Gold: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by CanterwoodBoy

I just found out a great new way to get a new shiny GP-37 and to make a lot of cash. I am friend with Freedom (and with Duty), and I did not want to lose that by killing one of the Freedom soldiers to get his gun (though sometimes you can pull it of if you knife them and nobody sees you). ...

I had to chuckle when I read this, you remind me of that old saying; "with friends like you who needs enemies?"

[CrowdAds]

[johnrr6]

Originally Posted by TQ

I just found a grenade launcher and a bunch of grenades to go with it in the basement of an abandoned farmhouse...sweet.

If you can get an exosuit----and carry that thing along with 9 or ten grenades----it will become VERY handy when you have to clear the NPP---devasting in those tight hallways...

I made the mistake of getting Duty mad at me when I cleared the squad in the farmhouse by the Warehouses.....

Then---I still tried to complete the mission of getting the Bullpup to General Vronin back by the Barkeep......

Had to fight my way all the way back----only to discover that I was now Duty's enemy-----thought if I fought my way to Vronin----might still be able to make the deal......

Big mistake----burned up all my grenades just to get out of town alive---never found enough grenades after that to make it worthwhile to lug the thing around....

The occassional one I did find worked great in the Tunder S-14

My advice----if you get the Bullpup----forget Vronin----DRIVE ON!

[CanterwoodBoy]

Originally Posted by TQ

I just found a grenade launcher and a bunch of grenades to go with it in the basement of an abandoned farmhouse...sweet.

You can find another one in the Freedom base, in their armory, which allows you to give one to duty to complete a side mission and retain one for yourself. The Freedom armory also has a lot of grenades for the launcher.

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by johnrr6

...thought if I fought my way to Vronin----might still be able to make the deal...

well 10 points for persistance!

I'm replaying bits and doing crazy things just for the heck of it, lotsa fun. I just combed the wildlands and there is a ton of good stuff hidden there in secret stashes. Sometimes I found decoy stashes and had to look a little further to find the real thing.

Did anyone do that snitch job for Freedom? I finished that and for some crazy reason all the dogs and pigs went friendly to me! Wouldnt attack at all, but only lasted a little while before they turned back on me, the dogs!

Ideas for people who are replaying *Warning Spoilers*

Spoiler:

Here's some methods to get Duty and Freedom friendly:
One way to get both Freedom and Duty to go green is to get the Bulletproof armour for Freedom and the Bulldog for Duty. The other way is to do the sniper job for Duty but decline the second job. They will then attack Freedom, but quickly sprint over to Freedom and rat out Duty to them. Then do nothing and later after Duty are all dead go back to Freedom for the reward. At that point everyone is friendly to you, Duty because you took out the sniper and Freedom because the Duty squad was wiped out.

[CanterwoodBoy]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

....

Did anyone do that snitch job for Freedom? I finished that and for some crazy reason all the dogs and pigs went friendly to me! Wouldnt attack at all, but only lasted a little while before they turned back on me, the dogs!
...

I am not sure. When I kill animals in Army Warehouse, they show up as friendly when searching them, but a boar attacked me.
Regarding Duty and Freedom, I have not found out the advantage of having them as friendly as opposed to simply neutral. This whole friends scheme as well as the reputation system are half-baked.

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by CanterwoodBoy

I am not sure. When I kill animals in Army Warehouse, they show up as friendly when searching them, but a boar attacked me...

This must be another bug as I dont expect animals to become friendly towards stalkers.

Originally Posted by CanterwoodBoy

...Regarding Duty and Freedom, I have not found out the advantage of having them as friendly as opposed to simply neutral. This whole friends scheme as well as the reputation system are half-baked.

The advantage of having Duty or Freedom go green is that they will offer you much better deals and goodies in trade and for rewards. The trouble is its not very attractive because acquiring money in the game is not difficult.
Ditto for rep, you get better prices in trade if you are well liked.

The problem is that money is too easy and this needs a patch IMO, so I do agree with you that it is not right as it currently stands.

One consolation is that as you do more jobs they become friendly to you anyway, and the jobs are really where the fun is. Some of the jobs offer some pretty nice firefights and this game is a shooter after all. (As noted earlier choosing not to do jobs is like choosing not to play.)

As far as the game mechanic of enemies/friendlies/neutrals/rep/jobs, I think thats pretty sound. If you misbehave then you can make enemies in the zone and that does have a big impact on the difficulties you will encounter. Neutrals wont attack you on site but they dont offer discounts or special items in trade either.

Unfortunately until they patch this money issue then many players will adopt a strategy of keeping neutrals neutral rather than trying to make them friendly, (unless thet want to see what better items are to be had in trade, something I'm doing now).

Remember this is a survival shooter first, role playing game definite second.

Just on this subject, there are some clever components there; with stashes being revealed on dead NPC's, anomalies to collect with decisions to either keep or sell them (constrained by carrying capacity), and money to be made. I dont think there is anything structurally wrong here, its just a balancing issue with the collection of money that needs a patch.

[CanterwoodBoy]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

...
The advantage of having Duty or Freedom go green is that they will offer you much better deals and goodies in trade and for rewards. The trouble is its not very attractive because acquiring money in the game is not difficult.
Ditto for rep, you get better prices in trade if you are well liked...

Are you sure of what? I never noticed any difference in the prices offered by other stalkers, which seem to follow a set of rules (e.g. artifact worth 2500, then price equals 1625). Also, the only trader who seems to give better prices is the scientist (who does not seem to care that I have killed his friend by mistake).

As for reputation, it is really broken, as it is either excellent or terrible. The driver seems to be whether you perform side quests succesfully or not. And it does not seem to do anything in game.

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

...Remember this is a survival shooter first, role playing game definite second...

