S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series Megathread: "A Typical Day In The Zone" - Games

[QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]It could pass if you really want to throw it in but it'll look silly. Might be a tad broken using 5.56 AP. A separate 5.7×28 ammunition type for it would be better, but isn't exactly worth the effort for just one gun. I don't know if OWR3 for ShoC includes the UMP 45 but in CoP its UMP 45 is pretty nice in that department and even supports ACOGs. I remember Autumn Aurora having a decent PP-19 Bizon if I'm not mistaken, but I don't remember how decent it was exactly.[/QUOTE] Hmmm, I'll have to consider leaving it in, then. As it stands, it's colli is also kinda off-set (not aligned), so it's been bothering me. It's slightly to the left and not centered. At first I made it an unique weapon, with non-removable sil for high tier mercs / monoliths in exo's. It's 900 RPM and 556 AP would make for a challenging weapon near the end game (pripyat monoliths etc.) [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]Given you've 7NP1 in already then the GSh-18 isn't going to hurt, so I wouldn't drop it or pistol variety in general but I wouldn't overdo it either since they're really just the back-up weapons of the game. If you can keep them different to the point that they can cater to different player preferences without there being clear-cut "winners" and "losers" out of the whole bunch aside from the usual suspects like the Makarov PM, then that's all you really need. Anything beyond that point is more or less filler. An example of how not to do it far as variety goes are earlier incarnations of mods like Arsenal Overhaul etc. - shitload of pistols and weapons in general but the only role the majority of them ever fill is NPC loadout variety and little else. An example of how not to do pistols by themselves is also in CoP vanilla: The Nimble-order USP "March" - .45 Auto, can be upgraded to full-auto, effectively a more reliable SMG that weighs less than 1kg and with Hydro turns into the best pistol / SMG / light-weight back-up weapon in the game superior even to most shotguns far as quick damage potential goes beyond too-close-for-comfort range and really only inferior to the Nimble-order SMG in .45 but even then that's debatable since the latter degrades faster IIRC. The above is also more or less why giving Bandits the OTs-33 would've been a bad idea. Works the same way sans upgrade system but would be too useful, too good, too early and double so because of using 9x18 that you can get everywhere.[/QUOTE] Ah, I see, yeah. Well, I'll consider getting both an UMP and Bizon in the mod. Gonna ask around / search for some nice models with nice animations and at least the option to put a sil or scope on top of them. The thing is, I don't want to bloat the mod with too many weapons. I want the player to focus on pistols early on, much how LURK did it. Giving the military in cordon pistols instead of AR's was such a great move. I've been considering doing the same, seeing as they're wielding AK74's now and I don't want the player to have a huge arsenal at his disposal, IF they manage to take down the military (it's a tough challenge). Giving the bandits a 68 round bizon with decent firerate should also mix it up in the old carpark. But then again, it'll diminish the use of pistols early on, because a 68-round SMG will always be better than a semi-auto pistol. I don't know how to make a pistol look like the better choice in this regard / situation. [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]I'd make the SPAS-12 semi-automatic, RPM 150 - 180, have it degrade faster than a pump-action and possibly do lower damage while being harder to control under rapid fire. A better panic-button, better up close and in interiors but less effective outside of that. Higher dispersion or stuff like that optional. Could always add some kind of unique version using the pump animation and make that a more in line with other pump-action shotguns if you want to keep a pumping SPAS-12 for the sake of flavor or variety or because you've a really smooth pump animation for it that's too good to leave out. Here's some example fluff in that case:[/QUOTE] That's a good idea. I do have that in place, already. The 'threaded bore" spas is gone, though. I didn't like the desc saying it's better with slugs / darts and worse with buck, because the changes they made didn't influence any of the 3 in any way, other than the recoil which was only slightly reduced. That would actually also increase the