STALKER Overhaul Mod

[molten pine]

There are file issues, so it wouldn't be possible.

[clever jackal]

Gotcha 👍

[dawn ingot]

Question on the Spreadsheet, why is the Hazmat Suit included in the Item Prices and Properties tab if it's not currently available

[molten pine]

I included every item in the game on the list.

Its for consistency.

[dawn ingot]

Makes sense

[dense wigeon]

What are the chances for the mimic weapon drop in this mod?

[dawn ingot]

1% I believe

[dense wigeon]

Okok

[dawn ingot]

I try to see if I can verify

[dawn ingot]

Do you want the specific numbers for each enemy?

[dense wigeon]

Yea if you have them

[dense wigeon]

Thanks

[dawn ingot]

np

[opal bluff]

Any chance you can include the weight of loot spawns as well? @dawn ingot

Like, inside crates

[molten pine]

Those are not publically available because theres basically every item in there.

[opal bluff]

Oh, understandable

[molten pine]

Theres about 400 to 800 items per spot where something can spawn

Some of those are duplicates by the way

I cant pick a percentage chance to spawn so instead I weight it

9 cigarettes vs 1 AKM would give the AKM a 10% chance of spawning.

Functionally the same.

[clever jackal]

had an AS Val drop in bolotky from a mimic ... done lost my shit when I saw it

[molten pine]

lucky you

[opal bluff]

Yea, the randomness of stuff you can find with this is great. I found a GSH17 with rail B and silencer upgrades in the first area (i desperately needed a silencer as i am on higher settings)

Took me 7 deaths for it but still

[opal bluff]

ok, i am about 3 hours into this. So far my biggest issue is the overwhelming number of armoured enemies at the start when you mostly just have a PM. So far my solution has been using slugs, as AP and stuff is kinda expensive

in bolokti village i basically had like 60-70%ish armoured enemies

[molten pine]

That's just dumb luck.

Armored enemies have a fairly low chance to spawn.

But rng is rng.

[opal bluff]

i did take a look for curiosity at the table, they have about 5ish lower chance compared to their "normal" counterpart

[molten pine]

Maybe in a future update I can further tweak it but it's not exactly easy to do.

It'd take me about 12 hours to adjust all of the numbers, if im fast.

Theres a reason no one else has done it.

[opal bluff]

i believe the issue is mostly just for village to be fair. Once you get rolling and have weapons and whatnot, armoured enemies would not be too much of an issue

in the first map, i did just find 7ish armoured in total so it was fine

i'll see what happens the next tide, maybe i was unlucky

i'll likely get the economy back to normal as well to offset that for the time being, i just realized AP costs a bit (eheh mosin is still fine)

the mod is still fun, just that i need to tweak the settings down to make it a tad easier

[molten pine]

A bad weapon with good ammo is better than a good weapon with bad ammo

Most intermediate ammo is "good enough" to not feel like a detriment

Subsonic 7.62x51 Nato is also in the "good enough" camp

[molten pine]

Im turning this into a game tooltip

its a good phrase

[opal bluff]

yea i was figuring that out. In the base game, i just went P+ all the way and usually jumped to snipers or scar by the time i had enough money to buy them. In this one, P+ is not as good, and AP is quite pricy compared to the base game. I believe this just means i'll need to get the economy back to "normal" for the time being, odds are i'll make more money from the random drops anyway (as guns are usually the most expensive things to sell)

slugs seem good to get started, so i'll go with that for now

cheapest AP option early game

oh wait, you tweaked the difficulty settings too from the base game? That'd explain a few things

[molten pine]

Yes.

If Normal is too hard, play on Reduced.

I made every difficulty playable.

Reduced is about on-par with the vanilla games Normal

[molten pine]

P+ is a more versatile premium ammo.

AP is a specialized premium ammo.

P+ is better against unarmored and armored targets than FMJ,
AP is only better against armored targets than FMJ (and P+)

So with those two, you have to pick if you value armor penetration consistency vs more damage.

Both are better than FMJ but are side-grades of eachother.

[opal bluff]

Aye, this was my mistake. I increased the difficulty thinking it was like the normal game. I started a new run on normal iron man and seeing how it goes

[opal bluff]

Allright, so:
I tried again on ironman normal, the first thing i realized was the HUGE difference between normal and increased enemy count.
Second, i did not find even close to the same amount of armoured enemies and i found 2 guns at the second quest location.. so i think that was dumb rng for sure

Upped the settings a tad (besides damage) and will check in again later on

[molten pine]

RNG does that.

[velvet pendant]

As far as tide intervals are concerned...I suppose this is personal preference cause I feel that 23 in-game hours is just too short especially in the later game when some missions span across 2 or 3 maps. But setting it to reduced (or increased? whichever extends the timer) doubles it which feels like its too long. Feels like it would be better if it added 7 or 11 hours instead of an extra 23.
Unless the setting is a straight multiplier and altering it is not really doable.

[buoyant pond]

Saedriss time scale mod is already applied so 23 hours in this Stalker mod is not the same as vanilla. I felt much longer than that.

[radiant trellis]

Yeah it's definitely way slower, but you'll always feel strapped for time, you have to really pick and choose routes/missions

[opal bluff]

Allright, after about 5hrs put into this, i noticed that tuning the settings back to normal (expecially perception) and reduced money from loot seems more resonable, however, going from the "normal" enemy count to "increased" is a crazy change, i saw village brimmed with enemies (like 20 of them), while the normal setting makes everything feel kinda empty. Is increased x3 the normal amount?

i've played the normal game on ironman with max settings at it was empty compared to what i saw today

[molten pine]

Yes its 3x the normal amount.

[dawn ingot]

Bro I had to turn down my settings cause there were too many enemies how good are y’all at this game

[opal bluff]

oh, i see. Do you happen to know how much it is in the base game? that "increased" felt perfect (to me, of course it is different for everyone)

[opal bluff]

would love a middle ground

[fringe drum]

+33% average
It's a bit complicated because it adds 1 enemy to every node, so the actual increase depends on the nodes' population

[molten pine]

Actually, I added my own modifier to it.

Normal is 0, Increased is 1, Greatly Increased was added and is now 3.

[opal bluff]

the 1 is x3 i assume

mmh, do you think there is a chance to lower it a tad for increased? the current one feels a tad overtuned and the default one is too ded in my opinion

[molten pine]

Huh?

Between 0 and 1

[opal bluff]

Uuh

What i mean is

In the base game, increased is about 33% more give or take, in your mod it's 300% @molten pine

At least according to saedriss for that one

[molten pine]

Increased in base game adds 1 enemy to every spawn

1 goes go 2, 2 goes to 3, ect

With Nightmare difficulty it adds 3 to every spawn

1 goes to 4, 2 goes to 5.

If you dont want that many, manually set Increased in the custom menu, it will only add 1 enemy.

[opal bluff]

Do changes apply in iron man as well as far as you know?

Because i did tune it down but increased felt like, more than increased if that makes sense

However, i only had this issue in village for some reason

..maybe the quest spawns more enemis too? (The main one)

[molten pine]

You cant change ironman difficulties

[opal bluff]

oh, so this means that even if i fiddle with the settings from i don't know, normal damage to increased, it won't change?

this would explain it

[molten pine]

No like

If youre on ironman

You cant even change the difficulty

It doesnt let you

[opal bluff]

it lets me change the difficulty like.. 1 by 1, if that makes sense

[molten pine]

What?

Am I wrong?

