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General discussion (archive)Mod Spotlight: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series(88 posts)(88 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 06, 2014
A few breaths of fresh air in The Zone.

Cheeki Breeki, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s! We've heard you're planning on some trespassing. With the [url=http://www.gog.com/promo/stalker_series_launch_promo_060214]S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series DRM-Free on GOG.com for only $14.97, who could blame you? After all, The Zone calls out to all of us, promising great loot, lasting friendships, awe-inspiring views, and frequent rushes of adrenaline. The experience with all three of the games, the original Shadow of Chernobyl, the prequel Clear Sky, and the sequel Call of Pripyat is deeply immersive, enthralling, and ultimately fun. Yet, there are no things in this world that couldn't be improved, and for PC games, it's very often a matter of weeks before mods start to show up, enhancing gameplay of even the most spectacular games. Here are the most impressive modifications for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series games, that we find well worth your time (and the little effort it takes to install them).

When a team led by a popular contemporary artist, the painter Paul Dolgov, takes on the task of updating not only the visuals, but also the inner workings of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, good things happen. With his S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete set of mods, Paul has earned himself a place on GamingBolt.com's list of Call of Pripyat screenshots, or [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/artistpavel/sets/72157608341111036/" target="_blank]Shadow of Chernobyl[/url] and [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/artistpavel/sets/72157623299360652/" target="_blank]Clear Sky[/url] on Flikr.

Here are just some features these modifications include:

- Complete graphics overhaul with hundreds of modified textures, new high-end rendering options, such as ambient occlusion, motion blur, and depth of focus, a re-designed HUD and menus, and even a new particle system.

- Freeplay mode allowing for endless exploration of The Zone, with random, un-scripted events, after the main campaign ends.

- AI improvements giving the NPCs more realistic behavior, so they avoid dangers on their own and--on the other hand--so they don't notice the player over unrealistic distances.

- Weather and day/night cycles remastered to feature dynamically changing conditions, high-res nightsky, and wet surface simulation.

- New sound and music, including over 80 acoustic guitar arrangements that you can listen to by the campfire.

- New gameplay features, like third-person view mode, faction reset option, field repair kit, a sleeping bag and much more.

Head out to Paul's websites for [url=http://artistpavel.blogspot.no/2009/04/stalker-complete-2009.html" target="_blank]S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete 2009 1.4.4[/url], [url=http://artistpavel.blogspot.no/2010/01/mod-clear-sky-complete.html" target="_blank]Clear Sky Complete 1.1.3[/url], and [url=http://artistpavel.blogspot.no/2010/04/mod-call-of-pripyat-complete.html" target="_blank]Call of Pripyat Complete 1.0.2[/url] to learn more and download the mods. Just keep in mind, that those three heavily modify the game, delivering an experience that much differs from the vanilla S.T.A.L.K.E.R. This also means you won't be able to apply the mods to an existing savegame, but start your adventure over after the overhaul. Bothersome as it might be for some, those modifications will award your trouble tenfold.

Admittedly, the mods featured in this editorial, while being excellent impressive work, don't necessarily give you the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience that was intended by the game's creators. Luckily, there's a lot of other mods that update the game without much actual alteration. There are also those that change it even further. We invite you to share your own S.T.A.L.K.E.R. modding experiences and recommendations in the forum thread below!
Post edited February 06, 2014 by G-Doc
Posted February 07, 2014
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mkess: Thanks for the mods. I knew, that the games have more bugs than I can count in a day. I install the mod mostly for the bug fixes and better weapons. These were awfull in vanilla game.
those were not bugs, just anomalies leaking through your computer screen!
Posted February 07, 2014
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Manaaja: The "Complete" series of mods just make the games a lot easier.
We don't want that, now do we?
Some do, some don't.

There's still a difficulty slider. I doubt Hardest with Complete mods is the same as Easy or Normal in vanilla.

According to the page at moddb for at least SoC version of Complete Mod they made the AI more sophisticated, it was rather limited in vanilla as I recall but I've barely played vanilla so I can't comment on the overall AI of the game(s).
Posted February 07, 2014
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Manaaja: The "Complete" series of mods just make the games a lot easier.
We don't want that, now do we?
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Nirth: Some do, some don't.

There's still a difficulty slider. I doubt Hardest with Complete mods is the same as Easy or Normal in vanilla.

