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[Ifrit]

Just wanted to say that I recently finished this game, I loved it from the start, I didn't join any faction and got one bad ending

Spoiler

wanted to be rich

:lol and the good ending once I read there was one, thankfully I already got all the requirements when I found out about it, btw getting a good ending makes the story at least a little less confusing, plus there's some good action, recomended

My only regret? I didn't know about the mods for this game before finishing it, wanted to kill myself once I read about it

What is the general opinion about the sequels?

 

[BobsRevenge]

Even when you get to the end, there are things to learn. The game is amazing, but terribly buggy. Call of Pripyat, imo, makes a great game system a fantastic game.

When you have wizard trolls fucking up your game saves, you've got a buggy game. Call of Pripyat is a buggy game. I actually had more fun with the first game. Less zombies and more continuity.

 

[dejan]

It's been over 2 years since I finished Shadows of Chernobyl and although I've spend nearly 50 hours with this game I think I'm gonna reinstall it (+ complete mod) over the holidays and play it again.

 

[1-D_FTW]

I'm heading towards the reactor with my current game. What's the save issue? And is there any way I can try and avoid these issues?

 

[gregor7777]

$.99 or 80 pts on Game for Windows Live Marketplace right now.

 

[The Big Rig]

I'm heading towards the reactor with my current game. What's the save issue? And is there any way I can try and avoid these issues?

You're dealing with the same bug I had. I tried fixing it, but it was hopeless.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I still think this is the best game of all STALKERs, unmodded, or at least with just the basic stuff. The team still doesnt know how to an endgame properly though.

Nah, I'm big on Pripyat myself. I think it's the best of the series.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Nah, I'm big on Pripyat myself. I think it's the best of the series.

Same here. Pripyat is just phenomenal. Can't wait for complete mod. I totally love stalker.

 

[1-D_FTW]

You're dealing with the same bug I had. I tried fixing it, but it was hopeless.

No. I was wondering what it was. I haven't had any issues yet. I'm just wondering what it is. So if there's anyway to prevent it, I can take precautions.

 

[The Big Rig]

No. I was wondering what it was. I haven't had any issues yet. I'm just wondering what it is. So if there's anyway to prevent it, I can take precautions.

Do full saves often when you get past Pripyat,

Spoiler

where the helicopters are.

Its a bug where every time you quick save, the game crashes.

 

[1-D_FTW]

Good info to know. I think I've got about 30 full saves (cause I'm paranoid like that), so what's more. I guess I'll just cycle through 10 or so (and keep separate benchmark saves). Think I'm one area away from entering that zone.

 

[Ifrit]

$.99 or 80 pts on Game for Windows Live Marketplace right now.

Quoting for importance

 

[1-D_FTW]

Wow. I really got the shitty ending.

Spoiler

I make a wish to be rich and gold coins drop on my head until the building collapses on me and kills me. WFT! 30 hours and you can't even let me live. There's shitty endings and then there's SHITTY endings. Bravo, sirs.

I can't be bothered to get a better ending. I was doing a lot of menial side quests early on, then I said, screw it. I've got too much in the backlog to do garbage runs when the main game is so amazing.

Only thing that ticked me off was this: There was constant treasure chests to dig up. You were getting a suit every 10 minutes. After 20 hours of constantly dragging 3 suits with me, I went with one for a mission. Put the rest in a chest for my return.

Problem is, I never returned. Just kept going forward. And forward. And the chests completely disappeared, so when I desperately needed a new suit, there were zero.

Had to dog my way through the final level with absolutely no armor. A real PITA when they designed some real ambush points in high radiation zones.

And then there was an invisible guy who only half spawned (outside a brutal ambush point that was chewing up my shots and health kits). There was a light shining on me and I thought it was psychological warfare.:lol Till I reloaded after about the 20th death and suddenly he'd spawn with me. Died another 10 times after reload before I could finally headshot him before he capped me (spawned in having to reload gun).

So by the time I finally got the end, I was desperate for it to finish. Then that ending.:lol

Oh well. I'm a journey is the destination guy. And the journey was mind-blowingly awesome.

