STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl Mod Thread

[Surf Solar]

How did you like it?

Well, it was awesome ofcourse. Not only was the level design believable, the sound design is top notch. First thing I noticed walking in there was this big "thing" walking somewhere, foreboding things to come. The ambient music was good and complimented the sound effects. The two snorks felt a wee bit out of place, but they were found before the first locked door locked by the bandit boss, so they could have simply wandered in there. Love the concept of the poltergeists, they initially scare the shit out of you, in reality they can't really deal serious damage to you. More games should follow that route. I was a bit disappointed by the pseudogiant in the basement, it's a bit too easy to entirely avoid its damage imo..

And I really "wtf really?"-ed when upon my escape there was a military assault. :D First time I actually had to scavenge for medkits.
I hope Lab X16 is similar, or surprises me in a different way.. Are there more of these experiences in the STALKER games?

Also, of course we do.

Will upload it later this week then. Just beware that there is an awful lot of backtracking involved.

Good, but ZRP would have been better - it's effectively vanilla++.

Wish I heard about this earlier. I guess it will rape my savegame if I apply it over my (patched) vanilla game?
What would be cool is to have some sort of "Complete" mod but with only the visual additions. Mainly talking about the upgraded textures here, I don't want my game to look as colourful as Complete makes it. The weather additions are also nice. The rest of Complete fucks too much with the balance of the game imo. I heard there is some thing called "Atmosfear" that changes the weather, is that one good?

You can use it as your stash.

Thank you, will now look for a way to get more 5.56 ammo, or atleast another AN-94. That "Storm Obokan" was a beast to nail headshots on others.

Also, slowly dibbling into the factions now. Never been part of a faction in the games before, so that will get exciting.

 

[Lilura]

Old Good STALKER Evolution is my fave mod for STALKER.

 

[Lilura]

What would be cool is to have some sort of "Complete" mod but with only the visual additions. Mainly talking about the upgraded textures here, I don't want my game to look as colourful as Complete makes it.

That would be Absolute Nature and Absolute Structures. OGSE stilll looks better with Argus, though.

I heard there is some thing called "Atmosfear" that changes the weather, is that one good?

Yes, but I just use OGSE.

AtmosFear in Call of Pripyat is great with Absolute Nature and Absolute Structures, too.

 

[DraQ]

I hope Lab X16 is similar, or surprises me in a different way.. Are there more of these experiences in the STALKER games?

Well, X18 does set the bar quite high, doesn't it?

I don't think there is anything comparable not just in STALKERs but also other horroresque games, like System Shock 2.
Still it doesn't imply that X16 or other locations are bad or unatmospheric.

Red Forest (from Clear Sky, different area than in SoC, though SoC's is fun enough too) came pretty close, despite CS being overall much much worse.

Will upload it later this week then. Just beware that there is an awful lot of backtracking involved.

Half the fun of watching blind playthroughs is laughing at noob running around freaking out like cat with a firework tied to its tail.
The other half is remembering being that noob yourself.

Wish I heard about this earlier. I guess it will rape my savegame if I apply it over my (patched) vanilla game?

You'd need to consult docs, because I honestly don't remember.

Probably the least vanilla thing it does is allowing you to pay for having your gear repaired by certain NPCs.
The second least vanilla thing is allowing you to sell guns to stalkers, which can be exploitable (especially when you do stuff like selling a better gun to a guy after handing over quest weapon, picking the weapon and doing the quest over and over) but can be useful if you want to improve survivability of some noob camp.

Other than that it's mostly bugfixes (like infamous wallhack bug that makes AI omniscient for a fraction of second after reload), UI unfucking (like displaying first shot accuracy rather than 'average' accuracy of weapons) and reenabling dummied out code like NPC anomaly avoidance (they can still run into them while in combat, but no longer just stroll into them like a bunchy of drunk lemmings).

Overall I'm horribly purist partly because I was burned a few times, partly because I have potato version and even ensuring ZRP compatibility required manually editing some dialogue strings, and partly because I *am* purist at heart, so don't ask me for advice regarding cosmetic mods or major gameplay alterations - would appreciate something increasing combat lethality (to the point of making stealth preferable route) and anomaly lethality, plus fixing some weapon consistency issues, but no more than that, maybe aside from making medkits heal over time and some sort of seep zone overhaul minimizing human-human combat late in game, but the latter would require hell of a modding team and I just don't think anyone in modding scene could pull that off - not after seeing their sheer inability to understand atmosphere.
Oh, writing mod too, especially given that dialogues are txt only.

That "Storm Obokan" was a beast to nail headshots on others.

I have usually settled for Strelok's AKM as my primary mid-game weapon - 5.45 ammo, mounts scope and GL, improved rate of fire, reduced recoil, about accurate enough for reliable scoped headshots if you're good.

I also never understood morons people claiming pistols to be pointless. Sure, they are not primary guns, they are sidearms, but if you need to shoot a moving target jumping you from the side or behind, there is no better weapon.
My sidearm of choice is Walther P99 most of the time (don't remember in-game name - Walker something, I think) - light, spacious magazine, low recoil, durable, ergonomic, relatively accurate. From heavier guns I kind of liked Sig-Sauer (sip blahblah something). Overall it's better to have something that doesn't have severe enough barrel climb to stop you from verifying your kill immediately.

 

[General Maxson]

Probably the least vanilla thing it does is allowing you to pay for having your gear repaired by certain NPCs.
The second least vanilla thing is allowing you to sell guns to stalkers, which can be exploitable (especially when you do stuff like selling a better gun to a guy after handing over quest weapon, picking the weapon and doing the quest over and over) but can be useful if you want to improve survivability of some noob camp.

