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STALKER
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Cycle
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:59 pm    Post subject: STALKER Reply with quote

So, in short and from what I've played so far, Fallout + Half Life 2 = Stalker.

It takes the perspective and gun play of Half-Life 2, the adventure and RPG elements of Fallout (minus the actual number RPG elements which is a good thing) and combines the atmosphere of both to create something completely different and exciting. Oh, and rather frightening.

Here are some of my initial impressions from when I first bought it (poor writing warning):

Quote:

I started out in an underground vault after my life was saved, the person infront of me offering a job to "partially" repay for my life. I go along with it and head up the stairs to see the world for the first time. And this is a world that has truly still deep in decay. I immediately found myself in the remains of small town where the Loners faction have set up a camp. I go talk to the leader who has more information for my mission. On the way I see a man playing a guitar, sitting around a campfire with some companions. Between songs they talked and shared (russian) jokes and laughed. From what I soon saw, these small moments of happiness are rare for the inhabitants of the zone. I initially had my gun out, and the first Stalker I met pointed his gun right back at me, screaming at me in russian until I put my gun down. Turns out they don't like guns in their faces, especially when they don't know you.

The leader tells me he needs some information from a Loner who has been captured by the Bandits faction, and there are already scouts at the location. As I journey towards them, I look at the world around me. There is debris littered all by the side of the road, Stalkers roaming the fields fighting packs of animals. On my return trip, I saw the same Stalkers (rookies) had been killed by the animals, which had dragged the bodies down into the bushes and started ripping them apart. A military helicopter flew overhead, said something to me in russian, before moving on again.

I finally meet up with the scouts and ask them what activity they've seen. They tell me how many people they have seen, and their patrols in the base. I had the choice of going in alone and calling them in if I needed them (I don't know how that would work though) or going in all together.

We went in all together. This was a great fire fight. The AI was clever, flanked us, fooled us, but we managed to take them out. I found the person I was looking for who gave me the information, in addition to revealing the location of an artifact in gratitude of saving his life.

I head back to complete the mission. On the way I encounter many anomalies. I have a detector which goes off when I'm near one, so if I don't see it immediately I slow down and tread more carefully. I also encounter an animal that whimpered and ran off when it saw me. Later I discovered it was going to get the rest of the pack which teared me apart. I also saw a pack of dogs running scared. Couldn't work out why they charged me and kept on running past until I realised they were running from a military helicopter. The sound must have spooked them. This game has such an incredible atmosphere. I can only imagine the world gets more involved from here.

Man I could go on for ages. I'm really impressed, this game is gonna keep me busy for a long time. When I reviewed Armed Assault not that long ago, I kinda wish I could explore the big huge landscapes and make little discoveries in addition to missions. This is that game and more. There are hundreds of little discoveries I've made already, some useful, some frightening, and some that just make you wonder what the hell happened there.

Crash bugs? Yes. That's why I'm here typing this post. It lasted a good solid few hours before it though, and everything else seems polished and unbuggy, quite surprisingly. I'm gonna go dive back in. Man, this game is great.


Ok, so that's the good stuff so far, let me point out some of the things that may irk people.

This is not Oblivion with guns. Each area is quite large and packed with little and large details, but it isn't as freeroaming as Oblivion. There are fences that act as barriers which cheapens the experience a bit, and you move from one area to the next via certain points (bottlenecks) in the map. It looks like you start at one point with the aim to move to the other side of the zone since the map is very vertical, but you can go back and forth as you please. Still, each area is quite large and packed with things to do.

Gunplay also feels dated compared to the likes of Fear and it's a little hard to get used to the aiming, but overall, thanks to the atmosphere, the actual missions and the design of the world, the gunplay is far more interesting than the likes of Fear (unless you just wanted a game to shoot shit up in, in which case, go read another thread).

