Stalker Anomaly is amazing, and here's why - an Anomaly analysis
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- Опубликовано: 6 авг 2024
- Stalker A-Blondily
#stalker #stalkeranomaly
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl and it's 2 sequels remain cult classics, but something has been happening behind curtain in recent years - Stalker is evolving. Come with me as I take a deep dive into an ambitious mod project that improves the Stalker experience in every conceivable way, and I'll explain why it deserves your attention.
Intro (0:00)
Welcome to Stalker (8:39)
Stalker 2.0 (17:47)
The Experience (25:35)
The Jank (51:09)
Escape From Anomaly: Exodus 76 (57:58)
Conclusion (1:03:54)
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51:04 "Craft your own story; forge your own destiny" interestingly enough this reminds me of what the "Get out of here, Stalker" guy is supposed to be saying. That's right, supposed to be... Apparently some lost-in-translation happened, what is more accurate for what he says is "Make your own way, Stalker."
That’s an interesting thought, and it fits the tone of the inhabitants well. Things happen as they will.
That’s why I’m a fan of playing games like Stalker in their intended language. One day when I finally get around to learning Russian I can appreciate what’s actually being said.
I always understood it as him saying smth like "Be on your way, stalker"
Depending on the tone, you could interpret this as a well-meaning call to action.
I remember playing vanilla COP back in the day, I was in jupiter when I got word that an emission was coming. I was in the middle of absolutely no where. The only thing I could see was a small concrete structure off in the distance built into the side of a large hill. It was far away but it was my only choice. I sprinted for the structure as fast as I could, the emission already beginning just as I reached the windows. Once I was inside I was not safe...there was a horde of zombies in there all slowly turning awakened from their slumber by my presence. About to be sliced into a meal by the zombie hordes lead I opened fire with my AK but there were too many. While they were still in shock I turned and ran for the doorway to another tiny entry room where I leaned around the corner and tossed a grenade. An explosion ensued, an explosion that would only wake the remaining zombies further into the structure that turned out to be an underground bunker of some kind. I moved through quickly dispatching the remaining zombies with my shotgun. Then the emission ended.
Ahhh, the perfect Stalker experience. 🤌
I haven't played Anomaly in a long time now, or S.T.A.L.K.E.R in general... But I still remember everything that happened.
You can take the Stalker out of the Zone, but you can never take the Zone out of the Stalker.
Never have truer words been spoken. The Zone always beckons.
This video has been a while in the making. It was originally intended to be a 25 minute fishbowl peek at what is an amazing community-made mod. The project quickly ballooned. Still, it's been a while between videos and you should know where the time has gone:
- 100+ hours exploring all areas of The Zone, and completing all main story tasks
- The creation of a 2nd channel - Blondefire - for let's plays, and refining the upload process
- An ambitious Stalker Anomaly beginner's guide video which took far longer to put together than I anticipated
- A couple of big IRL life goals happening around the same time
Now that things have settled, I'm aiming to upload videos every month or so.
Dude, your channel is criminally underrated. After watching this video I expected you to have at least 50k subs based on the effort and production quality. I hope that you get there one day.
Working toward it with you good folk and your encouraging comments. Thanks for giving my channel a look!
Why are the best chanels underrated
A masterpiece of a game and a great review, although the prime mistery of Stalker is unmentioned - with the numerous bolts being pelted around, were have all the nuts go?
Cheers, mate!
Oh, that's the easiest question of all: all of the nuts end up in The Zone...
@@HeyBlondieGamer It is the Sciurus-zonus [Zone squirrel] a rarely seen entity that collects the bolts and in a fit of pique at discovering they are not in fact edible nuts, packages them up for barkeep in a passive aggressive protest at the littering of the zone. The aggressive part where they give Barkeep a nip on the heel every time he comes to collect them, hence his slow movement in the Bar to talk to you. He has a very sore heel.
This reads great with a David Attenborough voice over. 🤣
No english speaker here, sorry for my english - but, you did an extraordinary good job with this video. Thank you so much! - For me this (anomaly mod) is all i dreamed of! Since two weeks now, i play every minute of my freetime. I am back in the zone, and i don´t wanna leave soon. I love to do my own thing, so i disabled the story mode and play as a STALKER....living in the zone, earning money, spend money....you know what...it doesn´t get boring. Many years ago i played the A-Life-Mod (as i remember corretly) - wich does simulate a living zone beside the Stalker Story (shadow of Chernobyl). Now, with anomaly this IS, as said above, MI Zone! :) Many Greetings and thank you again.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the video! I feel the same way as you do about Stalker, I love existing in its world and exploring and creating new challenges for myself. Stalker Anomaly was the reason I started the Blondefire let’s play channel.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Good hunting, Stalker.
I am a little late to the party, but I just wanted to say “thank you.” I got Anomaly a couple of days ago due, largely, to one of your videos that I peeked at. Anomaly is absolutely the exact S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience I have been pining for since playing the games a bunch of years ago.
I originally was repulsed by the game series because I am Ukrainian and it seemed ghoulish to play a game based on such an unfortunate tragedy, but I am glad I tried it out, because the original games were near-masterpieces. Anomaly pushes them firmly into the “masterpiece” position.
As a Ukrainian, I am also privy to the jokes and amusing wordplay of the NPC’s since I understand russian, and I am really glad they kept that in Anomaly.
I vow to devour all your content because you are very good and I want to support you as much as possible…do my little bit that I can to get you a spotlight
If you’re still in the Ukraine then I hope are safe and well.
Anomaly is the hardcore survival experience that I reckon GSC were originally going for. Very charitable of them to allow it to exist, and I’m glad that it’s bringing so many Stalkers back to the Zone.
Thank you for support, it means a tonne! Blondefire is a tiny channel, but we have a good community here. 👍
@@HeyBlondieGamer thank you for your concern! I am in the US, but I have a lot of family in Ukraine, so it has been a rough year so far.