 

[MarshMellow96]

Every time this thread gets bumped I shed a little tear for the fact that I can't play it. =/

 

[BobsRevenge]

I ran through the last level trying not to get shot. I didn't stick around in one place long enough to really shoot anything. Just ran ran ran. It was so obnoxious.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Wow. I really got the shitty ending.

Spoiler

I make a wish to be rich and gold coins drop on my head until the building collapses on me and kills me. WFT! 30 hours and you can't even let me live. There's shitty endings and then there's SHITTY endings. Bravo, sirs.

I can't be bothered to get a better ending. I was doing a lot of menial side quests early on, then I said, screw it. I've got too much in the backlog to do garbage runs when the main game is so amazing.

Only thing that ticked me off was this: There was constant treasure chests to dig up. You were getting a suit every 10 minutes. After 20 hours of constantly dragging 3 suits with me, I went with one for a mission. Put the rest in a chest for my return.

Problem is, I never returned. Just kept going forward. And forward. And the chests completely disappeared, so when I desperately needed a new suit, there were zero.

Had to dog my way through the final level with absolutely no armor. A real PITA when they designed some real ambush points in high radiation zones.

And then there was an invisible guy who only half spawned (outside a brutal ambush point that was chewing up my shots and health kits). There was a light shining on me and I thought it was psychological warfare.:lol Till I reloaded after about the 20th death and suddenly he'd spawn with me. Died another 10 times after reload before I could finally headshot him before he capped me (spawned in having to reload gun).

So by the time I finally got the end, I was desperate for it to finish. Then that ending.:lol

Oh well. I'm a journey is the destination guy. And the journey was mind-blowingly awesome.

I had different issues, but the end of the game really soured the experience for me too. Well, not soured, because it's still one of my favourite games, but it didn't end on a high, to say the least. I had sweet fuck all equipment at the point of no return in the tunnel and it was a case of killing a guy, quicksaving, repeat for ages.

 

[Neuromancer]

I ran through the last level trying not to get shot. I didn't stick around in one place long enough to really shoot anything. Just ran ran ran. It was so obnoxious.

Hey at least you made it.

I should have been, but wasn't, prepared for the

Spoiler

massive amounts of radiation.

Pretty much made it impossible and I gave up. =(

 

[1-D_FTW]

I ran through the last level trying not to get shot. I didn't stick around in one place long enough to really shoot anything. Just ran ran ran. It was so obnoxious.

I didn't have any armor when I left Pripyat. So I wasn't fighting unless absolutely necessary. But there were a couple spots where they had like 5-8 guys inside a tunnel and when I got close, my radiation level would immediately spike red. I had to fight, because you couldn't map shot to a hotkey (that I know of). I would have died from radiation trying to run the gauntlet.

And even the armor I had before that point wasn't great. I was tired of making sacrifices with my treasure when I returned to the barkeep, so I wore a really light faction suit so I could carry all my booty back.:lol

 

[OmegaDragon]

Wow. I really got the shitty ending.

Spoiler

I make a wish to be rich and gold coins drop on my head until the building collapses on me and kills me. WFT! 30 hours and you can't even let me live. There's shitty endings and then there's SHITTY endings. Bravo, sirs.

I can't be bothered to get a better ending. I was doing a lot of menial side quests early on, then I said, screw it. I've got too much in the backlog to do garbage runs when the main game is so amazing.

Only thing that ticked me off was this: There was constant treasure chests to dig up. You were getting a suit every 10 minutes. After 20 hours of constantly dragging 3 suits with me, I went with one for a mission. Put the rest in a chest for my return.

Problem is, I never returned. Just kept going forward. And forward. And the chests completely disappeared, so when I desperately needed a new suit, there were zero.

Had to dog my way through the final level with absolutely no armor. A real PITA when they designed some real ambush points in high radiation zones.

And then there was an invisible guy who only half spawned (outside a brutal ambush point that was chewing up my shots and health kits). There was a light shining on me and I thought it was psychological warfare.:lol Till I reloaded after about the 20th death and suddenly he'd spawn with me. Died another 10 times after reload before I could finally headshot him before he capped me (spawned in having to reload gun).

