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Just now found out that LA was released. Took a break from stalker waiting patiently on Ddraig's SoC labor of love and/or ogse 0293. Unfortunately I saw that the ogse guys have opted not to release an English version for 0293 which really sucks because it was looking quite awesome. I've had trouble getting their global illumination and npc flashlights to work, and I *really* wanted to see some of the removed zones added back in (without some of the crazier mods like Stalker Soup, etc). I saw that the LA guys apparently released another patch recently. Is it getting better? I was watching a LP today and the world design is what I had always wished Stalker would look like. One of my favorite parts of the setting (and horror type games in general) are regular unassuming farm like areas and abandoned infrastructure. The swamp is one of my favorite areas just because the background makes it look so vast and natural. Long story short...my game backlog has grown again and I'm starting to feel that old fashion itch to venture back into the Zone. 
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May 22, 2014 02:06
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staberind posted:
That's what I thought. I read through the past 12 pages earlier at work and haven't really been home to research more so I'm basically at the "renewed obsession" phase before walking back into the Zone. I think I will just reread again, I thought I saw something where the A-Life was set to a much shorter range of activating. That, bugs, and tunnels! I have to say though, working at an old uranium enrichment plant, there are a lot of tunnels in the Cold War era structures. Here's hoping to the increase/fix of the A-Life and addition to the sparse areas though. I kind of wondered if they were going for a less is more on the mutant wildlife (ogse and some other mods seem to make them too abundant), but certainly everyone would expect stalkers and groups searching and fighting over areas. I wish my office thin client at least had sound, but I watched on my downtime today, skipping around until he was almost through Agroprom and had scoured the Military building. The plot as far as text seemed pretty good and stalker-ish, though I remember one goon saying that it kind of...uh, loses itself a bit.
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May 22, 2014 02:35
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Basically, there are a couple of official patches and unofficial patches, if you venture further back a page or two, they are linked, essentially; it looks fantastic, plays very well, even vehicles work almost coherently, but it can feel a little desolate and sparse.
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Just noticed while searching for any info on the LA patch that reddit had an AMA earlier today with one of the OGSE devs. He said they're "hoping" for a July release of the new version, and holy poo poo they updated their moddb page with a ton of update notes on everything they're adding. That release is looking really good, especially the A-Life stuff and AI in general. And....  They removed the awful omnipotent insta-gib turrets!! (not that there isn't any way to remove them with the fixes found here, but I'm glad they realized that they are absolute poo poo.)
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Jun 4, 2014 02:52
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MadBimber posted:How will I find time to play both OGSE and LA? I have no idea how I will be able to play both. I'm only now entering Agroprom in LA and the level design and missions have been pretty excellent so far. But while the lighting outside is great, I've been having trouble finding the sweet spot indoors. Even if it is a decrepit shack, I seem to need a flashlight (and LA's flashlight seems pretty hosed) and some indoor areas seem too bright when they should be dark (tunnels/Agroprom/etc). Not to mention I miss the added A-life stuff and have been spoiled by the dynamic chatter. On the other hand, ogse's current version obviously has it's flaws like too many mutants and really easy to become overpowered early. With LA being patched and moddable I'm hoping that sweet spot is eventually hit. I love the look of some of the open natural areas like the swamps...but ogse's new release will have that, but possibly the old basic areas so maybe that could be modded further...and..and...
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Jun 5, 2014 03:28
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NeoSeeker posted:I'm getting tired of playing stalker and the landscape being completely barren of NPCs. I've played all three games vanilla and Redux mod for CoP. I remember SoC actually having a bunch of NPCs and shittons of stuff going on in the gameworld. Did you try the older Faction Ward mod for CS? I think one of the goons linked a really good version of it awhile back (maybe in the old thread?) I didn't play too much of it because I was wanting to try the story out (possibly a mistake), but it was one of the cooler mods I played. poo poo ton of gunfights with some neat a-life going on, and felt really polished. I can't stand the bullet sponge crap either, and damage seemed more on "realistic" levels. It had a lot of action and fighting without being constant, and night time had squads out hunting mutants and whatever which became beacons of light.
