☢┃stalker-general

[hoary crest]

It probably will, but I can huff copium about it 😄

[still current]

Change would mostly be visually visible aside from performance buff

Would definitely will

[hoary crest]

Yep, probably, shame as some incredibly useful ones still work, but havent been updated in ages

Such as no detector beep warning for local anomalies

[still current]

Phase 2 of the kit will be also available by then I think. That would expand possibilities and perhaps help most ZDK users upgrade too

[hoary crest]

Seriously might have to buy a seperate drive to put the SDK on

Start making things

[still current]

You'd need 1TB for now ig

Might need a larger one later tho

If I got a chance to buy one, I would definitely hop back on the modding train. I kinda feel nostalgic towards my modder days

The modder role also seems appealing to me hehe

I'm a role freak

[oak junco]

700GB mod sdk then the game is like close to 850GB

[still current]

• phase 2 update which will add some more to it + engine update/next patches updates starting with 1.6 soon

[obtuse wyvern]

is there a mod to add exosuits to the duty faction. seeing them like this make me feel like they are naked soldiers. or is there a lore reason why they don't have it. or am i just to early in the game to encounter the exosuit soldiers?

[analog lintel]

Dutyers don't deserve good things, hope this helps

[obtuse wyvern]

but they had in previous games. it made them attleast look cool

wait nvm they do exist. in stalker 2 nvm

[thin apex]

Theres a duty branded exoskeleton you can get is all I know

[obtuse wyvern]

allrighty. thought they didnt exist. nvm than

[analog lintel]

Duty do not deserve to look cool. Clown faction. The red is for their noses

[obtuse wyvern]

Am i imagining the duty wrong? thought they were mercenaries?

[thin apex]

it's called like the cuirass or smth
it sucks thoguh because it doesn't have a sprint modification for it

[thin apex]

they are not government affiliated as far as I know

[obtuse wyvern]

To tell you the truth i am at the slag heap. idk if they are worth siding with.

[thin apex]

you don't even side with duty at any point in the story

the only factions that matter are the ward and sparkers

[analog lintel]

Duty are a paramilitary group who hate the Zone. They do some good work (getting rid of mutant infestations) but they go overboard in trying to exterminate wildlife and their overarching goal is to destroy the Zone itself. Bunch of gun-toting divorcees yelling about how much they hate the wonders of the Zone and shooting at groups who dare to actually have fun (like Freedom)

[obtuse wyvern]

and freedom is anarchists right?

[thin apex]

freedom don't want to destroy the zone

I wouldn't call it "anarchism"

[obtuse wyvern]

I like the zone. but hate the anarchism like bandits and stalkers. for the simple idea that its a survival of the fittest. Ig i am an hypocrite for that. but hey its a game and the main characther is above all right :)

[still current]

Duty is a paramilitary faction that mainly involved Ex military personnel then extended to loners and expanded over to become part of the main big names of the zone, at least until call of pripyat time frame, then went into wreck phase after the establishment of the ward faction. It was the main nemesis of the freedom faction, until a true was forced then broke and reinforced again by force by the ward. Freedom remained with much more influence and dignity after that, but both factions found a way to poke into each other again through proxies (bandit kingpins), making the ongoing and barely functioning truce on the verge of breaking again.

[obtuse wyvern]

well than if its all pretty much the same. should i break the truce. or kill huron/buy him out of his 20k coupon to skip killing one of the endorsed people by either freedom or duty.

[thin apex]

that mission doesn't lead to my repercussions in the story exept for a brief interaction with a leader in a later mission that can skip an objective for you

[still current]

Anarchism was a one perspective name that was issued by duty and adopted by anyone with problems with Freedom. It mainly refers to the freedom's ideological alliance with making the zone a source of income and something of use. Duty hates the idea of allowing any kind of anomalous nature to get out of the zone. They highly associate this hate to their hate to the zone as it took so many lives from them (main reason it was founded was to take revenge on the zone itself for killing the military expedition led by the one who founded Duty in the first place by an emission.), and also suspecting that anomalous objects getting out of the zone would lead to its expansion.

[static lark]

Guten Morgen Stalkers

[static lark]

What would you consider Noon?

Ward is obviously Totalitarian and wants the zone to be a police state.

[still current]

They are in some way correct, but they did nothing more than making the zone angry by killing its inhabitants. The zone was confirmed to be similar to a living entity and active killing of mutant and such would make it go nuts and react in either expanding or emissions which also leads to expansion in some cases

[static lark]

I don’t know enough about Spark to know what they want…. That’s just scar he’s insane

Monolith is a hive mind

I’d assume there’s not a lot of Democracy in the zone

[obtuse wyvern]

btw is there a community modpack for the older games. only played shadow of chernobyl. and sort of want to relive that game+ the other ones

[wooden walrus]

there's a bazillion

[obtuse wyvern]

what about prefered way to play them than?

[wooden walrus]

I wouldn't be able to tell you which one is the more vanilla plus modpack but from the time I researched it I settled on uhh

[static lark]

This general rahmi guy really likes typing

[wooden walrus]

Memories of the Zone it's called

[stuck seal]

He’s generally rahmi

[obtuse wyvern]

okay will put that in the backburner

does it include all of the games?

[wooden walrus]

no, that's just a modpack for SoC

[obtuse wyvern]

or is it specificaly soc ok

[wooden walrus]

there's modpacks for the other games

[static lark]

Rahmi Malek well known for playing Freddy Mercury in the 2018 bio-drama “Bohemian Rhapsody” ????

[wooden walrus]

I think for CS the preferred one is straight up called community modpack or smth

[still current]

Noon is basically a morally justified faction. They were all victims of brainwash and were used as pawns by the C_Con. The destruction of the latter destroyed the link which held them to be controlled, but left them broken in many ways afterwards. The moment they woke up, they fell under indiscriminate witchhunt of some kind, and eventually led to their faction being established. The main objective was entirely giving hope of free will to its members and thus freedom of choice. However, you know how it played in the end. Some fell victim to manipulation and those who failed to see freedom and couldn't fill the void they had went on seeking the monolith again and eventually led to their second enslavement again

[stuck seal]

Noontide is pure evil because they refuse to let me sell artifacts to them

[static lark]

NOON WILL RISE AGAIN A NEW DAY WILL HAPPEN

[still current]

Spark was basically a different faction from what it was originally intended. It posed a threat to the ward and thus, ended up being butchered. Scar only took up the faction and diverted it to his needs. The original one was more of a pacifist if you compare it to scar's

That is why they were wiped out so easily

[static lark]

Also well known for playing in the 2015-2019 Thriller Series “Mr. Robot”

[static lark]

They kinda just seem like scientists to me tbh and then Scar comes in goes insane and turns them into “We hate Ward and we’re gonna use anyone we can to fight them”

[stuck seal]

Ward attacked spark because they were helping stc malachite (unforgivable sin)

[static lark]

Still feel like Scar didn’t care about Noon at all even before the re-zombification

[static lark]

You’re probably a Duty fan aren’t ya

[stuck seal]

How

What does duty have to with either of them

[static lark]

Some of the Sparkers do care, at least they imply it in their dialogue lines. Richter seems to be very affected by it whenever you leave SIRCAA and the Noontiders shoot at you

Then some of the other random characters or traders have a few lines where they seem to regret how things went for Noon, but Scar kinda just brushes past it

[static lark]

Idk you just feel like you’d be a Dutier

[stuck seal]

How would you get that from me stating that sircaas personal army attacked spark because they were involved in sircaas rival organization

[static lark]

I can see freedom but you don’t talk about Richter and how much you wanna do acts with him

Which seems to be a normal thing for freedomers

[stuck seal]

He’s not my type, no, my heart belongs to another stalker

[stuck seal]

I think scar is just so dead set on his goal that he doesn’t care about anything else

[static lark]

I still don’t understand the whole shining zone thing but I think I might just be dumb

Or not listening when anyone talks about it

[stuck seal]

No it’s a little confusing, but it all ends up being either a lie or just something really bad if you decide to continue with the spark path

[static lark]

What happens

I don’t care about spoilers it’s only game

Also im pretty locked into the spark path i think so it’s whatever

[stuck seal]

Well, you see, the C Con tried to make a world without negative emotions, where everyone was calm and positive, no sadness, no sickness, no greed, etc. they tried to achieve this by manipulating the global noosphere. scar wants to do something similar, wanting to bring out the good in the zone, but, it backfires. It’s essentially the same idea as the C Con, everyone only has positive emotions and happiness! Except only in their heads, everyone just shuffles around in their own little “shining zone” for eternity, well, until they starve to death

In short, everyone zombifies, as zombies actually express the same traits

At least that’s what it looks like anyway

[still current]

I honestly dont

[static lark]

So he turned everywhere into monolith

[stuck seal]

More like zombies

[still current]

Monolith are not the product they desired

They were merely their defense force

To keep every soul off the center where their pods reside

[stuck seal]

Zombies are even less so, monolith fully completed the conversion process, zombies are people who only went through half of it

It’s still interesting how zombies fought alongside monolith even after the C Con was destroyed, maybe it was an oversight from GSC

[still current]

Zombies are indeed failed products

Not really an oversight

It's lore material

[stuck seal]

I’m under the impression that with c con gone, the zombies would be aggressive towards all even monolith

[still current]

Zombies are more or less mutant like. They will not harm anything that has no I'll intent to the zone. That is how scar have no conflict with them. He only seeks to expand the zone and make it shine. So, basically, there is mo reason for the zone zombified vessals to attack him. Same for the monolith, they operate as zone cleansers in someway. They protect the CCon and the ccon is the operator of the zone

[oak junco]

Reread what said then you need almost 1TB of storage for game and sdk

[still current]

What donyou want to know?

[stuck seal]

I’m talking after SoC

[obtuse wyvern]

is there no way to pick up an object in stalker 2?

[still current]

Lore

[still current]

Still the same thing

[random badge]

Is Stalker 2 worth it now?

I've been looking to play it ever since I got a new PC and I loved the OG trilogy

[obtuse wyvern]

how beefy is your new pc than

[stuck seal]

If you didn’t think it was worth it then, you won’t think it’s worth it now, or ever for that matter

[random badge]

R7 9700x , RTX 5070

[obtuse wyvern]

presume its the ti 5070

[crystal bison]

they shoved the entire game and its uncompressed assets into the sdk

[random badge]

The optimization threw me off, I wouldn't be able to run it

[random badge]

No, It's a normal 5070 I got on sale

[still current]

The zone without the C_Con is still living in some way. It will protect itself and whoever protects it

[obtuse wyvern]

Than i don't know to much. what i was looking at was the vram you had. and generation of the card. i am sitting on 5gb vram so idk if its iffy with just 8

[random badge]

I have 12gb

[obtuse wyvern]

oh... defaulted to 8 allright yea maybe you can run it than.

hate nivida. for its vram have a bud that panic bought a 3070 during covid and he has problems with just 8

[still current]

What are you guys talking about bro has a 5070 so yeah

[random badge]

Maybe you can answer me. Are the new updates cool? I can pull the trigger on the Stalker Complete bundle with the ultimate edition of stalker 2 rn.

[still current]

Yeah

It's good now

Will get better this Quarter tho

[obtuse wyvern]

I bought it like 4 days ago and having a great time.

[still current]

I would suggest you hop in by the next update

[obtuse wyvern]

whats on the horizion?

[random badge]

My friend pre ordered the collectors edition and the gadgets he got were sick

The game on the other hand was a bit messy

[still current]

Check #📰┃announcement for the roadmap

[random badge]

If I bought the game now. Would I need to restart my playthrough for the updates?

