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

Scipius

Member
Foliorum Viridum said:
Let's all just agree Clear Sky was pretty shit.

Never. Clear Sky is only deficient when comparing it to SoC (or CoP, but far less so). If SoC had never existed and CS had been a stand-alone game, it would have been hailed as a classic.

You may fault it for having recycled locations, but this allowed the game to still feel nearly as large as SoC did. CoP contained only three new levels, which is the same number of new levels as Clear Sky.
 
The locations in CoP were fresh and better designed than any of the new places in CS. The fact I already knew the locations in CS from SoC made it feel a lot more safe and also took away that wonder and excitement that I got from exploring in SoC/CoP.

I mean, the game isn't broken or anything, but it offers me nothing that the other two games don't do much better.
 

Scipius

Member
Foliorum Viridum said:
The locations in CoP were fresh and better designed than any of the new places in CS. The fact I already knew the locations in CS from SoC made it feel a lot more safe and also took away that wonder and excitement that I got from exploring in SoC/CoP.

Like I said, you got as many new areas in CS as you did in CoP; the only real difference being the CoP ones were a bit bigger (they had to be, since CoP offers nothing else). One could argue that we've seen parts of the CoP levels elsewhere as well; in the case of swamp areas, there's no denying CS had the best example of that type of environment. Its new Red Forest is also still the only proper example of a forest level in the Zone. Where it does revisit levels, it either had new features to explore, or yielded a glimpse into the history of the zone; showing what the area looked like before SoC's events.

Foliorum Viridum said:
I mean, the game isn't broken or anything, but it offers me nothing that the other two games don't do much better.

That depends on what you're looking for in STALKER, I guess. CS already had some of the more extensive subsystems later retained in CoP, while still offering nearly the same scope as SoC. There are many improvements in CS compared to SoC; some just things the developers had planned on using for SoC, but failed to do so on time. One could say CS is in some ways closer to the original vision of the Zone than SoC was.

Still, it did fail in the implementation, particularly its rushed ending, but overly ambitious design is nothing new in this series. CS is by no means the best of the series, but I'm getting a bit fed up with people claiming it's shit or that it can be ignored. STALKER consists of three games: SoC, its prologue CS and its epilogue CoP. Period. All three are required playing, since even a lesser STALKER game is significantly beyond what is on offer in most FPS.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
Goddamn, I'm stuck at the worst part. It's the mission I mentioned a few posts up. I made it up to my waypoint, but I can't find what I'm supposed to do at the base and I'm full of deadly radiation with no cures left so it's just a matter of aimlessly running around and scarfing my remaining medkits until I die. Love this game but this part wasn't designed in a very user friendly way.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Snuggler said:
Goddamn, I'm stuck at the worst part. It's the mission I mentioned a few posts up. I made it up to my waypoint, but I can't find what I'm supposed to do at the base and I'm full of deadly radiation with no cures left so it's just a matter of aimlessly running around and scarfing my remaining medkits until I die. Love this game but this part wasn't designed in a very user friendly way.

are you at the brain scorcher?
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
subversus said:
are you at the brain scorcher?


Yes I am. There was one waypoint for finding an entrance to a bunker, but I couldn't reach it as it was surrounded by a fence. I reached a nearby base with another waypoint marking a spot with an antennae, but when I entered the base the waypoint vanished and by then I was so irradiated that I couldn't do anything before dying. So it's a combination of confusion and panic due to being irradiated and out of meds, and it's kind of a pain in the ass. Oh well.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Snuggler said:
Yes I am. There was one waypoint for finding an entrance to a bunker, but I couldn't reach it as it was surrounded by a fence. I reached a nearby base with another waypoint marking a spot with an antennae, but when I entered the base the waypoint vanished and by then I was so irradiated that I couldn't do anything before dying. So it's a combination of confusion and panic due to being irradiated and out of meds, and it's kind of a pain in the ass. Oh well.

yeah, that part was hard but I was able to find the entrance. I don't remember how, it was a long time ago. I remember doing it a bit unconventionally. Like going into some pit, than tunnels... but I might be wrong.

