnatics on December 28, 2012, 02:26:22 PMI was enormously critical to the game, and my list of complaints was fat longer than my list of 'great new features'. Anyway, the game somehow has swallowed me... I bet you will get sucked in as well :-() :-X

Criticisms aside, I'm definitely enjoying the game. I think we nit-pick so much because we are true diehards of this series and passionate about it! On the whole I agree with what you say as I have been hooked since buying it, and I think eventually you learn to appreciate it for itself rather than compare it to the previous games. After all, FC2 wasn't perfect and there are many other games that have filled those gaps, such as Borderlands, Fallout/Skyrim, JC2, GTA etc...

Quote from: PZ on December 28, 2012, 05:54:00 PM
Indeed.... most of us that are well into the game can relate to just about all of what you wrote.  :-X

Quote from: Art Blade on December 29, 2012, 01:42:07 AM...Thanks, B33 ENN :-X :)

Quote from: fragger on December 29, 2012, 02:44:01 AMI too agree with your analysis B33 ENN.

Thanks guys, it's encouraging to know the points come across well.  :)

Quote from: fragger on December 29, 2012, 02:44:01 AM...I don't know how much you've read here, but I'll be interested to hear what you have to say about the main missions once you get into them. You too, Dweller :)

I've avoided reading too much about the game to avoid spoilers, so I've not really been keeping up with the threads.

Quote from: fragger on December 29, 2012, 02:44:01 AM...All things considered I'm enjoying the game a lot, but I can tell you right now that I won't still be playing it in three years' time like I did FC2. Overall, it just doesn't grab me in quite the same way, despite its many improvements and innovations (some of which are terrific). It's this close to being my game of games, but some things about it prevent me from waxing completely lyrical.

That's a very interesting observation Fragger, to know by instinct whether the game has that longevity like the old one did.

At the moment, I feel this one does have that capacity for me, but I'll be honest I have not been totally immersed by the characterisations and world as I was before: In FC2, I believed I was this merc and wanted to find the Jackal. Here, I couldn't care less about Jason Brody, and I'm just enjoying being on holiday!  :laugh:

Seriously, I just have niggles where I feel they didn't focus development on the important stuff enough, and instead re-invented the wheel in other places where it wasn't really improtant.

I'll give an illustration of what I mean:

For me, the original gamescape and setting( Africa/mercs/armsdealers) was ripe for more adventures. They spent an awful lot of time, money, and energy to create a vast database of beautiful and picturesque assets, and all they needed to do was add to it with everything they've extended in this game (RPG mechanics, animal threats/hunting/crafting, DX11... etc. etc.).

Basically, they could have used all that again for another mission in the same world, possibly by extending the story to that neighbouring country where Reubens and the refugees flee, and reusing the assets to create that new country, or having it added to the orginal map for an even bigger experience. They could have had Vaas and his gang as the new protagonists causing mayhem there after and even had the Jackal return (I liked him  :-D ) for a cameo.

Instead, they dumped all of that and spent more time/energy creating this island world which so far doesn't look any better or interesting, to me at least. So they made a new landscape with new guns/vehicles etc., and with pirates replacing mercs, and a less appealing menu and map! Somewhere in there, as a result, less time was available to perfect the RPG and other stuff we've been discussing.

I know why they probably did it: First, they probably felt a new release couldn't be expected to sell if it looked exactly like the last game. Second, they wanted to copy the elements they thought people loved from the original Far Cry game (tropical island setting), especially after seeing Crysis, Just Cause 2 and Dead Island do well with it.

That's more a marketing problem though, and I feel that choice was a lack of originality and cahones that comes from a studio being run by corporate suits. It's not like they didn't have an inhouse precedent to follow, after all, this is the same people that released several Assassin's Creed II expansion games (AC:B and AC:R) so why not FC2: Return to Paradise?  :-D And it never hurt the STALKER series to go back to the same location to tell another chapter in the story; and that series is up there with the all time best. Let's be honest, FC2 was a sales and marketing success, all that has ever been written bad about it was the repetitive gameplay mechanic; Africa was never the problem.
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

B33 ENN

I've been roaming about following my own hunting agenda and so far managed to upgrade almost all my craftable slots to "Heavy Duty" leaving only the special Path Of The Hunter levels outstanding. I've got a loadout of silenced MP5, silenced sniper, flamethrower and rocket luncher. These are some further observations:

Things I miss from the old game (or other negative points):

7. The save system is bugging me. I am trying to make the best of it, but being able to save your progress on the spot wherever you are on the map was definitely important. Nothing worse than having spent a hard afternoon carefully hunting a selection of animals to then take a stroll along the river bank and get snapped up by an aligator! :-[ Restart and you're back down the map at an outpost and with it all the hunting/crafting to do over again!  :D

8. The in-game music setting has only ON/OFF, no volume slider. That's an opportunity missed as I'd like to give it a chance, especially details like the radio playing when you jump in a car. However, it's too loud and so I have to turn it off. Most of the music so far in the game isn't quite up to the awesome soundtrack of the first game which just bonded you to the environment.