Watching through your videos, I am getting more inspired to turn up the heat on my own game. I tend to like to smooth out some of the difficulty, but it seems like it would be quite a bit more fun if I were to make it closer to the difficulty you play. Not all the way, because I am just not that capable of playing games ultra hardcore anymore, just don’t have the time and getting older makes my already-abysmal reaction times even slower (only 40, but still, BIG difference from when I was 20).
Keep up the good work, I do hope your channel grows. Once S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 comes out and gets some hype, maybe this franchise won’t be as niche as it is now and gain some more mainstream popularity
Glad to hear that you’re okay. I hope your family remains safe.
Stalker is at its best when the difficulty is enough to keep you just outside your comfort zone. The sense of progression and reward is beyond satisfying!
Cheers for the well-wishes! 👍
Fingers crossed for Stalker 2.
That bloodsucker story captures perfectly why I love Anomaly so much. It's not about the long term goal, it's about the moment to moment experiences. I love the loop of gearing up, heading out and accomplishing a mission then heading back to base to sell off your loot and repeat the whole process. You don't just come back with an armful of goodies either, you come back with a little tale to tell every time.
I seriously hope that this channel grows and does well. This is excellent stuff, man.
Thanks man, much appreciated.
Blondie: A rookie wouldn't know a pseudodog from a blind dog
Me: Well my FN FAL doesn't distinguish, but kills them just the same.
I am re-watching this video.
Very, very well done.
How, why doesn't this channel have tens of thousands of subs...is BEYOND me.
Cheers, that’s really appreciated. 👍
It hasn’t dissuaded me, I’ll keep putting out content 🤘
@@HeyBlondieGamer
You're welcome.
Had to edit the comment, stupid Android keyboard had inserted "being me" instead of "beyond me".
Anyway, your videos are quite good. Well done.
My phone does the same, I gotcha. Thanks again.
Just started playing Anomaly. Haven't played any STALKER before and I'm loving it. Had to use a couple of mods to graphics, as the world looked like it was covered in static.
One thing that is really impressive is the inventory. Every item has a detailed description. Instead of the usual "scrap metal: junk taking up space" in other games, STALKER Anomaly details what the item is, history of use in the zone, synergetic items, compatibility and the exact effects the item will have.
There are a metric tonne of minor details in Anomaly which flesh the world. Eventually you’ll start to see them only for their practical use. Oh, to be a new player again 🥲
That story at the start is exactly why I tend to be around urban areas for much of the time, but once the Blowout passes, and I had a plan for long treks, that's the time I get going, because I know we wouldn't get another Emission until the next day.
I like the uncertainty of blowouts, it adds a thrilling risk to each outing.
Loved every minute of that; an ode to, in my opinion, the greatest fan project ever made, for ANY game. Coupled with an insanely dedicated modding community and potentially we have a near perfect product. Mods have solved all problems for me bar one...the stealth (yes, even companion issues can be as good as eliminated with the right combination off add ons). I really don't know if that stealth system can ever be properly fixed or at least bare some resemblance to consistent. Here's to hoping.
My surface level understanding of how stealth is implemented means that any modder wanting to update it would need to pull the engine apart. I have found a few stealth mods which help, but I don’t think we’ll ever have a balanced stealth system in the current iteration of mod packs.
This is the stalker video I have been looking for. It's time the world hears about stalkers glory!
Vrag Monolita!
@56:40 the GAMMA mod pack does a great job of rebalancing progression. NOBODY sells guns or armor, so you have to craft everything yourself from salvaged stuff. However, all recipes are unlocked from the start. Money can be used to buy certain parts of repair kits, but you can't just buy your way to freedom in the same way.
I do like GAMMA, but it’s not for beginners.
Gamma is cool but too complicated for a new player. Dark signal is best for a newb imo. It doesn't really change the game's mechanics, but adds improves the sound by *a lot*, adds new guns, and a bunch of small gameplay improvements.
You don’t reckon base vanilla is a good entry into the latest Stalker mods?
@@HeyBlondieGamer This is how I started and how I recommend starting. Play vanilla anomaly until you get a hold of the important mechanics. Then start modding. The game is genuinely better with some mods. Half of the issues mentioned in the "jank" section of the video can be fixed with mods, which are pretty easy to install too, just use mod organizer 2.
I’d agree with that, though some things like companion AI can only be fixed so much.
Late to the party as well but watching your other channel... the one thing I love about STALKER Anonaly is the lack of hand holding... and the exploration feeds my wanderlust when I cannot do that..
The survival discoveries are a big part of the appeal, for sure.
Cheers for checking out the channel! 🤘
I couldn't ignore this video and after seeing it I couldn't feel anything other than melancholy for the good and bad times I went through. I knew I wasn't good at this but it's there I still can't leave the area I tried but I'll just embrace the idea of holding on for a while longer. Yes it's just a rambling but I'm glad to share it with people who like anomaly
The poetry of every Stalker in the Zone.
This feels really professionally done, this needs more attention!
Thank you! 🤘
By the way Sin and IGS are the fraction from early concept documents and pre-alphas which are supposed to be in first game but they weren't finished so weren't added to the original game. This is also the reason why Sin is kinda raw. Mod devs just worked with what they had...
Interesting info, thanks for this. They certainly feel undercooked compared to the other factions. Hopefully some enterprising devs will kick this ball further down the road.
I caught a couple of your stalker vids looking for a game along these lines. Installed it.
It ate my entire weekend and I find myself thinking about it at work. It’s one of those magic combinations of imperfect elements that forms something emergent that is much, much more than the sum of its parts.
Never played the originals either.
And this went straight to the top of my ‘greatest games’ list. Hell, I’ve barely explored the zones around Cordon too. All those other shiny new survival games wish they were this good.
How in the hell did I MISS this until now?
It’s Stalker’s best kept secret, though that’s much less true these days with large channels covering the modding scene and GAMMA making a big splash. If this feels too easy for you, check out Stalker GAMMA, it’ll inject a more ‘survival’ experience into gameplay. Not for the faint of heart.
