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Other Projects => Other Games => Topic started by: TheBronzePickle on December 23, 2017, 01:30:10 pm

Title: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: TheBronzePickle on December 23, 2017, 01:30:10 pm

Tarkov, a city in the heart of the Norvinsk Special Economic Zone, was originally set up as a haven for international economic cooperation between companies of the East and West, a haven for business growth and increased trade between the two sides attempting to reconcile after ages of Cold War competition.

That dream has been shattered. After the abuses of several international corporations, Tarkov has become the center of a proxy war. Chief among the abusers, the supercorp Terra Group has hired on the aid of the PMC USEC to secure their holdings and cover up their misdeeds. The Russian ministry, wanting to get to the bottom of the disaster that is now Tarkov, have created their own PMC, BEAR, to investigate and put an end to Terra Group and other companies' unethical business practices. Meanwhile, those civilians who haven't evacuated have taken up arms themselves, becoming Scavs who roam the city and take what they can.

Escape from Tarkov (https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/) is a simulationist multiplayer FPS taking place in the city of Tarkov, where two PMCs vie for control of the abandoned factories, warehouses, and offices. Currently, the game consists of timed runs through relatively small maps, fighting the local Scavs and other PMC operators while collecting gear and completing quests. At the current stage, the game is already fun, with highly detailed, heavily customizable guns with comprehensively simulated ballistics and a not-particularly-realistic but engaging health system that gives combat depth without sacrificing ease of understanding.

A new patch is set to launch on the 28th that will increase the already-satisfying weapons roster, as well as doubling the size of one of the maps, adding a new customizable helmet, and hopefully fixing some long-standing bugs. However, the game has suffered an issue with severe desync, especially on the European servers, and as the game is online multiplayer only, this can be a crippling problem. They've made great strides to fix these issues, but while I personally haven't had any issues in a while, there are quite a few who still suffer.

Another warning is that the game is quite ambitious. The very small team working on Tarkov hopes to make the area of Tarkov into one continuous map running like an MMO, as well as adding hundreds of different weapons modeled as accurately as possible both visually and mechanically. It may take years for them to reach their goals, if they ever do. That said, the current iteration of Tarkov is quite playable, acting more as an arena shooter and treasure hunt. If you have a taste for simulation-level gunplay but not the patience to get into a game of ArmA, Tarkov might be your thing.

https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/ -Main site, same as link above.
https://www.reddit.com/r/EscapefromTarkov/ -Reddit, not linked from main site like most of the other resources.
http://tarkovballistics.blogspot.com/ -Some guys who test the various weapons to determine the less obvious numbers, like the amount of damage the bullets actually do. A useful resource if you want to get into the meta without experimenting for yourself.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: ukulele on December 23, 2017, 04:57:26 pm

Got my eye on this one, going to get it when the discount of the 28th hits.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: a1s on December 23, 2017, 06:02:49 pm

Quote

Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator

What are the others?

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Burnt Pies on December 23, 2017, 06:10:44 pm

Quote from: a1s on December 23, 2017, 06:02:49 pm

Quote

Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator

What are the others?

STALKER and Metro, just off the top of my head. Probably a few lesser known ones too.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Yoink on December 24, 2017, 02:26:25 am

This is the kind of thing that makes me wanna buy a gaming rig ASAP.   

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Retropunch on December 24, 2017, 07:34:05 am

I watched a beta lets play of this and it looked incredible - however all open world multiplayer games look amazing in the closed beta/carefully constructed lets play, whereas the reality can be very different. If they manage it, it'll be the best MMOFPS ever, but I'm reserving judgement till it gets into more general circulation.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: IWishIWereSarah on December 24, 2017, 07:46:15 am

Quote from: Retropunch on December 24, 2017, 07:34:05 am

I watched a beta lets play of this and it looked incredible - however all open world multiplayer games look amazing in the closed beta/carefully constructed lets play

But isn't that what they said : it's only a normal FPS for now, and they want to make it an open world later (maybe for release) ?

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Insanegame27 on December 26, 2017, 02:39:44 am

25% iirc


I started with the standard edition, played for a few weeks and upgraded through each version of the package. Well worth it.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: TheBronzePickle on December 28, 2017, 07:29:31 pm

If anyone is curious about this game but not enough to throw their money at it quite yet, I have two one 7-day trial code to share. PM me if you want it.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Radsoc on December 29, 2017, 09:54:47 am

Liked what I saw in some youtube let's plays, looked ambitious and the level of realism i.e. no kill confirmation is good. Bought the game at the discount, but VAT quickly erased almost all of it, so I think it's quite expensive still (i.e what a full game costs normally).

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Tnx on December 30, 2017, 12:32:19 pm

Hello, does anyone have a 7 day pass?  I'd like to try it out before putting down $35 on this.  Would love to see how many other B12ers are playing this too.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: ukulele on December 30, 2017, 02:38:59 pm

Bought it a few days ago, seems 7day-pass its only for older purchases so dont have one sadly.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Tnx on December 30, 2017, 09:05:31 pm

Got a 7 day pass from BronzePickle, thank you so much.  First try I played as a scav and went in at night.  Spawned with an AK but couldn't see shit.  Fumbled around with settings while lying down for like 10 minutes.  Finally killed two guys before I got killed myself- that was fun.  Now I'm just playing offline for a while for map knowledge.  How do you buy ammo anyways?  I noticed I started with 4 makarovs but all the mags have no ammo in them.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: TheBronzePickle on December 30, 2017, 09:12:02 pm

You buy it from the traders on 'trading'. Prapor sells makarov ammo, it's 9x18mm. You should start with a lot of it.

Most pro players only go in with an extra mag and a stack of loose ammo. All of the magazines take up a lot more space than the ammo they carry, and reloading a magazine is basically just drag-and-drop and takes no time, so you can just reload and refill the spare mag.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Radsoc on January 16, 2018, 09:26:53 am

Tried it out for the first time. I like it. But it's very confusing. What happens if my main character dies? I just lose the stuff I carry?

