STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl Mod Thread

[Baron Dupek]

I'm not into video recording (but I'll admit that Bandicam eat FRAPS on the breakfast) and codex-style LP from Stalker is out of question.

 

[DraQ]

DraQ is on fire, but I can certainly sympathize with him. The Stalker concept was always better on paper than on practice, and when they managed to realize it more or less well with Call of Pripyat, it was at the cost of atmosphere and world size.

Luckly, we have Dustbowl.

Actually, I really like Stalkers. But they are far from flawless.
In general they would have benefited a lot from sticking closer to Roadside Picnic in terms of general idea - it's most evident when in SoC the story pretty much falls apart at the very end and when instead of penetrating into the unknown heart of the zone you spend most time shooting Monolithians while letting all the factions in to shoot at each other. They are also fucking buggy.
Additionally each has its own crippling flaws - SoC is by far the most atmospheric but has the aforementioned ending and cringeworthy quest writing, CoP is the most solid mechanically and has awesomely constructed quests but it's just too small, too easy and lacks truly atmospheric locations like X18 or CS RF, CS has some great areas, killer anomalies and creative rearrangements of area connectivity in relation to SoC but is a total mess otherwise.

Anyway, while I love STALKER, there is one STALKER game I wouldn't really mind not existing and it's CS - despite the Red Forest and the way it absolutely nailed anomaly lethality.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Some impressions from my latest playthroughs with mods.

Everyone know that Lost Alpha was a flop, but dez0wave don't give up and prepare Directory Cunt edition (they need to fill these empty spaces somehow).

Jokes on you - it's already out and it's called Oblivion Lost 2.5 (actually - ENG translaiton from orkish dialect).
No fanfares, no fireworks, no vuvuzelas. Almost unnoticable, under the shadow of LA.
Want these spaces from Lost Alpha filled with content? Play OL2.5.
Want even more empty spaces? Play Lost World of Doom.

PS.
I was playing the SGM 2.2 Lost Soul Edition. For me, despite some serious flaws, it's the best SGM I played.
Weapons replaced with better animated, with better sounds and punch.

What pissed me off? Uneven difficulty. Rookie&Stalker = you're bulletproof even in Ecologist's TrashBag S-99.
On Veteran&Master you die from one shot and enemies have ridicilous aim. Basically - every enemy is Alpha Squad Degtaryov Destroyer.
Checked some files and HitPropability for Rookie is 0.39 while for Master 1.99. We're basically bullet magnets.

Some quest lines for additional factions are borked. We were send by ex-Clear Sky (Dawn) to clear the snorks nest. Instead - there were 5 poltergeists. After taking them down there were more but quest marker said "come back for reward".
Pistols are useful (Colt M1911 own) but on the contrary - shotguns are useless (buckshots, slugs work but you don't get them for that). And pistol wear off p.fast, after 100 shots they need to fix whole hp bar.
You can venture to the new maps (Red Forest and Agroprom) without finishing the original questline.

Optimalisation suck MASSIVELY and I was forced to turn off SGM anomalies. Can't enjoy empty spaces...
This and PeopleSoup/NarodnayaSolyanka are worst in that matter.

REBORN Doppelganger
Installation is long and tricky. Mod require you to NOT edit fsgame.ltx and change "gamedata" to "true".
There is folder with fixes (I was trying Doppelganger 7,62 because it was only translation avaliable) but you must apply them AFTER adding translation.
No idea why.
I woke up in the laboratory, run around the tunnels, found first gun and get killed by two-legged snork armed with assault rifle I remember these fuckers from other SGM, where you go (in freeplay) to labs in Dark Valley.
Radiation is no issue here but once you get bleed - you slowly die, no bandages or anything.
Oh, and in Faction reputation screen I found TWO nazi factions, both Hostile.

 

[Jick Magger]

You'd think they'd be smart enough to write Lost Alpha off as a lost cause by now. I mean at best it would only make the game tolerable. The thing was pretty fundamentally flawed in ways that a director's cut really wouldn't fix.

 

[Maschtervoz]

I think modders' apparent obsession with old builds is a big fundamental flaw. At some point it becomes clear that some of that shit was cut out for good reasons, yet everyone acts like there is some sort of long lost transcendent STALKER experience hidden within. I seriously find it hard to comprehend how someone can look at the description of shit like Darkscape and think it's a great addition to the game.

