Faiakes mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl

Readme File:
Faiakes Mod v2.4

by Faiakes & natasha8384

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---------- Description ----------
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Finding S.T.A.L.K.E.R. too frustrating, slow, boring?

This mod will give you a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience.

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---------- Major features ----------
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- Now compatible with patch 1.0004

- Buy almost everything from traders
- Rifles fitting the handgun slot
- Dream and avoid night time
- Drag items and carry higher load
- Non-degrading Armour and Weapons
- Reliable (non-jamming) weapons
- Side-quests without a time limit
- Better skins for weapons & items
- More gruesome blood effects
- More weapons accept attachments
- More usefull interaction with NPCs
- Lots of Quests fixed and reenabled
- Reputation reenabled
- Torch that shines further and wider
- More realistic nights and weather
- Text on the map
- Better English text dialogues
- Accurate & Realistic weapon descriptions

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---------- Changelog ----------
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2.3 -> 2.4

List of files in 2.4:

- Made compatible with patch 1.0004 (natasha8384)
- Added Hectrol's stalker minimod 0.5
- Added parts of Realism Graphic Mod 2.0 by edomae
- Added Cameron Sneed's (jjwalker) Float32 Mod
- Added giv_em_hell's GhillieSuit, SVD and SVU skins from GhillieSuit_Svd_v1.2 and one of 3 G36 skins in this mod from Advanced World Weapons v.2.0
- Added vehicles' coordinates and vehicle supporting files from Vehicle Enhanced 1.0 for GSC v.1.0003 by tampoux
- Added new advanced scope lenses from Advanced Scopes by Domm2405 (aka Smirnoff CCCP) featured on some weapons
- Basix Spawn Mod combo of monsters and vehicles for 1.0004
- Weapons Expansion Mod (17 new base weapon models)
- Texture Switcher for Add-ons
- Environmental GFX Mod
- NPC Weapons Distribution (Rebalancing) Mod
- Weapons Inside Mod
- Skinflint Mod
- NPC-Fracture Fix
- Kruglov Flashdrive Fix
- Weight limit reduced to 200Kg
- Several weight limit options provided
- Minor changes
- New logo by Jamie Roberts

REMOVED:
- Sanex 4.2 A-Life Extended mod
- Dream Mod
- Stalkers Are Not Blind
- VideoCC Mod
- Other mods were adjusted/fixed to be compatible with 1.0004
- LSSNeitrino's & dezodor's Blowout/Psi-Zones and Emissions Mod v1.1b

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---------- Installation ----------
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1. Extract it anywhere you like (using 7zip, WinRAR or any 7z compatible program)

2. Place: (folder) 'gamedata' at: ...\Program Files\THQ\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl

3. Do whatever you want with the other files.

======= NOTE =======

1. DO NOT EXPECT that your old saved games will work with this mod. Just to be safe, keep the old gamedata folder somewhere before you try the new one. If there are problems either delete the new one and continue to use the old one or start a new game.

2. The Stalker Faiakes mod is meant for Master level only. Otherwise it makes the game too easy.

3. Requires patch 1.0003 to work and enable all features.

4. Some mods (e.g. Vehicle mods) require some additional commands to be activated/used. Please read the respective ReadMe file of that mod, which is in the 'All Other ReadMe' folder.

5. If you can't get this (or any other mod) to work, you just need to modify the file fsgame.ltx, which is in the same folder where you placed the gamedata folder of this mod.
Simply, right-click on fsgame.ltx, choose 'open with', click the bottom option 'Choose Program...', select 'Notepad' from the list, check the option below to always open that type of file with Notepad and then click 'OK'.

Open the file and the second line will look like this (a bit more spread apart but ignore that):
$game_data$ = false| true| $fs_root$| gamedata\

Replace the first 'false' with a 'true' and the whole thing should look like:
$game_data$ = true| true| $fs_root$| gamedata\

Save, close and you'll find that all your mods work fine now.

