I wanna get into this...

I wanna get into this, because I've ducked under the entire series for the last decade despite it looking like it'd be right up my alley.

So, what do I play, and in what order? I've heard a few people say that they're basically interchangeable and that I might as well just start with the last one (pripyat I think), but I've also heard the opposite.

Also, I've heard quite often that shit's jank. Are there any recommended mods/fixes to put I should play with? Keep in mind that I don't want any "extra content" type mods, I just want to play the game as is, I mean only stuff like stability improvements or bug fixes or maybe corrections to particularly heinous UI elements or such.

Attached: C R E E P E R.jpg (182x268, 14K)

What, nothing? I thought you guys liked this series.

>игpaть в cтaлкep бyдyчи пиндocoм
Шoк

No. Release order you idiot. Always release order. The engine and game was updated for each one, so SoC is gonna look a bit empty and shit looking if you play CS or CoP first. Also CS is a direct prequel to SoC, and CoP has some returning characters.

Play SoC, then CS (do not skip) then CoP.

There is a recommended mod image, I have an outdated one. Someone should post the newer version of this.

Attached: Stalker starter guide.png (1536x1250, 1.1M)

Play the game on vanilla first, master difficulty only (it's actually the most fair difficulty)
Then play Stalker Anomaly, it's a standalone free mod

Play the games in release order, this goes for literally any video game series.

All the games are perfectly playable with latest patch but if you want bug fixes that are true to vanilla get ZRP for Shadow of Chernobyl and SRP for Clear Sky, Call of Pripyat is much more stable and doesn't need anything.

Some things I would recommend is looking up how to increase/decrease FOV to whatever you want and reduce head bobbing.

Yea Forums is too busy circlejerking political drama surrounding whatever is most heavily marketed at the moment, or jacking off to anime titties.

That said, your question is stupid. The games have a clearly a series with clearly established order. I've never seen anyone pretend otherwise.
You play Shadow of Chernobyl first, Clear Sky second and Call of Pripyat last, if you'll like the previous title enough to continue.

In general, playing as close as it gets to Vanilla to get to know the series is the best thing to do. Again: once you learn to know the series, you can start fooling around the with extensive mods and total conversions.
With that said, get Zone Reclamation Pack for Shadow of Chernobyl. It's more like an Unofficial Patch for VTM:B - fixes most of the bugs and cleans some of the jank without altering the gameplay or the atmosphere in any significant way. See if you like SoC with ZRP: if you do and feel like experimenting with the series some more, ask specifically for what you are looking for.

Finally, make sure you don't fall for the "lower difficulty makes the game easier" meme. Stalker is generally best on higher difficulties, but it's not necessary (or even advisable) to jump in on highest from the get go.

I'm playing Call of Pripyat right now.

Like user said release order and vanilla first, if you are looking for community patched avoid complete because it is a downgrade and cheapens the experience, look instead for ______ reclamation project mods if you need them but they are not at all necessary in my experience

Some good mods after you have exhausted vanilla:
>OLR
>Dead Air
>ZoA

Play shadow of chernobyl if you just wanna play good game, play all games in chronological order if you wanna dive into atmosphere, not gameplay.

>but it's not necessary (or even advisable) to jump in on highest from the get go.

Wrong. You play on Master or you don't play the game at all. Every other difficulty just makes you and everyone else a bullet sponge. Master is best, you and everyone else die in 1-2 shots.

lower difficulty increases the amount of healing consumables in npc inventories, which makes them bullet-sponges

Thank you for illustrating how deeply is this bullshit myth rooted.
OP, if you are around: this is the meme shit I'm talking about. Difficulty does not make enemies take less damage. It's a weird and inexplicable myth. It has been proven wrong countless times, but for some reason, there is an army of retards who still peddle this shit.

What the fuck... Now the fucking bullshit is EVOLVING? Jesus.

Release order, ya dick weed.
It's a TRILOGY.

You don't NEED any mods if you got the games patched to latest versions (done automatically by Steam & GOG), but the "Starter Packs" (incl. ZRP, SRP + some graphics mods) are good to have just in case.

See the Stalker Starting Guide pic at for tips and trivia.
Play on the MASTER difficulty.

Stop trying to ruin someones experience of the game you fucking rectally ruined casual.

Master isn't even hard. It just makes the game more fun and satisfying to play.

Release order, vanilla, normal difficulty. Don't over think it. Leave the autism for a second play through or if you run into problems. Have fun.

Start with Shadow of Chernobyl. It's the hardest but has the best story and Use the ZRP mod to help ensure it runs smoothly, or Autumn Aurora for a major graphics overhaul

I think this actually largely explains the reason why the myth is so bizarelly persistent. It's important to insecure little faggots who use the game exclusively to prop up their pathetic, desintegrating self-esteem.

Wait now I'm confused... I thought it was a bad thing that people thought there were some deep significant changes between difficulty levels as opposed to just increased enemy lethality?

>or Autumn Aurora for a major graphics overhaul
No. AA is a fucking OVERHAUL mod, based on AMK. And it's shit compared to the original.

Just use Starter Pack's visual mods (Abs.Nature, SWO, ShadersMax) if you want more bling bling.

It is bad that people pretend or claim that the difficulty affects enemy health pools, player accuracy or health item usage of the enemies, yes.
It's especially bad when people actually cling to these myths because of some "us hardcore stalker players will not allow any cashuul player play other than highest difficulty, reeee!" insecurity.

But the game is still more fun if you get killed quickly, it adds to the atmosphere, even if the enemies don't have changes in the health pools.
At least I know I had more fun when I changed the difficulty to master

the correct order is Clear Sky, Clear Sky, Call of Pripyat, Clear Sky, Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky

Be prepared to hate the game at first because the initial guns you'll come across are shit-tier and couldn't hit the side of a barn. Even though the game suggests you shouldn't, I recommend attacking the 4 or 5 army guys at the bridge checkpoint just to get their slightly better equipment early.

No, you can't take armour off bodies, you have to find unused suits lying in the open

Drink vodka to cure radiation. The only food item worth carrying is "tourists delight". Pay attention to ammo types, there are like 6 different pistol ammo types alone so make sure you've got the right one for your gun. Always use single fire mode unless you're in very close proximity.

Good hunting, stalker

Attached: STALKER_difficulty_effects.png (1034x552, 43K)

>Always use single fire mode unless you're in very close proximity.
>He doesn't do bursts with full auto
You never get time to switch when bloodsucker shows up out of nowhere

>not dropping it with a single headshot when it closes in

Do you even stalk, bro?

No retard, this is how it has always been, and can be testified with how much ammo an average firefight will consume on lower difficulties vs master

notice loot quantity: enemies spawn with more medkits and shit on lower difficulties, which they can use to heal almost indefinitely. I tried killing a veteran soldier in Agroprom on my first playthrough on Stalker difficulty and shot at him with an entire inventory's worth of ammo which had no effect on him, whereas I've never had such an issue to that degree on Master