First Impressions:
The goal of this little collection of mods, for the most part, is to increase the realism of STALKER... Rather than tackling the visual aspect of this, I've chosen to tweak the weapons and armors... This is really nothing amazing or unheard of--there are dozens of other weapon and armor tweaks out there... That said, I'd like to think that THIS one brings the most to the table. More new and unique weapons, higher quality titles and descriptions, more complete work when it comes to the tweaks, etc... Maybe I'm wrong, but I still think anyone interested in realistic weapons and the like should take a look at this...and anyone else interested in playing with more firepower should ALSO check it out...
Change Lists:
Statistical Changes:
- Zombies are now marked on your map when killed, just like normal NPCs. They show up on your "PDA Contacts Nearby" counter just like other NPCs, so why SHOULDN'T they be marked upon death just the same as the other NPCs?
- Traders are HEAVILY tweaked. Each trader has their own unique 'flavor'... Duty is--or was--funded by the military, so they have the widest variety of eastern bloc(Russian/Soviet/other-eastern) firepower; Freedom are or were the foreign presence in the Zone, so they have the widest variety of western(NATO) firepower; the Ecologists are mostly just scientists, so they have a smaller variety of weapons, but a wider variety of scientific-styled suits, plus the most available medical supplies; Sidorovich(Cordon's Trader) and Barkeep have smaller selections of weapons, mostly retired military and civillian items... Freedom's trader, Skinflint, should now have unlimited trading power, just like the other traders... This last function requires a fresh start, in order to function correctly(unless you were previously using one of the other versions of my mod)... Sid and Barkeep can repair your equipment, for a price...
- ALL weapons have been tweaked... Changes to accuracy, power, weight, compatability with accessories, etc, etc... This includes not only the original weapons found in the original game, but also those that have been modded in...
- ALL ammunition has been tweaked... Changes to accuracy, power, weight, amount per box, price, etc... This includes not only the original ammo types found in the original game, but also those that have been modded in...
- ALL armors have been very modified... They increase your maximum carry weight in a step-like fashion... Early armors may add 5kg more; later armors may add up to 20kg or so... Exoskeletons push your maximum carry weight up to 300kg, like the supposed real-life experimental exoskeletons do... All of them have also had their prices adjusted... One or two may've had their protection values and things adjusted, as well...
- Several explosive items are now usable--the Jerry Cans("Canister"), and another item that can apparently only be found once, in the bandit's base in the Dark Valley... They are heavy, but can be picked up, then carried and dropped anywhere... You can also sell these items--and you may even be able to buy the Jerry Cans from the traders, sometimes.
- Wolf will now give you different items at the start of the game, when you first accept the assignment to go and save Nimble...
New Items:
- New weapons and ammunition! All of these weapons are based on real-life items, and are balanced just like the normal weapons...
- The AKMS, AKMSU, and Groza-1 have been worked into the mod as primary weapons... They are 7.62x39mm versions of the AKS-74, AKS-74U, and Groza... There are four types of 7.62x39mm ammunition for them--FMJ, FMJ-T, AP, and AP-T... The FMJ and FMJ-T rounds use the same 3D visual model and inventory icon as the 5.45x39mm FMJ rounds, while the AP and AP-T rounds use those of the 5.45x39mm AP rounds, so you will have to look cloesly to avoid buying the wrong type of ammunition for your weapons...
- The P90 has been worked into the mod, as a secondary weapon... It takes 5.7x28mm AP rounds, which come in 50-round boxes that have a unique 3D visual model, but use the same inventory icon as the 5.56x45mm AP rounds, so again, you will have to take your time and look closely to make sure you are buying the correct ammunition for your weapon...
- The PKM has been worked into the mod, as a primary weapon... It feeds from 100-round belt-boxes, and there are three types of those... One belt box holds 'Normal' 7.62x54mm ammunition, another belt box is filled with 'Tracing' rounds, and the third belt box is filled with armor-piercing rounds. The three belt boxes use the same 3D visual model, and have the same title, and their descriptions only differ in one word, so you will have to look closely to make sure you are buying the kind of ammunition you want... There are also 10-round boxes of 'Normal'(FMJ) and 'Tracing'(FMJ-T) rounds...these two ammunition types use the same 3D visual model and inventory icon as the original 7N1 ammunition, so you will have to look closely to make sure you are buying the ammunition you want... The PKM uses the same type of ammo as the SVD and SVU, and so they can use ALL types of 7.62x54mm rounds... You can load your PKM with the more accurate 7N1 and 7N14 rounds designed for the SVD and SVU, and you can load your SVD and SVU with the cheaply mass-produced ammo intended for use in the PKM... The PKM will show a preference towards the belt boxes(start out with, and load them first), and the SVD and SVU will generally show a preference for the 7N1 and 7N14 rounds, and will only load from the belt boxes after all other sources of ammo have been exhausted...
