STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl Mod Thread

[Tacgnol]

I'm looking to replay Shadow of Chernobyl soon and I'm wondering what the best alternatives would be if I want a relatively vanilla experience. I don't need/want everything redone but minor tweaks, bugfixes and shit like that is welcome. Also, pretty graphics would be nice.

If you just want a vanilla experience you should probably just play ZRP with the absolute texture mods. Vanilla+ is out fairly soon, which is basically just graphically improved vanilla with some new weapons, artifacts etc.

Absolute graphic mods:

http://absolute.crommcruac.com/shadow-of-chernobyl/

 

[Tacgnol]

Just saw Vanilla+ got cancelled, it was apparently really close to release.

That sucks.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Nah, he said he want to work on it offline. He went into all websites with this new. Pff...

 

[Silva]

M

Maybe, but there is so many mods that I wouldn't know what to get or where to start. An all in one pack is what I'd like. If there's a graphical one, let me know. DraQ

Try Misery 1, bro. It's more accessible and sensible than 2, while being as pretty and scary.

 

[skacky]

I've been playing RMA Autumn Edition these last few days, which is a merge of RMA (an old story restoration mod with a couple of cut maps) and Autumn Aurora 2. It's pretty good overall, though there's a couple of sentences that aren't translated and at least one which doesn't have an associated text file but it's pretty minor.

 

[Starwars]

So I'm gonna start a new playthrough of SoC and I'm looking for a fairly vanilla experience but I want to update the eyecandy and maybe minor tweaks to the gameplay (no complete overhauls).

So far, I've downloaded the ZRP pack and the Absolute Textures so far. Any other small stuff that would be recommended? Any good updates for the weather system for example?

EDIT: Hm, on the other hand, the Autumn Aurora 2 mod seem pretty interesting as well...

 

[Invictus]

Autum Aurora 2 is pretty much perfect for me, the other mods are more faithfull to vanila but AA2 gets the best upgrades from the sequels and a more modern look

 

[Starwars]

I'm liking it so far also though I don't think I'll ever come to fully enjoy the whole "you have to stand in place to apply a medkit which will then slowly heal you" level of realism. I guess I'm slightly too popamole for that stuff, heh.

Also, got kinda pissed after I helped that one dude right after the railtracks in the first area. The one guy who asks you to help him against he blind dogs? Yeah... so I figure I'll help him. And as soon as the dogs come running, the motherfucker proceeds to move back straight behind me, and one-shot me with his shotgun. THANKS MAN! Good job.

Was pretty funny though.

 

[Starwars]

Ended up playing with ZRP and texture mods instead, kinda like the vanilla experience.

But man, what a game this is... I mean, it's rough but if you ask me for a game that nails the post-apoc atmosphere, it's Shadow of Chernobyl. Just going around and admiring the environs, the buildings, the skybox... it's fucking beautiful. Even though CoP improved upon a lot of things (didn't like Clear Sky at all), it doesn't have that special feeling that SoC has. It is a diamond in the rough though. I remember how fucking hyped I was for STALKER prior to its release, and I imagined it as a true open world game back then (dunno if they actually said it would be or if it was my imagination going wild). Was so disappointed seeing that it was divided into levels like it is. The whole A-life system was also not what I had hoped for though it is impressive in many ways.

But still, what a beautiful game this is. Really glad I decided to start a replay of it, it's been a while now.

 

[Ivan]

Misery 1.2+Gunslinger

if only this were part of SoC

 

[Severian Silk]

I am starting my first SoC playthrough. Is it okay to play without mods? Or are there some that are essential?

(I would read this thread but it derailed on page 1 and is about the whole series now.)

 

[DraQ]

I am starting my first SoC playthrough. Is it okay to play without mods? Or are there some that are essential?

(I would read this thread but it derailed on page 1 and is about the whole series now.)

Zone Reclamation Project.

You can play without it but it's more of an extensive unofficial patch than anything.
Other than that I would actually recommend playing it without mods.

Also, fair warning - learn to shoot and get something more accurate than starting Makarov ASAP. Preferably turn off HUD crosshair as well.

 

[Ivan]

Lurk or ZRP

 

[ZagorTeNej]

I am starting my first SoC playthrough. Is it okay to play without mods? Or are there some that are essential?

(I would read this thread but it derailed on page 1 and is about the whole series now.)

In addition to what DraQ said, don't be turned off by weak accuracy from initial firearms. Think of Stalker as a FPS/RPG hybrid (instead of your regular FPS) and of equipment (armor and weapons) as an abstraction for experience points/levels.

Also, don't shy away from using iron sights and/or crouching (both improve accuracy in my experience), don't carry too many weapon types, switch artifacts often depending on the situation and always try to go for headshots (it's common sense but it applies even more so in Stalker).

 

[skacky]

And play on Master. Nothing but Master.

 

[DraQ]

Regarding firearms in STALKER: SoC:

• Weapons are not hitscan. Bullets take their time to reach the target and drop as they do.
  
• Every human out in The Zone wears some form of body armor, those bandit jackets actually have kevlar underneath (you may find or buy one). Pistol rounds to the torso just aren't very lethal, nor are isolated shotgun pellets.
  
• Using iron sights or scope is pretty much the only way to shoot with any degree of accuracy. Preferably turn off the crosshair altogether to avoid temptation and to not use it as cheesy IFF. If you are close enough to reliably hit something without sighting in, then you can hit it without crosshair. Object interaction is smart enough to not require precision to pick the right stuff up.
• Crouching helps.
• Any sort of movement fucks up your aim. This seems to include even waving your gun around while aiming. Try to be still when aiming. Weapon's handling stat seems to affect how fast you can regain aim - you can think of it as DX1's shrinking crosshair, except hidden and much faster (around 1s should be more than enough). Aim carefully.
  
