AC:R for PC - The Agony and the Ecstasy

[mandru]

 Right off the top I'm going to mention trouble I had getting AC:R loaded and running on my PC so that anyone else reading this who decides to get this game can avoid the grief it gave me.

I dropped the disc into my drive and it loaded OK but when I tried to launch it to play I ran into trouble.  There was no option to have a Shortcut set to the desk top while loading the game.   ????

It turns out that AssassinsCreedRevelations (Autopatch system) is the game start icon in the program files that can have a shortcut set to the desk top but *don't try to Right Click and Drag it to the desk top using Copy to set it there as I did because a missing .dll message is all you will get when you try to start up.   ???   The only suggestion from a quick web search for solutions was to uninstall and reload the game which I did but that was not the solution for the real problem.  The missing .dll had something to do with DirectX but that was a complete wild goose chase.   >:((

In the folder where the game installs you've got to Right Click the proper icon and select the option "Create a shortcut".  When I did this it informed me that I couldn't create a shortcut in the Program(86)>Ubisoft>Assassin's Creed Revelations folder but asked "Would you like to set this shortcut on the desk top?" as if that hadn't been what I'd been trying to do for almost an hour and a half.   :D

Even though there are three .exe files that have the same exact icon the AssassinsCreedRevelations (Autopatch system) is the one that when launched first checks for patches and then opens the Ubi internet game link server to allow the game to start up.

I hope that keeps someone else from avoid the problems I had.   


The game's beautiful.  I particularly appreciate the the "How to" suggestion messages that pop up with the opportunity to try new things out in a little closed pocket universe the Animus whips up for you.  Under the pop up suggestions it says something like "Press (key) to Practice" but once you are familiar with a move or function which restarts 3 seconds after each success/fail you can either return to the game or try the next exercise in the tutorial sessions.  By continuing to w%&k through additional tutorials it would allow someone who has never played any of the previous AC games to be familiar with game mechanics or I particularly like getting to handle some of the weapons that will come later in the game and fighting against tougher enemies that also will come later in the game.

The Janissaries, the Ottoman empire's elite guards for the Sultan are tough damn father muggers.   8-X

I am also enjoying here early in the game that the guards when looted readily replace medicine, throwing knives and other combat expendables. 

AC2 was the only other game I'd played in this series but that has caused me a few problems  The "E" key which I'm familiar with hitting to engage "Eagle Vision" has been moved to the "V" key and that previously safe "E" key now deploys the secondary weapon.   ????   I was showing my wife a pair of the Janissaries who were quietly guarding a couple of treasure chests.  Because of being distracted by talking to her and pointing out things on the screen when I put my left hand back on the keys to move closer so that she could see better details of their masks I noticed I wasn't moving.  I took my misplaced finger off the "E" key to shift over to the "W" to inch closer and sprayed both Janissaries along with a couple lesser but still tough Ottoman guards with half of my throwing knives.   :o

Only seconds before I had told her "I'm not going to mess with these guys now because they are Tough Monkeys!"  I won't say here what I said out loud when they came for me with both swords and pistols drawn.   8-X


I've had to amend my thoughts on early game strategy to ensure cash wouldn't be a problem but it still entails hours of pickpocketing and rolling the Templars for their measly wages.

I'll drop my variants on what I've encountered by actually getting into the game in here to avoid saying too much out loud:

Spoiler

Until you enter the assassin's headquarters the first time there is no access to any of the shops or banks and renovations for new ones also are blocked.  Doctors are considered shops even the doctors on the streets working out of their little carts instead of storefronts.  It's a good thing looting the guards is generous for medicine.

Entering the assassin's headquarters the first time introduces you to the Home Boys and when it's pointed out how lousy your gear is a mission is given to get some cash and visit a local black smith for new.

Accepting this mission makes the shops in the area available to you.  One of each is already open (those nearest the HQ) and one of each that can be renovated.  Fortunately the street doctors are much more widely available dispersed over this first area of Istanbul but the restrictions on the number of available shops on this first map while you are still incognito barely starts a trickle into the bank of 5K or so every twenty minutes and the crossbow costs 27K just to give you a feel for some of the time scales involved.   :-\\

The number of banks opened sets the amount of cash that can be accumulated (the size of the pool) and the number of the rest of the shops renovated determines how much cash is deposited to your account every twenty minutes (the volume of the cash flow into the pool).  So cash from investments at this point in the game is pretty limited and once access is allowed to a larger game map coincides with the same time notoriety comes into affect.

