• Please make sure you are familiar with the forum rules. You can find them here: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?threads/forum-rules.2334636/

STALKER Mega-Thread; Clear Skies are Coming!

Bioshock is set in a fake unbelievable underwater city that totally lacks any power of immersion.

That's a little harsh, I enjoy STALKER as much as the next guy but the setting of BioShock is very well produced. Games don't have to be set "real world" to be deemed immersive, if you don't get it or don't appreciate it you should at least be open minded enough as to respect what the artists and level designers have done creating the world. BioShocks setting and visuals is one of it's finest (and possibly only good) point and the visuals are excellent.
 
Upvote 0
Yes I'm perhaps a little harsh, but I just can't stand all this fawning over such a uninspired (imho of course) game, and then people turning around and saying Stalker sucked. The things that make gaming on a PC better than consoles are the things that make Stalker better than Bioshock.

Having a problem reading text vs listening to taped audio is such a laughable reason to mark the game down. I want to, but wont, make any comments about people's reading comprehension skills.
 
Upvote 0
Yeah right, because i criticise the lack of spoken text in the game that automatically qualifies me as an illiterate moron.:rolleyes: Spoken text gives much more immersion if good voice actors are used (which actually were) and is simply standard. But I guess if I demand SVGA graphics of todays games I must be a graphics whore too. But good job of taking your BioShock bashing here, which makes what you wrote just all the more amusing.
 
Upvote 0
I guess why I like Stalker's setting is that it has that magic quality to it that allows suspension of disbelief.

The fact that a game might have a non-real science fiction setting doesn't mean it can't have that quality. Look at the alien tower in Half Life 2 Ep 1. Getting into the reactor room with that glowing ball was absolutely unreal, yet at least for me the suspension of disbelief was there.

I guess it's the rank impossibility of the settings in some games, combined with their poor gameplay that destroys believability and makes you think you are playing a game meant for toddlers.
 
Upvote 0
I haven't got far in this game mission wise (done strelok's stash and 1st mission in dark valley for the scope) but i have put in a lot of playtime exploring/fighting/scavenging.

I've been playing a loaned Russian version of this game and havn't patched so it's still v1.0- but I havent really found any problems yet. I know most ppl would say patch up and start over and i think I prob will but im waiting for my copy to arrive then start over i guess.

I have a couple of q's about the garbage area and stalker camps.

I saved bez's camp ( the open air one) then moved on to save the covered railyard one with the bed which i decided to make my home from home and stash.
However when defending that one time i got called by bez again and again- when i cleared the indoor one he asked for a chat and i guess i was too busy - it said mission failed a bit later (the collect reward- not defend bit) and i discovered he had died at some point.

With defending the indoor one- i have done so a few times- but havent been to the bar to collect reward yet.
i see the mission sometimes resets when it is attacked- is it normal that you have to defend it on any occasion and then get to bar before it gets lost? Because it would be attacked many times after your 1st defence before you get a chance to go to the bar.
If the bandits overrun it in your absence (i take it they can) do stalkers return there and take it back- or do you have to clear it out first? Indeed will stalkers go there if it's empty?

I love this game but i feel a bit of a slave to these camps. You get failed mission messages when you are in another zone. Maybe they are not too important but i like the idea of keeping them as stalker strongholds, with the same ncps surviving.
It's clear bandits will always spawn and attack- the game hangs considerably as you approach the railyard as i guess it decides to place some action there every time.

Also i've noticed corpses generate new items after a while, med food and bandages mostly. I appreciate it's phaps helping players with vitals but i don't need it- i got 70000Ru and hundereds of meds and bandages- its silly.
It tends to waste my time as i am by nature a greedy horder in rpg's, like a magpie tha must collect endless shiny things.

Do later patches change some of the stuff ive mentioned?

I guess i may patch this russ version - although as i say im happy playing v1.0 this runthough an dcontinuing my game - as long as bugs don't stop my progress later- or unfairly fail missions for me.
cheers
 
Upvote 0
Thouse base defense/elemination missions will pop up all the bloody time, and you only have 1 day to collect the reward, or it fails, its quite annoying.

But fear not, there are mini mods out there that will either remove the timer, or set it at 10 days to collect the reward, then you can go collect at your own leisure.


Also, once you get patched, money will start to become a problem, in v1.0 you can get rich crazy super fast, but the patches made it much more realistic, so you will start to appreciate any handouts you get along the way then ;)
 
Upvote 0
Thouse base defense/elemination missions will pop up all the bloody time, and you only have 1 day to collect the reward, or it fails, its quite annoying.

But fear not, there are mini mods out there that will either remove the timer, or set it at 10 days to collect the reward, then you can go collect at your own leisure.


Also, once you get patched, money will start to become a problem, in v1.0 you can get rich crazy super fast, but the patches made it much more realistic, so you will start to appreciate any handouts you get along the way then ;)

Thx for reply Gro- nice one.
I think i want to play this game modless first- though i will defo check them out in time, inc your Alertness mod if it's still compatitble.
It's just whether i cont. my current playthough on v1.0 or start over- and if I do which patch to take (in view of mod compatability) this thread is getting on so maybe they all work with 1.005 which is now considered standard?
As i said, all i really want is bugs fixed and performance raised- rather than a massive difference to the trading/gameplay etc.

Do patches affect money by reducing the amount of stuff on dead ncps or reducing it's trader sale price? If the latter I am tempted to stay with v1 this time cos if i restart i want to aviod what must amount to even more trader runs with a backpack full of empty smg's etc.
I would want to get to my current stage quite quickly and crack on with the story.

You may have gathered already from my cronic indecision that RPG's take me quite a while to complete.

