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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl |OT|

V

Vaporak

Member
FartOfWar said:
Here's something I haven't heard mentioned much: It's scary as hell at times, more horrifc than some straight up survival horror. And, as you know, it's from the System Shock, Deus Ex, Far Cry (PC) school as opposed to Medal of Honor/Call of Duty/Half-Life.
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That's very good news, anticipation++. :D
 
F

FartOfWar

Banned
DevelopmentArrested said:
3.4 GhZ P4
2GB Ram
880 GTS
Click to expand...

I wonder if there's some sort of unresolved compatibility issues with higher end configs? The game does run better on my (radeon) 9800 than on my more powerful 7800 at the office, but I chalked that up to the fact that the work rig has been sputtering on all sorts of menial tasks this past week.
 
K

Kabouter

Member
FartOfWar said:
I wonder if there's some sort of unresolved compatibility issues with higher end configs? The game does run better on my (radeon) 9800 than on my more powerful 7800 at the office, but I chalked that up to the fact that the work rig has been sputtering on all sorts of menial tasks this past week.
Click to expand...

7800 problems? Goddamnit :mad:
Though I guess I could just play it on the PC with the 9700 pro (and P4 2,4B/1GB) instead if all else fails :lol
 
L

Linkup

Member
Saw the Target ad, they have the DVD for $35 and Bestbuy has the CD for $39. Unfortunately my DVD drive died long ago and I haven't got another one yet.
 
S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
As has been mentioned, change the lighting to Static (don't let the name fool you, it still has dynamic lighting that changes with time of day and whatnot) and you'll get somewhere in the neighbourhood of a 300%+ boost in FPS.
 
D

Draft

Member
Arrrr, GoGamer shows the Tin Box Edition shipping on the 28th instead of the 20th. Anyone know if that's on the up and up? I am ready to show my dedication by spend 2x the normal cost, but if it ships a week late nuts to that.
 
B

Bebpo

Banned
Schafer said:
As has been mentioned, change the lighting to Static (don't let the name fool you, it still has dynamic lighting that changes with time of day and whatnot) and you'll get somewhere in the neighbourhood of a 300%+ boost in FPS.
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So the moral of the story is that we're still not at the point where we can have unified dynamic lighting in games at standard framerates?

Maybe by 2012 :\
 
R

RubberJohnny

Banned
So the moral of the story is that we're still not at the point where we can have unified dynamic lighting in games at standard framerates?

Maybe by 2012 :\
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I think there has to be actual problems with the lighting model, it shouldn't be affecting it that much.
 
A

adg1034

Member
FartOfWar said:
Are you reviewing the game? If so, for whom?
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Hmmm... He hasn't answered the question yet.

Jack_stars_in_the_Wind_Waker.jpg
 
JRW

JRW

Member
From what ive "heard" Stalker runs a lot better in XP vs. Vista (until something gets patched at least).
 
Chiggs

Chiggs

Gold Member
JRW said:
From what ive "heard" Stalker runs a lot better in XP vs. Vista (until something gets patched at least).
Click to expand...


And I've heard the exact opposite from those in the beta:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=86840&page=1
Played it, didn't like it. But what is funny is, that it's running better on Vista 64-Bit than on XP for me ... It's really noticeable and I like it .
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It runs fine in XP, but it runs better in vista. Most likely because vista makes better use of the CPU.
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Wow, I just tried it in Vista and there is a HUGE increase in performance when running at maxed settings! (all sliders maxed, with highest AF set and 16x forced in the control panel... no AA)

I didn't expect much but it really is noticeable!

In the area that was pretty slow (on top of the large building that is under construction) I get around 28fps in XP when overlooking a certain area. In Vista I get 40fps in the same area under the same weather conditions!

I've been seeing a 5 to 15fps increase depending on the area and the game feels MUCH more playable under Vista.

Anyone know why this is? Maybe it has something to do with DirectX 10 even though the game itself wasn't programmed for it. Or maybe it has something to do with better multi-threading support.