#############################
---------- Credits ----------
#############################

Mods: Contributions:

>>> In alphabetical order:

174@2ch for: Jin-Roh Mod v1.0

Ab@dDon for: Dream Mod v1.1

Balnazzar for: Trader Mod v1.1

Balnazzar for: Retexture Mod v1.0

Balnazzar for: Transport Mod v1.0 + Patch

Bolm for: OLMod v1.2

Breda for: l86 blood texture mod

broken181 for: Silent Silencers mod v3.0

Broken181 for: 100 Rads Bar poster

Broken181 for: Russian Military skin

Cambragol for: STALKERSkies mod

Cryomerk for: Reskin Pack #1 (G36/Sig550/AKM74)

dDefinder for: Improved Sound Effects v0.9 mod

Digital Junkie for: UAZ skin

Digital Junkie for: Bar stairs poster

Domm2405 for: Advanced Scopes

edomae for: Realism Graphic Mod 2.0

FacTor-X for: Gaus Rifle skin

FacTor-X for: Re-Skinned Hands/Gloves mod

Gamerush for: Flashlight Range Mod v1.0001

Giv_em_hell for: Real World Weapon Reskins mod v1.07

Giv_em_hell for: GhillieSuit Svd mod v1.0

Giv_em_hell for: Advanced World Weapons v.2.0

Gohda for: Retextured AK-74u and AK-74 mod

Gohda for: Retextured USP - Stainless Steel Slide

Gohda for: Retextured Winchester 1300 - Wood Parts

Gohda for: Retextured PM and PB (1.0)

Gohda for: Retextured Groza (1.0)

giv_em_hell for: Advanced World Weapons mod v1.0

gordon-X for: Harmonica mod

gullgotha for: No1DegradeUniqueWeapons Mod Version v1.0

gullgotha for: NoDegradeNormalWeapons Mod Version v1.0

gullgotha for: Endurance Mod Version v1.1

H4wk for: Monster Energy Drink mod

Hectrol for: Acoustic Metal Stalker Minimod

Hectrol for: Hectrol Stalker Minimod 0.5

Heru for: Girl TV mod

jjwalker for: Float32 mod v1.5267a

Jamie for: New logo

KnifeInFace for: High-res Smirnoff Vodka mod

KnifeInFace for: High-res Food mod

KoGar for: Rules of Engagement mod v0.1b

Kyodan for: Real Gun Names mod v.3

Lexx for: Antigas Armour Mod v4.1

LLSNeitrino for: M_BCCF mod v2.0

LSSNeitrino & dezodor for: Blowout/Psi-Zones and Emissions Mod v1.1b

Lokbomb for: Viper to Pistol Slot Mod

Massimo for: Bandage-Disk-Weather mod

Mattressi for: Gritty Chrome Desert Eagle re-skin v1.0

Moshpit for: X-46 Advanced Battlearmor Suit v2.0

Mtang for: Annoying Audio Fix v1.3

NAMAYU for: Multicam style Stalker suit skin mod

natasha8384 for: Camo Weapons Pack 1 & 2

natasha8384 for: Camo Stalker Suit mod v1.0

natasha8384 for: Camo SEVA Suit mod

natasha8384 for: Camo PDA

onionradish for: Show Reward Mod v1.02

Ozne for: Cigarettes mod

Parabellum9x19 for: Napalm and Phosphorus Grenades mod

Phaedin for: Siren sound

PiIsARational for: No time limit on quests Mod v0.01

PiIsARational for: Armour Decay Mod v.01

Pseudoant for: HUD & Blood MOD v1.3

sanex for: SANEX A-LIFE MOD v4.2 Extended

Save for: Carry mod v3.0

SGHi_app for: miniPDA replacement mod

Superfly for: Items skin pack mod

Swifty Magee for: Additional Add-ons Mod v1.0

tampoux for: Vehicle Enhanced 1.0

tharawdeal/onionradish for: Raw Onion Revamp Mod 1.03

TheVoodoo for: Weather Overhaul Mod 1.01

TREG for: Zombified Stalker Skins v1.0

TSL16b for: VideoCC Mod v1.11

Underwhelmed for: Weapon Damage Mod

Warpig for: Mp5/Viper upgrade mod

Warpig for: Sign Bar 100 mod

YoJimbO for: Improved Metal Bump Maps mod

YoJimbO for: Improved Stone Bump Maps mod

YoJimbO for: Improved Concrete Bump Maps mod

YoJimbO for: Improved Vehicle Bump Maps mod

YoJimbO for: Improved Ground Bumpmaps mod

YourMessageHere for: STALKER Realistic-looking Weapon Pack

ZanderArch for: Advanced mapping system mod v1.5

All changes, beyond what the credited mods originally offered, are mine.
All changes, not credited to a specific modder, are mine.