I dont think im wrong

[opal bluff]

well i'm sure i am on ironman.. so

i do believe they change too

it's just this village that weirds me out.

i swear when i played on increased in the normal game it was not THAT bad.. mmh

for now i'll run with nothing and get the quest done and see what the rest looks like, as that has been the only area HEAVILY overcrowded for some reason

if i get the chance i'll show you what i mean, i don't think my words describe how many things are in there

[opal bluff]

well nevermind mystery solved, i attracted half the map with a shotgun

and there was a spawner too

forgot how crazy their perception gets if you up it

[misty gate]

I had the same thing yesterday. Lost an entire kit to accidentally attracting the entire map with one shotgun shell.
8-9 fragments, 5+ mimics, 2 sliders… all with guns pointed at the spawn 😂

[opal bluff]

Yup, at the moment i set everything to normal and rolling with that, i'll likely only increase the enemy count next

[opal bluff]

i'll likely play it again with increased settings, i figure just getting a silencer should fix what's getting me killed so much

[opal bluff]

Can the mosin take a silencer in this mod? I don't see the upgrade

[molten pine]

No

[opal bluff]

Oh boy

There goes my plan

[molten pine]

It'd be really good if you could.

[opal bluff]

indeed, i am not surprised you disabled it

[opal bluff]

it was the "goto" strategy for higher settings, outrange everything with a silencer. I'll figure something else out

likely will go look for an AKM

i assume only the DVL is silenced now, as far as snipers go?

and the semi auto sec.4 rifle, forgot its name

Vintorezz?

[molten pine]

You can use the SVD

[opal bluff]

uuh, not sure what's happening here with the hearing range @molten pine

is there a chance that you overtuned the hearing for increased? accoring the chart is following how you changed it

[molten pine]

I think I forgot to put down the new number is all.

[opal bluff]

oh, so the ingame settings are not overtuned to 1.56? just a chart mistake?

[molten pine]

Yes

[opal bluff]

any chance you can give an example of what 175 range equals to? and 30k noise distance @molten pine ? this is about the nades

not sure how to quantify these "in game", if that makes sense

[molten pine]

175 is about 4 feet.

[opal bluff]

mmh.. and the noise radius on guns, like when it says 10 for sawned off, is like 10k meters?

because in that case, 30k would mean the entire map, and i'd have plans for that

[molten pine]

I dont know or think there is a real answer for this

[opal bluff]

Fair. I wonder if 30k would attract the entire map still

also i tried the new nades, they seem to work much better than the base game

i'll try them more for sure

[molten pine]

If I had to guess how noise works

And this is a guess

I almost feel like theres a loudness meter

One that slowly decreases overtime and each subsequent shot is louder

[opal bluff]

i see, it does feel odd for sure

i'll see what i come up with by using them more, thank you

[opal bluff]

Not sure if it's an oversight, but rail B side attachments are really cheap compared to the new prices.
Example: AS VAL rail B is 11k, the side one was like 3.5k

[pulsar forge]

Quick question, what does "Tide Interval" do in settings?

Is it so that the more reduced it is the longer you have to wait for the tide to arrive?

[dawn ingot]

I believe so

[pulsar forge]

Okay! Thanks

[opal bluff]

Other way around

Wait i may be dumb

Yea no nvm, i said it correctly

0.23 is the default 1 day, i'd assume 0.46 is 2 days and so on

[pulsar forge]

Ahh okay! Thank you :D

[molten pine]

surprisingly

0.01 is exactly 1 hour

0.23 is 23 hours

[acoustic ginkgo]

I'm so torn what to do, normal mode is impossible for me, but lowering to easy feels cheating. I can't do anything, only gun I found is a mosin, and with the enemy numbers and detection in this game the mosin is useless since you can't supress it. I'm too innacurate with the PM that no way can I take out commando, and sniper with that, and the shotguns are, decent, but again so loud that the entire map swarms me.

So far the only 2 times I have done the film mission [yes twice because I had to delete a save because it felt helpless] was:

1. by literally running, just dodge and pray

2. Using a bathroom little window to "snipe" with my full size shotgun

Just dunno what to do >.>"

Also SKS is nice but 12k to be allowed to add a 9.5k suppressor to a 7.5k gun >.>" Yeah basically I'm not sure what to do since going unsuppressed is a death wish

[molten pine]

You can tweak aspects of the difficulty with the custom difficulty menu.

You do not have to play on Normal.

Change what you think is best.

All of the difficulties are valid options.

[acoustic ginkgo]

I didn't see an option for enemy count, it's either normal, off, or extra enemies. I need like less, but not off

[molten pine]

Unfortunately this is not possible due to a bug.

[acoustic ginkgo]

If a load easy, can I reset some of the other options once in game? So then at least I get the less enemies part of the Easy mode without the other easier things like damage and money

[molten pine]

Reduced difficulty does not have less enemies.

[acoustic ginkgo]

Really? Oh thought it said it did, darn.

[molten pine]

This is because of the bug in question.

[acoustic ginkgo]

Ah

[molten pine]

Just so you understand

Normal has a value of 0. This keeps the enemies spawning to be the default with no modifications.

Increased would be 1, which adds 1 more enemy than normal.

Decreased would be -1 which decreases the enemy spawns by 1 per spawn node.

[acoustic ginkgo]

really? Mod makes it feel like there 1.5 if not 2x base game >.>"

[molten pine]

The issue is that some of the spawns, which I assume are older versions, will not cooperate when I decrease the count by 1.

[molten pine]

Yes, the current spawns are default.

Back to my point though.

[acoustic ginkgo]

maybe it's just the increased detection? Or sound of the guns? Never had them swarm so hard in base game as they do with the mod

[molten pine]

These older spawners must work different.

And if it's set to 1 and you apply the -1, it turns to 0.

[acoustic ginkgo]

So 1 per spawn, reduced does 1 (-1) so in turn nothing spawns?

[molten pine]

And for some reason, these older spawners when set to "0 enemies to spawn" will instead spawn every possible enemy.

Which is about like

[acoustic ginkgo]

XD Ah hard mode

[molten pine]

Which is why its disabled.

In the default game, this bug likely isnt even noticed beause instead of having 450 possible enemies

it only has like

1, 2 or 3

so even if it bugged

it would only spawn 3 enemies

and theres only a few spawners that do this

its not all of them

[acoustic ginkgo]

What if you change it to -.5? what would .5 a spawn do?

[molten pine]

Don't know.

[acoustic ginkgo]

Hmm, well for now I'll see what other setting help me, will enemy perception lower the range that they are attracted to gun fire? Or jsut make them see and hear the player themselves at a shorter range?

[molten pine]

It will lower their hearing, yes.

[acoustic ginkgo]

ok maybe I'll try that then

[pulsar forge]

I also ran into the same "problem" as you, I reduced every posible enemy setting to highly reduced (can always change it back late-game)

Next thing I did was save for 7k so I could get a suppressor on the default PM Makarov. This made it way easier, as i didn't get swarmed after every shot. Now the game is easier and more fun, just takes an hour or three to accomplish but highly recommend to get a suppressor before anything else. You can ofcource also get a suppressor on any other pistol, I just decided to do it on the Makarov as at the time it was the only gun I had

[acoustic ginkgo]

My issue is I cannot use the PM to save my life if the enemy is too far. I need a rifle. Why I'm sad they removed supressing the Mosin

[pulsar forge]

Ah okay! Damn, hmm.. Not sure what you can do other then change the difficulty settings to low and perhaps practise at the shooting range in Vanno. I do have a tip for mimics, wait until they get close. They'll eventually walk towards to to "investigate", just be sure to hide behind cover

[opal bluff]

I play on higher settings so i can help a tad.
A few rules:

• rifles and bigger guns make an absolutely insane amount of noise, you can't stay in the same spot if you shoot one of these. If anything, use this to your advantage to lure enemies on a side of the map you don't care about, and leave the area before they see you (for the mosin, i take about 3 shots at someone before i leave). I once saw about 7 mimics going to the location of my shot (increased perception and enemy count), so be on the move.
• plan your cover as you move, and how to fall back if needed. A lot of times there will be fights you can't win. When that happens, fall back and plan a different route
• play at the advantages of your weapon, and learn to aim to engage mimics from far away, they hurt less ( i think they may have falloff damage, not sure), and they'll miss a ton more
• at the start, your priority is a suppressor. So loot the easy areas, loot the anomaly fields, and always check the "easy to get crates" at the tides. There is 1 at the entrance of factory in parvomary that is easy to get, and one in factory (from that entrance) on the left side, where the first gas anomaly is (it doesn't always spawn), i got an AS VAL from there. If you are brave, you can try to move a little bit forward and sneak into the warehouse to loot that too, but sneaking anywhere past that starts to become problematic.

