Thursday, January 21, 2010

Session 1 - 1/19/10 - 8:00PM to 10:00PM

I'm typing this post as I'm playing the game so verb tenses and syntax may be a bit goofy. This first post will likely be the longest of all the posts since everything in the game is new to me, but as time passes I'll be able to shorten them because I won't have to explain the same thing in great detail 400 times.

I've included some example images of what I'm writing about in this post and the full archive can be found at:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pastorek/RFG/Session 1/

===========================================================

When I clicked the "New Game" button I was given a choice of 4 options: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Impossible. The Impossible mode was grayed out, suggesting that it's not available until I beat the game on one of the other modes.

The game starts with two men, the main character and his brother, driving somewhere and they almost collide head-on with a convoy of military trucks.

Ominous music is playing and the landscape looks bleak and lifeless. It's Mars so it's not out of the ordinary but I'd think it would look more Earth-like since it's colonized.

Further down the road there are scenes of soldiers breaking into a house and shooting the people inside. Another scene showed civilians on their knees with their hands behind their heads, held at gunpoint by more soldiers. I haven't even been given a chance to interact with the EDF and I'm already labeling them as a fascist police organization.

I can control the main character, Alec Mason, but the mouse sensitivity is too slow so I had to increase it.

At the work site I'm given a sledgehammer and some remote explosives. As I walked down the hill towards the site a voice on the radio told me to pick up a bit of salvage on the ground. Apparently the currency in this game is salvage so I'll try to collect as much of it as I can.
There's also a derelict truck at the bottom of the hill. I smashed it with my sledgehammer and found more salvage.

A fence is blocking my path, but it seems nothing can resist the power of my sledgehammer. with a couple swings I made a hole big enough for me to walk through. Prompts keep popping up showing me basic controls, such as swinging the sledgehammer and switching weapons. These are useful since I didn't bother to look up the controls.

With the mines equipped, if I left click I throw a mine, if I right click I melee with the mine in my hand, and if I push Ctrl I detonate all the mines I have thrown.

I made a newbie mistake of destroying the last support holding up the building while still inside and it collapsed on me. I didn't die but I ragdolled for a bit and then stood up. I was given 18 mines and I used 10 of them. I should probably be more efficient with my weapons.

I threw one mine at the second structure, a tower, and it collapsed. Quite a difference between the two. After the tower collapsed my brother nagged me to come back to him. A gunship appeared and killed him with a minigun.

EDF soldiers repossessed my work shed and the CO ordered me to be killed. Before they could, Red Faction soldiers showed up and killed the soldiers.

None of the soldiers had visible faces (covered by helmets and visors). I suppose it's to make them appear inhuman.

I've been taken to a Red Faction safehouse where I'm introduced to Samanya, another member of the RF. She gives me an item called "The Guerrilla Handbook" which, according to the prompt, "contains tutorial videos and other information useful to new Red Faction members". The book automatically opens and a video with audio commentary tells me that Mars has 6 habitable zones that must be liberated. It tells me about a useful combat strategy ("hit the target and get the hell outta there") and some other information. The book also includes a section about salvage and how I can use it. The book follows Gee's Discovery Principle and the information is very helpful as I usually have to discover these things the hard way or through trial and error.

I see a flare on the ground with a ring around it. The minimap shows a fist icon where the flare is, so that means it's a key mission. The safehouse has a utility truck so I'll probably get to drive it at some point, but first I'll accept the mission.

The mission requires me to destroy an old Red Faction base before the EDF finds it. A large map pops up and a trail of arrows leads to the destination. Because the game is non-linear this is a very helpful navigation tool. If I hit the escape key the map closes and if I push the tab key it reopens.

I'm driving the utility truck to the base. It's dingy looking and obviously worn and beaten in many places. The brake lights, headlights, and flood lights are lit up as well as a flashing beacon on the roof. The tires even have a "company" logo branded on them, "Groundhog". The control scheme is a typical WASD setup with the space bar for the brake, but it's very easy to gain speed and find myself airborne.