Only played as a scav at the moment, which seems more safe as I got no clue about the maps or mechanics in general.

As a scav, am I supposed to shoot everyone on sight? What about if I'm in a faction? Is it just for show, or do I cease fire on people in similar uniforms?

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Burnt Pies on January 16, 2018, 12:00:01 pm

If your character dies you lose everything you're carrying except your melee weapon and your Alpha/Gamma case+contents. Your stash is completely safe. It's generally recommended to keep keys/keybars/documents cases in the case, as certain keys are some of the rarer and more sought after items to loot.

Scav Players won't be fired upon by AI scavs until they've fired on an AI scav. You can either use other scavs as free loot or meatshields this way. Scav players will usually be murderous as soon as they figure out you're not acting like an AI or will wiggle from side to side with the lean buttons. This is meant as a peace gesture.

PMC players have no faction loyalties and will nearly always shoot everyone on sight. Very occasionally you might get a peace wiggle at short range. It's probably not worth trusting.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: TheBronzePickle on January 16, 2018, 05:45:10 pm

There is no honor among player scavs, either, I should warn. Basically if you interact with anyone who isn't an AI, you can't trust them for your life.

Especially if all they have is a hatchet. Hatchlings know no fear nor mercy, only greed and bloodlust.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Radsoc on January 17, 2018, 10:26:45 am

Really good gun handling. Played as a PMC for the first time now, had a good run until I found out that the rock passage was closed. :P Decided to flank the road to the customs, but scavs detected me from a good distance (before I could see them). No idea if they used hand grenades or shotguns. Had to withdraw, was out of AK ammo, and tried to flank them from the other side, but they found out and got me. Luckily most stuff was insured and there was not much game time left. Guess that should be the exit of last resort.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: TheBronzePickle on January 17, 2018, 10:55:29 am

Scavs tend to stick to particular areas. Once you get used to the game you'll get to know about where you can expect to find them, and either avoid them or get into a good position to shoot them before they can find you to retaliate.

Of course, this is bad news if you got chased down over a significant distance. That was probably a player or player squad.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: bluephoenix on July 04, 2018, 01:33:06 am

Any Australian players here? I recently picked up the game again after a month long break.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mechanoid on July 22, 2018, 10:41:13 pm

Version 0.9 released a few days ago. Server wiped all the progress anyone made except for the player reputation towards traders.

- Still pushes the engine too far and runs like garbage because of it. Shoreline is just too damn large. This is evident where there are stutters and freezes when ai scavengers spawn in, which is similar to source engine games with very large navigation meshes freezing when new enemies are spawned in dynamically.
- AI that enjoys cheating impossibly from time to time such as a 1-tap headshot through a bush you've never touched and have clearly been hiding behind for a few minutes.
- Netcode that loves to desynchronize. Ever go prone and grab something, and then sliiiide back to some other place? That's the resync between your client position and the server position. This is so bad that it's possible to desync with the server and have it fail to properly update specific item slots with inventory items. The client thinks there's nothing in that slot but the server thinks that slot is filled; queue a situation where you can't place an item into a slot except by certain specific actions (reloading a gun USUALLY forces the magazine into a glitched spot... but then the magazine becomes bugged!)
- Audio glitches that: Fail to initialize the sound environment properly (spawn inside during rain, but outside rain FX plays) Fails to properly assign a z-axis to the audio (explosions/shots/speech/steps happening above/below you sounds like the same floor) Fails to simply play any kind of environmental sounds what so ever (is it windy with trees swaying? Are the bushes looking like they're having a seizure in a rain storm? Yeah, there's no wind sound or bushes-pushed-by-wind sound!)
- Yes the edge of darkness edition with the Gamma container is pay-to-win over powered, you can still stuff a LBE rig inside to get 10 slots instead of just 9 (and if it's a rig with the 2x2 square, a grizzly medkit or a pistol case for 9 more ammo/pistol weapons!)
- STILL HAS A FRAMERATE DEPENDENT RATE OF FIRE GLITCHING so someone getting 30 frames per second will fire nowhere near as many shots as someone with 60FPS, which is again massively beaten by someone with 120FPS. Take the minimum requirements and double it, and you'll have the actual minimum requirements. The maximum requirements is non-existant, because even a NASA super computer won't manage to pull 120 frames; there are literally broken and non-operational settings in the graphical menu.

All this and the game version is 0.9

tl;dr It's a good premise turned to shit by incompetence and long-term ignoring of problems. Like every other large-map/open world survival multiplayer FPS game.

Be entertained by live streams and videos all you like but remember that it's nowhere near as fun to play as it is to watch, just like Rust.
Do not purchase.

edit - One last additional point: There are no dedicated servers except for the official ones. Every game is handled through a first-come matchmaking system. Level 1's who don't know the game will be thrown into the shark tank where 5 man fully-kitted squads are going head-to-head with one another. There is ZERO internal balance with matchmaking and it becomes an EXTREME TEST OF PATIENCE to sit through multiple half-hour long matches ALL of which end in failure because no matter how good you actually are, there is always 1 more enemy on their team to put a bullet in your "forever unarmored" leg meta.
Yes. There is a 5-minute late spawn allowance, too. You can spawn in, turn around, and see someone who then roasts you. Hope you didn't take anything valuable into a raid like a quest item or nothing. ::)

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Goron on July 22, 2018, 11:45:32 pm

Just want to make a note that Mechanoid's entire post is subjective with a few tid bits of fact scattered in.
I personally disagree with almost the entirety of what he wrote.

Escape From Tarkov is by far the best game I have played in a quite a long time and I have been playing this pretty much without break for almost a year.