effectiveness of buck, because you're more accurate spamming it. I changed the impulse factor it has, slightly catering more to explo (frag) rounds and the flechette. Ill explain more about this a few quotes down. [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]"The Cleaver A highly-customized Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun that used to belong to Lieutenant Diordychuk, one of Duty's most renown Mutant hunters. While it's no different in appearance to a regular model, its internal workings truly make it stand out from other shotguns in the Zone. A surprisingly ingenious modification to the weapon's receiver and bolt assembly utilizing Gravi artifact fragments led to a vast increase in stopping power and accuracy at the cost of rendering it unable to function in semi-automatic mode. While this didn't stop the previous owner from cleaving multiple Fleshes in two with a single slug on multiple counts, it did prove to be a liability when he found himself overwhelmed by a large group of Hamsters during an expedition to lake Yantar."[/QUOTE] Thanks! I've always considered myself a bad writer, so I welcome any descriptions i get send and I'll happily include them into the mod. I'll mix it up a bit and add in your name if you'd like, too. Koma has his own 'easter egg' USP45, too. Come to think of it, I don't have a signature weapon yet :v: [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]Far as the Saiga 12 goes, what makes it so broken in all the mods I've ever played is really just the quick reload. Give it an 8-round magazine if the model uses it - most do - RoF and dispersion higher than all the other shotguns etc. or something and only make it show up extremely late in the game. Even if you make it fall in line with the other shotguns by whatever means in order to balance it you're not going to ever find a remedy for a magazine reload without gimping it in ridiculous ways. It'll be the ultimate panic-button no matter what because of this. You could also make it have some real ridiculous recoil but that isn't going to stop anyone from unloading at point-blank and will just look silly. The only reason I suggested it is because it would make 10/10 flavor for many of the Monolithians the player fights up close and personal in interiors late in the game if they were able to use it with ammunition that doesn't suck vs. armor as to provide another difficulty spike to signal that it's the end of the road and shit is getting real to the max.[/QUOTE] The saiga is just too OP. I hope to find a model with reasonable / slow reload and if not, i'll just balance it as I see fit. I've got a graph for the dmg calculation / accuracy bonus or penalty that comes with it. I'll see if I can make it not "whoa, 1 shot heli's from 1km" strong or "8 shots and this dog isnt dead yet???". [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]I like that. Lower total damage output for the explosive ammunition over buckshot though or am I missing something? And no slugs? [/QUOTE] No no, explo (frag) damage is indeed lower hit damage, so it'll do less [B]direct[/B] damage to NPC, but as I've enabled NPC bleeding out, the 2nd value plays a much bigger role. The increased [B]impulse[/B] will not only make them fly back (not insanely, i've got ragdoll 1.3 installed), but it'll also have a greater bleeding effect, as said in it's description. It fires pallets that explode on impact, tearing into the target. It'll make the target bleed out much faster and is extremely effective up to ~25m. And I forgot the slugs, yes. They're in there. ALso increased range, highest impulse of them all and also hit on par with darts, but it's disp is slightly higher than the darts (balance purposes). [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]That actually sounds like intuitive and fun mechanics.[/QUOTE] It really is. It's lovely playing the mod with just a leather jacket and a BM16 / Toz34. If you're accurate enough, you're able to snipe the military under the bridge from the busstop with darts / flechette or slugs in one or 2 shots. Frag won't work with any shotgun but the "TOZ34 Hunter", a slightly longer barreled and scoped TOZ34, hence it's got 40m more range than the others, resulting in more range for all ammo, even the frag. I've noticed that mixing ammo is perfect in the current way shotgun ammo plays out. I'm purposely mixing rounds in one shotty for extreme killing potential. For the spas I usually go 4 times frag, 4 times flechette, so first round is frag, 2nd flechette, 3rd frag and so on. When I was in wild territory (rostok) and