Want to play Stalker for the first time; are mods the way to

>>385625523
People always say use the complete mod for a vanilla run but I don't really believe it's so necessary.

If the graphics are fine, which I personally believe they are, they look pretty good for what it is, then just go vanilla.

The games are really great, just don't get disillusioned with the difficulty at first. It's one of those dark souls type difficulties, at first it seems impossible, after 2 hours you'll wonder what the fuck you thought was difficult about the game.

The game has a combat system you're probably not used to, but it;s easy to get to grips with and the game provides you with varying levels of gear and guns throughout.

It's a great game series, hope you enjoy anon.

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>>385625935
>People always say use the complete mod for a vanilla run

no. fuck complete.

>dark souls type difficulties
>a game which came out years before
>is difficult like dark souls

can I get off this ride.

SoC is better and ironically easier on higher difficulties. The AI gets better and the enemies aren't bullet sponges. It's a great game. Oh and don't feel bad about pirating it.

If you want to go the purist "I really want to experience Stalker as it was more-or-less intended on release", then start with Shadow Of Colossus and install the Stalker Starter Pack 2017 collection.
It's basically just graphics updates and bug-fixes that don't change anything mechanically about the game - the only mechanical addition they do (optional) sleeping back which I STRONGLY RECOMMEND TO ENABLE. Playing without it is just a chore.

These "Starter Pack Mods" exist for all three Stalker games, by the way. Most people hate Clear Sky though. I personally skipped it straight to Call of Pripyat (again with Starter Pack Mod collection), but I plan to revisit it one day.

If you aren't a purist, you can still try Complete 2009 mod. It does some significant changes to the gameplay though: makes it generally a lot easier, does some mood alterations which not everybody likes, and it has not been updated for a few years, meaning that it does not take advantage of the most recent graphic mods. I played it and had some fun with it, but yeah - it makes SoC into a bit more "casual" experience.

What ever you chose:
The early game, especially in SoC, can be DOWNRIGHT GRUELING. The game does a piss-poor job of introducing you to the settings, and will hand you TERRIBLE weapons that will make you think the gunplay is broken. It's not: it a bit unusual (favores snipping, forces precision and slow, methodic approach), but the early game guns are just all shit.
It's well worth slogging through the early game though.

>>385625935
There is absolutely no reason why not to use at least the bloody bug-fixes, high-quality textures (they don't change the mood, just make things less ugly and the damn sleeping bag). Really. Why would you play vanilla if you can have literally the same gameplay and aesthetic experience, just with less bugs and sharper visuals, and option to skip the fucking night if you need it?

>>385626257
>ironically easier on higher
Proven lie. Seriously.

>>385626257
I knew someone would pick me up on the dark souls thing, read my post you retard.

I drew no comparison in the games themselves, only the perceived difficulty that both come with, and the resulting 'what the fuck did I actually find difficult about the game'.

>>385626327
I suppose, bug fixes and the rest are fine. People always tend to recommend mods like Misery and AMK to new players which I feel is wrong, game should be experienced as close to vanilla as possible on your first run.

>>385626535
Recommending Misery to new players is flat out retarded, it's a weird sadistic "look at how badass I am, you can't handle games that I can" thing. AMK... I don't have much experience with it, but to me it always seemed a bit needless since CoC came out. SoC in particular just hardly benefits from the list of changes it introduces: they make perfect sense in a more sand-box like system, but it's not like SoC really offers the space for them to shine.

>>385625935
Nobody on /vg/ nor /v/ back then highly recommended Complete in any version. The only way to go is the unofficial patches and AMK/Lurk or the newer ones like Call of Chernobyl.
But the real way to play is to play vanilla first (patched for bug fixes) on Master. Then go to /vg/ for mod screenshots, webms and pick whichever you think you will like.

>>385625523
http://www.moddb.com/mods/starter-pack

>>385626257
>SoC is better and ironically easier on higher difficulties. The AI gets better and the enemies aren't bullet sponges.
I want to get off this ride.
http://www.metacognix.com/stlkrsoc/WhatYouKnowThatAintSo.html#Guns

>>385625523
Zone Reclamation Project.

>>385626327
Your bullets actually go where you shoot though

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Don't be this guy and you will have a blast.

>>385625523
Download ZRP and leave it at that

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES INSTALL THE "COMPLETE" MOD

>>385630263
*Complete mod as in a different mod called "Complete" not the complete version of ZRP

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>>385630084
>Gears of Halo

i chuckle everytime.