Another thing to consider is that I've noticed from a walk through I've been viewing that every renovation makes the Templars more aware of you which is another factor that will put you in danger of facing one of those nasty Den Defense mini-games.  I am so dreading those.  I know I've got to do one here soon in the story line but if at all possible I will do whatever it takes to never have to do a second one.   

I've managed to hold onto a perfect 100% on sync so far and after I lay in more cash I'll be going for my hook blade so I can jump into that zip line action.  So far it's been a very enjoyable game.   :-X

Oh, and if anyone from Ubi happens to read this you guys really need to make a patch to at least offer to set up a desk top shortcut when the game installs!   \:/


(* I edited my description of how not to create a shortcut for better clarity - making a long post only slightly longer  >:D  )

[Art Blade]

Nice. :)

You should take a look at the menu and check an option that lets you remap your key bindings. You should be able to get your eagle eye vision back on E or at least change the current setup to your liking.

And gee, it makes me grin again thinking about man over matter or, mandru over pc, when demonstrating elegantly how to screw up big time when the wife is watching. Must have been pretty funny for her and rather embarrassing for you  8-X

Side note: When I clicked on the subject I didn't think of anything but what I saw made me drop my jaw, a huge text. With a tiny and inconspicuous spoiler tab. Which on clicking and seeing the large text there let me drop the rest of my face 

[Fiach]

Glad you got it running mate :)

I know I usually play consoles and I'm not a real gamer like you PC nerds...erm....real manly gamers, but when I read things like this, I just love my 360 that little bit more, so thank you Mandru, for bringing a little more love into my bleak console gamer life :)  >:D 8-X

[spaceboy]

I'm with you on that Fiach - I just don't think I'd have the patience for dll problems and such :)

But yeah Mandru - glad you got it sorted.  As for money, don't forget to upgrade the banks, tailors, blacksmiths, book shops, doctors etc.  The more Templar Dens you take over you can begin "buying" these shops in the area which increase your revenue at the bank (every 20 mins a deposit is made) before long you'll be rolling in dough!

[mandru]

@ Fiach - Glad I could be of service.  :-D


Thanks spaceboy for the tip.  I'm on it.  :-D  I've done all I can in that direction for the point I'm at in the game.  I'm currently building up a comfortable nest egg before I push on.   :-X


Art, I know I can remap keys but there are going to be features introduced later on in the game that will have the tutorials set to Ubi's keyboard layout so my thought is that it would be best for me to learn the new arrangement so that I don't cause a conflict at some later point by remapping a key that will have multiple functions.

Some changes worth noting. The old  AC2 was set up so that I could completely navigate all of the menu functions using only my left hand.  Scrolling options from a menu with "W" and "S" for up and down and using "A" and "D" to access DNA Nodes or any other menu that had a Left - Right orientation.  Space Bar for select and Shift to move back a step when I was drilled down into a menu feature.

AC:R has it's menus set up so that you have to select an item with the mouse and either Left Click the selection button or hit Enter to initiate your choice.  To move Back through menu options you either have to Left Click the back option or you can let go of the mouse and hit "Backspace" but I'll get over it.   :-D


Pickpocketing is also a bit different from what I am used to.  The cash is accumulated more quickly than in AC2 when using a highly populated area like a town square with an open fountain and connecting streets that are free of guards to let you make a large loop away from your center of action but feeds you around again so that you can make uninterrupted circuits through the population as their pockets fill back up with cash.

The reaction time for a victim realize they've been scored and come after you is much quicker.  Potential victims are also much more keenly aware of trouble when it is coming their way.  It is not uncommon for entire crowds to try to back away as you approach, quite often shouting curses and warnings to others that there is a thief actively working the area.

But I have to say the population of Istanbul loves a fight!  You can get 25 or so people angry with you as you keep moving working the crowd and then shift to bare fist, kick over to "lock on" and allow them to come at you one by one.  This punch-em-up action causes everyone to cluster around you collecting them into a tight group and also serves to identify those whose pockets you've not been able to clean out yet as well as providing lots of practice using the Counter Kill move though it is with empty hands and only maims your victims.   >:D

You don't make money quite as quickly using my described fight scenario but how often do you get the chance to have 80 or so people all laying on the ground moaning and writhing in pain with no one still on their feet because you've beat up an entire town square?   

