LOTS of gameplay questions

[TamaNeko]

Yeah, I know the answers can be found in the FAQs, but I'm gonna read them later on(plus I'm lazy), so...

1. About my squad. Should I just pick certain squad members and keep them in my party for the whole game, or will I need to switch them from time to time? Should I always keep Stitch and Farsight with me? And who are the best members to pick?

2. Is there some sort of time limit or something in the game, as in going past a certain date will make me miss out an opportunity for something? I'm currently in the Macomb mission on January 27.

3. From what I've been reading in sites/posts, FoT seems a bit buggy, even with the 1.27 patch. What are some places/things to avoid or be careful around? And is it just my PC, or does FoT run kinda slow(even though I have a 650mhz Pentium II with 364mb of RAM, way above the system reqs).

4. Does walking around eventually let you discover some new location, or will new locations only show up after talking to General Barnaky for a mission?

5. Is it me, or does General Barnaky sound like R. Lee Erney from the show "Mail Call" in the History Channel?

6. How long did it take you to finish this game?

7. Are there editors that can let you edit out the names/stats of your squad mates? So far, I've only found an editor that can edit you and your team members traits, but not basic stats like strenght/agility/etc.

8. Does killing enemies give you some REALLY good experience points later on in the game? So far, the EXP I get is really small, almost seems impossible to level up just by shooting alone. Will I get most of my EXP from completing mission objectives throughout the whole game?

Thank you for any help provided.

 

[requiem_for_a_starfury]

Yeah, I know the answers can be found in the FAQs, but I'm gonna read them later on(plus I'm lazy), so...

It's 3.40 am here and I'm feeling sleepy perhaps I should let you read the FAQs first...

...Nah

1. About my squad. Should I just pick certain squad members and keep them in my party for the whole game, or will I need to switch them from time to time? Should I always keep Stitch and Farsight with me? And who are the best members to pick?

Depends on your playing style, for at least one mission you might need to take someone different from the pool. The advantage of keeping your squad together from the start is that you can direct their growth, but there are some good recruits available later.

2. Is there some sort of time limit or something in the game, as in going past a certain date will make me miss out an opportunity for something? I'm currently in the Macomb mission on January 27.

No there's no time limit.

3. From what I've been reading in sites/posts, FoT seems a bit buggy, even with the 1.27 patch. What are some places/things to avoid or be careful around? And is it just my PC, or does FoT run kinda slow(even though I have a 650mhz Pentium II with 364mb of RAM, way above the system reqs).

Watch out in the 4th mission, in a ruined building after the second gate, if you step on a corrupt tile you can crash the game.

4. Does walking around eventually let you discover some new location, or will new locations only show up after talking to General Barnaky for a mission?

You only get missions from the General, but there are Special and Random Encounters to be found.

5. Is it me, or does General Barnaky sound like R. Lee Erney from the show "Mail Call" in the History Channel?

That's because it is.

6. How long did it take you to finish this game?

2 years 7 months and 6 days.

7. Are there editors that can let you edit out the names/stats of your squad mates? So far, I've only found an editor that can edit you and your team members traits, but not basic stats like strenght/agility/etc.

Yes they come with the 1.27 patch but for the most part you'll need to start a new game after altering your recruits to see the changes. To change names you'll need to unpack the text files in the file locale_0.BOS and then edit them in Notepad. Read the Editor readme and look for the tutorials here at NMA.

8. Does killing enemies give you some REALLY good experience points later on in the game? So far, the EXP I get is really small, almost seems impossible to level up just by shooting alone. Will I get most of my EXP from completing mission objectives throughout the whole game?

Most of your experience will come from completing missions, but as the enemies get harder the rewards get higher, also do any the secondary objectives. Some munchkins like to roam around the wastes looking for random encounters to boost their experience and collect loot.

 

[alec]

And is it just my PC, or does FoT run kinda slow(even though I have a 650mhz Pentium II with 364mb of RAM, way above the system reqs).

The slow framerate is "normal", i.e. even bigger and faster computers will perform kind of poorly. The only thing that helps is to boost your RAM, but since you already have lots of that, I don't think there's anything you can do. You can unselect some stuff in video options that will boost performance somehow, but the graphics will suffer (and the graphics are really the only thing that is pretty darn good in FOT, so...).

From what I've been reading in sites/posts, FoT seems a bit buggy, even with the 1.27 patch.

That, my friend, might well be the understatement of the year. I love FOT and I've already played and finished it six or seven times (it might be eight times as well, to be perfectly honest), but I can't possibly deny that FOT is buggy as hell. And, imo, even the 1.27 patch is crap. It solves some old issues and gives you an editor and shit, but it also introduces new bugs, like the one where you can't revisit certain special encounters.

I've only played and finished FOT once with the 1.27 patch, but I like the 1.13 version best. It's buggy, but if you know what you shouldn't do, the game is fine and playable. I am, however, not going to sum up the bugs you'll encounter in the 1.13 version nor the 1.27 version. Why? Ha! Because I'm wicked and I'm lazy too. Check the faqs out there. I think Guiler's faq is pretty good (although it's also littered with total crap, if you pardon my French, you know, stuff like: "There's a secret door in the left building on the twentieth map, a little south from where ..." - you get my drift).

I think you can finish the game in, let's say, two weeks. Some maps will take a full day, especially if you like sneaky attacks and don't go in with guns blazing.