Ya Ya I Know I'm Late... But What's The Deal W/ Stalker Call of Pripyat?

[thm1223]

Am I in for a scare!? D:

 

[Maximilian]

*dons flamesuit*

It sucks, play fallout 3 or new vegas instead.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Its less scary than SOC, which is still in my mind one of the scariest games I've ever played, but scarier than CS.

Still a damn good game. Without mods, its one of the best games atmospherically that has ever come out, and has great gameplay.

With the Misery mod, its probably the best FPS ever made in the past few years.

As for the above
Fallout 3 is a bad game.
NV is a great game.

Stalker and Fallout They are completely different styles of games and the only similarity is that the worlds have a post apocalyptic feel.

 

[KaOTiK]

Great game, get the Complete mod for it first though.

 

[Zenoth]

None of us can know for sure, only you know what type of game atmospheres and settings can stress you out or scare you. Some gamers were scared by games like Dead Space while others would literally laugh at it and just rush blindly in any dark corridors in gaming world's existence.

For me, the original Stalker's atmosphere was stressful in specific locations and especially during night time (both in-game and for real too when I happened to be playing it at 2AM with a headset). In the sewers of Agroprom, or Lab X-18, and almost anywhere outdoor at night, at which point I usually just stayed near Stalker camps and just listen to their folklore by a campfire until sunlight popped.

So I can't speak for you, but for me Call of Pripyat's general atmosphere was not as good as Shadow of Chernobyl's. Additionally, I have to say that even though I don't particularly like Clear Sky overall I did like the atmosphere in the swamp (starting area) and the red forest, those were great (or rather scary at times, yes).

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Great game, get the Complete mod for it first though.

Complete mod is bad and you should feel bad.

Including the fact that the previous Complete mods made the game drastically easier and casualized them, the Pripyat one introduces tons of bugs, that the base game simply didn't have.

Misery mod is where the game is at its best.

 

[thm1223]

Complete mod is bad and you should feel bad.

Including the fact that the previous Complete mods made the game drastically easier and casualized them, the Pripyat one introduces tons of bugs, that the base game simply didn't have.

Misery mod is where the game is at its best.

Interesting. May have to give this a shot. Any other mods worth using in conjunction or is this sort of the super mod for the game?

Edit: Also, does this make the game so hard that it just becomes annoying?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Interesting. May have to give this a shot. Any other mods worth using in conjunction or is this sort of the super mod for the game?

Edit: Also, does this make the game so hard that it just becomes annoying?

Misery is a super mod of the game.

The game becomes the kind of hard where you really have to try to survive but the game doesn't feel like its cheating.

Guns have limited ammo, monsters are significantly more difficult to kill, you need to sleep, eat, drink water regularly or you will suffer very ill effects, enemies with body armor will be nigh impossible to kill without armor piercing ammo, weight effects sprint speed, you die as fast as NPC's do etc etc etc.

Its the kind of extremely hard that is still very fun. The game NEVER got annoyingly difficult. You have to learn how to manage weight. I only ever carried around a Rifle with a detached scope for long range situations, and a shotgun for tight squeeze situations, most everything past that was wasted weight. My max weight before I went into the zone from a "safe" area was about 20-25kg.

 

[KaOTiK]

Complete mod is bad and you should feel bad.

Including the fact that the previous Complete mods made the game drastically easier and casualized them, the Pripyat one introduces tons of bugs, that the base game simply didn't have.

Misery mod is where the game is at its best.

When I played it quite sometime ago I had no issues with using the complete mod. So no, I wont feel bad. Never heard of the Misery mod anyways so whatever.

 

[Stringjam]

Call of Pripyat is a fantastic game.

There's no need to compare it to Fallout 3....the games are NOT similar.

Fallout 3 is an RPG with leveling and horrible FPS mechanics. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a pure FPS with excellent mechanics and some RPG elements added.


I've played CoP through both with the "Complete Mod" and with "Misery Mod."

Frankly, I enjoyed both, but I think the Misery Mod ruins a lot of the atmosphere. It's subdued and cloudy/rainy 90% of the time, which detracts from the original developer's vision of contrasts for "The Zone" (which can be both haunting, oppressive, and beautiful as well).

I like how Misery ups the difficulty makes resources more scarce, but I think the Complete Mod provides a far superior atmosphere. The Complete Mod definitely makes gear acquisition much easier and common, and that's one thing I don't like about it. I would like to have Misery Mod gameplay with Complete Mod's atmosphere.....that would be perfect.

The STALKER games aren't about horror....so don't expect "scary." They are however very dark and oppressive at times, which creates a authentically chilling atmosphere. This kind of immersive atmosphere actually takes artistry to create, which is why it is so rare in video games that rely on cheap horror cliches to create scares.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Atmospherically, it's inferior by quite a margin to Shadow of Chernobyl. While none of them are horror games per se, SoC does a much better job then either of the other two at creating genuinely creepy environments.

Mechanically, it's superior to SoC in a lot of ways. But I actually enjoyed SoC more then CoP, simply because CoP's environments are kind of blase.