The living world is both bad and good. Everytime I make a new friend, chances are when I go back to see them they would have been killed by someone or something. It's sad, but then again, I could have prevented the death of some people. I saw a group of bandits walk in their direction, but I decided to ignore it. Fortunately, most of them survived. EDIT: I just realised, it was all my fault. They went under the bridge... normally the military would fight them off, but since they were all dead, they just waltzed in and attacked my friends. Now I feel guilty Sad

Anomalies are also a little too common. They are literally all over the place. I can see why vehicles wouldn't work, you'd drive two feet and get killed. These are all minor anomalies, though.

There are a few other nitpicks but nothing too serious yet. I'm sure I'll find more problems as I go on, but I try to avoid nitpicking until AFTER I've finished the game.

Right now, I just entered the second area where I saw someone being held up by Bandits. I saved him, and he asked if I could help him and a group of others drive Bandits out of the Garbage. I failed the mission which is when I decided to call it a night and try again today.

So yeah, I'm really loving it so far. It's not as SUPER INNOVATIVE AND OPEN-ENDED as we all thought it would be, but it's still really great (so far, but I can only see it getting better). I also didn't buy into the hype and didn't have SUPER high expections (but I was still really looking forward to it) so others may be dissapointed more who have been believing everything that they said in the previews. Anyone else pick it up?




Man everytime I'm about to post this, I keep thinking of other stuff to talk about, but I should just leave it. I should mention Artifacts are an important part of the game, and act as enhancement objects. Like they'll improve your strength but slowly give off more radition or such. Some are common, others are rare and do you lots of favours and are worth lots of money. These are usually the ones that you find during a mission and fight people for it, but I actually found one by accident by just exploring once.




Oh, oh! This other time, I was supposed to meet this guy by a tunnel, as to avoid going the main way which was guarded by the military (who hates everyone, it seems). Unfortunately, by the time I got there, the guy had been killed by a pack of animals, and the tunnel was FULL of anomalies. I guess he would have told me how to get through, but he was dead, so I had to go the main way under the bridge. The military were currently fighting some bandits so I left them kill each other. At the end, there were about eight military left, still standing at their post under the bridge. I climbed up to the top of the bridge, right over them, and dropped two grenades, killing all but two men. I then ran to the cover of a building and fought the other two off. Emergent gameplay! Yes! This is just a simple example, too. Way until more things get in the picture...

I have yet to see my first dangerous mutant yet, just a few mostly harmless ones. Apparently when I do see my first, I will shit my pants. I look forward to it!

Here are some AI stories from other people:

Quote:
On my way back, I'm walking up the road and I hear like a fuckton of dogs barking and getting closer. I'm like AW SHIT here we go. About 6 or 7 brown dogs run across the road at high speed. I stop and I'm just watching them. All of the sudden I hear a thunderous stomping. I see a dust cloud moving closer, my jaw dropped as this fucking mutant bull thing is tearing ass after the dogs.

Some of the dogs were trying to flank the bull thing, the bull wouldn't have any of that shit and went after the flanking pair. The other 4 or 5 dogs circled around and ran across the road in front of me again, then I see the other 2 following them. The bull in hot pursuit.

They go off into a clearing about 50 yards out, and I witnessed the fucking most awesome fight I ever saw in a game. The bull was circleing around trying to charge the dogs, the dogs outmaneuvered him. 2 of them were nipping at the back of it. Dust flying up all over the place.

Then they all disappeared over a hill and all I can hear was the stomping of hooves and distant barking.

I swear to God that right there, in that 20 minutes of playing, I was hooked totally and completely.


and

Quote:
Stalker provides what feels like the most authentic "living environment" I've ever seen in a single-player experience. I didn't have the same level of awesomeness that you had at the same scene, but when I first passed the bridge, there were a group of other stalkers hanging out by the side just chilling. When I came back a few minutes later, not just had all three of them been killed by some mysterious force, but the dogs were dragging their corpses off under the bridge for some snackage. I had to pull out my gun and scare them off so I could salvage what I could off their corpses before the dogs could get theirs.