YouTube it.
 

Scipius

Member
Snuggler said:
So it's a combination of confusion and panic due to being irradiated and out of meds, and it's kind of a pain in the ass. Oh well.

At this stage of the game you really shouldn't be going anywhere without some radiation-reducing artifacts on you. It is only going to get worse.

Try running to the location subversus indicated; I don't think there should be a problem once you're inside the lab.
 

ACE 1991

Member
So I installed the Stalker Complete 2009 mod, and I'm trying to run the game in 720p on my 1080p monitor. For some reason when running the game at 1280x720 it letter boxes the screen. This is quite puzzling, as 720p shares the same aspect ration as the native res of the monitor. How can I make the game not use widescreen letter box?
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
^ sorry to response without an answer, hopefully someone can help with that

Anyways, I loved this game but I've kind of hit a wall. I made it up to what I assume is the end game, I'm supposed to get to the building with the
Wishmaker
but I'm completely screwed. There is (seemingly) an endless amount of troopers after me as well as a couple helicopters hovering around and shooting me at all times. Basically, I load the save, start running and die within 10 seconds. On top of all that, there is an x-ray engine crash every other time I try it. Great game and maybe I'm doing it wrong but this part is a mess. It's not really hard or challenging, just sloppy and frustrating.

I could always revert back to an older save and just enjoy creeping through the zones, but it's kind of a buzzkill. Any ideas on a way to get through this part? Is there a console command I can enter for god mode?
 

Dennis

Banned
ACE 1991 said:
So I installed the Stalker Complete 2009 mod, and I'm trying to run the game in 720p on my 1080p monitor. For some reason when running the game at 1280x720 it letter boxes the screen. This is quite puzzling, as 720p shares the same aspect ration as the native res of the monitor. How can I make the game not use widescreen letter box?
Did you make sure to have the game patched up to the latest version before installing the mod?
 
Stupid question:

If some kind, kind soul has a save game say, oh, 2/3s of the way through the game, could I use that file? I've played the first 2/3s of the game twice now (distraction and hard drive crash, respectively) and I want to play the whole thing (really, really want to play the whole thing), but I really, really don't want to start over again.

I knwo when the game was first released there was a patch that killed existings saves, but I'm not sure if that's always the case or what...
 

Dennis

Banned
ACE 1991 said:
I installed it via steam, so it would be up to date by default correct?
Yeah, it should be, so I guess that isn't it. The reason I thought it might be it is that the unpatched version had some problem with aspect ratio.
 

Exuro

Member
I just started playing this game the other day with the complete mod. Currently finished the mission where you go through Strelok's stash and get the rapid fire AK so I'm only a few hours in. Was wondering how long the game was and what different types of weapons are there? So far it feels like theres just machine guns and pistols. Would love to get a sniper rifle or something.

Also, I absolutely love the atmosphere in the game. Enemies with their flashlights, looking around when you're in a sewer or somewhere underground is so haunting. Absolutely loving it so far.
 

ACE 1991

Member
DennisK4 said:
Yeah, it should be, so I guess that isn't it. The reason I thought it might be it is that the unpatched version had some problem with aspect ratio.
It looks I'm at 1.0005. Weird, this aspect ratio business makes no sense, as both resolutions are 16:9, the native ratio of my screen..
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
ACE 1991 said:
It looks I'm at 1.0005. Weird, this aspect ratio business makes no sense, as both resolutions are 16:9, the native ratio of my screen..
My old Dell flat panel that was 1920x1200 used to do the same thing when set to 1280x800 (which is also 16:10). I believe it was a driver level issue.
 

Dennis

Banned
Exuro said:
I just started playing this game the other day with the complete mod. Currently finished the mission where you go through Strelok's stash and get the rapid fire AK so I'm only a few hours in. Was wondering how long the game was and what different types of weapons are there? So far it feels like theres just machine guns and pistols. Would love to get a sniper rifle or something.

Also, I absolutely love the atmosphere in the game. Enemies with their flashlights, looking around when you're in a sewer or somewhere underground is so haunting. Absolutely loving it so far.
You will get a sniper rifle yes. Buy it or fnd it. There are several in fact.

