S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky!

[imported_Imp]

Just crashed (to desktop) out of my first session. Performance-wise, it's similar to the original. I still have to kill the view distance or some other detail to get some better frames outdoors. No thunderstorms yet so don't know if HDR will be screwy again.

Overall, I have to say that this is a major improvement on the original. The PDA iand HUD is now streamlined and user friendly. There are more/better stats on faction relationships. Also, the gieger counter is actually useful now; you no longer have to use your radiation conamination rate as an indicator.

The biggest difference and improvement though, is how you get artifacts and the handling of anomalies. They are no longer as plentiful as sliced bread, and you need to use your device to find them (hard as hell without better radiation resistance). Anomalies are now more transparent and are harder to avoid without using bolts. I don't think I used them more than once in the original.

And to those who hated the pea shooters that pistols were... You will be glad to know that they are quite effective at close to medium ranges.

 

[geoffry]

I decided to go for the steam pre-order.

Aside from the Orange Box this'll be my 2nd steam purchase.

I'll download it tonight and let you know what I think.

 

[Zenoth]

Originally posted by: Mem
Seems to be a lot of fixes,quite frankly looking at this patch and previous patch I'm amazed they actually released Clear Sky..

The best way to test a game is to send it obviously uncompleted / buggy (status very well known to the developers) to the public. That way you get to know about most of the bugs in no time and you don't have to pay real testers. The only potential down side is that it would cause bad word of mouth, but collective memory doesn't last too long and people will appreciate the game a hundred fold more once the third or fourth patch is out.

Back then Shadow of Chernobyl caused lots of complaints and disappointments, but GSC GameWorld announced very recently that they sold two million copied around the world. I'd say that the public has been very generous for a game they wanted to hate so much.

 

[geoffry]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
The rumor was true, this is killing my 4870 with dx10 lighting @ 16x12 resolution. Damn.

I wonder if the cat 8.9's or 8.10's will fix that, I think STALKER SoC took an ATI driver revision or 2 to get good performance as well.

 

[DangerAardvark]

I only have it on high and my 8800GT barely handles it.

I was playing it on Master until one mission which told me to assault a truck with bandits around it. The problem? It's in the middle of flat ground with no cover around and I only have a pistol and a shotgun and I die in 3 bullets. So that was fun. The original game on Master wasn't half as hard.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
The rumor was true, this is killing my 4870 with dx10 lighting @ 16x12 resolution. Damn.

Turn shadows right down thats what I did, I run it in DX10 mode at 1680x1050 res.

 

[DangerAardvark]

This is getting infuriating. I turn the difficulty down a notch, and great, now I can take one more shot before dying. My shotgun has a range of about 2 feet. The NPC dashes right in the middle of the enemies, dies and fails my mission. I throw a grenade and it blows up right next to them, and they just seem slightly startled. I run up to within shotgun range and a fucking boar runs up behind me and rapes my ass. And did I mention that if I turn the graphics up enough to make it not look like ass, my FPS bogs down to unplayable in firefights? I'm playing Combat Arms.

 

[Dorkenstein]

I turned the details down and it runs better. I also did the user.ltx tweak to disable AA. However, I can't turn Sun and Ray quality down to low because the option to do so in Advanced Options is greyed out.

On a gameplay note, I am playing seriously today and I notice that anomalies are a much greater pain in the ass this time around. I haven't fired a single gunshot but I am dying in anomalies, even when using bolts on them first.

 

[Golgatha]

Hmm, seems that every release of Clear Sky, except for the US release, will have Starforce copy protection. One lost sale here, as I am still boycotting this invasive DRM scheme.

http://groups.google.com/group...arforce/web/games-list

 

[SexyK]

Anyone else getting weird visual glitching when it starts raining with a 48xx series card?

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
This is getting infuriating. I turn the difficulty down a notch, and great, now I can take one more shot before dying. My shotgun has a range of about 2 feet. The NPC dashes right in the middle of the enemies, dies and fails my mission. I throw a grenade and it blows up right next to them, and they just seem slightly startled. I run up to within shotgun range and a fucking boar runs up behind me and rapes my ass. And did I mention that if I turn the graphics up enough to make it not look like ass, my FPS bogs down to unplayable in firefights? I'm playing Combat Arms.

