S.T.A.L.K.E.R has gone gold

[Conky]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: torpid
Just for reference, BD2k3, I take it you did not like FEAR? I thought it was very weak. Even though it was only 11 hours or so, maybe less, it felt like 100 hours because someone thought it was ok to design an office complex with elevators in random places that only go up one flight and staircases that do the same.

I thought FEAR was alright, but would have been better as it was if it was half the length. The storyline didnt do anything for me, because the whole voicemail way of telling it wasn't very compelling.

It was just too repetitive...pretty much every environment looked the same, and after the first few hours you had gotten the point and just wanted it to change already, or end. You're fighting the same troops using the same tactics the entire time.

I also thought that while the slomo was cool, it was also damaging to the gameplay. The enemies were so smart and well equipped that you really didnt stand a chance without the slomo, but with slomo, THEY didnt stand a chance, so it was really unbalanced. Rather than having slomo be a useful once in a while ability to take down a whole room, which would have made it special and cool, you were able or forced to rely upon it in nearly every situation, and it just wasnt as fun taking down two soldiers in a office building the 500th time, before listening in on the 50th voicemail.

I remember playing it at E3 in 05 and chatting with the devs, and I was really psyched about it because it really stood out amongst most of the other games on the floor, and they really seemed like they understood how important the connection between the game and player was. That part of the game was definitely spot on. But all we got is a little slice to play, but if I had known the final release would have been the 10 minutes I played 50 times over, I would have begged and pleaded with them to change it.

I played the FEAR game and the expansion all the way through without using the slow motion thing... I've never been a fan of that slo-mo stuff ever since Max Payne. FEAR just required some tactical manuevering with a grenade thrown into the mix when things got hairy, heh.

I do agree however that FEAR was very repetitive and that if you played the FEAR demo 5 or 6 times in a row you got the same experience as the entire game, lol.

I see STALKER as being very similar in many ways to FarCry but with a more realistic color palette. I am anxious to play STALKER online as soon as some decent servers are up.

 

[Trevelyan]

Originally posted by: torpid
Just for reference, BD2k3, I take it you did not like FEAR? I thought it was very weak. Even though it was only 11 hours or so, maybe less, it felt like 100 hours because someone thought it was ok to design an office complex with elevators in random places that only go up one flight and staircases that do the same.

Haha exactly. I hate level designs that don't make any sense.

 

[Zenoth]

I'm currently uploading them to Google Video.

 

[melijak]

I just got the game at Fry's for 33$, and played it for 2 hours. Runs pretty good on my amd64 3400, 1GB ram and 6800GT 12800x800 medium detail.
So far the graphics and combat feel reminds me of Operation Flashpoint with Deus ex like RPG. I have to say, if they released a demo of the first couple of hours before they released the game, I wouldn't mind paying full price for it, but for 33$ is a great game.

 

[imported_Imp]

In a sick twist of luck, my preorder STILL hasn't shipped. Status say's it's 'out of stock', just hope this isn't some sign for me to cancel the order I'm ignoring.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: NamelessMC
I played Beta Single Player, and when I told people how crappy this game was, I was super flamed for it.

I mean the graphics look just like what people said, "2 years ago they would've been great."

I don't think people understand that a patch can't fix this game. This game has SO MANY bugs and in-game issues. Inventory screen being live in-game, enemy AI having like bulletproof skin and a head about 1" big that takes two shots to kill. The weapons are grossly inaccurate. In CS, you could adjust your shot aim for recoil. In Stalker, you literally just shoot inaccurately. It's like in Deus Ex where your aim sucked horribly because you had to level up and put points in aim, but in this game you don't level up, your aim just ALWAYS sucks.

As someone noted too, it's a huge quick save run through. You hit a room, get murdered, try to remember where all the enemies are so you can try a turn/head shot technique on your next load. The game's story is also ridiculously hard to follow. You find yourself saying, "Well am I going the right way?" In other games that are open ended, when you found enemies, if they were story enemies, you knew you were going the right way. In this game, people are trying to kill you everywhere, so for all you know you could be going the wrong way.

To put it simply, unless you're a god of stupid Aim mode and a pro FPS gamer, you'll need cheats to beat this game, and a FAQ as long as Moby Dick.

