# stalker engine mod



## Ketxxx (Jul 30, 2007)

First release and tweaked to the hilt, lots of eyecandy changes, bloom effects, shadows, LOD changes, tone mapping, etc. There are a few minor graphical bugs, I'm not sure if its a setting I need to change slightly or because of compressed textures the game uses.

To install just extract the file to the STALKER-SHOC folder. To uninstall just copy the original user.ltx file you were smart enough to backup.

Finally let me know your thoughts, theres things still not enabled due to issues getting them to work properly or due to performance issues.

Not the best areas, but you can check out the attached screenshots to get a rough idea of the eyecandy tweaks.
































EDIT: For the latest version of the mod see page 12, post 281


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## L|NK|N (Jul 30, 2007)

*WARNING TO ALL!!!!  This is a virus, and an attempt to get your STALKER key!!!!!!*

Just kidding Ket!  It looks very awesome man!   How is it on resources, optimised I am assuming?


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## Ketxxx (Jul 30, 2007)

wtf are you talking about? open up the ltx file without copying it anywhere an you will see for urself its the same as any other user.ltx file


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## L|NK|N (Jul 30, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> wtf are you talking about?



You caught me in the middle of an edit!


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## DOM (Jul 30, 2007)

Ive been wanting to try a mod but to lazy 

but it look nice, I think hes kind of hungry


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## Ketxxx (Jul 30, 2007)

LiNKiN said:


> You caught me in the middle of an edit!



lol twit  as for performance, it should actually perform better than the vanilla STALKER maxed out.


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## Ketxxx (Jul 31, 2007)

Anyone tried this yet? Woulda thought many folk would of jumped on this.. especially as many whine STALKER "doesnt look that good" and "It wasnt exactly the best choice to bundle with my 2900XT" Whats the matter? All you people suddenly lost your balls\voice when someone finally comes out with a genuine game engine mod enabling and optimising a lot of previously disabled features


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## L|NK|N (Jul 31, 2007)

If I had the game, and the means to play the game as well, I'd try it for ya Ket.  Unfortunately, I am unable to do so.


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## Ketxxx (Jul 31, 2007)

Damn that sucks.. aint there a demo of STALKER or something? the ltx file can still probably be used even with just the demo.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

I'm working on gi lighting for V2 of a STALKER engine mod, just have to hang around for nightfall to test it out really. In the meantime check out these screens of shadow details I just finished optimising and tweaking 




















^How does this screen look? I cant help feeling the glare is too bright^


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## kwchang007 (Aug 1, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> ^How does this screen look? I cant help feeling the glare is too bright^



Glare is a little bright.  GL ket.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

>_< I thought so too. hohum. I'll go see about fixing it.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 1, 2007)

Looks pretty good  .... here check this one out from "File Front".

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Ultra_Graphics_Mode;78200

Im running the above and this one  

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/New_Improved_Bump_Maps_FULL;79375

and it looks tasty 

Maybe you could DL the top one and mod it a bit OR get ideas from it to make another 

PS the top link has pics but the bottom one doesnt but let me tell you it looks very nice it just does this --- Stalker with above mods   Your PC --- I really need to get a better CPU. LOL


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

Hows that?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

mikey8684 said:


> Looks pretty good  .... here check this one out from "File Front".
> 
> http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Ultra_Graphics_Mode;78200
> 
> ...



I used that ultra graphics mod before, I dont like it, its totally unrealistic with all light sources washing out details, too much glare and over saturation. Horrible. I'll be sure to look at the 2nd link tho.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

Starting to look damn sexy isnt it? Notice how accurately shadows react to light sources now


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## mikey8684 (Aug 1, 2007)

Thats starting to look pretty damn good ketxxx 

Keep up the good work. Will be DL soon.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

FYI people I may do some retexturing on some essential areas like concreate and paving slabs. The ultimate goal with this mod is to get STALKER looking as photo-realistic as the Xray engine and graphics cards are capable of doing, while keeping performance up (if not better) than the vanilla xray engine is capable of.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

mikey8684 said:


> Thats starting to look pretty damn good ketxxx
> 
> Keep up the good work. Will be DL soon.



Do you want to be an official playtester?  you could do comparative stuff like before and after screenshots, which aside from helping others, would greatly help me too so I can go back and make even finer detail optimisations and tweaks.


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## zekrahminator (Aug 1, 2007)

Keep up the good work Ket, stickied .