Also scoped guns in general are godly in this game.
 

Exuro

Member
That's good to know. Other questions I have.

What all does the condition of a weapon do? I get misfires now and then so I assume its that but also do guns get worse as you use them?

Can you eventually carry more stuff?

Whats with weapons that have the small arrows on their icon?

I probably have more questions that I can't think of.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
I believe that misfires become more common until your weapon ultimately breaks, and it's resale value diminishes with it's condition.

There are no inventory space upgrades, you should get the hang of managing it and ditching all the stuff you don't need. As long as you're not a total packrat, it's manageable.

The little arrows indicate that it's an upgraded weapon, like an AK-47 with an increased fire rate.
 

54-46!

Member
Played the game with Complete 2009 for a while, was never really in to it.. decided to install ZRP instead to get the "true" vanilla feel, without the bugs.

I'll probably install AMK or something on my next playthrough to get a completely different experience.
 

Oreoleo

Member
User33 said:
So I read the OP and I'm still a little confused on what kind of game this is. I'm getting Fallout 3 vibes, is it similar?

Yes but the game keeps a faster pace than Fallout 3 ever does, and has better/a more prominent focus on shooting mechanics.

IMO they are comparable games but STALKER shits over Fallout 3 in pretty much every way.
 

54-46!

Member
Orellio said:
Yes but the game keeps a faster pace than Fallout 3 ever does, and has better/a more prominent focus on shooting mechanics.

IMO they are comparable games but STALKER shits over Fallout 3 in pretty much every way.
Just don't go in to this game expecting tons of dialogue and interesting characters.. but yeah, the gun-play is very satisfying.
 

JackEtc

Member
I apologize for the bump, but I am in need of assistance. I installed SoC today, ran it once, and installed the Complete mod, following the instructions. I run Stalker, and I have these blue lines bordering my left and top sides of my screen that grow every time I look around. What the fuck? It's super annoying. Does ANYONE have the fix for this?

Here's video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5R6Y0xjxnM

Thanks.
 

Divius

Member
Looks weird, I dunno.

I installed it + complete mod and I don't have that. I assume you've googled for it?

Good luck with it.
 

JackEtc

Member
There is a way to disable motion blur in a config file, but my config file looked corrupted, so I deleted the game from steam and am re-downloading. Maybe then I can try disabling it.
 

Ledsen

Member
JackEtc said:
I apologize for the bump, but I am in need of assistance. I installed SoC today, ran it once, and installed the Complete mod, following the instructions. I run Stalker, and I have these blue lines bordering my left and top sides of my screen that grow every time I look around. What the fuck? It's super annoying. Does ANYONE have the fix for this?

Here's video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5R6Y0xjxnM

Thanks.

I don't know myself, but could it be the shadow bug? If so, it's well known and the fix (changing some values in the .ini) is in the Complete 2009 readme.
 

Grinchy

Banned
I have had no issue with the complete mod yet either. Though, I have only really loaded the game up a few times to see how it was running in the starting room. Can't wait to play it for real. There are some really good impressions of this game out there.
 

JackEtc

Member
Grinchy said:
I have had no issue with the complete mod yet either. Though, I have only really loaded the game up a few times to see how it was running in the starting room. Can't wait to play it for real. There are some really good impressions of this game out there.
I'm excited to play it too, but I won't be able to play it while this issue is still around.

I'll look into the shadow bug, but I am redownloading and reinstalling SoC right now.
 

Grinchy

Banned
Anyone know if Fox is supposed to just stare at this wall, all intently, after giving him a medkit? There are no dogs anywhere around. I had 2 saves, and I've tried giving him medkits on each of them, and he's done this each time. Do I just keep walking to Garbage or do I need some kind of quest prompt from him after the medkit? Thanks in advance.

tuSeD.jpg
 
Grinchy said:
Anyone know if Fox is supposed to just stare at this wall, all intently, after giving him a medkit? There are no dogs anywhere around. I had 2 saves, and I've tried giving him medkits on each of them, and he's done this each time. Do I just keep walking to Garbage or do I need some kind of quest prompt from him after the medkit? Thanks in advance.

