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

I'm just talking about visuals, and also I like the train tracks/bridge area way better

Watching all you, guys, ranting about LA makes me want to stay away from it for longer than a few months. Guess I'll stay calm and wait for Frozen Zone.

[QUOTE=Saturn V;44747112]I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about these answers.[/QUOTE] This is unfortunate, since Dez0wave seems to be just in full damage control mode about the obvious fact that there are literally no roaming hostile NPCs in the maps which makes it kind of doubtful that they'll try to address it at least anywhere in the near future. [editline]herp[/editline] I mean, obviously comments that are straight up shitting on the mod I understand if they retort quickly or not at all but the guy brought very politely up a legitimate point : you can't really get fuel from anywhere (in the beta Sidorovich used to sell fuel cans) and spawns are barely there in most maps.

[QUOTE=RobberBaron;44746767]I'm not a believer type, and i don't believe what others tell me. So i try and try. LA's Cordon map opened in COP LE: [URL="http://i.imgur.com/BZprYI1.jpg"]http://i.imgur.com/BZprYI1.jpg[/URL] Don't care about snow (missing textures), i just wanted to show, you can open LA maps in any X-ray SDK.[/QUOTE] Have you tried to open up the bigger ones, like countryside/NPP? Cordon is way smaller than them. Oh, and opening them up could be possible, but what about compiling them?

The fuck is this [t]http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101203110823/stalker/images/5/56/SCS_Morlock_Art.png[/t] Clear Sky was gonna have supermutants? [QUOTE=LoNer1;44745571]More on this FEASIBLE TODO: >proper gore/dismemberment system according to bullet ballistics, mutant attacks, shot location, anomaly damage etc Changelog of what the guy wants to do [/QUOTE] Holy shit

Will we ever get co-op?

[QUOTE=exostalker;44747249]Have you tried to open up the bigger ones, like countryside/NPP? Cordon is way smaller than them. Oh, and opening them up could be possible, but what about compiling them?[/QUOTE] He already said he plans to compile them regardless how many attempts it takes. If he has time for it anyway. [QUOTE=croguy;44746782]Is it possible to compile the map, even?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=RobberBaron;44746837]I will try and try, but only if i will have time for this. Call of Chernobyl is more important for me. Maybe later.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=C0MMUNIZT;44747395]Will we ever get co-op?[/QUOTE] Not in the base S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, Survarium is supposed to implement a PvE-system that'll function like co-op sometime either in the late stages of this year or early stages of the next. [editline]herp[/editline] [QUOTE=Bloodshot12;44747442]What about visuals? is CoC gonna be like CoP vanilla vegetation wise (ugly as shit), CS, or will it use absolute nature?[/QUOTE] [t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/23/22598/38.jpg[/t] [t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/23/22598/ss_sylvain_09-26-13_20-27-44_l11_pripyat.jpg[/t] It looks like it has some basic AtmosFear looks modded in

What about visuals? is CoC gonna be like CoP vanilla vegetation wise (ugly as shit), CS, or will it use absolute nature? Also if not will there be a separate abs nature for it?

Honestly, I think that most of the time involved in LA should have gone to trying to implement new AI features/aspects rather than concentrating on the maps (if they aren't going to be that used....) or on the storyline and main quests. Wow this is surely one of the most clusterfucks in the history of game dev I've ever seen. I totally understand now GSC decisions to cut it off after the leak. I mean, imagine you are told that the final release is coming....and the guys haven't come up with solutions with bugs -as it has been said before- that appeared 9 months ago. Plus, add in the mix the restricted AI and some unpolished features and it's a total no-no. They would have done the THQ's scissors, so as to say, and the final thing would had been worse than ShOC gold. Now, to wait and hope for wizards to resurrect this monster.

[QUOTE=Jamie1992GSC;44747401]He already said he plans to compile them regardless how many attempts it takes. If he has time for it anyway.[/QUOTE] He said that about cordon, and cordon is one of the smallest maps :smile:

[QUOTE=Saturn V;44747112]I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about these answers. [img]http://i.imgur.com/MifzELm.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]Don't like how devs actively deny the experience players have gotten from the game :/

[IMG]http://puu.sh/8D35Y.png[/IMG]

If anything the limitation is the AI Map size. There are limits in LE that have to do with the size of data types. For example you cannot have more 255 smart terrains. With source code it's a simple fix by making it a 16-bit unsigned integer. Or how to backport CoP maps into SoC you need to change buffer size with a binary patcher to xr_rda.exe. I have not suggested you can completely port LA maps with full A-Life to CoP; We do not have scenes and raw data even to try. But I'm certain you can use the geometry.

