I've started playing it again. A while ago when I played it, it took me a while to get used to it and I moved slowly so only got as far as the start of the Bar missions. Now I'm using faikes mod. I actually find it is too easy with that mod, since with the much relaxed weight restriction and traders who sell every possible weapon and item, it is very easy to pick up everything, rack up a lot of money pretty quickly, then buy good guns and armor.
So I might remove the mod and try something else, or start over on Veteran difficulty (or whatever is after Stalker). I'm only a little further than when I stopped before, but it was much quicker this time. That and playing it 3-4 hours straight the past few nights helped. 🙂
Awesome game. Love the freedom and random things that happen.
edit: I still have to use Static lighting to get smooth play. I want to stay at 1680x1050 with mid details, and using Object dynamic lighting is okay but I can just tell it gets too choppy often. I thought the patches since I first played the game, and maybe my new dual core @ a higher clock would be enough, but my lowly 7800GT still can't do it.