STALKER mods

[random n00b]

Yeah, so, I know that STALKER is popular enough in these boards to have its own spoilers thread, and I'm about to give the game another go (never finished it the first time around, quit at the entrance to the NPP). So, are there any noteworthy mods? I know about float32, but it didn't do anything for me. Anything that enhances gameplay somehow? Rebalance mods?

 

Co-op?

 

Also, has any of you tried Priboi Story? Looks pretty cool.

Edited May 29, 2008 by random n00b

[Pop]

There are a couple of nifty gameplay mods that will change the game. As with most games, I'd advise holding off on implementing mods till you've finished it vanilla, but if there's something that frustrates you it can be changed. There are weight mods, repair mods, gun mods, etc. Whatever you should need.

[Moatilliatta]

Oblivion Lost is supposedly quite interesting. I haven't tried it.

[Kaftan Barlast]

I made a tiny mod that rebalanced all the guns to give a much more realistic feel to the game, but I think there are alot of people out there who have done the same but better. STALKERS original weapon settings were horrible, I doubt they had any time at all to actually playtest it and tweak it before release.

[Pop]

Oblivion Lost is not for anyone who hasn't played the game all the way through. The mutant numbers are increased significantly from the start and they are made more aggressive to boot. Get the attention of a pack of dogs and you will not survive unless you have an attic handy to hide out in. Plus there are random "pulses" from chernobyl which paralyze you and increase your rad count.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Pop

[Musopticon?]

Oblivion Lost also suffers, or used to when I tried, from awful bossmonsteritis.

[Moatilliatta]

So is OB worht playing? I've been giving it some thought but not quite sure whether it's worth it.

[mkreku]

STALKERS original weapon settings were horrible...

I really don't understand this complaint, unless you mean how the weapon degradation is wayyy faster than in real life. Why were they horrible?

 

Have you ever fired a weapon in real life? Any pistol? Any automatic weapon? A shotgun? I'm asking because I thought STALKER had one of the best weapon feels I've ever played. Compare it to Crysis or Call of Duty or most shooters and it's miles ahead. Yes, the weapons behaved like wild animals in your hands.. but that's because that's what (cheap) real weapons do! They are mechanical beasts that does everything possible to get out of your grip when you fire them. Anyone who has ever fired an actual Kalashnikov AK-47 will confirm this (and wear goggles!).

 

Anyone can fire one shot with a weapon and get it pretty much on target. The problem comes when you're forced to fire a second shot within a second of the first. Chances are you'd not only miss bull's eye, you'd miss the entire target.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

I'm going to give Oblivion Lost a go, so I'll post my experience after I figure everything out.

[random n00b]

Oblivion Lost is supposedly quite interesting. I haven't tried it.

Does it do anything apart from buffing up monsters? Any new content? Weapon changes?

 

 

STALKERS original weapon settings were horrible...

I really don't understand this complaint, unless you mean how the weapon degradation is wayyy faster than in real life. Why were they horrible?

I assume he was referring to weapon damage, rather than shooting "feel". I hated how the AKS74U was nearly worthless when compared to the Obokan, and that in turn did very little by the time you got your hands on the Vintar. And, um. The silly fake names sucked too.

[WITHTEETH]

I cheated and played a mod where I can carry some obscene amount of wait with automatically meant I could run g as much forever and bring as much equipment to the dealer as i wanted resulting in boatloads of money. The mod was worth it to me because it didn't seem to be much fun without it. I guess it was a little to realistic for me. I'm not cut out for the post apocolyptical world i suppose.

 

I also was not able to get it running smoothly with the CD Version for some odd reason. I thought it was my machine until STALKER was on sale on STEAM, so i experimented and gave them the few bucks and it played flawlessly. Which was nice becaue getting Oblivion to play correctly with all the patches, plugins, addon, and mods was a part time job!

[Moatilliatta]

Oblivion Lost is supposedly quite interesting. I haven't tried it.

Does it do anything apart from buffing up monsters? Any new content? Weapon changes?

All I know is that I've seen some pretty interesting screenshots from it and it seems awesome. There is driving in it.

Why don't you go see for yourself.

[Pop]

The driving is really an afterthought. Cars have no mass whatsoever. If you get attacked by the aforementioned pack of dogs and hide out in a car, they will swarm and knock the car around like an empty crate.

 

There are some cool additions gun-wise, like a hunting shotgun you can get at the beginning that pisses all over the sawed-off, but all in all the changes make the game a lot harder. The anomaly detector is removed, bandages only stop bleeding and don't recover health, and nights are considerably darker, which in addition to the anomaly blindness, the random chernobyl pulses and the increased mutant numbers (have I mentioned how turning on your flashlight at night alerts all mutants in the location to your presence?) make the early game damn near impossible to play.

