Red Dead Redemption 2 Announced For PC

November 5th 2019

RDR2 releasing for PC

Cool. I'll buy it as a birthday present.

I got it for my son on PS4 but I'm hopeless in first person games with a controller

I'm assuming the PC version will support the mouse and keyboard?

Nope. Epic exclusive deal (with keys via other stores to the Epic launcher to 'mask' the deal).

I've lived without it since release. I know the gameplay and story from Lets Play, and will not support this kind of 'timed exclusive' deal. The very stupidity of such a late release on PC already is annoying, but then to stagger the releases between 'exclusive game stores' is nuts.

Had it released on PC on day one. Ideally on GoG as well as Steam and any additional stores you want for diversity and 'better deals for developers' then I could have been all over it. This late, and with silly games about release scheduling still going on... I'm out.

It's not an exclusive, just an earlier release on Epic. Steam version in December. I can wait until then, or longer.
I'd still rather have the first one on pc, but at least this will be new to me.

As soon as it comes out on pc I'm buying it... Don't own a console and don't want one. I've been waiting for the pc version, at last!

So this is worth playing?

It comes first on rockstar store, then on epic, then on the other key sellers like green man gaming etc, if you pre order before october 22, you get pre order bonus, that includes two games (that everyone who cared about them already have on steam) and premium edition bonus (whatever that is) plus some gold for online and 20% voucher to upgrade to the other two versions (what ? )
it comes on steam on december, however the way its worded it seems steam will not be part of the pre order (so you will miss all the bonuses). that is a big F.U to steam. its on purpose to leverage against steam that their sales are not enough to warrant the 30% cut they take no doubt. i really hope it sells more on steam just to blow epic, they clearly paid rockstar for that one month exclusivity against steam that has a bigger base for rockstar games than their own app.

It would be IF its not a typically sloppy port job, however I'm not overly confident of that being the case.

all rockstars games on pc were bad ports with the exception of max payne3, but that one wasnt a port, but built in tandem.

A mouse will make the aiming extremely better but the game is designed around the controller. If I ever got it on PC one day I'd likely still play with the controller because of the game's design around analog movement, horse gates and what have you. Its an excellent game. Like Raw Kryptonite I still very much want the first game on PC. With 1080p resolution and unlocked 60fps it would be like a dream. I still love that game's engine. Plus I'd be curious to see what kind of mods people come up with. I still hope they make a substantial DLC or expansion for RDR2 as long as its NOT undead nightmare type stuff. I really want to see more character study and story. I'd also like to see an increase in single player bounties. They were designed so much better in the sequel but there's only a precious few. The sequel gives the bounties more personality and little bits of lore and most of them were designed in a unique way making them different from one another. More hand made is what I'm getting at.

I'm also still baffled at the fact you can't go to Mexico. I was under the impression the WHOLE map of the original was included. I made it on the other side but it has some clever terrain design to keep you from going there. I did see someone make it over there completely using some sort of gltich and I even saw a horseback rider from the other side so that area is modeled.

It never occurred to me that a PC game could be controller-only. Any games like this? So whilst I have no info about this with RDR2, I m working under the assumption that of course it will have KB&M.

I have a X Box controller hooked up which I use with PES 2020 and Elite Dangerous (for the exploration modules), so I could always give it a try. You can get used to anything with enough repetition. But games where I am using one stick to control movement and another stick to control view usually don't end well for me.

When I played the PC version of GTA: San Andreas, I normally used keyboard and mouse, or course, but there were certain stages where a controller work much better for me.

Also worth noting that keyboard and mouse basically broke the shooting aspect of the game by making it ridiculous easy compared to a using a controller.

I expect the above will hold true with RDR 2 PC.

Yeah I played a lot of GTA 5 and used a controller for the driving or flying, and KB & M when on foot.

I have GTA V on PC,i played it 1st on PS3 then PS4..The PC version blows them away,IMO it certainly isn't a bad port.

did you play on release ? it was a ctd mess, used too much cpu for no reason, you couldnt even use extended shadows or that was a garanteed crash.

About PC game that is controller only, saints row 2, dark souls and dark souls 2,any capcom port from xbox 360. sure you could play with the mouse, and struggle to do anything with it,and that is not taking into the acounts the games that the menu assume you are using a controller like the injustice series,assassin creed up until unity.
i kid you not, if you hit shift and i think it was B, injustice just reset the characters in the screen, like in your face in the middle of a match.
.

I want to buy it just so i can play m/kb but the online side of it got stale too quickly (ps4) and was a super grind fest to get to the good horses and top tier guns etc. If you like single player stories with great characters in an open world and fantastic scenery the game is amazing in that aspect. You can lose hours easily just hunting the legendary animals. Bear stalking is fun af but fishing online for an hour just to get money and level up gets old quick.

If someone mods the game for certain areas like slow down the day/night cycle and a Clint outfit i'd be hard pressed to not get sucked back in.

Second all this. Open world games on console are my main timewaster these days (Witcher 3, RDR2, and now Assassin Creed Odyssey) ... great single player content reels me in.

I'm also hopeless at using a controller and button mashing, but auto-aim is my friend

I'm waiting for Team Fusion to release CloD 5 or Tobruk or whatever it will be called before I dive back into flight sims.

Nevermind. I just found out RDR 2 requires 150 gigabytes of hard drive space.

Nope.

That's ridiculous.

Wow, 150 GB is monstrous even by today's standards for PC games.

And even I remember when 10MB was outrageous.

I'm most looking forward to the mods that people come out with.

Thats how it goes, more and more space as games get bigger with better textures, higher resolution etc. Kind of like the old days of Crysis, Far Cry and World in Conflict. LOL
It will be interesting to see if 150 is just for the install process or actual drive space for the game. At least it’s a huge, open world game, not just some fps. Fine with me if games like this and the future Elder Scrolls need it, BUT, it better be worth it. They do have some added pressure to justify the real estate.
Needs a lot of memory too.
I hope mods are possible too, that could be huge for this.

The original Falcon 3.0 release was less than 10MB.

That won't stop me, have plenty of space and just means I'll need to find something else to do while it's downloading. This is why we buy hard drives with capacity measured in terabytes



Haha too true.

If the game world is like GTA5, then that install size will reflect tons of unique items, like buildings etc which are used in one area only and not instanced all over the map. Most games will instance buildings, but I think GTA5 has very few instanced buildings.

i remember when the demo for tomb raider 3 was 40 mb and it took me 4 hours to download only for the file to be corrupt, saddest sunday morning of my childhood

GTA V has a lot of objects cut from the game still there, pine trees, a bunch of animation for cats not seen in the game, i guess the rumor of buying pet was real, cos they are all domestic animations, and there is a pet store in the game,lots of buildings and 3d assets, and unique animation peds dont use

I remember taking DAYS to download the Grim Fandango demo. It would just stop or disconnect. Couldn't use the phone for the better part of a week due to that. LOL

RDR2 was the most time consuming PS4 game to install that I've ever had. If memory serves, it took a few hours just to install the game to the console using the install disk and I think it came to around 100+GB of data. I was surprised as I've never had a PS4 game take anywhere near that long to install. Most of them install within a few minutes and some I think allow you to even start the game while its still installing. RDR2 however took a long time and then after that, it was recommended that you download the day one patch which was monstrous. It took me with our internet connection all day and night to download that. I couldn't install it until the following day. So it took almost two days from the time I bought RDR2 in the store to be able to play it. I imagine the cinematic/movie-like aspects of the game take up a lot of space.

Speaking of patches, as far as I can tell, Rockstar still has not fixed a significant problem they introduced with a subsequent patch. One of the later patches disabled ambient occlusion making the game not look as good as it did when I first started playing. I don't understand why they haven't addressed that yet. I imagine PC users won't have that problem as they are likely to have a whole slew of graphics options available to tweak.

I just read that COD:MW IX is coming with a PC size download of 175GB

My computer has only 450 GB of hard drive space total, although by the time RDR 2 is debugged and has a decent mod scene, I'll have a new gaming rig.

There's never enough. I'm around 4TB and still have to hunt space sometimes. LOL

Must be that open world COD experience with maps the size of a Far Cry game.
Yeah. Right.

...although that would be pretty good, but I guess that's the new GR game. I wonder how much that one needs?

edit: a PALTRY 42GB! Must suck! What is this, 2015? Geez!

It’s stuff like this that scares ISP’s and pushes them towards implementing data caps.

^ But then more games might, like the new flight simulator, rely on streaming data. Which I personally really dislike, obviously, because I like the "own it" aspect of buying a title.

I was going to hold out for the steam version but from what I hear steam wont have any preorder bonuses and it will still be linked to the R* launcher like how ubisoft launches uplay on steam. So there doesnt appear to be any real benefit to getting it on steam.

Nov 5th is coming fast.

So how long would RDR 2 take to download on a 1980s 2400 bps modem?


About 15.85 years.

The more you know...

Great. My company sent out an update on acceptable use of the IT equipment. Now I officially can't download stuff anymore trough our fat pipes...

Two days until release. I bought it on R* launcher for the free version upgrade and preorder bonus. Not super happy about not getting it on steam but it is what it is at this point.

I own it on console and i've been trying to play it a bit on console but I just cant get into it. I want to play it on my computer with a mouse / keyboard and a wider FoV. Also, I dont want to pay for MP... which I really really enjoyed RDRO for the month I had a free game pass but Im not going to pay for online ever again if I can help it.

5th cant get here soon enough.

I imagine the combat mechanic controls are going to be significantly better with a mouse and keyboard. Even with the fairly unusual(for a console game)amount of sensitivity options in the PS4 version I never found a truly satisfactory balance which is something I don't understand. The PS4 has other shooters that tend to have tighter controls. I had to rely on Dead Eye a lot but that's always been a fun mechanic. What I can't see the mouse and keyboard being conducive to though is for everything else in the game which is really designed around slower, methodical analogue control of character movement especially horse riding.

Although I always found it kind of hard to run at a jog if memory serves because of how they designed the controls. Even still though the game has great analogue sensitivity so that you can basically move from really micro speeds on up to your jog and then sprint. I have a feeling mouse and keyboard might help with that however it may miss out on the finer analogue movements for the "in between" moving into and out of the different speeds. Maybe it'll do just fine with horses too because they are animated by a series of different gates. Except for perhaps missing out on some of the more finer analogue movements which may not even be missed, I have a feeling the game will feel and control much better on a pc. However the game is designed around a controller though which would be hard for me to not use on something like this. My hope is that someone could mod better sensitivities and accelerations into the game's controller configuration.


Its a great game especially for someone who loves story, character studies and a world that was built for taking your time and living in. I already miss playing it but I did about everything you can do in it and I'm not interested in mp. For a game like this I honestly need about three years in between plays for a second play through to feel fresh again. I'm still hoping that they come out with a true story expansion as well as bring the first game to PC.

https://www.pcgamer.com/red-dead-re...its-mouse-controls-that-make-it-special/

"Exploring in first-person is much better on PC thanks simply to well implemented mouselook. Pad controls are borderline sluggish, seemingly to give your actions a sense of heft that fits Red Dead Redemption 2's methodical pacing. It's great to be able to quickly look where I want to without dragging my view around with a stick. It also means you can play the game as a legitimate FPS. Naturally, the game switches off the pad's auto aim when you start playing with a mouse, and you can switch freely between mouse and pad if you prefer riding a horse with a controller.

The combination of 60fps performance and mouselook significantly changes the way the game feels to play, which to me matters more than visual improvements to a game that looked great already. As a PC player I'm used to being able to dart around with my view and react to the game world with almost unconscious flicks of the mouse. Pad look creates a small amount of friction between my intention and the way the game responds to that intention. Removing that friction simply makes the game feel better to me.

The controls are customisable too, as you'd expect. You can alter FOV settings to your taste and rebind keys. The radial item selection menus will take some getting used to, and for the sake of my fingers I'd rebind the slow-mo 'dead eye' trigger from middle mouse button to a side button. Otherwise Red Dead seems to have transitioned to PC nicely. Performance is the big unexplored issue. Rockstar says the game is highly scaleable. We look forward to testing it on a few different rigs."

Sounds good to me!

I imagine all around the PC version with mouse and keyboard plus higher fps will create an even better experience. I forgot about the FPS mode which definitely would be better on PC. I never used it much on PS4 save for getting a good look at things, taking a picture or enjoying the weapon modeling, aim down sight modes.

First person mode being added to GTA 5 was the thing that made me try it, and I ended up loving it. Played through the whole single player in first person, with switching to that mode the first thing I did. Then I played to level 120 in GTA Online all in first person. The flying, the driving, all of it. I knew it was at a disadvantage in PvP but I didn't care. I mean, if you're crouched behind a car in first person, you see nothing but car. In third person you see everything beyond it. A lot less SA for sure, and true whether on foot, in a vehicle or an aircraft. But for me it makes such a difference in how much I get in to it. The difference between being my character or controlling it. I hadn't read first person is an option in RDR2 PC until I saw the above quote. I assumed it would be, but hadn't seen it. That's, like, really good.

I decided to get the game through Humble, as I had some credit there. If it were out at release on Steam I would have gotten it there no doubt. Needed to create an Epic Games account, and jump through all of the registrations, and how many crosswalks, link accounts and confirmation e-mails, and do you see any traffic lights, and good grief, I'm past this stuff. For those of you with all of these accounts already it's a breeze, but I didn't particularly want an Epic Games account, but there ya go when you don't read the fine print and just add the credit card details. On the plus side, I will now finally pull the trigger on Exodus, which I've wanted for years and Metro is one of my favorite series eva. Silver lining.

Looking forward to RDR 2 PC. Happen to have the day off so can probably get a good start.

So PC launch is plagued by bugs, crashes, CTD and horrible unoptmized performance with free stutter for everyone as pre order bonus........LFMAO

Also mine.

I never pre-order a game unless I get some kind of significant bonus or discount.

Only had one CTD during a MP session which I think was the server I was on crashing. Everything else has been butter smooth for me. Performance isnt quite what I wanted but it runs a bit better than GTA5 did and I am running 2560*1080. I was running 3840*1280 but the performance at that resolution wasnt optimal lol. So I backed it back down to a standard sub4k 21:9

Im enjoying it and once they patch it a bit more Im sure it will just get better.

It takes on a whole new, presumably unintended, meaning when you write it that way.

I played quite a bit yesterday and my impressions are very favorable, but not without a few caveats.

Graphically, it's fantastic. Looks great, runs great, and that's on modest hardware, a Ryzen 2600 and a GTX 1660 Ti @1920x1080. Like Master said it's butter-smooth. Not a hint of any stutter at all. I don't doubt some may be experiencing this, but it clearly doesn't affect everyone. For what it's worth I made zero changes to the default graphics settings and did not update my video driver, still using one from April. I had some stutter in GTA 5 single player on occasion, but interestingly not in GTAO. But here in RDR 2 it's really nice. Fog, clouds, snow, sunlight, smoke, star-filled night skies and those sorts of effects all look fantastic. The first chapter is in snow country and it's nicely done. Tracks in the snow, or the depressions in it made by a falling body are convincing. View distances are immense, stunning vistas.

My issues were technical. Specifically, inputs and menu choices can seem unresponsive at times. For instance, something's wrong with the main menus, they are very sluggish, clicking options for example takes 10 seconds or more to switch screens. Once I've loaded a save game these menus work fine. But accessing them from the main menu has the problem. Selecting choices in the menus doesn't always work. The 'focused' choice needs to have a red highlight around it or it doesn't respond. You need to drag the mouse around to wake it up, go red, and then click. Minor, and mildly annoying, but the sort of thing a patch should fix.

Horses are given a lot of attention in this game, and rightfully so. On par with Kingdom Come Deliverance, with the additional focus on the relationship through the bonding mechanic. I bought a beautiful mottled grey horse who I named Storm Cloud. My partner in crime.

I started playing in first-person once I worked out how to do it. On foot this is the way I will play. But I wasn't comfortable on the horse in first-person, so I've reverted to third-person for that. It's all configurable, so that it automatically switches between first and third person as I get on and off the horse. If I could work out a wider POV mounted I might go back, but the hybrid method is fine and a little more cinematic anyway and easier to maintain formation when riding with the posse. One of the issues, aside from the too-narrow POV, is that when you get near a cliff edge or similar drop-off the first person camera angle is too limited to see it, and my horse and I slid off of one, taking damage. I also had one CTD when navigating the inventory screen.

At this stage I'd rate the controls as awkward. How much of that is down to me is TBD. It's always the case that when changing games and moving from one control scheme to another it will feel alien for a bit, like when you drive your friend's car and fumble for all the switches when you can do it without thinking or looking in your own car, your fingers landing precisely on the volume knob every time. Like GTA 5, you can switch between KB&M and the controller seamlessly, with the on-screen prompts changing to whichever input type was last detected. I felt at times the unresponsive problem also happened in game, actions seemingly not responding right away to my inputs, but maybe I'm not lined up right or something and after some time a considered re-map could help make it more intuitive.

I wanted to post some screenshots, and I use FRAPS for this, but for some reason it did not capture any. Not sure why really.

Nothing show-stopping though and I was able to complete Chapter One and get as far as Valentine. I had a good time with it and looking forward to more. The problems I saw are the sort of technical troubles I expect to be patched out. As far as the gameplay I'm digging it.

Oh yeah, I meant to say this in the last post....

So after completing what I suppose amounts to the prologue, I hopped on my trusty steed and set off to explore the environs. Headed south out of the Overlook camp and came across a train station, where you're to find the Reverend. As I walked around the outside of the building I spotted an open door, with three men seated at a table playing poker. I stepped inside and one proved to be the Reverend, drunk as a skunk. My character stated in no uncertain terms that the Reverend was not capable, given his current condition, of properly playing the game. So he gets up, falls down and stumbles out of sight, leaving an empty place at the poker table.

"Why don't you take his place?" one of the other men says.

So I did, there'll be time for the good Reverend later I reckon. Poker is one of my favorite card games ever. Actually, it might be my ONLY favorite card game ever. Not expecting to be impressed with RDR's version of Texas Hold 'em, I began to play, and just loved it. I didn't notice exactly how much money I started with, but it was around $1.50, which may not seem like much, but it's the 1890s don't forget. Ante's like 2 or 4 cents. I played for over an hour and by the end I had turned that buck-fitty in to four dollars and change. I was down, then up, then up some more.

But it was fun, and my examples for comparison might be few, but this is easily my favorite poker I've played on the computer. The AI players bluff, and fold and basically play like real players. The only negative I saw was the AI players folding on a check before the flop was down. That makes no sense with no cost to see 'em. But otherwise it was a heck of a lot of fun and I will be playing a lot of RDR 2 poker.

During one hand where I won a massive $1.32 it was down to two of us. I had two pair, which is a solid hand in seven card stud, Jacks over Nines. The other guy kept raising and calling, so I began to worry. Maybe he's a straight, or a full house or whatever. Felt just like playing with people, but without the cigar smoke. 18 cents here, 20 cents there, the pot kept growing. When we laid them down he had two pair, Nines over Fours. Pot's mine boys.

Another hand I had two pair too, and one AI player kept raising and calling. When we laid 'em down he had king-high. Bluffing. Cool.

I kept half-expecting a shoot-out to break out at any time, it's the wild west innit? But when it was time to go all I got was a mild protest. I'll be back. Probably around sundown.

Supposedly the menu issue has to do with dx12 and win10 mouse. There is a work around for it but honestly I've just used the arrow keys with enter to select and esc to go back. You have to remember it was all originally designed for a console and I also keep a controller plugged in to do horse stuff so a lot of the problems people are running into I dont see since I'm use to how gta5 did the menus (the same way)

So if you want to bypass the menu issue use the up/down/left/right arrow and enter

DBond and Master, you guys don't have stutter or micro pauses ? it seems to be related to processor cores, and from what reddit found out, the game use the most draconian DRM ever made, it uses routines in the mother board bios to create triggers in real time, that is why many users had to update their bios before playing.
They also found that for 10xx series older drivers are better, like much better, with the current one 1080ti loses to 2060, they recomend to go back to 39xx and the preference seems to be the 378xx

None for me. It's as smooth as any game I've played. And looks gorgeous. Spent some time in town yesterday getting in to brawls and pursuits, and the game looks fantastic. Not only does it run well, the textures and effects are amazing. The buildings, the terrain, the sunsets!, everything. Muddy roads look like muddy roads. I thought KCD did a great job here (and it does), but RDR 2 takes it up a notch. And all of this detail is combined with ridiculous view distances.

As I said I didn't touch the graphics settings, just left them at default. Not sure if it sets them based on an auto-detect routine, so it's different for each player based on his specs? So surely there are graphical features that I don't have enabled. Honestly I don't want to even open the settings to look as I'm afraid I might jinx it. Can't say why it runs so smoothly for me and not for others, but perhaps my unambitious settings are part of it? I took a look this morning and I am running driver 419.35 in case it might matter. My specs are modest, a Ryzen 2600, GTX 1660 Ti and 16 gigs 'o RAM. Game is installed on a mechanical drive.

And when I say it's smooth, I mean perfectly. Not ignoring or excusing random or infrequent hiccups or slowdowns. It runs perfectly, aside from the crashes. I've now had 3 CTDs in about 10 hours of play.

Master, what I've done is just start using the X Box controller for the menus and that works perfectly. It makes things like shopping and inventory management so much better. Upgrading the horse's equipment for example was nearly impossible with the mouse/menu problems. I'm sure they will work it out, but for now the controller overcomes the problem for me.

Wow, did a quick google, and indeed...

Thanks for saving me from a 150GB download. I certainly won't support a company like that. I mean, seriously...

Wow, that is ridiculous indeed. It makes the old "Starforce" DRM not seem so bad by comparison!

Nah, starforce was bad because it bricked hardware. Sofar this hasnt brick anything afaik.

I do get micropauses every now and then but normally its after the game crashed and it is fixed by doing a system restart. It's far from ideal and I can understand anyone not buying it because of how #%&*$# this company is being. Which is so funny because they started out as a rebellious company making games that laughed in the face of the bigger publishers... then they got bought out and sold out. Who would have thought a Rockstar game would be like this.

Also, it is extremely fun and Im enjoying it immensely.

+1

I'm having trouble with frequent CTDs, but performance remains like liquid glass. The game is so big and beautiful with those crazy draw distances that it surprises me actually that it does run so well on my rig. I'm enjoying it so much that I'm willing to soldier on through the crashes. I'm confident that R* will sort it out. Hopefully they will get a patch out soon.

I've praised the graphics, and I'd be posting screenshots if I could work them out. I suppose I have to use the built-in F6 camera mode? But what appeals to me about this game goes beyond how it looks. It's paced exquisitely, like it was designed by me. I always go easy in these sorts of games, taking time to do nothing but sit and observe, or partaking in the obscure, non-essential things like fishing, or darts or poker, or just going for a ride to nowhere. Pursuing the story is important, but I usually approach it like 'all in good time' as I absorb all there is to do and see. When I read in a review that a game's story is 40 hours long or whatever, I know that will double for me.

RDR 2 is designed to be played this way, and it delivers. There are action sequences of course, but in the main it's all about "moseyin' ". A game to be savoured, not devoured.

I've grown more accustomed to the control scheme, and re-mapping some things to make it better suited to me. Still not perfect in that instinctive, reflexive way that makes it all second nature. I fumble a bit still. Better, but still a bit awkward for me. All in good time

With the prologue Chapter One out of the way, having explored near camp and in to town, and buying a fine saddle for my horse, I was ready to start getting down to business. Got up at the crack of dawn, ate some breakfast, chopped some wood for camp, fed and brushed my horse, and then rode in to town and decided to see the sheriff. Got a fun bounty mission there, which didn't take long to complete. Paid in cash, good money. Around the corner I go in to the saloon for a drink. At the bar I meet a man who wants me to go speak to some notorious gunslingers around the map for a book he is writing. I decide to help him, I mean why not right? Gunslingers carry fine weapons you'd think, and if it all goes wrong maybe I'll still end up with some fine kit.

For each of these gunslingers you're given a photograph to recognize him, and flipping it over reveals some details about where he might be found. One named Flaco was holed up near a town called Coltyn, which is where the game began, so I knew where it was and some of the map in that area had been revealed by passing through it on the way to the Horseshoe Overlook camp. It was up in the Grizzlies, akin to the Rockies. Deep snow, mountains, sheer rock faces and frozen lakes.

I made sure to pack a cold-weather outfit on the horse, then rode in to town for provisions at the general store, making certain I had ample food and medicines. And then off I went, heading back in to the snow-covered mountains to talk to Flaco. It isn't that far really, I could have galloped there in a day. But I took my time, exploring trails to nowhere, hunting whitetails with the bow, then setting up camp. Cooked some venison, scored some bullet tips to make them fragment on impact, and brewed up some anti-venom potion just in case. As I ascended the temperature started dropping and the snows fell. To prevent the weather debuffs I changed in to my cold weather gear and continued on my way, and spotted Flaco's camp near a lake on the third morning.

Dismounted a ways off to not be spotted and began making my way toward their camp. I stopped to watch them for a while, see if I could spot any patrol patterns or the like. I drew my bow when one ambled off on his own and put an arrow through his forehead and he dropped without a sound. I moved closer and spotted a second guard with his back to me, and a narrow window through the trees to fire my arrow. But it was a bit high and deflected off a tree branch, alerting the others. They came for me, but seemed to struggle in the deep snow. Using my double-action revolver I dodged among the trees, popping off rounds whenever I got a glimpse of one. Before long they had all fallen and I approached the building where I could hear Flaco calling out to his men.

I called him out, and he would come out but only if I holstered my weapon. As he came out of the door he took the classic gunfighter pose, with his feet apart and his right hand hovering over his revolver's grip in it's holster. It was a duel. I died right away because while I was reading the on-screen prompts to figure out what to do, he shot me dead. But I have a million quarters, and reloaded the checkpoint. This time I got it right and sent a round right through his forehead before he even drew. Sorry Flaco, I just wanted to talk.

I then policed-up the area, looting the guards for ammo, cash and gold and took a photograph of Flaco as proof. And on the ground next to him was his fine revolver, which I slipped in to my holster. The sun was falling so I made camp there for the night, eating supper before sacking in. At dawn, I broke down camp and hopped on Storm Cloud and headed back down the mountains to town.

Kinda lame companies still feel they need to treat their customers like criminals.

Reminds me of going to the grocery store to buy a small pack of batteries because I couldn't even get inside my car due to the FOB not working. The batteries were easy to buy, but holy hell, getting them out of the package I almost stabbed myself several times. What a nightmare.

So a mix of liquid glass and broken glass.

Haha, a good way of putting it Lieste

For performance you can try this reddit thread.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadred...rt_on_what_are_the_worst_fps_leeches_in/

and this guy breaks it down with his exact settings.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadredemption2/comments/dt8ali/my_personal_settings_1440p_avg_75fps/

I'm not touching a thing Master. I did gather the courage to actually look at my settings. Nothing helpful for others at this point, but one thing that struck me is my video adapter is shown selected as "0" instead of GTX 1660 Ti. Probably doesn't mean anything but I felt it seemed odd. With it running so smoothly I am not keen to make any changes but if anyone wants to know specifically what one or more of my settings are just ask.

Are you saying DBond that you are not one of those OCD tweakers who like to spend more time tweaking settings than actually playing the games?



What's wrong with you????

If it ain't broke PM......

But it is broke, in a sense, and that's the CTD problem I'm having. At least one per hour. In response, I've begun doubling my save rate, and do so after any measurable progress. I'm not losing much of that progress when it crashes as a result, but time is lost, as the game needs to be re-launched of course, and the save re-loaded.

No way I can see to know what's causing it, the error message points to nothing. At least there's a re-try option that skips the need to re-launch the launcher. I suspect it is video related. Matter of fact, I wonder if it's the same thing that folks see when they describe pauses. Because when it crashes, that's what happens, the video screeches to a halt, It slows, then stops, then crashes to desktop. I wonder if the folks seeing these pauses have it recover and carry on, resulting in a pause, but for me it does not recover and crashes? I'm tempted to update video drivers to see if it helps, but it could cause other problems and frankly I don't want to mess with how smoothly it runs. Pick your poison perhaps, CTDs or poor performance. Of course it could all work out well too, with still-smooth play and less or no CTDs.

But it does speak in a round-about way for how good the game is that I'm willing to deal with it to keep playing. Usually I'd consider shelving it until a patch, but with this game I just want to keep going. Yesterday I was returning from that expedition up in to the Grizzlies and decided to take a route through the river valley to see what's around and reveal more of the map. As I cantered down a trail I spotted another trail leading off the main in to the forest. Wondering what I might find I came across a farmstead, went inside, and was greeted by a lady who said something like 'so there you are, Was wondering when you'd get around to it. Put it down in the cellar'

Lot's of games these days have this sort of mistaken identity schtick. Of course i went with it and went down the ladder and did a bit of looting. The woman called out 'what's taking you so long? Best not be up to no good' or something like that. So time was ticking when I spotted a gun case, and you can't pass that up! Cracked it open to find a semi-auto shotgun (which I had really wanted but couldn't afford at the gun shop). It was in poor condition, but I took it and made my way back up the ladder. The woman started saying that now she recognized me and I best hit the pike and hey that's my gun! But I was already hopping on my horse and making my getaway. A ways down the trail I pulled up and got out the gun oil and gave it a proper once-over, restoring it to fine condition, as it now gleamed in the sunlight. The game is full of moments like this, random encounters and emergent stories.

And the detail is amazing. For example I noticed Arthur's pupils dilate according to the ambient light. And something as trivial as the ruts made by a passing stage coach. In most games these, if they exist at all, will be a uniform depth and appearance. But in RDR 2 they form according to how firm the ground is. Where it's softer, the ruts will be deep, but will vary as the wheels move over drier ground, where the ruts are less deep or non existent. It looks absolutely real, and this sort of attention to detail is everywhere you look.

RDR2 was probably my favourite ever game on PS4. Just trying to decide if I want to buy it again on PC.

That's a tough call archermav. I'm not sure if the improved graphics would be enough to justify it. That's down to each player. There is a little more content, the PC got a few new missions, so there's that. Maybe that, plus the ability to use the mouse might be enough to warrant it? With the current technical state of the game maybe best to wait. And the mod scene is kicking in to gear in case that appeals.

But for those who have never played it and who don't fly off in to a rage when things don't go smoothly, I think it's an absolute must-play sort of game.

Congrats DBond,

I played RDR2 to some extent on PS4 and loved the environment but had to hand the disc over to my oldest kid after my usual PS style RageQuit - I'm a total disaster aiming with my thumb.
Was really looking forward to try it on PC but many YT videos tell me it's a #%&*$# currently and obviously you too have CTD's and such.

I'd better wait few years.

Yeah Oden, I bought it for my kid too on PS4, but he never took to it, though now that I have it on PC he wants to get back in to it. He doesn't care about missions or quests, just riding around and shooting stuff, jumping off train trestles and that sort of thing.

