Just had a look at the screenshots here: http://www.stalker-videogame.com/ and they look awesome. If anyone has tried it, please also state the specs of your PC and how well the game ran on it.

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

I'll let you know in ~5-6 hours :smile:

Judging by the videos I've seen it looks like first-person Fallout, and with the generally favorable reviews (lot's of 8's and 9's) I have a feeling that resemblance to Fallout works well.

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o

Yeah, I'm in love with it. People say it's crap, and you need a monster of a machine to run it on anything above medium settings (low runs smooth on fairly crap pcs thouhg).

The side quests are nice but useless, and there is little purpose to explore all the places other than satisfying your curiosity, but other than that it's amaizing.

I love it, and I reccomend people to try it.

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Hell, is an half-filled auditorium

it's on one of the 4 front pages of new egg right now. I'm thinking about it.

I think it looks absolutely amazing, judging from the videos and screenshots. I'm thinking about whether or not I should upgrade, as my comp is getting a bit old, especially with C&C3 comming out soon, and all. I think I'm gonna give it a try on my current setup, and if it runs too slow, or is way to awesome to play on less than maximum settings, I'll wait and play it after I've upgraded.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Junkyard God</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Yeah, I'm in love with it. People say it's crap, and you need a monster of a machine to run it on anything above medium settings (low runs smooth on fairly crap pcs thouhg).</DIV></DIV>
What's a crap PC these days? I have no idea any longer, I only know mine was really good like 2.5 years ago. :razz:

EDIT:
I'm installing the game right now, and the Setup program checks for the hardware on my machine, and apparently my current setup meets the system requirements!

Here's what's in my machine:

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

I don't have a "monster of a machine" and I'm able to run it on fairly high settings.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Can you post a few screens Adam? I really liked the fallout games. (Except the last one, which was only passably good)

Since you seem to be the first or second to actually play it in this thread, how good is it?

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Woa, the games takes up a massive 9.6 GB.

Orph, have a look at the game website for screens.

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

I haven't read the reviews yet. Is this more of an RPG? That would be awesome.

The fights look a bit counter-striky/farcyish which turns me off.

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Why snark works.

I am beginning to think that 9 gigs is going to be just within normal params soonish.

I will look at the screens provided I guess. I just favor user taken ones.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Yeah, I haven't really played a whole lot since the end of the term was going on. I was just noting that, it's not a beast of a game. I think if you have a lot of memory (it uses quite a bit of GPU memory, system memory and virtual memory) you should be okay.

As far as I know the game has RPG like aspects. There's no leveling system, though, you can buy and trade objects with other people in the game.

How would "Far-Cry-Ish" fights turn you off? It's not like they were bad (or anything like Counter-Strike, for that matter)

So, even if I was willing to take screens (it's a pretty large hassle, all and all) I've barely begun the game. And there's plenty of good screens online at various sites. Videos too, which would give you a better impression than anything, besides playing it.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I haven't read the reviews yet. Is this more of an RPG? That would be awesome.

The fights look a bit counter-striky/farcyish which turns me off.

I have read its an FPS with RPG elements, very light RPG elements. I just got the game, and haven't it played it yet though.

I mean the hyper-realism theme. Ok, there are radioactive psycho-zombies (which is great) but it sounds like one of these games that has 50 different hyper-real weapons which are all the same. And stamina bars. Oh how I hate stamina bars.

Looks like a great game, though. I'm just very, very picky with games I'd buy. :smile:

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Why snark works.

Actually from what I've seen so far, the weapons are fairly realistic. They're all pretty inaccurate too (which is mostly realistic, because they're all some sort of machine gun)

It's really something you'd have to check out to see if you like it or not. I wonder if there's a demo.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

This game peaked my interest a few years ago, and it's been in the background ever since. Now with its release, I figure I should pick it up, I have a computer that can run it on at least on medium settings.
I'll read some more about it, look at a few screenshots and game play videos, and probably end up picking it up tomorrow.

It's about time I played something without headcrabs.

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Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying

It's about time I played something without headcrabs.

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Why snark works.

I got into Empire Earth pretty heavy when it first came out. When EE2 arrived I was excited, but, the game failed to capture. It was a poor continuation IMO.

