Windows Red Dead Redemption 2

[Huntn]

Red Dead Redemption 2
​

Just got it for PC, impressive animations. Note I bought it at Rockstar which is/was running this game on sale. It releases tomorrow on Steam, no price listed. I might assume it won't be on sale there.

Update: No sale at Steam.

I've played a little of the original on xbox. So far so good. There is an online mode I've yet to try, right now playing Story Mode. Anyone partaking? What do you think?

What I remember from the original RDR is that it was an open world game, ride around the landscape and interact. In this case for RDR2, story mode, so far it is completely guided by the story. Is this the entirety of Story Mode?

Is there no open map solo play for RDR2?

Please tell me about online mode. Does this take the place of open world as compared to the original? I'm in a gaming clan who is currently playing this online, but I've not really talked about it yet in our Discord channel. My understanding is that you can go online and join a posey for some adventuring. I'd love to hear your impressions of the game.
Thanks!

 

[garnerx]

I played it on Xbox. I liked it, with reservations. Took me about 90 hours, I think. The epilogue alone is about 5 hours, it outstayed its welcome considerably and I absolutely hated the ending.

It's typical Rockstar stuff, incredibly pretentious story that makes no sense because the missions are about very little other than killing. I wasted 2,500 people during my playthrough, but a lot of those were just for fun.

I had a bounty on my head from day one, which meant I was constantly pursued, but I rarely paid it off because shooting everyone was so easy and I would only get a new bounty anyway for stupid things like bumping into someone on my horse.

90% of the missions are basically: ride across the beautiful scenery, listen to deep conversations about about morality and values, then *surprise* we're gonna have to shoot our way outta here, boys!

I'd rather rub sand in my eyes than play the online mode in one of these things, but as a solo Western sandbox slaughterhouse with incredible graphics it's worth the effort.

 

[benshive]

Is there no open map solo play for RDR2?

I'm almost finished the game on playstation. There's an open world that you can explore, but I think the beginning of the game was very linear like you mentioned. Takes until around Chapter 2 before you can get out and explore if I remember correctly.

 

[keysofanxiety]

You've got a GTX2070 so RDR2 runs at... 4fps?

 

[benshive]

You've got a GTX2070 so RDR2 runs at... 4fps?

Is fps lower than expected in the game? I was thinking of getting it for PC and I'm using an RX 5700 XT, which is about as powerful as the 2070

 

[Huntn]

You've got a GTX2070 so RDR2 runs at... 4fps?

Me? No it runs great. It’s beautiful, outstanding environmental effects including making tracks in the snow.
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I played it on Xbox. I liked it, with reservations. Took me about 90 hours, I think. The epilogue alone is about 5 hours, it outstayed its welcome considerably and I absolutely hated the ending.

It's typical Rockstar stuff, incredibly pretentious story that makes no sense because the missions are about very little other than killing. I wasted 2,500 people during my playthrough, but a lot of those were just for fun.

I had a bounty on my head from day one, which meant I was constantly pursued, but I rarely paid it off because shooting everyone was so easy and I would only get a new bounty anyway for stupid things like bumping into someone on my horse.

90% of the missions are basically: ride across the beautiful scenery, listen to deep conversations about about morality and values, then *surprise* we're gonna have to shoot our way outta here, boys!

I'd rather rub sand in my eyes than play the online mode in one of these things, but as a solo Western sandbox slaughterhouse with incredible graphics it's worth the effort.

We just robbed the train in story mode and so far, while I’ve killed many in self defense, I’ve had several opportunities to murder people after the fact, ie Dutch tells me to do what I want. And even though I’m in an outlaw gang, I decline to murder people in cold blood.

This has been an issue for me in the Grand Theft Auto world. I can role play to a certain extent, but I don’t like killing people just because it’s expedient. I can accept the role of thief, but not murderer, even though during the execution of a robbery, I am attacked an end up defending myself, lethally as a matter of routine.

About Story Mode, it is highly immersive, but highly restrictive, and the game often requires me to put it on pause and do an internet search for simple things such as Eagle Eye, Dead Eye, explaining why during a deer hunt, you leave a deer in the field, while you go hunt another deer, and even putting a bandana on your face as a mask. Despite this, I’m enjoying its immersive nature.

 

[garnerx]

We just robbed the train in story mode and so far, while I’ve killed many in self defense, I’ve had several opportunities to murder people after the fact, ie Dutch tells me to do what I want. And even though I’m in an outlaw gang, I decline to murder people in cold blood.