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## joinmeindeath417 (Aug 1, 2007)

holy sh!t this may actually make me want to start playing this game again ;P


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## Dandel (Aug 1, 2007)

interesting, but can you please post a side by side comparison of the original to this mod in some of the screenshots?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

Dandel said:


> interesting, but can you please post a side by side comparison of the original to this mod in some of the screenshots?



I can do, but I found screenshots to do very little justice to most aspects of the engine mod, so instead I pick some areas which I think are the best for highlighting specific more noticable changes like shadows and lighting effects. Some of the things I found the screenshots to not capture very well are the improved parallax and bump mapping, crisper in-game visuals, haze effects and so on.

Oh and the user ltx file in my first post doesnt have any of the changes I've made in later screenshots. It was an early build simply enabling new features and me trying to balance everything out.

Ed- cool jus noticed this got stickied


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

Heres a few screens of the latest changes I made to the engine. The 2nd screen looks a bit funky because it got taken as lightning bolted behind my character, which was quite deliberate because I wanted to show off distant shadows and even with the most extreme lighting conditions show no graphics got washed out and remained very photo-realistic


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## zekrahminator (Aug 1, 2007)

Wow, if there was no HUD or gun in the way, you could almost swear that was a photograph .


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

Heres some more screenshots from some fine-tuning I've done  Thers a truckload of em so I'll split them into a few posts.






Not much to really say here apart from I tried to keep all lighting true to life





Nothing much going on here, just more examples of light sources





Progressive screens showing off lighting effects as day turns to night















Lighting with weather effects, nothing more





Daytime lighting. Check out that sky 





This.. is just damn beautiful





Example of character model detail





Example of GI lighting in effect, in particular to note is the background

/end part 1


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

Just another gob-stopping, jaw-dropping screen.





Same





Example of lighting and shadows





Same as above, screen captured as a dust wind got up.





Just some droolage





Pretty breath taking, aint it?





Tarty lighting effects





More





One more.

/end part 2


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## Ketxxx (Aug 1, 2007)

I just thought this looked pretty sweet for a screen. Notice how light now accurately reflects on the hooded guy.





More lighting effect examples





Shadow & lighting examples

Ok, thats all of em!


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## Ketxxx (Aug 2, 2007)

Now for the post you all been waiting for - the one with the updated xray engine file utilising all my modifications and tweaks 

Installation: Extract the user.ltx file to your STALKER-SHOC folder, overwriting the old user.ltx file when prompted.

Uninstalling: Just delete the user.ltx file and replace with the original, or just delete the user.ltx file and launch STALKER, a new user.ltx file will be created.

System Requirements: This mod is not for the faint of heart, it utilises MANY advanced xray engine capabilities. As such the absolute minimum graphics card I recommend to use this mod with all the beauty you see in the last batch of screenshots I posted is a X1950Pro @ 625\1.5GHz. Recommended X1950XTX or better.

Changes \ Optimisations:

- GI lighting enabled
- GI lighting optimisations
- Specular tweaks
- Bloom enabled
- Advanced Bloom effects enabled
- Bloom optimisations
- Enhanced light sources
- Motion blur 
- Parallax Mapping enhancements
- Greatly enhanced game world LOD
- Greatly enhanced object LOD
- Sun is now a light source
- Sun lighting enhancements
- Mipmap enhancement
- Tonemap enabled
- Tonemap enhancements
- HDR enhancements
- Sound cache optimisation
- +14 sound sources are now possible (for a total of 30 at any one time)
- Many, many, other optimisations and tweaks.

Note: This mod makes simaltaneous use of both HDR and Bloom effects, as such any card that is not capable of HDR may display visual anomalies.

Still to come: I'm going to see about putting back in sleep and nightmares. Also on the todo list is seeing if I can get a successful fake AA implementation without it killing performance.

Finally, enjoy V2 of this mod  if anyone wants to do before and after screens, it would be helpful


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## Ketxxx (Aug 2, 2007)

As this is already a stalker thread seems kinda pointless making a new thread to ask this.. has anyone whose played stalker actually found strelok? After meeting "doctor" the path just goes cold really.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 2, 2007)

Im not sure why but this is happening ... only started when it started to rain !!!





















any ideas ?!?!?!?!?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 2, 2007)

Thats damn strange. Its deffinately graphical artifacting. Try;

Using the latest patch for STALKER? My user.ltx mod relies on all fixes the latest patch brings. 
Try uninstalling your graphics driver, running driver cleaner then installing the latest driver. 
May also be worth uninstalling STALKER, installing it, updating it, then applying the user.ltx file. Some textures may of got corrupted on your HDD somehow.