Sure, *you* may dislike it, but then again, *you* may love it. Do not base your opinion on someone else's post, though.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mechanoid on July 23, 2018, 01:31:20 am

Quote from: Goron on July 22, 2018, 11:45:32 pm

entire post is subjective with a few tid bits of fact scattered in

Framerate dependent Rate of Fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4mQ4TqTI0M
This glitch was NOT fixed in the 0.9 patch and was stated by the devs to be resolved in an "intermediate" patch after 0.9, aka: "Soon.^TM"

Server desync compilation, chronological
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmKEu61AbSs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2l0jjs4vzU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_o43JKJsGk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxZsNjk_-bQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kaZpxlLx00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Y1q8mcMF8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JInMCudne-c

Doorway desync
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiJV6vv21fs

Animation "locking" glitch, which prevents gun from firing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf6FxsaVyos
Teleportation and animation locking glitch, Environment audio glitch post-teleport (due to environment audio trigger on factory doorway not being de/activated or player position checked properly)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id88GBZhxcQ

Getting outside the playable map space is still possible (and yes you can shoot people through any empty map polygons and kill your target with impunity)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzvI5-p6o_4

It's also a fact that there is no limitations on matchmaking for skill levels or equipment loadouts, which you can see from any gameplay video; which for anyone seeking fair play would be a massive turn-off. Likewise it's also a two way street; it's no fun to go into a factory raid as someone who's actually risking their equipment and only encountering naked people using hatchets. Not only are you the only person risking a loss of anything, everyone else is absolutely no challenge and the only way to fail is to be caught off-guard or make a mistake.
Any kind of gameplay challenge however is simply that, but is massively made worse by the numbers of glitches and bugs that truely destroy gameplay.

When BSG fixes the fire-rate glitch is when EFT can actually be playable.

Gamma container pay-to-win "Subjectivity":

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There are various items which increase inventory space by being larger inside than they are outside:
Key bar (1 space) = 16 Keys only. Wallet (1 space)  = 4 Paper Money only (Roubles, Euros, Dollars; No physical bitcoins) Docs Case (2 spaces) = 16 for Keys or Paper Money (you will never find 16 stacks (1.6M Roubles) of money) Pistol Case (2x2 spaces) = 9 spaces for ammunition pistol type weapons
Secure containers keep items even after a raid is failed:
Alpha Container 2x2, Beta Container 2x3, Epsilon Container 2x4 (Largest game-accessible secure container) Gamma Container 3x3 (Edge of Darkness owners only, unless given to by said account owner; Requires account wipe to obtain a new one)
There is a chest rig (3x3 size) with an internal 2x2, 1x2 *2, and 1 *2 slots for a total of 10 slots

This specific chest rig goes into a gamma container, so that 9 item space becomes a 10 item space.
From there any combination of inventory increasing items can be shoved inside that chest rig... The largest hypothetical "dedicated" Gamma could thus be: 15 tiles fitting Pistols/Ammo, including allowance for a possibly 3x3 pistol; Four docs cases and 2 wallets is 16*4+8=72 stacks of paper money; 160 keys on 10 keybars; 10 items of any type as long as they're a single space large (+1 over a rigless gamma, which is by itself bad enough)
Keep in mind the largest available standard edition secure container is 2x8, and there are no size-increasing chest rigs to fit inside that space. The only "advantage" this container has over the gamma is that it can fit inside a 2x4 sized rifle with folding stock... But if you're an EoD owner you can freely switch between the Gamma and Epsilon when you get it.

While i'm completely sure this is all intentional and very obvious by the developers, it does show their true intention is trying to goad you into buying gameplay advantages through account tiers (or waiting for a kind soul to gift you a normally unobtainable item)

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: ukulele on July 23, 2018, 03:13:13 am

I have to say i enjoeyed tarkov quite a bit, probably the best survival fps out there right now. While the stuff mechanoid points out does exist, i wouldnt say it has an impact on most raids, iv played quite a bit and i cant even remember more than maybe 2 cases of bugs (i did suffer some invisible hatchet guys when they were rampant). 
Also id argue there should be no matchmaking in a survival FPS, you can kill fully kitted enemies spending 1/100 of what they got without much trouble, they are risking a lot more and they have better odds becouse of it(the improved odds are no were close the investment diference). 
You make the case that the gamma container is P2W, but i honestly cant see how saving some stuff after you die can help you win over some one else, its only usefull if you die, its a fail mitigator, not a winning tool. Claiming you can take 72 "stacks of money" with you as an advantage honestly confused me quite a bit, why would anyone want to do that(have you actually played the game)? Yes 10 slots its more than 8, but i dont see how that is game breaking, specially considering how easy its to make money in this game(at least now, i hope its for testing purposes).
The rate of fire being tied to FPSs its inexcusable and i cant belive developers keep making that mistake, this is a huge NO-NO so i do agree 100% with you here.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: TheBronzePickle on July 23, 2018, 08:56:04 am

While the better cases are technically only a failure mitigator, the fact is that in Tarkov, you're expected to fail a lot. You're in direct competition with everyone else on the map for the best loot, and you can either rush to get that best loot and risk being a big target or you can take it slow and maybe pick through the leftovers, and even if you do the latter you're going to run into tougher scavs and the people who are trying to farm those scavs for their more valuable loot like armor.

Especially when it comes to quests that require you to get standard gear, the Gamma case is *vastly* superior to any other. You can carry an entire extra armor that you can't with any other case, which helps you get your foot in the door with Skier. You can also take more of the smaller items that you need for other quests or can trade for higher-end gear from the traders.

Just in general, you don't have to select as carefully for the stuff you want to take. The Alpha case fills up painfully quickly, and it takes a long, long time before you get to use anything else.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: ukulele on July 23, 2018, 05:24:43 pm

I just started playing after a while, maybe 1 or 2 updates without playing, you can always trade for the bigger cases if you have the money and dont want to do the quests. Again you probably wont carry armor in your case, at least one slot is for keys and there are more money efficient items to take home. I usually focus on value while looting, the rest can be traded in. 
EDIT: Went to woods with an AK Vepr i looted as a scav, 2 kills and some luck later the first great run of my return to the game.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(https://imgur.com/JAs5rVc.jpg)

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on December 31, 2018, 08:33:15 pm

behold the powers of my necromancy!

