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

[Muukkis]

[QUOTE=kaine123;45865732]Why do some people seem to dislike it?[/QUOTE]
1. It used to be buggy and crashy as shit, until the 1.5.10 patch fixed it so that it's decent but the patch only hit in 2010, when the game had already been out for two years. Also, the patch doesn't fix everything and there are still a lot of issues that the patch didn't fix. The endgame is still buggy as shit, and the general functionality of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. seems to be sort of like Russian Roulette where it's buggy for some and works fine for others.

2. The game is linear as balls. It's not maybe as apparent on your first playthrough but both in SoC and Call of Pripyat you can sequence break a whole lot more or do quests out of the linear order but in Clear Sky, that stuff just doesn't happen. You can't exit the Swamps until you've given the artificial go-ahead, you can't go to do missions in the Agroprom before you've gone to Dark Valley and it starts to be really grating after your first playthrough knowing that you don't have freedom to go anywhere, you'll have to go through all of the sections over and over and a lot of time they just contain a bunch of annoying running back and forth. In addition to the level progression itself being super linear, the missions themselves are a lot of times turned into linear shootouts where the pacing of the mission is controlled by allied NPCs and the SoC maps have been redesigned so that you will have no alternative paths and you'll just have to go along this hideously linear route that has been pre-selected for you. Not to mention that there are a whole bunch of stupidly "gamey" elements like you go to this area and it's totally empty, there's no enemy presence in the area at all, but then, when you start the mission there's suddenly a huge enemy base there that only exists for that duration of the mission and then it's a whole bunch of nothing again.

3.The faction wars are, except the Bandit Faction War,an unfulfilling game of tug-of-war over resource points and no unique missions to make them really interesting or anything. Then there's the problem that there's really no feeling of danger in the Faction Wars, the enemy will never really break out into your "home territory" if you're even half-way competent and mopping up the enemy just becomes a pointless tedium. Oh yeah, and it's utterly clinical : when you take over the hostile faction's base, you don't even get to kill their leaders or fight your way through the heart of the enemy base, usually the game just despawns every enemy that's left in the area when some arbitrary conditions are met and it just feels unrewarding as fuck. Then there's the problem that since Faction Bases force you to holster your firearms when entering the general base-area, sometimes that stuff happens on it's own when you're fighting in an enemy base, your weapons just suddenly auto-holster and you can't fight back.

[editline]herp[/editline]

That's not to say Clear Sky was without it's moments,of course. The best sections in Clear Sky are ones where there aren't really any other NPCs controlling your pacing and you get to develop your own solutions to situations a bit but unfortunately those are kind of few and far between and mostly it doesn't really feel like you're your own independent agent, you feel more like you're just passively watching events unfold and participating only because you have to. That's not to say I hate Clear Sky, I've owned it since launch and despite it being a crashy and buggy piece of ass until the 2010 1.5.10 patch, I appreciate the things it did, like exploring some weird concepts that either were done better in Call of Pripyat or later abandoned but stand out in the current game like a small quirk but Clear Sky's main fault in my personal opinion was basing everything around the Faction Wars system, and making the faction wars themselves uninteresting and not-exciting. The problems with Faction Wars were that the developers didn't bother hiding the fact that they used Faction Wars for everything, hence all mutant squads are marked on the map and it takes all atmosphere out of walking around the Zone when you pretty much know the location of all mutants from the PDA map and that it puts most missions on timers, because you'll have squads of NPC allies battling with you, and it prevents you from planning your approaches and taking out the opposition your way, because all the A.I retards are going to rush in anyway and if you don't beat them to the punch, they'll take all the gameplay from the missions which is, in my personal opinion, super aggravating. And the missions are pretty much all you'll get as gameplay in Clear Sky, because the mutants are totally marginalized and the only action happening in the maps is the Faction War, but not all maps have any worthwhile Faction Wars action going on.

[editline]herp[/editline]

I will say this though : Clear Sky had an absolutely impeccable audiovisual atmosphere and some neatly designed levels such as the Swamps and the Red Forest.

[Loner]

Phantom Zone!

[t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/24/23744/XR_3DA_2014-09-02_02-10-28-43.png[/t]
[t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/24/23744/XR_3DA_2014-09-02_01-41-26-24.png[/t]
[t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/24/23744/XR_3DA_2014-09-02_01-45-02-09.png[/t]
[t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/24/23744/XR_3DA_2014-09-02_01-45-20-63.png[/t]
[t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/24/23744/XR_3DA_2014-09-02_01-48-20-83.png[/t]
[t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/24/23744/XR_3DA_2014-09-02_01-51-53-30.png[/t]
[t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/24/23744/XR_3DA_2014-09-02_01-55-11-60.png[/t]

I strongly [B]dislike [/B] the oversaturated stuff, but damn that last shot! Looks good.