[PZ]

...You don't make money quite as quickly using my described fight scenario but how often do you get the chance to have 80 or so people all laying on the ground moaning and writhing in pain with no one still on their feet because you've beat up an entire town square?   

:-X

I too am on console with ACR so never experienced the problems you did.  My usual M.O. is to get the game on console first, and then if the title really strikes me in a positive sense, get it for the PC.  I think I'll wait for a while  :-()

Did you notice if you must be online to play the game?

[mandru]

PZ, I knew that there would be an online requirement but then AC2 had the exact same setup and it has only given me trouble a couple times so I'm used to it. 

[PZ]

Funny thing is that the last time I had to update the AC2 loader, it now allows me to play offline, with no more synching of the game with the online server.  The only activity I now notice is that the loader automatically searches for loader updates (or it appears to be doing so).

However, you never really know what's going on behind the scenes.  :D

[mandru]

The realization that my dread of Den Defense fell far short of how much I was going to come to hate it has fully come upon me.  :D

I got through the mandatory story line run through of that mini game.  Through it all the closest thing I felt towards a sense of accomplishment was the thought "well I'm glad that's over" and this was the live training wimp wave that concludes with an engine of destruction that amounts to a canvas covered battering ram on wheels that still managed to slice straight through 4 double reinforced manned barricades to attack the tower directly even though all roof spaces were filled with archers, riflemen and team leaders.  I know from the walk through I've been watching things would get a whole lot nastier when the real Defense runs start.

So I adopted the habit of visiting the heralds every time they were available.  Open a shop - run to the closest herald, buy a landmark - run to the herald and so on all to keep my notoriety as close to zero as possible.  It was working well for me until an unexpected complication popped up.   :'(

I had just unlocked my 4th den and my notoriety was up higher than I was comfortable with because the Cowardly Commander (a type of Templar commander who flees as soon as trouble is detected and you have to run him down to kill him or if he gets away you have to wait until the next day to try again) had led me on a merry chase through the rat maze of surrounding streets when I failed an Air Strike by incorrectly landing on an unfortunately placed beam sticking out of the side of a building that he happened to run under at exactly the wrong moment I was still well under the radar.  After returning and lighting the tower's signal fire to claim the den I was at full risk.

A quick check of the map showed a nearby herald and I went straight for him but when I was within line of sight of the herald I realized that several paces ahead of me and completely unaware of my presence was the official and his two escorts who if killed would remove the majority of my notoriety instead of a mere 25%!  Down went the two escorts silently with my double blades followed quickly by three quick steps and down went the official.  My notoriety flashed all clear for the briefest of moments right before three converging patrols simultaneously recognized me and linked me to the dead bodies.

In that moment I flashed back to full notoriety with full Templar awareness and a split second later as I was bolting up the side of a building to escape the message that one of my dens was being Contested.  :D

Within two seconds of receiving that message I reached up to the top of my computer and hard crashed it by pressing and holding the power button in the hopes that it would cause the game to lose data and effectively erase the incident even at the cost of having to go back over the last half hour spent systematically clearing guards off roof tops in such a way that no suspicion would arise and completely play through the recapture of that Assassin's Den but that was too much to hope for.   :(

When I restarted and got the game reloaded there off in the distance was the Assassin's Den still illuminated in Contested yellow.   ???   It's the area with the Grand Market (the most expensive landmark I've purchased so far) as well as the fact that every shop there has been opened.  The game manual doesn't say if the loss of a den causes affected landmarks and shops to be locked once again only to have to be repurchased after taking it back from the Templars.  There's a lot the manual doesn't say.   :(

So I'm kind of down to a couple hard choices.  At fourteen + hours into the game I'm not willing to scrub it all and restart from scratch.  I can go through the Den Defense standing completely aside allowing the Templars to take the tower back uncontested to get it over with quickly and then recapture and go through re-buying all my shops which is unfortunately a lot more attractive than actually trying to play the Den Defense mini game or I can just jerk the SOB out of my computer and toss it to the back of the shelf as a dust magnet.

Can you tell right now that I'm a lot less thrilled with this game than I was when I woke up this morning.   :-\\

[Fiach]

Sounds like a really annoying mechanic mate  :-(

I dont know anything about the AC series, but I'm guessing that it uses an autosave feature. I would suggest you dont quit out again like you did, doing that accounts for 90% (I made that figure up :)) of corrupted game saves on consoles.

I think (know) you have put me off even considering that game as a purchase, going by what you have posted.