So what, you're at Veteran or Stalker now? I'm playing on Veteran and got raped a few times in the Swamp. The shotgun is indeed shit at anything beyong 10 feet. I've been hit by the shotgun from 20 feet and lose about a pinch of health, that regenerates immediately; in turn, I have peppered groups from this range and gotten no results. Use your pistol. It has tracers (ya, wtf, I know) and is very effective at the fighting distances in this area. I have gotten many 1 shot kills (headshots) with it.

One more thing. I just remembered. I used the 'hunting rifle' on some enemies at point blank range. Maybe 5 feet, and the buckshot round still took over 5 shots to kill (I didn't score direct hits each time). Now, if you still can't kill anything, well, back to Combat Arms.

Originally posted by: SexyK
Anyone else getting weird visual glitching when it starts raining with a 48xx series card?

Haven't seen rain yet. I'm on a 7600gt and got it in Stalker. Try new drivers? I did and they didn't help for the original.

 

[geoffry]

Originally posted by: SexyK
Anyone else getting weird visual glitching when it starts raining with a 48xx series card?

I'll let you know in a few hrs.

 

[Dorkenstein]

I could tell you now except it hasn't rained in my game yet.

 

[SexyK]

Originally posted by: geoffry

Originally posted by: SexyK
Anyone else getting weird visual glitching when it starts raining with a 48xx series card?

I'll let you know in a few hrs.

Rain issue seems to have resolved itself with a reboot. Not sure what was causing it originally, but it's gone now. I'll let you know if it returns. Otherwise, pretty fun so far.

 

[Darklife]

Originally posted by: SexyK

Originally posted by: geoffry

Originally posted by: SexyK
Anyone else getting weird visual glitching when it starts raining with a 48xx series card?

I'll let you know in a few hrs.

Rain issue seems to have resolved itself with a reboot. Not sure what was causing it originally, but it's gone now. I'll let you know if it returns. Otherwise, pretty fun so far.

I occasionally get the same thing, so far it's happened to me twice. At first I thought my card GTX 280 was overheating and I was just seeing artifacts, but it seems to be some sort of glitch, I think it has something to do with the cloudy/sunny transitions, the second time when I reloaded instead of a cloudy rainy day I was surprised to see a clear skies.

DangerAArdvark, if Clear Sky has gained control of the swamp they give you their suit back at base, which is much better than the rainjacket you start off with. Plus the hunting rifle works marvels.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Yeah it just rained here, no artifacting. Not sure what causes that. I'm going to try this question over at gamespot, but does anyone know where the third upgrade flash drive is in the swamp? I have gotten the armor one and the submachine gun one.

 

[pontifex]

man, i've died twice now and i have no clue how for either time. there was no indication that I was even being hurt. the first was on the first mission outside the base. i was walking to the outpost and all of a sudden my health started falling and it wouldn't stop. 2nd time i was at the hamlet, i think. I was helping fight off some bandits. I was inside a house shooting at a bandit and all of a sudden i died. i wasn't paying attention to my health but there was not indication that i was being hit.

can't run on all full settings. i'm getting about 30 fps on my current settings and it still feels choppy. seems pretty cool so far though, more stalker goodness!

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: pontifex
man, i've died twice now and i have no clue how for either time. there was no indication that I was even being hurt. the first was on the first mission outside the base. i was walking to the outpost and all of a sudden my health started falling and it wouldn't stop. 2nd time i was at the hamlet, i think. I was helping fight off some bandits. I was inside a house shooting at a bandit and all of a sudden i died. i wasn't paying attention to my health but there was not indication that i was being hit.

can't run on all full settings. i'm getting about 30 fps on my current settings and it still feels choppy. seems pretty cool so far though, more stalker goodness!

The little circle to the left of your health bar lights up when you're bleeding... which is totally realistic because I know whenever I'm bleeding to death, I barely notice. Could also be radiation. Nearly all the water in the swamp is radioactive and there's no sound to indicate radiation from your initial detector.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark

Originally posted by: pontifex
man, i've died twice now and i have no clue how for either time. there was no indication that I was even being hurt. the first was on the first mission outside the base. i was walking to the outpost and all of a sudden my health started falling and it wouldn't stop. 2nd time i was at the hamlet, i think. I was helping fight off some bandits. I was inside a house shooting at a bandit and all of a sudden i died. i wasn't paying attention to my health but there was not indication that i was being hit.

can't run on all full settings. i'm getting about 30 fps on my current settings and it still feels choppy. seems pretty cool so far though, more stalker goodness!