[Slowtrain]

Thanks for that info, Pop. It does sound like an interesting mod for those of us who have already played the game through a few times.

 

DId you have any problems with bugs and stuff?

[Gorgon]

I thought Stalker was a great game, and I even completed it I think, instead of ending though the game took me outside and I was shot by a railgun. Not sure what I was supposed to do after the cutscenes

 

It does have some pretty serious lackings, women anyone. I didn't see one in the whole grand adventure. Most of the NPCs were uninteresting. Also the shottie was a joke. I mean, a head full of buckshots, who survives that. Apparently even the lowliest bandito.

 

Top marks for survival horror genre feel though.

[Slowtrain]

I thought Stalker was a great game, and I even completed it I think, instead of ending though the game took me outside and I was shot by a railgun. Not sure what I was supposed to do after the cutscenes

 

It does have some pretty serious lackings, women anyone. I didn't see one in the whole grand adventure. Most of the NPCs were uninteresting. Also the shottie was a joke. I mean, a head full of buckshots, who survives that. Apparently even the lowliest bandito.

 

Top marks for survival horror genre feel though.

 

 

There are 7 possible endings to STALKER. One of which is the "true" ending.

 

 

Actually the shotguns are pretty lethal, but only at point blank range. The sawed off is my weapon of choice until I get an AK74 with a scope.

[Pop]

DId you have any problems with bugs and stuff?

I didn't get very far before I hit a snag from which I could not recover, so I don't know. Like I said, most of the frustration came from the design.

 

A couple more things, actually. You start off with a sleeping bag that allows you to rest and regain health (which is apparently a mod you can get by itself) but doing so anywhere not underground leaves you susceptible to the "pulse". Also, the normal restrictions on AI that allow places like the city in which the Bar is located to be free from mutants are taken out in Oblivion Lost, so there is always a chance that any area can be wiped clean of human life before you even get there.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Actually the shotguns are pretty lethal, but only at point blank range.

 

The "Hunting Rifle" armed with darts/slugs can provide a one-hit kill if used properly, even in the last levels.

[random n00b]

Also, the normal restrictions on AI that allow places like the city in which the Bar is located to be free from mutants are taken out in Oblivion Lost, so there is always a chance that any area can be wiped clean of human life before you even get there.

Um. You mean you can actually get to Rostok and find everyone there dead and replaced by snorks? Wouldn't that break the main quest?

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Yes, although you can do the same thing in the vanilla game - just get powerful mutants to chase you into one of the camps, you can effectively take it out without firing a shot.

[random n00b]

Yes, but can you get them inside the areas where the quest givers are? Sentries can be (and often are) killed by muties, but from what I saw, they seem content with that, and they never get even close to fighting crucial characters. I'd love to install a mod only to find that it allows for the main quest to be broken. Love, as in Shift+Del.

Edited May 31, 2008 by random n00b

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Yes, but can you get them inside the areas where the quest givers are?

 

Yes, although I've only been able to make it happen once.

[Pop]

The Bar has problems even in the vanilla game. If you end up siding with Freedom against Duty, there's a Duty soldier in the Bar who will shoot you dead if you enter it (while in the bar, you are not allowed to brandish weapons). The first trader in the bunker should be fine as he's not accessible by any means. If a mutant managed to kill the guard in the Bar the main questline could very well break.

[random n00b]

Against the advice offered by some, I downloaded the last version of Oblivion Lost, and have started a new game.

 

I have to say, it's pretty neat so far. You can (must) rest every once in a while, there are many new skins, both for characters and equipment, and the total freedom mod is a nice touch. Also, you can actually get your equipment repaired now, albeit at a rather hefty fee.

 

There are a few new muties, and there's the whole full night cycle thing - it's fun to sneak around in pitch black, but it's easy to screw up. No timed missions anymore, which is one of the things I never liked in the vanilla game. Supposedly, there are drivable vehicles, but so far I haven't found any.

 

Weapons damage is apparently rebalanced, making the game more "realistic" (everything is deadlier), and the game is changed quite a bit for that. Now NPCs die much faster, which makes the game both easier and harder, if you are protecting someone. Obviously, the player can die much faster now as well, and at about 40% health, bad stuff starts to happen. The only thing that I'm hating so far is that now some NPCs use grenades (which is cool) but it's very unbalanced. They can put a grenade on your feet from 50m, and the worst is, if you don't see them throwing it, you won't know until you are flying around, because grenades make next to zero noise when they land. They really need to fix that.

 

And then there's the "blowout" mechanic, which is something that I'd think you should be given the option to turn off. I rather like it myself, what with random anomalies and all, but I can see how some people could hate it.

 

All in all, good fun.