Stalker: Clear Sky Thread

[Machete]

Well, thnaks for all your help guys. But i think ur right im jst gonna upgrade my system and play games in peace without havin to fuk about with settings!

Cheers, im out.

 

[Mussels]

for <$300 (not sure in pounds) you should be able to get a core 2 based system up and running that blows your old PC away. Good luck with it!

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Unfortunately, 300AUD would be £116 and wouldn't be enough, unless he was keeping his old case, PSU etc. He might just get away with it if he looks in the right places. I wouldn't bother skimping though.

 

[Mussels]

Machete: feel free to start a new thread for advice, and drop a link in here. we'll help out.

 

[Machete]

Well good il hv a look around and post my findings here then, cheers guys.

 

[Mussels]

make a new thread and link us to it, we want to keep this one about clear skies.

 

[Machete]

Yeh thats what i meant, sorry wasnt clear enough lol

 

[ShogoXT]

Yea I cant find a good CPU only upgrade for a 754 socket. New mobo would be prefered.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

The Athlon 64 3200+ is the best you'll find.

 

[newconroer]

I'm still getting the unsightly and distracting shimmer on medium to long range textures in XP, no matter what I change.

In Vista, I don't get the shimmering, it's fine....but in Vista it has it's own problem. Whenever I stand still and look at say a tree(leaves), it's clean and clear, but if I move the mouse, the leaves get darker and almost thicker, as if they are 'filling in'. This darkened haze flickers whenever there's movement. If you watch it long enough, it looks like it's a film of sorts. This happens in Lord of the Rings Online, and some other games I've seen in the past in Vista, but not XP.

I can't take screenshots of it, because everytime the shot is taken, it pauses the action, so the haze isn't visible in the shots.

I thought it might be adaptive AA or Edge Detect or etc. but nadda.


Annoyances like this are quite a shame. In XP I get my edge blur on the foliage, which I want, but the shimmering is unacceptable. In Vista, I compromise edge blur loss, for fixed textures, but then run into this.


Oi vey.

 

[imperialreign]

one of the big reasons CS runs so hard, even with modern systems -

1, it's very CPU intensive. SoC was as well, but only to an extent. In CS, there are many more "interactive" objects; plus, the vast numbers of AI - the game engine switches them "on" once you reach a certain distance from them, which is why some areas seem more heavily taxed than others (agroprom/stalker base, CS base, etc). With more AI being "active" compared to SoC, that's a lot more processing the CPU has to contend with. Add in that the game engine is constantly updating some portions of AI info for regions you're nowhere near as well (other maps) . . . plus, every AI is carrying some amount of stuff, plus the vast numbers of stashes (which is all loaded up and switched "on" when the player is within a certain distance) . . . The CPU isn't as "free" to help out as it was with SoC.

2, graphically, it's more intensive than SoC was as well - remember, vanilla SoC didn't have parallax mapping, or msaa and effects enabled, even with FDL. CS makes it almost standard for FDL and eFDL; plus, the game is also more shader, post-process heavy as well, which puts a major tax on any GPU. Models (appear to) have more polygons than they did with SoC, at the very least the textures are more detailed. Add in the vast draw distance, contending with light sources that cast insane shadow distances (i.e. the sun), and the GPU has it's work cut out as well.


You can use driver tweak programs, like ATi Tray Tools or Rivatuner to milk some graphical performance, by forcing some display techniques that might not be enabled (geometry instancing, tiling, other optimizations), but without a strong CPU to back it up, it will definitely stress a system.

CS, IMO, is the new Crysis.

I'm still getting the unsightly and distracting shimmer on medium to long range textures in XP, no matter what I change.

In Vista, I don't get the shimmering, it's fine....but in Vista it has it's own problem. Whenever I stand still and look at say a tree(leaves), it's clean and clear, but if I move the mouse, the leaves get darker and almost thicker, as if they are 'filling in'. This darkened haze flickers whenever there's movement. If you watch it long enough, it looks like it's a film of sorts. This happens in Lord of the Rings Online, and some other games I've seen in the past in Vista, but not XP.

I can't take screenshots of it, because everytime the shot is taken, it pauses the action, so the haze isn't visible in the shots.

I thought it might be adaptive AA or Edge Detect or etc. but nadda.


Annoyances like this are quite a shame. In XP I get my edge blur on the foliage, which I want, but the shimmering is unacceptable. In Vista, I compromise edge blur loss, for fixed textures, but then run into this.


Oi vey.

have you tried running ATI Tray Tools for the advanced display tweaks yet?

 

[ShadowFold]

No I still cant max Crysis but I max Clear Sky easily. Clear Sky is defintely the new crysis.. Well atleast for me.

 

[newconroer]

Imperial, I've had tray tools going since right after I got the card, meaning no CCC.

I have setup all the 'tweaks,' as they should be.


It runs better in Vista. In terms of GPU performance, I'd say 5-10% better, but CPU performance is at least 20-30% better. I don't know why. Even when I get the 'affinity hack' to work in xp, the gain is only five frames, but in Vista I've caught upwards of 20+.

As I said before, performance is fine. Enhanced DX10 and average is usally 45-60, with night time shooting well over the 60mark and that's with 8xAA, 16AF, AND Edge Detect and Transparency AA on. Though I don't know if the latter two actually do anything. IQ and performance is identical with them on or off.