 

[Northern Lawn]

I was just thinking of this game when I was watching Chernobyl Diaries. The Movie wasn't great but the setting, the town of Pripyat was eerie.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Call of Pripyat is a fantastic game.

There's no need to compare it to Fallout 3....the games are NOT similar.

Fallout 3 is an RPG with leveling and horrible FPS mechanics. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a pure FPS with excellent mechanics and some RPG elements added.


I've played CoP through both with the "Complete Mod" and with "Misery Mod."

Frankly, I enjoyed both, but I think the Misery Mod ruins a lot of the atmosphere. It's subdued and cloudy/rainy 90% of the time, which detracts from the original developer's vision of contrasts for "The Zone" (which can be both haunting, oppressive, and beautiful as well).

I like how Misery ups the difficulty makes resources more scarce, but I think the Complete Mod provides a far superior atmosphere. The Complete Mod definitely makes gear acquisition much easier and common, and that's one thing I don't like about it. I would like to have Misery Mod gameplay with Complete Mod's atmosphere.....that would be perfect.

The STALKER games aren't about horror....so don't expect "scary." They are however very dark and oppressive at times, which creates a authentically chilling atmosphere. This kind of immersive atmosphere actually takes artistry to create, which is why it is so rare in video games that rely on cheap horror cliches to create scares.

I disagree. That was the REASON misery was so great. The game was drab and down, trying to survive while the weather itself conspires to kill you. Stalker complete just had too many sunny days. Misery's zone stayed cloudy and dull because thats how the zone operates. It gets worse and worse and worse with more thunderstorms, rain, and fog.

Then suddenly, a massive blowout that ravages the wasteland the basically spends the zones pent up "negative" energy, then BOOM. You walk outside to birds chirping, a bright sunny day with blue skies and the hideous zombies of stalkers that didn't make it to cover.

Misery did a much better job of creating an oppressive zone environment. You're supposed to be miserable. You're in the zone to make money by risking your life. A sunny day is refreshing but most of the time, you're trying to huddle around a campfire in the dark while its raining, eating cold beans and taking shots of vodka out of a cheap plastic bottle with your gun in arms reach to shoot at the dogs prowling the outside of the camp.

 

[Stringjam]

Misery did a much better job of creating an oppressive zone environment. You're supposed to be miserable. You're in the zone to make money by risking your life. A sunny day is refreshing but most of the time, you're trying to huddle around a campfire in the dark while its raining, eating cold beans and taking shots of vodka out of a cheap plastic bottle with your gun in arms reach to shoot at the dogs prowling the outside of the camp.

I just think it was too cliche.....the constant dreary, grey atmosphere. It almost had the opposite effect with me.

I actually think some of the most atmospheric high-points of the series were the mornings / late evenings in Clear Sky. The long shadows contrasting the golden light against the abandoned houses and weathered bricks. It is unlike any other game.....totally unique.

They made a "Misery Mod" (which was only environment mods....not gameplay) for Clear Sky, and it really ruined the amazing atmosphere in that game.

Just my opinion, of course.....we all see things differently.


I think the total vision of STALKER was never realized......whether it was because of lack of funding, time, or engine technology. There are areas (like the Dead City) that never made it to release. The original design of the Cordon was over twice the size of the one that got released in SoC.

I would love to see the totality of the Zone brought together in a single game running under a modern engine that could actually pull it off. The story is deep and occurs over the course of several years. Having a game that actually started with the ClearSky group and progressed, at least, through the end of SoC, and included every Zone environment, would be ridiculously epic.

 

[Powermoloch]

the only game i stopped playing after 2 hours was amnesia...yeah it shat my pants

 

[rangda]

For me, the original Stalker's atmosphere was stressful in specific locations and especially during night time (both in-game and for real too when I happened to be playing it at 2AM with a headset). In the sewers of Agroprom, or Lab X-18, and almost anywhere outdoor at night, at which point I usually just stayed near Stalker camps and just listen to their folklore by a campfire until sunlight popped.

So I can't speak for you, but for me Call of Pripyat's general atmosphere was not as good as Shadow of Chernobyl's. Additionally, I have to say that even though I don't particularly like Clear Sky overall I did like the atmosphere in the swamp (starting area) and the red forest, those were great (or rather scary at times, yes).

I wouldn't say one is better or worse but they are different.

SoC is all about isolation. The game isolates the player by restricting the areas that friendlies roam. On several maps it's you vs. the entire map. The lack of allies makes it feel bleaker. GSC also gave it good audio to enhance this feeling of bleakness. (Never underestimate the effect of audio in a videogame). Supply lines are stretched, as you sometimes have to cross a few maps to resupply. There's been a few time where I've been caught out on SoC in the middle of nowhere with supplies dwindling and the stress this creates enhances the atmosphere.

CoP on the other hand is about communities. There are fewer maps and the main two are heavily populated with friendlies. The visuals and audio in the game aren't as depressing as CoP, and the goal of the game is not to push out and explore, but to integrate with the community so you can get help for your mission. Supply lines never get stressed, even when you get to Pripyat there is a military base right there where you can restock. There isn't much to scare you in CoP because no matter where you are you can always train things back to friendlies and if nothing else get some other bodies to distract whatever is chasing you.

