Far Cry 2

I liked the original Far Cry except few annoying parts - combating the mutant, inconvenient saving system, over the top voice acting and the depiction of main character.

Early news on Far Cry 2 didn't excite me at all, especially with the original developer gone. But the game plays of the new game seems to take the path of S.T.A.L.K.E.R, or at least similar to it in some aspects.

E3 Trailer

E3 hand-on

in the sequel the player will be able to choose from eight different characters to play, each with a unique look and back story. All of the playable characters will be different types of mercenaries. The playable characters the player does not choose to play will become non-player characters who are friends of the player's character....

The goal of the player's character will be to find and assassinate "The Jackal"[2], an arms dealer that has been selling weapons to both sides of the conflict that's tearing apart a small fictional African country.[3] The way this is done, however is entirely up to the player, being possible to ally with anyone he/she chooses...

Various factions and vehicles will be featured; enemies will include human mercenaries....

The game's producer, Louis-Pierre Pharand, says that the single player will "potentially have close to 50 hours of game play....

new game play mechanics, such as weapon jamming, vehicle damage, propagating fire, destructible environments, adaptive enemy artificial intelligence, as well as day and night cycles, and dynamic weather....

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Wiki

Remus said:

I liked the original Far Cry except few annoying parts - combating the mutant, inconvenient saving system, over the top voice acting and the depiction of main character.

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What was inconvenient about the save system in Far Cry? You could save anytime you wanted.

Not really looking forward to Far Cry 2, what I know about the game just doesn't interest me in the least. I don't even know why they're calling it Far Cry 2, as it seems to have no relation\connection at all to Far Cry.

Nah, Far Cry had some kind of checkpoint system. I used a hack to be able to save whenever I wanted.

JemyM said:

Nah, Far Cry had some kind of checkpoint system. I used a hack to be able to save whenever I wanted.

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IIRC you could save any time you wanted, but it would spawn you back at the last checkpoint.

The European version must be different then. You can save and load anywhere you want in the NA version.

I believe in the patched version the developer fixed the problem.

JDR13 said:

The European version must be different then. You can save and load anywhere you want in the NA version.

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No, you can't. Are you sure you have the real, official retail version of the game or did you download a errr... backup copy with the quick save mod/hack already pre-installed? The retail versions definitely come w/o quick save functionality (other than the console hack... see below). The absence of an official quick save feature is obviously the very and only reason the fan-made quick save mod exists at all.

From Wikipedia (last updated 01/2008)...

The game has a "checkpoint" saving system, which eliminated manual saving. While often frustrating as it takes away the freedom of manual saving, most checkpoints are located throughout the level as the player progresses, although they are not obvious, they are usually before a major battle. The promised quicksave-update was never widely publicized, however it can be activated by bringing down the console (pressing ~), and typing \save_game filename and you can later load it with \load_game filename.

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Moriendor said:

No, you can't. Are you sure you have the real, official retail version of the game or did you download a errr... backup copy with the quick save mod/hack already pre-installed? The retail versions definitely come w/o quick save functionality (other than the console hack... see below). The absence of an official quick save feature is obviously the very and only reason the fan-made quick save mod exists at all.

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Uh......yes, you can.

Have you ever actually played Far Cry? Because it doesn't sound like you're very familiar with the game.

The quick save\load feature is not a mod, nor is it a hack, and it most certainly isn't fan-made. It is a just a very simple command you type into the console, and I can assure you it most certainly IS in the retail game, at least in the NA version.

Ahh ... that makes sense. So far as I'm concerned, if it isn't in the manual, and you have to troll places where you'd find cheat codes to do it, it is pretty much a hack.

The *game* might have had a *hidden* quicksave feature, but it was uninplemented in the UI, and therefore for the average consumer ...

You couldn't quicksave.

JDR13 said:

It is a just a very simple command you type into the console

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Normally, console commands aren't described in the handbook, often not even a way to access the console anyway.

If it isn't in the handbook, but in the game, then I'd call it "inofficial", because in my personal definition everything that's in the manual/handbook I call "official".

Not that this isn't fascinating, but instead, how about a couple of new videos, including one about blowing crap up?

