Clear Sky...Initial thoughts?

[fiznerpin1962]

Do ya see me turning blue holding my breath? Didn't think so....

[potamac77]

I read on an internet gossip that GSC is planning to buy Crysis engine for future games, if true so we can maybe have those big map games from GSC as well.

[DARK TEMPLAR]

I think that might something might come from that because I've seen some mods for crysis that put the Tiberium universe from C&C on to the cryengine and i must say, it looked very nice

[Nightwatch]

Imagine that SoC (and Clear Sky) is playing on CryEngine...

[audioave10]

As long as they include the ambient sounds and imersion of "The Zone",
I could go for that...Big Time!

[Nightwatch]

Yup, definitely... that's one big (possibly the biggest) part that makes STALKER what it is.

[ket]

X-Ray can handle large maps, but its bugged. If the devs were to spend a good 3-6 months PROPERLY overhauling and fixing X-Ray, (removing all junk code too), it would be a SPECTACULAR engine. All the eyecandy you see in Crysis as great as it is really is nothing compared to what X-Ray is capable of. I have had things in stalker which are literally photo-realistic and better, you would need to look 2-3 times to realise its not actually real and in your hands-almost.

[nandersen]

Some of my initial thouhgts were similar to EggChen's: very linear start, bulky UI, lots of confusing auto tasks. Even the weapon models had different color than in the inventory (example: AKSU).

After completing the "faction war" in the swamps for Clear Sky, I really started enjoying the level.
I spent hours just exploring trying to find every single metal box and crate. Unfortunately the only "special" item that I've found was a PSO-1 scope (but nothing to attach it to). I found a few artifacts but they seem pretty useless since all of them (except one) are radioactive. Another thing is that I killed tens of boars but didn't find a single mutant part... what the...?

First visit to Cordon really got on my nerves - I reloaded 10 times, maybe more because I kept getting killed by the machine gun at the blockpost. Finally I managed to hide from it. A few soldiers went after me so I had to shoot one in self-defense. At least this got me a Nikonov (finally some use for my scope).

Now, still playing in Cordon, I find the game quite entertaining. The swamps were great, no doubt about that, but Cordon is fun in a different way. What I don't understand is that Clear Sky faction is now neutral to me and my "community" is "mercenary". Strange thing is that I already found a couple of Vintars on fresh corpses, one of them in an exo This makes me wonder what else I can find in Cordon

[fiznerpin1962]

Strange? Wait 'till you get out of Cordon!! I had fun with it - played through twice. Playing the hell out of Newsa/simbion, probably forever (freeplay)

[nandersen]

Strange? Wait 'till you get out of Cordon!!

I'm in Garbage now - yes, it's even strager Some of the bandits are trying to mug me and some are giving me jobs. Everybody seems to respawn every 10 seconds and the place feels really crowded. I think that bandits are the coolest/most entertaining faction in this level.

I collected brand new VSS and LR-300 in the pipe leading to/from Cordon. Now I'm considering upgrades to my VSS


Something that I noticed: the levels seem bigger. They feel familiar but kinda scaled up a bit which adds some realism. Unfortunately the game also takes away some realism (a PB inflicting more damage than VSS? Come on....) and the tons of junk floating around remind me of Priboi mod which was also had thrash all over the levels.

The "action music" makes me think of Deus Ex

[fiznerpin1962]

The "action music" makes me think of Deus Ex

I thought the same thing! thought maybe I was the only one left who owns Deus Ex....

[jamie1992]

Nah, i got my copy of Deus Ex, well 2 copys of Deus Ex sat infront of me.

1 copy is my brothers, the other is mine, but my bro bought his over one day for me thinking i dont have it myself, so now i have 2 copys sat on my desk.

[EggChen]

Just a shot in the dark, but I bet Natvac still has a copy....

[NatVac]

Man, I really like this forum's multi-quote feature, where I can actually click the Quote button on a reply while editing.

Well first I freely admit, I only played five minutes before abandoning the game!!

What an utter shower of shite, go here, go there, go back here, go there, but don't walk there, get teleported breaking any immersion, now run up a tower, get a scripted blowout, reappear back there, go here, go back there, again get teleported. Sounds fun doesn't it!!

To make matters worse, I unpacked the files, its basically a mod pack based on AMK!! It even has the old "girls butt" mod for the TV!!!!!!!!!! The scripts and configs make many references to AMK, and the one new weapon has been done already by Gosuke. The new textures look terrible. For example, the icons for the new items look like a mod, not a professional job. Its just lazy, poor and utterly amateur. Many of the new weapon textures are simply the old 2215 beta textures, yes thanks, we had those in SHOC a year ago.

Apologies to anyone who likes this game, I am a massive Stalker fan, but I think this is possibly the most dissapointing sequel I have ever seen.

Oh, one last thing... Stalkers on your PDA I understand, the theory is they have a PDA as well.... but why would mutants show up on the PDA map, even before you have been to an area? Perhaps the Ukrainian government tags all mutants at birth...