Like when they release

[obtuse wyvern]

"bringing the latest Unreal Engine 5 optimizations will lead to better stability and performance." is that what i am getting at?

[still current]

It's far better now. It's still a bit far from over tho. It will get way better this quarter and especially with the engine upgrade

[still current]

Yeah

Expect some decent fps gains, better stability, better potentials, and better visuals. In short, a great upgrade to performance and fidelity.

Perhaps this upgrade will make a solid base for extended render radius

Hopefully

I'm optimistic more than ever

[lofty dew]

how much can we expect

[random badge]

I'm optimistic to see that GSC is working so hard on improving the game

It reminds me of Fallout 76 lol

[lofty dew]

reminds me of cyberpunk

[random badge]

That too

[obtuse wyvern]

btw there is a question i have. are emisions scripted? or are they happening for real?

[lofty dew]

fallout is like stalker for soyboys

[smoky hawk]

I hope it will become good as opposed to both of those games

[smoky hawk]

they arent scripted

[still current]

I don't know

[obtuse wyvern]

good

[random badge]

Yes and no

[obtuse wyvern]

cause everytime i have been getting a emision its like its done on purpose. after doing a quest or in certain part of the mission i am on

[random badge]

The older games are crazy good, the newer ones not so much

[obtuse wyvern]

fallout 4 sucked imo. gunplay allright story shit.

[still current]

It's impossible to know it all depends on the team's effort and all. It's almost 100% guaranteed as a win either way

[obtuse wyvern]

also are the lightning strikes considered a emision or just weather?

[still current]

Weather disturbance

[obtuse wyvern]

oke

[still current]

Quite anomalous in nature

[obtuse wyvern]

eh the lightning dont strike twice on a single point i am fine

[static lark]

Factually incorrect

[obtuse wyvern]

its fine...

can't be a risk if there is nothing to lose :)

[static lark]

I hate Spotify

That is all

[obtuse wyvern]

also i want a mod that ads the faction when talking to someone. its annoying to figure out what faction some one is in by the rags on their shirt.

[marble solstice]

Lmfao

I've been killed by lightning atleast like 15 times

[stuck seal]

Yeah they are happening for real, one just happened last week

[random badge]

I bought it

[primal nimbus]

I JUST GOT THE CLUSTERFUCKING GOOD ENDING OF METRO LAST LIGHT

FIRST DAMN TRY TOO

[tardy flint]

Is there any way to fix the weird lighting issues?

[sharp gulch]

Ultra+ graphical mod

[tardy flint]

I’ve tried that and I still feel like it doesn’t fix it. Maybe I don’t have it set up correctly. Any settings you’d recommend?

[wooden walrus]

There's one

https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/665

also it's a feature in OXA prototype

it's a bit hit and miss since some bandits and loners will show as "spark" instead of their faction but it's easy enough to figure out

[hallow shadow]

Not being able to return-fire from inside a Glass Anomaly is an effing joke!
Aaaahhhhh!!!
THEY CAN SOOT ME BUT MY BUT MY BULLETS TURN TO EFFING SPARKLES!!!

My blood! I’ve lost all my blood

[fickle hill]

Plastic duds

[hallow shadow]

Is there a way to tangle with this… I want to call it a Bulba, out front of STC Malachite?

It’s such a pretty sphere.

[fickle hill]

What are you even after that ball of water does nothing stand there

[hallow shadow]

It effing feels like it.
Walking down the road, get hit by glass, then start taking fire from Mercs.
I go to shoot back, and my bullets only hit glass. Their bullets hit me.

[hallow shadow]

The ball is just a ball? It’s not an anomaly? No artifact?

[fickle hill]

Nope

[hallow shadow]

Aww man. But it’s so dang cool.
I thought there’d be a “Weird Something or Other”

[fickle hill]

That shouldn't happen since NPCs and player alike should just disappear

[hallow shadow]

The glass thing? This isn’t the first time it’s happened.

Happened to me all the time in Garbage.
Even if I wasn’t in the anomaly.. Only NPCs can shoot through the glass shards.
Skif cannot

[fickle hill]

Yeah

[hallow shadow]

Well, dang. Skif be impotent as hell.

I’m sad that ball isn’t an anomaly. Or at least, one that I can interact with.
Malachite is kinda… Pretty, as far as regions go.

[sharp gulch]

They have presets you can pick from. Use standard or high

[hallow shadow]

So… Mods don’t stick, even if they’re installed, and you lose internet?

That’s dumb.
I already have them installed, on the save.

That doesn’t count for shit?

Because some other incompetent construction dudes cut a line…

[charred nova]

Pretty sure there is a work around

The workshop mods exist as a file somewhere

So…..

[hallow shadow]

?

Lemme try to load up on a Hotspot. Hahahaha!

But there is no workaround.

Playing a Modded save, Offline, disables your mods.

[charred nova]

Directly installing them would get around that lol

[weary hedge]

He’s on console

[hallow shadow]

How does one do that, as opposed to…?

Installing them, like normal?
I’m using Discord from an app on my phone.
I play on Xbox.

Playing a Modded save, Offline, disables your mods.

[charred nova]

Oh right

Common console L

[hallow shadow]

“Install them directly, without an internet connection”

[charred nova]

https://tenor.com/view/1984-george-orwell-george-orwell-1984-1984-chips-1984-ruffles-gif-7144052804264359069

It only works on pc

Again common console L I’m afraid

Be ready cus it’s 900 gigs

Well go for it then

[hallow shadow]

SDK, should you so choose the path of holy matrimony, is a big girl.

[charred nova]

Though

You need to install it on ssd

Or it will be basically unusable

Well your ballin then

[hallow shadow]

Dang. I want rich parents.

[obtuse veldt]

Npc boolets can't hit u thru glass

Grenades, on the other hand do so I'm like

[hallow shadow]

Their bullets definitely do hit me through glass.

I was running from Slag Heap, down to where Varan is.
Got intercepted by Bandits, in a glass anomaly.
I can’t shoot through it, but they can.

Maybe not all of their rounds.
But their rounds make it through, and Skif’s do not.

I do like that you can crouch, under the same glass that killed a Boar, and skin it, without getting cut.

[weary hedge]

Wiped out so easily? You must not have seen what happens when you side with spark

[hallow shadow]

“Hey, I’m gonna need you to save an old buddy of mine. By ‘old buddy’, I mean asshole that ruined my mama’s girl parts. I need you to save him so I can murder him on a later occasion.”
-Scooter, Borderlands.

Borderlands. A decent Offline pastime.

[hoary crest]

New one looks promising

[hallow shadow]

Then you make it to the DLC,
“I told you I would!”

[hallow shadow]

That price tag is excessive, but yeah. I’m still kinda excited.

$80 for the base version?
Pffff.
WONT SOMEONE THINK OF THE SHAREHOLDERS

[hoary crest]

Eh, its something I know is gonna give its moneys worth

[hallow shadow]

That’s what I thought about the 3rd game.
But that was disappointing

[hoary crest]

Will play it with my pal for like the entirety of the next year, making builds and seeing how much we can break it

[frigid hill]

voracity_t has been warned

Reason: Bad word usage

[hallow shadow]

Best part of the 3rd game was the Firefly revolver (The Companion) and the Doom Shotgun.

[weary hedge]

Best part about the games

Hope they change the loot pool up tho. Bl3 and TTWL was a bit absurd

[hoary crest]

For sure, an for a years worth of gaming, thats less than 10 bucks a month, yet people pay probably more than that for shit subscription services like netflicks, not horrible value for game that has replayability imo

[hallow shadow]

Also watching Sir Hammerlock get married.

[hoary crest]

Already confirmed that each drop has its own chance to drop and is rolled seperately from each other

So crowded loot pools shouldnt be an issue

[weary hedge]

Hell yeah. I’m sold then😂

[hallow shadow]

I hate that Xbox Live Gold is now just Gamepass Core.
Greedy turds.

[hoary crest]

🤷‍♂️ console gaming has always been questionably predatory in that respect

[weary hedge]

Wdym it’s literally just a better subscription for the same price

[hoary crest]

"Ah yes, pay us, to use the internet connection you're already paying for"

Though in all fairness, Gamepass isnt horrible value

[weary hedge]

Steam supremacy

[hoary crest]

Damn skippy

[weary hedge]

It really isn’t. You get like 300+ games with ultimate 😂

[hoary crest]

Ye, I mean I wouldnt care to play like 95% of them, but its nice you're actually getting something out of them

[weary hedge]

Real. They get a lot of day one release games tho that slap

[hoary crest]

Thats fair, though I do find myself getting increasingly picky when it comes to new games 😅

[weary hedge]

Same. Good ones are rare to come by

[hoary crest]

Last new game I bought was S2, last year, this year it'll be BL4 and if its not delayed again, Beta Decay, other than that, not hugely bothered by most things

That being said, I did hear another Alien:Isolation was being made, by the same director as the first game too, so that's probably gonna be worth a look

[hoary crest]

Not just that, its finding games that are gonna have a long lifetime and you can still enjoy years later

Like S2 is a good example, its not quite there yet, but its being looked after, and its gonna have increasingly good mod support, that extends its lifespan by years and years

[weary hedge]

Sweet, I enjoyed some of the older ones so this’ll be interesting to tune into

[weary hedge]

This is true. We need more creativity in our games

[hoary crest]

There was only one Isolation, only horror game that made me actually feel like it was creepy, very spectacular game

It leaned into the old Alien films aspect where it was as much about the psychological elements as the Alien itself

[weary hedge]

Yeah that one’s good. There’s a couple other alien games that are pretty fun aswell

[weary hedge]

They nailed the horror aspect in that game. Felt like you were actually trying to survive and not just plot shield your way through

[hallow shadow]

Last game I bought was Ready or Not, for console.
What a disappointment.

For how hyped that game was, it was shallow as shit.

I’d rather go back in time, and play SWAT 3 on my old PC as a teenager.

Next game I’m buying is Helldivers.

So I can forget about the failure that is OWI’s Starship Troopers: Extermination

[hoary crest]

My good lord not having the scanner beep at you every time you get close to an anomaly is such a huugge QoL upgrade

[hallow shadow]

Do enemies hear that beep? Or is that just PsyOps on Skif?

Cause that beep makes me paranoid when I’m trying to channel my inner Big Boss

Does it only beep when there’s an artifact? Or are you just supposed to have situational awareness?

It’s not like anomalies are easy to miss.

They usually have their own audio queues.

[hoary crest]

No, it just beeps inccessently any time you're near an anomaly, artifact or not, and i doubt enemies can hear it

[hallow shadow]

I do be hating that beep.

[hoary crest]

Not seen any behaviour that would lead me to believe they can

[hallow shadow]

I know there’s a whirligig next to me, dammit!

[hoary crest]

Yeah, but also it makes it more risky at night

Which is fun, you might accidentaly stumble into one whilst running away from a mutant

[hallow shadow]

Traveling at night was really disappointing.
I half expected a game like Stalker to have that FF-XV feeling of “nighttime bad time”

Expected more mutants, and other craziness.

[hoary crest]

Depends wholly on where you are and whats around at the time

[hallow shadow]

Fair.

[hoary crest]

It can be easy, it can also be difficult

[hallow shadow]

I’m still early-game. So I guess I just haven’t seen it unfold, yet.

I’ve been all over the Zone, kinda, but story wise? I still have to go to Wild Island/Meet up with Star

[shrewd needle]

Not how it works, unfortunately, in this game.