I got swarmed by bloodsuckers (who's sounds have been dimmed when turned invicible for added spook), landing a single shot on the dome with a flechette / dart / slug would do the trick, but missing would mean half of your health gone (in a merc suit, though). And it took only 2 buckshot rounds. The thing you need to remember, though, is that you must stand still for max potential damage output. So either lure it towards you in a straight line or get a lucky shot off. And, standing still means no mouse movement, not just standing still and in ADS following it, because that'll also penalize you ;) [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]Great that this one's in. Makes more sense than throwing Mosin Nagants around, but that's just my opinion.[/QUOTE] Yes indeed. I've got both the SVU as SVD with and without scope. At least, their models support this much. The only problem is, that if you compare a scoped svd against one without a scope perm attached, the one without the perm will use the zoom value of a regular PSO (4 x) where as the SVD's optics are of a higher magnification. IDK if making a separate 'sniper scope' for the SVD / SVU is a possible strategic move. People would be wondering why the same pso-1 wouldnt be able to be mounted on an AK or Abakan, since SHoC doesnt have multi-scope support. [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]Sounds well thought-out actually.[/QUOTE] Thanks, I had to think about it a lot. But it plays out nicely. 9A's reload is below 1.5 sec, even when it's totally empty, where as the AS VAL sits at ~3.3. [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]It didn't have a unique appearance in vanilla, exactly the same green-parts model as the regular AK, only obtainable by doing a random Loner quest in the Cordon. (statual stuff)[/QUOTE] Ah, thanks! I now finally have use for Heffy's AK74. I've been using the one Mr.Rifleman made, which is iirc also the one OWR3 uses? I dont know, I might have mixed them up, but I now have 2 separate AKS74 models! I also have 2 different AKs74u models. Well, 3, actually. The m1 variant with cobra and suppressor, given to Bes. The AK74_m2, a bakelite version and the regular AKs74u with a steel mag. Inb4 the steel mag is the 7.62 version, no it isnt :v: [QUOTE=Xerys;48572043]Glad I can help. :toot: I've a question though: Are you going to change a bunch of the 100% free loot the player can find laying around? From a power-curve / game-play balance / whateveryouwannacallit perspective some stuff in vanilla has always been rather ridiculous, like the VSS Vintorez with a load of ammunition in the Army Warehouses, the 300 rounds of 9x39 SP-6 around the lab entrance in the Dark Valley, the tower crates at the Garbage entry where you meet Bes with all that 9x19. The Cordon Merc suit in the attic is also questionable but there isn't much of a real "in-between" suit between the jackets and the Stalker suit without it if you keep suits vanilla. I always felt that the free Vintorez and all that ammunition for it in particular turned things into too much of a cakewalk considering how freaking early the player could get it and it would be great if that disappeared or turned into something else that doesn't turn the mid-game into a point-and-click adventure.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too. It'd need to go into the level editor for that and Its been a long time ago since I did anything in the level editor ... 3 or 4 years. I do remember a spawn I compiled for Cordon. I added a new electrical anomaly to the traintracks, right of the military near the trainwreck with a BM16, ammo and stone blood on top. It was inspired by the electrical anomaly in CoP, from the train in Yanov, where you find tools. I was thinking I'd might want to get back into the SDK for a few changes here and there, like the 400 rounds of 9x19 ammo you find next to the mil. I'd change those values to around 100 and add in a fort. I also remember placing anomaly tactically around. For instance: The bandit suit with kevlar elements, I placed 2 gravi anomaly (wrhyllig???) there and moved the level changer back to just before the barricaded stones. You had to climb un top of the rubbish near the fire place to jump over the first gravi, to get into a 'safe circle' to get to the suit. The other one was a bold next to the truck you can use to get on top of the roof for the 5x45 ammo and your first silencer. And the best one was an anti-gravitational field next to the military compound, that 'guards' the zone. To the left where you're able to jump over the fence :p