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dhex
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the voice acting is actually pretty good. they should have done the whole thing in russian, however, and just subtitled it.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree! I like not knowing what anyone is saying out in the world, though. It means I don't know if it's being repeated or not!
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I want to know how much, if anything, this game has in common with the Tarkovsky film Stalker.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i'm not familiar with the movie so i have no idea.

however, it does remind me of an old pc game called twilight 2000.

anomalies suck! the wolves running away from them, however, is really fucking neat.

i really wish they'd kept everything in russian, voice-acting wise.

the cover art on the box is kind of annoying. not bad, but not good. there's so much creepy shit out there.

mods are going to make this last for years. i'm hoping for a head bob one myself.

it doesn't seem to handle anti-aliasing very happily with everything else engaged up on full. it definitely looks odd at times, but that's ok.

semi-related: asus has a goddamn stupid slogan.

edit:

this guy's drivers are fucked up or something:

http://www.dode.dfgrom.com/s/temp/ss_daniel_03-20-07_22-22-31_(l01_escape).jpg

http://www.dode.dfgrom.com/s/temp/ss_daniel_03-20-07_22-23-16_(l01_escape).jpg
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex wrote:

the cover art on the box is kind of annoying. not bad, but not good. there's so much creepy shit out there.


I got the tin box edition which looks really rad! as in radiated, ho ho ho! I agree with most of what you said. They should have toned some of this shit down, like the anomalies.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bah. I diss F.E.A.R. because of its ridiculously acronymed title and it turns out to have some of the best multiplayer action I have ever experienced.

I scoff at S.T.A.L.K.E.R. because of its ridiculously acronymed title and then you go and write posts that make my pants bulge with unpredictable AI and player-driven storyline love.

Jerks.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The only thing that kept me from bringing EB 20 old Xbox games in hopes of getting this for under $10 is the fact that I'm going out of town tomorrow and my laptop can't handle it. When I get back though ... I just don't know if I can hold out.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:50 am    Post subject: Re: STALKER Reply with quote

Cycle wrote:
There are a few other nitpicks but nothing too serious yet. I'm sure I'll find more problems as I go on, but I try to avoid nitpicking until AFTER I've finished the game.

I've got one nitpick right now: Enemies that both see and shoot through walls. Big thick concrete ones, not tin siding or anything. I got underground, with military patrols around the passageways, and quickly found that hiding behind a pillar with no line of sight simply isn't enough. You have to be hiding in the shadows to remain undetected. But they've got headlamps, and those can sometime go through walls as well.
Quote:
Oh, oh! This other time, I was supposed to meet this guy by a tunnel, as to avoid going the main way which was guarded by the military (who hates everyone, it seems). Unfortunately, by the time I got there, the guy had been killed by a pack of animals, and the tunnel was FULL of anomalies. I guess he would have told me how to get through, but he was dead, so I had to go the main way under the bridge.

Sound like you had more fun, but you could have searched his body for more info. Or just sprinted through the tunnel and used a med kit on the other side.

Quote:
I have yet to see my first dangerous mutant yet, just a few mostly harmless ones. Apparently when I do see my first, I will shit my pants. I look forward to it!

Yes. And you'll likely just sit there reloading your shotgun while it eats you alive.

I'm mostly pleased with it. I love the whole living AI thing, but DAMN could it use more polish. I'm seriously yearning for Crytek over here. On the other hand, there seems to be just a mass of content, and I'm desperately in love with the world, so it may be the type of game I just start tinkering with and forgo the main mission entirely.

I'd be interested in seeing what people are playing on as well.
Athlon 64 3200+
2GB RAM
9800 Pro (128 MB)
over here, and I think I might appreciate something more fluid, but getting a current GPU would also involve a new power supply (my 380 watt one can barely sustain everything as) which scares me.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Weird, I haven't seen any enemies shoot through walls yet. All the firefights have been fair, but be warned: it really sucks until you start getting some better weapons with greater accuracy, not to mention some scopes. Also, don't forget you can change the fire mode of your weapon. Don't use burst from a long distance, obviously.

Oh, and crash every crate you find. I've found some sweet armour that way, at the bottom of the research lab.

