S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadows of Chernobyl + Clear Sky

[BRP]

I have yet to play Clear Sky, but I've been playing the hell out of Shadows of Chernobyl with Oblivion Lost mods. Fuck yeah, one of my favorite games ever. Anyway, this thread would be general chat for Stalker, post some pictures, tell some stories, ask for help, get out of here stalker, etc etc

EDIT: and if you haven't played it yet, go buy it (or pirate it)

[Kyo]

I need to play this shit, in process of building a new PC for this and when Diablo 3 gets out, dont play much PC shit normaly.

[AlexRuzhyo]

Just finished downloading this last night, actually. I'm going my first time through on vanilla. Been playing it like a crackhead.

I just got out of the "antagonist's" stash (Found a Nice Fastshooting/accurate AK then a stalker suit killing boxes) and popped up inside the Military Research base. Spent some time trying to figure out a strategy that didn't have me getting outflanked and killed. Eventually baited them all into a narrow corridor and took em out with shots to the head.

I had to retrieve some documents while I was there, so I did. As I was leaving the building the documents were in, choppers came and dropped off more troops. I killed them and the patrols outside the base and started heading to the bar. I found the Barkeep and kind of quit there. Some of the quests seem a little daunting and I didn't feel like doing them so I logged. (By the way, how do I join Duty? The damn loudspeaker doesn't tell you. >.>)

I love it so far, but I'm getting my ass kicked through trail and error. I can't imagine OL with blowouts constantly on top of all the mutant swarms. The key NPC death would be annoying to my newbie self as well.

[BRP]

vanilla is harder because they buff up guns so much in OL. It's kind of stupid really, they made some guns pointless better because they liked them more. It's still cool though, just easier.

[Kurp]

Are these games similar to how Deus Ex plays?

[treelo]

Recently started playing through Clear Sky. Honestly, whoever coded this can kiss my furry white arse. Yeah, it's an awesome game, don't get me wrong. But when you decide to release something, at least make sure it works properly. The balancing is awful (emptying clips into an enemy as he randomly staggers back now and again), the game didn't even work past the second area, and this was after two patches.

Now that it's modded/patched and works properly/isn't insanely unbalanced, I've actually begun to enjoy playing it. They removed a lot of features from the original (which I've not played yet) but added some nice new touches. Hardly even explored the Faction Wars aspect of the game yet, got completely duped by a bunch of bandits guarding a checkpoint (though next time guys, take my weapons as well, wasn't a smart move on your part.) My only real remaining gripe is nightfall, at which point even with Night Vision and a flashlight, you still can't see further than two feet past your nose. Apparently some fools complained it wasn't dark enough in SoC so they totally went overboard and made you nearly blind.

[Elesirdur]

Bit of a necrobump, but I downloaded this over the weekend and played it pretty much all of yesterday. I'm only trying it out so far on Novice difficulty, since I tried to start the game twice on Stalker difficulty and couldn't take out the first base without being ripped to shreds.

Now that I'm further into the game (just joined up with Duty in Agropom) it's getting a lot more enjoyable. Not having played SoC I'm still not exactly sure how I go about getting artifacts from the anomalies. I got one of the "Bear" type detectors, but do I just run into the anomolies the detector indicateds and mash 'F' in the hopes that an artefact will pop out?

Also, what assault rifle have you guys been using? I'm really liking the Lee-Enfield bullpup rifle (forget the game name), but does the 1996 AK-47 compare well to it? How about the M16-like rifle? Or once you start modding them out do they all just blend together?