This has been an issue for me in the Grand Theft Auto world. I can role play to a certain extent, but I don’t like killing people just because it’s expedient. I can accept the role of thief, but not murderer, even though during the execution of a robbery, I am attacked an end up defending myself, lethally as a matter of routine.

I treated it as a sandbox from the beginning, so I'd uncovered almost the entire map before I'd done more than a few story missions. There's only one area, west of the river, where you can't go until the story sends you there.

Even if you don't play as murderously as I did, you'll still have a kill count in the hundreds. It doesn't track how many you kill with miniguns, and there are a lot of those.

I liked lassoing people and dragging them through water or snow to see the amazing fluid effects. Sometimes I'd spare one bounty hunter from a group that was sent to catch me, hogtie him, then throw him on a fire made from the bodies of his friends and their dogs. I'd often get a second party of bounty hunters arriving while I was in the middle of disposing of the first.

Basically anyone who looked at me sideways got introduced to my shotgun. One time I rescued a woman who'd been abducted, by shooting the head and limbs off her captor, and rather than show gratitude she called me a monster and ran off screaming (but not for long).

About Story Mode, it is highly immersive, but highly restrictive, and the game often requires me to put it on pause and do an internet search for simple things such as Eagle Eye, Dead Eye, explaining why during a deer hunt, you leave a deer in the field, while you go hunt another deer, and even putting a bandana on your face as a mask. Despite this, I’m enjoying its immersive nature.

It's incredibly finicky, isn't it? All those pointless meters that you have to keep topped up by eating the right kind of food. Each meter with an outer part and a core that has to be treated separately... How did their playtesting department tell them that was a good idea? Spending ages cooking meals, and all you ever get is a few shots with deadeye before it's gone.

Also, the controls! Gah! The amount of times I got a bounty for accidentally punching my horse while trying to get something out of the saddlebags...

edit: Here's pic I posted in the console forum last year. Still warm!

 

[Huntn]

I treated it as a sandbox from the beginning, so I'd uncovered almost the entire map before I'd done more than a few story missions. There's only one area, west of the river, where you can't go until the story sends you there.

Even if you don't play as murderously as I did, you'll still have a kill count in the hundreds. It doesn't track how many you kill with miniguns, and there are a lot of those.

I liked lassoing people and dragging them through water or snow to see the amazing fluid effects. Sometimes I'd spare one bounty hunter from a group that was sent to catch me, hogtie him, then throw him on a fire made from the bodies of his friends and their dogs. I'd often get a second party of bounty hunters arriving while I was in the middle of disposing of the first.

Basically anyone who looked at me sideways got introduced to my shotgun. One time I rescued a woman who'd been abducted, by shooting the head and limbs off her captor, and rather than show gratitude she called me a monster and ran off screaming (but not for long).

It's incredibly finicky, isn't it? All those pointless meters that you have to keep topped up by eating the right kind of food. Each meter with an outer part and a core that has to be treated separately... How did their playtesting department tell them that was a good idea? Spending ages cooking meals, and all you ever get is a few shots with deadeye before it's gone.

Also, the controls! Gah! The amount of times I got a bounty for accidentally punching my horse while trying to get something out of the saddlebags...

edit: Here's pic I posted in the console forum last year. Still warm!
View attachment 880882

You play like my Grandson. I asked him why he was killing random people. He just shrugged. If the game was designed properly, I could see after your killer reputation is made, you could still walk around some towns with impunity, but others, the law would come after you, or maybe send a posy of 20 deputies to kill you. But of course it depends on how tough those people would be to kill. Some games make rogue player behavior very uncomfortable when entering population centers.

Story mode locks you into the role of murderous law breaker. I’m not clear on the character’s honor rating, but it seems that if you spend your life as a robber who ends up killing a lot of people defending yourself in the act of breaking the law, that you’d have a low honor rating. When I listen to Dutch (the Story mode gang leader) he promises people if they surrender, he won’t harm them, but then he tells you he does not care what you do with them.

He reminds me of a more subtle version of Preacher Quint in Will Penny (1967), the slightly crazy, scripture quoting character with self serving morality. Admitted Dutch does not quote scripture, and he tries to sound pragmatic, but his decisions are like what choice do we have? We are in the mountains, have no money, whatever happened at Blackwater, we don’t have access to the money we stole there, so we just have to rob this train. Granted he is an outlaw.

