Check out this screen shot. So realistic!

lakedude

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Mar 14, 2009
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This is a view of the northern sky in FC2. I added the lines in the sky to show the big dipper and how it points to the North Star in the handle of the little dipper, just like in real life!

The whole sky is (near as I can tell) an accurate, real star map. When you look at the North Star you are in fact pointing North in the game. I love it!
 

Mr. Pedantic

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2010
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Big whoop. It has to be some kind of texture or something that goes up there, why shouldn't it be something that actually exists?
 

Chiropteran

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Nov 14, 2003
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Looks fake to me. If it was real life, there would be dozens of cops trying to wrestle you down and take away your dangerous assault weapon.
 

PhatoseAlpha

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Apr 10, 2005
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Is that sky accurate for the game's setting in central Africa, and does it change based on time of night?
 

lakedude

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Mar 14, 2009
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Is that sky accurate for the game's setting in central Africa, and does it change based on time of night?
The game has an accelerated day/night cycle. It isn't tied to the time of day you are actually playing. You can control the time of day when you do your missions by sleeping in game. The time of day in game changes quickly during "sleep", like 12 hours in just a few seconds. The sun and stars do move based on the time of day in game.

At first I slept during the night so I could be awake and doing missions during the day so I could see what I was doing better, however stealth works better at night (so realistic!) so I changed tactics and slept during the day and did missions at night under the cover of darkness.

By measuring the angle in the sky that the North Star appears in game one should be able to guesstimate the Latitude of the observer but I'm not smart enough to figure out if that line would intersect Africa. The North Star is lower in the sky in the game than it is for an observer in North America which seems correct for Africa. The farther south you go the lower in the sky the North Star would be. On the North Pole the North Star would be roughly straight up.

Here is a video of the Day/Night cycle in action:

http://youtu.be/QgmFaW2IWms
 
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Modular

Diamond Member
Jul 1, 2005
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If only the checkpoints didn't randomly respawn. Takes away any feel of "realism" I ever got from the game and was also the reason I stopped playing.
 

lakedude

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The North Star is just above the horizon so it is likely that Far Cry 2 happens somewhere in the colored area.

politicalmapofafricagra.jpg
 

blankslate

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Jun 16, 2008
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Looks fake to me. If it was real life, there would be dozens of cops trying to wrestle you down and take away your dangerous assault weapon.
Save that crap for P&N.
True....but also true.

Yeah because it's completely understandable and was codified into law by the SCOTUS that private citizens should have access to belt fed SAWs to carry at the ready in public.

no not really and yes that trollish post should have stayed in P&N
 

RampantAndroid

Diamond Member
Jun 27, 2004
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It's just an image...nothing special there. Go look at the various Skyrim night sky mods for more interesting things :)

Also, if that were more realistic, you'd see more stars being in an area without much light pollution.
 

Chiropteran

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Nov 14, 2003
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FWIW I wasn't trying to make a political statement, I was making a statement about how stupidly huge and unrealistic the gun looks.
 

lakedude

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Go look at the various Skyrim night sky mods for more interesting things :)
Screen shot?

Also, if that were more realistic, you'd see more stars being in an area without much light pollution.
Actually it is very realistic in that sometimes there is haze or fog or clouds or light pollution from the moon (although the moon is much too large in game, as is the sun).

I spent 6 days in game trying to get a better screenshot and gave up because the weather elements did not cooperate...
 

blankslate

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2008
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FWIW I wasn't trying to make a political statement, I was making a statement about how stupidly huge and unrealistic the gun looks.

Actually the firearm in the screenshot looks about right for a video game representation of an m249 which is what it looks like to me... although it could be another SAW
 

lakedude

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Mar 14, 2009
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Actually the firearm in the screenshot looks about right for a video game representation of an m249 which is what it looks like to me... although it could be another SAW
PKM, one of my favorites.

Lakedude loadout:

PKM, lots of bullets good at short or medium range. Preferred to shotgun which is only good in close.
Sniper rifle (bolt action-early, Dragunov-mid game, 50cal-later) or MGL-140.
and a Flare Gun (to start fires from a distance) or the IDE (bang).
 

JoetheLion

Senior member
Nov 8, 2012
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Maybe it's out of place, but it reminds me how a central European Castle (Slovakian, I think) was used in a German adventure game Tunguzka as an Irish Castle, with it's characteristic design and photographs turned into sketches and drawings. I don't think that i's that BIG that someone actually makes a star map with a little bit of sense, what's worse is how many developers don't give a shit about even basic facts about countries or cities, making them look silly or nonsensical compared to their actual characteristics or sane urban design.
 

Firsttime

Platinum Member
Mar 31, 2005
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Well I mean it is Africa. I'm guessing gun laws are slightly more lax in African nations controlled by waring factions.