I'm extremely impressed. I'll definitely be using Vista more often now since STALKER is going to be my #1 game for a while.

EDIT: BTW, in that area on top of the building I tried 1600x1200 and 2048x1536 and had the same framerates. I prefer 1600x1200 though since the grassy areas tend to get a bit mouse-laggy (especially while zoomed in with a scope) at anything higher than that.
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No, I gained 5-15fps depending on the situation. It was a significant and noticeable boost but its most likely just because of the things Vista does better, not because the developers are trying to force you to upgrade.

So far I think anyone who has tried it on XP and Vista has reported similar increases in performance. Chances are if it runs like crap for you in XP it'll run almost as crappy under Vista, but not quite.

For me it runs mostly good in XP and all good in Vista.
Click to expand...
 
F

FartOfWar

Banned
I just finsihed it again (fishing for another ending off late game saves) and am shaking. The final three levels (if you want to call them that) are just boiling-point pressure. And the area right before the sarcophagus? ****ing massive with no reason to be and I love that about the game. You know where you need to go, its late in the game and you ought to just be pressing on but you decide to see if those buildings over yonder have interiors and such and it turns out there's just even more, massive amounts of real estate with things to shoot and foes to fight. Americans just don't design that way these days. (OK, at least not in the FPS space)
 
L

Linkup

Member
Chiggs said:
And I've heard the exact opposite from those in the beta:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=86840&page=1
Click to expand...

So far I think anyone who has tried it on XP and Vista has reported similar increases in performance. Chances are if it runs like crap for you in XP it'll run almost as crappy under Vista, but not quite.

For me it runs mostly good in XP and all good in Vista.
Click to expand...

Definitely believable, but the difference is a non issue. Just turn off HDR and/or drop you res to 1024, or you know upgrade? I would be more concern about how buggy it is.
 
L

Linkup

Member
FartOfWar said:
I just finsihed it again (fishing for another ending off late game saves) and am shaking. The final three levels (if you want to call them that) are just boiling-point pressure. And the area right before the sarcophagus? ****ing massive with no reason to be and I love that about the game. You know where you need to go, its late in the game and you ought to just be pressing on but you decide to see if those buildings over yonder have interiors and such and it turns out there's just even more, massive amounts of real estate with things to shoot and foes to fight. Americans just don't design that way these days. (OK, at least not in the FPS space)
Click to expand...

Sounds awesome.
 
B

Bogus

Member
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. looks awesome -- FRIGGIN' AWESOME!



(I just hope it'll run decently on my laptop with low/medium settings. :) )
 
O

Odrion

Banned
Yeah, looks like it's out there in the bittorrent seas.

But seriously people, buy this game, they worked for over six years on this!

Oh Mr. Farts, how long was your playtime exactly?
 
A

avcables

Banned
For some reason, I can't get into playing this game. I got up to about the first mission and just lost all interest right then and there.
 
Xdrive05

Xdrive05

Member
Odrion said:
Yeah, looks like it's out there in the bittorrent seas.

But seriously people, buy this game, they worked for over six years on this!

Oh Mr. Farts, how long was your playtime exactly?
Click to expand...

Definitely. For those of you who will be sailing the high seas for this game, please be sure to actually purchase it soon if you like it at all.
 
V

Vaporak

Member
FartOfWar said:
I just finsihed it again (fishing for another ending off late game saves) and am shaking. The final three levels (if you want to call them that) are just boiling-point pressure. And the area right before the sarcophagus? ****ing massive with no reason to be and I love that about the game. You know where you need to go, its late in the game and you ought to just be pressing on but you decide to see if those buildings over yonder have interiors and such and it turns out there's just even more, massive amounts of real estate with things to shoot and foes to fight. Americans just don't design that way these days. (OK, at least not in the FPS space)
Click to expand...

Sounds awesome, I'm getting more interested in this game by the day.