9. The hang gliders returning are great but I'd have also liked a microlight. I understand a larger flyable craft would have had issues in terms of escaping the island, but a microlight could be realistically limited in terms of range and altitude. Not sure if there is anything like that later, because I heard in the build up there would be at least one powered flyable in the game.

10. I think having a specific weapons dealer, and a separate one for general items such as meds, skins etc. would have been better than a one-size-fits-all shop. It's unrealistic, especially when the shelves are stocked with other things but it's only armaments you can buy! It should have been that you have the option to buy anything you can hunt or craft (but at a significant mark-up), since you can sell anything you hunt/loot (except rare items).

In addition, the vending machine idea isn't working on me. In Borderlands it's brilliant as it's part of the tongue-in-cheek world. Here they've added mixed styles that don't compliment each other well. The old weapons chests and storage at safe houses (outposts) was more seemless, leaving trading to dealers located somewhere else, like nearby townships.

11. Given these radio towers are so key to the strategic balance, I'd expect them to have some pirates allocated to their defence, but so far none have been. In addition, gaining control of an area is a little too easy. Once you take over an outpost or two per section, there is no more pirate resistance- like none have returned to try to take them back! These clone Rakyat guys are the worst "warriors" I've seen: they couldn't have easily done this by themselves without Jason Brody, but are just lazy!  :laugh: At least in Just Cause 2 they step up and go in before you to takedown the bases, not arrive conveniently seconds after you've cleared things up and then having the audacity to then say "Yeah! I'm the man!"  >:((

12. Money lying around out in the open, shacks always empty with only fetish objects and playing cards, while the occupants are wondering aimlessly on roads, or just standing in the middle of nowhere, even cooking up a roast pig in the middle of a road or tiger infested vegetation!  :laugh: Seriously, useful items in cupboards/shelves and money in safe-boxes, with people scattered around their dwellings might have been more realisitc.

Fallout 3 had a good example of the kind of items to find, and a great feature where if you were in someone's home and tried to loot, you'd lose favour with that faction. If they saw you do it, they'd fight you and killing them would further damage your reputation. These RPG mechanics are now fairly old techs in this industry so I'm surprised Ubi Montreal are so behind the times!

13. I think they should have left the skill tree progression separate from the missions. As it is, they bind you to a particular direction of building your character which is contrary to the entire point. In Borderlands, as I recall, you can build your character however you like with each new level after getting the required XP. In Deus Ex Human Revolution, much the same. Here, whole chuncks of skills are locked until you do the missions, leaving you the only choice to spend your points on basically everything left?  ????

14. "Warning! LEAVING MISSION ZONE. Return to the objective, or the mission will fail."  :D >:(( :angry-new: Like seriously?

Things I love so far about the new game (and general positive points):

5. The vehicles drive oh so much better. Controlling them with the keys is much more precise and well calibrated making it much easier to drive at speed and stay on the road! I have driven a fair number of the vehicles I've come across, most are versions of the FC2 vehicles, but I do miss the more posh SUVs that were in the old game.  :)

6. The fast travel system is a good step forward, allthough I miss the old bus sound effect  :-D The only thing that would have made it ideal is if there was a time lapse once you get there. As far as I can see it seems instant where in the old game an amount of hours had passed when you arrived. This aided atmosphere and again, that word, immersion.

7. I like the ability to customise weapons with some attachments. There is a lot of room here for experimenting with different play-styles!

8. I like the new animation extensions for for jumping over obstacles and climbing up that in the previous game couldn't be done. It's not far from free-running mechanics and reminds me of BRINK.
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

Art Blade

very good read, mate.  :-X
Agree with what you said, nothing to argue about. :)
[titlebar]Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.[/titlebar]What doesn't kill us, makes us weirder.