- The Saiga 12 has been worked into the mod as a primary weapon... It feeds from 10 round magazines, which are not standard equipment for the Saiga... They generally come with 5 or 8 round magazines, and the 10 round ones are an after-market addition supposedly developed and produced in the USA... If you look at a 10 round mag, and then the Saiga in-game, the magazines are the same; they have a sort of horizonatl "ridge" series that the original 5 and 8 round magazines, and others, do not have... If you absolutely hate the idea of American "garbage" on your Russian firearm, you can go into the .ltx file and change the 10 to an 8, in the line "ammo_mag_size"...
- The Original/Full-Size BM-16/TOZ-66 side-by-side double-barrel shotgun has been worked into the mod as a primary weapon... Like the TOZ-34(also a primary weapon), which is also available, and the sawn-off BM-16/TOZ-66(which is a secondary weapon, now), it has a maximum capacity of two rounds... It lacks a proper running animation, and so I have it set so that you cannot run with it... If you don't care about the missing animation, and would like to be able to run with it, simply go into the .ltx file for it and remove the "sprint = false" line, or change the "false" to "true"...either way will work just the same... There is an issue with this weapon! The inventory icon is not finished, or hasn't been included in the current equipment icon database, so the icon is composed of scrambled data, mor or less... The current icon is like part of a barrel icon, a cylinder icon, and the PKM belt box icon... My apologies for this; it will be fixed in the next version of the mod...
- New modified weapons! All of these weapons are based on real-life items, and are balanced just like the normal weapons...
- There is a .45 ACP version of the MP5, a 9x18mm/9x19mm universal "Gepard Prototype"(heavily modified AKS-74U), another 9x39mm weapon known as the AK-9(a new weapon based on the AKS-74U), and the SVU-A has also been worked in... There are four pistols based on the normal and suppressed M1911; the normal and suppressed P-14-45(14 round magazines, .45 ACP), and the normal and suppressed P-18-9(18 round magazines, 9x19mm)... There is also a .45 ACP license-built copy of the Walther P-99, known as the Smith and Wesson SW-99, a 9x19mm version of the P-220, known as the P-220-9, and a 9x19mm version of the USP, known as the USP9CT...
- There are also two old, worn-out weapons which will be given to you at the start of the game by Wolf, instead of the Makarov... One is an SVD, and the other is an AKMSU... They act as if they are worn out, but are actually considered unique/new/different weapons than the original versions... They have different titles and descriptions, and a few other alterations... They are less accurate than the originals, jam more often, and wear out faster, so it would be wise to replace them soon... They can be sold to the traders and other stalkers, but you won't get very much for them... You will not be able to buy them(the traders won't stock them, unless you sell them to them, in which case they will temporarily stock them), and you should not be able to get duplicates of them...
Visual and Audible Changes:
- There are new visual models and the like relating to the P90 and 5.7x28mm AP rounds, the PKM and PKM belt boxes, the Saiga, and the Original BM-16/TOZ-66... These items are REQUIRED, and are installed by default...
- There are retextured models for most of the weapons, like the AKS-74, AKS-74U, Groza, AN-94, SPAS-12, PM, PB, USP, P-99, and others... These items are OPTIONAL, but are installed by default...
- There are new(and CORRECTLY COMMENTED!) sounds for the 7.62x39mm weapons, the P90 and PKM, and the Saiga.
Credits:
Now, a moment ago I mentioned that this collection includes alternatively textured visual models for the weapons, plus some sound files, and a couple of entirely "new" models...so, here are the credits for those:
- Retextured AKS-74 and AKS-74U, Groza, USP, PM and PB - Gohda, and probably some other people...
- Retextured Mossberg Maverick 88 - Philibuster.
- Retextured SVD and SVU - Angus.
- Retextured L85 and SUSAT scope crosshair - SOMNUS.
- Retextured AN-94 - Millenia.
- Retextured SPAS-12 - Siro.
- Retextured P-99 - Siro and Cdab.
- Retextured LR-300 - Outcast.