So by the time I finally got the end, I was desperate for it to finish. Then that ending.:lol

Oh well. I'm a journey is the destination guy. And the journey was mind-blowingly awesome.

Reaching the Monolith/Wishgranter will only give you bad endings. There is a secret lab in the power plant that you can locate if you found a decoder in a hotel in Pripyat. It's loaded with enemies though. You do get a 'cutscene' that explains things about the Zone, so you might want to check it out: MASSIVE SPOILERS of course. And if you want to reach the ultimate ending, you have to fight even more human enemies.

I didnt really like the end of the game either. Trying to reach the NPP while helis and the military were attacking the Monolith faction while a blowout was near was pretty cool, if at bit annoying at times because you can get shot from almost any direction. Especially those helis can be a pain in the ass as they will almost instakill you.

Inside I expected more mutants, you only face Monolith. A bit disappointing, like the Brain Schorcher, where I expected some weird stuff to happen as well but it didnt I especially disliked the last secret lab: a sort of labyrinth with tight corridors filled with Monolith. The final section where you are on top of the power plant was a lot better.

On the other hand, I did have a nice suit + enough medkits and antirads. Orange scientist suit ftw! (although I abandoned it for the military stalker suit at the very end)

 

[1-D_FTW]

Reaching the Monolith/Wishgranter will only give you bad endings. There is a secret lab in the power plant that you can locate if you found a decoder in a hotel in Pripyat. It's loaded with enemies though. You do get a 'cutscene' that explains things about the Zone, so you might want to check it out: MASSIVE SPOILERS of course. And if you want to reach the ultimate ending, you have to fight even more human enemies.

I didnt really like the end of the game either. Trying to reach the NPP while helis and the military were attacking the Monolith faction while a blowout was near was pretty cool, if at bit annoying at times because you can get shot from almost any direction. Especially those helis can be a pain in the ass as they will almost instakill you.

Inside I expected more mutants, you only face Monolith. A bit disappointing, like the Brain Schorcher, where I expected some weird stuff to happen as well but it didnt I especially disliked the last secret lab: a sort of labyrinth with tight corridors filled with Monolith. The final section where you are on top of the power plant was a lot better.

On the other hand, I did have a nice suit + enough medkits and antirads. Orange scientist suit ftw! (although I abandoned it for the military stalker suit at the very end)

I'll have to see where that building is and what my saves look like. I'm sure I have one that's close to that building. I'll keep the saves and maybe revisit later on.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

I seem to remember finding a good suit in the last level. Ages since I played so I could be wrong.

 

[old manatee]

I played the first few hours of this game like 4 times when it came out, and always bailed because of the bugs and poor performance. After loving Call of Pripyat I started again with a new computer and the Complete 2009 mod and can't believe how much better it is. I played a number of AAA games in 2010 that don't look and run this well. Now that I'm not fighting against a tide of glitches the game is soo fun. I love how often I set off on a totally mundane side quest and it turns into a 2 hour fiasco. I skipped Clear Sky because it sounded like kind of a mess, does Clear Sky Complete make that game worth playing?

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

I found Clear Sky to be pretty dull, especially since it had mostly the same areas. If you're dying for more STALKER it's not bad, but I kinda wish I'd just gone from this game to Call of Pripyat.

 

[1-D_FTW]

Good advice. I've got the other two to play yet and I'll probably start another this month. It's good logic for playing CoP next.

 

[pahamrick]

So I got around to re-installing SoC mostly to try Complete 2009 with AA. However, whenever I enable AA, either through Catalyst or RadeonPro I get a yellow outline along the very top and left of the screen.

Is there anyway to get rid of it, aside from playing without AA?

 

[out0v0rder]

Every time this thread gets bumped I shed a little tear for the fact that I can't play it. =/

crash on startup?

 

[Bison11]

I have had STALKER sitting in my steam account since it was first on there. I really need to play this game.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

What mods can you guys recommend besides the complete mod? I'm interested in texture mods and general graphical improvements.


I'm not interested in overhauled sounds and weather patterns on my first playthrough. I once installed the complete mod and I was constantly wondering whether I was playing the game as the devs meant it to be played..