I actually found the UNISG playthrough really enjoyable (after my Loner run which I completed first). It was shorter than my Loner run & the storyline wasn't as in-depth but it was still fun nonetheless. It was also more challenging because I had to rely on disguises for some areas of the maps during the early stages (the feature I didn't touch when playing as a Loner).
Freaking love Anomaly to bits and thanks for this video, I enjoyed it very much :)
I’d love to do some runs with other factions. Sin or Renegades would be good for an experienced and tough run.
Cheers, glad you enjoyed the video 🤘
@@HeyBlondieGamer Looking forward to your other faction runs 👍 Yeah, I heard Sin & the Renegades are the toughest factions to play because of their loadouts. Good luck & Rock On.
Hey, blondie, just stopping by to thank you for your loner to legend series, as it helps me to fight depression somehow, alongside professional help of course.
Cheers, glad it helped. Having a voice in the room really does help in bad times, I know how it feels.
Hope you’re working through it and making good progress.
@@HeyBlondieGamer voice in a room really works, yeah. Thank you again
holy shit that intro was great. you should upload more STALKER stories like that
Cheers! 👍
I’m currently designing season 2 of Loner to Legend over on my Blondefire longplay channel which will have a greater focus on storytelling. Season 2 hasn’t dropped yet but it’s not far off. 😉
So I just found this video. I`ll bite and share one of the moments from Anomaly that still sticks with me.
I had hired Hip to follow me some time ago. We were still hunting for the artifacts for Sidorovich, that she owed him. Searching the anomaly fields, we had gone almost everywhere in the zone, save for the very heart of it. No luck.
After another emission had passed, we left the Jupiter station, on a round tour around the area, looking for loot and some mutants, as on our artifact hunts I had begun to take mutant hunts as well. Most common were just requests for dog meat. I had been asked to hunt the apex predator itself. The Chimera. We had tried to catch it at the Ventilation complex. I remembered running from one earlier, before I had Hip with me. I had escaped the beast's claws only thanks to some bandits, that were willfully ignoring it, and trying to pump me full of lead. However on repeated returns, it seemed to have migrated away.
The Chimera hunt at the back of my mind, we headed through the rainy dusk, when some zombies from the Volkhov AA complex opened fire on us. Inaccurate as they were, some shots did graze my armor, and I decided to put these poor sods out of their misery, and to make the area a bit safer, as the gun wielding zombies could be a threat to someone less armored than me.
Picking them off with precise headshots I caught glimpse of Hip shooting at something off to the side. Assuming she had also taken to clearing out the "undead", I paid no mind to it. Having taken care of the ones on my side I headed over to where Hip was still dumping shot after shot into something. In the now near darkness I could not see any shambling silhouettes so I traced Hip's shots through my scope, only to turn facing a Chimera mid-leap towards me.
Now this was not the same Chimera I had run from. This one was pitch black, as opposed to the more light brownish one I`d run from, melding perfectly with the night, as only it`s glowing eyes and teeth could be made out.
It nearly tore me in half on the spot, as I quickly turned to run, and apply a stimpak and a bandage. The immediate effects of it were not enough, as moments later I laid face down, conquered by a terror from the night.
Naturally, this is flowered as all hell, but damn that moment was more effective than any scripted jumpscares that I`ve seen in games to this day.
Anyways, great video, hopefully you'll get more subs, as you definitely deserve it. ;)
Haha, I love hearing stories like this one. I don’t think there’s a Stalker out there who doesn’t have a chilling tale of Chimera attacks. The black ones are the nastiest, very unlucky to have been blindsided by it, my friend, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles in the Zone.
Cheers for checking out the video 👍
Amazing quality content. Keep doing what you’re doing and there is no way this channel doesn’t get huge.
Cheers, much appreciated! ❤️
Excellent video. Well worth watching as I wait for your new L2L S2 video to drop. Will check out the Thief vid next.
Cheers, much appreciated! 🤘
Came for more stalker content (having a bit of an addiction right now lmao), stayed for the dad jokes, my favorite was "Flesh Kevlar"
Stalker is a lifetime addiction. Welcome to the club 🤘
Funny enough, there is an actual Anomaly Baby in both Roadside Picnic and the Stalker movie. The protagonist's daughter, named Monkey
(In the book, she's a super hairy child with degrading intellect as she ages. In the movie, she's a cripple with telekenesis)
Good observations. I was thinking more like a cross between a burer and a karlick. That would be terrifying.
This is such a good video, well done.
I thank the RUclips algorithm for bringing me here, I loved de video, pretty good quality and love for the series behind it.
Thanks! It’s a great place to start your Stalker experience if you’ve never played any of the Stalker games.
What? After playing Stalker my whole life, I get into Anomaly a couple days ago, then find your amazing channel today, only to find out you've made a video about this mod. Lucky me
Magazine. Not clip. Magazine.
If you like Anomaly, perhaps check out my Blondefire channel (link in the description). I completed an Anomaly longplay crafting challenge and am part way through a new Anomaly longplay challenge.
Someone else pointed this out too. I *hope* I remember it for future. 😅
Man, I really love your Narration.
This is quality content for sure. Watched your analysis of Diablo 1 and Stalker Anomaly and both have a great production value. It's a shame that your channel has a low view count and little over 600 subs.
Thanks, that's greatly appreciated! We'll get there.
You, Good Sir, have earned yourself a subscriber! And a like to boot!
Well done man!
Cheers, that is greatly appreciated! 👍
Emissions always seem to happen when I'm just far enough away from cover, that popping all the carry-weight-stamina-regen-increasing supplies I have gets me to safety with just seconds to spare.
Never ceases to get the heart racing.
Those are some of the best moments.
Fantastic video about my favorite version of my favorite games. Great job! Best video I've ever seen come out of such a small channel, what the fuck? I'm going to share this with everyone I know.
