Stalker S.O.C & Clear Sky

[JRD]

Excellent vids Red... looking forward to that game!  :-X

As I just purchased STALKER SoC and CS as my end-of-the-year gift I begun researching about the real disaster while preparing to enter the virtual place. Saw a lot of vids on youtube as well!

Tragedy apart, I must say that I am truly impressed with what devs (Ukranian devs, may I add) did with the game. Pripyat is a faithfull model of the real place. The Zone itself really exists, the vegetation and fauna... all of that was really affected by radiation and suffered real mutations scientifically reported!
Buildings, houses, squares, streets... all very, very real!
As soon as I get to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant I'll see how it looks like (maybe RedRaven can share his thoughts about that  ;) )

In fact... The Zone, the real place, has suffered incursions of real scavengers seeking for anything they can loot, some people actually tried to go back to the place to resume living and died...

You play in a virtual world that is not so different of what it really looks like... scary as hell  :(

[RedRaven]

I can recall news from the time of Chernobyl saying the fall-out would affect all livestock in Northern Europe, and scare stories about Acid-rain and Radioactive milk. Although at that point in time was out on my bicycle all the time and not interested in World Affairs. When the 1st Stalker came out I did read a lot, and saw a few documentaries about the reality of the disaster.
Actually it kind of amazes me that in all the time MAN  has been messing about with nuclear power there have been so few such disasters.

And as JRD says below, its impressive what the devs have done. As for how it looks - from what i can recall its very good. not too sure about scale and such, when was last there was kind of running for my life as the Monolith & Military factions were not exactly welcoming :) .

[Art Blade]

hehe :)

Yes, I was impressed with the w@&k of those devs, too, in Clear Sky, albeit I didn't see all of it in that sequel. A buddy who played SOC told me that the map is identical, except some parts that are accessible in SOC are not in Clear Sky, and vice versa, but they share a great deal of the world. In CoD4, there was only one mission leading you there, I saw the funfair and the surrounding area with the indoor swimming pool, school, and those buildings made from prefabricated slabs. After sniping some VIP I had to get the hell out of there :)

[deadman1]

I just ordered both SOC and Clear sky. all your talk about it made me want to play them. :)

[JRD]

@deadman... I did the same on Christmas... fire sale on STEAM... both games for US$ 7  8)

@Red an Art... Is there a ferris wheel on SoC or CS? Documentaries shows one at Pripyat which was obviously left behind... it adds a lot to the scary landscape!

[RedRaven]

Its in shadow of chernobyl, cant recall Clear sky.


The Pripyat in S.o.C. is not as big or detailed as in Call of Pripyat. Can only imagine at the time first game was done they made as much as they could and still keep it in the program size. Now a few years later and CPU / GPU in the average PC is way better so they can do more and give more to gamers.

[Art Blade]

deadman, you made me laugh  ;D :-X Have fun with the games, mate :)

JRD+Red, CS doesn't show it but CoD4 does very detailed. I think CoC does, too, if I remember right what my buddy told me and reading Red's last post.

[deadman1]

Just installed Stalker SOC today , and it´s looking good :). One question though, how in the name of everything holy do I get the game to use the thumbutton on my mouse? I always use it for crouching and it doesn´t w@&k even though I could change it in the options menu  :D.

[PZ]

If your mouse came bundled with software, have you tried mapping the button using the mouse utility instead of the in-game options?  I've played a game or two in which I had to create a profile specifically for a game because the options menu did not function properly (Heroes Over Europe)  :D

[Art Blade]

I love HoE. NOT.  :D (most annoying game ever)

Good advice, PZ. I too use the mapper program / profiler if I can't get from the game what I want.

[JRD]

Just installed Stalker SOC today , and it´s looking good :).

