foxdvd

Trust me when I say I am not trying to defend the choices in this game, because like many of you they frustrate me. But somethings that can help a bit.

If you find yourself without your horse and in the middle of nowhere. Just save and reload your game. Your horse will be with you. (there was one mission late though that does not want you to have a horse so this will not work)

Every part of the map has a place to fast travel to. If you need to get to a place far away, just fast travel to the nearest settlement. If you need to get back to camp, fast travel to the nearest town. It will still take an extra 3-5 minutes, but his cuts down on the travel.

Later in the game you will find yourself more focused and spend less time traveling as missions change a bit....

There is a money exploit that takes only a few minutes to do and has not been patched. I normally would not recommend ANY sort of exploit in a game like this because it would break the balance the developer wanted, but fuck the developer because that balance is shit. By having 30,000 dollars, you can fast travel all you want...pay off all bounties as they pop up...and cut down on some of the headaches this game give you....(and for the person that will ask how to do this, please google it if you want to do it...)

I will say the game starts to really come into its own by chapter 3-4...though I think some of it is just a general acceptance of the clunky gameplay elements. ...almost a sort of Stockholm syndrome effect....I can't deny how amazing it is at times.

Noonan

I thought you could only fast travel from the camp. How would you use fast travel as a means to get back to camp? That's been my biggest complaint so far.

foxdvd

any stagecoach on the map can be used for fast travel. So If your settlement is 2 minutes out of Valentine, and you are way across the map, use the nearest stagecoach to travel to valentine an then ride your horse to camp. Unfortunately you can never travel directly to your camp...but fortunately your camp is never more than 3 minutes away from the nearest stagecoach.

Also, train stations can take you to places you have not unlocked yet...so you can use a train station to unlock a far way place then travel back to Valentine on a stagecoach...

All this cost money and will add up, which is why I recommend the money exploit.

Noonan

Well those 3 minutes add up. If it's 3 minutes to get to a stagecoach then 3 minutes to get back to camp, there's a good chance I'm spending more time on my horse doing nothing than the actual mission I left to complete. That's an issue, IMO.

Adam Tyner

While I find that annoying at times as well, Rockstar didn't seem to want to make a "clear out this map full of icons" game. By compelling you to spend more time on horseback than you would probably want, they're ensuring that you're more a part of this living world -- examining new animals, stumbling upon strangers in need of help, getting bushwhacked by rival gangs, coming across collectibles you may not have seen otherwise, etc.

It's a design decision that's sort of like the destructible weapons in Breath of the Wild. It's incredibly inconvenient, but the inconvenience is the point.

Noonan

I feel like that's giving them too much credit. IMO it boils down to them just mirroring GTA without realizing that traveling on a horse in RDR is FAR less enjoyable than cruising around cities in a car.

Adam Tyner

I don't think "enjoyable" is necessarily what they're going for on a moment by moment basis. Is cleaning weapons enjoyable? Are long skinning animations you've already seen enjoyable? Is getting food for your camp when you'd rather be on a train heist (or whatever) enjoyable? Is monitoring your caloric intake enjoyable?

I definitely don't want to sound like I'm just blindly defending Rockstar, and I'm not wild about some of this either. But I think they looked at the traversal in most open world games, how you gradually become some unstoppable super-hero type, and all that, and decided to do something completely different. It's slow, it's frequently grim, and it's not always fun, and for better or worse, that's very intentional.

Noonan

Well considering more than half my play time so far has been riding a horse, it better be damn enjoyable. lol

I fully enjoy little things that add to immersion (like the gun cleaning) provided they're a small part of the experience. I have to imagine that most people playing have also spent around half their play time (or more) riding a horse to get somewhere. If something in a game which amounts to most of the overall playtime is boring and tedious, I have a hard time sticking with it.

Maxflier

lopper

I like riding the horse, and have put off upgrading the camp to unlock fast travel. Riding from A to B is where have come across quite a few side missions and encounters.

It seems like one of the most repeated 'tips' I've seen is to enable cinematic camera and hold X when riding your horse and have it autopilot itself to your destination. Fuck that. It's fun to go off the beaten path and wander around.

Also, I don't see how someone can be so far into this game and still bitch about the idiosyncratic mechanics. You can not jump off roofs and take no fall damage. You will run into people on your horse and they will get pissed. It takes time to do the little things, a lot of them in fact.

This is not Assassins Creed.

