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Finally purchased STALKER

C

Chombo

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
3,320
After perusing the Clear Sky screens I figured I should play the original. I finally hunted down a copy at Frys for $20 (Yay) and plopped myself down yesterday to play for a few hours. I was so excited...

Firearms are handled in a refreshingly realistic way, which I like. They group differently as I would expect. They also jam from extended usage. You can even buy +p rounds! The game renders the underground environments very well. The game also does a very good of giving the world a very derelict feel.

Sadly I found the games underlying appeal to hopelessly marred by stability issues. I spent a good 25% of my gametime restarting the game from crashes. Half the time I went to save the game, it would crash. Which is compounded by the fact that there was no quick save / load at launch. I wouldn't have found that as big of an issue if the game wasn't so extradordinarily difficult. Its not difficulty in the strength of the AI. I played for about 4 hours and I still have yet to find a peice of body armor. Are there any traders besides the guy at the original camp? In addition ammo for the rifles is so limited I find myself relegated to using the Makarov or whatever pistol for most of the combat. Also the UI for the PDA is pretty bad. Half the time I don't even know if I am on the right quest. Maybe I am just a noob though.

I remember being floored by the level of detail that was shown in the original screens back in 2004. However it does not look like there was much done to improve the graphics. The graphics don't really detract from the game, but I would have expected a bit more after the game was delayed 3 years? I really really want to love this game..:(
 
What OS are you playing on? Have you patched up to the most current version? As far as quick load is concerned, I remember there being a Load Last Save at the top of the front menu. Just about anyone in the game will trade with you - however there are more later in the game with large inventories like the guy who gives you quests initially. Are you playing with dynamic lighting? That can make quite the difference in the appearance of the game.
 
I am playing on Vista 64. I have not yet patched the game, since I do not have internet access at home, if a patch fixes the stability I will go to my brother in laws house and burn it to a CD there. Whenever I go to trade with a random person they will buy but they really have nothing to sell... I am playing with the graphics maxed as far as everything will go. It just feels outdated, maybe its because Oblivion's outdoor environments were amazing.
 
Seriously, stop stalking me. I bought this game too just a few weeks ago. It's great and I enjoyed it immensely, but it has a bit of a learning curve. As for the crashes, I have not had that problem, anything on your end that could be causing it? Don't forget to patch, that cleared up most of the initial problems I had.

Now to answer the questions. There's a piece of body armor maybe a half an hour into the game if you follow the story (go save the guy from the bandits in the abandoned compound, then that guy tells you to "retrieve the armor" which you can do so, and keep if you wish. Ammunition is generally hard to come by in this game (until later), but it's definitely an issue at the beginning, but it wouldn't be much of a survival-horror if you had a gigantic pile of ammo, would it? You'll find more, just be patient. For extra goodies don't forget to check your PDA for stash locations that you've discovered. You can often times find ammunition or if you're lucky, some new body armor in a stash. (These are found by searching the corpses of dead human enemies, and will then have an icon represented on the map for the location of the stash). There are more traders than just the one in the first area.

Give it some more time, you'll either latch on to it like glue (and turn the lights out and the volume up for kicks!) or you'll give up on it. In which case you'll have missed one of the better single-player experiences in the last few years.
 
ok i dont even know what to do at the beggining of this game. it seems so hard! where do I get money and guns and stuff from etc.
 
The combat is the easiest part of the game for me ironically. I think the ironsights are cosmetic. The guns aren't any more accurate if you use them.

Clarification on the PDA: After you complete a quest, does the PDA redirect you back to the quest giver?
 
The PDA should redirect to return. Just make sure you've selected it in the PDA and that will be your current quest that shows up on the map and everything.

Have you made it to Garbage? If you can take out the bandits that are attacking the stalkers, you should have plenty of rifles to unload for ammunition. You know how to do that, right?

I wouldn't spend too much time in the first area, and definitely try to run away from or avoid packs of dogs because they are just a waste of ammo.

At the beginning of the game, do the quest to kill the bandits in the nearby cluster of buildings. Then you can try to take a few side quests that are local to your map, or see if you can just push up toward the next map, Garbage. You'll have to pay the military at the roadblock unless you can find the way around.

