STALKER V1.1 Patch beta leak (+free-play)

[Fez]

unfortunately there are no normal overhaul mods for stalker. because moddies always think that if they are to return the cut content to the game - they just -have- to add something from themselves to it. and what they add is usually a horrible shit.

Frustratingly true in many cases. Otherwise I'd be dipping into many of the bigger mods straight away rather than building a collection of smaller edits and trying to get something I like that way.

 

[Monolith]

Frustratingly true in many cases. Otherwise I'd be dipping into many of the bigger mods straight away rather than building a collection of smaller edits and trying to get something I like that way.

Could you post a list of the mods you use if you're done?

 

[Fez]

I will do when I've got them all together and happy with them. I'm testing them properly to see if they cause problems or generally suck. It's mostly minor stuff put together. The aliVe mod seems rather interesting so far. Still searching for things to address other niggles before I'm settled with it.

 

[Starwars]

I playede through most of the game with the aliVe mod, and for the most part I really liked what it did. The only thing I didn't like is that I thought it added a bit to many mutant encounters at certain points (mostly in the labs and undergrounds). Not nearly as much as some of the big conversion mods though, and I had a really good time with it. The outdoors was great I thought, with many surprises but very rarely going overboard.

I might try that A-life mod (which was brought up earlier I think) that just unlocks everything to wander around a lot more, but it seems very likely to break quests so we'll see.

 

[The Ticktockman]

So, I am trying to use the silenced weapons mod and aliVe mod, but they both alter the exact same weapon files (at least some of the weapon files). Is there any way to get these to work together other than manually combining the files they both try to change?

 

[lefthandblack]

I might try that A-life mod (which was brought up earlier I think) that just unlocks everything to wander around a lot more, but it seems very likely to break quests so we'll see.

That's the one that I'm using: Sanex Alife

I've played through to the point where Pripyat is unlocked and so far the main questline is
still intact, many of the side quests have been broken though.

For instance, in the garbage, the 'protect the stalker camp' quest will activate and if you ignore it, the influx of stalkers from other regions will eventually kill off the bandits and you
get the 'quest done' message and the reward without firing a shot. It doesn't bother me personally, as all the random firefights can be interesting, but it might be a bad choice for a first play-through.

 

[Starwars]

How does the mod play out otherwise? I'm really not interested in turning the game into a complete warzone with bodies littering the ground everywhere (which has happened in a few other mods I've tried).

How much do the Stalkers move around, and does it affect mutants as well?

 

[lefthandblack]

My experience has been that it's far from a warzone. The mod doesn't up the spawn-rate like alot of them do, it just takes the original AI's and lets them run free rather than be confined. What you end up with is random firefights between stalkers/bandits , bandits/military, stalkers/military, etc. It does effect mutants, though the consequence of this is that most of the mutants in an area may already have been killed by the time that you get there.

In some of the more interesting firefights I've seen there have been three or more factions involved i.e. stalkers fighting bandits fighting military fighting stalkers/bandits. Becuase the spawn-rate hasn't been changed, it can take some time after a firefight like this for the areas to re-populate.

 

[Starwars]

Sounds good, will prolly try it once I finish this playthrough. Thanks.

 

[TruthDecay]

I found Stalker pretty fun for a while, but there were some glaring issues. The biggest one was the respawns. Almost every time I needed to travel from Agroprom to the Garbage or from the Garbage to Agroprom, there was a gigantic load of bandits that I had to waste ammo and armor durability on. Usually there were respawns waiting at the noob zone/Garbage border too. It was bad, but bearable.

What killed it for me was the seemingly endless mercenary battle right after Red Forest after you waste the Freedom camp. I'm stuck in the middle of a very linear path with craploads of anomalies everywhere, the cars I need to take cover behind are radioactive death traps, and I have to fight my way through wave after wave of mercenaries. I ended up bailing on the game after hiding out in a phone booth with no radiation treatment packets left and with armor that was almost completely shot off of my body.

I liked the game but frankly I thought this part sucked ass. Does it get back to the way it was before the linear shoot-a-thon? Also, is there a way in-game to increase the weight limit? The armor I was wearing was really eating up a lot of my carry capacity.

 

[MetalCraze]

only mods, only mods.

stalker is a one big corridor shooter. it's just that in the beginning corridors are wide.

 

[Fez]

You can just edit the files yourself to put up the limit to whatever you want. All you need is a text editor to change the values.

