Are STALKER's anomalies the single most genious level design feat in video game history? And we don't even know who came up with that.
There are plenty of games with carefully designed architecture, but STALKER made the air itself something to watch for.
>>330877590
What?
I played all STALKER games. They are not that impressive. They're just traps.
>>330877908
The point is in the way with which the trap is constructed. It takes Tarkovsky's hint and resolves it in a masterful way.
>>330877908
if you take the lore of CoP they are traps that moves itself in a ramdon way every time a blowout happens so shits gets crazy
>>330877590
>And we don't even know who came up with that.
the writer of Roadside Picnic.
But yeah, anomalies + radiation do add that sweet layer of uncertainty and mystery to the Zone's atmosphere. I do think that outside some major overhaul mods, the system wasn't utilized to its fullest potential. The AMK1.4 added blowouts AND moving, randomized anomalies to the Zone, making the gameplay more unpredictable and exciting.
it's been both hilarious and also kinda annoying to read these random comments from some rookie players, who apparently knew nothing about the games and their lore before starting, and are then spooked out by "wobbly air" and such.
>>330878969
That stuff was already mentioned in CS, and actually the starting point of the whole game, as new areas had opened up thanks to a big, unexpected Blowout. The randomized anomalies were already planned for SoC as well, but the small development hell combined with publisher breathing on GSC's necks at the time resulted some extreme cuts and changes before release.
>>330877590
>genious
>>330879473
I don't like moving anomaly concept. I like to think of them as something settling in a particular area.
So where are all the Stalker clones? How is there not a single clone of this game?
>>330879606
There were like 2 and they all failed, being some MMO bullshit.
As far as a singleplayer experience goes, Stalker can not be replicated.
>>330879574
that doesn't fit the books though, and kinda eats away some of the atmosphere.
The Zone's meant to be this literal no-MAN's zone, where you never take the shortest or the most straight route.
>>330879606
Ruskies kinda tried to copy it, even literally ripoff it, but they ended up being MMO crap.
Meanwhile, the western devs are way too deep in their "we want wider audience!" consolitis-thinking, which does not support player challenging ideologies.
One of the legendary examples of these two worlds colliding was during the development of STALKER 2, when GSC was having discussions with some western publishers about possible console-ports of S2. By the time the guys in suits started talking about "the game needing some changes to appeal to western players", AKA making it another CoD clone, the GSC's fellows gave them the finger.
>>330879606
Atmosphere
West treats post-apoc as being given a free reign to loot supermarkets
It's a fetish rather than misery.
>>330880102
Good thing neither Stalker is a direct adaptation of previous work
Also you're giving too much credit to GSC, STALKER was a fluke for the most part, even in Call of Pripyat they were still going for heavily CoD-like scripted stuff that didn't fit the setting nor the gameplay at all.
>>330880264
Good thing mods exist.
>>330880368
Which should further dissuade people for praising GSC for most of STALKER's success. After all, gameplay in STALKER is the same as in any military shooter, it's the world design that takes the cake and it's also the one thing that mods can polish.
>>330880264
>Good thing neither Stalker is a direct adaptation of previous work
True, because the result would be a literal walking simulator, with invisible traps.
SoC + AMK has the perfect blend of Chernobyl STALKER and Roadside Picnic.
>even in Call of Pripyat they were still going for heavily CoD-like scripted stuff that didn't fit the setting nor the gameplay at all.
those were very few and rare in the overall experience though. I literally spent over two WEEKS in all 3, pure vanilla games, doing "pointless" tasks or just freeroaming. Having to do one or two ALMOST scripted missions in between does not make it a CoD.
>>330880459
>After all, gameplay in STALKER is the same as in any military shooter,
Now you're just talking out of your ass. Seriously, just stop.
Even back in 2007, I found STALKER's gameplay to be far closer to System Shock 2 and Far Cry (1) than any Cowadooteh/BF bullshit. The games are still a bit closer to WRPG than pure shooter.
>>330880594
>few and rare
every story advancement is completely scripted
whole of Pripyat is scripted
road to Pripyat is completely scripted
before that there are a lot of scripted battles
every helicopter scene is scripted
etc
And sorry, but STALKER is a generic military shooter when it comes to gameplay alone. SS2 has psionics, for fuck's sake and Far Cry 2 is a weak game that has far more TECHNOLOGY moments than STALKER (being able to change the environment for one thing).
not really
shitty beginner's traps that ruin immersion by forcing you to throw infinite screws everywhere.
Why can anomalies only be detected by bolts?
Are you actually autistic? There's nothing that special about the anomalies, they're pretty well done in the game, especially with the mods that move them around after every blowout, but that's it dude, they're traps and you can spot them pretty fast once you've played the game for some time.
>>330880889
The ability to lean, the average gunplay, the ballistic and gun feel is way better than any cod. It feels real.
>>330881003
Because it's an hommage to Tarkovsky's Stalker
>>330881284
*are
>>330881284
especially if you play on Master diff
>>330881003
I always thought it was weird you couldn't trigger anomalies by shooting them. Especially when you consider bullets in STALKER are already physics objects instead of hitscan lines. Ammo is finite and shooting makes noise, so bolts would still be preferable in some circumstances.
>>330881398
People not playing on master didn't really play the true stalker.
>>330881648
Never thought about that myself. Would be pretty cool addition honestly. Fuck, you could use anomaly field as cover if they fucked up bullet trajectories or had other effects like that for bullets.
>>330880889
>And sorry, but STALKER is a generic military shooter when it comes to gameplay alone.
So it plays like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOHyD49DaeA
Yeah, didn't think so.
I've yet to see a generic military shooter with the same level of dynamic AI, as open-world, bullet-physics... etc as STALKER.
>SS2 has psionics
that's not what I meant. The limited inventory, breaking weapons, ammo-types, etc are very similar to that in STALKER.
FC1 is pretty much more linear Stalker without inventory.
in other words, you're mixing the idea of what kind of things you CAN do in the game, with the overall gameplay of the games.
