Stalker S.O.C & Clear Sky

[RedRaven]

surprised neither are mentioned here yet so Starting this thread.Both are really good games if you patch them and can get into the story and style. Shadow of Chernobyl also has a few excellent Total Conversion Mods and a fair few minor mods out there, Clear Sky has very similar minor mods and tweaks available. A good thing about both is you can modify various files yourself with just Notepad. Things like Character Stats (jump height, weight allowance, run speed etc) and its pretty simple to change the Traders and Weapons files too. If anybody is playing either game and would like advice feel free to ask away and will do my best to help you out. Also a 3rd instalment of the saga has been announced and looks like it should be very nice, it will also have more Open World aspects to it too apparently .

[Art Blade]

good idea to create a topic for them. We had a discussion about Stalker in "help me find a new game" here, along with other games.

Now we can go into details :)

[RedRaven]

The release of the 3rd episode gets closer and closer, and a fantastic video is up to be viewed at http://cop.stalker-game.com/.

There is said to be 'Open-World' aspects in this one too. Release is said to be jan 2010. Although at the end of one vid i've seen it had a Fall 09 date for Germany ?

Personally it cant come out soon enough for me ;D

[RedRaven]

On November 5th the 3rd instalment- Call of Pripyat was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Meanwhile USA, UK and rest of Europe will have to wait until 1st quarter of 2010 :(
If anyone has already got it would really like to know opinions etc, big fan of the previous two games, and from what i've seen of Pripyat looks awesome.

[RedRaven]

Here is the Wiki link for Call of Pripyat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_call_of_pripyat

Cant wait till February ;D

[Art Blade]

so many good games at the moment and near future... :)

[PZ]

I know what you mean - we can actually be a bit selective now and wait for someone to post their impressions on games that we're on the fence about.  I'm going to stick with the open world games because I simply love to play at my leisure, not following a predetermined path, nor being on a time schedule.

[RedRaven]

Its already available in Germany, keep being tempted to order the special edition from there, its got some nice goodies in it, even a Zippo lighter !

[Art Blade]

there will be one more thing you get here: " CENSORED  "

[RedRaven]

 :-\ ????? :-\

Did I say something wrong ?

[Art Blade]

LOL, nooo! Not you, I didn't censor myself commenting on you (don't you know me better? :) )

It simply meant: In Germany, the GAME will be censored. As in no blood, no shooting-off limbs etc

[RedRaven]

got ya, I figured you were being funny :P .
Never know it may kick start the long dormant region of my brain that spent 4+ years learning and speaking German.....
And speaking of censors, if my first plays of SOC are anything to go by they would of made a big mess in their pants ;D

Oh, before I forget again here is link to Amazon DE, it shows what you get in the special edition metal tin :-X .

http://www.amazon.de/S-T-L-K-E-R-Call-Pripyat-Special/dp/B002QE22DQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1257429929&sr=8-1-catcorr

[PZ]

... In Germany, the GAME will be censored. As in no blood, no shooting-off limbs etc

That's too bad - that would take much of the fun out of AC2  :-\

[Art Blade]

Absolutely. And they did remove the blood (and probably some of the gut-churning moves) in AC2 already for PS3 here.

[PZ]

I took a long spear from a dead foe yesterday, and used it for a while roaming through Florence.  It was quite fun using the weapon as it behaves much different that the knives and swords that I normally use - the animations are quite good.  However, I cannot even imagine how the reduced effects would make for a complete experience.

[RedRaven]

Here are some useful links for Stalker SOC & Clear Sky

Heroes Radio - this has to be THE BEST site for SOC, filled with useful info and detailed maps.

http://stalker.heroesradio.com/

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Tweak Guides - one for each game, some handy tips to get the most out of the graphics.

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http://www.tweakguides.com/STALKER_1.html

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http://www.tweakguides.com/ClearSky_1.html

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Mods - Best site for good mods, from simple little changes through to some amazing total conversion mods (Oblivion Lost & Priboi Story being the best 2).

