So, playing STALKER for the first time, mods

[Multidirectional]

I thought Oblivion Lost was the most fun SoC experience. Changes a lot, yeah, but vanilla game is quite shit anyway. Call of Pripyat is the only really good game in the series.

 

[ManjuShri]

The problem with CoP compared to SoC was that it had no atmosphere in comparison even though gameplay was improved.

 

[Multidirectional]

It does have plenty of atmosphere, just less memorable dungeons.

 

[Gord]

Gameplay-wise CoP is the best and most polished, but as far as atmosphere goes, Soc wins hands down.
Both parts are playable just fine without mods, but SoC could probably gain most from mods that polish it a bit.
The thing is, as long as you don't know what you don't like about vanilla, it's hard to reccommend a mod.

I only ever used Complete for CoP, which was quite nice but suffered somewhat from slow-downs.
As far as I see, the complete mods offer mostly graphical enhancements and some (optional) cheat mode through the wish granter. The other stuff is not too visible most of the time.
Also I can't really agree with the stuff in the link Lyric Suite posted, many of these issues could be raised against vanilla as well (e.g. the balistics in vanilla have always been critizised, which is porbably why complete tries to change them; same for "proportions" - if he's refering to the models and animations, they always have been a bit strange; and the teleport bit is just an optional fast travel that's unfortunately completely missing from SoC).

 

[DraQ]

Eh, vanilla's fine and completely playable.

So is vanilla Morrowind. There is still no reason to not install MCP.

Same with STALKER - ZRP doesn't change anything regarding look and feel or actual gameplay, it just fixes and improves - reactivates disabled anomaly avoidance code for NPCs, for example.

It also adds freeplay if you manage to get the 'best' ending.

It's effectively vanilla++.

 

[Darklife]

I was never much for the STALKER mods myself. Vanilla is perfectly playable and fun without them. I gave Complete a whirl a couple of years ago, but it felt very tacked on and forced. Atmosfear is awesome though. I wouldn't mess with the game's chronology either. Start with SoC, then CS and finish up with CoP. It's much more rewarding that way.

 

[DraQ]

Gameplay-wise CoP is the best and most polished, but as far as atmosphere goes, Soc wins hands down.
Both parts are playable just fine without mods, but SoC could probably gain most from mods that polish it a bit.

'd this part.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Well, i think i'll just go through all three games using starter alone. I'll leave bigger mods for a later time.

 

[DraQ]

Well, i think i'll just go through all three games using starter alone. I'll leave bigger mods for a later time.

ZRP is effectively vanilla. You can use it.
It's more of a fix than mod.

Also, don't pay too much attention to weapon parameters listed in inventory. Quite a few are either compund parameters that may be drastically different in different circumstances (for example listed accuracy applies to rapid fire, first-shot accuracy can be different) or may represent only one aspect of multi-aspect thing (listed weapon damage doesn't really account for the own damage of the round of given type).
They make a decent estimate, but before you test it, you won't know what will work for you.

 

[Jaesun]

The problem with CoP compared to SoC was that it had no atmosphere in comparison even though gameplay was improved.

Agreed. CoP is AWESOME, but the atmosphere of SoC was just fucking amazing. I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to do SoC in the CoP engine? That could be potentially awesome. It's probably way too much work though.

 

[Lyric Suite]

About ZRP. I see the mod includes a modifier program with a crap load of options. Is there anything here that might be considered essential, or should i just leave it alone? I tried the sleeping bag thingy and its already glitched (the camera shakes uncontrollably for a few seconds upon waking up), so i'm afraid to touch anything now.

 

[Darklife]

The problem with CoP compared to SoC was that it had no atmosphere in comparison even though gameplay was improved.

Agreed. CoP is AWESOME, but the atmosphere of SoC was just fucking amazing. I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to do SoC in the CoP engine? That could be potentially awesome. It's probably way too much work though.

CoP had a lot going for it in it's own way. The world felt a lot more desolate and uncharted in comparison to SoC. Some of the undeground facilities around Yanov station were a blast to explore. Plus there was a much more brooding feeling throughout it.

God damn it. It really is a shame there won't be more iterations.

 

[dnf]

The problem with CoP compared to SoC was that it had no atmosphere in comparison even though gameplay was improved.

Agreed. CoP is AWESOME, but the atmosphere of SoC was just fucking amazing. I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to do SoC in the CoP engine? That could be potentially awesome. It's probably way too much work though.

S.M.R.T.E.R.?

 

[Jick Magger]

CoP needed more underground segments. Only two that were available were a shitty escort mission and a game of Home Alone against an invisible Poltergeist.

 

[dnf]

Haters gonna hate

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Couldn't get very far in the first STALKER. Bullets refused to hit enemies. Quests were boring as shit. I'll give it another go if someone recommends a good overhaul.

Also own CoP, haven't played it, wanted to complete SoC first. Downloading AtmosFear for that.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Well, i finally managed to get everything right with the starter pack, but it required more work than what i expected, so i'm relaying all the steps i took for future reference.