[hoary crest]

Well last time I got ambushed at night was by a group of bloodsuckers. Was looking for somewhere to put down a bag and sleep through the night near Malachite, three of them came barrelling out the darkness in the adjacent building and I ran for it, straight into a succc anomaly

[shrewd needle]

Difficult when you're in the dark and have 2 BS spawn on you like the RNG spawner it is...and get ambushed badly.

[shrewd needle]

HAH! KNEW IT!

Tried to avoid the Bloodsuckers, so the anomaly sucked you. 😏

[hoary crest]

Idt they were A-life related, and I have mods to deal with that anyway, think they were already there

[hallow shadow]

I use Shay’s Living Zone (Bronze)

Cause Series S limitations.

At least. I think that’s one of Shay’s mods.

[shrewd needle]

I use SLZ too, but it doesn't seem to work when I'm travelling...if I stop in a place, NPCs start spawning.

Might be a bug with the game, 'cause I think BB also made my weapons invisible.

[hallow shadow]

Modders, I’ll make you a gift.
I’ll weld you up a display AK or something, if you 86 Blind Dogs and Rats from the spawn pool.

[hallow shadow]

I’ve noticed that.
If I sit in one area for a few minutes too long, the inevitable group of Bandits/Mercs opens fire from 80m away.

[shrewd needle]

Yep; and I inevitably die at least once thanks to BB (though got better since I got the Bulat).

[hallow shadow]

I have Falcon.
Is Bulat better than Falcon?
Cause I almost bought the SSP-100

All that resistance got me salivating.
But there’s no physical protection.

My PSZ-5V, from Garbage, had better DR than that.

[shrewd needle]

Bulat (in both the trilogy and S2) is basically the top-end armour that's not an Exo-Skeleton. Extremely heavy armour that's good for basically anything if you don't want to be stuck with the ES (though, since CoP, you can add a sprint upgrade to alleviate one major issue and in S2, all but one ES allows sprinting).

[hallow shadow]

Can’t sprint in base-Bulat?

[hoary crest]

Yeah you can

[shrewd needle]

You can. Bulat is not an ES, so you can sprint normally. ES require upgrades and one ES (the Duty one, but I forgor) disallows sprinting in S2. No upgrade for that one.

[hallow shadow]

Ahhh.

Fair enough.
I’ve only just learned that full-bodied suits were a thing.

I found the Falcon, and it took off my Tactical Helmet that I found in Red Forest (with my Dnipro)

[shrewd needle]

Yep. Though helmets, in S2, are kind of meh (for upgrades) compared to CoP, so there's that.

Full-body are generally better (but expensive as phuck, as par for the course).

[hallow shadow]

Noted. Thank you.

[shrewd needle]

Hey, Zev.

[weary hedge]

Falcon can get just as much physical protection as bulat but the falcon provides more anomalous protection

[hallow shadow]

I went broke upgrading that armor, and my SPAS.

[hoary crest]

I should go pick the Bulat from AW up as a sell item tbh, could use the money

[hallow shadow]

“The Sarah Connor Special”
We need Unique Spas designed for smoking Exos.

[shrewd needle]

Yep, I was just talking from stock perspective (since monies are always an issue, NGL).

[weary hedge]

Sup Brodie

[shrewd needle]

We need one-handed pumps.

[hoary crest]

It already exists, its called the Saiga 12 😄

[fickle hill]

The cuirass can't sprint but I believe the sthurn us based of shield of duty and that can sprint

[still current]

read again.

[shrewd needle]

Right, but I wasn't sure if the Cuirass was Duty or normal. It's kind of confusing with so many ES in S2.

Also, I thought Shturn was Ward?

[hallow shadow]

I was making a Terminator reference.
Sarah Connor rocks a Spas.
We could also get the
“Gordon Freeman” special.
SPAS for hunting mutants.

[hoary crest]

I am aware, I'm just taking the piss because the Saiga is, by miles, the best shotgun

[hallow shadow]

But, the Predator works

[hallow shadow]

I havent found one, yet.

[weary hedge]

What am I missing general?

[shrewd needle]

Saiga bad without drum, NGL...you can run out of shells in a hurry.

[hoary crest]

Its pretty much impossible to run out of shotgun shells in the zone

Having to reload it is a minor problem at worst

[shrewd needle]

I mean magazine, not actual shells.

[fickle hill]

It is but when you thing about it the SP 100 sircca is just a better SP 100 discovery it even takes the blueprints

[hallow shadow]

Unless you’re fighting dogs.

[hoary crest]

Unless you're one of them that likes to facetank everything anyway

[weary hedge]

That’s the way to go for straight damage

[still current]

The real spark I was referring to the original faction before scar took over it.

[buoyant trellis]

There was a Gordon Freeman in soc. With a special desert eagle.

[still current]

He literally took the name and just that

[shrewd needle]

Yea, but those are proper scientific suits. The number of ES in S2 is ridiculous (and that's coming from the trilogy where you only had one).

[hoary crest]

Idk, I use the Kora for that

[hallow shadow]

Noice.

[shrewd needle]

Still is in S2. Much more decayed, still the crowbar. No gun, though.

[hoary crest]

Ye lol

[hallow shadow]

Where’s Gordon, in S2?

[hoary crest]

Rostock

[hallow shadow]

We need an HEV Suit, no lie.

[shrewd needle]

Same place as in SoC. Go to Rostok and head west to Wild Territory. There's a large tunnel you'll find with destroyed vehicles and such. Chemical anomalies too.

Honestly, you can't miss the tunnel at all.

[hallow shadow]

BET!
The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.

Honestly, I’ve never played the other games.
These references don’t make sense.

[buoyant trellis]

Maybe you Can find his squeleton.
In the tunnel under the crashed scientist helo

[hallow shadow]

But I’ll tear Rostok apart to find him.

[shrewd needle]

That's why I gave the other directions. Rostok is divided into 2 parts...the Bar (with Freedom) and the wild west area that's uninhabited except for mutants, the blackmail mercenary and RNG spawns.

[hallow shadow]

Where is the Bar?
I only ever passed through Rostok on my way to Red Forest.

[buoyant trellis]

His corpse was here in soc

[hoary crest]

There is also a group of mercs there

[hallow shadow]

100 Rads? Is that the place? Only ever heard of it.

[buoyant trellis]

Yeah it's the bar in rostok

[shrewd needle]

Wait, let me check on MapGenie; it's confusing explaining this way.

But yes, 100 Rads = Bar. That's the main Freedom territory.

[weary hedge]

Top right of the town

[buoyant trellis]

That was duty base before

[shrewd needle]

Only in SoC, though? Never found more than the wounded mercenary in WT.

[shrewd needle]

He needs way to Wild Territory and I'm confused because I can't say 'go to north, then head through the west door' because Rostok is now massive.

[buoyant trellis]

Just fight 2 squad here

[hallow shadow]

I almost picked up a side quest.
Some dude wanted me to do something I didn’t understand.
Kept referencing a “her”, and I just kinda kept going.
On a mission for Dnipro.

[buoyant trellis]

I need to find the dnipro and diamond exosuit

[hallow shadow]

I don’t have Exo.
But that rifle is an absolute workhorse.

[weary hedge]

Rostoks hub is fairly hard to miss if you are in the general facility of the top right of the town. You’ll come across npcs and signs that point you in the right direction

[hallow shadow]

Two or three tap boars and Fleshies.
NPCs go down in two or three shots, without AP ammo.

[shrewd needle]

That I know, but Rostok is a bloody maze. Even I get lost in there and that's embarrassing.

[shrewd needle]

#📸┃screens_and_videos message
Check that map; you see the road out of Rostok to the north? That heads into the Freedom base; east = Freedom, west = Wild Territory.

[weary hedge]

For sure. Lots of junk and scrambled obstacles

[hallow shadow]

So… That blown out village that looks like a ghost town?

[shrewd needle]

This. Directions in the text; check image.

[hallow shadow]

Thank you, my Indian friend.

[shrewd needle]

Anytime, Mr. Eagle.

[hallow shadow]

Whoever made the jumping puzzle for Falcon is a sadist.
That’s where almost all of my deaths came from.

9 deaths, total.
7 are fall damage.

[shrewd needle]

Yea, the platforming in this game is a pain. Worst is the one near the Volkhov...you have a blown-out house and anomalies all over. You either jump fast and properly or you fall...or get sucked into Springboards.

[weary hedge]

Wait til you stumble across the crane covered in anomalies😂

[hallow shadow]

Yeesh.

[shrewd needle]

#📸┃screens_and_videos message
The whole of 'Wild Territory' is here. It used to be a separate map back in SoC (in gameplay, not on map), but then S2 has merged everything, so it gets slightly difficult to point out precise things.

[shrewd needle]

The backpack at the top can be good or bad, depending on RNG...and RNG is unfunny, so... 😔

[still current]

[hallow shadow]

RNG is such a silly concept.
Lazy development.

Games like Destiny, Diablo…
Like the upgrading in Diablo?

[shrewd needle]

Hey, stop being a glutton!

[hallow shadow]

Absolute misery trying to Masterwork gear in Diablo 4.

[shrewd needle]

I haven't played Diablo, but I presume everything is RNG-based?

[hallow shadow]

Yup.

[shrewd needle]

Such is life; some of the backpacks/chests/duffle bags are guaranteed (because they have fixed stuff), but basically 90% of all available stashes are RNG.

[hallow shadow]

You can put extra affixes on your gear.
But you can’t choose.

You have to burn resources, and hope the RNG picks what you want.

If you don’t get what you want, the item is bricked. Go find another one.

If the item does get the affix you want, then there’s hoping RNG actually buffs that part of your gear.
If not. The buffs are spread to other parts of the item, and not where you want it.

[shrewd needle]

Ah, so basically...you use resources and get maybe a scope or a fore-grip or a bipod or a lightened/heavier barrel or some nonsense like that...that's ridiculous, NGL.

[hallow shadow]

Yes.
I bring Falcon to blacksmith.

Hoping for “Extra Rad Res”
But instead it gives me Physical.

Gotta go find another new Falcon.

Hope the second one doesn’t end up the same way.

[shrewd needle]

Person, jaded from everything: "Hope is not a strategy."
Game: "I know, that's why it's the only strategy you'll get."

[hallow shadow]

But if I do get the extra Rad Res, I the. Have to pour more resources to buff that stat.

But that’s rng.
All the buffs could get sunk into Electrical instead.

[shrewd needle]

Artificial grind... 😡

[still current]

Just woke up from a weird ass nap, so I don't have basic human functions yet

[hallow shadow]

Don’t play Diablo 4 if you want to have fun.

[shrewd needle]

I can understand, but you got to do better than being Sidorovich!

[shrewd needle]

I'm not a fan of isometric either ways, so it works for me. Besides, with everyone reviewing it to be a not-so-good game...well...

[hallow shadow]

Sido is a slumlord.
I want to loot his damn bunker so damn bad.

[hoary crest]

Nah, they're here in HoC too

[hallow shadow]

Wannabe Mafia Boss lookin ass.

[hoary crest]

Just had a strange encounter, pull up to the Yantar Industrial, bunch of Loners camping outside the doors waiting to ambush a Burer

[shrewd needle]

But that's the thing; I only found random spawns. A group showed up when I climbed the unfinished building and there was one mercenary near the, uh...broken train car or something? I forgot...but like, that's the only 2 I found.

Everything else was basically normal spawns. Never knew there were others.

[shrewd needle]

Unfortunately...he's too resilient, so he gets to loot you with impunity. 😏

[still current]

Believe me when I say that I ont even remember sending it or know why I did

[hallow shadow]

Went to go meet with Varan, a Bloodsucker was already attacking the camp.
Then, a Burer walked up from the basement.