The line of yellow arrows appears on the road so I can follow it to my destination easily. There are NPC vehicles driving as well so I have to avoid hitting them. I bounced off a rock and a yellow bar appeared above the truck, showing how much I'd damaged it (very little). The camera is in a third person perspective and the mouse controls which way it points so I have a 360 degree view (although looking backwards caused me to crash into a dump truck). In the real world this collision would likely have totaled my truck, but it just broke the left headlight and dented the front a little bit. This reflects how failures in a game aren't as severe as failures in real life and I'm not discouraged or scared to drive again after the collision.

As I started to blow up the old Red Faction base a prompt tells me about the alert system which lets me know how hostile the EDF is from green to red. It says I can't save the game if I'm at orange or red.

I destroyed the structure just as two EDF soldiers showed up. They immediately opened fire so I returned the favor. Instead of trying to kill all of them, I ran towards the utility truck. Next to it were two armored EDF transports and instead of taking my truck I grabbed one of the transports. It's a 4-door vehicle, unlike the truck which was a 2-door, and it took slightly longer to gain momentum than the truck. The differences between the vehicles is similar to what I'd expect in real world vehicles so I'll probably be able to plow through obstacles much easier than with the lighter truck.

As I was returning to the safehouse I took a turn too wide and crashed into a growth of black crystals. The game paused and in the upper left corner it said "Mined 1 of 300 ore deposits". A prompt told me I can mine them for salvage. This is a simple demonstration of positive reinforcement (mine crystals --> acquire salvage) and encourages me to locate and mine other crystals in the world.

When I returned to the safehouse there was a brief dialogue between the commander of the Red Faction and myself and a "Mission Complete" screen popped up with three totals: Completion bonus, morale bonus, and total salvage. Apparently combining the first two is what determines how much salvage I'm given for completing a mission.

If I'm standing still I can see my breath when I exhale. I guess Mars is still cold even though it can support life.

I pushed tab to see what I should do next and I see a few icons standing out, so I'm going to head to the closest which is a blue hexagon with a star in the middle. It says the target is a processing plant smokestack and apparently I'll gain 10 control for destroying it, whatever that means.

The building is up on a hill, but instead of finding a road to the smokestack I'm going to abandon the EDF transport and hoof it up the hill.

The hill is just slightly too steep to climb so I'm going to try driving up it. The EDF transport probably has enough momentum to handle the climb.

The smokestack was easy to destroy, but as soon as I brought it down another EDF transport showed up, this one with a mounted gun on the roof. Another prompt showed me how I can switch from autofiring the gun while driving to manually firing it, but losing the ability to control the vehicle. Until I really need to, I suppose I'll rely on autofiring the gun while driving.

A weapons cabinet at the safehouse lets me reload my ammo and switch weapons when I want, so I can safely assume that I'll always have ammo available if I need it. This reinforces the feeling that while my immediate supplies are finite and must be used efficiently, I'll always have the ability to replenish them if I ever run out.

As I was heading to another target a voice on the radio informed me that the EDF was about to attack something and I'm given the option to jump in and head to the location. It sounds like this is a timed mission so I'll need to hurry to the location.

The mission involves me and several other Red Faction members defending the area from EDF soldiers. A large circle surrounded by green shows the "boundaries" of the fight, so I can't simply run away. I started getting shot from behind so I switched to manually controlling the roof gun and fired at the soldiers. It's kind of ironic that the soldiers are being killed by their own equipment.

I'm abandoning the EDF transport and switching to using my machine gun because I can't see any visible targets. I used two land mines to destroy another EDF transport that appeared and killed the occupants before they could exit. Some soldiers bunkered themselves behind a wall so I used a remote mine to clear them out. After pushing the remaining soldiers out of hiding the EDF's numbers dropped to 0 and I succeeded.

Two tanks appear as red squares on my minimap and I was told earlier that anything that appears red is EDF property and should be destroyed. When I detonated a mine on a tank, first the mine exploded and then the tank exploded with an even larger blast radius. Even though I know that the "tank" is really just bits of programming, polygonal models and graphic images designed to give the impression of a chemical tank, its behavior mimics what I'd expect from an explosive chemical tank and that makes it realistic to me.

I'll start taking pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about since a picture can describe a scene in much more detail than words.

My EDF transport is gone so I guess I'll be driving this thing that looks like a golf cart. It sounds like a golf cart too.
I found a truck at the bottom of the hill so I'm switching to it. The golf cart thing was too slow. I like that I have the freedom to pick whichever vehicle I want to drive and there are no penalties for stealing or ditching vehicles in random locations.
I found some more crystal growths. I should mine them while I'm here.
Apparently I got myself sucked into another mission. Oh well, might as well help the guerrillas while I'm here. I don't have the benefit of an armored attack vehicle but I'll have to deal with it.