Oh yea, learn how to shoot from cover too.

• peek quickly to see where the enemy is, preaim and go to cover again
• peek at a medium speed, take a shot or two, then fall back to cover

If the enemies KEEP shooting, don't leave your cover and wait. They need to reload after a while, this is abusable too

[pulsar forge]

Nice tips / rules!

[acoustic ginkgo]

Hmm will try and keep it in mind, dropped and make easy mode file, the enemy perception def helps a lot

Though...fragments and shadows being a 1 shot is still beyond annoying

[opal bluff]

You can likely keep their health at normal

The hardest setting is probably enemy damage anyway. Perception is annoying, but it can be played around

Also consider upping money earned if you don't want to lower other stuff.
More money = better gear

[molten pine]

Whatever is comfortable

Thats why the options exist

[pulsar forge]

• little addition to the "rifles and bigger guns make insane amount of noise", if entities are close enough you can use your combat knife or machete to kill them. DO NOT STAB THEM, besides spawns, but THROW them. It's a quick and silent way of killing them, may need a little practising if you never done it before but highly recommend it

[opal bluff]

yup, this mod makes the mimics FoV smaller too, so you can sneak behind them if you are lucky enough (always have your gun ready in case they turn doh). They do not seem to react to footsteps, so feel free to run

[pulsar forge]

yeah, it's very fun to do too

[shut mauve]

thats how ive been getting through bad RnG, Sprint at the mf with my PM and its all good my tried and true method until I got an SKS in a crate

Tiger rifle mimic vs PM? no problem sprint and dodge the bullets babyeee

[acoustic ginkgo]

Oh I mean like the fragments and shadows 1 shot me, even on reduced enemy damage. Idk why but they do stupid damage

[opal bluff]

oh, i believe that's intentional from the mod maker

mostly because they are easy to avoid

if you didn't know already, shoot at their "core", as that's their weak point

[opal bluff]

also, be mindfull that they can hit you throught walls

[molten pine]

You can literally walk away from them and they cant hurt you. You can even beat them in melee

Boosting damage is the only way besides insane health that they remain relevant.

They did like 15 damage before

You gonna tell me a fragment hits you 7 times ever?

Also they dont oneshot

They do about 50 to 70 damage.

They twoshot you, or less (with reduced damage).

Phantoms do more damage than fragments to emphasize their sneaky nature.

You can see all values here.

Yeah on the spreadsheet, they do a minimum of 60 damage and a maximum of 70 damage.

On highly decreased this would be 30 to 35

On decreased this would be 46 to 54

Though on the highly increased, the max, they can do a maximum damage of 105.

Lethal without armor.

[opal bluff]

I also recall being 1 hit killed on normal damage from them

But maybe i was not full hp? I'll take a look next time i play

Also armour does not reduce damage from them i'm pretty sure, or sliders / spawns

I believe armour is only for bullets

[molten pine]

It does.

There are only 3 damage categories

Physical, Anomaly and Gas.

[opal bluff]

interesting, i'll check these out next time i'm in game

[pulsar forge]

Can you fit a suppressor on the SKS or has that been removed just like the Mosin Nagant?

oh and another question, shall I use a TT-33 or is there a pistol that's better? (Don't really want to use the M9, just so you know lol)

[molten pine]

You can on the sks.

[molten pine]

The pistols are all capable except for the makarov.

[pulsar forge]

I've read that the TT-33 (Gun Nuts Guide) is very durable and powerful (as in damage). Did you fiddle with any of the gun specs or are they the same as the vanilla game? :)

[molten pine]

I've adjusted every value.

[opal bluff]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1feMdYvjWVPTD41sqWfN7P4iD60LM5RORJJRGIWpIITI

I would not use the TT for the low mag size anyhow

The glock 18c is pretty good, but no pistol compares to the M9 for range

Most pistols are about 70-75 accuracy, m9 is 80

Usually the choice is between M9, 18c or OC33

18c is a biiiit better than OC, but ammo is more expensive

And pretty sure 18c is lighter

In this mod, the gsh18 is lovely for early game, to go from 8 bullets from the PM to like 18, it's a huge quality of life thing

[pulsar forge]

Yeah, at first I wanted to use the OC33 but I read that the durability is very low for that pistol, so I was aiming to go more for the TT due to it's high durability and damage. I don't really mind about mag size, I mean, obviously a bigger mag is nicer but not aimed at a higher mag for now.

[pulsar forge]

Thanks for linking this! I'll check it out now, also big thanks for your explanation and comparisons :)

edit: repost cause I forgot to reply to it

[opal bluff]

Bare in mind durability can be fully mitigated by bringing a rod and toilet paper with you as well while you choose

Which you will likely start doing for more difficult areas and longer expeditions

And you're welcome

[molten pine]

The TT is very good except for its magazine capacity but it's also dirt cheap.

7.62x25 has good penetration and velocity and damage.

[opal bluff]

Wait it has better pen?

Lemme take a look

[opal bluff]

Oh it's like 5ish better

But yea, it does its job for a cheap pistol

[pulsar forge]

I absolutely crapped myself yesterday evening at around 11pm. I was just casually walking through the Radius and suddenly came across the harvester. didn't sleep till 2am IRL

[opal bluff]

Oh boy

Hey he gives a regen artifact with 80% chance at least. I wonder if it's even worth killing

[pulsar forge]

i only have a suppressed makarov

[hidden current]

As the founding radius intended

[opal bluff]

I may teach you the location of the holy factory crate

It's 1 crate in factory that is not guarded

That means that in the stalker mod, you can even get sec4 guns from it

It's how i started my snowball.
I used a mosin first, then found AS VAL in said crate

@hidden current may have a scree shot actually

The one on the left when you enter factory from parvomary

Likely the most broken crate in the game

[pulsar forge]

noo don't :( I want to find everything out for myself

[opal bluff]

Oh

[hidden current]

I just posted a picture in #chat_1 just a little ago 👀

[opal bluff]

Nvm

Abort

[hidden current]

I'll spoiler to not ruin it for Fred, but this location?

[pulsar forge]

don't like things being spoiled / shown to me hehe

thank you! for spoilering it

[opal bluff]

Yup

[hidden current]

Perfect and all good, I understand wanting to find it for yourself

[pulsar forge]

oh I did find a mosin yesterday :D

[opal bluff]

Just be on the move with a mosin. It's so loud

[pulsar forge]

though- it can't be suppressed soo.. I'm still using my makarov to prevent me needing to buy more diapers

[pulsar forge]

yeah, doing that!

I'm currently saving for the AS VAL, one of my favourite weapons heh

[opal bluff]

It's great, but i hate the bullet drop on it

As a rifle it does its job, it lacks on long range as it's hard to aim

Expecially because i am using CHP ammo on it

Cause i am poor

[pulsar forge]

yeahh, I'll eventually get a long range rifle too

[pulsar forge]

is CHP better than FMJ?

[opal bluff]

No, much worse

But also much cheaper

[pulsar forge]

ahh okay

[opal bluff]

And 9x39 hits like a truck

[pulsar forge]

here -hands over 3k- go get yourself some good ammo..

