NEWSA+SIMBION_tweaked Support and Gameplay

[Nightwatch]

Maybe I should also note that all side missions have a time limitation, great majority of them run for 10 game days.

[3040Krag]

I've seen this for a long time, yet I keep forgetting to ask:

When entering a map from a changer, I sometimes see a green skull pictorial in a green circle for a moment, in the same area on the right side as bleeding, radiation, etc. Any idea what this is, and what feature it was meant to represent?

[Nightwatch]

Yeah, as it was set, that was supposed to indicate a a blow out might be imminent in the area, but as there's already too much weight on the engine, (also the for the blowouts AI based random) it does not always work and it's randomly skipped. Just ignore it for the time being When you don't see it, it may well be considered to be a sort of trick on the player, luring him unprepared.

[rockingmtranch]

About Duty needing those Flesh eyes, I believe I have gotten the script for him to accept them one time out of I don't know how many. That particular one seems strangely bugged.

[Nightwatch]

I think you're referring the existing script, or a new script that you've written?

[rockingmtranch]

I meant the dialog where he accepts the eyes.

[Nightwatch]

OK, thanks.

[Paradoxical47]

OK, so I have done another install, full horror etc, and it's good. Agree with 3040Krag, Cordon is, um, interesting after a while. Was I surprised to find 3 Hinds chasing me, which made me run straight into those APC's.

However, 2 things that are causing probs. First, in this game if I go from Cordon to Dark Valley or Warehouses to Dark Valley, the frame rate goes to pos 3-5 fps. (Graphics Nvidea 260GTX with latest drivers.) I note that synchronizing takes much longer in these level changes, and that when I come out of the game there is some red script that flashes up as the game reverts to Windows. It happened previously moving from Garbage to Cordon, that's why I re-installed. It doesn't do it at the first visit to DV from Bar, so I'm at a bit of a loss here.

The second prob, although it doesn't upset the game, is when sometimes a dead NPC gets stretched into a long straight length. Shoot one end and it snaps back like a bit of elastic! Haven't had that happen in any other mod versions of SOC, even Inferno.

In the mean time I'll hang around Cordon, ducking frequently.


Paradoxical47

[rockingmtranch]

I've experienced the same problem with DV and frame rates. It is odd to say the least.

[Paradoxical47]

Did you overcome the frame rate prob? And have you ever got a side mission (flesh eye etc) to work? I've tried that, and the mod gun, ammo box but none seem to work. I have a long list of things to do on the PDA but can't finish them.


Paradoxical47

[Nightwatch]

Yes, well, Dark Valley -and also Army Warehouses- levels have vanilla level design problems which may exhibit themselves in varying degrees. Choppiness can be experiences at different proportions, or in unnoticeable amounts. All depends on the hardware, and also the software, combinations. Significantly, X-ray has a memory management problem, and a lot of high quality RAM may make a visible difference.

For example, when I upgraded my OS to Win 7 64 bit, the general stutter seen throughout the game (a vanilla STALKER symptom) had completely vanished! So 64 bit environment is somewhat a natural habitat for STALKER; interesting,but true. So, software is important.

Also, as we all know, a Graphics Card -no matter how powerful it is- cannot pull all the ropes by itself. It needs a adequate Power Source, a powerful enough CPU and a lot of RAM (very essential in gaming)

I, in average, have no less than 40 frames (even in the thick of the action) in Dark Valley and in Army warehouses levels. But I run Intel Quad @ 3.15 GHz, EVGA 260GTX SSC (super OC'd), 4 Gig RAM 1066MHz air-cooled Corsair Dominator, ASUS PQ5 Mobo @ 1680 MHz, Corsair 800W PSU, and temps never go beyond 49-50C marks. Plus Win 7 64 bit shows that it's very helpful toward STALKER.