Once in Garbage, go left to talk to the head stalker, and if he survives the firefight I think he will point you to the story quests. Should be well on your way at that point, and you can explore a little as well.
 
The game really doesn't start getting interesting until you're towards the end of the first area. I actually found it interesting from the very start cause all the wild dogs and other stuff creeped the hell out of me and it was some good spooky fun. It really took off though when it got to the less-linear area of Garbage and started throwing some dynamic situations at you.

Should I stay and help fight off the bandits? Or should I save my own hide and run away? Should I help this guy that's about to be killed by XXX or just keep my nose out of their business?

You get the idea, some good fun.
 
Tim James said:
The PDA should redirect to return. Just make sure you've selected it in the PDA and that will be your current quest that shows up on the map and everything.

Have you made it to Garbage? If you can take out the bandits that are attacking the stalkers, you should have plenty of rifles to unload for ammunition. You know how to do that, right?

I wouldn't spend too much time in the first area, and definitely try to run away from or avoid packs of dogs because they are just a waste of ammo.

At the beginning of the game, do the quest to kill the bandits in the nearby cluster of buildings. Then you can try to take a few side quests that are local to your map, or see if you can just push up toward the next map, Garbage. You'll have to pay the military at the roadblock unless you can find the way around.

Once in Garbage, go left to talk to the head stalker, and if he survives the firefight I think he will point you to the story quests. Should be well on your way at that point, and you can explore a little as well.
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I am well past the Garbage area and I did loot all of the corpses. I got to around the Agroprom Research Institute (sp?) before I decided to turn back and head back to the original main camp to sell all of the MP5s that I have accumulated. However I have yet to stumble across any body armor. I tend to be low on ammo because it takes 10ish rounds from a rifle before the target drops. Looting the target yields 5 rounds in return. After a lot of targets I am low on ammo...

If I could find some body armor this would be much more enjoyable.
 
I remember the first armor piece being one of the first camp quests you perform (maybe the second). It has you run to the end of a railroad, in a tunnel, to pick up a piece of armor. You're supposed to return the armor to the quest guy to get a reward, but don't. Just keep it to yourself and use it for the five or six more hours it will take to get a better armor piece.
 
Download a texture mod called Float 32 , it updates all the Textures in the game.

Also , why is everyone having problems running this game? I've played through it 4 times now and havent had a single issue or slowdown, WinXP32 FTW I guess:confused:
 
Tzzird said:
I remember the first armor piece being one of the first camp quests you perform (maybe the second). It has you run to the end of a railroad, in a tunnel, to pick up a piece of armor. You're supposed to return the armor to the quest guy to get a reward, but don't. Just keep it to yourself and use it for the five or six more hours it will take to get a better armor piece.
Click to expand...

Yea I was stupid and returned it, silly me thinking there would be more.:(
 
Krenum said:
Download a texture mod called Float 32 , it updates all the Textures in the game.

Also , why is everyone having problems running this game? I've played through it 4 times now and havent had a single issue or slowdown, WinXP32 FTW I guess:confused:
Click to expand...

I never had a problem with the game either. A lot can be said about making sure you patch the game to the latest version before playing it.
 
Chombo said:
I am well past the Garbage area and I did loot all of the corpses. I got to around the Agroprom Research Institute (sp?) before I decided to turn back and head back to the original main camp to sell all of the MP5s that I have accumulated. However I have yet to stumble across any body armor. I tend to be low on ammo because it takes 10ish rounds from a rifle before the target drops. Looting the target yields 5 rounds in return. After a lot of targets I am low on ammo...

If I could find some body armor this would be much more enjoyable.
Click to expand...
Make sure you are not using one of those +300% health artifacts. I think they increase your bleeding and only improve health regen, not overall health. When I figured that out, the game seemed much easier.

Maybe take a break from Agroprom and head north of Garbage to the Bar. I think the guy sells armor. Or just search through a damn walkthrough for some nearby if it's bothering you that much.

I remember whenever I brought ammo for a trek out into the wilderness, I always ran out unless I was using the same ammunition as the bad guys in the map I was on. So I always had to switch to the weapon of choice. I don't remember running out at that point though, but ammunition is always a "problem" in the game. Just one of those mechanical imbalances that you have to get over.
 