I played with ZRP and there was no repair, nor could I sell guns to stalkers... Only vanilla with bugfixes. I guess you choose during installation (can't remember)?

 

[Surf Solar]

Thank you DraQ - will reply later in detail. Right now I am just about to go into lab X16 and started up fraps!

 

[DraQ]

I played with ZRP and there was no repair, nor could I sell guns to stalkers... Only vanilla with bugfixes. I guess you choose during installation (can't remember)?

Yes, you can tick the individual features on and off during install.

 

[Surf Solar]

Jesus Christ that was a stressfull experience D:

Now I have a Groza looking assault rifle and a SEVA suit. Awesome :D

 

[Surf Solar]

BTW is it somehow possible to join the Ecologists in the game?

I kinda like these guys.

 

[Sodafish]

Yes. That's right after the escort mission, correct? Follow him back to their base, do some missions for them and you can join. IIRC you get better prices etc with them too.

 

[Surf Solar]

Yes. That's right after the escort mission, correct? Follow him back to their base, do some missions for them and you can join. IIRC you get better prices etc with them too.

Hm, I've did the x16 mission already as said, guy thanked me and all that jazz. No option to join them though, only got a discount at their shop (which is pretty sweet). It's nothing important, just thought it would be sweet if that would be possible

BTW - what does the ranking system do in SoC? Right now I see Dima blablabla as the Number 1 Stalker on the List. And it's kinda tempting to reach that rank too. Possible by just killing them? Or just keep on playing? I havent done many sidemissions so far tbh, only some the Bar guy gave me - I assume it's tied to how many quests I do?

That guy trying to sell me a Gauss Rifle (wtf??? is this a thing in STALKER?) for 800 RU that I helped escape from the bloodsucker lair paid with his life and it even was a mission for the Bar guy haha.

 

[agentorange]

You can't join the eco dudes in Shadow of Chernobyl, at least not to any official capacity.

The ranking system doesn't do anything, I think, and you will reach number 1 if you just play the game to the end, don't really have to try. I think the number 1 dude ends up dead.

 

[Sodafish]

Hmm, I thought you "joined" them in a loose sense at least via dialogues, i.e. you join and get the discount but it doesn't do anything past that. Guess I'm getting mixed up.

 

[Jaesun]

Where can you download ZRP? Back in the day it was a confusing fucking mess. Is ZRP actually finished and complete?

 

[Lilura]

ZRP

The config isn't as good as OGSE's, but I guess if you want the vanilla experience only, it works ok. You can also use Absolute Nature and Absolute Structures, they keep the vanilla look intact.

 

[TripJack]

Back in the day it was a confusing fucking mess. Is ZRP actually finished and complete?

it still gets the occasional update but yeah i would say it is

the huge amount of options and settings in the configurator can be overwhelming but most have descriptive tooltips and the defaults are pretty sane

 

[Baron Dupek]

Surf Solar
You can only join them in some mods, like Doom's Mod Merge that I starte playing yesterday.
You start the game, you can choose any factions (including Mercenaries, Monolith (GLORY) and Military) AND start game with "minimal loadout" - pistol, few bullets, bottle of vodka and jacket. Sounds bad? Not so, pistols in DMM are useful and you can hunt mutants with them, seriously.

Ranking is for better gear in shops. They don't sell their westerner toys for mere squatters.

Stuff is good, basically it's modpack (FreePlay from start) that give new mutants, gear and weapons from LURK (that mod was abandoned recently). Assault rifles kick like a mule. No cheating AI here for now.

Also I was really lucky to get DMM for CoP. There was only one source (file site) that doesn't work most of the time and with shitty DL speed.

Newest version is DMM Anon Edition v4

 

[DraQ]

OGSE

Would be happy to try it but there doesn't seem to be a potato version.

 

[DraQ]

Hm, I've did the x16 mission already as said, guy thanked me and all that jazz. No option to join them though, only got a discount at their shop (which is pretty sweet). It's nothing important, just thought it would be sweet if that would be possible

I like them too, Kruglov is pretty (also probably the most clear-headed escortee in gaming's history).

Gauss Rifle (wtf??? is this a thing in STALKER?)

Yes.

 

[Surf Solar]

I've uploaded the video of me playing through the x16 lab, the one with x18 is still uploading.



At the end with the countdown the game bugged a bit out resetting the countdown - which probably saved my ass

 

[Baron Dupek]

Did I mention about DMM for CoP? It sux.
I liked limited ammunition, could stomach you can't sell guns. But bullet sponge zombies? No thx.

And one thing about OGSE (IIRC) - assault rifles sux there, they're useless agains armored enemies. On the other hand - shotgun slugs (balls) cut them down like harvester. I never used any AR after Bar, only Saiga till the end.
There was also some automatic turrets, annoying species. I avoid them whenever I can.
Gauss Rifle is best agains tough muties like pseudogiants.

 

[DraQ]

And one thing about OGSE (IIRC) - assault rifles sux there, they're useless agains armored enemies. On the other hand - shotgun slugs (balls) cut them down like harvester.

dafuq

 

[General Maxson]

Are there any good and interesting stalker mods like original SoC (I mean cool story and atmosphere)? I was hoping Lost Alpha will be great, but apparently it's pretty shitty. Is there any hope of them "patching it up" to a great game?

 

[Baron Dupek]

99% of them suffer with pixel hunting and ridicilous difficulty level.

dafuq

True story. Not even AP ammo deal with militia than single, well placed slug.

 

[Ivan]

Surf Solar You definitely have to try COP w/ Misery 1.2 after finishing SoC.