-- On stretching NPC images: well, it's a physics engine matter, Mod does not do anything on this angle. However, as the mod (which is actually a multi-mod mega add-on, which also incorporates a good part of Inferno, too, among other mods) is very huge and makes the vanilla STALKER extremely demanding beyond all what had been intended by the developers, some glitches/coughs can be expected, depending on the overall power of the PC that's running it.

I see such incidents rather unexpectedly in Fallout 3 as well, but they never bothered me; they don't change the gameplay in any bit at all.

All in all, as far as I can gather, I may suggest that you may be having 1) a PSU inefficiency to feed the Card and other components, 2) a possible memory leak.
Beside offering a well expected and much used recommendation of upgrading those components, meanwhile, you may try check tweakguide site for a complete list of STALKER tweaking; it's known to help with many problems at certain degrees.

Hope you can continue to enjoy the events in Cordon; and, also in the rest of the game.

[3040Krag]

For gaming, I'm running a Phenom II/3 core at 3.8 Ghz, 2x2Gb DDR3 memory at 2100 (750x3), ASRock 870 Extreme3 board at 2475 Mhz NB, Asus 4870 1 Gb DDR5 at 800 Mhz/1000 Mhz memory and a VERY aged NEWSA+SIMBION Professional Extreme install. I, too get very low framerates in Dark Valley. All entrances to DV give me low FPS, but especially the Cordon/DV switcher.

However, I also have a very aged vanilla SoC, and the FPS in DV is low in that install, too. If I install a fresh, clean, new install of vanilla or NEWSA, the FPS is quite good. So, I really think it is some kind of fail or bug in xray, not in any particular mod.

[Paradoxical47]

Thank Nightwatch, my rig should be OK (E5200@3.75GHz, 4.00GB RAM @1066 Corsair, Nvidia XFX GTX260, 650W PSU, Vista 64 bit). Funny thing is, if I go back to an earlier save in DV it's perfect. If I go through Cordon it's OK earlier , it only manifests itself later in the game, and like I said I have had similar going from Garbage to Cordon. I have cleared the Nvidia drivers and re-installed to no avail. (BTW tweakguide site recommended the Driver Sweeper which is pretty good, found quite a lot of left overs, thanks for that.) It's as if something sends the game off on one.

I have started a new game to see if it happens again, I'm sure it wont take too long with a heli on my tail!

Paradoxical47

[rockingmtranch]

It's a strange event indeed with the frame rates. About the flesh eyes, only once in I don't know how many attempts did he actually accept them and the mission was checked as completed.

[Nightwatch]

Well all about the "the software in action," or in a more colorful description "software in the living." As we all know, when there's a fault in the scripts the game crashes for good every-time as soon as that particular section is called in the game; or, when it's less than big fault but a missing action connection to an "activation order," then the mission (or anything relevant so in that respect) cannot be completed ever at all. But, when the mission (or other actions) can be completed sometimes -regardless of the percentage of the success- but sometimes cannot, then it means the scripts/other relevant files are not missing what they need, but the problem lies in how the software behaves on that particular platform in an organic connection with any and all other pieces and things going on that specific platform. In other words,it can be said that the software becomes an organic component in the platform that it's set free, with a potential to achieving endless variables.

There are global problems relating to how (any) software behaves in action, when it's let go on a platform (each of which differs also) and bigger the software -a "game software" what we are referring to here- the bigger the complexities it presents becomes apparent. So how complex it is, it becomes that much complex in its responses; and with the implementation of the ever increasing "Highly Intelligent AI" -which finds itself running on multitude of unequal platforms- the responses of a software may become randomly so unpredictable, no matter the software is perfect, or near perfect (if we were to follow the logic of that nothing is absolutely perfect!)

For example, in playing Fallout 3 back a couple of weeks -my third run of the game-, which has a much newer engine than X-Ray, when in Rivet City the security chief Harlan (I hope I remember his name right) got a glitch, remained standing up next the the door in the marketplace and started responding with the same answer no matter what you do in the game, and also all the other traders' dialogs stop going further and none of them gave the missions that they were supposed to give! Otherwise game was proceeding flawlessly in all other areas. (Yes, I did all the necessary things.) Yet, still... well, even the developers of it don't know how these things are occurring with any specific answers; the more general answer is in a way what I tried to portray above.
Well, just an attempt on Software Philosophy, lol.