While I can aim OK with a controller, it's the movement on one stick, and looking around on the other that messes me up. Not sure you have to wait years, but maybe a few weeks is prudent for those who want trouble-free play. I guess we'll see. Honestly I'd recommend it in it's current state even, but only for the more patient among us.

When my son comes over to visit, he brings his PS4, and as I had bought him RDR2 for Christmans, I wanted to see it in action. I too was blown away by the details and variety of those details. You can get a reputation by acting in certain ways. Your hair & beard grow in real-time. You get dirty over time. If you eat too much you get fat. All these things (and more I'm sure) cause the random peeps to treat you in a certain way. You can easily get yourself into an undesirable state where no-one will want to talk with you

Does this game have a first person view?

Happy Birthday Mr Bond!

Yes it does Chucky, (and thanks) and I talked about it a few posts ago. I am playing on foot in first person and third person on the horse.

There is one very annoying aspect to first person and it's the fact that anytime you walk through a door, you exit the door-opening animation looking at the ground/floor. Super annoying.

Good post DM, the game is full of that sort of stuff. I keep comparing it to KCD and while the games are different, they share some of the same themes and design philosophies.

Haha DM, good points

I finally worked screenshots out I think. Fraps doesn't work for me, because it's DX 12? I used the built-in camera mode, then the files need to have .jpg extensions added, then need a program more than Paint. I used Irfanview. Photoshop would work too. A bit of a circus really, but the in-game camera suite is pretty cool. All of these shots are untouched. My best shots never got taken as I didn't realize straight away that Fraps wasn't working. I'll get some more now that it seems I've worked it out.


Morning at the Horseshoe Overlook Camp







A train rumbles through the station



The Valentine auction house



Post Office/train station

Definitely going to get this one... glad it has now come to the PC

Cheers, will give it a miss for now.

I don't how far you are into the game Dbond but you got that auto shotgun pretty fast it seems. I wasn't able to get that until way later on including the Lancaster I think its called.(Henry lever action) I wish I knew how many hours I put into the game. Its not perfect but its an excellent game. I'd think I got close to a hundred hours if not more. I did just about everything I could in the game. The only side quest I never finished was one I started as Arthur but you have to find all the petroglyphs in the game and I'm afraid I can't do that without help. Unless I were to stumble on it I just can't see that well. I almost know RDR2's map like the back of my hand like the first game. I really wish they'd make a storied expansion with more character studies as well as add in some more bounties. There were way less bounties this time but they were done soooo much better. The bounties have a little lore built into them and the characters giving them more meaning. The world and map are just to great to not add more single player content.

The thing that bugged me the most and it could get downright infuriating was the inconsistent and broken acting saddle inventory system that randomly changes your weapons with no rhyme or reason regardless of your chosen configuration. I'd be curious to see if a modder can fix that. I can't for the life of me understand how Rockstar allowed that to pass quality control and why they never fixed it.

Yes, and I described how I got it a few posts back. I'm in chapter 2. Just found it in a gun case in some lady's cellar at a farm I decided to check out. Good gun, but seems to lack punch a bit. I've been leaning on the side-by-side for most of my shotgunning needs.




That's impressive, as it's such a big game. I feel like I've done a lot already, but then again I am still in chapter 2. Again and again I am off to do something and along the way another thing happens and I'm sidetracked off in a different direction.

Two more things that I like about RDR 2 I want to mention, the map and the journal. I am a map guy. My friends make fun of me for not using GPS and always checking maps. I study maps for fun believe it or not. So the map in any game is one of the things I tend to be more critical of. Many fall short of my expectations, but some are great, and RDR 2's map is one of those. Nicely drawn, and very useful. It resolves to more and more detail as you zoom in, with even contour lines at the highest zoom. It seemed I was on a streak of substandard maps over the last however many games I've played, but RDR restores the faith with an attractive and functional map.

There is a hand-written journal that's also nicely done, recording Arthur's thoughts on what he has seen and done, along with sketches of things he's encountered. It's written in cursive and must make the youngster's heads explode.

Hah, me too love maps, especially paper ones that come with games (remember them.....?)

First thing I had to do in Witcher 3 was to disable quest markers & the mini-map. It felt just wrong playing that fantastically rendered world full of detail by staring at the tiny stupid mini-map to see where to go. Luckily in that you can disable all that stuff right in the game, unlike Skyrim say where you need to mod it out.

So now I need to read the map, and look into the environment to see any nasty greeblies skulking about before deciding on a shortcut through a forest or swamp or something.

I mean that's why we have better & more realistic worlds, right?

That's the way to do it but in RDR I must admit I have left the indicators for predators and bad guys on, as without it you'd be jumped too often, or I would anyway. Those lawmen aren't mucking about and get right down to business when they spot you, and I seem to be wanted due to some unfortunate misunderstandings

FWIW, I had a look at my graphics settings and it defaults to 'Balanced'. That means things like Ultra textures, but medium lighting and I suspect my smooth framerates are due to these unambitious settings. Most posts I read reveal the player is using some resolution I didn't even know existed at Ultra-everything. And as you can see in my screens above, it still looks pretty good with some stuff dialed down.

About the differences with the PC version, for anyone wondering if it's worth it after playing on console....



So it's more than a few new missions as I said earlier.

After a very terrible start I was finally able to play it this weekend.

For the first two days the launcher would crash before the game would start and I found no fix that worked for me. The next couple of days the servers were busy and I couldn't log in.

The game is good and it runs much better than it did on my xbox. There's also tons of graphics options you can tweak to get it to look and/or run as well as you want it to. For the most part the story, writing and characters are all done very well. Can I nitpick every little thing? Sure, but I won't as it's overall a fun and enjoyable time.

I haven't seen anything new yet since I'm just taking my sweet time in Chapter 2 just getting into bar fights, exploring the map, hunting, and getting into shootouts with bounty hunters and O'Driscalls.

A few friends of mine upgraded their video cards over the weekend and reported some weird changes with their graphic options. Apparently Rockstar has the graphics are different for each video card. I don't mean the defaults are lower on an older card, but say medium on a 1070 and medium on a 2080 are very different looking with the newer cards giving much greater detail despite having the same settings. I think that's part of the reason many reviews online give it crappy reviews for how it runs on different hardware. It seems and high or ultra settings are there to tax your graphics card, no matter what card it is.

This looks like a great game. I like RPGs but don't like a lot of combat. I played Mass Effect games and Fallout games on the 'easy' level because I enjoy exploring and the story more than endless firefights Can you set the combat level to 'easy" or 'infrequent' or something like that ?

This video goes into depth regarding different PC graphic settings Vs an XBOX One X,i own RDR2 on PS4 but im hoping to grab the PC version soon.
I found the video very clear and interesting hope it may help some of you guys with your settings.

Combat is extremely common and overdone - hundreds of enemies overall and 'wave based' combat encounters a frequent chore (and that was just watching a Let's play)...
The story is engaging enough... but that isn't 'enough' and conflict and violence are so common that they seemed meaningless when the story makes a point of making a point about it.

I think the difficulty can be set lower, but you'd still end up murdering many hundreds of people throughout the many chapters of play.

I think you'd like it Archie. Its a great story, some excellent characters and a wonderful world to live in for awhile. Combat is necessary but I wouldn't say its over done unless we're speaking in terms of story missions with multiple levels and when crap hits the fan. Random encounters are a lot of fund and feel dynamic. I once got stopped by two highwaymen type robbers under a covered bridge when riding through. You can also run away from trouble while not in a story mission. Hiding from bounty hunters is fun. Its a relaxing world map to explore too. When I had finished RDR, I would still play free roam in the game and just ride around on horseback after a hard day at work while listening to my own Western catalog and things like Jeremiah Johnson soundtrack. RDR 2 is even bigger with a larger variety of environments so it bodes well for that type of relaxing free roam play. Animations and physics are excellent and its very much designed to be slower paced interaction with the world. Movement is quite slower than typical games but for a guy like me, its great. I already soak up most game worlds and take my time and this game is basically designed around a "take your time" type attitude. I suppose its irritated some people but I loved it. Everything feels heftier and weightier and more grounded. Arthur's basic walk is even a moseying pace.

Keep in mind the game leads you along for an hour or two before you can free roam and quest at your leisure.

Thanks Dbond for that PC list. That's nice that the PC version includes a few extra bounties.

I'm like you DBond and DM with regards to maps. I did the very same thing in Witcher 3 and RDR2. I turned all HUD elements completely off and try to use the map and my own memory of the territory and land marks to get around. RDR2's HUD is well done so that with the touch of one button, you can quickly bring up the HUD that then dynamically disappears after a moment.

I was thinking along the same lines and wondering if R* had been a little too clever for their own good. Did you read this was the case somewhere?


If there is a difficulty setting I missed it. There really is no way to go through the game without some fairly heavy combat action. However these set piece sort of sequences are mostly main story missions. It would be possible to get quite a lot of gameplay out of everything else, as Coot said. But to move forward through the game's story combat is required as Lieste noted, and advancing the story unlocks a lot of the best abilities, gear and horses. There is a 'Dead-Eye' ability that gives you a limited amount of bullet-time, so you can usually pop several of the bad guys before they can even aim if you want. And if you fail any of these missions a few times you should have the option to skip the sequence and just get on with it.

The combat feels pretty good though. The weapons fire slow enough and at times inaccurately enough that it feels right, with men ducking and popping up from cover and not just getting shot dead straight away, though the AI isn't all too challenging unless attacking in large groups. I like the guns, they sound good, belch smoke and have great animations. I'm partial to the side-by-side shotgun, dual-wielding revolvers and a repeater, though I have yet to see most of the better rifles. Most of the heavier combat sequences have allies along with you too. So while combat is required, and can be heavy at times, it will never be something that could stop a player from advancing.

Coot hit on a lot of good points, and there really is a ton of stuff to do in free roam, just like GTA 5, but like he said, more leisurely. Side missions, random encounters (many of which involve no conflict), and all sorts of activities. Just today I pulled this Smallie out of the Dakota River

Which your picture reminds me Dbond, the water effects/physics/dynamics look really good in the game. Especially when you find a little quiet cove where the water is still but there are insects buzzing above and you can see the water rippling with the movement and jumping of fish. I took a video of this somewhere. It also looks great when you ride down a road and ford a river in a flyby camera mode.

daym DBond, congrats on that catch!

i did plenty of river/stream fishing in Far Cry 5.

Thanks Oden, I threw him back. Gotta preserve the fishery for future generations ya know

The fishing is pretty basic, but it's there, and lots of different types to catch. Like Coot said it's nice standing alongside a lake or a river, with the fish rising, and darting about. It's great at sunrise, with the low sun shafts piercing the trees, a mist hanging and very still. Atmospheric. Catch a few and take 'em back to camp and fry them up or release them for another day.

Sounds like RDR2 has some of the elements from the climate/camping mods for Skyrim. I really liked those on that game, it helps to really role play and "live the life" of your character.

It does indeed. It's designed in such a way that all of this is optional. You can eat, but don't need to, or sleep, and still don't need to, these are just ways to fill your meters or skip time. There is a body weight mechanic, and I have been 'underweight' pretty much the whole time, but no hunger mechanic. So for those that want to live the life, there are lots of options, and for those who couldn't care less, they can ignore it entirely as long as the health, stamina and Dead-Eye meters are maintained. Pretty tight design if you ask me, leaving the importance of all these options up to each player, and never forcing any 'realism' stuff on you. Even the most important things, like being dressed for the weather, aren't terribly punishing. But you'll still be changing your clothes regularly as you explore the map. By designing it this way, R* has made it so it will appeal to all sorts of players with plenty of latitude on how each player approaches it.

I've managed to reach chapter 3, when the gang wore out our welcome and needed to pick up stakes and move down the road a spell. Bought a new horse, a brindle thoroughbred at the Strawberry stables which unlocked for the new chapter. I have a good warhorse, but wanted something faster too. Just need to bond with this one. I wanted a good getaway ride, some of the lawmen have fast horses no doubt. Bought a bandolier, and lots of improved ammunition. Obtained a Lancaster repeater through the story and it's the first gun I upgraded significantly, with the accuracy and range upgrades (sights and scope) and plan to use it often. There is plenty to spend your money on in this game, but I haven't felt the need to buy any guns.

That's just how I like to play it in Skyrim. Bonuses for playing it out, but not penalized for not doing it if you just don't have the time or get tired of it.

Challenge: carry a bowl of soup across the map. Watch out for the invisible soup barrier.

A few more screens. The camera mode is fun to play with, although all the stuff I am posting is unfiltered and un-retouched. But you could spend a lot of time with this. As a result, RDR 2 is one of the most photogenic games ever. The quality of the screenshots from the player base is impressive using these tools.


Here I approach a stranger I encountered in my travels. He just wanted a drink and I happened to have some rotgut on me




Here's my new horse, a fast brindle thoroughbred I named Captain Jack




A cool shot after a storm




Downtown Valentine, a typical western brawling town, with Storm Cloud, my sturdy warhorse, in the foreground. He's not so fleet afoot, but doesn't frighten and takes everything in stride. A lot of mud and blood has been spilled on this street

HAHA that was epic and the naration was 10/10

Unlike Far Cry 5, not everything is trying to kill you in RDR2. Coyotes all run from you. Gators usually just ignore you unless you're either swimming in the water or nearly stepping on them. If a pack of wolves attack you, they'll usually break off after you kill the first two or three. Black bears can be scared away.
The only animals that really seem to attack you are cougars (usually only if they can ambush you) and grizzlies. Overall most of the wildlife seems to behave much more realistically than any other open world game.

Yeah cougars are still the quick and nasty predator they were in the first game lol. I had one get me while in a dark cave mission and it was creepy. Happens so fast. There's a chance at giving them a fight and survival but it can be a slim chance if they catch you unawares.

Dbond, what is the camera mode you're talking about. On the PS4 you have a little box brownie camera in your equipment to take pictures but the game never had the increasingly common, nice camera mode that pauses the game and lets you move around the game engine creating neat pictures. If the PC version came with that I wonder if it was ever added to the PS4 version in an update? That's one thing I missed from the PS4 version because I love using those cameras especially for admiring character modeling and objects and environments in the game engine.

I also liked the weapon maintenance mechanic. It added just enough strategy considerations that if you totally ignored it and often ride through water and what have you, you could find yourself in a gunfight and wondering why the heck are the controls not working and my weapons not firing only to remember you'd let them go too far and they start failing you at the least opportune times.

From the quote above, about PC additions...

"Plus, Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC includes a new Photo Mode, with an assortment of tools to unlock the beauty of the frontier in Story Mode. Capture images with free form camera movement and add Filters, Stickers or Text then upload them to Social Club to share with the community."

You can pause the action at any time with escape key, then hit F6 to enter photo mode. There, you can freely move the camera around the frozen scene to take shots, and there are a number of filters and other editing tools to use.

A few more screens

Some rough and beautiful country along the southern Grizzlies. I was out hunting bighorns.




And keeping with the fishing theme

This shot shows how diverse the map and terrain are, here in the south, Bayou country, with a local doing some fishing. Note my lighter clothing for the warmer climate.




I decided to go for a legendary bass, and found him. Look at the size of it! 22 pound smallmouth. An all-tackle world record it is!




And here he is packed on Captain Jack. I had met a man who made a business out of selling huge stuffed fish to clients who wanted to look like successful fishermen. So I headed for the post and mailed this hawg off to the taxidermist. Call me fish mail

I was going to wait for it to come out on Steam but I broke down and got it on Epic.
It looks fantastic and so far runs great, no crashes or stutters yet but then I havnt played it for very long yet.

The only problem I am having is my damned mouse cursor wont dissapear off the screen. I did a little googling on the subject and it seems to be a common problem.
The only one of the many "fix's" that have worked so far it turning on mouse trails in Windows, far from an ideal one as I hate the trails when on the desktop so I'l have to turn them on only when playing.

I get it too Mark, with little rhyme nor reason to it. Sometimes I have it and sometimes I don't. Sometimes it's a cursor and sometimes the grabby hand thing.

Alt-tab doesn't work for me in RDR 2, but the Windows key does. I can usually make it go away by toggling that a few times, but even that doesn't always work. I've gotten used to, sort of keeping the cursor along the top edge of the screen so that it's more or less out of sight.

I'm rather surprised that no patch has come out yet. It's been eight days since a rocky launch and I expected a few hotfixes straight away.

Perhaps I have been a bit hasty....

Looks like a patch dropped last night

https://www.reddit.com/r/RDR2/comments/dw4t4g/rdr2_114_patch_notes/

Lots of apparent fixes (and how many new bugs introduced eh?) Including this one, that seems most directly, and vaguely, related to my crash issues

I've been playing it a bit every night and really enjoy it vs on the console. Glad I rebought it on PC.

One thing I will mention is that if anyone has any plans to do Red Dead Online at any point you should get started on it now. They have daily challenges and you get bonuses for every sequential day you manage at least one challenge. There are 9 per day and normally one is easy enough you can do with 5-10 min. If you do a whole month of challenges you can max out your rewards. Once you max it out THEN you do any of the treasure maps you have accumulated.

I haven't decided if I'll venture in to RDRO, though I played a lot of GTAO, to level 120 anyway, which takes a while. With no invite option or way to clear a lobby (is that correct?) I might give it a miss here. I'll see how I feel when I finish the single player.

Speaking of GTAO.... I unlocked the golden revolver and the tomahawk/hatchet with GTA's headshot challenges. How do I get them to show in RDR? Maybe I have them but yet to see them? I'm launching through Epic, but it still connects to Rockstar's launcher and I see my R* user name come up, so it appears linked. Has anyone worked out how to get these weapons in RDR?

In reference to it being open.

Yes, it is just open. You cant pick the server and you cant start a private server. With that said i've only run into one player killer this whole time on PC. Also you can take the stranger missions and for the most part they put you in a private instance until the mission ends but you can still do everything so what a lot of people do is take a stranger mission then go off and play by themselves or in their party. As long as you dont yourself kill a bunch of players so that your karma turns bad you should be fine. It tries to pair people of like karma so if you dont kill players you will play with friendly people. If you do PK you will get stuck with other PKers.

Well, what I saw playing GTAO makes me lean away from it, but we'll see. There are no Oppressors so it's probably better than GTA

Early impressions of this patch are very good. My mouse now works properly in the menus, and played for a couple of hours with no CTDs. Too early to know if they're gone, but it looks good. It runs and looks great, so if the stability is sorted I'm good to go. This is what should have been released a week ago. Mouse cursor still there though.

I noticed that the patch reset my graphics settings to low, so I chose to set to default, and it went back to balanced. It runs so well, that if the crashes are gone I will start bumping some stuff up. But even if I never did it still looks fantastic.

I suspected it may be a bit premature to declare it fixed, and it was. I still had a few crashes last night after posting. So I upgraded my graphics drivers to 441.20 and played trouble free after that, but still too early. The frequency with which they happen is much lower now anyway.

Today's screenshot series

That's a good boy




Rollin' on a mission



Can't have some screenshots without one about fishing. A nice rainbow trout




Chapters 2 and 3 are a good time to set aside the main story to do all the other things. I've been spending a lot of time hunting. There are legendary animals to hunt, and lots of other game as well. Aside from the food, which can be for yourself, sold or turned in at camp for the greater good, there are plenty of uses for the pelts, antlers and other parts. Lots of things to craft. It can all be ignored, but then you're missing a well-done aspect of the game. Animals can be studied, and once you've done that you can use any optics (binoculars or scope) to judge the quality of their pelt. The goal is 3 stars and if you use the right weapon to avoid too much damage, you can get perfect pelts that are used in most of the crafting recipes. Using a varmit rifle or bow on the smaller game, or a headshot or heart shot with a larger caliber against bigger game will usually preserve the pelt. The game world is teeming with wildlife and hunting is a great activity and way to spend time. Here, I bring a 3-star pronghorn buck back to camp.

Sounds good with the less CTD's DBond, getting closer to purchase time (I need to get one of those rainbow trouts gdmnt ).
And yes, there is nothing missing in graphics department in above screenies (but falcon e-pilots aren't that demanding, are they? haha)

Hey Oden, it's a good game I think you'd like it. The crashes are still there unfortunately for me. Fewer, but not gone. The game doesn't load all that quickly, so a CTD is a pain. Not everyone gets them though, so maybe you'll be lucky if you get the game. It probably comes down to the OS/video card/CPU soup and we all have a different one. On the positive side, I did find a fix for the persistent mouse cursor, at least it worked for me. Check this link

https://www.reddit.com/r/PCRedDead/...mouse_cursor_fix_thanks_to_ukingdom9214/

I just cut those four files, removing them while saving them just in case. and the cursor is gone, and I see no residual issues so far. Only if you are using any part of the Epic launcher I reckon, but maybe those are the only folks having the issue.


I mentioned hunting before. Aside from the obvious things like meat and pelts, other parts like claws, horns and antlers can be used for crafting, and there are special parts that can be used to create talismans/trinkets at the fence. Most of them require something from the legendary animals around the map. You'll get a map of their general locations from Hosea I think. And then hunt them down. Each talisman provides some sort of boost, whether it's slower weapon degradation, stored carcasses won't spoil, or longer Dead-Eye time. I set out today for a hunt. Stocked up by packing several outfits on the horse, cooking some game at the campfire and stopping off in Valentine to buy some shotgun ammunition at the gunsmith. I always seem to be running low on shotgun shells. Then I plotted a route to where the legendary buck was shown on the map. I think the game really shines when you sort of come up with your own stuff. Plan adventures and take advantage of the wonderful open world in this game. It's all seamless like Witcher 3. Maybe better, as in W3 you still had to load in the different areas like Velen or Novigrad. In RDR 2 there are no loading screens unless you die, or more likely crash to desktop.

But it shines because the countryside is so striking, so alive. There are travelers, bandits, lawmen, merchants and all sorts of animals along the way. On this trip I passed through some of the mountains and valleys west of Valentine which is just gorgeous. Deer are spooked and dart away, flocks of birds flushed. Trains rumble by in the distance, wary horsemen canter by and might draw their weapon if yours is out. Cross babbling brooks and rivers, up and down through the trails, above then below the snow line. I loved just riding through the countryside in KCD, but I like RDR 2 even better. I was jumped by a group of four bandits but was a little quicker with the shotgun, stopped occasionally to catalog a new type of animal or plant. Shot a bird for it's feathers (craft arrows) and the night's supper which I ate at a camp I set up on a cliff overlooking a huge valley. All of this because I decided to go a hunt a deer. It's such a robust playground. Players that like to come up with their own storylines or roleplay a bit can have a lot of fun in this game.

On the third morning after having left camp down south near Rhodes, I awoke, ate breakfast of canned beans and venison, fed and brushed the horse, and broke down camp. We had spent the night where the legendary buck was shown on the map. To find these legendary animals, you have to use the Dead-Eye ability to search for clues, bits of fur, dung, scratchings and that sort of thing. This gets you on the track and if all goes well, you'll eventually spot the prey. I used the Lancaster repeater on this one, and maybe I should have used the rolling block for more hitting power because it seemed like I got in a couple of headshots that did nothing but scare it away. So I had to hunt it down a few times. Finally I lined up a headhsot actually using Dead-Eye and it dropped, but wounded. I put it out of it's misery, but hesitated a bit, which says something about the sense of immersion, that a video game deer could cause an emotional conundrum like that.. A more powerful rifle may have done the job more cleanly and I suppose that's all part and parcel of becoming a legendary hunter

Thanks DBond
The mouse fix did the trick. No cursor in game but it do'es work in the menu's, with the mouse trails trick it did'nt work in the menu's.

Cool Mark, I'm happy it worked for you. Did the trick for me and it's much better without the cursor on the screen. I was able to mostly ignore it, but it's certainly better without it.

I should know better than to type this.... since doing that cursor fix I've had no crashes. Kiss of death I'm sure. But so far so good.

Spent quite a bit of time yesterday hunting legendary animals, and now have the trinkets for the coyote, beaver, elk and buck. The elk was harder to find as he wasn't really close to the location indicated on the map. A right proper hunt it is, just don't focus on the map location maybe.

RDR 2 isn't funny in the way that GTA was, but I laughed at the plight of a stranger I encountered yesterday near St Denis. I was galloping down a trail when I heard someone yelling. RDR is full of these sorts of encounters. It might be a woman whose horse had died and she needs a lift back to town. It could be someone feinting injury to stick you up. Or a man with his foot caught in a trap, or any number of things. You can ignore it or decide to check it out. I usually check it out. This encounter went something like this

Twice Bitten: Help!! Anyone help!! Oh man, I'm gonna die. Help!!

Me: You again? You went and got yourself bitten by a snake again?!

Twice Bitten: I know I know. I'm so stupid. You gotta help me mister. I feel so cold. God it hurts!!

Me: OK then, have some of this (take out healing potion and hand it to him)

Twice Bitten: Oh man, thanks. I gotta start carrying some of this!!

Haha, well I thought it was funny. Same dude I had saved earlier in the game, also from a snake bite. Some people never learn.

For those who had unlocked these weapons in GTAO I've worked this out.

The golden revolver is in the game as the double-action revolver, which you have in your inventory by default. I didn't realize they were one in the same. The stone hatchet is somewhere hidden in the game world, but I don't know where and am yet to find it.

Well I just had my first crash.
I'v been busy with RL so am only just starting chapter 2.
Taking my first ride into Valentine on the cart with Uncle and the girls, helped a coach driver with a horse that bucked, carried on into town and just as the girls start getting out of the cart bam CTD.
Oh the joys of PC gaming

So you guys seem to have fun, enjoying your game and all that....so let me do my job and pour some rain here.

THIS GAME IS BROKEN AND WILL NEVER GET FIXED ! ]

wanna know why ? because the core mechanics is tied to frame rate. That is why the trees are shimmering, they are actually being moved by the wind, that is why storms and day time pass so fast. or why you are always malnourished. i could see them fixing the core mechanics of your character by making it go at different rate than its now, but the rest of the game world ?
no way in hell, another game that suffered this was batman arkham knight, and you guys must remember that fiasco......they stoped all sales and actually redid the whole game in order for it to work at 60 frames on pc.....RDR2 is too big for that.
Enjoy playing at 30fps on pc.as it was intended.

Source https://www.techspot.com/news/82799-red-dead-redemption-2-pc-port-ties-gameplay.html

Original source https://www.reddit.com/r/PCRedDead/comments/dwjp1t/i_think_ive_just_made_a_discovery_about_a_big/

https://www.vg247.com/2019/11/15/red-dead-redemption-2-core-drain-faster-pc-high-framerate/

Interesting and not good Blade.
I'm still learning how the game mechanics work and haven't really got my head around this Core thing yet so I'll have to keep an eye on it.

I'm getting an almost solid 60 FPS with everything maxed and VSync on so it's probably affecting me. I just tried running it at 30 FPS by setting VSync to half in game and it's noticeably slower so don't really want to do that, its smooth enough for my eyes at 60 but at 30 no thanks.

They really screwed the pooch on this release, let's hope they pull their finger out and fix it ASAP.

The weather cycle and day night cycle felt too fast for me on the PS4 at times. Is it worse on PC because of higher frame rates?

Well... bought the game tonight, then was horrified to see that the Rockstar servers were telling me it would take 9 hrs to download 112GB!!!... anyone know why they are so #%&*$# slow?

If this game were just broken I could live with it, but it's all-caps broken as Blade has pointed out, and that's a much more serious state of affairs.

I had read about the time passing being linked to frame rate, but meh, not a big deal for me. I would prefer if days lasted longer, but as long as everything is synched to the day-night cycle what's the big deal? So I eat twice as often as a console player? Days go by twice as fast? Small price to pay for such a great game with such amazing graphics and gameworld. If it had been coded to have time pass at this rate no one would even notice or give a #%&*$#. I wouldn't be surprised if R* patched this or if a mod came out slowing down these things. Despite Blade's histrionics it's not a big deal and far from BROKEN. If anything, PC players get twice the sunrises and sunsets

Matter of fact, since applying the mouse cursor fix I've had no more crashes. It's been running great and stable for the past couple of days. I have no complaints.

Troop, did you manage to get it? That's a long wait no doubt, but hopefully you were able to do so.

I'm just about done with Chapter 3 and I am having a great time with RDR 2. Just my cuppa. Great pace to this game, and so much to do. The free-roam is great, and the missions are too, but they are very rigid in the Rockstar style. But it's fun to break up the open world with some scripted mayhem, and it's where you tend to make the big bucks. We robbed a bank last night and my cut was $2,500 which is nice. But I'm already kitted out with just about everything, so I'll see if the money might be useful in Chapter 4. Maybe a new horse and some of the special reinforced kit that comes from the trapper when you turn in legendary pelts and complete challenges.

I said earlier I hadn't felt the need to buy any guns, but I did buy the Varmint rifle (.22 cal). I'm chasing down some of the challenges, and that gun is great for small game. And I got the Springfield rifle at a store free when I found Twice Bitten outside a gunsmith and he was so grateful he paid for it. But the rest of my arsenal has come from story missions or finding the weapon in the game world. I've found the semi-auto shotgun, a pump shotgun, a pirate sword, the rare version of the rolling block and more weapons just playing the game. Money goes for ammunition, fishing lures weapon modification, food for the horse, haircuts and the like. And paying off bounties. And upgrading the camp, which is complete now.

Bunch of ungrateful, lazy bastages in our gang. I feel like I am the only one doing anything for the greater good. I drop $100 cold cash in the kitty and the others might get around to contributing a 40-cent feather. And then they have the temerity to give me sh!t about doing nothing! It's funny how I've formed opinions of all of the gang members and how I turn to avoid certain ones when I see them approaching. I've spent thousands on camp upgrades and I'd reckon the others haven't contributed $300 combined the whole game. R* put so many nice touches in this game, but I wish they had made camp feel more like it's all hands to the pump, instead of the growing resentment I feel looking at this bunch of drunken freeloaders and malcontents. Get to work!

You have a Colt for situations like this

Yes mate... I left it downloading all night. Played it for 3 hours this morning.
Loving it I have to say... it's like being in a great big beautiful film!
I let Geforce Experience optimise the game... not had a single crash in SP yet.
Went online briefly, but it crashed within a couple of minutes, but will have another go at it later tonight.

I would have shot Micah, Mrs Grimshaw, and Reverend Swanson with no remorse

Javier, Lenny and Hosea though, thems my boys.

Even Dutch, the leader and Arthur's father-figure, is tap dancing on my last nerve as every morning and every night his old lady and he are arguing. Keep a lid on it. I mostly make camp in the wild these days as I don't want to wake up to that. Plus, there's something awesome about getting out of your tent to a new dawn out in the wilderness. Trusty steed standing ready, embers from last night's cooking fire fading away. I can almost smell the coffee. Kick out the fire, saddle up and see what opportunity the new day has brung.

But weapons are disabled in camp, which is understandable or the story would be harder to move forward with everyone dead I suppose.

But I wish you could at least access your weapons in camp for maintenance. Weapons degrade pretty fast, and that's with the 10% slower degradation trinket, especially the semi-auto shotgun which I need to clean every day. It gets a lot of use.

Excellent, and good early impressions. I'm happy it's off to a good start.

