S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series Megathread: The Zone will stop the Russians - Games

[QUOTE=Dub!;44715693]I don't care to beat CoP because Misery is fucking hard and on-top of that the game stutters 24/7 due to shitty optimization and SoC actually looks promising. I'm going in with low expectations.[/QUOTE] Why you would play a game with a very change-heavy mod as your first time through?

[QUOTE=Dub!;44715693] I almost finished CS but lost interest. I don't care to beat CoP because Misery is fucking hard and on-top of that the game stutters 24/7 due to shitty optimization and SoC actually looks promising. I'm going in with low expectations.[/QUOTE] You uh, probably shouldn't be trying to complete CoP for the first time with Misery. Grab Pripyat Reborn and Original Weapons Renewal if you really needs mods for it. As for the stutter, that'll be because of Misery most likely. Try Xetrill/Bangalores awesome [URL="http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr3&thm_page=1&thm_id=6030&sec_id=18&offset=-60"]luaJIT[/URL] replacement, really helps with heavy scripting.

[IMG]http://prohardver.hu/dl/upc/2014-05/298493_477284_269899989771875_1485165839_o.thumb.jpg[/IMG] In-game screenshot of CoC. New boar mesh. :downs:

[QUOTE=Fuxed;44715772]You uh, probably shouldn't be trying to complete CoP for the first time with Misery. Grab Pripyat Reborn and Original Weapons Renewal if you really needs mods for it. As for the stutter, that'll be because of Misery most likely. Try Xetrill/Bangalores awesome [URL="http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr3&thm_page=1&thm_id=6030&sec_id=18&offset=-60"]luaJIT[/URL] replacement, really helps with heavy scripting.[/QUOTE] I didn't try and beat it on MISERY the first time around. I used Complete and I don't even know why but I started over and switched on over to MISERY because it looked cool and had flashy colors. I'm gonna play through SoC with complete as I heard Vanilla, while not being bad, is better played with Complete instead. I'll go back to CS and CoP after as I'd like to play in the order they were released. [QUOTE=Lijitsu;44715763]Why you would play a game with a very change-heavy mod as your first time through?[/QUOTE] Reason above.

[QUOTE=Dub!;44715834]I didn't try and beat it on MISERY the first time around. I used Complete and I don't even know why but I started over and switched on over to MISERY because it looked cool and had flashy colors. I'm gonna play through SoC with complete as I heard Vanilla, while not being bad, is better played with Complete instead. I'll go back to CS and CoP after as I'd like to play in the order they were released.[/QUOTE] Everything you heard is wrong, then. If you are so desperate about using a mod, find the Starter Packs, or just download the Zone/Sky Reclamation Project for SoC and CS. Call of Pripyat is perfectly fine when played vanilla and as a matter of fact installing Call of Pripyat Complete [I]breaks[/I] parts of the game. Misery is a mod that you shouldn't use [I]at all[/I] as a rookie, as it is meant to present the game in a completely different, quasi-hardcore-while-still-not-trying-to-be-100%-reelism fashion. And when it comes to Complete the only saving grace is Clear Sky Complete, and that's mostly because the base game was so fucked up in programming that any change was an improvement.

Anyone have a black sky after the update?

[QUOTE=Dub!;44715834]I didn't try and beat it on MISERY the first time around. I used Complete and I don't even know why but I started over and switched on over to MISERY because it looked cool and had flashy colors. I'm gonna play through SoC with complete as I heard Vanilla, while not being bad, is better played with Complete instead. I'll go back to CS and CoP after as I'd like to play in the order they were released. [/QUOTE] The only thing worse than trying CoP with Misery first is playing it with Complete first...CoP is actually somewhat polished as far as the Stalker series are concerned. Just try it out Vanilla.

[QUOTE=nater;44715962]The only thing worse than trying CoP with Misery first is playing it with Complete first...CoP is actually somewhat polished as far as the Stalker series are concerned.[/QUOTE] GSC hiring professional testers from outside really did work out well :)

[IMG]http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/vg/thumb/1395/78/1395784260314s.jpg[/IMG] Call of Chernobyl's exclusive new feature: Stalkers now form relationships and bonds that last a lifetime.

[QUOTE=alundaio;44715979][IMG]http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/vg/thumb/1395/78/1395784260314s.jpg[/IMG] Call of Chernobyl's exclusive new feature: Stalkers now form relationships and bonds that last a lifetime.[/QUOTE] Or at least until you re-load the savegame

Soup is pretty fun.