I got my feet wet last night in the online version, and single handedly invaded a hideout with something like 15 men and it was surprisingly easy to take them out. Now maybe that was because I was a low level player and the game gives low level players a break. In my defense I had no idea how many men I’d face, but you’d think hideouts with that many people would be suicide for a low level player to take on.

Of note, I’m now thinking that levels in this game does not mean the same thing as in some other RPGs where levels make a level 60 player immensely more powerful than a level 1 player like say World of Warcraft or Fallout 4. Is that accurate? I asked some guild mates who seem to think that levels in RDR2 just give you advantages at the store and equipment you can equip?

 

[garnerx]

He reminds me of a more subtle version Preacher Quint in Will Penny (1967), the slightly crazy, scripture quoting character with self serving morality

Good call, yes. I think they wanted him to be more like Judge Holden from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, but while he has a similar 'war is god' sort of morality, I never got the same feeling of otherworldly menace from him. He's pitiful and shallow, to the point where I don't see why anyone would follow him.

Not that I'd expect a videogame scriptwriter to be able to replicate McCarthy, but they do kind of invite the comparison with all the references in the game and how seriously it takes itself.

"Men are born for games. Nothing else. Every child knows that play is nobler than work. He knows too that the worth or merit of a game is not inherent in the game itself but rather in the value of that which is put at hazard ... But trial of chance or trial of worth all games aspire to the condition of war for here that which is wagered swallows up game, player, all."

 

[Huntn]

I’ve gotten my feet wet in Red Dead Redemption Online. It is part of the game, you either select solo or online and then launch. The original game did not have an online component. For RDR2, the same large map for both. There is a lot to learn and it is not always intuitive. You need to read up on online guides. And it is definitely more fun in a group, at least you can make progress faster that way.

It’s PVP only, there are some jerks you’ll run into . I was murdered on the streets of Saint Denis twice on my first day in the environment. Fortunately there is no death penalty to speak of. And there is a bounty system that if you press charges, the rogue player gets a bounty, or large bounty on their heads, making them a more desirable target for bounty hunters, real players. Death does not wear down you gear like WoW, but there are wear elements of some gear based on usage, like guns must be cleaned periodically. If you are liked in the course of a mission, like collecting a bounty, you can respawn, continue the mission, but you mission rewards maybe reduced.

I don’t care for the food mechanism which has 2 components, core health and stamina for you and your horse. You have to make food or buy it and keep a supply on hand. It seems like an extra unneeded component, but I can accept it. Fortunately there are things like horse revival potion that can be purchased so when your horse is killed it can be revived you are not stuck out in the middle of no where and have to walk miles back into town. And if you don’t have a revival potion, at least you can whistle for a scrawny nag, who you can use to get back to the nearest town.

Spent yesterday evening as part of a posse of 6 players bounty hunting. That was fun, and fast paced. I’m not clear on this, but I think the posse leader gets a full reward and as a membe if the posse, you get half? I need to read up on that. It’s just that in a group you can collect bounties faster, and you get more if you bring them back alive. Any way, for myself, this element is a definite plus And it’s one hell of a pretty environment, much nicer than the Grand Theft Auto environments, at least more appealing to me.

 

[44267547]

I treated it as a sandbox from the beginning, so I'd uncovered almost the entire map before I'd done more than a few story missions. There's only one area, west of the river, where you can't go until the story sends you there.

Even if you don't play as murderously as I did, you'll still have a kill count in the hundreds. It doesn't track how many you kill with miniguns, and there are a lot of those.

I liked lassoing people and dragging them through water or snow to see the amazing fluid effects. Sometimes I'd spare one bounty hunter from a group that was sent to catch me, hogtie him, then throw him on a fire made from the bodies of his friends and their dogs. I'd often get a second party of bounty hunters arriving while I was in the middle of disposing of the first.

Basically anyone who looked at me sideways got introduced to my shotgun. One time I rescued a woman who'd been abducted, by shooting the head and limbs off her captor, and rather than show gratitude she called me a monster and ran off screaming (but not for long).

This was hilarious. I genuinely laughed out loud at this (And I don’t mean any snark). I typically play Red Dead to be more of the heroic type, but it’s nice to know there’s some (As yourself) on the opposite side of the spectrum that treats the game as a complete outlaw in every right, which you sir, Have done so in a merciless way. That’s the beauty of Rockstars implementation of an ‘open world game’, you play as you want to play and who you want to play it as.

