Questions about co-op

[Apples]

Alright, I really just want some straight answers here from people who've spent time with the co-op in this game because thus far everyone I've seen has said something different.

1. Can you play any of the story missions with a co-op partner and, if not, how much of the other content can you play?

2. Does player 2 maintain their progress in the world when dropping out from the host?

and perhaps most importantly 3. Is it really worth it to play this game co-op at all?

I realize that last one's kind of subjective but I'm tired of hearing some people say "It's the way to play the game" and others saying "It's utter trash don't bother". Can anyone here give me some concrete answers?

[westbusa1300k4]

you can play i think most of the missions together in coop,i helped my son open alot of the map,alot more fun when you can cowardinate your attack,only progress is saved to the one hosting the game,other player gets money,karma,loot,so just switch between you and a friend each time,but coop to me is alot more fun,yes all coop play is saved,when player drops out you go back to singleplayer mode...

[westbusa1300k4]

also only person hosting game can teleport you both...but heres a little trick i found,if you have better signature weapon purchased/open and your coop friend doeesnt have any yet you can add the weapon to what you are carrying,find a weapon on the ground (shoot 1 enemy guard) usually ak47,swap with it,have your coop friend pick up weapon you dropped,now its available in his weapon selection...

[Dave3d]

You cant play any main mission story lines.
The one connecting to the game (NOT the host), doesnt seem to get rewards for completing things (like, all the ? marks, masks, diamonds, are still there when he goes to play non-coop, in his own game).
So, basically, you can do:
Karma events
Radio Towers
Take outposts
Crafting (killing so many lions to make whatever pouch)

It is pretty limited, really, and not what I was expecting (I only bought it for the coop). Better coop than FC3, but thats not saying much.

[Apples]

Well this is much more concise information than I've gotten thus far. Glad I have a solid grasp on it now. My friend was interested in playing the game only if the coop was good and we could play together consistantly but I think with this knowledge in mind I'm gonna have to tell her to skip it.

Thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it.

[Slotcar]

In my opinion, the answer to question 3 in the first post is defintely "yes" -- playing FC4 coop is absolutey "worth it." After wishing for coop in "open world" games like FC and Crysis, we finally have it. While it's true that the main story missions are not available in coop, there is still PLENTY to do, and it's much more enjoyable to explore the world and do side missions and quests with a partner. Nothing against the campaign, but to me, playing this game coop is where the real fun is.

After playing coop for a while, I've found the answers to many of the questions I had before playing FC4 coop. This information is by no means complete, but so far, this is my experience with the coop play in FC4:

- Players need to play up through the first couple/few campaign missions before coop will "unlock."

- ALL available progress/items will be kept by the host (i.e. the Ajay character.)

- The "joining" player (i.e. Hurk -- NOT the host) is offered a yes/no question when they join a game. This lists all the things that can be kept, and gives then the opportunity to select whether or not they want to save the things thay gain in a coop session. If they select "yes," they'll keep money, skins, loot (little "diamonds"), kp, xp, and any skills or crafting they complete. If they select "no," their single player character (Ajay) will be unchanged when they play SP again. This gives people the choice to complete the campaign without all the extra material gained from coop sessions.

-The joining player (Hurk) does not keep any "progress" made to collecting masks, letters, jounal entries, or tearing down propaganda posters (although they DO keep karma gained from posters being torn down by EITHER character.) Bell towers and enemy outposts liberated during the coop session will once again be locked when the Hurk player plays SP again. Note that Hurk CAN pick up and read journel entries, but they disppear from the inventory when playing SP again.

- Loot chests are SHARED, but dead body loot is NOT. By this I mean that searching dead bodies gives loot ONLY to the person doing the search. Searching loot chests, however, gives the contents to BOTH characters. In other words, if the host (Ajay) seraches a loot chest, the Hurk player will see the contents and money appear on their screen as well. Plants and ammo/guns are NOT shared.

- Karma gained from helping people or tearing down posters is SHARED by both characters regardless of whether or not both players contribute to the situation. Tearing down a poster or helping people fight enemies/animals gives the karma points to BOTH characters.

- When a coop session starts, the game reloads for the host, after which many of the missions on their map disappear. The map will now show ONLY the missions available in coop.

- It is NOT true that all missions other than "campaign" or "story" missions are available in coop. This has been stated many times on the forums, but it is not the case. There are non-story missions/quests that are NOT available in coop (continue reading for more details.)

- Any missions marked with a "letter" are locked out when a coop game starts. These are "Story" missions. This means no Sabal, Aamita, Yogi, Longinus, or Shangri La missions.

- SOME of the "Blue hexagon" missions are locked out during coop play, such as the Kyrati Films missions, and the ability to "retake" ouposts (little "Flag" missions called "Outpost Master.") Other "Blue hexagon" missions ARE available in coop, such as destroying convoys and hijacking trucks.

- Most (perhaps all?) of the "Green circle" missions are available during coop. These include, but are not limited to, Hunting, Fashion Week, Assassination, and Hostage Rescue.

- Shanath Arena fights are NOT available in coop.

- If a player is wounded beyond a certain point, they go "down" and need to be revived ("E") within a certain amount of time. If they die, they respawn after a short countdown. If both players die, they restart at the nearest spawn point, and all progress since the last save is lost.

- If the players get too far apart, one will transport to the other's location. EITHER character can transport -- i.e. it is NOT always Hurk that transports to Ajay (the host). It seems to depend on the situation. If one player is currently fighting, the other player will transport to the location of the fight.

- Since many things are unlocked by playing the campaign, players will have to play the campaign by themselves (i.e. NOT in coop) in order to access these items. Examples of this are certain skills and weapons. Note, however, that weapons can be given away by picking up another weapon in that slot, which allows the other player to pick up a weapon that they haven't unlocked yet. The "giving" player needs to re-equip that weapon in a trading post.

TIP - SAVE your game once in a while ("Esc," then "Save.) If the game crashes, you'll lose everything since the last save point, and auto-save points don't happen very often when simply exploring the world. You'll also lose progress/items if both characters die and respawn.

[Slotcar]

Just to update this, so far I have not run accross a "Green circle" mission that cannot be played coop. There may still be some, but so far all of the ones I've unlocked are still available during coop games. This includes fashion week, hunting, propaganda, assassination, hostage rescue, bomb defusal, armed escort, Golden Path supplies and others (can't remember them all.) As noted above, not all of the "Blue hexagon" missions are availabe in coop, but some are.

[Ahroovi]

Protip: Co-op is very broken.
I would honestly love to name off how many bugs I had in my first and only co-op experience so far, but it would legitimately take about 100 lines, no exaggeration. Good for some short lols, but quickly becomes frustrating after you realize how the co-op was advertized and that you paid for it.