NEWSA+SIMBION_tweaked Support and Gameplay

[Nightwatch]

I'm checking it now. If it's moved, I'll upload again, it should stay at least until v3.0 available. it's like this with free file hosting services.

EDIT:
Damn! bas**ds seemed to have deleted it ...AGAIN! This is the fourth time. The file is too large, they delete it periodically. Damn this Firefront. They are pain.
If I knew that there is somewhere else which would take a file about 300Mb, I'll take it there.
I'm uploading it again, it'll take a few hours.

[NatVac]

I recall there being some binary file changes by at least one version of OL, Kaidonni. These files weren't "uninstalled" when you renamed the gamedata subdirectory.

Starting a new game should be okay. The saved games are modified versions of the all.spawn file.

The error sounds like an empty XML entry for the inventory UI, or data for an inventory item. It could be a corrupt install issue.

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On the multi-core issues of the game, Nightwatch, I don't have any dual-core or quad-core systems so I can't speak with any basis on this. --Except to say I see a very strong correlation between the delayed spawns and multiple cores.

I think it is a threading issue. The game puts the spawning in a separate thread which gets assigned to a separate processor/core. But the queuing of the spawning results in a "stall". Perhaps one thread checked to see if the rendering was ready to proceed, but it wasn't, so the thread went back to sleep.

It just missed the bus, so to speak, so it waits for the next one.

You might be able to change your system to work around this. The save/reload changes the system state. You could try tweaking the OS processes running in the background (e.g., reduce or increase the background load), and reduce/increase rendering load (lower/higher texture quality, DX8 versus DX9, draw distance, etc.) to move the "bus schedule" around.

[audioave10]

Some of you guys will know these things so please put up with me for a moment.
If you have a dual-core from AMD...dl AMD's dual-core optimizer.
(Microsoft put out a dual-core fix...do NOT use it!)
Intel has some downloads for their CPU's as well as their chipsets. A
new CPU often has a download to go with it.
Go to BlackViper.com, find their services category and disable all
background processes that you don't need. Vista or XP.
Set your anti-virus update to manual and update it yourself when your NOT playing a game. These things call home often.
Disable Instant Messaging or Yahoo if you don't need them.
Spyware and Malware programs should also be set to manual upgrading.
Remember that when changing or removing mods you also have to
manually remove saves from My computer/Shared documents/
Stalker-Shoc folder (XP...don't know about Vista).
Defrag often and after mod or game installation.
Run disk-cleanup often (right-click hard drive/properties.
I've never found games (even from GSC) to be buggy.
I do have a strong PC but also a clean PC. I think that makes a big
difference especially when playing NEWSA.
Good Luck.

[Kaidonni]

Well, I reinstalled Stalker, and to a different directory from before. Initially I was using the C drive (a few games have been placed there from time to time), but I'm now deciding to use the F drive (one purely for games, but with much more limited space). I've also decided only to patch to 1.0004 to save myself any other trouble. Now there is only to reinstall this mod.

I'd deleted, rather than renamed, any gamedata folders of previous mods, but from what NatVac has said, I can easily guess that it makes no difference.

[audioave10]

Kaidonni...be sure to defrag that drive and with the reinstall maybe
you will have better luck.

[Nightwatch]

Thanks NatVac for the tips
I've seen that running STALKER on Quad_Core is an absolutely pain, spawns do come very late and quite often they miss totally. It's the same exact game that I had played with Pentium D last week, now it's missing so many things. I even checked with my daughters laptop, sure low frame rates on the laptop, but all spawnings came with thunder.
So, I'd conclude that STALKER experience on Quad_Core is rather pathetic.
Having said that, I'm not exactly sure yet if this problem could be a bit lessened had I started a new game after installing the Quad Core. Because, now I'm continuing the same game which was started on Pentium D at the beginning. Well, I don't have much tim enow to restart the game to see if this makes a change as I'm nearing to the end of test. I'm trying the deal with Quad-Core delay problem by reloading quite often, like before and just after speaking with a mission giver NPC, or in front of the stash boxes, it works at the moment but too inconvenient.
_____________________

Good advices audioave10 :thumbright:

_____________________

Kaidonni

I Uploaded the 2.0 set up ...yes, again (damn Filefront ) and the 2.4 patch set up is already there. (I am very angry with Filefront, this tantamounts to extortion on Filefront part to force people opt for the paid service, so that they would not rush to delete your files.)