It's easy to give this game a good review based on the first 45 minutes you play it, and I think that's what most game review sites do. They play it for 45 minutes on a godly powerful computer rig (QX6800, 8800GTX SLI) and think "Hey it's great, give it an editor's choice". It doesn't help that THQ put money in their pockets either. Once you get an hour or two into it, you start to think, "Oh Jesus, I know where this is going". Then you're three or four hours into it and you think, "Son of a---"

you obviously don't like the game, but a lot of the issues people are bitching about could be fixed with a patch easily, the innaccuracy of the weapons should be patchable, some of the crashes and such are also fixable.

And I think you are wrong about the reviwers not giving it enough time, I read 3 and they all claimed they finished the game. Which means they played 100% thru it, and while most had some complaints, overall it's getting very positive reviews.

 

[marmasatt]

Well I'm an hour in and I agree with most of the criticism. It appears to be a hog on my machine (no idea why, see my sig). Overclocked 7900GS to basic GT speeds, 3.0 ghz C2D and a gig of ram and it was unplayable at my native resolution of 22" - 1680 x 1050. I mean slideshow. I have to go back and read the tweaks. I also feel the graphics are dated thus far in. Basically - COD 2 level. Even in similarity: Grassy fields with fences and a burnt out house or two is all I've come accross. And its nothing special at all. I'm a graphics whore and am not pleased with what I'm getting for frames on what I'm seeing on screen. I also got killed on the very first time I pulled out my weapon after sinking in like 3 shots apiece into the bad guys. AI is decent. The atmosphere is good. And I actually enjoy the Russian accents and stuff as it keeps you in the zone (not to be confused w/ the Chernobyl "zone" ) Although they are the same character models and same voices it seems for all the freakin' stalkers . You're also just not going to be able to go in guns blazing in this game. I also feel the PDA is overly complicated. It's almost like I don't want to take the time to learn all the RPG elements, but that could be my own fault/disinterest. Like Deus Ex 2, I literally have been playing for 30 minutes and I have like 7 missions. I don't even know what the heck I'm doing or why yet. I'm gonna keep an open mind though and try hard to like it :roll:.

 

[Zenoth]

Alright, I finally got a place where everyone shouldn't have trouble watching my videos, albeit at a display quality price. It's "better" than having to download from MegaUpload according some people. Thanks to Google Video for hosting them.

So, three videos.

#1

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-4527884302689200710&hl=en-CA

Shows some A-Life (wildlife) and a few neutral Stalkers, nothing special, just a humble and calm video.

#2

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-120469735836630513&hl=en-CA

Another small game-play footage I recorded. I died during the footage hehe, I never saw where the shot came from.

#3

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=7396308142492022027&hl=en-CA

A boring footage of game-play I never intended to publish, until I witnessed a major A.I bug seen at the end of the video. I kept the footage for the purpose of letting GSC know that their bugs won't go unnoticed, and the intention behind that is to tell them that we wish such things could not be a regular occurrence in a game that has been worked on for half a decade. However we all support them (or at least some of us) and we will be happy if we can get a patch to fix similar/identical bugs related to the A.I.

Enjoy.

 

[BD2003]

I'm usually the type of person who's finishes games, so I'm really trying to give this one a chance.

In the past two hours I have:

Finally found the exit that they wanted me to take out of the underground. And I see why. If I didnt take that exit, I would be able to have my vision distorted by a mutant. It didnt actually hurt, it just made me see double. Then I wasted him.

Received a few missions which still don't mean much to me more than an arrow on the screen, assuming the arrow appears. Half the time it doesnt, and for the life of me, I cant figure out why.

Been irradiated to death several times, by trying to explore and stray off the beaten path. Sure is open ended - you can either take the road, or the road.

Been attacked by wisps of electricty - pump enough lead into them, and youll find theyre actually mutants, go figure.

Been killed while trying to fetch ammo from bodies, 5 times. Screamed "WTF!!!" in anger each time beginning with the 3rd.

Had buckets continually tossed at my face by an unknown force.

Destroyed what appears to be a mutated fat midget.

