S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series Megathread: The Zone will stop the Russians
21,541 replies, posted
[QUOTE=GunFox;44074354]ARTEFAX IDEAS[/QUOTE]
imo you'd need to make the artifacts randomly generated so you can't just look up on the internet what an artifact does.
[QUOTE=Everest;44074221]One way to approach Misery is knowing that it wasn't really made to be believable and more for difficulty.
Personally I don't like Misery because it pretty much nerfs artifacts altogether. They're useless, the don't sell for much, and going hunting in chemical and thermal anomalies will cost you instead of turning a profit. And again it's not very believable at all. I kept getting thrown out of the immersion by how badly equipped dead S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s were in the deadliest place on planet Earth.
I'd love to see a cross between Misery's better implemented features, like how radiation works with gasmasks (no mask = lotsa radiation. mask = almost no radiation), artifact containers, hunting and cooking, etc. And I don't mind the AI all that much. Sure they can be overkill at times, bandits shouldn't be able to kill you at large distances with precision accuracy. But I can't play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. without my artifacts. It just feels dull.
The problem with optimizing something like Misery for difficulty and believability at the same time is that the player has the quicksave function. I'm not sure how it would be fixed, but think about it like this. Imagine if the game only saved when you entered and left skadovsk. If you died between visits to skadovsk, you'd lose all your stuff. That way, you could arm bandits with a sensible amount of gear, because the likelyhood of the player taking out several bandits without dying once is a feat worth a reward. It would put the edge back in the game, adding a whole sense of doom and fear of losing your stuff.
I dunno. just my controversial opinion. dont eat me[/QUOTE]
Misery within itself is a fantastic concept and many parts of it are done incredibly well and work also very well. To me personally, there are just a lot of little things that totally let it down.
I can fix it sure. But I find it less fun to play a mod if I had to personally change the way it plays. But then again I'm struggling to enjoy it even when I leave as it is. I guess Misery is like Marmite, you either love it or you want to set it on fire and laugh manically for the amount of stress it causes you.
Seriously though. Aside from that I'd also like to know why a MRE costs 21k... That's almost £400 :v:
I'm still holding out for future versions and hoping it becomes more refined in some aspects. But then I know you can't please everyone, as each person prefers different things.
So I was playing the new misery patch from scratch to see how it was and all that, and so this time I am doing stuff for beard instead of owl or sultan, and I am on the part where I need to meet up with the stalkers outside the warehouse thing. I am on my way there when I hear a battle going on nearby, so I take a look to see if there is some free loot to be had, but I find out that it is actually the stalkers fighting some bandits that where passing by, and they are getting their asses kicked. I also realized this right after quicksaving, and by this point there was only spartacus or whatever his name was left.
Pretty much its him vs 5 bandits, he has the exo-suit armor but without the actual exo suit, and a VSS. He still gets killed pretty easy, so I headshotted 3 bandits in a row with the shitty PU scope that doesnt even aim where the gun actually aims, then I blast one away with my double barrel and finish another off with two 7.62 shots to the torso.
Phase one complete.
Now I just need to keep him alive throughout the ambush, and so pretty much I got two powder cans and a full gas bottle from beard (it all cost only ~2k) and then went in before activating the mission. I set them up the bomb and then pretty much lobbed a grenade or two inside once the mission was started, killing mostly everyone. Only one guy was left and spartacus finished him off.
Mission accomblished.
I would use the Mosin Nagant more if its ammo wasnt so expensive for what it does (which I found sort of odd) and if its scope didnt suck. I also want to use it more because it has better animations all around than the K98. I would think that 7.92x57 mauser would be more expensive than 7.62x54r though. Also the PU scope is a 3.5x, not a 2x if I recall.
You can buy two 440 round spam cans (880 rounds) of 7.62x54r right now for $189.99, whereas you can get 240 rounds of 8x57mm for $176.69. Its an alternate universe though, so I guess it doesnt really matter.
[QUOTE=zombini;44074925]There could have been more done with psy anomalies too, little things like hallucinations, auditory and visual. Go walking in a group, you pass through the anomaly, next thing you know, you're getting rushed by snorks, so you and the group open fire on the snorks.[/QUOTE]
Have you ever played OGSE ? They kind of do things kind of like that with some anomalies.
Spent one and a half our yesterday hunting for a Meat Chunk artifact without luck. Looked through every gas anomaly in Jupiter.
Where can I find one? Garry wants it to finish his contract with the ecologists, I already brought the other artifact to him.
[QUOTE=Zovox;44077565]Spent one and a half our yesterday hunting for a Meat Chunk artifact without luck. Looked through every gas anomaly in Jupiter.
Where can I find one? Garry wants it to finish his contract with the ecologists, I already brought the other artifact to him.[/QUOTE]
I believe you can easily find one in the anomalous swamp in Zaton. If you're buddies with Beard you should also be able to buy one.