It is like being in a film at times, same thought struck me. Like the opening credits, with the red font, I half-expected it to say Directed by John Ford any moment.

Elric feels for those that can’t play the game

Just curious: How "bad" is our protagonist?

I've never really felt like playing GTA, as I don't like playing some, even comically overdone, criminals. How is that with this title?

It'll be a couple of years before this goes on sale.

This is a good question Colonel. Short answer, not very bad.

Long answer, it's complicated. There is nothing intrinsically bad about him, or even what you're required to do with him. However, he is after all, an outlaw. You'll find yourself slugging NPCs and of course filling them full of lead. One of the things Arthur will be doing is collecting unpaid debts, and the NPCs often require some spirited persuasion before they'll cough it up. And some of these are modest, law abiding citizens that shouldn't have borrowed the money, but now time is up and you're here to collect. But punchin' ain't killin', despite all the blood.

Compared to Trevor from GTA 5 Arthur's a teddy bear.

There's an 'honor meter' and the game judges your actions and the story and NPCs react to you partly based on this. My honor meter is about 90% honorable. I save damsels in distress, often release a prisoner or other NPC I could have killed, and generally try to play a good outlaw despite the dichotomy, just ask my man Twice-Bitten. I can't say I've been required to do anything I'd rate as distasteful in a morality sense, aside from all the killing, but these are 'enemies', and those we shoot, as with most games.

Of course a player can do whatever he wants, and if you want to lasso the friendly shopkeeper and drag him across the map on your horse you can do it. But as far as being forced to do things you might object to I'd say that's going to be rare.

In GTA 5 I squirmed at times playing Trevor. The dude is sick, and there were plenty of cringe-worthy moments in that game. He may be my least favorite character I've ever played in a video game. RDR 2 goes in an entirely different direction here, and while morality is a factor, how you proceed or deal with any situation is (mostly) up to you.

RSColonel, I can't stand the characters in GTA5 and won't play it even though I tried. I really detest them and even though its part of those game's style, I hate the over the top, dirtiness and satire of that game. Red Dead Redemption is worlds different than GTA games in overall character. It still has its characters one might be drawn to and others that become hated but they've created some interesting stories and characters in the RDR universe of which I'm a fan. I don't necessarily like every decision Rockstar makes with RDR, but I do really enjoy the RDR universe but in general despise the GTA world.

The key is in the title. There are redemptive qualities in the story's overall theme with certain characters. Arthur Morgan became one of my favorite video game characters to add to that list for me. As Dbond says, the game has an honor system and it somewhat plays into the story and from my understanding, depending on how you behave the entire game, you may get a different ending.

I played Arthur as predominantly benevolent where I personally would try to be however I still experimented in a role playing sort of way with antagonizing only a select few individuals in camp. As the story progressed I would role play and even try to be nice to some people who are terrible just to pretend I was trying to be a peacemaker but still had time to role play and revert back to my antagonistic mode towards certain people and because of how the story begins to unfold, it felt like a natural thing to role play a certain way towards certain characters. There is a ton of voice acted dialogue too which just makes those behavior choices more interesting and basically expounds and enhances the story that you see with the one being more fleshed out in your mind.

There was a time early on in the game though where because of a certain scene, just when I thought that our character Arthur Morgan might be a good guy, something would happen to make me think, "Well, maybe not." That's what's good about the story telling in the game though. It kept me guessing for a long time as to who would be what and who would do who wrong especially having played the first game twice and knowing that John Marston is a character you encounter in the second game. Arthur's story is a good one. I don't want to give away anything. It needs to be experienced especially after playing as Arthur for many, many gaming hours and many adventures.

When it came to other bad guy gangs in the game, I usually was always antagonistic and brutal.

I really liked GTA 5, one of my favorite games. I never got in to GTA over the years despite trying several of the titles. But when R* added first person mode to GTA 5 I tried it and ended up loving it. However, I didn't like the characters aside from Franklin. Michael was a serious idiot, despite the fact he is supposed to be a master thief. And Trevor is surely the most objectionable and repugnant character I've played in a video game. I mean, he is messed up. Franklin I liked, and of course he was the character R* seemed to pay the least attention to. But he had his head on straight unlike the other two. I thought the single player experience in that game was great even though I didn't like the characters, and not surprisingly I got most in to it during free roam when I became the character and wasn't reminded I was playing one of the mains.

I can't think of anything I've seen so far in RDR 2 that I would say is over the top. Neither characters or situations or outcomes. No analog for chasing your own boat down the freeway, The games share some design and structure and that's obvious, but there's no GTA vibe in this one. And honestly I really liked that sort of stuff in GTA. It was fun, and it fit, However, players shouldn't worry that this is just GTA in the old west.

Arthur's maybe a bad guy, he's surely done some bad things in his past. But when you read the journal, and learn more about him it's clear he's conflicted. You get the feeling his lot's been cast and he's making the best of it. The old west is a violent and dangerous place, and to make it he has to play by those rules. So you'll do a lot of shooting, robbing, fighting and stealing. It's what outlaws do I reckon. I sort of play it like I'm a decent man in a bad situation, and you gotta do what you gotta do to survive. Outlaw's what I do, not who I am, or something like that. Sometimes you do something to anger a peaceful NPC. Maybe you stare at him too long, or bump him a couple of times to get him in a shootin' mood. And he starts popping off rounds. In most games I'd just return fire, drop him and carry on. But in RDR 2 I jump on my horse and escape if I can, and don't shoot back. Not sure why really, maybe just to keep my honor rating up. At times though it feels more like that man doesn't deserve to die today.

Thanks DBond and Coot, that helps to know.

I still think it would have been nice to see an official "police campaign" in GTA (or Mafia 3 for that matter), and I would love (but it's never going to happen) if they came out with a "Sheriff" DLC for RDR2 down the line.

I like edgy and somewhat dark characters (Geralt is definitly not your average sunnyboy hero), yet a pure criminal I couldn't identify with. Seems that's softened here.

Then I think you'd really like Arthur and some of the other characters too RS. Did you play the first game? I recommend that too.

Yeah, I agree. And only a small part of the time is spent doing the criminal stuff. I mean, if you get out and about in free roam, and avoid all of the opt-in sort of shady activity. A player just doing the story missions would be outlawin' on full throttle. But there's so much to do aside from the story I can't imagine too many players would go that route. Story missions are indicated by yellow icons, so are easily identified and postponed as desired, although some trigger by proximity and you can suddenly find yourself swept along a on a big mission before you were really ready. I don't think the colonel wants to avoid the crime, just a cartoon version of it. So yeah, like Coot said you'd probably get on with it if you think it looks interesting.

A police campaign in GTA 5 would be a blast, and literally from time to time. I love flying helicopters on that map and would have fun playing a police chopper pilot. In RDR 2 you're an outlaw, but without revealing too much you'll sometimes work closely with the law. Bounty hunting is one example. You can walk in to a sheriff's office and if there's a wanted poster on the wall, grab it and take the bounty. Most of the targets are wanted alive, so it's some straight-up law work. You're looking to hogtie the target, and he won't come willingly, which leads to some cool solutions and game play. I took a bounty last night from the Strawberry sheriff, who made a point of saying "if you don't think you can bring him back alive, then this ain't the job for you". OK, point taken, and that's what I'm fixin' to do sheriff.

The target was last seen in the northwest, close to where I found the legendary buck. Heading up in to the mountains I found a mine shaft near the target icon so went inside looking for him. As I was crouched inspecting his camp, he appeared at the mine's entrance, blocking my escape and saying something like 'if you want to go, bounty hunter, you have to go through me'. Cue duel. When a duel happens you have to hold down left mouse to start filling a meter as the game shifts in to bullet time (Dead-Eye). When your meter is filled you draw your weapon and can shoot. Most of these opponents are bad hombres and good with a gun themselves, and even in Dead-Eye there's little time to get your shot off before he does. More than one duel has sent me to the retry checkpoint screen.

We both drew at the same time and as he brought his revolver up to level, all in super slow mo, I aimed at his wrist and fired, striking him and sending his gun flying just as a round cooked off and hit the wall behind me. Disarmed, he turned and ran out of the mine, cursing me the whole way. You shot me! How a real man would have killed him and that sort of stuff. I lassoed him and tied him up, and whistled for Captain Jack then loaded the mark on the back of the horse. Back to the sheriff, with this guy jabbering the whole way. You can opt to strike your captives and shut them up, but I like to hear what they have to say. It's a hoot. And this guy was seriously put out by what just happened.

Halfway back to Strawberry we were approached by a couple of shady characters on horseback who said 'that bounty looks heavy, how about we take him off your hands'. I had sensed danger and was already at full gallop as these guys started sending rifle rounds our way, but I had bought a fast horse for just this sort of thing and escaped, much to my captive's relief. I threw him in a cell and collected my 40 dollars. That was a good time

That's a really neat story. I was actually wondering if Bounty hunting would be a thing.

So yeah, sounds more like my cup of tea than GTA.

Coot, I had the original on the PS3, but the GFX up close on the screen pixelated my nerves. That was about the time when I came a PC-only player, so that one fell by the wayside after the initial hour or two...

I had never heard of the Red Dead Redemption craze, but decided to purchase it on the 5th.

Long story short, it's without a doubt the greatest game I have ever played.

There is simply so much to do in the game it's beyond belief. Everything from the graphics, to the story, to the open world, to the acting, is incredible. Heck, I'll find myself just walking on horseback to a mission just to gander and try new things. Everything from treasure maps, to the freak storms are just mind blowing.

Everyone needs to try this game.

It's fantastic... I'm the same. The scenery is just beautiful to behold. I wander around sight seeing and exploring, never mind the missions etc.
So much to see and do... The story and the characters ensnare you straight away, as stated above, it's pretty mind blowing

Agreed its totally stunning, the only thing missing IMO, VR support

If you can manage playing the first I would recommend it. It was all the more enjoyable playing the second knowing some of the people and events in the first game. There's even something I did not even grasp when I first saw it but apparently Dutch makes a little speech in the sequel and sounds awfully close to one he gives in the first game and the circumstance and environment he's in makes it almost prophetic. So there are some meaningful nods to those who know the first game. However the second game is still written and presented as a separate thing so you don't have to play or know anything of the first to enjoy it. In fact, I imagine it would be just as enjoyable for someone who only played the second to experience the first game as it was for someone like me who knows the first game going into the second. Its written in such a way it would actually lend itself to be enjoyable no matter what end you approach it from.

Perhaps if you could hook up your xbox 360 or PS3 to a smaller PC screen it would help with image quality. That being said I've seen video of the XBOX One port of the game and it apparently scales up to newer resolutions making it almost look like a remake. I still hope they bring it to PC with 60fps because that would be a dream!

I agree, fantastic game, glad I waited for PC too. Not that I knew there would be one, mind. I mean, it was announced and then out a month later, but we had heard little for almost a year. It's just my sort of game and I get completely lost in it. I've reached chapter 4 and honestly I need to slow down as I don't want it to end. At the same time though I'm eager to discover the next thing. When you walk up to one of those yellow icons you don't know what's about to happen. Usually something fun.

I'm sitting on a nice pile of cash, about $4,000, and I have most everything I want, so I went looking for a new horse but not finding one that looks a nice upgrade over the brindle thoroughbred I'm riding now. I thought some new choices would open up in chapter 4, though I have not visited every stable yet, just St Denis and Strawberry. What's the best all-round horse in RDR? Which is the best combination of speed, courage and stamina? I'm aware of the white Arabian you can tame, but I can't be seen on a white horse. Too ostentatious, ya know? The Turkoman looks good, and I found one, but didn't like his coat, like all gold. You can own up to four horses so I'm looking to fill out the stable. And I gotta look good too of course. So I want a better all-rounder with an attractive coat, which of course is highly subjective. For those who finished the game on console, which horse did you think was the best?

Happy birthday Troop!

My two "favorite" moments so far (and there have been a ton of great moments) had nothing to do with missions, but were just presented to me while out exploring. The first was while just taking in the beauty of the area after a thunderstorm, I decided to do a little bow hunting. As the horse and I were lazily walking to one of my favorite areas for rabbit, a young fella comes out of nowhere wearing prison stripes asking for help. I figured I'd increase my good guy side and help him out. What blew me away was he didn't want a ride anywhere, he wanted me to shoot the shackles off his feet. I did so, and added to my Dead Eye. Absolutely fantastic stuff.

The second was the Civil War guy in Valentine. He pulled at the heart strings asked for a hug, and then pick pocketed me. Which you wont see happen but you'll notice in your inventory. Lol! This game has so many surprises. I can't get enough of it.

#%&*$#,you guys are making me want to own this game but it breaks my rules of paying so much (£55 for the std version) I may need to see past that.

It's worth it Chucky in my opinion. I'm like you and usually don't buy games until they've gone on two years or reach the 'Game of the Year' edition stage. But I made an exception for RDR and it''s actually the first game I've ever pre-ordered, even if that was only 12 hours ahead. I still got some pre-order bonuses. I started with $200 cash and a free war horse and maybe an extra outfit, gear or weapon or something. (Edit: it was the Outlaw's Survival Kit, with some potions and other consumables apparently, and of course the double-action revolver unlocked in GTA Online)

I've dropped 50 hours so far and the progress is at 50%, so I'll get 100 hours out of it, and could go 150 if I were to just free-roam a lot (but I think I'll just play it again). On a per-hour basis it's a bargain. But with this game i say forget all about value, just get it because it's an amazing game and well worth the money. It's one of the very few games I would place alongside Witcher 3 as the best of the best. Of course there's every chance you could dislike it, but it seems you've gotten the sense it's up your alley. Honestly, this is why I put those little stories in my posts. Seeing someone say a game is good or not isn't all that helpful for me. But when I read about the actual gameplay, like a first hand account, I can get a sense of whether it's something I would like to play.

Yeah RDR 2 is full-price at the mo, and there aren't many games I'd advise to break your rules for, but this is probably one of them.

And I'd like to add that I began posting in this thread with two major complaints, CTDs and persistent mouse cursor. Since performing the cursor fix I mentioned earlier, both issues are gone. The game runs very smoothly, looks fantastic, and is now stable. That doesn't mean it will be for everyone, but on the other hand perhaps players shouldn't be as wary now of the technical issues at release.

Just curious, does anyone else love the poker in RDR 2 as much as I do?

+1 to what DBond has said.

I usually wait until I buy "games" as I'm a flightsim guy, but this purchase is easily the best purchase I have ever made regarding a game on PC. I've been playing it since it's release at least an hour or two a night and I'm only 26% done with the game. I played last night, completing 3 missions and I went from 24% to 26%. The game is absolutely massive. There is so much to do and experience. I just started Chapter 3 and there are 6 Chapters in it as well as 2 prologue chapters apparently. What I love about the game is that you don't have blow right through the story. Chapter 1 is basically linear and will lead you into the story. Once you get to Chapter 2 the world opens up. I'm still nowhere close to seeing the entire map yet because of all the side things I do just for fun.

It's a pretty incredible experience.

Do you have to follow a story? Can you just do what you want and just play the odd mission?

I hated Witcher 3. Maybe I should have given it longer but the story and dialogue was driving me nuts! It just seemed endless and I don't have much patience. I realise you didn't directly compare the 2 Mr Bond,I'm just trying to point out what I don't like in my games.

If you've ever played Outlaws Of The Old West,that just spawns you in the game and off you go,do whatever you want.

The story, aside from the first chapter, can be played in your own time, or even ignored. But as I mentioned earlier in the thread, story missions unlock many of the best abilities, weapons and items. But yes, you could exit the chapter 1 prologue, and get lots of play just doing side missions, random encounters, hunting, fishing, botany, poker, exploring or whatever else you wanted to do.

Honestly, I would have paid $40 just for the poker

And yes, I'm making no direct comparison in terms of game play with Witcher 3, just as a technical and narrative achievement. They are very different games, though in terms of quality they are each of the highest order in my view.

If you haven't played R* games before, like GTA, it should be noted that the formula for story missions usually consists of long conversations as you ride to the mission location, do said mission, then have long conversations on the ride back. Very different from W3 and it all just happens, you don't have to make dialog choices, and helps to color the otherwise mundane travel. But worth knowing I suppose.

Now that my CTDs are over, the worst thing about this game for me is the ridiculous timing of the auto-save prompts. I have a cougar clamped down on my arm and I am probably just about to die.... oh sure, I'd love an auto-save right now. Thanks.

I was out on my first bounty hunting mission, tracking some idiot down who had been poisoning people, when some guy came trotting past on his horse... I hailed him and he grunted something, so I hailed him again and he reined in, spun his horse around and drew his pistol.
''You trying to get shot'' he growled.
I slowly reined back and he just grunted again, scowled and turned around and rode off muttering to himself.
Not everyone is friendly out there... you never know what might happen when you meet any strangers.

I've stopped a few passers by as I go along... not had the same response from anyone yet. Which is quite refreshing!

If anyone draws down on me I kill them. Thats pretty much my only bad guy tendency. But a lot of times you'll just be riding around town in a slow walk and some random guy will get pissed because you are too close and he will draw down on you...

A patch dropped and the new build should be 1207.73. Among the changes are 'improvements' to the cores draining issue. So they don't use the word fixed, but at least they're aware of it and making changes. Too early for me to notice the difference, but I did fire it up to be sure it still ran OK

I got a rainstorm, which lasted from 12:08 PM to 1:28 PM, which seemed longer than many I've seen before. I did sit still, so that I wasn't heading in to, or away from, the storm. I never tested it before so I don't know if it's actually different. Pretty useless report actually. Curious if anyone else notices if the days seem longer, or if your cores seem to last longer. Too many variables to easily tell I think, but if it's different we should feel it I think.

Body weight is working better. I've been perpetually underweight since the start of chapter 2. Tonight I ate three steaks and a can of beans, which is more than I would usually eat, slept a few hours, and it rebounded to average weight next day. I ate that much just to see if I could raise the weight quickly now. It didn't seem to matter what I ate before, it stayed stuck at underweight. But you know, it doesn't matter, as the penalty for underweight is small, and is countered by an even better bonus. I mean, I like the trade of +5% damage taken for -5% stamina drain. Going to average weight makes these values 4.5%. It's pretty insignificant isn't it? But I wanted to see if whatever cores changes they made could be seen somehow. For me it looks like it's getting there.

I wish the PS4 had an hour counter so that I'd know but I'm pretty sure I got at least 100 hours in the game if not more because of free roaming/role playing and also role playing a lot after the last prologue which does a beautiful job of setting things up for the story of the first game. There's also an amazing amount of unique dialogue that I would hear all the time during different days and times. Just when I think they surely wouldn't have voice acted anymore dialogue I hear something new.

I also did not know this until long after finishing the main game but I learned that if you are without a horse, you can attempt to talk to an NPC in a wagon and they might give you a ride back into town which I tried after the fact. Even though you eventually get to the point of hearing repeated dialogue this game is so great in the way they designed NPC interaction and choosing to talk to people in different ways. Really adds to the role playing experience and living in the world.

They are two completely different games like Dbond said Chucky, I loved Witcher 3 too but its also a series that has way more story and background going on and more role playing heavy. RDR2 is very easy to get into and pick up and I think you'd be immersed and impressed pretty quick and play it how you like. The beauty is the story too but you can choose to leave it be or plough through it if you like. There are some turning point type of main story missions that will thrust the story along too so sometimes you might see players recommending that you do this or that before you proceed with such and such a mission.


I look forward to playing the game a second time someday. The world was big and mysterious at first and I did not yet understand how to play the game yet so early on, when I could have been doing things that I ended up doing later on, I did not. Next time I'll probably spend time trying to bring some meat to the gang and "live" in the first area longer because I did not know that you could. I wonder if there would be dialogue I missed out early on based on the location and time in the story.

There's also side missions that can be missed and somewhat random. There's an Uncle cattle driving mission that I wanted very much to do but by the time I was ready for it it would disappear. I got worried that I missed out altogether but after spending a lot o tedious time hanging around camp it finally showed back up. I like hanging around in camp and living there but it was frustrating that I had to sort of game the game when I wasn't in the mood just to get that mission to show up again.

dont get your hopes up, like i told you before this is what they could do, consider this as good as it will get, the problem is the way the game was written and they arent going to change that.

Well you may be right, but I still don't see it as much of an issue. Maybe if I had gotten used to it on PS4 it would bother me to have things move along faster, but it seems to go at a reasonable pace as it is. I usually eat and sleep each day anyway, and there are plenty of consumables. And if you hunt you'll always have plenty of food. A steak refills all cores. If R* stretches things out more on PC I'm all for it, but I'm fine with the way it is now. Whatever improvements were to have been made with this patch aren't obvious to me, but then again I wasn't paying close attention to it before. And I'm back to underweight

I like a lot of the optional activities you can do in this game. I keep raving about the poker, and I rarely pass up a game. I win some and lose some but overall I'm probably up around $40. The game should track and display this stuff. And I like the hunting too. If you want some of the kit like a better satchel or the trapper's reinforced gear it requires pelts, which takes some dedication, doesn't it? Gotta find the right animal, and then a three-star example of it, and then kill it cleanly. And as the chapters tick by the camp gets further and further from the center of the map, so returning to camp with an elk pelt is quite the ride. If I play again I'll do more of this while still at Horseshoe Overlook. The hunting isn't too hard, it requires patience and a good shot, but on PC I reckon everyone's a good shot. Dead-Eye makes it much easier, especially on birds and waterfowl. Hunting and skinning improves Dead-Eye, and the higher levels unlock some good abilities.You can improve it in other ways too of course, but hunting tends to be bounty-free. Pearson loves you for it, it can keep the camp fed, and the legendary animals allow the talismans and trapper kit to be made. So yeah, it's fun, useful and let's you breath in the fresh air

Needed a perfect elk pelt for a satchel upgrade, headed out northwest of Valentine and up in to elk country. Took this one, and it was a pretty long shot too. The rolling block with express ammo is what I like for this sort of game. That gun, a bow, a shotgun and the .22 rifle are what you need. For what it's worth, legendary animal pelts can not be damaged, and some require multiple hits so don't worry you're ruining the pelt. The rolling block /express combo is perfect for big game. I like the bolt-action/express too, but it does a little less damage. Good for medium sized like deer and pronghorn.




Got a new horse, the black Arabian from St Denis. Accelerates faster than the brindle thoroughbred and has elite handling. Not a big upgrade, but a bit more performance. Named her Ricochet. She's fiesty

Nice!

I'm still in chapter 2 hanging out at Horseshoe Overlook just to keep hunting in a more central location.
The problem with that location is fishing and most of the weapons are locked.

I really need some moose antlers and the only time I found one a grizzly spooked the moose as I was equipping the rifle. Man those moose can really move when spooked. I got a perfect grizzly hide so it wasn't a total wash.

What really irritates me is every patch my graphics settings get all mixed up.

Smart move



What do you mean?



True, though there are a number of weapons you can find out in the game world, although only the shotguns would really be good for hunting, at least of the ones I have found. I avoid spoilers so who knows how many I've walked past already? I've had two quests for ages now, rock carvings and dino bones, and I've never noticed any. Surely I've stood right next to some by now

I've found three shotguns --a pump, a side-by-side and the semi-auto. The side-by-side was above a fireplace on a mantle but I don't recall where (edit: now I do and this can be obtained on a chapter 2 mission). I do know the others but don't want to spoil it, but if anyone's not concerned with that I can reveal the locations. Always be on the lookout for cellars and attics/lofts with a ladder leading up to them. And when you get close to these guns a mini-map marker actually pops up, unless you've disabled it I suppose, so you know one is nearby. I think the best big-game hunting rifle is the rolling block, and you can get the standard one in a chapter 2 mission, and the rare one in a chapter 3 mission, but it falls as loot off a NPC, so it could be missed. I bought the .22 as I never found one. You can use the bow for small game, but you need to craft small game arrows, so the .22 is a better choice for me, and the scope helps a lot as you can keep your distance so the quarry doesn't bolt.



Same here, but I use the balanced preset so easy for me to revert. If anyone is doing a custom setup then I can see how annoying that would be.

Most of the rifles and the last shotgun or two are locked until later in the game, but since there's hardly any difference between them it's not a big deal. Except that sweet semi-auto shotgun.

I looked it up and made a big mistake with the fishing. It unlocks after you take Jack fishing. The way I remembered it, that was the last thing you did before moving camps. I've been avoiding that mission for a week or more and this whole time I could have been fishing.

Those are cool shots DBond, i guess like odyssey i will expend most of my time framing pictures lol. Can you kill bears or the legendary bear with a well aimed headshot or they get buffed health ?

Yeah, they get extra health, or so it seems. Maybe taking several high velocity rifle rounds to the noggin is what makes you legendary, eh?

Tonight I headed up to the northeast part of the map. Hadn't been there so wanted to uncover it and see what's around. Found two new towns actually. Entered a legendary animal area and dismounted to see if I could get it. Turned out to be the moose. I shot him three times in the head during a single Dead-Eye with the full-damage rolling block rifle/express ammo combo. So you'd have to say it's extra tough. Same with the legendary buck, but I used a repeater on that one.

While I was stalking the moose, this was stalking me. Throwing knife took him out. I hate snakes




Ricochet is packing a few pelts. Three perfect deer, one boar and the legendary moose. Each deer was dutifully carried in to the nearest town and sold to the butcher, then I headed back upland for the next one. My rule is never waste a harvested animal. Some are too big to carry, you can't throw a bison on your horse, but the rest I always take back to camp or sell to the butcher.





Below the falls in the background is the legendary Steelhead. I hooked it a few times but didn't land it. I've not quite gotten a handle on the fishing. I've caught a number of fish, including a nice 15 pound muskie here. But of the five legendaries I've fought I've only landed one. I spent about a week on this trip and it rained for half of that time. One complaint people have had is the storms go by too fast. Something sure has changed, although it could be sort of the default state for the NE part of the map. My first time there so can't say.

how is it

I am using a savegame editor from Nexusmods that allows you to change your character's loadout. As much as I am enjoying the game, it's been bugging me that I cannot discard unwanted weapons. Been using it without any side effects so far.

Also, I probably made the mistake of being a good housefather at the start, so at this point in my game (about halfway in) money is never an issue. In my next playthrough I should probably blow more money on whiskey and beer so that paying off a bounty will be much harder.

Last night I literally spent an hour hunting for a perfect squirrel... I am not sure if I should be playing this game

You just know that somewhere in the world someone's job is nothing but horse tail physics

We should start a thread on it


Johan, right there with you. I spent quite a bit more time than that looking for a racoon haha. Today I went hunting for a panther for the satchel upgrade. Didn't know exactly where to look, but had a hunch. Arrived there around dawn and slowly made my way through the area, with the bolt-action out. After about 20 minutes, I thought I heard a cat's growl, on the other side of a small rise. I was crouched to keep quiet and moved in that direction. Heard it again, louder this time. Definitely a cat. As I crested the rise and prepared to go to scope, the panther pounced on me in a flash and mauled me, and I fought it off but near death. Before I could bring up the wheel to administer first aid it pounced again and killed me dead.

So I tried again, but moving through the terrain in such a way that no close ground was out of sight. This time I spotted it about 200 feet away. It was resolved as a big cat or something. Study revealed Florida Panther. I had to wait a few minutes for it to move to an angle for a headshot, and I shot it with the bolt-action. Loaded it up alongside that racoon, and back to camp. That got me the kit satchel upgrade. The big cats are dangerous in this game, even gators seem more interested in running away, but the big cats will hunt your ass down.

A couple more screens. If I'm posting too many let me know.

Back at camp, with the panther and the 'coon on Ricochet. Look a the detail on the saddle, and the shoe prints in the mud, And this is on balanced. Superb looking game isn't it?




I said before I had only landed one legendary fish, the smallmouth bass. Make it two. I got the chain pickerel too. I've caught hundreds of these in real life, but none as big as this. It was the size of a pike. And it should be said that the animal and fish artists for this game did a spectacular job. When you look closely at one of these fish, or a ringneck pheasant or a mallard duck, or any animal really, the detail of the creature is phenomenal. Just beautiful. For the pickerel I switched to the controller, and I'm not sure that's why I landed it, I think because it was only 9 pounds and easier than a sturgeon or a steelhead. But using the controller is very different from keyboard. You actually sort of 'reel' it in on the controller.

What a view. The Dakota River bend, and I reckon how Horseshoe Overlook got it's name. The pickerel was pulled out of the river on the left. Both of these shots are from first person, which is how I play on foot. Most of my screens are third person though, since the free camera is only available then.

@DBond: I had a run in with that panther a few days ago. Heard a man screaming and the beast was right on top of him. I hit it once but it ran off. The guy was in a bad shape, asked for a whiskey and then died.

I find that story-wise and for role playing purposes, it makes more sense to NOT pay off bounties all the time. Having a bounty on your head makes the game more interesting and adds some suspense when crossing the county line. I think I'll just donate all my dollars to the camp fund and live off the land for a while.

I do the same, but just for a few days. Eventually I pay them off. It's fun to have the threat of running in to lawmen or bounty hunters as you move from state to state, but after a few days I'll pay it off so that I'm not accosted while out hunting or fishing or something. Biggest bounty I've racked up is $300, and that was a story mission. Lots of smaller bounties though. With a fast horse you can get away. Speaking of horses.... I said that the black Arabian was a small upgrade over the brindle thoroughbred, and while it's a little faster, it does accelerate much better. But I had neglected to factor in bonding. Fully-bonded the Arabian is a big upgrade, especially in stamina and health, each of which are nearly full at level 4. You can sprint full speed across the map without depleting the stamina core. Of course I have tack that reduces stamina drain which is part of the equation.

I really like that idea of going off-grid Johan, I think folks that can think this way will get the most out of a game like this.

When I played GTA I used to think how it would be cool if the buildings under construction eventually got finished. A neat touch. Well, in RDR 2 that's just what happens. Over time you'll notice the building further and further along.

In another GTA comparison, I'm a little disappointed in our gang, and the missions we do. In GTA, we may have been a dysfunctional band of thieves, but when the job came, it was professional. The heists were fun, and if you performed well, the job came off and the haul was big. In RDR 2 though I feel like it's far too many setups and bad jobs, things always going wrong, lots of killin' and little in the way of reward.

So much so that I've come to regard Dutch as a bad leader who I don't want to follow as his schemes rarely come off. I'm in chapter 4 and going about my business. Every time I return to camp now he is up on the second floor balcony, saying "come up here Arthur!" I turn and say 'I ain't a comin' Dutch, you'll just lead us astray" or something like that We had a good bank robbery and a fun mission to rob a river boat that paid OK. But most of the gang jobs turn fiasco. I don't expect it all to go smoothly, but I also don't want to feel like I'm in with a bunch of bumbling amateur idiots. Bad luck or unforseen circumstances is one thing. Bad planning and poor judgement is another.