Oh, and a bunch of people have told me about the different ways of getting on the other side of the train tracks. One guy said he just approached the military and paid the main guy to let him through.

There sure seem to be plenty of options! I like my way the best though, because people died.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 7:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i'm running:

athlon +3700
2gb ram
7800gt
sata hd (250gb)

with anti aliasing off and everything else turned on it runs stupid fast. anti-aliasing, even with other sliders messed with, doesn't really work out. i don't know why. tweaks will appear soon enough.

i will spend more time with this friday night, before being banished to paper land forevar.

edit: people had really high expectations for this game, which is strange considering eastern europe is involved. polish would be nice, but i like the rawness. it's actually far less raw than i was thinking (which was somewhere around the level of boiling point, a great idea that just didn't have it, ever)
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 10:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Moscow Times talks about Vodka and it's uses as a radioactive prohibitor.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

or not! ha.

also i found a factual error in the manual's introduction that made me sad. but everything else seems ok thus far. i wish i was home playing it, though i have to write like, 40 essays by monday. (stalker friday is still on though)

also, is the book worth reading (i swore off three hour movies after my wife made me watch one of the lord of the rings extended edition shits. you know things are bad when you're rooting for something to eat the main character.)
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex wrote:
edit: people had really high expectations for this game, which is strange considering eastern europe is involved. polish would be nice, but i like the rawness.


I didn't know there were any polish game developers

:rimshot:
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DUDE TEH WITCHERZ

(right?)
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Elena's Motorcycle Ride through Chernobyl
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember looking at the site when I first heard about STALKER. It was pretty interesting! And there are some sites you see in the game, once you get into the city area.

Ok, I really hope someone makes a mod that tones down the bandits. It's a real pain in the ass moving frmo one area to another and fighting about 100,234 bandits on the way there. Plus they always seem to know where you are, you should beable to sneak around firefights better. It's like cliffracers but ten times worse!

I'm going to have to make a big list of things that I think would improve the game and send it to the developers, and hope they atleast consider a few of them. Really, this game isn't that far from being one of my favourites of all time, but there are a few things holding it back. Still having a great time with it though, and things only get better as the game goes on. The things you see, the things you do, the things you find... it's just great.

I was having a firefight last night and two bandits accidently ran into an anomaly together. Hilarity ensued.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex wrote:

also, is the book worth reading (i swore off three hour movies after my wife made me watch one of the lord of the rings extended edition shits. you know things are bad when you're rooting for something to eat the main character.)


Someone at selectbutton (mr apol) posted this!

http://www.davar.net/EXTRACTS/FICTION/PICNIC.HTM

Gonna give it a good solid read when I have time.

Is the movie hard to find? I might check ebay. It's had a dvd release... right?
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i've actually been reading the story, because of this thread!

i like the premise a lot.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cycle wrote:
Is the movie hard to find? I might check ebay. It's had a dvd release... right?

Shouldn't be too hard to find, though every time I see the DVD in a store it's way too expensive ($40-50!!), so you may want to find a rental or a torrent. If you live near a nice library they may even have a copy on VHS.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just checked ebay, it's pretty cheap!
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

so weird distortion during rainstorms wtf? sky looks kinda purply but then goes away. i may try the updated nvidia drivers in a bit.

had my first real firefight. holy shit you die a lot. A LOT.

i like how the bandits all dress like 7th graders playing "bandit."
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex wrote:
had my first real firefight. holy shit you die a lot. A LOT.


Yeah, this game is hard as fuck at first, until you get used to it and some better equipment.

Some tips!

In dark areas, hide in the shadows. The enemies wont see you unless they shine their torch on you, and sometimes they'll walk right past and you can knife 'em.

Always aim for the head. Body armour absords LOTS of damage (too much in my opinion, they should tone it down in a patch) but one or two direct shots to the head will take them down.

Learn to use aiming mode and single firing modes. Bandits have suddenly become less of a problem because I've been doing this. Guys fall down in two or three shots. Only use burst in close combat, pretty much.

