The excellent Stalker: Call of Pripyat wouldn't stand a chance if it were released out of the blue in 2016. Nobody would care. NeoGAF would dismiss it as a janky Russian Fallout 4 ripoff. People would make gifs mocking the animations. Professional youtubers would stagger around dying every time an emission comes and blame the game for not having more tutorials. There would be dozens of "Why no black genderfluid lesbians in STALKER?" articles.
I miss the old days. You know, way back in 2009.
Me too Anon.
>tfw even Metro was uninspired compared to STALKER
Yeah, the industry has gotten shittier is why.
Just makes me wonder when the gaming industry will die out.
>>337528825
Eventually the bubble will burst.
>>337528704
I couldn't finish Metro, it was just too lacking in life.
>>337528704
>>337529948
C'mon, the Metro games were great. They were lucky enough to find some degree of commercial success when most of their Eastern European FPS peers failed.
>tfw played all of them to death and not even mods can bring back the freshness
hold me /v/
at least I can still spread the good word to friends about the series
>>337530513
SoC Complete and CS Complete are the only mods worth using. Basically all the Call of Pripyat mods fuck the game up in some way because the devs were obsessed with making the game "hardcore".
I don't want the game made edgy and hardcore. I want better graphics, bugs fixed, and maybe some rough design edges smoothed over, while trying to stick to the original developer's vision as much as possible.
Is that too much to ask?
>>337527271
Does this game has multiple endings like the original stalker?
>>337530773
You can do sidequests that will change the way certain events turn out in the different areas, so essentially, yeah.
>>337530856
A good reason to replay it then, thanks.
BTW I got the greedy ending in my first playthrough of SOC
>>337531036
THE WISH GRANTER IS A LIE.
>stalker threads on /v/ now die in a handful of posts
fucking 4chan sucks now
>>337531920
I haven't played the gamesI can barely run thembut I'm interested in them. I'll bump it for you, anon.
Man I've had SoC installed for the longest time. I played for like 20 minutes and got sidetracked by other games and haven't gone back to it. I really need to
>>337532104
Avoid mods if its your first time
They were releasing a new STALKER game every year. How? Was Clear Sky already halfway done when they released Shadow of Chernobyl or something?
>>337527271
>NeoGAF would
Stop reading there
>>337531920
It's not so much that it sucks, it's just that everyone has played them all to death. I have like 200 hours in SoC and CoP combinedfuck Clear Sky
The modding scene has slowed down, and Stalker 2 is deader than Lincoln at a theater.
>>337532226
Eh... Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky are buggy as fuck.
http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:_Shadow_of_Chernobyl
http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:_Clear_Sky
Zone Reclamation Project for SoC is 100% focused on fixing bugs, and is highly recommended if you're playing game for first time.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Complete for SoC and Clear Sky is also pretty good.
Call of Pripyat is the most polished of the games and doesn't need any mods.
>>337532307
Why do you hate Clear Sky? It's a pretty good game.
>>337532528
Its okey if its only bug fixing, but mods like Complete change the balance of the game.
>>337532693
>Its okey if its only bug fixing, but mods like Complete change the balance of the game.
Sure, but not to the same extent as something like Misery.
>>337532852
I'd rather play the game as the devs intended first, and then mod it. Even bethesda games. But that may be just me
Reminder that Stalker games have broken vsync. There's an official patcher for all the games to fix it.
http://www.stalker-game.com/en/?page=patches
>>337533008
>I'd rather play the game as the devs intended first, and then mod it. Even bethesda games. But that may be just me
You're not really wrong, but Shadow of Chernobyl & Clear Sky are arguably a special case because they're so broken.
I mean, who thought that it was a good idea for all weapons in SoC to have a chance of doing ZERO DAMAGE with a percentage that INCREASES as you lower difficulty?
>>337533314
dud rounds are a thing anon
>>337530730
>complete
get the fuck out m8
>>337533628
>dud rounds are a thing anon
And giving the player more dud rounds the lower the difficulty makes sense in what universe?
>>337533748
What is your problem with the Complete mods? Call of Pripyat complete is a clusterfuck, but the other ones dramatically improve visuals, fix bugs, and iron out some gameplay issues. They're relatively non-obnoxious compared to Misery and Oblivion Lost and shit like that. Could you suggest a better "overhaul" mod that doesn't fuck shit up?