- For everything related to the Saiga - Siro, BarbAn, tambovski, lez0, S_Cream_Err, Fantom_Oblivion, gunslover(Amaraldo), and probably some other people...
- For everything related to the P90 and PKM - Gosuke and SFPS, and probably some other people...
- For everything related to the Original/Full-Size BM-16/TOZ-66, and the 7.62x39mm sound file - ...well, hell, I haven't a clue who did it; I snagged it from one version or another of "Rebalanced"...so, credit goes to the whole bunch who worked on that mod, and by extension everyone they gave credit to...
- For the modified ui_equipment_icons file, for the inventory icons - Dragunov, and then probably some other people for the original files we nabbed icons from...Gosuke, the Rebalanced folks, Djekman, Lexx, who knows...
Aside from the weapon-related visual and audio changes, there are also a few other things I need to give credit for:
- For inspiration and guidance, and the files to base the tweaks on when it came down to modding the trader inventories - Athanasios, who put together the EMPORIKON trader modification, on which my work with the traders was originally very heavily based...
- For the included repair mod - CtV, I believe--and by extension MoDD, as well...
- For the armor mods that aren't yet included but will be soon - Djekman, and Lexx?
For the total package, I have to give further credit to all the folks who have supported me, inspired me, and guided me in the brainstorming and creation of this little collection of tweaks and changes--so a big shout out to all the folks who hang out on the Zone Survival Guide board regularly - NatVac, Pepe, Dragunov, and everyone else who may not have been modders but who still did help me to figure things out and get things done...and then a big shout out to all the guys who've posted mods on FileFront, here, who have similarly guided and inspired me without ever even knowing or being in contact with me...
Installation:
As far as I know, this should be compatible with all versions of the game, and it should be an extremely easy thing to install... All I have to do to get this collection of changes to work, is stil the "gamedata" folder into the game directory...it goes into "C:/Program Files/Games/THQ/STALKER/" and sits in the main directory, there, right beside the other folders and files, nice and neat, with no mucking around with the fsgame.ltx file or anything else... The mod was MADE when I was using patch version 1.'4, so that should be the most stable platform on which to run the mod... There may be a compatability issue with the original/unpatched game, and there may also be issues with other patch versions...
Feedback:
Now, originally, I did intend on eventually combining this little collection of changes with a ton of other changes, like adding in the cut-out mutants, blow-outs, sleeping and dreaming, darker nights, more realistic flashlights and nightvision, better sneaking and stealth realism, some tweaks to artifacts, some adjustments to what weapons the NPCs can and cannot use, a few more different varieties of armor(access to the gas mask equipped suits, the different Faction-specific armors, etc...), more realistic weather, skies, day/night cycles, and probably some other stuff...but come on, I have to face it, I'm neither skilled enough nor well enough equipped to do most of these things myself...so, like the title of this section, improvement is still very possible... This little collection of changes of mine is in no way a complete overhaul of the game...and I will likely never have a hand in turning into such a thing. I'm not ambitious enough for that, I don't have the time to do that on my own, I don't have the correct level of intelligence or determination to do that--whatever, ok?
However, this is by no means the final version that I'm going to put out. Like I said before, I'll likely be making more tweaks and adjustments, and will probably put out at least a few more revised versions of this setup. It would be nice to be able to make the different versions of the weapons reference different visual models(the stock visual models, and then retextured visual models, or two different rextextured models, or whatever--so the AKMS doesn't look like the AKS-74, the different AKS-74U derived weapons look different from one another, the 9x19mm and .45 ACP USP versions look different, etc...)... After that, I haven't currently got a clue what all else I might do.
Anyway, time to get down to business, again--and get on to what this section is supposed to be about. If anyone notices anything related to this collection that I should maybe tweak(specifically, the weapons), please, let me know... The main things I would like people to take a look at would be the accuracy of certain weapons, and the effectiveness of certain types of ammunition...
- To be more precise, there are two 5.56x45mm weapons that I believe may be TOO accurate...the Balanced L85, and the Marksman's ZM LR-300... Now, these SHOULD be more accurate than their other counterparts, but are they perhaps TOO accurate? I'm talking about in the semi-automatic fire mode, especially. Try to be accurate, take your time with your shots, and try to make them count--go for headshots, even...and compare these modified rifles to their other counterparts... Is there too big of a difference, between them? Are they too accurate, compared to the regular models?