If you wanna make pistols decent at least give them decent accuracy. Even in like 25m distances the PM misses a ton due to spread.

[QUOTE=cdr248;48574241]If you wanna make pistols decent at leadt give them decent accuracy. Even in like 25m distances the PM misses a ton due to spread.[/QUOTE] They do. They're accurate up to ~70ish meters, with the PM as sole exception lol

I should probably clarify that I've noticed that mostly with AMK. I fired at a guy's chest from just a couple meters away with a walther and noticed the first couple of shots were just going around the guy.

i'm redownloading CoP onto a new pc, any mods you'd suggest to enhance gunplay/graphics?

[QUOTE=lintz;48574708]i'm redownloading CoP onto a new pc, any mods you'd suggest to enhance gunplay/graphics?[/QUOTE] AO3 was just released, includes an overhaul of existing weapons + new ones, as well as Atmosfear and Absolute Nature. I've heard a few buggy things about it, might want to wait for 3.1.

for a mod called autumn aurora, there's very little in the way of autumnal coloring. Unless AMK fucked something up, everything appears to just be grey.

-snip-

Someone said it a page or two back, but I really wish handguns had more umph that every other weapon gets special treatment for. From animations to the sounds, it just doesn't feel satisfying to even depend on them. I can't even aim and shoot with the default pistols because their firing animations literally bring them so high up on the screen I can't do follow-up shots without guessing where my target is. And don't even get me started on how even after all these years, the P220 white-dot sights are still blobby pieces of textured shit because the model never got patched.

[QUOTE=GrudgeReport;48575080]AO3 was just released, includes an overhaul of existing weapons + new ones, as well as Atmosfear and Absolute Nature. I've heard a few buggy things about it, might want to wait for 3.1.[/QUOTE] Short version: it runs bad Long version: it runs like absolute dogshit, it crashes when i even look at it wrong

[QUOTE=Da Big Man;48575831]Someone said it a page or two back, but I really wish handguns had more umph that every other weapon gets special treatment for. From animations to the sounds, it just doesn't feel satisfying to even depend on them. I can't even aim and shoot with the default pistols because their firing animations literally bring them so high up on the screen I can't do follow-up shots without guessing where my target is. And don't even get me started on how even after all these years, the P220 white-dot sights are still blobby pieces of textured shit because the model never got patched.[/QUOTE] Doing just that. I also felt this was missing from the game. [t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/26/25752/XR_3DA_2015-05-12_23-22-16-31.png[/t][t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/26/25752/XR_3DA_2015-05-14_12-57-21-11.png[/t] [t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/26/25752/XR_3DA_2015-01-20_00-49-56-72.png[/t][t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/26/25752/XR_3DA_2015-01-11_23-13-19-53.png[/t] [t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/26/25752/XR_3DA_2015-01-12_00-16-25-19.png[/t][t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/26/25752/XR_3DA_2015-08-03_00-50-27-95.png[/t] [t]http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/26/25752/XR_3DA_2015-04-06_18-10-00-81.png[/t] I love my handguns. Using any of these feels extremely rewarding. Each has their own strength and weaknesses. Also, in regards to sidearm-RPM. What do we think of it? Unlocked? Locked? I hate how CoP forces you to always have the slow RPM because of the animations (iirc). I like being able to fire away at at least 240-360 RPM, depending on my mouse / the situation. I currently unlocked all pistols (except python and deagle). And with this, I mean having equal / more than 240 RPM

I've always modded my handguns to have a balance between firerate depending on their action, caliber, and ergonomics. So for example with DA/SA triggers I tend to make the Makarov the starting base handgun with the slowest at 240 RPM because A. 9x18 is punchy, B. It has a funky DA/SA trigger, and C. It's ergonomically a very large handgun for being a single-stack 9x18. I work my way up from the Makarov with this in mind for each handgun. The 1911 having a SA trigger, having it's weight balanced across the board, and possessing one of the most comfortable handgun gripping angles you can get, gives it the highest at 300 regardless of being high caliber because of it's perks.

Tips on what to do if I'm a totally new player (I've played a tiny, tiny bit of CoP but I'm interested in starting from Shadow of Chernobyl since that's the first one)? I'm totally clueless and quite easy to scare, and I want to try and play without Alt + F4ing as soon as I see a pack of dogs.

