S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series at GOG ($15 for all three next 72 hours)

[wanderer27]

Must say, I didn't expect this trio of games out DRM free so soon, but here they are :

http://www.gog.com/news/release_stalker_series


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[Atomic Playboy]

Must say, I didn't expect this trio of games out DRM free so soon...

The most recent one was released four years ago. How long did you think it would take?

 

[wanderer27]

The most recent one was released four years ago. How long did you think it would take?

There are games older than these that haven't been released DRM free, so four years is fairly quick in this Industry.

Take Crysis for example, still no DRM free version, still not on GOG - though FarCry and FarCry2 are.


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[ImpulsE69]

It's been much cheaper - but nice to see them on GoG. I STILL need to actually play these.

 

[DigDog]

i bought clear sky and prypiat full price; was really pissed off about CS's game-breakingbugs and save-breaking patches (which did not fix wholly the bugs anyway).
CoP went better, but i was disappointed in how similar it was to CS.
IMHO, the first was the better game by far.

normally, you'd think that when people say, "play morrowing, its SOO much better than Oblivion", they are stupid, because games advance and you wouldn't want to miss those features the developers wanted in the game, but had no time to code in;

But stalker 1 had: a coherent story, better survival elements (in CS and CoP you become OP by 2/3 of the game), and a proper conclusion, even if rather abstract.
CS had a messy arcade-like last level that was WTF, and a 10 seconds endgame FMW.
CoP had "you are winner" screen and thats it.

However, i have to say, all 3 games had fantastic gun physics. I have never seen another game with such playable, yet semi-realistic bullets. ARMA 2 comes close.

Anyway, what patch do these come with? Because AFAIK, none of these 3 was fully playable with the Deep Silver patches. You still could break the game in several places, corrupt save games, or get stuck with triggers which disappeared from the game.
COMPLETE mod fixed most of these, but not really 100%, last time i played. If i remember correctly, Stalker 1 got fixed 100%, the other two no.

 

[Elfear]

Some of my favorite games ever. I'll have to let my buddies know about this deal.

 

[DefDC]

Oh wow. I might have to take the plunge just for the no-disc convenience. I love these games, and i played them all vanilla.

 

[shortylickens]

Got it. Good bargain.

But that means now I have to play them.......

 

[chihlidog]

Have all three of 'em, LOVE 'em. But I actually just posted this to Facebook in case my friends dont have 'em yet. Some of the best games of all time, I love all three of them.

 

[BFG10K]

One of the finest PC gaming trilogies ever made. It's a shame they never made the fourth one.

 

[Whirlwind]

One of the finest PC gaming trilogies ever made. It's a shame they never made the fourth one.

+1

 

[HeXen]

There are games older than these that haven't been released DRM free, so four years is fairly quick in this Industry.

Take Crysis for example, still no DRM free version, still not on GOG - though FarCry and FarCry2 are.


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It depends on the requests. Apparently a lot of people requested Stalkers moreso than Crysis. Just make a request for it and try to get others to do so too. Although I kinda doubt EA will let Crysis 3 off of Origin which to me is still DRM.

One of the finest PC gaming trilogies ever made. It's a shame they never made the fourth one.

Agree although IF they did I would hope they would use a different engine, even the last one was still pretty buggy and funky in parts. My only real complaint of the series is the empty space, too many empty buildings where nothing happens for example. I wished for more places like X labs for example. Seems like I spent more time fighting off dogs and occasional bandits than anything else. Clear Sky was probably the better but SOC with some good mods was the most varied and eerie imo.

 

[BFG10K]

Agree although IF they did I would hope they would use a different engine, even the last one was still pretty buggy and funky in parts.

I'd have liked the same engine with an incremental upgrade, as each game had. That engine was perfect for portraying the unique experience of the franchise. There's nothing else that could pull it off.

My only real complaint of the series is the empty space, too many empty buildings where nothing happens for example. I wished for more places like X labs for example.

I explored every nook and cranny looking for artifacts. I didn't even look for stashes or do side-quests, which would make exploration even more worthwhile.

 

[Stringjam]

I'd have liked the same engine with an incremental upgrade, as each game had. That engine was perfect for portraying the unique experience of the franchise. There's nothing else that could pull it off.

As much of a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fan as I am, I always felt like it was the engine tech that was really holding it back.

Stuttering is always an issue, and is almost maddening sometimes in ShoC (though disabling prefetching seems to really help). None of the versions do a very good job at rendering dense vegetation, so they tend to resort to a lot of really low-res / low-poly vegetation objects.


After playing through the 1935 build of ShoC, it's amazing to see how much ambition the team had for their original vision. It's pretty apparent though they just bit off more than they could handle with the level of engine tech / money they probably had.

As great of a game as ShoC is, it's really a fraction of the scope of what they originally planned.

 

[tidy]

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[BFG10K]

Stuttering is always an issue, and is almost maddening sometimes in ShoC (though disabling prefetching seems to really help). None of the versions do a very good job at rendering dense vegetation, so they tend to resort to a lot of really low-res / low-poly vegetation objects.

The vegetation might've been a bit dated, but it's one of the few engines that can render indoor and outdoor shadows equally well. Even Crysis 3 struggles in places. Also the day/night cycle looks really natural (in many games it looks fake), and I've never seen lighting strikes at night done so well.

I think the engine is perfect for the Stalker experience; nothing else can pull off that gritty, isolated look.

 

[tidy]

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[Stringjam]

Honestly, I'm looking forward more the Lost Alpha release than just about anything coming out.

Hopefully - some day - it actually will be released. :\

I've played the original games so many times through, I just have a hard time really getting into them anymore - even with the various mods (most of which are pretty bad, IMO).

I think playing Lost Alpha is going to be a completely new experience all over again. Especially with the Dead City and the other original "cut" locations.

 

[DigDog]

well guys, i share your appreciation of the game .. but if we're dreaming, what i wish for is a longer story in part 2 and 3.

or for a new game, a stalker / gamma world crossover.
more mutants, more eruptions / phenomena, more weird shit, more death, weird artifacts and guns, robots, even more mutants, fields of radioactive carnivorous plants, etc ..

all done in that amazing engine .. and away from chernobyl.