How they didn’t notice is beyond me.

[still current]

[shrewd needle]

hands the General a coffee. ☕

[still current]

Imagine if I was in charge of duty for real, and they came to me for orders at this very exact moment

[shrewd needle]

Think that's bugged too; either game itself or SLZ; groups of NPCs don't seem to notice each other and seem to exist in their own bubble till shot at.

[weary hedge]

Throws him some toast

[shrewd needle]

Would still do better than Voronin, that's for sure.

[shrewd needle]

He needs, waking up from sleep is pain. 😔

[hallow shadow]

Those Duty guys are funny.

[weary hedge]

Nothing a little coffee and a warm meal won’t fix 💪

[hallow shadow]

“You should’ve seen how many muties I’ve killed”

[still current]

Most probably yeah

[shrewd needle]

It's actually the truth, though. 'Killed' and not 'kill every day'.

They got fat and lazy after being thrown out of Rostok.

[weary hedge]

Killing mutants is nothing more than a job not a badge😔

[hoary crest]

Aaand I got struck by lightning ¬.¬

[shrewd needle]

That's the thing, they can't even do their job. Just wearing a uniform and puttering around the Cement Factory...bunch of statues, honestly.

[shrewd needle]

Hey, at least that's realistic! 😏

Now all you need to do is say 'Ka-chow' and become Lightning McQueen, solving everyone's Zone travel issues.

[weary hedge]

Lmao yeah I don’t get duty. I remember that one part of SoC where you can help them clear out a cave of snorks and they are all terrified and end up dying if you don’t help😂

[graceful dirge]

just like Strelok

[shrewd needle]

IKR? Partly a result of AI, but man...though they've always been in decline. Freedom went from the backwater Dark Valley to Military Warehouses and then Rostok.

Duty never moved and got the new backwater of Cement Factory.

I bet most of them think their heavy weapons and armour will do the job on their own.

[shrewd needle]

Yep. I honestly wish it was an ability after getting the Heart, but since the game's over at that point...meh.

[weary hedge]

Exactly. I’d say duty has been on a decline if anything tho. They seriously lost the passion they once had 😂

[hallow shadow]

I met an NPC, on chemical plant, who said Duty has fallen off.
Just glorified mutant hunters.

[shrewd needle]

Or maybe they never had. Maybe Tachenko's death just...made them demoralized for good?

Krylov was at least active, but even that was because the threat was immediate and local.

Voronin has basically had zero work to do since then.

[hallow shadow]

Freedom is weird traders.

[weary hedge]

That sums it up. I don’t think they’d be able to make a comeback either

[hallow shadow]

Duty is a bunch of hasbeens.

[shrewd needle]

Not even that; they only did that till CoP (and CoP got more dangerous with the side-missions)...

[hallow shadow]

I can’t wait to get further in and meet all these things in depth.

But. Construction down the road has cut an internet line.

Can’t load mods on Offline, on console.
W O M P

[weary hedge]

They are both a waste of time but if I had to pick it’d be freedom just because they are better for the people and got their morals straight

[shrewd needle]

Actually, they could, but I think the way the Ward has handled stuff (considering Duty was all ex-Military and the Military is basically non-existent in S2), it might be that they no longer have the freedom to do what they want or need to.

Since, till CoP, they and the Military were relatively cordial compared to the rest of the stalkers. Ward is basically a PMC that threatened everyone, so...

[hallow shadow]

I heard “Killing mutants” was just code for “wipe the Zone off the map”

I heard Freedom just wants to do business, and live in the Zone.

[shrewd needle]

Freedom wants the Zone to be a free zone for everyone. Duty thinks it's a threat that needs to be exterminated.

Both groups sounded more believable in SoC than they did anywhere else.

[weary hedge]

They’ve got to take their anger out on something I guess😂

[hallow shadow]

Didn’t freedom create the concept of Koupons?

[unkempt vault]

So apparently the durability bug in S2 is from the acid bloodsucker in the collar quest. Does anyone know how to get mods working on the current version or if any work to fix this?

[shrewd needle]

Because they inherited Rostok (thanks to the Ward) and Rubles are now taboo due to...circumstances.

[hallow shadow]

FREEDOM!
I’m doing a Ward playthrough.

I was surprised Malachite let me in with the Ward Badge.

[shrewd needle]

Shouldn't they just work by putting them in the mods folder? Also, would get better help in #en-mods-general or #mods-help-center.

[shrewd needle]

'Cause Ward owns the place. And it gives people different ways to access the area without being locked out.

I honestly wasn't ware Malachite passes existed, NGL, till I found them randomly.

[hallow shadow]

Nice.
Well, I plan to finish my first playthrough as a bootlicker.

Then I’ll see what Skif, Strelok, and the other ending(?) have for me.

Ward, Skif, Strelok, and what else?

[shrewd needle]

Scar.

[hallow shadow]

SCAR!

Weird old man.

[shrewd needle]

He's the SCAR-H of nightmares. Not even a joke...but you'll know when you go through.

[hallow shadow]

I feel the same about being a Sparker as I do about being a Warden.
Blegh.

[weary hedge]

It’s actually a government official area which is why spark is allowed in and out of the place. Ward just has administration access because they are also an organization funded by the government

[hallow shadow]

Spark is an official organization?

I thought they were Rad-Huffing cultists.

[weary hedge]

No they were just able to get ties with the scientists

[hallow shadow]

Ahhhh. Fair enough.

[shrewd needle]

Yea, I know; I meant that Ward basically owns the entire Zone (seeing how they have the sole authority inside and IPSF on the border). So everyone has to allow the Ward in else get terminated.

And also the whole Malachite being government-funded, yep.

[hallow shadow]

Siiiick. Malachite is just peachy for a Warden playthrough.
Hell yeah.

[shrewd needle]

No, Malachite (the scientists) are. SIRCAA is the other group of scientists.

In the old games, they were lumped together as 'Ecologists' (because SIRCAA was not a thing). SIRCAA is basically the aftermath of CoP.

[hallow shadow]

Ah.

[shrewd needle]

Trust me...play the trilogy. You won't regret.

[weary hedge]

Facts. The game just makes sense if you do

[hallow shadow]

But why does that let Spark in?
I vaguely remember Gaffer and Richter talking about “explaining why there’s a Sparker hanging around”

Either way.
I’ll end up being a Sparker in another run.

[weary hedge]

Because spark themselves serve science which is why they are collaborating with scientists themselves. It helps speed research

[hallow shadow]

I still gotta go find Bill and Nye, my missing Science Guys, for the Malachite Lady.

[weary hedge]

But they quickly deteriorated into fanatics because of scar so that isn’t the case forever

[hallow shadow]

How did they not get attacked by those zombies, in that cutscene at the farmstead?

Skif grabs axe, and Scar is like “calm down, wuss”

[weary hedge]

Because zombies only attack those who have ill will against the zone.

Scar and spark are all for the zone

[hallow shadow]

Will siding with them nix zombies as an enemy? Or is Skif just boned?

[weary hedge]

Skif never truly gives his heart into the zone because he’s there for his own reasons

[hallow shadow]

You right.

[shrewd needle]

Spark = stalkers hired by the Ecologists (the predecessors of Malachite) in CoP. They were basically field-scientists if Degtyarev chose to help them.

Then Ward murdered basically all 4 of the Spark members except 1 (named Marshall, I think; I might be slightly confused). That 1 got brain-washed and had his memories transplanted to Scar (who had been brain-washed since Clear Sky ended).

So basically Scar is now half-Scar, half-Marshall. Marshall's memories make him reform Spark and the 'Scar' that was has gone insane due to all that.

And then the Ward came in and attacked Spark; almost wiped them out, so Scar became even more unhinged and went on a mission to destroy the Ward.

[hallow shadow]

“Glowing rock killed my apartment” isn’t a valid insurance claim.

[shrewd needle]

That's why you load up a Gauss Rifle and take out the insurance company. 😏

[hallow shadow]

Ohhh. So scar isn’t an evil git.
He’s just… Having a really bad year?

[weary hedge]

If you’ve played cyberpunk think of it like V and Johnny Silverhand or fight club😂🤙

[hallow shadow]

I’d probably devolve, too, if my brain got partitioned and all my friends got wiped by thugs in uniform. (Ward)

[shrewd needle]

Yep. Scar is basically a still-conscious zombie. And I think S2 implies that he was brain-washed even BEFORE Clear Sky.

So basically you're playing the brain-washed man in the prequel. And once that prequel ends, he ends up even worse. It's not exactly his fault, since he's just programmed with things that aren't his own.

But since he's an agent...well, agents are supposed to act normally until triggered (you'll know when you meet a guy named Dark). But Scar's already been through so much, his mind stopped coping.

In CS, he was a professional mercenary; in S2, he's a raving lunatic. That's...you get the descent.

[hallow shadow]

Johnny was an A-Hole to V, and I made sure to tell him.

For all the “freedom” Silverhand espoused, he surely didn’t care about anyone but himself.

If I could end the game by blowing Silverhand out of my own head, I would.

[shrewd needle]

Yea, but the problem is Silverhand doesn't actually exist and it's just a digital 'image' that's taking over V (who's actually real).

Scar is the same, but without the cybernetics. Marshall is long dead, but Scar is 'infected' with his memories and the general personality.

[weary hedge]

Yeah that is what the chip was designed to do. Scar experienced something very similar

There’s a reason Johnny gets emotional when you tell him you saved his life because he isn’t the one in control

[shrewd needle]

He basically got the Soulkiller applied to him (twice, going by S2's lore). 😔

[weary hedge]

Shits tragic

[shrewd needle]

Also, this (again, S2-only); he doesn't exist in SoC and CoP, which, uh...doesn't bode well for his entire story arc either ways.

[hallow shadow]

Hmm. Maybe I won’t just disregard those guys.

I just thought Sparkers went nuts from one too many artifact hunts.

[shrewd needle]

As much as Noon...maybe worse.

When Noon gets brain-washed, they're completely washed. They retain no self-awareness.

But Scar is self-aware (even if he doesn't know the truth). Even Skif tells Korshunov how he lost it once he realized the truth.

Like...man...

[shrewd needle]

Problem is Spark is basically made up of stalkers who want to know more about the Zone (like scientists).

It's just Scar that's unhinged and makes the rest of them suicidal because they believe in him due to Marshall's charismatic personality.

[hallow shadow]

Star didn’t weird me out. He just called me a snitch.

Scar, however…

Hmm.

[weary hedge]

Exactly bro. It’s like he’s self aware but lost direction of where to go so he chases this fanatical dream to fill the hole that was put there by someone else 🤷‍♂️

[hallow shadow]

I do appreciate that Spark doesn’t want the Zone to fall into corporate hands.
That I can get behind.

[shrewd needle]

And unlike others, he doesn't die till the end. He goes through the entire mental breakdown...that's basically Spec Ops: The Line levels of horror.

It's basically Walker from SOTL...

[shrewd needle]

Spark wouldn't care, TBF; it's just the Ward being extremely heavy-handed that the shit happened.

I mean, the Ward's only diplomatic AFTER getting everyone by the balls. Far better than the old Military, but...leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

And the stalker at the start (Squint) expresses that. He basically is highly biased against the Ward due to their initial handling of Zone affairs.

[hallow shadow]

I was so effing mad when Korshunov decided to snipe that bandit, anyway.

[weary hedge]

I see the vision I feel the anger but I don’t think it’s a morally right choice for the zone after all the ending is quite tragic (I don’t want to spoil it for you)

[hallow shadow]

Like BRO! I thought you said you cared!