*slavic necro casting sounds* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwzUs1IMdyQ&t=0m50s)

i got a 14 day trial code from a friend and tried this out. digging it a bit; its like a less crowded, multiplayer stalker game crossed with the division. my first run was as a scav, i found 4 ai scav brothers and a duo of players came and i used these bros to draw them out while i sniped them with my mosin. i left that map flush with 2 sets of body armor and helmets, 2 full aks and mags, a good backpack and a harness. oh and some scopes and other accessories attached to the aks. i promptly sold all of this. and i used it to buy cheap sks rifles and mags/ammo. feeling like a true gopnik.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on December 31, 2018, 11:07:04 pm

I have it, I haven't played it in months though.  It was really buggy when I played, my most successful game ended up being almost all bots.  It can be fun when it works, but you can say that about all Russian games.

Slavgames always have great ideas and are awesome when they work, but they're held together with duct tape and fly apart with little provocation.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Radsoc on January 02, 2019, 06:08:36 am

I have a 2 week free trial code. (Must be activated before the 6th of this month)

PM to claim ;)

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 11, 2021, 04:59:11 pm

After watching BeagleRush play this for a while I finally decided to give it a whirl.

It's...actually a lot of fun! And I'm not much of an FPS person. Stressful in a way that even horror games don't capture well for me, but fun.

But the game feels pretty solid, no bugs so far, and while there are design choices that I don't like the overall experience is quite engaging.

Mostly I think I like the 'looting with risk' aspect of the game. In that looting is dangerous and can/will get you killed if you're careless about it. Makes all the loot you do get feel a little more worthwhile, even though all you did was click on a box to search it and then move it to your inventory.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on March 11, 2021, 05:23:31 pm

still having fun with tarkov. its an addiction if you find you like the game; i dont play during the week cuz i know ill chase my losses into the night and i dont wanna get fired from work lol. im probably at the level of an intermediate player in that i know the common loot spots, most quest locations on maps other than coastline and woods, know weapon, armor and ammo stats, and can handle myself in combat with most weapons except snipers cuz ive never taken to sniping in most fpses except fallout nv and 4.

im usually in the sherpa hub discord on the weekends when i do play with squads (im usually solo) and im fairly casual this wipe, i havent really boosted my level and am just playing with scratch scav gear and having fun.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 11, 2021, 05:37:10 pm

I'm still quite new. Only play for short bursts most of the time with everything else I have going on. Still only level 4 and working on some of the early quests.

But I'm getting better and learning the maps. Mostly Customs and Woods right now.

I'm a pretty cautious player and don't seek out fights with players, so I tend to have more issues with inventory space than losing gear. That'll probably change as I get better.

I do have to say that the early game inventory management is rather painful. Especially if you've had several good hauls in a row and end up spending half an hour just figuring out what to sell and what to keep.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: nenjin on March 11, 2021, 05:45:52 pm

I've been watching this game for a while. I'm not big into FPS anymore, and Battle Royales have never ever been my bag. But there's something about EoT that tantalizes me. Maybe it's the whole meta of the game, being a convict scrounging crap to buy your freedom. Maybe it's the meta of having collected gear so you don't have to go into a match butt naked. Maybe it's all the strats, the fact you don't have to fight to the death. Maybe it's the presence of AI and bots, and mutants at some point?

I dunno. Color me intrigued though, have enjoyed watching General Sam talking about being a rat in Tarkov. I've been waiting for it to hit a big release milestone before I try it though.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 11, 2021, 05:54:16 pm

I think it's the roguelike nature that appeals to me. Normal battle royales are true resets between matches. This game is all about incremental improvements. You level up stats and gear and your hideout in-between runs. The stuff you bring into a raid can be lost and the stuff you find can be taken back and used.

Death isn't a big deal, but it's also not meaningless. The game manages to walk the fine line between those two and actually do it well.

The Scav runs you can do really help, since death in those just reflects a loss of opportunity and nothing else, and a successful run can get you back up from square 1 if you have a bad run on your main. It's a good mechanic.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: nenjin on March 11, 2021, 05:59:35 pm

Didn't realize the game had stats to level up now too. Been a good year since I've looked at anything about it.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 11, 2021, 06:30:17 pm

Heh. Yeah, I don't think my heart has raced nearly so much in a long, long time as it did when I first started playing. I think when I realized that death *really* wasn't all that bad it got better. Or I got used to dying. I'm not sure.

Either way, playing more has reduced that, although it's still a high tension game for me.

Can completely see this not being a lot of people's cup of tea.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on March 11, 2021, 06:39:28 pm

this might just be experience talking but i dont find the game particularly tense unless im carrying fat loot or doing a quest that i absolutely have to survive to complete. when it comes to players: i know the spawn locations for most maps and i can gauge where people are by gunshot, including how far they are and their general location and type of gun they're probably using. knowing the maps and the common hotspots helps in this regard. this is a must for good comms and callouts: its the difference between "gunshots at crack house, auto fire probably an AK" or "i hear shots on the left and they're going ham" or "oh crap i hear gunfire in that direction"

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 11, 2021, 07:03:44 pm

Experience seems to help a lot. I tend to find it tenser as time goes on, since the chances that I'll run into someone randomly increases once you get past the first 10 minutes (which I find fairly predictable). Plus, I usually have more loot the longer the raid goes and have more to lose.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Knave on March 13, 2021, 05:58:43 pm

I love watching this game and playing around in my inventory, but then I get absolutely destroyed every time I play. On level 6 now, and that grind to level 10 to get the flea market sure feels long :)

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 13, 2021, 06:08:42 pm

Seriously. I'm just shy of 5 now.

I tend to do well against scavs but rarely do well against players.