Someone BADLY needs to make an a-Life mod for Lost Alpha. The maps are completely devoid of... everything really. There's no reason to travel because there's barely any good loot unless you find the spots where it is basically hidden. You won't encounter any hostiles to fight on your journey's from one end of the zone to the other, and you won't find any friendly stalkers to trade with or ask about rumors. There's just NOTHING. The maps are awesome, large, expansive, and beautiful, but it doesn't count for shit if there is nothing to populate them and nothing to do in them. Even worse is that there are barely any side quests. Too much time was spent focusing on the main story, and it isn't even that good. When I first saw Lost Alpha, I was anticipating a very non-linear experience that would focus on making a living, breathing, expansive zone. I wasn't expecting the linear boredom of Chernobyl Walking Simulator. Maybe this would have been corrected with more time, so fuck that asshole who leaked the project. In the end, I think I am done with LA until either they make an update that gives more life into the zone, or someone mods it to do just that. In the meantime, I think I will go revisit CoP.

dark valley is actually quite horrific and full of ambient life in LA. if you wander off, you will get torn to shreds.

It's all a bit funny to me, though. People demanded for a massive and sparse zone, but they don't like the often empty levels delivered. When they complain about a linear story flow everyone forgot that STALKER: Oblivion lost was meant to be as linear as Half-Life. I do agree, though. First thing I want to sse is a CoP-like A-life, and a lot of custom sidequests. Not the classical fetch quests of SoC, I'm talking real meaty, CoP-like ones. [sp]And maybe a repopulated, hostile Wild Territory.[/sp]

So, how do I open the trunk on this bad boy? [t]http://i.imgur.com/MB71sye.jpg[/t] [editline]3rd May 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=croguy;44716508]It's all a bit funny to me, though. People demanded for a massive and sparse zone, but they don't like the often empty levels delivered. When they complain about a linear story flow everyone forgot that STALKER: Oblivion lost was meant to be as linear as Half-Life.[/QUOTE] I dunno about everyone else, but I [I]love[/I] the desolate feel of LA and the huge, mutant-populated areas. I never really liked how [I]often[/I] you'd see stalkers wandering around the zone in CoP and CS, made it feel like the Zone was a tourist-filled mall or something. In LA you still get wandering stalkers, but they're far fewer and between, which I like. [QUOTE=croguy;44716508]I do agree, though. First thing I want to sse is a CoP-like A-life, and a lot of custom sidequests. Not the classical fetch quests of SoC, I'm talking real meaty, CoP-like ones.[/QUOTE] Absolutely. The side quests [I]are[/I] pretty lacking. Fixing the PDA-driven quests and adding CoP-style side quests, especially in the new areas, would make LA even better. Not to mention better optimization and extensive bug-fixing :v: Variation in stalker models, skins and faces would be a great addition too. Removing the cheesy cutscenes and replacing them with SoC/CS cutscenes or text dialogue/PDA notes would probably be for the best, too. And why the heck do neutral stalkers like certain military members, mercs and sin show up as red dots on the PDA? They should just be yellow to prevent confusion, I feel like too often I mistake them for enemies and end up peppering them with bullets, or I think they'll be neutral and instead [I]I[/I] get sprayed with lead... I feel like a sound overhaul would be a good idea as well. It's rather annoying how you can hear zone ambience and mutant noises while you're below ground, for example. And that awful reverb effect just needs to go.

Yeah I like how few stalkers you see actually. Walking through forest the first time at night felt like a trip through hell, and that's not even one of the later areas. Of course I had found out you can enter forest from dark valley early (even though the entrance from the bar was blocked) so I had complete garbage equipment, minimal ammo, 1 antirad and 2 medkits, plus some food so I was pretty scared. Getting jumped by two chimeras and 2 naked burers didn't help. An A-Life mod would be fucking rad, because the size of some areas like forest are just awe-inspiring. I mean there are literally tall trees as far as the eye can see - it's like 8 or 9 SoC red forests combined. EDIT: Tried playing around with Hud_fov and weapon origins to change the look of the weapons to be a little more like CoP/OWR's, since the defaults in LAMP were a bit too stubby for my taste. [t]http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/597035495760414492/D37D65FA7ACA32BE545160B426FD5A2DD93B20B6/[/t] [t]http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/597035495767184224/3895F21DE21B6DDA9AE97E20978E5AC36446B152/[/t] [t]http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/597035495767231489/EDFA0D972A1642539C032644033FDE73E6BF0B1A/[/t]

those who have gotten to the urban areas i'd like to know if they look just as desolated as it does in the video [video=youtube;6o4l9wPWYIQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o4l9wPWYIQ[/video]

Dead City feels pretty dead after you've done the story element in that area yes.