[hoary crest]

"mess around with us and we'll get rid of you" isnt exactly the nicest approach, but it gets the job done when you have the resources to back it up. At least they're not murdering people left right and centre

[shrewd needle]

That Bandit (Chornozem?) is a C-Consciousness agent, or so I think. Like I said, you'll know when you meet Dark what agents are.

Agents are basically sleeper cells and you wouldn't know till something triggers them to shoot you in the face without thought.

[hallow shadow]

Yeah, Chornozem.

That’s a word for something.
I know it.

I knew it before I played this game. But I forgot what it means.

Did Korshy know Chorno was an Agent?

[shrewd needle]

That's what I'm saying; they're far better than the old Military, but only after threatening everyone.

If they'd just rolled in normally and given everyone proper time and instructions, I bet things would've been a lot better. Everyone would've been at far more peace.

[shrewd needle]

Yes. Korshunov knows everything, and even exposes a lot of things to you (won't say it because plot reasons; you'll know).

He and SIRCAA have unlimited access to the Zone, funded by the government and private entities. He knows more than most else do. Also, they were there when the Zone was created, so...

[hoary crest]

I kinda doubt it tbh, They're there to protect SIRCAA's interests and there was no way that could have been achieved by being overly nice due to the history of the zone

"hey guys, we know scientists have caused continuous f-ups, but this time we'll do it properly!" Nah, wouldnt fly

[shrewd needle]

Yea, but Squint says that they stormed the Chemical Plant and gave everyone 15 minutes, then just shot whoever was left.

I know that's an exaggeration, but shooting people in the back doesn't really do better for your reputation either. Though people like Zotov are far better at diplomacy than Korshunov, so maybe it's in his nature to not be patient with what he sees as BS.

[hallow shadow]

Zotov was gonna put Zalyssia up against a wall.

[shrewd needle]

Also, AFAIK, the scientists have actually not screwed up (the Group aside)? Like, most of the mess is due to the Military and Monolith clashing with each other and the Military being heavy-handed with re-taking the Zone.

The scientists, if anything, are trying to help people (both stalkers and the wider world).

SIRCAA excluded, though.

[hallow shadow]

I’m assuming Sparkers attacked, that night?

[shrewd needle]

Sparkers don't attack Zalissya, though? They and Loners are neutral towards each other.

[hallow shadow]

In the Intro, when setting up the scanner.

Did Sparkers kill Zotov’s men?

[shrewd needle]

No. That was Faust's men. Spark/Loners had nothing to do with it.

[hallow shadow]

Cause Zotov was about to round up the whole bar, and execute folks. Just for answers that nobody had.

[shrewd needle]

Nah, he wasn't. Because the old Military would have done it. Zotov was only interrogating.

Trust me, he's EXTREMELY reasonable.

[weary hedge]

Spark only goes out of there way to attack the monolith and ward

[hallow shadow]

I mean, by the end of Lesser Zone, I warmed up to Ward.

I don’t like them. But they’ll be my first playthrough

[shrewd needle]

The Ward, mostly. Monolith is just collateral damage due to the screw-up at X-11. 😔

[hallow shadow]

Zotov and Korshy seemed like semi-decent officers.

[weary hedge]

Pretty much. That and there’s some things they needed from the monolith to complete their mission

[shrewd needle]

That's what I'm saying; most of the Ward are reasonable once there's a balance built up and Zotov is basically the man. Man deserves most respect.

It's just the whole 'coming into the Zone' that was screwed up.

[shrewd needle]

I'm still salty at the fact that the Monolith emitter got re-activated after being permanently shut down by Dalin.

That whole mission makes zero sense to me...

[hallow shadow]

The Swamps?

That whole mission was hot cancer.

[shrewd needle]

Nah, at SIRCAA. If you've not been there, it'll come later (happens in all paths), where the Noon become Monolith again.

[weary hedge]

Right? That was just poor writing 😂

[shrewd needle]

IDK whether to laugh or cry at that. Like...HOW does it happen? 😆

[weary hedge]

COME..TO…MEE

[hallow shadow]

“There’s more scanners in the Zone than effing Stalkers!”

I wish I could play those bastards against each other.
Dmytro needs two in the chest.
Mad scientist lookin ass.

[shrewd needle]

Also, but when the Ward gets attacked by Noon at SIRCAA (the experiment at X-11), the Ward has every option to gun down every single Noon guy.

But they don't. They let Skif do diplomacy and even keep Strider alive. They're not interested in a bloodbath.

It's only when everything goes south that Korshunov loses his patience (due to repeated screw-ups thanks to Dalin and GSC).

That's how you know the Ward gets more respect (at least from me) than the other factions.

[shrewd needle]

"Idi kom ne!"

Man, that still resonates in my mind.

[shrewd needle]

Nah, Dalin is good man. He's just...stuck.

[hallow shadow]

So… Being Ward isn’t all that bad..?

[chrome glacier]

Hey guys i think the night stalker the unique kora 1911 is bugged. I shoot crates and crates bounce 🤣

[hallow shadow]

It also makes sense to me, from a Skif perspective.
Skif was UAMC

[shrewd needle]

No. The Ward is only the villain because of SIRCAA's backers like Agatha.

The Ward, by itself, is a VERY respectable PMC with some bad apples.

[weary hedge]

I’m still confused how skifs brain remained in tact. That would definitely leave some side effects 😂

[shrewd needle]

Physics bug?

[chrome glacier]

I literally shoot and crate doesn't brake. Also checked on enemy .24 rounds on his head and he didn't die

I did spent a few resources just to stay in front of him for easier headshots but yeah

[shrewd needle]

That's 'cause Dalin explains it's at the lowest power setting, and the emitter takes time to work depending on power, right? Like a microwave.

200W will take an hour, 2000W will cook in 2 minutes flat.

So Skif only got hallucinations and not indoctrination. Besides, considering the Ward ending, I'm guessing everyone became an Agent?

[shrewd needle]

Huh, might be a bug with the gun itself, then.

[hallow shadow]

Are you using mods?

PC, or console?

[chrome glacier]

I do , I'm on console

[hoary crest]

He's an ego driven idiot thinking more about what he could do, that what he should

[hallow shadow]

Which crates are you shooting? Loot (ammo/meds) or plain ol boxes?

[shrewd needle]

Maybe, but he is self-aware and he's got good intentions. He's trying to help everyone genuinely and doesn't have ulterior motives.

Unlike the slime-bag Hermann or the rest of SIRCAA's backers. Hermann is genuinely disgusting.

[hallow shadow]

Dalin makes me think of a more held-together Elon.

[hoary crest]

At least we agree on the Hermann aspect 😄

[chrome glacier]

Currently testing medpack boxes ,ammo boxes ,wooden breakable boxes and a few enemies. No one is getting damaged by that gun only

[shrewd needle]

I swear; like, he was tolerable in CoP, since he was 'normal'. S2 made him a genuine trash guy.

Though, maybe, that was SIRCAA's plotting?

[hallow shadow]

I don’t know much about Hermann, other than he tried to help me get in the zone, and I put him in a wrist lock.

[chrome glacier]

Its so slick in black tint 😦

[hallow shadow]

I’m on Xbox.
Which mods you got?

[shrewd needle]

The story explains more. He's got his own agendas and SIRCAA's got their own. They both screw Skif.

[hoary crest]

Got in a position of relative power and security, couldnt stomach not being the smartest guy in the room, generally those sort of people end up doing stupid stuff

[hallow shadow]

Fair. Thanks for the heads up.

[hallow shadow]

Also, to be honest, I’ve never used any other sidearm than Skif’s.

[shrewd needle]

Yea, but I'm half-thinking it was something SIRCAA allowed to either lure Skif or to see where Hermann's 'independent mind' would lead.

'Cause the Scanners were already an entire 'business', right? Meaning they had to know about it.

[hallow shadow]

Yo, Korshunov was effing MAD at Dalin, in Slag Heap.

[hoary crest]

Hmm.. Hard to say, Dalin seems genuinely surprised when the topic first came up, though that being said, Agatha could have easily had him kept in the dark about it

Thats not to say Hermann wasnt orchestrating the whole thing himself ofc

[shrewd needle]

SIRCAA = basically scientists (including Dalin) who don't know/understand the intentions of their backers.

Meaning the entire organization that's not scientists are basically playing 4D chess in the shadows.

It's why I don't hate on Dalin; man is unaware of everything going behind his back that even Korshunov is aware of.

[hallow shadow]

Hermann seemed just as confused about my artifact… But… How did Dalin know about it?

[shrewd needle]

Dalin knows because of a prior experiment that caused Skif to become homeless. Except Dalin only performed the experiment; he didn't know the consequences.

[hallow shadow]

Korshunov knows Dalin is being played? Wtf?

[hallow shadow]

“Unforeseen Consequences”
Opening chapter of Half Life.

[shrewd needle]

Yes. Korshunov knows A LOT of shit that Dalin doesn't. Trust me, that man is not someone to be trifled with (in lore, of course).

[shrewd needle]

Yep. Most of Dalin's mishaps are either due to mistakes (which happen due to his ego) or because of SIRCAA playing shadow games.

SIRCAA's scientists are all innocent. Including Dalin (except for his own screw-ups).

[hallow shadow]

Hmmm. Why is everyone in the Zone a damn victim?

[shrewd needle]

Because GSC can't write a proper plot. 😏

[hallow shadow]

I mean… It adds depth, really.

[hoary crest]

I don't feel like that the case personally, more that everyone has good and bad sides, some are more palettable than others, some are less so. Many of them are victims of their own making

[hallow shadow]

It really does cut down on the “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality.
Makes the game less “straightforward”

Learning so much.
Big brain time.

[shrewd needle]

Right, but in the experiment...you can see Dalin is genuinely surprised at everything, but Korshunov is basically all chill...because he knows while Dalin doesn't.

SIRCAA's scientists (and Malachite's) are basically innocent victims of everyone else who plays games.

[hallow shadow]

All the lore.
Thanks guys.

Is that why Korshy lets me be flippant with Dalin, at slag heap?

[shrewd needle]

Take my word for it (and everyone will agree)...play the trilogy (start with Clear Sky; it's chronologically first), then SoC, then CoP, then S2.

Things will make a lot more sense once you get through it.

[hallow shadow]

That shits funny.
Dalin seems all bubbly and for humanity.

Skif just middle finger

[hallow shadow]

I gotta buy that stuff.

I’ll watch YouTube.

[shrewd needle]

Dalin is basically the 'dog kick' moment. Everyone loves to kick on him because they know that he's got a massive ego that's easily breakable. And he's naive, because he genuinely wants to help, while Korshunov has the SIRCAA agenda at hand.

So it's half 'kick him' and half 'different goals'.

Dalin = let's solve Earth's problems.
Korshunov = let's appease SIRCAA's shareholders. Again, he's bound too, but you get the point.

[hallow shadow]

Ugh.

Everyone is so complicated.

[shrewd needle]

Korshunov himself is not free, but that's not elaborated on at all.

[shrewd needle]

Hey, that's what makes it interesting.

[hoary crest]

It sort of does with the Agatha scene

It becomes very obvious he's answering to higher ups

[shrewd needle]

Yea, but WHY he's bound and why he's so fanatically obedient is basically skimmed on.

[shrewd needle]

Yes, mainly Agatha. But the actual why is left unanswered. You'll know when you see them both together; his entire behaviour changes.

[hallow shadow]

Agatha must have man’s family held hostage.