I’m glad I don’t cross paths with you in this game. 😁

 

[Huntn]

I liked lassoing people and dragging them through water or snow to see the amazing fluid effects.

It was suggested to me that lassoing people in town is good practise, because some of the bounty missions require bringing them back alive, requiring the target to be lassoed and hog tied so they can be tossed over the back of your horse. Based on my experience of looking at someone the wrong way in town and getting into a shooting fight, I suspect lassoing citizens in town will lead to conflict.

 

[Huntn]

This was hilarious. I genuinely laughed out loud at this (And I don’t mean any snark). I typically play Red Dead to be more of the heroic type, but it’s nice to know there’s some (As yourself) on the opposite side of the spectrum that treats the game as a complete outlaw in every right, which you sir, Have done so in a merciless way. That’s the beauty of Rockstars implementation of an ‘open world game’, you play as you want to play and who you want to play it as.

I’m glad I don’t cross paths with you in this game. ?

Usually, I just can’t bring myself to role play in an evil manner if I have a choice, even though in RDR2 solo game, as part of the guided portion of the game, I ended up robbing a train and defending myself by... shooting people who were shooting at me. In the online mode, I have been killed more by NPCs than real players, the latter has been infrequent.

I really disliked GTA San Andreas because of the thieving, being part of a gang, missions where it was just easier to kill people, than try to avoid people like warehouse guards were you are there to rob the place.

The RDR2 environment is so incredible, really a high bar for environments. I’ve been spending most of my time in the online mode, started the Trader role, and I’m enjoying hunting animals which are plentiful. I’ve got my camp set up in Big Valley, on the Little Creek River, a very pretty place.

not my video​

 

[garnerx]

It was suggested to me that lassoing people in town is good practise, because some of the bounty missions require bringing them back alive, requiring the target to be lassoed and hog tied so they can be tossed over the back of your horse. Based on my experience of looking at someone the wrong way in town and getting into a shooting fight, I suspect lassoing citizens in town will lead to conflict.

Go out into the countryside to do that sort of thing. Follow smoke trails to find a lone camper (or turn him into a lone camper if he had a friend with him) and rope him as he runs away. Then you can experiment with dragging him over different surfaces.

Deep water will kill him too quickly but in shallow water (like the lake east of the first town) he'll do a really cool aquaplaning thing, which must be fun for him. Bumpy ground will bust him up if you ride too fast, so watch out for rocks.

After you've reeled him in and hogtied him, try dumping him on the railway tracks or over a waterfall. Or you could drag him back to where you found him and throw him on his own fire while you loot his camp. There are some great quips and one-liners (and screams) when you're doing this.

 

[Huntn]

Go out into the countryside to do that sort of thing. Follow smoke trails to find a lone camper (or turn him into a lone camper if he had a friend with him) and rope him as he runs away. Then you can experiment with dragging him over different surfaces.

Deep water will kill him too quickly but in shallow water (like the lake east of the first town) he'll do a really cool aquaplaning thing, which must be fun for him. Bumpy ground will bust him up if you ride too fast, so watch out for rocks.

After you've reeled him in and hogtied him, try dumping him on the railway tracks or over a waterfall. Or you could drag him back to where you found him and throw him on his own fire while you loot his camp. There are some great quips and one-liners (and screams) when you're doing this.

My god, no. ? ?

 

[44267547]

Usually, I just can’t bring myself to role play in an evil manner if I have a choice, even though in RDR2 solo game, as part of the guided portion of the game, I ended up robbing a train and defending myself by... shooting people who were shooting at me. In the online mode, I have been killed more by NPCs than real players, the latter has been infrequent.

I really disliked GTA San Andreas because of the thieving, being part of a gang, missions where it was just easier to kill people, than try to avoid people like warehouse guards were you are there to rob the place.

The RDR2 environment is so incredible, really a high bar for environments. I’ve been spending most of my time in the online mode, started the Trader role, and I’m enjoying hunting animals which are plentiful. I’ve got my camp set up in Big Valley, on the Little Creek River, a very pretty place.

I believe it took Rockstar Studios to make RDR2 over the course of seven years to put this production together. As a matter fact, the script was so long, they had a cut out additional hours just to compact the game with the narrative they used.