[QUOTE=LoNer1;48574114]Ah, I see, yeah. Well, I'll consider getting both an UMP and Bizon in the mod. Gonna ask around / search for some nice models with nice animations and at least the option to put a sil or scope on top of them. The thing is, I don't want to bloat the mod with too many weapons. I want the player to focus on pistols early on, much how LURK did it. Giving the military in cordon pistols instead of AR's was such a great move. I've been considering doing the same, seeing as they're wielding AK74's now and I don't want the player to have a huge arsenal at his disposal, IF they manage to take down the military (it's a tough challenge).[/QUOTE] You can just give Kuznetsov's squad and the three-man patrols pistols only and leave the checkpoint well-armed. If you downgrade the checkpoint weaponry the quest to sneak in will turn very easy very soon. It's the same gig as sneaking into the waste processing station in CoP - it's a tough fight early on when the best the player has is a weak suit that won't prevent an MP5 burst from being lethal and some poor weaponry with barely any upgrades - unless if looting that bloody stupid Vintorez at the Farmstead or the SVD up at the northern road - but after a couple hours of progression it turns into a cakewalk, double so when taking advantage of the gimped vanilla AI. Sneaking into the checkpoint should be risky and attacking the 3-man patrol should come with dire consequences when the military guys counterattack, if you just leave the main force with pistols they're not going to be too much of a threat the second the player has a decent rifle that can take them down quick enough one by one. [QUOTE=LoNer1;48574114] Giving the bandits a 68 round bizon with decent firerate should also mix it up in the old carpark. But then again, it'll diminish the use of pistols early on, because a 68-round SMG will always be better than a semi-auto pistol. I don't know how to make a pistol look like the better choice in this regard / situation.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't give the Bandits in the car park the PP-19, I wouldn't give it to the Bandits in the Garbage either. Agroprom Underground and Dark Valley ones if possible so the player can't get it too early but at the same time won't get it too late for it to be near useless. 9x18 becomes way less common once the player stops visiting the early areas anyway, but around the Agroprom, Cordon, Dark Valley and Garbage it's going to be one of the most common ammunition types and there's usually way too much of it to make use of it all. If the player were able to get a PP-19 at a time where the ammunition is still common and where quality assault rifles still didn't take over as the go-to weapons it would be ideal. PP-19 in Cordon = Lots of ammo but effectively overpowered for the start. PP-19 in Garbage, first visit = Even more ammo and just as silly, fighting through Bandits early on shouldn't be easy. PP-19 in Agroprom Underground = There'll be a lot of ammo for it by now especially if the player hoarded some and it'll be an alternative to a Krinkov or AK-74 but worse vs. armored enemies stuff like Military troops whom the player will have to deal with in the underground and on the surface. PP-19 in Dark Valley = Perfect for the Bandits and perfect for the player to use against them, plenty of ammo and will be useful in the lab. PP-19 once the player spends the majority of the time past the Bar = Less and less ammunition for it around and it gets out-classed by the now more-frequent better quality ARs. Past that the wouldn't have much of a point to it at all unless if the player had a PP-19 fetish and decided to buy and hoard all the 9x18 +P+. [QUOTE=LoNer1;48574114] No no, explo (frag) damage is indeed lower hit damage, so it'll do less [B]direct[/B] damage to NPC, but as I've enabled NPC bleeding out, the 2nd value plays a much bigger role. The increased [B]impulse[/B] will not only make them fly back (not insanely, i've got ragdoll 1.3 installed), but it'll also have a greater bleeding effect, as said in it's description. It fires pallets that explode on impact, tearing into the target. It'll make the target bleed out much faster and is extremely effective up to ~25m. [/QUOTE] Okay that makes sense now. Sounds cool actually, and useful. [QUOTE=LoNer1;48574114] It really is. It's lovely playing the mod with just a leather jacket and a BM16 / Toz34. If you're accurate enough, you're able to snipe the military under the bridge from the busstop with darts / flechette or slugs in one or 2 shots. Frag won't work with any shotgun but the "TOZ34 Hunter", a slightly longer barreled and scoped TOZ34, hence it's got 40m more range than the others, resulting in more range for all ammo, even the frag. I've noticed that mixing ammo is perfect in the current way shotgun ammo plays out. I'm purposely mixing rounds in one shotty for extreme killing potential. For the spas I usually go 4 times frag, 4 times flechette, so first round is frag, 2nd flechette, 3rd frag and so on. When I was in wild territory (rostok) and I got swarmed by bloodsuckers (who's sounds have been dimmed when turned invicible for added spook), landing a single shot on the dome with a flechette / dart / slug would do the trick, but missing would mean half of your health gone (in a merc suit, though). And it took only 2 buckshot rounds. The thing you need to remember, though, is that you must stand still for max potential damage output. So either lure it towards you in a straight line or get a lucky shot off. And, standing still means no mouse movement, not just standing still and in ADS following it, because that'll also penalize you ;) [/QUOTE] Sounds fun. [QUOTE=LoNer1;48574114] Yes indeed. I've got both the SVU as SVD with and without scope. At least, their models support this much. The only problem is, that if you compare a scoped svd against one without a scope perm attached, the one without the perm will use the zoom value of a regular PSO (4 x) where as the SVD's optics are of a higher magnification. IDK if making a separate 'sniper scope' for the SVD / SVU is a possible strategic move. People would be wondering why the same pso-1 wouldnt be able to be mounted on an AK or Abakan, since SHoC doesnt have multi-scope support. [/QUOTE] I don't think that's bad. Not very "realistic" maybe but from a game-play perspective it's nice. Option to use a fixed scope SVU or SVD for the full zoom or have more versatility at the cost of a lower zoom. This isn't really a problem, I wouldn't bother with another scope. [QUOTE=LoNer1;48574114] Thanks, I had to think about it a lot. But it plays out nicely. 