The update for the game earlier this week includes DLSS support. Try it if you have an NVIDIA card. It's giving me 5-10FPS with no other changes in the graphics settings.

DBond, I did the same thing on my current playthrough. Sat at horseshoe overlook for ages and hunted and fished all the legendary animals on the North East side of the Montana River. Eventually moved to the next camp to work on the challenges, since you need to get a bit farther to unlock certain recipes and criminal activities to complete them.

Thanks for the tip. The update broke horse targeting for me. I use toggle aim, and it does not work right now when mounted. Right clicking to aim immediately cancels. On foot it's fine. I had to change to "hold' aim and that takes some getting used to, after doing it the other way for so long, as it also applies throughout the game, such as NPC interaction, conversations and horse care, etc.

Yeah, hanging at the Overlook is the way to go for anyone wanting to get the most out of free roam, I think. I'm in no rush, but as you said I'll need to move on sooner or later to get new stuff. But for the moment I have all I need, in terms of kit and abilities.

Decided to keep on freely roaming yesterday and went on a long hunting trip, taking the wolf, the moose and the beaver, and got the trinkets for each.

The moose is in the northeast corner of the map, up in the Roanoke Ridge region. It happens to be right next to a waterfall, where the legendary steelhead is found. So I decided to do a double, taking the moose first and packing his pelt on my horse. Then I ambled over to try my luck with the steelhead. Very picturesque, standing there in the spray of the falls. I landed the fish amazingly quickly, the fight was over in seconds, and I picked him up and whistled for my horse. She came over oddly, like she was spooked. But then I realized I could not pack both the moose pelt and the steelhead. So I decided I would walk the several miles to the trapper, carrying the fish.

As I moved through the small stand of trees where the horse looked spooked I was suddenly pounced on by a cougar, who ripped me up (and probably the fish I was defending myself with haha). I drew my revolver and squeezed off a shot as the cat came back around (I should have gone dead-eye) and lights out when it attacked again.

Respawing it said I had abandoned my legendaries. Dangnabbit! So I had to do it again, this time leaving the unpackable fish for later.

I finally moved on to chapter 3 and the new camp northwest of Rhodes. I managed to get 60+ hours out of chapters 1 and 2 by striking that free roam/missions balance..

Last night among other things I decided to go for the smallmouth bass. Headed back there and spent three days trying to catch him. Again and again I would get him right up against the shoreline only to lose him. Then I'd fry something up on the campfire, feed and brush the horse and turn in for the night under the stars. Up at the crack of dawn, breakfast and the horse too, and another crack at the smallie. Finally got him on the third morning, and off to the post. That was frustrating and rewarding in equal measure. This was legendary fish number 5. Ten nets $45

I'm hankerin' for some poker. Think I'll clean up, head down to St Denis and find a high stakes game.

What kind of PC hardware do you all have? I'm wondering if my 6 year old PC would run RDR2 okay. Is the game optimized well for the PC crossover from what you can tell or is it spotty? I'd love to play it again but it feels a bit too soon yet.

Windows 7
Core i7 4790k
16GB ram
GTX 970 4GB

My box is a Bond-Built™ Ryzen 2600, 1660Ti and 16 gigs o'ram. Very smooth but I don't have everything cranked to the max either. Still looks marvelous. Win 10 for what it is worth.

It runs so beautifully for me that I would guess it is very well optimized, but maybe my hardware soup just plays nicely with it? hard to say really. I think it's worth a shot and then if it disappoints, you'll have it for the next box.

Does this game have wide FOV or option to set FOV high in first person?

GTA V did not, but with mods, one sort of could, but it is very annoying.

No, but there are mods. I play in first person (except on a horse) and leave it at default. I think 60 is max FOV, but mods can extend it if needed.

I find 90 to be the minimum acceptable level, although some games 80 is the same as 90 and in others 105 is equivalent. 60 is far too narrow.

Though the FPV can be useful by and large this is a third person shooter and camera options for that, at least on PS4 were great. The developers did what I think most games should nowadays and that is provide OPTIONS. With the press of a button in game you could pull your camera out to something like three distance settings and the fourth would take you into first person if memory serves. I agree Mr_Blastman, 90 or near that depending on the game is a must for first person. It indeed to too "in your face" and compressed feeling. Unfortunately they provided no first person fov options on console. DBond says with mods on PC it can be fixed but I wonder if its a true 90 fov where it scales the entire scene correctly or if it does weird warping things to the image as well as cut off first person limbs and such.


DBond, do you have a favorite horse? The horse that was my favorite unfortunately I was not riding at the time of the finale so it had less impact. I can't remember its name right now. I also really liked the Missouri Fox Trotter for its wonderful gate. Late in the game I found this very cool looking, almost shiny blue horse. I was really hoping they'd incorporate mules in the game. I think there are some but they don't look right and you can't own them I don't think. I was also hoping you could own a donkey but at least on PS4 it does not let you. You can ride them I think but not save them in your stable.

