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[Dick Laurent]

Few questions: is there any way to steal boats? When I try to use one it says "Boat Key needed", so I'm assuming I get a boat key at some point? Also is there any faction I definitely shouldn't piss off?

in the very beginning you can only highjack the machinegun patrol boats. you can get one almost immediatly starting out under the bridge if you do the vase mission evilore described in the op, or you can just attract one by swimming out and shooting towards them out at sea. there are two guys in those boats and if you take out the guy with the machinegun first it's pretty easy to take out the other one without receiving too much damage (or destroying the boat, hehe). those boats are pretty low on fuel though, but there should be enough to get to the nearest gas station and fill it up again. or getting a bit away from the first island you also encounter a lot of civilian boats and those are usually full up on fuel, if you feel like fucking with your civilian rating jack one of those.

ALSO, for those with film grain problems. Reportedly, you can disable it without a FPS hit by:

ah, nice.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Alright, 30+ minutes later filled with badassery, and I'm ready to pronounce the sound files fix it up just fine. No drop outs at all. I even don't mind the Russian spoken word, as it reminds me of playing STALKER. Speaking of which, I found a lockpick dealer who asks you how you like the town, and one of your responses is something about how it reminds you of Pripyat. The guy goes "Pripyat"? And you say something along the lines of it being near Chernobyl and he goes "Oh yeah, the radiated zone!" Got a nice chuckle out of that shout-out/exchange.

I seem to have sided with the bandits. I found their HQ, which was a bunch of burned out buildings, along with dudes hanging out everywhere, listening to techno music and a couple of girls dancing in bikinis. I've done a few missions for them already, including whacking a guy just because the bandit leader didn't like him. It's lowered my civilian rep, but eh, what ya gonna do.

Another funny thing that happened, at least 5 times I've left my car for a mission nearby, only to come back and have some civilian driver ramming his car up against mine because it's parked across the road. :lol

 

[Brannon]

Yes, the sound fix helps EVERYTHING. I can actually tell when I'm getting shot at, now. This will be a heavily played game, I think.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Oh my gawd, I just had a hilarious set of circumstances unfold. Basically, Juarez (the bandit leader) had me on a series of missions, from rescuing a dude being held by paramilitary types (I got there, they had already killed him, but I got to mow down like 7 dudes) to killing a priest in cold blood and retrieving his crucifix as a trophy. The latest mission had me driving to another part of the island and offing a dude and his cronies.

First attempt, I arrive at the appointed spot in my car, but since I didn't know exactly where I was going, I drove right into the middle of the bad guys. A huge fire fight ensues, which involves bullets spraying my car. It finally blows up, with me about 4' from it, which causes my guy to stagger and his ears to ring. Since this took with it about 14 different firearms that I had stuck in the trunk for who knows what reason, I reloaded.

Second attempt, I drive a different route, and manage to drive off a 20' cliff, my car nose-dives into the ground and explodes instantly, killed me. :lol

Third attempt, I park well away from the targets, and head down to the beach where they are. Huge firefight, I take 'em all out. I hop in the car and head back to Juarez, only I don't feel like going the long way around (via the beach), so I cut up across a hilltop, and immediately drive off a cliff, exploding my car.

I reload, luckily having saved after I completed the mission, and drive back, only I accidentally cut a corner too sharp and drive over and kill 3 different military dudes. Others nearby open fire. I don't want them pissed off, so I quit out of the game. I'll try again later.

All through this, the game went from day to dusk to night. Really awesome-looking.

Has anyone found out how to upgrade/repair weapons? The options are grayed out for me. There's a bandit guy who says he can repair, but when I open up the option to do so with him, it's still grayed out...

 

[bengraven]

Just out of curiosity...but what are condoms for in White Gold?

My first reaction is obviously sex, but considering the setting, I can see you shoving coke into them, swallowing them, and smuggling them. :lol




Also, not to whine, but fuck Precursors is kind of tough in the beginning. I'm carrying too few med kits, my main, effective gun kicks heavily and reloads slowly and the enemies are fucking bullet sponges (talking about the Empire soldiers and the giant robot).

 

[Alex Connolly]

Also, not to whine, but fuck Precursors is kind of tough in the beginning. I'm carrying too few med kits, my main, effective gun kicks heavily and reloads slowly and the enemies are fucking bullet sponges (talking about the Empire soldiers and the giant robot).

Bear in mind, you've ample time to upgrade once you're done with what is ostensibly a tutorial.

 

[bengraven]

I'm bouncing back and forth between the two, so I'll have to give Precursor's another shot tomorrow.