Steam release is scheduled for Thursday I think. There have been at least two patches dropped since the last post, and RDR 2 runs really nicely for me now. I'm in chapter 6 and just about done the story. Then there's the whole epilogue, actually two epilogues I believe. I won't spoil it, but there is a huge shift in err, focus, at the end of the game. Once the story is done, you can free-roam at will and finally become the rancher you always wanted to be

Thanks for heads-up DBond - I think I will go for a Steam release since I seriously dislike launchers and accounts but I already have steam so, yeah.
Don't need an Epic setup too that's for sure.
Only thing is I'm knee deep into selling my apartment moving down southern Swedenland so I lack in spare-time hours at the moment but it will fit well as a christmas gift to myself

Ah I see so "Sweden" is no longer the official name of the country?

Yeah, and Finland's Noisy Neighbor hasn't stuck.

Good call Oden, and you'll have two hours to send it back if you don't like it. But how someone could tell that, in a game like this, in such a short time is a mystery. At least it's recourse if it won't run.

i seen pics of people dual pistoling;revolvering.....is that an upgrade , a selection...because one thing i hated in san andreas was that progress forced you into dual pistols

Getting to equip two pistols is a story mission related ability you acquire.

You get a second holster. You can draw either gun or both guns. Some people keep the pistol and sawed off shotgun in the holsters. Online you earn the second holster at like level 25.

I could not get past the launcher at all at the time of release, but a week later (after the first patches) that was resolved. Have been playing it intensively for the past two weeks and have not experienced a single crash, even with other stuff running in the background.

A few days ago I managed to get robbed by a bunch of streetkids (I did not want to shoot them) so I lost all my money. And it's the best thing that has happened I now have to scrounge for every dollar and think before I spend it, which feels much more in line with the story.
I found out by accident, but fishing with dynamite works a charm!

Found out by accident, haha.

Yes, dual-wielding is unlocked by a story mission that gives the player an off-hand holster and it can be seen in some of my screens. Personally I don't like it. I like dual wielding fine, but not the look of the off-hand holster. I would much rather just have two normal hip holsters. Doesn't affect gameplay, just how it looks, which in this game is pretty important

I began dual wielding a pair of the revolvers you get from the gunslinger mission, then midway through I switched to a pair of double-action revolvers, one being the GTA V tie-in one. I thought I would like to trade damage for reload time and fire rate. But after a bit I decided they were not strong enough. Later in the game I used a pair of Schofield revolvers. By this point I had settled on all of my weapons and began customizing them all. You can change wood grain and varnish color, gun metal color (the Schofields were nickel plated), engraving, rifling, gunsights and more.

I really liked how guns were implemented in this game. The shooting is good. Once I had all of the weapons I rolled with

Bolt-action rifle. Small magazine, but hits hard and fires and reloads fast.

Rolling Block (rare) for big game hunting, and varmint rifle for small game

Semi-auto shotgun. Fully upgraded it is strong enough, and the larger magazine and fire rate made it my go to shotgun for most of the game.

Dual Schofield revolvers

For blades I didn't have a favorite. I liked the machete, but it doesn't quite look right hanging on the belt. One of my favorite weapons ended up being the tomahawk, It gets clean, quiet kills when sometimes the throwing knives didn't.

Interestingly enough I think what ended up being my overall favorite pistol in the game is the Cattleman revolver which is what you start off with. Just looks and feels and sounds right and I like the more manually aspect of it especially with the nuanced controls of being able to cock but then back out of firing it if you want, cocking, firing and/or fanning the pistol.

Later in the game when firefights got more involved and as you earned more money I liked using two double-action revolvers for a barrage of quicker shots.

I mainly used the main knife too because I also didn't like the look of the machete hanging from your belt. The throwing knives were fun and I loved how the character animation looks when handling them. I never though about dynamite for fishing. Sometimes I would forget that I had access to certain items. I used dynamite for the first time during that Blackwater rescue mission and right as I threw it I realized my horse was nearby only after I had thrown it and promptly killed my horse.

I've used the bow to shoot fish.

My horse(s) led a charmed life. I never used any of the horse tonics, nor had one die. The worst was full-speed collisions with another rider, and I got up expecting the worst, as it's a hell of a bang. But the horse got up too and ran off a bit, obviously put out by my questionable horsemanship. A few pats on the neck and the horse said all was forgiven.

The NPCs never seemed to try to shoot it out from under me which is nice. I returned the gesture and never targeted a horse.

Actually I did use the tonic, but on enemy horses that had fallen but not yet given up the ghost. His rider may lay dead, but I revived any horses I could.

I haven't used any err, non-traditional fishing techniques. I am an avid fisherman, and I did a fair bit in the game. But I liked the hunting more for whatever reason. Partly I guess because it has more tangible rewards than fishing. I rarely returned to camp without some game strapped to the horse.

Unless things have changed, Steam release tomorrow. Will be interesting to see if it all goes off without a hitch.

I use the Cattleman too, upgraded with a longer barrel and rifling (and a brass cilinder for looks). I find it better at longer ranges than my double action revolver. One feature I wish for is to be able to bury the dead. There have been occasions when I felt that I should not just leave a character's dead body behind.
I only had 1 horse shot from under me (poor Spot...) and another just disappeared: an abused animal that you find in one of the later missions. I wanted to nurse it back to health but one day it was gone. I still keep Trigger (my first horse, Thoroughbred), Trapper (Hungarian) and Trotter (Halfbred), all mares of course

I'm well into Chapter 6 so I guess the story is nearing the end, but considering that I have been playing this intensively for over 3 weeks now, I certainly feel I am getting my money's worth out of the game. And I will definitely play it again because it seems that there is still a lot to explore.

Yeah, I've gotten well over a hundred hours out of it so far. And even then I've not done so much. I found one dino bone and no rock carvings, but then again I wasn't looking. Still, I'd reckon I'd stumbled across a few just by happenstance. Didn't complete a single card set. Only caught three legendary fish, and shot maybe half of the legendary animals. I had fun trying to fill out the compendium, but I've only managed half. I think some things will only be found in the epilogue, but half seems low. So yeah, there's plenty of reason to give it another go. I'd get more gold missions anyway now that I've seen what's expected.

I've kinda put RDR 2 aside for the moment and am playing Borderlands. I was going great guns in RDR 2 but the, how do I say it without spoiling it, the 'change' that Arthur goes through near the end, sort of dampened my enthusiasm. That and so many hours played in such a short time meant a break was inevitable. I've tried to avoid spoilers as much as I could, but I still know a bit about the epilogue, and I am looking forward to that. I also didn't care for chapter 5 all that much.

I spent the first four chapters really into it, getting involved in much of the optional content. After chapter 5 I was more like, let's get the story done. Then there's endless free-roam if I want it. Of course the perspective will be different, if you might know what I mean. Trying to avoid spoiling it.

Steam release is in an hour I think.

I didn't like chapter 5 either for some reason, what I did like was at the end, or maybe the beginning of chapter 6. When riding back to camp, which you weren't in control of, the song that was playing as you were riding along was really good I thought, well done.

Round about that time there was a mission that resulted in a hanging. I thought it was thought provoking that the guy getting hanged was all cocky thinking he was going to be rescued, then when he realised he wasn't....the look on his face just before the trapdoor opened, wow, made me really think, again well done.

Great game all in, playing it now and again taking my time to get through it, but it's easily the best made game I think I've ever played, the attention to detail far surpasses any other, IMO.

Mick.

I only lost one horse so far. I was driving a train and the horse was following along. But it seems that it couldn't bear to be replaced and in a fit of depression dove under the trains wheels. Instant death, no chance to revive.
I picked up my saddle, placed it on the train and drove to a station close to a stable. Then manually carried it to the nearest stable . It was quite a hike and I tried begging for a ride from passing carts, some of their comments nearly made me just shoot them and steal a #%&*$# ride.

I finally moved on to Chapter 3, mostly to unlock some more equipment to get some of the different challenges completed.

I happen to like the "change" that happens to the character. I think story-wise it is a good move and I found one scene particularly moving (involving a train station and a nun) - Arthur's acting and facial expression are especially well done there. So in the 6th chapter I find myself drawn to the open - the plains around Valentine and the mountains - just like Arthur himself, I imagine.

The redemptive aspect to these game's stories is one of my favorite things about them. I agree, the facial animation, full motion acting, voice acting is really great. Its amazing how far games have come. I'm remember thinking it was awesome seeing moving meshes on faces in games like Half-Life and Operation Flashpoint.

Speaking of hangings, I never felt that they looked very good. The game has great character physics and animations that feel hefty but watching a hanging felt underwhelming. There's not even a sharp drop or impactful sound. It always looked like to me that they just dropped with an instant stop which is not indicative of the game's otherwise great physics. I would have thought they would have animated some struggling and at least for the ones who don't struggle and its quick, a better sound effect to hammer home the impact and meaning of the moment.

I spent a lot of time in the epilogues and even post. I roleplayed in my own mind how I went about things and they did a great job setting up for the time period of the start of the second game. If you choose to spend a lot of time with it, you'll discover tons of unique dialogue snippets with the characters depending on time of day and amount of time spent at "base camp".(I'll just call it that to avoid spoilers) I finished playing the game about six months ago and started back in October 2018 but I already miss playing it. I'll have to wait awhile for another play through.


I don't know if anyone can help me with this mystery or not but here it goes: Dutch Van DerLinde really, really reminds me of someone. Especially when we get in close up. Not the voice but the face and mannerisms. There's just something about him that seems extremely familiar as though I've seen someone who looks like him before somewhere and I don't mean the original game. It really bugs me too lol because he seems so familiar. I can't figure it out. I wonder if maybe they loosely modeled him off some other well known character or actor.

Shane from The Walking Dead.


Speaking of hangings, redux.....

In Valentine you'll come across a young lady who, shall we say, has a habit of finding her paying paramour in less than alive condition. You can choose to help her erase the situation, or not. I chose to help. It's a hit to honor, but I always like to help the young ladies, however responsible they may be for their own predicament.

Later in the game I was passing through Valentine and came across a public hanging, of the young lady of ill repute. I pulled out my rifle with the intention of shooting her rope, but i was too close to the crowd, so that when I held down right mouse to bring up the scope, I instead got the interface to talk to the citizens. So I didn't get the shot off and the young lady paid the ultimate price for her sinnin'

Since then I wonder if I could have done it, and what would have happened if it had worked. So if anyone else just getting in to the game comes across the same and wants to see if she can be freed, please let me know the outcome.

I don't watch the Walking Dead so I think for me its got to be someone else he reminds me of.

I know the lady of which you speak. I think I helped her as much as I could. I do remember her being on the gallows but I can't exactly remember how mine turned out. I want to say that I think I intervened but something in my memory thinks that I actually did nothing since Arthur had been helping her more than once and she kept getting in trouble and now she's there to hang. I think I let it go and not help but then proceeded to engage in negative dialogue with the sheriff and deputies after the hanging and sort of or role played the situation.

I wanted to shoot the rope just as it went taught. I thought that might set her free and she'd take off running with half the town after her and me trying to hold them off. But maybe it wouldn't even work. I needed to be back another 30 or 40 feet from the crowd but it was one of those moments that just passed without the outcome I would have liked.

Another involved the photographer guy you meet. I went to meet him the second time and did the task required. I had gone there for that, but also to hunt a grizzly for the hunting challenge (skin three bears, and needed just one more). I moved off after finishing the photographer thing, leaving him to tend to his camera. Soon I had traversed a rise or two and he was no longer in sight. I called for my horse, but he didn't come. Whistled again, no horse. Hmm, wonder what's going on? I looked at the mini map and in the direction of my horse a red enemy dot blinked on and off at the edge, therefore showing azimuth but not range.

I decided to go see what was happening. As I crested the rise nearest the photographer I saw a grizzly lunge for him. I instantly went Dead-Eye and took aim at the bear's head just as he swiped in super slo-mo. My round hit his head a mili-second after he hit the photographer, who fell dead with the dead bear on top of him. Skinned the bear (a perfect pelt!) and said a few derogatory words about city slickers in grizzly country and went on my way.

Dead quest-givers are not ideal, but it happened and these sorts of moments I have to let stand.

And the actor who plays Shane in TWD is Jon Bernthal, and he's been in other things. Might not be the guy you're thinking of Coot, but I felt confident I had nailed it. This is the dude

No Steam bounce for this thread, I'm surprised. It appears the release went fairly well, still a number of complaints but aren't there always. Looks smoother than the first release anyway.

I've just completed the main story for RDR2, man what an ending.

Is that the only ending that happens or is there different one possible, like a win lose, if you know what I mean?

Just beginning to play the epilogue but noticed you can't buy anything from the store, because I'm working at the ranch, (catalogue is closed). I have ran out of ammo and am wondering how to get some more, or more of other stuff, weapons etc. Anyone help with this please.

Mick.

Nah that's not who I'm thinking of Dbond but thanks for trying to help. I'll keep scratching my head on that one.

3instein, I'm not sure how far you are into the epilogue but you will get all items and money back at a certain point. I don't want to spoil anything but after working at the ranch for awhile a mission will come up that has you contending with another enemy and you'll get access back and you'll have plenty of foes to loot again.

I understand there are 2 endings depending on a choice you make in the final mission. And each of these endings has slightly different cinematics depending on Arthur's honor rating. Ultimately, the outcome is the same.

You can free roam in the epilogue and apparently even pick up some of the unfinished side quests you had going. Personally, I don't really feel like spending a lot of time in the epilogue since as far as I am concerned my story is finished. I never played RDR1 so I do not feel any particular attachment to the other characters that appear in the epilogue. However, it turns out that there is still a substantial area of the map that I had not discovered during my playthrough. Also, it may be interesting to check out some of the places to see if they evolved.

I picked this up on Steam after waiting like, what, six, seven years for the first one to come to the PC. It's pretty incredible so far and shows what lots of money in the right places can do for a triple A title. Much like the GTAs, but especially GTA V, the world is jam packed full of details that always invite you to peek around the corners. Just today I stumbled upon



I've played like 25 hours or so and am still in the second chapter. I can't even fast travel yet and actually have had no desire to do so as the world is such a marvel. I know some people expressed concern about the morality of the characters, I can't really speak to that other than to say that so far I really haven't had to fight anyone who couldn't be described as ostensibly bad.

This is a clip of part of one of the missions played at 2560x1440 with a lot of the effects on high at least. Shadowplay occasionally has a problem detecting the game from the desktop, which is what the occasional black flicker is from. Other than the fact that it is mission in the game, I don't think there is anything else spoilerish about it. There's also a little dose of the game's reality tacked on to the end. I have noticed there is something weird about the single action weapons in the game: sometimes the first mouse click cocks the gun and the second click fires it and sometimes it self-cocks and the first mouse click fires the gun.(let's see how that gets filtered...) So that throws me off if I am expecting to fire and the gun isn't even cocked yet...



I tried playing in 1st person but found it a bit clunky. Third person works fine although if you use the small reticle, you will occasionally lose it in the background noise, as I do in the video a few times. Overall it is very responsive and a joy to play.


*edit: eh, not filtered at all!

Cheers for the answers guys, appreciated.

Mick.

i just got it on steam, what a piece of #%&*$# ! if you take screenshot from steam, it hangs the system for full 6 seconds, and if you do too much it doesnt recover. Calling the menu while in game crashes the game, WTF !
im still in the first part so other than bench i didnt get any vistas yet, but from what i saw this looks like GTA V graphics, so there is no reason why its so heavy, im getting from 34 to 46 at 1512p on most ultra settings as lowering didnt really get my any improvements in smooth frametimes. Is ammo conservation a thing to worry ?
This game has a lot of problem with any overlay, problably because of its DRM
Also i was forced to use the anti aliasing, or suffer tree shimmering, now the game is blurry since i cant use nvidia filters

Sorry to hear about those problems. I can only say that apart from the launcher problems in the very first week, I have not run across any issues myself. Runs smooth for me on 2560x1440 but that is with a Radeon RX 5700. I am using TAA rather than MSAA, however. Personally I cannot imagine playing anything without antialiasing.
The only graphical oddity that I am seeing is to do with tesselation I believe: tracks in snow and mud look very exaggerated.

Sadly, ammo conservation isn't really a feature. I never came close to running out of ammo for any of my weapons (except dynamite) and I never even had to buy ammo in a shop. Seems like you pick it up by simply walking past dead bodies.

I run it on an I5 8600K with a RTX 2070 and I have no problems with frame rate at all. Most my settings outside of water and MSAA are set to Ultra.

Last night Arthur started coughing. Visited the Doc in Saint Denis...

Finished the epilogue and it turns out I still have at least one town undiscovered. I'll leave that for a second playthrough. Will have a go at RDR Online out of curiosity but I'm not interested in multiplayer.

I enjoyed RDR 2 SP so much that I admit RDRO intrigues me, but I've given it a pass for now. My initial venture in to GTAO was a fustercluck, but I stuck with it and over time I grew to really like it. I ended up owning several businesses, a fleet of supercars, and a respectable 1:1 PvP kill ratio. But it had something that RDR doesn't, and that's the ability to play in a private lobby. Maybe they will add it? Until then I think I will give it a miss. I know for certain that I would have given up on GTAO without this ability. Once I had levelled, got good gear and learned the ropes, playing in populated servers was fun. But the experience getting started was lousy.

I have a clear vision of what my experience would be like in RDRO, I see spending way too much time being hogtied and left to rot, dragged through the streets behind a horse, and just generally trolled, ganked, griefed and one-shotted from across the map. My impression may be off the mark, but years of being a gamer have taught me that people basically suck, and cannot be counted on to play a game like this anywhere close to the spirit it deserves. Private lobbies are the only way I can see getting in to it.

I'd be curious as to your thoughts and reaction if you do venture in to it Johan.

My first impressions after about 4 hours online:

- Stuff is expensive and many items are locked until you reach a certain level: that means no fishing and using a repeater for hunting until you reach level XX
- You can set your character, horse and camp to "Defensive": other players won't be able to attack you (or at least suffer severe penalties if they do so - not quite sure what these are), won't be able to steal your horse or raid your camp
- I only saw a handful of other players and they seemed to be as shy as me. Certainly not the chaos I was expecting. The only grief I got was a herd of wild boar overrunning my camp
- There does not seem to be any text chat and you can turn off all character labels, so visually there is no difference with single player
- It seems that when you die, you do not lose any money or inventory items, so no difference with single player
- As in single player, there appears to be no way to discard unnecessary weapons... For now it is not a problem (I only have 1 Cattleman and 1 Repeater), but I imagine it will be annoying later on

It seems to me that if you just want to free roam doing hunting and fishing and the occasional bounty hunting without the story constraints, RDRO is a good place to do it, but you'll have to spend some time first to get the gear that you want. From what I have seen, it should not take too long to level up (just do a few story missions and skin animals).

Weapons were level-locked in GTAO as well. When I was playing it a year ago I made a post here that said the single best thing that could be done to GTAO, the single thing that would transform the gameplay and make it a much better experience, would be to remove the player dots on the radar. Without those griefbeacons it would be vastly improved, putting an emphasis on teamwork and planning. And crucially, it would mean the d-bags who fly around on the Oppressor would suffer as they would not instantly know where the shots were coming from or exactly where the next victim is. At the very least, I wanted it to be a server option, like free-aim is.

It would be so good in fact that I could see actually blending in. Imagine you wore an outfit not unlike the NPCs, and actually walked down the street with your weapons away. A sniper sitting on a random rooftop, scoping the streets would have a hard time sorting the players from the crowd. Disrupting another player's business or sales would require teamwork, with communication, and with lookouts posted to determine where the deal was going down. Instead, we get a flashing red dot that says the player whose time you want to waste is RIGHT HERE!

So RDRO has this? There are no player beacons or radar dots? That's quite encouraging.

And yes, somehow R* conspired to exclude text-chat from the game. It's a glaring omission, but honestly it's all sh!t anyway. Still, if you were to hook up with others and not have voice, this is a bad thing. I imagine they'll add it sooner or later.

DBond, unfortunately the radar dots are there. What I meant is simply that the floating text above characters can be disabled, so your game does not have to look like Fortnite. Anyway, other than in the first story mission I only saw 1 or 2 people during free roam, and they were minding their own business and kept their distance.

I see, I misunderstood, or maybe more accurately, was dazzled by the possibilities

I really want to see those dots gone. I'd play it then. It would be great to not know who and where the players were straight away.

I've read a lot of comments and threads about the online, and these confirm most of my suspicions. But just like GTAO, there will be times when it all clicks and is a great time.

It's on sale on Steam @ 20% off. So soon?

Some Steam users are not happy (when are they ever?)

Yeah I read a sample of negative ones to see if it was complains for the sake of complaining but with so many having severe issues to even start it up I held short for purchase.
Will have another look in a few weeks

i am one of them, i DEMAND compensation, specially since i was going to hold after xmas, but got it now because my card had already locked the bill.
i took a few screenes, nothing stellar havent fiddle much with photo mode yet, im surprised at the level of detail, to npc interaction to your actions and game work........i was greeted by a stranger saying i would have nice evening today when he saw the deer on my horse. also that i could carry a turtle carcass and place on the small boat to swim to the shore,console players complained this game was too slow.....with exception of aiming, i disagree i like games with this mechanic, like the classic tomb raider where momentum matters, player agency just make games look cheap. compare classic lara to CD lara and 2013 lara....original lara prep for the jump, both reboot lara sprint into the air from nothing as soon as you hit the button.
My complaint remains about aliasing, if you dont use the blurring techniques the game shimmer,so it was made with that in mind.
Playing at 1512p all ultra except, water,tree and shadows, ultra water eats 15-20 fps, trees eat around 8 for less visual fidelity up close (more bump map), shadow i dont like sharp shadows so unless its a game where med shadows looks like utter pixelated #%&*$# (GR wildlands), i will default it where its soft edge
im getting stable 35 fps to low 31 on demanding areas, i havent gone to a bog yet, but i noticed areas with water decrease the fps a lot.


rest of library is here im going to show the money shots
https://imgur.com/a/JsSiYS6

love the morning mist,yes a rainbow




all those years of farcry paid off,first try hs









I got away with murder MUAHAUHAURHAAR



rode all night and discovered a new providence



My first wild horse, i saw the red hair and i just had to get it cos it reminded of a old cartoon show called cavalo de fogo (fire horse), i went online to see its original name aaaaaaand.....the show is called wild fire in english
well red hair, wild horse......fitted perfectly, now its my favorite mare

It's made it into my shopping cart and looking like I may pull the trigger before the sale ends.

I'm a little worried about my hardware (i5 6600/GTX970/16gb). I want it to look beautiful and that may be unrealistic if I want smooth game-play. Any thoughts?

I don't know about RDR2, but GTAV is very forgiving for lower specs. Heck, when I first installed it I was running a GTX 280 and it ran fine

RDR 2 is more demanding than GTA 5 graphically. It ran great on my rig at balanced settings. As far as quality, you can look through the many shots I posted in this thread and judge if you think that looks good enough. I reckon it will run fine for you Chucky, but the highest settings might not. You've got two hours to see

My specs are Ryzen 2600/GTX 1660Ti/16 GB

RDR2 also has more graphics options than any other game I've ever seen. You should be able to tweak it and adjust each parameter to how you want it to look balanced with how you want it to run.
Or just using the presets, I think there's something like 21 of them rather than the usual low, med, high, ultra most everything else has.

Game is on sale on Steam already for 48 bucks. That or Mechwarrior 5, hmm...

Well,I'll soon find out,just purchased it.

Merry Xmas Chucky

Yes, Merry Christmas indeed. Hope it runs well for you. Give us a report once you've given it a go.

Hell,this is some download...

Congrats on the purchase! Be prepared to spend a ton of time with it. I've had it since release, and I find something new every time I play it.

As for your system, as mentioned above, the game has a ton of graphic options. The two right off the bat that I would turn down would be MSAA and the Water effects. They are huge power takers. Even the lowest water effect setting looks stunning.

You'll be fine with RAM as I'm running 16gig as well.

Once you get it dialed in, it should look incredible on your machine.

Just be prepared to spend some time with it, because it simply in my book is the greatest game ever produced.

Ok,so I used the default settings. A lot of them were set to ultra so I just ran the benchmark. I was getting around 30 fps.

In the game I'm seeing 25-35 depending on where I am and it does look really,really good. I'll work on fine-tuning it over the coming days.

I'm struggling with the game-play a bit as I don't normally play this type of game and prefer 1st person but I may switch between 1st and 3rd depending on what I'm doing.

One thing... the detail in this is amazing,I don't think I've seen anything like this before.

I have one problem,the sound (speech) sounds a little choppy. I'll have a look at the settings tomorrow,4 hours sleep last night means I can't keep my eyes open for much longer.

"V" on the keyboard will allow you to change between 1st and 3rd person. I started in 1st position because I hated 3rd position in other games, but I now find myself using 3rd person the most.

The controls in the game (there are a massive amount) will take some getting used to and may get a little frustrating at times, but stick with it. They become second nature.

As for detail in the game, you haven't seen anything yet. :-) Wait until you get into the open world. Your jaw is going to drop...

hey chucky, how the hell are you getting 30 on a 970 0on ultra :::

about sound, there is a bug, you have to set your output in windows, or the game keep switching them (stereo,surround), this causes dialogue to play low.
the settings that take the most FPS hit, water phisics, ultra can take up to 15-20 fps, i set mine to one lower than max, but you can take it to medium, you can only really see the difference in water crossings where the current is faster. Set tree quality to medium, high and ultra just bump the bump map a bit, but from a distance its the same bloody thing and there are TOO MANY trees in the game. tree tesselation is also a performance killed, also its bugged, you can see through the trees. looks nice but eats 8-9 fps
Global lighting can be set to medium or high, the difference is minimum, water reflection can be put to medium as well, the reflections are blurry regardless. Volumetric clouds can be set to medium and depending on how often you look up even low. unlike odyssey where this affect the amount of cloud formation, in RDR2 this setting controls the resolution the clouds are rendered. Some people recomend loweing fur, i set to ultra didnt feel any impact, but you know i have a 1070ti wich is basically a caped 1080.
shadows to high will give you a boost, i use it on medium bexause i like soft shadows and it feels nice. set the grass to high or medium as this affect the amount of shadow each blade has and how far they show up.

I'm not sure Blade.

I haven't changed any graphic settings yet. I just assumed the game defaulted to a 'recommended settings' based on hardware and went with that.

The early level is snow and poor visibility so I guess once I get away from that it will be a different story. I'll double check my settings and report back.

Maybe try the balanced setting. You still get ultra textures, but some of the fancy graphical witchcraft is reduced and may yield a few frames.

I have to say,the graphics options are some of most comprehensive I've seen for a game.

I wasn't sure if I did alter any settings so I've reset them to default and run the benchmark again. The quality preset says 'custom' and it doesn't look like I can alter that for a global setting. Is that right?

MIN: 24

MAX 40

AVG 31

I'm only running in 1080 btw.

If it is any help, I find that these 2 videos explain it well. Just go to 14:00 of the second video if you want to skip the tech background and see a list of settings.

Thanks Johan,that's interesting.

Out of curiosity I decided to let Nvidia GeForce Experience 'optimise' the game. It ran at a pretty solid 60fps but it looked terrible.

i love doing this, also the horse likes it too






Is this what folks call a golden shower ?








i said Hold up !









A beacon of hope in darkness








"Nickelback: cos i`m broooookeeenn when im lonesome"







Come back here, stupid dinner !






Bring more of your friends and lets make this a fair fight

























YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE !!

Some great shots Blade.

What software do you have running in the top left corner on some of those pics?

thanks, the soft is MSIafterburner, but you have to setup those info yourself, pretty easy though. just click the tab and rename it if you want

edit: also dont trust nvidia experience settings, i can play this game mostly ultra at 1512p (70% of 4k) and the gfe wants me to play all low, also in odissey i can play at 4k just fine at high and its settings want me to play at 900p while saying that i can play origins at 4k just fine. Also i think gfe has its own hidden game settings, because after i used on breakpoint it borked my rendering of far objects, and i noticed it did its own thing at origins as well, like setting stuff that you manually cant.

For what it's worth, more impressions after 23 hours of playtime in Online.

I have not come across any situations where players ruin it for others. There was one occasion when someone appeared to be sniping me while I was hunting (he missed but I heard the bullets whizzing by me) and also a hilarious moment when someone mugged an AI character and stowed him on my horse while I was in a shop. Also in the story missions, most people I have come across seem to be making an effort to team play, or at least not interfere.
Unfortunately many missions are on a timer, which practically forces players to rush in headlong when a more tactical approach would be sensible. I realize this is not ARMA, but I would like to see teamwork rewarded. Missions you play on your own (deliveries, bounty hunts...) are also on a timer, which in my opinion is a lazy way to set a challenge. I am doing the Bounty Hunter and Trader roles. Trader seems more interesting as it is linked with the Moonshining business but I am not sure if this will keep me interested in the long run. I can do all the hunting and fishing I want in Single Player without having to worry about server disconnects (I had a few of those) and, for me at least, multiplayer does not add much to that experience.

The few Free Roam Events I took part in were very much as I expected: every man for himself and prepare to die within 30 seconds.

That doesn't sound so bad, thanks for the report Johan. Can you bounty hunt players who have a bounty?

Yes, but only once you reach a level 12 in the Bounty Hunter role. Apparently the available bounty missions (vs AI) should get more interesting as you level up and require you to track the target. However I'm still a long way from getting there. In Trader missions other players can try to intercept you (or protect you, I guess). I've also come across human players who appeared to be defending a camp against AI raiders. Not sure if this is a feature or just coincidence.

Just spent a bunch of gold bars on customizing my guns... I wish we had the shoulder stock like Van Cleef uses in For A Few Doillars More. I'd actually pay for that LOL

I tried MP tonight. There was a mission to recover some stolen horses and I had to run matchmaking. I didn't continue (I'd had enough for the evening) but would that have teamed me up with human players?

Yes, story missions require you to team up with other players. The side missions can be played solo or as a posse.
I have had several occasions where I could not continue because no other players were available. I'm not sure if the matchmaking is supposed to look for players who are about the same level as you, but it seems completely random to me.

Quick heads up RDR2 is on the Epic store at a discount..Has a bonus you also get a $10 coupon to use on top of the discounted price. Its a steal at that price

LOL was that in valentine ? cos i`m pretty sure it was me, i lost my hat and it set up on the hills shooting off people hat with the sniper as a token to enter the town. i also mugged and placed a npc on someone horse hoping the police would go after them in the same session.

[Spits] "Well Blade_RJ, seems like you made yourself an enemy..."
[Pocket Watch tune from A Few Dollars More plays]
[Music stops]
[Gunshot]

Fantastic looking game but I'm not enjoying it at all. I requested a refund even though I'm over the hours and fortunately it's been allowed.

I took the Epic deal with the $10 coupon and 25% off and I let it install while I was at work. HDR is a little Buggy, I'm seeing weird greens and pinks in snow but then I'm slightly under the minimum with a GTX 750ti but it's workable. FPS dips in the teens now and again. Looking forward to getting into it deeper this weekend.

Went online (pc version), selected my character, started out after I had been set free and met my benefactor... I was roaming around the map, found some treasure etc, but then was supposed to meet some guy and find out about horse stealing.
Then it tells me I have to start match making... well, I want to free roam not work with others, but can't find a way to cancel that mission.

