Any XBox Live players here?

Just be careful you don't start leaning on it too heavily.

 

So, I actually managed to get top score twice last night which is way better than I'm used to in MW3. It starting going to hell after that...for whatever reason.

 

Oh, and RDR has been ordered and should be here sometime next week.

 

Tell your wife "I'm sorry." for me.

 

That's the nature of the beast. Last night, I started out having games like 20-10, 19-5, 24-8. Then I was struggling to get even. 15-15, 14-18, 18-16. And then I got into a madhouse KC game. I mean total chaos. I was so busy running and gunning that I wasn't even paying attention to how I was doing. Game ends...

38-2. :gasp:

So I called it a night at that. Always leave on a good note.

 

Eek, started. Not starting...hate when that happens.

Heh heh, will do.

Niiice!
Always good to leave on a high note if possible. :-D KC can be brutal, though. There's times when I'm trying to catch my breath and at the end, turns out I was in the top three. Other times, every corner I turn there's 3 or 4 enemies hi fivin' over my corpse.

 

At least they're just high fiving. They're usually being more... disrespectful to my corpse.

 

Well, TTF, in anticipation of your losing tons of leisure time to RDR, let me offer you a few tips. The game is awesome, but there's a few things that will make your life much easier if you know them ahead of time.

1) http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Portal:Re ... Redemption

If you can't find the info here, you don't need to know. (just be careful. They'll warn of spoilers for some things and they're not kidding. Stay spoiler free if you can help it)

2) Controls are simple once you get accustomed to them. BUT, controlling your horse may seem like a PITA at first if you don't know how to do it 100%. Sure, the game teaches you some things as you go, but (for me at least) it wasn't clear on the horse, so the first time I played, I hated horses. Your *right shoulder button* is your "whoa!" If you need to slow or stop, that's how. So simple, but they don't tell you that.

Your horse doesn't run at one speed. You control the speed at all times. Just using your left stick, you'll go at either a very slow amble to a fast walk (it's pressure sensitive). Your "A" button is your spurs. Each time you tap it, you're spurring the horse. 1-2 taps, and you'll be at a canter. 2-3 taps, a trot. Several taps in rapid succession, you'll be at a full gallop. And everything in between. You can "cruise" (stay at or near the speed you're currently at) by just holding down the A button. But you'll never stay at your fastest gallop that way. to stay at full gallop, you need to spur your horse every so often. Just don't be abusive. Your horse has a stamina meter that goes down every time you spur it (it regenerates if you stop spurring for a time). If that meter gets red, the horse might buck you off and possibly even run away.

If you're riding along with someone else, just hold down the A button, and your horse will automatically match their speed.

3) The default settings give you an auto-aim that centers on the enemy's chest. It doesn't lock there, so you can aim at the head, knees, hand, wherever you like. You will need this. Don't scoff at it. Trust me. Now, once you get bold, you may want to go with an expert setting (no auto-aim whatsoever). It makes the game MUCH more challenging, but also frustrating at times. When or if you decide to go that route is up to you, but start on default at least for a while.

4) Stop and smell the roses. The world is gorgeous. There's a ton of side quests, mini-games, random generated events, etc. Do it all. Don't be in a rush to play to the end.

5) Honor. It matters. The higher your honor, the better prices you get for selling goods, and the cheaper goods you need to buy are. Also, the people tend to be nicer to you in general. If you want high honor, you can't afford to go all William Money on every saloon, or poker table you don't like. Oh, it's perfectly ok to kill man who pulls a gun on you. But cold blooded murder will hit your honor (and possibly get you "wanted," call the law down on you, make posses chase you, etc. ) Oh, and the game doesn't look to kindly on killing horses or livestock either (or theft).

Except...

There's a town that's called Thieves Landing. In that ONE town, the lower your honor, the better. So if you decide to go a bad guy route, you'll want to conduct most of your business there. Also, there's a tailor shop in Thieves Landing. You can buy a bandana there to cover your face. Any "crime" you commit while wearing it won't affect your honor. Oh, you'll still get the law after you, and get a bounty on your head, but hey... you still have your honor. Just be sure to remove the bandana unless you're up to no good.