I'll stick with the Vista, and see if newer drivers adjust the tree film thingie. I'm just really glad that shimmering texture is gone.

Now if I could find a mod that stops enemies from seeing me in the pitch black, fifty yards out, BEHIND bushes and I don't have my flashlight on.

 

[imperialreign]

Imperial, I've had tray tools going since right after I got the card, meaning no CCC.

I have setup all the 'tweaks,' as they should be.


It runs better in Vista. In terms of GPU performance, I'd say 5-10% better, but CPU performance is at least 20-30% better. I don't know why. Even when I get the 'affinity hack' to work in xp, the gain is only five frames, but in Vista I've caught upwards of 20+.

As I said before, performance is fine. Enhanced DX10 and average is usally 45-60, with night time shooting well over the 60mark and that's with 8xAA, 16AF, AND Edge Detect and Transparency AA on. Though I don't know if the latter two actually do anything. IQ and performance is identical with them on or off.


I'll stick with the Vista, and see if newer drivers adjust the tree film thingie. I'm just really glad that shimmering texture is gone.

Now if I could find a mod that stops enemies from seeing me in the pitch black, fifty yards out, BEHIND bushes and I don't have my flashlight on.

I feel your pain, man!


As to the graphic glitches, TBH, I think it might just be the driver version. Hope for the best when 8.10 official is released!

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

So what are you all doing to get fast cash in the game. I am in the Dark Valley now, and all I have found for a good revenue stream is keep killing mercs and looting them...rinse and repeat...Armor upgrades are getting expensive...$5K for first level upgrades.

IS there a way to get a better sell ratio with the merchants?

 

[ShadowFold]

Go artifact hunting! A good place I found alot in was Yantar. I hear there quite a few in the swamps as well. Just look for anomalies and there are usually a few around them!

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

Once you loot anomalies, do they refresh relics ever?

 

[newconroer]

Make it easy on yourself, but with balance. Use a mod (or adjust it yourself) so that the drop rate is raised on humanoid bodies(renegards, bandits, military etc), sell what you don't want, keep what you need(instead of buying). In moderation I think it's fair, because there's things like pill packs, that you can't get enough of if you're running around exploring or trying to artifact hunt. Sometimes the slightest radiation can start depleting your health and it's annoying.

If you feel it's still too much like cheating, then use a mod to make the enemies more difficult, like a "horror" mod.

Then it's balanced, you earned your loot :0


Ugh, I'm disliking CS in Vista during daytimes, because I can see all the aliasing on everything but the buildings/structures. I miss the egde blur.

I'll try the supposed 'final' 8.10 tomorrow.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I do like mods, and have used them, especially oblivion, but usually only apply them after beating the game fair and square.

 

[imperialreign]

my biggest bit of advice for making a lot of loot: sell off artifacts - plain and simple.

most that you will run across give you such a mediocre boost to something, it's not worth the effort to keep them.

The key, though, is selling them off where you will earn the most money for them. Not all traders pay the same for items. Sidorovich actually pays the best for artifacts, with Sahkarov and the CS trader coming in second. The loner trader in Cordon pays well, too - but not nearly as well as the aforementioned.



Secondly, sell off good equipment - take as much as you can from corpses. When selling goods - "bartenders" pay the best for food, vodka, and energy drinks. They aslo pay decent for antirads and medkits.

Each individual trader pays better than others for certain equipment. The loner trader in Cordon pays better for the early-game assault rifles (AK74, AC96, Viper5, etc), but not so well for shotguns.

Also - no one pays squat for ammo. They'll charge you an arm and a leg for it, but won't give you a dime when you try and sell it to them. You can either sell if outright, or just hoard ammo somewhere to keep you from having to purchase it later (which saves you a ton of loot later down the road).

 

[Deleted member 38767]

Ahh, I just need to share this with some one who will enjoy it as much as I did:
Zero Punctuation: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky review

And just because of the thread: I got 3 BSODs in 5 hours of gameplay on my first try of the game and on my second it was all good until I shut it down - all sounds of my PC just disappeared. After some time trying to fix the problem I finally get my Windows sounds back but had no luck with the game ones. Decided to wait for a month or so for some more patches to come out and give it third try. I loved SoC so it really hurts to see Clear Sky in that state.

 

[Mussels]

i finished the game once, and now CANT play it. i get stuck waiting for reinforcements that never arrive, in clear skies swamp.

 

[Machete]

Thanks for your help huys...but i found a solution! I just updated my motherboard drivers and now Clear Sky puuuurs along on medium settings. I dont know how this happened...must of overlooked my motherbaord when updating my drivers...

 

[Mussels]

Thanks for your help huys...but i found a solution! I just updated my motherboard drivers and now Clear Sky puuuurs along on medium settings. I dont know how this happened...must of overlooked my motherbaord when updating my drivers...

random... but hey, enjoy the game.


(Until you hit gamestopping bugs, of course)

 

[Machete]

Lol yh the only bug iv seen so far is i was in the middle of the corden somewhere and i could here sidivorich(sp?) talking to me as if i was in his bunker thing it was quite random... oh and iv loading up my game and spawned dead for some reason.