Any ideas how I do that chaps?

That's what got me Trooper,and partly why I requested a refund. I don't think you can skip that part according to an answer I got earlier in the thread.

Bummer!... lol

Just matcake,you dont have tô Join other players Just wait untill its over and Go alone. Get the horse make sure its one you like as you Will keep It. After that the world is open for you. That is just the tutorial

Just received this as a gift with buying a new CPU for my PC.
Intel i9 and a bit of Red Dead Redemption2

From Valentine Deputy County

Angry Mountain Man sighted in the last days,

advised
EXTREME CAUTION

when traveling to Valentine.

Don`t stop to:

Feed the horses
Check the map
Lollagagging
Frollicking in the ; woods;river;tents;bushes
Chase butterflies
Smell daisies


And ABSOLUTELY

NO PICNICS !

you if spot any strange activity, DO NOT report to the police

RUN ! He can smell a snitch !! JUST RUN !









This here are MY mountains






And you ARE NOT WELCOMED !!















Some folks got bad luck is all: they the luck ones, us survivor must keep on suffering




peeping tom





I said this does NOT concern you sheriff, shoulda listen'




What you run toward the sheriffe, was i suposed to go soft you ya ?





Sheriff: you punched him so hard you could hear lighting !
Arthur: im sure he is fiiiiiiine,






sheriff: oh god that awfull smell, he is still there isnt he ?
deputy: yup







Arthur: So you bois want to butthead and get your ass handed to you, HERE! >CRACK<





Arthur: twas just a misunderstanding, im changed, reformed.
Sheriff: you are really making me look bad right now

From Strawberry Deputy County

ROADS ARE NOT SAFE

Intense road thievery and armed assault activity in the last few days have spook residents of town




advised

CAUTION


Travel only in groups; it`s for your safety






Suspected aggressor has been identified to have a weird horse fetish ( not that we will judge) ;

If someone tries to stop you to "admire" your horse, try to lure it with a whistle, BOLT IT to the nearest lawman or the sheriff's office and report the activity immediatly



and we will aprehend this disgusting and revolting sick fiend (again we dont judge)

SimHQ needs to raise a posse and go to Strawberry County?
This looks like dangerous times

So I decided to pick up RDR 2 on Steam. I played it on Epic at release, but never finished it, nearly so but not quite done.

I thought I'd give it another go now that two years have passed. It's was marked down slightly for the sale, and I installed it. After R* Social Club installed/updated I was surprised to see a bunch of achievements fire. All the ones I qualified on Epic now triggered on Steam. Didn't expect that. It is even a new computer, so no remnant could have remained. This info must be saved by Social Club? Maybe just the cloud.

And then I expected to be back in the snow, the opening parts of the game, but instead it took me back to where I ended my previous run, ready to launch the final chapter. I couldn't make up my mind about whether to finish that one and complete the game, or whether to start over. So I played Tropico instead.

Not sure what to do. Leaning towards starting over.

Why is that? Did you get distracted by other games? I'm asking because I've seen comments like this from quite a few gamers over the past couple of years so I'm curious about the reasons.

I usually finish games that come this far, but honestly

I've been on a kick watching videos on the old west and it got me to reinstall this the other day. I didn't want to play through the stoory again, so I tried the online mode. Terrible mistake. What a slow, grindy tedious, slog that is.
Looks like I'm playing the story again.

There is a lot of story left, and it ties in nicely with the first game, if you played that. But yeah, I agree. Kind of a bummer.

I look forward to playing it again as I really enjoyed it and the first game which I recommend too. Like semmern says there's quite a bit more going on yet. Its not been three years yet since finishing so I think I need to wait a bit for to feel somewhat fresh again. I sill hope they bring the first to pc because I would really, really like to see it at a higher resolution and 60fps.

In the end i decided to start over. I still have the save from the first run so I can pick that back up should I choose to. But this is such a great game, one of the best I've ever played, that experiencing it all again (and perhaps things I missed) is the way to go.

About online.... I've given it a miss so far. I've played a lot of GTAO, which has its issues, but so far I've not felt compelled to play RDRO aside from a brief look early on.

I may give RDR 2 a shot some day. I love RPG"s but I admit that the "Old West" setting put me off.

There's no accounting for taste, as the setting is one of the best things about the game for me. Very authentic.

I can only encourage you to make this your next game, but I understand not everyone thinks like me

Yeah, one of the best PC games ever, I think

You know what, it's not just one of the best games ever. It is the best PC game I have played. And that's a mighty long list. I'm jealous of anyone who still has a chance to experience it for the first time.

So yeah, RDR 2 has officially supplanted Witcher 3 as what I think is the best PC game. It's a masterpiece of story and gameplay.

I would really enjoy the Wild West setting if someone could convince me this was a true open world simulator such as we find in games such as Ultima Underworld, Prey or lesser so like the Fallout games--or even Morrowind.

I get the impression it is mostly GTA in the Wild West with mission after mission and no interaction with the environment such as able to pick up cups and silverware and take flour and bake bread or enter every building. Not that I'd waste time baking bread--I like having that level of immersion in my "immersive sims."


I like to get lost in a game world, explore at my own pace, maybe dabble at the story here or there when I feel like it, but spend most of my time doing my own thing and figuring out my own solution to problems, knowing that there are many different ways to get into an area or figure something out.

It IS GTA in the west, structurally. Works in a very similar manner, especially missions. But I can think of few games that are better for getting lost in the gameworld, exploring at your pace and dabbling in missions. This is exactly what RDR 2 is. I think you'd love it, but I also know you have very specific criteria for your games. Missions are necessary to move it all forward and to get the best kit and abilities, but you dictate the pace, after the prologue. But there's no reason you couldn't put these off indefinitely and just explore, hunt, fish and whatever you want until you are ready for the next one. The pacing is excellent in RDR 2. Completely under your control

I don't know how I could convince you so won't try, but it seems to fit your bill.

All of the RPG's I've played so far let me do the main story missions whenever I wanted to. If I wanted to put them off and just go exploring on my own and do my own thing I could do so.

And while I tend to heavily favor a sci-fi setting for my RPG's, I have occasionally branched off and tried different ones like the Witcher series which I greatly enjoyed.

The thing with the Western/Wild West setting is that it's a genre that has never really "done it" for me at an emotional level.

If you haven't bought it yet there's probably little chance you will, but I do want to know what you think if you ever do. No way to divine if another player will connect on an emotional level. Just because I think it is so good, there's no guarantee the next man will. There are probably a few people out there who think it sucks

On the other hand, if I am saying it is the best PC game I've played then I can only recommend it to others.

I guess the difference is that in the "immersive simulator" genre such as Prey, Arx Fatalis, Ultima Underworld, System Shock, etc., is there are no missions. You can literally ignore any quests and still beat the game without completing missions, nor are you exactly directed to complete any. Within the world exists a problem to solve and your ultimate goal is to figure out what the problem is and solve it, without any handholding or being tasked or told what to do.

The games are free to give hints, though, such as what System Shock 1 and 2 did. Ultima Underworld was simpler in that you were thrown into the abyss and tasked with rescuing the kidnapped king's daughter. Beyond that, you were on your own. Prey was basically figure out wtf was happening and good luck. Arx is another masterpiece where you wake up with no idea who you are, where you are at, or what you need to do, and the story unfolds as you explore.

I would argue that the Western genre has never really been addressed adequately as far as games go.

The RDR series is by FAR as the best of the bunch, but it still lacks something of a true Western spirit in both the realistic and the cinema sense.

What DBond says.

I love to just dress up like a trapper, head out into the wilderness on a hunt, and play this song in the background

That's the way to do it. Matter of fact I think I talked about it a couple years ago earlier in this thread, about how if I played it again I would take more time in chapters 2 and 3 to do more off the beaten path. I did a heck of a lot of it even then, but in the end it was only about half of what I could have done, according to completion percentages.

I think a player that wants to ignore the R* direction, and just exist in the gameworld need only to reach Horseshoe Overlook and then do whatever he wants for as long as he wants. This player would have yet to obtain certain abilities, but if this is the way you want to play I don't think it would make much difference. I think the game works best by striking a balance between both of these things, but there is nothing mechanically to prevent a player from going off grid, as I think Johann had said before. And the game really shines doing exactly this.

So that's the plan, to take more time this run through the game, to do more of the side stuff. For example in my first run through the game I didn't pay much attention to rock carvings, card sets and some others. Even the legendary animals and fish, which I did pay attention to, only resulted in taking about half of them. Of course I was eager to see the story, and that propelled me through. Now that I've been through most of it, I plan to go easy and spend more time off the grid, roleplaying more and advancing less quickly.

But even then, so far, I've done mostly nothing but missions, as you need to do some of this to acquire some abilities such as being able to set up a camp, crafting and cooking at a campfire. I've reached chapter 2 and Horseshoe Overlook. So I'd say that a player that wants to mostly ignore the R* direction will still need to play along for about 8-10 hours or so at the start, to get the basics granted by the early missions. I want to get Dead Eye to level 2 then can set off on my own for a spell. Head up in to the mountains and do some hunting and some fishing. Pay more attention to the botany. Maybe set up a bit of a side hustle selling game meat and pelts, find a nice spot to make a camp and roleplay a bit. I want to also trigger the fish taxidermist dude (call me Fish Mail), but I forget yet where he is, or how to get that going. All in good time. Maybe do a bit of bounty hunting. There's that pace thing again.

I'm surprised again to see that my Steam purchase still is recognized as a pre-order, even though I pre-ordered it on Epic. So I get the free Ardennes war horse again which was nice and saved me the money on a horse at the start, and so I could afford to outfit him with some good kit including the top stirrups, which in turn increases his speed and acceleration, essentially offsetting the drawbacks of a war horse. I named him Max A Million.

And once again I want to praise the poker in RDR 2. I love it. I sat down to play a few hands as part of the Reverend mission and ended up playing for an hour. Up 75 cents! Cleaned up haha. What a great game.

Like Crane Hunter said RDR series is overall the best of a Western themed game. I agree with him to that RDR is still not truly authentic in its world or American West history. Its more akin to Hollywood Westerns. However, RDR has the absolute best horse riding including the original. The way they are animated having multiple gates and Rockstar does a stellar job of creating an organic feeling, nature-based atmosphere. They are very relaxing games to get lost in. I used to just ride in RDR listening to my own cowboy/western albums after work to unwind. RDR2 goes even further with how well the environment is realized and render. The game is not perfect but it is excellent. Its definitely a game to be experienced and to enjoy a great big story with many interesting, mostly superbly voice acted characters. Like DBond mentioned I wish that I could play it all over for the first time again. There was nothing like being dropped in a world area unfamiliar and non-existent in the first game, intentionally not looking at the map as much as possible so as to explore it for myself until you start getting the lay of the land. Another joy is spending time in camp and talking to anyone you can. Its amazing the sheer amount of ancillary dialogue there is in the game. I hope to play it on PC some day because the aiming controls would be much, much better with a mouse and keyboard. On console you really have to rely on dead eye a lot which by the way is still a very cool mechanic. Take a look at the old screenshot thread on here for a lot of discussion about the game if you like. There's also quite a bit of random encounters in the game not related to the story. Plus there's a few places in the game where you can go with this or that person for some different story elements. I was so keen on seeing John Marston again when I played I rode with him. Next time I'll make it a point to go with Hosea so I can get time and dialogue with him that I missed. Then there's all the great poignant moments that happen throughout the game.

My main irritation was how wonky the weapon inventory system was to where it basically was broken at times, not allowing for the customization or control they seemed to advertise. I also wish they would have slowed down the day/night cycle by just a little. It feels a little too fast at times.

Good post Coot.

Irritation? For me it is Dutch. He is the leader and a father-figure for Arthur, but I can't buy in, and it's a big deal. His schemes rarely come off, he makes poor decisions, rarely sticks to the plan, stubborn, hard-headed. Arthur may feel loyalty, or a sense of family, but I do not. So much so that I do not want to follow this man, but of course that's the only choice from a narrative point of view.

I compare it to GTA. As much as I like GTA's story mode, I didn't care much for the characters. Michael is supposed to be a master thief, but he's just an idiot with anger issues, and Trevor is a sick dude. I liked Franklin, who's head is on straight, but of course he is the one R* focused on the least. But when it came time to do the heists it was professional, and they came off if you did your job. Gettin' paid.

Dutch's schemes rarely do. As I played through the first time this sense of disconnect crept in, and by the time the camp had moved down south to that plantation-style house, I resented him. Each time I would return to camp, loaded down with game and pelts for the community good, Dutch would be standing up on the balcony saying 'come up here Arthur', and I'd just ignore him. Whatever he had to say would surely mean trouble, so I avoided him. And besides this, he is the one who, when the gang arrives at Horseshoe Overlook, says that it is time for everyone to earn their keep, and then he goes on to spend the rest of the game earning nothing. The nerve!

Exhibit A. Here's my horse Ricochet loaded down with a panther, a raccoon and maybe some other stuff at this same camp. Doin' my part



Matter of fact, to alter my point slightly, I grew to resent most of the other gang members, who complain about my lounging about while they do nothing at all. You can see who has contributed what to the community till, and I've dropped in a few hundred while others might have dropped a 40-cent feather weeks ago. I grew to see them as freeloaders and malcontents, and the camp distinctly lacked the sense that all hands were to the pump. There are a few exceptions, Lenny, Hosea, Javier, but others I would avoid in camp if I saw them approaching.

This is all perfectly plausible, the notion that I might not see eye to eye with everyone I'm in with, but at the same time I think, well, why am I in with this lot? Seems as if I'd be better off striking out on my own, or a splinter group. So I wish that Dutch had been written in a way that I did indeed feel a sense of loyalty, that he was a leader who made smart, logical decisions, and whose leadership made life better for those following.

All of which makes spending more time off-grid, as I am using that term, more appealing. I won't wake up to him and his old lady arguing again at least

Funnily enough coming from having played the first game twice, early on in RDR2 Dutch had moments of likability or even endearment...to a degree but alas as you point out the narrative follows the total breakdown of his character. When he shows up in the first game he's just a terrible, unacceptably violent drunk. I wish they would have modeled a cattle herding mini game into the end game. It would have been great to be able to save up money doing various things then get Uncle and Jack to go with you to Hennigan Stead to buy cattle and drive them back to Beacher's hope and then take care of them. I guess that would sort of conflict with the first game though where there is a mission where you do go buy cattle and drive them back and it seems as though this was the first time Marston was able to do this.


I would like to see a sequel that really goes back to the Old West days where maybe you play as a young Arthur and whoever his dad was. Then maybe it ends up where he's taken under Dutch and Hosea's wings. Make the world even bigger and wilder.

I also always thought that it would be quite the cool convergence of worlds if in a L.A. Noir sequel, have your police or federal agent character be assigned to drive out into the rural ranch land areas for a crime investigation. The period would still be the 1940s or even 50s. When your character goes out there he has to interview witnesses, one of whom happens to be an old rancher. Eventually the player comes to find out that they have been talking with none other than Jack Marston who is now an old man. He's the last of the generation that saw the very, very last of the tail end of anything remotely related to the old days and now is and elderly, small scale rancher in 1950s L.A. Noir world. Then they can bring both game worlds together. Maybe Jack Marston becomes a surrogate father or mentor to the agent and they even participate together in some level of gun fighting and interaction with organized crime. Then have a episode where Jack Marston does some noble deed that costs him his life. He himself to a degree and those he descended from lived by the gun and now he goes to meet eternity by the same means. As the agent holds a dying Jack Marston, perhaps jack admonishes the agent character not to hold anger and unforgiveness in his heart as it will just breed treachery and lead to disaster. Then the finale of the game's story is your police agent character having a "Red Dead Redemption" moment where he avenges Jack Marston and thus the cycle of tit for tat continues. I would love to see something like that done.

I downloaded it from Steam and could never get it run ..they did give muymoney back though..which was decent of them

Never played it on PC. Best console game I've ever played mind you.

I'm not sure what advantages PC has, aside from graphical ones. Is the update that added things like Photo Mode also available on console? Regardless, the experience is good either way I'm sure. I'm on PC, but I have a controller hooked up. I use it occasionally for some activities, such as fishing, or to be able to sit back and relax while playing poker. I play in first person, but have it set to switch to third-person when I mount a horse, then switch back when I get off of it.

I think that update also included new gang hideouts, weapons, treasure maps, trinkets, horses and bounty missions, but maybe it was shared across platforms? I have no idea.

My return to the game has been great, really enjoying it again. Taking a slightly different approach, broader and less down the narrative path. I've dropped 25 hours already and striking a good balance between missions and free roam, but weighted heavily to the free roam side. I've been gauging the suitability for folks wanting to do the off-grid thing, that is mostly ignoring the story and R* track. A player could do this as soon as chapter 2 starts really, but there are things he wouldn't be able to do until unlocking it through missions. One of the ones that seems important to a player who wants to free roam exclusively is fishing, and it takes a while to get that mission (Fisher of Men). So while this is possible, I think to really get the most out of a free roam run the player would still need to play missions for quite a while or his options would be a bit limited. I think the best thing to do again is to strike that balance, doing some of each, with the split decided by the player.

I'd say that playing through in to chapter 3 would probably be best to then start a free roam existence, but that's a lot of missions and would run counter to the spirit of the idea. So while I advised Blastman that it would fit his criteria, now I think if a player is really averse to doing missions RDR 2 maybe isn't so well suited, unless you're willing to get to the point where it is. The gameplay to this point is excellent, and it would be a shame to miss out on it for reasons like this I think, but to each his own, eh?

In my specific case, I don't own a console gaming system and I'm 99% sure I never will so if I ever do play RDR 2 it will be on the PC.

Same here, I'll never own a console gaming system, never wanted one, plus of course I'm crap at using a hand controller!

I own two consoles, PS4 and X Box, but I don't use them aside from when my son challenges me to something or other, like a Rocket League match. He usually beats me since I become disoriented lol. I'm just as likely to score in the wrong goal.

Back to RDR 2, it's funny, but I made a comment in this thread two years ago that if I ever replay it I would get more gold missions, since I now knew what was expected, but no. I've done no better in that regard. If gold were tied more to how well, and not how fast, you did things, I might do better. But this game is meant for savoring, not devouring, so things don't get done at hyper pace. So my lot is silver I think

Someone commented a few days ago about how RDR 2 handles horses and yeah, that's spot on. I really enjoy that whole aspect of the game, and I have an absolutely gorgeous horse for this run. She's the horse owned by the mark from the Valentine bounty mission. I borrowed her to finish that one, and was so smitten I decided to keep her. I'll grab a good screen sooner or later and show her off. Before RDR 2, KCD was my standard for horses in video games, but I like it even more RDR. I feel even more of an attachment in this game, even though it's very well handled in both games.

Ah, horses. One mission I ended up with a completely beaten animal. I wanted to nurse it back to health, but it ran away one day. Also found a donkey once, but wasn't able to keep it (real pity, I wanted to go for that Grizzly Adams vibe :-))

Been a while since I finished RDR2, will do another playthrough later this year. I know that once I start, it will be hard to draw me away from it.

I like taking my time in the first couple chapters, it's just unfortunate the southwestern part of the map is, in practice, blocked off to you.

And I'm with DBond and hating most of the gang. They're mostly insufferable. Some are OK, the only ones consistently doing work are Kieran and Pearce and they're hated by the rest of the gang.

Right on wormfood, bunch of freeloaders and malcontents. Having made that post a couple days ago I've been checking the camp ledger everyday to see who is actually "earning their keep", with Dutch van der Lynde nowhere to be seen. One of the guys put in $4.51 though, which is a fair bit. I've dropped several hundred already and at least 15 carcasses for the camp stew. Paid for the leather tools out of pocket. Arthur should be leading this lot, if you ask me. Give Dutch up to the Pinkertons in exchange for clemency and leaving us alone, make Arthur king of this anarcho-syndicalist commune. Then we can take turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.

You don't vote for Kings!

Did they add extra gangs in the console version or are you speaking of online mode? Apparently they added more gangs and even storied characters online which is a disappointment to me as I don't play online. Why would they not add that content as a single player experience to add to the game of customers who only want SP DLC? Also on console at some point they put in an update that among other things disabled ambient occlusion which has a significant impact on the graphics rendering. I don't know if they ever added the option back in(I don't think so)but that was a terrible thing for them to just do by fiat and in a way where they seemed to think no one would notice. I can't get it on PC now but if I do go back to it on PS4 I'll need to disable the internet so that the PS4 doesn't download and install that patch.

I still wish they'd put the original on PC. I would rather have that than a remake in the new engine. I also wish they'd make a good old fashion single player expansion and add more territory, story and gang and bounty hunter missions.

I think the answer is in GTA. As is well known, GTA 5 is the most successful entertainment venture ever, including films and everything else. RDR is going to follow the same path, and I can't really blame R*. For GTA they added no DLC or additional content at all for single player. All of their updates have been for Online. And I reckon RDR will follow the same.

I agree that some additions would be great, but I have no reason to think it will happen with RDR 2.

As for my new run, I'm at the off grid point now, halfway through chapter 2. I did the mission with the kid and have a fishing rod, and went down to Lagras or whatever it is called to get the special lures. Going to spend some time tracking down the legendary fish and animals, took the coyote yesterday. Stopped off at a general store to top off my provisions and am heading up in to the mountains for a spell. Did you know that you lose honor if you have been away from camp for more than three days? I returned and saw the honor hit as I came in to camp and didn't know what had caused it. Now I know.

Yes, then they #%&*$# at you for not feeding them and that everyone is doing their part except you. When you go check the ledger, it's usually empty. So, I disappear for another 3 days. Catch and release a few fish, or just say hi to everyone as you ride through town, and it'll balance out the honor hit.

And for the story Rhodes between the Grays and Braithwaites and something I didn't find in an earlier playthrough:

Yeah, we're on the same page with this. Today Grimshaw came up to me and b!tched at me for lounging about and I had just done the following

-- Returned from a three-day hunt with a whitetail, a couple turkeys and some other small game, pelts all of which went in to the pot
-- Contributed $50 cold cash plus another $15 in valuables
-- Fed the horses (moving the hay in camp)
-- Split some wood
-- Carried sacks over to Pearson
-- Took the boy fishing
-- Completed two camp item requests

So yeah, quite the lay-about aren't I? Stuff it old woman.

I've been checking the ledger and some are earning their keep. Kieran is motivated to stay alive so keeps working. Charles, javier, Hosea. These guys are good ones and pull for the group. But I'd just as soon shoot Grimshaw, Uncle, Micah, or the Reverend, and if Dutch happened to be in the line of fire oh well. Aside from Grimshaw the women-folk get a pass.

You sound like you play how I did DBond when it came to camp involvement. The game sets your character up as needing to do these things plus its fun scrounging around for things to chip in. To me it felt a little like Oliver Twist and disappearing for a day and then returning with your loot and trinkets to give Fagin.

I was always dumping in some dollars(which are hard to come by especially early on)along with pocket watches and other things. Then I'd look in the ledger and chuckle at what Marston or others had offered up. Plus I'd do a lot of those camp duties too for the fun of role playing. That being said I always saw Marston chopping wood and the cook at his station. I think I caught Bill Williamson steeling from the coffers once.

If I play this again I'll refuse to pay anything in and see what happens... anyone given that a try yet?

I haven't and not sure I would, since I want to improve the satchel, and for that you need the leather tools, which requires camp funds. You could get there eventually just on NPC contributions I reckon, but it would take a while. So I just paid for them straight out of pocket.

But it might be funny to hear what the others say to the player if he never dropped a dime. Just yesterday Dutch came up to me saying how others are talking and that I'm not in with the gang as I haven't been doing my part. Yeah, well what about you Dutch, what have you done? Yeah, nuthin', that's right. Shut yer pie hole.

And that's because I had just returned from another days-long hunting and fishing trip. This time I headed east, to reveal Annesberg and Van Horn. I caught the legendary muskie and perch. In my first run it took a long time before I came this far east, and hadn't even realized there were towns here. I had to catch the muskie twice. It's in a location that's not great for fishing on foot, next to Van Horn lighthouse. So took a dip and stood on some rocks a little further out. When I caught the monster (36 pounds!) I went to return to my horse but the water was too deep to walk, and when I started swimming I dropped the fish, which floated. I tried pushing it with my swimming body, but there's no collision detection and in a few minutes it sank out of sight! Son of a beach!

So I had to catch it a second time from a more accessible spot. Caught the pickerel a couple days before so that's three legendary fish so far. Then I decided to get the buck antler trinket which is key for pelt quality in order to get what you need to improve the satchel. So that meant trekking across the map to Big Valley in West Elizabeth. Lots of bears around here. Took a day or two but I tracked the buck down then back across the map to Emerald Ranch to get the trinket made.

That's how I'm playing. Spend a week or so doing free roam, fishing, hunting, exploring, engaging bandit camps and that sort of thing. Then a mission, like breaking Micah out of the jail in Strawberry (got a $300 bounty for that one, ouch!), then back to free roam for a while. It's a nice balance and a good pace.

Sometimes when you drop something in the water you can lasso it and pull it towards you. It's inconsistent, but is always worth a shot when trying to recover a pelt or item.

I did not consider lassoing it. Good one. Of course it had no collision detection, so not sure if it would work, but if it happens again I have a plan B now

I hope to take all the legendary fish and animals, so I could find myself in a similar bind again down the line.

Going after the smallie next. It's close to where the buck was taken, and I had planned to get them both on that expedition, but you can't pack them both on the horse and anyway I was covered in mud and blood so decided to head for civilization to clean up and get that trinket made for pelt preservation.

Are random encounter items persistent? When I was coming back down the trail with the legendary buck on my horse I heard the sound of a sledgehammer striking metal up the hillside from the trail. I decided to see what it was and as I came closer I could see it was a pair of fools trying to open a safe. Well, my presence led to gunshots and two dead sledgehammerers and a locked safe with no way to open it. Shotguns do not work, I can confirm. So while I was at the fence for the trinket I bought a couple sticks of dynamite. Is there a chance that safe is still sitting there? It's a long trek back up in to the mountains and I'm not exactly sure where it was...

I doubt it is, but if I am heading back up there for the smallmouth maybe I'll see if I can find it.

I'm not sure on that safe. Things seem to stick around in the game for days provided you don't quit or skip time. At t his point, I'd say it's gone.

Yeah, I doubt it's there and so I'll save my dynamite for the next one I come across.

Smallmouth was not next, I went down to the bayou and took the gar. 41 pounds he was. That was an epic fight. Sent him off in the post.

Just call me fish mail

That line never got the traction I think it deserves haha

Took another mission, this one with the recently broken out of jail Micah (where we shot up Strawberry and I think killed half the townsfolk), and we hit a stagecoach. Good haul of $1200 out of the lock box. $600 for the camp, with Micah and I splitting the other half. $300 is a nice cut and I spent it on two new Schofield revolvers and a number of modifications to my newly acquired Lancaster repeater, which you get in the stagecoach mission.

Those are end game weapons for me, so these get upgraded and customized, while the others go in the trunk at camp.

But I wonder what happened to the $600 for camp. It isn't in the till when you return to camp. I think Dutch pocketed it.

I'm really dragging out chapter 2. Fact is, Horseshoe Overlook is the best camp location from a free-roam point of view, so I'm making it last. The only yellow marker left is the one to go see old flame Mary Linton. Doing that one might send me to chapter 3, don't know. Going to put that off a spell, I reckon. Tally stands at two legendary animals and four fish. Turns out I had only landed three fish first run, as I struggled to come to terms with fighting the biggest fish. This time 'round I seem to have got it, and can land these big ones with mouse and keyboard, so I'll keep going and try to get them all.

Even two years later RDR 2 still blows me away with its striking beauty, the game world is stunning.

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.

Yeah I do the same, but I think if I wait that long then avoiding spoilers is on me, not the folks who played it several years ago. Interesting question.

Here is the horse that was my favorite in the game especially since she's the one I used for a large portion of the game.

This is Clementine:







I also wrangled and broke a horse from the wild that was kind of a grey color that I named Kerosene. I can't find a picture right now though.

This is Turpentine, a Missouri Foxtrotter I believe that I bought much later in the game as they are expensive:





As John Marston I found this horse in the wild and made it my own and named her ruby:

Nice shots and fine horses Coot. Clementine I like especially.

I'm now most of the way through chapter 3. Got the bolt-action rifle from a mission, and this was my go-to all-rounder in the first run. I'm also sitting on a mountain of cash, about 5 grand having knocked off the Valentine bank last night. I don't recall how much I was holding in the first run but that's a lot of money in 1899!

The fence at Emerald Ranch will take any wagons you bring to him. Has anyone done this? What's the going rate for a wagon? I should steal one and turn it in and see how much it pays.

Currently, I'm rolling with about $9.5K with probably another grand in unsold valuables. Camp funds are only about $1.3K, but I stopped donating long ago since every upgrade has been crafted or purchased and I'm the only one feeding the camp and donating to it.

As for weapons, my previous play throughs used everything but pistols. Never gave pistols a fair shake until this one. The volcanic kinda sucks, but Midnight's pistol is great and you can get it early in the game. I'm currently rolling with a pair of 1899 pistols. They're awesome, but you have to progress the game to Chapter 3 or 4. (The one where you move the camp to Shady Belle).

Wagons vary a bit depending on the size and what t hey are. Currently it's about $25 for most. There's a couple small ones that I think are about $15. I could swear in the past some sold for more, but I'm either misremembering or it was patched long ago.

Yes, I did that mission where you steal the wagon, but I forget what it paid, and that was a pretty fancy wagon, and I suspect the fee varies? My play sees a number of riderless wagons appear, and I think I'll turn one in to see. It's just not much fun driving wagons and Emerald Ranch isn't usually right next door.

Are these songs recordings? Or lyrics? Sure I'll have a listen, or a look, PM me, or post it here if you want to share with others.

Desperados has been on my wishlist forever and a day. It is overwhelmingly positive on Steam, but I haven't pulled the trigger. I just don't get on well with real time strategy games, and I've tried! Partisans and Wasteland are others I have on the list. Most recent one I tried was Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. I wanted to like it and gave it a go three different times, but in the end it just isn't the right game for me. Another example is the Shadowrun series. Very popular with good reviews, but I just didn't like it all that much, and I am a strategy gamer at heart. Maybe Desperados will be the one? I'd need to try it to see.

Wow Wormfood that's a pile of cash!

You mentioned camp funds, and I'm a little confused by it. I can see the camp till, the one you can contribute to and spend to provision and upgrade the various parts of the gang's camp. But there is another fund, that I can't see and don't know where it goes. For example when we knocked off Valentine bank last night the take was $20,000. Each of the four of us that took part split half, for $2,500 each. The other half -- $10,000 -- went in to the camp fund I think it said, and it showed in yellow text at the bottom of the screen that this fund was now $12,000. But that money is not in the one you can see and spend. Where is it? Is it a bug and this money should be there for me to upgrade the camp?

