STALKER: $4.99 this weekend. Buy it.

[schild]

Topic.

[MrHat]

Topic.

Sick. I've wanted to play this for a while.  Thanks for the heads up.

[Rasix]

Thanks for the heads up.  Will be purchasing.

[BitWarrior]

Done and done.

[Ookii]

5 dollars does seem to be an accurate price for it.

[Azazel]

Can it still be patched/modded to remove the suck parts if bought via Steam?

[BitWarrior]

Ok, wait...I just bought this game, and this head bob...there isn't an option to remove it? I get sick watching the screen for even 5 seconds of movement, had to quit basically after speaking to the first NPC. Did a quick search for it; appears to be a mod to turn it off...but it's honestly not an option? Are they serious? Am I missing something?

[Ookii]

I find it reassuring to repeat, "Hey, it only costs 5 bucks!" whenever coming across any of the flaws that plague the game.

[schild]

Ok, wait...I just bought this game, and this head bob...there isn't an option to remove it? I get sick watching the screen for even 5 seconds of movement, had to quit basically after speaking to the first NPC. Did a quick search for it; appears to be a mod to turn it off...but it's honestly not an option? Are they serious? Am I missing something?

You get over it pretty quickly.

Edit: For the record, head bob is the first thing I turn off in almost any game, unless there's no option. And I almost never mod anything.

I find it reassuring to repeat, "Hey, it only costs 5 bucks!" whenever coming across any of the flaws that plague the game.

By all means, I'd like to hear your list of complaints. Because short of fast travel, Stalker is pretty fucking great.

[SnakeCharmer]

Couldn't handle the head bob.  Went looking for mods and found the Zone Reclamation Project.

Some good stuff there.  Makes the game much, much more enjoyable.

[Ookii]

I find it reassuring to repeat, "Hey, it only costs 5 bucks!" whenever coming across any of the flaws that plague the game.

By all means, I'd like to hear your list of complaints. Because short of fast travel, Stalker is pretty fucking great.

Apart from the dreaded head bob, poor animations, poor ai, and buggy map?  I really love it when I take a defensive position behind something and my own team pushes me into the middle of a firefight because they're scripted to go somewhere.  The weapons don't feel right either, I guess I'm too used to true FPSes while this is more of a oblivion type deal.

[BitWarrior]

Couldn't handle the head bob.  Went looking for mods and found the Zone Reclamation Project.

Some good stuff there.  Makes the game much, much more enjoyable.

Ugh...when I see games with large collections of fan hacks for the original campaign which are not mod based, it always makes me question the developers commitment to their own product. When I see "features" (ie: basic fixes) in this fan hack like:

- Most of the fixable game "crash to desktop" exits are fixed.
- The Pripyat stadium cutscene no longer transfers you to the NPP level.
- Most broken quests are fixed.
- Fewer map hints "stick".
- Your reputation doesn't swing wildly between terrible and excellent.
- Fanatic's rookie group now acts the way it is supposed to.
- Stalkers no longer die in campfires.
- Misleading English text has been corrected.

...it really gives me the impression the developer has dropped the ball. I'll try playing through this game because I like the concept, but I'm already going in with a sour taste.

[Mrbloodworth]

Multilayer in this?

[schild]

Not that I know of. It's largely a survival RPG more than anything else.

[Mrbloodworth]

Not that I know of. It's largely a survival RPG more than anything else.

That's what i had thought. Bummer.

[Engels]

Btw, if you're running Vista32 and you downloaded from Steam, the default 'saves and settings' directory is pathed for Windows XP (at least on my box). You have to alter a file in Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\stalker shadow of chernobyl. The file name is fsgame.ltx and you simply replace the 'Documents and Settings\All Users\yada yada' path to something you can use in Vista. I used \Users\Public\something, and it worked great.

[schild]

I guess there is multiplayer. But no one plays it afaik.

