Stalker Clear Sky - say what?

The first sixty minutes with this game were wonderful.

I left the Clear Sky camp and made my way into the swamp area, which I assumed was the noob-training-level based on how easy it was (really, my comrades did most of the killing for me). This entire area was a real sight to behold, and based on just that one level I'd have to say that Clear Sky is easily one of the best looking games I've ever seen.

But then, after the hour was up, I advanced into the next level, The Cordon area.

Um, okay, maybe I'm missing something here, but suddenly this game has become unimaginably difficult. Here's the thing: I commenced this level right in front of an army barracks with a sub-machine gun pointed straight at me (this is a bit like entering a Fun House and opening the first door and immediately being clubbed on the head by a guy wearing a clown outfit - ba-doing!) The thing is, this machine gun, which is aimed right at me, is a good two hundred yards off, and yet somehow the individual manning the gun (he must be Superman's brother, or something) is able to spot me through the weeds and in the pitch dark of the night. It's impossible for me to see him, but he can clearly see me since I'm completely unable to advance more than ten feet without getting shot to bits. I tried running down the hill to get past the machine gun, but that didn't help at all! It merely precipitated my demise.

Here's what made me flip though.

After dying, and re-loading the game for literally the 30'th time, I finally decided to retreat into the tunnel through which I originally entered (really, there was no place left to go). I kind of just hung out in the tunnel entrance for a while, trying to think up a solution to the clown problem. After about five minutes passed, I was surprised to see that two NPC military guys had come up the hill to investigate - aha, I though: so that's the solution... you have to wait for the NPCs to come after you, whereupon you pick them off one by one. The first NPC came right up to the cave entrance, so I pulled out my shotgun and shot him in the head. Lo and behold! He survived the blast! But not only did he survive the first blast to the head, he survived the second as well. And the third. And the fourth!

Alright, that's interesting I thought. So the NPCs are basically invincible. The simple fact is that I can't kill anybody and I can't advance down the hill - chiefly because there's a guy with a submachine gun pointed straight at me. So the question is: What the bloody hell am I doing wrong here! How come NPCs aren't dying after I've shot them in the head point blank? How come I can't get past the clown wielding the machine gun. And yes, before you ask me the question, this game has been updated with the very latest patch.

If this is normal, then I'd have to say that Clear Sky is the single biggest turd I've stepped in in ten years.

If Gordon Ramsay were here he'd say: Shambolic. Utterly shambolic. A complete and utter disgrace. I'm a bit shocked, really. This game started off with TONS of promise. I cannot believe how quickly this game went down hill. A complete turnaround in a little over sixty minutes. In my twenty-five years of gaming I've never seen a game go from being so great to being so bad, and in such an amazingly short amount of time.

God help me. I've already uninstalled this piece of...

Well, being the masochist that I am, I'm prepared to install this thing again if somebody can shed some light on this situation for me. Right now, I'm just disgusted. Just completely disgusted. I'm thinking about going down to the clinic and having somebody check my blood pressure. Christ almighty what a first-class nightmare.

What other path?

Honestly, there's NO WAY I'm going to make it past this machine gun nest. I wasn't kidding when I wrote that I had tried 30 times to make it past. I'm just staggered that the developer allowed this to happen - didn't they give this game to playtesters before releasing it to public? The situation that I'm presently in is just completely absurd. I can't imagine how anybody could've advanced through this area?

I'm literally getting chopped down in five seconds.

I think STALKER was kind of overrated. I got about 5 hours into it and it just wasn't working for me. It kinda reminds me of Fallout 3 too, which is much better.

Your narrative reminds me of a part of Iron Storm. There was a machine gunner who couldn't miss and I had to run past him to break some boards and then go down a shaft to escape. I couldn't getany further than to the boards which put me completely in the open. The first IGI was like that at the bridge level and there were only 3 saves allowed. Argh! The only way to beat a level of IGI was to kill everyone and then, if you had any health to finish, you simple walked to your goal without resistance. Iron Storm was impossible at the one point I discribed above. I haven't finished either one. It's a shame. It isn't even the money. I enjoyed the games. I wanted finish. I will never know what the rest of the game is like. Good luck with your troubles. Oh, I thought the first Stalker got boring too. I am still playing it but I have had it just sitting in my PC for months. Bye.