More likely, Dutch is sitting on it. He talks a good game, all hands to the pump, but does nothing himself and keeps the money for his gain. Why am I following Dutch again?

It might be a bug, but I like to think that it's just Dutch and/or other moochers stealing it from the folks who, well maybe not earned, but stole it fair and square.

As for that pile of cash, this play through started a year or so ago and I just log in once in a while to hunt, fish, do some crime, or just explore for a bit.

No honor among thieves!

Coot,

Thanks for the info on that mission. I'll try to remember for the next time. How big is that map actually? I seem to recall that off in the distance you can see beaches and I think a fort or something.

I recall not liking chapter 5 all that much first time through.

About the missing camp funds.... don't know why this didn't occur to me, but I remember now, and you can see these funds in the journal by looking at the 'gang savings'. I don't know there's anything you can ever do with it, but at least it is shown there, itemized. Seems less nefarious when it's all accounted for.

I'm still plodding along, trying to complete challenges and filling out the compendium. It's slow going. I spent a couple in-game days hunting rabbits and squirrels. It was a devil of a time trying to get a perfect squirrel pelt, until I realized that even the .22 is too much gun. Made some small game arrows and that finally did the trick. Some of these challenges I would never do without knowing I need to. Like lassoing and dragging someone 3000 yards or feet or whatever it is. Or killing three enemies in 10 seconds using only throwing knives. Just wouldn't happen in normal play. But they give me some, well, challenges to pursue and different things to do.

I'd love to get the game guide for this but they are way to expensive now. Should have gotten it when the game came out.

I remember having a heck of a time getting any three star pelts. I don't think I realized that the .22 was too much and that you have to use special arrows.

Another thing, I wanted the Henry rifle(Lancaster maybe its called in-game?) from the start but I don't think it became available until way late in the game during a story mission. Is there a way to get it sooner?

Yes there is. Spoilers in order?

Coot, it unlocks sometime in chapter 2 fairly early. Supposedly, there's one in the basement of the gunsmith in Rhodes and you can rob it even earlier than that.
Dbond beat me to it.

Wormfood is correct and you can get the mission soon after arriving at Horseshoe Overlook, but you need to bust Micah out of jail first. So the other way can be faster since you can do that as soon as chapter 2 starts. In this run I got it through the mission first and did the robbery quite a bit later.

In my run now, the money is really piling up, as I did a treasure hunt, and honestly I doubt I would ever finish one of these without the internet. The chances of me finding the maps based only on the clues provided are about nil. But cheat I did, looked it up, went to those places and found a stash with six gold bars, worth 3 grand. Now the billfold is holding $8,000 and there are a couple more treasure hunts to do if I feel like it. Of course I don't have much to spend it on, restocking ammo or buying food for the horse isn't going to put much of a dent in that.

I'm having an issue with tagging. I could do it earlier when I was low level dead eye. But now I can't seem to tag animals. Is it only for human enemies? There's a challenge that requires shooting two different species of animal in the same dead eye sequence and for that to work I need to mark. It's set to Q by default and I added a secondary one for an unused mouse button but neither apply the mark. Anyone run in to something similar? I'm dead eye level 8. Can't figure out what I am doing wrong.

We've been talking about the horses in RDR 2 a lot and here's a very interesting article on PC Gamer about the work that went in to it.

The mind-boggling work that went into Red Dead 2's incredibly lifelike horses

R* deserves a lot of credit for the way the horses turned out in this game.

I look forward to reading that article DBond as I've always admired what Rockstar achieved with horses in video games going back to the first RDR game which by the way horses are still great in that game. You can see the good foundation they laid then to build upon for the sequel.

You all mention that the repeater can be found as early as chapter two! I was not able to get one until way, way later. The mission where you go with Sadie to that ranch area I think it is in big valley. I can't remember the story or chapter but its later on. I just remember being on a story mission with Sadie near big valley and before the mission starts, you can walk over to the camp your characters had made and there's a repeater laying on a blanket or something and that was the first time I was able to find that rifle in the game.

Yes, my mistake. The Lancaster is a Winchester 1866 Yellowboy. The Litchfield is the Henry, and you are right that comes later. So I led us down this road when I mistook the Henry for the Lancaster.

I guess I worked out my dead eye tagging issue. It works fine except through a scope. Is it not supposed to work when scoped?

Yeah the Henry is what I was wondering about. I wonder why they put it in so late.

I don't remember about dead eye aiming with a scope mounted weapon but that sounds about right. The scope is a zoomed in, enclosed sight picture so I don't think multi-target tagging functions in the same way as it does for other weapons that you can still see the whole game screen when targeting.

Finally hit chapter 4 in run #2. 150 hours to this point, really taking my time and mixing in plenty of free roam stuff. Chapter 4 means new stuff available, including horses. My intention was to go for the Fox Trotter this time, but the one for sale in chapter 4 is not all that attractive, a gold colored coat. Great horse, but I decided to go for the black Arabian from St Denis stables again. Named him Black Bourbon. Fast with excellent acceleration and handling. Noticably smaller than many of the other horses.

I read there is a wild brindle Arabian up near the Indian reservation. Might have to check that out.

Having a good time with this second run and have seen and done things I missed first time through. Some of these challenges are quite difficult. I won't complete them all I don't think. I aborted my first play through in chapter 6 partly due to Arthur's state, but this time I plan to see it through, and end up in a free-roam world with John. One of my objectives is to take all legendary fish and animals, and some are in Blackwater, which of course is still locked down for me. So far I've taken about eight of each, including the grizzly bear yesterday. He was not happy when the first round hit him. Thank goodness I had some dead eye to slow him down.

I tried to sneak through Blackwater and get the Rock Bass, and made it to the lake after losing some lawmen. But then while standing there fishing some more spawned very close and it was a hell of a ride to get out, pursued the whole way by gun-toting gubment men. So I'll wait a bit to try that again. The spawning thing is not good, really gives you no chance to sneak around, or evade with smart routes and scouting ahead. Just boom, "There he is!" And another chase begins.

I spent most of a weekend trying to glitch Arthur into Blackwater. Seems the only fixes Rockstar makes to the single player are those different ways to get Arthur into Blackwater without dying to invisible snipers or infinite roving patrols. Really the only way to complete all challenges and hunting is to do it in the epilogue after beating the game.

Yep, exactly, and that's what I was getting at saying I aimed to end up in free roam with John, which will allow me to complete these. And I misspoke, as the Rock Bass is not in Blackwater proper but the surrounding region that is also locked down. Pronghorn is there and a couple others including the bigmouth bass.

Yesterday I did the Blessed are the Peacemakers mission, which you might recall. Finally got through it and as Arthur returns to camp it froze and I had to do the whole thing over again. RDR has been quite stable for me this time around, but now and then I have a glitch.

OK, where were we?

We were recently talking about RDR 2 in a different thread and I said I have to get back to it. I put my mouse where my mouth is and fired it up for the first time since February, as it turns out.

I rate RDR 2 as the finest PC game I've played, which is high praise indeed given the list it's on. I originally bought it on Epic when it was exclusive. It remains to this day the only game I've ever pre-ordered, even if it was only the day before release haha. Got a few trinkets that way anyway. As the first few pages of this thread attest, those early days were affected by some bugs and crashes, which R* eventually ironed out for the most part. A lesser game would have been shelved until fixed, but RDR 2 grabbed me in a big way and I soldiered on despite the frequent issues and associated restarts. Well worth it, it must be said.

When it came out on Steam a year later I bought it again and started over and played for about 150 hours then stopped while the camp is at Shady Belle. Recently though I've been kicking around giving it another go and have done so over the past couple of days. Still a great game, but I play in first person of course and it takes time to grow accustomed to the decidedly clunky movement in this view mode. And that's not a criticism. I think it's part of the charm and I literally struggle through the snow or fumble with my items. Sustained play time will ease this, but it is striking at this stage nonetheless how awkward it feels. Coming straight from Wonderlands where movement is seamless it's a departure no doubt, but one I actually like.

Except for one thing.... when going through a door in first person, the animation always turns my view to the ground as I exit the door. Annoys the hell out of me! Does anyone know if there's a way to change this, an edit or mod perhaps, that would return my view to straight and level when passing through doors? That would be fantastic!

One other thing I will praise, and have done so several times in this thread, is the poker. In real life I only like one card game, and yeah it's poker. I love it. It's probably not a stretch to say I've played nearly every PC poker game searching for one I like.There's always some sort of flaw that keeps those games from being perfect. And surprisingly, RDR 2's poker is the best of the bunch. I can play for hours. The flow of the game is really nice and the AI players are so convincing. You can tell there are different routines/play styles programmed for different players, some will bluff, some will be cautious. It's really nicely done and fills a huge void for me since I'm no longer 25 and playing poker and drinking bourbon with the boys. Now only the boys are missing haha!

In RDR 2 you can find games all over. I actively avoid playing in camp, because I honestly cannot stand the Reverend Swanson, Micah, Pearson and Mrs Grimshaw. And all of them are always in camp and will sit in on the game. Nope. My favorite place to play is actually the saloon in the northeast corner of St Denis. I'll get a few games in at Flatneck Station too. I don't despise the characters in these places.

The poker in RDR 2 is so good in fact that I keep posting on Rockstar boards pleading with them to import it to GTA 5. No chance of that it seems

This reminds me of the highly addictive and creative card game of "Gwent" in Witcher 3. It was a lot more fun than I was expecting!

I never gave Gwent a proper shake. I always regretted it too as I thought I might be missing a nice game. CDPR later came out with a stand alone gwent game as I recall. Did you ever try that?

If I ever give W3 another go I'll give gwent a shot.

No. Gwent is a fun card game but only within the context of a Witcher game. I wouldn't bother buying a game where the entire focus was on Gwent.

Understood. Here's that game. It's free

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1284410/GWENT_The_Witcher_Card_Game/

I have two questions

Did either of you play the first RDR on the PS3 and if so how it would compare to RDR2?

What poker game do they play? Is it Holdem?

Cheers

Yeah, it's Texas Hold 'em.

I never played the first game, as it's Playstation exclusive. If there were a PC version I would.

The poker is actually fun in RDR2.

This guy gets it

I tend to buy games from Steam in batches, and last time I had RDR2 in my basket but there was some online/signup requirement to something other than Steam that scared me off, but I don't remember the details.
Anyway, can this game be played totally offline?

My guess is that you had to create a Rockstar account.

Yeah, as far as I know you need to use Rockstar's launcher, and that needs an account and connection. But once launched that's it.

Red Dead Online is included but a separate thing altogether.

Then you have those games on EA Origin's online service where if your ISP drops you get kicked out of the game entirely. This happened to me with both Jedi Fallen Order and Mass Effect Andromeda.

Ah, that was it. The hassle of creating yet another burner account that I'll forget the username/password details for overrode the pleasure of playing what is by all accounts an excellent game.

It was fun.
With all that game has though, I mostly use it as a hunting and fishing game.


I played the original RDR on Xbox, there's a slightly upgraded version for the newer consoles which makes it run a bit better, supposedly. I haven't played it since it originally came out, then again a year or two later. I don't think it changed anything, just let it run on the newer hardware which improved frames and made it run a bit better.

Story wise it still mostly holds up. Graphics take a hit in most departments being almost a decade older and made specifically for consoles. That said, the storms were great to witness. There were less side activities, but most of the gameplay is very similar, you do similar challenges and mission types. Less crime missions since the story is you trying to hunt down the former gang members instead of being an outlaw yourself.
More of the game takes place in Mexico and Armadillo areas. So, those desert areas of the map are filled out much more.

One of these days I may have to replay it so I can compare it better instead of going off old memories.

I created a folder on Google Drive with all my login information, for everything. Easy access from PC, phone, tablet. No need to try and remember.

It takes a minute to create and can remember your password for you. I'd say that you shouldn't miss this game over this particular issue. I've used it for both RDR and GTA for years now and it's fine.

But yeah, it's another account you'd need to create.

I highly recommend playing RDR2.
I enjoyed it a lot. Something I cannot say about the GTA games. They come across as very juvenile, too many N bombs.

Heh OK, I'll buy RDR2 on my next trip to the Steam store.
But come to think of it, I still have to install and play 'Subnautica' that I bought some years ago based on another DBond thread.

If you don't want to pay 79.99.
G2A.com

Yeah, get it on sale. It goes on quite often.

I was talking before about which members of the camp I find objectionable. But I left out the most objectionable because I meant to write his own paragraph and then forgot to. And that's Dutch.

As well-written as RDR 2 it's odd that the character intended to be a father figure, to instill a sense of loyalty in the player, instead instills the opposite in me. I want to reject Dutch as the leader of the gang. This is not a man I want to follow. His plans and schemes never come off, he's all bluster and platitudes. And then there's his old lady, and it got so bad I started sleeping in the wild as I didn't want to wake up again to their incessant bickering in camp. Put a lid on it!

I mentioned it before I think that the camp dynamic is poor, that the player really is the only one doing anything, and yet the others snap off shade complaining that Arthur isn't pulling his fair share despite being the only one. Stop to pour the rocks out of your boots and Grimshaw will be around shortly to take note of your loafing and tell you about it too. While I drop another $50 in the till, the rest of the camp managed to drop in a feather or two. I would have liked R* to shape this more as 'all hands to the pump'. Dutch even makes a speech about it and then does nothing the rest of the game to pull his weight.

In Shady Belle he's up on the balcony calling to me but I go the other way, you'll only lead us astray Dutch. My Arthur wonders if he should strike out on his own and leave this band of misfits and malcontents behind.

I also spoke of my struggle with the controls and not for the first time it landed me in hot water. I have not got the achievement for max honor or dishonor, so I'm making sure to greet passersby, as one does. Howdy pardner, good day to you.

Last night I was in St Denis looking for my poker game which is gone? Anyway, as I cantered through the streets tipping my hat to strangers to boost my honor I rode alongside a wagon with a nice looking family aboard.The game sort of auto-matches the wagon speed in case you want to shake them down. So I went to speed up to get by but instead of hitting the shift key I hit space and Arthur leaped from the horse I named Black Bourbon and on to the wagon where I began punching the dad in the face. Oops.

In seconds the entire town was after me, shootin' and hollerin' and all that honor I had been building was thrown out the window. Another bounty. And another day in the life I reckon.

I prefer a gamepad is RDR2.

I have a controller hooked up but don't use it in this game. If I did I wouldn't accidentally sucker punch people sitting around playing cards in the town square, so....

Yeah, that has happened too.

My scheme is first person keyboard and mouse on foot, third person keyboard and mouse on horseback. It switches between the views automatically when mounting and dismounting. First person just doesn't work well for me on horseback. The first person mode is a bit janky, but for me way better than playing in third person.

haha. I've never sucker punched some one. I like the gamepad for the action menu mostly. Interacting with my horse etc.

I tried using a gamepad a couple of times but my brain and coordination just couldn't get used to it. There are two games I've played which benefit from using a gamepad (Elden Ring and Jedi: Fallen Order) so that's why I tried the change but it's back to the tried and true keyboard and mouse for me.

i only used gamepad for helicopters in GTA and battlefield, since EA was nice to not include auto hover when you use k+m so you always have to throttle....i never realized you can slowly acelerate in gta with the triggers, but i drive too badly with the pad......i prefer to move the camera around to dynamic move around the car while driving for cool shots. one of the reasons i hate games with fixed camera behind the car

I don't do well when I have to use one stick to control the view (and aiming) and the other stick to control movement. Like anything I would grow accustomed to it with enough time. But I don't find the benefits outweigh the pain enough to make me want to try for long. In GTA I use KB & M on foot and the controller in aircraft and vehicles. The horse in RDR is fine with keyboard so I stick with that. I would really have trouble in these gunfights if I had to aim with a stick.

I loved both games. I played RDR1 a second time before RDR2 came out. So I've spent untold hours in the first RDR. I highly recommend it if you enjoy story. I also really love the game engine in RDR 1. I still would love to see the original ported over to PC. Its a great engine and to have the ability to play it at 1080p with an unlocked 60 fps it would be a dream. The environment is even though its a much older game now is done so well. The visuals and audio are great. The thunderstorms and cloud rendering is great looking so again, being able to see it all run on PC with 60 fps would be awesome. RDR 1 still has probably the best horse animations and riding around and of course RDR2 maintained that tradition and improved upon it. I've never seen any other game come close. I loved the Witcher 3 but riding Roach is a huge step back in comparison. However there was a camera mod and horse riding mod that I used that attempted to mimic RDR's horse riding controls and the mod did a pretty good job of it. Its just that Roach's animations nowhere near match the realism of the RDR series.

I think RDR is still worth playing. If you're not used to it yes, going back to the Xbox 360 and iffy 30 fps can be jarring and takes some getting used to again but you do get used it especially if you are a gamer that still goes back and plays older games like I do. The mini-games I remember enjoying the most in the first RDR were blackjack and dice. I'm not very good at poker and even though I enjoy attempting to play it I just don't have a solid understanding of poker which is unfortunate as they made poker the main game in RDR2. I feel like I should enjoy it more than I do but I suppose it just comes down to my inexperience with the game of poker. I was hoping they would have multiple games in RDR2 like the first one but its just poker I think.

One of the things I love the most about the RDR series is the escape/relaxation factor these games provide because they are so well crafted in their feel, visuals, sound design, atmosphere and immersion. On the Xbox 360 you can actually rip your own CDs to the console and play them at the same time as the game. I grew up on the old cowboy music so I would listen to my own Western soundtrack while playing the game when free-roaming. I would come home from work and just ride around the world on horseback listening to the soundtrack to Jeremiah Johnson for example which was quite relaxing. I also would love to just sit in that corner table in Thieves' Landing and play multiple games of dice as the day/night cycle changed through the window outside.

RDR1's bounty's are not as detailed as the second game. I like how the second game gave them more character which was a great way to create some small lore or world building. I just wish they would have made more bounty's in the game. It would have been nice to have a bunch of new ones unlocked when you become John Marston's character. The first RDR is definitely worth playing if you are a fan of the second game and can cope with and get reacclimated to the older tech. I hope to play a second play through of RDR2 in the near future.

I also found myself really enjoying Gwent in Witcher 3. It was actually quite fun. I'm not sure I would ever play GOG's free standalone game though unless it were truly offline. I wouldn't want to be inundated with online only gimmicks or constant soliciting of online features. They also made that Throne Breaker Witcher game which I've been wanting to get. It looks like its basically a card building, Gwent-like game wrapped around an isometric overworld with I believe some exploration and quite a significant script and storytelling. It usually goes down to $5 when GOG and Steam have sales.

And speaking of card games, Dbond have you seen "Card Shark" on Steam and GOG? That popped up in my Steam store feed and I thought it looked really good. Its got good reviews and its not too expensive.

I played RDR continuously to the end, in a few days, while I dropped RDR2 at 1/4 of the game. That's how good RDR was for me. RDR2 is still good, but less addictive.

Good post Coot, and thanks for the recommendation. I checked it out and it appears to be a card game of shady dealings. Might be worth a go.

I agree with your comments about how horses are done in this series. Authentic, great animations, especially in terms of gait. I've felt a sense of attachment to all of my horses in RDR 2. The horse care interactions help to solidify that connection. Routinely feeding, brushing and patting the horse. Good boy. Your mount is such a central part of the experience. Companion, get-away car, wardrobe closet, gun safe, transport and more.

I read an article that says RDR 2 has sold 45 million copies. That makes it the ninth-highest selling PC game of all time, and it's not done yet. RDR 1 sold another 22 million. This game has been a massive success for Rockstar and Take Two. As it should be.

I had been kicking around a return since spring and I'm glad I've done. This game is amazing. I won't cough it all up again, I've praised it throughout this thread, but revisiting it now just brings back what makes it so good. Right at the top of that list is pacing. It's open world and of course you can go at whichever pace you please. So it's not necessarily an absolute thing. The player has a lot to do with this of course, but there is something innate about it that just flows at the right pace. Or maybe more accurately, it's a game where the structure allows the player to find his own pace so effortlessly. Simply riding through the countryside is deligthful in a way unmatched in any other game for me. Until RDR 2 I thought Kingdom Come Deliverance had nailed this the best. But RDR 2 took it to a new level. Stunning game world.

I've talked about how much I like the poker in this game, but my world was shaken when I sat down at the table in the Valentine saloon yesterday. I didn't win a hand, lost $1.40 in no time flat. But that's OK, you won't win 'em all (or any of them sometimes it seems). But on one hand I stayed in with two pair, fives over twos. I was beaten by three fives. If you play poker you will know why what I just wrote is a problem. I wish I hadn't noticed.

But yeah, overall it's great to give it another go. My time away was just long enough to make it all seem amazing again

I did the opposite, I put down RDR probably a quarter of the way in. 720p just seemed blurry to me, and the 30 fps cap was a turn off. RDR2 is a great game and looks incredible on PC.

Dbond, I agree about the pacing too. I'm at an age now where I'm getting to where I can't tolerate overly fast-paced games that are too chaotic. I've also always been a player anyways that likes to take my time and absorb a game that I'm interested in so I love the slower, methodical game play of games like the RDR series. The horse gates are one of the reasons why the horse riding is so great in these games. Not only the animations but the fact that they added realistic, multple gates to the horses is fantastic. That was something that I was so tickled and pleased by when I played the first game. I thought now this is cool and how it should be done. That little dynamic alone adds significantly to the experience of a game like this. Not just riding through the world but riding at different gates and speeds. Its melodic and natural. The only thing better would be riding horseback for real out in creation. It also gives you a sense of a movement through the world that's not on the rails or confined by the dictates of limited and stifling unrealistic motions and freedom of movement. The gun combat is also a lot of fun and more so than many games. I wish they would have modeled a little more mechanics to it and implementation but overall its a lot of fun and I like the slower combat. Its more graceful in a lot ways to me and love the mechanics of the single shot weapons and then the sort of Hollywood Western abilitiy to fan your pistol. I aslo wish they would have added a prone option. I wouldn't even mind if they did not add a crawl while prone option as this isn't a stealthy spec-ops shooter but the ability to go prone with any weapon, especially the long guns would have been great. I know some folks hate the games retarded approach to movement through the world but I'm glad someone made a game like this because that's what I really enjoy, especially in a Western game. Everything has weight and it takes some time to get to where you are goind. I still hope someone makes a game world as detailed as this series, whether it be a Western or an open world game like L.A. Noir or Mafia but have the world be so large that it actually takes a significant amount of time to travel across it. I'd love to have the feeling that I'm really in the middle of nowhere whether going it by horseback or even driving a classic car listening to period music as you travel long stretches of highway in real time from cities and towns out to rural and even remote locations. This could include mini-games in the form of food and water rationing and discovery and horse doctoring in a Western or having to change tires, do some mechanical work and walk several miles with a gas can because you ran out of gas or bum a ride with strange mysterious characters along the way who may or may not be trustworthy.

The environments and sound design in RDR2 are second to none. The folks who made the effort to make the world feel alive and organic and consistant did a wonderful job of it. One of the flaws that bothered me the most about the game and I don't know if it was ever addressed was the random weapon cycling that constantly took place when I play the game and sometimes it got down right infuriating. The whole point of having a mount and saddle and saddle bag is to have a system where that should have been a little gameplay element in of itself. For example, if you did not bring the right weapon or enough ammo and ran out or the the weopon was not maintained and failed on you that should be on the player and part of the experience. It would make it more fun and rewarding. That could then lead to scenarios where you have to procur weapons and ammo out of necessity. But what bugged me the most was that weapons just constantly moved around on my character against my knowledge or activation. The worst instance of this was when you apprehend a creepy murderer and bring him into the sheriff. I was already well aware of the random weapon cycling issue at this point. Before bringing him into the jail, I specifially stowed my long arms onto my horse so that all I had were the two cattleman revolvers on my persons so that if I needed a weapon for whatever reason, I thought surely it will only utilize what is on me. I proceeded to bring the criminal in the jail, having no rifle on my and only two pistols. Sure enough something happens with the story that requires a weapon. Not only did the game not use the only two weapons that I had on me(two pistols), it somehow magically retrieved a rifle from my mount storage and teleported into my hands for the encounter. That just furthered my suspician that this random weapon cycling was indeed a flaw or bug that Rockstar somehow either missed or let slide because perhaps they did not know how to fix the problems themselves. It also teleported by fiat to my character's hands the varmint rifle which is like a .22LR which could work but makes no sense either has I owned larger caliber rifles at the time. So that's the worst sort of jarring, taking out of immersion moment in the game that I can recall. Thankfully it did not happen like that again as I can recall however the random weapon equipping happend all the time which really irriated me. I don't know if this was ever fixed or if its somehow corrected in the PC version or not. I played it on PS4.

I've heard of keeping an extra Ace up your sleeve, but an extra five? That card shark came prepared!

Reminds me of the Simpsons https://youtu.be/6XGoVdkB4OM?t=65 from 1:05 to 1:13

secret things and spoilers

https://www.tiktok.com/@red.dead.cljps

Another fine post Coot. I was reading a review or something and it said that RDR 2 didn't have to be so good, but it is. And it's true isn't it? That this game could have been far less than it is and it would still be a top game. I like to use the word 'authentic' when talking about RDR 2. So much effort was clearly put in to getting it right. The weapons, the clothing, the insane detail on animals and fish or the way carriage ruts form reflecting the shifting firmness of the ground it passes over. There are a lot of great open world games with amazing game worlds. But Red Dead Redemption is just on another plane, isn't it?

You got it Bob, five fives. If I pass it off as a dirty trick it fits, but then there'd be a shootout upon discovery of such nefarious ploys. We ain't a-gonna allow cheatin' at the poke table.

I said before I like to play at the saloon in the NE corner of St Denis, but there's a dive saloon there that either doesn't have poker or it's only at certain times of day. There's a more high-end game at the saloon near the "D" of Denis on the map. Five dollar buy-in. Players in their finest duds. I played here yesterday and won big, about 16 dollars which is good money in 1899. But it's quite rare to take such a haul away.

I want to also correct what I said about the hands to the pump. The ledger now has a number of significant contributions from camp followers, especially Charles, Lenny and Hosea. But even Dutch had an entry. I think this was tweaked a bit.

I'm in Chapter 4, having picked up my suspended run. Just taking it easy, doing side missions and random activities as at some point in Chapter 4 you trigger the point of no return story mission, so now's the time to do the stuff that isn't the main story. And there's plenty to do.

I remember early on in my time with the game I used to contribute a lot of good stuff into the camp's coffers. I'm not sure but I supposed it would have some effect as I think the game or Dutch tells you to chip in. I kind of felt like I was Oliver or one of the street gang kids bringing in trinkets to Fagin. I'd put in precious dollars and valuable pocket watches and bring lots of game only to see the humorous offerings of others. I suppose perhaps this mechanic in some way effects your overall honor rating? I've never even see the alternate finale. Are there more alternate cinematics other than the ending if you really play up the ne'er-do-well? When I play a second time I'll probably do the same exact thing. Play kind of nasty at first then calm it down except for with other outlaws and get what I guess everyone calls the "good" ending. Again I've never seen whatever the bad ending is so I may watch that someday. Redemption is a profound thing. The game doesn't at all do the reality and theology of redemption justice but I do like the storytelling of man facing his mortality and wanting to change knowing there's something very big to be faced by each of us.

I also remember when I first played the game I did not yet understand the camp idea or mechanic so I actually spent very little time in the very first place up North in the winter. Next time around because I didn't know better I'd like to stay there longer and bring in game and see if there are any camp discussions I've never heard because I moved out from there too quickly if my memory serves.

Was your comment about the poker incident one indicating that the game was cheating at it? Do you still find the poker a sound rendition compared to other games or do you think you'll start noticing flaws in its execution more and more or perhaps that was rare instance?

As Bob pointed out it meant that the deck had five fives, which of course, it should not. Or probably more accurately, it's just a computer program attempting to appear random and organic even though it's all just scripts, ya know? There's no actual deck, just a probability of any card making an appearance.

It's the first time in hundreds of hands that I've noticed anything like it. Until that point it's all been quite convincing. So I'll treat it for the moment as an anomaly and forget it happened and carry on, but now with a more suspicious eye.

As for the camp, my complaints are about the contributions of the other camp members, especially Dutch in light of his long-winded speech about how every one must pull their fair share. But now that I've returned to the game, it's better. I had played hundreds of hours previously to cement this opinion, and now it's fine, so I reckon it was tweaked in a patch.

And while I complain about those contributions, or lack of, as it used to be, I think the camp itself is fantastic. Many games have a similar thing, but RDR 2 really nails it. I mean the interactions, the conversations. The good mornings and snide remarks. The stories around the camp fire, the songs sung after a few too many. Every time you return to camp something new and different is the scene. It's remarkable how much of this stuff Rockstar recorded, and so much of it has every chance of simply being missed by any particular player. And while I dislike several of my camp mates, the whole thing just feels right, and who likes everyone, anyway?

I bought Red Dead on Steam and never ever could get it to run on my gaming PC Steam refuned my money as they agreed it was a common issue ...It looked like a great game

Lazy developers or maybe there is a cheating mechanism where you can shoot a guy for having a card up his sleeve like old western films?

Dbond, I also loved the camp dynamic and all the dialogue throughout the game. I'm one of those kinds of players that if its modeled, I'll try to listen to as many dialogues as possible. It really does make the game feel more alive as well as its story. Even though the other gang member's don't contribute much at least early on(which is reasonable to a degree as everyone is basically poor and scraping by with whatever they can find) but one thing I appreciated was that no matter what and no matter at which campsite, John Marston could always be found out there chopping wood for the gang. I'd really love to see another RDR game with more John Marston story. Perhaps we could have a majority of the game where we get to go back to the time period of the real wild West or close to it as a young Arthur and perhaps see his background and something about his father, then as a post main game story element we get to play as John Marston again leading up to the events of RDR1.

Be sure to visit the first main camp area again Dbond after the main game portion for something cool to find.

Speaking of music, I was tickled as all get out when I heard Arthur start singing while from horseback the first time. I've always wanted to see that kind of thing and I just wished they would have made it an atmospheric game mechanic that the player could control. I would love for there to be a dozen songs or so that you can make Arthur sing whenever you want while on foot, at a campfire for from horseback. They could have even done something like Assassin's Creed 4 where you find sea shanties for the crew to sing. You could have Arthur learn songs from random strangers whose campfire or homes he visits or perhaps while stealing something from a house or business he could find a new song that perhaps one of the musically inclined or trained gang members can teach him or by listening to a singer in town or by way of someone's phonograph.

This is the course I would expect to be appropriate in such circumstances, yes. But that's not the way here, it's just a bug, or maybe just a peek at the girders underneath. Of course my opponents may have thought it was ME with the five up my sleeve. Gonna have to settle this with smokin' iron.




Yes, me too. There's so much of it too. It does a marvelous job of conveying a natural camp dynamic of a group of people with their own thoughts, opinions, fear and worries. I'm a couple hundred hours in and every time I've visited camp it's a different thing. Endless new stuff.




By first camp do you mean Horseshoe Overlook, or Coltyn (the one in the snow)?