[Araknid]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--RLfJcglJU[/media]

[ManRod]

[QUOTE=LoNer1;45870517]Phantom Zone!

I strongly [B]dislike [/B] the oversaturated stuff, but damn that last shot! Looks good.[/QUOTE]

What's the reason for making those areas so bright?

[BloodShot12]

Damn, didn't know OWR was still being worked on

[url]http://www.moddb.com/mods/original-weapons-renewal-by-r-populik/news/progress-on-owr-21-weapons-addon[/url]

seems to have a new modeler

[t]http://media.moddb.com/images/groups/1/15/14199/IMVCoV.png[/t]

I have an unnatural love for shotguns with heatshields

[Araknid]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/hSJoAcM.jpg[/img]

[jill920]

[QUOTE=Shenesis;45879166]SoP[/QUOTE]

Shit, it that a new game in the series I haven't heard of? Shadow of Pripyat?

Anyway, Call of Pripyat has only 3 maps, all of which are square-ish. They're fairly large though with Degty's Sanic sprint, you can travel from one end to the other within 4 minutes.
Gunplay stays the same for the most part. Upgrade system has an overhaul, now you need to look for tools for upgrades. There are 3 uprade tiers and 3 tool tiers. Pistols by default is shit. Even with the fixed iron sights compared to CS.
Quests are purely hand-made. From times to times you'll be able to do fetch-quests from the Zaton's bar trader.
Supplies are plentiful in Call of Pripyat.
Remember to bring anti-rads/vodka until you find an anti-rad artifact.
Anomalies are now clustered into "areas"
You can now "sleep" to speed up time at safe areas.
Artifacts are boring now.
Your sprint speed is faster than all mutants. So don't worry. Some have tendencies to leap at your stomach/head though so be careful.

You can complete the game in many ways, depending on you act during the game.

[Beacon]

I swear Shadow of Pripyat must be the name of a Russian mod

[editline]3rd September 2014[/editline]

New [url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/989416433/decks-of-the-aftermath-vol1]Kickstarter[/url] from the lead dev of Misery, if you're interested in cards they're pretty cool

[Loner]

[QUOTE=Beacon;45879301]I swear Shadow of Pripyat must be the name of a Russian mod

[editline]3rd September 2014[/editline]

New [url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/989416433/decks-of-the-aftermath-vol1]Kickstarter[/url] from the lead dev of Misery, if you're interested in cards they're pretty cool[/QUOTE]

Thanks Beac!

[Hammer7]

Something fun from Stalker: Metro: Redux remastered

[IMG]http://puu.sh/bjuM4/b162bc3370.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=OlegFreeman]You stole an idea, a name and the description. You also stole the "Weather for DX10-11".
I doubt you made something by yourself.

That's really awful from you. Stop making Russian community look bad.[/QUOTE]

[Beacon]

~u go gerl~

[ramdev]

This has to be one of the finest games I ever played.

[kaine123]

I'm doing a second playthrough of CoP. I'd like a mod that improves gameplay all around, but I want lots of nice new weapons. Any recommendations?

[Muukkis]

Swartz, although not all of the new weapons are 'good' or necessarily even decent.
Then there's Shoker Weapons Mod 2.1+Valley of Whispers, but that takes place in a whole new level and it's a total conversion mod.

[etcetera]

Maybe Arsenal Overhaul + Absolute Nature 3 + Atmosfear 3.
Might take a bit of merging on your part, though?

[BloodShot12]

STCoP is in russian but it only affects the weapon descriptions, if your willing to go through with google translate you can get a merge with AF3 and ABSNature, it has some really nice weapons.

[Loner]

[QUOTE=Bloodshot12;45882370]STCoP is in russian but it only affects the weapon descriptions, if your willing to go through with google translate you can get a merge with AF3 and ABSNature, it has some really nice weapons.[/QUOTE]

Or wait for my translation that's going pretty quick!

[Beacon]

[B]'Barricade'[/B]

[t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3676303/xrEngine 2014-09-04 12-16-30-56.png[/t]

new redux media?!

[Araknid]

[QUOTE=Beacon;45888707][B]'Barricade'[/B]

[t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3676303/xrEngine%202014-09-04%2012-16-30-56.png[/t][/QUOTE]

god damn thats fucking great.
I'm suprised there havent been any mods that have done this earlier.

