I was wrong about STALKER!

With patches and the right mods, the game looks amazing!

Aesthetically I don't like too much bloom, particularly in a game that is supposed to be bleak.

But yeah the lighting in general is rather sexy.

I personally like the bloom, it has to be seen in person. screenshots don't really do it justice.

EDIT: Also the last screenshot was taken durring a lightning strike, hince the white light everywhere.

The white light looks fine, it's the yellow plutonium walls that I don't like. I know it doesn't look as bad in-game, but I've yet to like excessive bloom effects in any game thus far.JP_Russell

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"]The white light looks fine, it's the yellow plutonium walls that I don't like. I know it doesn't look as bad in-game, but I've yet to like excessive bloom effects in any game thus far.foxhound_fox

Never played it. I think I saw it reviewed on X-Play a long time ago, but that was it.

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"]The white light looks fine, it's the yellow plutonium walls that I don't like. I know it doesn't look as bad in-game, but I've yet to like excessive bloom effects in any game thus far.foxhound_fox

Shadow of the Colossus uses it to different effect. This is just heavy contrast, whereas SoC has a lighter colour pallete anyway.

Oblivion is the worst culprite. Can't stand looking at the game at all. Looks like someone spilt vaseline on my monitor.

I thought S.T.A.L.K.E.R was great looking, and I've only played the unmodded and unpatched game. It wasn't as technically impressive as some games released around the same time, but it had a very run down, dirty and desolate appearance - and the game just would not have been as good were it not for the impact the visuals had on the atmosphere.

I keep meaning to replay it with the latest patches and maybe a few mods - but is there much point? I feel like I've already seen everything the vanilla game can offer.

The guy playing the guitar is cool :Pcatlin_czirr

I love that guy :P

I've had a lot of trouble running Stalker for some reason, and it just got worse by installing patches - After 1.04 I simply couldn't run the game at all. It wouldn't start up, but I'll give it a try some time, again..

Can anyone suggest any reduction mods etc, or tweaks for STALKER to me?

As I've reached the Freedom Base and while its playable (moving etc) the moment I decided to fight it chunders
like a horse eating hay.

As of the moment it runs:

1.005

MINIMUM Gfx (Medium Before Freedom Zone)

1280 x 800 (Until Freedom Zone then 800x600)

Its an ATI 768Mb (Dont know what brand its my GF's machine lol)

Dual Core AMD @ 2.2Ghz

It seems odd to me that it does it up to this point, Im thinking it might be because of the AI Load there is like 28 odd people there during a fight and around 18 when calm.

Does it get any heavier AI wise later? If not I might try to avoid the Freedom Base but I get the feeling its necessary.... :(

float 32 is your friend m8... should help alot with framerates...

So what are some of the better mods, and what do they do?

Thanks!

Theres no bloom occuring in those pictures.

Yellow =/= bloom.

Theres no bloom occuring in those pictures.

Yellow =/= bloom.

XaosII

yes there is no bloom in those shots. the white and yellow color bleeding is just a result of a really strong specular map on the brick texture which multiplies light's reflection on the object.

bloom is when you have a glowing effect that bleeds softly off the geometry of an object, used alot in GOW and games that use UE3.

it looks ok, but my main gripe with the game was never graphics

I thought S.T.A.L.K.E.R was great looking, and I've only played the unmodded and unpatched game. It wasn't as technically impressive as some games released around the same time, but it had a very run down, dirty and desolate appearance - and the game just would not have been as good were it not for the impact the visuals had on the atmosphere.

I keep meaning to replay it with the latest patches and maybe a few mods - but is there much point? I feel like I've already seen everything the vanilla game can offer.

mfsa

Re entering the secert labs are hella fun. Do you know that there is a monolith headquaters in pypriat?

Anyway, op, what visual mods are you using? I might want to test them out.

[QUOTE="XaosII"]

Theres no bloom occuring in those pictures.

Yellow =/= bloom.

WARxSnake

yes there is no bloom in those shots. the white and yellow color bleeding is just a result of a really strong specular map on the brick texture which multiplies light's reflection on the object.

bloom is when you have a glowing effect that bleeds softly off the geometry of an object, used alot in GOW and games that use UE3.

Bloom or not, it appears the same and is just as bothersome to look at. It blots out the texture, which is unrealistic. Concrete doesn't glow like that from a lightbulb or two.

