ethanThomas

Down in the Zone (S.T.A.L.K.E.R.)

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OK so played a bit more, made more sense of it. Had a fantastic but incredibly hard fight from a rooftop against those on the floor, after setting off an alarm inside a building with one door.

I also came across a comical bug, I rescued a guy for the second time, then it told me to go into the tunnel I did the first time.

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I actually do recommend playing Call of Pripyat first if you haven't played any of the others. It's stable, balanced, and a little easier to figure out from scratch.

It's also a very good game.

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I think I'd recommend to play this first as well. It's the best of them (judging by the ~15 hours I've played) and if you don't like it, at least you played the best one, and if you do like it, you can go back and play Shadow of Chernobyl (and maybe the prequel Clear Sky too). I don't think it requires you to have played the first game, which takes place right before this. It does make references of course, but I think you don't necessarily have to get them: the zone is a strange place and you're not supposed to know a lot about it. I think maybe the first game actually works quite well as a prequel to Call of Pripyat if you play them in that order.

Compared to Shadow of Chernobyl, this one improves a lot:

* larger areas and less linear structure. Although the original game was supposed to be one huge area at first and even have cars, it ended up having relatively small maps and feeling more linear than it should have.

* no timed quests -- these annoyed me to no end in the first game. A lot of the (generated) side quests were timed and I often failed them or had to to go back somewhere earlier than I wanted. In this one I haven't encountered a single timed quest. Well, in some quests a stalker says: meet me here 3 o'clock and we'll go do the quest then, but that doesn't seem very strict, I showed up late at least once.

* no annoying large respawning automatically hostile bandit groups in places you want to pass several times

* less bugs

* just plain better execution

I'm not sure if the game systems have a lot more emergence possibilities built into them than Shadow of Chernobyl, but these improvements probably help them come out in more ways.

I was going to take an artifact to a bandit group to exchange it for a hostage, but as I got there, a random Duty guy went past and they started shooting at him. I decided to fuck the negotiations and help that Duty guy out. Even as we were taking cover behind a big rock, he got wounded quite early and was no use, so I ended up taking out the entire bandit camp myself and freeing the hostage. But just before I got to him, an emission broke out, and I couldn't figure out if I was in a safe place or not. As I shot the last guy, I managed to take an anabiotic pill that lets you survive the emission, probably at the last moment. However, when I woke up, the hostage was alive and so were some wounded bandits. And later, as I took the guy back to the base, the stalkers didn't even mention the very expensive artifact which they'd given me to use as ransom but which I kept. I'm not sure if these were holes in the game's systems/scripts or if it was valid emergent play.

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I think I'd recommend to play this first as well. It's the best of them (judging by the ~15 hours I've played) and if you don't like it, at least you played the best one, and if you do like it, you can go back and play Shadow of Chernobyl (and maybe the prequel Clear Sky too). I don't think it requires you to have played the first game, which takes place right before this. It does make references of course, but I think you don't necessarily have to get them: the zone is a strange place and you're not supposed to know a lot about it. I think maybe the first game actually works quite well as a prequel to Call of Pripyat if you play them in that order.

Compared to Shadow of Chernobyl, this one improves a lot:

* larger areas and less linear structure. Although the original game was supposed to be one huge area at first and even have cars, it ended up having relatively small maps and feeling more linear than it should have.

* no timed quests -- these annoyed me to no end in the first game. A lot of the (generated) side quests were timed and I often failed them or had to to go back somewhere earlier than I wanted. In this one I haven't encountered a single timed quest. Well, in some quests a stalker says: meet me here 3 o'clock and we'll go do the quest then, but that doesn't seem very strict, I showed up late at least once.

* no annoying large respawning automatically hostile bandit groups in places you want to pass several times

* less bugs

* just plain better execution

I'm not sure if the game systems have a lot more emergence possibilities built into them than Shadow of Chernobyl, but these improvements probably help them come out in more ways.

