S.T.A.L.K.E.R Released

loomer · Post by **loomer** » 2007-03-28 08:33pm

I just got my first dedicated sniper rifle. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it.

Also, I had a great deal of fun in the Cordon earlier. I baited the soldiers back to the pathetic village and then just let the stalkers kill them. I got myself a proper AK-47 and several hundred rounds of ammunition that way, nice and early on.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-03-28 09:47pm

Great, now STALKER won't run at all.

I try opening it, it crashes, and gives me some memo that I can't email to them despite it saying I can.

Exception Reason:
XR_3DA.exe caused BREAKPOINT in module "C:\Program Files\THQ\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl\bin\xrCore.dll" at 001B:005A8BAB, xrDebug::backend()+187 byte(s)

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2007-03-29 03:14am

loomer wrote:I just got my first dedicated sniper rifle. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it.

Also, I had a great deal of fun in the Cordon earlier. I baited the soldiers back to the pathetic village and then just let the stalkers kill them. I got myself a proper AK-47 and several hundred rounds of ammunition that way, nice and early on.

When the soldier at the bridge asked me for a bribe, I said that I don't have that kind of money...and then pulled out my pistol and shot him in the face. While his buddies killed me, it was just so...awesome

I think I will try that again. Though right now, I have an Obokan (found it by a dead Spetznaz trooper in the Garbage),three spare magazines and a proper suit of armor, so the soldiers will have a much harder time.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 03:16am

People seriously have problems with the military at the bridge? I've killed them all myself with a pistol and shotgun, and with a pistol and a bandit raid. It really isn't that hard.

How the christ anyone gets close enough to talk to them is beyond me: they attack me on sight.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2007-03-29 03:32am

Stark wrote:People seriously have problems with the military at the bridge? I've killed them all myself with a pistol and shotgun, and with a pistol and a bandit raid. It really isn't that hard.

How the christ anyone gets close enough to talk to them is beyond me: they attack me on sight.

Uh...I just walked up to the guy in a beret. If you crossed the bridge before, tried to sneak through or fired shots nearby, they attack you on sight, yes.

As for problems...I could've probably taken them back then, with a few reloads. But these AKs are very deadly when playing on Master

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 03:52am

If by 'nearby' you mean 'hundreds of metres away out of sight' that MIGHT explain it - except I just tested with a new game, walked over there, and they attacked me instantly. And even I can't kill them with a PMM and 40 bullets.

Frankly, after the patch it doesn't seem to matter what difficulty you're on at the start: the starting armour is so completely worthless that the AKs fuck you up nice and good anyway. Shame their AI is totally incapable of handling it when you go up on the bridge and shoot them all in the head with a pistol, though.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2007-03-29 04:18am

Stark wrote:If by 'nearby' you mean 'hundreds of metres away out of sight' that MIGHT explain it - except I just tested with a new game, walked over there, and they attacked me instantly. And even I can't kill them with a PMM and 40 bullets.

Frankly, after the patch it doesn't seem to matter what difficulty you're on at the start: the starting armour is so completely worthless that the AKs fuck you up nice and good anyway. Shame their AI is totally incapable of handling it when you go up on the bridge and shoot them all in the head with a pistol, though.

Yeah. I killed entire bandit squads by hiding behind a comfy bulldozer blade, popping up occasionally and headshotting them with the starting pistol.

And with the Obokan, fighting the military in the Cordon is just too easy. I just blasted the outpost, killed ten soldiers and took off with their ammo and weapons. Took me less than a single magazine and a small bit of health. They just walked towards me in a straight line, and got headshots for their trouble.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 04:40am

I didn't notice pre-patch, but the 'fast firing' AK74 is WAY more accurate than a regular AK: even without a scope it's headshot city. However trying to do the Duty attack in Warehouses with Stalker suit and AK74 is a bit beyond me: the damn Duty guys all get killed. Bah!