You also mention the music, and RDR 2 is one of the few games I play where I've not turned it off. It's usually one of the first things I do with a new game, but I like the mood music that plays when you're riding around the map. It's sparse strings music, slowly picked acoustic guitar chords and it's just so nice

The songs they sing in camp are really good too, especially the bawdy ones the drunk girls sing.

I'm still in chapter 4 trying to nail down some stuff before setting sail and leaving this all behind. Achievements, challenges and that sort of thing. Do as many side missions as I can, like the stranger missions which are usually very interesting and well done. Having a really good time with this again, and I've found or done plenty that I had missed or ignored the first time through the game. And actually I never finished it. When Arthur's 'condition' revealed I sort of pulled back as I didn't want it to go like that. But this time I'm ready to see it through to the end. But I'm trying to do as much as I can before that.

Like shoot birds from a moving train.

Yes, the Horseshoe Overlook camp. Take a ride back through that camp when the story switches over. The RDR series does a great job with overall music design. Its subtle and incidental and not overbearing, sort of rising and lulling to silence in a sort of organic way. And the acoustic instruments and the way they are used are great for the kind of environments, solace and exploration the game provides.

Nicely written and spot on.

A few more random comments about my current experience with RDR 2....

I said I have a controller hooked up but don't use it with this game. Well, that's not true exactly as I find it nice to use when playing poker and other mini games, and for navigating through the satchel, store menus and other parts of the UI. I don't need the controller to control my character, but it is nice to use in these other spots.

I like to look at myself and my stuffs. In other games I couldn't care less. Cyberpunk, GTA or any of them really. Especially playing in first person, I rarely even notice what I look like, and don't care much anyway. Many times I just go with the default face and forget it. But in RDR 2 I find I'm often hitting V to get out of first person so I can swing the camera around and just admire the scene. I pay close attention to how my Arthur looks, his clothing, his gear and kit. Few games have ever been as photogenic as Red Dead Redemption 2. I like these moments, and having a game that moves at such a pace that I think to do it. A minor, personal thing, but something that stands out about this game for me.

This carries over to the world around me. What other game would I stop to just watch a train rumble by? Or turn around to return the friendly greeting of the pedestrian I just cantered past? Or sit on a hilltop and watch the world below? There are not many games where I enjoy just existing, like I'm the audience and not the actor.

Has anyone here actually filled out the compendium? This run is 170+ hours old and I've done maybe half of it. Found a ghost orchid yesterday and must have walked past these a hundred times without noticing. Dino bones? Where the hell are they? I'm not looking for them, but you'd think I'd trip over one every now and again. I wish challenges were a bit more organic than they are, consisting of more stuff you'd do naturally, rather than the convoluted ones in the game. Like 'catch three fish without using a fishing rod'. Or shooting birds from a moving train, which, let me tell you, leads to entanglement with the law. I've managed to get to 4/5 on this one while paying over $100 in bounties that resulted from my escapes. I guess standing on the roof of a train cooking off rounds makes the guards think I am robbing it. Understandable. Well, I'm making memories at least

And yes, this is the best PC game I've played and I hope the phenomenal success it has had means RDR 3 is coming. R* has hinted at it, but even so it would be years down the line, and I'm not getting any younger. It's difficult in some ways comparing PC titles. Like is RDR 2 a better game than Falcon 4? How do you quantify such a thing? Does it even matter? Probably not. But I have been at this hobby for pert near 40 years now and approaching it from a design perspective, taking all aspect of game design in to account, there's never been a better one for me.

And I say this having not seen any part of the game beyond chapter 5. I plan to fix that once I exhaust all of my options here in chapter 4.

Like is RDR 2 a better game than Falcon 4? How do you quantify such a thing? Does it even matter? Probably not.

I think fun is the only measurement that matters, and that varies person to person.

Bingo. It all ultimately comes down to personal tastes/interest. It doesn't matter if Falcon 4 is one of the most influential flight sims ever made if the person in question just doesn't care for that and the same goes with RDR 2.

I can appreciate that perspective, and while fun is the ultimate aim, I want to judge these games on more than whether they are fun or not. Too simple. Fun is factored in, but there's also sound design, graphics, mechanics, writing, story, stability, replayability and plenty more that I think is worth considering when judging or comparing games. The Falcon 4 thing is rhetorical really, but the point was how can you really compare such different things. The only thing they have in common is they are both PC software.

If I think of F4 not as a game but sim it all becomes much more straightforward haha.

And of course this is simply my opinion. I know a couple people who say they didn't like RDR 2 at all and shelved it straight away. I think that's silly, but there's no accounting for taste, and these are inherently subjective exercises, even if we try to be objective in our appraisals.

I'll use myself as an example. I really like the RPG genre but only within certain contexts. Both the Mass Effect games and the Witcher games I was interested in playing because in addition to being RPG's their settings also interested me (science fiction and fantasy respectively). The RDR games never interested me because they are set in a Western (ie "Wild West") genre. That genre for whatever intangible reason(s) just never grabbed me.

With just about any other game I'd react to that by saying to each his own and, again, there's no accounting for taste. But here I think you're missing a fantastic game. But who knows, maybe you wouldn't like it regardless of the setting.

A couple of images

Passing time outside Rhodes





Heading in to the city at dawn

It truly is a beautiful looking game.

I could never find any dinosaur bones save for one location I think. I also couldn't find the rock glyph carvings save for one and even then I had to look up the location.

I think it took them at least eight years to make the game and it seems that even for a AAA game that's perhaps three or four years more than what many other games take but I think that is indeed what is needed to make such a large, consistent and beautifully rendered world with meaningful gameplay and story. Its not a perfect game but it is outstanding. Again I keep coming back to the well told story, slower pace, wonderful environments explorable by therapeutic and lovingly modeled horseback riding, the sound design, aesthetic an so on. Its really deserving of the title of "escapism" and a world you want to just observe and experience. I only wish the world was twice as large as it is while still maintaining is consistent design, filled with handmade locations painted with a skillful brush so as to make it near seamless and devoid of glaring and disappointing cut and paste methods and lack of polish. Imagine a RDR game world twice to three times larger, full of unique encounters and gameplay where it could take literal hours to ride from one location to another if you wanted. That is something I would love to see and experience.

I've mentioned it on several occasions but another game from recent years that became one of my favorites too is The Order: 1886. Its amazing that this property has not been continued. The universe they created and story they told is just outstanding. Though not an open world game and fairly short, its still one of the most exquisite game engines and graphics presentation that I've ever seen. Its also not a perfect game as none really are but its a masterpiece in my opinion, a real gem and its so ripe for the continuing of telling fascinating stories with equally interesting characters. Sir Galahad has become one of my favorite gaming characters of all time. He's absolutely up there in my book. A real, faithful and professional soldier, stoic and loyal. All of the characters are beautifully voice acted in the game as well. I'd love to see a sequel with an even bigger maybe even semi-open world. I've played it twice and hope to play it again soon. I wholeheartedly recommend it. Maybe it will arrive on PC someday since it seems that so many Playstation exclusives now have crossed over in recent years. I'm quite certain they could make a pretty penny were they to do so.

Anyhow, we're approaching four years since RDR2's release and its probably close to three years since I last played it. I spent so much time in the game the first time that I can pretty much recognize every place you took those screen captures Dbond. I hope it still feels somewhat fresh after four years. I wish I would have gotten that hardbound game guide when the game came out because now they are ridiculously expensive. I'm sure there are some nice insights and secrets listed there.

I'll give that game a closer look, thanks for the recommendation.

Three years away is enough distance to have new run I reckon. If nothing else, the current version is free of all of the technical niggles we had after release. It runs perfectly, and in the time since I've given it a new go I've seen nothing at all out of place.

I have very little left to do in chapter 4 as far as missions go. I'll probably ignore the one that wants you to collect stuff like orchids and alligator eggs, but otherwise I've mostly cleared the board. I played chapter 5 before, but not beyond, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes beyond that point.

Without spoilers, it is possible to do unlimited free roam as John after the epilogue correct?

Yep. Once you switch to Marston you can free roam without end. That's where it came in handy to save on doing some of the bounty missions as Arthur because you can pick them up as John which gave me a little more to do. I do seem to remember that there may be a bounty(s) that are only available as Arthur but I'm not quite certain. I just seem to remember there was something I missed out on or was weird for me when doing bounties as John.

Thanks Coot. I think I've done all of the bounties, at least I've done all to this point. But in classic Rockstar style new stuff is triggered by what you've completed. For example the second part of the gunslinger quest line (Noblest of Men, and a Woman II) didn't trigger until I completed A Fine Night of Debauchery, which are two entirely unrelated things, but R* made it the trigger.

The main reason I asked was for filling out challenges and the compendium. Not that I will, but I wanted to be sure I could, to give some reason for hanging around at the end. I'm at 252/561 on that compendium which is low considering how much time I've played. But then again there are plenty of things only found in areas I have yet to visit. I'm guessing gang camps are one of these, as I have only 2/6 and not sure where I might be missing finding these. So I suspect they are in Guarma or chapter 6, or the epilogue. I don't want to look it up, I'd rather just discover this stuff on my own, but I'll be put out if I find out later they were right under my nose in the first four chapters haha.

One area I've failed is gold medals for story missions. I have two lol. Of course you can't know the requirements beforehand, but you'd think I'd get at least a few done right! I like to approach this sort of game 'as it comes' and just let it play out naturally so I don't really care about it, but there are a lot of story missions and I'd think it might be more. Maybe these can be replayed later after knowing the gold medal requirements.

There are many little mini-goals that these challenges give you, it helps to give me some focus, some direction, which can be important in an open world game.

If memory serves there some new bounties that show up for John's section of the game I think. There's also that neat dynamic that some side stories started by Arthur can be concluded with John. Not only that when you do switch over there's some fun stuff to do and more importantly some good story stuff with John plus all the conversations you can hear from family members just like you do with gang members in camp.

I'm tempted to try the PC version for the chance at achieving 60fps perhaps with modest settings but I just don't know yet. I may just do my second playthrough on the PS4 again. I also remember an issue where apparently out of the box the game sports some sort of ambient occlusion and then Rockstar removed it in a patch. I'm not sure if they ever restored that feature on the PS4 but I do seem to remember seeing a bit of a difference. If they did not patch it back in I may just install my PS4 version again and try to keep it from auto-updating the game.

Thanks, looking forward to that part of the game. I'm still picking my way through the remnants of chapter 4. There's always something shiny over there to distract me. Might be that I decide I should head to the Grizzlies to do some big game hunting, or head to town to have a bath, shave and haircut. A hand or two of poker of course. Maybe a trip to the fence to unload the trinkets I've acquired ill-gottenly, investigate abandoned homesteads or just go for a ride on Black Bourbon to see what we can stir up.

Yesterday I decided to head to the northern edge of the map, I could see a few trails I had yet to uncover and wanted to see what I'd find, which turned out to be a few cabins with no one home. Got killed twice by big cats we stumbled upon. Those things will hunt your ass down. Spent two days just fishing in a pristine clear mountain lake, catching perch, rock bass and others as I try to fill out the compendium. I really like how diverse my options are every time I fire up this game. From fishing in god's country to a classic Rockstar set piece where the sh!t most assuredly hits the fan.

And I'm only half-way through.

to me RDR2 has the best storm i ever saw in a game and i doubt anyone will challenge that, with AC odissey a close second, because i never tried to chase the rain in RDR2, but you could do that in odissey and see exactly where the rain start droping, plus the lightings actually had delayed sound done by distance to you.

I agree that the storms are really well done. But then I think I'd say that about everything.

I'm still in chapter 4, and have just the last two story missions on hold until I'm ready to move to chapter 5. I want to craft the Legend of the East satchel before I do. I have one of the prerequisite satchels left to go, and it needs a perfect panther pelt. I had little trouble in my first run in this game, aside from getting killed by the panther before returning the favor. But I could find them.

This time it's a dry hole. I've spent over a week of in-game time hunting for one with none spawned. This is the stand of woods marked Old Harry's Fen south of Rhodes in Lemoyne, near Catfish Jackson's. I've used predator bait. Potent predator bait. Scent masking. I've planted carcasses. Shot any other predator that approached the bait and started a pile. Set up camp to pass time. Slept to trigger a respawn, and nothing. I then rode to east of Lagras where they are supposed to spawn as well, but maybe that's only RDO. Either way, I've gotten none.

But it's sort of cool that the game serves up this sort of stuff. It's frustrating, but to 'expect' one there is sort of a gaming convention, and it's rather natural to find your quarry elusive when hunting, isn't it? Still, it would be nice to mark this one done and dusted. I still need to make the big bag even after this is done.

One cool thing this showed me was how dead animals are handled by the game engine. In most games, that dead boar would just disappear after a set amount of time. Most games are programmed to clean this stuff up so that over time you're not left with detritus all about the map. But since I remained in the area for so long I could see in real time what happens, how the carcass slowly decays,exposing more and more of the skeletal structure underneath before it ends up as a pile of bones, and it appears, permanently on the map.

My rule has been to never let a harvested animal go to waste, only kill what you can use, so I had never seen this in hundreds of hours. But in my attempt to do anything to get a panther in my sights I let a few stay there and revealed just one more amazing touch the devs weaved in to this game.

Finally finished chapter 4, and I think I did literally everything as far as missions go. Every bounty, stranger and side mission.

Progress shows I've done 52% of the story as I start chapter 5, and I'm 220 hours in to it! That's cool, to find so much to do and ways to spend time when not pursuing the story line. I said earlier in this thread that folks who can role play a bit and conjure up their own objectives will get the most out of this amazing game world and I like to think that's what I've been able to do. Without spoiling too much (is there a expiration on spoilers?) I think I could get a lot more game play out of the end game when things, shift.

There are a number of collection type objectives, some of which I've ignored (dino bones, dream catchers) and some I've done sparingly (skin animals, cigarette cards,etc). But I want to do Zoologist, which means studying every one of the nearly 200 animals in story mode. I'll need to be sure to find all in Chapter 5, as these may be unique to this island and I won't have a chance to come back. And I suspect this will be something to propel me through any time I spend in the epilogue.

I played this game before, and I'm coming near the point where I stopped, around the time that Arthur starts to decline. Looking forward to what's new, and finally getting a chance at the bigmouth bass. I will also complete the legendary fish and animals strands, but I need access to West Elizabeth with no bounty. I've taken all I can get to, aside from the catfish. Speaking of hunting.... I've been after a perfect panther. And I've been skunked. I've spent about two weeks of in-game time hunting for it but I just doesn't spawn. It's not just that I've not seen it, because if it was in the area at least I'd see signs, like his trail using the sight. I've watched videos. One dude plops down a deer carcass and some predator bait and the panther walks out like 20 seconds later. For me, nothing. Is this chapter-locked or something?

This is a great game.

I checked my Steam account today.

RDR2 is 50% on Steam now..

Also the ultimate version.

Is there a big difference?

I don`t know if it is in my ally, but probably worth getting?

No difference for story mode/single player. The ultimate edition includes some RDO bonuses like outfits and horses, and you won't see this unless you play Red Dead Online.

Whether you would like it is another question of course. For me its the best game of it's sort we've seen, but you can see through this thread that it's not for everyone. But it's so diverse, so many things to see and do, that I'd have to think there's something it in it for everyone. I could see some not caring for the Rockstar set piece main story missions, but I have fun with them.

There's no accounting for taste so you'd have to just play it and see. I think there's enough in this thread to form an opinion, but you'll have to play it and see. At half-price I reckon it's well worth it.

Good post DBond and good point about the no accounting for taste. I'll give my own example with the Mass Effect games. For me those represent the pinnacle of what a story-driven sci-fi RPG should be but I know several people who never bothered to try them out because the sci-fi setting with aliens, space travel, futuristic tech, etc. just doesn't do anything for them.

Sounds good.

I think I will go for the standard version since i don`t often play online.

I need a break from ED grinding and I have got some problems with my feet that keep me away from racing right now so it could be good timing to try it out.

Let us know what you think if you give it a go.

Chapter 1 is a bit linear, and then the game opens out in chapter 2 when you reach Horseshoe Overlook. Don't give up in chapter 1

Thanks for the tip.
Will do.

Can you literally play the whole game in first person?

How is the field of view? Is there a decent slider, unlike GTA 5, to expand the FOV to acceptable PC FPS standards?

No worries mate, I hope you get on with it. If you pull the trigger.

If you want to play in first person, the V key will get you there. I do, except on the horse when the camera switches to third person, and it happens automatically as I mount and dismount. I don't think many players choose first person though.

I prefer third person as its designed as a third person game but the fps is cool that it was added. I seem to recall on the PS4 I used it sometimes just to try it out but I don't think the fov was as good as it could be. On pc it may be different though.

Don't forget this game is just great for relaxing and exploring too. The environment and sound design is second to none and they really capture a feel for nature that many games don't quite achieve. The horses are the best animated and feel around. Just riding around on horse back can be quite therapudic and pleasant.

Dbond, If you know,

The answer to your spoiler question, Coot, is....

Sorry Blastman, I missed this. Yes you can play it entirely in first person, and FoV is adjustable, but players complain that the range is too narrow. For me, the view is a bit too restricted when on horseback, like I cannot see down to check if we are about to step off a cliff, so I use third person for that, but I could opt to stay in first person if I wanted to. Evidently there are mods to give more FoV options?

Another time first person worked against me is during a mission. We were making an escape in a wagon, and my job was to keep the pursuers from jumping on to the wagon. But one was so close that I could not depress my view enough to get a shot so I had to switch to third person to give him the good news.

Thanks for that detailed description DBond. I'll try to remember or come back here to check if I get my second play through started soon.

It turns out that there are nine unique animals in Guarma, four snakes, four birds and an iguana. I was able to study all of these within about an hour and a half, so that's done. All were found quite close to camp, just a matter of sweeping the scene with the binoculars, and one or two were found in flight. So with those studied the rest of the missions on the island came quickly and I'm back on the mainland. Sort of an odd chapter, number five. Quite short and linear, a clear contrast to the rest of the time in the game. I wonder if this was originally meant to be bigger?

I wish the Guarma mission was longer too. I seem to remember thinking it was too quick. It would have been nice to have more island to explore and maybe a couple of fun, unique missions such as sneaking around at night in a storm around the military fort. Also being able to paddle around in a small boat and fish in that "Caribbean" setting would have been cool. Sort of a mini camp scenario and bring back food. Maybe even have a cool "Old Man and the Sea" mission where you can go way off shore and fish for a huge swordfish and bring him back in homage to the book. I think I saw a video where someone figured out how to get back to the island but if it was real it was likely some sort of glitch work around or something.

Yes, and I'd imagine that when Rockstar sketched it out it was more expansive than what we got in the end. It's a diversion I suppose, mixing it up a bit. It's not bad, but the nature of it -- the length and linear game play -- feel a bit out of place for me. It's over quite quickly, I probably wasn't there but three hours or so. So in the end it's fine, but the weakest chapter for me.

I'm now in chapter 6 and have passed the point I reached in my previous run, so from here on out it's all new to me.

It's just a game, but as I've alluded to, Arthur's declining condition affects me. The coughing, the draining cores, the weakness and the episodes where he passes out. The pointlessness of continuing when the end is near. It was enough to make me put the game aside the first run, but this time I am pressing on and I think it makes sense at this stage to just push straight through the main story to reach the epilogue where I can get back to free-roam with no fate hanging over me. I understand that most of the content can be continued as John, so I'll leave a few side missions for him I think.

Arthur Morgan is probably the best protagonist in video game history.

A few images I've captured along the way.

Arthur Morgan




Beaver Hollow camp




Self reflection




Poker is a good way to pass the time during a rain storm. Valentine saloon








A storm's brewin'




A new day

Coot didn't I see a reply here yesterday? Must have deleted it?

I'm nearing the very end of chapter 6, just two or three missions to go. I rarely spoil this sort of game for myself, but I did look up what carries over to the epilogue. Most but not all is the answer, though I'll not spoil it for others who may be starting out. I suspect many players look things up beforehand so they know what to expect, and spoilers only affect a few. A player following a guide has no room for complaining of spoilers in forum post, right? But generally I've avoided any narrative clues, and it's just mechanics that I look up. Even so I know the remainder of chapter 6 will be heartbreaking.

Obviously I am full of praise for RDR 2, and it just keeps getting better. I already thought this was the best PC game, and that was before everything that happened in chapter 6. Just phenomenal and it deserves its success.

When the story comes to an end and I move in to the epilogue I have a few loose ends to tie up. I've been focusing on filling out the compendium, particularly the animals. There are 178 to study and I've found about 145. I don't know which I am missing, and how many of these are native only to the areas of the map I cannot access yet. Well, I could look it up I reckon, but I'll save that for when I'm totally frustrated, and would rather just find them all on my own. We'll see how that goes. Not too many left, but then again these are all the ones I have not found, and there's a reason for that. Like that #%&*$# panther.

The epilogue will also allow me to hopefully finish the legendary animal and fish chains and that's the plan. Not too keen on completing the other stuff. Many challenges just don't appeal to me, like kill three birds of prey with a tomahawk. I've approached this game the entire time with a certain role playing vibe, and indiscriminately killing a magnificent bird like an eagle to complete some random challenge runs counter to the Arthur I've fashioned. Yeah, it's just a game, but I think this approach has had a big effect on how I view my experience.

It's one of those games where I wish I could play it again for the first time, but alas...

Same here. I would like to experience the game anew as well. Its a lot of fun when a new, big game and world that you've been looking forward to for years starts up for the first time and its mostly a mystery.

Yes indeed.

I finally finished RDR 2. What a ride. I still have unlimited time in the epilogue awaiting, but I got 246 hours out of the story with Arthur Morgan. I found so much to do, or invented things to do, and honestly it could have been a lot more. Or a lot less I suppose.

And I have a big part of the map left to explore, Blackwater (where we went briefly during the story) and New Austin which I've seen nothing of. It's cool to put this much time in to a game, and still have so much left to discover. As I talked about before, I first played through to chapter 6 in my Epic version, then started anew on Steam. So between the two runs I have close to 500 hours in Red Dead Redemption 2 without having seen a third of the map! I'm looking forward to new things.

As for the game, I have no choice but to say it's the best I've played. The game world, story, characters, voice acting!, graphics, authenticity, sound design, music, pacing and well, just about everything, are superb. I've played many, many PC games down the years, and none have left me more impressed than RDR 2. It's perfectly suited to me, and I think I'm quite a ways from being done with it.

Arthur Morgan is without a doubt my favorite character I've played in a game. Rockstar did an amazing job, and the voice actor, Roger Clark, did too. I'm out of superlatives, and that ending. Man, what a trip, Unforgettable experience for me. I look forward to the game that's good enough to knock RDR 2 off the perch.

After finishing the story I've moved in to the epilogue and it's pretty cool. There are a series of missions to do as John starts his new life. Plus any side or stranger missions that you left undone are available, with a few exceptions. Plenty of random encounters too, of course. Some missions are only for Arthur, including all the ones that count for the Lending a Hand achievement, the "Honor Missions".

With the map opening up to me in the epilogue I've been able to explore it, and start to fill in some of my goals. One of these is Legendary fish. I now have almost all -- adding the redfin pickerel, rock bass and largemouth bass -- but the catfish looks to be impossible. Can you actually catch this fish. How? Spoilers OK with me.

I want to get Zoologist for studying every animal in story mode and I'm closing in, but these seem increasingly elusive. The last few will probably be quite difficult indeed.

Overall, I'm really enjoying the epilogue. For me, free roam was always my favorite part of this game - even if the story is exceptional -- and the epilogue is tailor-made. No more debuffs from ill-health, no more automatic bounty to restrict access. It's all open and alive. With limited missions it's left to the player to devise his own fun, and I've not had a problem with that in this game world.

A few tips for folks approaching, or preparing for, the epilogue, which I'll put in spoilers. Do not read if you want no spoilers!



I said earlier that I was ignoring some challenges that ran counter to Arthur's moral compass as I saw him. But it turns out, John has no such objections haha. So yeah, by shifting how I see each man, it's enabled me to press on and complete these without violating the character I've formed in my mind

I agree about the game's approach and pacing as it suits me to a T as well especially since I love history and the American West. That being said I'd love to see someone make something of equal quality but with focused emphasis on actual history and realism but with the same quality level of environmental design, story telling, wonderful horseback riding, slow world traversal and so forth.

I think you'll have fun playing as Marston. That was something I really looked forward to(along with seeing and interacting with Marston as Arthur)because I really enjoyed his character from the first game. There are quite a few meaningful missions with Marston but I would say take it slow as they are not that numerous compared to the base game obviously. That being said there's still plenty to do in completing new bounty missions or wrapping up certain missions that you started as Arthur. There was one in particular I did this way and it was really cool interacting with the same NPC as two different characters at two different times. The Western environment of the game map is also unique and beautiful and it was could to revisit that location in the sequel's new engine. I'll stick to my guns though in that I still thing the first game's engine is great and if they just ported it over as is to PC with options for widescreen resolution and uncapped 60fps it would be outstanding on the PC as is. It really is a beautiful game even though its over a decade old. Even on the older consoles you can clearly see this its just unfortunately held back in this current generation of what we are accustomed to because of the older consoles locked, unoptimized 30fps and 720p resolutions. The environments and weather and wildlife are great, the horseback riding is great, the gun play is great and would be exceptional on PC with 60fps and the game's euphoria animation and physics is great and so is the soundtrack.

Getting back to RDR2 though Marston has some great mission and let me tell you there's still tons of unique dialogue to be discovered. I also found new horses on that side of the map and there's also numerous mysteries. I even remember one that I would like to ask you about if you ever come across it. I don't know if there's any backstory to it but I'll just say its an occurrence that is startling if you happen upon it.

I would really love to see a third game or serious expansion that opens the whole map and adds even more territory. I really, really want to see a game like this that is about three times as big as it is even if its mostly wilderness with no missions because I really want a game where it takes a significant amount of in-game time to traverse the map on horseback. I want an area so big that if seems as if I'll always see something new and never see what I've already found in the same way because of the wonderful environment/weather and lighting design. I'd like a game that makes me feel that I'm really out there alone with nary a human in site. This would make camping a survival more interesting and potential encounters with friendlies or enemies more unique because they would be rare if the map was huge. I'd also like the ability to camp anywhere within reason. I didn't like that in the game you would pick a spot only to find that the game picks a spot for you and sometimes not even close to where you wanted to. I also would like to see a recreation and music mechanic added for camping and otherwise. For example I would love to see a whole list of songs that your character could sing while at camp or while out riding. I would also like to ability to play a guitar or harmonica and a game of solitare for those moments of solitude while out exploring the world.

I finished the epilogue, all the story missions, and it was good. Now it's exclusively free-roam. The ending was satisfying, tying up the final loose end and settling Arthur's debt. The player is well rewarded for seeing it through to the ultimate end. Impressively, 21% of the player base has done so. That's an epic game and a long haul to reach that point, 260 hours for me.

I had good luck with the Zoologist chase yesterday, and now down to about 22 animals left to find out of the 178 in the game. What and where are they?

Still haven't found a panther.....

Yes, many great horses in the epilogue, and I'm riding the dark bay Turkoman. What a beautiful horse, great all-rounder. Very robust, good speed. I like riding Arabians, but once you notice how small they are it's impossible to unsee. Like riding a pony and the Turkoman towers over them. I'll get a good screen of my new mount, called Max. Ask away about what you mentioned Coot.

A few more random images I've snapped along the way. Sorry if some are too dark. They show well on my PC, but monitor settings might play in to it.

The southwest, unlocked in the epilogue



Fighting the legendary rock bass



I love the horses and trains in this game

Good luck. Usually you don't find panthers, they find you.

I can usually find them

Often they can be hard to spot and your fist indication they're around is when you get thrown from your horse. Using bait or pulling a recently killed boar or deer behind your horse will cause it to maybe go after that rather than you off the bat.

Thanks, yeah I know where to get them, the place you mention and also east of Lagras/Lakay.

I got one the first time I played RDR 2 no problem. This time I have spent several weeks of in-game time hunting in both of those places. I've been at night, and in the day. I've used predator bait and potent predator bait. I've brought carcasses for bait. I've sat still, and walked around, rode my horse back and forth. Slept to pass time. Camped nearby. Reload a save. None have spawned. I just spent four days near Owanjila looking for the Red Chestnut Arabian but again, no spawn.

Rotten luck I guess.

Originally I wanted it to get the last satchel to then get Legend of the East. But I could just buy that in the epilogue and now I need the panther to fill out Zoologist.

The second animal you mention in the spoiler needs hunting 9 to appear right? I'm not close to that yet.

Just noodling 'round the net and searched "RDR 2 Zoologist" and came across this page. It lists every one of the 178 animals, along with where they can be found. It's a gold mine because I can see in the compendium which spaces are blank, but can't tell which animal it is. If the empty space has dogs on either side, then I can infer it is a dog that's missing. But this doesn't work for all of them. So as I get down to the last ones at least I'll know if I am looking for a bird, or a snake or whatever. Otherwise it could take forever to find. Major spoilers in this link of course. Proceed at your own risk (of spoiling it)

All 178 animals needed for Zoologist achievement and locations

One interesting bit in that article is the mention that the Guarma animals are not needed, and that any you find will count as bonus animals, effectively counting toward the total, and meaning you don't need to find all 178 that do count. Since there are nine unique Guarma animals, you only need to find 169 on the mainland to trip the achievement if you studied all those on the island. Reading forum posts I've seen people going back and forth about whether the Guarma animals are needed. Yes they are, no they're not. But if this article is accurate then taking the time to find them in chapter 5 made this challenge easier.

Only one player in a thousand has this achievement.

Oh yeah, and about that.... dogs.

Not only do I think RDR 2 is the best PC game we've seen, the devs put in like fourteen different breeds.

And one cat.

Dogs are awesome. Rockstar agrees.

Top marks for loving dogs as much as I do

Some of the achievements I've seen in some past games that I've played were ridiculously difficult to get as evidenced by the miniscule percentage of players that got it. One that sticks out in my memory is an achievement for winning 2,000 deathmatches in either the original Serious Sam game or the second one. I would have to look in Steam again to be sure.

I got attacked as Marston near Gaptooth Ridge I think and I was not even hunting for one I don't think. It was somewhere near the farthest Western border of New Elizabeth I believe.

As far as the mystery I mentioned, I was out riding as Marston in the New Elisabeth western map area and as I was riding down a road a small outbuilding near the road just blew up out of nowhere startling me and my horse. I explored the aftermath but I have never come up with any explanation as to why this happened. I suppose I could look online but I kind of like the mystery of if and possible discussions and speculations that could be made. Was someone operating a still or storing nitroglycerin? The first game had lots of panthers out west and along the road leading to the bridge that crosses over to Mexico.

Speaking of Mexico, on the PS4 I was able to get Marston on the Mexico side along a shoreline but was unable to press inland because of how they designed it to be impassable. I suppose that was another disappointment for me because I had assumed or hoped they would also unlock all of the Mexico part of the map when you play as Marston since that is part of the first game's world map. I suppose they blocked it off so as to maintain some sort of story continuity as I guess we are supposed to believe that Marston only went to Mexico during the first game. They could have still unlocked at least part of the map such as the far, northwest corner with that little village and put a cantina there and card game and a few Mexico-side animals, horse and bandits to interact with as Marston. They could block the whole other area off with perhaps a standing Mexican army that snipes you every time you attempt to pass by or perhaps create and inexplicable storm or sandstorm that turns Marston around and forces him back.