[hoary crest]

Well, he has prior knowledge of the XLabs and many of the experiments from that era, I would be surprised if thats just "being obedient" as he knows probably more than most people about what happened in the zone. Potentially its just goals aligning

[hallow shadow]

The Afghanis did that to each other/us.

Opposition Forces would kidnap the family of an allied (ANA-Afghan National Army) soldier, and demand that soldier give them access to one of our bases or the family is executed.

[shrewd needle]

Goal alignment is different. Korshunov's entire behavioural change around Agatha is far different than that. It's not just loyalty or something...there's a lot more than that.

[shrewd needle]

That's ugly...how would it be resolved generally?

[hallow shadow]

It wouldn’t.
I only ever learned because I had to investigate a death.
An ANA suck-started his own rifle because he refused the demands, and lost his family.

In my mind, Agatha must have Korshy by the balls. AKA: Do my bidding or your family gets buried.

[shrewd needle]

Oh, man...may he R.I.P.

[hallow shadow]

That’s what I said.
My heart broke for the Afghanis.

He tried to do the right thing.

[shrewd needle]

Nah. That'd lead to Korshunov being afraid; he's never afraid. Not even around Agatha. It's something far deeper than loyalty and he's wiling, of his own accord.

[hallow shadow]

I dunno. Fear makes people do crazy things.

[hallow shadow]

But I’m in no position to say you’re wrong.

[shrewd needle]

I know, but in this case, you have to see it to believe it.

[shrewd needle]

Also, war's always ugly. No matter what, both sides are always losing. I wish we were better than that, honestly, but... 😔

[hallow shadow]

Can’t wait. I was playing why would’ve been a Spark playthrough, before 1.5.

Now that I’m Ward, things are actually different.

[hoary crest]

Well thats interesting... The bandits outside where you find Nestor (the ones that hold you up) have alternative dialouge if you've got scary enough gear/have progressed to a certain point

They don't wanna f-with you lel

[hallow shadow]

Like.. Richter wants me to go meet Star, but I haven’t saved his men from that installation.

I’m nervous to go meet them.

I didn’t leave Lesser Zone with a North Checkpoint Key, I went west to Pontoon Bridge.

[shrewd needle]

I mean...no one would. Skif (or any protagonist, as is game logic) is basically a one-man army that puts the Ward and Monolith to shame. And that's a high bar, NGL.

[hallow shadow]

Doesn’t feel like it.

[shrewd needle]

Early game. Trust me...

And when the Exo-Skeletons come out... 😏

[hallow shadow]

I already see folks wearing them.
Even zombies.
Why I can’t loot that shit, is beyond me.

[shrewd needle]

You mean the underground laboratory in Garbage?

[hallow shadow]

Yup. Going Ward skips that whole thing.

Unless I was supposed to manually make my way to him.

[shrewd needle]

Ah...fair. You can't save them either ways; they're all dead.

[hallow shadow]

Well, yeah.
But I never met Star previous.
I’m Ward.

I wonder if they’ll shoot on sight, or if Richter’s word keeps me alive.

Cause I’ll show anyone that Mono PDA. Matters not, to me.

[hoary crest]

Well, found a liquid rock in a stash, thats a good enough point to leave it fo rthe evening

[shrewd needle]

Game gives you choices throughout (till the end), so you're never a total enemy to anyone till you decide on one ending.

[shrewd needle]

I'm jealous.

[spare canopy]

That's a fecking find and a half

[hoary crest]

OXA doing OXA things, can't complain, every other stash I've been to this life have sucked

[hallow shadow]

Never even heard of it.
My belt has Weird Ball, Rat King, Slug, and Soul

[shrewd needle]

OXA changes artifact spawns?

[hoary crest]

It randomizes stashes

[shrewd needle]

You need the Liquid Rock ASAP...chemical anomalies. Best radiation protection.

[hoary crest]

So sometimes you can get a piece of mouldy bread and a bottle of water, other times you get... yeah.. good stuff

[hallow shadow]

The acid pools? Where I find Slug?

[shrewd needle]

But I thought the stashes are already RNG? Like, I find different shit between play-throughs.

[hoary crest]

up to a point, not like they are in the mod tho

[shrewd needle]

Yep. Anomalies are sorted by type: gravitational, electric, chemical and thermal.

LR is a chemical artifact. I'm pretty sure all the anti-radiation artifacts are chemical.

[hoary crest]

Its one of the best artifacts, period

[spare canopy]

Yup, found one in fart valley, just outside Cement Factory

[shrewd needle]

You can actually find a ton of information on https://stalker.fandom.com. S2 still has a lot of missing stuff, but the artifact categories are visible in the navigation box below.

Much easier to look for them. Also use MapGenie to find anomalous areas with artifacts if you want.

[shrewd needle]

The 'fart' valley? 😆

[spare canopy]

Yeah... It's what I call it...

Just like I call the green gas grenades, the pox bombers though in Darktide... Brussel bombs, coz there is green shit everywhere...

Just like the average house after a Christmas dinner

[shrewd needle]

Wait, I'm slightly confused; where is this? I'm seeing the Factory itself on MapGenie.

Oh, wait, you mean where the main northern road is broken with a ton of gas? Floodplain on the map?

'Cause whenever someone says valley, I think of the valley in Yantar that's basically the massive scar from Zaton in CoP.

[hallow shadow]

Good ol Darktide.

[spare canopy]

There is a gas anomaly to the north west on the Cement factory... just across the broken bridge with tank on it...

[shrewd needle]

Yea, the Floodplain; got it now. Was a bit confused.

[hallow shadow]

I play that game wrong, and I don’t care. XD
I have my Veteran built to use a Vigilante Semi-Auto.

Click heads, man.

[shrewd needle]

Not played, TBF.

[spare canopy]

Got two vet builds, one with autogun... love me assault rifles in games

but my main charater is a Psyker

[spare canopy]

Good game... cant get the balance right though.

[frigid hill]

ottomic has been warned

Reason: Bad word usage

[hallow shadow]

Those aitoguns are no joke, but I’ve always been a DMR kinda guy.

Other players ditch me, and tell me my DPS sucks, but I can drop most special enemies in one or two headshots.
I can revive people at distance.

[shrewd needle]

Apparently co-operative only...not a fan. Want SP.

[hallow shadow]

My Vet doesn’t lead charges, I support them.

[wooden walrus]

bruh screw that fight at ||sircaa|| after ||wishing to the monolith||

[shrewd needle]

TBF, you're not supposed to win, so the sooner you die, the faster it ends.

[wooden walrus]

honestly didn't remember it being that hard, been stuck there for like a solid 30 mins already

I get a game over screen when I die

[hallow shadow]

SP is option, if you play offline/use Bots.

But you’re right. It’s strictly a team-based game.

[shrewd needle]

Huh...I thought you were supposed to. For me, it just ended, AFAIK.

[wooden walrus]

I thought you were supposed to die but I keep getting the "shot to death" screen

[frigid hill]

deathguard75 has been warned

Reason: Bad word usage

[wooden walrus]

yeah idk if you're supposed to get somewhere first or what

[shrewd needle]

Yea, I prefer SP, NGL.

[shrewd needle]

I honestly have no idea; for me, the whole ordeal ends after killing 10-20 Ward hallucinations before I wake up.

[wooden walrus]

possible, I just keep getting dabbed on

[hallow shadow]

Fair.

[chrome glacier]

Found the cause for the Nightstalker not working. A mod

[wooden walrus]

with this mod a single hit is like a third of your health and severe bleeding

[hallow shadow]

Which one?

[shrewd needle]

Better Ballistics?

[spare canopy]

Gaming snobs, I hate people like that. Darktide is about team work, not DPS.

No point having high DPS if you are on your knees more times than a crack hoar for money.

[chrome glacier]

Better ballistics hardcore gunplay overhaul

[wooden walrus]

unlimited, which contains fubar and I wouldn't be surprised if it also makes further adjustments to health and damage

[shrewd needle]

That's a single one? 'Cause I thought BB was its own thing?

[wooden walrus]

which is a massive pain in the ahh since it means I can't just disable the mod and do the area

[shrewd needle]

Ah...yea, that might explain it. Or maybe something broke.

[shrewd needle]

I think late-game (in story), you face a lot of enemies too, so...yea.

[wooden walrus]

I've gotten relatively far but you keep having dudes just dogpile on you all the goddamn time

[hallow shadow]

Hmmm. That’s news to me.
I use that mod, but I’ve never swapped Skif’s pistol, cause I have the silly cheat mod that turns his gun into a one-tap machines

But now that I actually have gear… I don’t use it on anything other than bloodsuckers.

[wooden walrus]

I'll give it a couple tries more and if I can't I'll just enable godmode and be done with it

[shrewd needle]

That's what you get for going to war with a PMC.

[wooden walrus]

but yeah that's the problem with mods that tweak damage and health, if you're in a fight in the open it makes sense but this game loooves to put you in front of a guy that starts shooting you right after a convo

[chrome glacier]

I'll be doing some testing and write back anything worth mentioning . Im on Xbox series X. Thank you guys

[wooden walrus]

and with a "realistic damage" mod you just bite it in a shot or two

[shrewd needle]

Yea, game is made for vanilla where you're basically invulnerable due to weapons doing shit damage.

[hallow shadow]

I’m on Series S.
I’ll help with what I can.
I’ve got a few mods on my save.

Better Ballistics is definitely worth it.
But I believe you say you’re having trouble.
I hope it gets resolved.

[hallow shadow]

Weird Ball has entered the chat

At least, weird ball seems to help me, a little.
I’m also zooted with gear I probably should never have found.

[shrewd needle]

Doesn't actually protect you as much; better off having a Compass or other physical protection items. Like, actual ones. Ball is...meh.

TBF, even with physical protection, you die easy, but it's better than nothing.

And Bulat is basically your saving moment before you get any ES. Falcon too, as someone mentioned earlier.

[hallow shadow]

I like my Falcon.
I died too many times to not wear that shit.

[wooden walrus]

I have a couple resistance artifacts on me and I'm using a maxed out recruit suit which, while not stellar, it does have pretty balanced resistances

[shrewd needle]

Yep. And if nothing, at least upgrade the parts that provide physical protection.

[hallow shadow]

Rat King always seems like a good choice, to me.

Only ever found one, just outside Eastern Checkpoint, on Lesser Zone.

[wooden walrus]

of course the only way I can now swap my equipment is loading a save from before I started the mission, hoof it all the way back to garbage, buy a suit, beef it up

[shrewd needle]

Recruit is kind of meh too; find the PSZ-7 Military Armour. Or, if in Garbage, you can find the Freedom armour (PSZ-5) at the entrance to Rostok. That'll be a LOT better.

[shrewd needle]

No need to buy; everything is available in free roam.

[hallow shadow]

I will glaze the absolute dogshit out of the PSZ-5V

[spare canopy]

Get in the electro field south of slag heap when you first go there. You got one for rescuing the guy.

[wooden walrus]

there's also the fact that unlimited does shuffle static drops (if not outright disable them) and makes buying and upgrading massively expensive

[hallow shadow]

I can never actually manage to save him.

[shrewd needle]

The Freedom PSZ-5 is basically OP.

[hallow shadow]

It’s so damn tragic.

[wooden walrus]

which is partly the reason I play unlimited to begin with, I find the static drops basically destroy both progression and replayability

[hallow shadow]

Bad ping. Sorry.

[wooden walrus]

it'd be fine if not for these shidass fights

[shrewd needle]

Well...that's agreeable, but...honestly, it pays to explore rather than do the story. Story becomes a lot easier when you've got good gear, regardless of random drops or not.