[opal bluff]

So even if the chance is like.. 50%? You just need to land a single headshot still

It's like 6k for fmj

1.5k for chp

The big boxes

[pulsar forge]

Dayum

[molten pine]

the mosin aint too bad

its loud but like

if you arent missing and use good ammo, you shouldnt have to shoot much to begin with

[opal bluff]

It's amazing, just that anything loud needs some planning and repositioning

Depending on settings, you may not be able to kill everything that comes at you

[pulsar forge]

oh boy my aim in VR is so potato even a mimic on steroids can aim better than me LOL

[molten pine]

I've learned from playing STALKER

anyone who's played an extended amount of STALKER should have an idea of what I mean when I say "going to Radar"

[opal bluff]

Sadly i never played it, yet

[molten pine]

and I've learned that with lethal enemies, I always over-assume how much ammo I need to bring because anytime I have ever said

"oh I have enough ammo"

[pulsar forge]

me neither, weirdly enough I'm really obsessed with it, just never played it lol

[molten pine]

(it wasnt enough ammo)

[opal bluff]

Look up trex aiming technique

[molten pine]

I once went to Radar with over 1000 rounds of 7.62x54r and a PKM

and I left clawing my way out because I was out of ammo

[pulsar forge]

On YouTube / Google or in one of the guides?

[opal bluff]

The idea is to get your shooting arm as close as you can to your body, and the other arm very far, and you aim only with the front arm. Works like a charm

This creates a longer line, a.k.a the gun moves less

And your back arm is stable

[pulsar forge]

1000 rounds wasn't enough ammo?-

[molten pine]

it was not enough ammo

[pulsar forge]

what the

[opal bluff]

It works the same way in this game to be fair

You always need more than you think

Expecially because the more shitty the situation gets, the less efficient you'll be

I do not go for headshots as much if an enemy can light me up easily because he flanked me or something similiar

Like i try but, my concern is to fill him with bullets

[molten pine]

Monolith doesn't fuck around

8 dudes in exo-suits come around the corner

you shoot

that said

[pulsar forge]

i just bring 3 packs of FMJ and 3 packs of SS 9x18 ammo usually I have enough then (or is that already a lot of ammo?)

[molten pine]

the point of this example was that "over-prepare"

[opal bluff]

Depends on what you are doing

[molten pine]

1000 rounds should have been enough in anyones mind and it wasn't

[opal bluff]

I fully agree with that

[pulsar forge]

generally just doing simple missions and looting / surviving lol

[pulsar forge]

i would've brought 100 rounds max LOL

[opal bluff]

Normal settings?

[pulsar forge]

everything on reduced besides health

[opal bluff]

Oh

[pulsar forge]

It's my first time actually playing ITR so..

[opal bluff]

Well enemy spawns doesn't work on reduced

Soo

[pulsar forge]

I had it on normal but died every 20 seconds

[pulsar forge]

yeahh okay, besides that, that's on normal

[opal bluff]

Yea you should play the base game before touching this mod imo

I still die a fair bit even with 90hrs lol

[pulsar forge]

yeah, read that afterwards

[opal bluff]

On increased

[pulsar forge]

Lmao

I've only died to anomalies or snipers so far, with my current settings

planning on putting them slowly back to normal late-game when I have better gear

[opal bluff]

I'd say about 2 boxes are enough in your case, which means 3 are good

Because you always bring more than you think you need

I generally bring around 30-50% more than what i think is right

[pulsar forge]

yeah, me too

planning on bringing 4 boxes of 9x39 ammo, once I have the AS VAL, with me

[opal bluff]

When you get rifles, or weapons with bigger mags, it changes a tad

Because a lot of your ammo is already in the mags

[pulsar forge]

yeah, wasn't it 20 rounds in one mag (AS VAL?)

[opal bluff]

Yes

+1 in chamber

[pulsar forge]

yeah, so almost one pack per mag

may as well bring a large box then

[opal bluff]

Not quite. If you can stay below 15kg, you are a lot faster

[pulsar forge]

yeah okay true, depending on the run / mission I'm doing then

[opal bluff]

Always try to aim for lower weight generally

[pulsar forge]

yup, number one rule

[opal bluff]

Number two, number one is to have more than you think you'd need

[pulsar forge]

always have 20% ish more than you bring along lol

[opal bluff]

It's painfull to fall back early because you lack stuff

[pulsar forge]

yeah

most of the time I have to fall back due to meds

while I bring like 2-6 stems with me at the beginning of every run

the mimics are just.. painful

just walking through the Radius, all calm, suddenly bullets flying above your head

[molten pine]

Wait

you're playing my mod on your first playthrough???

[pulsar forge]

yes

[molten pine]

https://tenor.com/view/stoned-cat-stoned-cat-funny-huh-gif-19222132

[pulsar forge]

I absolutely love STALKER and when I saw the mod I just thought "oh yup mine"

[molten pine]

Flattering but jesus christ man

this mod is hard

[pulsar forge]

eventually realising this mod isn't really made for your first playthrough LOL

the beginning was really painful, no suppressor, dying every 20 seconds

that was when I had the settings on normal still

now they're mostly on reduced

[molten pine]

Reduced is a valid difficulty

there is a phenomenon in gaming that has occurred where people never pick "normal" or "easy" unless the game is explicitly telling you it's difficult

[pulsar forge]

loving the challenge so far lol

[molten pine]

it's like, embarrassing

[pulsar forge]

oh I'm not really bothered with whether or not I pick easy or normal

just pick what feels best with me

[molten pine]

"pick hard or you're a baby gamer"

[pulsar forge]

yeah, that's just bullshit (imo)

[molten pine]

i tried to make it really clear in my mod that reduced is a valid difficulty

normal is difficult

and nightmare is probably not possible

[pulsar forge]

off-topic but when you write down an entire guide for yourself but forget to save the notepad :(

[molten pine]

xd

[pulsar forge]

yeah LOL

[molten pine]

Normal is possible but like

even I got my ass kicked in the late area of the game

[pulsar forge]

whenever I shot one bullet 10 guys came up to me with all full-automatic rifles

[molten pine]

that doesn't sound right

one bullet?

[pulsar forge]

bit overdramatic, but it felt like it

[molten pine]

There's a major difference between "one bullet" and like

five

if I had to guess how it works (and this is a guess)

[pulsar forge]

whenever I emptied 1 mag (early-stage) I kept dying to like 8 mimics with full-automatic rifles lol

[molten pine]

imagine your sound as a meter

the meter slowly decreases overtime

but shooting instantly adds to the meter

and the higher the meter, the louder you are

this is, again, a guess

[pulsar forge]

yeah, wouldn't surprise me if it worked like that

[molten pine]

So basically what im saying is like

shooting less is important, melee is good and you can totally kill things with it silently

and if youre going to shoot

dont miss

[pulsar forge]

yeah

[molten pine]

because when you miss

[pulsar forge]

you die

LOL

[molten pine]

thats just more you have to shoot

and that means more problems

that said

most of my game is spent huddled behind a car and killing every enemy on the map

you think your game is hard

just wait until the 4th area

[pulsar forge]

oh god..

I'm currently at the forgot the name village

[molten pine]

I'm a fucking gamer warlord who made the mod and it was like

[pulsar forge]

I met a Harvester there yesterday after the tide

[molten pine]

Did you say hello

[pulsar forge]

and a slider..

[pulsar forge]

it was more like a brown hello

I turned around and it was like 20m in front of me

didn't see me I think as it didn't do much, but never in my life has my heart beat raised like that

[molten pine]

Grenades helped me in the 4th area because about 30 dudes rolled in at the same time, which is unfortunately not an exaggeration

I play on Normal

[pulsar forge]

30.. mimics I'm guessing?

[molten pine]

with AKMs, yes

[pulsar forge]

oh god..

