S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series | MISERY mod

[Karnil Vark Khaitan]

freedom long live Duty for their Vigil will be forever.

"Stalker get out of here" best line ever.

[.Mitch.]

It's funny, pre-Misery I always went with Duty cause they look cooler and I prefer their M/O. But in Misery I always go with Freedom as I feel it benefits you a little bit more and every little helps.

[rafmc1989]

"Onward, warriors of the Monolith. Avenge your fallen brothers. Blessed, as they are in their eternal union with the Monolith. Bring death to those who spurn the holy power of the Monolith."

The Monolith stalker clan is a xenophobic religious cult, hostile to all but their own, that is a major part of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat and appears in a supporting role in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. The Monolithians believe in the power of the Wish Granter, rumored to be an alien artifact hidden in the center of the Zone. Members of this faction devote their lives to protecting the secret of the Great Crystal, ensuring that no one ever reaches the center of the Zone.

While physically, they are on par with other stalkers, their religious fervor sets them apart and allows them to ignore wounds and continue to fight, even after they run out of ammo. Stories abound of fanatical Monolith Stalkers, after running out of ammo, ditch their weapons and attempt to kill the enemy with their bare hands, no matter how grievous their wounds. This same fervor also prevents others from capturing a Monolith member – if taken into custody, he will commit suicide in any way possible (even by smashing his head against the wall).

[The Tarman]

Cool faction bios my STALKER homeslice. The Monolith bio is very cool!

[rafmc1989]

Yeah, they're badass! But I prefer to kick their ass!

[eXistenZ]

Did some more reading on it, and although it has a fairly high rating, the main complaint is it mainly pumps up the difficulty. And the reviews that give a low score are far more uniform (people that agree/disagree) than the ones who give a high number. Not just the difficulty in AI survival, but also economics and mutants. And im not strong in FPS anyway. Maybe i'll reinstall it tonight with the complete mod

[rafmc1989]

Yeah, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete 2012 is ideal for first time players or people who finished the game in the past and now are coming back to replay it on newer, more powerful hardware on improved resolution and graphics: Natural lighting, vast panoramic views, depth of field, parallax mapping, SSAO, over 900 reworked texture files, including vehicles and armor suites with manual bump editing, you won't believe it's the same game.

It was designed by professional graphic artists with rich experience in the field, following industry standards for creating interactive 3D environments. It features artistic works and modifications from many community members unified under one art direction. The game has been redesigned with new visual qualities, and is offered as one convenient, complete package to reach a user base beyond the modding community. This mod has been created with a thought of bringing the beautiful and immersive game of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl from the previous generation when it was created to an up-to-date experience you’d expect from games currently being developed.

[The Tarman]

The thing is that MISERY was always a mod that had difficulty as part of its core. Since the early days the Devs made it known that the mod was aimed at jaded and bored STALKERS who felt that the series great potential had been somewhat wasted.

Edit: If anyone feels that MISERY is too tough but still craves a new STALKER experience than I would recommend O.G.S.E. mod for Shadow of Chernobyl. It is my second favorite mod behind MISERY and while that means nothing to you of course I promise that if you are looking for a new experience in the zone that OGSE can provide one for you that is very enjoyable with too many features for me to list here. It adds many features but thankfully it does so without becoming bloated like (in my opinion) STALKER soup.

[PerXX]

Since we're talking about other mods now, I'd just mention that Lost Alpha have just been released.
It was actually supposed to have been released as an official add-on, but unfortunately one of their testers leaked an earlier build, causing the deal to fail.
It's now been released as a free download.

Lost Alpha is a complete standalone, meaning you can download and play it without owning any of the Stalker games.

Link to their ModDB site: http://www.moddb.com/mods/lost-alpha

[rafmc1989]

Contents:
- "So, what's this about..."
- "Faction alignment & description"
- "Glossary (for terminology)"
- "Refered sources"

So, what's this about...
A re-edit of an alignment chart, originally made by deviant user spockjedi, with respective alignment of the major factions from Stalker in it's universe. As he said, this can be a good guide to what faction you can join in Clear Sky or as general knowledge.

Here are them, with brief descriptions:

Lawful Good (Path of Integrity - Conformity/Tradition and Benevolence - UNJOINABLE AS A FACTION):
Ecologists - The Ecologists are government-founded researchers operating into the Zone.
The Ecologists focus primarily on research of new energy sources, antigravity, genome modification and teleportation, spearheading revolutionary research by studying and dissecting artifacts and mutants. (In STALKER, of course.)
In S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, they're stationed in the mobile lab at Yantar, and are just beginning their research on the Psi-Emitter and Psi Protection Device.

Lawful Neutral (Path of Harmony - Security and Conformity/Tradition):
Duty - The Duty are a paramilitary clan of stalkers operating in the Zone with members living according to a code.
They, along with Freedom, are also one of the most powerful stalker clans in the Zone.
They are openly cooperating with the Ecologists at Yantar, transferring all recovered artifacts to them; so that the Zone can be better understood.