JRD

B33 ENN your observations are spot on.  :-X

I totally agree with points 13 and 14. The skill trees are meant to be built the way Ubi wants you to build it  :D and the mission zone is something that annoys me since the early missions. I was driving towards the area where I was supposed to get to a vantage point and snipe enemies on a lumber camp. I had to turn right into a side road to get to the point but as I was flying low on my jeep I zoomed past to the left but not without "activating" the mission as I passed to close to the objective to trigger it. By the time I managed to brake and turn back I got the "Mission Failed" message  :D

On another occasion I had to hunt a yellow necked cassowary for a heavy duty upgrade. The creature is on a small promontory surrounded by sea with only one exit. As I shot it once it fled to the west, leaving the "mission zone" and as I went after it I had the waring message telling me to come back or fail the mission... so I had to stay within the blue area, waiting for the freaking ostrich to come back to the area. I shot it dead on the brink of the zone and I had to skin it really fast before failing the mission as the game considered I was out of the zone  :D  Man, I almost lost my upgrade :laugh:

Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity

Binnatics

Indeed sharp observations B33 :-X

So many times I've tried to trick Ubi at their stupid scripted mission design and all the time: You're leaving the zone :D :D >:((

Once I found a hang-glider near that boat you have to investigate for Buck. I thought; "Yeah, let's attack from above!!" When I came close to the ship an invisible giant hand came along and pushed me into the water. "What the...." :o ??? :angry-new:

Good point indeed about the skill trees. They 'make you' complete the damn storyline in order to feel free and perform whatever trick you want on these darn pirates.   ::)
"Responsibility is not a matter of giving or taking, responsibility is something you share" -Binnatics

Art Blade

He who wants honey from the beehive has to cope with the bees first :-D I much rather buy a jar with honey in it, though.
[titlebar]Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.[/titlebar]What doesn't kill us, makes us weirder.

B33 ENN

I've 'discovered' something that makes the game a lot more fun, but is likely something most of you already know. I got to the point where basically half (I think) of the island is uncovered in towers, and also outposts.

However the game started to become... well a little empty. It dawns on me that Ubi basically combined the old guardposts and safe houses into one type of base in this game. Take over too many outposts anbd essentially you've conquered the territory leaving no one to fight.

I decided to only do the towers to get the map revealed, but leaving the outposts in enemy hands. Suddenly the game starts to really feel like the old one again, but better because sometimes you run into pirates to have an impromtu fight, other times neutrals or allies. So now walking/driving/boating/gliding is actually preferable to using the fast travel system.  :-X So I've got half the island friendly and safe, the other half I'm gonna leave for party time!  >:D

Something bugging me a lot now is the voice overs of the NPCs. They are the same few sentences every time, and I found myself doing something that never even crossed my mind in the previous game until my ?th playthrough: modding.

I'm looking to see if there is a way to get the old FC2 voice overs into this game, as well as the menu sound effects, which are annoying as hell. :angry-new: I'd even love to import the music from the old game! I've only found graphic mods so far:

The best Far Cry 3 mods

But nothing for sounds/music, so if you chaps know of anything along those lines, be greatly appreciated!  :)

Meanwhile, I read this funny article, which I definitely related to even though I've only just started the game???:

What I Loathe About Far Cry 3
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

Art Blade

I can relate to what you said, as before :)

What a long article you linked to  :-() He didn't seem to have applied the 1.04 patch while composing it because at least one thing is now possible: to stop the game from reminding you every three minutes. Else, he got a list of oddities that I all recognise and I can relate.

Hehe, in essence he said what I was thinking before reading that article: They cannot possibly have had that game tested properly before release. I think they had someone come up with a rudimentary save game option early on in development and then forgot to fix that. If they forgot that, they cannot have spent enough time testing the game from start to end because everybody I know keeps commenting about the stupid save game thing. Same goes for menus, like he said, I wish I had a shortcut for crafting. I also wish I had several sort options for the loot rucksack. Some that make sense for a change. For example, show me all blue leaves and count them, show all tiger skins and count them.. and the ability to mark individual items or groups of items for a bundle sell/discard.

What you said about the outposts is true, you will only have a few locations that will keep spawning bad guys. There is indeed a mod that I'm currently using which resets all outposts (unfortunately along with all radio towers). The first time I was suspicious because I had two crashes in quick succession so I reverted to the manual save, but now none at all for perhaps two days. That mod is something you might like, too :)

By the way, F9 is quicksave and F11 is quickload.