 

[Dick Laurent]

yeah, the intro "levels" to both games are fucking terrible. make sure you've got three rockets left for the mech, or two rockets and jump up on the rock and throw a grenade. it's easiest to just walk on the "bridge" and make the soldiers spawn and then run back down and snipe them with sights/headshots.. and all the rockets you can afford. they will throw grenades probably but they'll land in the water.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Also, if you're really stuck, I remember you can use armour-piercing rounds for your Lenkon in regards to the mech...if you've used up your rockets. Also, there's a EMP grenade of some description, IIRC, that makes short work of the mech.

 

[lastplayed]

If you're out of rockets, you can always just sprint past the mech to the right and behind the crashed ship.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Just out of curiosity...but what are condoms for in White Gold?

My first reaction is obviously sex, but considering the setting, I can see you shoving coke into them, swallowing them, and smuggling them. :lol




Also, not to whine, but fuck Precursors is kind of tough in the beginning. I'm carrying too few med kits, my main, effective gun kicks heavily and reloads slowly and the enemies are fucking bullet sponges (talking about the Empire soldiers and the giant robot).

I just bought Precursors and did that part.

The rocket launcher and grenades are certainly your friend!

I now just arrived on the first planet after the tutorial and am experiencing some nasty screen flickering. Time to look for a fix!

Also, does anyone know how to turn on subtitles? I'm playing the English version from GamersGate.

 

[Alex Connolly]

I just bought Precursors and did that part.

The rocket launcher and grenades are certainly your friend!

I now just arrived on the first planet after the tutorial and am experiencing some nasty screen flickering. Time to look for a fix!

Also, does anyone know how to turn on subtitles? I'm playing the English version from GamersGate.

Subtitles? Hmmm. I think you only get to see what people are saying once you start talking to them. By the way, did you apply the Russian sound packs? Makes all the difference, despite being a small bit of work.

 

[Flunkie]

Haha, damn, White Gold is so fuckin' great! I just spent the last hour doing a hair-raising mission involving diving underwater to find a dude stranded in an underwater cave. Only first, his friends, who ask you to rescue the dude, don't have a spare oxygen tank, so they have you go ask this dude for one. Only, he's like 5 miles away on another part of the island. Good thing I have a car!

So I drive this beater car you get from an early mission, and head over in the middle of the night. On the way there I get to witness a firefight between the military and some mercenaries, both of which consider me a neutral party. After the fight was over (one military guy left standing), I loot all their bodies and gather up all their guns, most of which I stash in the car's trunk.

I get over to see this scuba dude, and he's not there. Turns out this game has a real day/night cycle, where most villagers and such go to bed at night. So I wait around, using the in-game camera and such, finally he pops up. At first he wants 300 pesos for the gear but I talk him down to nothing hah. I drive back over to the beach and fill up the tank, and get the cave location from these dudes. Problem: I don't have a boat. This sets off a 10 minute swim in which some barracudas (or some evil fish) bite me, and then some bandits in a boat shoot at me.

Finally I'm there. Only, I can't use the scuba tank! Turns out it's just for the guy you're rescuing! Even worse news is, your dude can't hold his breath longer than 20 seconds. So, I dive down, and out of the murk comes a sunken ship, an old one, like a pirate ship. I find a tunnel entrance under the ship and swim in. By this time my oxygen is gone and I'm taking damage. I see the surface up ahead and swim frantically, finally getting above the surface in a cave when I'm at about half health.

I swim back under and have a look around. It seems there are many branching paths. This sets off a series of dives where I swim out, look around, find air pockets, and generally explore this honeycomb of tunnels. I find giant clams that have pearls in them. I find skeletons of what I assume are pirates, sometimes clutching chests that I lockpick (others are too high level to pick, definitely coming back here later).

Finally, I find the stranded dude, hand him the tank, and he takes off. I swim for safety, air pocket to air pocket, until finally I'm out, swimming toward the surface, running out of air moments before I hit the open. Bandits take a few shots at me as rain pours down, lightning lighting up the sky in the distance, as I make the long swim back to shore.

Did I mention I love this game?!

I absolutely loved that mission, and feel the exact same way about every part. Beautiful post. That may just be one of the best missions ever in a game. And it's pretty much the first real mission!

Someone posted links to the White Gold sound files, for those that want to go that route. I may try it soon if an official patch isn't released shortly.

Deep Shadows forum post

FUCK YES!! YES YES YES!!

 

[Alex Connolly]

FUCK YES!! YES YES YES!!

And there's no unpacking to be had, Flunk. Just unzip and drop into the root directory!

 

[Flunkie]

And there's no unpacking to be had, Flunk. Just unzip and drop into the root directory!