Not really. I preordered RDR 2 and get a free Ardennes warhorse. It's a sturdy steed, and nice to have at the start, saving my money for other stuff. Which is usually spent instead on tack for the free horse. Those top shelf stirrups boost speed and acceleration a couple notches and help turn a middling mount in to a good one. I like one of the saddles a lot so buy that too, along with matching, or color coordinated, saddle bags and blanket. It's immensely important to look good and I spare no funds to achieve this.

At some point in chapter two I have money and start looking for a new horse. I want one with good stats yes, but the overarching criteria is how it looks. There's no actual criteria, but you know it when you see it. Sort of like how I select my guitars, you just know.

In my first run I bought a brindle thoroughbred, then in chapter 4, the black Arabian from St Denis. These are really good horses.

The Ardennes warhorse, Storm Cloud



The brindle thoroughbred, Captain Jack




The black Arabian, Ricochet



And now in my second run the first horse I got after the Ardennes was this Hungarian Half Bred. This horse belonged to the mark from the first Valentine bounty mission. You borrow it to complete that mission and I just decided to keep it. I love the dappled coat on this one with the the top of the horse white from nose to tail.





I've just hit chapter 3 so new horses are available in the stables, and I'll be looking to upgrade., so I'll make the rounds and see if one trips my fancy. I prioritize speed and temperament. Temperament can't be seen? or can it?, but I don't want a skittish horse. There are a lot of shootouts and predators you stumble across and staying on the horse instead of being thrown off a bucking, frightened one is key, isn't it? Full bonding improves the horse even more, and the right tack can too. Of those horses the Arabian was clearly the best performance-wise, but it costs $1000 and only available after chapter 4.

You can break wild horses and there's a white Arabian available this way from early in the game. But I cannot be seen on a white horse, far too ostentatious, ya know? So I don't go for that one. But really, in the end, it comes down to my reaction to the horse when I see it. Some just trip that trigger and I know it's the right one for me. The Fox Trotter you mention Coot is a really good one, a race/work hybrid horse with high speed. A good choice. There are 19 different horse types on PC (not counting coats), and I have owned just five or six of them so far in two runs. As I am now in the market to find a new mount I'll let ya know what I come up with.

The first place I went was Strawberry, in my search for a new ride. I stopped to scope out whatever wild horses I came across on the way from Rhodes. Mustangs, Appaloosas, Dutch Warmbloods and that sort of level. These are all mid-tier. Good horses, but no upgrade on the Hungarian Halfbred I'm on. Now in chapter 3 the brindle coat thoroughbred is for sale and I bought it again. It's a nice looking horse, but does not really trip that trigger. But it is very fast, and I bought it for that reason. It's a lot faster than the Hungarian, and just as fast as the best horses in the game. It's not nearly so robust though, so need to be mindful in shootouts. Aside from the wild white Arabian I'm not sure you can get a faster horse in chapter 3. I named this one Captain Jack II. My honor level gave me a 25% discount and this horse cost $337 instead of $450. I now have three horses stabled. I can't get any fee for the free horse, but could sell them anyway to clear space for later (max is four owned horses)

Here's a shot of the dapple dark grey Hungarian outside Strawberry stable. She had served me well and deserves a rest after what we've been through together haha






These are her stats, with the two yellow bars indicating the tack boost




And the thoroughbred by comparison, and before any bonding at all. A big upgrade

I captured the wild white Arabian quite early in the game and used that horse throughout the story. She is fast and agile!

Agreed Semmern, what white Arabian is a great horse. I put off getting it on my latest playthrough and like Dbond was a cheapskate and used the Hungarian Halfbreed for most of my playtime.

Over the weekend I tried going into New Austin as Arthur, figuring I got all the gear, tonics, weapons and ammo to see how it goes. It seemed to go alright with me able to flee or fight off most of the bounty hunters that were coming after me. The problem, is there's invisible snipers that will just take you out instantly if you're there too early in the game. You'll get away from a bunch of people chasing you and just when you think you're free and clear a shot will ring out from nowhere and you'll die.

That's optimal I reckon. You don't really need another horse the rest of the way. But it's a white horse, so....

Here's a spreadsheet of the stats for all PC horses

Horse Stat Spreadsheet

The white Arabian is listed 8th, when HP, Speed, Acceleration and Stamina are averaged. But it's tight at the top and the small gap won't make much of a difference.

The Missouri Fox Trotter is right below the top Arabians, and I think I'll look to make this my end game horse, on Coot's recommendation, having gone with the black Arabian first run, if I can find an attractive coat. The brindle thoroughbred I just bought in Strawberry is slotted in just below the wild white Arabian, and it's a great horse for this point in the game. We're already bonded at level 3 and she should serve me well for chapter 3.

Caught my biggest fish yet yesterday, the Salmon which tipped the scales at 51 pounds. That's six so far.

We've talked about the pacing in this thread and it really is sublime, with so much to do and a free hand to proceed as you wish. Missions are all opt-in and can be taken at your leisure. And there is so much to do. Yesterday I played a long time and did so much stuff. I bought a new horse. I hunted game, taking two deer, a squirrel, a badger, a couple rabbits, a pronghorn and an elk, all for perfect pelts for crafting back at camp. Much more of this to do.