>>337533763
slav magics anon
>mfw youtubers would make HILARIOUS REACTION VIDEOS
>mfw the title would be WORST GAME EVER MADE!!! SHITTY FALLOUT 4 CLONE!!!
>>337533902
Autumn aurora 2 you dumbfuck
which stalker is best in the series? or should i play them in order
>>337535227
Get SoC, you can skip CS since its a prequel and get CoP,
Still waiting on that multiplayer mod for CoP
>>337535227
Play them in release order.
Ignore everyone who says to skip CS.
>>337530330
The linearity killed it for me, I was just too spoilt by Stalkers open world to enjoy metro.
I mean in terms of gameplay Stalker is still linear, but the freedom of action to go where you like is something I can't do without in a game like this.
>>337531920
I've finished all three games. With 2nd playthroughs of SoC and CoP heavily modded.
Nothing else to talk about when there's nothing in development. The developer GSC Gameworld dissolved and everyone splintered off to do different projects. A bunch made Survivarium and the rest went to work on Metro.
The ONLY good news is that 4A (who made the Metro series) is currently developing a "sandbox like FPS-RPG". Make of that what you will.
>>337527271
CoP was shit though
Everything it did mods for SoC did better
>>337532240
Only in the west. The releases were decently staggered in Slavland. SoC came out late because it had to be localized.
>>337530730
>Call of Pripyat vanilla is hardcore
>first aid kids heal you up to full health
>enemies carry 1-2 at a time
>enemies go down in a few hits but can't aim for shit
I had fun with the Stalker series, but they aren't difficult
>>337533314
As someone who played SoC on release, those things are pretty miniscule, not to mention those effects occur for NPCs as well, so it's technically balanced. Not to mention in terms of map design I can see why such a feature was implemented. It was just done so poorly.
>>337533902
>he fell for the complete meme
Just thinking about standing by the fire while one of the stalkers plucks away at his guitar is enough to depress the shit out of me. We'll never have another.
>>337535639
>Ignore everyone who says to skip CS.
Fucking this.
I have no idea why people keep claiming CS is shit. Yes, the faction wars are broken but it's a fucking STALKER game, half the shit in each of them is broken and at least you can just ignore the faction wars completely.
CS has improved SoC gameplay, the best maps and has a way better story and climax than CoP. I guess if you want to roleplay then you might be disappointed but it's not like any of the games give you a satisfactory roleplaying experience. They were never meant to be RPG games until CoP and that one is a spectacular failure as an RPG anyway. The only thing CS is really lacking is the spooky underground labs, but CoP is lacking in that too.
>>337530330
Metro has good presentation, amazing graphics and is really well optimized, but the gameplay is extremely boring. The only reason it was a commercial success is because it was a dumb linear corridor shooter.
>>337536270
I don't hate it. But it's the worst in the series for sure.
>>337527271
Wait the first game was Shadow of Chernobyl right ?
>>337527271
>CoP
>not the easiest Stalker game
>not the one with the worst map designs
>economy barely exists
>easily the weakest storyline
>freeroam at the end does not offer anything new, no new quests or any other events
>"hey Dimitri, lets make all factions neutral to player, this way they will not make our empty maps even more empty because they will have little reason to waste ammo!", "great idea Mikhail! maybe they will think that npcs are more than few looped scripts and tell stories about how these stalkers totaly followed some mutants and then fought nail and tooth to kill them!"
oh yeah before you go defending CoP with "B-B-BUT PRIPYAT UNDERGROUND!", its actually a location cut from Clear Sky and X-8 is from old SoC builds
>>337536375
Only the little touches sell Metro for me. Like wiping blood or water off of the mask. That shit is my jam.
>>337530330
Any other good Eastern European/Russian FPs? Or just games in general?
>>337535652
>>337536375
>buzzwords: the post
Absolutely nothing wrong with linearity
People like you are the reason the industry is focusing on this cancerous new "open world" fad,even ruined MGSV by this gimmick
Kill yourself
>>337535005
>Autumn aurora 2
Like Misery, it makes the game too difficult because "muh atmosphere" and "muh hardcore".
>>337537010
>AA2
>Difficult
Actually get good.
Misery I can agree on since the values for everything are buttfuck retarded for the sake of hardcores, but AA2 is by no means hard.
>>337536375
>The only reason it was a commercial success is because it was a dumb linear corridor shooter.
There's nothing wrong with linear, story-driven shooters. I bet you think Call of Duty games are bad, too.
>>337536743
You're correct in general, but wrong in this case.