If that doesnt work let me know. From what I see though none of the changes I made should cause that odd behavior.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 2, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Thats damn strange. Its deffinately graphical artifacting. Try;
> 
> Using the latest patch for STALKER? My user.ltx mod relies on all fixes the latest patch brings.
> Try uninstalling your graphics driver, running driver cleaner then installing the latest driver.
> ...



Cheers I fixed the problem ... check your PM.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 2, 2007)

Done and done


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## mikey8684 (Aug 2, 2007)

This isn't quite what you asked for in your PM but it shows how much brighter it is ... when you walk upto a person wearing white you gotta chuck your sunglasses on and also the flashlight is very bright to.

But you may have a point with my 8800.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 2, 2007)

Theres a few adjustments I may be able to make, if you gimme ur email addy I can send you a beta.


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## DeathVark (Aug 3, 2007)

That looks awesome! 
Got my 2900XT in the mail today, haven't played for like 5 days - waiting for it 
Can't wait to see the difference stepping up from X850XT to 2900XT and after that will apply your mods


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## Mussels (Aug 3, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> As this is already a stalker thread seems kinda pointless making a new thread to ask this.. has anyone whose played stalker actually found strelok? After meeting "doctor" the path just goes cold really.



Lol you fail... You can PM me if you want, i know where to find strelok 

edit: talked to him in MSN, he did finish the quest, he just didnt listen to the cutscenes lol.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 3, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Theres a few adjustments I may be able to make, if you gimme ur email addy I can send you a beta.



Check your PM ....

BTW I re-installed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. last night and just wacked your mod on.

Now when I go into video options should I leave it as it is meaning - your settings

1280x1024
no AA
3/4 grass intensity
3/4 lighting distance
everything else max

coz what Im doing is cranking it all to full ... but Im not touching brightness, contrast & gamma.

I will try it maybe with your settings but turning it all up except for lighting distance ... OR ... do you think its just my 8800 trying to show off by using to many effects in game LOL


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## newconroer (Aug 3, 2007)

Going to play around with it today!

As for thinking more people would have jumped on it...dunno, I don't think the game looks bad vanilla at all. 


Cheers Ket


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## mikey8684 (Aug 3, 2007)

Been playing a little bit today ... took a few snaps -































This I just thought was funny considering when you find a backpack on the floor its called a stash and this guy has a marijuana leaf on his ... LOL






I tried what I posted earlier and I think its worked.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 3, 2007)

Not looking bad at all  I see what you mean with that brightness on white surfaces, its around2x more intense than it needs to be. I'm working on a fix, might take a day or so to try and perfect it. Love that last screen, damn funny


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## DOM (Aug 3, 2007)

I want to try this but I never done it before 

Well I lose all my lil progress that I have, or will it start where I left off 

I want a big gun like you guys have lol


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## Ketxxx (Aug 3, 2007)

V2.01. Heres a before and after comparison.











Theres been some other minor changes as well to help with performance.


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## newconroer (Aug 3, 2007)

Uh...how do I turn off the body/head bob???


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## Ketxxx (Aug 3, 2007)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> I want to try this but I never done it before
> 
> Well I lose all my lil progress that I have, or will it start where I left off
> 
> I want a big gun like you guys have lol



Save games are unaffected  You will have to set the controls to your own preference again though.


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## DOM (Aug 3, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Save games are unaffected  You will have to set the controls to your own preference again though.



okay  so do I use the one in post #44


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## Ketxxx (Aug 3, 2007)

mikey8684 said:


> Check your PM ....
> 
> BTW I re-installed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. last night and just wacked your mod on.
> 
> ...



You can adjust the setting with the in-game menu, the in-game menu doesnt touch my tweaks, adjustments etc. Grass and lighting were just scaled back for FPS and atmosphere.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 3, 2007)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> okay  so do I use the one in post #44



I would unless you want to be blinded with a torchlight


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## DOM (Aug 3, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> I would unless you want to be blinded with a torchlight



lol just wanted to make sure, you should also update it in the 1st post as you should know ppl dont go through the whole thread and there are just going to use the one in the 1st post


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## Ketxxx (Aug 3, 2007)

True. I'll update that when I've finished with some atmosphere tweaks. The xray engine has some effects I want to combine to help hide jaggies instead of using its performance crippling vector based fake AA.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 3, 2007)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> I want to try this but I never done it before
> 
> Well I lose all my lil progress that I have, or will it start where I left off
> 
> I want a big gun like you guys have lol