I went fishing, taking several nice trout and that monster salmon. Did a few missions, including a home robbery and helped two young lovers find happiness. I drove a wagon for a women's suffrage rally, with the ladies fired up and singing, rather nicely, as we went along. Pulled a man's mangled leg out of a bear trap and eased his pain offering some whiskey, helped a prostitute dispose of her paramour's lifeless body. Made an easy $50 hunting some wolves that were terrorizing a logging camp. Played poker, and won. Love this poker.

I rode from Rhodes all the way up past Colter (the snow town where the game begins), high in the Grizzlies where the temperature was zero fahrenheit and snow thigh deep and met a famous gunslinger who was only interested in slingin', and I only wanted to talk. Sorry Paco, it was you or me. Then back to that little town, now deserted, to visit Davey's grave, and then farther north still to visit Jenny's too. Rest easy, friends.

Had a duel atop a moving train, and hunted a bounty. Visited a haberdashery but found no appealing haberdash. Made camps all over, cooking the game I had hunted, brushed and fed my horse countless times. And all of this is only some of what I did. It's wonderful really, an amazing game world full of fun and interesting things to see and do. For players that can chart their own course and who don't simply stick to the narrative it's a fantastic playground to lose yourself in.

It's for sale at Strawberry stable at the start of chapter 3, $450 minus (or plus, I guess, if you're bad) your discount due to your honor level. A good horse for this stage of the game. And yes, brindle is the coat, it usually refers to a striped coat. Dogs are described in this way too.

Thanks for the comments, I'm happy to see you liked the shots

When I first played the game, I was so tickled when out of nowhere Arthur began to sing. I had always wanted the ability to sing while in the saddle and low and behold early in the game while out and about he did so. I was thrilled by that detail and thought put into it. I only wish you had a whole slew of songs that you could sing at any time but at least the few were there. That's sort of the game's governing quality it seems and that is to be incidental and always atmospheric. I really wish they would add something like what was seen in Assassin's Creed 4 where you can explore and find sea shanties for your sailors to sing. It would be nice to rummage through song books or hang around stranger's campfires and learn songs to sing in that way.

Those sorts of touches are everywhere in this game aren't they?

My son and I loved the sea shanties in Black Flag, we seemed to play it just for the songs and the fun ship combat.

As I talked about before, when I fired up RDR 2 on Steam all the achievements I had gotten a couple years ago on Epic fired, leaving few to get still. One of those is Errand Boy, which you get for filling five camp item requests. Just 7% of players have gotten this which sort of blows my mind. That's only a few needed, and I'd think a much higher percentage would have done this. Then again, I didn't get it my first time through. I'm playing the game this time more broadly, and slowly. Taking more time to just live in the game world. I've already dropped 90 hours and have barely scratched chapter 3. I was much farther along the first time. Hunting and fishing is my main distraction I'd say, but I'm trying to dip the toes in a bit of everything. Caught the legendary bluegill yesterday, so that's half of them. Took the legendary elk too for the trinket.

Much earlier in this thread, when I was playing the first time, I made a post talking about the young lady of ill repute in Valentine who asks you to help her dispose of the customer dead in her hotel room. Having helped her, sometime later I came across a public hanging in the town, and on the noose was this girl. I thought I might try and save her from her fate, shooting the rope before the door dropped. But I was too close to the crowd and when I went to aim, I instead got the interface to interact with NPCs. The chance to shoot was gone and she paid the price. So this time around I was hoping to come across this again, and see if she could be saved. She seems to be a bit of a serial killer, so not exactly the best choice, but this sort of emergent play is fun to experiment with.

And when I came across it again I rode off a ways, took out the rolling block and from a considerable distance I took aim and shot the rope. Looking through the scope I could see her freeze in surprise, then turn and jump off the gallows while the guards started shooting at me and I was instantly wanted. She ran off out of view and the lawmen chased me on horseback. The thoroughbred could outpace them and I escaped, and I don't think I'll ever know what became of her. I lost some honor too, as she really should have hung I suppose. I wonder if she made it?

One more horse shot, this is Captain Jack II, the fast brindle thoroughbred, on our trip north in to the Grizzlies to meet Paco and visit the graves. This is at Colter, where the game begins.

With RDR 2 being three years old now I reckon spoilers aren't such a concern any longer? That girl will try to get Arthur's attention at a random time when he is walking through Valentine. You can choose to help her by disposing of the body by feeding it to the pigs, or you can turn her in to the sheriff, or do nothing at all, I suppose.

When you help her, later the same thing happens again, suggesting that the first time was no accident, and have the same options. I chose to help her, and later I guess the sheriff gets wise anyway and that's how she ends up on the end of a rope. I had no idea if the rope could even be shot, but worth a punt, and I like to think she got away, even if that means her killing might continue. If I play again maybe I'll tie her up and turn her in.

Not necessarily. I see Steam friends of mine play games for the first time that are well over 5 years old.


Heck, I recently played Mad Max a full 5 years after it was released.