Anyway, I hope your new installation goes well. Another thing that came to my mind as you have been referring to some other's players' experiences after they installed the OL, and after reading NatVac's comments, too. I think one of the earlier versions of the OL used a xrGame.dll for (I think) zooming scope effects that Zenobian mod used. That version xrGame.dll is not compatible with our mod here, but I don't know know what version OL you had installed before and what versions of OL actually had this dll.

(I have a SIMBION compatible version of this dll from SIMBION v10, but I won't be offering it with this release before extensively testing later; so I may not offer it at all, depending on the results.)

[Kaidonni]

I'm sort of deciding to wait until 3.0 now. I have reinstalled 2.0 and 2.4, but I'm not one for restarting and restarting. I like treating my playthroughs as something special. I always read all the task data and diary entries .

Because it's my bro's computer, he defrags regularly. I had been using OL 2.2, but with a few extra mods, including Ceano's realistic weapon mods and some by Wolfhunter (sp?) to do with anomalies, etc. After that, I started Priboi 1.1, but again found that not to be to my taste. Then I tried this mod, and I didn't have problems at first (except for not noticing the 1.0005 compatibility patch...).

Hopefully everything will be fine now, though. F drive should be clean, anyway. Only ever had Clear Sky installed there as regards other GSC games, and I've done away with that anyway. Plenty of other games on F drive don't give me any trouble, anyway, so...

[fiznerpin1962]

[Grump642]

Kaidonni...be sure to defrag that drive and with the reinstall maybe
you will have better luck.

I would like to add a tip here for those of us stuck( OK, I did it to myself for a reason) with Vista. If you have system restore turned on, most will, it will take up to 10% of your hard drive for restore points. And they will be VERY fragmented!! This will cause your defrag program forever to defrag. And it can not be done well, due to the restore info. What I do, is turn system restore off, defrag, then turn it back on and manually make a new restore point. Quicker, easier, and you get a much better defragged hard drive. But only do this if you are sure your sys is OK.

[NatVac]

I recall that the original OL executable was changed in the bin subdirectory, Kaidonni, in order to throw a different splash screen at the user. The bin subdirectory is outside the gamedata subdirectory, so just changing the name of the gamedata subdirectory (or even deleting it) didn't remove the changed binary file.

I don't know about changes since then. But a truly clean install might help. One issue with later patches is that the uninstall might not remove the later database files. For example, uninstalling 1.0005 and patching only to 1.0004 could still have problems because the gamedata.dbc file was still there, being read by the 1.0004 code. It's smart enough to read later versions, but dumb enough not to know about incompatibilities. It's even smart enough to read the file when you rename it to gamedata.dbc_not_used! (A moment's thought will tell you why it is still read.)

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I don't think it matters that the saved game was first created on Pentium D, Nightwatch. I think that there is a race condition that will vary as a function of memory loading, process context switching, page file swapping, etc.

If saving/loading that save will fix it temporarily, that's better than no workaround at all. But let me second audioave10's suggestion of BlackViper.com.

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That's a good tip on Vista defragging, Grump642!

[Nightwatch]

Thanks Natvac. Yes I also reduced the number of running services to an minimum necessary level.
Quad _core has definitely late spawning problems with Stalker, or the other way around.
But when making a quick save and then a quick reload, seems to rectify the problem mostly, but in sitautions in which timers are involved it still upsets the outcome, because, I think, the timer had continued counting on one of the cores despite that that core did not send it (post it onto the game/screen), or it was not been captured on that core initially.

Qucik save-quick Load is a solution to an extent with Quad Cores, as it seems, but not a complete solution without the game companies optimize their games for Quad_Core usage.

So, those who has Quad_Cores should expect (and they are having) a deflated STALKER on their PC.

:-w

Entered the Red Forest.

So can you, but only if you can survive the heli attacks on AW HQ in EXTREME mode.

I gave those three attack choppers three separate logic, and each one is two-layered.
They first attack the Freedom APCs, then when each has inflicted enough damage, they turn on the player one by one. One of them appear to be going away behind the hills later, but it'll come back as well. And they will never go away... It is a case of either the player or the choppers.