[hallow shadow]

I remember finding that suit, for the first time. I audibly gasped, and did a fist pump.

For early game, that suit CARRIES.
PSZ-5V, my beloved.

[wooden walrus]

look, you want to put me in these situations for like, the arena? Fine. Telegraphed encounters where you can gear up beforehand? Alright. Once locked in a mission half a map away from the nearest chest? Bruh.

[spare canopy]

For him 😄

[shrewd needle]

He follows Lex, the Legend. Bound to become the 'unLegend' himself. 😏

[hallow shadow]

Ouchies.

[wooden walrus]

I mean I admit I'm kinda digging a hole here with my mod selection, but still, that quest design is ass

[hallow shadow]

That guy is broken, for me.
Or maybe I’ll have to go back and visit Flea Market again.

[shrewd needle]

Like I said, it's made for vanilla. Anything else will obviously unbalance it.

[shrewd needle]

Actually, you do. Can find a letter by him. He's a shout-out to CoP too.

[hallow shadow]

But that dude is lit up, like he has a mission.
But he won’t effing speak to me.

[wooden walrus]

even then, if you're playing first time you can easily corner yourself into a lose scenario in vanilla

not necessarily, but conceivably

[shrewd needle]

There's no mission, though? He sends you to a stash, then you return to the Market to find a letter.

[shrewd needle]

Yea, that's true.

[hallow shadow]

On the map, he’s a blue Icon.

When I speak to him, he does nothing.
It’s just loners around a fire.

But, when I met him, Flea Market was being attacked by a Burer and some Fleshies.

[wooden walrus]

if you had a chest in dalin's room, it would be more permissable. But bizarrely, the game sends you to the absolute extreme of the map, locks you into a long ass mission and is like "lol what you carry is what you get"

[shrewd needle]

Might have to go away and come back. And maybe even restart the game when away, to de-spawn everyone and fix it...since enemy encounters can screw things up.

Or maybe it's bugged in the save, so...GG.

[hallow shadow]

In the army, we say “Pack a 72hr Bag”

[wooden walrus]

I mean I really like the ||sircaa|| quest line, but cmon bro

[hallow shadow]

When Internet comes back, I’ll run back down there.

[shrewd needle]

Welcome to S2.

[hallow shadow]

Word of advice, fellow Console Peasants:
If you lose internet connectivity, your modded save will not let the mods run.

You’ll be relegated to vanilla settings until connection is restored.

[wooden walrus]

wonder if once the SDK gets more fleshed out we'll get more fine control over the spawning of specific entities

like, the bit where I'm stuck on is supposed to be a ||hallucination|| right? Just give enemies 1/3rd of the damage

[hallow shadow]

Hallucinations are OP, and you can’t change my mind.

Controllers need a longer cooldown on that summoning shit.

[shrewd needle]

Hallucinations are supposed to be real in the mind of the one experiencing, so...

[shrewd needle]

Someone hasn't played the trilogy... 😏

[wooden walrus]

what's gonna be real is my keyboard split in two

[spare canopy]

Yeah, the game is proper borked right now.

I had 6 snorks, spawn inside Slag Heap, in the open area, just out side the main building...

Coz that makes sense

[hallow shadow]

Das ist mich.

[shrewd needle]

Trilogy could be far more brutal than the trilogy...CoP was easy mode and S2 is easier mode.

[hallow shadow]

Not just me? I was trying to investigate The Maze, and got blindsided by Snorks, right out the gate with the fire anomaly.

Only to be intercepted by a Bloodsucker that spotted me all the way from Cement Blocks

Got to the maze, and I counted, no less than 20 dead effing rats.

Absolute agony.

[shrewd needle]

Wait till you get a Poltergeist.

[spare canopy]

Nope, the game is borked right now, and the spawns are insane...

I get so many Bloodsuckers, I feel like I am in a 1000 tentacle bukkake party.

[shrewd needle]

But you are. 😏

[hallow shadow]

That’s what my cheat pistol is for.
Bloodsuckers, Polters, and Controllers.

I don’t effing play those gimmicky games.
The enemy wants to be OP? I’m gonna be OP.

[spare canopy]

I balance it up with better ballistics, seeing as the main game ballistics are a joke right now

[hallow shadow]

Like the first Bloodsucker, in the game? WHY?! That first Poltergeist, right after it? WHY?!

[shrewd needle]

Unbased. But I can understand.

[hallow shadow]

I have BB.
Once I found a Dnipro, I stopped relying on that pistol.
My Dnipro and Spas pretty much clear the table for me.

[shrewd needle]

Always.

[hallow shadow]

My pistol is only ever “transition is faster than reload”

Progression-Gated damage drives my blood pressure up a wall.

[pearl atlas]

bloodsuckers were dangerous at launch. now? they're a joke.

[spare canopy]

I didn't realise how nasty the Integral A is with 9x19 AP... on blood suckers... they like melt... It's disgusting.

[hallow shadow]

I only ever made it as far as Slag Heap, on launch. Vanilla.

It was an absolute shitshow.

[shrewd needle]

9 MM? Really?

[spare canopy]

Bloodsucker were never dangerous, but they are a joke in this game coz they spawn every 5 feet, and are nothign like bloodsuckers, coz the aI in this game is bloody basic...

[pearl atlas]

I'm sorry to hear this.

[hallow shadow]

Their ability to pretty much stun lock me, and be invisible…
Reminds me of a less-fun version of the Sister Friede fight in Dark Souls 3.

[pearl atlas]

the Zone loves me, so my initial playthrough was mostly problem-free.

[hallow shadow]

I’m an old, disabled man.
I can’t really do all the craziness, anymore. Some parts of this game are just better than me.

[spare canopy]

I got as far as wild Island... after getting jumped many times by 5/6 bloodsuckers spawning on me...

[hallow shadow]

I couldn’t imagine running Swamps in vanilla.

[pearl atlas]

just crouch when they charge you.

[hallow shadow]

Noted.

[shrewd needle]

He old. His knees creak.

[hallow shadow]

Right leg has a graze, on my calf.
You right.

Carrying my own body weight in armor really does turn my into a bowl of Rice Krispy Treats.

[spare canopy]

If you ever see a bright red halo in the mists, in the swamps... that is not an anomaly, that is my red raw asshole trying to get back out the swamps.

[ancient lion]

Duly Noted

[hallow shadow]

I Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

[pearl atlas]

or just aim lower.

bloodsuckers charge you in a straight line, but they duck slightly as they run.

[hallow shadow]

EVERYTHING was orange.
The dudes shooting at me. The things being thrown at me.
There were dogs chasing me.
Zombies popping shots.

Swamps was an absolute Far Cry 5 adrenaline-fest.

[ancient lion]

Sometimes in the game i get locked up, because there's an emission, no hideout... And angry chimera jumping nearby

[shrewd needle]

Chimera is SO MUCH FUN on vanilla...

[pearl atlas]

that's the scripted sequence in the Swamps. you're supposed to run to a specific location.

[ancient lion]

Yeah I know, I've got it after few times

[wooden walrus]

I somehow dodged the chimera on the way out

ran straight to the fishing hamlet and dodged all the flashbangs to portal out of there

...aaaand straight into the middle of a dog pack

but hey, it's no chimera.

[hallow shadow]

Flashbangs. Dear Zone, the flashbangs.

[pearl atlas]

there's a trick to beating them too, but I admit it's not fun.

[spare canopy]

And the scripted sequences in this game are genuinely shit.

Almost zero thought put into them. Zalyissa is the one the that screams... Mash mouse button place NPC... As neither the defenders or attackers are using the defences, the buildings, or any kind of strategy... They literally mashed the mouse button place NPC's with zero thought in to what they was doing...

Just absolute slop.

[grizzled copper]

thats true

[hallow shadow]

It’s not “chug water, and run”?

[pearl atlas]

okay buddy, chill out.

[grizzled copper]

hes right tho

[ancient lion]

Yeah, that sounds about right

[fickle hill]

Just flavored slop without salt

[hallow shadow]

DEER JERKY

[grizzled copper]

also umm when my multiplayer bonuses? for the mode that doesnt exist

[hallow shadow]

Actually. Deer is great meat.
I take that back.

[wooden walrus]

at some point

[pearl atlas]

Zalissya is one of the more memorable fights in the game, even if the AI has a tendency to act strangely.

[fickle hill]

Yes

[spare canopy]

Memorable for all the wrong reasons.

[grizzled copper]

bcuz for now its actually a “scam”

[pearl atlas]

speak for yourself.

[hallow shadow]

I honestly get miffed by things like that.

Far Cry does it.

[wooden walrus]

it sure was memorable doing it like half a dozen times in hopes it'd get unstuck (it didn't)

[hallow shadow]

Player has freedom to sneak about, do things their way
BAM NONSTOP IN YOUR FACE ADRENALINE SLOG

[grizzled copper]

my game kept breaking after zallisya fight and i just stopped playing for like a month 😭

[hallow shadow]

My game crashes on top of Cooling Towers.

[grizzled copper]

like i was stuck, the missions got stuck

[wooden walrus]

I mean, I'm not going to be all "graa game shi" like some people around here, but I will readily admit that the game feels very coarse in spots

[hallow shadow]

Once I hit the teleport.
Bam. Dashboard.

[pearl atlas]

y'all need to go back to the Steam forums, seriously.

[shrewd needle]

It is what it is...you got to chill out too.

[spare canopy]

Yeah, it really speaks of high quality, when none of the defences around the building are being used, Monolith are not using the other building...

They are clumped together like they are all having a disco...

Just zero thought in to tactics used to both defend and attack, just mouse button mash, to place models.

[fickle hill]

[grizzled copper]

i mean game is cool still but it needs to be better

[pearl atlas]

excuse me?

[wooden walrus]

it does have very weird design decisions in places honestly, and I'm not quite sure what they were going for.

I do like the story in general, and like, 80% of the gameplay

[shrewd needle]

You asked him to chill out, but he basically has a track record of doing that. And it's just part of the server now, so...

[wooden walrus]

but it does need a whoole lot of tightening in places

[ancient lion]

My game crashed like few times, but i love it, because it reminds me of previous games crashing because f you

[fickle hill]

They were going to take down the gaffer Gandalf style

[shrewd needle]

BSoDs too?

[grizzled copper]

my game crashes always on win11 so i downgraded windows and works lol

windows downgrade is the best method to fix the game

[spare canopy]

That would have been something... But they are not capable of something 😄

[pearl atlas]

"so" what? this place needs to be cesspool too?

[shrewd needle]

It's not a cess-pool, though...it's pretty good, everyone gets along here just fine.

[wooden walrus]

I'll say I do really appreciate the mix of open world and linear storytelling, like you don't expect what happens during and after sircaa when you start playing

[ancient lion]

I've had to upgrade my laptop to even start the game. Crashes including windows never happened to me, honestly

[fickle hill]

You never know they could of hit the boogie in sidorovichs bunker if they wanted to after all

[grizzled copper]

ik its not question to me but ive never had bsod

[pearl atlas]

🤣

[shrewd needle]

I meant in the original trilogy.

[wooden walrus]

And I think there's a lot of work and ambition into the game, and that there's a very good reason it came out as unpolished as it did

[hallow shadow]

That’s all a matter of opinion, kiddo.

One man’s trash is another’s treasure.

As we Americans so brainwashedly like to say, “IF YOU DONT LIKE IT, YOU CAN LEAVE!”

[wooden walrus]

But, jank be jank

[grizzled copper]

well i play on 20fps because of cpu bottleneck ( i7 9700 and 2060ti lol ) but works

[ancient lion]

In original trilogy my main crash was because of green bug

[shrewd needle]

That's perfectly playable.

