Comments - Little_Lion

LoL, thank you for sharing this mod, it allowed me to learn something new about how the game works with its assets behind the scene :) Game on, Stalker 👍

I went through the ltx file and deleted the ogf lines for those single unique NPCs that are only found in just one map each, like professor Sakharov, Barman, Lukash, Wolf, Beard, and many more. I didn't think they were worth prefetching since you only find them at one spot/map each.

To find out such NPCs' model ogf lines, go to gamedata > configs > gameplay. Each of the location files in there will tell you such NPCs ogf lines under their <visual> tags. Then, delete their lines from the prefetch_single.ltx file accordingly.

Did the same for rare mutants you don't encounter often like Chimeras, Burers, Controllers, Karliks, Borya, etc.

Result: It whittled down the initial loading time and brought my RAM usage down from 90%-ish to the mid 70's%.

If you are using a cutting edge PC close to NASA level, I suppose you can forgo this step, LoL.

And thank you for sharing this mod, SteamPunkGears :)

I don't use any 3rd party prefetcher, all I did was just copying the HD model's and monsters ogf lines found in your mod to vanilla 1.5.2's prefetch_single.ltx file and put it into gamedata > configs > prefetch folder within my game's directory.

I did not copy anything else in your mod's ltx file, just the HD models & monsters ogf lines, since those are the heavyweight hitters.

It only affected the initial loading time & RAM usage as expected. Map changes shouldn't be affected since the prefetching was already done on initial game load - well, at least that's what I think prefetching should behave anyway :p I could be wrong, though.

I don't use Gamma, but I experimented with this mod. I extracted 1.5.2's vanilla prefetch_single.ltx file & copied just the HD model's and monsters ogf lines from your mod to add to what's already in the vanilla file (gamedata > configs > prefetch > prefetch_single.ltx).

Initially, I got a handful of errors pertaining to missing ogf files but those were easy to solve (just delete those missing ogf lines in the ltx file as indicated by the error messages, after which the game will load just fine). I think I had less than 10 errors. A few boot up attempts were needed to catch every error, so patience was needed.

As expected, the initial loading took longer than usual and the RAM usage shot up from my usual 50% usage to 90% (that's when you know it's working as intended since it's a huge prefetch). I only have 16gb total RAM.

Once you are already in the game, map changes take normal usual time to load, not longer. Stalker games will always have micro stutters here & there sometimes but for me, this prefetching got rid of a lot of stutters & actually made my game much smoother. Tested on an existing save file with lots of other mods installed.

I'd say it's worth the initial longer loading time every time you boot up the game :) Just plan ahead & go make some coffee or something every time you boot it up and the game will be ready when you're done.

YMMV depending on hardware and how many other mods you have installed but that's my experience with it.

LoL, those 'tips' crack me up! 😆 🤣
Appreciate for making me laugh, stalker 👍
I can certainly relate to that tip in that preview pic.

I think I just woke my wife up with my cackling.

Ah, I see. The 2d scope explains it, I think I understand it now. This means the acog is working as you have intended it to be.

I respect your idea for the acog and even though I won't enable it for the FNC in my game to avoid inconsistencies with other weapons that also use the acog, I will keep the rest of the scopes for it as I think they are very well done. I don't use BaS and am aware it's not required for this mod to work.

Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me, appreciate it :)

Hi, thank you for this mod, I appreciate it :)

The barska, c-more and EOT scopes work really well but there's something about the acog: other weapons like the M16 and the MK14, for eg, when they use the acog, they are zoomed in but you can still see part of the weapons.

But for this mod, the FNC's acog is zoomed in too much and you can't see part of the weapon at all, only the scope. This is a bit jarring when switching to other weapons using acogs.

No matter how much I modify the z axis of the acog hud of the FNC, it doesn't work to zoom out. Would it be ok to make the acog zoom out more so it's consistent with the other weapons? If it helps, I don't use BaS.

Thank you very much for your effort 👍

I'm apprehensive about the latest ES, since it's a major overhaul. Understandably, it takes time for the author to iron out the reported kinks. I haven't jumped ship yet and is still on the previous version of ES.

I hope the ES author perfects the mod, as I absolutely love the looks of ES and SSS combined. The results are just simply astounding.

Here's the thing: All the folders in this mod are numbered, right?

If you uninstall, say for example, folder 05 which contains a feature you decide to uninstall and there is a folder numbered 06 after it, then it's best to reinstall folder 06 as well as any subsequent folders after it to be on the safe side.

Reason: some of the folders contain files that share the same file names, so uninstalling one folder/feature will cause subsequent folders/features after the one you uninstalled to cause errors if they share the same files with the same names.

In this example, likewise, you should repeat the above process again if you decide to reinstall back folder/feature 05. That's what I do anyways, no problems for me so far.

If you uninstall only the very last numbered folder, then you should be ok without having to do anything else (remember to clear the shader cache).

That is really great to hear :)
I used to put up with the issue myself, so I definitely feel ya. I'm happy for you 👍

Enjoy & good hunting, stalker.

I wouldn't do that. Why turn off the campfire's light? If you're using a Nvidia graphics card, try this instead:

In NVidia's control panel, create an Anomaly profile (target the Anomaly DirectX version's exe you're using).

• Set Low Latency Mode to Ultra.

• Set V-Sync to either On or Adaptive (and turn off V-Sync in the game's option settings)

• Set Max Frame Rate to 60.

Don't forget to click 'Apply'. Not sure about AMD cards, though.

Also, you don't need to repack edited files that are small in file size back into db format again. Just create the folder directory/path where the edited file resides within the gamedata folder itself and put your edited file(s) in there.