I would like to find another game like EE, that I could play with some of the Snarkpit members.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I anyone is wondering how well they can run this then use this. http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest
It's the first one under "S".

Wow recommended gfx card is ATI x1850 or nVIDIA 7900. Evan worse for me is the recommended AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+.

Hey, Orph, I'd be willing to play with you; I have EE, but haven't installed it in a while. I'd also be willing to play: AOE III (maybe II, I'd need to reinstall that too) Rise of Nations (gold edition-the expansion that is), Civilization IV(Warlords expansion, if ya have it.), and C&C Generals (unfortunately, I don't have its expansion)

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

I lost most of my games when my home burned down. I might be able to locate one or two from your list but don't count on it. I really don't know which games were burned, and which were in storage.

I will keep an eye out and would appreciate a game or three.

Also, anything new thats multi-player and some of the SP members can buy them.

Sadly when my home burned, I lost almost everything game related.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I have an mx440.

tumbleweed

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

I was expecting to be able to play it at higher settings with decent frame rates, I think it's the 1280x1024 that's killing me, but the stretched resolutions on LCD monitors get on my nerves fast.

The gun fights are very cool, very cool. Taking cover (at least at this point, the beginning) is not optional, standing in the open or charging those four guys with shotguns and smgs gets you killed. You also have to choose your cover wisely, if you hide too close to the enemy or in an easily attackable position you're in serious danger of being flanked by two guys with shotguns, and being dead very fast.

I've seen a few reviews saying the RPG elements are trivial and superficial, while I'm glad they aren't overdone with exp and lvling and grinding and farming etc. etc. which I guess is what those reviewers wanted. I've only played the game a few hours, but I think much more RPGness would have been a detriment to the game + there's more to RPGs than getting experience points and leveling up.

Worth buying? Probably, especially if you like Fallout and FPS games. Worth waiting 6 years for? We'll see.

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Orpheus, Age of Empires III is a great game, if you're looking for quality RTS. I only played EE as a demo but I think it's kinda like the AOE series. I dare to say AOE III is even better than C&C3 from what I've seen so far. It has quite a balanced MP mode.

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Why snark works.

Baron von Snickers said:
I've seen a few reviews saying the RPG elements are trivial and superficial, while I'm glad they aren't overdone with exp and lvling and grinding and farming etc. etc. which I guess is what those reviewers wanted.

The only thing I ever complained about in any RPG was the drudgery of trying to boost your level.

Fallout was great. Its random replayability was well done but the "Kill a rat, kill a bug, go to town, repeat" was a bit overdone.

So if this portion is missing from this game, it cannot be a bad thing.

If I can find my games that are left, I'll tell y'all.

I cannot find any of my Civ games except Civ I, on 3.5 of course.

I'd love a good game of Civ IV about now.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I've played the game a bit now (played all night until 9 am lol) and it's quite nice so far. I had to turn down the lightning to static instead of dynamic, but now I'm getting decent frame rates of around 35-55 fps. The game is quite realistic overall, stamina bar, inaccurate weapons, you easily die, you have to take cover like Baron von Snickers says, maximum weight you can carry etc.

Some of the side quests are a bit pointless, because you only get some not-so-useful item and that's it. It's hard to tell whether or not the game would've been better with a leveling system, I guess it depends on who's playing it. I love collecting experience points and leveling, so I wouldn't have said no, but if you're more into realistic FPS games this is better.

I give S.T.A.L.K.E.R 8 candybars out of 10 so far.

EDIT: Awesome link RedWood

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

:biggrin:

So far it seems fairly linear in terms of the story and where to go next, but there's usually more than one way to go about moving forward, and the fights I've had to do more than once were never the same twice. The AI is pretty hit-and-miss though, while it's nice that combat is non-scripted, I would have liked to see more in the way of situational awareness from NPCs.

stamina bar ... maximum weight you can carry

I liked this too, even more I like how going over by a few kg doesn't prevent you from moving, just makes your stamina drain much faster.

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I'm having big troubles letting go of stuff though, I had to dump some weapons yesterday before I stoped playing to be able to carry on (I miss you shotgun :sad: ). I'm used to collecting every single shell and bullet and save for the future, so it really hurts when I have to throw ammo away.