If the player hides in some place, then the choppers turn onto the Freedomers and and start killing them. Everyone in the base, then they go to the attack squad (if they made it there) which is attacking the Duty farm House, then they fly to the Freedom Border Post and wipe everyone there, too; and then they will be hovering to wait for you. So, no escape. Take them down, before they turn on you.

[audioave10]

Wow...epic heli battles!
Nightwatch...does the new PC and video card have a new video driver too? I remember when FatRap got his 9800GTX and new
driver he had to reinstall SOC. Just a thought.

[DARK TEMPLAR]

As i understand there have been some setbacks , but nontheless life must go on and this will be finished eventually, best of luck!!!



my trigger finger istiill ithciii,
i made a dum promise not to play stalker before either newsa or lost alpha come out why was ia soo stupid

[Nightwatch]

Wow...epic heli battles!
Nightwatch...does the new PC and video card have a new video driver too? I remember when FatRap got his 9800GTX and new
driver he had to reinstall SOC. Just a thought.

Thanks audioave10. :mozilla_smile:
On the drivers, no, it uses the the same drivers as the old card card. Anyhow, I had to install everything again from the start, after the OS problem.

As i understand there have been some setbacks , but nontheless life must go on and this will be finished eventually, best of luck!!!
my trigger finger istiill ithciii,
i made a dum promise not to play stalker before either newsa or lost alpha come out why was ia soo stupid

Thanks, it's very complimentary to say that.



Grump642
I tried that CS Nightvision that you sent me, thanks. Color tonality is quite good, but after som erunning around with it in the Dark (in the game of course, he he ) I've found it a bit "too dark" actually." Though it gives good color cast, it's still too difficult to see around with it, I had to revert to the old "_good" type on top suits. (I'll still use it on some suits though) I wonder if anyone can work around the CS Nightvision and make it a bit brighter? With its color tone, then it'd be a hit.

[Wombat_70]

Take all the time you need for the release of v3 nightwatch my pc power supply blew up last night .
(very selfish here sorry guys ) and I will take the opportunity to upgrade with a new processor (core 2 quad 3g)
a motherboard ep45 chipset , I'm keeping my ati 4850 graphic card, I know the quad isn't very good for playing
Stalker but I'll have to set it to affinity, I hope I can get the parts before ver3 but I doubt it
At the moment I'm borrowing my wife's pc, unfortunately not powerfull enough to play any games


Sorry for the off topic

[rockingmtranch]

Take all the time you need for the release of v3 nightwatch my pc power supply blew up last night .
(very selfish here sorry guys ) and I will take the opportunity to upgrade with a new processor (core 2 quad 3g)
a motherboard ep45 chipset , I'm keeping my ati 4850 graphic card, I know the quad isn't very good for playing
Stalker but I'll have to set it to affinity, I hope I can get the parts before ver3 but I doubt it
At the moment I'm borrowing my wife's pc, unfortunately not powerfull enough to play any games


Sorry for the off topic

The Zone takes another Stalker

[EggChen]

Hey Nightwatch,

By far the best nightvision is nanderson's... look here : http://zhat.dk/stalker/

You can see almost anything, no matter how dark it is, I use it in game as a third "elite" nightvision.

[Grump642]

EggChen, do you mean the gray nightvision? I tried it, but seemed like pretty low light levels.

[Nightwatch]

Thanks EggChen, I've downloaded it and I'll check it.

Grump642
I'm still using the CS Nightvision on some suits, with thanks to you. But I want some clearer ( I mean brighter) vision on top suits. If anyone who can work on ppe files could increase the light on that CS nightvision would be great.

Wombat_70
It seems many of us are having PC problems. Is this the "Year of The Dead PC" or what?
I tried that affinity thingy on Intel Quad_Core, as soon as I noticed the problems with the Quad_Coer CPU, but no way! It doesn't work at all. Possibly xRay has already started running, or it's a Vista inflated problem, or a mixture of both. ( I have Vista+Quad_Core, both not good for STALKER)

________________

Guys,

Can anyone also reduce the volume of a music piece in the game? I have changed the music during the heli/APC/Freedom battle in AW, but I feel the volume could have been lower, if it is possible. I haven't installed SDK yet (don't know if even it'd work this time around, full new system) So if anyone does this, I'll appreciate it and will receive very good thanks.