Trailer

Deceiving Your Enemies

JDR13 said:

Uh......yes, you can.

Have you ever actually played Far Cry? Because it doesn't sound like you're very familiar with the game.

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Yes, I have played the game and you most certainly can not quick save a game w/o bringing down the console or installing a quick save mod to automate the process in my version of the game.

The quick save\load feature is not a mod, nor is it a hack, and it most certainly isn't fan-made. It is a just a very simple command you type into the console, and I can assure you it most certainly IS in the retail game, at least in the NA version.

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It is a hack and the actual, original quick save mod is 100% fan-made (please get a clue and look for the source of the mod). You actually have to enter "dev mode" to activate the quick save console hack (the fact that the hack only works in dev mode should clue us in that it is not a regularly supported game feature).
What the fan-made quick save mod does is that it automates the process of entering dev mode, manually bringing down the console and typing in the characters to save/load a game.
The quick save (dev) feature was never released officially since it was never thoroughly tested. It is wonky, unstable and buggy and sometimes you just get kicked back to the last checkpoint or to the beginning of the level with no HUD when you load a quick save (happened to me a few times when I played FarCry).
If you want to ignore these facts just to be right, well, be my guest but it isn't stopping the facts from being facts, ya know?


From Tweakguides...

Saving Games At Any Point


If you don’t like the way in which Far Cry automatically saves your progress through the single player campaign at certain save points, and want to save manually anywhere in the game, this tweak might be what you need. To save a game anywhere, open the console (press ~) and type "\save_game gamename" (without quotes) where the gamename can be any name or number you like. For example:


\Save_game Quicksave


Will save your current place in the game under the name "Quicksave". You can now reload this game position at any time by opening the console and typing "\load_game Quicksave" (without quotes). Note that the saved game file is saved under the name you gave it (i.e. Quicksave.sav) in your \UBISOFT\Crytek\Far Cry\Profiles\player\[Profilename]\savegames directory.


If you want to assign and use specific keys to make the saving/loading functions faster, you'll need to do so in Developer Mode. See the Advanced Tweaking section for more information on enabling Devmode and the Devmode.lua file.


Open up your Devmode.lua file and copy and paste the following lines into the end of that file:


Input:BindCommandToKey("#Gameave('Quicksave')","f9",1);
Input:BindCommandToKey("#Game:Load('Quicksave')","f10",1);


Note that in the bindings above F9 is quicksave and F10 is quickload. You can edit the words "F9" and "F10" in the lines above to whichever keys you want to use for quicksaving and quickloading, just check to make sure they're not being used for another function in Devmode or this won't work. Also note that quicksaving and quickloading this way may lead to a few glitches or odd AI behaviour in the game every once in a while.

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txa1265 said:

Ahh ... that makes sense. So far as I'm concerned, if it isn't in the manual, and you have to troll places where you'd find cheat codes to do it, it is pretty much a hack..

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On the contrary, the console command was common knowledge in the Far Cry community, just head over to Ubisofts forums and you can easily find any number of threads on the topic. It's far from being something you need to "troll" for. I had pretty much assumed that just about everyone knew about it, which in retrospect I now realize was very naive of me.

Moriendor said:

Yes, I have played the game and you most certainly can not quick save a game w/o bringing down the console or installing a quick save mod to automate the process in my version of the game.

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I'm sorry, but when did I say anything about what method was needed to do it? Are we going to place words now? My exact unedited post was...

What was inconvenient about the save system in Far Cry? You could save anytime you wanted.

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I would love to hear an explanation as to how that statement is false, perhaps something a little better than - "well it wasn't in the manual".

Moriendor said:

It is a hack and the actual, original quick save mod is 100% fan-made (please get a clue and look for the source of the mod). You actually have to enter "dev mode" to activate the quick save console hack (the fact that the hack only works in dev mode should clue us in that it is not a regularly supported game feature).
What the fan-made quick save mod does is that it automates the process of entering dev mode, manually bringing down the console and typing in the characters to save/load a game.
The quick save (dev) feature was never released officially since it was never thoroughly tested. It is wonky, unstable and buggy and sometimes you just get kicked back to the last checkpoint or to the beginning of the level with no HUD when you load a quick save (happened to me a few times when I played FarCry).
If you want to ignore these facts just to be right, well, be my guest but it isn't stopping the facts from being facts, ya know? .