 

[Alex Connolly]

What mods can you guys recommend besides the complete mod? I'm interested in texture mods and general graphical improvements.


I'm not interested in overhauled sounds and weather patterns on my first playthrough. I once installed the complete mod and I was constantly wondering whether I was playing the game as the devs meant it to be played..

I dunno, I think the complete mod invigorates the intent of the devs, rather than reinventing the feel.

 

[subversus]

I dunno, I think the complete mod invigorates the intent of the devs, rather than reinventing the feel.

there are some tweaks.

Also complete includes most popular textures packs. It actually looks better than Call of Pripyat most times especially if we talk about foliage.

 

[kittoo]

Holy fuck balls this game is good. Out of curiosity I kept looking at the playtime of people on my Steam friend's list. Most are in the .3 - 1 hour range. Pretty much where I was for the last couple years. Couldn't get over the steep learning curve. Closing in on the end now and I'm gobsmacked. My mind is completely blown. Just amazing.

My thoughts exactly. I will just post what I posted in another thread yesterday-

Just finished STALKER:Shadow of Chernobyl. Wow! What an experience! It has got the best atmosphere I've ever seen in any game, only HL2 comes close.
Whats interesting is that its not the first time I tried to play it. I've tried it thrice earlier but the initial difficulty threw me off (also to be noted that then I wasnt into RPGs. Getting into RPGs and loving them taught me how to play STALKER a little better) but this time I kept playing and boy after first 2 hours its sheer awesomeness. It absolutely blew me away. I also installed Complete mod. The nights were so so amazing. The first time I saw night was when I slept in the middle of a ground while it was evening. And when I woke up, it kinda scared the shit out of me that I couldnt see more than 1-2 metre far! And that too cause there was a fire burning near me! Walking in the night, listening to mutant voices, closely monitoring radiation counter sound to avoid anamolies, seeing fire burning in house far away, seeing guys with torches moving far away while actually seeing only their torches move....the list goes on. The atmosphere so thick, the game so awesome!
Dying to see even glimpses of STALKER 2.

 

[kittoo]

Also, to those who are wondering about suits, just make sure you get the GREEN SCIENTIFIC SUIT in Yantar (I think its either where you find

Spoiler

Ghost in the underground lab in Yantar

or with the scientist in Yantar. After getting the suit (which is absolutely the best suit in the whole game), all I did was to ask the bar owner to repair it whenever I was there.

Aslo, get some endurance artifacts to use for the end of the game. I used two Flash artifacts and I could run without my endurance going down at all. So I just ran when the choppers etc section came in the end.

 

[OmegaDragon]

Isn't the orange science suit the better one? But you are right where you can find it

Spoiler

Find Ghosts body in the zombie lab in Yantar, take his suit and give it to the scientist leader as part of his quest

. Great suit, very good against environmental hazards, especially radiation and average against bullets/physical damage. At the end of the game when you are fighting masses of human enemies, the military stalker suit is a bit more durable.

What mods can you guys recommend besides the complete mod? I'm interested in texture mods and general graphical improvements.


I'm not interested in overhauled sounds and weather patterns on my first playthrough. I once installed the complete mod and I was constantly wondering whether I was playing the game as the devs meant it to be played..

Complete mod is great, it didn't notice anything odd or out of place. What the complete mod does do is remove head bobbing, so you might want to enable it. What I've read is that the mod significantly improves the playability of the game.

Other mod I liked from the few minutes I played it: Realistic weapons (for complete 2009)
http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-complete-2009/downloads/sc-realistic-weapons-add-on

It basically makes your guns (well, every gun) stronger. Enemies will die quicker and so will you of course. Nice for the beginning of the game, when combat is a bit annoying imo because your weapons are pretty lousy. With this mod the first firefight was more fun imo because I could down enemies with a few well placed shots. Also the dogs were less bullet spongy. Can't say what happens when you and everyone else gets automatic weapons.

 

[JADS]

What mods can you guys recommend besides the complete mod? I'm interested in texture mods and general graphical improvements.