Not to mention Stalker SOC is still linear as fuck, it just isn't railroaded like metro.
>>337536540
>>"hey Dimitri, lets make all factions neutral to player, this way they will not make our empty maps even more empty because they will have little reason to waste ammo!", "great idea Mikhail!
A lot better than the bullshit constant combat of the first game. There's nothing worse than FPS games where you have to shoot stuff all the time.
>>337536403
Not for me, CoP was the worst.
Little combat, only a few bland and empty maps, an awful story and a half assed roleplaying implementation. CoP is 99% a boring walking simulator.
It was a huge disappointment for me.
>>337536638
Enemy Front is a lot better than many people give it credit. The same developers made the Sniper: Ghost Warrior games.
>>337536553
Yeah like I said it has good presentation. Little things like that are not in Stalker. I enjoyed it for what it was but I could only play it for an hour or so at a time.
>>337536743
It depends on the game. Metro is one of those cinematic shooters where more money went into the graphics than the rest of the game. I feel like the game is trying to immerse me through graphics and sound design instead of gameplay. Contrast with Stalker which has shit graphics and sound, but I always feel the need to watch my back because of things like bloodsuckers and poltergeists.
>>337537179
I think there is something wrong with it, and I do think CoD games are bad. They offer nothing to the player and are boring railroaded popamole experiences. A story driven shooter isn't necessarily a bad thing, but "story driven shooter" always means "hold W through this corridor shooting enemies behind cover to get to the next cutscene" like CoD and Metro.
>>337537339
>Little combat
I see this as a good thing. I hated how everything was trying to kill you in earlier games. Why the hell would these people be shooting you on sight? How does society even function like that?
>only a few bland and empty maps
The open world design brings pros and cons. It means you can stumble upon interesting things just wandering around. Abandoned buildings, etc. You never know when you're going to run into a monster.
>>337537440
>The same developers made the Sniper: Ghost Warrior games.
Having played the first Sniper: Ghost Warrior game that is not exactly a ringing endorsement.
But I'm not sure if you are right anyway. They both come from City Interactive who are a publisher that own multiple development studios that all operate under the same name. So it may be the same company, but it's not necessarily the same developers.
>>337536540
>not the easiest Stalker game
It's not dark souls, there is more to this game than finishing it to prove how hardcore you are.
>not the one with the worst map designs
It's stalker, the map layouts have always been serviceable at best.
>economy barely exists
It's the only stalker where money is actually valuable
>easily the weakest storyline
Can't really argue on this one.
>maybe they will think that npcs are more than few looped scripts
I know you don't understand this kind of thing, but you can do a heck of a lot of very impressive things with a few looped scripts.
>>337537892
No, it's the same team as Ghost Warrior, with some differences in staff here and there. I've only played Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, and I never quite saw what the problem was. The game seemed a decent enough arcade-style sniping game.
Enemy Front's original lead developer was the lead developer of Black, but he got kicked out halfway through. The final product is a WWII game with Crytek-esque leanings, partially because it is running on CryEngine.
>>337537747
>Why the hell would these people be shooting you on sight? How does society even function like that?
This is not society, it's the zone. Everyone in there is at the least technically a criminal, most people you talk to about their past reveal they were less scrupulous individuals outside the zone. They are living in basically an anarchy and they are all armed to the teeth. Of course there is going to be widespread conflict.
You are wrong anyway, the only humans that attacked on sight in the previous games were the military, the people under government orders to keep you out, the bandit faction, people who are there only to steal shit, and the monolith, brainwashed zombies. The other factions are neutral to you and will not attack unless you give them cause to.
>>337538297
>You are wrong anyway, the only humans that attacked on sight in the previous games were the military
Why would the military shoot you?
>the bandit faction
Why are bandits shooting at you for no reason?
>people who are there only to steal shit
Why would they shoot you unless you're directly threatening their stealing shit?
This is almost as bad as Fallout 4, where all the raiders and supermutants want to kill you for basically no reason.
I like City Interactive's FPS games. You can see how with each new game, they've improved their skills. I don't think any of their games have been truly "bad".
Back in the 90's, these guys would have been like a Polish Iguana or Polish Eurocom.
Or heck, a Polish Rareware. Lest we forget the complete and utter shit Rare released in their early days.
>>337538223
I can't speak for Ghost Warrior 2 but the first game was fucking terrible.