I haven't played CoP yet, so pardon my ignorance here, but if CoP is all these things the previous two games aren't (sans mods, and of which I've only completed SoC so far), wouldn't that turn people off eventually playing Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky upon completing CoP for the very same reasons you suggest they should play CoP first? Or will it be enough to draw them in

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I was going to take an artifact to a bandit group to exchange it for a hostage, but as I got there, a random Duty guy went past and they started shooting at him. I decided to fuck the negotiations and help that Duty guy out. Even as we were taking cover behind a big rock, he got wounded quite early and was no use, so I ended up taking out the entire bandit camp myself and freeing the hostage. But just before I got to him, an emission broke out, and I couldn't figure out if I was in a safe place or not. As I shot the last guy, I managed to take an anabiotic pill that lets you survive the emission, probably at the last moment. However, when I woke up, the hostage was alive and so were some wounded bandits. And later, as I took the guy back to the base, the stalkers didn't even mention the very expensive artifact which they'd given me to use as ransom but which I kept. I'm not sure if these were holes in the game's systems/scripts or if it was valid emergent play.

The real answer is that it's valid regardless, because it happened.

But to more specifically answer what you're wondering, yes I believe that is in keeping with the game's rules. There are multiple missions in which you are given something to exchange for another thing, and as long as you end up with the thing you're trying to get, the game (and usually the NPCs too) doesn't care if you actually used the thing you were given or not. That's why, in so many cases, you're able to simply kill a quest NPC and take the thing you needed from their corpse, rather than trading or paying them or whatever.

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I haven't played CoP yet, so pardon my ignorance here, but if CoP is all these things the previous two games aren't (sans mods, and of which I've only completed SoC so far), wouldn't that turn people off eventually playing Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky upon completing CoP for the very same reasons you suggest they should play CoP first? Or will it be enough to draw them in

I think the first one is still a very good game. And it has one thing some might consider to be an advantage: the world is more dangerous and you get more of the sense of being a stalker navigating the hostile zone. In CoP, so far it seems you are pretty much safe if you stick to the roads and while there are more cool huge anomalies, most of them are out of the way, seemingly placed as roadside attractions.

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I played for several hours today as well and discovered that the game isn't entirely bug free nor has it fixed all the little problems with SoC.

Stealth still doesn't work properly, or I can't figure it out. There was a mission where I was specifically told to sneak into a place, but even during the night I was spotted from quite far any time someone looked in my direction, even if I was completely still. They also saw me THROUGH FUCKING WALLS.

AI is still occasionally buggy. I came upon a group of 15 or so bandits, who were all standing inside a circle with a radius of about 1-2 meters. I don't know what they were doing there, they weren't completely still, but were turning about and looking around. It seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up, so I threw a couple of grenades in the middle of them (though they weren't hostile). A few managed to run a few meters away, but most got killed. I ran a bit farther and took the rest out from afar. The loot I got there was quite good. I thought I took a screenshot, but turns out F12 is the screenshot key, not Print Screen

The game does not seem really well balanced to me, at least on the normal (Stalker, was it?) difficulty. While I occasionally run out of a specific ammo type, I haven't had real problems so far in taking out groups of bandits or mercenaries (except when I've tried a stealthy approach). And I got the "wealthy client" achievement soon after I started hunting for artifacts. Well, the first hunts were so I could buy a better armor, but somehow after that I ended up getting lots of money during a relatively short period. So now I have a lot of cash and not much to do with it. Maybe it'll change after I get to Pripyat (about to head there now) and I'll have some awesome expensive equipment to buy.

It must be very hard to balance a game like this for different play styles, so I don't mind much.

But other than these issues, it's still a big improvement.

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And I got the "wealthy client" achievement soon after I started hunting for artifacts. Well, the first hunts were so I could buy a better armor, but somehow after that I ended up getting lots of money during a relatively short period. So now I have a lot of cash and not much to do with it. Maybe it'll change after I get to Pripyat (about to head there now) and I'll have some awesome expensive equipment to buy.