It seems like they're too far away to shoot efficiently so I'm moving in to try and kill a group of them with mines. They're focusing on the main mass of guerrillas so I can flank them easily. I only have 22 rounds left in my rifle and 4 mines. I'll have to think quickly if I want to kill the rest of the soldiers.

I moved in from the rear since I figured they wouldn't look back and I was right. Another victory for the Red Faction. I also unlocked an upgrade so I should go see if I want to buy it.
It appears like another mission is available here. It's a hostage rescue mission. I wonder what that will be like.

The landscape here is really dynamic and interesting. The clouds move at varied speeds and a persistent dust storm blows around me.
I decided to try and sneak in and rescue the hostage using only my sledgehammer so as to be quiet, but a soldier opened fire so that plan is out the window. My health bar at the top shows how much health I have left but it regenerates automatically. I dislike games that require me to constantly find health packs or health stations because it usually entails extra work to make sure I'm ready for the next fight.

As I was escaping some guerrillas joined in to help me. The hostage jumped in the passenger seat and immediately took control of the roof gun. I'm surprised that he's actually being useful as opposed to hiding, which is what I expected. The escape was mostly uneventful. With the armored EDF transport I could risk taking fire while driving away.
I can afford the ore upgrade which gives me two extra salvage per ore deposit, so I'm going to buy it. I'm sure it'll pay for itself over time. Pushing the enter key selects the upgrade to buy and a second selection screen pops up asking me if I really want to buy it with the "cancel" option highlighted by default. This is a great way to prevent players from accidentally buying something they didn't want since there is no sellback option.

There's a new weapon that looks interesting, but I can't afford it yet. Showing me items that I can buy before I can afford to buy them is highly motivating because it gives me a reason to explore, complete missions, etc, until I have enough salvage to buy it.
I bought an upgrade that lets me place 3 remote mines at the same time. At first I didn't understand why I couldn't just throw infinite mines, but I reasoned that it was because the detonator couldn't transmit a detonation signal to more than 3 (for now) mines at a time.

I found some kind of delivery truck that apparently can take quite a few bullet wounds and still drive perfectly. This is another example of true realism pushed aside to promote convenience.
I "accidentally" ran into a billboard post on the side of the road and it collapsed, reducing the EDF's control of the sector slightly.

Since I just blew up an EDF transport my alert level is yellow and I can't accept this mission unless it's green. I also found a pistol but haven't had a chance to use it. Sam(anya) went to meet with an EDF officer who is supposedly defecting, but I doubt it. I'm supposed to meet with her and probably have to extract her from an ambush or something.

Before I can even get in my battered delivery truck she gets ambushed, as I predicted, so now I have to hurry up and get to the mission location.

Defeating the current EDF force was easy, but apparently there are more on the way. I wasn't given much time but I had enough to place 3 mines on a walkway and toss a propane tank under it. I can carry propane tanks but not explosive barrels. Whatever.
The mines didn't do much but bring down the walkway. I guess a bunch of light metal isn't very effective against armored cars. The strategy of throwing mines on the cars themselves is very effective though, so I'll just keep doing that.

I tried throwing a propane tank at the soldiers and it blew up in my hands. I took a 50% health hit, but I think a propane tank exploding point blank next to my face would do a little more damage than that.

Unlike the assault rifle, the pistol is manually fired (i.e. I have to click each time I want to fire a bullet). Each round does significantly more damage than the assault rifle's rounds, but I'd prefer to just click and hold.
I'm just barely shy of the 300 salvage needed for the arc welder. I'll destroy random EDF stuff until I get enough. The salvage is a specific bluish color and glimmers when I look at it. I've played other games in which items I can pick up flash or are highlighted to show that they are important.
301 salvage. Time to head back to the safehouse. Looks like I'm driving the golf cart again.

I passed by some kind of mission on my left. I'll go check it out. It's a demolition mission and I'm supposed to destroy the building with what I'm given. Also, it appears they aren't propane tanks, but rather they're hydrogen tanks. Same thing.
I placed the hydrogen tanks, but I guess I didn't put them in the right spot because the building didn't get completely destroyed. I'll have to restart the mission.

