S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series Megathread: The Zone will stop the Russians
21,541 replies, posted
[QUOTE=exostalker;44749212]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.[/QUOTE]
That's the thing though, I am agreeing with you and I get what you are saying regarding the overpopulation. And I was talking about precisely the insurance of never ending danger and tension while avoiding the aforementioned issue.
It could be a good idea to have "long range" NPC's such as bloodsuckers that are automatically aware when you enter a specific section of the zone, and have an algorithm initialized which makes them gradually sneak up on you.
no prefetch adds to stuttering. The reason you prefetch is so you don't have to load them when something comes online. A lot of stutter can be fixed in Misery 2 if everything was added to prefetch_single.ltx. Sure, it would take 10 minutes to load after a fresh boot up of the game but subsequent loads would be much faster and there would be less stuttering.
I actually would like to see a Misery 3 on top of CoC. That would make a lot of people happy.
[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]
Try Soup, you will love it at Agroprom, I promise. [url]http://www.tecnobacon.com/[/url]
Alright thanks, although I might just shelve Misery until I finish Soup. I wanted a harder experience but I'm getting sniped out with my tail between my legs.
[QUOTE=BananaFoam;44749270]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.[/QUOTE]
This is pretty easily fixable for mutants, I decreased most of their fire_wound immunities to a lot lower values which makes them more resistant to bullets
[QUOTE=WTF Nuke;44749320]Alright thanks, although I might just shelve Misery until I finish Soup. I wanted a harder experience but I'm getting sniped out with my tail between my legs.[/QUOTE]
Is Misery harder than Soup?
[QUOTE=genkaz92;44749351]Is Misery harder than Soup?[/QUOTE]
Well in Soup I was shotgun sniping some mercs in garbage while in Misery I ran around for a bit then got shot down by enemies unknown like five times. I heard that the start of Soup is easier but it evens out, I attribute this to having large damage values on both sides as well as a large abundance of ammo from fallen foes.
Fun factor wise tho Soup is great and if you haven't tried it yet I totally suggest it.
So what should I know before playing SOUP? Is it like a joke mod or is it a proper mod with a lot to offer? Good AI and atmosphere etc?
It's a mega mod of lots of russian mods that was machine translated and thrown together into an amalgamated beauty. I would say that it is no way a joke mod, and has a serious butt load of content. The AI is decent and the atmosphere too, though I've only played up until agroprom and haven't finished it yet, and I feel like that's a great place to judge atmosphere.
Ah I see sweet! I might give it a download, seems like a hefty mod. So does it make the world feel even more alive?
[QUOTE=Bloodshot12;44749350]This is pretty easily fixable for mutants, I decreased most of their fire_wound immunities to a lot lower values which makes them more resistant to bullets[/QUOTE]
I was wondering what value needed changing.
It's too bad I already uninstalled Lost Alpha. I think the worst thing about LA, the thing I hate the most, is that there is so much potential going to waste. The maps are amazing and its easily the best looking STALKER game/mod to date.
There's definitely a lot more people that's for sure. For example I spent some time gathering artefacts for a stalker that I don't think was in the original game, and bringing them back to him. All the while he was moving up towards garbage. I also got a PDA that told me of a stalker with a very important PDA, and now I must retrieve it from some gang boss after killing some mercs with his information. So in short yes, it does make the game feel more alive.
[QUOTE=Over-Run;44749487]Ah I see sweet! I might give it a download, seems like a hefty mod. So does it make the world feel even more alive?[/QUOTE]
The collector mode in it is fully dynamic while the marked one storyline seems to have a minimal amount of dynamic content according to the emails that I traded with the developer. Unfortunately the collector's dynamic world is only used for a treasure hunt and some basic quests and nothing else, which is kind of disappointing considering what could be done with it.
The marked one storyline seems to have a fair number of new quests that can be pursued simultaneously.
You should probably take a look at this guide, post copied from the Steam forums:
Expanded Guide by Burger, Updated 11-11-2010. The A185 Guide is updated to include events from more recent versions of the mod, better pictures and maps (zoom in on them), tips to ease your passage, and improved English translations. [URL]http://www.gamefront.com/files/17504407[/URL] Guide Nov 11 2010.rar (14 Mb file).
Just don't spoil anything for yourself, only read enough to understand where to start the quest line.
Arguably one of the main attractions of Soup is its realistic difficulty, and the fact of it forcing you to be seriously on your toes in a large variety of situations.
Oh and I nearly forgot, do not pick anything else than either the collector or the marked one difficulty, the best stalker is the most difficult possible stalker, it does wonders to the experience.