[QUOTE]LA's levels cannot be ported to CoP. The X-Ray 1.6 SDK can't handle them.[/QUOTE] Maybe it's not possible to open large level in LE because SDK0.4 is too old (to save geometry, aimap and others "as selection" and open them on CoP SDK). This is my answer: converte LA levels with converter.exe and -maya option. Open the .object in 3dsmax or Maya, export geometry part by part. Start LE, past all level part objects, redo aimap, sectors and others. Compile and it will be fine. So, it's not impossible as you say. I have a level with around 6 millions vertices and 14 millions faces in SDK0.7 and it's not a problem when you know how use this tools.

[QUOTE=Bloodshot12;44747442]What about visuals? is CoC gonna be like CoP vanilla vegetation wise (ugly as shit), CS, or will it use absolute nature? Also if not will there be a separate abs nature for it?[/QUOTE] We don't have CoP maps. So it will look like CS, mostly.

[IMG]http://puu.sh/8D5DV.png[/IMG]

Man, the amount of LA backlash is actually pretty impressive, the entire thing comes off as a massive trainwreck at this point, there are people arguing about it page after page. I would like to restate my last question, are there mods or combinations of mods that would make the difficulty even tougher than soup in terms of combat and survival (that are actually recommended)?

[QUOTE=genkaz92;44748370]the entire thing comes off as a massive trainwreck at this point[/QUOTE] It's not a totally unsalvageable pile of dreck, the levels are amazing and the audiovisual atmosphere is impeccable. The missions for the most part are okay and the laboratories would be great without the terrible cut-scenes the developers decided to stow upon us with. Yes, it's clearly [I]troubled[/I] but with some A-Life additions, failsafes for the plot to not be completely uncompleteable if someone important dies and the removal of both the artificial barriers preventing you from moving through some maps backwards and the terrible, TERRIBLE cutscenes inside the labs, it would be an okay game/mod,though not the ultimate S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience people had been so hyped about before it's release. The A.I, while bad, is almost a 1:1 recreation of the Build 1935 A.I so it's got that nostalgia going for it. The new mechanics are nice, while some people detest belt reloading and thirst / hunger, I think it's very nice even if it's not as necessary of a thing in the game we have now. [QUOTE=genkaz92;44748924]and how it is not annoying at all yet it makes you munch on something once in a while.[/QUOTE] I respect that opinion and it works fine in SoC / CS I guess but at least in vanilla the mechanic is barely there(it's more noticeable in CoP because you can sleep) and food is just medkits that heal a lot less. When Lost Alpha gets it's own Xiani's Freeplay Start equivalent I can't wait to have to actually stock food and water across safehouses around the Zone and actually plan ahead of my treks into the Zone based on the various supplies. Thankfully actor hunger rate is fairly easy to mod so all people can make their own ideal balancing on that regard.

[QUOTE=Muukkis;44748859]It's not a totally unsalvageable pile of dreck, the levels are amazing and the audiovisual atmosphere is impeccable. The missions for the most part are okay and the laboratories would be great without the terrible cut-scenes the developers decided to stow upon us with. Yes, it's clearly [I]troubled[/I] but with some A-Life additions, failsafes for the plot to not be completely uncompleteable if someone important dies and the removal of both the artificial barriers preventing you from moving through some maps backwards and the terrible, TERRIBLE cutscenes inside the labs, it would be an okay game/mod,though not the ultimate S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience people had been so hyped about before it's release. The A.I, while bad, is almost a 1:1 recreation of the Build 1935 A.I so it's got that nostalgia going for it. The new mechanics are nice, while some people detest belt reloading and thirst / hunger, I think it's very nice even if it's not as necessary of a thing in the game we have now.[/QUOTE] Personally I like hunger the way it is setup in Vanilla/Soup, and how it is not annoying at all yet it makes you munch on something once in a while. [editline]7th May 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Muukkis;44748859]I respect that opinion and it works fine in SoC / CS I guess but at least in vanilla the mechanic is barely there(it's more noticeable in CoP because you can sleep) and food is just medkits that heal a lot less. When Lost Alpha gets it's own Xiani's Freeplay Start equivalent I can't wait to have to actually stock food and water across safehouses around the Zone and actually plan ahead of my treks into the Zone based on the various supplies. Thankfully actor hunger rate is fairly easy to mod so all people can make their own ideal balancing on that regard.[/QUOTE] That would be immensely kick ass. As we have mentioned before in this thread, the Zone needs to have more of the actual living Zone.

[QUOTE=genkaz92;44748924] That would be immensely kick ass. As we have mentioned before in this thread, the Zone needs to have more of the actual living Zone.[/QUOTE] I can guarantee, that then people would complain about over populated zone, thousands of stalkers on maps and never-ending respawn waves :D [editline]7th May 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Muukkis;44748859] not the ultimate S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience people had been so hyped about before it's release[/QUOTE] And there will never be one, it's just S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s fate - to always be stained and imperfect.

So I just started playing Misery. And by started I mean walked around for five minutes. It looks like something I'd really like to get into but is there a way to fix those min stutters? It's all running smooth and nice then I get a .2 second pause and it really bothers me.

