is it good /v/?

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>>382458857
Rhetorical question, or just a newfag on /v/?
4chan's had a HUGE boner for STALKER for ages now. We used to have hundreds of bump-limit breaking Stalker generals all the time at one point, and as far as I know, /vg/ still keeps that torch up this very day.

>So why are they so good then?
They're scarier than many "true" horror games released in past few years.
They look prettier than some much later released multiplat titles.
They make games like Far Cry 3-4 feel like horribly dumbed down, handholding kiddie games.
They are fairly realistic, but not simulator-level. There's real bullet physics and stuff like bleeding and hunger, and one shot to the head can kill anyone.

They are VERY long lasting games. One playthrough in vanilla can last well over 25 hours at calm pace, but I've spent a good two WEEKS in all three of them on my first playthroughs. And later a lot more with numerous mods.

They're not perfect games and have their few issues, but in the end they are like "rough diamonds": totally worth investing time and effort in. They are just not afraid to kick you in the groin and call you a bitch - which is quite rare in modern games.

Now, to get the smoothest start with the STALKER trilogy, Consult this Starting Guide,
then see the /vg/'s huge Stalker General for more tips and links: >>>/vg/stalker

Play in the release order. Start with no mods - only latest patch, OR get the full "Starter Pack" first; these contain bug-fixers and light visual mods that can help performance as well.
Leave big overhauls for later playthrougs. Avoid the "Complete" -mods. Always play on MASTER difficulty for best realism and atmosphere, and disable crosshair.

Don't give up in the beginning! The starting gear sucks ass and first area can be a bit boring.
It's advisable to avoid unnecessary risks, and pay attention.

>>382458857
no

>>382458857
A MU

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STALKER games are some of my most replayed games of all time, no matter that they've been around only for a mere decade.
I literally fooled around, doing sidequests, pointless exploring and enjoyed the atmosphere, for two WEEKS, in all three titles, during my first playthroughs. And then did it all again with numerous mods.

I see people call it the "DaS of FPS games", no matter that Stalker came out long before DaS, but it's a OK comparison. Many veterans do however state that it's not really THAT difficult set of games, but it's not rare to see total rookies make whine posts how unfair and/or broken the game is since they're getting constantly killed within the first hour. There is a clear learning curve, and fortunately it suffers of none of the modern "console shooter" cancers.

You know how people now praise Zelda:Botw for allowing you to do anything, including run straight to last boss if you dare? Well, STALKER pretty much did the same. Obviously it would be very suicidal, but only thing that's limiting you from trying are your personal gaming skills and your weakass starting equipment.

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Is there a point to buying CoP on Steam?
Who does the money go to?
Is it as easy to mod as the retail version?

>>382461186
Absolutely. It isn't as bug ridden as SoC
GSC is still around, so probably them and Valve
Yes, but it takes some forcing and finagling

>>382461186
>Is there a point to buying CoP on Steam?
Not really.
>Who does the money go to?
the nu-GSC, which is 100% new team at this point.
>Is it as easy to mod as the retail version?
almost, but folder locations and such are different.

>>382461491
>It isn't as bug ridden as SoC
SoC hasn't been "bug ridden" for a decade, sonny.

>>382461707
>nu-GSC

Every STALKER was made by a new team doofus

>>382461707
>SoC hasn't been "bug ridden" for a decade, sonny.
prefetching. Unless someone has finally figured out how to disable that without using a half assed "well it works for me" line of code on steams side, it's still bug ridden.

>>382461872
Not completely new team.
At this point, not even Sergei is present.

>>382462015
>prefetching.
you fucking serious? That counts as a "bug"?
Plus, it takes five seconds to apply a fix for that, which's been available for almost as long as the first mods arrived.

>Steam side
I forget that people don't buy/pirate retail copies any more. Still, at least CoP had a noprefetch "mod" for it, so I'd assume all the others do too.

>>382458857
Lurk for a year before posting

>>382462219
>Still, at least CoP had a noprefetch "mod" for it, so I'd assume all the others do too.
>So I'd assume all the others do
>So I'd assume
>I'd assume
so you literally don't know a fucking thing, but you presume to know how to fix it? Good job idiot

>>382459473
>>382458857
>>382460954
>>382461186
I played both Shadow and Call of without mods a couple months ago. It really isn't broken at all. You can perfectly pay all Stalker games with out mods. I even played on the hardest difficulty and still beat it easily

>>382459473
To this day, I can not think of another game that gave me comfy feels than returning to Cordon and unloading loot while listening to my Slavbro play guitar by a barrel fire.

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>>382462442
There you have it.
I need to once again stress that most of the "STALKER games are broken and buggy all-vanilla!" -claims tend to be either A) literally 10 years old forum posts, originating from the time when no patches had been released yet, or B) new people parroting these ancient beliefs.

Both categories tend to then follow up with as ancient "fix" suggestion: motherfucking Complete -mod.

Can you guys explain the dislike of the complete mods. I get they mess up balance and difficulty but is that the only reason why? My first playthrough was with soc complete and I had a great time. Still played on master, no crosshair.

>>382464313
>>382462768
They make the game easier

>>382458857

yes because there is a hidden stash in that underground passage wth the invisible bloodsuckers that has a modded AK in it

>>382464798
so thats it huh? Glad I stuck with them then since difficulty is subjective and irrelevant.

>>382464313
Complete mods are an attempt at "fixing" the game by casuals who don't play games in general and thought that intentional features of Stalker games were bugs and that difficulty resulted from fucked up design

>>382465249
Well hey if you're into babymode then feel free. We won't think any less of you.

>>382465598
one of their fixes is the absurd distance npcs can detect you, and that if one person detects you the entire squad knows your exact location. This is an issue complained about in numerous other games to this day. Are you saying that that wasn't a bug?

>>382466610
Don't know about the distances (I haven't noticed vanilla SoC having such problems despite having completed it several times), but Complete didn't fix the problem with every enemy knowing your location upon detection

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>getting your first (not)Mp5
>throwing away your pistol because they use the same ammo

>upgrading from shitty double-barrel sawn-off to actual decent shotty

>getting your first (not)M15

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>>382464313
>Can you guys explain the dislike of the complete mods
seriously?
Pic related.

>>382466610
>one of their fixes is the absurd distance npcs can detect you,
They have literally worse sight than you do in vanilla, and Complete makes them almost blind.
Most people also do not realize that NPCs can track you with their HEARING too, so they think that enemies are auto-homing to them.

No, none of that are bugs. Just people getting too used to binary ""stealth"" in modern (console) games.

>>382467558

>finding the secret stash in the bloodsucker underground with the modded ak

>>382459473

stalker is never as good as the infographics claim

>>382468617
what the fuck is the point of a suit with 90% rad resistance?