Current Events > I'm sure this applies to only a few of you, but ever play STALKER?

(+) Yeah! (+)

If you own the latest game in the series, Call of Pripyat, you can install (in its own directory, standalone) a mod called Anomaly. It runs on a up to date, 64-bit rework of the base engine allowing for much better performance, view distance, overall actor/AI count and reduces the micro stutter the series is known for.

Stalker is a pseudo post-apocalyptic FPS where the world is set up in different regions. Factions will dynamically fight for control of these regions, all while being plagued by

*Horrifying mutant wildlife, including monsters that hunt in packs and go invisible. At night.
*Radiation storms, psionic waves that zombify anyone not in shelter, migrations (factions abandoning their region to escape for survival, or overpopulation of a certain mutant type charging like a wave.)

And much more. The game has an overwhelming amount of exterior, interior and "lab" (dungeon) maps that are all interconnected in one way or another ranging from the rural outskirts to the Chernobyl Plant itself. Combat is fast, brutal, but rewarding. Loot is everywhere and you can do gun runs. Or you can live like a rat and find anomalies (tears in reality) and use special equipment to get into them to sell artifacts for high value, but these anomalies are full of their own danger.

The series is great. Anomaly is my favorite incarnation of said series. It blows the doors off other survival horror/sandbox/free roam games like it. The atmosphere is horrifying, too.

---

Shadow of Chernobyl, the first game, is great (with a mandatory stabilizing fan patch). The atmosphere created when is unforgettable, waking up in a harsh storm in a rotting village, watching out into the hills as lightning flashes and illuminates the bodies of snarling mutated dogs, while in the distance the siren of the ineffective Russian soldiers blares, begging people not to enter the Zone. Game is perfect length to feel out exploration, its odd anomaly mechanics and creatures without getting repetitive.

Didn't play Clear Skies. Couldn't get into Call of Pripyat, it didnt have the same magic for me. But also it ran my GPU hotter than some modern AAA games. It competes with Deus Ex Mankind Divided, jeez. Didnt use that patch though I dont think

---

Get out of here, stalker
---

Doe posted...

Couldn't get into Call of Pripyat, it didnt have the same magic for me.

Yay a Stalker fan. So, anomaly adds all the maps from all three games and some ones from the alpha days. All the spawn points (I forget their specific engine name sorry) have been cleaned up and reworked to be just fine on the map.

All traders have randomly generated quests with decent rewards.
Named stalkers or heroes have unique gear you can buy or kill them for.
The a-life runs in the background 24/7 just like SHOC days. They will always be pushing or pulling but very slowly, as to promote immersion.
You can start the game and pick any faction you want with their own dynamic relations, functions, traders, economy and progression gear. Yes, you can be monolith. Yes, everyone is the enemy.

All of this sounds gamey but it's actually set up in a sim environment. It's as hardcore as AMK was for SHOC.

---

UnholyMudcrab posted...

Get out of here, stalker

Outside of that tunnel with the mindflayer thing, this is the only thing I remember.

Is been awhile since I played.

---

I still don't quite understand what happened in that tunnel except I was very scared. It kept zooming in and out on it and I wasn't sure how to react.

---

It either shoots out a projectile or hitscan, and if you're hit, you get yoinked in a short out-of-body experience and it does fairly good damage to you.

At least I think that's what happens.

---