I'm not interested in overhauled sounds and weather patterns on my first playthrough. I once installed the complete mod and I was constantly wondering whether I was playing the game as the devs meant it to be played..

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Absolute_Structures_Texture_Pack;117932
http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Absolute_Nature_Texture_Pack_for_SoC;117931
These are just two texture packs that should not change anything about the game. The tweaks in the Complete mod are pretty nice though, like the ability to repair your weapons. While it was not intended in the released game, most tweaks in the complete mod are in the sequels.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

Maybe I'll try it out anyway then. Tnx for convincing me

 

[kittoo]

Isn't the orange science suit the better one? But you are right where you can find it

Spoiler

Find Ghosts body in the zombie lab in Yantar, take his suit and give it to the scientist leader as part of his quest

. Great suit, very good against environmental hazards, especially radiation and average against bullets/physical damage. At the end of the game when you are fighting masses of human enemies, the military stalker suit is a bit more durable.

I uninstalled the game so hard to know, but I believe its the green one. IGN says this-

The most useful thing to come out of this area, aside from the pump shotgun you occasionally rely on, is trading Ghost's armor for the SSP-99M green spacesuit. It's identical to Kruglov's armor and is basically the best armor for the rest of the game. It protects you from enviromental hazards and bullets, so you can't ask for more.

The SEVA Suit sold by the professor is a cheap imitation, but buy one if you can carry it back (in case the armors start breaking). Take as much as you can carry back with you and you can even sell some NATO ammo to lighten your load -- the Wildlands will let you restock your NATO ammo completely.

Edit:- Its the green one for sure. Here are both ones-

http://stalker.wikia.com/wiki/SSP-99_Ecologist (orange one)
http://stalker.wikia.com/wiki/SSP-99M_Suit (green one)

I believe that you get oange one from Ghost, then can exchange it with green one from the Scientist.

 

[dark10x]

So, have there been any mods yet that change the AI and gun mechanics?

Those are the two things that consistently prevent me from enjoying STALKER.

With games such as this, I tend to prefer playing stealthy. The AI in STALKER DOES NOT allow this ever. They are extremely sensitive to everything and respond in a very aggressive, unrealistic, and less than enjoyable fashion. Fighting enemies is terrible and the game constantly forces you to do so. There are too many enemies and they are no fun to fight. However, if someone were to tweak the enemy numbers and decrease the sensitivity of the AI, it could be much better.

In addition, I'd like a simplified version of the gunplay. It's cool that they tried to map bullet trajectory, but again, it's really not all that fun (for me at least). It makes shooting quite frustrating. Again, I could live with it if the game allowed stealth, but it is a shooter first and foremost.

STALKER Complete makes a LOT of a changes to the game, so it doesn't seem impossible to me that someone has modded the experience to allow for someone who enjoys stealth to get into it. The world is so compelling and well designed, but the gameplay within the world is not fun. You rarely get to soak in the atmosphere. Exploring an old facility should be a tense, atmospheric adventure, but instead, you just keep running into enemies over and over again.

 

[Dennis]

If I remember correctly, there is a large overhaul mod named L.U.R.K. that seeks to improve stealth among other things. I have not played it myself.

 

[OmegaDragon]

I uninstalled the game so hard to know, but I believe its the green one. IGN says this-



Edit:- Its the green one for sure. Here are both ones-

http://stalker.wikia.com/wiki/SSP-99_Ecologist (orange one)
http://stalker.wikia.com/wiki/SSP-99M_Suit (green one)

I believe that you get orange one from Ghost, then can exchange it with green one from the Scientist.

Ah, I stand corrected. It's been a while and I guess I linked orange with mr Freeman, the toughest scientist known to man (but not tough enough for the Zone )

 

[Scipius]

Maybe I'll try it out anyway then. Tnx for convincing me

Just get rid of the ugly, simplified HUD that Complete adds (seen in DennisK4's screenshot) and go for the original one. The PDF you get with Complete explains how. You may also want to remove the auto-heal (auto applies health packs) feature and increase the head-bobbing a bit. Other than that, Complete only improves on vanilla STALKER.