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Jun 12, 2014 21:48
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Yeah I think I remember Faction Wars being smooth, but it was a goon recommended version that wasn't available outside SA anymore. It changed poo poo up where there was some downtime to really get into the feel of the zone, like hanging with other stalkers during a storm with god knows what outside. Had some nasty packs of mutants too, but stalkers were nearby to help. Otherwise big territory fights like the Wild West. Like I said though, I didn't play far and tried another mod for story returned combat tot 360 no scope grenade barrage all day er'ry day and I went back to SoC OGSE and CoP.
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Jun 13, 2014 02:01
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So Ddraig. Your hate for Misery makes me think that their devs brought down the forums just to silence us while the Areal kickstarter took off. Have you or any other stalker goons been following that mess in the past day? gently caress. In the meantime, while waiting for the ogse/LA updates I tried Autumn Aurora 2. Seems really great, but I don't think anyone offers Russian courses to people from Ohio. Sadly my furthest stints into SoC was almost Pripyat on SoC Complete '09 years ago and a bit into Yantar on CoP using Swartz's original mod (pre rad fixes and I thought it was the poo poo). Clear Sky I haven't been past Cordon. So I feel I know the story over spoilers, and love this series so much, but I've always wanted to experience the whole thing for myself. What I'm trying to say is, welcome back, Stalkers!  (and also that my downtime at work has been absolute hell the last two days without being able to lurk the forum...because I'd love to post more, but they're always watching our work PC's 
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Jun 26, 2014 02:44
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The new LA patch has been great for me so far. I stopped at Agroprom on the last patch, but I put in about 3.5hrs this morning and no crashes or anything really bad. Stashes are normal again and showing up, PDA working better. I have the settings cranked and it's now smooth all throughout unlike last patch. They really need to add some loving ambient lighting though. Game looks amazing, but anywhere inside has deep black shadows and dark as hell (with blood red lighting from fire sources). The emissions seemed a little visually bugged, but maybe that was because I was far out in the Cordon? Aside from that, only ai bugs I've seen has been the group of stalkers camping by the trailer outside of the bandit camp (always rocking music all day) seem to get caught on geometry at times they do decide to get off their asses. And fleshes are immediately vicious as gently caress. Aside from that, the new patch has been well worth the wait so far (I'm sure something else will crop up down the road...this is merely the Cordon after all.)
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Jul 13, 2014 00:38
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That's how I feel about the lack of ambient light as well. It looks amazing outside and down in the tunnels or underground. But it's a pain in the rear end when you're in a firefight at the car park or the train station at garbage and needing a flashlight, all while the light coming through is bright and sunny. As for emissions I had one in garbage day 2, and today with the new patch I had a psy-storm in the evening that I kept dying to (checking out the effects...first time nothing, second time flashes of energy). Third time I loaded though it switched to a full on blowout and seemed to remain. No neat lightning effects or anything that I had in garbage a few weeks ago (that still wasn't as good as normal Atmosfear). Also this patch seemed to bring back the countdown timer for emissions which is immersion breaking.
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Jul 13, 2014 01:19
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They can be some of the most thrilling parts of the game, especially since you might not know they're coming and you're unprepared. The 30 second timer before it even starts up is a little too much, I think. In CoP you just see and hear it, and then the sirens sound. You still have a minute or two to find cover, but that might be a cave corner surrounded by roaming anomalies or something. OGSE's isn't as flashy as Atmosfear but there are a lot of creepy after effects, and you generally get a short PDA warning from fellow stalkers which is  The "fun" of it is the oh poo poo moment and finding some sort of cover...even if that cover is a small factory room and shared with a bunch of bandits taking cover with you. "Grenade soon stalkers!"
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Jul 13, 2014 01:50
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That is how it was me at the factory in Zaton. I hid in the office, and 5 bandits ran in and crowded the area. After about 30 seconds I thought "gently caress this" and stepped out to toss a grenade in the room. I knew what would happen after the blowout  Another great time is being in the other ship with stalkers when an emission hits (with atmosphere so you get the zombification) and fighting off the incoming bandits running for cover. Then there are a few zombified stalkers everyone shoots at. The Zone should be unforgiving.