Then again, I could be wrong. I quit Lost Alpha pretty early on because of shit like those Sin guys that seemed to be pulled out of some shitty fanfic or plain getting bored having to trek around the big fucking nothing they put at the beginning of the Bar map for some godforsaken reason.

 

[skacky]

The old maps are quite good to be honest. Darkscape itself is a very cool location, even though its integration in the story was rocky at best (which is probably why it got cut). Dead City, old Cordon and old Garbage are nice locations as well, so is Radar before it became the Red Forest.

 

[Maschtervoz]

I remember old Garbage being pretty decent too. A bit too empty, but still better than the radioactive bandit genocide simulator in ShoC. Darkscape's concept triggers me because it was apparently designed for a car chase sequence, and I have a deep seated hatred for anything involving those, especially in a game like STALKER where the fun part is the eerie tense atmospheric shit rather than action sequences.

And I still don't understand the point of the Bar redesign.

 

[DraQ]

I think modders' apparent obsession with old builds is a big fundamental flaw. At some point it becomes clear that some of that shit was cut out for good reasons, yet everyone acts like there is some sort of long lost transcendent STALKER experience hidden within. I seriously find it hard to comprehend how someone can look at the description of shit like Darkscape and think it's a great addition to the game.

Don't know about maps (haven't played LA in the end), but I've seen this sort of attitude towards cut monsters and - guess what - they suck.

Izloms and zombies appear to have gotten the axe for perfectly valid reason - namely them sucking. Even officially restored Burers are awfully underwhelming compared to the mutants that were already present in vanilla SoC (chimeras are cool, though).

Restoration patches and mods take a great deal of understanding of what makes the game work and what does and does not work in game's context - the chances are that blindly restoring ALL THE THINGS will make the game much worse, not better.
Some outtakes got the axe because they're just bloopers.

I remember old Garbage being pretty decent too. A bit too empty, but still better than the radioactive bandit genocide simulator in ShoC. Darkscape's concept triggers me because it was apparently designed for a car chase sequence, and I have a deep seated hatred for anything involving those, especially in a game like STALKER where the fun part is the eerie tense atmospheric shit rather than action sequences.

Not to mention STALKER is hard to get to work with this sort of highly scripted sequence - what if player turns back and decides to sneak out using another route? What if player shoots the heli down with an RPG-7? What if player abandons the vehicle and sneaks through?
It would be nice to have the map but not as an action packed chase sequence, just as a way to connect DV back to the Cordon.

 

[Invictus]

Hey guys I was looking around the nvidia Driver programs and I had my render frames ahead setting at 1 at a global scale and this was very good for some not very well optimized games like Skyrim or Fallout that have these hitching framerates like the Stalker so I decided to try switching that setting to 2 and the results have been very good so far, the usual X engine chugging is still there but hardly noticable at all...the multisampling option seems to work too since the GPU usage rises accordingly but the AA still doesnt work but that is pretty much expected but playing this smoothly Misery is still a treat!

 

[DraQ]

The more frames you render ahead the less responsive your game gets.

 

[Raapys]

Ye, I can't stand render ahead. Always put it to 0.

Anyway, I've been playing the Old Good Stalker Evolution mod, seems decent so far. Some new quests and content etc, comes with a nice configuration utility to tweak yer experience.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Are you playing OGSE 0692 or test the new 0693 beta? I'm playing the latest and I'm really impressed. With this channel and google translator (who decode orkish dialect to human tongue) for description - you're good to go.
New thing in every nook. Like peaceful solution (plus fake bandit jacket) to do car parking flash pickup.

I'm fishing out special anomalies called Dead Zones, you need to find addon for detector, then strip yourself to naked, swtich frequency and grab the treasure.

 

[Invictus]

I dont like the slugglish mouse from renderung ahead either but my video card seems to be doing it well, I just killed the mercs holed up in the factory where you get the tools for Cardan and it was flawless...oh god I am going to replay Misery again :D cheeki breeki

 

[Baron Dupek]

I'm pissed now.
There's mission for Noah to repel mutant swarm on his barge. Thing is - shit is impossible unless you possess fast firing high damage gun to clear shit fast (like flamethower).
I made to the Pripyat, went to school, found Zulus who gave me his machine gun. I upgraded shit out of it and started barge defense, I was full of "come at me bitches!".
Kicked out first wave, taken down controler on the cranes and.... nothing. No more waves. Quest is still here. Tried everything.
I tried that mission before Pripyat and there was more waves but David or Noah died so I said "fuck this shit, I'm outta here".

oh god I am going to replay Misery again

There's Misery 2.2 incoming, and they're working with the guy that made The Armed Zone, most praised addon for Misery (should be Les Miserables which make mod less grindy but muh vision, how dare he make mod better).
So wait for that.

