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

[polonyc2]

I like the fact that the new game is going to be a prequel...and that there will be 50% new locations...seeing how the zone was 1 year prior should be a nice change of pace...I wonder which main character's origins they will be exploring

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

BTW, I'm still replaying the game, but I had to drop the difficulty to veteran as I found master to be a touch too unrealistic. I'm just off to see doc, so I'm really taking my time with it this time through. Lots of exploring.

I'm up to that point now in my first run through of the game...I just finished seeing Doctor and am now headed to the Warehouse District

I like to do most of my exploring and such during my first run through as it makes the game last longer plus it will feel new to me...during replays that same Wow factor will be missing so I try to get as much of that as I can during my first run through

[JimTram]

I'm right behind you. Think I'll nosy around a bit more before I see the doc. I have a year to explore!

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I'm up to that point now in my first run through of the game...I just finished seeing Doctor and am now headed to the Warehouse District

I like to do most of my exploring and such during my first run through as it makes the game last longer plus it will feel new to me...during replays that same Wow factor will be missing so I try to get as much of that as I can during my first run through

[polonyc2]

hopefully they will add a quick travel feature into the new game...all this running around from one end of the map to the other can get quite tedious...especially since they give you a lot of side quests which require you to criss cross the map so frequently...and the fact that each time you re-enter a previously explored area, the area once again is crawling with bandits, mercs, soldiers etc

I was in Yantar and the guy gave me a mission which required going all the way back to Cordon ....when passing through the different sections I tried to rush through as much as I could without engaging any of the new bandits as it was a pain in the butt backtracking so much

[traveler]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

hopefully they will add a quick travel feature into the new game...all this running around from one end of the map to the other can get quite tedious...especially since they give you a lot of side quests which require you to criss cross the map so frequently...and the fact that each time you re-enter a previously explored area, the area once again is crawling with bandits, mercs, soldiers etc

I was in Yantar and the guy gave me a mission which required going all the way back to Cordon ....when passing through the different sections I tried to rush through as much as I could without engaging any of the new bandits as it was a pain in the butt backtracking so much

That's why I go into "constant sprint" mode. If you sprint all the way to Cordon it is really quick. Oh, and I cut through Dark Valley when I do that run.



__________________

Asus P4P800 Deluxe
Intel P4 3.2 Extreme Edition @ 3.50 / Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu / Arctic Silver Ceramique
4x1024 OCZ PC3200 EL Dual Ch High Performance Platinum Edition @ 2-2-2-5
ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon X800 XT / Samsung Syncmaster 215TW 21" Wide Screen LCD
Two Western Digital RE2 500 Gb YS Raid Edition SATA hdd's
Two Western Digital 250 Gb Raid Edition hdd's
Two Western Digital My Book 500 Gb external USB2/Firewire hard drives
LiteOn 165H6S DVD Super AllWriter / LiteOn 166s 16x DVD-Rom
Onboard LAN
Antec SX1240 full tower
Soundblaster Audigy 2 zs Platinum / CambridgeSoundworks 5.1 DTT 3500 Digital Speakers
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
Razer eXactMat + eXactRest
win2000

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I'm up to that point now in my first run through of the game...I just finished seeing Doctor and am now headed to the Warehouse District

I like to do most of my exploring and such during my first run through as it makes the game last longer plus it will feel new to me...during replays that same Wow factor will be missing so I try to get as much of that as I can during my first run through

The first time you play a great game is special and you will never be able to repeat that experience (ie: play it for the first time again, bit like your first kiss). If the game has what I call great "replayability" factor then you get a great experience on subsequent play throughs. Fortunately, STALKER is in that category and replay factor is high.

When you go further north to the warehouse district you are really about half way through the game IMO and the RPG aspects become more important from there onwards, so you have a lot of fun before you.

I did a great deal of exploring all throughout the game as I always do however this gameworld is so big so there is a lot that is missed on the first play through, bit like watching a good film the second time and getting more out of it.

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

hopefully they will add a quick travel feature ...

As traveler said you can equip some artifacts to enhance your sprint and then its quite quick, but you do still have to go through the level changes.

Actually, I quite like having to go back as it is more realistic than fast travel and I have found interesting stuff on the way back from somewhere I didnt get the first time and there is always that military base to take on in Cordon which you cant really do when you first start out.

Sometimes I chose not to go back and complete some mission because I decided that I was better off conserving resources and other occasions I decided it was worth it. I like that dynamic in the game, whereas fast travel would take that away. (I never used it in Oblivion either).

