1668

Spoiler regarding the stuff Tom is talking about.
Removed until i can figure out why the spoilers aren’t blurring.

Nevermind Scott got it.

There’s a ton of stuff you can learn just by talking to folks… A ton of stuff from talking to other folks in the camp too.

1669

It’s because you can’t select/spoiler tag multiple paragraphs, you have to have the image start and end each paragraph. Or highlight just one paragraph at a time and spoiler tag that way.

1670

Jeez, I just tried to do the challenge to shoot 5 birds off a moving train, figured that would be easy - but no, there’s lawmen on the train and they don’t seem to like when you starting firing guns on their train. Also, they bring the train to a stop, so you only have a small window of time to get those five shots. I don’t think this one is going to be so easy!

1671

Oh, that’s awesome that he puts it that way! I know some of the debt collection is optional, since I eventually decided I didn’t want Arthur to be muscle for a predatory lender. But I guess there’s only an illusion of choice early on.

-Tom

1672

It’s pretty incredible how well Buster Scruggs snuggles neatly right into this game’s map: dusty towns, windswept plains, gorgeous mountain valleys, snowbound heights, etc.

1673

I really love how they nailed the look of Rhodes, clearly a small middle or south Mississippi/Alabama/Georgia town with it’s dusty red clay streets bordering on the Louisiana bayou or Okefenokee.

1674

What’s the trick to beating the dude in the shooting contest, anyway? Does engaging deadeye and sweeping across the targets work?

1675

Lose the shooting contest cause it’s hard , get angry, shoot guy in head.

1676

Just shoot him anywhere and you’ll win.

1677

So is there no winning it “legit,” so to speak?

1678

You can win it legit, but I find that some locations where the contest occurs make it easier to win, some places the bottles just don’t stand out against the background well, especially if light is dim. You don’t really need dead shot, but using the repeater is probably the best bet since you don’t have to reload as much.

1679

Sorry, I thought you were talking about fast draw dueling the gunslingers.

1680

Yeah, I was talking about the bottles and such , but regarding the ex-gunslingers I didn’t realize that you didn’t have to kill them.

BTW, general question: if you just finished a mission and want to do better at it (get silver vs bronze or whatever), if you replay it and there’s a different result does it become “the official story” as far as your save game is concerned?

1681

Man this game really is insane when it comes to general quality. I am in chapter 4 just doing all the sidequests in St. Dennis and having a grand time.

1682

Came across a minor graphical glitch (tree pop-in) and it was so jarring because there’s not been much else that has been too immersion-breaking for me.

As much as I enjoy playing the game I think just existing in the game world is equally as satisfying. I went animal watching the other day. Found a nice shady spot in a dry creek bed and tried to see how many animals I could study to fill out the compendium. They get pretty close to you if you sit still long enough.

Later on, I came across a treasure hunter who didn’t want me to know he was hunting treasures and was generally acting all cagey. He made some excuses and then went on his way, asking me not to follow him. So of course I did (I didn’t want to just rob him of the map) and he lead me all over the place! We went 'round and 'round the map, doubling back here and there. Any time I got too close he’d say something and speed back up. Eventually, we ran into some O’Driscolls and by the time I’d dealt with them I’d lost the treasure hunter! Ah well. Onto the next adventure.

1683

He caught me unawares the first time. I only had my revolver on me. When he challenged me, I figured the game would let me go to my horse and get a rifle/repeater so I could compete with him. But no, he just started shooting stuff that I couldn’t see.

Good to hear I’ll get another chance at him.

1684

Inasmuch as that ever happens, no, it won’t change anything in your storyline.

I wish there was some way to replay just the challenging part of the missions. I was working on better medals for a while, but it just got too tedious having to sit through the same traversal sequences and unskippable conversations and story filler, just to get to a shootout and try to get through it without drinking a health potion. Rockstar had a similiar issue with the last Max Payne. There were really cool incentives to replay missions and do better, but there was no way to skip the narrative around the missions.

-Tom

1685

Is anyone else addicted to upgrading all the little touches around the camp? I’m trying to figure out where some oxen are so I can make a nice throw rug in Arthur’s tent.

I did encounter one of the weirdest bugs I’ve ever seen today, I was riding along and my horse screamed, reared up and threw me, and then burst into flame. All I could do was just watch her corpse burn. I have no idea what happened, it was like spontaneous combustion.

Also had an interesting random encounter outside of Saint Denis, guy came riding up to me asking if I could get him to a doctor, so I rushed him back to the Saint Denis doc, who took a look at him and told him his arm had to come off (not sure what happened, I guessed snake bite?) and then told me I should leave, I wouldn’t want to see what was going to happen. So of course I hung around, and sure enough, doc pulled out a bone saw and went to town, bandaged up the stump and consoled the amputee. That was wild.

1686

He always beats me at the bottles, but I’m able to beat him at the birds.

1687

In my game, that’s not the worst thing that eventually happens to that guy.