[QUOTE="WARxSnake"][QUOTE="XaosII"]

Theres no bloom occuring in those pictures.

Yellow =/= bloom.

JP_Russell

yes there is no bloom in those shots. the white and yellow color bleeding is just a result of a really strong specular map on the brick texture which multiplies light's reflection on the object.

bloom is when you have a glowing effect that bleeds softly off the geometry of an object, used alot in GOW and games that use UE3.

Bloom or not, it appears the same and is just as bothersome to look at. It blots out the texture, which is unrealistic. Concrete doesn't glow like that from a lightbulb or two.

well yeah im not arguing the graphical fidelity of the game, just saying theres no bloom in those pictures.

So what are some of the better mods, and what do they do?

Thanks!

attirex

Top 3 mods (all are comprehensive mods that incorporate other mods)

ABC Inferno Mod

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/ABC_INFERNO;84144

Faiakes Mod

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Faiakes_Mod;83643

Ecologists Faction Mod

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Ecologist_Faction;85173

Faiakes Mod makes Armor and Weapons non-degenerable which, kinda takes a bit of realism out of the game, they should have just made Armor and Weapons repairable instead of just taking out the condition system all together, it makes up for the rest of the stuff though. ElArab

If you don't like that aspect of the mod then you can turn it off. There is a thread for it and its a pretty simple procedure. That's true of several of the game aspects. Also, Faiakes is meant to be played on master level only since it would make the game way too easy otherwise.

Dang, is there a FPS that Faiakes doesn't modify the weapons of? The guy's obsessed with guns, it seems. Heh.JP_Russell

LOL, ...a lot of us are!

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"]Dang, is there a FPS that Faiakes doesn't modify the weapons of? The guy's obsessed with guns, it seems. Heh.Jeb_ster

LOL, ...a lot of us are!

Well, I like guns too, but it's to the point where when I hear the name "Faiakes" associated with a game, I automatically know it's a mod that primarily modifies the weapons. Not that I'm trying to say he should tone it down or anything, I usually like his stuff alright.

[QUOTE="Jeb_ster"]

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"]Dang, is there a FPS that Faiakes doesn't modify the weapons of? The guy's obsessed with guns, it seems. Heh.JP_Russell

LOL, ...a lot of us are!

Well, I like guns too, but it's to the point where when I hear the name "Faiakes" associated with a game, I automatically know it's a mod that primarily modifies the weapons. Not that I'm trying to say he should tone it down or anything, I usually like his stuff alright.

I don't know. I'll be honest. I just started looking at the mods that are out there and the only one I've used so far is the repair mod. My choices above are chosen from what the users voted and their comments.

I'm looking at Faiakes and Inferno as my next choice but I know I definitely want to combine the Eco-stalker together with whichever of those two I pick (I plan to use the super mod manager program to avoid problems with overlap).

And yeah, I don't like the idea of armor or weapons not degrading either. The game needs some difficulty to make it fun.

Well, I like guns too, but it's to the point where when I hear the name "Faiakes" associated with a game, I automatically know it's a mod that primarily modifies the weapons. Not that I'm trying to say he should tone it down or anything, I usually like his stuff alright.

JP_Russell

Also, Natasha joined Faiakes on this mod and her work appears excellent in earlier mods. I don't know if she's worked with him on other mods but apparently everyone likes this mod. She had a mod called Basix Monstrosity that was raved about but wasn't compatible with version 1.0004 so it never took off after that patch came out and it looks like she changed it too much when she upgraded for the 4 version. It fell out of favor.

I didn't get motion sickness with portal but I got seriously dissoriented in Stalker. The swaying motion the screen makes when you walk around...unbearableTermite551

Yeah seriously... I have never got sick from a FPS before but this was really bad. I think it's the side to side pitching that's the worst. It doesn't even seem realistic, it's too much and too much side movement. I played for like an hour with that and I was feeling sick for another two hours afterwards, but I found a mod to turn it off. Really quick and easy to install, and much better with that off.

Faiakes Mod makes Armor and Weapons non-degenerable which, kinda takes a bit of realism out of the game, they should have just made Armor and Weapons repairable instead of just taking out the condition system all together, it makes up for the rest of the stuff though. ElArab

Apparently it is possible to repair both in Clear Sky.