The Gamers Arms

I got a marketing email about it and I have to say, this might be the first time in my life that I throw down for an 'ultimate edition' boxed kit or whatever they're gonna call it. I'm also going to hold out for a new PC so that I can build something to run this thing! And as Sly has pointed out, maybe the card market will even out by next year.

I was going to build something this year, so I could finally buy and play Alex, but with the nVidia market so wonky it's not worth trying, especially with this on the gaming horizon.

it has started already

Nvidia 3060Ti for £640 is excellent given the state of the card market this last year

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/zotac-ge ... 2jcnBszQp6

Probably doesn't look quite like that but they have really captured the ambience of the previous games.

Possible 180Gb install size..uffff
https://www.gaming.net/stalker-2-heart- ... pparently/

Yowzer that's big! Looks very purdy though.

I was saying when the Series S was revealed how ill advised it was buying one, given how much the additional storage costs, and that you'd be better off going for the X as you're then only paying about a hundred quid for all of the 4k future proofing considering it comes with so much extra game space. I do wonder though whether that 180gb install size comes with stuff that the S won't bother downloading - it's not like you need the massive textures if the system can't use them.

It certainly looks like this is going to be brilliantly atmospheric. Was the first game a horror / shooter hybrid, or just a straight action shooter?

Raid wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 8:34 am

I was saying when the Series S was revealed how ill advised it was buying one, given how much the additional storage costs, and that you'd be better off going for the X as you're then only paying about a hundred quid for all of the 4k future proofing considering it comes with so much extra game space. I do wonder though whether that 180gb install size comes with stuff that the S won't bother downloading - it's not like you need the massive textures if the system can't use them.

It certainly looks like this is going to be brilliantly atmospheric. Was the first game a horror / shooter hybrid, or just a straight action shooter?

Yeah, definite horror elements.

Raid wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 8:34 am

I was saying when the Series S was revealed how ill advised it was buying one, given how much the additional storage costs, and that you'd be better off going for the X as you're then only paying about a hundred quid for all of the 4k future proofing considering it comes with so much extra game space. I do wonder though whether that 180gb install size comes with stuff that the S won't bother downloading - it's not like you need the massive textures if the system can't use them.

It certainly looks like this is going to be brilliantly atmospheric. Was the first game a horror / shooter hybrid, or just a straight action shooter?

Do you mean £100 once you factor in buying additional storage for the S?

I've never really had an issue with storage, there are only so many games you can play at once so I just delete stuff that I don't need anymore. I have been a lot better about finishing games the last two/three years though so less need for stuff to hang around on my drive.

DjchunKfunK wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 10:54 am

Do you mean £100 once you factor in buying additional storage for the S?

Yeah. A Series S costs £249, and a 512gb storage card to bring it up to storage parity with the X is £125, giving a total of £375.. The Series X is only £75 more than that. Obviously that's ignoring availability and individual budgets.

For a main gaming console, yeah, may as well go Series X. But I can see the appeal of the Series S as a 1080p bedroom console or maybe if you're traveling a lot and want to play xbox games.

Sly Boots wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 9:27 am

Raid wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 8:34 am

I was saying when the Series S was revealed how ill advised it was buying one, given how much the additional storage costs, and that you'd be better off going for the X as you're then only paying about a hundred quid for all of the 4k future proofing considering it comes with so much extra game space. I do wonder though whether that 180gb install size comes with stuff that the S won't bother downloading - it's not like you need the massive textures if the system can't use them.

It certainly looks like this is going to be brilliantly atmospheric. Was the first game a horror / shooter hybrid, or just a straight action shooter?

Yeah, definite horror elements.

Hell yes, Call of Pripyat when I did my playthrough many moons ago gave me some massive scares, but the original had a few of its own too. It was actually those experiences that made COP so great and sadly meant that I never got into it anywhere near as much in subsequent playthroughs - the experiences had been had and could not be recreated a second time. That said, with some of the mods I still had a lot of fun in later plays.

Tried multiple times to get into it but never could. Definitely be giving this a go though.

I was quite the fanboy over on the old PW forums. I'll never forget an afternoon I spent in the original game. There's a construction site not far from the starting area. You've got to have a little better kit with you, and have done a few things before it's easy to get there, but like I said it's early on in the game. Gotta go through a train tunnel or something, I think? To the northeast. Anyway, I'm sneaking around one cloudy, gloomy afternoon in-game time, coming up along the road. There's a couple of fellows walking along the road in front of me, crossing perpendicular. I wait for them to saunter past an old bus stop, then sneak across the landscape. I get to the construction site, and use the concrete pipes on the east side of the buildings to get up to the northern area, where there's a rectangular office building, half finished, with a decent view of the main construction area. It starts to rain. The clouds are darker now. I make it to the third floor, find a nice spot for overwatch and possible sniping, and have a seat.

It's in this next bit that the atmosphere of the game world really hits me. I'm watching patrols, as they come in and out of view. I see animals fighting in the distance. I'm watching the breezes, the rain, listening to it all. Dogs howling on occasion. I don't remember how long I sat there, watching this all unfold - just as I was taught, and just as I did many times, during my stint with force recon in the US Marines. I got pulled in, farther than any other solo game I've ever played. It was a sublime experience.

When I try to play nowadays, the clumsy UI and the janky movements are more jarring than I can really tolerate. I'd like to try again, maybe? But it won't be any time soon, so it'll probably wait for this iteration. I have high hopes that this one will "pull me in" again.

The originak Stalker game actually made me feel like a proper soldier. The immersion was second to none, but it required a lot of forgiving. Its so janky by today's standards that it becomes very difficult to replay.

I am so looking forward to this new game.

the game developers have a hard on for NFTs

Still playing the game, ignoring the fluff....