Mods aside, I take it patches wont fix these camp mission problems.
I dont really mind the 1 day reward, I just would like my railshed base camp to be more secure really. Bandits are constantly having a go and i always feel obliged to defend when i'm in the area.Though not so important if stalkers will re-populate it again later once you clear out bandits.

Although there are threads knocking about concerning mods etc, I think this awesome game should phaps have a new general one of it's own.
 
Upvote 0
The money is a bunch of things really, traders not paying as well, things cost more, and you wont find as many freebies lying around, so its harder across the board.

I can certainly understand you want to give it a go as is first, but trust me, if you are just half the scavenger i am when playing an RPG like this, and it sounds like you are, you will very soon have amassed a vast fortune in 1.0, way more money than you can ever use, and that whole aspect of the game just plain dies.
Its much more fun in the patches, where money actually means something, and you have to put in the effort to get it.

There's also Trader mods to considder when you get that far, since even after the patches, you can quickly grow very rich, not because the game throws money at you, but because none of the traders sell anything you want to spend your money on.

They range from letting you buy anything and everything, to the more conservative and realistic, so that will also be worth a look down the line.



As for the Garbage camp, well, there may be mods that makes sure attacks are less frequent, i haven't seen any, but considdering how many people dislike thouse missions, it would seem likely that someone has made it, its worth a look.
But the 1 day thing will get on your nerves soon enough, as sometimes you can get wrapped up in several missions in a row, and if any of them has the 1 day timer, you have to rush though it all to try and make it back in time, it really messes up your chances to find cool stuff in areas you are unlikely to return to.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dogbadger
Upvote 0
I can certainly understand you want to give it a go as is first, but trust me, if you are just half the scavenger i am when playing an RPG like this, and it sounds like you are, you will very soon have amassed a vast fortune in 1.0, way more money than you can ever use, and that whole aspect of the game just plain dies....
You don't know the half of it.

I'm sitting here in only the second area with about 70000ru. I've found my little sanctuary out of the rain in the train shed.
I've got a stash with a scrollbar tab about 2 pixels thick.
I have 190 bandages, 50 medpacks 33 loaves 22 sausages 15 bottles of vodka and more artifacts than an overclocked 6800GT with a broken fan- I won't even bother going into weapons.
Sid's bored with me dumping sackfulls on his desk.
I've sold more medicine than GlaxoSmithKline.

I actually wish i could give it away to the local stalkers and create my own private army. I just want them to clear away the bandits for good so the punters can start coming to my shop.
Clearly I don't give a sh1t about strelok because it seems far more important to open an armoury/healthcare center/bakers/delicatessen/off-licence.

That's me and RPGs. Wonderful game.
It may well be time to patch and start over cos i think i'm missing the point of this one.
 
Upvote 0
You don't know the half of it.

I'm sitting here in only the second area with about 70000ru. I've found my little sanctuary out of the rain in the train shed.
I've got a stash with a scrollbar tab about 2 pixels thick.
I have 190 bandages, 50 medpacks 33 loaves 22 sausages 15 bottles of vodka and more artifacts than an overclocked 6800GT with a broken fan- I won't even bother going into weapons.
Sid's bored with me dumping sackfulls on his desk.
I've sold more medicine than GlaxoSmithKline.

I actually wish i could give it away to the local stalkers and create my own private army. I just want them to clear away the bandits for good so the punters can start coming to my shop.
Clearly I don't give a sh1t about strelok because it seems far more important to open an armoury/healthcare center/bakers/delicatessen/off-licence.

That's me and RPGs. Wonderful game.
It may well be time to patch and start over cos i think i'm missing the point of this one.

Hahahaha, ohh man, i know the drill, though admittedly, i had the good sence not to collect all the useless stuff like sausages and bread (tin food is all you need), but i too have allmost hundreds of any one item.

But thats also why i like the game better after the patch, and with a Trader mod installed (so they actually sell some interesting stuff i want to buy), i just cannot stop myself from hamstering all this junk, so atleast this way, it pays off for me, and without beeing too easy ;)
 
Upvote 0
You don't know the half of it.

I'm sitting here in only the second area with about 70000ru. I've found my little sanctuary out of the rain in the train shed.
I've got a stash with a scrollbar tab about 2 pixels thick.
I have 190 bandages, 50 medpacks 33 loaves 22 sausages 15 bottles of vodka and more artifacts than an overclocked 6800GT with a broken fan- I won't even bother going into weapons.
Sid's bored with me dumping sackfulls on his desk.
I've sold more medicine than GlaxoSmithKline.

I actually wish i could give it away to the local stalkers and create my own private army. I just want them to clear away the bandits for good so the punters can start coming to my shop.
Clearly I don't give a sh1t about strelok because it seems far more important to open an armoury/healthcare center/bakers/delicatessen/off-licence.

That's me and RPGs. Wonderful game.
It may well be time to patch and start over cos i think i'm missing the point of this one.
Bandages is the one thing you need to have in the hundreds for when things might become hectic later on.

Oh and the overheating 6800GT comparison/word play was superb. :D
 
Upvote 0
I had tons of money in STALKER, and yes I did patch the game (to 1.3 or 1.4 I believe). It was very easy to earn a lot of money. I wasn't too satisfied with the ending I got, tbh. How the heck are you going to get the other endings if earning money is so damn easy?

Its only a problem if you never spend any of that money, but ofcourse you dont, since none of the traders sell anything thats worth buying.

Ergo the need for trader mods, i have no trouble spending my dosh, since SEVA suits and 7.62x54R ammo are an expensive, but easilly acuired taste ;)
 
Upvote 0