 

[nowanmai]

Fuuck... now you did it, motherfuckers! You made me wipe the dust off the game's box and retrieve the dvd of the game. Damn you!
Seriously, good topic, although, a bit off topic. But keep the mods coming, since I'm too lazy (and drunk) to search for them myself. Anyways, back to killing muties and having fun.

EDIT: Shit, now it's happened! I installed the game, tried to run it. Again, everything was ok. It installs the SF drivers, asks for a reboot, which I do. I try to run the game - working!! Next, I install the patches, try to run and it fucking throws me out just as splashscreen shows up! Bitches! I hate the motherfuckers who put in starforce just for it to be there!
Fuck, I just don't want to experience the shit I had with Boiling Point, when the DVD just blew up in the drive. I was mad as fuck! I tried calling them, the publisher in Russia, all to no avail. I was mad. I even went as far, as to send them my DVD drive. Guess what? The motherfuckers accused me of handling the DVD in "incorrect way". How the fuck do you do that?
Ah, yes, I have the russian version, so, if anyone has any suggestions, you're more than welcome. I just don't wan't to lose any of my games anymore due to "my bad handling of DVD's".

Edit2: The version is Russian for both the Stalker and Boiling Point.

 

[Bluebottle]

I liked the game but frankly I thought this part sucked ass. Does it get back to the way it was before the linear shoot-a-thon?

Nope, it's solidly linear from there on. It wouldn't of been so bad if the shootery-ness was in any way good, but in all honesty it really isn't.

The most annoying part has to be right near the end, you go through a door that only you have the code to, a door that has been sealed for years. There I was thinking that at least I wouldn't have to wade through an army bullet-soaks any more, but what would you know, they'd conveniently sealed in an army of heavily armoured gits to stand between you and the final goal. Was I missing something there. Was there any explanation for that?

The short of it is- you've seen the best the game has to offer. Quit while you're ahead.

I just don't want to experience the shit I had with Boiling Point, when the DVD just blew up in the drive.

That really is the most interesting experience anyone has had with Boiling Point. Think yourself lucky. It might not have blown up and you might actually have attempted playing it. The horror.

 

[Starwars]

I think the basic shootery-ness of STALKER is very good. Just not designed for endless waves of enemies. So yeah, those end-game encounters just suck the big one and really break the feel and flow of the game.

What's even more fun is that, after the door mentioned in the above post, depending on what choice you make, there is even MORE endless shooting before the ending sequence. It sucks, especially since the scenery is kickass, but you have to deal with all those assholes so there is no chance to sort of relax and check out the environment.
Same goes for Pripyat, it's just way to overloaded with hostiles. Ruins the whole "ghost town" feel that I was oh-so looking forward to.

 

[nowanmai]

Yup, I consider myself lucky in that i don't have an apple style dvd drive, which would've thrown little pieces of the dvd right in my face when the shit hit the fan.

Now everything's ok. I just play with the dvd in, hoping no bad shit is gonna happen. I mean physically, 'cause with the ABC Inferno installed bad shit is going on already. Everyone's fighting from time to time. The factions vs monsters, faction vs faction vs military etc. ad nauseum. But I like it this way. And the restored monsters, the more powerful guns, the pitch black nights. Sweet! Think I'll be living in the Zone for, like, a month.

Oh, and besides, I actually played Boiling Point for a while. About 2 or 3 days, until that "shit hit the fan" moment. Was a "meh" anyway, but still.. I don't like, as most people, when dvd's blow up inside the drive.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I want a heavy revolver and a Saiga 12K god dammit.

 

[Fez]

The release date for Stalker: CS has slipped again, this time to "August 29". What are the bets it slips to a Christmas release in a month or two? It doesn't look good when this sort of thing is going on.

 

[Starwars]

Indeed. I seem to remember reading somewhere though (might have dreamt it up) a couple of weeks ago that the game was finished, and that they're in bugfix and polishing mode at the moment. It would be nice if all they did was polish the game up until August (I'm sure the game will need it *cough*), but who knows.

But yeah, wouldn't surprise me to see the release date slipping.

 

[MetalCraze]

I seem to remember reading somewhere though (might have dreamt it up) a couple of weeks ago that the game was finished, and that they're in bugfix and polishing mode at the moment.

that's what they were writing back in 2004 about Stalker the 1st.

 

[Fez]

True. I'd be happy if they really were going to make an amazingly polished release that fixed all the errors and complaints and were also beavering away on patches for the original game, but it's more likely the same old slippage that will continue until it is rushed out the door.

Last minute redesigns or feature creep are more likely than a near-perfect release coming.