Oh this is just perfect. I love consumer-friendly mods.

Just wish the forums weren't down..

 

[Alex Connolly]

Oh this is just perfect. I love consumer-friendly mods.

Just wish the forums weren't down..

At least you can post there! I registered and keep getting refused the right to post for some reason! Anyway, great that both games have their original sound experience available for all the pundits.

 

[Flunkie]

At least you can post there! I registered and keep getting refused the right to post for some reason! Anyway, great that both games have their original sound experience available for all the pundits.

That's the major bug that was preventing me from playing them. I'll finally be able to enjoy them.

And for the not being able to post: did you verify your sign-up email?

 

[Alex Connolly]

That's the major bug that was preventing me from playing them. I'll finally be able to enjoy them.

And for the not being able to post: did you verify your sign-up email?

The site went down, but I was still able to sign in. I'll look around for an email verification resend...otherwise, I'll try and sign up again.

In regards to the game...I just got a mission from a padre. Oh yes, it's a Latino crusade against all things vile and unholy; my mission is to take out Juarez. Thing is, I wandered into his encampment to take a look at the number guards, then went up to him and took a job. Turns out he wanted information on a weapons cache from a girl he's holding hostage.

And I just talked her into giving me the location of the cache. I'm gonna take Juarez out with his own stash once I find it. Damn, this game is awesome.

 

[lastplayed]

Some shots of Precursors without the film grain:





So nice.

 

[derFeef]

I need to get this! Thanks lastpalyed, you reminded me in the screenshot thread.

 

[Brannon]

Oh this is just perfect. I love consumer-friendly mods.

Just wish the forums weren't down..

The forums are a bit of a flux. Sometimes you just have to keep reloading to get past that white screen.

 

[Zenith]

The missions for Xenus get pretty big as you go on. I had to do a full island assault against this super-secret prison/base. Used a Hind.

Also, the first island contains something on par with the MJ12 lab in Deus Ex's Hell's Kitchen. Never knew it was there till I woke up in it.

Just out of curiosity...but what are condoms for in White Gold?

My first reaction is obviously sex, but considering the setting, I can see you shoving coke into them, swallowing them, and smuggling them. :lol.

There's a brothel on the 2nd island (or was it the first?) You can sleep with any of the girls there., so long as you use protection.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Damn, Last! Those are some nice shots! I immediately went and configured the text files after your inspirational photography.

Just the local psychedelic-peddling alien near the spaceport.

 

[Flunkie]

The forums are a bit of a flux. Sometimes you just have to keep reloading to get past that white screen.

I know - I've experienced that many times, but I hit F5 at least 100 times trying to get it to come but it never did. They're back for me now.

 

[Flunkie]

I'm trying to compile a tutorial for all the new guys, but I just end up confusing myself. I'm stuck on the whole cutscene thing. Russian audio, English subtitles?

 

[derFeef]

So I just bought Precursors and am downloading it right now. I guess the best thing to do is to download the "Precursors 1.2 English translation patch" alongside to be ready?

edit: poster above me has kind of the same question, doh

 

[bengraven]

I'm going to try this out again because these shots make me want to keep playing Precursors bad.

yeah, the intro "levels" to both games are fucking terrible. make sure you've got three rockets left for the mech, or two rockets and jump up on the rock and throw a grenade. it's easiest to just walk on the "bridge" and make the soldiers spawn and then run back down and snipe them with sights/headshots.. and all the rockets you can afford. they will throw grenades probably but they'll land in the water.

Gonna try this right now. I think I ended up using all my rockets on the men because my machine gun was a pain and they were just sponging up bullets. Seriously can't wait to upgrade this gun, removing the recoil or replace it.

I did trick one into the acid pit. haha

Also, if you're really stuck, I remember you can use armour-piercing rounds for your Lenkon in regards to the mech...if you've used up your rockets. Also, there's a EMP grenade of some description, IIRC, that makes short work of the mech.

How do you switch ammo? I tried basically everything to do it, with no luck.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

All of this Precursor patching business is a tad confusing. I see stuff about sound fixes, English 1.2 patch, getting Russian voices back, getting rid of the film grain, fixing flickering, etc... but is there some post somewhere with the most up-to-date method to do all of this? I just downloaded the game off GamersGate yesterday and am very interested in patching it up.