9A's reload is below 1.5 sec, even when it's totally empty, where as the AS VAL sits at ~3.3. [/QUOTE] That's cool. Sounds like it plays out well. [QUOTE=LoNer1;48574114] Ah, thanks! I now finally have use for Heffy's AK74. I've been using the one Mr.Rifleman made, which is iirc also the one OWR3 uses? I dont know, I might have mixed them up, but I now have 2 separate AKS74 models! [/QUOTE] I can even give you a tool-tip: [B]Beast[/B] A weapon rumored to have been gifted by the Zone and to never have left its boundaries, it has passed through the hands of countless stalkers - from almost legendary figures who could traverse any anomaly fields unharmed to avid gun collectors, all kinds of rookies and veterans alike as well as some of the most elite mercenaries to ever set foot in the Zone. The only ones whom have never laid hands upon it are the the Zone's scientists - to whom the weapon appears as a regular AK-pattern rifle with no extraordinary properties - and the resident traders - who either dismiss its existence as nothing but folklore or regard it as a cursed item, mostly due to the weapon never staying with any individual for long and always changing hands, for better or worse. The weapon is unable to be modified in any way and accepts no attachments even if they would seemingly fit perfectly, almost as if having a will of its own and simply refusing them, and it can only use 7.62x54mmR ammunition even though it doesn't really appear to be able to do so. The only difference in outward appearance are the many scratch and claw marks on the stock and a little inscription hidden among them: [I]"My roar silences all."[/I] And a more vanilla-friendly and less fantasy tool-tip: [B]Trophy AK-47 / AKS / AKM / AKMS[/B] A truly ancient assault rifle that has been making the rounds in the Zone for years, being passed on from stalker to stalker but never staying in the hands of anyone for long. The many scratches and claw marks on the stock tell a long story of violence and death typical of the Zone. According to folklore it was used by some of the greatest stalkers ever seen - figures who could traverse any anomaly fields unharmed, the bravest hunters who dared face the most terrifying mutants the Zone has to offer and, if rumor is to be believed, even a legendary mercenary known as "Scar". It has been customized to use 7.62×54mmR ammunition types only, turning it into an extremely powerful and accurate weapon in the right hands, but making it very hard to control. I can write more if you need any. [QUOTE=LoNer1;48574114]Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too. It'd need to go into the level editor for that and Its been a long time ago since I did anything in the level editor ... 3 or 4 years. I do remember a spawn I compiled for Cordon. I added a new electrical anomaly to the traintracks, right of the military near the trainwreck with a BM16, ammo and stone blood on top. It was inspired by the electrical anomaly in CoP, from the train in Yanov, where you find tools. I was thinking I'd might want to get back into the SDK for a few changes here and there, like the 400 rounds of 9x19 ammo you find next to the mil. I'd change those values to around 100 and add in a fort. I also remember placing anomaly tactically around. For instance: The bandit suit with kevlar elements, I placed 2 gravi anomaly (wrhyllig???) there and moved the level changer back to just before the barricaded stones. You had to climb un top of the rubbish near the fire place to jump over the first gravi, to get into a 'safe circle' to get to the suit. The other one was a bold next to the truck you can use to get on top of the roof for the 5x45 ammo and your first silencer. And the best one was an anti-gravitational field next to the military compound, that 'guards' the zone. To the left where you're able to jump over the fence :p[/QUOTE] I don't know if it's worth the effort messing with the level editor but changes like that can add some extra flavor while changing some of the free loot will make a drastic impact on the power curve if you end up deciding to do it. It's not going to hurt if you don't but at the very worst you'll still improve things. The last bit sounds like it made it impossible to sneak in to the checkpoint though. Far as the Saiga goes again, if it proves to be much hassle I wouldn't bother with it but there's an alternative to it that will play out less broken if you can get it with the proper reload animation - the Protecta. The proper reload for it is insert shell -> turn the thingy -> insert shell -> turn the thingy. I don't know if there's a good Protecta for ShoC around but just to give some numbers based off OWR3's shotguns: Protecta, 12 rounds, takes ~22 seconds to fully reload. (Or 21 or 23, don't remember.) Spas-12, 8 rounds, takes ~9 seconds to fully reload. 590, 7 rounds, takes ~7 seconds to fully reload. This would be easier to balance than any Saiga-12. Give it rpm = 300, make it more clunky and unwieldy due to the weight but the ultimate panic-button and there you go. Myself I'm including the a Saiga in the merge-thingy I'm working on for CoP but I'm only going to make it show up during the final stages of the game in the hands of Monolith troops as the icing on the cake.