[molten pine]

It's just like radarr

[pulsar forge]

i think I need to get some more diapers and cigs.. be right back

[molten pine]

It's okay

you're on reduced

it'll only be really hard

not super super duper hard

[pulsar forge]

yeah true.. but I may change it back to normal or slowly try to once I have a suppressed rifle and some more gear

[opal bluff]

Yea playing this before the base game is masochist stuff

But reduced helps

For context, i have most stuff on increased besides health and damage dealth by enemies

On 90 hours. It's difficult

It gets exponentially easier with a silenced long range gun + scope doh, just like the base game

The only real way to beat max settings in the normal game, if you don't want to die a ton, is with the good old silenced mosin

[pulsar forge]

the first 3 hours of unsuppressed makarov gameplay almost made me throw my headset against the wall LOL

that was on normal, changed the settings to reduced afterwards

[pulsar forge]

maybe I'll try and beat the game on max settings once I have more knowledge (and finished my first playthrough) about the Radius and such lol

but by the time that that happens I think we'd all be somewhere in our 90s

[molten pine]

I found base game to be very easy

[opal bluff]

On max?

[molten pine]

I played it on realistic

I know that isnt max

[opal bluff]

Oh, yea realistic is fairly simple

[molten pine]

But technically

My mod on nightmare isnt even on max

You can go further beyond

[opal bluff]

Pretty sure it is impossible at that point

Even the base game on max is a lot harder

Doable, but you need to know spawns and whatnot

Or a lot of preservarance

[molten pine]

I am a strong believer of "intended difficulty"

I always liked when I was a kid and played halo and they tell you on heroic

"this is the way the game was meant to be played"

And thats like

[opal bluff]

Meh

Normal is

[molten pine]

"oh thank you for telling me"

[opal bluff]

On any game imo

Not everyone is a tryhard

[molten pine]

Heroic isnt too hard either

In halo

Its a very fair game difficulty and some people need to step up

Its not a tryhard difficulty

Its an honest one

[opal bluff]

Like max settings in this game means policemans 2 hit kill you without armour

And even with full gear and armour, full autos can drop you in 1 or 2 bursts

[molten pine]

Yeah, my mod doesnt make it much easier either

[opal bluff]

I think yours turns it from "doable" to impossible

Unless

You don't max spawn rates

And keep it on increased

Then it would be doable

[molten pine]

It wasnt ever meant to be possible, admittedly

Like

It wasnt really meant to be played much at all beyond the novelty

I made it very clear in my mod

Normal is difficult enough and is the intended difficulty

Going beyond that to begin with is asking for trouble

[opal bluff]

Fair, your settings do allow for some fun ways to mess around doh, as in you could max spawn rates but reduce other stuff

[molten pine]

Yeah, I like that too

[opal bluff]

Yea even on increased ironman i am focusing a lot

And i did not increase damage and health

[molten pine]

It sounds like youre enjoying it

I think

[opal bluff]

For sure, just had some confusion at the start on why i had 20 mimics in village

Like 70% being with armour

I forgot how bad noise was in this game

But that's not on you

I shot a shotgun, and on increased perception + enemy count you attract a crazy amount

[molten pine]

A lot of luck is involved as well

Its possible that you could walk into pervomay and get all sliders

[opal bluff]

Yup. I did raid it with AS VAL and CHP ammo this time, much better

[molten pine]

Its not probable

But it is possible

[opal bluff]

That'd be funny

[molten pine]

The miserable luck youd need to get

1 out of 450

Like

20 times in a row

[opal bluff]

However, there is only 1 issue i found that is easily exploitable

Consider that you can easily get 1 factory crate with no enemies

And loot a warehouse almost for free too

That means free tier 4 guns

Because factory had tier 4

Not sure if i just got lucky with that

[molten pine]

Oh well

[opal bluff]

I'd just reduce tier4 guns rates in factory, but not much else. I know that would likely take for ever anyways

I also found a spas for some reason

Maybe i'm just getting lucky

[molten pine]

Definitely not

You either havent been to kolkhoz yet

Or have gotten lucky

If anything

You should be able to find tier 5 guns in factory

(youre gonna need it)

The truth is that actually you can

Later areas dont have a higher chance of getting rarer guns

But rather they just have a chance of getting rarer guns and have slightly less shitty guns in the loot pool

And I mean like

Less makarovs, TTs and such

Regardless

I may not update the mod again until the next game update

The list of things I can do for now is capped besides balance tweaks and adjustments

[opal bluff]

Interesting, it may make more sense when i mess more in factory

So far i was fine with AS VAL and chp ammo even in there

I'll need FMJ for sure for the assault

Alldoh i am literally using the AS VAL in what it shines at, so makes sense

[dawn ingot]

@molten pine Do you change the Mimic view distance, and if so, what file is it in?

[pulsar forge]

i did find my first assault rifle though! (mimic dropped it after getting it's head blown off) very happy, as I can take on a bit more (attachments were not dropped, bought the suppressor and already had a sight laying around)

[hidden current]

Oh hey that's pretty cool

I saw some people talking about them dropping guns earlier

[pulsar forge]

yeah, I only had makarov drops so far

were about to leave cause I pooped myself because of a slider, suddenly a mimic drops its gun

just so you know, didn't literally poop myself

Oh by the way! Quick question, has the headlamp been removed? I couldn't find it in the shop, wasn't sure whether I'm blind or it simply just doesn't exist anymore

[opal bluff]

It's there, for like 15k

Or 25k? Don't remember

[pulsar forge]

Oh?

[opal bluff]

Veeeery expensive

[pulsar forge]

Is it under the survival category?

[opal bluff]

I believe so

It is somewhere i am sure

I've seen it

[pulsar forge]

oh, I must be blind then as I checked that category three times lol

[opal bluff]

Maybe it was in armour

But i doubt

I can tell you that it's on the top right however

[pulsar forge]

Okay! I'll check it out in a few days as I'm going away

[opal bluff]

Also this is cool. So far i've only had 2 PM drops, and i've killed like 150 mimics

God they are everywhere with increased

[pulsar forge]

I've killed about.. well to be honest I think it's my second mimic of that kind (forgot what kind uses the AKS-74U)

[opal bluff]

It was commando or gunner

One uses AKM

[pulsar forge]

probably commando, think the gunner uses the AKM

[opal bluff]

Yea i think so as well

Alldoh because i have an AS VAL and i found an AKM..

Any drop is just money to me now

Besides tiger

Or commonly called, SVD

[pulsar forge]

I was saving for the AS VAL but screw that now, first gonna get things like a gas mask now that I got that AKS-74U

I have about 30k lol

[opal bluff]

Jesus

I have about 1.5k and i know where to loot

My issue is mostly that it's more expensive to loot in the first place

Because more enemies and whatnot

[pulsar forge]

I have mission things on increased so I get about 1k per mission, got 7-8k for the high-priority / security level +1 so that may be wehy

[opal bluff]

And i reduced the money earned

Oh i see

My current missions with security lv.2 give about 500-900

[pulsar forge]

Ahh yeah, that's why then

[opal bluff]

Which to be fair, is good for me

Consider i do like 4 at once

• artifacts from anomaly fields

And likely some loot here and there

It all adds up

[pulsar forge]

yeah me too, I've started hunting for artifacts since today

[opal bluff]

Good, it's one of the best incomes

And low risk for the most part once you figure the anomaly fields out

[pulsar forge]

yeah

I still get scared though lmao

[opal bluff]

Fair. Just make sure to clear enemies around 1st

Being shot at in the middle of a field is almost sure death sometimes

Depending on how accurate the mimic is

[pulsar forge]

yup haha

[austere sparrow]

I'm in the exact same boat with him. 😅

[pulsar forge]

To be honest, I like this mod more than the base game

Love the thrill and challenge, besides that the scavaging system is also 10/10

[opal bluff]

Uhm.. did that accuracy multiplier of 1 do something to the shotguns? I just shot someone point blank with about 5 slugs and not even a single bullet connected @molten pine

I may have woofed all of them but, it felt like they were nowhere to be seen

EDIT: it seems that the issue has nothing to do with your mod, but with a huge hitbox from the ropes of the entrance from village

[molten pine]

Game difficulty

[molten pine]

My biggest gripe with this game is bad map geometry.