Also do you get rewards (non cash) from the Arena? I appear to have recieved a stalker suit from nowhere.

loomer · Post by **loomer** » 2007-03-29 05:03am

Stark wrote:I didn't notice pre-patch, but the 'fast firing' AK74 is WAY more accurate than a regular AK: even without a scope it's headshot city. However trying to do the Duty attack in Warehouses with Stalker suit and AK74 is a bit beyond me: the damn Duty guys all get killed. Bah!

Also do you get rewards (non cash) from the Arena? I appear to have recieved a stalker suit from nowhere.

It might have been the stalker suit from the barkeep. And as for the Warehouse attack, I find the secret is to go up on that tower with the sniper you killed and cut down Freedom guys with his rifle, and then move in with a shotgun and a looted G36.

Resinence · Post by **Resinence** » 2007-03-29 05:16am

FOOLS!
JOIN FREEDOM!
DUTY SOLD OUT TO THE GOVERNMENT!!!

Plus you get m209 grenades and armour piercing bullets (2 grenades and 60 bullets per mission) for doing missions for freedom, and a m203 attachment every 5 missions. As well as that, the freedom armory dude sells rare ammo, g36's, cool armor and other stuff.

CaptHawkeye · Post by **CaptHawkeye** » 2007-03-29 06:43am

Resinence wrote:FOOLS!
JOIN FREEDOM!
DUTY SOLD OUT TO THE GOVERNMENT!!!

Plus you get m209 grenades and armour piercing bullets (2 grenades and 60 bullets per mission) for doing missions for freedom, and a m203 attachment every 5 missions. As well as that, the freedom armory dude sells rare ammo, g36's, cool armor and other stuff.

Freedom i'll do depending entirely upon whether or not I can have one of those SVU's, or better yet, if they can hook me up with an SVD.

Resinence · Post by **Resinence** » 2007-03-29 07:04am

the best sniper rifle in the game is in their base. And you can pick it up with no fighting if you work for them.

CaptHawkeye · Post by **CaptHawkeye** » 2007-03-29 08:28am

Resinence wrote:the best sniper rifle in the game is in their base. And you can pick it up with no fighting if you work for them.

You mean the VSS? Eh, I dislike the "built in silencer" aspect of it. Silenced weapons aren't as attractive to me because they don't have that satisfying BANG.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 08:33am

Sniper rifles are both lame and make the game too easy. The G36 is quite accurate enough for me to slaughter Freedom idiots by the dozen. I don't see the need for even MORE range or power.

You say you get grenades and AP bullets for doing missions for Freedom: I say you get grenades and AP bullets for slaughtering the Freedom guys like babes. The Respawning Checkpoint of Infinite Bullets is something they really need to fix, though.

CaptHawkeye · Post by **CaptHawkeye** » 2007-03-29 08:45am

Stark wrote:Sniper rifles are both lame and make the game too easy. The G36 is quite accurate enough for me to slaughter Freedom idiots by the dozen. I don't see the need for even MORE range or power.

You say you get grenades and AP bullets for doing missions for Freedom: I say you get grenades and AP bullets for slaughtering the Freedom guys like babes. The Respawning Checkpoint of Infinite Bullets is something they really need to fix, though.

Something they need to do is make the soldier and STALKER AI more aggresive. Their have been numerous situations in which the AI could have killed me easily had it just worked faster. This is understandable with the bandit AI, but the trained soldiers of the Russian army, as well as the combat experienced STALKERs of the zone should not be as slow.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 08:50am

Ironically the only time I've seen real aggressive assaulting is with bandits: they managed to blindside me with a pair of sneaky guys while I was shooting their mates. I only survived because I decided to change cover and saw them flanking my old position. Five more seconds and I'd have been completely fucked - that should happen more.

Some of the Arena fights are far more difficult than any fight out in the Zone.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2007-03-29 08:51am

Man, I just love firefights with entire squads, when armed with nothing but a pistol and an SMG.

IMHO, this game has one of the best mixes of realism/playability when it comes to fighting. Cover and movement matters, there's bleeding, a real ballistic system, etc.

And the AI has enough sense to use cover, flank and retreat when outmatched. Better than most games.

Oh, by the way - somebody asked what your enemies are saying when they try to kill you? Here's some translation:

Zahodha z boku! - They are flanking us!