Lawful Evil (Path of Ascendency - Power and Security - UNJOINABLE AS A FACTION):
The Military - in the game, the military are government troops, who are often referred to simply like that, which are tasked with providing and maintaining security along the borders of the Zone.
By the end of Clear Sky, the Military presence in the Zone is all but eliminated, restricted to monitoring the entrance to the Cordon.
The military will always shoot the player regardless of what faction he's from.

Neutral Good (Path of Mercy - Benevolence and Universalism):
Clear Sky - The Clear Sky faction is an independent scientific/military organization focusing on understanding the Zone and is one of the major S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky factions.
At the end of STALKER CLEAR SKY, the faction remnants disintegrated and became a mere footnote in history.

True Neutral (Path of Equity):
Loners - Not much can be said about the loners, for they represent in-game just ordinary people.
They are neutral to the Freedom, Duty and Ecologist factions. Whilst not a proper faction of their own as per se, killing a Loner will earn the enmity of every other Loner, in-game; since they're a nomadic group, word of mouth is spread and can act directly on the player reputation (of course it's merely a "karma" system where killing one of their "members" earns negative points to the player when dealing directly with them or their allies).
Technically, Loners are the most ubiquitous group of Stalkers in the Zone as they can be found nearly everywhere.
In S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, the Loners are a full-sized faction, at war with the Bandits because they are tired of being harrassed, robbed, and extorted. The "faction" is joinable.

Neutral Evil (Path of Supremacy - Achievement and Power - STARTING FACTION IN STALKER: CLEAR SKY/UNJOINABLE AS A FACTION):
Mercenaries - The Mercenary faction is a group of private military contractors operating within the Zone, though their exact base of operations is kept highly secret.
It is this bit of mystery that has earned all mercenaries the distrust of most stalkers as they fear that they might get a bullet in the head than a mutual understanding when talking to this faction.
This facition is hostile towards all other factions in the game, being neutral with the bandits in STALKER: SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL.

Chaotic Good (Path of Liberty - Universalism and Self-Direction):
Freedom - The Freedom faction is joinable in Clear Sky after doing a number of quests to them and later on in the game, after the leader, Chekhov, earns the trust of the player.
Their enemies are Duty, Monolith and Military.
They are neutral (mostly) towards the bandits, loners, ecologists and bandits in STALKER SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL.
It's mostly a joke-faction, since it's utility is debatable, even if they give out descent quests and prizes.

Chaotic Neutral (Path of Autonomy - Self-Direction and Stimulation):
Bandits - Bandits are members of the criminal underworld who "organized" themselves as a faction for different reasons; to make money by selling artifacts, hide from the law or to trade in weapons.
The in-game universe is full of Bandits, ranging from common thugs to serious criminals. Although the Zone gangs frequently fight amongst themselves, the criminal element still poses a serious problem for most loners, who are left defenseless when dealing with bandits, since they're "neutral" towards everyone else and no one knows where they stand.
After fending off a mercenary assault and being besieged by the Monolith faction, they are eventually defeated at the end of STALKER CLEAR SKY.

Renegades (UNJOINABLE AS A FACTION):
Renegades - In S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky, they are a small sub-faction of Bandits at war with the Clear Sky faction. They are not as well-equipped as and are fewer in number than the Bandit faction itself, and are easily dispatched.
The Renegades are a loosely held-together faction of Stalkers encountered in the beginning stages of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky.
It is unclear what ties the Renegades have with the Bandits. When one joins the latter faction, they will become neutral with the Renegades, and as such it is unclear what the goal of this faction is.

Chaotic Evil (Path of Luxury - Hedonism):
Monolith - A typical Monolithian is a former stalker brainwashed by psychihc energy in-game, by making them fierce warriors and eroding it's members' humanity.
The Monolith faction is considered to be the most powerful faction by far, easily as numerous as the armies of Duty and Freedom, with advanced technology that not even the Military possesses.
In-game as a whole, they are entirely hostile, the largest group in the Zone with the most advanced equipment. They are "held together" by a common goal, which is the destruction of all life, beauty, order and harmony of the in-game universe.

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

Stop double posting, use the edit button.
Will not tell you again.

[rafmc1989]

You mean that they've reached their Kickstarter goal.
They are no-where near finishing development, and the game is not available yet. First episode is planned for release in September, with the full game expected at the end of 2015.

If you want to build hype for The Seed, here's the link to the three short-stories they've made available:

Mutation Deferred
Common Grounds
A Good Man

I found these short stories on the MISERY mod official web site:

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Short stories

Take a look...

[Yerevan]

Wich one would you advise for some one who never played Stalker before : SoC or CoP ?

Or Fallout 3 ?

lol

I'm tempted by a nice post apoc game with RPG and FPS elements… I would prefer not to be taken in the dilemma ambiance vs story….