It was horrendously bug ridden, had the most inconsistent AI I've ever seen in a game and had a big issue with scripts failing to execute resulting in constant progression blockers. I finally got sick of replaying the same sections over and over again and just crossing my fingers that the scripts would execute correctly this time and dropped it. It wouldn't have been a very good game even if everything worked anyway.
I did play it on PC though, I can't imagine a game so broken would have got past console certification so I wouldn't be surprised if those versions actually worked.
>>337537946
>It's not dark souls, there is more to this game than finishing it to prove how hardcore you are.
what I am on about is that its MUCH easier than previous two
>It's stalker, the map layouts have always been serviceable at best.
difference is that zaton/yupiter and in lesser degree pripyat in CoP have themepark design which does not work in this type of game very well.
>It's the only stalker where money is actually valuable
while I agree that it was nearly useless in SoC, it did have much more use in CS simply because it was harder to get onto serious money. in CoP all you have to do is run into few anomalies to get some artifacts, then sleep at base until emission hits so artifacts respawn. due to overall emptiness on the map you will barely have anything to fight while visiting every anomaly in any of the three maps.
>Can't really argue on this one.
actually I gotta say that I jumped too harsh on this since story in stalker is just slightly more than an excuse plot, CoP simply handles it worse than previous games.
>I know you don't understand this kind of thing, but you can do a heck of a lot of very impressive things with a few looped scripts.
gotta agree, but I really wish there was more to stalker behavior than "go there, if its not occupied camp, set up there, otherwise clear it off enemies or go to another camp"
>>337538297
>This is not society, it's the zone.
There is a society in the zone, they're called S.T.A.L.K.E.R.S.
>>337538454
>Why would the military shoot you?
The zone is under military exclusion, no one is supposed to be in there but the government. The STALKERs are people there to steal shit to sell on the black market, the government does not want that and so the military have a kill on sight order.
>Why are bandits shooting at you for no reason?
They want to steal your shit because it's decidedly less dangerous and time consuming to just rob a STALKER than it is to actually find artifacts themselves or pay for them. And if you have nothing then so what? They don't care.
Have you actually played any STALKER games? You seem to be completely and utterly ignorant.
>>337538737
I can only assume they cleaned up their act between 2010 and 2013. I am interested to see how Ghost Warrior 3 turns out.
Anybody here read Roadside Picnic?
>>337539109
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Scavengers
Trespassers
Adventurers
Loners
Killers
Explorers
Robbers
does not sound like last bastion of humanity to me
>>337539126
>The zone is under military exclusion, no one is supposed to be in there but the government.
Sure.
>The STALKERs are people there to steal shit to sell on the black market, the government does not want that and so the military have a kill on sight order.
In the real world, this basically doesn't happen. When you're in a nuclear fucked up wonderland with monsters under every bush, you save your bullets for the monsters, unless you see a STALKER pushing their luck. It's as nonsensical as the mercenaries still shooting at Jack Carver as they're mown down by waves of trigen in Far Cry.
>They want to steal your shit because it's decidedly less dangerous and time consuming to just rob a STALKER than it is to actually find artifacts themselves or pay for them.
So you just shoot... at a heavily armed STALKER... on sight. Do you realise how fuckwitted that is? Literally no organised criminal outfit works that way. There have to be rules, guidelines.
>
Have you actually played any STALKER games? You seem to be completely and utterly ignorant.
All of them. Day 1 purchase.
>>337539109
On the contrary, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.S. are brainwashed zombies, you're thinking of Stalkers.
Some Stalkers group together into factions, e.g. Duty and Freedom, some stay as loners. This isn't really a functioning society, it's temporary co-operation resulting from the dangers of the zone, both human and non-human.
>>337538972
>what I am on about is that it's MUCH easier than previous two
Then explain why, don't just say that because that's how you feel. Use some empirical evidence.
>difference is that zaton/yupiter and in lesser degree pripyat in CoP have themepark design
So do SoC and CS, CoP is just more notable because the maps are larger and less linear and there are more "attractions" so it seems more like a themepark.
>in CoP all you have to do is run into few anomalies to get some artifacts
Which is easier said than done because anomalies in CoP are actually dangerous in comparison to SoC and CS
>>337539208
>mfw reading roadside picnic, watching roadside picnic, playing all three stalker games, reading metro, playing metro, watching the road, and reading assorted Russian science fiction and watching Russian animation
I am become cheeki, breeki of worlds.
>>337539532
>Some Stalkers group together into factions, e.g. Duty and Freedom, some stay as loners.