Have a look through here for some mods to get BIG guns LOL as you put it LOL ...

http://stalker.filefront.com/files/Stalker/Mods;3785


Popular ones and also my favourites are the Trader Mod (all traders carry more stuff & unique items) and the X-46 Battle Armour Mod (in the pics I took) ... just have a read through the description the modders write to see if you need to start a new game in order to use the mod and which version of the game you need ... 9/10 dont need a new game.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 3, 2007)

BTW if anyone is curious to how I have the 3rd person view open you "user.ltx" file with notepad and at the bottom add this -

bind cam_1 kF1
bind cam_2 kF2
bind cam_3 kF3
bind cam_4 kF4


basically this binds the following keys to the following views -

F1 - 1st Person
F2 - Close 3rd Person
F3 - Far 3rd Person (with no mouse look)
F4 - unknown but in a readme I read so I added it in case.

Have Fun.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 3, 2007)

Can anyone point out how to adjust the trader file in stalker? I want to balance all the traders in the game cos tbh.. their a bit crap.


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## DRDNA (Aug 4, 2007)

does   the  mod   work  on   >>STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl?????if so  i  will buy  and  download  right  now!


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## mikey8684 (Aug 4, 2007)

If you mean are S.T.A.L.K.E.R. & S.T.A.L.K.E.R. : Shadow Of Chernobyl 2 different games and if the mod will work on both ... They are the same game and yes it will work ... 

BUT

If you didnt mean that sorry if I just treated you like a retard.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 4, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Can anyone point out how to adjust the trader file in stalker? I want to balance all the traders in the game cos tbh.. their a bit crap.



maybe you could PM the modder behind this -

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Trader_Mod;77325

OR 

This guy makes the best compilations of mods ... he might help -

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Faiakes_Mod_Patch;81475

Just click on the Developers names to send a message - you might need to register though ???.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 4, 2007)

Sorry Ive been a post whore LOL

check out the FPS in the top left corner 







for those of you who cant read it, its around 10 fps ... its from the spinning lights ... and it gets worse when theres more than 2 people on screen ... not sure why.

<<<======== Check out my PC

And just another random one 






Theres somethings seriously wrong here and I hope we can work this out ... but I think its just the bad optimaization for the 8800 cards :shadedshu

BUT on a better note ... the Mod (Ketxxx) looks alot better and theres no more of the bright white stuff going on.


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## mikey8684 (Aug 4, 2007)

Guess Who LOL ?!?!?!?!

I found this awesome Mod on Filefront - 

http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Basix_GFXH;81551x#1311143

Check out the Screens and if you open the comments list theres also more screens in there.
Looks pretty kick ass if you ask me ... DLing now ...


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## Ketxxx (Aug 4, 2007)

Ouch.. I think that must be poor driver optimisations and poor engine optimisations. On my X1950Pro the slowest I've had is 24FPS. I'll see if I can make it perform better for 8800 owners, it'll involve toning some settings down though, so its unlikely 8800 owners will see the full beauty of the mod.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 4, 2007)

Looking at your specs mikey I think it a good idea if you OC your CPU, its going to be causing a massive bottleneck. Even if you have to use a divider to keep your memory @ 400MHz you will still see a benefit with your faster CPU clock.

ed- i already snooped around your bios with modbin, there wasnt much useful stuff to unlock but I unlocked it anyway.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 4, 2007)

Note to everyone: I'm redoing the whole mod from scratch to make my optimisations as efficient as possible, it shouldnt take too long, maybe a day or 2. So far with the optimisations I have done theres around a 12% performance improvement.

Ed- To make that clearer 12% is indoors and outdoors is around 20%. Thats using the rookie camp area for testing.


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## DOM (Aug 4, 2007)

I was just going to use your mod


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## Ketxxx (Aug 4, 2007)

You can still use the latest version of the mod I done, it just wont perform as good as my next version will. The only reason I'm having to re-optimise is for nVidia card owners..


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## ww2 (Aug 4, 2007)

Ketxxx, I'm considering to buy a X1950 Pro 512 mb soon. With that card, a 3200+ 2.0 ghz Venice overclocked to 2.6 ghz and 1 gb ram in dual channel, do you think I'll be able to run your mod in 1280x1024, full dynamic (which is the only way it works, I suppose) and sun shadows on?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 5, 2007)

FPS might suffer a little, but you should be able to yeah.


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## ww2 (Aug 5, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> FPS might suffer a little, but you should be able to yeah.