[QUOTE=exostalker;44749121]I can guarantee, that then people would complain about over populated zone, thousands of stalkers on maps and never-ending respawn waves :D[/QUOTE] Well, it is not necessarily about having a map stuffed to the brim with boars and bandits, but to always have some kind of a feasible danger that would force you to ACT as if the map was filled with boars and bandits, always having the potentiality of something or someone biting your head off. [editline]7th May 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=WTF Nuke;44749143]So I just started playing Misery. And by started I mean walked around for five minutes. It looks like something I'd really like to get into but is there a way to fix those min stutters? It's all running smooth and nice then I get a .2 second pause and it really bothers me.[/QUOTE] Defragging seemed to have helped me a little bit, apparently it may have something to do with either a lack of Ram or the speed of the hardrive, and how apparently it is a pretty good idea to install stalker and any of its mods on an SSD. Then again, plenty of things are a good idea to install on an SSD if you have one. It could also be important to make sure that you are not running more than you can handle in terms of the game's settings, with the main killers of RAM apparetly being the texture detail and the lighting type. Also, it would appear that this thread is being very gradually invaded by Mulder avatars.

[QUOTE=WTF Nuke;44749143]So I just started playing Misery. And by started I mean walked around for five minutes. It looks like something I'd really like to get into but is there a way to fix those min stutters? It's all running smooth and nice then I get a .2 second pause and it really bothers me.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-misery/forum/thread/huuuge-performance-boost"] Compressing the misery textures yourself[/URL], keeping switch distance lower, 4GB patching the game and also adding -noprefetch to the end of your Misery shortcut also helps. Otherwise, those stutters generally start to go away as you play more of the game and then only appear when loading in large amounts of NPCs (Skadovsk, etc) until it becomes a non-issue. Also, Caching SSDs (<64GB) or just placing CoP on an SSD helps a good amount with performance, as well.

[QUOTE=fishyfish777;44749203][URL="http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-misery/forum/thread/huuuge-performance-boost"] Compressing the misery textures yourself[/URL], keeping switch distance lower and also adding -noprefetch to the end of your Misery shortcut also helps.[/QUOTE] Isn't the noprefetch trick mostly usable for higher Ram systems?

[QUOTE=genkaz92;44749158]Well, it is not necessarily about having a map stuffed to the brim with boars and bandits, but to always have some kind of a feasible danger that would force you to ACT as if the map was filled with boars and bandits, always having the potentiality of something or someone biting your head off.[/QUOTE] The whole biting your head thing get's so cliche very fast, that it wouldn't be fun no matter what. Maybe I've watched Tarkovsky's Stalker too much, or read Roadside Picnic too many times, but that's the zone I always imagined. You can't just non-stop run through it, rembo'ing the mutants and picking up artifacts on the go... Although there is no game mechanic to force the player to actually respect the zone, to feel like in that real zone, where you can never feel safe. I'm slowly working towards such gameplay mechanic, but it isn't easy, it probably isn't achievable for the most part, because it's a game after all.

What's the best SoC mod to tide me over until Lost Alpha has a lot of bugs ironed out? I was playing one a year or two ago called AMK and it was super fun and I loved the atmosphere it gave with NPCs wandering around and shit. I got quite far before I lost my save file. What mod should I go for?

[QUOTE=Over-Run;44749221]What's the best SoC mod to tide me over until Lost Alpha has a lot of bugs ironed out? I was playing one a year or two ago called AMK and it was super fun and I loved the atmosphere it gave with NPCs wandering around and shit. I got quite far before I lost my save file. What mod should I go for?[/QUOTE] I had a lot of fun with Autumn Aurora 2. It's a well-done remake which bumps up the difficulty a slight, managable amount.

[QUOTE=Over-Run;44749221]What's the best SoC mod to tide me over until Lost Alpha has a lot of bugs ironed out? I was playing one a year or two ago called AMK and it was super fun and I loved the atmosphere it gave with NPCs wandering around and shit. I got quite far before I lost my save file. What mod should I go for?[/QUOTE] I would personally recommend Autumn Aurora 2, it certainly has great atmosphere. Somehow it manages to introduce the dead flora without being too "misery-ish".

[QUOTE=Muukkis;44738284]Fix the A-Life into at least SoC activity levels (in that there are at least few smart_terrains of respawning enemies in every map and they migrate from another level or something), remove the horrible cutscenes, put some fail-safes into the story(if important plot characters die or become hostile, it's gg and game over) and remove silly restrictions from entering levels and Lost Alpha would be actually pretty good.[/QUOTE] And make it a bit more difficult. Between the dumb AI and the fact that bullets seem to do absurd damage, you are basically untouchable. Either make the AI more accurate, or do what I would prefer and make the bullets do less damage so mutants are scary again.