NPC sinking into ground bug

[AlisaM]

I searched and didn't find anything about this, so if it's already out there, I apologise.

 

So, I was playing the contact mission where you have to blow up 7 trucks. I think it's for Martin, but it seemed like Gerald thanked me after I completed it.

 

Anyway, I had blown up all but the 3 trucks inside the compound and I was hiding around the corner of the main entrance shooting at the NPC enemies and 1 kept spawning out of thin air, he'd shoot once and then quickly sink into the ground. I never could get a shot at him and eventually went around to the side to work my way in from there, as I knew if I ran past where he was spawning he'd just shoot me in the back.

 

So... is there anyway to stop that sort of thing from happening? Or to stop it once it does start? I thought if maybe I killed him it would stop but it kept happening too fast to get off a shot, and if I had come out of cover to aim at the spot I would have surely been killed by the other NPC's.

 

Anyway, I have another weird contact mission glitch so if there's a place for those can someone please point me toward it?

[GG14876]

I've had this happen a few times to me. What apparently happens is that you get too far away from the target, the clipping/boundary mesh "disappears" and the NPCs go where they shouldn't. There isn't much in the way to "fix" this after it happens; I've gotten lucky hits through the use of a tank and on one occasion a gap in a garage door, as well as lagging the game through crashing a plane into a bunch of cars at once, which resulted in the target getting respawned nearby. Best way to try and prevent this from happening is staying as close as possible to the enemies.

 

As for the "no chance to shoot" situation, try tear gas or sticky bombs next time. You'll either have a continuous cloud of tear gas to stun the guy when he pops out or can quickly trigger the sticky once you see him.

[AlisaM]

Hmmm, didn't think of tear gas. I don't think I've ever even tried using it. As for distance I was only what would have been in the game about 10m away at most. The game spawning NPC's where they couldn't possibly have got to without me seeing them seems like an ongoing realism problem that should be fixed. For example, same mission, I climbed up on a building overlooking the compound and there's no enemy blips anywhere near where the ladder was, then suddenly about 8 NPC's came up the ladder one right after the other. They were easy enough to deal with, but it's an annoyance that the game puts them there without warning. I know the blips on the map isn't realistic, but either stick to the visible blips being the enemies that are present, or do away with them altogether.

 

So, the other glitch is on a mission where you have to steal the coke from the smugglers at the dock, then escape in their boat(s). When you first approach the building there is a tanker trailer in front of the building. If you blow it up a wall appears behind it, closing off the building. If you just walk around it you can get into the building and the wall appears a little later when it doesn't really make a difference. The wall looks like plywood painted blue when it appears.

[AlisaM]

Interesting that there isn't a lot of interest in talking about the game itself, much more whining about how greedy R* has become. Oh well.

[GG14876]

The game can't really do "realistic" enemy spawnings. I mean, you'd have a fleet of cars full of gangbangers or whatever for every mission. And where would they spawn? Make that a specific point (their home base) and people will eventually camp that, while having roaming spots is a bit "unrealistic"... If you really want "hyper-realistic", I don't think SA could handle the various procreation procedures... At least, not with the way those gals of the night do it... Sorry, didn't mean to rain on your want of realism...

 

As for the lack of radar responses, if the enemies don't move fast/make noise (or climb ladders), they disappear/hide from your radar.

 

The plywood wall is supposed to be there to prevent people from getting in that way. You're "supposed" to fight up the stairs (or go around to the docks and double back). It's a standard creator item as well, so it's not a specific instance of it.

[AlisaM]

I don't expect the game to be hyper real, I don't think that's a realistic expectation. But I have a fair idea that no one was anywhere near that ladder when I climbed it and suddenly there's a small horde of them. I realise that often games attempt to increase or decrease difficulty depending on the level of the player (thus, weapon availability, etc.) and how well they're currently doing (the L4D franchise comes to mind), but I feel that blatantly breaking reality ruins the suspension of disbelief. It makes it feel like the game is cheating.

 

I honestly feel like the enemies being on the radar is unrealistic enough that it should go away, but I may be in the minority on that.

 

I only mentioned the wall glitch so others could exploit it if they wanted to. It certainly helps make the mission easier. I've done it both ways now and it's not so much an edge as a frustration limitation.

[GG14876]

Well, the game is cheating. I mean, until we get NPCs that are truly "smart" and "adaptive", games have to compensate with spawning in odd areas, incredible accuracy, number of enemies... Another thing might just be that you/me/people have played the game so much that we're picking up on all of these "cracks in the 4th wall". I know, first time I get game, I'm amazed by some aspects that, after a few hours, just seem poorly thought out or silly. For example, remember (if you ever did this) driving with the D-pad and the other buttons instead of the sticks and shoulder buttons? I went back to play GTA III a bit ago and it was just so "how was this even acceptable"...

 

Well, always remember, you can turn your map off. A pain in the ass if you haven't memorized the map or know your way around, but it is an option... A better option would be to have everything be an option, though I'm expecting a modder or two on PC will have that done sooner than R* could ever hope to achieve...

[AlisaM]

The way I look at it, the game is its own reality, therefore it can't really cheat. Reminds me of when I was quite young and players/enemies in games had a single bounding box. If you recall all those shouts of,"Hey, he didn't hit me!", or "Wait, that shot got him." you know the problem I'm referring to. It felt cheaty but the game was following its own internal rules. Kind of like the Matrix, if you follow my meaning.

[GG14876]

Well, we're also playing the game, but don't have the ability to do aim-bot/0 sec reaction time stuff like the computer does. Or when the computer is invulnerable, always knows where you are, has infinite ammo... To me, that's somewhat cheating, but since the computer can't react like a human, I find it acceptable (when it isn't overdone). For instance, if on the mission "Hard Labor", the enemy was equipped with grenades, auto-shotguns and tear gas, had infinite ammo and was always firing, that would be cheating to me, while the mission as it is now is hard, but only slightly cheating (though, the crappy stealth making the enemy always know where you are is more R*'s foul than the computer...).

[AlisaM]

I feel like a lot of the game's advantage is negated by not knowing how a person will react. To that extent I found, especially in SP that how you approach a mission can make all the difference. What I find annoying is when the game takes assets away from you when the mission begins (damn it, I was going to use that helicopter), or re-parks your car so that when you come running out of wherever to speed away it's not where you left it. It's one reason I always re-spray my cars in distinctive colors, at least in SP. However if you see a pink Benefactor Feltzer running around it's probably me. I've found that it's somewhat disadvantageous in MP to be so noticeable.

 

I also think in MP the toughness of the enemies defenses on some missions is there to encourage cooperation among players, which it seems is hard to come by, at least when I play. Either everyone goes running in without a plan and everyone gets cut down, or no one wants to go in and those that do so are alone and get cut down. I'd really like to find a group to play with that would be truly cooperative, I feel this game has a lot of potential that isn't being utilised.

[GG14876]

With missions removing vehicles, I would say that's probably to prevent issues with players storing vehicles in perfect spots. For instance, getting a cargobob and parking it close to where any boat you need to transport is. Saves a load of time going over the hills than following the water. Or to prevent issues with double-spawns, such as if someone parks tanks right where the documents are supposed to spawn in RTR and causes the mission to auto-fail...

 

For MP, for good teamwork, you need a microphone and a good crew, most likely military themed... If there was a way to send simple messages ("Enemies over here!", "I'm getting Swarmed") to notify your allies about your situation, then there might be a way to get around the mic requirement. Hope you find some group to play with well, it's really fun when everyone gets everything timed right. Makes you really wish there was a way to do some sort of "movie maker" thing...