6) Challenges. You'll unlock them as you go. Do them. It's fun, and you'll get some benefit from them at level 5 and 10.

7) Making money. You're going to need a lot of money as the game progresses. Start making it ASAP. You'll get a little for missions and side quests. Bounty hunting can be fun. But to make what you need, you'll need to generate income in other ways. You can gamble. If you're good, you can even make good money doing it. But the fastest way to make money is hunting. You can "skin" any dead animal in the game (even your own horse should it fall victim to a snake, cougar, bear or bullets). It'll give you hides, meat, and other things (even bird feathers), all of which can be sold. Some are worth more than others. In the beginning, kill EVERYTHING. After a while, you'll figure out where the most efficient money is. One downside: the skinning animation, while fun a few times, gets old... fast. If you park your horse on top of the animal and dismount, you can skin the animal instantly with no animation.

You can also loot any dead person. Usually it'll only be a few bucks, but it adds up.

***on selling stuff. Things get you better prices in areas where they're "exotic." So anything from cougars, foxes, boar, and rams (and later on, bears and buffalo) sell for the highest price in Escalera, Mexico. You can't go to Mexico right away, so hold onto those unless you're hard up for cash. Eagle feathers sell best in Hennigan's Stead. Manzanita Trading Post, despite its name and look gets you the worst prices for anything.

Oh, and you can make buffalo go extinct. There's only 20 in the whole world. When they die, they're dead. (but it's an achievement)

8) If you die, you lose everything you obtained since your last save. And if you're hunting in cougar (and later, bear) territory, that's a real possibility. A quick way to save your game is to either use a horse deed, or to go into the options, change a setting and then back out of the menu (then just go back in and change it back). This will save you some heartache.

9) Other than ammo, save your money at first. You really don't need to buy upgraded weapons. Not at first anyway. Some, you can get for finishing certain gang hideouts, or you'll obtain through a mission anyway. So save your money. (The only exception to this rule is the Winchester. Buy it once you're able if you're taking your sweet time doing main story missions. It's FAR better than your first rifle).

Things you need to get first:

Advanced campsite. Most important. Allows you to save your game out in the middle of nowhere. Useful for when you want to quit but don't want to go back to town. It also gives you a fast travel option. You can either select a town to travel to, or you can mark your map and travel to that point).

Bandolier: one can never have enough ammo.

Rabbit's foot: Trust me.

Once you get those, you're golden. Spend your money however you like.

10) The Map. Not the mini-map in game. The map in your menu. You can put a mark on any spot on the map. When you go back in game, the fastest road route will be highlighted. Think of it like a GPS.

11) If you save your game by going to bed, or through your campsite, time will speed up about 6 hours. Not that big a deal, just bear it in mind. But that can come in handy if you want to do a mission, but it's only available at a certain time of day.

12) If you tame a horse, hitch it in town ASAFP. It's the only way to "complete" the taming so you have credit for the horse. There are 3 horses in game that are superior. The Kentucky Saddler (good. reddish tan), Hungarian Half-bred (better. Faster and tougher. white), and American Standard bred (Fastest. black beauty). The Kentucky Saddler you'll get through a mission anyway. The other 2 you find as you progress into Mexico and the Great Plains. You can't buy a deed for them until you've successfully tamed them. Deeds allow you to call the horse of your choosing should you find yourself horseless.

Lastly...

After you have a big fight at Fort Mercer, "Irish" will offer to take you to Mexico. Then you'll see his icon on the map for where the next mission starts. This is purely for coolness factor. Do not start the mission unless it's close to 2 o'clock in the afternoon (but not after). Preferably without any rain. When you part ways with Irish, use the horse you're given. DO NOT call your own horse. Don't pull up your map even. Just get on the horse, follow the road closest to the river, and head for the "D." Enjoy the moment.

 

Wow Ray, what a frickin' awesome write up. I feel sorry for all those poor suckers out there who have to rely on Prima Guides. I'll have to reread this a couple times once I get the game, but the uber-geek inside of me got pretty excited. :ugeek:

I love the honor stuff, and the William Money reference. (Deserve's got nuthin' to do with it) :thumbsup:

I don't know why that made me laugh, but...