- The next major thing to be on the lookout for is the effectiveness of the Slugs and Fin-Stabilized-Slugs(Darts) for the shotguns... Are these rounds powerful enough, at short range and at somewhat longer ranges? It is my opinion that a slug or fin-stabilized-slug should be strong enough to take down pretty much anything seen in the zone with just a few shots(short of the Pseudogiant, which should take a few more hits), fairly consistently... On the other hand, is one shotgun in particular too overpowered--the Gravi'd M88, the Mossberg Maverick 88 with the Gravi artifact in the magazine tube? Now, this particular shotgun I think SHOULD be more powerful than the others, but is it maybe TOO powerful...?
- After that, are any of the other weapons too accurate or too powerful?
Like I mentioned at the start, and like I keep mentioning--I do intend to work in a few more weapons, a few more tweaks, some more armors, and--hopefully--uniquely retextured versions of certain weapons... It would be nice to see the AKS-74 models either restored to the original vsiual model, or fixed up with some sort of more modern representation(black plastic/synethetic parts, or something)... The AK-9 would probably be nice in a black plastic/synthetic form, as well... The AKMS and AKMSU definitely need to be wood-furnished models, on the other hand... As for the normal and rigidly suppressed AKS-74U, the original visual model wasn't bad, but an orange plastic/synthetic or similar colored wood model wouldn't be bad... As for the Gepard Prototype, well, I'm not sure what should be done with it...a black plastic/synthetic setup wouldn't be bad, but a darkened orange plastic/synthetic setup wouldn't be bad, either... I had also intended to leave the .45 ACP model of the USP with the original dark grey/black visual model, and for the two-tone stainless/black synthetic to be used only on the 9x19mm version... The SVD is currently set up with a decent wooden furniture setup, which is quite nice, but it wouldn't be bad to make the upgraded SVD(the "Farshooter") into a more modern, "lightened", black plastic/synthetic configuration--in other words, to allow the standard SVD to use the wood furnished visual model, but to set the upgraded SVD to the original dark plastic/synthetic model... As for the PM--well, it looks pretty sweet in the darkened form, and unless I decide to introduce a PMM with 12 round magazines to go along with the standard PM with the 8 round mags, I likely won't do another version of it, and so won't need to make use of both versions of the visual model... Same goes for the PB1S--it looks nice in the darker form, and unless I decide to make a unique version(What would I do, make it use a different type of ammo, or make it more accurate...?), I won't need to be able to make use of both visual models for it, either...
ANYWAY. Feedback. Yeah. IF anyone tries out this little collection of changes, please, let me know what you think of what I've done. But, please, don't ask me to do any of that super-difficult stuff that I've already said I likely can't do... Modding in more armor shouldn't be too difficult, I should be able to manage that, but those other things--weather and day/night cycles, darker nights, etc, etc, I just don't think I'm qualified to even try to do...at least, not yet. Maybe I will get to that point, eventually--but, please, don't rush it...
On the other hand, if any of you other folks would like to put this little collection of changes to work in an even larger compilation, maybe even all the way up to a total conversion or complete overhaul...be my quest! I don't mind at all! I did this bit of work for my own pleasure, and I'm glad others took interst in it! If you see something you like and you want to use it, by all means, go right on ahead! It would be nice to be mentioned in the credits, but I'm not going to jump on your back if you don't mention that I did any of this work. It isn't for profit, so why should I care who uses it, or how they use it? Then again, if I catch wind of anyone using my work for their profit, in a monetary sort of way...THAT might cause some trouble. So, watch it. Take it, use it, play it, have fun with it--but don't you dare charge anyone for it!
Also, if anyone could accurately translate my titles and descriptions into other languages, that would be quite nice. As it is, with me being in the USA and primarily an English speaker(though I do know some very limited German), I'm pretty much incapable of accurately translating anything--so all I have ready, here, is an English Language version...sorry, folks.
As far as contacting me goes, you can find me on the Hitman Forum (http://www.hitmanforum.com/forum/) as Victory By Default, and at the Zone Survival Guide board (http://stalker.heroesradio.com/Forum/index.php) under the same name... On Yahoo! Messenger you might contact roger_stryker_usmc, or send an E-Mail to [email protected]... Be warned, however; I'm not on Yahoo! Messenger very often, and I rarely ever check my E-Mail, so you'll have much better luck--and get a much faster reply--contacting me on one of those forums...and, considering that if you're reading this you probably play STALKER, the Zone Survival Guide board is always looking for good members!
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