Rostok kind of does. Aside from the duty base there were a few mutants in the city, and outside it and military but it felt very much like that video. I'd honestly be happy with A-Life that makes a few mutants spawn occasionally in places like that. 3 or 4 mutants, or a squad of roving bandits that runs into a hostile squad of mercs, stuff like that - so it still feels kind of desolate but at the same time you have little pockets of encounters from time to time where you might get something good.

Think of how much time the Dezowave team could have saved if they ditched the shit in-game cutscenes and make it not a linear experience eh? I'm looking forward to a mod making LA into an expansive, living breathing free play mod, something with TFW levels of 'things going on'. and maybe AMK levels of difficulty. I still love the game don't get me wrong but to walk across the game 'Oh Rostok Factory what is going on [b]NO, YOU MUST COMPLETE THE SECTION OF STORY FIRST MOTHERFUCKER.[/b] It's like. Why.

The blocked entrance progression thing could have been made immersive and simple. Instead of a popup telling you something, why not add a ditch you can't cross, or different levels of radiation that requires certain levels of protection to even get through, which would only be provided at certain points. It could've been organic, but they chose to make it YOU CAN'T GO THERE but without the entertaining npc.

While everything brought up are legitimate complaints the real crime here is [sp] There's no fucking Freedom, how could you do this you Cheeki Breeki bastards [/sp]

I've found dead freedom members, but none alive so far :v: [editline]3rd May 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Furioso;44716578]So, how do I open the trunk on this bad boy? [t]http://i.imgur.com/MB71sye.jpg[/t][/QUOTE] Anyone?

[QUOTE=Bloodshot12;44716948]The blocked entrance progression thing could have been made immersive and simple. Instead of a popup telling you something, why not add a ditch you can't cross, or different levels of radiation that requires certain levels of protection to even get through, which would only be provided at certain points. It could've been organic, but they chose to make it YOU CAN'T GO THERE but without the entertaining npc.[/QUOTE] Maybe just making them blowout dependable. Have dangerous radiation and anomalies that block routes between levels so you have to go around or push through with, luck, skill or just higher-tier equipment. [sp]I've only found dead freedom, where are they does anyone know, why is duty so populous but Freedom are non-existent.[/sp]

[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;44716855]Think of how much time the Dezowave team could have saved if they ditched the shit in-game cutscenes and make it not a linear experience eh? I'm looking forward to a mod making LA into an expansive, living breathing free play mod, something with TFW levels of 'things going on'. and maybe AMK levels of difficulty. I still love the game don't get me wrong but to walk across the game 'Oh Rostok Factory what is going on [b]NO, YOU MUST COMPLETE THE SECTION OF STORY FIRST MOTHERFUCKER.[/b] It's like. Why.[/QUOTE] I'm working on a mod that is like TFW but without the FW, if that counts. Think of all that 'The', we going are going to offer. We were going to jokingly promote the absence of story, like a big feature promo that you would see from Misery or Complete. :D "Want to play your game without that story chaining you down? Does reading words make your head hurt?"