I hope you can recover the territory pretty quickly, there is nothing as frustrating as something like that in a game, they are supposed to be a fun experience, thats why they are called games, not frustrating piles of shite.

[PZ]

Sorry to hear of your problems, mandru - You could consider leaving those pesky dens until later in the game.  One other thing - when you place one of your assassin's in a captured den, and he/she goes through master assassin training (which is accomplished by you doing missions with them), your den will be immune to the Templars.

Another thing I'm doing more frequently - using mercenaries to do my dirty w@&k.  I regularly walk the streets with my gang in tow, and when I run across an official, I just send them to do their deed.  The mercenaries are quite spry in this game, more so than in AC2.  I'm also using my assassins more frequently.  I now have almost all of them because of the Templar dens I captured.  Sure I lost a couple of them back, but I don't really care, and I have one that is under attack, but again, I'm more interested in advancing in the game.  I'll tend to them once I get further in the game.  >:D

The only downside I've noticed in losing the den defense battles is that you need to capture the den again, which can actually be fun if you want to try new attack methods.  At first I was a bit dismayed when I had to re-capture my den, but I decided to use it to my advantage - practice new battle and strategy techniques.

When I'm fully notorious, the first thing I do is hunt down a group of mercenaries to hire - it is lots of fun walking through town having the guards look at me with suspicion, and then I send my gang to visit with them.  >:D  To ensure that I have plenty of them, I load every empty faction building with mercenaries.

I'm at the point where I receive nearly 20,000 coins in the bank with each 20 minute span, so with hundreds of thousands of them to spend, I'm not worried about the cost of anything.

I guess what I'd recommend is putting the dens on the back burner until you get farther into the game.  If you haven't done any of the Sophia missions, or done the main story line, you might try that as well - they are tons of fun, and take you away from the annoying den attacks.  About those, I'm to the point where I'm not even going to fight them anymore - will just let the war machine attack and get it done with as quickly as possible, and then attack the den to re-capture it.

Spoiler

On a side note, I just did one of the Sophia missions where you are transported back to the first AC, and you are playing as and old Altair - so old you can't climb buildings anymore, and huff and puff when you run too long.

[mandru]

There's a lot in AC:R that is fun.  I've had quite a few "Oh wow!" moments and I'm still early in.   8)

There have been several additions to the controls for the in fighting that are a real wow factor over the controls I was familiar with in AC:2.  The addition of the hook blade to replace the right hidden blade makes a couple throws and take downs possible that are pretty spectacular or even when running straight at an enemy you don't want to fight you can grapple him, swing over his shoulder and keep on running leaving him dazed and confused.  The new quick kill feature has allowed me to ambush a group of four guards on patrol with a heavy axe and when things click properly they're down and I'm looting their bodies in three seconds.   >:D

The scenery is beautiful while the twisting jumbled layout of the narrow back alley ways and even the few broad avenues I've encountered don't run straight very far.  The streets spring up out of nowhere out of converging byways briefly highlighting some point of historic interest and just as quickly disappear back into the confusion of lanes resulting from overcrowded centuries old buildings standing shoulder to shoulder.  I really like that the game is full of historical references.  I'm won over by the concept that a game can educate with out being preachy as well as entertain.   :-X

And I understand that PZ has said on his "First Impressions" thread that he likes the Den Defense portions of the game.   ????


While not a real spoiler I'll stash this bit of bile here:

Spoiler

I think some people are able to experience things as a whole by being able to average out the highs and the lows at a single bite.  Kind of like someone enjoying the comradery of a few days in the woods cooking and camping out with several friends while being able to auto-erase the aggravation of having to scour out that twelve quart cast iron Dutch Oven that had been used to cook the BBQ marinated pork tenderloin & beans and was forgotten on the fire overnight after everyone had their third helping and run out of lies leaving barely enough energy to waddle off to their tents.  Including the person who was supposed to be on clean up but had pulled out earlier in the morning and already gone back to town.

I'm the guy who remembers his last camp out thirty years ago being hunched over a cold creek shivering the next morning up to my shins hacking away at the Dutch Oven with a cold chisel wondering if burnt beans would wreck it as a planter for a palm tree.   :(

PZ I see you've posted while I was working on this.  Your thought on letting the war machine take the tower and later restore it sounds somewhat familiar.   ^-^

So I'll ask about the shops in an area where a den has fallen.  Do the shops become locked and unavailable under the Templar influence?

Do they need to be repurchased once the area is recovered?