[QUOTE=GunFox;44074354]Rather than stat bonuses, they just do weird shit. [/QUOTE]
GSC had plans for this kind of thing around the build 1935-era but for some reason opted to not include this sort of stuff in the final game. Perhaps it was due to the fact that SoC turned into something more resembling of a traditional type of FPS game and as such they decided to focus on the more simpler artifact system wherein the artifacts were just stat bonuses.
[QUOTE=Old design document;44074354]
[B]Galantine[/B]
Loss of strength, protection from rats
[B]Needles[/B]
Temporarily shield from psy-impacts, blind dogs “lose track”
[B]Plasma[/B]
Scares zombies away
[B]Dead head[/B]
Scares away nearly allmutants, but attracts controller
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Araknid;44077321]imo you'd need to make the artifacts randomly generated so you can't just look up on the internet what an artifact does.[/QUOTE]
if you want to make it hardcore the artifact wouldn't even display any stats in the inventory, you'd have to find out what it does by experimentation, then write a description for it. If it's something fairly numerous you could try destroying it and observing the effects, if it's more rare you'd have to be careful with it and see how it affects you and your environment.
So, is it me, or is something "off" about SGM 2.2's damages? It seems like no matter what difficulty I'm on, enemies just swallow an entire magazine to the head but kill me in less than a second of fire.
If you are talking about alpha squads, they have good weaponry and good armor so you should get good weaponry and good armor.
Same thing happens with bandits in Cordon and other CS areas. It's normal, considering 29 damage ain't worth shit early game, let alone late game.
The start is a frustrating thing in SGM and when you reach godly level of damage and equipment, it feels gratifying as fuck.
[QUOTE=Lizzrd;44079306]If you are talking about alpha squads, they have good weaponry and good armor so you should get good weaponry and good armor.[/QUOTE]
I'm talking about bandits and (non-exo-wearing) mercs.
[QUOTE=JoeSibilant;44079285]So, is it me, or is something "off" about SGM 2.2's damages? It seems like no matter what difficulty I'm on, enemies just swallow an entire magazine to the head but kill me in less than a second of fire.[/QUOTE]Basically. Though once you get an exoskeleton with all the armour upgrades, you'll be able to eat magfuls to the face as well :v:
Even better when you get the [sp]military exoskeleton the trader at the Pripyat laundromat sells[/sp]
Speaking of SGM 2.2, sometimes I feel myself like some sort of elitist when people here talking about skipping Cordon/Swamps, using lots of dumm-dumm ammo and turning off dynamic anomalies.
[QUOTE=Hammer7;44079960]Speaking of SGM 2.2, sometimes I feel myself like some sort of elitist when people here talking about skipping Cordon/Swamps, using lots of dumm-dumm ammo and turning off dynamic anomalies.[/QUOTE]
I don't think I've ever really used dum-dums in SGM. I usually install Zaton start, and I find the mine-section really fetchey, but I wouldn't skip it. I'd lose out on potential dosh if I did.
[QUOTE=Hammer7;44079960]Speaking of SGM 2.2, sometimes I feel myself like some sort of elitist when people here talking about skipping Cordon/Swamps, using lots of dumm-dumm ammo and turning off dynamic anomalies.[/QUOTE]Tedium is the absolute worst kind of challenge imaginable, made even worse by the sparsity of the beginning levels. If there was something to [I]do[/I] while I was running the entire length of 2 different levels back and forth to fetch shit, then that'd be grand, but currently it only seems to exist to drag out the whole experience. Dynamic anomalies are fine imo, but not when combined with the aforementioned goddamn relay marathon, because then it takes even longer. If I wanted to simulate jogging for miles and miles, i'd just bloody well go jogging instead.
It's just not [I]fun[/I], is my point. Hard, easy, anywhere in between, just so long as it's entertaining. That's why I play video games in the first place, not to have a simulation of my time as a conscript jogging around that godforsaken island I was stationed at.
[QUOTE=Hammer7;44079960]Speaking of SGM 2.2, sometimes I feel myself like some sort of elitist when people here talking about skipping Cordon/Swamps, using lots of dumm-dumm ammo and turning off dynamic anomalies.[/QUOTE]
I suppose it's just another case of who likes what. I remember keeping my Bomber Vintar in my backpack at all times, but didn't really use it later on that much. At most I whipped it out when I encountered an Alpha Squad, but mostly stuck to a Gauss Rifle since it made me time my shots and select targets more carefully with the terrible ROF.
As for skipping the swamps and dynamic anomalies, I see them as rather boring ways to elongate and slow down gameplay. Random anomalies just get solved by either throwing a bolt in front of you every second or running around with an artifact detector level Svarog. Swamps and Cordon were just boring backtracking back and forth from Cordon to Swamps. The few firefight quests were kinda nice, but the pure amount of pacing back and forth just got so tedious that the cons overweighed the pros. That is, for me at least. It wasn't all bad, just not my cup of tea.