In your example above, it's:
gamedata > configs > zones > zone_campfire.ltx

Oh my gosh, I love you for this. Thank you, Ashes 👍
I've been waiting for a mod like this for the longest time. I have my own customised Zone.FM songs and listen to it often. It's irritating having to turn the radio back on manually on map changes even via the hotkeys.

From now on, if I get ambushed and surrounded the second I transition into the Army Warehouses from Rostok, and Heavy Metal or Hard Rock starts playing automatically, at least I can go down Rocking🤘

20/10!

For months before I found the cure, I've been 'fixing' my game by extinguishing EVERY campfire I came across, LoL. Hoo boy, the zone was a much darker place back then.

I can confirm that this method works because the same thing happened to me (which has nothing to do with this mod since it happened before I installed SSS). Only thing I did differently was set V-Sync to adaptive.

However, I am using NVidia's DSR to play the game in 1440p on my native 1080p monitor, and going borderless windows lags my game and makes the icons look all blurry. Going fullscreen instead makes my game buttery smooth & the icons looking normal & nice. (I can still Alt-Tab to other opened programs).

So for anyone using DSR on this game, you can try experimenting with fullscreen if borderless windows doesn't cut it for you.

I see. I've probably misread your post too, my bad, hehe. Gotta say: +1 to your bloom suggestion :) I like bloom ever since the Elder Scrolls Oblivion way back in 2006, haha. It would be great when Ascii enhances those bloom controls 👍

In the 'IL' (indirect light) folder, there is a file named "Settings_(something)". I forgot the full name but it starts with "Settings_". You can adjust the intensity there. For me, I changed the skylight intensity from 0.3 (default) to 0.2 which was perfect for me, since 0.3 makes my weapon and hands look a bit washed out.

I'm not knocking this wonderful mod which I love, because the initial washed-out look could also have been a result of my monitor and Nvidia settings.

Just remember to delete the shader cache after making changes to those shader settings files before launching the game.

As for the hue you are trying to nail down, I'm not too sure, but you can use the color_grading console commands to adjust the colors (not sure if you need Enhanced Shaders for these commands but I have ES installed and the console commands are available to me). You can then use the game's basic light & saturation settings to fine tune things.

I don't know if the above can help you out, but you might wanna take another look at the 'Looking Good' section in this mod's description above.

When I was a young boy, I witnessed a fresh dead body - it was a man who got stabbed to death at the market. His blood pool was still growing when I saw the poor guy lying lifeless on the ground. I remember thinking: "Oh my God, I thought blood pools were supposed to be a vivid bright red colour", but it was much darker than I expected.

I don't know, guys, I'm no expert. Maybe that poor guy had bad blood or something, but the colour of the blood pool in this mod pretty much resembles the actual blood pool that I saw at that market. I'm over it, but that image still haunts me to this day.

Thank you, Fedia :) Not that I enjoy gore or anything like that, but this mod, together with the blood pools mod (shoutout to Mr Demonized), makes the game more realistic. From a role-playing perspective, other than bandits & renegades, it makes me feel bad about killing other stalkers, LoL.

And I like your cheerful, patient & positive attitude towards criticisms. You will go far in life, my friend :) Thank you for your mod 👍

This brings to mind FDDA - when you skin a killed zombie, blood splatters on the zombie making it look more gorey. Maybe extra blood splatter like that, together with the blood pool would be good enough?

But I'm no expert, we'll leave this in the good hands of the mod author. But for what this mod already does, it's already miles better than what the default does with corpses.

Make sure you download the latest 13.1 update and remember to delete your shader cache in the launcher before launching the game. You only need to do it once until your next shader modification.

@Ascii: Another update to one of my favourite mods :) Can't wait to get home to try out the new flora shaders. Thank you for your hard work & Merry Christmas to you & fellow stalkers all over the world 👌

Thank you, you are too Kind and I appreciate it :) Now that you guys have mentioned it, I think that's a great idea too. There's no need to trouble you though, I can merge the videos myself.

Once again, thank you for the suggestion and bless your kind hearts :)

Oh my gosh, this is cinematic 👍
I like this but I also like my current animated background from another mod. Is it possible to modify the ui file to have 2 animated backgrounds and let the game randomly choose 1?

If you call me greedy, I will agree with you wholeheartedly.

Thanks, bvcx :)

Even though there's this old saying that goes "you can't please everybody", I have my doubts on that when I look at the customisable range this mod provides.

You Rock & Good Hunting, Stalker :)

Thank you for the information, Sniper, appreciate it 👍 It's great that the MCM has such a wide range of options. And thank you for the task chance suggestion, I'll keep that in mind :)

According to BaS's faq section (quote):

"2. Q: I Can't ADS and shoot at the same time..
A: You did not install the engine from a or b folder"

I don't use BaS, so I can't get into details here, but the above could perhaps point you in the right direction for solving the issue. You might wanna go over to the DLTX page and see if it has the bin files of this mod and BaS's integrated together.

@bvcx: I really am intrigued with the ideas of this mod and would like to try it :) Don't mind me asking:

Does this mod tie in with the game's money reward settings in the progression difficulty? I have the money reward for tasks set to the absolute minimum (I think it's 0.5) so that my stalker has to work his butt off for money.

If the answer is no (as in the money rewards in this mod are fixed values independent of the progression difficulty), then I can prepare to modify the values in this mod, I guess.

Thank you for this mod, it's really interesting :)

Holy air condensation, Batman, my skies really got debanded!
I'm using Skies Redux too and it's much cleaner and smoothed out now. Great work, Ascii 👍

Just in case: Did you remember to tick "Delete Shader Cache" in the game's launcher first before launching the game? You only need to do this once until your next shader update/change.

I once forgot to do so myself and got a similar result, LoL. Hope you get this fixed, the mod is awesome.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for taking the time to list out the file changes, I truly appreciate it. Bless your kind & patient heart, Ascii :)