Noonan

Can't agree there. The collision detection should be good enough so that having my horse tail wag and hit someone doesn't cause him to fight me to the death; which then also causes my bounty to go up. That's poor physics, not poor players.

adrenaline78

The thing that probably bothers me the most is if you die, you lose all your skins.

foxdvd

I have watched a few videos on this..and they are all worthless for my experience. I don't want to rob anyone. I don't want to cause trouble. I don't want to go through the steps listed to avoid a bounty. I try to play my game as a good guy. My problem is through normal play I can get a bounty, something that changing my clothes and hair is not going to fix. I have had people jump me in the wild, defended myself, and get a bounty. This has happened at least 3 times now. I was not looting their dead bodies...I just killed those that jumped me and got a bounty. As I said in an earlier post, I got jumped by 4 guys, dropped all 4 in deadeye, came out and instantly got a bounty near 200 bucks.

Now I have also been attacked and no bounty pops up. I killed a bunch of KKK members and got no bounty. I have killed random people in the wild no bounty. I have also passed a guy on a horse quickly, making sure not to hit them, and got a bounty.

There is something wrong with the bounty system. It is either not working as intended or Rockstar is just being dicks about it.

foxdvd

but to go with my earlier post...the more I play the less annoying it is because the game takes you in a direction that keeps these problems from continuing to be a problem. Also, just pay off any bounty you get..no problem.

Maxflier

Can't say I have ever gotten a bounty for passing by someone, but I agree that the shit can be pretty fucking annoying at times.
I was riding along and came across a police stagecoach transporting a prisoner and the prisoner was calling to me for help because he hadn't actually done anything. So I pulled up and was riding alongside because I wanted to hear what the guy had to say for himself, well next thing I know I am wanted so I said the hell with it and rode off to get rid of my warning level only to come across 4 lawmen who were looking for me and they promptly started unloading with their rifles and killed my ass. Like REALLY, what I did was punishable by death?

lopper

I'd say that specific example is an exaggeration at best. My horse has a tail, too, and it's never been a problem. Go figure.

nickdawgy

Manual deadeye sucks. I want auto back.

lopper

Deadeye makes me crazy sometimes. I feel like I've killed dozens of horses when sweeping my reticle from one guy to another and there's a poor horse between them.

Rival11

Yeah, I was never a big fan of it.

mugwump

I was as hyped for this game as anyone but after just a few days of playing I'm more annoyed than not. Having to feed myself and feed, groom, and provide positive encouragement to my horse is the kind of "real world" stuff that's bogged down gameplay since the early Ultima games. And the horse cargo is all kinds of glitchy as things I put there will be gone after I make camp and then get underway the next day -- weapons, my fancy winter togs, etc. At this point I'm taking out my frustrations on the fine citizens of the greater Valentine area -- sorry guy resting against a tree who I beat, robbed, and shot but I was having a bad day.

Noonan

While that is true, my example from earlier about a family dog causing me to have to kill a whole homestead was not. Brushed up against him, dog started attacking me, person came out of house and started shooting at me. And, of course, after defending myself I got a super high bounty for my trouble.

Why can they get the wanted system correct in GTA but not here?

Rival11

Am I missing issues that other people are running into? I never groom myself or feed myself unless I'm taking damage - I only feed, pat, and groom my horse when he starts to get rambunctious which is not often - I'm never missing any items from my horse including weapons or hats or any other items.

I constantly ignore all stranger missions and side quests when they interfere (so annoying, I've never liked these since the introduction of them in the first red dead redemption then GTA V).

I RARELY hunt, almost never, I never donate to the camp either.

.....and I'm flowing with the game well - haven't had any stoppages telling me I need to do anything - I pay off bounties as they come up and If I don't have the money I wait until after I do a mission to pay them off.

Guess I'm lucky or something.

Noonan

I only eat when I take damage as well. Grooming yourself I believe is just your beard, which is totally optional, based on how you want to look. Even as early as I am into the story, I already have my horse at max connection with me. Feed, brush, and pat him whenever I finish a ride.

Rival11

Also, just want to throw this out there in case anyone missed the on-screen prompt when riding your horse, if you tap the button in synch with the horses gallop, you will preserve a ton of stamina for your horse - which means your horse will stay happy and you won't have to coddle to him as often.

mhg83

You can shoot guns off enemies hands. I guess that would help prevent gaining a bounty ?