[QUOTE=$$>MUFFIN<$$;44744381]Problem is there is nothing inside those locations. No enemies, no loot, they are just empty.[/QUOTE]
I don't think you've explored enough, because I haven't really had that problem, except in Rostok and the Wild Territory. Loot is sparse, but it's certainly not absent. And whenever I think I'm safe, I get jumped by chimeras or bloodsuckers. Maybe minor tweaking in these areas would be beneficial.
[editline]7th May 2014[/editline]
Does anyone else feel like anomalies are too apparent/visible? I hardly ever find myself throwing bolts for that reason, when I can just sprint past the anomaly I saw a hundred feet away!
[QUOTE=magicman1234;44749767][video=youtube;_MW3iMsi204]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MW3iMsi204[/video]
[T]http://i.imgur.com/zK9DdVi.png[/T][/QUOTE]
What if this was Lost Alpha's end boss :v:
Cheburashka was the SHIT as a kid. Holy fuck the song that him and the crocodile sing on the train is the best.
[QUOTE=exostalker;44749212]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...
[/QUOTE]
Thing is, it's fixable. First, have mutants represent real fucking danger. Like, actually be dangerous. Example: bloodsuckers from CS. Yes, many people are disgusted by the idea of them being completely immortal while cloaked, but combined with CoP's partial visibility/complete invisibility it might just work. That would make bloodsuckers actually extremely dangerous without the necessity to make them bullet sponges. Again, the way LA handled cats - extremely fast, but fragile, I like the idea. Make them even faster, not quite as easily killed, make their bites dangerous. Dogs should be numerous. Boars and fleshes - actual bullet sponges, first being way to dumb to be scared off, latter being cowardly.
Now make them all freeroaming (to a point, so that they won't kill anyone important) with several active zones for packs to occupy. I want to exit X18, for example, with most of my ammo missing and get greeted by a couple of pyrogeists that just so happened to like the facility. Next time, there would be a couple of roaming bandits, or a pack of snorks. Or no one at all.
Big thing about "lifeless zone" - the lore, "Picnic", I get that. But we haven't ever seen the Zone like in "Picnic". You've got to remember why it was empty - because it was incredibly dangerous for all living things. Just depopulating the Zone in Stalkers won't work - there's no reason for the place to be empty. It has to be crawling with anomalies, to such a point that you'd have to be parkour champion to traverse something farther than Garbage and get to interesting places. Hunting for artifacts has to be interesting, they should spawn naturally inside the fields of anomalies, so you'd have to crawl through the mazes of various anomalies to get them.
I don't know what's the technical details behind the very small number of anomalies are, but without the abundance of traps depopulated Zone just doesn't make any sense to me personally.
[QUOTE=gudman;44749912]your text[/QUOTE]
I do agree, the zone should feel desolate and corrupted but not necessarily empty. I fully acknowledge the importance of atmospheric quiet moments, but they should not be the majority of the game.
Desolate in the sense of disarray and devoid of normal order, not empty.
I'd love to see some of the weirder stuff in Roadside Picnic realized in STALKER. Shadows that are cast the wrong way,, brand new looking things next to old, aged, rusted things, etc. Surreal stuff like that.
[QUOTE=gudman;44749912]Thing is, it's fixable. First, have mutants represent real fucking danger. Like, actually be dangerous. Example: bloodsuckers from CS. Yes, many people are disgusted by the idea of them being completely immortal while cloaked, but combined with CoP's partial visibility/complete invisibility it might just work.[/QUOTE]
I honestly never got why people [I]hated[/I] that so much, though a good alternative would be to make them agile I think - make them have normal health but be able to duck out of the way of your shots and shit, and maybe even hide from you and stop making sound and you'd have some pretty terrifying encounters.
[QUOTE=Lyokanthrope;44750101]I'd love to see some of the weirder stuff in Roadside Picnic realized in STALKER. Shadows that are cast the wrong way,, brand new looking things next to old, aged, rusted things, etc. Surreal stuff like that.[/QUOTE]
I want to see doppelgangers still
They should never have removed Counterpart. What a seriously awesome concept.
Oops, counterpart is the name. That's what I want, doppelganger works too I guess.
So what were counterparts supposed to do exactly
Just removing the loud breathing sounds from bloodsucker while cloaked makes them more difficult in a fair way.
[QUOTE=Bloodshot12;44751094]So what were counterparts supposed to do exactly[/QUOTE]
I think they evolved into Sin, the dark stalkers - they were like evil mirror images of a stalker.
Wait forget it, misunderstood.
[QUOTE=Lyokanthrope;44750101]I'd love to see some of the weirder stuff in Roadside Picnic realized in STALKER. Shadows that are cast the wrong way,, brand new looking things next to old, aged, rusted things, etc. Surreal stuff like that.[/QUOTE]There's a lot that would be pretty easy to do in a graphics engine, if built for it...
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