Thats good... the more the merrier  :P

It sure look good for a not-so-new game. I've played a few missions only and find it a bit different to get used to. It is open world but with bottlenecks as you have to go through some specific passageways when moving from one area to another.
I am also getting used with some elements like artifacts and the items interface - you have to place guns and artifacts on your belt to make it effective/available
But it does look like a great shooter.
I spent quite some time just watching as pseudodgs, boars and anomalies interacted in the world unaware of my presence... very nice the way the world is there and (creepy) things are happening. I saw one soldier from Cordon wandering out of the safe area and dogs going around him. He realised they were around, drew his weapon and went alert. One dog got closer, but not too close as to attack him. It seemed like the dog new his prey was aware of his presence and, being one to one, gave up attacking. The other dogs got split up by an anomaly and fled, barking in pain  :-X

[RedRaven]

One question though, how in the name of everything holy do I get the game to use the thumbutton on my mouse? I always use it for crouching and it doesn´t w@&k even though I could change it in the options menu  :D .

Odd that it will not w@&k for you, just tried it with the Microsoft 5 button mouse that I use and all was ok. Are you changing it in the first column where all the controls are or in the 'Alternative' column ?
I usually make it so that CAPS LOCK is my 'Always Crouch' (that way the light on the keyboard corresponds to my stance.
It does actually create a file with all user keys etc on it. It is in the same location as save games

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\stalker-shoc)

is the location path by default, you may want to look at that. It is an .ltx file, but right click and open with notepad will let you edit it with no problems. If you have further problems with it let me know and will try to help you get it fixed ;D .

I spent quite some time just watching as pseudodgs, boars and anomalies interacted in the world unaware of my presence... very nice the way the world is there and (creepy) things are happening. I saw one soldier from Cordon wandering out of the safe area and dogs going around him. He realised they were around, drew his weapon and went alert. One dog got closer, but not too close as to attack him. It seemed like the dog new his prey was aware of his presence and, being one to one, gave up attacking. The other dogs got split up by an anomaly and fled, barking in pain  :-X

The A.I. that controls animals and NPC's is really good for the most part, and not always predictable, for example I once used quick-save / quick-load 5 times in a row and on each re-load the enemies in view where all acting differently. Occasionally you do get to witness some 'Dumb Merc' type behaviour but I usually put that down to the vodka !!! When I remember which mod it is will post a link for it as it improves the A.I. in some ways such as npc's will drag bodies, sometimes loot them, also they will drag animal corpses away from camp fires and such.

Enjoy the zone  ;D

[deadman1]

How do I get from Garbage to the Dark Valley? The only direction I can see from my map gets me radiated enough to glow in the dark  :D

[Art Blade]

found one map for you (maybe it helps)

http://www.webalice.it/requena/game/stalker/stalker_Map_Zone.htm

[deadman1]

Thanks Art I figured it out  :-X and I also got the crouch working the way I want. I had to remap the button on the mouse to CTRL+SHIFT, it´s the first time I ever habe had to do that in any game I´ve played ::)

[wexer9]

STALKER: SoC, especially modded, is one of my favourite games of all time!

[Art Blade]

Are there any mods you would recommend? And if you happen to have a link would also be muchly appreciated :)

[RedRaven]

STALKER: SoC, especially modded, is one of my favourite games of all time!

Same here, choosing between FC2 and SoC would be impossible. ;D

Are there any mods you would recommend? And if you happen to have a link would also be muchly appreciated :)

Best place for mods is -

http://stalker.filefront.com/files/Stalker/Shadow_of_Chernobyl/Mods;10529

For Clear Sky mods its -

http://stalker.filefront.com/files/Stalker/Clear_Sky;10495

My personal favourites for SoC are OBLIVION LOST (total conversion mod)

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Oblivion_Lost_22_for_1005;93039

It takes the game closer to the original Beta, it adds Total free play, modified A-life, improved AI, Faction wars, and the ability to use artefacts to perform Alchemy to create better artefacts :-X . And it can be merged with the Arsenal weapons mod too. It also adds creatures cut from the Released game.



