Mississippi Acres - Thoughts after first play

[GonzoGamesAU]

EDIT: I have created a video with some of my annoyances. Some of the things in the video are legitimate bugs, others are just me being picky.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2680406676

I went into this new reserve (update) with high hopes. Hoping for some much needed bug fixes, an interesting landscape, some nice missions and enjoyable hunting.

I feel let down (again).

I'm going to start with the things I noticed from just one session that annoyed me and end with some of the things I like about the new reserve.

What Annoyed me

1. Still no sound when you hold your breath. It's not a game breaking issue, but just annoying.
   
2. Updated UI seems to have made the button images way too large. SPACE doesn't even seem to fit into the designated area and seems cut off.
   
3. Price of ammo on the new .22H. Paying $1050 for 10 rounds of .22 ammo?!?! Come on, really?
   
4. I now own 14 Couso Model 1897 Soldaro shotguns. HOW?!?
   
5. Weird texture issues occurring in some locations, roads changing from asphalt to dirt, concrete changing from dry to wet.
   
6. Weird sounds. Why does a Rope Tyre swing make a metal squeaking sound? Why do you hear rain on the roof of a building when inside, but you don't hear it on the porch roof when standing under it?
   
7. (EDIT TO ADD THIS) Alligators. Their trophy type is length however it doesn't show any details about the animals length on the harvest screen. What is the conversion of Trophy Rating to ACTUAL length?
   
8. Missions (or lack thereof)! What happened there? Why is there only 12 Missions? It's not the quantity, but also the quality of missions that seems to have dropped drastically. The first few DLC maps (I did play them out of order) came with a lot more missions and a lot more that involved hunting.
   This new reserve has only ONE hunting mission, and it's just to pass harvest check on a gator. Also, why did my renowned hunter suddenly become a camp counsellor?

That is just from my first play on the new reserve, I haven't even explored half the map yet. My biggest frustration from that list is probably the last one.

What I liked

Unfortunately this list will not be as long as the one above.

1. The location. The swampy areas and thick forests is a nice change. Being set in the wetlands and having the extra rain, often overcast weather really adds some atmosphere.
   
2. New Animals. Having a reptilian animal to hunt is fun and proving to be a challenge, and it is good to see the Quails take off more often than the Pheasants do at Rancho.
   
3. It seems that the clingy underbrush sound issues have gone. I didn't notice any during my first session since the new update.
   
4. The new .22H. I know the price of the ammo was mentioned in the previous list, but having a new weapon to take on Class 2 Animals with is nice. Didn't get much of an oppurtunity to go Fox hunting with it, so hope it stays down here and doesn't move to the above list.
   
5. The new DLC was released at a special price. I would be even more pissed off it I had paid full price for the new DLC and then found out about the missions.

What I'm unsure about

There's a couple of things I'd like to check on before I comment too much about them. So i'll make a list here and come back an edit at another time (if I remember)

• Red Deer Buck warning calls. Fixed or not?
  
• Roe Deer Bones. I've had left leg bones register as right. Fixed or not?
  
• I'm hearing about gates in the new reserve you can push around the place (not hinged to anything)
  
• Performance issues around large/multiple herds. My older PC would go from 50-60fps down to 20fps. Fixed or not?
  
• "Fleeing" animals not moving, just staring at you.

Overall Thoughts

As stated at the top of this post, I had so much hope for the new DLC and Update in general, but I feel let down. From my experience so far EW has fallen short of what could've been a really good expansion.

I tried to get excited and be enjoyed by the new reserve for my Stream (yes, I streamed my first play of it), but finishing the missions in just a couple of hours was probably the biggest disappointment. To be fair, another streamer did warn me that I would be disappointed by the missions.

I hope they add a free expansion to this DLC to add a few more missions (same would also be nice for Rancho) as well as fix some of the other things on my annoyances list.

When I get around to it there will also be a video with some of the bugs/glitches/annoyances) I've found on this reserve, but will need to do some more exploring first

[El Poto]

Well, thanks for taking the time so others, like me, didn't need to act as beta testers. What about the rain? One other thread says it is too much.

Regarding missions, I kind of understand why the Devs tried to simplify. At some point, especially for the base maps, I just disabled them. However, I really enjoyed the ones for Parque Fernando, Yukon Valley, and Cuatro Colinas. The bad thing is that the devs just seem to have given up. If they're going to continue on this path I think they should, for future reserves, just forget about missions and setup some challenges with rewards like skins, suits, or even equipment packages (tents, tripods, etc). That'll be a way better use of their time. Don't know, maybe there are better suggestions.

[James]

The rain is alright. Feels wet.
My mission bugged out (I think) by the "Camp Haven" and the bunks. Fixed the swing, examined the local "fire" and found the note after "looking around the camp". Everything after that says NOTHING. What to do? Grateful for tips.

[GonzoGamesAU]

@El Porto - Yes, it rains a lot. Didn't bother me though, it adds to the atmosphere of the location a swampy/delta area that has just been flooded.

