Finally finished Stalker: SoC

The game did have grenades the last time I checked though?

 

yeah it had and bad physic of granades coupled with animation that takes way to long time to finish before some monolith crackhead would come out and take me in split second which is why i didn't use them at that point.

They were useful early.

 

CoP is the only really good game in the series so you should definitely go for it. Though ignore his advice about the difficulty mods, only use Atmosfear + Absolute Nature and Absolute Structures packs for visual improvements. Playing with Misery for the first time would be really stupid because it changes way too much. Personally I don't think what Misery does can even be called an "improvement" but that's just my opinion. Just avoid it on first run.

 

Hmm been a while since I did that specific battle. Doesn't Gauss gun kill even if you hit legs though? There's also rocket launcher, though I think there was generally little ammo for it. Grenade launcher?

 

rpg is to heavy and gauss gun has too long time to recharge when you fight 8 monolith dudes in close space

 

If all enemies are bullet sponges you either use the wrong weapon, wrong ammo type, both of these two and/or are a lousy shot.

Stalkers biggest selling point is the atmosphere. The story had some interesting ideas but the presentation was rather confusing and lacklustre imo. Best thing I ever did for atmosphere: Turn of cross hairs. I wish I could do this in more shooter and use the actual sights of the weapons for aiming. So much more immersive.

 

What other ammo ? AP is only viable ammo later in game.

 

CoP is actually a much better game - more polished, sidequests that have relevance (instead of FedEx from SoC), serious and sober plot (some say too sober), deeper gameplay with actual artifact hunting, weapons upgrades, better Alife and meaningful factions relationship, etc.

The only problem is that its easy as shit. Vanilla CoP is a walk in the park, and you will be out of the first area with tons of meds and ammo, destroying any intended sense of survival the game have. The solution is getting a difficulty enchancing mod. I recommend Misery 1, as it improves the game visuals and survival elements while keeping the plot intact. But it must be Misery 1, DO NOT get version 2 of the mod, as it makes the game a masochistic shitfest.

 

Vanilla hardest difficulty is fine for first time, don't worry about it. Yes you'll end up with too many resources eventually but you'll still have plenty of fun with exploration and quest solving. Just do what I advised. Misery makes so many changes it's not even remotely the same game anymore with it installed. Personally I think it's a really bad case of modders not knowing when to stop and couldn't stand playing it for long. They even changed the music and monster sounds. Do you want snorks to sound like chargers from Left 4 Dead 2?

 

Multidirectional, are you sure we are talking the same version of Misery here ? Because the version I'm referring (version 1) don't seem to change the game that much, and when it changes its for the better ( like the piss easy economy of vanilla, more weapon variety, better gfx and textures, etc). What exactly do you think the mod changes that "its not the same game anymore" ?

And really, no difficulty in vanilla will fix the broken economy that lets you out of Zaron swimming in meds and ammo.

 

does hardest def bloats hp or makes enemy bullet sponges ?

 

I played the first version only, didn't even bother trying the second as it just seemed to change even more shit. If the changes you mentioned would've been be the only ones it would've been fine, but there's way more.

 

Perkel, no matter the difficulty, vanilla economy is broken beyond repair. I played it the first time in vanilla and got out of the first map sick rich. This (and the crap gfx) is what made me look for mods.

 

Nope, no bullet sponges. Plus you start with assault rifle already in your inventory.

 

Then what it changes ?

 

I don't know, didn't bother trying easier difficulties. Guess it makes you take more damage?

 

Even if you don't use Misery, at least use cromm cruac mods as Multi said: Atmosfear, Absolute Nature and Absolute Structures. They're a must.

 

what about Clear Sky ? shouldn't i go for it before CoP ?

 

I wouldn't recommend CS except if you're and enthusiast of the series. It manages to be even worst than SoC, as it drops the horror atmosphere in favor of making the whole thing feel like a Kosovo like war zone. In other words: it drops the only thing of value SoC had in the first place.

 

This is the best STALKER experience, imo.

It addresses many issues with base SHoC.

 

How OSGE compares to Autumn Aurora, Lilura ?

 

If you want an utter piece of shit that makes SoC look like a great game in comparison, then definitely go for it.

 

Clear Sky in a nutshell

 

Stalker SOC was unique, but, to be honest, I am quite sick of the ''eastern european post-apocalyptic open world'' genre, because for me it doesn't offer anything new anymore. I didn't play the ''Lost Alpha'' all that much, even though at one point I was kinda hyped about it.

 

Play on fucking Master if you don't want bullet sponges. Cheekis these days.