Next is PRIBOI STORY (total conversion mod)

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/STALKER_Priboi_Story_11;93629

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Priboi_Story_113_Patch_for_10005;102753

This one is set a full year after SoC, and you play a soldier. Even tho the maps and play area follow SoC it adds and changes enough to make it a very interesting game.


Another is by NEWSA SIMBION (total conversion mod)

http://www.gamerspedia.net/

This one adds a hell of alot more to the game. New weapons, ammo, armour and monsters. Oh yeah and the military helicopters WILL hunt you down and fire on you too :-\


All 3 of the mods listed above are "Total Conversion Mods" meaning that they make major changes to the vanilla version of the game, in effect each gives you a completely new gaming experience. And anything that gives you the ability to play the same game in such different and interesting ways has got to be good. Its like 4 games for the price of 1 :-X



Beyond the Total Conversion Mods there are literally hundreds of smaller mods that range from Weather overhauls, texture packs, audio files, extra weapons, trader improvements, character improvements (such as speed, weight allowance, belt slots for artefacts), sleeping bags, arena extensions, the list goes on. Will w@&k on a list with links of all the ones I have tried.


Really for me one the best things about Stalker and Mods is the ease with which any one can modify basic files in the game to their hearts desire, for example it is very easy to change a couple of files so when you speak to wolf for the first time he will give you better armour and / or weaponry. And you can also change the stats and abilities of weapons - removing condition degradation, accuracy, clip size, damage and even what ammo types it fires ( you can have a simple pistol that shoots 40mm grenades at the same kind of range as a sniper rifle with no recoil !)
If anyone playing SoC wants help in this I am more than happy to help out, just let me know what you want to change and will assist in making it so, before FC2 Stalker was all I played, and after completing the vanilla game I learned a lot about how to mod files and where in the game the files were, some times a simple change will require editing 3-4 files but its all easy enough.

I have also posted a quick character fix for SoC in the downloads section here at OWG. It removes the Head-bob and increase the max weight you can carry to 100 kg, and slightly increased the speed you can run at, and the height you can jump (nothing to silly, but enough to make a couple of hard to reach places more accessible)

For some reason Clear Sky did not receive the same level of modding as SoC, but what there is can be found with the link earlier in this post. Also there are some mods out for Call of Pripyat, but have not looked into them yet as it has only been released in Germany so far. It is due for a UK release on 5th February 2010 !
OMG thats only 10 days away now !!!!!

HAPPY STALKING

[JRD]

Red... your are Da Man for STALKER affairs at OWG  ;)

I am just beginning SoC and so far didn't use any mod... my plans are to go on with this playthrough as vanilla as I can stand... will get the sleeping bag and the 100kg mods for sure, but don't want to fire grenades with my pistol if the game is not meant to be like that.

I`ve checked those links already and it is truly amazing how the STALKER community created lots of content to the game. Guess thats because the world is so well created and based on a sad (but almost true) reality!

Many thanks for bringing those links up Red  :-X

[Art Blade]

Excellent research, Red  :-X

[deadman1]

Ok I need some help. I´m on my way from Cordon to garbage and I´ve stopped by the house where you meet Wolf. In the cellar there´s supposed to be a stash (got that info from a bandit I killed) but how in the world do I get into that cellar? I have located a hatch in the ground but there doesn´t seem to be any way of opening it.  :D So Red, JRD or anyone who remembers how this is done please give me a hint before my hair gets any greyer than it already is :P

[RedRaven]

before my hair gets any greyer than it already is :P

Lol
It is a mistake in translation, it is in the attic. Go up the ladder behind wolf, you have to crouch to get through the opening. To the right side of the attic is the chimney and it is on the floor behind that.

[smg id=1910]

As far as I can remember that is the only un-fixed translation error (but that's no guarantee ::) )

[Art Blade]

nice... nice knowing we do have an expert here :)  :-X

[JRD]

Maybe this is what you are looking for

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWy9qZEA56U&feature=related

I got this one at the very beginning following someone´s post on a great forum Red directed us...

[Art Blade]

It is starting to confuse me. Which post refers to which game? :) SOC or CS?