Also, for some reason I cannot for the life of me hit anything with the stock M4 they give you at the start. Not sure if they have a terrible configuration or what, but I'm far more accurate with most of the other guns I've tried.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on March 13, 2021, 09:01:23 pm

stock automatic weapons are generally useful at close ranges or on single fire, but fully shine with accurate bursts at medium range but most guns really benefit in this department from modding, which can get expensive.

which brings me to an important point: beginners are best served with accurate semi-auto weapons. the sks, any shotgun or any of the veprs (hunter, 136, 209, 215) teach you accurate shooting and good positioning which is more important in tarkov over spraying at the target.

the sks has long been touted as the rookie king gun because it fires good ammo thats still affordable and the gun works well with no to minimal modding, firing accurately at ranges and you can fire it almost as fast as you can click for quick panic fire if someone ambushes you at close range.
shotguns with long barrels fire narrow cones of shot that can easily hit someones face even at medium ranges and put them down in one shot, especially scavs, and buckshot is generally cheap.
the vepr hunter fires strong ammo accurately and is semi auto making it the sks's badder older brother. the 136 is just a semi auto AK and the 209 fires unique weird ammo and is also basically a semi auto AK. both of these are cheap guns and are highly moddable for cheap builds that can be translated to actual auto AKs. the 215 is a cheap bolt action that fires the same round as the 209, making it a serviceable sniper with a cheap scope.
other than the vepr hunter, these guns also have a very high chance of coming back in insurances unless they've been heavily modded and even then the sights, silencer and/or laser pointers/flashlights will just be stripped off and you'll get the gun back.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Sirian on March 14, 2021, 04:58:22 am

Quote from: Knave on March 13, 2021, 05:58:43 pm

I love watching this game and playing around in my inventory, but then I get absolutely destroyed every time I play. On level 6 now, and that grind to level 10 to get the flea market sure feels long :)

Quote from: Mephansteras on March 13, 2021, 06:08:42 pm

Seriously. I'm just shy of 5 now.

I tend to do well against scavs but rarely do well against players.

Also, for some reason I cannot for the life of me hit anything with the stock M4 they give you at the start. Not sure if they have a terrible configuration or what, but I'm far more accurate with most of the other guns I've tried.

I recommend trying the solo mod available here : https://www.sp-tarkov.com/ (https://www.sp-tarkov.com/)

It allows you to progress offline against bots, and introduces AI PMCs. There are also further mods that you can use to tweak the game to your preference.

I had a blast playing it for several weeks, whereas online tarkov stresses me out too much to be enjoyable.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 14, 2021, 09:47:52 am

@Jimbo: That lines up pretty well with my experiences

@Sirian: Oh, nice! I'll have to check that out.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: nenjin on March 15, 2021, 06:50:40 pm

Yeah another reason I haven't gotten into it is I'm not sure my nerves could take it either. Shit Dark Souls PVP was a sweat-soaked controller, rage out affair for me at times. I get startled along with the player just watching Tarkov. Weird how it seems the older I've gotten, the MORE keyed up I get playing games like this. My blood used to be like ice when I was teenager, by comparison.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 15, 2021, 10:54:07 pm

I played it a long time ago and didn't like it much, especially when I lived through a match long enough to realize most of the other people in it were bots.  It was also really hard to tell who was what and avoid friendly fire.  Is that even a thing?  Is it actually battle royale or teams?  Can scavs shoot each other?  I remember when I lived through a match as a scav there were only a couple scavs left and they just stood still and ignored me.

The permanence can definitely make a game like this more exciting.  Hunt: Showdown also has permadeath for characters.  Haven't played that in a long time either but playing solo in two-man games was a ton of fun, you make less noise so you can stalk other teams and catch them off-guard.  Wiping teams as a solo was lots of fun.  Also in two-man the monster boss you're hunting only drops two bounties, so if you yoink one while they're all fighting then whichever team comes out on top only gets one, so one of the partners doesn't get anything for winning.  Hilarious.  I did that a few times as well though it's spicier since you gotta run into the monster's lair while multiple pairs are converging on it and then get out alive.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 15, 2021, 11:48:40 pm

Quote from: nenjin on March 15, 2021, 06:50:40 pm

Yeah another reason I haven't gotten into it is I'm not sure my nerves could take it either. Shit Dark Souls PVP was a sweat-soaked controller, rage out affair for me at times. I get startled along with the player just watching Tarkov. Weird how it seems the older I've gotten, the MORE keyed up I get playing games like this. My blood used to be like ice when I was teenager, by comparison.

I've found that after playing for a bit I've mostly gotten used to it. Still get startled by loud shots right near me, but no longer actually nervous most of the time. First few missions were...crazy tense. Now, not an issue most of the time even if it gets hairy. So for me at least it was a matter of getting used to it, apparently.

@Cthulhu: Not sure how it used to be. Now, it's solo or teams for PMC (up to 5 players on a team I think). I don't have a team, so I do solo runs. Be fun to play with people at some point.

Scav runs are different. NPC scavs spawn in along with player scavs, and all NPC scavs are friendly to player scavs unless you turn on them. All scavs are hostile to PMCs.