According to the page at moddb for at least SoC version of Complete Mod they made the AI more sophisticated, it was rather limited in vanilla as I recall but I've barely played vanilla so I can't comment on the overall AI of the game(s).
Glad you brought up difficulty level. I haven't started playing yet but I downloaded and installed all 3 games last night and messed around in the options menu. Which difficulty level is the "normal" level? Meaning, where neither the player or AI get any advantage/disadvantage. I've seen some posts that say "anything below highest level you're not getting the true Stalker experience". That may just be the vets.

I will probably only play thru once or twice so I want realism (if I run around like an idiot, or don't use cover, I deserve to die) but I also don't want "shot the guy in the head 3 times and he still won't die". I like Arma type Military Sims, where I have to be slower, methodical and be smart but also be rewarded for smart shooting and tactics. (If that makes any sense). All these different Mods, difficulty levels, in-game options.stressing me out and I haven't started playing yet. Help! :)
Posted February 07, 2014
"anything below highest level you're not getting the true Stalker experience"

That is bullshit. Difficulty isn't the reason the stalker games are renowned, it's because of the atmosphere, setting, story, open world gameplay.

If you want the default with no advantages, disadvantages I would recommend the 2nd one, regular is it? 3rd one is good if you're used and like FPS in genral. I believe you can change anytime so what you start with isn't game breaking.
Posted February 07, 2014
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Nirth: "anything below highest level you're not getting the true Stalker experience"

That is bullshit. Difficulty isn't the reason the stalker games are renowned, it's because of the atmosphere, setting, story, open world gameplay.

If you want the default with no advantages, disadvantages I would recommend the 2nd one, regular is it? 3rd one is good if you're used and like FPS in genral. I believe you can change anytime so what you start with isn't game breaking.
Thanks. That makes me feel better. I'll go with 2nd or 3rd one then. Okay. I'm ready to rock now:
SOC, Zone Reclamation Project, Absolute Nature, Structure and weather mod. Turn off the lights, crank up the surround sound and PLAY!
Posted February 07, 2014
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Nirth: Some do, some don't.

There's still a difficulty slider. I doubt Hardest with Complete mods is the same as Easy or Normal in vanilla.

According to the page at moddb for at least SoC version of Complete Mod they made the AI more sophisticated, it was rather limited in vanilla as I recall but I've barely played vanilla so I can't comment on the overall AI of the game(s).
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nickaepi: Glad you brought up difficulty level. I haven't started playing yet but I downloaded and installed all 3 games last night and messed around in the options menu. Which difficulty level is the "normal" level? Meaning, where neither the player or AI get any advantage/disadvantage. I've seen some posts that say "anything below highest level you're not getting the true Stalker experience". That may just be the vets.

I will probably only play thru once or twice so I want realism (if I run around like an idiot, or don't use cover, I deserve to die) but I also don't want "shot the guy in the head 3 times and he still won't die". I like Arma type Military Sims, where I have to be slower, methodical and be smart but also be rewarded for smart shooting and tactics. (If that makes any sense). All these different Mods, difficulty levels, in-game options.stressing me out and I haven't started playing yet. Help! :)
STALKERs original "normal" is what now is the "Master"-setting. They made it the "hardest" difficulty because it is what their publishers wanted. The biggest changes that "Master" does is that it makes weapons do more damage (this goes both ways. An enemy NPC dies just as easily as you do (easily), which is why some say this is the easiest difficulty) and it bumps up the A.I. If I understand what you want out of the experience, then I would recommend playing on "Master", since it rises the tension and immersion of the game. You will always need to be tactical and careful, or you'll die.
Posted February 07, 2014
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nickaepi: Glad you brought up difficulty level. I haven't started playing yet but I downloaded and installed all 3 games last night and messed around in the options menu. Which difficulty level is the "normal" level? Meaning, where neither the player or AI get any advantage/disadvantage. I've seen some posts that say "anything below highest level you're not getting the true Stalker experience". That may just be the vets.