The weapons you start with a shit. Get something better ASAP, because the starting pistol is very inaccurate. I think they should probably have given first time players more a chance (on the other hand, the first mission does have four guys fighting by your side, and you can steal the weapons from people they kill).

Duck and cover lots, obviously.

Read the manuel, because geez, there is alot of stuff they don't explain in game. I JUST figured out that little number in the top left of the screen detects enemies close by, so now I duck when it raises, check my map to see if they are friendlies, and if not I carefully make my way through, seeing if I should approach the enemy or avoid them.

Mix and match artifacts, combining them will combine advantages and disadvantages, so you might find an artifact that cancels out the negatives of another one etc.

Use anomalies to your advantage. In fact, just use the environment to your advantage. Always try to get the higher ground.

This game is much more complicated than it seems. It's gotten so much better now that I've started to get used to how the game and its world works. Anyone who has just picked up this game, RTFM unlike I.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex wrote:
so weird distortion during rainstorms wtf? sky looks kinda purply but then goes away.


alot of weird stuff like this actually means something. I still haven't figured them all out, but a few of the weird things that happen turns out to be an advance warning. Some environmental things seem to affect your equipment, too, for better and worse.

Oh, day and night are important to. Turns out that if you attack one of the facilities at night, there aren't as many patrols plus it's just easier to sneak around. Also, if you see a big siren anywhere, shoot it. It will give you a HUGE advantage, because you just broke the alarm.

Also there are less of certain things and more of other things at night.

Man this game jsut gets more awesome as you play. It takes some dedication at first, but once you get into it, it's just great.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the new nvidia drivers (93.71) fixed all my graphical issues. actually, everything runs really smooth now.

and yeah, solo shot on these smg's helps a lot. so does the shotgun at close range, if they're dumb enough to try and follow you. (they generally aren't)

color me impressed.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, single shot with the rifle has been all I've been using for the past couple hours, even at close range, and I've abandoned the shotgun nearly entirely.

So I got through that first underground segment at last (FUCKING ACE mutant usage there, by the way. Far more interesting than anything Far Cry ever came up with), came back up above ground and followed the arrow...

right back to the dude who'd led me to the underground in the first place. this time I let him finish talking to progress the mission status before jumping down into the manhole. Oops!

Though, nearly to my surprise, everyone that I'd killed on my first trip through was lying exactly where I left them, still clutching anything I hadn't yet looted. Hooray! That really could have been one of those "Oh fuck THIS!" moments so easily.

Bullet points:
*Enemies definitely shoot through walls. They also definitely know exactly where you are the moment you quickload. The funny thing is when you sneak around behind them and find they're still aiming at exactly the point you were when you quickloaded. And then you pick them off carefully with headshots, to absolutely no reaction. So the third guy in line keeps his concentration intact, pointing exactly at where you quickloaded, while you kill his two buddies five feet away with unsilenced shots, and then him. Oops!
*Sometimes the game gets back at you for this by just being impossibly difficult, plus aforementioned AI wallhacks. I guess maybe it evens out.
*Some objects here and there are radioactive and will slowly kill you. Not enough to be a constant consideration in your explorations, but enough to make you think twice before taking cover behind that truck. I appreciate this.
*I also appreciate the way sound factors in here more than probably any FPS game I've ever played. And the way your geiger-counter is pretty much your lifeline in many cases.
*I also appreciate the way enemies spend more time maneuvering than trying to kill you.

Looking forward very much to patches and community work with this.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Man, the more I play this game, the more awesome it gets. Just when you think you've seen everything it has to offer, something new is thrown your way. I'm pretty pimped out now, I'm totally destroying anything that comes my way. Well, a few certain things still give me trouble (and scare the hell out of me) but bandits and all that are small time now. Zombies are fun!

I'm totally pimped out with gear now, bandits don't stand a chance anymore. Of course, other things have caused new problems for me... DUN DUN DDDUUUUNNN.

This game is rad. I hope they patch out the annoyances soon.