Get starter pack
It contains zone reclamation project

>>385629958
>Your bullets actually go where you shoot though
No, they don't. Difficulty has ZERO impact on player accuracy (only on weapon degradation coeficient, making them LESS accurate on higher difficulty in weaker condition), and this has been objectively proven by analyzing the damn game's code SEVERAL TIMES.

>>385630263
People freak out over complete way too much. It's not a bad mod. It's outdated though.
Also, it's fucking retarded to install ZRP if you can install the entirety of Starter pack.

Just don't try to convince yourself misery is fun

>>385625523
Stay the fuck away from Alpha. There's a reason they left all that behind and it was sanity.

>>385631130
Alpha is driving me insane, honestly.
There is so much good about it, especially when it comes to the environmental re-designs. The new exterior maps are absolutely GORGEOUS and expansive. The new handling of artefacts that combines elements of both SoC and the later games is also pretty damn amazing.

The new interiors on the other hand are... not the greatest, and what the game did to the narrative should be punishable by death. Although one thing deserves to be said: they actually kept pretty faithful to the original vision, even in that regard. People complain about the silly Evangelion bullshit, but all of that was actually already in SoC to begin with.
It's just the use of cutscenes. Fuck me: who ever thought un-fucking-skippable cutscenes are a good idea in Stalker really deserves to be fucking shot in the fucking head.

I started replaying Alpha with the directors cut recently, and I really wanted to at least enjoy the few good things, but I ended up stuck in Agroprom where I'm continuously being attack by a controler that is 40 meters underground god-knows where in a maze of tunels full of monsters, and he keeps causing that head-swirl effect even when I'm ON THE FUCKING SURFACE, making it impossible to find and kill him, or to continue in the game, because he only stops affecting me at the very EDGES of the map - there is no way I can fight my way to the fucking administration complex with this shit.

I remember playing the super-broken original release version and even it wasn't this damn frustrating.

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>>385625523
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.

>>385626257
that guide's a bit too old. Here's the latest version

>>385633209
The whole "always play on master" thing is a bit of bullshit, really.

>>385633464
There is no reason not to play on master as the game is pretty easy on lower difficulties but some of the things people say to justify playing on master are complete bullshit.

>>385633209

>>>/vg/stalker

Pure cancer.

>>385626327
>playing any games with mods on your first run
God I hate reddit. I bet you used guides for Dark Souls your first time too.

Start on SoC (obviously).

Play on the highest difficulty.

Don't use any gameplay-altering mods; if you can't deal with the extremely dated graphics, I'd highly recommend the following:

>Absolute Structures Texture Pack
>Absolute Nature Texture Pack
>Dynamic Shaders 1.1 Beta Patch 2
>New Improved Bump Maps

I think I also used the Stalker Extrem Mod on my first playthrough. Can't remember if it was only graphical or altered gameplay.

Fuck clear sky dude. They tried to make it some kind of faction wars story but most of the time you are just camping in some outpost waiting for your factions backup to secure the zone cause till they arrive enemys keep spawning every 10 minutes

>>385635595
>God I hate reddit.
Says the dude parroting random, worthless bullshit just because "it's what the cool kiddies say, and I want to be part of the cool kiddies club".

Stalker was released broken, and has dated. Starter Pack fixes the bugs and increases quality of the visuals without altering the art direction.

Jesus fucking Christ kiddie, I guess you go around telling people not to use the Unofficial Patch for VTMB or play Fallout 2 without restoration, right?
What a fucking retard.

CoC is pretty great if you care more about the sandbox rather than the story

>>385626257
I keep hearing this, but I was sniping monolith soldiers the the vintar 1 shot 1 kill on stalker difficulty.

though in COP that gun rarely fires on target and takes 2+ head shots to kill anything, did they fuck sniping in cop on purpose?

>>385630889
my pc is pretty bad and Starter pack slows it down, unless I play on Static Lighting like a fag

>>385638501
>I keep hearing this,
It's a myth. Difficulty has no effect on player accuracy. It just buffs enemies and increases their accuracy/reaction time, increases wear-and-tear on weapons, bloats enemy hitpoints etc...

It's not easier on harder difficulties. It's flat out harder. And it DOES actually flat out increase enemy health and damage that they deal. There is no trade-off.

>>385639532
Except how novice bloats EVERYONE's hp In call of pripyat, took me 5+ magazines to drop the mutant, while I only took 2 little bars of damage from anomalies while wearing the sunrise.