Let's play 7.62: High Calibre

[denizsi]

This looks like a big improvement over E5.

Also, this is a particularly good looking screen:

 

[Kaiserin]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but this game seems impossibly difficult. I always lay prone at a distance and take aimed shots...then get knocked out in one hit almost immediately. Are you supposed to sneak past the first guys entirely, or what?

The whole interface feels very awkward and unpolished as well, camera is utter bullshit, button and the way you drag gear around just feels bad. Glad I'm trying before buying on this...

 

[Quilty]

I too dislike the camera, the inventory, the whole interface. And the purchase interface is just an unpolished bit of glaring crap, come on.

I mean, I can just feel a good game somewhere under all the clunkiness, but I simply don't have the stamina to keep at it until something brilliant finally emerges.

Now I feel like a next-gen kid who abandons a game if it doesn't grab his collar in the first 10 minutes, but this is just so awkward to play, I dunno...

 

[Murgel]

What I struggle with, is after I shoot down the 2 first people with the buss. I pick up their weapons. Get to a town. But I still dont understand how I can sell the crap items I picked up :/

Yes that buy/selling screen is terrible atm

 

[jml]

Simply drag item from your inventory to shopkeepers and vice versa.

 

[mondblut]

There is also shift-click (or ctrl-click, can't remember) to move items from shop to inventory and back without dragging. Also works with searching corpses.

 

[Murgel]

what my problem is, my trade screen when I enter taht one, is black mostly, just some small items up to the left what the person is selling, and a pic off my char down to the right. that is all :/

 

[Haba]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but this game seems impossibly difficult. I always lay prone at a distance and take aimed shots...then get knocked out in one hit almost immediately. Are you supposed to sneak past the first guys entirely, or what?

The enemies are armed with rifles, so they have much better range than you do with your pistol. Just get closer. Also, laying in prone when armed with a pistol is not wise, unless you're in ambush - the enemies will out-range you.

And nightime/bad visibility increases the effect a lot.

The whole interface feels very awkward and unpolished as well, camera is utter bullshit, button and the way you drag gear around just feels bad. Glad I'm trying before buying on this...

Camera is a bit of a pain. Map fast scroll to a key, and check the camera keys overall. There is a button for "changing level" for example, which makes the multi-story buildings less of a hassle. After the initial hair-pulling it doesn't bother me that much anymore.

Now the trade interface part I don't understand. Seriously, is it that much work to drag the stuff to the right slot? I have currently six mercs and I still only buy 1-3 items on a shop visit. Planning your loadout is actually part of the charm, as there will be situations where you'll need to dump your backbag to conserve energy.

Plus, once you get a car, the loot management problem vanishes totally - you have a button for sending all the junk to the trunk, and then you can just sell the whole trunk full of stuff to the merchants straight. Two clicks.

what my problem is, my trade screen when I enter taht one, is black mostly, just some small items up to the left what the person is selling, and a pic off my char down to the right. that is all :/

I'm guessing you're using the higher resolutions? It's a bug. Either reinstall and set the files in BMP folder read-only or do this: http://www.strategyfirst.com/forum/show ... stcount=41

That thread contains the fixes for most of the glaring bugs. You can also install the B.F.X. mod, which contains the fixes, but that'll require starting a new game. The mod won't fix the trade window bug though, as that's caused by a file corruption.

http://strategyfirst.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40654

 

[Murgel]

thanks Haba, will try to do dl that file and see if that corrects the bug.

 

[Monolith]

I like it so far, don't have any problems with the interface but yeah, camera is annoying but I already got used to it. I appreciate the difficulty, but since I haven't had a lot of gunfights yet, I can't fully comment on it.

I've got one question, though. Where the fuck did you get that backpack? I must have missed something, seeing you already had one during the first encounter with the bandits.

EDIT:
Alright, just read the corresponding text again. From whom did you buy it?

 

[Haba]

EDIT:
Alright, just read the corresponding text again. From whom did you buy it?

I really don't remember. There are three vendors in the city, the one guy next to where you start and two in the bar (gun salesman and the bartender). The selection is randomized and scaled to the current game level.

If they don't have a backbag for sale, you can also carry most of the loot on you - just hang the rifles on your neck/shoulder. Pistols can't be carried on shoulder though.

You can probably get a backbag for free from the Campecino weapons cache as well, if you don't want to waste your money.

 

[Monolith]

Ok, thanks. I was a little bit surprised because I couldn't find neither a vest nor a backpack in neither the starting town nor later on, up to Santa Maria. Didn't go to Campecino though. Luckily I found a vest now and finally can carry a little bit more.

 

[mondblut]

Some caches may randomly contain a lot of useful gear. If you savescum at boxes in NW corner of first city, under the stairs down, you can easily deck yourself fully in entry-level carrying and protective equipment.

Many traders have it as well at cgl 1, you probably just were unlucky as their stock is randomly generated.

 

[Phelot]

This game looks pretty good. Is it similar at all to Jagged Alliance 2? How soon do you start getting other mercs and what's the max size of your party? Thanks for this thread Haba!