 

[lastplayed]

Here's how I did it:

1) Downloaded Precursors from Gamersgate
2) Applied ATI screen flickering patch
3) Following Pylon_Trooper's instructions, downloaded the Russian sound files and copied them over
4) Removed film grain from the ATI screen flickering fix files
5) Done - the game looks great, sounds great, and so far haven't come across any game breaking bugs

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Here's how I did it:

1) Downloaded Precursors from Gamersgate
2) Applied ATI screen flickering patch
3) Following Pylon_Trooper's instructions, downloaded the Russian sound files and copied them over
4) Removed film grain from the ATI screen flickering fix files
5) Done - the game looks great, sounds great, and so far haven't come across any game breaking bugs

Thanks, I'll do some searching. If you have the specific links to posts/guides that you used to accomplish the above, please post them.

 

[lastplayed]

Thanks, I'll do some searching. If you have the specific links to posts/guides that you used to accomplish the above, please post them.

1) ATI screen flickering fix and film grain removal: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25345370&postcount=298

2) Download Russian sound files and keep English cutscenes: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25323017&postcount=188

There may be easier ways to do it since then, but that's what I've used so far. It takes a little work but it's definitely worth it.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

1) ATI screen flickering fix and film grain removal: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25345370&postcount=298

2) Download Russian sound files and keep English cutscenes: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25323017&postcount=188

There may be easier ways to do it since then, but that's what I've used so far. It takes a little work but it's definitely worth it.

Thanks so much! Going off your screenshots, I'm sure I'll be satisfied with the results.

 

[Kinan]

Damn, you , Evilore, as an Ukrainian I'm now feel obliged to try those games. Hopefully will get some time for it this weekend.

Heh, one of the official screens for White Gold:

Stay classy, Deep Shadow.

 

[lastplayed]

Thanks so much! Going off your screenshots, I'm sure I'll be satisfied with the results.

No worries! Enjoy.

 

[Dick Laurent]

Stay classy, Deep Shadow.

http://board.deep-shadows.com/index.php?showtopic=267

good times :')

All of this Precursor patching business is a tad confusing. I see stuff about sound fixes, English 1.2 patch, getting Russian voices back, getting rid of the film grain, fixing flickering, etc... but is there some post somewhere with the most up-to-date method to do all of this? I just downloaded the game off GamersGate yesterday and am very interested in patching it up.

don't forget there are two different download versions of the game often talked about, the russian yuplay one and the english gamersgate. official patches are for russian version, wesps patches are for the russian version but will also work on gamersgate, sound fixes are for gamersgate version, ati flickering is for gamersgate version I think (maybe both versions?), film grain is for both versions.

I think I read wesp is about to incorporate sound fixes into his patch as well as the flickering fix (maybe this is already in 1.2?), but I'm not sure if he will put in complete sound fixes that will work for both versions or just add in the english from gamersgate for yuplay.

 

[Alex Connolly]

How do you switch ammo? I tried basically everything to do it, with no luck.

Hmm, I think it's J, but if you go to your inventory, just drag the particular ammo from your backpack into the ammo box, located under your vitals map on the right side of the screen. It's the lowest one in the Weapon/Armour/Ammo cluster.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Hrmm... I think I fucked up on the "use grp unpacker" step. I unzipped the GRP unpacker and the GRP file to a single folder, but I kept getting error messages so I tried using it in the base folder of Precursors. It worked and unpacked everything, but now the second step "move just Sounds\Cutscenes folder to the installation folder" makes no sense. The Sounds folder is already in the installation directory and populated.

I might have to read into this more and reinstall tomorrow.

I did get the flickering fix to work and was able to get rid of the nasty film grain! The game sure looks a hell of a lot nicer now.

 

[lastplayed]

Hrmm... I think I fucked up on the "use grp unpacker" step. I unzipped the GRP unpacker and the GRP file to a single folder, but I kept getting error messages so I tried using it in the base folder of Precursors. It worked and unpacked everything, but now the second step "move just Sounds\Cutscenes folder to the installation folder" makes no sense. The Sounds folder is already in the installation directory and populated.

I might have to read into this more and reinstall tomorrow.

I did get the flickering fix to work and was able to get rid of the nasty film grain! The game sure looks a hell of a lot nicer now.

I copied the game's packed sound files to the unpacker's directory, then copied back the SOUNDS folder into the game's root directory. It should work for you if you delete everything in the SOUNDS folder except Cutscenes.

Then copy over the Russian sound file and main.fat to the packages directory and you should be good to go.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I copied the game's packed sound files to the unpacker's directory, then copied back the SOUNDS folder into the game's root directory. It should work for you if you delete everything in the SOUNDS folder except Cutscenes.

Then copy over the Russian sound file and main.fat to the packages directory and you should be good to go.

Awesome! I thought that might work, but I had totally forgot to check the SOUNDS folder (or whether it even existed or not) before beginning the unpacking process. I'll give that a try...