First, i installed Zone Reclamation Project, which is as easy as simply moving the "gamedata" folder into the root of the game. I left the modifier changes for last since i saw it done that way in a guide, not sure if it makes a difference.

I then installed Absolute Nature and Absolute Structures. Those come with their own installers so no explanation needed.

I then installed Stalker Weather Overhauled. It comes in three packages, a "full" package plus two patches. The main package contains a base gamedata folder (found in a folder named "shared"), plus two "optionals", FDL and SL, which stand for full dynamic lighting and static lighting respectively, based on your in game graphics setting. You obviously want to pick FDL. Inside you'll find a base folder, plus three optional folders each corresponding to the darkness settings you want for night sessions (i picked the darkest one, because i'm anal like that). There's also three user.ltx preset files. I picked the high one, but i'm not sure exactly what those settings do for the most part, except for the following lines:

r2_sun_near
r2_sun_near_border

Which are used to fix certain glitches with shadows, one concerning the shadow projected by your own body (simply set r2_sun_near_border to 1 to get rid of it), and one concerning shadow drawing distance, which i personally set to 32 (its 20 in the user.ltx file found in the S.O.W archive).

This file can be found in C:\Users\Public\Documents\stalker-shoc. Just overwrite with the custom version.

The rest of the package is devoted to other mods, like Sky4CE or Sharper Textures which are supposed to be obsolete and thus can safely be ignored (i guess). There's also custom files prepared for AMK and Oblivion Lost respectively, but since i'm not using either of those mods i just ignored those as well. The patches archives simply contain updated files, just overwrite everything you need.

Finally, you want to install Shaders MAX. Just copy the gamedata files plus pick the preset you want (i went with extreme). Pretty straightforward, except for one thing, the color saturation settings which are too high by default. Just look for the ShaderSettings.txt file inside gamedata/shader/r2, and lower the setting for #define COLOR_SATURATION float. Default is at 0.5. At 0.1 it basically makes everything monochromatic, so i set it to 0.2 to have some color while retaining the lifeless atmosphere of the game.

After this i just changed the modifier settings for Zone Reclamation Project. Most of the settings are pretty straight forward except for one thing regarding character viewing height, which i found to be too low. Just select Actor.cfg, click on Install Actor.ltx, than go to Camera Viewpoint and set it to 0.94 (default is 0.85). Remember to click apply every time you change something, otherwise the change wont stick.

Last of all, it appears that the in game vsync setting doesn't work, and neither can you force it using the graphic card settings. What i had to do basically is install RivaTuner and set vsync using D3Doverrider.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Bullets refused to hit enemies.

Supposedly, this is "fixed" by the weapons you find later in the game. Pretty shitty way to create a combat progression. Would have been better to do it using skills like in Deus Ex.

 

[Excidium]

Solve that by using the shotgun and going up close like a man.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

http://www.moddb.com/mods/lurk

Has anyone used this? It claims to not change vanilla too much.

edit: some funny modder drama (surprise!) on the comments here

http://www.moddb.com/mods/lurk/features/weapons5

edit 2: oh yeah, links to the mods LS mentioned can be conveniently found here

http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:_Shadow_of_Chernobyl

 

[Lyric Suite]

Solve that by using the shotgun and going up close like a man.

That doesn't really work, since you can actually "miss" at blank point range. I guess you just have to endure until you find better weapons.

 

[Excidium]

I guess Complete fixed that, then.

 

[Darklife]

CoP needed more underground segments. Only two that were available were a shitty escort mission and a game of Home Alone against an invisible Poltergeist.

Nah nah. You had the AA complex, the Oasis, Jupiter in Yanov and the two X labs in Pripyat and Zaton. Although they didn't really match the feel of those in SoC. Supposedly the guys behind those gems of terror went on to work on Metro 2033.

 

[DraQ]

Bullets refused to hit enemies.

Supposedly, this is "fixed" by the weapons you find later in the game.

It is fixed by not being turd at aiming.

Though there does exist a bug in difficulty system where lower difficulties convert fixed precentage of hits into "grazing shots" for *both* you and enemies.
Play at master.

 

[Jick Magger]

CoP needed more underground segments. Only two that were available were a shitty escort mission and a game of Home Alone against an invisible Poltergeist.

Nah nah. You had the AA complex, the Oasis, Jupiter in Yanov and the two X labs in Pripyat and Zaton. Although they didn't really match the feel of those in SoC. Supposedly the guys behind those gems of terror went on to work on Metro 2033.

True. Only truly terrifying moment I can remember was wandering into that Bloodsucker den in the first area of the game, where you've likely only played two or three hours of the game and are still only armed with a crappy AK-74 or a pump-action shotgun.

Game got a bit too easy too quickly as well, I think. Bandits literally stop being a threat altogether unless you intentionally provoke them, and the legions of snorks and dogs you run into become easily manageable threats in short order. Only really starts picking up again at about the midway point when the bigger mutants like Burers are introduced. Though there's more than likely plenty of ball-busting mods out currently which pull shit like spawning chimeras in the first section, so I don't know if I should really complain about this.