Had a fire fight - literally. I was fighting fire. Not with water, but with bullets. It took me 5 minutes to realize this, and damn near every round of ammo I had.

Collapsed to the floor, and had visions of attacking a horde of mutant dogs. Then I woke up.

I am now facing military who actually can afford helmets. This may be the final straw.

In those 2 hours, my time was spent:
15% searching bodies for ammo and wearing my mouse out
25% staring at the quickload screen
10% firing my weapon in vain
15% fiddling with the PDA trying to figure out wtf is wrong with it - it's one thing for a game to have bugs, but when the software within the game itself has bugs...
25% running from one objective to the next whilst trying not to be irradiated or caught in a mini tornado
10% actually enjoying myself

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: QueBert
you obviously don't like the game, but a lot of the issues people are bitching about could be fixed with a patch easily, the innaccuracy of the weapons should be patchable, some of the crashes and such are also fixable.

And I think you are wrong about the reviwers not giving it enough time, I read 3 and they all claimed they finished the game. Which means they played 100% thru it, and while most had some complaints, overall it's getting very positive reviews.

At the rate these guys code, I wouldnt expect a patch until fall at the earliest.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: BD2003
I'm usually the type of person who's finishes games, so I'm really trying to give this one a chance.

In the past two hours I have:

Finally found the exit that they wanted me to take out of the underground. And I see why. If I didnt take that exit, I would be able to have my vision distorted by a mutant. It didnt actually hurt, it just made me see double. Then I wasted him.

Received a few missions which still don't mean much to me more than an arrow on the screen, assuming the arrow appears. Half the time it doesnt, and for the life of me, I cant figure out why.

Been irradiated to death several times, by trying to explore and stray off the beaten path. Sure is open ended - you can either take the road, or the road.

Been attacked by wisps of electricty - pump enough lead into them, and youll find theyre actually mutants, go figure.

Been killed while trying to fetch ammo from bodies, 5 times. Screamed "WTF!!!" in anger each time beginning with the 3rd.

Had buckets continually tossed at my face by an unknown force.

Destroyed what appears to be a mutated fat midget.

Had a fire fight - literally. I was fighting fire. Not with water, but with bullets. It took me 5 minutes to realize this, and damn near every round of ammo I had.

Collapsed to the floor, and had visions of attacking a horde of mutant dogs. Then I woke up.

I am now facing military who actually can afford helmets. This may be the final straw.

In those 2 hours, my time was spent:
15% searching bodies for ammo and wearing my mouse out
25% staring at the quickload screen
10% firing my weapon in vain
15% fiddling with the PDA trying to figure out wtf is wrong with it - it's one thing for a game to have bugs, but when the software within the game itself has bugs...
25% running from one objective to the next whilst trying not to be irradiated or caught in a mini tornado
10% actually enjoying myself

oh come on, you're in a high radiation zone, you expect everything to work perfectly all the time? sounds like it adds to the immersion. i mean, if you were watching a this a movie instead of a game, would you expect them to figure out everything 30 minutes in?

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: BD2003
I'm usually the type of person who's finishes games, so I'm really trying to give this one a chance.

In the past two hours I have:

Finally found the exit that they wanted me to take out of the underground. And I see why. If I didnt take that exit, I would be able to have my vision distorted by a mutant. It didnt actually hurt, it just made me see double. Then I wasted him.

Received a few missions which still don't mean much to me more than an arrow on the screen, assuming the arrow appears. Half the time it doesnt, and for the life of me, I cant figure out why.

Been irradiated to death several times, by trying to explore and stray off the beaten path. Sure is open ended - you can either take the road, or the road.

Been attacked by wisps of electricty - pump enough lead into them, and youll find theyre actually mutants, go figure.

Been killed while trying to fetch ammo from bodies, 5 times. Screamed "WTF!!!" in anger each time beginning with the 3rd.

Had buckets continually tossed at my face by an unknown force.

Destroyed what appears to be a mutated fat midget.

Had a fire fight - literally. I was fighting fire. Not with water, but with bullets. It took me 5 minutes to realize this, and damn near every round of ammo I had.

Collapsed to the floor, and had visions of attacking a horde of mutant dogs. Then I woke up.

I am now facing military who actually can afford helmets. This may be the final straw.