Thanks for taking the time to check it out, really appreciate it! 🤘
Renegades are essentially just a separate more ruthless gang of bandits made to fight Clear Sky in the og Stalker Clear Sky, they’re definitely undercooked in the game and are basically killed off, I guess the purpose of playing them in Anomaly is to be a challenge since every faction hates them so.
Yeah, they’re better kitted as well although still pretty scrappy compared to organised groups.
UNISG have a rougher go because they lack an established base and prevalent allies. A Renegade run would be interesting though.
@@HeyBlondieGamer UNISG is allied with the Mercs though right? You could use Dead City as a base
True, yes. Their presence in the Zone is significantly smaller than other factions though which means that hard combat early on is almost assured. I’d love to try a run with them using the Crafting Challenge rules.
Amazing vid, deserves more views!
Cheers! 👍
The best presentation of anomaly i ever saw. This video and this channel is underrated. 👍👍👍👍👍
Cheers, I really appreciate that!
Played STALKER back when it originally released. Came across your superb video while having a nostalgia attack. I no longer maintain a gaming PC so I'll probably have to settle for another playthrough of the OG game. Anomaly does seem amazing though.
Thanks for giving it a watch.
Anomaly is highly customizable, you might be able to get a decent experience even with lower settings.
I enjoyed this Review and really enjoy Anomaly even after a couple of years, but this Crosshair throughout the Video made me wonna leave and cry ;)
In my Anomaly I only use like 20 mods to give me more Immersion like Food Drug Drink Animation, weapon cover Tilt, weapon Ammo check, some high Resolution Models for Npc's and vehicles, Body Health System (like in Tarkov), Vaulting and Mantling...
excellent stuff
1:08:23 You can take a Stalker out of the zone, but you never take the zone out of a Stalker.
Ain’t that the truth.
Really feel like I should be hearing "Would you like to know more?" Every once and a while.
Ooooh, I like that idea! 👍
This is a very solid video. You have a new sub. Thanks.
Thank you 🙏
@@HeyBlondieGamer Just started the Let's play series. 100 episodes ? Must be goooood. I am currently about 15-20h in my first Anomaly run and I am in love !
Thanks for checking it out!
Anomaly had the same effect on me.
I don’t rush through and we cover a lot of ground with the crafting system. It’s instructional as much as a fun playthrough.
@@HeyBlondieGamer Loving it so far. Just one question : why did you turn off Story Mode ?
@@HanzsKlopek Because sandbox mode unlocks all of the Zone without having to do the main story tasks. You also can’t disguise as a few of the enemy factions during story mode. And we have our own objectives to achieve! 🤘
if you type UNSIG in the carictor creatater you can start as them and they have there own story line
Love your channel, loved playing STALKER as a kid. Played without mods so the bloodsuckers were easier to see and less likely to make me crap my pants!
Not sure if it’s different in the UK but in the US it’s pronounced “tamber”.
Cheers! 👍
The OG experience made me fall in love with Stalker’s world. I became obsessed with Chernobyl and needed to know every detail. I remember there was a woman who used to ride through there (illegally) on her motorbike and take these really cool pics.
Ah, the memories…
It's crazy how customizable this game is. Through mods and the almost overbearing amount of options sliders, my playthrough looks nothing like my friends' playthroughs and i'm sure if I loaded up the game and started again, that playthrough would look nothing like the previous ones.
That’s one of the core appeals of Anomaly. With a few tweaks it can feel and play like a different game.
Thank you
I know this doesn't sound like much but... Great video!
It means more than you can imagine! Thank you!😁
This is a splendid review. I was introduced to STALKER Anomaly by OperatorDrewski and even just watching his videos, enough of the atmosphere and immersion leaked through for me to want to try the game myself and I am so glad I did.
I do have a few gripes, like looted guns always being nearly broken or crafting requiring the rare tools, the rare/expensive and limited use repair kits on top of the obnoxiously specific parts; but on the whole, the experience is well refined, well thought out, immensely immersive and highly compelling.
I love the cost-benefit assessments that you have to make in the course of play. Do I risk lowering my weapon to use a medkit so I don't die from the next hit, or do I pop up and throw a few more rounds at that last bandit so that I can patch myself up in safety? I might catch a fatal bullet if I keep fighting, but if I stop to heal, he may rush me and then I'd be proper screwed. Do I pick up that powerful but heavy gun or the swanky looking suit of armor to replace my worn out SEVA? Ammo, or meds with my last few rubles? You don't need meds if you shoot the other guy fast enough, but ammo isn't very useful if you are bleeding to death.
I love that Stalker ‘speaks’ to people. That’s how it got me back when Shadow of Chernobyl released. Anomaly is the culmination of years worth of thought and experimentation by fans. You’re right about some elements being imbalanced (there are mods to fix them) but on the whole this feels like the most customizable and complete Stalker experience yet. What’s exciting is how quickly the modding community have produced high quality mods since Anomaly’s release. You can change just about any aspect of the core game.
Thanks for checking out the video, and thanks for taking the time to comment 👍
@@HeyBlondieGamer I kind of got scared away from mods on my first play through by the breadth and variety available. I didn't have a grasp of the core gameplay so I wasn't sure what I would have wanted to change and I didn't want to inadvertently ruin the mechanics or gameplay by installing a mod that sounded cool but changed too much.
I've got at least a few hundred hours under my belt now so I may dip my toe into the modding scene for my next playthrough. Got any recommendations for good ones to start out with?
It depends on what you want to change, as you say there’s a lot to choose from. I’ll be starting season 2 on the Blondefire channel in the next few weeks and will post a full list and description of the mods I’m using. Have a poke through those and see what speaks to you.
@@HeyBlondieGamer Sweet, I'll keep an eye out for the video :)
This Video and Channel are deemed to grow in audience and followship. I wish you all the best. Thanks for this video. :)
Thanks for checking it out! :D
Do you think you'll do an updated video now that GAMMA and EFP exist? Loved the video btw
Cheers!