The Alpha Squads were almost entertaining to fight against, if only they weren't so damn bullet spongy. I really like combat where 1-3 shots can kill you OR the opponent (Redux just didn't have enough shit to shoot at, but the balance was spot on for me) so Bomber evened things out perfectly for me in those occasions. A well placed headshot kills an Alpha member, they always get headshots to begin with that instakill me. Seems balanced.
Besides, SGM has always been a matter of "fight OP shit by becoming OP shit"
So uh, when do SGM traders start stocking 7.62x51mm?
[QUOTE=Lizzrd;44080165]So uh, when do SGM traders start stocking 7.62x51mm?[/QUOTE]I noticed Owl stocking the odd stack or 2 when I whacked the bandits at the ranger station and crashed their weapons transaction. Though to be honest I think it's more linked to player rank, i'm currently 450 or something last time I checked.
I'm at 550, only most basic rookie shit as for now. 9x19, 9x18, shotgun shells, leather jackets.
How many of the main quests have you done?
Hawaiian tends to have a much better selection of ammo, too. Owl's is usually crap with the occasional random good thing in there.
The night trader + Wealthy Client + high rank (over 1000) makes Owl have ultimate level gear in stock during 00:00 and 06:00 at least.
Might take a while to reach that kind of a rank though.
[QUOTE='[Green];44080420']The night trader + Wealthy Client + high rank (over 1000) makes Owl have ultimate level gear in stock during 00:00 and 06:00 at least.
Might take a while to reach that kind of a rank though.[/QUOTE]That's why i'm stocking up on F1's, grenade launcher rounds and RPGs, preparing for the mutant horde missions. Got 50 F1s currently, but finding kits to attach them is difficult thus far.
Oh btw, has the bar for Wealthy Client been raised? Had 190k at one point before spending it on exo upgrades, but didn't hit the achievement.
[QUOTE='[Green];44080124']I suppose it's just another case of who likes what. I remember keeping my Bomber Vintar in my backpack at all times, but didn't really use it later on that much. At most I whipped it out when I encountered an Alpha Squad, but mostly stuck to a Gauss Rifle since it made me time my shots and select targets more carefully with the terrible ROF.
As for skipping the swamps and dynamic anomalies, I see them as rather boring ways to elongate and slow down gameplay. Random anomalies just get solved by either throwing a bolt in front of you every second or running around with an artifact detector level Svarog. Swamps and Cordon were just boring backtracking back and forth from Cordon to Swamps. The few firefight quests were kinda nice, but the pure amount of pacing back and forth just got so tedious that the cons overweighed the pros. That is, for me at least. It wasn't all bad, just not my cup of tea.
The Alpha Squads were almost entertaining to fight against, if only they weren't so damn bullet spongy. I really like combat where 1-3 shots can kill you OR the opponent (Redux just didn't have enough shit to shoot at, but the balance was spot on for me) so Bomber evened things out perfectly for me in those occasions. A well placed headshot kills an Alpha member, they always get headshots to begin with that instakill me. Seems balanced.
Besides, SGM has always been a matter of "fight OP shit by becoming OP shit"[/QUOTE]Would be nice if Alpha Squads scaled to the player so they always remained just more powerful than the player; rather than being a 1-hit kill from the very limit of AI online range at the start and becoming as deadly as a wet fart in an ocean later on.
[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;44080443]Would be nice if Alpha Squads scaled to the player so they always remained just more powerful than the player[/QUOTE]
Their equipment scales though. Their equipment is really mundane shit like AKS-74s and AN-94s in the beginning of the game and then they progress into sporting M/82 Barrets and FAL Paratroopers.
The scaling happens along to the player's rank rising in my opinion.
[QUOTE=Muukkis;44080577]Their equipment scales though. Their equipment is really mundane shit like AKS-74s and AN-94s in the beginning of the game and then they progress into sporting M/82 Barrets and FAL Paratroopers.
The scaling happens along to the player's rank rising in my opinion.[/QUOTE]Huh, guess it changed somewhere along the versions. Or my memory is like a sieve that's been subjected to an artillery barrage.
Also reminds me I forgot to enable them in my save, so i'm probably going to be facing the M82s straight away :v:
I've just started Valley of Whispers, a Russian story mod translated by David.me and so far it's quite good. The new map is very well constructed, the quests are enjoyable and it seems to be bugs free.
[QUOTE='[Green];44080420']The night trader + Wealthy Client + high rank (over 1000) makes Owl have ultimate level gear in stock during 00:00 and 06:00 at least.
Might take a while to reach that kind of a rank though.[/QUOTE]Well, how long till they actually sell ammo for decent guns?
Seems in the current version of the alpha squads, the only member of said squad that can actually harm me is the one carrying the M82 (except for grenades, of course, everything gets killed with those). The rest get cut down pretty quickly with Strelok's SG-550+tactics book and regular ammo.
200 damage will fuck you up.
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