[Loner]

[QUOTE=Araknid;45888726]god damn thats fucking great.
I'm suprised there havent been any mods that have done this earlier.[/QUOTE]

Actually, there was one, years ago. TGZ did this, overhauled existing areas to an amazing extend. Sadly got cancelled. The page is still up on Moddb, screens look fantastic, but it's yet another mod in the books of "awesome, never released mods" in the STALKER universe

[editline]4th September 2014[/editline]

Here, check em out

[url]http://www.moddb.com/mods/tgz/images[/url]

[Beacon]

Yep, TGZ was the inspiration for parts of what we're doing.

[editline]4th September 2014[/editline]

Don't think they ever made/showed a Skadovsk barricade though, but it's a sensible thing to have on a base don't you think?

[Hammer7]

Holy shit, the "Stalker Remastered Redux" guy just deleted all the negative comments from the mod page.
I feel so cheekie-breekie right now.

[AlvyP]

annu cheeki breeki i v damki

That guy's a literal fucking dickbag though, and all he has to show for his REMASTERED STALKER SERIES is lighting :v:

[Nerts]

[QUOTE=Beacon;45888707][B]'Barricade'[/B]

[t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3676303/xrEngine 2014-09-04 12-16-30-56.png[/t]

new redux media?![/QUOTE]

A feminist safehouse?

[Beacon]

haha I didn't realise the 'people' symbol does look like the female symbol a bit you're right

[jill920]

The only thought I have when I see that symbol is: "Yep, that's a house and it's probably safe in there"

[Starlight 456]

What's a good Stalker CoP mod? I checked the OP but the link to the list of CoP mods is broken.

[Muukkis]

[QUOTE=Starlight 456;45891648]What's a good Stalker CoP mod?[/QUOTE]

Depends entirely what you're looking for.

If you want some A-Life overhauls, I'd recommend either M.S.O. or Pripyat Reborn.
For content mods, I'd say Sigerous Mod(SGM), Swartz Mod, AMK Devolution or Valley of Whispers(total conversion, new map) are good choices. Way to Pripyat is willy-nilly whether it's a content mod or a kitchen sink but it might be [I]alright[/I], at least for one playthrough.
Looking for tougher economy but otherwise retaining a relatively vanilla experience, I Work Alone, Redux and Misery 1.2 are fairly good options.

[editline]herp[/editline]

If you're looking for buttretarded kitchen sink mods, you should try Winter of Death : Ultimatum, SMRTR Pripyat or maybe Dead City 4:80 to get your fill.

[Fuxed]

[QUOTE=Muukkis;45891998]Depends entirely what you're looking for.

If you want some A-Life overhauls, I'd recommend either M.S.O. or Pripyat Reborn.
For content mods, I'd say Sigerous Mod(SGM), Swartz Mod, AMK Devolution or Valley of Whispers(total conversion, new map) are good choices. Way to Pripyat is willy-nilly whether it's a content mod or a kitchen sink but it might be [I]alright[/I], at least for one playthrough.
Looking for tougher economy but otherwise retaining a relatively vanilla experience, I Work Alone, Redux and Misery 1.2 are fairly good options.

[editline]herp[/editline]

If you're looking for buttretarded kitchen sink mods, you should try Winter of Death : Ultimatum, SMRTR Pripyat or maybe Dead City 4:80 to get your fill.[/QUOTE]

This is a good list, would second all recommendations. Shoker Weapon Mod's cool too.

[Starlight 456]

[QUOTE=Muukkis;45891998]Depends entirely what you're looking for.

If you want some A-Life overhauls, I'd recommend either M.S.O. or Pripyat Reborn.
For content mods, I'd say Sigerous Mod(SGM), Swartz Mod, AMK Devolution or Valley of Whispers(total conversion, new map) are good choices. Way to Pripyat is willy-nilly whether it's a content mod or a kitchen sink but it might be [I]alright[/I], at least for one playthrough.
Looking for tougher economy but otherwise retaining a relatively vanilla experience, I Work Alone, Redux and Misery 1.2 are fairly good options.

[editline]herp[/editline]

If you're looking for buttretarded kitchen sink mods, you should try Winter of Death : Ultimatum, SMRTR Pripyat or maybe Dead City 4:80 to get your fill.[/QUOTE]

SMRTR Pripyat looks the most interesting to me, but the only download on the ModDB page is a compatibility patch for Atmosfear. I couldn't find any other link besides one on Stalker.filefront and it seems pretty damn old. Do you or anyone else have a link?