About to play this for the first time. What am I in for? What are some essential mods?

About to play this for the first time. What am I in for? What are some essential mods?

arsenal mod

Play the vanilla game before you try out mods. After you beat it, I would recommend the Lost Alpha release, as it adds a bunch of content.

Also you must play the game on the most difficult mode. or your bullets won't register correctly. Turn off crosshairs too.

I thought I would be into this after playing through the metro games and being recommended Stalker but man its ugly and the gunplay is really bad stopped after 15 minutes and uninstalled.

One of the best PC exclusives and most atmospheric games out there. Also next to no handholding, so there's a proper learning curve.

Consult this Starting Guide,
then see the /vg/'s huge Stalker General for more tips and links: Play in the release order. Start with no mods - only latest patch, OR get the full "Starter Pack" first; these contain bug-fixers and light visual mods that can help performance as well.
Leave big overhauls for later playthrougs. Avoid the "Complete" -mods. Always play on MASTER difficulty for best realism and atmosphere, and disable crosshair.

Don't give up in the beginning! The starting gear sucks ass and first area can be a bit boring.

yeah, I unfortunately had the same issue. I kinda wish I had played them prior to the metro games.

I respect old games and notalgia and shit, but it was too old for me to have fun

>15 minutes
jesus christ son, you're barely out of the intro video at that point!

I'd be bashing you to hell and back right now, if I didn't know that way too many rookies these days have problems "getting into" STALKER. Either they find the very beginning underwhelming and boring, or alternatively (and more commonly) literally 2hard to even beat the first mission.

Like said gazillion times in the past, you really need to invest time into STALKER. The beginning area is literally the Zone's kindergarten, with nothing too fascinating going on, and the arsenal in the beginning is literally shit. There's very RPG-like progression when it comes to gear and missions, but a skillfull player can still beat the whole game with nothing but those early Maks and AK74, if they so desire.

>too old
2007 is now "old" ?? Fuck me, and fuck you!
But seriously sonny jims; forget everything you know about Metro, and you will do a lot better. This ain't your typical, linear consolitis shooter with cinematics and hit-scan guns! This is some actual survival adventuring, in first person, with actual bullet-physics and basic needs you need to take care of.

"Fun" is just a buzzword. STALKER games are atmospheric, engaging, and very rewarding in the end.

>with actual bullet-physics
Which also happen to be hilariously silly.

Just play on master difficulty, the lower difficulties are absolutely retarded for both you and the AI.

Alright, friendly grandpappy, user. I'll give it another shot and go into it with an open mind. Should I stay vanilla?

>Which also happen to be hilariously silly.
How's so? It's far better and exciting system than the 25+ years old hitscan shit we still see in modern shooters. It actually makes your skill and choice of weapon and its ammo count, instead of every piece you come across being some laser-accurate copypaste weapons, with slightly different stats.

The late-game gear obviously wipes the floor with the early Makarovs and Sawnoffs. I'd say by the time you get a full-size AK, pop a scope on top, and load in some AP rounds, a major paradigm shift happens for the player's favor. By the time you got 9x39 rifles, you're literally unstoppable.

This too. People rave about Metro's Ranger HC mode, without realizing STALKER actually started the whole thing. You only do yourself more harm by playing on easier modes.

>grandpappy user
jesus, I'm not even 30 yet!

>should I stay vanilla
yes. PATCHED vanilla.
Starter Pack in whole is OK too, providing some extra fixes + visual overhauls, but those aren't exactly obligatory.

The key is to remain calm, think before you act, and preferably avoid pointless conflicts. When you need to fight, though, you really should look up good, solid cover, preferably on higher ground, do the low-crouch, and aim with the sights.

I really need to pick up this game again. I still have it installed because I'm hoping one day I'll be brave enough to return to the Zone

>It's far better and exciting system
Yeah, so exciting seeing my bullets flying left and right, upwards and downwards....
>9x39 rifles
Rare ammo and don't really offer a significant advantage over top tier NATO stuff.

not him, but yes, go with vanilla first. Assuming you got it from Steam or such, it should be patched already too. You can use the ZRP mod to gain a bit more control over the game and get some small extra fixes, but overall anything from 1.0004 is smooth as butter.