Wally said:
There's a crate hidden in the roof of one of the starting houses with some suit in. You have to climb up the ladder by Wolf, edge out along the tiny ledge to the left onto the roof, and take a sprinting jump to the building behind it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrjkucH1-pk
Click to expand...

yes i was going to say this,


the next step is to do the first mission, kill all the people in it and get the shotgun, next go to the bridge where the 4 military guys are guarding and take them out to get weapons/ammo

what i did was walked up to them and went to the back of one of them took out my shotgun and blew him away, take his rifle then shoot it out with the rest of them.
 
i'm really thinking of getting this game, does anyone know if the version on steam is up to date with all the patches?
 
I remember running out of ammo at the agropom institute about halfway through the battle. Was quite fun running down to the nearest corpse to try and get the gun/ammo then back again. Even used the knife at the end on a few. I love games that let you get creative. :)
 
I haven't played STALKER yet. I'm thinking about waiting until Clear Skies comes out and playing it first. Yay or nay?
 
GJSNeptune said:
I haven't played STALKER yet. I'm thinking about waiting until Clear Skies comes out and playing it first. Yay or nay?
Click to expand...

Definately get STALKER. You'll want to see if you like the game mechanics (lots of people don't), and there's no sense in a $50 test when you can take a $20 one thats just as good that you don't have to wait for.
 
Chombo, you really need to access the internet and grab the updates. Your stability will improve dramatically. The last relevent patch that had single player fixes was 1.0004. The current patch is up to 1.0006, but its mostly multiplayer fixes. Also try not to accumalate too many saves, there is an issue with having a large number of saves will corrupt your active saves. I typically use 3 saves max. I use quick, autosave, and the all save.

Here is the link to 1.0004
http://stalker.filefront.com/file/STALKER_US_Patch;82268
 
i got stalker for $6 when compusa was closing. I finally started to play it the other day, I like it so far. Figuring out where to go is kinda odd, as you get a quest then the arrow is saying to go back to the trader etc. I too have the ammo problem, i did get the ak fairly early, i walked down the other road to where there is a patrol and guard tower to talk, and they just opened fire on me, and chased me, I walked back when i heard talking and there is 5 soldiers clustered together , and luckily I found a grenade somewhere and lobbed it killing all of them, took their guns and shot two more, went back to the camp to sell them, and next thing i know they are attacking the first camp. of course I died trying to kill them, oh well was cool that my actions had caused the attack.
 
cpt.whistlepants said:
Chombo, you really need to access the internet and grab the updates. Your stability will improve dramatically. The last relevent patch that had single player fixes was 1.0004. The current patch is up to 1.0006, but its mostly multiplayer fixes. Also try not to accumalate too many saves, there is an issue with having a large number of saves will corrupt your active saves. I typically use 3 saves max. I use quick, autosave, and the all save.

Here is the link to 1.0004
http://stalker.filefront.com/file/STALKER_US_Patch;82268
Click to expand...

Thanks man! I will download that asap.
 
game is absolutely horrible!!! played it for 15 mins and said fuck it and uninstalled

graphics are horrrible, way guns fire is retarded!, and people dont talk, have to read all shit. reminds me of gameboy
 
vixer said:
game is absolutely horrible!!! played it for 15 mins and said fuck it and uninstalled

graphics are horrrible, way guns fire is retarded!, and people dont talk, have to read all shit. reminds me of gameboy
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Thats a bit over dramatic. The graphics are decent. That is generally how guns fire and its a Russian game. Did you expect full voice overs?:confused:
 
vixer said:
game is absolutely horrible!!! played it for 15 mins and said fuck it and uninstalled

graphics are horrrible, way guns fire is retarded!, and people dont talk, have to read all shit. reminds me of gameboy
Click to expand...

are you serious?
 
fire a game in counter-strike 1.6 and then in stalker and c which is better

its horrible, and sound the guns make is w/e

game reminds me of Half Life - 1
 
vixer said:
fire a game in counter-strike 1.6 and then in stalker and c which is better

its horrible, and sound the guns make is w/e

game reminds me of Half Life - 1
Click to expand...