Oh, and another Kudos +1 for you because I like the to-the-point observations you keep writing.  :-X :)
[titlebar]Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.[/titlebar]What doesn't kill us, makes us weirder.

B33 ENN

Quote from: Art Blade on December 30, 2012, 12:08:59 PM
I can relate to what you said, as before :)

What a long article you linked to  :-()

Almost as long as one of my posts!  :-D

Quote from: Art Blade on December 30, 2012, 12:08:59 PMHe didn't seem to have applied the 1.04 patch while composing it because at least one thing is now possible: to stop the game from reminding you every three minutes.

Indeed, I noted that too. I started on 1.04 so I guess I haven't been as bothered by it, but I feel the pain of all of yoiu that had to endure without for so long!  :-(

Quote from: Art Blade on December 30, 2012, 12:08:59 PM...They cannot possibly have had that game tested properly before release.... they cannot have spent enough time testing the game from start to end because everybody I know keeps commenting about the stupid save game thing. Same goes for menus, like he said, I wish I had a shortcut for crafting. I also wish I had several sort options for the loot rucksack....

I concur. In fact, a few hours into the game and my reaction was the same: it felt like either it was an unfinished beta, or they simply have some of the cheapest playtesters they can get.

One of my suspicions is that the bigger these teams of developers get (like 100-200 for the average AAA game these days), the more the effect of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing creeps in. In other words, different people in charge of different aspects, each with differing tastes.

I dunno, I'm probably looking to make sense of it when there isn't any point. It's just that FC2 felt so cohesive from every element: menu, music, graphics, story, characters... This game lacks that for sure.

It seems like for every iteration, evertime Ubi gets something right, they end up breaking something else that was fine as it was before!

Quote from: Art Blade on December 30, 2012, 12:08:59 PM...There is indeed a mod that I'm currently using which resets all outposts (unfortunately along with all radio towers). ...That mod is something you might like, too :)

I think I read about that one as I was surfing. I may try it, perhaps at the end of my playthrough when my character is fully built and the story is over and I can free-roam.

I'm hoping someone finds a mod to break the link between story missions and skills soon though.  >:D

There is this other mod I saw that adds more items to the crafting of any item. Like one thing that made little sense to me is that you only need one thing to craft another. Like, for instance, just green leaves for a med hypo... so where do you get the hypo syringe itself!  :laugh: This mod, means you need plants and some skins to craft something. Could be good...
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

Art Blade

I too think that either too many devs were involved or that they didn't communicate with one another. Or both. Looks like some patchwork. Probably every single part in itself looked good but the way they slapped it together lacks, as you say, cohesiveness. I miss consistency, too. They would have noticed that some things needed working over. For instance, if you use the craft "menu" once or twice, it seems OK as it does w@&k, but hey, we need it every so often.. not just once or twice. Or saving the game. If you just fire it up to see if you can drive that car, you won't need to save much. Oh, all that said, might explain why we do have some very linear story mission and an open world outside. There are so many details in that world that by comparison the story is almost thin. Could have been a lot more interwoven.
[titlebar]Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.[/titlebar]What doesn't kill us, makes us weirder.

fragger

Once again B33 ENN, your observations are spot-on.

The save function definitely needs addressing (maybe yet another patch?) In that way as well as in some others, the game feels as though it was rushed out the door to meet the deadline. I would rather have waited a bit longer until they flushed a few more of the bugs out of it, but then I do like trying to inhabit an ideal world :-()

Art Blade

[titlebar]Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.[/titlebar]What doesn't kill us, makes us weirder.

fragger


B33 ENN

Ok, wondering around the islands doing my thing... I had this odd feeling something wasn't right about the passage of time and the day/night cycles. It didn't feel like FC2, even though I know by default that game had speeded up game versus real time.

But in FC3, it has always felt imbalanced as well (like the days are longer than nights), but sometimes it felt really fast, and when I timed things I found that it was never the same.

Then I found this video and it made sense why  :(

You guys know about this? I swear it wasn't like this in FC2...
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

Art Blade

I didn't know that but hey.. they must've been tripping hard when designing it  :laugh: :D
[titlebar]Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.[/titlebar]What doesn't kill us, makes us weirder.

B33 ENN

Definitely going to have to mod many a thing in this game going forwards! Never felt the need in FC2 but here I think I'm beggining to see Fragger's point, it may be crucial to longevity.

I think with this iteration they really tried hard to pander to the CoD consollers with ADHD   :laugh:
"Do your mother a favour, buy a Lance & Ferman Military Laser."

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