What other path?

Honestly, there's NO WAY I'm going to make it past this machine gun nest. I wasn't kidding when I wrote that I had tried 30 times to make it past. I'm just staggered that the developer allowed this to happen - didn't they give this game to playtesters before releasing it to public? The situation that I'm presently in is just completely absurd. I can't imagine how anybody could've advanced through this area?

I'm literally getting chopped down in five seconds.

Charles_Dickens

I finally made it through.

I literally ran from tree to tree to tree - and saved my game whenever I reached a new tree.

On my final tree I ran like crazy to the camp (the starting area in Stalker 1) - the problem was that I was bleeding to death and couldn't stop the bleeding. This meant that I kept on dying, even though I had made it past the machine gunner - the frustration of this was insane. Finally I ran into the trader's dugout and, as quickly as I possibly could, traded all of my ammunition for bandages. I must've attempted to do this at least 20 times. Finally I made it. I bought a bandage, and just moments before dying, I applied the bandage to my wound.

Two hours.

That's how long it took for me to get past all that.

My blood pressure, right now, must be through the roof. Yeah, great game design. Wonderful work. Honestly, I have no idea how any reviewer on the face of the planet earth could have reviewed this game and not mentioned what I just went through.

I finally made it through.

I literally ran from tree to tree to tree - and saved my game whenever I reached a new tree.

On my final tree I ran like crazy to the camp (the starting area in Stalker 1) - the problem was that I was bleeding to death and couldn't stop the bleeding. This meant that I kept on dying, even though I had made it past the machine gunner - the frustration of this was insane. Finally I ran into the trader's dugout and, as quickly as I possibly could, traded all of my ammunition for bandages. I must've attempted to do this at least 20 times. Finally I made it. I bought a bandage, and just moments before dying, I applied the bandage to my wound.

Two hours.

That's how long it took for me to get past all that.

My blood pressure, right now, must be through the roof. Yeah, great game design. Wonderful work. Honestly, I have no idea how any reviewer on the face of the planet earth could have reviewed this game and not mentioned what I just went through.

Charles_Dickens

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

I finally made it through.

I literally ran from tree to tree to tree - and saved my game whenever I reached a new tree.

On my final tree I ran like crazy to the camp (the starting area in Stalker 1) - the problem was that I was bleeding to death and couldn't stop the bleeding. This meant that I kept on dying, even though I had made it past the machine gunner - the frustration of this was insane. Finally I ran into the trader's dugout and, as quickly as I possibly could, traded all of my ammunition for bandages. I must've attempted to do this at least 20 times. Finally I made it. I bought a bandage, and just moments before dying, I applied the bandage to my wound.

Two hours.

That's how long it took for me to get past all that.

My blood pressure, right now, must be through the roof. Yeah, great game design. Wonderful work. Honestly, I have no idea how any reviewer on the face of the planet earth could have reviewed this game and not mentioned what I just went through.

Juggernaut140

Which difficulty are you playing on? I tried to get past this part on veteran and it was just retarded. Lowered the difficulty and almost made it but died again. Probably could have made it spamming med kits and bandages but didn't feel like wasting them,so I said F it and went back into the swamps. Gonna try the other path or try to make it past the machine gunner again on a lower difficulty.

[QUOTE="Juggernaut140"][QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

I finally made it through.

I literally ran from tree to tree to tree - and saved my game whenever I reached a new tree.

On my final tree I ran like crazy to the camp (the starting area in Stalker 1) - the problem was that I was bleeding to death and couldn't stop the bleeding. This meant that I kept on dying, even though I had made it past the machine gunner - the frustration of this was insane. Finally I ran into the trader's dugout and, as quickly as I possibly could, traded all of my ammunition for bandages. I must've attempted to do this at least 20 times. Finally I made it. I bought a bandage, and just moments before dying, I applied the bandage to my wound.