Thanks for all the detailed tips. I now find myself anxious to get this game.

 

It occurred to me this morning that the name is actually spelled "Munny." I typed in a hurry, and didn't catch that. But it was too late to fix it.

At least you knew who I meant.

 

I sure did. I didn't see the need to spell it differently.

[sarcasm] That's one of my wife's favorite movies. [/sarcasm] I think she's said on a couple occasions that it's the most boring movie ever. I'm not bored as easily as her apparently, as I've seen it many times. :-D

 

Best Western ever made, IMHO. It only won Best Picture too. Yep, boring as hell.

I can't fault her. Few women appreciate Westerns. And Unforgiven, while a terrifically crafted story and movie, even tested some Western fans at first.

Some of my wife's favorite movies make me want to pry my eyes out with a tuning fork, so it goes both ways.

(Oddly enough, my wife loved the remake of True Grit, while I was underwhelmed by it)

 

I agree, it's one of the best ever made. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a fan of the genre, that's not a fan of that film. But yeah, she doesn't keep her opinions of westerns secret (especially of the "Spaghetti" variety.)

After reading this, I felt compelled to hit you tube for a couple scenes. I saw this and forgot just how awesome it was. I put it in a spoiler because it's unedited and contains graphic language and violence, not suitable for younger viewers or those who are offended by that type of content.
[spoiler:3swupr04][youtube:3swupr04]5SO5VO2ixWY[/youtube:3swupr04][/spoiler:3swupr04]

 

Such an awesome sequence. From the moment Will grabs the whiskey bottle, you know all hell is about to break loose.

And is there any debate now that Clint Eastwood is the undisputed king of Westerns? John Wayne was fun for his time. Others have made decent movies. But nobody comes close to Clint.

 

RDD arrived today.

But, it won't play in my xbox.
While the disc isn't in perfect condition, it doesn't look thaat bad. Oh well, I'll return it and get a replacement. The map inside was pretty cool. though.

 

Ugh... I hate when that happens.

And one other tip: if you don't usually do it, install the game to your HD. It's a free roam game, and having an install will save you a lot of load time, save you a lot of wear and tear on your laser drive, and just make the game run smoother in general. I normally do an install on all of my games for that reason, but it surprises me how many people I talk to that don't even know that's an option. I'm sure you do. You're tech savvy. Just FYI in case.

 

Yeah, that's the first time I've ever had a game that wouldn't load. I tried installing it to the HD, but it would quit around 52% through. I cleaned it a couple times, retried, wished, cursed, asked nicely, but no go. They're good about returns, so I'll probably get a replacement early next week...no biggie.

 

Sounds like a warped disc. A bend in the disc slight enough to be imperceptible to the eye, but enough to throw off the laser.

There's a fix for that, but I wouldn't recommend it. A replacement should be easy enough.

 

A couple times the last week, I got into playing some matches on MW3 with some guys from the C4B forum I've been a member of for years.

They make me play match types I've never tried. And they're crazy. I thought I was aggressive. No way....

It's funny going 25-6 and realizing you're only 4th on the kill count / score. On the plus side, they force you to up your game and even when I end up getting my taint handed to me because they play against stiffer competition, I think my overall game is improving because of it.

 

Inneresting. I'll settle for the replacement, but I'm intrigued about the remedy. I'll have to look in to that to satisfy my curiosity.

Yikes, sounds rough yet awesome. After 20 matches of that you'd be a beast on a random mercenary kc match. I've never heard of C4B.

 

Ahhh. Yeah, that'd be something to try when the wife is not home. :-D I sent it back and the replacement will be here Saturday.

 

Thanks for the link. I'll peruse it later. I've been meaning to look up a couple things actually, and I'm sure the answer is discussed there regularly. Strangely enough, I rarely visit gaming forums. I'm not sure why.

 

LOL. Good on the replacement. The reason I don't recommend it is because if it goes wrong, you've just ruined the disc. It's something to try on an older game you want to save, but not something you'd try on a newer one you could just as easily exchange.