Would still recommend doing multiple "hard" saves, just in case.

I assume the GOG version has the latest patch? Unless it's a user made patch you guys are talking about.

>Yeah, so exciting seeing my bullets flying left and right, upwards and downwards....
There is a minor cone of fire involved as well, which kinda simulates things like trembling hands and bad aiming stance. But overall, if you stay still and ADS, the shots should go to the direction your barrel points at. No, they will not be 100% pixel accurate with your sights, especially with early game guns, but that kinda makes it more "realistic" as well, in mechanical sense.

>rare ammo and don't really offer a significant advantage over top tier NATO stuff
just like 5.56, the 9x39 also stops being "rare" after Army Warehouses. The 9x39 also packs helluva punch, eating through body armor with ease, and that bullet drop makes it easy to do head-shots, even from behind cover, once you master it.

Sure, a G36 or Sig550 with AP rounds get the job done, but a guy with Groza, AS-VAL or VSS will easily take down a NATO shooter.

Yes, Steam and GOG versions are patched to latest (1.0005 or 6).
There's no "fan patches", but mods like the ZRP *kinda* could count as one. The Starter Pack could be considered as kind-of "vanilla 2.0", doing very minimal changes and next to no additions.

>minor
~~~minor~~~
>VAL and Groza
The guns that can't mount scopes and shoot only in auto mode? Yeeah. I'd stick to my NATO guns.

>About to play this for the first time.
>What are some essential mods?

Holy fuck, every time I see this shit I cringe. Asking for mods before you've even played a fucking game.

It's fine, there are mods that are good for a first playthrough. Especially when we talk about an old, buggy game with a big community.

>The guns that can't mount scopes and shoot only in auto mode
But they can, and also have single-shot mode.
Stop typing bullshit.

>old, buggy game.
STALKER SoC only USED TO BE buggy to the point of being almost broken. Back in 2007 that is.

Now, 6 patches later, there's really no problems anymore. I beat the game with v1.0002 originally, and that was already a huge improvement from 1.0.

Only in CS' case would I recommend using all possible fixes right off the bat. This includes the STARTER PACK.

Just stop and get AMK Autumn edition or Autumn Aurora, easy overhaul mods to set up.

Arsenal mod. Remove head bobbing mod.

They don't mount scopes in SoC (PSO, essentially, the only Russian scope it has), also couldn't switch them to auto mode for whatever reason. Well, Groza, maybe VAL can be switched, I didn't try it really.
I played with patch 1.(lots of zeroes)6 and had a bug that forced me to restart a location.

Hell, if you look at the list of shit something like ZRP fixes...

Vanilla is so not fucking neccasary at all, also people don't have time to play an entire game through vanilla just so they can do again with some mods.

I think he'll be okay playing an overhaul mod and just learn the game like they give it. It may be hard at times but if you're willing you will get good fast and used to it.

They don't compare at fucking all, and if you're too daft to have fun with STALKER then shit just stick to your fucking linear railroad shooter.

>also people don't have time to play
stopped reading right there.
If you don't have "time" to play a potentially 100+ hour game, why even bother starting?

You won't get a realistic view of the game if you start with tons of huge mods right off the bat. Instead, they'll be playing some hikki-teen's personal wet dream version of it, usually totally butchering both the style and balance of the game.

I have played the 3 vanilla games multiple times, and then replayed them with various mods later on. I'd say it's totally worth it to play them as they actually are, and then re-experience them with some new spice later on.

Hell, I still get an itch to do pure vanilla run from time to time. There's just this hard to describe feeling in the original games, that just about all mods wipe out and replace with totally different mood.

The VAL can be switched, as can the VSS. And PSO is fine in this game because all scopes have the same exact distances, the only difference is the flavor of the skin.