Intro:
You only have one goal in this game: to escape the island. The way you go about doing so is completely up to you. Sounds simple, you think? Simple, sure, but it won't be easy! Depending on your play style and skill level, you could beat this in an hour, or you could take 40 hours to enjoy the island in all its beauty. No invisible walls, no other objectives forced upon you. Of course, with this level of freedom, many people will at first find themselves overwhelmed and may get frustrated with the game, that is why I wrote this guide. I've split it into various sections of gameplay, so you can search for the area that is giving you the most trouble. Remember that Escape: Paradise is simply a pilot for a game I want to make at a later date, yes it could be a lot better with more time and a bigger team, but that can be said for every game, I suppose.
Basic Controls:
The game handles pretty much the same as vanilla Crysis, with a few major differences. First off, you obviously have no nanosuit, nor any need to switch modes. I've added two buttons in that have two important functions. The 9 key is the alternate use button, used to interact with items in the mod, from gas, to food, to flares, to binders, to cars. Simply press it while in a car to start the engine, or with a usable entity picked up to interact with it. The 0 key shows your full HUD for 5 seconds AFTER you release it. These two controls cannot be changed, they are purposely put out of reach, so you can't use them in combat. Also, I recommend you go into your Options>System Settings and disable the nanosuit voice and music. Just to add a bit more immersion and help out in combat (hearing a NK soldier in the bushes can save your life).
Combat:
The game has lots of guns, but it is not a shooter. If you get into a combat situation, try to pick them off one by one and lure them away from each other. Use traps and explosives to thin out the enemies with little risk to yourself. If you come up against an armoured vehicle, you'll need to find a way to destroy it, firearms won't do much. There is also no shame in running. Limited ammo means using a fully automatic conservatively is an important skill. Press x (by default) to toggle a weapon's fire-mode into semi-automatic.
Food/Survival/Health:
Every 2 minutes, you lose 5 health. The health bar is no longer a health bar, since most bullets kill instantly. Instead, it is a measure of how much longer your character can go without eating. You hit 0, you die. If your screen gets red, it means you're around 10% and you should seek food ASAP.
Gasoline and Vehicles:
Vehicles are an integral part of E:P. However, they now need gasoline to run. Gasoline can be found in jerry cans around the island. Use the alt use key (9) to add the gas to your inventory, then use the alt use key while sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle to transfer a liter of gas from your inventory to the vehicle. Alternatively, you can press the r key while in the passenger seat to transfer ALL the gas in your inventory to the vehicle tank. Be sure you wish to do this, as you cannot remove gas from a vehicle. Using the show HUD key (0), you can view how much gas a vehicle has left in the tank. To start a vehicle, simply press 9 while sitting in the driver's seat.
Safehouses/Saving Game:
A very key part to surviving is finding a place to set up camp. There are several safehouses scattered around the island. They can be distinguished from other structures by the presence of a single bed and a decent amount of supplies. A safehouse is the only point you can save game at. Simply use the bed and a save will be made. If you use the bed and it is nighttime, you will sleep until morning. This is incredibly useful, as you do not want to be outside after dark. There are no quicksaves, you die, you're going back to the last time you saved at a safehouse or the start of the game.
Navigation:
The island is quite large and can be quite confusing and intimidating for new players. I recommend you get a blank piece of paper and a pencil and jot down a basic layout of the island as you go. This can come in a lot of handy if you find a place with a huge stash of supplies, but you doubt your ability to remember its location. Also remember that you can use the zero button to show your HUD, which includes a compass. Perhaps most importantly, avoid going outside during the night, that is a sure way to get lost quickly, unless you stick to only main roads.
The Escape:
At some point, you'll find a method of escape you think is suitable. I recommend you make a save at a safehouse, then embark on your journey. Simply choose one of 4 compass directions (North, South, East, West), and head that way. Eventually, you will get a loading screen and the game will skip ahead to the result of your actions, whether they be negative or positive. If you don't like the result, or you wish to do more exploring in your current game, reload your last save. Once the end level/video is done, the game will fade to black, and you'll have to manually exit or load the game.
Getting Stuck:
Theoretically, it would be possible to destroy or lose all chances to get off the island. In such a case, you'd have to restart the game, or play until you run out of food. There is a finite time you can stay on the island before you won't be able to stay alive. However, I'd estimate this would take at least 40-50 hours of a liberal play style to happen. Also, to lose any chance of escape, you'd have to waste almost 100 liters of gas and/or destroy some important vehicles. If you think the game is impossible to beat, you likely just haven't found the way off yet, and should explore more, but if you're convinced you've screwed yourself over, and that you've been everywhere and seen everything, you should start a new game.
Conclusion:
If you read this whole guide from top to bottom and STILL need help, PM or email me and ask away. The most important thing to succeeding in the game is playing it and dying a lot. You'll learn what works, where to avoid, and other bits of valuable information. Please don't give this game a bad review simply because you can't do well in it, play a bit more, get better and you'll probably like it.
Community Tips:
Here is a place to add in your own tips, please don't edit the rest of the article, except for fixing spelling/grammar mistakes. Go crazy:
Good guide, doesn´t spoil anything for you (unless you´re a ******* and havent already understood that the final objective (and only) is to escape). Gives you a good idea of what to expect without holding your hand and saying like "Pick this up by reaching out to it with your hand and then squeeze your finger around and then lift it up from the ground".
Only thing i have to add is that if you destroy crates, also look under the crate (not a mod bug, crysis bug)
Thanks man, I'm gonna open this up for editing, so people can add their own tips in below, feel free to add whatever.
Is there anyway how to compact stuff, like your own box with food?
You mean like an inventory?
Carrying food:
The lack of an inventory means that you either have to return to camp for food now and then or carry a piece of food with you. You can hold a small piece of food in one hand with a weapon on the other. You can shoot like this, but your ironsight button will drop the food and you cannot switch weapons. When you're ready to strike at an enemy, drop the food nearby and finish him off. Canned food tends to roll so a banana is more suited for this(unfortunately it is in very limited amounts, so eat all the canned food at camp and use bananas or other non-rolling food for packed-lunch, as all provide maximum repenishment.
You can try to carry food in a car, but put it into a box and put the box in the trailer or else it will just fall off(physics glitch).