@James - When you examined the note, did you rotate it to find the information on the back? It should show you a map and that more dialogue. You need to rotate a couple of things on this reserve

[Phoneend]

there to much rain on the new map, it doesnt rain that much, if it did, it would been known as an lake not land

[Leadmagnet]

Some of the level 60s with more money than they can get rid of (cause nothing to spend it on) probably like the new ammo money sink. I recently started over so yeah, the new ammo ain't cheap and I haven't even bothered to get the rifle yet.

You mention asphalt road to dirt...that might actually be deliberate not a texture/bug thing.

On the early reserves, the hunting missions had a lot of "go zone A & harvest animal X". The problem (and cause of a ton of complaints) was when the mission triggered, animal X was nowhere to be found in zone A. People resorted to using the ATV to herd the animals into the needed zone among other things. The missions then seemed to go from more hunt oriented to basically being an errand boy. Personally, I don't have much use for the missions beyond leveling up but that is just me. Mostly I just free roam and hunt and then run a mission or two for a change of pace.

Overall, some of the people on the forum got what they asked for though.
1. swamp map
2. more small game (specifically raccoons & quail were mentioned)
3. a class 1-2 rifle to hunt the small game
4. gators

[GonzoGamesAU]

@Leadmagnet I am one of those Level 60 players with more money than they know what to do with, so while the cost of $75K for the new .22H and $1050 for 10 rounds didn't really effect me, I still believe it is on the expensive side. Having to fork out close to $80K to be able to use a .22 is asking a lot of the newer players and those that have reset.

In terms of the asphalt/dirt road maybe being intentional, I've uploaded a quick gif https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678966028 to show you what it looks like on my end. Changing the camera angle changes what texture is showing on top.
You will also notice in the clip that the floating weapon bug is still happening on occasions.

@Anyone else. if you have any more questions, or comments, keep them coming and I will try to reply to them in due time.

[ÐåŕķMệşşịäħ]

I tried the new map and didn't like it.

It's too small, way too much rain/fog, too many small animals so they're extremely hard to see, the gators are tankier then a bison, and the gators are too buggy. I've seen gators that are invunerable, stuck, not scared of you so you can walk up point blank to them, or the corpses aren't retrievable. The extremely slow walking speed in the river doesn't help the map either. The animal diversity is lacking. I really wanted to see some possums, nutria, or beavers instead of the same old copy pasted animals. I hate how ducks are always forgotten in the new maps. The new .22H rifle isn't a great selling point for the dlc either since we already have other .22 caliber weapons that are better... I would have preferred a new air rifle.

It's honestly not what i expected for the new map. I was looking forward to the gator hunting but it's really not that great.

[GonzoGamesAU]

@ÐåŕķMệşşịäħ I originally (before my main post) think the map was small, but I did go back and compare it to other maps (using waypoints for distance and doing some maths). Yes it is smaller than the other maps, but not by much. A lot of the more recent DLCs have been around 60km², and I measured this map to 50km². In comparison to the 2 base maps, Hirsch is ~65km² and Layton was around 68km².

So, while this map is smaller, it's not tiny. The fact that the missions only cover a small area of the reserve ~11km² probably makes it seem so much smaller than it actually is. Which leads back to my issue about the quantity/quality of the missions.

The thing I like about the .22H is that it does both Class 1 & 2 animals. Obviously there is still a chance that the novelty of that will wear off (just like the novelty of the bloodhound), but I'm going to give it a chance for now. I've been looking for a decent weapon to take on those Class 2 animals, and haven't really found anything I like yet. Maybe this new rifle is it.

[Leadmagnet]

I wasn't thinking camera angle change; I was thinking just a straight transition so thanks for posting that gif. Yeah, that can't be intentional.

Just took a quick look...the .22 hornet ammo is the same price as the .338 poly tip ammo. I'll skip the new rifle & just stick with the .22LR or the 300gr arrow.

I can confirm the gates are a thing. I pushed one completely off the hinge and a few feet from where it started. It floated around until it was back where it started.

[James]

Originally posted by GonzoGamesAU:

@James - When you examined the note, did you rotate it to find the information on the back? It should show you a map and that more dialogue. You need to rotate a couple of things on this reserve

I eventually did just that after per chance saw something about it in the patch notes :). But thanks for the tip anyway! Now I'm back on track again.

[[LK] Blayda The Bear]

Personally im disappointed in the buggy missions for this map and it overall looks a bit rushed.
Ill touch on the missions a bit.
I want to hunt not do a "Who dunnit mystery" but hey ,, its different, Just didnt tick any boxes for me but I can appreciate that it might be aimed others.
Buggy ,,, very buggy.
I now cannot continue with the B-side mission because once I listen to the tape ,,, the narration just stops and no amount of looking at the tape in my Codex etc does anything.

The new .22 ,,,, are they on drugs when they worked out the buying cost of the rifle and ammo?.

Gators ,,, they really are like Ozzy Ozbourne and cannot be killed by conventional weapons.
Raccoons ,,, EVERY WHERE !!!. Rockets been a busy boy :D .

Im going to go play other reserves for a few months till this is sorted out.

[Leadmagnet]

Originally posted by LK Blayda The Bear:

I now cannot continue with the B-side mission because once I listen to the tape ,,, the narration just stops and no amount of looking at the tape in my Codex etc does anything.

I think you just have to wait & the lady finally gets back to you at some point so you can continue.