======= Special thanks =======

////////////////////////////////////
////////// THE TEAM ////////////////
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- FacTor-X (skins, textures) ///////
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- Digital Junkie (skins, textures) /
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- madmax17 (scouter) ///////////////
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- trickyburn (scouter) /////////////
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- Giv_em_hell (skins, textures) ////
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- farcrychris (code + beta tester) /
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- Jhaxavier (code + beta tester) ///
////////////////////////////////////

and to:

>>> niphty
From the FileFront forums, who showed me how to add & edit icons, for the Double-mini-Weapons mod and more.

>>> ZanderArch
For discovering where those stupid weapon icons were in the first place.

>>> Broken181
For fixing the blood textures not working with past, scripted blood marks and for tactical game advice.

>>> lahvan
For letting me know how to increase weapon dispersion while moving (it pays off to crouch now).

>>> trickyburn
For letting me know how to change the equipment NPCs have by default.

>>> GSC
For their support to the modding community.

##############################
---------- Contents ----------
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1. Folder: gamedata -> the mod folder (see Installation)

2. Folder: All Other ReadMe -> The ReadMe files of each mod used in mine

3. Pictures: various -> screenshots showcasing features of the mod.

4. Text files: various -> ReadMe, Guide, Changing-Using, Licence and Changelogs

##################################
---------- Bugs, Issues ----------
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1. Saved games will not necessarily work. The changes in some versions simply require a new game.

2. You have to have Antialiasing all the way to the left (Off) otherwise the crosshair disappears. This is an issue with the game not the mod.

3. If you have too many things for the trader and your items turn red, quicksave, quickload and you can trade again. Unfortunately, this is one of the disadvantages of making the traders offer so many things.

4. Half the time when you die and are pressing any button at the same time, the game crashes to the desktop. I have no idea why but patch 1.0003 reduced this a lot.

5. When about to enter the final room in the Lab in Dark Valley you need to stack some boxes against the door to prevent it from closing. One of the entities you have to kill to get it open is actually outside the room (due to aLife mod) and obviously that results in you getting stuck in there permanently.

6. Remember: Reputation is enabled. If you kill an NPC this WILL affect your relationship towards the group the NPC belonged to.

7. The Death_crash bug is back. I will issue a patch eventually.

****** Stauffenbergs Stalker vista 32 bit "out of memory" fix ******
The problem: Stalker crashes on vista 32 bit when played on high settings as there is not enough memmory available.
This happens because vista 32bit can't address more than 2 GB of memory unless you use this tweak.

There are basically 2 things that need to be done:

1) Make sure the game is patched to 1.0003

and

a - Go to Start/Accessories/run command prompt (the dos box thingy)
b - Right click on the link, hit "Run as administrator"
c - Now copy and paste: BCDEDIT /set increaseuserva 3072
d - Hit enter and restart.

Now stalker and any other games that have this problem on vista (Gothic3, Supreme Commander, Vanguard, BF 2142, etc.) should run as smooth and stable as you can ask for.

If you have questions, feel free to contact "21.Pz Stauffenberg" on the filefront forums or mail him at jhor@hotmail.de
Thanks to Andy77 from the Nzone forums for finding this solution!

****** "out of memory" fix for XP ******
First you need to tell XP that it can use more than 2GB of RAM for applications.

Manually edit your boot.ini file by adding " /3GB /Userva=2900" to your boot.ini (no quotes). Your boot.ini is normally read only and you will need to change that temporarily while you edit it.

To Edit it manually you can find it on the root of your system drive or go to system properties/advanced tab, settings under 'startup and recovery' section, then hit edit.

Mine looks like: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /3GB /Userva=2900

Yours may be different, the only thing you should do is add /3GB /Userva=2900.

###############################
---------- Copyright ----------
###############################

1) You may modify this mod.

2) You may distribute it.

3) You may NOT include it into your mod unless you receive my explicit permission.

4) If you have included it in your mod, then you HAVE to credit me & the respective modders (see credits). All rights to the mod SANEX A-LIFE MOD V 4.2 EXTENDED belong to SANEX.

5) You may NOT charge money for it (apart from --minimum-- shipping & format costs (e.g. CD sent through post). Any overcharging for posting will be be considered as an attempt to make a profit out of the mod.

6) 'Handling' or 'packaging' charges will be considered as an attempt to make a profit out of the mod.

Failure to comply with (3), (4), (5) and (6) will result in a request to the hosting website that you be banned (and the mod be taken down) and/or to legal action against you and/or the website.

#############################
---------- Contact ----------
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Support is avaialble only in the comments section of the FileFront page where my mod first gets uploded.

The latest version can always be downloaded from Stalker.filefront.com

Faiakes: faiakes@hotmail.co.uk

natasha8384: natasha8384@gmail.com