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Jul 13, 2014 03:25
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Man I happened to run across this thread again after almost a year at least and I am glad I did. I was curious about the Anomaly mod I hadn’t heard of, and last I had played was Lost Alpha and the last rendition of OGSE. I really look forward to getting back into both of those mods as I waited what seemed like forever in anticipation, and was interested in CoC but knew it was sort of a massive template for modders. Anomaly so far is my poo poo! I started as a Loner on story just to get my bearings and after going through the hell of the “tutorial” we got back and the loving rookie camp was under assault by the military again. Story of my life in the Zone. After buying a sawed off from Sid we repelled the bastards with Fanatic still alive. Seriously, OGSE, Lost Alpha, now Anomaly with the crazy instant assault from the military. I swear I avoid them!  After that I moved north of the Cordon completing tasks and scavenging before my massive slog through the Swamp. I spent all my remaining rubles repairing the Sphere military helm I looted, and the atmosphere has been insane. Slowly trying to work my way to remember where Clear Sky was camped, the sky gray and the drizzle turning into a cold downpour. After another shootout and a lucky shot on a surprise bloodsucker I loving made it and have settled into a routine for the past day helping CS and the ecologists there. I actually took watch throughout the night at the base waiting on the emission (didn’t hit until like 5am of course), but the setting is just indescribable still. The rays of light from the moon and floodlights, the sound of the swamps, hearing distant late night firefights, knowing that with no sleep I need another can of beans and some bread from the bar to travel north to Doc (then back to Cordon for a bit). Slogging through the swamp is one of my favorite parts of CS (more so than Zaton), and I am so happy that every bit of the areas and more from all the games have been stitched together. This game still loving owns, thanks for reading my Ted Talk.
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Sep 12, 2019 03:19
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Synnr posted:1.5.1 seems interesting, though I thought it was backwards compatible to saves (maybe it is and I just didn't do something right), but I started a new game with am actual name this time, but still loner. I didn't realize that was an option the first time. I thought the same thing and saw that the default was .5 stalkers and .75 mutants. When I started it said like 430 people in the zone, and starting in Cordon was maybe groups of 2-3z I got an Anomaly add-on pack tonight which I had to start a new game for (worth it, holy poo poo) and I bumped stalkers up to .75 to start. Immediately saw the difference, Elevator had some bandits scurrying about and raising hell, Farm had 5 stalkers chilling at the fire alone...so far this change has been gaming nirvana haha
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Feb 12, 2021 09:29
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Jesustheastronaut! posted:which pack are you using? Or at the very least, which addon is allowing you to increase number of stalkers? Sorry for the delayed response, but I grabbed Nekro's Addon Pack from the Anomaly Addon list. I don't know what all of the addons do, I think there are around 25, but Hollywood Effects and Particles Remade are really cool visual addons. Some better sounds so far, Drug Food and Drink Animations is really awesome. It also includes Boomsticks and Sharpsticks which I hear is great (and so far even the lovely Makarov feels a bit better), however one addon that is included seems like it wouldn't be for everyone and that's the Anomaly Magazines. It's one of those immersion addons where you buy or find magazines and add ammo to them, and you can add the mags to your loadout. Not as big of a pain as I thought it would be, and sort of makes me think a bit about taking shots. E: Yeah as stated above, there are population sliders for stalkers and mutants. I didn't touch the mutant slider, but upping stalker population to .75 seemed to bump up the starting number given when you enter the zone from like 440 to around 650 I think. Fosson fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Feb 17, 2021 |
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Feb 17, 2021 23:36
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Yeah I agree as well. .5 seemed too low as a lot of initial areas were pretty much abandoned and there were like 1-3 guys at any occupied place. .75 looks to be the sweet spot for me as there is a more normal flow of activity and sometimes 5 stalkers chilling around a fire, but not overwhelming populations of bandits or military in the early areas
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Feb 20, 2021 03:39