Agreed, but it feels like at some stage it was supposed to be more and they just did not get around to finishing it.

[TQ]

Originally Posted by CanterwoodBoy

Agreed, but it feels like at some stage it was supposed to be more and they just did not get around to finishing it.

That's exactly what happened. I began reading about the game several years ago and it was originally envisioned as more action RPG than shooter.
On the way towards release most of the RPG stuff was dropped and a shooter it became. It's one of the reasons I didn't jump on Stalker when it was first released but all the guys who were having fun with it and talking about it here convinced me otherwise.
I'd glad I finally started playing it but from time to time I wonder what it might have been had that original game concept seen daylight. It may well have been more Deus Ex and less like F.E.A.R.
Not that this is necessarily a bad thing...it's just a thing. I still can't stop playing it.
Still, it does have a bit of an unfinished feel to it.

[johnrr6]

Originally Posted by CanterwoodBoy

Agreed, but it feels like at some stage it was supposed to be more and they just did not get around to finishing it.

Yes----I think what we have here is a project that got started and stopped several times----and ultimately----they just had to go with what they could....

Hence some of the rough edges and the little bugs...

Maybe some later patches will solve a lot of the little annoyances

Even with these problems, however----it is still the finest and most entertaining shooter I've ever played.

Those Russian boys are to be commended----hope we see more from them....

[TQ]

Originally Posted by johnrr6

If you can get an exosuit----and carry that thing along with 9 or ten grenades----

I just saw some guys wearing exo-suits or the first time. In my heart I broke the Tenth Commandment.

[johnrr6]

It is addictive....

I got fairly bored with Doom3 and Fear----good games----but was glad to finish them---expansion packs the same.....

I got tired of PREYs silly puzzels---but still a decent game....

FarCry was excellent and I loved the huge maps....

This game kept you totally on your toes throughout----much like DeusEx One----the sequel stunk though....

The little bugs need polishing----the bugs are crazy in this game and never seem to be the same----one time I can blow a locked door open with grenades....next night---replaying the same level---same circumstances----it will NOT blow open.

Guess I'll just chalk it up to part of the "challenge" while playing.

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by CanterwoodBoy

Are you sure of what? I never noticed any difference in the prices offered by other stalkers, which seem to follow a set of rules (e.g. artifact worth 2500, then price equals 1625). Also, the only trader who seems to give better prices is the scientist...

I'm sure thats whats supposed to happen. We were told this in pre-release interviews with the developers. Cant say I've tested it tho, I never felt any need to budget or worry about cash so didnt care much about prices. Thats because the money is too easy, as I said.

Originally Posted by CanterwoodBoy

...As for reputation, it is really broken, as it is either excellent or terrible. The driver seems to be whether you perform side quests succesfully or not. And it does not seem to do anything in game...

I did notice NPC's were often happy to say "hey there" to me even tho I didnt know them, which I put down to high rep, but I wasnt really tracking it. Its supposed to drive one of the alternative endings as well.

Originally Posted by CanterwoodBoy

...Agreed, but it feels like at some stage it was supposed to be more and they just did not get around to finishing it.

Ok, so what we're questioning is the following:
a) Rep - no effect ingame ?
b) Friendly trade - no discounts/special items ?
c) Jobs not attractive financially- money too easy ?

Which are all core components of the RPG aspect. Pretty sad if they're all broken.

Comments everyone please!

[edit] you guys are quick, comments already before I was able to post!
Are you saying you think these things are broken for sure?
And I agree its a great shooter anyway! but I would like to think the rpg aspects were working

TQ, I hope you dont feel you got misled by this thread? We need to get some answers and update the FAQ at the start so others dont feel that!

[edit2] Ok, I've updated the FAQ to warn people who may be expecting an RPG experience that we suspect that part is broken.

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by johnrr6

...I got fairly bored with Doom3 and Fear----good games----but was glad to finish them---expansion packs the same.....

I got tired of PREYs silly puzzels---but still a decent game....
...

I agree, Doom 3 was so boring that about half way through I just wished it would end. Looked great tho. FEAR has some fantastic combat AI and it looks fantastic and very polished, but its all corridor stuff and nothing really new there. I much preferred CoR which was a better done example of that kind of shooter, IMO. Prey? I didnt like it unfortunately, found it to be just a series of contrived puzzles.

But there is no comparison with S.T.A.L.K.E.R., I'd only compare this game with HL2 or with Far Cry, and I think its better than HL2 in the way it draws you in to the game world, very atmospheric.

[traveler]

Originally Posted by johnrr6

Yes----I think what we have here is a project that got started and stopped several times----and ultimately----they just had to go with what they could....

Hence some of the rough edges and the little bugs...

Maybe some later patches will solve a lot of the little annoyances

Even with these problems, however----it is still the finest and most entertaining shooter I've ever played.

Those Russian boys are to be commended----hope we see more from them....

I finally got a game underway.

I see what you mean. The artifacts could have had a larger role similiar to the bionic canisters in Deus Ex One. Or am I still too early in the game to determine that.



__________________

Visit and chat with the Buds at the #ABxZone channel on EFnet Internet Relay Chat
If you don't have it then download mIRC from www.mIRC.com

[TQ]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

TQ, I hope you dont feel you got misled by this thread? We need to get some answers and update the FAQ at the start so others dont feel that!

Mislead? No, not at all. In fact it was this thread that got me interested in playing the game.
From all early accounts Stalker was to be an action RPG like Deus Ex. Along the way much of that was jettisoned (guess the devs were overachievers) and it became the game it is now. I read about how the game had been truncated and crossed it off my list of must-haves, but I followed this thread closely and after a few weeks decided I had to play it based on the experiences detailed by everyone here.
I'm glad I picked it up because I like a really good atmospheric shooter and this is definitely that.