[IMGxsd]http://i.imgur.com/tuSeD.jpg[/IMG]
I don't think that's meant to happen but if I remember correctly that's just a side mission with no real consequence, so nothing too bad will happen if you just continue on to the garbage.
 

Grinchy

Banned
The Big Rig said:
Try quitting and reloading the save. Most of STALKER's scripting bugs work out when you try this.
I actually did that 3 times before trying my other save. Oh well, as long as I know it's ok to continue, that's good enough for me. Thanks guys!
 

marrec

Banned
Man, I love the game but I CANNOT get it to run over 19 FPS. Even on Low quality settings. My computer should be just fine to run it, though my Graphics Card is a bit on the sluggish side...

Core i7 920 2.67 ghz, GeForce GTX 260 (My weakness), plenty of ram...

Is there something I'm missing or am I just going to have to deal with it at 19 FPS?

Oh! Also, all drivers are up to date. And have the Complete Mod installed.
 

Reknoc

Member
I've had this game a while but never played it much because I was pretty terrible at it. Decided to give it another go and being a bit more trigger happy with quick saving and changing the keys to quick bandage/heal has meant I'm enjoying the game a lot. It's such a nice change of pace to other games.

It's also made me grow quite fond of some t.A.T.u song that seems to want to always play when I'm in Sodorovich's Bunker.
 

zkylon

zkylewd
marrec said:
Man, I love the game but I CANNOT get it to run over 19 FPS. Even on Low quality settings. My computer should be just fine to run it, though my Graphics Card is a bit on the sluggish side...

Core i7 920 2.67 ghz, GeForce GTX 260 (My weakness), plenty of ram...

Is there something I'm missing or am I just going to have to deal with it at 19 FPS?

Oh! Also, all drivers are up to date. And have the Complete Mod installed.
I don't know why you're getting bad performance, but that's a low framerate for your specs. Maybe the Complete Mod is too taxing, but i doubt it.
 

marrec

Banned
zkylon said:
I don't know why you're getting bad performance, but that's a low framerate for your specs. Maybe the Complete Mod is too taxing, but i doubt it.

Well it's good enough that I'm going to stick through it and hope that CoP runs better for me.
 

Oreoleo

Member
marrec said:
Well it's good enough that I'm going to stick through it and hope that CoP runs better for me.

Do you have ambient occlusion turned on? That's always a huge power drain in any game, you could probably turn it off and double your FPS.

And IIRC Xray engine only supports 1 core so the best quad core in the world won't make a difference. You could overclock though and get a few more frames out of it.
 
you have the complete mod? well that explains some of it.
what resolution are you running at?
are you maxing everything out?
I would overclock that CPU and the GPU too. you'll squeeze a few more frames out of overclocking to get you close to 30 frames.
 

bhlaab

Member
Orellio said:
Do you have ambient occlusion turned on? That's always a huge power drain in any game, you could probably turn it off and double your FPS.

And IIRC Xray engine only supports 1 core so the best quad core in the world won't make a difference. You could overclock though and get a few more frames out of it.

I have a shitty 2.33ghz core 2 duo and the first STALKER ran great on my 7900 let alone a GTX 260. There's something really strange going on at the software level with you marrec. Take a look at your running processes to see if something is either conflicting or eating up your CPU (especially any anti virus thing), try a reinstall, try it without the complete mod.

I'm going to guess that it's some greedy process hog running in the background of your OS. The fact that setting everything on low doesn't give you any extra frames points directly at your CPU which you definitely should NOT be having problems with.
 

Oreoleo

Member
Oh I didn't even see that about running it on low and still having issues. Definitely seems like something is messed up on his end.
 

ACE 1991

Member
Any idea how to remove the letterboxing that occurs when running this game at 1280x720? I had this problem a couple months ago, and I still haven't been able to resolve it. I find it weird that the game runs full screen at 1920x1080 but puts up black bars at 1280x720, given they both have the same 16:9 aspect ratio.
 
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