[opal bluff]

i fully agree with that. I hope the mimics moved from my body

i guess i know for next time

[austere sparrow]

There have been so many times I've tried to fire from an advantageous position, only to be blocked by oversized hit boxes.

[molten pine]

Yep

[austere sparrow]

At this point, it's easier for me to just rush them out in the open.

[wraith loom]

me using a supressed pm with fmj:

[opal bluff]

I tend to overpeek instead of peeking slowly to aid that

Or you can use a laser

But yea, they are quite generous with hitboxes for cover

[opal bluff]

Also you are right @molten pine, i just lost 3 weapons cause i was dumb enough to not have a second kit with a silencer, and not having a rail B flashlight on my main kit in the night

Time to go find new guns lol

[molten pine]

It's not dumb

The more you don't use the store, the more reliant you are on luck of the draw.

A mostly store-less playthrough would have you scrambling for gear so often

[opal bluff]

I have something similiar because of higher settings + lower rewards, so buying guns is mostly out of the picture. I'll likely leave my stuff there and pick it up when i get a better weapon for village. My asval was doing well, but with CHP its range is hard to use, so i'll likely kit out an AKM i found next

Feels like i am learning a new game this way

As even different maps with different enemies changes how you approach them

[molten pine]

9x39 is a very good caliber in my mod but is limited by its range heavily

But its probably the strongest power for value ratio in the game

High rifle damage, silenced guns, good penetration, not TOO expensive

But you have to use the groza, asval or vintorez only so...

There are things im interested in updating in the mod but, like I said

I dont feel up to going back for minor changes

Ill wait until I can do a bigger update and include the smaller adjustments.

I think all the rifle caliber guns are good tbh

The AKM and SKS might be lacking a bit compared to the 9x39 or perhaps 9x39 is a bit too good

Might wanna tug it back a bit

[opal bluff]

Besides, i heard they are making SDK

Both modders and devs

So odds are waiting till then is better

[molten pine]

I think the current build of the mod, while not perfect, is quite good.

[opal bluff]

And i believe this is correct, unless we consider shotguns

[molten pine]

Shotguns yes

[opal bluff]

Yes it's good imo too

[molten pine]

But shotguns are loaded with like

Dinner bells

Use the shotgun if youre cool having a 45 minute firefight

[opal bluff]

Literally, i wish they were more usable

[molten pine]

Oh they are

But youve really gotta be prepared for it

I use shotguns by holding a defensible position until things stop coming at me

I spent about 200 buckshot in bolotky

Which sounds like a lot

Until you consider it costs about

900 dollars for 100

Or some shit

[opal bluff]

Brave to go with buckshots as they lack armour piercing

[molten pine]

Thats a loaded statement

Allow me to express why you can survive with it

It fires out like, I dunno, 12 pellets

Each pellet had a chance to penetrate armor

About 33%

So regardless

Youre probably gonna do some damage

[opal bluff]

No i mean like, they don't have any armour piercing value i believe, unless you changed it

[molten pine]

They had more in vanilla

I reduced it

[opal bluff]

Wait really

[molten pine]

But they also do way more damage now

And with better range

So

The default velocity multiplier of buckshot is oike

Like

0.25 or 0.3

In my mod its 0.65

33% pen chance

Shotguns do more damage and buckshot has a damage modifier of 1.25

So they do more damage than slugs

So basically to summarize:
Compared to vanilla, buckshot is cheaper, significantly higher damage, better range and with tighter spreads, but slightly worse armor penetration.

This is okay because shotguns are fucking loud.

The effectiveness of buckshot is limited due to penetration of armor making armored enemies scarier, combined with being loud

And even as far as you as a player, theyre very loud when you shoot an armored opponent, not "stealth" volume but all you hear is ricochets and see sparks

Its hard to maintain visuals and focus like that

Panic inducing

[opal bluff]

I had no idea about that, thanks for the explanation

Oh you also changed pen from 10% to 33%

Makes more sense now

I may get heavy gear, find a chokepoint and shoot away and see how it goes

[pulsar forge]

Just checked it, wasn't able to find it. Either I'm blind or it's simply not there..

[opal bluff]

I'll let you know where it is when i play again

[pulsar forge]

Thank you! :)

[pulsar forge]

killed a mimic, it dropped MP5K

should I keep or sell it?

[opal bluff]

I am not sure why, but i am a fan of the MP5

Something about it is nice, probably how small and good it is.

With that said, i do not think ammo is well balanced enough in this mod to use it over ARs

Not for the low calibers at least

Or, better said, sec4 and 5 guns are a lot more efficient to use, sec3 are expensive as hell for AP, so it can work if you need a budget AP weapon till you get sec4 or 5 guns

There is P+ ammo, but i don't think i'd use it over AP on this mod

[dry cave]

if you play any vr shooter I recommend a gun stock. makes aiming a breeze, no more shaky guns. combine that with virtual gun stock and you'll never miss

[pulsar forge]

yeah I have a virtual stock but the outer ring of my Oculus controller (OG) broke so I can't use it anymore unless I want to rip my controller apart

I've already bought an Oculus Quest 2 which should be coming tomorrow, meaning I can use the stock again

thanks for the reply tho!

[opal bluff]

It's veeery possible to have good aim with no stock, but you need specific aiming techniques and practice

It's quite simple in ITR because:

• more zoomed in scopes have smoothness enabled
• they introduced a focus setting to make it even more smooth

Probably the easiest game to shoot in now

But yes, a stock is basically a cheat in that regard, and helps a lot for games like pavlov and onward where long range shooting is more difficult

[molten pine]

Low calibers produce less noise and are cheaper to suppress.

The guns are also cheaper and often smaller which lets you store them in the bag

Not to mention how much cheaper low calibers are.

Thats not saying theyre better than higher calibers but I feel lower calibers are plenty viable. Recoil is lower too.

[opal bluff]

as in, easier to upgrade and the silencer is cheaper?

[opal bluff]

If you mean the guns themself, yea. The ammo is not cheaper than sec4 and 5 guns doh

like sec4 guns FMJ is around 4k for a box i believe, where for MPK5 it was.. 6k? ish for AP

i remember sec5 FMJ had a pretty good price as well

[molten pine]

I think you need to check again

Small AP is going to be more expensive than Medium FMJ

But its also got better AP than FMJ

[opal bluff]

wasn't the pen chance on the sec4 and 5 like 80% with x3 the damage?

[molten pine]

No

Also saying sec4 and sec5 is a bit strange

Since there is no security levels

[opal bluff]

yea, it's just how we tend to label them

also it's 85% pen chance for FMJ

for sec4 guns, as in AS val, groza and whatnot

for 4.2k

the sec5 guns have about 75% pen chance, so there's that

[molten pine]

Thats for 9x39 specifically

You should use calibers

Not security level

[opal bluff]

uuh, sure i can do that

it's similiar for 7.62x51 nato

however, they get more damage and drop some pen chance

they can be good till you find these still

and yea, lighter

so you can make a 15kg lodaout for lower end areas

[molten pine]

7.62x51 is a larger caliber than 9x39 yes

9x39 is a pretty modern caliber

51 nato isnt very modern

Its been around a while

9x39 has amazing armor penetration irl at subsonic speeds

[opal bluff]

makes sense, what i mean is there is very little reason to use assault rifles or submachine guns when you unlock these calibers

besides weight

i guess cheaper upgrade is there

which can actually be a big deal early on

if the 9x39 and 7.62x51 nato calibers were roughly as expensive as the AP for 9x18 / 9x19, then i'd argue that you have almost guaranteed pen vs low pen but high damage

[molten pine]

I dont agree no

Larger calibers are more expensive, they recoil more, create more noise, physically larger, heavier, smaller magazines, heavier ammo capacity

[opal bluff]

just to be clear, for larger calibers you mean the guns themself?

or the ammo?