I should do a pistol only run one time. See how it goes :U

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;48576526]Tips on what to do if I'm a totally new player (I've played a tiny, tiny bit of CoP but I'm interested in starting from Shadow of Chernobyl since that's the first one)? I'm totally clueless and quite easy to scare, and I want to try and play without Alt + F4ing as soon as I see a pack of dogs.[/QUOTE] Maybe you have to desensitise yourself to the dogs first then? Try saving the game in the Loner Village at the start of the game, getting a weapon, running at the dogs and open firing. If you hurt yourself, just load the game and try again. The dogs are pretty timid and easy to scare, especially when they are alone.

Oh man, if he's getting scared at the packs of dogs, he's in for a surprise later in the game. SoC also has the best atmosphere of the 3 games.

I just hate how ridiculously strong the dogs can be sometimes. Makes me sound awful at the game if I think they should die after 2 shots but honestly they can be so fucking annoying sometimes.

[QUOTE=cdr248;48577118]I just hate how ridiculously strong the dogs can be sometimes. Makes me sound awful at the game if I think they should die after 2 shots but honestly they can be so fucking annoying sometimes.[/QUOTE] I enjoy killing them en masse

[QUOTE=Heigou;48577065]Oh man, if he's getting scared at the packs of dogs, he's in for a surprise later in the game. SoC also has the best atmosphere of the 3 games.[/QUOTE] [sp]She pronouns, if you please.[/sp] I already know about the mutants and some of the plot lines just from osmosis, but I've been interested in this series for so long and yet I've been too scared to really venture out and actually explore the Zone. I just end up feeling shit because of how scared I get about a video game.