Dostali nashego - one of ours is hit

Granaty! - obvious

Palanty! - an insult. Close to "Morons!", but not exactly. Implies someone dumb, clueless or just ugly.

I'll post more if I understand them. Most of these are just insults or stupid shit like "Come out quietly!". Yeah, like I will.

CaptHawkeye · Post by **CaptHawkeye** » 2007-03-29 08:56am

It would be of even greater benefit to the AI if they actually USED the grenades they had. That house i'm in wouldn't be such an attractive hiding spot if they threw a few RDGs in there.

Of course, the most needed fix for the combat system right now is still the endless ammo and band aid spam.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 09:03am

I'd really like to see the AI use their own medikits, actually. That Severance game had that: guys with potions would pull back for a second and go for the heal. That'd instantly remove much of the medikit pickups, encourage surprise and accuracy, and make extended firefights against guys in cover more dangerous. Using nades would be fucking awesome, because as you say I spend a lot of time inside building or whatever, where a nade would quickly sort me out.

Also, what have people seen with regards to the AI looting? I've noticed if a guy gets healed up, he'll stand and look for a gun and grab it. I haven't seen anyone (a bandit, say) scoop up an AK and use that instead of their pistol. I have seen guys after a battle crouch down next to corpses, but I'm not sure what triggers this behaviour. Squad battles would be really interesting if the AI could search corpses for medikits, ammo, better weapons etc. Take out the only bandit with an SMG? Nearby bandits (especially if the guy fell behind cover, which they often do) should pick it up.

CaptHawkeye · Post by **CaptHawkeye** » 2007-03-29 09:08am

I watched a random bandit attack on garbage from a distance. You remember Bes? The STALKER with the silenced Ak74su? Yeah, a bandit killed him, then took his gun. I'm not kidding you. So when he headed out of garbage, I jumped and killed him in vengeance, and because I wanted that gun.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 09:11am

That's interesting, because in my post-patch game I lost track of Bes (ie I came back one day and he was gone). I later found him some distance to the south-east in the rad zone, dead, with his AK next to him. As I'm sure you know, this is a major attack vector for NPCs spawned at the gate to Cordon, and many other NPCs had moved past this area (one only minutes before). None of them had bothered to pick it up. I'd taken this to mean that the AI doesn't pick up weapons - I guess there must be some 'decisionmaking' going on, and the NPC spawns may be in 'attack' mode rather than roaming search mode. Perhaps they'd take it after the battle or when not under attack?

Resinence · Post by **Resinence** » 2007-03-29 09:36am

When an ally gets wounded and drops their gun, pick it up, heal them. Then drop a diff gun near them. After a few seconds they pick it up.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 10:33am

Yeah, we know NPCs pick up weapons in such situations. They don't, however, appear to trade up when they see better weapons - in Hawkeye's example, the guy may have not had a 'rifle slot' weapon. If someone's using a suck shotgun and kills a guy with a G36, it'd be nice if he traded up.

Resinence · Post by **Resinence** » 2007-03-29 10:35am

ahh, gotcha. That AI can't actually drop their weapons voluntarily so they can't do that. Wish I had some more documentation on this game (there is NONE yay!) so I could fix little stuff like that with a mod. But the AI is too complex for my puny intellect.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-29 10:42am

Interesting point: I've seen guys with shotguns shelve it and pull out the pistol - it's actually impossible for them to drop it? I guess then the AI doesn't have proper inventory functionality, which goes some way to explaining why they can't use medikits/nades/etc. Also, the binoculars aren't inventory items but you can find them as inventory items.

As an aside, I'd kinda like the stash functionality to be cleaned up. I want a list of stashes (no more hunting for the one you just got clued on all over the fucking map), I want different colours for explored/unexplored, and I want THE DAMN SHIT TO ALREADY BE THERE. I just broke into the train station, and it was empty... found a clue... went back, and there's my SEVA suit. That is stupid lameo bullshit garbage suck. I'd settle for a sortable list (the pda needs some new tabs and better functionality all round, actually).