[molten pine]

The ammo

[opal bluff]

the AP is, but the FMJ (which has pretty good PEN chance still), is even cheaper than the AP for low calibers

[molten pine]

Im sorry, which ammo are you referencing?

That doesnt sound right.

[opal bluff]

9x39 and 7.62x51 nato FMJ is 4.2k and 4k, where 9x19 AP is 5.1k (for boxes)

unless i'm missing something

[molten pine]

7.62x51 nato fmj?

Is 4000?

I dont think so

[opal bluff]

oh you're right, there's surplus AND subsonic for that caliber, then FMJ

it's the subsonic that has 75% pen chance

[molten pine]

Yeah

Its that guns "mid tier" caliber

[opal bluff]

i wonder if the subsonic has other downsides

i never used it in the base game either

oh, slow

[molten pine]

9x39 is a great caliber both irl and ingame, but is limited by being subsonic and only having 3 guns to shoot it.

Even subsonic 51 nato has better velocity than 9x39

[opal bluff]

oh nevermind it's still faster than MPK5

[molten pine]

As far as value, damage and armor penetration, 9x39 is the best.

Its expensive but you get a lot for the price.

And the cheaper options are still insane.

[opal bluff]

oh for sure, i've been using the cheap option

[molten pine]

Next time I update the game

Im making the guns more expensive

Loweing the drop chance of the asval

Making the as val way more expensive

And then allowing the as val to fold into your bag since it has a foldable stock

[opal bluff]

will making the guns more expensive increase their sell price?

[molten pine]

Yes

Unless I override it

But I dont feel thats an issue

[opal bluff]

i'd say that would aid the economy instead of making it harder, but for how expensive ammo is, i think it'd work out

you find guns like candy if you know where to look

[molten pine]

You arent really likely to find a 9x39 firearm

Dont take this the wrong way but theres nowhere to look

The crates are entirely random

I wrote the thing after all

[opal bluff]

the weapon ones?

as in, where they spawn?

[molten pine]

Well no

[opal bluff]

ah, that's what i was referring to

[molten pine]

There are randomized crates and static crates

I lowered the amount of loot that spawns in static crates

[opal bluff]

oh that's good, and yes i totally agree on making the AS val harder to get

[molten pine]

Wont happen until the next major update

I also might slightly nerf 9x39 as a caliber

Bring it from 150 damage to about 130

Youd feel that most at range

Not so much up close

[opal bluff]

that too, so far the 9x39 caliber has been reeeeally strong in my playtrought, expecially its economy and free silencer

it basically skyrocketed my loadout, till i died and now i got mimics camping my weapon lol

which was bound to happen at some point

[molten pine]

I would say if you want a real view over 9x39, to try the groza

which may not sound right since 2/3 of the guns are silenced

but what other guns have an integrated silencer

the DVL

its not a fair comparison, imo

[opal bluff]

Yea makes sense on that

one thing i'd do, if it was me, was to make the FMJ for 9x39 like 1k more expensive

and likely something similiar for the NATO subsonic one

because for AP options, you got 5k for lower calibers, and about 8k for ARs

9x39 has that crazy bullet drop and lower pen still, so i figure it'd work out, sort of

the goal would be that you'd still use lower tier guns as their ammo are cheaper, and run stronger ones for later areas, instead of just "cheesing" it because these calibers still have resonable pen chances, but like half the price of AP from other assault rifles, while retaining good penetration even with FMJ or subsonic

if that makes sense

it'll likely be a lot easier to mess with these values if SDKs are created anyways

i hope so at least

cause 40hrs for these changes, with TWO people, sounds like a ton of effort

[molten pine]

5k for 9x19 AP is a fair price compared to 4k for a rifle caliber at FMJ

because most of the rifle calibers have an AP of like

60 to 66%

but you get quite a lot more damage and WAY more velocity

So you can get 95% penetration at about 65 damage (average)

or you can get about 63% penetration at about 95 damage (average)

the velocity is a huge factor here

along with the higher damage per shot

and yeah its a bit more inconsistent

but 9x19 AP is the peak of what a 9x19 gun is capable of for penetration

4k at FMJ is more inconsistent for penetration, but you could always spend more upwards of 8 to 9k to get AP

9x19 guns are also smaller and rifle calibers are larger

quiet guns, loud guns, ect

[austere sparrow]

Not to derail the conversation, but what is the actual difference between virtual stock being on or off? I've tried both, and I honestly couldn't notice any changes.

[molten pine]

It will add a magnet point for the gun at the stock

to keep the gun more stable

it doesnt seem to work much on guns with foldable stocks

it may not be working properly

but if you try to aim a pistol, youll see it aims free

but if you use a long rifle

and you rotate it

itll "pull" towards your chest

[austere sparrow]

I'll have to test it again, but every weapon has handled more or less the same so far. I have it on, but weapons like the MP5K are incredibly difficult to aim smoothly.

[opal bluff]

an easy way to see what it does is to try to flip your gun around while having it on and off

personally, i always recommend it on

unless you have a real life stock

[opal bluff]

also, what makes it difficult to aim? VR aiming has a learning curve, it took me a few months + a few weeks of proper "training" and following guides to get my aim very smooth

and i'll tell you a lot of that is proper controller placement

[austere sparrow]

Honestly, my main issue is how shaky the guns are, it being especially prevalent with SMGs. My hands do shake slightly in real life, but it is grossly exaggerated in VR, unfortunately.

The MP5K, specifically, is a nightmare for me to stabilize. Ironically, the P2000 was the complete opposite. That gun was a breeze to handle.

The monocular is the greatest demonstration of sensor shake for me. It looks like my hand is having a tremor, despite my actual hand only moving subtly.

[opal bluff]

i believe that's cause the MP5K has 2 points of contact (like a rifle) and the p2000 only has one

not sure if that got changed however

one way you can work around that is by

• putting your trigger arm near your body and your face, basically your goal is to keep this as stable and close to your face as possible
• extend the other arm and aim with it
  This allows to create a longer line between the 2 controllers, a.k.a less sensitivity, and 1 of them is stable.

[opal bluff]

oh i didn't realize that either actually

nevermind then, i can agree with that logic

then yea scratch the ARs too, just the FMJ of 9x39 and subsonic of 7.62x51 nato make the 9x19AP not that worth it imo, whenever you get to them.

Before that, i can see them being usefull (i may even use it myself soon actually as i need some AP)

[austere sparrow]

Is it worth upgrading from a PM into a GSH-18, or would I be better off saving up for a different sidearm?

Outside of an early double barrel, I haven't had any luck in looting firearms. So, the store will have to do.

[pulsar forge]

Though I don't have much experience and can't really "highly recommend" you anything, I've been saving for the OC-33, as I think it has a good durabilty, a nice magazine capacity for my needs and like the looks of it. To be honest, if I were you I'd just upgrade / use whatever you like the most (as of looks / RL favourite weapon)

So yes, if you want the GSH-18 get it. If you're looking for the best stats or any other things, I recommend you try the shooting range or visit one of the "gun nut" guides in #1020649359454511144 (made by UNPSC Weapons Enthusiast)

edit: here's a link to one of their pistol guides: #1021158635935641730 message

[opal bluff]

I did that mostly for the mag size alone

[austere sparrow]

I'm not sure if it's base game or due to the mod, but the PPSH has been a godsend for me.

