Stalker graphics overhaul

[deadman1]

Surf over to this place bit.ly/bVtYAK and check out the Lurk 1.1 mod. It updates the graphics quite a bit. I´m DL:ing itas I type this and will check it out tomorrow.

[Art Blade]

ah, good idea  :) :-X

There is a complete mod for clear sky somewhere, too.

[deadman1]

After a few initial problems, which I solved by simply applying all the patches, I started up the game. I have to say it wasn´t the huge overhaul that I had expected. The graphics didn´t look very much better and I really didn´t feel any greater urge to play the game again having been through it a couple of times.

[Art Blade]

ok, thanks.. a pity, though  :(

[B33 ENN]

Since my handler in Africa found out I've been selling zebra meat with the Colonel's Special recipe to mercs, instead of hunting the Jackal, he has threatened to send me to the colds of Eastern Europe to hunt someone called Sterlok instead. :D

With that in mind then, I have meandered to this section while researching my impending career change into stalking for a living. Not having played any of the series before I have begun reading up. I learned elsewhere that apart from the main SoC game (latest patches applied) it is a good idea to get the "Complete 2009 (2012)" graphical update pack as it comes highly recommended for new players:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=862481

I'm going to be giving that a go when I learn more about setting up STALKER:SoC so the graphics are as good as possible. From the Youtube examples of this mod applied I've seen, quality looks very comparable to any game out these days.

(My interest in updating was sparked because I run FC2 and other games on Eyefinity 5760x1200, so wanted max texture quality for close up detail.)

Wonder if anyone here is using this mod, has opinions?

[deadman1]

I haven´t tried that mod but it looked absolutely stunning. I would love to hear what you think about it. Having played all the Stalker games a couple of times myself, I don´t have the urge do revisit Tjernobyl right now. Expescially since I´m planning a trip to postapocalypse Vegas very soon  ;)

[fragger]

Thanks for the report, deadman :-X Shame the graphics upgrade wasn't much to write home about.

...Expescially since I´m planning a trip to postapocalypse Vegas very soon  ;)

I hear it's lovely this time of year :-D


@B33 ENN, hope you enjoy Stalker. I think I might give that another go myself - I'm a bit Civ-ed out at the moment...

[Art Blade]

I hear it's lovely this time of year :-D

;D ;D ;D

[B33 ENN]

I haven´t tried that mod but it looked absolutely stunning. I would love to hear what you think about it. Having played all the Stalker games a couple of times myself, I don´t have the urge do revisit Tjernobyl right now. Expescially since I´m planning a trip to postapocalypse Vegas very soon  ;)

Fallout 3 is still on my list along with Borderlands et al, so New Vegas isn't even on the cricket pitch for me yet. I'm still catching up on the best of the last decade!

Yes that's right people, up until recently, FPS/RPG's were definitely not in my gaming vocabulary, apart from a brief and unfortunate encounter with Ninja Gaiden and HALO on the original XBOX some years ago,

Yes, I am that guy, the one who's closest encounter with the Doom or Wing Commander universes was watching the films! Let's not even start with Quake, or Half-Life...  8-X

But that is not how it began all those years ago on the BBC Micro... nay, indeedy... I were a hot property on the finest parralax scrollers of the day from Strykers Run to Repton.  :-X

My all time fave was The Last Ninja... But then something occurred that changed the limits of the my known reality forever - like David Vincent taking that wrong turn, or David Banner munching that formula... Yes, I discovered David Braben's ELITE... (A lot of David's were important in the 80's, you may note.)  :o

Indeed! ELITE, the first openworld game written only in 32K (you read that right, kilobytes)! After that, only the freedom of virtuality would do, and I wondered the 16 and 32bit world from flight sim to driving sim to strategy sim for those wilderness years, finally conquering the Age of Empires etc.  8)

Then, another strange occurrence marking the meeting of two great epochs (not involving a David) occurred: I upgraded my graphics card, and like pulling the mythical Sword from the stone, I loaded a free disc contaning Far Cry 2...