The amount of intricate detail with the change of scenery, voice acting, lighting, sounds/visuals with animal life and weather conditions/effects, it’s all executed perfectly. They’re one of the few developers that will put a relentless amount of time into making this project epic. They actually have multiple studios in the UK/US that collaborate to bring this whole thing together. It Really is an amazing game on many levels, which I still need to finish myself.

Out of all the gaming developers, I rank Rockstar #1 and Naughty Dog #2 [Makers of The Last of Us and Uncharted Series.]

 

[44267547]

Fortunately there are things like horse revival potion that can be purchased so when your horse is killed it can be revived you are not stuck out in the middle of no where

Incorrect. If your horse dies....it dies. It does _not_ come back to life with the revival potion. So, if your horse falls off a Cliff, and it dies, the revival potion does absolutely nothing as a result.

The revival potion is only used if your horse is ‘critically injured’ where it can’t sustain itself off the ground.

Not trying to single you out here, but that’s not how it works.

 

[Huntn]

Incorrect. If your horse dies....it dies. It does _not_ come back to life with the revival potion. So, if your horse falls off a Cliff, and it dies, the revival potion does absolutely nothing as a result.

The revival potion is only used if your horse is ‘critically injured’ where it can’t sustain itself off the ground.

Not trying to single you out here, but that’s not how it works.

I feel attacked and sullied.

Yes you are right, I was thinking of horse insurance.

 

[Ifti]

I really need to buy this game!!!

 

[Huntn]

After having played RDR2 3 week report
This is one heck of a beautiful game. Rockstar has done a superb job creating the Wild West environment. I’ve spent more time in the online portion of the game than the solo game.

Online Game
The online portion is most fun in story mode with friends. IMO the game is designed around coop play. As long as you can find a joint mission to do, it’s going to be fun, and it does not have to be your mission to be fun, or to get credits for it. There are professions in game- trader, collector, bounty hunter, and bootlegger. If you help somone do their trader mission, and you have established trader as a profession, you to will get points towards the trader progression.

The nuts and bolts of a profession are soloable. For trader, hunt and kill animals to turn into your handyman Kripps at your camp, fetch him other related supplies and deliver goods to buyers (soloable), but there are missions in the profession “getting established phase“ that can be difficult without help. Doing it with friends is the most fun, and the most successful because some missions are very challenging for one player to accomplish.

When doing the online phase, solo, it’s a grind. Hunting animals, (Trader) is the most fun at first, but after you get into the routine, it’s a grind. Searching the landscape for collectibles is a grind. Bounty hunting solo can be fun some missions (bounties), but other missions can be next to impossible such as apprehend 4 people alive with a timer runner.

There are group activities that pop up, some are PVE and some PVP, and when one pops up on your screen, it has a minimal description, so you don’t know at first what you are getting into, or if you are in over your head until you are committed.

At this point I don’t really know what the end game consists of, possibly endless grinding, better horses and gear, and endless group activities. How much trading can you do before getting tired of it?

There also some issues with forming posses. The Rick Star Social Club structure is a mess. You have to be a friend, have to be in a crew, and the online portion of the game is spread out over dozens if not more of instances/servers so joining someone’s posse means joining both their session(server) and their posse, and sometimes unable to join their posse for an unapparent reason, which is frustrating as hell.

Good news: Minimal death penalty, missions can be resumed, but maybe subject to a timer. This also applies when you are murdered by another player. Tip: Missions put you in offensive mode. After each mission, hit L, scroll to online, and put yourself back into defensive mode. In this way if you are innocently gunned down by an ass wipe, you can report them, which puts a bounty on them. My understanding is that if you are in offensive, your dot on the map appears red, and you can be killed by other players without consequence. So far my experience in game has been good regarding other player interactions. Most are not gankers.

Solo Game
Now, I’m getting my feet wet, with the solo game mode (not the online environment). This is fun and designed for solo game play. The first 2 chapters are completely guided, getting you familiar with the game mechanics and then you are turned loose in the sand box. It may seem a bit mysterious what you are supposed to do next, but there are yellow and orange icons in the map which will draw you to missions and activities, along with some excellent online guides. And note on one of the early missions you might find yourself left in town (Valentine) by your AI companions, whistle up your horse which will most likely be around.