Two hours.

That's how long it took for me to get past all that.

My blood pressure, right now, must be through the roof. Yeah, great game design. Wonderful work. Honestly, I have no idea how any reviewer on the face of the planet earth could have reviewed this game and not mentioned what I just went through.

PTMags

Which difficulty are you playing on? I tried to get past this part on veteran and it was just retarded. Lowered the difficulty and almost made it but died again. Probably could have made it spamming med kits and bandages but didn't feel like wasting them,so I said F it and went back into the swamps. Gonna try the other path or try to make it past the machine gunner again on a lower difficulty.

Thanks.

That post makes me feel better.

Yes, retarded is the perfect word for this. I like a challenge, but not something that's just insanely stupid and unfair. I'm going to continue to play this game, because I love the atmosphere, but I swear to god if something like that happens again...

Well, the game is already tainted now because of this. Oh well.

You know what?I finally figured it out.

There are actually two completely different versions of this game. There's the version that some of you guys played, which was created in Russia, and there's the version that I'm playing right now, which was made on Mars. Folks, just before I quit playing for the night I ran straight up to a military NPC and unloaded an entire round from my machine gun right into him - I was standing fifteen feet away from him... and he didn't die.

There's something seriously wrong with this game. Just for kicks I tried the shotgun again too. I went straight up to a military NPC and fired off both shots from my shotgun, and the stupid S.O.B. didn't even frickin' die - he just kind of stumbled backwards, as though he'd been b i t c h slapped in the face. I don't know what version of the game it is that you guys are playing, but the version I'm playing is a complete turd. I'm going to keep playing, because I like the visuals, but this... this... game... is just beyond frustrating.

Erghh TC why do you keep trying the same thing over and over again?

It was pretty blatent to myself after the 2nd attempt that perhaps there is a better way in, low and behold i found a completely safe route in a matter of minutes.

Get your PDA out look top right of the map theres your exit to Cordon.

I like listening to Charles Dickens comparing a computer game to a show by a celebrity chef. I'm just sat here imagining Charles Dickens b****ing his ass off to me while smoking a pipe, brilliant! You sir, TC are a genius.

On a more related matter I have Clear Sky but have yet to play it, but if and when I do I'll look out for this bug. I have a sneaking suspicion that my version of STALKER may be from mars because everyone raves about it, but I just can't into the thing. I mean why, why does a pistol round to the head, or 2 shotgun rounds to the chest not kill someone who should already be severely weakened from starvation and cancer and other radiation-induced illnesses? Meh...

You know what?I finally figured it out.

There are actually two completely different versions of this game. There's the version that some of you guys played, which was created in Russia, and there's the version that I'm playing right now, which was made on Mars. Folks, just before I quit playing for the night I ran straight up to a military NPC and unloaded an entire round from my machine gun right into him - I was standing fifteen feet away from him... and he didn't die.

There's something seriously wrong with this game. Just for kicks I tried the shotgun again too. I went straight up to a military NPC and fired off both shots from my shotgun, and the stupid S.O.B. didn't even frickin' die - he just kind of stumbled backwards, as though he'd been b i t c h slapped in the face. I don't know what version of the game it is that you guys are playing, but the version I'm playing is a complete turd. I'm going to keep playing, because I like the visuals, but this... this... game... is just beyond frustrating.

Charles_Dickens

Erghh TC why do you keep trying the same thing over and over again?

It was pretty blatent to myself after the 2nd attempt that perhaps there is a better way in, low and behold i found a completely safe route in a matter of minutes.

Get your PDA out look top right of the map theres your exit to Cordon.

jwsoul

Lo and behold!

Where were you yesterday when I needed you?

Thing about stalker is that it's not like say...UT3 or crysis or halo.

it's not a game where you aim anywhere near your target and he dies..you have to aim...see your weapon's recoil and condition and real ballistics "AKA bullets flying higher then start to drop in case you get your hand on a sniper rifle."

