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[nenjin]

Arise thread!

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/07/10/stalker-call-of-pripyat-mod-miserys-new-trailer-runs-through-huge-list-of-improvements/?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=emp

This is a heavy weight total conversion mod for Call of Pripyat called Misery 2.0, that will drop the 31st of this month.

The video is 9 minutes of music, stills and text bullet-pointing features instead of showing them. Which is never a good sign to me, because it always makes me think someone with really good video production skills is covering for some kludgy, awkward implementation. There's also a lot of repurposing of other existing mods, which isn't uncommon in compilations, but comes with its own issues. 

But with these kinds of mods, it's impossible to know until you really drill down into them.

Anyways, features:

-New Radio Music in all main bases
-Improved Version of the Armory Mod, Extreme NPC Diversity
-Expanded Sleeping Bag Mod
-120 new tradeable items
-Stunning Weather Changes
-Unique Version of Atmosfear 3
-Mutant Hunting Mod, have the meat cooked into meals
-Eat or trade raw mutant meat
-Faction-based inventories, relating to their rank and profession
-Enhanced lighting and sun effects
-New mutant designs, including silent Cat predators
-Unique Version of Absolute Nature 3, presenting a breathtaking scenery
-Increased grass draw distances
-New background ambience
-Improved version of MSO
-Bringing tons of a-life improvements, and hundreds of smart terrain updates
-Complete Stash overhaul
-350 new SFX, including actor breath
-Actor PPE expansion
-Redesigned Dynamic HUD
-Drug distribution
-Create your own stash
-Enhanced Particle Effects
-Flexible Stamina System
-Redesigned Economy
-New damage schemes
-Logarythmic Repair System
-GUI Overhaul
-200 weapon profiles, fully customizable with diversified characteristics
-Optimized with sprint and handling animations
-New texture designs, including structure materials
-New ammo types
-Real life scope reticules
-Tradeable Armor Attachments
-Play as USS Recon, Sniper or Assaulter class, each with unique loadouts, special attributes and perks.
-Unique Perks
-Physics system and Zone entry points
-Enhanced Stealth Aspects, with improved AI reactions
-Distant storms and heavy rain, letting you execute stealthy kills
-Harsh economy and scarce supplies
-High difficulty
-Advanced game progression, with factions responding to your gameplay choices. Calling on their veterans to take you out if you work against their interests

Dat's a lot of features. Here's a list from their moddb page which mentions other stuff:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS


    New sun flare effect when staring at direct sunlight and improved sky cube box rendering.

    New redesigned structure material textures for a more gritty and less colourful environment.

    New scope designs with authentic reticle designs for all weapons.

    Conceptualized version of Armory Mod that generates many new NPC looks and designs.

    Special version of Absolute Nature 3 including higher grass draw distances.

    Redesign of several mutant skins. I.e. the Pseudo Giant has a new facial design.

    New helmet HUDs with 12 condition stages for each helmet category.



AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS


    Dozens of new improved sound effects for weapons, mutants, ambience and NPCs.

    Ambient soundtracks for all areas have been redesigned and expanded.

    Breathing sfx implemented and they even relate to your movement + worn headgear.

    All main bases have radios playing real life music.



GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS


    Unique version of Massive Simulation Overhaul (MSO); that makes NPC behavior more challenging and diverse. It even adds a variety of NPC professions (like these Hunters).

    Huge improvements to a-life and battle AI; NPC's explore many new locations with many new smart terrains added to the system; NPC's are now far more challenging and have varied approaches to firefights based on faction and rank.

    Advanced game progression ensures a challenging gameplay from beginning to the end of the game; Factions are reacting much quicker to your gameplay choices and faction relations; Whatever faction you support the opposing faction will call upon their veterans to hunt you down.

    Economy system overhauled to ensure a balanced and challenging game progression.

    A-life has been overhauled with hundreds of new smart terrains and alternate spawn points for both mutants and factions in all areas/maps. Expect a hugely variated and different a-life than what vanilla Call of Pripyat offers.

    Battery life added as new micro gameplay element that must be managed and handled with a Universal Power Device (UPD)



REALISM IMPROVEMENTS


    Weapon are auto-holstered when using items (like bandages, consumables etc.)

    Logarithmic repair system implemented for enhanced logic in the aspects of repair costs; All based on your maintaining of the gear.

    Some zombies have now dropped their weaponry to the ground and walk around just staring at you. They can now be killed with direct shots to their spine, heart or head. See teaser

    NPC's can now fight in melee and knock you down.

    UI overhaul of all item terms, units, scales and measurements for in-depth authenticism.

    Redesigned stamina system (there is no longer a maximum weight limit). The lighter you choose to travel the longer you can run without resting.