 

[Invictus]

Started watching a lp of Misery 1.1 and it almost feels like a different game with all the scavenging and the grinding to get some decent stuff, remining me of beign a kid and killing slimes for half an hour barehanded to afford a knife in Dragon Quest :p look cool but I already started last night a replay of 1.2 and it is oh so good.
I am now intrigued so I will probably play 2.2 when it is available hopefully the grinding will be toned down

 

[Baron Dupek]

I will probably play 2.2 when it is available hopefully the grinding will be toned down

I'm affraid not. If they took some lessons from Les Miserables fix instead of gun wankery of The Armed Zone...but no, that would be against muh vision.

"Finished" SGM 2.2 Lost Soul edition. I made it to the freeplay, kicked out 400 zombies out of my way.Wanted to go to Dark Valley but it crash when I jump into portal. Whatever, I did it before in other SGM.

All right, seems like there's more than one serviceable Limansk, not only in the DoppelgangER. Yes, mod is insane and with wacky stuff but it's not THAT hard like old versions of REBORN (except bleeding on the first map, scratch yourself once and you need to load the game again because there's no bandages).
And it reach the weird part of the Stalker series, the one from leaked materials, like Concious-S, experiments from X-labs and else.

I found two other mods, where you can find Limansk (and you can do more here than vanilia Clear Sky).

One is Joint Pack 2. It supposed to be "addon for StalkerSoup/NarodnayaSolyanka" but it's separate mod.
I find it p.funny - westerner made his own version of the NarodnayaSolyanka (because it was unfinished and great concept), then stopped updating since February 2014.
And THEN other angry modders (what an irony - they're rusians, just like the original creators) made their own versions. JointPack 2 don't need original mod (thank goodness, downloading 15GB of garbage is not cool) and all you need is to install it right with right fixes. This thread comes handy.
Plus it don't share SHoC shooting feeling (whoever played SHoC and any weapon pack should know what I mean), people made some weapons modpack and tweaked all guns to not feel like crapshooters from SHoC. And it's far more stable than original People Soup or NS. You can even do quicksaves without worrying.

But the Collector missions...by the gods, it's most insane thing I experienced since Painkiller with his bunny hopping and jumping on the edges with abyss under your feet and few pixels of bricks on your feet. It's not for stalker veterans. It's for the veterans of the veterans. The more traumatized by the Zone - the better.
I watched the video from them (it's endgame thing, after 50h or so) and

It's about reaching stashes in really well hidden places. Your mind will be blown with the nooks that you can find in good
old maps. Oh, and you don't get exact coordinates, just vague pointing and ring on the map, where it might be. Then you watch more and more vides from them and go full

They even made patch, that tweak player hitboxes, speed and jump power to deal with this shit.

Second is Lost World - Troops of Doom (last one is LW 3.5.5 fixed). It's cool mod because it work as a freeplay mod, but have missions with no exact pointing where to go.
As you may know already - STALKER trilogy is losely based on the book Roadside Picnic. Someone go further and made mod based on the books, written by Stalker fans
Vast large terrain feels great. Not for people that want action every second. And economy work best here best from any mods I played.
Here are the maps from DoppelgangER

Spoiler

Yes, they're badly placed but who care when you can explore so much stuff.
On the serious note - I'm dropping this thing now, despite these 2 big mods already installed - I'm still waiting for big one
for Call of Pripyat, mostly for Call of Chernobyl.

BONUS

Yep, they put barrels through the doors and shoot you down. They know you're there already so...

Monolith training mutants to walk on two legs and fire from PKP machineguns.
You're Revived, living dead with no memories.