In those 2 hours, my time was spent:
15% searching bodies for ammo and wearing my mouse out
25% staring at the quickload screen
10% firing my weapon in vain
15% fiddling with the PDA trying to figure out wtf is wrong with it - it's one thing for a game to have bugs, but when the software within the game itself has bugs...
25% running from one objective to the next whilst trying not to be irradiated or caught in a mini tornado
10% actually enjoying myself

oh come on, you're in a high radiation zone, you expect everything to work perfectly all the time? sounds like it adds to the immersion. i mean, if you were watching a this a movie instead of a game, would you expect them to figure out everything 30 minutes in?

It might sounds like it adds to immersion, but it doesnt. It's annoying. Enraging, even.

Heres a great way to add immersion: Pressing a button to go forward is too unrealistic. You should have to press two buttons alternately in order to simluate taking steps. The faster you press them, the faster you walk.

It would also be pretty immersive to have to take a dump - in real time, and it drains your health. You must carry around toilet paper, or you lose -2 movement, and no one will want to talk to you.

You know what else would be really immersive? If I shot someone straight through several lobes of their brain, and they actually died, instead of acting like someone just flicked their ear.

Yes, I expect the interface to work perfectly - the fact that it doesnt has nothing to do with radiation, it has to do with bad coding, and especially after 6 years, its absolutely inexcusable.

If this was a movie, it would be a comedy. But it isnt. It's a game. And from what I can tell, the developers have never actually played ANY game, let alone their own.

I found a lab where they were creating mutants. What a shocker. Perhaps thats a spoiler, but if you cant see that one coming, you might want to re-enroll in the 2nd grade.

 

[Fallengod]

Yeah this game probably isnt what alot of people suspect. Its more of a slower paced First person shooter, but with a hint of RPG.

I am about 15 hours into the game. This game is fun but, dont expect it to be all fast paced like typical FPS. For anyone is going to be surprised, youll spend a good 70% of time running around the maps just getting TO the quest and scavenging. Massive bugs and peformance issues as well. As another person pointed out, I think there is also a memory leak as well. So it starts chugging after a while.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: BD2003
I'm usually the type of person who's finishes games, so I'm really trying to give this one a chance.

In the past two hours I have:

Finally found the exit that they wanted me to take out of the underground. And I see why. If I didnt take that exit, I would be able to have my vision distorted by a mutant. It didnt actually hurt, it just made me see double. Then I wasted him.

Received a few missions which still don't mean much to me more than an arrow on the screen, assuming the arrow appears. Half the time it doesnt, and for the life of me, I cant figure out why.

Been irradiated to death several times, by trying to explore and stray off the beaten path. Sure is open ended - you can either take the road, or the road.

Been attacked by wisps of electricty - pump enough lead into them, and youll find theyre actually mutants, go figure.

Been killed while trying to fetch ammo from bodies, 5 times. Screamed "WTF!!!" in anger each time beginning with the 3rd.

Had buckets continually tossed at my face by an unknown force.

Destroyed what appears to be a mutated fat midget.

Had a fire fight - literally. I was fighting fire. Not with water, but with bullets. It took me 5 minutes to realize this, and damn near every round of ammo I had.

Collapsed to the floor, and had visions of attacking a horde of mutant dogs. Then I woke up.

I am now facing military who actually can afford helmets. This may be the final straw.

In those 2 hours, my time was spent:
15% searching bodies for ammo and wearing my mouse out
25% staring at the quickload screen
10% firing my weapon in vain
15% fiddling with the PDA trying to figure out wtf is wrong with it - it's one thing for a game to have bugs, but when the software within the game itself has bugs...
25% running from one objective to the next whilst trying not to be irradiated or caught in a mini tornado
10% actually enjoying myself

oh come on, you're in a high radiation zone, you expect everything to work perfectly all the time? sounds like it adds to the immersion. i mean, if you were watching a this a movie instead of a game, would you expect them to figure out everything 30 minutes in?

It might sounds like it adds to immersion, but it doesnt. It's annoying. Enraging, even.

Heres a great way to add immersion: Pressing a button to go forward is too unrealistic. You should have to press two buttons alternately in order to simluate taking steps. The faster you press them, the faster you walk.