Have you ever fired a weapon? If you have you should know already that a bullet will never hit exactly where the weapon is pointed unless the barrel in ON the target. Gravity, air friction, wind, and some other factors (barrel length, quality of weapon/ammo, rifling twist ratio, amount of recoil, plus many others) can drastically change the flight path of a bullet. STALKER is the only game I've ever played that actually uses some of these factors in their ballistics engine (vs. the point-plotting style used in CS), and I like the attention to detail.

Also, if the sounds are that unbearable, you can always go to one of the many mod sites out there and change them.
 
You are selling the game short... Stalker was one of those games that I thought I didn't like at first. I played for 30 minutes and was quite lost and wasn't really enjoying anything. I set it down for a week and started remembering cool little details that I had seen in my first 30 minutes and decided to give it another try. It's now one of my top 5 favorite games. :)
 
vixer said:
fire a game in counter-strike 1.6 and then in stalker and c which is better

its horrible, and sound the guns make is w/e

game reminds me of Half Life - 1
Click to expand...

Stalker has bullet drop, and the bullets have travel time. CS bullets hit instantly, and has inaccurate bullet physics. I think the only think stalker doesn't have is bullet penetration. If it does somebody correct me. You didn't give it time. Seriously 15 minutes, thats barely enough time to figure out whats going on. You are missing out on one of the best FPS of last year. When I first started, I disliked the game but I kept playing and once you get past the first gun which does suck the game picks up.

Im playing it on the hardest difficulty and it is a blast and one of the hardest FPS I have played.
 
Chombo said:
Yea I was stupid and returned it, silly me thinking there would be more.:(
Click to expand...

you can pick up the same armor in the abandoned factory, or whatever it's called. it's in the first map, across the street from the bandid camp, where you did your first quest, and right in front of the guards underneath the railroad bridge, just hit a few crates with your knife to find it. you will also find a decent armor in the Sterloks hideout.
 
Well, I don't type that way but I agree with his sentiment. I have tried repeatedly to get into STALKER but every time I do, I end up thinking, "this game is f-ing stupid" and exit out.
 
stalker does take a little bit to get into, unfortunately. You just have to get past that first zone and it will probably hook you.
 
mogar said:
Have you ever fired a weapon? If you have you should know already that a bullet will never hit exactly where the weapon is pointed unless the barrel in ON the target. Gravity, air friction, wind, and some other factors (barrel length, quality of weapon/ammo, rifling twist ratio, amount of recoil, plus many others) can drastically change the flight path of a bullet. STALKER is the only game I've ever played that actually uses some of these factors in their ballistics engine (vs. the point-plotting style used in CS), and I like the attention to detail.

Also, if the sounds are that unbearable, you can always go to one of the many mod sites out there and change them.
Click to expand...

So true. I've benchrested with a vice my AR and the groups are usually between 1-2MOA at 100 yards. There are just inherent inaccuracies that exist to find a mix between reliability and accuracy. Counter Strike is a joke.

*Spoiler maybe*

I played several hours of STALKER last night and I love the game now. Once you get to the Bar area and I picked up, the armor from the barkeep, an M4 (or its generic STALKER equivalent) and a Scoped AK the game became so much easier. How do I join Duty?
 
vixer said:
game is absolutely horrible!!! played it for 15 mins and said fuck it and uninstalled

graphics are horrrible, way guns fire is retarded!, and people dont talk, have to read all shit. reminds me of gameboy
Click to expand...

Let me guess you tried to run and gun in STALKER and got destroyed. 15 minutes of play before uninstalling ... woah you really gave it a chance.:rolleyes:
 
Krenum said:
Also , why is everyone having problems running this game? I've played through it 4 times now and havent had a single issue or slowdown, WinXP32 FTW I guess:confused:
Click to expand...

No.....no....sadly, no. I'm on XP. I started playing through it a few days ago. I have constant CTD. It randomly freezes. This was running patch 1.0001. I thought maybe I needed to update the patch, so I installed 1.0003 - now it won't load my saved games OR a new game. Just CTD while loading. I patched all the way up to 1.005 and it does the same thing. It's buggy as hell, but tons of fun....when it works.
 
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