It turns out I did have a use for the money, I just hadn't explored all my options. I bought an expensive exoskeleton, then had it upgraded as much as I could, not noticing that one upgrade ruled out the "sprint with exoskeleton" one. It becomes somewhat annoying not being able to run. So maybe I'll buy another one later and have different upgrades applied to it.

But still, it seems like any time you need more money, you can just go and grab some artifacts, and some are relatively easy to get (if you use some meds or health packs).

Also, the game has become harder.

I lost most of my crew in the tunnels when heading to Pripyat (did anyone get out with more than the military guy?).

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For someone who could never really get into the original, just because it was just so ballbreakingly hard and complex, would you say I should get this? I love the concept of stalker, but it looks too...open for me. I'm all for divergent paths and player driven stories, but I need some kind of structure.

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For someone who could never really get into the original, just because it was just so ballbreakingly hard and complex, would you say I should get this? I love the concept of stalker, but it looks too...open for me. I'm all for divergent paths and player driven stories, but I need some kind of structure.

There definitely is structure here. I played the original when it came out so I don't remember how different or more/less complex the systems were, but in Call of Pripyat

1) you always have a goal, the "main quest" goals are in different color and usually shown on the map

2) it's structured into 3 main areas. You can complete most of one, then move onto the next one and so on. You will have to go back only a couple of times, I think.

3) you could play on easy in which case you could probably ignore some of the complexities (I'm guessing)

I did a lot of the side quests too, but I think you could just follow the main story structure if you want to. I think there may be a few instances where you have to talk to a specific NPC to proceed, but the game doesn't tell you that, but those NPCs are usually in the hubs of the respective areas and easily found (and even marked with a special icon on the map).

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Picked up CoP mostly due to all the talk about it on the cast. Really into it, but I ran in to a strange bug. The artifact guy(Beard?) bugged out and was turned away from the counter making it impossible to talk to him. I really wish I had screenshotted or recorded this. But all his animations were as if he was still leaning over the counter, so it just looked like he was doing some lazy fat man Tai Chi movements, while completely tuning me out. He stayed like this for like 2 game days. Finally when I found out who was killing stalkers he apparently decided I was worth his time and stopped telling me to go fuck myself with his fat man martial arts.

I also had a great moment where I was running protection for a trader doing some business deal. At the exact moment the mission began: Emission Warning! We killed all the guys attacking us inside the warehouse. Then the best part was that all the guys attacking from the outside were being suppressed by our fire, and ended up just being roasted by the emission.

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Through a strange twist of fate I found a copy of Shadow of Chernobyl we had as a freebee kicking around the office. So I've installed it to play whilst waiting for the Battlefield BC2 server lists to refresh...

My initial experience has been a bit odd, I haven't made it past what I think is the introduction/how-to stages yet. I was told to go and find some dude in another camp and on the way stumbled across an injured NPC and his dead buddy in a field. The NPC was asking me to get the medkit of the dead guy and hand it over so he could heal himself.

I couldn't work out how to use the inventory system so resorted to dragging the corpse over to the injured NPC so he could sort himself out. Anyway, the NPC keeps on asking for the medkit so in frustration I shoot him in the face.

I then immediately quit the game because it made me feel terrible and cruel.

I think I'll install that update and have another go from the beginning, but I'll probably still shoot the injured dude because sometimes you have to go with your instinct, even if it re-enforces how shitty life can be sometimes.

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If I remember correctly, you should only have to talk to the injured guy. You'll get a dialog option to give him a medkit (as long as you have one in your inventory) or leave him alone.

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I loved the original Stalker and just last night I cracked open my copy of Call of Pripyat. I'm really enjoying it so far, especially my first emission.

I was on board the Skadovsk(sic?) during the warning and a sudden rush of Stalkers ran in. I didn't know what was going on and wanted to go out on deck to watch. I wasn't sure how much cover you needed though, whether you had to be inside with doors closed or just a roof over you're head. I was freaked out enough by the panicked Stalkers around me to curb my curiosity and settled on peering out of the biggest crack I could find on the boarded up windows of the ship. Watching the red hell outside with only a glimpse of what was going on was terrifying.