[Art Blade]

sweet summary of your gaming life  :) Slap on the back there, thumbs up, for all you just said and for staying with us :)

[B33 ENN]

sweet summary of your gaming life  :) Slap on the back there, thumbs up, for all you just said and for staying with us :)

Where else would one go for openworlded enlightenment? :) THings been a bit hectic last few months so not been able to put in as much game time as earlier in the year. Hoping to change that. Also, the one biggest fault with Far Cry 2 is that it prevents you from having time to play anything else  :-()

I've not even finished my first run through of it and last time I looked I'm close to logging a hundred hours!  :o

I've had to enforce an exclusion in order to start playing through other games waiting on the list... I went through Crysis last weekend just to get it over with, and decided not to do Warhead. Wasn't as impressed by the graphics or gameplay. FC2 beats it hands down on both. The scenery looks more real in FC2, in Crysis it looks like it's trying too hard, and there is not much variation in enemy encampments. The mercs in FC2 also are more 'real' in behaviour and chat than the Koreans in Crysis who seem to have been made by someone who has seen too many dubbed Kung Fu films and racial stereotypes. Don't get me wrong, Crysis has it's impressive moments, and the first half offers a reasonable amount of flexibilitty (open approaches to objectives) to make it better than comparable shooters I tried like Bad Company 2, which is just a corridor game faking the open.

In other genres, I'm attempting not to get too involved with Civilisation V because I know I won't come away from it for weeks! I even have the X3 Terran Conflict sidelined for the same reason. I figured STALKER requires some alone time from me as it probably is the closest comparison to FC2.

[Art Blade]

 :)

Interesting you should mention the X series.. I played X1 and X2 for ages  and used to publish mods for X3. Kind of "open space game"  ;D

The Stalker series (I played clear sky and shadow of Chernobyl) might suit you. When I read through your previous post I already had a brief urge to start a savegame of SoC.. now again.. I'd imagine the part when the main game is over and you may stay "in the zone," only thing to do is wreak havoc on random enemies.. with my modded weapons.. I do think you'd like the experience. If I were you, I'd skip the series and start with SoC. The other games are older and bugged.. SoC was cool and as far as I remember without significant bugs. :)

[B33 ENN]

Interesting you should mention the X series.. I played X1 and X2 for ages  and used to publish mods for X3. Kind of "open space game"  ;D

I've never played any of the X series yet. I found out about it after trying to find something similar to the old ELITE, that I mentioned before. That was a vast open space trading game, and these X ones sounded like successors to that concept but with the benefits of modern compouting advances. Looking forward to that.  ;D

The Stalker series (I played clear sky and shadow of Chernobyl) might suit you... If I were you, I'd skip the series and start with SoC. The other games are older and bugged.. SoC was cool and as far as I remember without significant bugs. :)

SoC was the original game so I assume you mean the latest one Call Of Pripyat is the best (bug free) one? (That's what I've read in reviews.)

I researched a bit to get a handle on the series, and realised Clear Sky has mixed opinions (I gather it's a prequel to the original). I thought about just getting into CoP and not bothering with the ones that came before, as the plot sounds like a remake rather than  a significant advancement in story. However, I read that CoP lacks some of the fright and character that the original had and so SoC is the definitive experience if that's the only one a person was to play out of them all. I assume you wouldn't agree with that?

I decided on SoC as a latest patched up game plus the updated graphics mods should make it stable enought to play. I hope I'm not wrong as I have it now but didn't get CoP as i didn't think I'd carry on after.

[Art Blade]

sorry, indeed I meant and played clear sky and Call of Pripyat. A friend of mine who played the first (SoC) had so many troubles before the patch and even more after patching that I decided not to touch it. Clear sky was kind of cool but needed a lot of patching.. so maybe if you start all patched-up, the experience might be different (better). Clear sky was pretty frightening (made me jump once, lol) and CoP had a few frightening moments, too. Usually games don't frighten me, so that means something. Nights are pitch black in SoC and if a set of glowing eyes pop out of nowhere and you hear that hostile growl.. nice :)

I'd still recommend starting with Call of Pripyat, the last one, because if you like that, you might want to take the risk and go backwards. If not, then at least you've seen the most polished one.. but now that you've got the oldest one, you'll hopefully try the newest one, too :)

[Ricamundo]

Well, for better, or worse, i ordered SoC today. Im having far too much fun with CS, and before that CoP to leave the original untried. I figure i'll patch it up and install that "Complete" mod first thing, and hopefully, it'll play relatively bug free. :-X At less than $16 including shipping its not much of a gamble imho. :-D

[PZ]

Heck of a deal, Ric!  :-X

[Art Blade]

cool, Ric  ;D :-X