I'm gonna play some more right now. :smile:

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

I'm having big troubles letting go of stuff though, I had to dump some weapons yesterday before I stoped playing to be able to carry on (I miss you shotgun :sad: ). I'm used to collecting every single shell and bullet and save for the future, so it really hurts when I have to throw ammo away.
I'm gonna play some more right now. :smile:

lol im the same way. I constantly have 50kgs or so, and always have trouble deciding what to drop.

Does anyone know if you'll be able to carry more stuff further on in the game?

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

Which game was it where you had a chest in town to store stuff you wanted to retain, but not carry?

I remember playing it 5 or 10 years back.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I think that was Resident Evil.
I just bought it! got it for $35 from best buy. I'm installing it now. :smile:

Which game was it where you had a chest in town to store stuff you wanted to retain, but not carry?

Diablo 2?

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o

Could be. I did play that game. Played both Diablo's as a matter of fact.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I'm thinking Resident Evil as well. Awesome game btw.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R has some bugs it seems, for example the game keeps on crashing after playing for a couple of minutes from my last save point, which is very annoying. Other issues I've had are problems with the rain (large polygons or something flashing all over the screen) and the crosshair being partially invisible sometimes (fiddling around with the settings seems to help when I encounter this problem, dunno the exact setting causing it though).

WARNING INCREDIBLY SMALL SPOILER AHEAD



I'm currently at a place where you're supposed to kill some guy, but to get to him you have to kill ~30-40 other guys, feels like a whole army. Worst problem is that I barely have any ammo. Hopefully I'll be able to wack him before I have my marketing management exam at 8 am, which is a little more than 2 hours away =/.

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

Stalker has alot of bugs, but they promissed patching it up in the near future so that seems to be ok.

The game is massivly hard on anyhting but novice, but imo that makes it fun since it's more of a challenge.

Tried the first mission on the third degree of hardness for like 5 times, then I gave up and when't back a notch hehe.

You need to pick the right gun for a fight, and live of the ammo the otheres drop, that's imo the best way to go in most situations like that OtZman.
Grab a gun off the enemy, ususaly gives you enough ammo to kill 1 or 2 people if you're carefull with your ammo.

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Hell, is an half-filled auditorium

Tried the first mission on the third degree of hardness for like 5 times, then I gave up and when't back a notch hehe.

I did the same exact thing. I mean it wasn't even close. I'd be dead and there be like 8 guys left. I'll turn it up again when i got the hang of the game.

12 gauge slugs are brutal, FYI, and you can get a bunch by doing quests for the trader.

I tried the game on "Novice" and then "Master" difficulty, and as far as I can tell, it changes how well NPCs aim, and how many bullets it takes to kill them. On master it seems like I have a pea shooter and everyone else has a bazooka. I'm playing on "Veteran" now, and I think it's a good balance, though F6 and F7 are becoming very familiar keys. You can also change the difficulty level in the middle of a game through the menu, no need to start a new game :smile:

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o

It does indeed have a lot of bugs. The problem is that apparently old save files wont work after patching the game (which really sucks), at least this was the case with the 1.0001 patch.

Here's something I think is a bug: (WARNING FOR SPOILERS)

I managed to kill most of the enemies in the military camp I mentioned above (probably around 50 guys, which is a ridiculously large number). I then receive instructions over the radio to go back to the farm outside of the camp to receive my reward but no one's there and nothing happens when I get there. The mission is called Kill Lukash, and you have to take out three snipers and then kill the Lukash guy. Has anyone played this mission?

The mission isn't timed so I'll probably just take on another one and come back to this one later. Really sucks when there are so many bugs that the game is barely playable, and that you have to restart the whole game if you want to patch it.

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

Was your questgiver maybe killed? had that once :smile:

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Hell, is an half-filled auditorium

I'm stuck. I can't get past the rail road. Arg. The text on the mission tells me someone will meat me by the tunnel but when i get there the only person there is a corps. I've even tried running through but i get fried when i do. i tried to get past the military to no avail.
plus i have a item the trader wants but the door is not working. i don't know if it's a game glitch or the door is supposed to be locked or what.
If someone could tell me what I'm missing i would really appreciate it.

http://www.gamefaqs.com

When all else fails...