I'll cover GAMMA when it hits 1.0. It goes through so many changes that any video on it now would be obsolete a few months later. EFP I'm not as familiar with, but if it's stable then it might be worth a video.
6:10 funny you should mention that. The old devs and new of the Stalker games have all said they poked at the game and play it. Their blown away with the creativity of the fanbase, one of the major reasons it's not been struck down is because the devs stand by the community creation and play it themselves :)
Also...we need more stalker story time
I’d be surprised if Anomaly escaped their attention, it’s huge now.
If you’d like more Tales From The Zone, can I recommend my longplay channel, Blondefire 😉
@@HeyBlondieGamer Oh, i have been. Though the little story times is a nice change of pace :)
We need to boost this guys numbers!!
Too kind, thanks mate 👍
I will say with the sin faction, their faction lore makes sense why they are spungy as they are touted to being mutated stalkers, so the fact they are stronger without the armor could mean their mutations make them more resiliant like a lot of the mutants in the zone are.
I have since dug around in the config files and a lot of the dusters they wear are classed as medium armour and can absorb some punishment. This might also explain some of the sponginess I experienced.
@@HeyBlondieGamer doing a play through as sin, and yeah the base duster you can start with is med armor with kevlar plates.
Monolith have a similar getup. Sin would be an interesting playthrough.
And jet still missing my feet in Anomaly or consumption animation or unjamming your gun instead of reloading, constant weather changes after entering a new zone etc....
Mods i use until now:
1. "English Voice Complete"
2. "Food and drug animation version 09a" merged manual with "Food Drug Drink Missing Animation Patch v7.5.2"
3. "Hunger Thirst Sleep UI 0.6"
4. "Soundscape Overhaul" To get rid of fake mutant sounds
5. "Knifeable Containers.1"
6. "Death Animations"
7. "Faster Tooltips"
8. See your lower body "swm_visible_body.11" merged manual with "first_person_view"
9. "Yohij Persistent Weather"
I also tweaked:
10. "Realistic Durability Drops" added manually "death_items.ltx" Death items for more ammo on dead bodies because 2 bullets is kind of not realistic i believe. You have 5 mags of AK Ammo and there is always like 2-5 rounds left! Really???
11. "Companion inventory" i am just curios :).
12. "Calming Campfires" This makes sense! Survived a Psy- Storm because of that :).
I am really looking for a weapon degradation ltx file that works! I am all in if you use old ammo and have your gun jamming in addition with a proper unjamming animation. Cleaning your weapon to avoid jamming is also O.K. But going trough 100 rounds and have you weapon warren out beyond repair is just ballocks! And makes the game ugly for me...
I use a handful of these mods in season 2 over on the Blondefire channel. They really do tailor the game to your desire, it’s fantastic!
@@HeyBlondieGamer Some of these is a must have! :)
Man the ambient music of stalket brings back memories...
I loved shadow of chernobyl, with all its flaws the world of stalker still felt genuine enough.
GET OUT OF HIR STOKER
My first memories of The Zone are still my fondest. Shadow of Chernobyl is a gem!
@@HeyBlondieGamer
Thank u for your great review of this game, i loved it. Im looking forward to watch more of your videos, but wow was this a nostalgic one. :)
Nice narrative
Cheers 👍
It's one of your older vids I haven't seen. Are you excited for Stalker 2 and the new fan base probably growing with the console release?
I’m giddy for Stalker 2, but also praying that they don’t mess it up. The tight community have always wanted more Stalkers to join us in the Zone. It makes me happy when Stalker gets exposure and draws new audiences to the franchise. There’s so much here, and the modpacks are free!
I kinda always turn off Anomaly and played the original freeplay mod being Call of Chernobyl as I thought, too complicated and hard, but now that I did in these days, oh man, I never thought I would have that much fun, even simply being in the world with good graphic, complex mechanics and harsh difficulty makes the experience so real. For example I really like using snipers in fps games so, I choose to down this road, the feedback on sniping from afar is perfect, having to fight mutants with a pistol and a sniper really suck, and I didn't even fought bloodsuckers. In the end Anomaly is good as every other stalker game, the originals being more arcade then on survival aspect. Now I am just playing Vanilla Anomaly, I saw various overalls of it, Gamma, Escape from Pripyat, and I guess there are various addons to enhance features. Care to say some examples for next playthoughs. Also pretty nice review, I would say if I found this earlier it for sure let me to try this mod.
Anomaly’s difficulty can be a big hurdle for new players, but it’s so customizable that this should rarely be an issue. It’s still a shock to the system coming from the original games.
There’s always my beginners guide on the Blondefire channel (link in the description) for anyone who wants to give Anomaly a shot.
1:00:03
I just want to preface this by saying that I think your review is awesome, and you captured your points extremely well. I just want to say this, because this is the only point I disagree on.
When you say the economy is flawed in that you end up with so much money that repairing things yourself or making food yourself is useless, and that you will never be short on ammo, you're right. But, only partially. And only on the easiest difficulties. Hard mode paired with Survivalist progression is completely different from what you might be used to on easy or medium, tourist or scavenger. There, you're payed in pennies for work, resources are more scarce--from traders AND the world--, ammo is much more expensive and crafting and cooking are your lifeline. Pair that with no fast travel, and you will have the hardest, but most immersive, your game will be.
When you get payed 6000 rubles for travelling halfway to the other side of the Zone, spending your precious ammo, food and medicinal supplies on mutants and stalkers en route, you will know exactly what I mean. For example, 15 5.45 FMJ ammo is about 1500 on survivalist. Yup. It'll have you preparing ahead the entire way, more than you ever would on other difficulties, because you WILL need it. And your skill will be your biggest asset. And because of that, I only recommend it if you enjoy an extremely challenging, unforgiving but very immersive experience. Personally, I think this is how Anomaly was designed to be played.