The pirates in this thread aren't exactly being discreet. :/
 
F

Fragamemnon

Member
Xdrive05 said:
Definitely. For those of you who will be sailing the high seas for this game, please be sure to actually purchase it soon if you like it at all.
Click to expand...

I wanted to second this. Really, there's no reason not to-it's $35 at Target right after it comes out, then $30 a Circuit City next week. The developer and publisher get the full profit from these purchases, the retailer is doing this as a loss-leader to get you to come into the store.

A big sales splash for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. might be just the thing to get some real recognition to continental Europe for their PC game development scene, which has been churning out some very unique-if often a bit rough at the edges-games for many years. The addition of some more money and more resources to help some of the better studios create and polish their games would be a huge boon for the PC.

Some of you would be really surprised at what some of the hardcore PC gamers and writers have running on their systems in terms of hardware. We're as lazy and often as slow to upgrade as the next person and generally only do so kicking and screaming-we really just want to play the games, and tweaking and tuning our hardware and software configuration ranges from a mini-game like experience to a 'oh god how did I get here I am not good with computers' frustration session. Don't ask me how long I played on a 6600GT and a Northwood P4, it was like forever. Same for the P3 733 and Geforce 4 Ti 4200 I had before that.

Americans just don't design that way these days. (OK, at least not in the FPS space)
Click to expand...

I would have quoted that whole post for awesomeness and as a reason to run out and buy the game as soon as its available, but I wanted to key in on this comment to point back to what I was saying about the whole continental Europe PC development scene. They are, to some degree, doing genres and game styles that American developers don't seem as interested in, and they are doing them with some serious creativity and tons of hard work, too.
 
Xdrive05

Xdrive05

Member
bigmit3737 said:
It seems to be running better on lower end systems..than higher end...

According to the gamefaqs boards...
Click to expand...

That's really weird. Maybe it has something to do with multi-core processing not being supported correctly or something.

My 6600gt w/ 3200+ has a good shot at it after all? We'll see! :)
 
Z

ZombieSupaStar

Member
rig

a64 4000
2 gigs ram
7800 gtx 256



fps w/o dynamic lighting (just static) 120 fps

1024x768
preset high
af slider maxed
aa silder middle
texture/detail/view distance sliders all maxed

same setup with the lighting set to full dynamic

.... 30 fps


if you get chop, set the lighting to static
 
L

Linkup

Member
tegdf said:
when does the game come out in the U.S. tuesday or wednesday?
Click to expand...

Target is thursday($35 DVD) and Bestbuy($39 CD) around my area is Wednesday by 2 p.m. That's what the ads say/show.
 
R

Romance Pie

Member
DevelopmentArrested said:
3.4 GhZ P4
2GB Ram
880 GTS
Click to expand...

I think your CPU may bottle neck the performance of your 8800, but running a intel system, you can make the jump to dual core no problem.

Been waiting for this one a while, but out next week and I'm paying $99 for the tinnie version, but at $35 US you have to be a total cheap ass to copy it (is this also a pre order deal?)

One more thing I look forward to someone pulling out a co-op mod for this game, the way it was going to be back in 2004.
 
Xdrive05

Xdrive05

Member
For those of you who have played it, does it have the big open world with dynamic atmosphere systems (like weather, day/night cycles, etc) that it used to have? And how about the food chain AI?
 
S

Sjoerd

Member
Runs ok on my 3GHZ C2D, 1GB RAM, 7600GS GPU. No need to cancel any pre-orders :)

Wouldn't try it with only 512MB though since it's quite a memory hog.
 
M

MirageDwarf

Member
Eurogamer Review: 8/10

Few Screens:

ss_preview_s001.jpg


ss_preview_s002.jpg


ss_preview_s003.jpg


ss_preview_s004.jpg


Is this game leaked on the internet or what? How come people other than reviewers are playing it? I'm buying it this week.
 
F

firex

Member
Damn, there's no DVD version of this coming out? That's what gogamer.com says, at least. I'll probably still buy it this week, but that's a bit disappointing.
 
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