    Consumables are divided into 'Zone Produced' and 'Imported Goods'.

    Flame particles removed from gunfire for realism. This also makes firefights more challenging. See examples on Youtube

    Realistic fall damage (individual for each USS specialization).

    Medics will now charge you for their services. Nothing is for free, in the Zone.

    Minimap removed and you must now navigate with the use of terrain and your PDA map. But a damage indicator has been re-added to let you know where shots are coming from. This is done to replicate that you would have a clue in real life for such circumstances.

    NPC's no longer have infinite ammunition for their primary weapons like rifles, shotguns, etc. So you will see them switch to backup weapons (if they have any).

    Hugely improved aspects of stealth and NPC awareness.



WEAPON IMPROVEMENTS


    All weapon sights have been aligned for both widescreen and 4:3 monitor resolutions.

    Full version of New Ordnance submod bringing multiple variations of many weapons including worn, modern and camouflaged profiles. All are tradeable, customizable and used by NPC's.
    New Ordnance focuses on diversity of vanilla weapons but you can expect a few surprises on top of this. Watch trailer.

    All weapons overhauled in terms of stats, feel, behavior and texted descriptions. We also tweaked the muzzle flashes to correspond better with real life weapon muzzle effects.

    Weapon upgrade trees now require you to 'choose a path' for their customization pros and cons.

    New weapons added: FN FAL, SAKO TRG-42, 5 knives + new types of ammo


ITEMS, PROPS AND LOOT


    All NPC's have unique inventory with new items that are based on faction, rank and profession.

    Crows can be hunted and looted along with all other mutants. There are also lots of new mutant parts to collect, including pelts and skins.

    150+ new items added, including handheld flashlight, drugs, kits, faction patches, Stims, physical rubles and even some interactive environmental props.



USS SPECIALIZATION IMPROVEMENTS


    The 3 USS classes now have even more unique strengths and weaknesses, making a much more dynamic style of game play and providing maximum mod-replay ability.

    Each class have their own unique main menu design with special musical moods and you will now be able to change your class through the main menu (no need to reinstall the mod).



NEW FEATURES


    Armour attachments; Including kevlar plates, artifact containers, titanium frames and more can be attached to your suit for special purposes.

    Mutant hunting mod; provides the ability to cut meat from mutants and sell it for scientific or consumable purposes. You can even buy cooked mutant meals at the Skadovsk and Jupiter Station.

    Create your own interactive stash with a waterproof and camouflaged backpack.

    Quick Release System for your instant drop of backpack (and all unequipped items).

    Optional hardcore game start: Chorna Doroha "The Black Road".

    NPC's may surrender to you during combat.

Been a while since I've really settled in and played some S.T.A.L.K.E.R. This might be a good excuse.

[Lectorog]

Thanks for the heads-up.

I haven't played CoP yet, though I've played SoC. Would you recommend playing first with or without this conversion mod?

[nenjin]

Compared to Shadow of Chernobyl, CoP is a total upgrade. I've only played through it once but it was noticeably less rough than SoC in most areas. That said, I think the economy was still far too casual for a game like this, so I think it'd probably be ok to go with the mod first, since it's not really changing the story or adding a ton of new quests.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

CoP starts out rather strong and remains so through about two thirds through the game. I liked how the game expanded on some RPG mechanics like being able to upgrade guns/armour so it wasn't completely dependent on finding "uniques" like SoC. The whole new areas felt much better than retreading what we've already seen in SoC and CS and for the most part quite interesting.
There was still a lot I didn't like including that Freedom and Duty being in a truce and were rather underplayed. You'd think the two biggest and strongest factions would have a much bigger stake in the centre of the zone.
Unfortunately the game really goes downhill when you reach Pripyat. The game feels extremely rushed at that point and Pripyat for all the mystical lore that's built around it is completely empty and boring.

Also the game has a hilariously bad ending that seems like it was taken straight from a B movie.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The big thing is that the military helicopters crashed because they didn't know anomalies move around. Apparently not one of the military stalkers they send into the zone decided to relay this information to their superiors, or not one recruit guarding the zone managed to realise that the glowing lights and sparks move around from time to time. Hell rookie loners in SoC will tell you anomalies move.

That Misery mod looks rather interesting. I'll have to try it out when it comes out. I'm doubting it would replace NKD/stalkersoup for me though. SoC is the closest to my heart and will always remain the better game for me. 

[generalpie]

I've just [acquired] all three games, and I have to say, I LOVE THEM ALL
Especially CS and its faction war system. Made me feel like I truly wasn't the only person in an abandon wasteland.
Best part is, it isnt just a generic nuclear wasteland, walk to everywhere, talk to everyone kind of game
There are animals to hunt, people to trade with, missions to do, places to explore, factions to demolish(or promote), artifacts to find, and more! Its just all amazing.

