New York
Fort Division Silent Extermination
Mon, 07/29/2013 - 18:13 — InTehVaria
[Front-paged. -stabguy]
Assassin's Creed III - Silent Extermination - Fort Division
At last, the penultimate episode. It takes place in my absolute least favorite of the Forts, the only one I would describe as truly broken. It's a pity, since all of its broken elements could probably have been fixed fairly easily, and its double walled, super high security layout is interesting.
As for exactly why I call it broken, I've encountered stationary guards whose animation loops have them occasionally look behind them and whose sightlines are accurately modeled to that movement before, but never in such quantity and with such inconvenient placement. My other runs on this Fort made it possible to simply ignore them, but I can't here (except for the first instance, where I was just straight out dumb). To be clear, even if they're avoidable, this should never happen; an enemy suddenly turning completely about without warning is a cardinal sin in a stealth game.
The animation loops are clearly motion captured, I'm sure they were lovingly done, but I wonder whether sightline modeling based on those animations was done manually or automated in some way. It's obvious that either at no point did a game designer have a hand in them, or they were used against the protestations of a game designer. Since the point when animation loops begin is randomized each time an enemy spawns, there's no way to know when they'll look behind except to have them on camera, and this randomization can completely ruin even the most carefully laid plans. Of course, it also pretty much destroys the possibility of getting through unseen on the first try, which, while extremely difficult, should always be possible in theory. There is no defending this, and I can only hope it is stamped out completely in future games. When elements of this game are pointed out as broken, I rarely agree completely, but, to quote Haytham, "In this instance, I concur."
Connor gets some peace and quiet at Bridewell
Sun, 04/21/2013 - 13:06 — Double McStab w...http://youtu.be/O3o6soCBBhs
[Front-paged. -stabguy]
Like I promised Aurll... a video.
For this video, I wanted to to see what would happen in later memories in Bridewell prison if I killed all the guards and prisoners early on. As you can imagine, this takes some time (hence the sped up video... it appears I'm getting better at this). Some notes - white text is meant to be Ratonhnhaké:ton's inner monologue; yellow for actual speech.
First, I killed everyone on a "restart from checkpoint." Otherwise, the guards that escort you down the stairs are roaming around. If you restart the "steal the key" mission, these two guards don't spawn. Problem 1 solved.
Secondly, you have to manipulate the directions some guards are looking before killing others or you'll be detected. To do this, get them to push you. The guard on the bridge on the top floor can detect the kill on the second floor, that's why I changed floors there.
Third, to kill civilians in this game with no penalty, equip bare hands and lock onto them to strangle them... as you are in prison, you don't have to worry about the weapon thing. Once a few people die, the prisoners run around. This causes them to bunch at the stairs. (This was the first time the bunched on the lower stairs. In my previous attempts, they always bunched on the upper stairs). Just approach them, hit the lock button, and mash the attack button until you're content.
Finally, I wanted to show the prison after this occurs. None of the incapacitated guards nor prisoners respawn. It's eerie, because (although not in the video) the sound of them all is there, just not the character models. This makes it really easy to find Mason, though. In addition, it makes it really easy to find out who you are going to need to fight.
Fort Division Assassination Variety Pack
Mon, 01/14/2013 - 20:33 — aurllcooljay
[Front-paged. -stabguy]
Speedrun
The fastest way I was able to liberate the fort. Luckily there is no restricted area in the place, which makes stealth a whole lot easier. Start off by using the fast travel station in the northeast part of New York (sure beats having to run all the way there). After that move along the wall until you reach the low hanging beams. You can reach the one on the right by either running up the wall under it or running up the wall beside it and kicking to the side. Keep moving forward along the wall and turn left. Run straight ahead to destroy the powder reserve. Head back the way you came. Once you are back on the beam, run up the wall and kick to the left to reach the cannon above. From here you can shoot the fort's captain, who is patrolling below on his horse (shooting with a bow is a little slower, but doesn't attract as much attention). As it just so happens, the flag you need to lower is right in that area. I could have done this several seconds faster, but it didn't need to be perfect.
Air Assassination and Stunt
The highest spot in the fort is the top of the flag pole. Yes, you can climb up it. In the captain's travel route there is a spot where he can be air assassinated. Lock onto him to avoid accidentally air assassinating one of the nearby guards. The cool thing about this is that by the time you've killed him his horse turns the corner, keeping you anonymous from the nearby guards. The stunt assassination is basically the same concept, except you manually jump in his direction and assassinate him off his horse right when you hit the ground.
Colonial Reinforcements
Colonial soldiers (blue coats) and British soldiers (red coats) attack each other on sight. I use that to my advantage by having the captain killed by the opposing side. For that you need to be detected by the captain first. Being detected will alert the nearby enemies, so it would be wise to take some of them out first. Then lead the captain to the cannon previously shown in the video. If you can get him on it he may jump to the lower beam, then to the ground. Since the captain can easily defeat soldiers without dying, disarm him to change the odds. The soldiers in question are at the fast travel entrance. Now here's the thing: When you reach them while in open conflict, they start to attack you. So I had to kill them afterward.
Thomas Hickey Dies Where He Stands
Tue, 12/04/2012 - 17:16 — aurllcooljayhttp://youtu.be/YwVNTAtjlfE
[Front-paged, sight unseen. This better be good! -stabguy]
Spoiler Warning for those who didn't complete sequence eight.
An Average Day in the life of a Prisoner
Some humor earlier in the sequence. During the time you eavesdrop on a conversation in the cell, there are two objects you can interact with (besides the wall and bed, which are required). You can knock on the cell door, which gets a reaction from a guard. There's also a bucket by the bed (to eat from?).
Avoiding a fight
Rather than directly attack one of the prisoner targets, go to a corner and whistle. This will get their attention. You have the ability to use your fists only when in the area where they were originally standing, so lure one back to that area (make sure none of them are nearby when you knock him out, or you might desynch). When the fight starts, they are out of the ring of people, past an invisible barrier. You have to restart the checkpoint to get farther in the game.
Execution
After escaping the gallows, climb back on stage. The hood Charles Lee put on you is still there, hovering in midair. It won't be there if you restart the checkpoint.
Thomas Hickey
I tried performing a stylish kill on the target, but never had enough time (either he kills all of George Washington's bodyguards, or they kill him). However I got lucky enough for a running civilian to bump into him when he barely started moving. This allowed me to kill him where he pretty much was.