 

[Invictus]

Watching some more lp of misery 2.1 it looks good but feels so unbalanced; it encourages you to scavenge like crazy, use pos weapons which jam every 3 shots and grind till you earn enough for a 40,000 armor. I dont know if the players are just cheap or if it really isnt worth fixing up a damn gun at least so it doesnt jam constantly but perhaps that is the fault of the gun porn were you have so many options you are constantly holding out for something better. The AKM I picked out on the boat on the original 1.2 version was always good enough to carry me though half the game with upgrades and kill almost anyhting in less than 5 shots... You could get that within 15 minutes of starting the damn game.
Speaking of that I really disliked they removed all the gun, bullets and armor caches it isnt logical or realistic at all either, of course a stalker would hide a single damn bandage on top of a pipeline but not a backup weapon with extra ammo in case he got ambushed or something.
In the case of armors is is unbalanced too since you have access ti some pretty good and expensive gear from the start of course you would save up for those but it misses the point of the gradual upgrade of RPGs that Stalker was going for; if the bandit armor is 10,000 and it offers maybe a 30% increase of protection over going in your damn sweater then why not hold on for that sweet armor that costs 40,000 but actualy does provide some significant protection? If the cost of the bandit armor was logical (say 3000) most players would be encouraged to upgrade a bit and feel a bit better protected and not spend 10 hours scavenging beforr doing a single "risky" mission or even trying to find an artifact.
It is what ultimately disappoints me about 2.1 they made it "hardcore" by making it grindy and removing any sort of reward for skill or daring; it is like the cave where you find the rainbow armor in the original game...you can probably die in there ir you can come out with some pretty amazing artifacts, a weapon and an armor which will help you get started for the "fun" parts of the game

 

[Baron Dupek]

Oh lawd, Call of Chernobyl is out.
Leaked.
Just like Lost Alpha.

Oh Aluandro, why do you choose retarded testers.
But why do I expect anything from someone, who put DRM into fucking MOD to check, if your copy is legal.

Only thing that stop me is the fact that's made by 4chan/8chan, plus that I'm burned out by Stalker, not to mention risk of catching nasty things through these files.
But people play it, share pics and whatever.

And recently CoCh creator set every page to "Private".
And dumped his best men (tester, who reported the leak). What a nice idea to kick into the jail someone who reported the crime.

Invictus

Rumble about Misery 2.1

Yeah, stashes in the mod are dumb. Vanilia stash in some well hidden place have trash, while Misery stash on the easy to grab place have tools, food, useful stuff.
Best example is Shevchenko - it have 4, 5 or 6 stashes, maybe only one well hidden.
And yes, it's all about scavenging because artefacts are cheap. Funny that only ONE mod increase their price, other just cut the price because muh hurrdcore game. Nah.
It's also for veterans that want completely different game.
You find some guns, but there is secret - hunt for wandering Mercs, who always carry toolbox. Then repair some gun(s) for profits.

 

[Invictus]

Oh jaysus a mod that uses assets from other Stalker games bow has DRM?
Just wow that guy is clueless
I decided that when Misery 2.2 comes out I will do a readjustment like Le Miserables to balance things more to my liking like upping the value of artifacts and lower the costs of repairs to a sensible level
It is kind of interesting in derpy sort pf way with the grinding and scavenging

 

[Utgard-Loki]

how the fuck would it check if your copy is legal? there is a precracked gog release for fucks sake.

 

[disgraciau]

I just wanted to say "Hi" and say that i'm happy the Codex loves STALKER.

 

[Villagkouras]

Hey guys, I just downloaded SoC and I wonder if there is any mod that overhauls the graphics/sound department and fixes some bugs, without changing the vanilla gameplay too much?

From what I've read Complete is too easy, Misery is too hard... I just want better graphics and sounds, the best possible immersion I can get and bug fixing.

Thank you.

 

[Sodafish]

Autumn Aurora

http://www.moddb.com/mods/autumn-aurora-compilation-mod

 

[TripJack]

if you want something more vanilla than AA grab the 'starter pack' from https://mega.co.nz/#F!R5tnxQab!u1LS76bEVBuIrAZw6Py_3A

it's a nice compilation of graphical improvements and the zone reclamation project bugfixing mod

 

[Baron Dupek]

Since Call of Chernobyl is out I can scratch him from the list Waiting for Leak Release (Fucking Eternity).
-OGSE 0.6.9.3 ENG
-OLR translation?
-Vanilla+
-working STALKER SOUP/DMX release
-working ZoA release
-Lost Alpha [Mod]Director Cu(n)t
-Call of Chernobyl
-Road to Limansk
-Hybrid
-REBORN Doppelganger ENG
-Zone Of Homeless*
-Misery 2.2 (with integrated The Armed Zone but not Les Miserables, FUCK)
-Wormwood aka Redux 2.0 (old name)
-Ray Of Hope
-Gunslinger
-AO 3
-SGM 3

*Zone of the Homeless is Clear Sky mod. It freeplay mod but I found no info about faction selection at New Game like DMM or CoCh do.