So, have there been any mods yet that change the AI and gun mechanics?

Unfortunately, I think you'll have to accept STALKER is just not for you. My experience is exactly the opposite; the gunplay and the AI greatly add to the game. The fact that STALKER is hard is what makes it fun for many people; there are far too many easy shooters out there.

Stealth is a bit broken though, that's true. It was worse in vanilla from what I remember.

 

[dark10x]

Unfortunately, I think you'll have to accept STALKER is just not for you. My experience is exactly the opposite; the gunplay and the AI greatly add to the game. The fact that STALKER is hard is what makes it fun for many people; there are far too many easy shooters out there.

I like challenge, though. STALKER is not challenging in a fun way for me.

It's just a damn shame as there is so much in there that I like. It just pisses me off every time I try to enjoy it. I don't know why I keep going back. I'm just drawn to the locales it presents, I guess.

What is it you like about the difficulty, though? Do you enjoy quick saving and loading or something?

 

[subversus]

STALKER SOC Complete is quite a unique game in terms of difficulty.

I started playing it from my save not so long ago and found out that it works like Demons Souls in FPS genre: every encounter needs your focused attention, every grunt can bring you down easily even if you're advanced, environments are hazardous and very lethal, atmosphere is moody. You've to listen to every sound because you know that they could mean death. You can't breeze through the game being boss or not. You've to stay alerted and fight for every inch in the Zone.

I walked out the Bar and went to the Undergound labs two days ago. First, I had to clear out the path to Garbage site location. There were dogs running around and dogs tend to run in quite unpredictable directions. I killed them all but that task demanded attention. I had to maneuver, aim for their heads and do it with precision. When it was over it felt satisfying.

Then I had to navigate through anomalies with bolts. And again it felt satifying because the anomalies were dangerous. One step in the wrong direction and you're dead or seriously wounded.

Then I walked into "the wasteland" and saw mutated boars running towards me. I retreated and let The Duty soldiers kill them. But they didn't kill them all because the boars retreated too. I had to walk after them and finish the fleeing ones to clear the path.

Then I saw some ruins and decided to check it for artifacts. There were a lot of anomalies there, so I had to figure out the way to the safe spot where artifacts or some hidden stash was supposed to be (there was none :lol ).

I skip the moment when I was overwhelmed by bandits, ran through irradiated land, walked into an anomaly and made it to the next location barely alive.

And then I had a brilliant shootout at the Labs. The bandits were hiding in the building and at first I acted like they were normal "dumb" grunts. Except they were not.

They were hiding around the corners. They slowly advanced seeking out for you. They didn't rush. They were sneaking. They waited until I killed two of them and attacked 1 min later when I thought it was over. AI reacts to what you do. If you start shooting somebody at the entrance, guys on the second floor will sneak behind you and throw the grenade or shoot you in the back when you're looting the corpse.

You never ever feel safe in the zone. The tension is constant and there's no shooter that was able to copy it.

 

[1-D_FTW]

STALKER SOC Complete is quite a unique game in terms of difficulty.

I started playing it from my save not so long ago and found out that it works like Demons Souls in FPS genre: every encounter needs your focused attention, every grunt can bring you down easily even if you're advanced, environments are hazardous and very lethal, atmosphere is moody. You've to listen to every sound because you know that they could mean death. You can't breeze through the game being boss or not. You've to stay alerted and fight for every inch in the Zone.

I walked out the Bar and went to the Undergound labs two days ago. First, I had to clear out the path to Garbage site location. There were dogs running around and dogs tend to run in quite unpredictable directions. I killed them all but that task demanded attention. I had to maneuver, aim for their heads and do it with precision. When it was over it felt satisfying.

Then I had to navigate through anomalies with bolts. And again it felt satifying because the anomalies were dangerous. One step in the wrong direction and you're dead or seriously wounded.

Then I walked into "the wasteland" and saw mutated boars running towards me. I retreated and let The Duty soldiers kill them. But they didn't kill them all because the boars retreated too. I had to walk after them and finish the fleeing ones to clear the path.

