Well, i'm finally going to play it

Well, i'm finally going to play it.
Anything i should know before i jump into the base game.

Mod it

not if you've played SOC. mods are for autists, don't bother

did you play the others?

I have not. This is my first S.T.A.L.K.E.R Experience.

I was going to grab some good old' cola, play with my headphones on in the dark and play till morning.

play SOC first

>This is my first S.T.A.L.K.E.R Experience.
play the first two first fellow stalker, or at least soc

you can turn off the headbob in the console. dont mod it.

>unironically recommending clear sky

Play on Master difficulty, because lower difficulties fuck up the gunplay by adding RNG to bullets that sometimes makes them just disappear.

>Turning off headbob
Who does this?

Okay so shadow of chernoybl first?
Then move on to CoP?

Is there any particular reason for this? I'd assume its story related?

Clear Sky might be worse mechanancially, but I had more fun with it than CoP. CoP just felt bland and sorta boring, CoC(k) takes all the good shit from CoP and puts it in the areas of CS and SoC

yes it's story related, and that's the release order so I don't know why you wouldn't do it. clear sky doesn't exist, don't play it

>Is there any particular reason for this?
besides obvious story elements soc is a fantastic video game.

>I don't know why you wouldn't do it.
When i was in an earlier thread i was just told the opposite but it does make more sense to play the prior game first if it holds up and is story related.

Master Difficulty. Yeah i heard about that alot too'. Is that just for CoP or all of them?

Don't do the chimera mission as soon as you get it.

Also some of your choices matter, maybe not severely but sometimes.

All of them.

spill de beans

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.

Cheers for the photo and general link.
I've booted up the game in Master with no mods or anything that wasn't available with the Steam purchase.

>Is there any particular reason for this?
SoC is the first game in the trilogy, and the ONLY game to even try and introduce you to the Zone's wonders. The sequels assume you already know the basics, and just throw you out to do Stalkan', adding a few new features on top. And yes, CoP is almost a direct sequel, ending the series.

Plus, SoC is still the very best STALKER game. It's just structured in such a brilliant, memorable way.

Remember to have fun, and that it is just a game, and it is okay to not be the best at it the first time. Oh, and it is better to play on the hardest settings so that way you can actually enjoy the gunplay. Have fun stalker, happy stalking.

i was really hoping you'd get to visit the power plant again before the series ended. i'll never forget exploring it with the geiger counter clicking like crazy and running low on vodka and meds in soc.

>I've booted up the game in Master with no mods or anything that wasn't available with the Steam purchase.
Attaboy. Couple console commands you may find useful:

>reduce headbob / aim floatiness
cam_inert 0.1

>How to fix the "stretchy shadows" in widescreen
r2_sun_near 20
r2_sun_near_border 1

Also, don't use the in-game AA. It literally doesn't work, yet saps your framerate hard.

So i've decided to play with minimal lighting.
The atmosphere at night with wolves howling and stuff is creeping me out (which is great) and i can barely see 10meters in front of me even with the flashlight out.

you'll eventually find a better suit with nightvision

Okay cheers for this.
I'm assuming max res and the auto detection of graphics is all fine to leave alone?

check the graphics settings to be sure. you can crank everything up in stalker games. make sure you have full dynamic lighting turned on too.

If your PC has been made during this decade, you can pretty much max everything. Make sure your game's set to DirectX9 "Full Dynamic Lighting" mode, or else it'll look more like very-early 00s game, rather than a 2007 title.

If you find the default FOV too narrow, look up the FOV Switcher and run it according its instructions. It's also included in the Starter-Pack.

It's a gateway drug to dreary, overlooked and sometimes buggy slav games

Holy shit yeah this is challenging on Master.
Doing a 'ship quest' to storm an abandoned ship and take out the guys inside.
I like how the AI is semi competent but manage to kill each other as well.