Collection of mods that improve visuals and remove bugs while keeping the vanilla gameplay intact.
I created the very original Starter Pack way back in 2011 to aid the countless newcomers to have as bug-free "vanilla" experience as possible. Many PC games of old had already gotten their "Starter Packs" for this same purpose, so my compilation of mods also got that name.
Now a good decade later, I find that the Starter Pack has started to live its own life, and has clearly evolved beyond its original purpose and form-factor.
It is impossible to call THIS Starter Pack even remotely "vanilla". Every single detail has been overhauled, from graphics to audio, and with it the original atmosphere and art-style have been butchered.
The biggest offenders are the eyes-popping bloom effect and total desaturation of shadows, which makes the game look hazy yet burned-out. Flicking a flashlight towards a wall literally creates a cloud of pure white, blinding light, which makes it look more like an early PS3 game than a pseudo photorealistic PC title.
If judged on their own, the 3D model replacements are high quality, but really stick out from the world. As SoC does not support the plethora of modern PBR materials and such, the end result are these very "soft" looking models with round form factor and no perceived macro & micro detailing. The original models and world make heavy use of start bump maps and detailed photo textures, which in my opinion worked in the game's favor. It can also be argued if the inherently "modern" looking getup of NPCs really fits the pseudo-retro futuristic setting of STALKER; it might be set in the year 2012, but in a world that changed its course of history around the game the game was released. Think how different the MGS games' worlds of 2005-2014 are to ours, and you get the idea.
Same applies to the gun models and the faked through-scope sight pictures. The clearly hand-made textures lack stark highlights and wear details, making them appear almost all matte in the bigger picture. The new positioning of models also doesn't allow the details to show up very well. There are also some questionable changes in the arsenal, such as the iconic and rare LR-300 being swapped with the modern M4A1 carbine, clearly simply because latter's model is easier to acquire than that of a niche 1980's prototype AR's.
All this is a big shame, as I know that the properly mirrored gun models and stronger audio effects would please the gun-enthusiastic players a lot.
tl;dr: This "Starter Pack" is no longer THE Starter Pack I and many veteran Stalkan' players have recommended for years. It's not a good starting point for first timers, as it does not give a realistic, unchanged view of the vanilla game's looks and feel. At this point, the S.P.2017 is a similar major overhaul mod as Complete 2009; a mixed bag.