[QUOTE=Bloodshot12;44716819]Rostok kind of does. Aside from the duty base there were a few mutants in the city, and outside it and military but it felt very much like that video. I'd honestly be happy with A-Life that makes a few mutants spawn occasionally in places like that. 3 or 4 mutants, or a squad of roving bandits that runs into a hostile squad of mercs, stuff like that - so it still feels kind of desolate but at the same time you have little pockets of encounters from time to time where you might get something good.[/QUOTE] Like, don't get me wrong, I [I]love[/I] the feeling of a desolate zone. Call of Pripyat was my favorite STALKER game because of that. But in that game, you still got the feeling that the Zone [I]had stuff in it.[/I] There were more interesting anomalies, packs of mutants that actually felt like a real, moving pack. And the best part was the encounters with fellow STALKERS. They happened just sparse enough to not feel populated, but also common enough to feel like there was some activity in the Zone. I have found literally ONE group of A-Life Stalkers roaming around, and I am halfway through the game. That is unacceptable. Maps like the Dead City are just begging for some big firefights and encounters. I like how some maps are sparse, but not [I]every[/I] map should be like that. Rostok had a lot of opportunity for some Stalker vs. Mutant action and it just never happens. In fact, Dark Valley was pretty much the only area with even a hint of action. I do like the big packs of mutants in LA though. They have superb A-Life and are fun to encounter. But mutants have never been very fun to fight, and it is only worse in LA because they are so weak. I was trying to make a mod that beefed up their health to make them more threatening, but I don't know shit about modding X-Ray. Besides, human opponents are way more fun to fight (at least when the AI actually works). And it would be one thing if the story was actually good. Linearity can be fun. Hell, the original SoC showed us that, with the maps being little more than slightly-larger-than-average linear maps for the most part. Exploration was optional and rewarding, but the story was the focus. It is the same way in LA. Exploring is easily the most fun part, but there isn't anyone to fight, no quests to accomplish, and little beyond canned corn in the way of loot. Hell, there aren't even interesting anomalies to brave like in Call of Pripyat. The whole thing is just one big, empty wasteland. Basically, it is a lot more like the ACTUAL Exclusion Zone. If I was to change it, I would go for something like this: [QUOTE=]Cordon - Heavily populated, mostly by nuetral stalkers but some bandits the farther north you get. Host to large packs of Blind Dogs, Boars, and Flesh, but none of the scarier mutants. Garbage - Also heavily populated, with many small skirmishes between stalkers looking for artifacts and bandits trying to steal those artifacts. The southern part has more neutrals, the middle more bandits, and the north some duty patrols and large mutant hordes. None of the scarier mutants here yet either. Dark Valley - Obviously the scariest place for early players. Decently populated by roving gangs of bandits and large packs of mutants. Some of the scarier stuff shows up here, but no Chimera or Bloodsuckers yet. Darkscape - Pretty populated. A three way war between the Ukrainian military, Sin, and Stalkers searching for artifacts. Stalkers are sparse in this area because of the large presence of Sin and the military, but they are still here because of the many anomalies. Rostok - Not very populated at first, but it becomes much more populated [sp]once you clear out the bloodsuckers[/sp]. Massive amounts of Duty patrols and loners headed south, but also large mutant hordes including some scary shit like chimera and [sp]bloodsuckers, if you haven't cleared out their hive[/sp]. Basically a warzone between Duty and the mutants. Agroprom - Desolate, especially after the military occupation. Other than the occasional patrol and [sp]the guys hiding in the train tunnel,[/sp] nothing really goes on here. Construction Site - Fairly desolate. I would put a small Freedom outpost in the northeast, near the mercs. Then there would be loners in the south, artifact hunting. Further east there are some bandits and highwaymen. Yantar - A mutant infested shithole, like in the original SoC. Only the bravest stalkers come here for artifact hunting. The Ecologists rarely leave their base, so the whole thing it very dangerous due to the presence of tougher, nastier mutants. Great Metal Factory - Not a whole lot of change here, just some more bandit activity west of the Bar. Dead City - A warzone. Despite the name, it is anything but dead. Monolith, Freedom, Duty, and [sp]mercenaries, before the main quest mission anyways[/sp] are fighting battles constantly in the streets. Stalkers heading north would do best to go by the Bar, bit crazies and thrill seekers occasionally go through here. I can't speak for the rest as I haven't gotten that far yet.[/QUOTE] And when I say largely populated, I still mean less than SoC levels. Somewhere around CoP levels of stalkers. Bar, Rostok, and Dead City would be the most populated. Yantar, Construction Site, and Agroprom would be the least of the ones I have played (although considering the expanse that is Forest, that would probably be devoid of human life and just be mutant-infested).

[QUOTE=Furioso;44716975] Anyone?[/QUOTE] Should just be F on the back of the vehicle, but I couldn't open that one either.

[QUOTE=Furioso;44716578] I dunno about everyone else, but I [I]love[/I] the desolate feel of LA and the huge, mutant-populated areas. I never really liked how [I]often[/I] you'd see stalkers wandering around the zone in CoP and CS, made it feel like the Zone was a tourist-filled mall or something. In LA you still get wandering stalkers, but they're far fewer and between, which I like. [/QUOTE] I actually hold somewhat of the opposite impression. In my opinion it would be fantastic to have a mod that would make the zone a treacherous unpredictable hellscape that forced you to be on your toes every single second, while ofcourse being well balanced to ensure that the player had his quiet zone moments too.

Anybody else think this would be a really good way to put fast travel in a stalker game? [video=youtube;5lgMrJpnnhM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lgMrJpnnhM&feature=player_detailpage#t=897[/video] [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lgMrJpnnhM&feature=player_detailpage#t=897"]Skip to 14:57[/URL] I would kill for this with random encounters instead of the stupid standard "teleport to destination" system everything uses, I'd actually want to use fast travel. Going to a group to travel with, the PDA pops up and your group starts moving, then you get a warning popup for an encounter where it then loads the level and takes you ingame, and then you could talk to the group you are with once you survive the encounter and choose to continue on or let them go. It would keep you from missing shit you might have missed if you opted to use fast travel over exploring too.

The Faction War mod kind of did that, I think when you fast traveled you'd occasionally have events happen that would cost you ammo, etc.