Plus one extra question since you're further along in the game than me.  I've also noticed that the bomb making tables are still unavailable to me even though my personal inventory is full with all of the components to make them and the glistening door opening to the game character Piri Reis is active allowing me entry but the table there won't w@&k either and he won't acknowledge me.  Is there a point in the story line where I have to do a mission to unlock that feature?


I've had almost 12 hours to get over my grouch.  I'm starting to reconsider using the game disc as a coaster for beverages on my computer desk and maybe even jump back in since I'm giving it this high of a percentage of my available processing cycles to figuring out ways to w@&k around frustrating bits of the game.   ;)

[PZ]

I'm not sure about the loss of renovations when you lose your den - I never paid attention.  However, I do notice that the dens on the left side of the map are the ones that are the most difficult, and the ones that get attached the most often.  The result: I'm not even trying to defeat those dens until later in the game.  I see the kind of like the races - something that I really don't like all that much, but will probably get to one of these days.

The den defenses were initially kind of fun, but they quickly become repetitious - they w@&k exactly the same way, and in essence become a corridor shooter.  However, I liken it to my experience with the Borgia towers in ACB - once they were done, that was it - you could not do them again except for replay of a sequence.  In ACR, the den defenses allow one to return to the point where the Templars are again in control of an area, and in my imagination, it now adds to the immersive quality of the game - my assassin den is vulnerable until I have a master assassin at the helm.

Yeah, I know - kind of goofy, but it allows me to enjoy even the less desirable mechanics of the game.  Overal however, things are bigger and better in this version than in any other, and I marvel at the variety of things to see and do in Constantinople.  ^-^

[mandru]

Thanks for the info PZ.  :-X

[Art Blade]

I liked the burnt beans camp story.  :-()

[Fiach]

I liked the burnt beans camp story.  :-()

Reminded me of this :

Blazing Saddles --Farting Cowboys- Greatest Fart Scene of All Time

[Art Blade]

  :-X

[Art Blade]

Fiach, just for fun and giggles:

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KOPil9ABUg

[PZ]

Totally disgusting! 

[Fiach]

Fiach, just for fun and giggles:

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KOPil9ABUg

Man that is one fuckedup looking cat!  :-X

[Art Blade]

 :-D

If you watch it a couple of times you'll come to realise that making a performance of "doing nothing" look interesting (the blonde guy) isn't half as easy in front of a camera as one might think. How many facial expressions he has to come up with that match the "waiting, unbelieving guy" is funny to watch and actually not bad at all  :-()

[mandru]

I've made no effort to conceal my contempt of the Den Defense activities in the game but I'm happy to report that UPlay and Synchronization requirements are met if you can successfully place and train (through training missions) a Den Master in all of your Dens!

Part of the Assassin's faction challenges listed 3 successful Den Defenses as a benchmark to fill for completion.  I was tickled as punch when my last den master assumed her responsibilities and both the UPlay and Sync notices popped up listing that huge hurdle for me as something to no longer worry about.   :-X

[PZ]

Good to know - I have assassin masters in all of my dens (I think), and the den missions are no longer a threat - the map icons read "Locked den".

However, I'm almost missing attacking the dens again - although I ended up becoming bored with the den defense missions, when I failed them, the Templars again had hold of their den, which would allow me to refine my attack skills.

I formerly dreaded the coward Captains who would flee at the mere sight of an assassin, but became quite adept at locking on to him as he fled and calling in one of my assassins.  Then all I had to do was fight off a couple of guards, and soon they fled as the Captain was killed.

Now that the dens are all manned by master assassins, I don't have that kind of fun combat any longer - the city is stable, but almost kind of boring.

It is now like FC2 would be if none of the guard posts or main areas re-spawned.

[mandru]

There's a requirement to kill 15 Almogavars (the heavy Templar Axe men) for the Mercenary faction challenges.  The only place to find those buggers while still in Constantinople is at the Templar dens (before you convert them over) so if you don't don't do a good mop up and kill all the Templars on the grounds before lighting the signal fire you might miss a few of them.

When hired and you've met their challenges the Thieves may pickpocket and loot in your wake giving you the proceeds but I hear that the Mercenaries stop those annoying beggar ladies from  pestering you!   >:D

[Art Blade]

Oh I loved to kick their teeth down their throats and punch their lights out whenever possible. Same with those death-wish minstrels, kick their faces in and knock their blocks off.

Not exactly gentleman-like but who cares.  :-D