I've learned to manage my inventory pretty well now, I've got quite a few guns, plenty of important items and artifacts, two suits and I'm not even over-burdened. I may have to change my tactics once I move deeper into the zone, though.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the inventory handling totally sucks, but i can appreciate it being a kind of "you have to loot real fast or you're going to get eaten by a bear" kind of way.

i still really wish it was all in russian.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

bandits can walk through walls, eh?

very sneaky.

shit man, a few more months of polish. just a few...

edit: the collector's edition was pretty durn neat:




this was very cute as well
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
My Love For This Game Makes Me See Past Alot.
This game has let a lot of us down but we must remember that this game is also 5 years old
and i think that in the past few years that it has not even been looked at buy the makers
or else it would not be in the shape its in. I my self as alot of you have been waiting for this for so long and to arrive at this level of development is a disgrace.In saying this the game has a lot of good points but equally the same bad points. We must remember that waiting this long for any game builds the game to GOD like rankings.My brothers we must know pray for a patch to end some of our anger,and lead us to the promised land.


thank you, my anonymous german friend.

it's not quite that bad, but it sure is herky. but that's the tradeoff i guess. you get insanity but less polish. just got underground. and got killed really fast. quite excellent.

but hard to shoot, at least until you get a decent gun. i actually thought the aiming was utterly shot until i got a decent smg.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex stop downplaying my impressions itt

i'm in love with this game, I haven't been bothered by the bugs too much. I know they are there, but hey. Atleast there is nothing serious that can't be fixed with a patch or two.

My experience last night pretty much made this a potential game of the year for me.

it's not the second coming or anything, but gosh darn it's entertaining.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex wrote:
[image]

It's like it's 1995 all over again.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 11:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
i'm in love with this game, I haven't been bothered by the bugs too much.


same here.

stupid question: can you backtrack at any time or do you have to kind of follow the yellow brick road? cause i just popped out of the first underground section (holy wtf, great ending to that little "find the stash" sequence right there) and it's not a great place to be. plus i have to collect on a whole bunch of bullshit jobs i never collected on. and i'd like to sell some shit and stock up on ammo, etc.

also, is it me or are most artifacts kinda useless? or does this become more apparent later on?

edit: whee!


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 11:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm going to try avoiding stopping in EB on my way home Monday, despite this game now needing to be on my hard drive. Aarrghhh!
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 11:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Stalker thread: is there any reasonable chance this will ever be ported to a console? I am never going to own a gaming computer.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex wrote:
stupid question: can you backtrack at any time or do you have to kind of follow the yellow brick road? cause i just popped out of the first underground section (holy wtf, great ending to that little "find the stash" sequence right there) and it's not a great place to be. plus i have to collect on a whole bunch of bullshit jobs i never collected on. and i'd like to sell some shit and stock up on ammo, etc.

I'm pretty sure you can backtrack to anywhere.

Quote:
also, is it me or are most artifacts kinda useless? or does this become more apparent later on?

Mostly they are, except you can get decent money from them. But I've gotten a couple which are excellent. One which gave me 600% life?

Quote:
Hey Stalker thread: is there any reasonable chance this will ever be ported to a console? I am never going to own a gaming computer.

Sorry, no. There is a reasonable chance that any old computer you buy a few years down the line will be able to play it perfectly, however!
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="dhex"]
Quote:

stupid question: can you backtrack at any time or do you have to kind of follow the yellow brick road? cause i just popped out of the first underground section (holy wtf, great ending to that little "find the stash" sequence right there) and it's not a great place to be.


I know what place you're talking about. You can go out one of the other exits, although the exit it tells you to go to conviently takes you to somwhere you need to be (although if you're not careful, you'll get spotted as soon as you come out, but I managed to sneak around. Also, attack that place at night. There are fewer guards. Also, shoot the siren on the top of the tallest building).

Quote:

also, is it me or are most artifacts kinda useless? or does this become more apparent later on?