I haven't encountered another yet to answer the many questions I have of the phenomenon. I spent the rest of the time trying to figure out why everyone else's gun sound really loud and my own gets drowned out by the ambient sounds. Anyone else encountered this?

It's really breaking my immersion when I can't hear my shotgun above the patter of light rain. I've tried windows settings and in game settings galore and can't find any fixes online as yet either.

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update your audio drivers/codecs. I've had a similar problem in several other games because of having outdated drivers.

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Well, I spent last night re-installing my sound drivers to no avail. I did find a small fix in which someone increased the player sounds volume but it still doesn't sound right.

Ah well, still enjoying it despite that. I think it's standing out to me more than usual as I've just been playing Far Cry 2 again and the sfx in that are amazingly good.

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My fascination with the emissions has come to an abrupt end.

During my third encounter I ran into a room and close the door behind me to find a large group of bandits standing around in a circle. I figure it must be a decent place as all these guys seem pretty relaxed in here once I've holstered my weapon. Feeling a little weird standing in the middle of all the balaclavas, I find a small table in the corner behind the leader and sit down to an awkward silence while the emission passes.

Next thing I know my health is almost gone and draining quickly, wtf! This must be an emission suicide cult or something. It's too late to find any proper cover (although several ground hog day-like reloads later I've discovered there isn't any nearby. pro-tip: don't quicksave during an emission) so I sit down and decide to watch the show. My huge smirk at the thought of all of us dropping lifeless in unison is suddenly replaced by disappointment as my lone rag doll hits the deck. My audience didn't even bat an eyelid.

After looking online to find out if it's a bug or something I discover that the PDA points to predefined locations that are safe. I completely missed that in-game. I'm left with a feeling of unfairness that these guys could survive in there and I couldn't. I know there's drugs which allow you to survive an emission which I guess these bandits could have taken, but according to what I've read you'd still fall unconscious.

Does this bother anyone else? I'm still enjoying the game but that really put a dent in the atmosphere.

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Does this bother anyone else? I'm still enjoying the game but that really put a dent in the atmosphere.

Yes, this bothered me much, it's a gaping hole in the system than NPCs and emissions aren't handled properly. Also, the birds that usually drop dead after an emission, sometimes drop through a fucking roof right in front of you.

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Hah! I've not seen the birds dropping through the roof yet. They make me laugh anyway as they fly around with their viagra legs. I'm pretty sure birds tuck their legs in when in flight!

The game redeemed itself a whole lot last night. While trying to find safe cover from the emission I'd previously perished in, I stumbled into a zombie/mutant rodent infested ventilation complex. I battled my way in to find myself caught in an anomaly which was very reminiscent of the one from the Tarkovsky film which I'd watched only the night before. Very cool.

I don't want to say too much here in case of spoilers but anyone who's ventured into that place will know what I'm on about. It's not far from Yanov station, near the No.1(?) crash site. I had to come away confused by it's trickery but I'm determined to find out more about it and head back in.

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I don't want to say too much here in case of spoilers but anyone who's ventured into that place will know what I'm on about. It's not far from Yanov station, near the No.1(?) crash site. I had to come away confused by it's trickery but I'm determined to find out more about it and head back in.

I also stumbled into that place and left and returned later. I think I actually looked up some spoilers for that place because I thought it may have required a specific artifact which I had given away. But it doesn't require an artifact.

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I have just finished the first game (Shadows) and loved every minute of it. There's certain games that have had a large impact in my life and I am sad that it took me awhile to get to this one. That doesn't really dilute the experience all that much since the graphics are amazing and smooth (highest settings/running Complete 2009 mod). It also runs REALLY good on older machines (except the rain effects).