Again I didn't put the tanks in the right spot, but instead of trying again I simply used the last tank as a battering ram and that worked. I didn't get the "Pro" time score but I'll deal with it. The mission is still available so if I want to retry it I can. I probably wont. The fact that I can complete the mission in more than one way promotes innovation and, as in my case, can turn a hopeless situation into a success.

I bought the arc welder. Sam says "It's like static electricity, but it can kill you".

Take that golf cart, you slow, dumb thing.

8 comments:

  1. 3DS Emulateur represente un émulateur de la console Nintendo 3DS sur ORDINATEUR.
    Pour cette 3ème version il y a désormais beaucoup de jeux 3DS jouable, et plusieurs jeux
    sont compatible entièrement (tels que Mario Kart 7, Pokemon X/Y ...).



    Cette émulateur est le premier à permettre aux utilisateurs d'essayer le vrai effet 3-D !



    Énormément de personnes connaissent la 3DS. L'émulateur
    3DS est un programme facile à prendre en main vous permettant de jouer
    aux jeux 3DS sur ton ORDINATEUR.

    Cette émulateur est un logiciel gratuit que la majorité des joueurs doivent détenir en leurs
    possession ! Grâce à lui vous réussirez à jouer à la Nintendo 3DS sur votre pc.


    Contrairement à d'autre émulateur, celui-ci est dézonné, il offre alors de jouer aux jeux provenant de toutes les région du monde sans problème (Japon,
    Europe, Amérique...).

    Lors du premier lancement de l'émulateur 3DS vous allez pouvoir modifier la résolution
    de l'écran. Par défaut celle-ci seras de 800/240 (2x 400/240 par œil) et la résolution de l'écran du bas seras de 320*240 pixels.
    Vous pouvez changer cette résolution en revanche cela risque de rendre l'écran plus pixeliser.


    Une fois que la configuration de l'emulateur 3DS seras terminer vous pourrez jouer aux roms 3DS et aux roms DS.


    Emulateur 3DS : http://www.wat.tv/video/emulateur-3ds-emu3ds-0-2-fr-6pxvv_6pxvt_.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website
    with us so I came to take a look. I'm definitely loving the
    information. I'm bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
    Excellent blog and terrific style and design.

    Have a look at my site ... beautiful bridal shower games

    ReplyDelete
  3. Or they can just write the state names on paper
    when they come across each one. Preserve your sanity and go straight for the good stuff with this guide to some of the best mods available for this popular RPG.
    However, as a tribute to Kenny's long-term partnerships with many of the industry's top suppliers and manufacturers, he represents the combined group
    throughout the concept.

    Feel free to surf to my site - Try these guys out

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fastidious respond in return of this matter with solid arguments
    and explaining all about that.

    Also visit my weblog ... Dallas bathtub refinishing

    ReplyDelete
  5. Download Jalada Gгeatest Rushing. Αlong witɦ spider solitaires arrive food cravings Οn the hopeless pljs
    tҺe depressed TҺese peopole help savce tҺem
    coming from a risky combat Soothing tҺem all till thеy wіll receive hunger
    Αs well aѕ eaat theѕe upward in a numbeг оf quiute scary bites
    Whispering, "You may be beside me once and for all, sweetie. Applying each of the 1st lot the very first credit card treated is face up, without a doubt plus the many other half a dozen are usually deal with-down.

    My web site :: free download solitaire

    ReplyDelete
  6. Giving up fast food snacks and cooking of soups and stews rich in vegetables
    is the best idea, and adopt the habit of eating every day one salad.
    Natural laxative foods have been known to restore
    balance and regularity to the digestive system and bowel movement.
    There's no need to suffer from the discomfort
    and other side effects caused by constipation and bloating.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi there! Quick question that's totally off topic.
    Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My site looks weird when viewing
    from my iphone. I'm trying to find a theme
    or plugin that might be able to correct this problem.
    If you have any recommendations, please share.
    Appreciate it!

    my web site ... bail service

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think this is one of the most vital information for me.
    And i am glad reading your article. But want to remark on some general things, The
    site style is wonderful, the articles is really excellent : D.
    Good job, cheers

    My web blog: william lawyers

    ReplyDelete