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http://stalker.filefront.com/files/Stalker;52index

[RedRaven]

The following Link is for a Bench mark tool released by the makers of Call of Pripyat to see how it will run / look on your system, it runs through the same sequence 4 times, Day time, Night time, Raining and Sun shafts. And OMG it looks totally amazing ;D !
 

http://cop.stalker-game.com/?page=benchmark

Took a couple of screen shots too -

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Will sort a video out and get that up too :-X

[Art Blade]

thanks mate, looks abandoned but good :)

[JRD]

Leave him alone Art... its a w@&k in progress...  ;D

I'm not at home (with family for hollydays) with my PC or laptop, so I cannot install my recently purchased S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC (for $1,99 may I add  8) ) but for what I've seen so far the series sure fit in our site.
OK, there are some abnormal enemies and creatures, which may not please some of our members, but yet it is an openworld FPS and the landscape seems just huge. Some here has been playing FO3 and loving it, so I guess that a devastated Ukraine after a second blast in the Chernobyll nuclear core would seem rather familiar!!
Light effects are just beautyful and shadows are way more dreadfull than any other sci-fi / real world breed FPS can cope. Maybe if you stop to enjoy light effects or a cloudy full moon for too long you'll find yourself embraced in a bloody combat with some mutant creature, but who cares?
Reviews and vids I managed to check so far account for a vast world to scavenge with great interaction with NPCs, real weapons (or, at least, not fantastic laser rifles), great AI that can flank, cover and use convincing war tactics against you!
Also, multiple endings make for a huge replay value!!
In short... I foresee a great time playing STALKER (both titles released so far) and maybe a nice spot for the next installment - Call of Prypiat - at OWG
I know RedRaven is dying to put his hands on the next title and will flood us with reviews and pics and vids... looking forward Red...  :-X

[Art Blade]

Clear Sky was cool, I spent many hours travelling through the vast map. Day and night cycles were cool, too, and the fights also. And, you get the classic hunter&collector game, loads of stuff to collect (not as much as in FO3, though). Weapon upgrades, armour, and all of those upgrades had a tech tree that led to various (useful and stupid) combinations, depending on your choices. I remember I configured an exo-skelleton in various ways (thanks to save and reload), one version allowed you to carry stuff around worth like 150kg compared to 50kg with a different combination of upgrades. Maybe I fall again for STALKER :)

[fragger]

Thanks for the info and links, Red :-X Does look very impressive!

[RedRaven]

Art is correct, the pics posted do look a little devoid of wildlife and other stalkers. The video I will get up asap does have some Stalkers and creatures, and it shows the size of just ONE area, the pics do not do real justice.
The weight allowance Art mentions is a pain, but things like that are very easily fixed with some of the many mods available for both Soc & Clear sky. Its where i cut my teeth, so to speak, in mods.
Character stats ( weight allowance, run speed, jump height etc) are very very easy to modify and all you need is Notepad!
Here is a link for the Official Trailer and a Game play Vid.

http://cop.stalker-game.com/?page=video

Both available to download in 2 formats.

Enjoy ;D

  edit on 30th

In reference to Mods I have found the locations of the files through steam :) . So now I can get into it and make changes. If anybody wants to know how and where let me know.

[Art Blade]

Good idea :) I have Clear Sky and I would like to know what you can change (and where, as in which files) with a notepad. If that is "regular" cheating, it might be worth another post, if it isn't...

By the way, I do read my private messages  ;)

[RedRaven]

In the download section, under Other games and stuff is a simple fix for head bob in Shadow of Chernobyl, it includes instructions on where to put the file and how to make the game use that file.  Will sort one for Clear Sky at some point today.

Will also sort out a file that increases the amount you can carry for both SoC & Clear Sky. I will set it at 100kg instead of the default of 50kg.

This is just a quick fix for those playing either game whilst I put together a simple step-by-step guide on how to extract the game files and change them yourselves. The quick fixes will w@&k on both the Steam and Regular DVD installation of both games.

If any one has any questions & queries dont hesitate to ask, here or by private message.

Happy Stalking.

[Art Blade]

Excellent service, thanks, Red  :-X