• Shooting also fucks up your aim so try to avoid shooting in rapid succession and shooting full auto - single shots and short bursts actually hit targets, unloading as many rounds as you physically can typically hits scenery. If you panic and start spraying when a pack of mutated dogs gets after you, you're typically meat.
  
• Headshots are reliable killers, bodyshots, even with poor penetration are good temporary stoppers to enable the former.
• A dead-center headshot with pretty much *any* weapon should reliably kill typical mutated animals, snorks and humans without helmets. Grazing hit might fail to do so.
  
• Starting weapons are hideously inaccurate. Makarov is just bad, shortened AK has hideous recoil and lacks most advantages of full scale one, sawed-off is sawed-off and MP5 still fires pistol rounds with all it entails.
  
• Due to the above firefights, especially early ones, consist of a lot of missed shots on both sides and a large number of abortive attempts at 1hks.
  
• Pistols are explicitly backup weapons. They are great when you need to suddenly spin 180 degrees and put a bullet in something lunging at your face, and decent against mutated animals (they don't wear kevlar), shit otherwise. A good pistol is very fun to use, though, I remember going to DV to clear out a group of snorks climbing some construction to see above a wall, then killing three snorks with three Sig-Sauer shots.
  
• Shotguns are great against mutated animals and snorks, but in my experience inferior otherwise (slug and dart ammo helps with their versatility), followed by MP5, followed by pistols. An AR obviously works too, but it's typically somewhat worse suited against personal space offenders.
• Weapons and armors degrade. Weapons rapidly lose accuracy with increasing wear. That's another very good reason to fire single shots and avoid getting into pointless fights. You won't clear The Zone out, but you will need to replace that spiffy unique rifle you've found.
  
• Vanilla had a bit misguided difficulty mechanism where a percentage of hits was converted to grazes for every combatant on lower difficulty settings reducing lethality. I don't know if ZRP fixed that, but yeah, just play on Master.

 

[Raapys]

I've been playing the latest version of the standalone Old Good Stalker Evolution(SoC). It's pretty decent I think, fairly big graphics update, lots of loot, weapons, anomalies, artifacts, weapon mods, the usual stuff. Even some new areas and quests, and drivable car(little more than a gimmick). Surprisingly stable too. No crashes in about 15 hours of play or so, just about reached the bar. Very rich on content, and the game's significantly harder.

 

[Severian Silk]

Is there an easy mode? Can I switch difficulties after I start the game?

 

[sexbad?]

yee and yee

 

[Severian Silk]

I've been playing for an hour and can't get past the first mission on STALKER difficulty. I guess it's time to savescum.

 

[Sodafish]

shamefurdispray.jpg

 

[Sodafish]

Yeah, you mean the bandits in the farmstead bit? As Esh said, get in close and use corners as much as possible. A shotgun helps a lot there too (you can pick one up on the way or get one from a dead bandit).

 

[DraQ]

I've been playing for an hour and can't get past the first mission on STALKER difficulty. I guess it's time to savescum.

You need to git gud.

I've been playing for an hour and can't get past the first mission on STALKER difficulty. I guess it's time to savescum.

Play on Master, it improves AI and makes everyone less bulletspongey. It's the only way to play the game, it doesn't necessarily make it harder just better.
Proceed with savescumming, as it will eventually make you realize that you are not Rambo and gunfights will be won when you play tactically.

This.
Learning to handle guns is important too, though. It's really easy to be missing consistently in STALKER.

Tip for the first mission, don't stay behind far-away cover and take potshots, low-tier guns are too inaccurate. Instead flank.

Actually, I prefer to keep my distance because bandits are shit shots in addition to having crappy guns (and because you don't want a shellful of buckshot in your belly while wearing only a leather jacket), but popping a clean headshot across the parking lot with a Makarov or that silenced pistol is awfully hard and you will spend most of the time without even shooting, just trying to get good enough aim at someone to hit them. Also, it definitely pays off to move a lot especially if you manage to do it quietly.

Stealth in STALKER is awfully hard and killing stealthily in hostile territory is next to impossible (somebody will hear it OR see it OR see the body and then it's full alert and you can kiss your stealth goodbye), suppressed guns are far from noiseless and the enemies can hear and see pretty much all that you would in their situation (including but not limited to the sound of suppressed fire, bullets buzzing by and hitting stuff and even bushes rustling as you brush by them.

However, the AI isn't omniscient. If you manage to change position stealthily, they won't know you aren't there or at least won't know where you actually are. Suppressed weapon will also make it harder for them to pinpoint your location as you're shooting at them so you will get precious seconds of obliviousness you can exploit to take potshots or hide and relocate - of eventually you'll meet military stalkers who will then meat you with their AS Vals before you can even understand where they're firing from - suppressed firearms are funny this way.

Movement itself is also incredibly agile in STALKER. You can sprint fast and there are few places you can't go if you put your mind to it (and most such places have either sweet loot or good tactical options). In the starting parking lot you canfor example get on the rooftops and, with a good dose of skill and a bit of luck, get into the building where they hold Nimble before the shooting even starts - or at least get to pick off a free bandit or two.

 

[Severian Silk]

The mouse sensitivity was too low so I increased it. Now it is jerky and making me feel nauseous. Is this a framerate issue? The game seems to be running smooth.

 

[Sodafish]

Do you have acceleration on? Sounds like that could be the culprit.