 

[Haba]

I promised an update earlier, but what can I say? Out drinking and then doing the most fatal of mistakes; thought I'd play one battle before posting the update.

I have to say, the later game missions can be truly epic. I spent 12 hours capturing one city. 4 hours to prepare better after getting floor wiped with my troops and 8 hours grinding through an army of enemies. And just when I've managed to but a bullet to the last motherfucker, reinforcements appear. The last time I went through this kind of a meatgrinder was in JA2. Thumbs up!

(I'm still not done with that battle...)

Chapter 4: The best friends money can buy

The last time we saw, we were finally given free reign to Algeira. Licence to carry heavy weaponry and cross into the restricted zone, both with the blessings of government and guerilla alike.

Well, there is also a third party present in the restricte zone and they don't really give a crap about the musings of the aforementioned players - the bandits. Shortly after leaving the rebel camp in the woods, I've already been ambushed by bandits.

This proves to be excellent opportunity to test my new SMG. Though poor in penetration, it clearly outranges the enemies armed with pistols. In daytime conditions it's no problem for me to slaughter the rubbish I'm against.

The biggest danger for solo adventurers is getting knocked out. The precious seconds it takes to recover might very well be just what it takes for the bandits to catch the distance and start scoring hits on you (resulting in your death). Thankfully the early encounters are with few bandits and there were no flankers this time around.

After finishing off the last of the scum, I'm free to loot their corpses for valuables. Usually it's only worth the trouble to carry their weaponry off, as it provides the best value.

Now that we've made some extra chips it's the high time to think up a plan. At this point of the game, you probably will have three main goals.

1. Make a lot of money
2. Get a car
3. Find some mercenaries to hire

Now, point 1. is important as you can't do 2. or 3. without it. To make more money, you'll need to have means to carry off your loot. Bandit country can be dangerous for you, as you might get attacked again after getting wounded and having your backpack full of loot already. Car removes this problem, and also provides ample space for loot.

Additional mercenaries can act as mules, but more importantly they add some extra saves for your main guy (whose death ends in game over screen). Like we saw above, getting knocked out is fatal when you're all alone with nobody to cover your back.

Since this is my second time around in the game (I had to restart after three days worth of playing due to the mod install) I'm going to cheat a little so I can make money to buy the car and hire the first mercs faster than on the first time around. I don't recommend going overboard with this for you tho, as it will ruin the game quite easily.

So, I sold the loot I got from the bandits, visited a few places with guns in boxes and sold them as well, netting about 10,000 eldo extra to spare. Now it's time to find some friends!

7.62 has about 30 mercenaries for you to hire. Unlike JA2 you don't go to craigslist to hook up with them, but rather you have to go to local bars and find them yourself. Obviously all 30 are not around at the same time - they are randomly showing up in the bars in the cities of Algeira. If you stay away from the city for a few days, the merc will move on and a new one will appear.

The mercs have different background, skills and personality as well. Not on the level of JA unfortunately, but close enough. Most importantly they have a difference in vages as well.

Some mercs charge outlandish rates.

Some are cheap.

Usually they are cheap for a reason.

Differences in merc stats can be quite astronomical. For me the stats are not so important (They will improve over the campaign, and non-superhuman party will provide more challenge). The biggest factor is the personality of the merc (which is in the case of 7.62, the voice set and the passport photo they have ;-))

Though the personality doesn't show much during the actual gameplay, you can talk to your hired mercs to learn about their past (and request their background from the game's mercenary hiring association).

Costa 'Spartan' Zervakis was so tired of the matriarchal tyrany of his family that he chose to leave Greece and become a mercenary. Apparently before that he had a short stint as a reconnaissance man in the Greek special forces.

Costa Zervakis was always a curious child. He loved to dance; that was all he ever wanted to do. However, pressured by his mother, he joined the Hellenic Army Academy in Attica. Subsequently, he was invited into Ediko Tmima Alexiptotiston (ETA), the Greek special forces, where he served a tour of duty as a recon man in Yugoslavia. At the end of his tour, Costa chose not to stay in the army and went back to his small village near Thessaloniki. He began looking for a job.

However, the village economy was in shambles and jobs were hard to find. Costa spent his time fixing up farm equipment in his shed and practicing the ancient martial art of pankration. In the evening he'd visit the local bar, where he become famous for his dancing skills. Every night the unmarried women of the village and some of the married ones, would meet him there. It would habe been great, if not for Costa's family at home. Run by his autocratic grandmother, the Zervakis household was worse than the army. Most of his grandmother's efforts went into finding novel ways of telling Costa to find a job. When Costa's old army buddy came through town and mentioned becoming a mercenary, Zervakis didn't even pack a bag. However he still diligently sends 90% of his earnings back home to 'ya ya'.

O.K., a greek fairy. Second we have Toker.

Toker acts all tough, but in combat he whines like a pussy he truly is.