[nenjin]

Unfortunately the game really goes downhill when you reach Pripyat. The game feels extremely rushed at that point and Pripyat for all the mystical lore that's built around it is completely empty and boring.

Yeah, I do recall Pripyat being a little underwhelming. I don't remember the game going fucking crazy like SoC does late game.

That said, overall the game felt way more polished compared to SoC, and all the additions SoC didn't have ultimately made it seem better to me, even though I've played SoC way more. SoC is bigger and I think has more iconic moments than CoP. But it was also was/is buggy as shit, and CoP is almost rock solid by comparison.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

I've just [acquired] all three games, and I have to say, I LOVE THEM ALL

I also heavily recommend mods for the STALKER games. The "Complete" mod (available to each game) is great for a first or second playthrough. Fixes up a bunch of AI wonkiness, adds some much needed features like repairing to SoC, improves performance issues and improves graphics slightly.
After you've become a vet of the games mods offer even more challenge and content such as oblivion lost and the mega-mod ndk/stalkersoup. The modding scene has really impressed me with what they were able to do with the games.

That said, overall the game felt way more polished compared to SoC, and all the additions SoC didn't have ultimately made it seem better to me, even though I've played SoC way more. SoC is bigger and I think has more iconic moments than CoP. But it was also was/is buggy as shit, and CoP is almost rock solid by comparison.

SoC remains fairly buggy but at the same time received the most love from modders. With the various bug fixes and fan patches it achieves a state either on-par or slightly better than vanilla CoP. I had a few issues with CoP including a couple of broken quest and strange jittery movement I was never able to pinpoint the culprit of.
Personally I found the most buggy mess to be CS which would always be crashing to the desktop or having NPCs floating around. I've never finished CS since I had a game breaking bug that stop plot process and gave up on the game. I also joined the bandit faction in that gameplay which is perhaps the biggest mistake I've ever made in a video game. Every 5 seconds they're screaming for help and every 7 seconds they lose their outposts, argh.

I really wanted to like CS and I liked what they were trying to do but the faction war system just wasn't fleshed out enough and when the novelty wore off it became an extremely tedious slog of fighting respawning enemies every few minutes. It's something I wouldn't have mind seeing in CoP if there were more stable and clear fronts.

[Bdthemag]

MISERY should be fun, I'm just honestly surprised they're not pushing back the release date since they've always been prone to do that often. It's a good quality mod, besides a few...odd designs choices (The stamina system in particular, and the fact the artstyle is pretty much RUST EVERYWHERE.) The developers aren't really open to critique either, but eh, whatever. Can't wait to play through it.

[nenjin]

Yeah, I noticed they favor brown. (It pretty much jumped off the page when I read "taking out/reducing areas that are too colorful.") It's going for photo real with the brown frown, and I can live with it for SoC. It'll help me get immersed in this game where it might not in others.

Starting to read deeply over the mod db page. They really put a lot of work into their release materials, those panels explaining features are gorgeous. There's a lot of stuff going on in this mod, and I'm getting kinda excited to play it.

[Darkmere]

Hmm. Almost makes me want to go play CoP. I took a break after CS because it was a let-down, and never got around to playing CoP. Any idea if that mod is compatible with Complete?

[Tellemurius]

Hmm. Almost makes me want to go play CoP. I took a break after CS because it was a let-down, and never got around to playing CoP. Any idea if that mod is compatible with Complete?

There is a Complete mod for CoP.

[Darkmere]

Hmm. Almost makes me want to go play CoP. I took a break after CS because it was a let-down, and never got around to playing CoP. Any idea if that mod is compatible with Complete?

There is a Complete mod for CoP.

Ah, sorry. I meant to ask if the Misery mod mentioned above was compatible with CoP Complete. I've only done one playthrough of the STALKER games, so I don't know as much about the modding scene there as, say, New Vegas.

[Lectorog]

Is there anything you want from Complete that Misery doesn't provide?

EDIT: And no, I'm sure it's not. Overhaul mods almost always require a fresh installation.

[Darkmere]

Is there anything you want from Complete that Misery doesn't provide?

EDIT: And no, I'm sure it's not. Overhaul mods almost always require a fresh installation.

Yeah, good point. Looking at the feature list, I'd guess Complete is more of a... vanilla game tune-up, while Misery is more of a conversion, like FOOK for fallout. I'd probably do a play with Complete first, then one with Misery. Though, for some reason, STALKER never seemed to lend itself to replays for me.

[nenjin]

Just a bump to say Misery 2.0 released today.