Hope you enjoyed the read :)
Ah, a fellow enthusiast! Cheers for the response 👍
I feel that my criticism holds up on hard and survivalist. Survivalist is the biggest determinant of price (economy), and I still found it easy to accrue RU in vanilla Anomaly. That only continues to snowball as rank increases and higher-tier loot drops (if progressive loot isn’t enabled, then it’s ridiculously easy to get cash). The hobo phase can (and should) be brutal, but it doesn’t take long to build steam if you know what you’re doing. Stashes play an important role in getting a good head start early.
I agree with you that the best experience is at the rougher edge of Anomaly, where bullets count and the economy is tighter. The GAMMA modpack does a great job at balancing these elements and making progression harder but feel earned. You can also tweak settings, as you’ve suggested, to get a more hardcore experience. My advice for Stalker’s difficulty is always this: play at a difficulty that’s always just beyond your comfort zone. Stalker leans on danger and tension, and the strings must be taut to produce the tune that Stalker is best known for.
I took the long way around, but I mostly agree with you. The vanilla economy is still easy in my opinion, but I’ve also sunk hundreds of hours into the game and know it reasonably well. Head over to my Blondefire channel if you want to see me complete a ‘crafting only’ run for some added pressure. 👍
Thanks once again for the comment. It’s always fun to talk with other Stalkers, this community is one of the best in gaming.
@@HeyBlondieGamer And thanks for the reply!
I've actually been watching your newest playthrough on your other channel, and I'm having a blast with it! I only realized after I posted the comment (when I started the series) that you were completely aware of everything I had mentioned. I just wasn't sure at the time. I do agree with all these points though!
It's certainly been a while since I've played vanilla, as I've sort of drifted towards my own curated modpack--something I think most Anomaly players end up with, lol. I didn't recall having any mods that messed with the economy, or had changed any presets, so I was pretty sure it was the same in vanilla too.
You're right though when you say that your skill has probably affected that, I'm definitely not as experienced as you despite countless hours in the game (and the series), so that plays a part in why I'm struggling on the hardest difficulty. But I do enjoy playing like that! Again, I think that's where Anomaly really shines, but you're completely right in saying that you should play how you want to. I definitely forgot to mention that in my last comment, lol.
Thanks for the chat too! Loving your videos so far!!
The challenges were partly designed to push the economy and give it a greater meaning. That’s what I really love about Anomaly and so it made sense to lean into that aspect and see how far I could take it. There are a bunch more surprises for season 2, it won’t only be a technical playthrough like season 1, but all in good time 😉
Thanks for checking out both channels! I can’t remember if I’ve seen your username in Discord, but drop in there too. We have a great friendly community who really know their stuff, and all voices are welcome 👍
Haven't watched the whole thing but just wanna note ITS A MOD OF A MOD. Anomaly builds off Call of Chernobyl mod of the year
Which CoC built off the original games and a few like "dlc" if you can even call it that releases if I remember correctly
Forgot to add the point to that it's more impressive to me that it's like you said endless refinement
Anyways great video
It’s fascinating to see the path of growth that has led to a modpack like Anomaly. And we’re now seeing offshoots like EFP and GAMMA which are evolving in different directions.
I have no doubt that we’ll have a bunch of fully-realized, feature-complete offshoot mod packs a few years from now which are all modestly different experiences from each other. We’re lucky that there are so many passionate Stalker fans out there!
Cheers for taking the time to drop a comment 👍
Man, this video is poetry, u should defenitely try kenshi is an amazing game
Cheers!
I hear great things about Kenshi, perhaps one day I’ll get the chance to play it.
have you played the GAMMA mod pack? it's an interesting take on the game balance and it will definitely have you leaning on the crafting/ repair system.
a load out feels well earned when you CAN'T hoard cash and buy a new gun. you have to find the gun and repair it.
I played GAMMA in preparation for my Bugout Challenge over on my Blondefire channel. I really enjoyed it and was going to use it as the base modpack for the Bugout Challenge, but decided to drop it in favour of a custom mod list. I’d like to return to it soon, I hear that a lot of improvements and refinements have been made.
Check out my Loner to Legend longplay on my Blondefire channel. I play through vanilla Anomaly and I’m only allowed to use weapons and armour I find and repair. I also have to craft or scavenge most of the gadgets like detectors, NVG, binoculars etc. This was back before GAMMA existed.
What is all 3? Living Legend, Afterglow and Mortal Sin?
Yes.
@@HeyBlondieGamer damnit
stalker fans when a gothic chad walks in
I honestly think this is really good but really blinded as I really thing Oblivion Lost Remake(OLR) is what GSC originally wanted for SoC, though it's a hard thing to install and play
Perhaps I should analyze that.
@@HeyBlondieGamer you'll probably need a translator and a drink to begin with, this mod is really russian-focused. But if you can, give the necromancy a chance!
I'm so downloading this game 😅
I’d love to hear your experiences. Have fun in The Zone!
@@HeyBlondieGamer I will let you know what I think about it 😊
there is a reason stalker in general and the original 2 gothic games (with expansion) are my alltime faves to this very day. i knew CDPR was heavily influenced by gothic imagine my excitement for cyberpunk at the time 🤦♂️🤣
Gothic and Morrowind set the standard for NPC’s with day/night schedules. It was a feature that made the Colony feel more alive. Sometimes a simpler complexity is all that’s required to make a game fun. 👍
57:41 You can install Ukranian voice acting for Loners, Clear Sky, Bandits, Freedom and Military.
Freedom's actor is different from Russian interestingly.
I use both Russian and Ukranian. It sounds cute.
I’m an uneducated lout and can’t tell the difference, but I do love the non-English voices.
I hope you do one for stalker Gamma which address your wants
That’s not a bad idea. GAMMA is a moving goalpost at the moment which is the biggest reason I stopped playing. I’d love to see the final result.
@@HeyBlondieGamer just discovering your channel , love the long form content!
Thank you, glad to have you here! 🙏
Penultimate is "2nd place" so what's FIrst?
Penultimate means second-to-last (in this context it means next-to-last in a sequential series).