Well, my initial thoughts are based on reviews like this one. Despite the positive comments by audioave10 and nandersen, it now looks like CS is AMK on top of SoC with additional levels added from build 1935. Yes, it's probably fun, anyway, once you patch it with the latest -- but even then it still has problems (e.g., the typo in that flash drive's name that breaks the quest).

Despite my thoughts on the game itself, I often would play a game like this just to support the developers. It looks like SoC in that you can tweak it for the gameplay you like. But I'll likely never play CS because I'm not buying games with DRM beyond a certain "reasonable" amount, and I don't like the new SecuRom stuff*.

Just a shot in the dark, but I bet Natvac still has a copy....

'Twould be foolishness to bet against certainty! At one point I had two copies of Deus Ex, original retail and PC Gamer's DVD. I think it's from PC Gamer; you no longer need the disc in the drive to play after you edit an INI file.

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*I'm boycotting the provider of that DRM anyway.

[fiznerpin1962]

Whew!! - I also own Deus Ex - invisible war (de 2)

[nandersen]

My copy of Clear Sky doesn't use SecuRom as far as I know. Anyway, the game is great fun to play, you should really try it NatVac. If you liked the weapon mods in Deus Ex then you'll love the weapon and outfit upgrades in CS.
CS is much more than AMK with different levels: you seem to completely forget about the story.
And sure, it's buggy as hell but so is SoC and we love it anyway

[fiznerpin1962]

My copy of Clear Sky doesn't use SecuRom as far as I know. Anyway, the game is great fun to play, you should really try it NatVac. If you liked the weapon mods in Deus Ex then you'll love the weapon and outfit upgrades in CS.
CS is much more than AMK with different levels: you seem to completely forget about the story.
And sure, it's buggy as hell but so is SoC and we love it anyway

I agree. nothing like the striving to make the money to buy the kick-ass muzzle break or that sweet set of NV goggles. You can also turn an assault rifle into a "long Tom", or turn a shottie into a real lead thrower. Many, many possibilities....

[NatVac]

My copy of Clear Sky doesn't use SecuRom as far as I know. Anyway, the game is great fun to play, you should really try it NatVac. If you liked the weapon mods in Deus Ex then you'll love the weapon and outfit upgrades in CS.
CS is much more than AMK with different levels: you seem to completely forget about the story.
And sure, it's buggy as hell but so is SoC and we love it anyway

I sprawl corrected. It's apparently Tages instead of SecuRom; my bad. So you are "forced to install" it for online activation, and it adds an activation limit. I just searched STALKER "Clear Sky" Tages via Google.

>> you seem to completely forget about the story.

I don't mention the story, but that doesn't mean I forgot about it. Actually, I wouldn't normally care; story is superseded by copy protection for me. But I already know the whole thing anyway because of unthinking posters who don't know about identifying spoilers, combined with the GSC forum's inability to easily hide text. One ending? In a prequel? Not much mystery there for me.

Oh, and ask me about where to find the "best" detector for free, although it may not really be as useful as the "good" detector. (Note: Rhetorical comment.)

Let me repeat and clarify: But I'll likely never play CS because I'm not buying games with DRM beyond a certain "reasonable" amount, and I don't like the new DRM stuff, be it Tages or SecuRom or StarForce. The gameplay/story/whatever value of the game is irrelevant.

I just went through a lot of non-Scottishness with SoC, and got a feel for the replacement group that put out CS, with a myriad of patches in rapid succession for that title. Despite that, I still indicated that I would have bought CS except for the DRM. It is my choice not to play this game, regardless of how much fun it might be.

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Interestingly, the last few games I've liked (Deus Ex, STALKER, Unreal Tournament/UT2003/UT2004, Quake) and still play over and over (Deus Ex, STALKER, UT2004) and still listen to the game's music (Deus Ex, UT, STALKER), just happen to be games that I've purchased multiple copies of (although the UT series copies were for legal LAN gaming) and which in their last incarnations didn't even require the CD or DVD disk in the drive to play.

And they definitely don't require activation, or connection to an online server for local single-player gameplay.

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If you want story in an RPG, may I suggest Anachronox? It starts with a down-on-his-luck detective just trying to stay alive and finishes with a flourish that spans three universe expansion/contraction cycles (this was before the expansion "constant" was "refined" enough to disallow any collapse). With the final bug fix patch that make the game playable enough to be fun, you will have upgrade options galore -- without the grief.

And it's funny, too. "Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" --Grumpos

You want more story? I'll give you story! I'm going to post more in a separate thread about "story".

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Finally, I commented on CS simply because someone -- whose name shall long live in infamy just the way he likes -- mentioned my name in an off-topic comment, and I didn't want to reply solely off-topic. I'm trying to avoid CS threads as much as possible; there's a lot more rabies present than I can tolerate at the moment.
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Whew!! - I also own Deus Ex - invisible war (de 2)

I recall having that game. I think I gave it away. It really wasn't bad, and the physics were pretty good. But I wasn't that fond of universal ammo, all the factions were all-knowing scumbags and I really hated all the possible outcomes in that game, unlike its predecessor. I wanted a fourth ending: None of the above. And get these voices out of my head!

[fiznerpin1962]

nice.... hi Natvac.