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The last one call of prypyat is most stable and with the complete mod is pretty sweet. Clear sky was meh i hear and the first one falls somewhere between the two.
Start with Shadow of Chernobyl. Both it and Call of Pripyat are certainly worth playing (Clear Sky is more debatable), and given that Shadow of Chernobyl is chronologically first in the series, you might want to play it first to avoid any spoilers that come up in Call of Pripyat, but you don't need to understand Shadow of Chernobyl to play Call of Pripyat since I remember them going over all the important stuff from the first game before even throwing you into Call of Pripyat. Still, I also think Shadow of Chernobyl serves as a better intro in terms of gameplay since Call of Pripyat sort of assumes you've already managed to fight your way through the first two games and balances its difficulty accordingly, but all of the games will be an incredibly challenging experience.
Regardless of whichever one you start with, though, make sure to have them patched up, even with reliable user-made patches. None of them were perfectly stable even after the final developer's patch, and user patches and mods do fix some of the issues in all the games. Call of Pripyat was the most stable of the three, but it still had its fair share of issues.
Regardless of whichever one you start with, though, make sure to have them patched up, even with reliable user-made patches. None of them were perfectly stable even after the final developer's patch, and user patches and mods do fix some of the issues in all the games. Call of Pripyat was the most stable of the three, but it still had its fair share of issues.
start with shadows, skip clear sky.
regarding mods i would just check mod db for it, pick the popular mods that fix stuff and maybe one or two that change the graphic more to your liking. if you encounter things that bug the shit out of you in the first couple of hours mod those away. that's how approach modding a game anyway.
regarding mods i would just check mod db for it, pick the popular mods that fix stuff and maybe one or two that change the graphic more to your liking. if you encounter things that bug the shit out of you in the first couple of hours mod those away. that's how approach modding a game anyway.
Shadow of Chernobyl, do install Zone Reclamation Project and all official patches though. Game runs arse otherwise.
Don't gett me started on how broken Clear Sky is, I can rant hours about it.
Call of Pripyat is decent but somehow it lacks something that made SoC great.
Edit: There should also be better optimised shaders for download somewhere for SoC.
Don't gett me started on how broken Clear Sky is, I can rant hours about it.
Call of Pripyat is decent but somehow it lacks something that made SoC great.
Edit: There should also be better optimised shaders for download somewhere for SoC.
The Stalker Complete updates graphics, weather effects and many other smaller things. You gotta have this mod installed for Shadow of Chernobyl.
I personally think Call of Pripyat is the best one, but I still recommend starting with Shadow of Chernobyl. Skip Clear Sky, it's just not worth the hassle.
Do NOT play them without the Complete mod, however.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-complete-2009
http://www.moddb.com/mods/call-of-pripyat-complete
They are vast improvements over the vanilla version of either game.
Do NOT play them without the Complete mod, however.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-complete-2009
http://www.moddb.com/mods/call-of-pripyat-complete
They are vast improvements over the vanilla version of either game.
Sorry, it has been too long since I last played the games, so I don't remember many of the user improvements outside of the Complete Mod. I do remember there being an unofficial patch 1.0007, but I'm not sure if it improved anything beyond the multiplayer, which isn't even worth playing anyways. Beyond those two, I can't remember anything else.shapaza said:
Shadow of Chernobyl with the Oblivion Lost mod is, in my opinion, the best the series has to offer. Call of Pripyat is more polished and stable but I found that compared to the former, money and supplies were far too abundant and by the end of the first area I had the best equipment money could buy and the game, while still amazingly atmospheric, felt a bit too safe (though the Misery mod does look like it might fix this). Meanwhile, I would say that SoC has a more desperate/frontier/unknown feel to it Which I think encapsulates the series better than the other games.
All in all, I would say that CoP is the more polished and accessible of the two while SoC is a harsher but more engaging experience. I wouldn't really bother with Clear Sky.
All in all, I would say that CoP is the more polished and accessible of the two while SoC is a harsher but more engaging experience. I wouldn't really bother with Clear Sky.
Definitely start with Shadows of Chernobyl, with the Complete 2009 Mod.
As to what you should expect (the basics);
-The first 2-3 hours are challenging (especially on higher difficulties) because the available guns are very inaccurate. This is not your average FPS, don't expect to perform any headshots with pistols at a range exceeding 10 meters.
-Stealth (especially during a particular infiltration section later on) is your greatest friend. You will spend plenty of time crouch-walking (reduces noise/ increases accuracy).
-Enemies can and will flank you and they can fling grenades pretty damn accurately, i.e. you have to keep moving between cover when battling groups.