Stalker 2 would be the ‘last’ in the series, although it isn’t out yet 😅
A little nip about Hip and being the ONLY woman in the Zone. If you speak with the hunter who runs the shop in the Train Depot in Garbage, he actually tells that the Zone has plenty of women adventuring around but people hard to tell apart when everyone wears armor, exosuits, masks and hauls around a cargo load of weapons and items. I guess this is an acceptable explanation considering that there are no female models designed (even Hip is just a heavily modded over male model). And of course the lack of voice actors. So Anomaly devs tried to cover this lack with at the very least an explanation. Leaving it up for everyone's imagination how they go on with this information.
Given how every voice is male that’s a hard explanation to swallow, but I love the experience as it is. I currently use a mod which adds female models and voice talent along with a bunch of additional male models, and I never notice the difference thanks to their armour and ranged engagements. I know some people complain about female representation in Stalker, but I personally find it a non-issue, especially when the net result is that you never notice them when they’re there anyway.
The bigger question is why the Mercs - a loose organization made up of soldiers from around the globe - all speak Russian…
@@HeyBlondieGamer To be honest, a lot of answer to the lack of certain content can be explain away simply with the lack of time from GSC's side when the base games were made. A lot of content changed, cut or forgotten completely. Like the A-Life where NPCs could complete missions before you. It is not at all unlikely that they really, really lacked the money and time to record voice lines and get voice actors even for something as simple as the Mercenary faction's higher variety of accents. I can't really find what was the team composition of GSC during the making of the base games but I wouldn't be surprised if they simply had no women available to record af ew lines. As they couldn't record a few "Foreign sounding" lines for the Mercs.
Absolutely. I think a lot of Stalker’s critics forget the compressed production of the game. It’s clear that if they had the time and money that a game like Stalker Anomaly may never have needed to exist. Or, at the very least, that it would be more feature-complete and bug-free.
@@HeyBlondieGamer I don't remember where exactly I read this but it stated that women in the zone tend to disguise themselves as men for their own safety in the Zone's anarchy. That's a good enough explanation in my book, even if it's not really something that exists in gameplay.
So, all the women don't make a big deal about it. But Hip wants a weapon, artifacts and tuna ... then she probably gets eaten by a random zombie.
Maybe her inclusion is a statement. Her name in the script files might support it.
26:54
Say again😯
Dang, good stuff man.
To who is curious: don't play this game, it will consume you.
You should check out gamma
I have. I’m watching it’s development closely.
I like gamma
GAMMA is goood.
Sooooo... Coverage of Pathologic Classic/Pathologic 2 soon?
Yes!!!???
They’re on the list, but there are other titles that I want to cover first.
@@HeyBlondieGamer Given how good your work is already, that's going to be something to really look forward to. The personal stories that can be told, especially from the first game... ooof
Oooh, you’re sweetening the pot. 😂
Sounds like it’ll be a memorable experience.
@@HeyBlondieGamer If you don't mind, I can send you on something I wrote in regards to it. It's a big honker mind you.
If it doesn’t spoil anything then I’ll happily read it, though I suspect that won’t be the case…?
рекомендую тепер спробувати Stalker Gamma 😎
I’ll wait until they slow down updating it.
CHIKI BRIKI VDAMKI!
Good hunting, Stalker.
Just want to point out story mode and warfare cannot be enabled at the same time, you play one or the other.
Unless you mod Anomaly which opens up a world of possibilities. 😉
Gamma
Is that a request? 🤔
@@HeyBlondieGamer No it was a hint that it will provide a better experience. makes the game more in line with survival aspects through the crafting system amongst a slew of QOL updates.
I played GAMMA a few months back and was impressed. I’ll do a longplay of it sometime in future on the Blondefire channel.
The randomnes and inconsistancies make STALKE feel believable. Some enemies will have better hearing or be veterans with hightened seances or happen to look in the right place at the right time and notice something strange, other enemies might not recognise something obviously dangerous as a a threat or mistake it for something not dangerous. Companions may have panic atacks and behave irrationally. The zone can unhinge doors and strech bodies and it may be an animaly. Strange behaviour of some stalkera may be a result of the unknown the zone or PTSD eating at their minds, hearts and souls. The random unpredictability of the enviroment make this game „real”. It’s not fair. The meahcanics are general rools that the game can deviate for many reasons. No one ows you anything becauae you are no one and it is your job to prove them wrong and become someone.
There’s not doubt that all of the quirks only add to the mystique of the Zone. It wouldn’t feel the same without them, you’re right.
“Enough pew pew of the ka ka”??
Shooting of the shit.
If anomaly is to easy try anomaly gamma 😊
I’ve tried GAMMA, a very enjoyable experience 🤘
Just wait until you play a real stalker mod (OWR, OGSR, or lost alpha etc)
Anomaly isn't a refined version of OG gameplay, those mods are, and many others (with NLC 7 and OP going even further)
Can’t wait to try them 👍
Actually, I've seen female ecologists! Also, there's a Ukrainian voice pack
That sounds like a modded install…?
@@HeyBlondieGamer Oh, right, I do have EFP installed. And yes, the Ukrainian voice pack I downloaded separately
Now try GAMMA
When they stop changing it.
@@HeyBlondieGamer yeah, I just went from EFP 3.0 to EFP 4.0, not a fan of some of the changes.
I can’t speak for EFP, but some of GAMMA’s changes felt like complexity for complexity’s sake which I’m generally not a fan of.
I wouldn’t mind giving EFP a shot sometime. What weren’t you happy with?
@@HeyBlondieGamer Some minor stuff, the dialogue camera like in GAMMA but can be disabled, no more HD models, the loss of customising iron sights(at least I can't find it),new grass and some extra bushes and tweaks in repairing parts which turned out to be negligible.
@@HeyBlondieGamer hey nice channel you have, I subbed
This is a pretty terrible stalker mod:
1) The A-Life barely works or isn't even there, there's not much happening in the world.