I will probably only play thru once or twice so I want realism (if I run around like an idiot, or don't use cover, I deserve to die) but I also don't want "shot the guy in the head 3 times and he still won't die". I like Arma type Military Sims, where I have to be slower, methodical and be smart but also be rewarded for smart shooting and tactics. (If that makes any sense). All these different Mods, difficulty levels, in-game options.stressing me out and I haven't started playing yet. Help! :)
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cappe3000: STALKERs original "normal" is what now is the "Master"-setting. They made it the "hardest" difficulty because it is what their publishers wanted. The biggest changes that "Master" does is that it makes weapons do more damage (this goes both ways. An enemy NPC dies just as easily as you do (easily), which is why some say this is the easiest difficulty) and it bumps up the A.I. If I understand what you want out of the experience, then I would recommend playing on "Master", since it rises the tension and immersion of the game. You will always need to be tactical and careful, or you'll die.
This is the most confusing game I have never played. LMAO. I think I understand what you are saying. Correct me if I'm wrong:
Start at Master, for the most "realistic survival/tension setting". The AI does NOT have any health buffs and we each have the same weapon, it will damage me or them equally.

I don't want spoilers but I assume there are enemy AI early in the game that probably have better weapons, armor, accuracy etc. before I do so I think Master could make things extremely tough early on?
I'm not saying I don't want the challenge. You are correct in what I want out of the gaming experience. I just don't want unrealistic AI accuracy (I.E.- early vanilla Ghost Recon games. A.I. rebels could headshot you from anywhere on the map with an AK.)
Posted February 07, 2014
Hello you all! New to the forums.

2 questions.

A) I don't want thew dumpingdown. What mods would you suggest that enhance the graphics, the general atmosphere (gloomier,heheheee), add new content and fix the bugs?

B) Is in the GOG version that is currently on sale, russian audio available-with english subs? The atmosphere with russian audio is impeccable!
Post edited February 07, 2014 by castorsia
Posted February 07, 2014
To all those fretting over difficulty, and whether or not to mod;

It's been a while since I played the original game, so I might not be entirely correct about this, but the difficulty you select is mostly about the gun play. Stalker uses some level of RNG in the gun play, as I recall. If you play on max difficulty this effect is minimal, if you play on the easiest setting there is quite a bit of RNG. (to clarify the RNG affects both the player and NPC's)

From personal experience I would say that playing on anything other than the hardest setting is a frustrating crapfest. I don't recall any other noticeable game play changes when changing the difficulty, in fact I'm not sure anything else does change.

Personally I would highly recommend the Zone Reclamation Project as a very simple (customisable) mod that remains faithful to vanilla. It fixes remaining bugs, and more importantly, fixes the gun play and re-spawn counter on enemies.

Yes, it makes the game fractionally easier, but that's a small price to pay IMO. For me it's about asking whether you want realistic gun play or hyper-real gun play. I expect many people will give up on this game sometime during garbage if they play un-modded, to those people I would say, grab the zone reclamation project, and don't deprive yourself of an incredible experience.
Post edited February 07, 2014 by rice_pudding
Posted February 07, 2014
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cappe3000: STALKERs original "normal" is what now is the "Master"-setting. They made it the "hardest" difficulty because it is what their publishers wanted. The biggest changes that "Master" does is that it makes weapons do more damage (this goes both ways. An enemy NPC dies just as easily as you do (easily), which is why some say this is the easiest difficulty) and it bumps up the A.I. If I understand what you want out of the experience, then I would recommend playing on "Master", since it rises the tension and immersion of the game. You will always need to be tactical and careful, or you'll die.
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nickaepi: This is the most confusing game I have never played. LMAO. I think I understand what you are saying. Correct me if I'm wrong:
Start at Master, for the most "realistic survival/tension setting". The AI does NOT have any health buffs and we each have the same weapon, it will damage me or them equally.

I don't want spoilers but I assume there are enemy AI early in the game that probably have better weapons, armor, accuracy etc. before I do so I think Master could make things extremely tough early on?
I'm not saying I don't want the challenge. You are correct in what I want out of the gaming experience. I just don't want unrealistic AI accuracy (I.E.- early vanilla Ghost Recon games. A.I. rebels could headshot you from anywhere on the map with an AK.)
You got it right.

The games are at their hardest at the start. However the early enemies mostly have equipment similar to your own. And as long as you're not retarded you'll be fine (perhaps you shouldn't shoot at the Duty squad with Exoskeleton with your sawed-off shotgun). Remember that the game does not have stats, so the only things that matters is your equipment and actual knowledge about the zone.