As to what you should expect (the basics);
-The first 2-3 hours are challenging (especially on higher difficulties) because the available guns are very inaccurate. This is not your average FPS, don't expect to perform any headshots with pistols at a range exceeding 10 meters.
-Stealth (especially during a particular infiltration section later on) is your greatest friend. You will spend plenty of time crouch-walking (reduces noise/ increases accuracy).
-Enemies can and will flank you and they can fling grenades pretty damn accurately, i.e. you have to keep moving between cover when battling groups.
Get Call of Pripyat, install the CoP Complete mod, and prepare to have your mind blown. Personally I could never get into either of the other games, I think my issue with SoC was that the early game weapons had stupidly awful accuracy and did popgun damage which made fights feel like a chore.
1.0007 is ZRP mod, which I already recommend to the OP. I can't recommend it enough. It also keeps the game vanilla unlike Complete Mod.MysticSlayer said:
I personally think Clear Sky would be an okay one to start with since it's actually a prequel but SoC is a good start also. If you plan to play Pripyat do not use the Complete mod because it is a disaster and there are other mods that can fix/improve the game better.
Start with the first one. As you progress through the series there are tweaks to the gameplay that make going back to an earlier game from a later one awkward.
I played the series because as you progress the most effective weapons become sniper rifles, and I like range shooting over close encounters. This is not a run and gun style game, it's more about sneaking and scrounging for resources and space/weight management and finesse. Oh, and starting over from saves, because while the humans are predictable the rare mutants you encounter are overpowered.
The game is a little buggy and not very immersive, but gives you a lot of freedom to explore. The mission system often seems like a chore list, and runs on an unforgiving timer, so watch the clock. It can also get repetitive as you progress. Especially in the first game you need to do some side missions so you don't get the bad ending. (Finding the giant mystical cube is the bad ending, and causes you to miss out on the somewhat lame but action-heavy finale).
I played the series because as you progress the most effective weapons become sniper rifles, and I like range shooting over close encounters. This is not a run and gun style game, it's more about sneaking and scrounging for resources and space/weight management and finesse. Oh, and starting over from saves, because while the humans are predictable the rare mutants you encounter are overpowered.
The game is a little buggy and not very immersive, but gives you a lot of freedom to explore. The mission system often seems like a chore list, and runs on an unforgiving timer, so watch the clock. It can also get repetitive as you progress. Especially in the first game you need to do some side missions so you don't get the bad ending. (Finding the giant mystical cube is the bad ending, and causes you to miss out on the somewhat lame but action-heavy finale).
Atmosphere and immersion mostly come down to personal preference and can be tweaked with various mods as well. And yes, they can be quite buggy when not patched, even more so if you mod them without much knowledge. Also of important note is that they are 32bit games and as such can bogg down on highest settings even if you have a good rig, even more so if you use resource heavy mods (this mostly goes for CS and CoP)
Yeah, as some have mentioned, start with Shadow of Chernobyl, while Clear Sky is a prequel, gameplay wise it is closer to Call of Pripyat (which is in that regard the best out of the three). So, it pretty much goes in the same succession as they were released.
As for ShoC mods or unofficial patches, personally I can vouch for the fallowing,
ZRP is a very good choice if you wish for more or less vanilla but improved experience
NEWSA+SIMBION http://stalkermod.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3
Old Good Stalker Evolution or OGSE (using it currently)
For new storyline there is Priboi Story
Can't really say much about CS mods, as I have not played it as often as I have others
CoP is, as said, gameplay wise the best.
As for mods, well Misery ain't bad.
There are of course lots of miscellaneous mods out there on Mod DB and on http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t=community&s=forums&offset=-120 and a whole other big arse venue on the Russian speaking community side.
And as always, play vanilla versions first, then and only then start slapping on mods.
ed: While the Complete series are decent mods, personally I think there are better ones.
Yeah, as some have mentioned, start with Shadow of Chernobyl, while Clear Sky is a prequel, gameplay wise it is closer to Call of Pripyat (which is in that regard the best out of the three). So, it pretty much goes in the same succession as they were released.
As for ShoC mods or unofficial patches, personally I can vouch for the fallowing,
ZRP is a very good choice if you wish for more or less vanilla but improved experience
NEWSA+SIMBION http://stalkermod.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3
Old Good Stalker Evolution or OGSE (using it currently)
For new storyline there is Priboi Story
Can't really say much about CS mods, as I have not played it as often as I have others
CoP is, as said, gameplay wise the best.
As for mods, well Misery ain't bad.
There are of course lots of miscellaneous mods out there on Mod DB and on http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t=community&s=forums&offset=-120 and a whole other big arse venue on the Russian speaking community side.
And as always, play vanilla versions first, then and only then start slapping on mods.
ed: While the Complete series are decent mods, personally I think there are better ones.