2) No fast-travel and objectives are far away, prepare for long boring runs.
3) The vegetation is common and you can't see through it, but the enemy can, you will die a lot and it will be unfair.
4) Ridiculous amounts of different unnecessary loot than you cannot sell.
5)Your companions die a lot and engage in unnecessary fights, even if you micromanage them.
6) You will take so much damage a single dog can kill you, also you bleed to death after every hit.
7) Every enemy has an almost broken weapon, which you cannot use, and cannot sell, this is just idiotic.
I've finished the trilogy about 3 times each, and this is not a good stalker game.
1. Did we play the same mod?? There are Stalkers everywhere (you can change how many…) and their behavior is leagues better than the original games. Hell, faction warfare and checkpoint takeovers were downright broken in SoC.
2. Fast travel is present and works.
3. Agreed, but this was a problem with the original games too. The calculations have been tweaked in Anomaly to be more fair (though still radically unreliable), and there are mods which further improve this, and other, stealth mechanics.
4. You can sell almost everything, from guns to armour to cans of tuna to duct tape to old photos. If you want to sell guns in ratty condition, change the sale threshold in the options. Simples.
5. The companions are rubbish, I completely agree. There are mods which make them a lot more reliable than vanilla.
6. Enemies are designed to be tough, and yes, boars and cats and dogs will probably own your ass when you’re first starting out. They all have behaviors and patterns that you can learn though, and there are mods to remove the bullshit lock-on when they attack. And if you run around in jeans and a leather jacket like the Fonz, you’re gonna have a bad time.
7. I never liked this much either, even for the sake of progression. There are mods like ZCP which let you customise the weapon condition of enemy weapons so you can make them as good (or bad) as you like.
Hard disagree - Anomaly is the most complete and flexible Stalker game currently in existence, and the modding community are constantly releasing great QoL mods and updates which continually improve the game.
@@HeyBlondieGamer I get that you can change almost anything, but with vanilla settings, my game world is almost dead, there is not much happening. Also, when i change something i need to test it, and i can easily brake the balance of the game, the mod should be balanced by the creator, not the user, its basically troubleshooting and optimizing by the user, and its very easy to break the game or make it too easy or too hard.
That shouldn’t be the case with vanilla settings. Which DX version are you running? The default settings gave me a great experience. The options aren’t there for balance but for taste. Some like it harder and stricter, some like it more relaxed. You’re free to remove or ignore what you don’t like.
Hey, if you don’t like it then that’s cool. But if you complain that it’s too hard or that you don’t like certain elements and aren’t willing to adjust some settings to meet your expectation then I’m not hearing valid criticism. Anomaly is the only game I know of with this much flexibility. AAA games won’t give you this much customization.
@@HeyBlondieGamer I have 1.5.1. The game is not THAT difficult to me, i finished the trilogy many times. Now how do i adjust the settings for a-life to be more lively? All information i get from stalkers is the ones that are in my team, and that i killed something. I shouldn't have to fiddle with so many settings. This may appeal to hardcore stalkers but many want to just launch the game and play it. Thats why almost no game does this, you could easily ruin the experience and balance. But i admit the game is good overall. Now how do i change the settings so that there will be stuff happening like factions fighting?(there is a setting in the options but i don't want an all out faction war neither). Just very active stalker activity.
I can’t remember the exact name of the settings, I’ll need to look them up when I get home, but it’s something like this:
- Online AI - this ensures that Stalkers are doing stuff in other regions regardless of where you are or what you’re doing. You should see PDA messages occasionally which let you know that Stalkers are finding artefacts, getting attacked, and dying. This is on by default.
- Stalker population factor - by default this is set to 0.75 I think. Bump this up to 1 or higher to fill the Zone with more Stalkers, this will make combat and faction attacks more frequent at the cost of performance (unless your PC is good). Likewise with the mutant population factor.
The default settings are designed with balance in mind. The theme of Stalker is one of isolation in a desolate and hostile environment, and I feel that the default settings do a wonderful job of impressing that. The difficulty settings are decently balanced too, but Anomaly is overall less forgiving than the original games, and mistakes (and occasional BS) is more punishing.
If you want a combat-focused experience then fill the Zone with more Stalkers and mutants, or enable Warfare mode.
mid mod with its own weird turn on progression system (taken from misery)
Just about every modpack I’ve seen is built on the shoulders of other mods.
I’m curious, why is it mid?
to be honest anomaly is meh at best and at worst a complete waste of time
its just a fork of last day on a 64 bit engine
therefore most of it's "unique" mechanics are just ripped from misery or somewhere else
and if you strip it of the insane amounts of artificial difficulty, and you get rid of the poorly implemented crafting system, its just as barebones as call of chernobyl was. its insane to me that this mod has caught on so much in the western community while actual good freeplay mods and just mods in general like the lost world series, and the zaurus crew pentalogy, which are both classics beloved by the entire eastern community, have never really caught on on the western side other than all the zaurus crew mods getting pretty good translations, and most of the lost world mods other than LW 3.0, Irbismod, and LW 2.0 (then again 2.0 is lost because it hasnt resurfaced on any sites and irbis deleted it from his hard drive years and years ago so even if someone wanted to translate it they couldnt) have gotten absolute garbage translations that are barely readable.
also yes yes i know this is just my opinion other people can think differently bla bla bla
Isn’t that the lineage of many modpacks though? They all seem to build upon a previous iteration (or 2 or 3). GAMMA is a textbook case, taking the core Anomaly package and building it out with elements from other modpacks. I take heart in the notion that Stalker modding fans care so much for the other material to include it in their own modpacks.
I have yet to give Misery and some of the older modpacks a try, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of the Zaurus crew. There appear to be some mods on moddb so I’ll give them a look, thanks for the suggestion.
Drop any other mods you reckon are worth checking out. Perhaps I’ll do a dedicated mod video one day.
it sounds good because russians invented industrial music.
Great video!
Cheers! 👍
The Chimera dodge.🤌