I'm my own worst enemy sometimes on Scav runs. An NPC scav will run out of nowhere at me and I'll panic and shoot them, thus making all the other scavs hate me. Actually lost a promising scav run earlier today to that, sadly. Doesn't help that you can't visually tell NPC scavs and player scavs apart and player scavs are likely to shoot you.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on March 16, 2021, 04:49:35 pm

playing tarkov with a team is much less intimidating, usually because more pmcs = more chances of detecting enemies before you run into them. but it also means potentially less loot as you all divvy up the stuff you find. rule of thumb for groups: whoever gets the kill gets first pick on the body for loot. after they say they're done, its fair game and a lot of the down time between action is people bartering loot. "bro you want that backpack?" or "imma grab this guys rig cuz its better then mine but ill leave his mags in his backpack" stuff like that.

there's also callouts which require some map knowledge and it helps if everyone warms up in chat before loading into a raid by introducing themselves to get everyone else used to their voice. keeping track of everyone is one of the challenges of group play, after all. everyone should take mental cliffnotes on who's equipped with what to prevent friendly fire and to also prevent hesitation so you know who you're firing at is not a friendly. definitely helps if everyone sticks together and announces movement outside of a given area. oh and if someone asks or yells comms, it usually means to be quiet cuz they heard something and needs to hear if it happens again and what the noise was to begin with.

id be more then happy to shepherd new players around on the weekends but we seem to not have a df players discord. i don't mean a df discord, we do and im part of it, but i mean a discord for bay12ers to gather and play games and the df discord doesn't have group chats except for the tavern.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 16, 2021, 07:01:55 pm

It's been a long time so I think I'll start it up again and see how it goes.  How many people spawn into a match?  I remember it not being a true battle royale, like you could find the exit to leave before it was over instead of staying till only one guy is left.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 16, 2021, 07:10:08 pm

Quote from: Cthulhu on March 16, 2021, 07:01:55 pm

It's been a long time so I think I'll start it up again and see how it goes.  How many people spawn into a match?  I remember it not being a true battle royale, like you could find the exit to leave before it was over instead of staying till only one guy is left.

Depends on the map. PMCs is around 6 on Factory, and I think 10 on Customs? It says on the map picking screen. Plus NPC scavs and player scavs who will spawn in later.

Definitely not a battle royale in that sense. Perfectly legitimate to do loot runs where you actively avoid seeing anyone at all and just loot until you're full and then skedaddle. It even tells you when you spawn in which exits are available to you so you can plan your route.

@JimboM12 that might be fun some time. I've got a personal discord I use for gaming with friends. If some of us Bay12 folks want to do some team Tarkov we could use that for it.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 16, 2021, 07:41:24 pm

Decided to play as a scav to get the hang of things.  Spent 5 minutes loading plus the 20 minute scav timer, match lasted about 30 seconds, spawned like ten feet from two guys, got one of them and died to the other.  Cool game.

Guess I need to use my SSD, you know if every game nowadays is gonna need an SSD they should make them cheaper.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 16, 2021, 07:51:08 pm

If you spawned next to them they were *probably* NPC scavs, who would be neutral to you until you fire on them. I like spawning with NPCs, since I can hide and let them draw fire if any PMCs are around.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 16, 2021, 09:46:01 pm

They weren't literally right next to me, I walked into a building and heard people moving, one walked into the building through the door and I shot him, then another shot me through the window.  Might've been AI and thus neutral, but like when a guy walks right into the building I'm in and sees me, waiting to see if he's neutral isn't really an option.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 16, 2021, 09:51:54 pm

Yeah, fair.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 18, 2021, 01:07:26 am

Starting to get a better feel for things.  Still only seen two definite players and a couple possible ones, but getting a better feel for what NPC scavs look like which will help when I play scav.  Also survived my first round, as my PMC too.  Found a lot of random tech stuff, some plug things and a PSU, grenade fuzes, dunno if any of that has use beyond selling, will look at it and figure it out tomorrow.  Doesn't look to have any use for my current hideout but maybe at higher upgrade levels.

Surviving was pretty harrowing though, did pretty well up until the very end.  Ended up having to jump off a raised platform while people were shooting at me.  At that point, going along with nenjin's worries, my mental fortitude was at its limit for this kind of game, been too long since I've played, will have to work it back up.  Thankfully the shooters were bots, because I just limped to the exit with a broken leg, going on pure "walk to the fucking exit or die walking to the fucking exit" energy and real players could've just followed after I jumped and popped me, I couldn't have fought back.  Had to drop my backpack but only lost some food and water, I'm sure I can sell the PSU for more.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: ThtblovesDF on March 18, 2021, 04:47:37 am

Game kinda lost me - there are cheaters, desyncs, people that play 24/7 and got everything - its fun while you loot and get used to it, but after a wipe i just dont have the energy to run to that fucking truck and go for the watch just to be shot or to spend 28 minutes on a map then die in the last 2 minutes by a guy sitting in escape. Honestly I think it would be far better if the market was unlocked for everyone without griding quests early on, its the only fun part you can consistenly make some wins on.

At this point, I'd say EScape from Tarkov is only for people who have there 3-4 friends group that wants to play it with them - all you tend to meet is just that, groups everywhere & people who cheat (single)

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: nenjin on March 18, 2021, 10:53:23 am

Yeah, if ever a game makes cheating rage inducing, it's something like this.

And also yeah, the exit camping and rat behavior of this game will drive some people away 100%. I know there are multiple evacs available but that doesn't necessarily change things. When you've played 200 hours and want for nothing except the one resource you can't buy or farm: human tears, the game takes on kind of an ugly edge.

Intrigued by the SP mod as a way to avoid all that. Again though, I'll wait until the game hits full release.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: ThtblovesDF on March 18, 2021, 11:42:10 am

There is a single player mode I really enjoyed, its called switching to the server that has the least people - but they disabled that, partly - before I could play on like "south korea/Northpole" now its limited - that was honestly quite fun and I look forward to that.

A sad side effect, and this is cursed knowledge, is

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

that i now already know speedrunning naked for a few key items makes you more cash in minutes then days of normal gaming

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: nenjin on March 18, 2021, 12:04:08 pm

It was inevitable.