That along the atmosphere as the OP said it make for a very good game.

I say give it time...stalker at first seems very very hard...God knows that i failed my first task in SOC but later you'll start adopting new strategy

sataricon

I haven't given up on it, because of the atmosphere. Because it's something different. Because it's so damned beautiful to look at. I just think that what I went through last night was needless and pointless.

Jumping from tree to tree like Inspector Clouseau is not my idea of a good time.

Thing about stalker is that it's not like say...UT3 or crysis or halo.

it's not a game where you aim anywhere near your target and he dies..you have to aim...see your weapon's recoil and condition and real ballistics "AKA bullets flying higher then start to drop in case you get your hand on a sniper rifle."

That along the atmosphere as the OP said it make for a very good game.

I say give it time...stalker at first seems very very hard...God knows that i failed my first task in SOC but later you'll start adopting new strategy

sataricon

[QUOTE="sataricon"]

Thing about stalker is that it's not like say...UT3 or crysis or halo.

it's not a game where you aim anywhere near your target and he dies..you have to aim...see your weapon's recoil and condition and real ballistics "AKA bullets flying higher then start to drop in case you get your hand on a sniper rifle."

That along the atmosphere as the OP said it make for a very good game.

I say give it time...stalker at first seems very very hard...God knows that i failed my first task in SOC but later you'll start adopting new strategy

kieranb2000

This game, of course, is chiefly a shooter, and it always surprises me... maybe it shouldn't... when developers of shooters can't get the shooting mechanic right. Same thing happened in Brothers In Arms: you'd go straight up to a guy and unload an entire round at point blank range, and the guy, more often than not, would just stand there and not go down. Then he would shoot back, and (at the higher difficulty levels) you'd go down in one shot. It wasn't fair. It wasn't logical. It certainly wasn't my idea of fun.

Ah well, Clear Sky's just a game... I've learned to overlook this stuff... for the most part. It's still a lot of fun to play. And again, to run the risk of repeating myself, the atmosphere is just insane. Superb engine they've got here.

[QUOTE="jwsoul"]

Erghh TC why do you keep trying the same thing over and over again?

It was pretty blatent to myself after the 2nd attempt that perhaps there is a better way in, low and behold i found a completely safe route in a matter of minutes.

Get your PDA out look top right of the map theres your exit to Cordon.

Charles_Dickens

Lo and behold!

Where were you yesterday when I needed you?

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

[QUOTE="jwsoul"]

Erghh TC why do you keep trying the same thing over and over again?

It was pretty blatent to myself after the 2nd attempt that perhaps there is a better way in, low and behold i found a completely safe route in a matter of minutes.

Get your PDA out look top right of the map theres your exit to Cordon.

Juggernaut140

Lo and behold!

Where were you yesterday when I needed you?

You could have searched for "ALTERNATE PATH TO CORDON" Juggernaut140

[QUOTE="Juggernaut140"]You could have searched for "ALTERNATE PATH TO CORDON" Charles_Dickens

[QUOTE="F1_2004"]A couple of things I dislike about Stalker's shooting: - bullet trajectory is exaggerated way too much. Some of the heavier bullets you can actually see arc down as if you were shooting a basketball :| - enemies are near-immune to bullets everywhere except the face. If a guy with a bullet-proof vest in real life takes a rifle shot to the chest, and that shot doesn't penetrate right through, he will at least get knocked down to the ground and be incapacitated for several seconds. In Stalker, you will empty a whole clip in a guy's chest and he'll still be aiming at you through his scope while firing in steady bursts. - oh, and also, there a bit of the FarCry-isis going on. Enemies will spot you from miles away and lock onto you like a heat-seeking missile.Charles_Dickens

Stalker is a lot of fun. The original is easily one of the best games i've played. I haven't put too much time into Clear Sky yet but aside from that machine-gunner it's been a blast so far as well. They may both have their flaws (my personal gripe about the combat is how pistols are damn near useless at medium range, it's like the freaking bullets just dissapear mid-flight), but in the end the atmosphere, the ambiance, the immersion, the scenery; it's all hard to beat.