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BillyJoeBob posted:I've noticed all that too. The mod is simultaneously super cool and super jank. Theres a fair few QOL things like highlighting what items do with an icon but at the same time I got a benilli shotgun growing out of my forehead in first person. I guess ill stick with it until something goes horribly wrong. Really digging Nekros pack still as it adds a couple dozen addons for zero effort (still have Bethesda modding and older Stalker mods like OGSE instability PTSD). The magazine mod is probably going to be the most polarizing but I think there is some thought to it. Adding mags to load out cycles them through and fortunately it doesn’t act like you just drop spent mags. Adding bullets is pretty quick and mags are either cheap as hell or found. The rest of the stuff seems cool and everything in this playthrough has been fantastic. E: noticed some mags have the underscored name which will probably make things confusing down the road. Not sure if it’s a Nekro pack error or the mod itself, but enough info is given to figure it out. Also mags are given a condition (of course), yet I have not experienced condition having an actual effect. Fosson fucked around with this message at 08:25 on Feb 22, 2021 |
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Feb 22, 2021 08:21
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Tabletops posted:
I still don’t understand what the mag conditions mean. Does it mean that they can only be used so many times? I am accumulating a lot myself now, and fortunately no crashes yet, but a lot of the names seem to be file names which makes it hard to tell what gun they are for
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Feb 24, 2021 09:19
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Arghy posted:Let's be honest, vanilla stalker has never been the best just a template for mods. 90% of my play time in stalker was mods after i did an initial play through of vanilla. This sums up my views on the series and I always feel like going to the stalker subreddit to get myself downvoted into oblivion by posting this response when new players in 2021 are told to play SoC vanilla. I don’t know any quicker way to turn a potential fan away than to recommend that. I think I played 30 min unmodded before saying “well this game is poo poo.” And then months later discovered the Complete 2009 mod which made the game pretty fun. Then it was finding this thread and going “wait, there are mods (like OGSE at the time) that make this game extremely immersive and awesome? And then I became a real fan of this series.
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Dec 16, 2021 04:08
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CoP was the only Stalker game I was able to stomach as vanilla as I recall CS crashing a bunch for me, but drat I loved the atmosphere of the great swamp in CS. Honestly really glad I stuck with the series years ago, as the immersion is unmatched. I just got back to my Anomaly 1.5.1 game that I started earlier this year and it’s a blast. I’ve basically been going up and down the route from Clear Sky’s hideout to Rostok and selling valuable artifacts to the Yantar guys. It’s been long enough where I haven’t missed the main stories just yet, but eventually I’m sure I will reinstall OGSR and something like Misery (or whatever is better these days) for CoP
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Dec 16, 2021 05:33
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Yeah I mean it was over a decade ago when I first played and it was a couple years after launch, but my hazy memory was loving the concept but it seemed to hate the fact that I was trying to play. I know Complete 09 is pretty obsolete, but something about it really made the game great if not overly easy. I know I said I thought vanilla was poo poo on my first experience, but I mainly meant the bugs and wondering why this lovely starting pistol was missing at point blank haha. That reminds me, this Loner start with modded Anomaly somehow had me get quite lucky with the PM I started with. Not sure how or why, and it was probably luck and panic fire but I was reluctant to stash the piece of poo poo away. My busted rear end Toz-66 has saved my rear end more than anything as well. It’s like a heavily flawed, yet beloved friend. Playing with the magazine mod has made things interesting, and so this M4 Butcher I just swiped will be great after I find some mags, ammo, and manage to Frankenstein it back from 30%
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Dec 17, 2021 05:51
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Wafflecopper posted:arghy are you discussing stalker with you own alt? nobody else has typed "haha" instead of "lol" since like before these forums were founded Lol I can’t speak for Arghy, but I think it’s just that my old ICQ typing habits never died. e: I just saw his response about typing “haha” due to hating ICQ and now I am questioning everything. gently caress, I’m from Ohio, we are just weird here and I’ve been doing it since 1998. 
Fosson fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Dec 17, 2021 |
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Dec 17, 2021 20:17
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