That's good.

I played LURK a few years ago, while I was in college, and liked it a lot. But when I tried it again recently, I was really put off by the blur and bloom filters. I might give it another go some day, if there's an option to turn them off.

I have been playing Vanilla SoC for a bit and getting some ideas about what types of things I'd like to have changed via mods. My original thought was to simply go with Complete, but there seems to be a lot of mixed feelings on this mod. Some say it is essential and the only mod you will ever need while others say it completely ruins the game, (I'm not quite sure why it is so bad other than vague references that it "makes the game easier") so I have been looking for alternatives. The Zone Reclamation Project seems to cover most of my gripes but there are a few things it doesn't touch. I'm hoping that some veteran Stalkers here can point me to some suitable mod choices to address the following items.

Weather - I really like the idea of the changing weather and more pronounced day/night cycle promised by Complete. I'd love to sneak up on a military camp during a thunderstorm on an otherwise pitch black night.

Weapons (Damage/Upgrades/Variety) - While I have seen a few different types of weapons there is very little actual variety. For example, after I got my first automatic rifle I was excited, Then I discovered that for the next few hours everybody I fought had the EXACT same rifle, not only was there no variety in what NPCs were carrying, there was no real advantage to even bother looking at different rifles. I wanted to see different rifles with different stats, maybe one with more damage and another with faster rate of fire but less accuracy. Then I got to a new area and there was a new style rifle that was better in every way, so the idea of having to choose was moot, however it also used a different type of ammo. This made all my scavenging for rifle rounds irrelevant because I now had to start over. I have heard for years about the weapon upgrade system in STALKER, how I could mount scopes and silencers to just about any weapon in the game. That sounds cool, but in reality I have found that there are different types of scopes and each only fits a certain type of rifle. So if I find a scoped rifle I can remove the scope, but then I can only put it back on a rifle that is the exact same make and model as what I just removed it from. And the only silencer I have found has been on a "unique" pistol so I can't actually use it on any other weapon. And it's not like that one silenced pistol does me any good because I can't kill anything with it anyway. I can sneak up behind an enemy, draw my silenced pistol and shoot him from point blank range in the head, but he just turns around and shoots me which alerts every goon within 100 feet to come after me. I then quickly unload an entire magazine into my foe, which may or may not actually kill him. In a game with lot's of weapons based on real world guns I'd like to see them do a bit more damage then that. So any mods that make guns more.. better, would help.

I say go with the Complete mod, it sounds just like everything you want.
It has improved atmospheric effects and nights are pitchblack so you're going to need your headlight or nightvision.
The SUSAT scope fits almost every western assault rifle now and the PSO scope fits both the AKS-74 and Obokan (though that was already in vanilla too).
One of the things that makes SoC easier with Complete is that weapons do more damage so there you go.
I didn't like that in daylight everything becomes brighter though, I seriously don't understand that design decision, roadsurfaces for instance glow white with Complete.

Many people advise to play vanilla SoC for the first play-through and maybe experiment more with mods on the second one. I know I'll just play it once though, as I don't really have the time to play it twice, so would you still recommend to only install ZoneReclamationProject or I should go with Complete?

VANILLA!

Not even the ZRP? :O

Nope.
VANILLA OR NOTHING! O___o~

Ok :(
What about the difficulty? Is master too much or is bearable?

If you're playing the first time, I definately suggest Stalker and see how you go with that.

As a compromise I'll try veteran!
Thank you for you answers

Unfortunately, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha has been leaked. This has forced dez0wave to release it early.

It will be out on April 26th, next week.

Official statement: http://www.moddb.com/mods/lost-alpha/news/lost-alpha-update

I'd go with some elements of the ZRP as it fixes some bugs that otherwise make things a bit difficult but other than that vanilla and then mod it once you've finished.

Uhm, my main problem is that once I install a mod that makes you chose the single things to install I end up putting everything.
Which elements would you recommend?

Its been a while since I've installed it but if you use the modifier programme you can set it to only install the patches. If you're uncertain then just go with the defaults. I don't think there's anything that radically changes game play other than perhaps repair weapons and suits. I always add this anyway as a personal preference just to avoid having to carry weapons or trek back and forth to stashes but it you want to be a purist...