About the A.I.s accuracy, it is nothing I have a problem with. Probably it is because a weapons accuracy depends on the weapon as well as the weapons condition, and at the start you'll mostly face bandits with shitty AKs and shotguns, whose aim reminds you of Stormtroopers. So when you meet enemies with better guns you'll be good enough at the game that it won't be a problem.
Posted February 07, 2014
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rice_pudding: To all those fretting over difficulty, and whether or not to mod;

It's been a while since I played the original game, so I might not be entirely correct about this, but the difficulty you select is mostly about the gun play. Stalker uses some level of RNG in the gun play, as I recall. If you play on max difficulty this effect is minimal, if you play on the easiest setting there is quite a bit of RNG. (to clarify the RNG affects both the player and NPC's)

From personal experience I would say that playing on anything other than the hardest setting is a frustrating crapfest. I don't recall any other noticeable game play changes when changing the difficulty, in fact I'm not sure anything else does change.

Personally I would highly recommend the Zone Reclamation Project as a very simple (customisable) mod that remains faithful to vanilla. It fixes remaining bugs, and more importantly, fixes the gun play and re-spawn counter on enemies.

Yes, it makes the game fractionally easier, but that's a small price to pay IMO. For me it's about asking whether you want realistic gun play or hyper-real gun play. I expect many people will give up on this game sometime during garbage if they play un-modded, to those people I would say, grab the zone reclamation project, and don't deprive yourself of an incredible experience.
Found this. a section on difficulty level in what seemed to be a pretty detailed Stalker guide.

Credit to Stalker Tweak Guide: (tweakguides.com)
Difficulty: You can select from four different difficulty levels in the drop box here. In order of easiest to hardest these are: Novice, Stalker, Veteran and Master. The higher the setting, the fewer useful objects can be found in the game world, and the greater the probability that the enemy will hit you when firing on you. For example at Novice level, the enemy only have a 20% chance of hitting you, while at Master they have a 50% chance of hitting you with each shot. You can also adjust the difficulty on the fly, so if you find a particular area too hard then turn down the difficulty temporarily.

Does this sound about right?
Posted February 07, 2014
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nickaepi: Does this sound about right?
Yeah, those values sound familiar. I've never really played on easier settings, so I can't comment on how many supplies you will find, but like many games the beginning is the hardest. If you play carefully you should have plenty of supplies later in the game.
Posted February 07, 2014
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nickaepi: Does this sound about right?
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rice_pudding: Yeah, those values sound familiar. I've never really played on easier settings, so I can't comment on how many supplies you will find, but like many games the beginning is the hardest. If you play carefully you should have plenty of supplies later in the game.
Okay. Thanks. I'm going either Master or the one right below that. Last questions regarding Mods:

As per the Beginner Stalker guide that Cappe3000 posted, it listed 'beginner friendly Mods; I assume those can all be combined together? I.E.- ZRP and the Absolutes? Is it recommended that I have an extra installed "vanilla copy" of Stalker in a seperate folder just in case something goes haywire? I wouldn't want to get far into the game and have something conflict and have to start all over again. I am a complete NEWB when it comes to mods and how they work. Also, GOG defaults install into GOG games folder, does it matter if Stalker is NOT in the program x86 files?
Posted February 07, 2014
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nickaepi: As per the Beginner Stalker guide that Cappe3000 posted, it listed 'beginner friendly Mods; I assume those can all be combined together? I.E.- ZRP and the Absolutes?
I'd take care here. ZRP basically just changes the config and scripts so I guess it should work fine with graphics mods, but I have no experience of this. One thing to note is that if you un-install ZRP or alter its settings I think you have to start a new game.

I remember playing with oblivion lost installed (a very good alternative overhaul), got half way through the game and it crashed. That was caused by part of the ZRP being left installed. Luckily on that occasion the crash log identified the offending file, and after deleting it I was able to continue, and finish the game.
Posted February 07, 2014
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nickaepi: As per the Beginner Stalker guide that Cappe3000 posted, it listed 'beginner friendly Mods; I assume those can all be combined together? I.E.- ZRP and the Absolutes?
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rice_pudding: I'd take care here. ZRP basically just changes the config and scripts so I guess it should work fine with graphics mods, but I have no experience of this. One thing to note is that if you un-install ZRP or alter its settings I think you have to start a new game.

I remember playing with oblivion lost installed (a very good alternative overhaul), got half way through the game and it crashed. That was caused by part of the ZRP being left installed. Luckily on that occasion the crash log identified the offending file, and after deleting it I was able to continue, and finish the game.
Hokey Dokey. I'll do some good ol' internet research. I didn't realize this was such a popular game. Tons of good info out there. Thanks for the tips!
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Mod Spotlight: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series(88 posts)(88 posts)
(88 posts)