[spare canopy]

If I was developing the game, I would have thrown the tablet back at them if they want me to give the green light Zalyissa as it is now..

I would have defenders, behind the sand bags, snipers in the upper floors, using windows... Like proper defence tactics...

Then had monolith, using the cover other buildings, to attack....

And you, Skif, having to fight your way through the rear of monolith, helping to relieve the pressure on the defenders... After joining up with a free Loners also on their way to help.

[grizzled copper]

20fps is playable but not comfy 💔

[hallow shadow]

I play on Series S.
I have not crashed, since release except for being on top of Cooling Towers.

[solid locust]

what do yall think of the near upcoming roadmap?

[hallow shadow]

How PCs can’t chug this game is beyond me.

[shrewd needle]

TBF, I'm biased since I've played the entire range from 5 FPS to 72...so...yea.

[wooden walrus]

Very excited about the engine update

[pearl atlas]

I left the Steam forums precisely because it was a non-stop stream of hate.

[grizzled copper]

on worst graphics + upscaling and no fps gen bcuz fps gen sucks

[shrewd needle]

Because it's not a PC problem, it's an optimization problem.

[solid locust]

happy for you, i hope i will have the better pc by that time

[ancient lion]

You have better pc specs than my first pc that i tried to olay stalker 2

[solid locust]

a 5070ti should run the game fine, yah?

[hallow shadow]

We aren’t hating.
Everyone here loves this game.
A valid criticism ≠ hating on Devs.

[cyan mulch]

Yes

[wooden walrus]

lmao don't turn on framegen if you're on 20 fps baseline

[hallow shadow]

Some of this shit sucks.
Devs know that, and are working on it.
It’s that simple.

[solid locust]

Im excited, I loved exploring the new map in S2, but a 1650 cant run the game justice.

[wooden walrus]

that's gotta be like an out of body experience

[shrewd needle]

I mean, 5000 series is a disappointment and optimization is not the best.

[cyan mulch]

Game is also CPU demanding so get a decent one

[solid locust]

R7 7700X

[pearl atlas]

nice gaslighting.

[shrewd needle]

Again, 20 FPS is playable and you're doing better than me.

[unkempt vault]

I fixed the issue

[ancient lion]

And now i have steady, and good playthrough with i7-13650hx, and rtx4070

[grizzled copper]

its not hate bros, if they tell you: hey there will be alife 2 and good optimilzation and multiplayer mode!!! and then its not true you have to talk about it

[hallow shadow]

Fair.
It seems decent, on console.
Until I get to teleporting up the Cooling Tower. Insta-Dashboard.

[spare canopy]

Yeah, this all the way. You experience would be horrendous

[solid locust]

but the model is very fine priced here, and I want DLSS and the AI processing power of nvidia

[hallow shadow]

Nice victim playing.

[wooden walrus]

except on the areas where you're cpu limited like settlements and stuff, yeah, you're fine. I get 55-60 fps on high-ish 1440p on a 5060ti when out and about

[grizzled copper]

ik framegen is bad in general

[solid locust]

I'm fine then

[shrewd needle]

Well, if it works for you, that's great, but problems still remain problems, unfortunately. 😔

[shrewd needle]

Rostok is garbage, though (performance, not anything else).

[pearl atlas]

people have mythologized A-Life to the point where it's impossible to discuss it seriously.

[spare canopy]

Why?

FSR4 and th4 9070XT is just as good...

[grizzled copper]

but, alife is much worse than in trilogy

[shrewd needle]

Yes, but over here, no one does a steady stream of hate.

People dunk on the game for its problems but still like it for what it is.

[spare canopy]

You can;t discus it seriously, coz it's a complete mess.

[charred nova]

i mean thats true haha

the few we actually know no one wants to listen to anyways

[wooden walrus]

yeah there's a lot of a-life lore that at least I didn't experience when playing the og trilogy myself

[cyan mulch]

Its all cuz of the monolith

[unkempt vault]

This is true

[pearl atlas]

is it worse, or was your experience with it worse for unrelated reasons?

[solid locust]

you wouldnt even notice the "grand alife functions from the trilogy" when playing it without paying much attention, lmfao

[charred nova]

basically the problem with a life in stalker 2

[shrewd needle]

No, it is genuinely worse.

[charred nova]

the illusion is very easily broken

[grizzled copper]

well if gsc managed to make good alife 20 years ago then they should be able to do atleast 1:1 as it was in trilogy

[charred nova]

due to a number of reason

like the 100m bubble for example

[shrewd needle]

The 'AI' is basically bare-bones.

[solid locust]

I have a better life than stalker 2 it seems

[charred nova]

in the original games there was a lot less open space so the 150m bubble you could see things from was fine

[cyan mulch]

It will get better with the engine update

[shrewd needle]

Not if they don't optimize.

[charred nova]

but in stalker 2 due to the large areas of open space where you see far away the 100m bubble doesn't really cut it

[wooden walrus]

I mean, I'm of the opinion that stalker 2 didn't need a-life 2. No game really needs that. It's just something people like to jerk off over because they have neat memories of.

that being said, I don't think the spawning and AI in general in s2 is very good either.

[grizzled copper]

the world feels dead, u cant see other stalkers doing things that youre doing like it felt like multiplayer in the trylogy but now instead its some random bubble weird events

[hallow shadow]

I’m a noob. What’s that mean?

[wooden walrus]

like I've spent this last couple weeks watching ward soldiers getting 1v1'd by rats

[cyan mulch]

If you won't optimize nothing won't work, the engine update will render to make this all easyer

[pearl atlas]

I dunno, man. when I played SoC, NPCs would repopulate areas I previously cleared just as quickly as in S2.

[spare canopy]

From what I heard, it has something to do with the way they zoned the game after moving to UE5...

There was the long way, which means they could have had A-Life 2.0

Or the quicker way, which meant they couldn't do it the way they wanted to do it.

So GCS, in there wisdom took the short cut method... And balls'ed it.

Moving from UE4 was the biggest mistake they made... it Fecked so much up.

[grizzled copper]

just play the trylogy

[charred nova]

nah in stalker 2 its a lot worse

you can walk like 50 feet away

[pearl atlas]

and I frankly don't care if it happens due to simulation or arbitrary spawns.

[hallow shadow]

I thought the dude(s) who made A-life stayed behind to fight.

[charred nova]

and an entire group of dudes can respawn on you

[hallow shadow]

Kinda like GSC is trying to bandage A-Life with a hand behind their back.

[grizzled copper]

well they werent forced to change engine, it was just dumb move so it is right to criticize that dumb move

[charred nova]

some areas got busted triggers for spawning stuff

[hallow shadow]

Get some SLZ mods?

[pearl atlas]

happens in the trilogy. happens especially often in CoC-based freeplay mods.

[wooden walrus]

yeah the respawning in 2 is pretty egregious. Regardless of how bad or good it was in the og trilogy, locations shouldn't get repopulated after basically turning your back on them

It's one of those weird design decisions I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around.

[grizzled copper]

like u critize politicians for bad moves

[charred nova]

well thats a mod so doesn't really matter

[pearl atlas]

some areas have scripted spawns that are separate from the A-Life/lair system.

[charred nova]

yes but you can in some cases

[grizzled copper]

if they tell us that there WILL be then yknow its bad to take someones present back

[charred nova]

re trigger them over and over and over again

[spare canopy]

Dudes, Bloodsuckers... I had a guy in exo suit, spawn in the same room as me, in bloodsucker village, just after the fight with the Psuedogiant... Whilst the guitar playing gimp hids on the roof.

[shrewd needle]

We'll see.

[pearl atlas]

that does happen sometimes.

[hallow shadow]

That sounds like one hell of a dance party

[charred nova]

like im not gonna say the illusion is perfect in the orginals id be lying but

[wooden walrus]

afaik they worked on getting an a-life 2 but by the time of release it was so broken they were like "yeah let's just not". I dunno how true that is, but half of stalker 2 was developed during a mfin war so I'll cut them some slack on that.

[charred nova]

what i am saying is it was a lot more convincing

[hallow shadow]

Every time I come out the door, in Slag Heap, there’s always a war raging at the gates.

[wooden walrus]

and regardless, cdpr said every npc in cyberjank would have their own schedules and life and whatever, and they still don't lol

And people don't even mention it anymore

[grizzled copper]

theirs fault then :p

[cyan mulch]

So its not just me lol

[hallow shadow]

The NPCs in CP2077 feel worse than the NPCs in W3.
Can’t change my mind.

[grizzled copper]

its like terry davis saying that he met god himself

[hallow shadow]

Nah.
Theres always a blood sucker, or pack of boar.

[spare canopy]

Some of the stories I could tell you...

The game is nuts... And Kudos to GCS, if the are upgrading the engine that is good news... AS long as they redo all the broken back ground stuff and this time, not take any short cuts.

Then yeah, hats off to them. They get my vote.

[wooden walrus]

again, I personally could not care less about what was promised or not, and I really don't think it's worth developing an a-life system to begin with. However, I do think the spawning and AI interactions need a lot of tuning in regards of positioning, frequency, respawning, detection range, and-- well, basically everything

[hallow shadow]

All my hopes are in the basket of “engine swap is good thing”

[wooden walrus]

which, hopefully, modders will gain more fine control over once the sdk gets more fleshed out. That's the theory at least.

[hallow shadow]

Naive, at best. I know. But still.
Wars need heroes.

[spare canopy]

🤣

Yeah, lets just have slop and accept it...

[grizzled copper]

id like alife but if that bubble thing will be upgraded enough i wouldnt mind

[charred nova]

like the largest issue with a life in stalker 2 is scale

[grizzled copper]

tho we should still criticize em :p

[hallow shadow]

I wish that could happen for Starfield.
That game was a disappointment.
No amount of modding will save it.

[charred nova]

with the original trilogy it a lot easier to fine tune everything since it was a set map that was compared to stalker 2 fairly small

[grizzled copper]

no criticism—> it will get worse

[shrewd needle]

Can we all just agree that S2 has problems...but it's still a good game?

[cyan mulch]

100%

[grizzled copper]

*bipolar game, sometimes perfect, sometimes bad

[hallow shadow]

constructive criticism. But, yes.

[pearl atlas]

what I have come to realize is that our experience with something can be significantly influenced by outside circumstances. for example, the day I started my first Elden Ring playthrough was also when Russians started bombing my city. you can imagine how that could have soured the mood. it's the same thing with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 – your experience may be more negative not directly because of the game's flaws.

[charred nova]

my current stance on stalker 2 is its a 7.5/10 in early access

[spare canopy]

They need to make A-life they way it was supposed to me, and make all the background changes to achieve this... Once done... The games potential ouwld be limitless.

[wooden walrus]

I don't particularly care if I get 100m more around me of bandits getting dabbed on by a handful of dogs or guards wasting piles of ammo in trying to shoot a boar that's stuck behind a wall, to me it's less about how many AI is spawned and more about the AI being spawned feeling verosimile and interesting.

[grizzled copper]

i meant that

[cyan mulch]

Oh man the bomb chugs in Clear Sky.......

[grizzled copper]

true

[charred nova]

i mean first time i played it

i had a good time

i just see the game as flawed

[hallow shadow]

I know. I’m sorry.
Tism struck me.

[spare canopy]

And full of frustration and rage at times... They need to understand how the clusterfuck makes people feel.

[pearl atlas]

I loved that

[charred nova]

primarily due to how much content was cut leaves many areas feeling empty and unfinished

because they are

[grizzled copper]

rarely tho