 

[Alex Connolly]

All I can add is that it might be best not to use the unpacker in the root directory, just for clarity. Best of luck!

EDIT: Yeah, Last and I made the same easy-to-make mistake. All we needed was the Cutscene folder and to return the main and sounds grp back to the Precursor folder. Hope it works for you!

 

[Deleted member 17706]

It worked perfectly!

Wow, all of these sounds! The base English game is really missing out on a lot of the atmosphere :lol .

One last thing, is anyone else experiencing texture pop-in issues? It will take upwards of 10 seconds or so for some textures to load fully. Is there a fix for this or is it just how the engine works?

 

[lastplayed]

One last thing, is anyone else experiencing texture pop-in issues? It will take upwards of 10 seconds or so for some textures to load fully. Is there a fix for this or is it just how the engine works?

Same for me. I just assume it's an engine thing, much like UE3.

Also, a question for Pylon and anyone else who's played both Xenus and Precursors, how do they compare? I'd quite like to check out Xenus, and from some of the stories I've heard here it sounds a little more dynamic and random than Precursors. But I'm not that far into Precursors so maybe I haven't encountered anything like that yet.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Also, a question for Pylon and anyone else who's played both Xenus and Precursors, how do they compare? I'd quite like to check out Xenus, and from some of the stories I've heard here it sounds a little more dynamic and random than Precursors. But I'm not that far into Precursors so maybe I haven't encountered anything like that yet.

For me, and I think Dick Laurent is the expert here so he'd be the man to ask, Xenus 2 has different gunplay to Precursors. Precursors feels more the RPG, just by way of its feel with weaponry. Xenus 2 has a more conventional shooter feel, but integrated into a gameworld where indeed, there's a lot more factional interplay. It's not quite at the level of hands-free NPC group interaction as STALKER (but nothing quite compares to STALKER!), but there's a nice selection of groups and their interactions are satisfying - at least in what I've experienced thus far.

Quote of the moment from Xenus 2, ushered upon me by drug-addicted guerillas wanting me to score some blow:

"Man, I'm gonna go nuts if I don't have a snort soon."

I think both games compliment each other nicely. Some interface overlap only helps the experience.

 

[Dick Laurent]

you can't run-jump forever in xenus2, hehe. that's the biggest difference for me

 

[indigo-cyclops]

So I managed to get both sound file fixes for each game working, but was unable to get the English cutscene fix working for Precursors. There would be no sound at all when copying SOUNDS/CUTSCENES into game directory. Oh well. I managed to get a save file near my old progress. The game is something totally different with all the sound, I love it.

There's some weird distortion/color morphing (don't know how to explain it) on the edge of my screen in both games though, I noticed it in a few of the screenshots here.

 

[Alex Connolly]

So I managed to get both sound file fixes for each game working, but was unable to get the English cutscene fix working for Precursors. There would be no sound at all when copying SOUNDS/CUTSCENES into game directory. Oh well. I managed to get a save file near my old progress. The game is something totally different with all the sound, I love it.

There's some weird distortion/color morphing (don't know how to explain it) on the edge of my screen in both games though, I noticed it in a few of the screenshots here.

I had that as well. Perhaps it has something to do with ATI cards. I fiddled around with the 3D settings on my ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 and saw that if I adjust the slider towards Quality, rather than performance, I'd get that white light fuzz on the left and top sides of the screen. I thought my new machine was on the fritz, but when I turned it back all the way to performance, the effect was gone - both in Xenus and Precursors.

Might be a future fix.

 

[lastplayed]

There's some weird distortion/color morphing (don't know how to explain it) on the edge of my screen in both games though, I noticed it in a few of the screenshots here.

It only happens to me when I try forcing AA through RadeonPro, but don't notice it otherwise.

 

[derFeef]

So... the ATI flickering fix is not working for me and I can´t get the GRP unpacker to work on my system (file corrupt?). I am kind of lost as I have played the first 30 minutes of Precursors and I liked it, but the flickering sure is bad :/

 

[Alex Connolly]

Finally made it off Goldyn, after doing a stack of missions out in the desert. From an encounter with an old mutant cannibal who kept calling me "Lush bacon" to haggling a flower out of an old man to avoid an environmental catastrophe, I'm finally flying in space.

And I tell you what, there's something wonderful about Eastern Bloc space design...especially the audio. Beautiful! Kinda reminds me of Home Planet, funnily enough by the same publishers, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Let us have another screenshot frenzy.

SPAAAAAAACE!

SPAAAAAAACE...ship and station!

Steamy, steamy Jungle Planet!

Goddamn, I love Precursors.