SoC feels more like a frontier and CoP feels much more settled (which story wise makes a certain sort of sense but does make CoP lose many of the elements that drew people to SoC).

If you really want to have a go at survival in the zone play the SoC Narodnaya Soljanka mod (without the DMX add-on which makes it much easier). STALKERSOUP is based on this but I don't know if any of the changes that makes to NS alter the economy or not. NS adds about 15 maps (old maps + maps from other stalker games + a few custom maps) to the game, 4-5 quest lines that are larger than the SoC original game, and drastically alters the game economy. Enemies drop next to nothing for supplies and the entire economy is barter based; you basically can't buy anything with money. The mod is very high fantasy so by the last 1/3 of it you're insanely powerful by vanilla SoC standards (assuming you do all of the side jobs to get the best gear) but even with their space marine style power armor on NPC's with 9x39 guns would one shot kill me with head shots. Nothing in any stalker game has come close to the creepyness of exploring the cave map running low on supplies while trying to deal with the hordes of mutants, monolith, and anomolies in it.

 

[AFurryReptile]

With the Misery mod, its probably the best FPS ever made in the past few years.

Misery mod was fcking terrible. Sure, it's realistic, but the need to stop and breath for a minute after every 20 seconds of running is not fun at all. Getting rooted in place in the middle of a firefight is even worse.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Misery mod was fcking terrible. Sure, it's realistic, but the need to stop and breath for a minute after every 20 seconds of running is not fun at all. Getting rooted in place in the middle of a firefight is even worse.

1) There was a patch that tweaked that to higher values.

2) You run very very far/fast if you carry half or less of your maximum capacity. There was a reason why I kept may max moving out weight at less than 20kg. Only ever carry at most 3-4 reloads of primary ammo, and 1-2 reloads of secondary ammo. You shouldn't need more unless you're using a gun with an ammo type that is rare in that section of the game.

3) Stamina Artifacts are plentiful and awesome.

With the above combo, I can run for a while before I need to stop and rest. I also carry some energy drinks with me at all times just in case of blowouts outside a near safe zone.

 

[zinfamous]

I disagree. That was the REASON misery was so great. The game was drab and down, trying to survive while the weather itself conspires to kill you. Stalker complete just had too many sunny days. Misery's zone stayed cloudy and dull because thats how the zone operates. It gets worse and worse and worse with more thunderstorms, rain, and fog.

But that's completely unrealistic in regards to real fallout zones. I know it's fantasy and all, but, well, you know...

strident realism when it comes to weight, resources, difficulty, but you want to be surrounded by fantasy land?

I don't get it. :\

 

[NikolaeVarius]

But that's completely unrealistic in regards to real fallout zones. I know it's fantasy and all, but, well, you know...

strident realism when it comes to weight, resources, difficulty, but you want to be surrounded by fantasy land?

I don't get it. :\

Oh yes, because real fallout zones have blowouts that are caused my effectively "bad" energy building up slowly causing more and more problems until finally the entire fallout zone blows up in an emergency release valve which allows the zone to return to its normal state for a while/

Yep, blowouts happen all the time in real life

 

[Stringjam]

But that's completely unrealistic in regards to real fallout zones. I know it's fantasy and all, but, well, you know...

Just for accuracy's sake here....blowouts in STALKER are not nuclear.

They are the result of excess energy released from....for lack of a better description....a psychic atmosphere that surrounds the earth.

The Zone wasn't created by the Chernobyl blast, it was created by a failed experiment by a group of scientists to alter this psychic field.

 

[Stringjam]

Misery mod was fcking terrible. Sure, it's realistic, but the need to stop and breath for a minute after every 20 seconds of running is not fun at all. Getting rooted in place in the middle of a firefight is even worse.

I didn't care for the rather extreme treatment of stamina either......it can easily be altered though:

Just go to \gamedata\configs\creatures and locate actor.ltx . Lower the walk_power and the walk_weight_power.

If I remember right, the values should be ~ 0.0002.

 

[finglobes]

I never finished Pripy. It was a grind for me early. But I played the first two STALKER games and thought SOC was the best. Its actually very imaginative game that also has a realistic vibe. The artifacts, environmental disturbances, creatures etc were cool. Shooting the ghosts in lab was creepy bit. Having 4 sisters I really appreciated the game has all men who don't talk much and got to the point. Its a very unusual game that way. No exaggerated warrior chicks.

As an aside, I recall going through buildings and being shot by enemies kneeling in closets, behind furniture, boxes etc. I thought "wow that's a very effective tactic..people don't turn corners or open doors looking down as a rule. A few months latter I saw military tv show about a soldier was killed in Iraq. He had opened a closet and a kneeling enemy shot him. I figured whoever worked on the STALKER games knew some tactics I never saw in other games. Weapons knowledge seems quite thorough as well. SOC is def a game to play. I suspect its better than Pripy atmospherically