The little circle to the left of your health bar lights up when you're bleeding... which is totally realistic because I know whenever I'm bleeding to death, I barely notice. Could also be radiation. Nearly all the water in the swamp is radioactive and there's no sound to indicate radiation from your initial detector.

i think i was in the water a bit. doh...

ok, am i missing it or is there no where to store your items at the clear sky base?

 

[geoffry]

Originally posted by: Golgatha
Hmm, seems that every release of Clear Sky, except for the US release, will have Starforce copy protection. One lost sale here, as I am still boycotting this invasive DRM scheme.

http://groups.google.com/group...arforce/web/games-list

Does the steam version a canadian would get have starforce? This is the first time I've heard of it.


And no glitch during rain for me but I have no idea how to pass the military at Cordon, lol.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: geoffry

Originally posted by: Golgatha
Hmm, seems that every release of Clear Sky, except for the US release, will have Starforce copy protection. One lost sale here, as I am still boycotting this invasive DRM scheme.

http://groups.google.com/group...arforce/web/games-list

Does the steam version a canadian would get have starforce? This is the first time I've heard of it.


And no glitch during rain for me but I have no idea how to pass the military at Cordon, lol.

I'm there too. Inadequate cover? Check. Pea-shooters for weapons? Check. Instant death, the second you poke your head out? Check.

Inability to alt-tab out of the game? Check.

 

[geoffry]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark

Originally posted by: geoffry

Originally posted by: Golgatha
Hmm, seems that every release of Clear Sky, except for the US release, will have Starforce copy protection. One lost sale here, as I am still boycotting this invasive DRM scheme.

http://groups.google.com/group...arforce/web/games-list

Does the steam version a canadian would get have starforce? This is the first time I've heard of it.


And no glitch during rain for me but I have no idea how to pass the military at Cordon, lol.

I'm there too. Inadequate cover? Check. Pea-shooters for weapons? Check. Instant death, the second you poke your head out? Check.

Inability to alt-tab out of the game? Check.

Lol, exactly...a pistol and a shotgun that bother reload insanely slow and some army guy in a tower and a swarm of them on the ground, its a bit of a difficult situation.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark

Originally posted by: geoffry
Does the steam version a canadian would get have starforce? This is the first time I've heard of it.


And no glitch during rain for me but I have no idea how to pass the military at Cordon, lol.

I'm there too. Inadequate cover? Check. Pea-shooters for weapons? Check. Instant death, the second you poke your head out? Check.

Inability to alt-tab out of the game? Check.

Spoilers: duh?

Indeed. This pissed me off. I reloaded at least 20 times from the time I got to the Cordon, up to the time I finished massacring the soldiers... The soldiers are easy to kill, but that machine gun is just insane. When moving from cover to cover, you have to pray that you don't get hit and use trees to block yourself from the gunners FOV. Anways, I decided early on that if I could get away from the machine gun, I may as well just do it then go back in and get some. There's another Cordon entrance to the north from the swamps. Anyone try that? It was worth it, but then I found the first major problem.

When attacking the outpost, soldiers would just run past me, even if I shot at and hit them. If they saw me, they shot at me, but gave up too easily. I just picked everyone off one by one. They have to fix the AI. In the first Stalker, when I attacked the outpost, every soldier was on alert and actually attacked me; not saying they did it smart, but at least they ran towards me to try to kill me. I haven't had these same issues in any other fights though.

Now for a change of tone, I'm very impressed with the upgrade/repair system. No more reloading cause my irrepairable armor took too many hits and just became as good as a t-shirt. I'm somewhat annoyed that bandages no longer repair health too. They are essential to staying alive though.

Also, no artifacts during rain or thunderstorms.

 

[duragezic]

Where have those in the US currently playing Clear Sky got their copy from?

Greatly looking forward to this and Crysis: Warhead tomorrow. The latter is in the Circuit City ad with a 9/17, on Walmart's website (I assume to be in store this week). Nothing about Clear Sky at either place. I also have a Gamestop or two, and they list Clear Sky, but keying in my zipcode returns no results for the product. I hope I can pick them both up tomorrow at Circuit City. Except then I'm left with deciding which to play first!

 

[DangerAardvark]

I got my copy off Steam.