Why play for 20 minutes just to get shot and lose stuff you care about when you can speed run for one good thing, and be in, out or dead in just a few minutes. I don't know what prices are like but if you manage to swipe a graphics card that's like, worth way more than a backpack full of trash.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 18, 2021, 12:12:21 pm

The solution, of course, is to play for the experience and not for the money. Which is easier said than done, I expect.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on March 18, 2021, 04:01:35 pm

the game is not for everyone. it has a hard barrier of knowledge and experience that needs to be breached to get to the fun of the game, and the first step is unlocking the flea market at lvl 10.

the most enjoyable way of doing this is in a group with friends or at least people you trust not to troll you. i learned the game the hard way by myself, expecting S.T.A.L.K.E.R. style gameplay but multiplayer and honestly the game's not far off that mark. but it was a struggle.
after a while i actually got a job and made friends there who also played tarkov and they helped me over that small hill to unlock the flea and my experience, both in groups and in solo, expanded. even these days when i know all my basics and a few tricks, i still open up the wiki to read pages on how ballistics work or a chart for ammo penetration values. the games a constant learning experience.

i think the key thing that could help is definitely a starter group. ill create a discord for general bay12 gamers and add a lobby for tarkov sometime, unless someone beats me to it, like...

Quote from: Mephansteras on March 16, 2021, 07:10:08 pm

@JimboM12 that might be fun some time. I've got a personal discord I use for gaming with friends. If some of us Bay12 folks want to do some team Tarkov we could use that for it.

def. id be happy to escort everyone to level 10 by doing the beginner tasks and providing a calm, experienced voice to help you get over tarkov anxiety and answer questions, etc. i can show you a common loot run i do as a scav to help if you want to earn money solo with low risk too.

*edit: oh, i should note i mainly play on the weekends due to my job. i have to wake up early during the week and i know tarkov has its grips on me when i start chasing losses and trying to experiment with gun builds.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: nenjin on March 18, 2021, 04:04:31 pm

This video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVY3hN6bHR4

And others like it are why I'd start teaching myself solo. Even though I know the point of starter groups is to work through this shit together, Tarkov seems to have some mild ARMA levels of how shit works and I'd rather practice those motions and get familiar with the control scheme before subjecting someone else to standing in the open like a bullet magnet while I try to figure out how to open my backpack.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on March 18, 2021, 04:09:54 pm

ya know, whats funny is my first couple raids were scarily close to that video, except solo. and then when i was picked up by my friends, i had a few moments like that too lol.

dont worry about it too much if this idea takes off: if you're brand new and you're running with me, we are not going to be in any hurry and im always willing to explain things. mag checking is, at least for me, alt + T.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 18, 2021, 04:12:36 pm

I had pretty good success learning the basics by doing offline runs without NPCs to practice the maps and controls, offline runs WITH npcs to practice combat, and doing scav runs.

I don't think I did my first PMC run until I had about 2 hours into the game and was getting comfortable with it.

I'm still not good, especially at PvP, but I don't feel useless at this point.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: AzyWng on March 18, 2021, 04:23:13 pm

Posting to watch, since I do happen to have EFT. However, my computer can't run it all that well, so I haven't been playing much of it.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on March 18, 2021, 05:10:06 pm

i made a server for bay12 players to gather up for games. its super basic but it'll work. feel free to spread the link around and if it gets fullish, maybe ill get a moderator for it and all that.

https://discord.gg/DExyapq7T8

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 19, 2021, 12:58:30 am

I don't like the way they do maps.  If you're gonna kill me for not escaping in time at least tell me where the fucking exits are.  Just wasted a half hour cause the manhole in reserve wasn't where the map I had to alt-tab for said it was.

I dunno.  It's kind of fun sometimes but ultimately it boils down to yet another game where you walk around for a half hour and then somebody you never saw domes you.  There are so many of these games now, the only thing special really is the detail of the inventory and the permadeath aspects, which are way more onerous than they are in Hunt: Showdown

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Radsoc on March 19, 2021, 11:14:40 am

I like the game very much, but it seems like screen quality and resolution is a major factor. Being unable to spot targets for various reasons is a big disadvantage.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 20, 2021, 09:40:58 pm

I've got mine on medium settings mostly out of concern about how horribly optimized a lot of games like this are.  Haven't had any trouble spotting people, just having trouble, you know, shooting them.  Been a while since I've played any shooters, still having some awkward twitchy movements throwing off my aim.  Had a good scav run though, in woods.  Spawned by RUAC roadblock,  went up to that UN camp and found a wiped squad.  They were obviously picked over for the really good stuff but found a nice camelbak, won't be using it in raids I don't think but it's a big help for my stash situation.  Got it holding all my magazines, gonna use another to store medical supplies, or maybe using them to carry bigger more awkward items would be better, I dunno.

Getting better at the overall way the game works though, mostly been playing woods and getting a good enough feel for the map I can usually find my way to important areas. If you're new and not insuring everything, uh, insure everything.  It seems counterintuitive but insurance is really good on shitty gear.  Nobody's gonna steal your bankrobber rig, or your unmodded SKS, so you're almost guaranteed to get it back.  Plus if you manage to kill a player or find a wipeout like I did, insurance doesn't actually care if you died or not.  If you find an M4A1 and drop your insured SKS for it, as long as nobody leaves the map with it you'll get it back.

Was clued in to a good routine for leveling up and getting used to the game.  SKS, PACA, bankrobber, sling pack, then toss some random meds and 3000 roubles in your secure container.  Insure everything, then go to woods or interchange and just stay around the outskirts and check hidden stashes (youtube has all the locations), then use the 3000 roubles to dip via the bridge extract.  Your gear's cheap as shit so nobody's gonna steal it and you'll get it back from insurance, and even if somebody does take it it's cheap as shit so you can just buy more. 

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 20, 2021, 09:45:31 pm

Yeah, I find that I get almost everything back if I insure it. At least with all the basic gear that I'm using.

And, legitimately, people can only carry so much. So I know I've left plenty of good stuff lying around that I'd have loved to loot but simply didn't have space for, which makes insurance worth it even on decent gear. I expect really high end stuff always gets swapped out for, but I don't exactly have any really high end stuff.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: ThtblovesDF on March 21, 2021, 05:01:43 pm

My silly fugal tarkov lifehack was to go into the raid with a akwhatever with a big mag (65 shots or 97), insured, nothing else.