[Engels]

The shooting in this game is wierd. I can empty three clips into a NPC and he still walks around just fine. But if I am lucky and get -one- shot to his head, he's dead. I, on the other hand, go down like a cheap ho from 3 shots. Don't get me wrong, I love the atmosphere and the funny translations, and the story might even be great (can't tell now), but the combat is worse than Deus Ex. I mean the original Deus Ex.

[schild]

The original Deus Ex combat was just fine for what it was when it came out. As for STALKER, I dunno, I'd put it about on par with Deus Ex, just years later. I've never had to empty 3 clips into anything though, not even a mutant. I suppose it depends on if you pick the right gun for the job or wander somewhere you're not supposed to. I do find the dog mutants bothersome.

[Engels]

Well, I didn't say I hit with every bullet. I'm talking about the newb gun you get right away. And those dogs man, at least 7 bullets to kill one, unless, again, you hit them in the head. I makes me suspect that there's something borken with the combat code.

[Tebonas]

What is broken is the newb gun. It is really really shitty and the combat system shouldn't be judged by its performance.

[Engels]

This turns out to be true. I finally got my hands on an AK47 and I'm golden. Now, if I can just remember to quick save every 5 minutes, I will not be as disheartned by the repetitive crashes.

[Mrbloodworth]

This turns out to be true. I finally got my hands on an AK47 and I'm golden. Now, if I can just remember to quick save every 5 minutes, I will not be as disheartned by the repetitive crashes.

Just bind "fire" and "quick save" to the same key.

[schild]

While the newb gun IS a real piece of shit, typically, there's a better gun somewhere in town or on the first pack of guys you kill for Quest No. 1.

[Rasix]

Game is interesting although it feels cheap as hell.  I don't play a lot of Eastern block games, but this feels particularly sloppy.  Really poor design/quest/map interface.  Quests are kind of wonky and I still don't understand a great deal of the game.  Lack of comprehension can be good and bad, but I still feel a bit lost.

Overall, the game isn't bad.  It can be difficult as hell.  The AI can either be insanely good or mind numbingly dumb (enemies backing into me and my double barreled shotgun). Still, it's interesting enough that I'll keep playing.  I'm not a big shooter fan, so I'm glad there's the exploration and survival aspects.  As good as Deus Ex.. I hope you're just talking about combat.  Game looks pretty bad, but I'm afraid to turn up any graphics due to the random pausing I tend to get in the game.  Haven't crashed yet, however.

I would have been annoyed if I paid full price for it.  With a decent amount of polish, it could be a great game.  Turning off the head-bob (mod) increased my enjoyment quite a bit.

[ghost]

I can't play this game.  The head bob is too much for me, and I can tolerate a lot if a game is fun.

[Hawkbit]

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/No_Headbobbing_Mini_Mod;77365

I used this when the game came out, hopefully it still works with the patches. 

Good game, overall.  I never beat it, but had a good time with it.  UI needed some work, but I cut them some slack being a smaller dev team.  I gave away my copy awhile back, wish I would have seen this thread before it went back up to $20.

[Rasix]

I can't play this game.  The head bob is too much for me, and I can tolerate a lot if a game is fun.

Option to turn off headbob was a mod included in the Zone Reclamation Project linked earlier.  It really helps.

And things not to do in the zone: anger an entire military base and then back yourself into a room with only one exit.  The AI is really patient at times.

[ashrik]

From what I remember, AMKmod and Oblivion Lost are the two big boys on the mod scene for this game. OL being the crowd favorite. Arsenal also comes to mind.

Just some quick picks in case you guys wanted a push in that direction

[MahrinSkel]

The weirdest part about Stalker for me was when I realized that the heavy handguns were actually excellent sniping weapons.  They don't use typical "cone of fire", it's a cone for about the first 20 meters, then it's a cylinder from there to forever.  The better handguns have a cylinder the side of a dinner plate, so it's as easy to make headshots from just inside the fog limit as from across the room (if you've got a very high resolution monitor or a scoped pistol).  And a headshot with a heavy pistol pretty much means instakill unless they're very well armored.

--Dave

[Sky]

Did SWG devs work on that?