So today i started S.T.A.L.K.E.R for the first time

[BuffetSlayer]

Decided to keep it as it is for now, Loving it so far, however rather dam challenging at times and last night i think i may have screwed up, stuck in a high radiation area with very little health made me rage quit and hopefully ill figure it out later when i play it again,

You may have to go back to an earlier save. It is a game that allows you to break it in terms of getting yourself into trouble and being unable to get out of it

I played it on release many years ago. Thought it was a great game. Played it recently and thought meh - so dated. I suppose I could mod it for up to date graphics, but I don't think I can be bothered. But the movement feels bad, the level design is pretty bad too and lacks the kind of detail we see in more modern games.

Now - a modern version of the game could be very interesting but essentially that is what Metro/Last light is (as well as FO3 I guess).

From around the time it was released most other releases have been cross-platform so you won't have missed as much as you think in game terms. Perhaps some multiplayer stuff but most of the big titles were cross-platform.

 

[EddScott]

I've yet to play any of the stalker games as well.. I am interested in Chernobyl power station disaster though/Pripyat and the story of the game, I should really get round to trying it out.

Why not go take a look for yourself?

Went last October and going this October. Fantastic trip!

Autumn Aurora 2.0 is the best of the STALKER mods IMO.

Wouldn't mind giving this a go.

Anyone tried the Lost Alpha mod?

 

[arc@css]

Wouldn't mind giving this a go.

Anyone tried the Lost Alpha mod?

Yes. I enjoyed it more as I progressed through the game (and after a few patches). One of the better mods I've played for SOC, though it did seem to be a bit more of a linear, scripted experience than compared to other works.

Anyone playing the Stalker games would be well advised to make hard saves too, not just quick saves.

 

[Dr.Fate]

Yes. I enjoyed it more as I progressed through the game (and after a few patches). One of the better mods I've played for SOC, though it did seem to be a bit more of a linear, scripted experience than compared to other mods.

Anyone playing the Stalker games would be well advised to make hard saves too, not just quick saves.

Good advice on the hard saves. I hit an area about 80% of the way through that just wouldn't recognise my quick saves. After a particularly challenging section, quite deflating to realise there was no quick save! I probably could have looked into it but replayed the section again. I actually mapped a key on my gaming mouse to quick save, I did it that often!

On the subject of weapons, I never bothered with a handgun. My favourite weapon (with the Autumn Aurora mod at least) was the SAIGA-12 semi-automatic shotgun. I picked it up on my very first mission and carried it through the whole game. I hot-keyed #2 to the shotgun (rather than a handgun) so only had to carry a long-arm and a shotgun. Plenty of ammo around, anytime I went inside I armed myself with the SAIGA. 12 gauge darts and solid rounds do as well, if not better, than rifled rounds in the interiors.

For most of the game I used the Cobra with a scope and silencer as my long-arm as there is plenty of ammo to be looted for it, saves carrying a lot of ammo. Occasionally swapped out for a sniper rifle (there is an excellent NATO sniper rifle to be had with AA) but ammo was too heavy for it most of the time. Although when the G36 became available, it was tough to go past it, just had to put up with a lack of SS109 ammo for some of the time. Of course the Gauss outdoes them all, but again in AA ammo is scare for it.

Cheers,

 

[Rezident]

STALKER was a buggy little masterpiece alright, I remember how stunning it looked in parts and the lighting was amazing. Despite the flaws, I really loved the gameworld, The Zone was a wonderful place to just explore and get lost in. Pretty creepy and edgy in parts too, it kept you on your toes. Some of the weapons were pretty tasty too, some of my silenced sniper rifles were fabulous.

 

[D3K]

This is a real spoiler:

Spoiler

The ending is what really spoiled it for me. It was so rushed. The last few levels in the reactor weren't fleshed out and didn't feel like they'd had the time to let you all the way in. Not to mention the buggy end scenes where I wasn't sure if the game was really over or not.

In spite of that, still a great game. I don't think I'd have the tolerance for it now that I have less time to devote to games though.

 

[signal11th]

Stalker was a great game , bug ridden but the atmosphere in the game was unreal

 

[TheOtherOption]

I'd have to agree with what's been said - such a great game and well worth playing with the Complete mod installed!

Has to be the only game to make me scared of going out on missions at night time - the underground sections too had my skin crawling at points it was that well put together!

 

[Haggisman]

Decided to keep it as it is for now, Loving it so far, however rather dam challenging at times and last night i think i may have screwed up, stuck in a high radiation area with very little health made me rage quit and hopefully ill figure it out later when i play it again,

Drink some vodka

 

[djimty]

Bought off the bay for £1.79, downloaded and installed the Autumn Aurora 2 Mod and I have to say it looks really good! Can't wait to play it properly when I get the chance over the weekend .

 

[the_jetsetwilly]

..................get out of here stalker.

my favourite game(s) of all time

 

[MrMarvelous]

Good to see so many new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans in here.

 

[Dogoid]

currently playing Pripyat again, although never completed it the first time, never did get to the pripyat area, i read there is a secret path/entrance , not sure. i remember getting to the point of the scientists jobs to get 3 or 4 artifacts , that's when i stopped.

ohh and was stumped at one of the crash sites with the heli surrounded by a fence with mines, now i know how to get past that this time around.

 

[Flack88]

..................get out of here stalker.

my favourite game(s) of all time

Cheeky Breeki!

Lol I remember seeing this back in the old Nvidia FX series days, check out that awesome framerate:

 

[PinkFloyd]

Stalker was being demo'd back in 2004? I can't even imagine trying to play it on cards available around then. I don't even remember it running that well on my 8800GTX after overclocking the crap out the entire machine!

 

[arc@css]

I found a 7800GTX 256mb struggled, though I probably wasn't aware of how much a part the cpu played as well the gpu. I think my graphics card was paired with an AMD dual core 4400+ cpu.

 

[Quixote]

I love this series to bits.
As good as the 1st one is, I think the 3rd (Call of Pripyat) is the best of the lot.
These were always RPGs without the stats and levelling (ie progression is via equipment and player skill) and 1st person shooting/ stealth instead of RPG combat.
Pripyat really delivered on that though - The wide corridors of the previous games were replaced by just 3 huge, open areas. I also think the missions were more interesting and so many cool locations / vignettes.
Plus its 100 % stable and polished right out of the box with no mods. Although mods are one of the really great things about this series.
The 2nd (Clear Skys) has it's moments but definitely the runt of the litter.

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Im stunned!, just tried Lost Alpha on my new screen @ 1440p (previously on 1080p), same settings, thought it would have crippled, but it actually runs fine, and actually few frames better.

Got everything on, every slider maxed, apart from the view distance and grass density, which ive got just over half way, sun rays and SSAO on high, im getting 45-60+, and using FreeSync, its smooth as a babys bum!

 

[DarrenM343]

Was really impossible to play back in the day smoothly but with modern graphics cards should play well. I have only completed the first of the series so far and partly through the second.
I like free-roaming games and as much as I've heard Metro is like Stalker it's just not. Am still enjoying that one too but need to focus on one game at a time.

 

[Apsilon]

Stalker was a fantastic game. I loved the apocalyptic feel of it and the constantly oppressive atmosphere that was prevalent, especially so the further into the game you progressed. I'm tempted to reinstall it now because even though it must be a decade old, there must be a ton of mods too tart it up.

The only gripe I had with Stalker was the weight carry limit, it was way too low. If memory serves, there used to be a trainer that bypassed this but, I never bothered with it because I suspect it would have ruined the experience.

Never played the third installment either so will have to grab that on Steam.