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I said I'd do it yesterday, so here it is. I've been playing with a few mods lately so I figured I'd share my thoughts to save some of you the trouble. STALKER was probably my favorite game released last year, and with a few modifications it really shines. I'll also throw in some STALKER websites.
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http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr
The Official GSC Forums. Terrible forum software but this is where the majority of the english-speaking STALKER community hangs out. This is a good place to find mods.
http://stalker.heroesradio.com/
The Zone Survival Guide. Not just a walkthrough, this site has loads of info about everything in the game. I used it on my second playthrough when I needed a better item and didn't wan't to have to search all over. Also has a forum.
http://www.tweakguides.com/STALKER_1.html
STALKER Tweak Guide. Self explanatory, pretty exhaustive and helpful.
http://stalker.filefront.com/
STALKER Files @ Filefront. One of the best places to find STALKER mods.
http://www.smart-mod-manager.org/
Smart Mod Manager. This simple tool is essential for installing multiple mods (not to mention uninstalling). If two mods conflict, it allows you to choose which mod takes priority. Highly recommended.
Mods
Keep in mind this is not a list of all STALKER mods, simply ones that I've tried and enjoyed. I'm not including total conversion mods like Oblivion Lost or ABC Inferno because I haven't played them. This is more of a guide for mods that enhance the original game without completely changing it.
The first step to installing mods is to make sure the second line of fsgame.ltx in the STALKER directory reads:
Mods go in the "gamedata" directory. Don't worry, you're not supposed to have one by default.
Even with the Smart Mod Manager, getting every mod to work together can be a pain. Some mods are simply buggy, some are incompatible with each other, and some only work with certain versions of the game. Although we are now at patch 1.0006, 1.0004 was the last patch that changed anything relating to the singleplayer. If you have the Steam version and can't downgrade you shouldn't be too worried; most popular mods will work with the latest version (in fact some require the newer versions, yes I know it's confusing). I recommend reading all mod documentation to save you hassles later on.
http://www.metacognix.com/stlkrsoc/index.html
The Zone Reclamation Project. This mod is basically a community-made patch, fixing all sorts of problems with the vanilla game. I recommend installing this mod even if it's your first playthrough and you want to experience the game as the developers intended. It fixes technical problems like crashes and performance issues, and also broken quests and general annoyances. It also comes with an awesome modifier program that allows you to tweak many things in the game. Those of you with OCD can even use this to change your carry weight, and you can also turn on a little "Screw" repair mod. The ZRP is in constant development and new test releases come out regularly. Make sure to give other mods priority over the ZRP.
http://www.thefloatingpoint.org/main/download.php
Float32. Some guy rewrote all the shaders, improving graphical quality and performance (although the latest releases are shifting more towards quality as everyone has fancy video cards right? haha.). I really like this mod, and with the ZRP it's pretty essential for the best STALKER experience. There's a rumor that this was incorporated with one of the patches but that didn't end up happening. Note that it comes bundled with the Stalker Weather Overhaul below.
http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr&thm_page=1&thm_id=12620&sec_id=17
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Weather Overhauled. This mod is a complete re-do of the weather and lighting in STALKER with an emphasis on realism. This crazy polish guy went through and re-made all the skyboxes and weather textures, he even made his own custom weather cycles and sounds. I have to say I really like this mod, it really makes the world of STALKER believable. Although the darker nights are difficult, it's pretty rewarding to make it through to a beautiful sunrise, plus there's stars! The mod is very configurable (you can make the nights brighter if you want, for instance) and therefore somewhat difficult to install. Read the documentation well, and keep in mind you can use Smart Mod Manager to install each option within the mod. The full version comes with Float32 and a recut s.h.a.r.p.e.r.v95 texture pack.
http://stalker.filefront.com/file/PLRs_Realistic_Weapons;88736x#1519006
PLR's Realistic Weapons. This is a popular weapons realism mod. It incorporates real-world accuracy data, and basically makes all the weapons much more dangerous. This means enemies get taken down much quicker, but the reverse is also true. You'll find yourself reloading quite often, but it's also pretty satisfying when you take down a whole group of enemies with one clip, something that was near impossible in vanilla STALKER. Overall I quite like this mod, especially because it makes a lot of the guns that were useless before much better, but it does change the game a lot. Some areas that were really easy before are now quite hard, while others are almost too easy (for example, most mutants will drop in one shot now, which is great when you're swarmed by a pack of dogs). Be sure to make good use of cover when using this mod, as you'll often get taken down in one shot otherwise.
http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr&thm_page=2&thm_id=12138&sec_id=17
Siro's Sound Mod. This mod adds in a lot of sounds that were cut from the game, and changes all English voice-acting to the original (much better) Russian. Unless you speak Russian, I wouldn't recommend this for your first playthrough, but it doesn't change any of the dialogue text so the game is still completely playable. I find it more immersive this way, and it also adds in a lot more songs for the npcs to play around the campfire, which is really quite cool.
http://stalker.filefront.com/file/;88158
Hade's Real Gore Mod. Self explanatory. The grosser the gore the better... right? I guess this one only works with 1.0005.
http://www.gsc-game.com/main.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr&thm_page=2&thm_id=12896&sec_id=17#162777
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 1154 Hud. This is recreation of an older beta HUD. It's a lot cleaner and nicer looking than the vanilla HUD, but I don't think it includes all the same information. Personally I like the original better for gameplay reasons.
Ok, I'm done for now. There's a lot more mods out there, including new skins and weapons, but I only have so much time to try them out. Hopefully this will get more people playing this awesome game. I hope I didn't screw up any shacktags.
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