Edit:

Also this game sounds like it would be f**king awesome if it were an MMO type (team up with a buddy to take down a mission, gain "ranks" that allow access to better weapons/tools). /sigh. One can dream though...

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Posting And You

thanks Omega. That helped. found my way through. and it turns out the door was a glitch. had to use a nade to kick it open.

Junkyard God said:
Was your questgiver maybe killed? had that once :smile:

Yep, this was apparently the case for me as well. I loaded from before I started the mission, and set the difficulty to novice just to finish the mission. Kind of sucks that the mission doesn't fail when they're all dead, and that you continue to receive radio messages from them. I suggest everyone to save often, and to different files so that you can backtrack when needed.

Anyway, I finished the game yesterday, a bit shorter than I thought, but I didn't finish all the side quests etc so that could be the reason. Also there are more than one ending, for those that want to play it more than once.

SPOILER WARNING; I will discuss the ending below (in black text, highlight if you want to read)

I got the "I want to get rich" ending. I made it into Chernobyl, and to the Wish Granter. My character wished he was rich, and money started falling from the sky. But it was all an illusion; it wasn't money that fell from the sky, but parts of the roof. So my character dies, and that's it, the credits start rolling.

There are more than one endings in the game, and this is supposed to be the "worst" one, but still, I'm disappointed. The other endings didn't look that cool either. I think one of the reasons why the ending felt abrupt and unfulfilling was because there was no clear goal in the game, at least I didn't grasp it. Even if the game was a very free one where you could do whatever you want I think the story should've been a bit more clear, with one clear goal that the player had to accomplish, like killing Starlok. (if that was the guy's name, can't remember exactly).

END OF SPOILERS

[color=red][color=white]All in all, I think it was an OK game.

Some pros:

• Fun gameplay and nice feeling in the gunfights if you like realistic FPS games.
• Elements such as the Stamina Bar and maximum weight you can carry added even more realism to the game (again, this could be a bad thing if you're more of a Quake player)
• Good quality overall of the game, felt solid.

Cons:

• Quite a few bugs, some of them serious. Some of the bugs I've encountered range from weird graphics bugs to more serious bugs that stops you from completing missions. If I hadn't played the game yet, I'd wait for them to release a few more patches and fix most of the problems. The 1.0001 patch that was released didn't work with save games from before patching the game, so take that into consideration.
• Barely anything you can buy for all your money.[/color][/color][color=red][color=white]

The game was good, but nothing more, in my opinion. It never managed to catch me like a really good game does, but realistic FPS games aren't my favorites, so that could be the reason.

I give it 7 out of 10.[/color] [/color]

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

Does any one know how to use grenades? Not the launcher grenades, the one you throw?

Aim high and left click? It's about the same as throwing bolts, but the grenades bounce further. Right click throws it short.

Barely anything you can buy for all your money.

It seems like 1.0001 added lots of stuff to the traders' inventories.

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o

Aim high and left click? It's about the same as throwing bolts, but the grenades bounce further. Right click throws it short.

Actually, left click throws a standard distance (like 10 meters) but right click will allow you to charge the throw (a dashed circle appears around your crosshair showing the power of the throw). You can do a short throw by just right clicking or throw up to like 25 meters away if you charge it up.

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-- midkay

I meant how to get them to come out so you could throw them. I was trying to drag them to slots on the inventory screen. Anyways I figured out you just hit "4"

lol, I'm a noob.

Baron von Snickers said:
Aim high and left click? It's about the same as throwing bolts, but the grenades bounce further. Right click throws it short.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Barely anything you can buy for all your money.

It seems like 1.0001 added lots of stuff to the traders' inventories.</div></div>
That's good. Wonder how the could miss out something like that from the beginning. I finished with 120k or something.

I uploaded a couple of vidoes showing a couple of glitches:
Dead, flying pig
Strange lightning

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

Actually, left click throws a standard distance (like 10 meters) but right click will allow you to charge the throw (a dashed circle appears around your crosshair showing the power of the throw). You can do a short throw by just right clicking or throw up to like 25 meters away if you charge it up.

Good to know.

@OtZman
I would get the crazy polygon artifacts all over the screen every time it rained, the patch fixed it. The fact that it renders your existing save files useless kinda sucks, but it makes the game a lot more playable.

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o