[rafmc1989]

"The project first started out as a modification to add back the cut levels which all Stalker fans knew of. After a while, it became more than just a modification, it became our dream game, how we saw S.T.A.L.K.E.R. We hope to give you the same feeling when you first played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. A new chapter with familiar elements without which S.T.A.L.K.E.R. would not be the game we all grew to love. Lost Alpha was a labour of love. We are passionate about it and we hope you all will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it!"

I suggest you to play first Lost Alpha because it is the best mod of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl: an awesome game and I have been playing it since 2010. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. really profits from its ability to be customized. Furthermore, it is previous to Call of Pripyat, so you can comprehend the entire narrative of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.
I recommend a sub-mod like AutumnAuroraLA: an adapted graphic part and sound part for Lost Alpha.
Lost Alpha is stand-alone and you can easily play it without downolading SoC.

"In 1986, the world's worst nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl power station. Soviet authorities established a 30km 'Exclusion Zone' around this nuclear wasteland, but in 2006 a second explosion rocked the stricken reactor, obliterating all living things and causing the Zone's boundaries to ripple outwards. From this epicenter came waves of mutated creatures, deadly radiation, and a strange, anomalous energy. The Zone was cordoned off by the military, who would shoot on sight anyone foolish enough to brave the horrors within.
It is now 2012 - man has ventured further and further into the heart of the Zone driven by reports of strange 'artifacts' imbued with anomalous energy. Mercenaries and bounty hunters compete to recover these artifacts, which command extortionate prices on the black market. Others seek to find the truth behind the Zone, while some merely revel in the desolate lawlessness of the place. Whatever their motivation, over time these individuals - Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killer, Explorers and Robbers - have become known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s."


Here there are some screenshots of Lost Alpha:

[Yerevan]

Ok, thanks for the advice :-) The pics are very promising.

I'm sorry but I just don't understand that part :

Lost Alpha is stand-alone and you can easily play it without downolading SoC.

Do you mean I don't need to buy SoC to play it and it's like a free game ? How is it possible ?

[Turkeys!]

Do you mean I don't need to buy SoC to play it and it's like a free game ? How is it possible ?

Yep, I think it is because it was planned to be released as another game, but the deal with GSC fell through when a beta build was leaked out last year.

[Yerevan]

Yep, I think it is because it was planned to be released as another game, but the deal with GSC fell through when a beta build was leaked out last year.

Hey, that's a good plan, thx guys ! That's the best way to have a taste of this game I suppose. I don't have to much time to play atm but I put this on my agenda for this summer ! The heat outside will replace radioactivity.

[rafmc1989]

Yes guys, Lost Alpha is a stand-alone mod. It doesn't require the original SoC, so you can easily download it from Mod DB and go on with setup...
Instead, MISERY mod requires CoP v.1.6.02. After CoP setup is finished, you go on with MISERY setup.

[PerXX]

I gotta say, I'm not that impressed by Lost Alpha so far.
While they've certainly done some of the best level designs by a Stalker mod, it's quite obvious that it isn't anywhere near a finished product.
Most features are either buggy, very rudimentary or completely missing.
It's certainly got great potential, but also quite long way to go.
It can be interesting for veterans, but I wouldn't recommend it for new players.
My personal favorite mod for SoC was Oblivion Lost, though it's been a while since I've played that.
I've also heard good things about Stalker Complete, for new players.

All time favorite is Misery for CoP. Some have complained about bugs and crashes, but it's been very stable for me.
The increased difficulty and complexity are very appealing, and things just seem very thought through. One may not agree with everything, but there a clear purpose and intent behind everything. It's just very very polished.
Still, maybe not the best mod for a S.T.A.L.K.E.R Rookie.

[rafmc1989]

You're right! MISERY is a full concept modification which changes all features of CoP. It's a work has been conducted for many years by MDT studio, ex members of GSC Game World.
MDT has evolved a love/hate relationship with the X-Ray engine and although the MISERY mod can now be considered a completed modding project there will be more updates and extraordinary content to follow in future updates.
MISERY is certainly the best mod of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.
Here there is the MISERY game guide by MDT:

Lost Alpha is a nice experiment which need further effort and it's a work coducted only by fans.
X-Ray engine is complex but has been huge potentiality... It's a very moddable engine which has delighted fans all over the world. They redesigned almost all old levels. Some of them became smaller, simpler (still nice, but different), and some levels were removed. Also need to say, Lost Alpha addon is not just about levels and levels. They will try to make a somewhat, but not fully restricted alife, and deliver a lot of new, never seen features, among with some old ones, which many people wanted to see for long.

If think S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete 2012 is the best start for a rookie gamer.
If you haven’t played 2007’s most immersive and atmospheric shooter, or you’re back for replay, this mod is for you. This is the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. like you’ve never seen before, with updated graphics and added functionality that don’t change the original story or gameplay.
Contained within are new textures, sounds, music, sky, weather system and visual effects, along with bug fixes, AI improvements, upgraded shaders, ragdoll physics, a revamped user interface and so much more.