The irony is that online stats list the MP5 as being superior, but it has been the complete opposite for me.

[vast bough]

Yea. I can’t find the headlamp in the shop too. Been looking for it. I assumed it was taken out.

[dawn ingot]

It out of the shop, but you can find it in the zone

oh radius

maybe

[opal bluff]

I swear i saw it for like 15k

I'll double check if i play vr today

[dawn ingot]

maybe you can buy it after you find it, but i can't think of a way to implement that

[opal bluff]

oh no, i didn't find it. I looked for it as one of my first things as i usually purchase it early, then saw it was 15k and went like "oh, fair"

there is a chance i don't remember correctly given 3 people are reporting otherwise

[vast bough]

I thought that was the case.

[molten pine]

Headlamp too strong

Thats why you cant buy it

It makes it trivial

And everyone always rushing to buy it is proof

[dawn ingot]

Oh yeah Ziggy, I was looking into making Anomalies never trigger randomly (like the STALKER games ) but it didn't work, I can look further into it if you have any interest in it but I don't see any reason to pursue it other than for this mod

[molten pine]

Huh?

Not all of the anomalies have effects to reveal themselves in this game though, the blue boxes have a small effect so they definitely could, but the other common one, the white ones that push you around, they cant be turned off.

Every anomaly in stalker has some sort of effect to reveal itself to a watchful eye.

[dawn ingot]

Yeah I noticed that

[molten pine]

Turning it off for the blue boxes could be a decent idea but thats it

[dawn ingot]

From what I've played (Anomaly), they generally don't trigger randomly other than the weird effect in the middle

[molten pine]

Yeah exactly

The blue boxes have an effect like that but not the other ones

[dawn ingot]

ahhhh

i thought they all had that

[molten pine]

Not that theres many anomalies to begin with

[dawn ingot]

sdk 🙏

[molten pine]

Weve got blue boxes, white bubbles that push you, lightning and gas

[dawn ingot]

and stomper

🤓

[molten pine]

I call that a creature instead tbh

[dawn ingot]

fair enough

[opal bluff]

yea nevermind, no headlamp in the shop. I must've been confused with the science camera @vast bough @pulsar forge

also Ziggy i found out that lower calibers can be extremely good because you can run them without a silencer and still keep low noise. Is subsonic still less loud in your mod?

(that basically means that everything seems to have a good balance, besides already suppressed guns)

[pulsar forge]

okay thank you!

[austere sparrow]

Is there a way to turn the pocket lamp into a white light instead of colored? I still don't understand the design behind that.

[opal bluff]

you can turn it into red if you prefer that

otherwise, you can turn on a normal flashlight and keep it in your pouch

weapons flashlights are extremely cheap too so, you may want to consider that as well

i'm switching my laser sights for flashlights in this mod, as using the night too is important

[dawn ingot]

I made a separate mod that may work, it switches the red to white and possibly the green to white

[molten pine]

I think so???

[molten pine]

People think low calibers arent good but they are quite good

[austere sparrow]

I've been relying on 9x18 for the last ten hours.

[opal bluff]

all guns can be usable to be fair. What i found out is that silencers repairs are expensive as hell, so using a low caliber that still has low noise even without a silencer is not a bad idea

besides, cheaper.

it's only that AS VAL that's a tad broken for how this mod works

and the more precise version of course

as in, i think it's better than the scar as you don't need to repair the silencer (unless you got the money for it)

also, i am a huge fan of how you've done ammo prices, i just realized how usefull subsonic ammo can be too

[molten pine]

Thats just an issue with how this game is coded

But yes

[molten pine]

I like to think im pretty smart, I think

[austere sparrow]

Honestly, the only thing that bothers me at times is attachment and upgrade prices. Other than that, I've been having a blast.

Certain items being hidden from the shop is also unfortunate, but it isn't too much of an issue.

[opal bluff]

I like it personally, but only because i am experienced to know boxes spawn and find what i can't buy. I am not sure about silencer prices (as their repairing gets crazy expensive), but it seems fine, and frankly the AS VAL seems hard to balance overall.

I'd make it harder to find than a groza, close to a SCAR, and up the ammo costs as you don't need to repair a silencer with it

One more thing that confuses me about upgrades is that sometimes i find guns with upgrade modules on already, not sure why

I found an AKM with all attachments unlocked for example

[austere sparrow]

I could be wrong, but I think guns occasionally spawning with upgrades is an intended feature of the mod.

[molten pine]

Only the headlamp is hidden.

Silencers are infact extremely expensive and it's intentional considering how good they are.

It can seem a bit insane, but that's like...

You pay for the service you get out of it.

[opal bluff]

i can agree with this, and it gives a lot more use for lower caliber guns that are quieter without a silencer

even with advanced perception, i can use pistols and SMGs while still being fairly quiet

on the other hand, extremely loud guns without a silencer (like a mosin) require a lot of thinking to use without getting bombarded by like 15-20 mimics

such as the shotgun example you made a while back

i like it personally. There is some stuff that i never really tought about in the normal game as it was easy to purchase (headlamp, silencer, laser, good gear ecc), and in your mod i am experiencing with new stuff as i have to make up for the lack of what made ITR easier, if that makes sense.

in fact, i think i'll avoid using the AS VAL as it kinda breaks the game in that sense

[opal bluff]

nevermind, i'd get railed without it with these settings. I struggle at range with it anyways lol (with cheap ammo at least)

[broken mesa]

Does anyone know if any of the sprint mods work with this?

[opal bluff]

not sure what that is, but i believe sprinting has already been tweaked in this mod

i feel like i can sprint a lot more

[molten pine]

No you cant

My mod has its own sprint settings

[opal bluff]

i just got murdered by the harvester, holy that's something

do you know if the red orbs on him count as weakspots @molten pine ?

[molten pine]

I think so

[austere sparrow]

So, am I a lunatic for just forgoing stealth altogether? I have been going loud with my PPSH.

I've encountered a few warzones doing so, but it feels so satisfying triumphing over it.

[opal bluff]

the PPSH is fairly silent, expecially if you play on normal perception

so, not entirely

[opal bluff]

by the way @molten pine i am not sure if intentional, but there still is a stash

one with 3 heals, 3 nades (i think?) and 1 toilet paper

it's in the truck in bolokty, bottom right of the map

[molten pine]

Cant really fix that

Or well

Fixing them all is not necessary

[austere sparrow]

Stashes are single spawn anyway, as far as I'm aware. Not only that, but all of the ones I've found only contain ammunition, so they aren't an excessive boon.

[opal bluff]

np, was just notifying you in case you missed it

also that harvester is brutal with ||sliders||

[molten pine]

I removed all the guns, magazines and the grenade launcher with the 12 rifle grenades.

Most of everything else was left in.

[austere sparrow]

Out of curiosity, what prompted that decision? Was it to prevent people simply memorizing spawns?

[opal bluff]

because once you know stashes, they are veery cheesable

as in, you can get one of the best pistols (M9), tier 3 guns, even attachments for free

at least, that's my guess

[molten pine]

Why make guns expensive if you can just go pick one up

Why randomize the spawns when you dont have to care

[austere sparrow]

How many guaranteed weapon caches does the vanilla game have? I've only ever played with the mod, so I'm not experienced with vanilla spawns.

[opal bluff]

20 i believe

the best stuff you can get is an AUG, M9, acog scope, and a taiga at end game (you can cheese it doh)

oh, and for this mod, the pistol silencer

as silencers are expensive

[molten pine]

Lots

[austere sparrow]

Also, loot really is feast or famine sometimes. I went ten hours without finding a single weapon, to suddenly finding so many in one run, I had to cheese my weapon slots and carry weight to take it all.

[molten pine]

Theres not much of a solution to this

When something is entirely rng