Then I saw some ruins and decided to check it for artifacts. There were a lot of anomalies there, so I had to figure out the way to the safe spot where artifacts or some hidden stash was supposed to be (there was none :lol ).

I skip the moment when I was overwhelmed by bandits, ran through irradiated land, walked into an anomaly and made it to the next location barely alive.

And then I had a brilliant shootout at the Labs. The bandits were hiding in the building and at first I acted like they were normal "dumb" grunts. Except they were not.

They were hiding around the corners. They slowly advanced seeking out for you. They didn't rush. They were sneaking. They waited until I killed two of them and attacked 1 min later when I thought it was over. AI reacts to what you do. If you start shooting somebody at the entrance, guys on the second floor will sneak behind you and throw the grenade or shoot you in the back when you're looting the corpse.

You never ever feel safe in the zone. The tension is constant and there's no shooter that was able to copy it.

:lol Gotta be honest, I'm pretty sure the AI cheats like a mofu on that. You can stand for 5 minutes and as soon as you start looting, they rush out and start shooting. Even if they can't see you.

Aside from that (which I learned to never do when I knew guys were still around), I never really had an issue with the AI. Tough but rewarding.

 

[subversus]

:lol Gotta be honest, I'm pretty sure the AI cheats like a mofu on that. You can stand for 5 minutes and as soon as you start looting, they rush out and start shooting. .

it's not cheating. it's called common sense :lol

 

[1-D_FTW]

it's not cheating. it's called common sense :lol

Come on now. If they're hiding behind a brick wall and you can see the direction they're hiding in, stand there for 5 minutes waiting for them to peak around the corner so you can pop them, and they won't. Nobody can see anybody. But as soon as you bend down to loot, they coincidently decide to finally take a look at what's happening for the last 5 minutes 10 seconds?:lol They had me the first couple times, but I caught onto that act real quick. After a while you begin realizing it ain't luck and they got themselves some magic vision that sees through walls.:lol Or maybe it's a higher level vision anomaly artifact unavailable to scrubs.

 

[bonesmccoy]

SoC endgame crushed me the first time I played it. The first time, I had switched my rad armor for something with higher damager resistance, only to die within moments of entering the power plant. A couple of quicksaves and hours later, I was back kicking Monolith ass. I reached the reactor, wished for the Zone to disappear... and then I was blinded by the Wishmaker.

:I

The second playthrough I found the decoder, massacred Monolith, and destroyed the Reactor/Zone.

OR SO I THOUGHT.

I've yet to play Call of Pripyat.

 

[subversus]

Come on now. If they're hiding behind a brick wall and you can see the direction they're hiding in, stand there for 5 minutes waiting for them to peak around the corner so you can pop them, and they won't.

they listen for a sound!

 

[1-D_FTW]

they listen for a sound!

Ah. Damn creaky knees. They must pop as I been down over the corpse I has hovering over.

 

[subversus]

Ah. Damn creaky knees. They must pop as I been down over the corpse I has hovering over.

no, the sound of your clothes rubbing and hands rummaging in dead man's pockets. also you've to unzip your bag.

 

[Scipius]

I like challenge, though. STALKER is not challenging in a fun way for me.

It's just a damn shame as there is so much in there that I like. It just pisses me off every time I try to enjoy it. I don't know why I keep going back. I'm just drawn to the locales it presents, I guess.

But what part of the Zone attracts you? Just the eerie desolation or the oppressive tension as well? The second really isn't possible without the aggressive nature of the AI; the Zone is after all a deadly place.

What is it you like about the difficulty, though? Do you enjoy quick saving and loading or something?

Once you get used to the difficulty level, STALKER isn't that hard; by the end of the game you should be able to handle anything. However, because of the AI and because the gunplay is never straightforward point and shoot, the game never stops being unpredictable. Subversus' post gives some examples of this; I can add my own to that if you want, but the point is that you'll never have quite the same encounter twice.

I have no problem with quicksaving/loading by the way. Part and parcel of a more challenging game; there's no shame in dying a number of times in STALKER. Is it unfair when you die because of what the game suddenly spawns around you? Yes, blatantly, but think of how you'll feel when you manage to survive such an encounter.