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;48577142][sp]She pronouns, if you please.[/sp] I just end up feeling shit because of how scared I get about a video game.[/QUOTE] That just goes to show how [B]well[/B] they created the atmosphere in the game. The game also gets less scary the bigger the gun you get.

[QUOTE=K1ngo64;48577140]I enjoy killing them en masse[/QUOTE] I just like to sprint the fuck away

Jump on a rock, use a shotgun.

[QUOTE=Korro Bravin;48577778]Jump on a rock, use a shotgun.[/QUOTE] Fuck that, you don't need to waste bullets when you got stamina artifacts for days

The farther you go, the less threatening lesser enemies can become. Packs of dogs, boars, tushkano, they're all supposed to be a threat and potentially scary at first. In the start you're nothing special, just another slab of meat amongst many, clad in a hand-me-down leather jacket and given an antiquated peashooter. You don't have to fight all of them, you can just run away. Well or take advantage of them being unable to reach you in some places. Either works.

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;48577142][sp]She pronouns, if you please.[/sp] I already know about the mutants and some of the plot lines just from osmosis, but I've been interested in this series for so long and yet I've been too scared to really venture out and actually explore the Zone. I just end up feeling shit because of how scared I get about a video game.[/QUOTE] My bad. At first just run away from them. Once you're geared enough, they'll be easier and not all that scary. Same goes for most other mutants but prepare yourself mentally when you first hit any of the underground parts of the game. Agroprom Underground will most likely be your first stop and while not THAT scary, it's much more scary than above ground. After that you will have x18 which will probably kick your ass. I hate horror games myself because I jump at cardboard cutouts of cute ghosts that jumps at me but I still love the STALKER games so much. I remember my first time through the various undergrounds of the game, it was an amazing feeling but I was so scared.

[QUOTE=Heigou;48578868]My bad. At first just run away from them. Once you're geared enough, they'll be easier and not all that scary. Same goes for most other mutants but prepare yourself mentally when you first hit any of the underground parts of the game. Agroprom Underground will most likely be your first stop and while not THAT scary, it's much more scary than above ground. After that you will have x18 which will probably kick your ass. I hate horror games myself because I jump at cardboard cutouts of cute ghosts that jumps at me but I still love the STALKER games so much. I remember my first time through the various undergrounds of the game, it was an amazing feeling but I was so scared.[/QUOTE] I completed Agroprom all by crouching and not making a single fucking sound. It took me 2 hours to clear the area after....after you know what.

I wish I could still feel that kind of nervousness in the Zone. None of it really phases me anymore, though I'll give CoC credit for having some good enemy AI, as I've been ambushed pretty ingeniously by bloodsuckers before. I feel like we just need some new mutants. Not the cut ones, just completely brand new ones or mutants drawn from the old concept art, like the horse one or the tree one. A lot of those were way creepier looking than what we've got now. [thumb]http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/stalker/images/3/3a/Tark.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111005233438[/thumb] My personal favorite, I think they were actually in that STALKER online MMO that was around not too long ago: [thumb]http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/stalker/images/f/fc/O_5094eb54de871.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20121108051054[/thumb] [thumb]http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121108051130/stalker/images/a/a7/O_5094ec050ede3.jpg[/thumb] There's just so much room in there to make really horrifying creatures, given the almost mystical nature of the Zone, but I've never seen any mods really take advantage of that. People merged together in the heat of radiation, or zombies half melted from a blowout, etc. We can get weird model rips for stalkers or guns but I don't think I've seen much more than the occasional Metro 2033 Librarian ported. Is it just really hard to make new non-human monsters? I want STALKER to actually *be* horror someday, instead of the usual "hurr durr bloodsuckers."

I still want to see some more anomalous plant-life myself. Also, I forgot how neat Limansk was... [t]https://i.imgur.com/WKNNwmL.jpg[/t]

Another small Frozen Zone update. BTW, why does the word "fashion" always come up when translated Russian with Google? Is it mis-translated the word "modification"? Anyways, looking great - [IMG]http://cs623921.vk.me/v623921682/3f0c0/JFJdjoHt_gk.jpg[/IMG]