Run around, mag dump the first person i see, if I get a kill, grab everything they have (time to scav-larp) and throw the used gun into the brush.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 21, 2021, 09:34:02 pm

One thing that'd be cool is if some items like guns and maybe armor tracked users.  I'm sure some stuff especially the really high-value guns might change hands multiple times before they get vendored, and it'd be fun to get a glimpse of the history of that M4 you looted.

Got my first dog tag.  I mean  I've picked up a few but I've got the first one with my name in the Killed By section. Was in woods as usual, in the flooded town.  There's a stash in this little shed section of one of the houses, walked up and there was a dude waiting for me.  He got me pretty good, almost killed me before I ducked away and tossed a grenade in.  The perils of trying to ambush somebody from inside a fucking closet, I guess.

Then I stripped the cool parts off his gun and vendored it.  Feels good.  Winning in a game with permadeath looting like this feels good.  Vendoring other people's shit feels good.

I guess I'm actually not doing bad at all.  I've got a 2.something KD and a 45% survival rate so far.  Though I haven't started branching out or doing riskier runs yet.  Need to get a feel for interchange next, need a lot of toolbox stuff.  Send all my scavs to do-or-die in the factory office hallway clusterfuck, can get a lot of money in there and even if you die it's a fun map.  All my PMC runs are in Woods, which I did several offline tours of until I had a good grasp of the map. 

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 22, 2021, 09:44:59 am

I've been doing my Scav runs on Customs. Mostly because I wanted to learn the map better for all the quests you have to do there and I've found I can often get some good stuff. I really need to try Factory more, but got stomped hard the first few times I tried it and haven't gotten back around to it yet.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Cthulhu on March 22, 2021, 11:47:45 pm

That's why I do it with scavs.  It's a scav so who cares, and their random loadout tends towards shotguns and SMGs which are best in factory.  Had a lot of success so far, I think I've had more escapes than deaths on my factory runs.

Got another fun player kill.  Been trying to complete gunsmith part 1 for like two days, really hard without the flea market available, and randomly got a scav with the muzzle brake I need to finish it.  Decided to just run through woods at night since I know that map best, was walking past the outskirts heading towards the loot box when I noticed it was already open and crouched on reflex.  Glanced around and there was a dude crouched just over a little bump who heard the footsteps and was looking for me.  Never saw me, popped him with the shotgun, get owned.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on March 23, 2021, 12:04:29 am

Yeah, I'm going to do more scav runs in factory. See if I can get it down a bit more. Did some offline runs it in tonight to get used to it some more. It's an easy place to get turned around in despite how small it is!

I did luck out and get a ton of keys recently, so I've got the pump station key for Factory now. Supposedly it helps with one of the Therapist quests I've got, though I'm not sure how often the item I need spawns in there.

Haven't completed the gunsmith quest yet, since I haven't had your luck with it and still don't have fleamarket access. But I've gotten A few of Prapor's quests done which has been good. Nearly level 8. It'll be nice to finally hit 10 and be able to control my situation a bit more.

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: JimboM12 on April 13, 2021, 09:23:07 am

even though ive made a server for grouping, i keep spending my time on the offical sherpa hub: its the server for new players to get actual help. im there alot

https://discord.gg/WqVqaxzTmy

thats the link, its great for grouping up and asking questions

Title: Re: Escape from Tarkov - Yet Another Slavic Apocalypse Simulator
Post by: Mephansteras on April 14, 2021, 11:32:47 pm

At some point I'll get around to actually playing with a group.

Been doing pretty good on my own, though.

Just finished up two Kill Scav quests on woods. The one for Prapor to kill 15 (which I've been chipping away at) and the one from Jaeger to kill 5 without wearing body armor.

To do the unarmored one I ended up lucking out and finding the perfect spot to snipe scavs from right near my spawn. Just across the water from the Scav bunker (west of it) there is a sheltered spot in some rocks with a nice bush for cover. I was able to lie there and just snipe them for a bit. You can't see a whole lot of the bunker area, but enough. Took out 3 sniping, 1 as I was going in to loot, 1 that spawned IN the bunker (with a shotgun I took from one that I took out earlier) and then another I randomly ran across as I was heading south to evac. It was a good, good run.

Right before that I had a run that was a failure, objectively, but a personal victory. I'd spawned in the south and looted that random base near the RUAF roadblock. Killed a scav (with my pistol, since I had a sniper rifle to try and snipe them with). Did a quick loot run in case the noise attracted any attention and bugged out. Only extract I had available was Outskirts, so i needed to somehow get past sawmill without dying. So I took it slow, creeping around a bit in case anyone else was using the road.
  Managed to spot another player creeping about who hadn't spotted me. Since my main weapon was a sniper rifle, and I was in a good spot, I took a shot at him. Missed, and he took cover, but I was ready and got a good shot the second time, taking him down.
  Waited a bit to see if that drew any attention, and when nothing happened I moved up to find the body. Ditched my sniper rifle in a bush so it'd come back with insurance and grabbed the guns off the guy I killed. He had nice guns. While looting it I got jumped by another player. We exchanged fire a little bit and while I took a bit of damage I managed to do enough to him that he bugged off. I healed up a bit, and then got jumped again. Literally. Crazy bastard leaped over me and tried to knife me. Fortunately I was able to get off a head shot on him and survived. Badly, badly injured, but alive. And with a pack full of decent healing items to boot. Healed up best I could and tried to limp my way to the evac. Didn't even take the time to try and loot the second guy, since I figured it'd just get me killed and i was basically full on stuff regardless. Am a bit sad I didn't think to grab his dog tag, though.
  Got shot myself before I even made it past the sawmill. Which was expected, I was too hurt to go at any speed and a lot of noise had been made.
I would have just hid in a bush for a while to let things die down, but I'd taken a stomach wound and was draining food and water too fast. I'd looted some, but it wasn't going to be enough. Pity. Still, took out two PMCs and damaged a third in a heck of a fight. I officially do not suck any more.