 

[Huntn]

Rick Star has an issue with hacking in its Red Dead Redemption Online, apparently Chinese hackers. Was running a time limited mission the other night, making a trade delivery in posse of 4, and a hacker repeatedly teleported the group back to the starting point, while showering us with explosive arrows, spawning in grizzly bears, and such. We finally had to give up on the mission and changed servers. Fortunately the trade goods were not lost.

 

[Huntn]

With more experience I have decided that with the online Collectors map, and using Eagle Eye, that Collecting is the easiest RDR2 Online profession. In game, you will hear a jingle sound when you are near a collectible and Eagle Eye, will show a particle display of the item when near. There are a large number of items spread all over the map, and you get paid well for a wide variety of collectibles. Word is more xp and $ for turning in compete collections, versus individual items.

Bounty Hunting is the most difficult solo. I’ve had bad experiences solo bounty hunting, frequenting on a bounty mission for a single person, frequently running into packs of enemies all attacking you, while the target frequently is running away. I’m sure there are some players who excel at this solo, but not me. ?

Hunting, part of Trading, can be relaxing, but is a huge grind, even if you learn how to farm cougars that respawn repeatedly in the exact same place. Note: Cougars for some unknown reason are high value and provide a large amount of supplies to your AI trading partners Crippes. The process is kill animals and bring them to Crippes, Go on supply missions (steal them or help an AI settler) or buy tanning supplies for Crippes. Then sell the product that he makes to settlers on a timed run. On some of these runs you can be attacked. It is soloable, but a posse makes it easier and posse members get both xp and 50% of the haul while you get 100%. It gives incentive to posse up especially for bounty hunting.

Also with what little I know about the solo game, online when working with others, it’s much easier to make substantial cash versus in the solo game.

 

[Huntn]

Unfortunately, despite how pretty this game is, I’m getting bored with it. Online professions are just a big grind. And for what? I don’t know if there is an end game to speak of. The most honorable professions are collecting and trading, but trading frequently sends you on on missions to steal supplies.
Yes posse action with friends is fun, but even it gets old in a short period of time, for myself. It does offer more opportunities to make money, than the solo game, along with Chinese hackers who will **** with you late at night when they are waking up on their side of the world. It is a problem Rock Star desperately needs to fix.
The solo game has missions but I don’t really like role playing as a criminal, and like GTA befiore it, this is the direction you are funneled.

 

[Huntn]

I’ve eased off the game since first posting. My updated observations: the game does not have staying power for me.

Online:
* Scripted missions are fun.
* Professions most fun in group activities, like bounty hunting, but these will get old after a while. Bounty hunting can be tough solo.
* Professions are kill or collect, craft, get supplies, deliver items. Some of the tasks like deliveries are fun in a group, and are lucrative. Collecting is just collecting.
* Game is beautiful but feels shallow once you are out of the online story mode (not solo).
* Game offers daily’s, which are just a tedious to-do list, which I found to be annoying and tedious. Some players really enjoy this though.
* Problem with hackers ****ing with you.

Solo/Story Mode::
* Scripted story mode is very fun,
* Much harder to make money, than online mode.
* Missions will reward important items like weapons.
* I’ve noticed no professions so far.
* The game funnels you into the life of a criminal, not unlike GTA, while your boss spews nonsense about being good people with honor, lol. However there are opportunities to be more good, help people or be a prick, bad ass scoundrel. Honestly, I don’t want to be a criminal. ?

 

[Huntn]

Moved from the Steam Games thread:

I started playing Red Dead Redemption II tonight. Somehow I'm a girl with a naggy horse. I'll report back later as I get into it further. ?

Pretty sure I'm going to like it though. But so far it's a bit slow out of the gate... lots of horse trotting to the next location.

The naggy horse is the default horse until you buy a new horse.

One big difference in the solo vs the online game, even though I’ve said you can make more money in the online mode, prices are highly inflated in the online mode for everything.

I’ve said it’s hard to make money in comparison in solo vs online, but in solo, everything is dirt cheap, and by following the story missions (solo) I’ve bought some nice clothes, doing the missions will give you the better weapons (including the Rolling Block Rifle), have ungraded my saddle which improves horse performance, and still have about $4k.

Unlike the online game, were there seems to be pressure to upgrade your horse several times, in the solo game, upgrading from the naggy horse to anything better is enough, unles you want a certain appearance. I went out to the mountains trying to tame the best horse, but was unsuccessful. I need to get the taming routine down, before I try chasing this horse all over the frigid snowy mountains.