In Call of Pripyat, Duty and Freedom are at war, but that only really applies outside of "civilised" areas.
>>337539384
>does not sound like last bastion of humanity to me
So what? It is still a society. I don't even know what you're trying to prove with a post like this.
>>337539597
What's your favorite Russian scifi and animation? Feel free to name a few
>>337539450
>All of them. Day 1 purchase.
not that anon, but if you got them day 1, tell me why you dont remember radio transmission from army checkpoint in cordon, you know like right in the beginning of the game, you didnt even have to get close to it, you can hear it from rookie village
>>337539662
There will come soft rains is absolutely haunting.
>>337539532
>S.T.A.L.K.E.R.S. are brainwashed zombies
Fuckin wot?
>scavenger
>trespasser
>adventurer
>loner
>killer
>explorer
>robber
lol nope, all just zombies.
>>337539450
>In the real world, this basically doesn't happen.
What the fuck are you talking about? The real world absolutely operates this way. For example, in parts of the world poachers and grave robbers are shot on site. And we are talking about Eastern Europe here, not America or something, and in the source material it was the USSR controlled Eastern Europe which has obviously carried over to the modern adaptations. And they don't need to "save their bullets", they can just get more supplies delivered. They are the military.
>Literally no organised criminal outfit works that way. There have to be rules, guidelines.
The zone is anarchy. This is not the Mafia or something, it's whoever can get in and has a gun. And Stalkers aren't the walking immortal or something, five bandits will easily overcome a single stalker.
>>337539920
You didn't play the game, did you?
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Stalker is not the same thing.
>>337540316
Didn't realize there was a difference, in the localization I played S.T.A.L.K.E.R referred to stalkers, zombies with a tattoo were referred to as "marked ones"
>>337540916
To be fair, it is confusing as hell.
I don't think they actually explain which came first, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. tattoo or the people referring to themselves as Stalkers, but the explanation that sounds right to me is that the tattoo came first and the people in the zone just adopted it as their moniker too.
No one is aware that the C-Consciousness is marking people and brainwashing them, they just know there's a bunch of guys with that tattoo running around and until the marked one of SoC nobody had ever actually managed to interact with one that was alive.
>>337539450
Wow. What a retarded post.
>>337536540
Haven't fucked with CS too much but I've played CoP and SoC extensively and CoP feels about the same difficulty-wise, maybe even a little tougher in some aspects
>>337527271
CoP is actually a lot like real fallout or NV, the only stalker I likedbecause slav and don't really get off setting novelty
>>337535652
>The linearity killed it for me
let's not pretend shadow of chenobyl was anything bu linear, you just think setting is better and it is the same setting, metro is better executed.
>>337542046
I couldn't even begin to point out how retarded you are.
As linear as SoC is, metro is infinitely more so.
>>337533314
That's not how it works, the difficulty works as intended for zero damage rounds against the player but the player's damage remains the same. What people mistake the "zero damage" on the player's side for is precipitous damage reduction after the first shot for rapid fire that takes like a full second to reset, leading people to think their shots randomly aren't connecting and attributing this through confirmation bias to the difficulty.
They are connecting, they're just doing minuscule damage after the first shot. This was probably done so that players couldn't just hose mutant enemies down instantly at close range but it makes human enemies seem stupid resilient.
>>337527271
Gunslinger when?
Shoker 3 when?
Ray of Hope when?
I havent played CS because somehow it still shits on my computer and I havent finished CoP because I keep trying to find a mod suite I like. Swarz, Sigerous, Devolution, all meh.
I just want maps and guns.
>>337546672
Call of Chernobyl with Arsenal Overhaul or STCoP weapon pack
>>337527271
>NeoGAF
Who gives a fuck about GAF?
>>337547065
I think that was in production last I looked. May get around to it sometime soon.
>>337537603
Metro is more of a stealth game though.
>>337529948
Metro was pretty short so I didn't have trouble finishing it.
Stalker is leagues above it, though.
>>337527271
>NeoGAF would dismiss it as a janky Russian Fallout 4 ripoff.
Well fallout but with more bugs is kind of a fair description to be fair
>>337531372
No it is not.
>it's called the monolith. And it 'kills' you
>turns you into a zombie
>>337531920
Stalkers gotta hide from all those blowouts and emmissions anon
>over watch blowout in progress right now. Endless shit posting about yet another casual fag derp fest
>>337546029
Never