I did experience a couple bugs and even more glitches, but that's part of the appeal in a certain sense... the openness of the game sometimes causes the issues... all open-world games have this issue. As a traditional PC gamer, I work around the bugs - fortunately for me, none of the were game breaking, just game limiting. Had some severe problems with Lukash and Duty outpost, but managed to "complete" the quest.

I look forward to playing the newer games.

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In the burnt farmstead I discovered

the teleport anomaly

completely by accident. I was looking for artifacts when I backed into a wall of fire, which freaked me out. I darted forward and caught another anomaly, and was mashing first aid while trying to get out of the field. I saw

a cliff and leapt over it as a last ditch effort, triggering the teleportation and dropping me on the plateau near the abandoned Hind. I hadn't spoked with Noah yet and it took me a minute or two to fully understand what the hell had just happened.

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I have a couple of stories so i'll tell one now and maybe one later.

I went down to meet Noah in his ark (Yep) and as I approached the door I got a horrible feeling, I noticed that it was

ajar and I could hear mad rambling coming from inside, I peered through the crack and saw the guy's 'pet' but couldn't see a person. Needless to say I was having second thoughts about entering the room. I was a little torn, I needed to visit this guy to complete my quest but I really didn't want to go in there, as I was thinking about it an emission began which effectively made my decision for me. I pulled out my pistol and tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge, the emission would kill me if I didn't get in this room so I was on edge when suddenly I heard a shotgun go off as the door was blasted open. The guy blew my face off and I jumped out of my chair and fell onto the floor, I slowly picked myself up and tried to figure out what the fuck had just happened.

Probably not emergant but certainly immersive.

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Thompson, that guy scared the crap out of me too the first time.

I've just come back to CoP after a long break. I've not managed to get to Pripyat yet, I still need to find a load of cash for the suit. What's the best way of earning cash in the game? I tend to get a little bit from missions then end up spending most of it on repairs and equipment. I'm guessing I need to get my hands on more anomalies and sell them but so far I tend not to last too long in the hazardous areas they appear!

Failing that I might see if there's a way to steal one...

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Thompson, that guy scared the crap out of me too the first time.

I've just come back to CoP after a long break. I've not managed to get to Pripyat yet, I still need to find a load of cash for the suit. What's the best way of earning cash in the game? I tend to get a little bit from missions then end up spending most of it on repairs and equipment. I'm guessing I need to get my hands on more anomalies and sell them but so far I tend not to last too long in the hazardous areas they appear!

Failing that I might see if there's a way to steal one...

Anomalies are great cash makers, here's what I did to make essentially infinite amounts of money:

I collect as much stuff as I can physically carry and sell it (Repair guns and then sell them if need be, you still make some profit.), this was enough to make me enough money to buy as many supplies as need be. I didn't even attempt to collect artifacts until I had the experimental detector from the scientists, once you have that it gets a lot easier. Try going back to the first zone and collecting the easier artifacts then return to the mid zone and collect the harder ones with your experience, there are three in particular I can point to, don't read if you want to discover them for yourself.

At the Jupiter Plant there is a concrete pit full of toxic green sludge, you have to jump across it on the concrete pylons but there is a specific order in which you must do it (You can only jump on the ones without steel wire coming out the top), the pattern is easy enough to figure out but the jumping itself is difficult to master. You have to get as much run up as you can, from the edge of the pit you can get as long a run up as you need but once you're on a pylon you have to be very careful, once you land on one move to the back of the pylon then run to the edge and jump to the next one, rinse and repeat all the way to the platform on which you'll find a nice little artifact. If you fall into the sludge sprint to one of the two ladders to get out and try again, once you make it to the platform there is a ladder you can take out and onto a walkway.

Near the gas station in the first zone there is a tree that is sort of grown over a gully, there are multiple artifacts kind of flying around in that gully, you will get hit a lot by anomalies but there is plenty of money to be made.

The final one i'll point out specifically is at the anomaly where the road has been melted in the second zone where all the fire anomalies are flying around there is one just sitting there, it's pretty easy to grab and then bail.

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