So, why did the Stalker games not get super high ratings on this site? From everything in this thread I think I'll have to go pick them up now...

CS had the worst gun shot aims I've ever seen. i had to download a patch just to fire straight

I finally made it through.

I literally ran from tree to tree to tree - and saved my game whenever I reached a new tree.

On my final tree I ran like crazy to the camp (the starting area in Stalker 1) - the problem was that I was bleeding to death and couldn't stop the bleeding. This meant that I kept on dying, even though I had made it past the machine gunner - the frustration of this was insane. Finally I ran into the trader's dugout and, as quickly as I possibly could, traded all of my ammunition for bandages. I must've attempted to do this at least 20 times. Finally I made it. I bought a bandage, and just moments before dying, I applied the bandage to my wound.

Two hours.

That's how long it took for me to get past all that.

My blood pressure, right now, must be through the roof. Yeah, great game design. Wonderful work. Honestly, I have no idea how any reviewer on the face of the planet earth could have reviewed this game and not mentioned what I just went through.

Charles_Dickens

Kicker_of_Cans:

Just because you don't know how to play it....Or you don't like this game doesn't mean that the game is poor.

not every thing has to be easy mod or n00b friendly for every one in order to be great "crysis"

in this game you need real skill to advance and some Patience.

sataricon

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

I finally made it through.

I literally ran from tree to tree to tree - and saved my game whenever I reached a new tree.

On my final tree I ran like crazy to the camp (the starting area in Stalker 1) - the problem was that I was bleeding to death and couldn't stop the bleeding. This meant that I kept on dying, even though I had made it past the machine gunner - the frustration of this was insane. Finally I ran into the trader's dugout and, as quickly as I possibly could, traded all of my ammunition for bandages. I must've attempted to do this at least 20 times. Finally I made it. I bought a bandage, and just moments before dying, I applied the bandage to my wound.

Two hours.

That's how long it took for me to get past all that.

My blood pressure, right now, must be through the roof. Yeah, great game design. Wonderful work. Honestly, I have no idea how any reviewer on the face of the planet earth could have reviewed this game and not mentioned what I just went through.

DragonfireXZ95

My problem was that I was bleeding to death.

I didn't have any bandages, and I had quick-saved myself into a corner. So there I was, standing behind a tree and being shot at while bleeding to death. Whenever the gunner had to re-load his weapon I ran like crazy to the next tree. Finally, on the last tree, I realized that I could just back up, very slowly, and keep the line of the tree between me and the gunner. Eventually I made it right over the crest of the hill behind me, out of the gunner's sights, whereupon I screamed with joy!

Then I quick-saved, and thirty seconds later bled to death.

Each time I re-loaded my quick-save I would have exactly thirty seconds before dying.

Finally I realized that I could run like crazy to the trader and trade everything I had for a single bandage - but unfortunately I was never quick enough to do this, and had to keep on re-loading my quick-save. After doing this about twenty times, I finally discovered the fastest route to the trader, and was able to buy a bandage off him at the very last possible moment. My health was as low as it could possibly go. I quick saved again, and turned off the computer - my blood pressure must have been through the roof. Thankfully, I haven't experienced anything nearly as bad as that since, and except for the shooting mechanic (which I do have issues with) the game has been a real joy to play.

I must say i know how you feel - I found the Cordon bit incredibly hard the first time

Because i tried the game early and had bug issues i had to do it again a few months later - it still took me ages with the difficulty down to the least hardest

It's true you have to empty two or three shotgun blasts into people - you just have to accept they're army and have VERY good armour ;)

It was only after i'd got through i realised i'd missed the thing about sticking to the left... :(

Also before reading this thread i didn't realise there was another way to get there either :( :(

in any case Clear Sky is nowhere as good as Stalker: SoC anyway