Early on they are just for cash, apart from a few minor useful ones, but you find some kick ass ones later. I found TWO that increase stamina, so now I can run for ages and can actually move and gain stamina at the same time. Best of all, I found another artifiact that conters the negative affects of those two (but not completely, but since I have a biosuit handy, I can just equip that which gives me protection from such hazards). I also equipped another that gave me +400 or so health which helps out lots and makes me gain health over time faster, but my general protection is lowered. But it's ok because I got kickass Duty armour now anyway, which I stole from a bandit base.

The last underground section was incredible. There were only like three or so enemies and a fuckton of atmosphere. Oh, and there was something else down there but I won't spoil it.

Then the military came and fucked up the bandits, but I was in there too so I found an escape route to sneak past everyone.

I also got tricked by some bandits disguised as loner stalkers, so I fucked their shit up. The best part, was that I realised the guy I saved earlier from a bloodsucker, was actually in cahoots with them. Suddenly, I didn't feel bad when I found his dead body on my way out.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

helicopterp wrote:
Hey Stalker thread: is there any reasonable chance this will ever be ported to a console? I am never going to own a gaming computer.

I'd be surprised if it didn't. If it was a good enough port it would sell hella quick.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Winged Assassins (1984) wrote:
helicopterp wrote:
Hey Stalker thread: is there any reasonable chance this will ever be ported to a console? I am never going to own a gaming computer.

I'd be surprised if it didn't. If it was a good enough port it would sell hella quick.

But it'll need to do GREAT numbers on the PC first, and I don't think it's going to get those.

Quote:
I know what place you're talking about. You can go out one of the other exits, although the exit it tells you to go to conviently takes you to somwhere you need to be (although if you're not careful, you'll get spotted as soon as you come out, but I managed to sneak around. Also, attack that place at night. There are fewer guards. Also, shoot the siren on the top of the tallest building).

Yeah, I just shot my way through that place. Since the enemies don't seem to actually use any grenades they're carrying, I managed to get through by holing up in a house and picking them off as they neared the door, or while they mucked around in the bushes out the window. Sometimes I'm left feeling like it's safer to hide in bushes than in a separate room.

I'm also beginning to feel like the messiness is endearing.
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

an anomaly tornado was tossing this body about in the air as i was walking down a road after surviving a bandit ambush.

i do a lot of running away.

here are some landscapes (sorry 56k)









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PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhex wrote:
an anomaly tornado was tossing this body about in the air as i was walking down a road after surviving a bandit ambush.


i believe those are known in the short novel as "meatgrinders".

after reading the novel, i sort of want to play this. is there a demo?
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Man, it's hilarious seeing bandits accidently stumble into those in a firefight. It's quite a sight to see.

There is no demo, but apparently one is planned.

You know, the tunnel bits are shit scary, but you soon realise that things are even more scary when you're not stuck in a corridor. Instead of being scared of what's around that corner, you're scared of what could be FUCKING ANYWHERE.

I had a similar experience to the one below, copy and pasted from another forum:

Quote:

Oh man bloodsuckers are way, way scarier outside, in full daylight than in dark buildings. I was coming to the Duty base from Yantar and I was told there was a bloodsucker hanging out by the train station. I avoided him first, but then thought fuck it, I have a large gun and I just came back from X16. Nothing can touch me.

So I approach the station and I hear his distinctive roar. Finally I spot him like 50m away by the tracks, walking slowly and away from me - no problem I'll just whip out my awesome gun and one-shot him. Still feeling badass, I take aim, fire and miss. The bloodsucker turns around and goes invisible. Oh, I think, well thats unfortunate, but hay, he is going to run right at me now, and I know his approximate speed and where he will be - so I'll wait for him, it's no problem. Suddenly his roar is getting closer and to the right of me (I was standing by a train car and the sound was coming from the other side of it) - way too fast and completly not where I thought he would be. Infact, now the sound is almost behind me. I panic and I start running the fuck out of there. I run a good distance away, turn around and just as I do that he fucking socks me in the face and goes transparent again. So there I am, standing in the middle of a large open yard in broad daylight with that fucker running around me. I can't see him at all - I can only hear his panting

So I fired in all directions on full auto, waste a whole clip, and just as I reload he punches me in the face again. This time though I reloaded in time and managed to kill him. Oh god, this was way worse than the sewers Sad


Bloody brilliant stuff. Did I mention I love this game? I might have to write up the flaws later, because there are plenty of them, but none distracting enough that I'm not willing to ignore them until reflection after completion.