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Wow! So editing a couple of lines in the config file now constitutes as a mod?!? To me that just looks like a shortcut to doing the exact same thing I was refering to. I also used that command probably close to a 100 times in my 2 playthroughs of the game and never experienced any bugs or glitches. It's a moot point anyways, regardless of which method you use, the quick save\load exists in the game right out of the box.

Far Cry 2 is on the short list of games coming this year that I'm really looking forward to. If it turns out anything like the videos/hands on previews are showing it then it'll be a fantastic open-world shooter. Kind of like what Xenus/Boiling Point or Just Cause tried to be (but hopefully much, much better than both).

They're just calling it Far Cry 2 to cash in on the name...which I really couldn't care less about. If it draws more attention or makes it sell a few more copies that's fine with me. As long as there's no friggin' mutants (or aliens). Wildabeasts and lions I can deal with...

It would be a something refreshing if we could set Zebra on fire...

This game is inferior in every way to the original; graphically, interface-wise. I have no clue why everybody gave this game such good reviews. I guess it's probably pretty cool if you have an xbox 360, but the PC version is incredibly lame. It's just another console port that really makes no effort to please PC users. I got aggravated by the interface/lame graphics/console nonsense about 5 hours in. Most annoying are the areas where you are faced with 'can't win scenarios' but you don't know this. I replayed an area where I had to defend a church, and kept dying. I had to go to a walkthrough to find out I was supposed to die; more console nonsense. No self-respecting PC game designer would force this scenario on a player. This might be great on the consoles, but PC users should look elsewhere or replay/play the original for a good first person shooter, IMO. Either that, or play Dark Space for a console port that's halfway decent. Blech.

Sir Markus said:

This game is inferior in every way to the original; graphically, interface-wise.

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Wait - are you saying that the graphics are objectively worse than the original Far Cry, or just in the context of the release time?

Because I agree about the in-context thing but think that the graphics *do* look like a 2008 game.

What the...??? The graphics in this game are GREAT! The interface is just fine, too. And no joy for PC users? I chuckle every time I see one of those blue boxes where the console people are allowed to save while we can save anywhere.

When you defend the church you don't die. You get defeated and captured. This happens a LOT in plenty of games - often just before the (horrifically cliche) take-all-your-weapons-from-you level. Fallout 3 did it as a recent example. Heck, Planescape required you to get yourself killed in order to solve a puzzle or two. This is NOT a console thing.

I've got some beefs with the game. If you blast a checkpoint and leave it's guards dead and it's buildings on fire, drive over a hill, then pop right back you'll find the checkpoint repaired and fully manned. The game forgets everything that happened once it's about a quarter of a mile away. Also, missions are often set in the exact same areas. (Which I'm sure is why the game doesn't allow you to have more than one mission at a time.) Worst of all, though, is the story. There really isn't one. Just go out and shoot the people that the mission giver tells you to shoot, then come back and get another mission.

Far Cry 2 is good for a pure shooter. Fighting your way in and out of missions is done very well. There's nothing to tie it all together which annoys me a lot but I know a lot of folks totally ignore stories in FPS games anyway, seeing them as nothing more than something that will stop the action every now and again when they just want to play. Those folks will love Far Cry 2.

Maybe it's just personal taste; I'm running this game maxed out and while it runs just fine, I don't think it looks good at all. The color palette is awful compared to the original, for one. It's all variations of 'brown'. Underwater swimming is worthless and was much better in the original; it's like swimming in quicksand. Movement in the environment is WAY less crisp than the original. I keep getting stuck on things I should just be able to walk over. There's no easy way that I can tell to find out weapon condition, that JUST so happen to jam at the worst possible times. Enemies seem to magically appear out of nowhere the INSTANT I get into a vehicle. But actually, this game DOES look 2008; for consoles. In terms of overall graphic quality, the original Farcry is far better and it's not even close in my opinion. And don't get me started on the quirks present courtesy of multi-platform development. I just don't think this is a very good PC game.