It would also be pretty immersive to have to take a dump - in real time, and it drains your health. You must carry around toilet paper, or you lose -2 movement, and no one will want to talk to you.

You know what else would be really immersive? If I shot someone straight through several lobes of their brain, and they actually died, instead of acting like someone just flicked their ear.

Yes, I expect the interface to work perfectly - the fact that it doesnt has nothing to do with radiation, it has to do with bad coding, and especially after 6 years, its absolutely inexcusable.

If this was a movie, it would be a comedy. But it isnt. It's a game. And from what I can tell, the developers have never actually played ANY game, let alone their own.

I found a lab where they were creating mutants. What a shocker. Perhaps thats a spoiler, but if you cant see that one coming, you might want to re-enroll in the 2nd grade.

sounds like you want to sell your game...

right away

 

[MaverikV]

dude I don't know if its vista or what, but I JUST bought an 8800gts 320 to play this game at 1680x1050 and HDR EATS my PC alive, I'm talking slideshow. WTF

 

[Fallengod]

Well I am almost positive part of it is VISTA drivers, but trust me you gotta disable all that stuff or it wont run. I dont have a 8800gts but, I do have a 7900gt. I had to put all my settings to medium and put static lighting on. Which is DX8 mode I believe. I would suggest you lower like grass detail and shadows and stuff, and try static lighting, that will make it playable. I use 800x600 also, You may want to try to lower your res as well. There is really no point in trying to play at that high of a res anyways. 1024x768 should be plenty high.

 

[userman]

Im having a blast. 15 hours in and its been a lot of fun!
8800 GTX 512Mb
AMD fx 55
2Gb Ram
WinXp Pro.

Everything maxed at 1200x1024 and its running at a nice 45+FPS :0

 

[pontifex]

wtf? direct2drive has it for download but they want $49.95 for it!!!

EVERYWHERE else has it for $39.99

you know, D2D is nice sometimes but they are total fvcking rip off artists.

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: Fallengod
Well I am almost positive part of it is VISTA drivers, but trust me you gotta disable all that stuff or it wont run. I dont have a 8800gts but, I do have a 7900gt. I had to put all my settings to medium and put static lighting on. Which is DX8 mode I believe. I would suggest you lower like grass detail and shadows and stuff, and try static lighting, that will make it playable. I use 800x600 also, You may want to try to lower your res as well. There is really no point in trying to play at that high of a res anyways. 1024x768 should be plenty high.

Ouch... I have an x850xt and can play at high 1280x1024 w/ static lighting. This is on XP though. I didn't know it was THAT bad on vista

 

[Zenoth]

I want to see comments for my videos ! I need attention !

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Zenoth
I want to see comments for my videos ! I need attention !

you suck at aiming. can't even hit a few dogs with a double barreled shotgun!

i dunno. there wasn't really anything special...

 

[Zenoth]

Well I got my attention !

 

[MaverikV]

dude seriously 800x600? what is this the middle ages?

The game looks good with the stuff turned on but not good enough to justify the slideshow I'm getting. There must be some kind of problem

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: userman
Im having a blast. 15 hours in and its been a lot of fun!
8800 GTX 512Mb
AMD fx 55
2Gb Ram
WinXp Pro.

Everything maxed at 1200x1024 and its running at a nice 45+FPS :0

1200x1024(?) on that rig should be doing way better than 45 FPS (given what the game looks like). That means everyone with a 7900GT or something equivalent can expect *much* lower performance.

I've got an 8800GTS, but I highly doubt that I'll be able to play at my usual 1600x1200 without turning everything to the bare minimum.

ArmA was a real hardware killer, but at least it had an excuse.

 

[Redox]

Has anyone been able to get full 5.1 surround? I am using an audigy 2 ZX and have the front speakers working but not rear (even though the control panel is set for 5.1). The subwoofer seems to be working also. The surround sound works in other games so I don't think it's my setup.

SOLUTION FOUND!

On the official forum, found a workaround - if you have Battlefield 2, copy the bf2openal.dll, rename to openal32.dll, then copy into the STALKER directory to overwrite the file that was originally installed from the CD - works great and makes a HUGE difference!