EDIT: Holy crap, those bloodsuckers can scare the crap out of you. I was carefully walking aroudn an area I already cleared, and all of a sudden I turn around and BAM I see the eyes of the bloodsucker coming STRAIGHT AT ME. I've only encountered like 4 or 5 of these through the whole game so far. They made the right choice to make them a rarity. It really does freak you out after fighting a bunch of humans.
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think you're a lot farther than me, but I've got to agree. They're handling the mutants SO WELL. That psychic projection one is just phenomenal.
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i'm starting to get the hang of this, though i was dumb enough to take jobs from cordon and barkeep so i'm running back and forth. the "respawning" is handled well in some places and not so well in others (i.e. you'd expect military checkpoints to reinforce; but bandits? after you've wiped them out in two places? how many pairs of black sweatpants can there possibly be in the zone?)

i hate dogs quite a bit at this point.
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I haven't met another one of those yet, he might have been a one time thing? Either way, cool stuff. The next lab has something else but I won't spoil it.

and the lab after that? SHIT FUCK.

(it's actually the second lab, the first mutant apperance was in the sewers)

Did anyone else find a bloodsucker in the sewers or was it just me? Other people seem to only found the other mutant, but I also bumped into my first bloodsucker down there.

I'm actually not that far in the game. I know quite a few people who have already finished it, but I'm savouring this and doing lots of exploring and side-missions while I travel from place to place.

I've clocked quite a few hours though, like i've been playing any chance I get. and I've only met like 5 or so mutants. that's impressive!
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I met a bloodsucker in the sewers, certainly. We kind of had this head to head battle of attrition wherein it ate my face while I reloaded the shotgun as quickly as I could. I don't think it was as frightening as your experience, cause I heard the sound (again- STALKER for best sound design 2k7!) and figured something was up, but I didn't actually see anything of him until he went uninvisible right in from of me, so I had a bit of a jump scare but them we just got right down to fisticuffs.

Speaking of fisticuffs, I haven't really tested it yet, but is the knife absurdly powerful?

The hallway guy though- that was a marvelous new experience in gaming for me. Trying to charge back down toward him to get a clear shot while the room swam more and more and in the HUD my braingauge quickly deteriorated. Yikes!

Apparently I've taken some jobs. I've even finished some of them, except I have no idea where to go to claim the money and get them listed as complete. If you want to play fetchquest here, it really doesn't hold your hand about it; there aren't so many discernable landmarks, and it's all just "somewhere out in that wasteland." I know there's a nice map I could figure out and all, but after years of Zelda et al's "the red cave by the northern village" specificity, it's hard to reprogram myself to really look. So I guess those sidequests won't get finished this time around.

I'm pretty sure this is the biggest, most organic world I've played a game in, and definitely a place it would take a long time to learn well . I wonder what MMO players would think of it.
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Man this game looks amazing and I am pretty sure that I would just love it to death.
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

dude, the map is pretty easy to use. just hit m, go to "tasks" and click on "collect your reward" - it'll show you who to go to. it's either gonna be bartender or the dude who lives underground.

Quote:
Did anyone else find a bloodsucker in the sewers or was it just me?


yup, i got him to follow me up on a little side area where he couldn't flank. goddamn they take a lot of bullets though. still have the tentacle as well.

toups: yeah, you might dig on this. a 360 port would be in their best interests considering the relative success of morrowind and oblivion. but that probably won't happen.

also, i have to say this game has made me more confident in the future of fallout 3. something compelling can be done even in an oblivion with guns mode. (not really but you get the idea)
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i've been reading the bug reports over at oblivionlost, and came up with this ridiculous screenshot - apparently fires kill npcs:


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

google maps shot of chernobyl
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