[rockingmtranch]

Maybe the developers keep an AI "kill" program installed like what they did in Bladerunner. Just so our pc's don't take over Can't have the AI become self aware now can we?

[Nightwatch]

LOL,
BTW, already a tiniest virus or trojan programs manage to take the control of our PCs, but nevertheless they (at least most of them) are pre-set things and do not re-configure themselves.

The problem with very big and complex programs that employ an AI that is designed to respond according to how the software is being used (one like NEWSA.SIMBION as in our example, also in Fallout 3 as well) and therefore sets and again re-sets the software's (here: our game's) output behaviors on-the-fly, affecting the software-user interaction, is that such complex software when it's running together with hundreds of drivers/other functioning software on the host PC may not like the taste of those others next to it. And when it's also squeezed, kicked, twisted and thrown through various hardware channels during the due PC process, it can (metaphorically speaking) skip -or choose to skip- a track, miss a pipe, change a route in that labyrinth.

It's like being forced to eat unmeasurable amount of food in a restaurant which is not your choice and then imagine that the fire-alarms are blaring and we are still forced to continue to eat that much of food while being pushed and shoved though a narrow spiraling labyrinth of corridors which are full of steaming gushing hot air!! LOL, this is almost what a software faces in our PCs; some is better to eat and run, while others would give you a seizure and heart attack.

[Paradoxical47]

I though my PC already had a Kill program, if it didn't I wouldn't be harassed by the heli's all the time! Hm, on the other hand I should really blame Nightwatch for that lol!

BTW thanks for the Software Philosophy, although the logic kind of sank through the grey matter after a bit!

Going to have a go at the Fallout 3 goty come Friday, hadn't looked at that until you mentioned it, got to be worth a look.

As for Simbion I'll keep going, until I try and find what causes the stuttering.


Paradoxical47

Nightwatch, just noticed that synchronization from Cordon to DV takes at least twice as long as other levels, any clue there to the low frame rates in DV?

[Nightwatch]

I though my PC already had a Kill program, if it didn't I wouldn't be harassed by the heli's all the time! Hm, on the other hand I should really blame Nightwatch for that lol!

Heh he, what a nice compliment

Also, on the stuttering of STALKER, well, it's a inherent characteristic of Xray, but it seems to (start to) deviate from its usual course with the introduction of more powerful hardware and 64 bit OS seems to help greatly in this matter. Your rig seems to be rather quite a powerful one, and I'd expect that you should be able to cruise more comfortably than otherwise.

Also, as your CPU is not a Quad (quads are awful against STALKER, believe me I speak from experience) and therefore it should pull the weight nicely.

(PS: Quads start to perform quite well with STALKER, once they are in 64 bit OS environment)

Windows 7 64 bit has helped me greatly with the remaining residual stutter of STALKER, reducing it to an almost nil degree.

Your RAMS are very good, too; eliminating a memory deficiency or malfunction probability, so it's hard to try to diagnose what exactly is wrong.
As I mentioned, Dark valley and AW are very testing areas and your problems surface in those areas more, as it'd be expected.

You must quite probably know all these things that I'm going to recommend here, but for the sake of formality, I may recommend that you can try re-installing STALKER after clearing it from your PC fully (keep your saves safely copied and stored in some other folder of course), also check that if any Virtual Drives or something like those are in start folder) you can check them by msconfig order through the run command), reboot your PC, then -after disconnecting from the internet- try running the game without your AV/Firewall and any other software (expect those necessary for running the PC) alive even in the background, no MSN or Skype or alike things, shut off the processes of all such unnecessary software in your task manager. Let's see if you'll see any improvements. I hope you will.