Toker Ozan was born and raised in Turkey. At the age of 16 he found a job at a necktie factory in Ankara. Toker worked there for almost ten years, making sixteen neckties per day, every day, seven days a week. One day on a Wednesday, right before lunch, he suddenly snapped and torched the factory, killing four and injuring thirty-seven of his coworkers. Fleeing the scene, Ozan successfully reached Bulgaria before the police were able to identify the bodies and come up with a suspect.

Unpredictable and unable to stay low in Eastern Europe, Toker made some friends in the underworld, which eventually led to offers to kill people for money. Tired of always failing aptitude test at regular job interviews, Toker gladly accepted the opportunity to become an assasin. His assignments have taken him around the world, to places where prospective employers value his battle prowess and his skills with cars, and overlook his psychological shortcomings. Now toker is constantly on a look-out for victims, always looking for new contracts.

Statwise my two boys aren't much. But they can carry shit and attract their share of the bullets, which is their main purpose at this point of the game.

Now that we have some drones, the second goal would be to get a car. To get one, you'll need to visit neighbouring counry of Palinero that Algeira used to be a part of (in E5). The town of Cali Cantinos is a "smuggler's paradise", having the best selection of weaponry for sale and in general being the place you visit when you need to buy something more "exotic".

It's also the most dangerous place to visit due to the long distance you need to travel in the restricted zone, so you need to be prepared to fight on your way in.

Mr. Rico Reyes might be familiar to those of you who've played E5. He'll sell you your first car for a mere 60,000 eldo. If we'd have the money, we could also buy an APC for 1,000,000 but we're a bit short... In the best Russian sense of humor, the devs also have included the option of ordering a customized car (in the middle of a practical warzone...) from mr. Reyes. Let's just say that don't be surprised if you have to wait for a while.

If you don't feel like shelling 60 thou, you can also wait 'till later in the game - there is a quest that rewards you with a free truck.

Having a car allows you to travel across the map much faster, gets you popular with ladies and the best of all - allows for easy loot management. Simple click on the "send to trunk" button sends all the shit on the ground to trunk. You can then even sell the whole trunkload of crap to merchants through conversation. Couldn't be easier than this.

In the next update we'll continue the search for a dream team of mercenaries and we'll also experience some larger scale combat.

 

[Squirly]

What rifle is that in the last screenie? Scoped and silenced with bipod?

That makes me all moist.

 

[The_scorpion]

looks like a blocky Sr-25/ AR-10t

but it's a bit of a guessing game. maybe he'll show you a detailed view or something for your urgent desires.

 

[mondblut]

Yep, SR-25 it is.

Algeira wasn't a part of Palinero by E5, they went their ways during Cold War era.

Also, pay attention to the radio, it's the best part of the game

 

[The_scorpion]

Algeira wasn't a part of Palinero by E5, they went their ways during Cold War era.

especially their war of independance/ secession with their former colonial power france

 

[Haba]

The sniper rifle is a teaser of what's to come, maybe on the next update. Hot pornographic pictures of its stats are up.

Radio is certainly a nice touch. I haven't been posting pictures of it as it's quite a bit of text. It was refreshing to see that the propaganda actually follows some internal logic (the rebels won't mention mercenary participation in their liberation campaign, whilst the government makes sure to higlight that "foreign invaders" were a part of the action).

Was the radio actually voiced in the russian version? Would've been a nice addition to actually hear it on the world map.

 

[mondblut]

No, the radio is unvoiced in all versions. Sadly.

 

[mondblut]

especially their war of independance/ secession with their former colonial power france

Such a distant past isn't a part of the games' lore. But, being latin american countries with dominant spanish names, it is quite obvious their former colonial power has to be Spain.

 

[The_scorpion]

especially their war of independance/ secession with their former colonial power france

Such a distant past isn't a part of the games' lore. But, being latin american countries with dominant spanish names, it is quite obvious their former colonial power has to be Spain.

this here ---> emoticon is there for a purpose. it should help malfunctioning sarcasm detection devices (aka brains)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_rule_in_Algeria

Picking names for fictional countries is teh hard though. Palinero always reminded me of a comic figure and Algeira's name just totally kills the half-hearted attempt at immershun.

 

[mondblut]

Ah, I see now. Well, Algeria is "Alzhir" in muscovite, so a likelihood of it all being a coincidence is higher than it appears to be. Believe it or not, this similarity never occured to me before, and "before" means over 3 years. Talk about cultural context...

 

[overtenemy]

Haba I need HALP.

Spoiler

I'm at the end of the quest you get in Sagrada to kill the bandit Amorales and bring back Ricardo's brother's personal effects, and it's all ended in this big shootout outside of town between the police, the bandits, and Ricardo's guards. Well, nothing really seemed to happen, so what I did was piss off the guards and bandits, and lead them back towards the police so they'd all get shot. It took me many hours to complete without the chief of police dying, but I finally managed it, only to have nothing happen. I can't speak to him, and as soon as I leave the area I get a log notification that he died in battle. That wouldn't be so bad, cept the money I'm supposed to have is nowhere to be found. No Ricardo's body to loot or anything. Couldn't find any forum posts with google. What am I supposed to do? Did this bug for you as well?