Another interesting mystery is that there is the skeleton of a Jesuit missionary way out towards the western side of the map on the coast I think.

Another thing I found which I think was just simple instance of a random NPC being spawned but I took video of a mounted rider on the Mexican side up on a cliff that I spotted while playing as Marston. I just like to make up my own story to explain it other than a glitchy NPC that like got spawned over there by random chance or mistake. I like to think perhaps it was some mysterious character watching John, maybe a native or who knows. Maybe it was Landon Ricketts wandering by on the southern border wondering who this other lone character happening by was.

So it seems following the story in this is the best way to play? I'm still on the fence.

Meanwhile Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord consumes my time. Steam says I have 300 hours in it now... Truly a somewhat flawed masterpiece.

Maybe it is for some. But not for me.. It's a mix, with free-roam being my favorite part of the game. Both are great however, and the fact remains that the story unlocks abilities, horses, weapons and more. So it's best in my view to do both, and find your own balance between the two. For me I found that balance by taking it slow from chapters 2 through 4. This is the best time to explore and discover, sprinkling in occasional story missions. Then once I hit chapter 5 I accelerated the pace of the main story, and saw it through to the end and the epilogue that comes after.

Coot I haven't encountered the exploding building, and now I hope I do. Do you recall more precisely where this was?

This is my horse in the epilogue, a dark bay Turkoman I named Max. I also bought a silver dapple pinto Fox Trotter, and both horses are from the Blackwater stables. The Turkoman is one of the best horses in the game. Same speed as the Arabian, with slightly slower acceleration and very sturdy (high health). It is classified as a hybrid race/war horse. An ideal combination! The Fox Trotter is I think the fastest horse in RDR 2.






Cooking supper out on the trail. It's good to grab various plants you come across for crafting and cooking. Thyme especially for me, as using it for seasoning grants a bonus for the dead eye core, and you can see here it is gold.

Following the story is probably the best way to play. As you go through the game different weapons, horses, activities and areas of the map open up. So, even though it's fun to just run off and explore, hunt, collect bounties ect in the early chapters, you're really limited on what you can do and where you can go.
Plus, in the epilogue everything is opened up to you.

What I did was explore as much as I could in every chapter before progressing the story. But, I just like to play open world games like that. Ignore the story and just have fun in whatever sandbox I'm in.

Same, and it goes back to what I've (we've) been saying about how well paced RDR 2 is. And then I say, well, it's structured in such a way that the player has the freedom to seek his own pacing. And that's what it is really. The game has no intrinsic pace, just a rule set as it were, that allows the player to take things as he sees fit.

As long as there's a yellow mission icon on the map you've got time. Time to do whatever you want, for as long as you want.

Free roam is great, and I think playing it to chapter 4 and then hitting the brakes is a good approach because it gains the player a number of weapons and abilities and other stuff to fortify the game play. But there's nothing stopping a player from doing so from chapter 2 or whatever. Just go as you do.

I was reading back through some of the posts from a few years ago and this made me laugh. Here's that elusive panther. My horse, Ricochet, with game stowed and hanging, upon return to Shady Belle. The mojo from this shot should help me find him again haha.

These two mods look to be indispensable for the game:




Also, there's a bank robbery mod:


https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/167

And a damage overhaul:

https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/184?tab=description

the only bad thing i have to say about the game is locking content...i cant steal enemies weapon like i usualy did in gta, but i think they removed that in gta v as well untill you reach a certain point

Horses and trains, yeah. Missouri Fox Trotter. I said this was the fastest horse in RDR 2, but as I made the rounds at some stables yesterday looking over the ones for sale I noticed that the Brindle Thoroughbred and a Nakota were also shown as 7 base speed.






Huntin' gators, and found the biggest one of them all

I was just thinking that if someone made a Westworld (HBO series not the 70's film) mod for this game I might be interested to play it!

By the way, there are gators in RDR 2? I thought the game took place somewhere in the American Southwest?

Ah man, you gotta play this one Panzer. The game world is a variety of biomes, from snowy mountains akin to the Rockies up north, to the plains in the center, to the bayou down south, to the desert out west (and more). It's amazingly diverse and beautiful. It's worth picking up this game just to ride around in the world.

Kind of, the edges are bordered by something like the Rockies on the North West, in the North East by maybe Appalachia or possibly the Ozarks and the South East by Louisiana with St Denis being a clear stand in for New Orleans.

Set in the old west is not accurate, now that we bring it up. Panzer had said he's not interested in that setting, but I think it would be more accurate just to say RDR 2 is set in 1899. And I didn't even see the 'west' until the epilogue.

Appalachia is a good call wormfood for the northeast part of the map.

Look back through the screenshots I've posted in this thread and you'll catch glimpses of most all of the varied terrain in this game. That big gator is in the bayou country of Lemoyne in the south and the shot of my horse Max above is in the heartlands of New Hanover.

Thanks for all the info DBond and wormfood. I just didn't realize that the game map was that large. I was under the assumption that it was a smaller area like the size of Utah for example.

Well it's not as big as Utah (in terms of square area) Way smaller actually if you mean literally the size of Utah. I couldn't ride my horse across Utah in 30 minutes haha. But the terrain is very diverse, and one of my favorite aspects of this game.

Well no, I meant the geographic area represented. If the playable area in the game is supposed to represent Appalachia in the NE corner and it goes all the way south to the Louisiana bayou country then that is definitely larger than Utah!

Yes, geographically, it's a large and varied area with the western parts going into what's probably Texas, Arizona and Utah. Much of it has Monument Valley vibes. The area caught me off guard as I expected it to take place in much of the same area as the first game (which it does, minus Mexico) and then goes considerably farther to the East.

there is mexico, but you cant go there its locked....problably cut content.

Yes the game world and map sort of represent an amalgamation of United States climates with multiple representations of those distinct locales sewn together. The game world takes place in sort of a fictionalized Western U.S. It is the U.S. in the game but made up States and fictional U.S. president. I don't know if there's lore to read but I thought there might be something more of the the President mentioned as the foldout map that comes with the game makes it a point to have a picture and name of the current president. I suppose that's just to give an impression of a historical-like feel to the game world.

I really liked finding one of those hand hewn, wood canoes in the Southern regions and just paddle around the lazy river amidst the very Southern in appearance locales with the humidity and bugs, cypress and palmettos and hanging moss and stand on the back and fish from there.

Here are pictures of that very thing that I took back then:




Panzer, if you like a good story, interesting characters with tons of dialogue done in a very cinematic treatment I think you would like the game. The gun combat is fun, the environmental design is excellent as well as provides a relaxing escape, the horseback riding is a lot of fun and there's lots of funny moments and serious. Like Dbond said it takes place in 1899. They seem to play homage to a lot of different themes taking place during the decades leading up to the turn of the century. You still have a more or less a pre-automobile world but one that has already seen the influence of the industrial revolution with steam boats, oil refinery, telegraph and so on. I don't want to spoil it but an interesting "stranger" mission has to do with radio control technology and there's even a Tesla sort of character and his laboratory you interact with on a series of missions. That's the other thing, there's plenty of interesting stranger missions and even just random unique characters and events. These games though Westerns they are more Hollywood than historical even though they do play on historical themes sometimes. For example one of the primary foes aside from the other outlaw gangs is basically the Pinkerton agency who themselves show corruption.

I'd recommend not viewing this game as a classic RPG, its a narrative focused, open-world third person shooter adventure. As Dbond suggested its good to follow the story but when the game leaves you alone, take your time for awhile and explore. I didn't understand the camp scenario at first so at the start of the game I mostly just followed the story and as a result I did not get to spend much time at the very first make-shift camp. Next time I would like to spend more time there as I likely missed out on a lot of unique dialogue. Follow the story but take each chapter slow and don't be in a hurry and just soak up the world. Some missions can be missed if you're not looking or going to fast with the story. One side mission labeled white that I really wanted to do would sometimes up and disappear on me. I waited it out and it eventually showed back up but I think once you complete a main, yellow colored story mission you might create points of no return for certain other side missions. I'm not sure I fully understand the system but Dbond might could clarify that.

Good post and pictures Coot.

1899 is a cultural crossroads, and this theme is driven home throughout the game, how the encroaching modern world is making the gang obsolete. There ain't room for folk like us no more.

I do hope Panzer gives it a go, it would be interesting to know his thoughts having avoided it for so long. I'm not sure our encouragement will prove enough to entice him though

While we are discussing the game world, how diverse it is, and how it's much more than the 'old west', I'll put up a couple shots I took last night to show the contrast with Coot's good images (nice bluegill by the way). And as I've done throughout this thread I will keep the fishing theme going.

I decided to head north in to the state of Ambarino, in to the region known as Grizzlies West. I wanted to see if I could track down the legendary white bison, visit the graves of fallen gang members and see what else I could stir up. Took Max, packed a cold weather outfit and cleaned my guns. Rode north past Strawberry, and through the Dakota river valley, past Cumberland Falls and kept going. As the terrain rose from the valley the temperature began to drop, and light snow was on the ground. Further north the snow became deeper and the temperature neared zero. Swapped in to the cold weather duds and kept going through Colter, the first camp in chapter 1. Found the graves and paid my respects (but it turns out I had already visited these earlier in the run a year or two ago)

Turned around and headed south toward Lake Isabella and in to the territory of the bison. Before tracking him down I did some fishing in the lake, taking several big muskies and northern pike. Threw most back for the honor, but kept one and cooked him up alongside the lake. Here I fight a 14-pound pike





Awoke at the crack of the next morning and, after feeding and brushing the horse, got down to the business of tracking down the legendary bison . Did so, and skinned him, and headed back down the river valley to the trapper to sell the stuff I'd just taken. In all I spent about a week on the trail, hunting, fishing and checking out interesting things. Free-roaming at its best.


A shot of me and Max as we head north in to the mountains near Mount Hagen.






How it all looks in first person, as I hunt game in the Grizzlies. This is the bolt-action rifle

I'm not sure I knew of a white bison?! Maybe I did and just forget. I love that White Buffalo movie with Charles Bronson. I also never finished that one stranger mission with the character having to do with perhaps time travel? I wouldn't want to see spoilers but I wish I could remember why I did not finish that one. If it was linked to finding a certain amount of glyphs maybe that is why. I could NEVER find any of those darn things. I looked up one glyph site on a internet site so that I could at least find one but they seem near impossible to spot. Maybe there was some other reason I didn't finish that stranger mission but I think it had to do with me not being able to find something or progress it somehow.

The white bison's on Hosea's legendary animals map. At least I think he gave that to us, when we hunted a bear together way back in the early days. That's been a few years ago now for me. So I reckon you knew of it, yeah. There are two legendary bison, and the only animal type to be so. That was the last legendary animal for me, aside from the panther, which requires unlocking and I'm a distance from doing that at the mo. I have five left for Zoologist, a parakeet, Leghorn rooster and three panthers (panther, Florida panther and legendary panther). When I started RDR 2 I remember thinking no way I'll ever get all 178, which to be fair, I have not done. But it's pretty close now. I looked again for a panther last night only to be let down. It's madness how elusive it has proven for me in this run.

I even went back and found the red Arabian and broke her. So at least spawns aren't broken for me haha. Now cougars, those I can find and I was killed by one again yesterday out near Tumbleweed. The hunting challenge I'm on is to kill five cougars with a bow, and that's a challenge alright. So I made poison arrows, which works OK. But I had been shooting snakes and had switched to normal arrows for that. So that when I drew my bow upon encountering the next cougar, I duly shot it with an arrow tipped with no poison and the cougar laughed and killed me. Dammit.

Coot I found the exploding meth lab. Or still. Or whatever it was. That takes you by surprise. Interesting how such a moment passes with a shrug.

So I've been riding the Turkoman and the Fox Trotter, essentially splitting time between them. I like the Turkoman, but he's a little too chatty honestly, seemingly protesting every pull of the reins. Well, not quite that bad but not far off either. Otherwise, a fantastic horse. I sold Buell and Rachel to make room in the stable, then added the red Arabian as mentioned. The Fox Trotter is rated 7 speed, and the red Arabian is 5, but it sure feels faster. I should do a test to see. I'm a might closer to the ground riding squirt here, so maybe that is a sensation of speed effect lol. But it made me wonder if the speed rating bars are not equal based on the horse's handling type? Like a 5 elite is faster than a 7 standard. Many people say the Arabians are the fastest horses in the game, but they are not higher than 6 while the Fox Trotter, Nakota and maybe others are 7.

I hope to work it out because the only main challenge I'm close to at the moment is master horseman. Level 8 requires riding from Van Horn to Blackwater in 17 minutes without touching water, a dry run. The route I'd need to take looks to be quite circuitous to the north and over Owanjila dam, making it considerably longer than the shortest route when water is ignored. So I want to know which of my horses is actually the fastest. I can see another more direct route that goes over Bard's Crossing, the huge train bridge over the lower Dakota River. But if a train's a comin'.....

My favorite horse of all, the one I probably used the most in the game, I called her "Clementine". I wish I had been riding her when the last mission happens as it would have been more impactful but I just couldn't know what was to come and it was around that same time that I had finally scraped together enough money to buy the Missouri Fox Trotter which I had always wanted. So I was on the newer mount Fox Trotter when that story moment happened so it didn't have near as much of a gut punch as it would have had were I riding Clementine during that mission. The Tox Trotter though has one of the prettiest gates in the game. Anyhow, Clementine, she was my favorite. I forget what breed she is but she was one I found at a particular stable and it took me awhile to get the money together to pay for her. She just happened to become "that" horse for me in this game. I spent the most time on horseback with her. A cool serendipitous moment happened in the game while I was riding her. I heard saw some folks sitting on the porch of that house you can help build and as I rode up to them on Clementine, the man and his wife were on the porch and the man proceeded to play "Oh My Darlin' Clementine"! I thought that was a real cool chance happening. I captured video of it to save.

The Fox Trotter I named "Turpentine" because he seemed to have that kind of color and sheen and earlier in the game I had caught and broke a wild horse with sort of a grey color and because he sort of glistened like a fuel sweating through a container I named him "Kerosene". Later as Marston I found a wild horse I had never seen before and he had a really cool, dark blue color to him.

Here is "Clementine"

Nice lookin' ride there Coot. I like the vibe in your naming convention.

I also did the final mission with a new horse, or not the one I had spent the most time on, but it was still a sad and poignant moment. It was the only horse I lost the entire run. I never targeted an enemy horse, nor had one shot out from under me. That's off limits haha. We can fill each other full of lead but the horses get a pass OK?


I finally got the Paying Respects achievement. There's no way I would have found them all without the interweb. Some are way out of the way, and even if I happened to ride past some, I could have not even noticed if I was not looking for them. I'll put this shot in spoilers. Actually that won't work as I am attaching it at the bottom of the post. So I'll just leave it as a thumbnail at the bottom. Don't view if you want no spoilers.

Still looking for parakeet and the panthers. This is nuts.

I couldn't find a single rock carving glyph. I did look online for one just so that I could find it but I think it may be impossible to find them without help. I can't imagine trying to find such a small bird either. Small or smaller than a rock carving and they move around!

That's pretty good not to loose any of your own horses the entire game and even more so not to shoot an enemy horse at all as that can be easy to do even on accident. I'm pretty sure while trying to hit bad guys I've gotten their horses. I may have even shot some from beneath a bad guy purposely but I don't remember for sure. I think I did so often in the first game though especially during those missions like defending the train and waves of enemies come at you.

I agree about those sites for revisiting. I had to look them up online and then I drew myself a little map and description so that I could still sort of work to find them sort of like a treasure map.

I've found maybe four rock carvings, and those were only because I happened to use eagle eye at the right moment to make them jump out. I would have cantered past otherwise. Filling out any collection is proving elusive for me. 320 hours now and still so much left to do.

Not sure why I had so much good luck with my horses, maybe the game sees I don't shoot horses and it returns the favor in kind. Unlikely, but there ya go.

My pursuit of the Zoologist achievement (study all 178 animals in story mode) is stuck in neutral. I found the Leghorn rooster for number 174. That means there are just four animals to go, panther, Florida panther, legendary panther and Carolina parakeet. In my first run through RDR 2 I found these no problem. This time I have spent hours and hours hunting them only to find a dry hole. I know where they spawn. I know the specifics like weather and time of day when they should appear. I've watched videos and read forum posts.

And they DO NOT SPAWN. frustrating to be this close and hit a wall. Of course the legendary panther requires master hunter 9 to unlock and I'm not close to that. But I should be able to find the other three. I'm just on master hunter 5 -- kill 5 cougars with a bow -- and the scorecard's about even between the cougars and me on that one. But I'll get it eventually.

I started a thread over on GTA forum, and one of the dudes tests it for me and, while hunting in exactly the same spot he gets one to spawn in seconds. Others report no issues finding panthers. I'm not new at this, and I've over 500 hours in RDR 2. I know how it works. But I cannot get a panther to spawn. It made me wonder if there's some trigger to panthers populating. A conversation where a NPC mentions big cats. Or maybe you have to purchase something from the trapper, or whatever, I'm grasping at straws. Here's the thread

https://gtaforums.com/topic/985675-panthers-and-parakeets/#comment-1071970348

I'm smokeless6 in the GTA universe.

Finally found the Carolina parakeet, making it 175 animals found, but I still have not found a panther. I'm on master hunter 9, so at least I should be able to add the legendary panther soon.

This run has now hit 330 hours which is great. I think that any game that hits 300 hours is a classic. Not only does it have to be a great game to clock that much time, but it must also have the depth of play to support such investment, or have enough replay value to extend the time. A game like Dishonored for example will never approach this much time, as good as it is.

I'm filling the time by completing challenges, which I mostly ignored through the story. I've found all horses, filled out a couple cigarette card sets, made some trapper gear (he has some great saddles), need just a couple more fish. My end game stable is full. I have

Dark bay Turkoman called Max
Pinto Fox Trotter called Annabelle
Red Chestnut Arabian called Jila (wild horse, must be broken)
Rose grey Arabian called Mist, the best horse in RDR 2

The rose grey Arabian is such a good horse that I don't care so much that Arabians are so small. Very fast and runs for days, and even has more health and stamina then the Turk and Fox Trotter.

One of the hardest challenges was master hunter 5, kill 5 cougars with a bow. Final scorecard was 5-2 in my favor, but first you have to actually find five of them, and thenkill them before they kill you. Another difficult one was master horseman 8? where you have to ride from Van Horn to Blackwater in 17 minutes without touching water. Took at least six attempts. Twice I crashed in to other riders coming full blast around a blind turn. If you fall off the horse the challenge is broken. Twice I got ambushed in Tall Trees by a big gang of skinners, and one of them when I went to reload my shotgun I hit E instead and dismounted. Another time I went to jump over the tiniest creek, and mistimed it so I splashed down, voiding the challenge. The route is key, and not all that hard to beat the time, but doing so without something going wrong along the way is a challenge indeed, or it proved so for me.

Hunting cougars near Brandywine drop.

I wonder what is the controoler you use.?

I am doing the intros with mouse and keyboard.
I find it hard to aim when shooting the wolves.
Does it play better with a Playstation contoller?

I know I can try before I ask, but I am tryng to improve my post count.
I have been her for more than 22 years and it is still below 900.

Your true nefarious goal is to surpass Semmern as the top Norwegian poster on SimHQ.

Hehe.
I have no chance there Panzer.
My first goal is to pass a number that gives me a title better than "Member".
I feel that after so many years it would be nice with a change of my seniority status.

More Wigean posts would be great, especially in F1 and here in RDR!

I use keyboard and mouse at all times when controlling my character and horse. I do use a wired X Box controller too, but really only for navigating menus like the satchel and shop catalogs.

There is zero chance a controller would be better than mouse, at least for me. I am hopeless aiming with those things, and it becomes quite dire indeed when I am using one stick for look and another stick for movement. That is where the word discombobulation comes from

But like I said earlier, just forge through chapter 1, the game is going to open up when you move to the next camp. And you will be getting an ability soon, and I don't want to spoil it. But in chapter 2 aiming at fast moving things will get much, much easier, trust me. I'd say just do the best you can in chapter 1, shoot the place up rapid fire if you have to. Things will get better soon.

Thank you for the prescription Dr. Bond.

Ok, I will go back and retry.
May be I should reduce the sensivity setting on tha mouse.

Haha, I will try to post more there DBond.

Sometimes I`m itching to make some posts in PWEC too.
But man, there are some mean guys down there.

I have much more robust F1 discussion at the GTA forums of all places than here. That should change!

When you get to chapter 2, do the mission called Old Friends early on to get to the thing I'm saying you'll get but won't say what it is haha.

I love this game. Yesterday I did so many different things, there's always something to do, to pull me along and keep going.

There are 30 different fish types in the game. Well, technically there are 15, with a legendary and standard version of each. I was five short and I know two of those are the legendary catfishes. That leaves three more so I decided to start filling these in. And that led me to fishing along a river taking big channel cats, 20 pounds if they were an ounce I tell you. And then I threw them back to boost honor preserve the fishery for future generations. So just four to go.

I remember when I started this game and I saw how much of this stuff existed and thought no way I'll ever fill these out completely, but I reckon I'm rather close now. It's astounding how much depth there is in this game and even after 330 hours how many new encounters, missions and meetings I find. What a game.

I am jealous that you get to see it all for the first time. I hope you stick with it Wigean. Chapters 2 through 4 are the best parts of RDR 2 (along with the epilogue) in my view

Thank you again for the tip.

Thank you also for your contributions in different topics.

I`ll do my best to get far in this game.
Also looks fantastic.

If I were you I would post a poll on SimHQ asking how many people here have actually played the game. I know globally RDR 2 sold a ton of copies but it could be the case that just not that many people on SimHQ have played it.

This post is to let newcomers know which things I found most useful, that you can find when out and about. When you're new to a game you see all this stuff, but it's difficult to know which things will be most useful and which will prove superfluous. So these things are what I always grab when I see them.

Oleander Sage -- This is needed for poisoned weapons, like arrows and throwing knives.

Thyme -- This is used as a cooking spice. This recipe gives a gold dead eye core, and this is the only core you'll be constantly refilling, if you play like me I guess. Thyme prime beef for the win baby. Oregano (stamina) and mint (health) are the same, but those cores don't need refilling so often.

Animal fat -- Needed for explosive ammo..

Moonshine -- Needed for incendiary shotgun shells. These are not a necessity, but once you've shot a bad guy with one, you'll want to make more!

Perfect whitetail pelts -- If you see a three star, take the pelt back to Pearson or sell to the trapper. You'll need several of these to craft items in camp or at the trapper. Might as well get started early.

Flight feathers -- Needed for crafting arrows. These come from most flying birds (not crows, parakeets and some others) The best birds to hunt for feathers are the predators, like eagles and hawks, which typically yield three per bird. Eagle and hawk feathers can also improve tomahawks and throwing knives, but unless you use these a lot it's not a big deal. I use the tomahawks quite a bit, but the standard version is fine. Especially since these are easy to throw and lose, depending on what is down range from your target (like a cliff)

Berries and small fish -- These are used to make predator bait, which you can find and buy. But I found myself crafting some, and any berry will do, while the fish needs to be 'gritty', like a bluegill for example. Anything you can craft will save you money and boost your outdoorsman cred.


Other ingredients have uses too, especially for potions and lotions, but I found so many of these -- and rarely use them -- that I didn't find them necessary to craft. Of course early in the game your satchel size is limited, so you need to be careful with what you pick up. But as the satchel grows you'll be able to be more greedy when grabbing stuff to carry with you. For example you can make snake oil (dead eye potion) with tobacco, but I found so many chewing tobaccos in the game world that it was never needed. And even then I ended up with a lot of snake oil.

One last tip is to familiarize yourself with the items needed to craft trinkets. Trinkets are special stat-boosting charms that usually require a trophy from a legendary animal. Many only require that trophy to make. But there are about five or six that require more items, like silver earrings or jointed gold bracelet. If you know what is needed you can NOT SELL them along the way, so that when you are ready to make the thing you won't need to kick yourself for selling them way back. How many silver earrings have I sold, and now when I need one I can't find it.

Be sure to upgrade the camp as you can to open up some of these crafting options.

I was talking about real Formula 1.

Oops, I now caught my mistake after re-reading your post. thanks!

Ducks, great source of both flight feathers and fat. Even without deadeye you can usually sneak up on several of them and bag a few. Then move along down the coast/river a bit and repeat.

Too bad there's no punt gun in the game.

Yeah, ducks are great, good call. Especially if you ride with your gun out. It's fun to shoot them when they flush as you approach. Two birds with one stone to get the fat with the flight feathers. I go through a lot of small game arrows chasing down some of these quests and challenges so need a lot of the feathers.

Animal number 176, Guigaro, the legendary panther




This should have been the one to trigger the achievement, but I still cannot get the other panthers to spawn. I've spent hours hunting them, when it should take at most a couple attempts. I reloaded an old save from July of 2021 in chapter 4, earlier in this same run. Rode to Old Harry Fen and went and stood on the spawn point and was killed by a panther in about 20 seconds. I think he spawned right next to me and thought "how convenient". But now they just won't trip.

Those aren't my usual boots, I sport a much nicer pair. But I had recently come back from the mountains and needed to swap out from the cold-weather duds and this was the other outfit packed on the horse. I had used the same saddle for nearly all the time I've played RDR 2, the Gerden Trail I think it is called. But I saw the trapper has some really good saddles and this is the cougar McClellan saddle that gives much better bonuses.

I'm mostly spending time with challenges. Master hunter is the first to complete with the taking of that big cat. I always wondered why I seemed to be maxed at 8 for health, stamina and dead eye when it appeared it could go to ten, and now I see that if you purchase full trapper sets you can boost these stats to ten. Cool. That's a good payoff for completing these challenges, which are often quite challenging indeed. I'm now at like 50 of 90, but was not even to 25 when I finished the story. So making good progress through the epilogue. Stuff like killing an enemy with a shot at least 660 feet, killing 8 small game with 8 consecutive small game arrow shots, catching three fish without a fishing rod. I am also trying to finish the hunting requests which I mostly ignored to this point. Actually I'm doing a little bit of everything, and though it once seemed crazy to contemplate, I'm closing in on 100 percenting this one. I think the biggest hurdles will be the bandit challenges. Maybe I'll make a save, then just go nuts, and then reload once the achievement triggers. That's a lot of law breakin'

Just found a mod that allows you to setup a lobby, essentially making a private server. Since then I've been playing this for a few days straight. So much easier without other people getting in the way and if you team up with people you know, bounties and other missions get so much easier.

The mod is RDOLobbyManager
https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/772

Private lobbies you say?

I said that the only thing keeping from playing RDO was this being not a thing.

Private lobby is the thing that has allowed me to get to relatively high level in GTAO. This could be the thing I needed to extend my RDR time (other than hunting elusive, phantom panthers).

Any quirks or drawbacks to this mod wormfood?

You get a warning that there's a mod when you first start the game with it. I did searches and don't know of anyone that has actually gotten banned. That's the threat they hang over you for using mods. Never played it in GTAV, but it's supposedly similar and people haven't gotten banned for using there either.

You can't do tutorial, story or event missions because they require other players. If, you have enough people in your group to trigger the mission and they all elect to do it, it seems to work then. Regular trader, bounties, and stranger missions all work fine though.

You have to setup the lobby with the mod's executable file and make sure everyone's matches if you want to join the same game.

I never played much of it online before finding this mod, so I don't know what other differences or quirks there may be. I was just tired of getting griefed or matched against players with better gear than me. Also the game came out in late fall maybe, and after waiting a few weeks to play the game (it was busted as hell and I couldn't log in). Played single player for a week or two then tried playing online for maybe a week or so. Not long after they did a Christmas theme and added snow everywhere. This made it so my new character with only flimsy clothes and no money was freezing to death in a snowy Blackwater. Made me quit and I've only just now been back almost 4 years later.

Thanks, and sorry I hadn't noticed the reply.

I;d like to read about a typical session for you, but no obligation of course. Just curious how you are spending the time in a RDO private lobby.

DBond, mostly playing it as single player. Big difference is there's more stranger missions and bounties, way more since other people are not taking them. I'll hunt and fish and generally just explore because that map is loads of fun to ride around in.

Typical day would be to check on the daily challenges, and if it's not too much of a bother, I'll knock those out since it's a good way to get XP and gold. Then I'll do some trader missions because that's a great way to get cash. It gets even easier when you get the hunting wagon and larger delivery wagons. Once I've got a stockpile of materials and supplies for the trader role I'll jump around the map and do a bunch of other random stuff. Usually some bounties or random open world stranger missions. If some friends of mine are online, we'll try some of the telegram missions since most of them are extremely difficult. Particularly the seasonal defend the settlement ones against some weird cult. Those are a bit of fun, but we've never beaten them.

Online seems to have more legendary animals than single player did, and only a couple spawn a day. They also seem to take way more damage than in single player and with no time slow down dead eye ability you can't just queue up 5 rifle shots and knock them out quickly. There's no rival players to mess up your missions, so you just have to deal with the ai enemies they throw at you while completing missions. No open mics of whatever nonsense is going in other players' homes.

In single player, when you play like that they'll usually have one of the camp members hunt you down and try to get you back on track, where here there's none of that. You just have to put up with most of the equipment being very expensive and often locked behind a certain level. The fishing pole locked at level 14 and bow at 10 really hurt.

Thanks for the info and it sounds good. I will have to give this a go at some stage. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

About the quoted bit...what do you mean? I never had a camp member come find me or maybe I misunderstand.

Never? In both playthroughs I have that happen a couple times every chapter. If I'm away from camp for several in game days without ever going back and never doing story missions, someone, usually Javier or Charles will show up and say something like "Where have you been at? We've been looking for you. You know there's a story to do, Dutch/Hosea needs you, let's go back to camp."

No it has not happened and actually it's something I have thought about, how it would be cool to encounter the gang members out in the wild, or indeed, to have them come find me. And that's probably 500 hours of playing the game. How odd.

I don't ever remember having gang members come looking for me either and I'm sure I've been away from camp for many, many in-game days. Is this single player only where this is happening or is this an online feature where if you play online for so long the game sends a friendly story character into your online location and says "hey come back"? I've never played the online component so I don't know how it works or if its connected in some way to your offline campaign.

Camp members hunting you down to drag you back into the story is a single player only "feature".

Like Coot I spend days or weeks out on the trail without returning to camp and never saw this. I wonder what triggers it?

I don't know. Maybe only specific missions or conditions, but like I said, I get it at least once every chapter at least until Guarma.

I did some google searches and came up with nothing concrete. Some people get it, some people don't. Seems to be very random.

Its been almost four years now so if I'm able to play a second play through soon I'll try to remember to keep and eye out for this.