FarCry 3

[Bison]

Unfortunately now I can't play the game because the Far Cry 3 server is down (yeah, it's a Ubisoft title... the internet connection requiring kind).

This makes me much less excited to eventually pick this one up.  Why do they continue to require single player games to be server dependent?

[Tpek]

Well, it is certainly a lot more fun now that I am able to actually play it :P

[JasonPratt]

I just ordered an up-to-date blinged out Falcon MachV for Christmas (looking ahead to someday going back to school to be an architect when I retire, so wanted a system that would feasibly run things like Shade and Vue Infinite)...

...and no way will I buy FC3 for it.

Oh, I'm sure it'll run great--Falcons are designed to handle heat-buildup on the most taxing programs--but no way am I going to buy a game I have to keep connected to a server to run it.

So, FC3 goes to my PS3 game list.

[Arctic Blast]

Unfortunately now I can't play the game because the Far Cry 3 server is down (yeah, it's a Ubisoft title... the internet connection requiring kind).

This makes me much less excited to eventually pick this one up.  Why do they continue to require single player games to be server dependent?

I think they changed it a bit. It still has to connect at the start of every session, but that's it. Still not great, but better than it requiring a constant connection throughout every minute played that UPlay used before.

[Grim.Reaper]

Really enjoying this game so far even though I suck at it.  The environment seems alive.  For example, I was swimming in a river to avoid the baddies when I came across a friendly bystander standing on the edge of the river.  Couldn't believe what I witnessed next.  Out of the corner of my eye I see an alligator jump out of the water and drag the person away to their death.....little things like this make it interesting since I was not expecting it:)

[JudgeDredd]

You need to connect to the internet to activate the game - once activated you can switch uPlay into offline mode and as far as I'm aware it doesn't require a connection after the install.

The game is superb. There are lots of things to do. Ok - a teeny bit samey - but not enough that it bothers me. Jump in and out of the story as you please.

I have also noticed my GPU is running at 98% load and >90 degrees celcius! There was one time I was running it so long at such a high temperature that the graphics all abstracted on me - I had to exit and let my system cool down.

[JudgeDredd]

The 3.10 drivers from nVidia (which are now WHQL by the way) may have worked for my GPU...this graph was taken after playing for 25 minutes - and seems to be 30 degrees less than it was hitting previously.

Also - this kind of shows my GPU is perhaps my bottleneck as it runs at amost 100% load (though you can't see it in this shot) and the CPUs are around 70%

I can feel a 480 or a 560 next year as a temporary upgrade :-)

[LongBlade]

The game is superb. There are lots of things to do. Ok - a teeny bit samey - but not enough that it bothers me. Jump in and out of the story as you please.

Great to hear. Far Cry has always had very dynamic levels. Glad to hear this latest one is awesome. Yet another game I'm going to have to buy...

[Bison]

Wow.  You guys get a lot of rain in Scotland.  I figured it snowed up there in the highlands.

[JudgeDredd]

Actually that's Colchester in South East England.

But the whole of the UK is getting alot of rain. Floods everywhere due to (apparently) the ground being sodden, people paving their front gardens and farmers not clearing out ditches...among many other things.

[LongBlade]

We got our first snow of the season!

[FrontierCybrarian]

Far Cry 3 is a great game with fantastic graphics, play, immersion, and AI (animals and people). Don't care for the over-abundance of swearing and foul language though. Be careful if young ones around.

Played the boxed version from Dec 7 until Dec 24 withlout any problems, glitches, lock-ups or anything of the like. But now game screen lock-ups every 15 minutes. It appears others are having similar problems. How extensive I don't know.

Here are possible Dec 24 th computer occurrences that may have caused the problem:

1. Windows updated my Win 7 64bit files.
2. Upon recommendation, I updated my Nvidia Geforce 560 GPU drivers (I'm running 2 cards SLI)
3. Ubisoft Uplay updated Far Cry 3 before I could launch it.

Here are some of the things I've done or thought of to resolve the problem...all with no luck so far.

1. Thinking it was a GPU heating problem I blew out and vaccumed the dust from the GPU's and computer. Also, turned up the GPU fan speeds to 100% from 65C on using free download MSI AfterBurner software.
2. Tried rolling-back Nvidia drivers to pre-Dec 24th condition but couldn't seem to get this to work.
3. Tried several Restore System points but my less-than-one year old home built computer has never let me recover to a previous point. MS tech support couldn't help me on the system restore problem either (lame).
4. Visited several forums and tried some reader suggestions but most were just guesses at what is wrong.
5. Looked for solutions from Ubisoft but they aren't doing much about the numerous reported problems.

So now, what was fantastic FarCry 3 play has turned into frustration and dismay. OS, drivers, and game patch updates are supposed to improve play and performace and not render things unstable and/or unuseable. IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT.

[LongBlade]

Thanks, Frontier.

[Grim.Reaper]

That's a bummer about the reported problems....luckily so far I haven't seen any of those issues.  I do notice it does work the graphics card hard, but no lockups or overheating problems so far....keeping my fingers crossed.

[FrontierCybrarian]

Okay. It appears my 15 minute play then lock-up issue must be heat related. My homemade computer has tons of fans but evidently not blowing right on the GPU's (even though the GPU fans are running at 100% after 65c).

I attached a 92mm Vantec Tornado to the side port on the case. It blows more air than any fan for it's size but it's outrageously noisy...I'm talking vacuum cleaner loud. I played for 45 minutes without any problems. Next I replaced the Tornado with a larger and somewhat quieter Sunon fan and played for 2 hours with no problems. However, the fan noise is still more than my head and ears should handle.

Several years ago I bought the two above fans because they were number 1 and 2 in blowing the greatest amount of air. The noise has prevented me from using them in computer case since though.

Now I'll be looking for a quieter fan that blows a good amount of air. Will check Newegg fan specs to purchase one that is strong with lower decibel noise.

It's too bad the Nvidia GPU driver and/or Uplay Far Cry 3 updates overheat my GPU's contributing/causing 15 minute shutdowns or I wouldn't need the extra fan.

Just so you know, I even tried using Direct X9 for the game with lower graphical settings but it made no difference...still 15 minute play and lock-ups. So that's why I tampered with the fan experiment. I'm not saying adding fans to blow on your GPU's is the solution for all but it seems to work for me right now and hope it continues.

Come to think of it I have a fan speed/shutoff controller somewhere in my box of electrical junk I might tinker with, too.

I repeat again how amazing Far Cry 3 is with it's beauty and play. The flora and fauna are fantastic. Even the Komodo Dragons have intricate detail down to the dotted rough texture of the skin (I hate them though...I was healthy once but took the teeth to the knee).