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

Sometimes I chose not to go back and complete some mission because I decided that I was better off conserving resources and other occasions I decided it was worth it. I like that dynamic in the game, whereas fast travel would take that away. (I never used it in Oblivion either).

there is a little bit of a cheat to doing the side missions, especially when it involves getting a particular artifact...I usually have the Barkeep or Trader list all the side jobs for me but don't actually accept them until I have the particular artifact in my possesion

as far as those "kill the stalker" type of missions, I do a Quicksave right before speaking to the Trader etc...I then have him list all the side mssions...I accept all of them (because you need to accept them before it shows you the location of some of the side missions)...I then go back to my previous Quicksave and knowing where the missions are, I only accept the ones that are in the general vicinity of where I am going next as far as the Main Quest

-don't know if that makes sense or not but it makes sense to me

[JimTram]

In this game - it definitely pays off sometimes to stealth away from a fight. I can't recall how many times I wiped out the soldiers beneath the railroad bridge. Yet they returned!!!

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by traveler

Did you find Gordon?

Originally Posted by polonyc2

was that really supposed to be Gordon Freeman?...the PDA just said his name was "Freeman" (see attachment)...although it did look like him

Spoiler:

it is Gordon Freeman!!!...I just read his PDA and he talks about Black Mesa and his crowbar...lol...what a great Easter Egg

[zapionics<alt>]

spoiler tags please! heh heh, ... I like it, but its very irreverent and cheeky to such an iconic game!

Originally Posted by JimTram

In this game - it definitely pays off sometimes to stealth away from a fight. I can't recall how many times I wiped out the soldiers beneath the railroad bridge. Yet they returned!!!

The amazing thing is that they dont just re-appear on the spot, but they trek in from great distances away! You can actually encounter them out in the zone on their way and take them down before they get there (thus ensuring the bridge remains clear)

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

spoiler tags please! heh heh, STALKER kills HL... I like it, but its very irreverent and cheeky to such an iconic game!

I wonder if THQ needed Valve's permission to put that in the game

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I wonder if THQ needed Valve's permission to put that in the game

I cant imagine that, but it will be interesting to see if there is a retaliatory reference to STALKER in HL2:Ep2...

[traveler]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

As traveler said you can equip some artifacts to enhance your sprint and then its quite quick, but you do still have to go through the level changes.

Actually, I quite like having to go back as it is more realistic than fast travel and I have found interesting stuff on the way back from somewhere I didnt get the first time and there is always that military base to take on in Cordon which you cant really do when you first start out.

Sometimes I chose not to go back and complete some mission because I decided that I was better off conserving resources and other occasions I decided it was worth it. I like that dynamic in the game, whereas fast travel would take that away. (I never used it in Oblivion either).

Yep. No fast travel needed. Too much going on on the way to the destination.



__________________

Asus P4P800 Deluxe
Intel P4 3.2 Extreme Edition @ 3.50 / Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu / Arctic Silver Ceramique
4x1024 OCZ PC3200 EL Dual Ch High Performance Platinum Edition @ 2-2-2-5
ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon X800 XT / Samsung Syncmaster 215TW 21" Wide Screen LCD
Two Western Digital RE2 500 Gb YS Raid Edition SATA hdd's
Two Western Digital 250 Gb Raid Edition hdd's
Two Western Digital My Book 500 Gb external USB2/Firewire hard drives
LiteOn 165H6S DVD Super AllWriter / LiteOn 166s 16x DVD-Rom
Onboard LAN
Antec SX1240 full tower
Soundblaster Audigy 2 zs Platinum / CambridgeSoundworks 5.1 DTT 3500 Digital Speakers
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
Razer eXactMat + eXactRest
win2000

[polonyc2]

I just found out that I could remove the scopes from my weapons by right clicking on the weapon in inventory mode...all this time I thought I had to get a new scope for each weapon

I finally found the Moonlight artifact!!...found it on my return trip to the Agroprom Sewers...now if only I could get my hands on the Soul artifact...currently I'm using 3 Meat Chunks, 1 Slug and 1 Moonlight

I also found 4 out of the 6 rare artifacts in the game---Pellicle, Spring, Battery and Mama's Beads...rare artifacts have no negative effects...but honestly they are not very useful over the regular artifacts, they are just worth more money...I'm gonna hold on to them for a bit longer then sell them