Yeah, but based in your experience with the card, how little? Enough to make the game uncomfortable to play, with movement lag, fps downfall when lightning hits in-game and so on? Have you used it with a weaker CPU, like the 3500+ you're selling?

I'm sorry to bother you, but I haven't found a reliable source of information for this so far. I'll really appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks.


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## DOM (Aug 5, 2007)

ww2 how much is it for a 1950XT 256mb over X1950 Pro 512mb ? cuz where are you from ?

I would go for an XT as you can OC it move and it has more pixel shader processor and it still beats the 512mb Pro in higher res.


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## ww2 (Aug 5, 2007)

Thanks for answering, DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E.

I'm from Brazil and as one could guess, availability for these cards is really low, making prices a lot higher than they would be for people on USA or UK. I could get a Sapphire X1950 XT 256 mb for what would equal 370 dollars (yeah, I know that's pretty high), and a PowerColor X1950 Pro 512 mb (factory oced to 600/1400) for 290. Doesn't seem like a big difference, but it gets big when you are dealing with the local currency (_real_) and the economy of an underdeveloped country. Still, both cards are an option... I'm just trying to get the best price-benefit I can, considering a decent DX10 card like the 8800GTS 320 mb is still too expensive and new ones are gonna come out eventually, decreasing the price of the 8800GTS.


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## ww2 (Aug 5, 2007)

Well, the seller made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and I bought the X1950 Pro. Anyway, isn't patch 1.0004 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. supposed to add dual core optimizations? Because I have a X2 3800+ waiting to be installed. With some overclocking, it should reduce the cpu bottleneck and give me a good gameplay experience, I suppose.

And sorry for getting a little offtopic.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 6, 2007)

I didnt play STALKER much on my old setup, but I did play it with vanilla maxed graphics and it was smooth. Of course my CPU and 1950Pro were OCd.


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## DRDNA (Aug 6, 2007)

I like your mod enough to buy the game ..I am currently downloading as I type..$29 on direct2drive...$39 in walmart...is your finial mod released yet and is  it now the first post?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 6, 2007)

The mod isnt final yet and the first post still only has an early release. A final is in the works though.


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## DRDNA (Aug 6, 2007)

Ketxxx , thnx!.........Oh no the game is 2.56 GB it says 3weeks 4 days and 67 minutes till downloaded


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## Ketxxx (Aug 6, 2007)

If u already got a key an stuff try torrenting it, should be much faster


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## Ketxxx (Aug 6, 2007)

Not quite finished yet but here is a bit of before and after spoilers for performance increases.












Some key points to note are the tonemapping thats undergoing a full overhaul still, as is near and distant LOD detail final parameters. I'm also doing more experimenting with bloom lighting for an ultra realistic image. If theres a practical way to implement it additional lighting effects will also be used.


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## ww2 (Aug 7, 2007)

Can't wait to try it.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 8, 2007)

Final version is coming along quite nicely, and should be up anyday now. Just a few things left to do.


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## LiveOrDie (Aug 8, 2007)

looks pretty damn good but the game play still sucks


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## Ketxxx (Aug 8, 2007)

STALKER gameplay only sucks without patches and mods, with its pretty damn good


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## Ketxxx (Aug 11, 2007)

sorry for the delay folks my pc gone a bit mad. mod will be up when i sort me puter out.


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## pt (Aug 13, 2007)

got the game and ahve been playng for the past week
great game 
i'm on lab x16 entrance now 

btw, here some curiosity i found
gordon freeman (half life series)  appears in the game, dead... 
the game is a based on a movie from Tarkovsky, with the same name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjvW4oiIrDs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_(film)

any advice?


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## ww2 (Aug 13, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> sorry for the delay folks my pc gone a bit mad. mod will be up when i sort me puter out.



So, how are you doing with the mod release? I'm anxious to compare the results of your tweaks with vanilla Stalker. =)

BTW, can your mod be used together with Float32 1.7088b? Or is that undesirable?


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## pt (Aug 15, 2007)

max settings, max af, static lightining (dynamic drops the fps by 40 or more), no aa (when i turn aa the aim disappears :X


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## Ketxxx (Aug 15, 2007)

ww2 said:


> So, how are you doing with the mod release? I'm anxious to compare the results of your tweaks with vanilla Stalker. =)
> 
> BTW, can your mod be used together with Float32 1.7088b? Or is that undesirable?



My mod is untested with any and all other mods. Due to what I've changed when it comes to how the game engine handles shadows, I wouldnt use float32. When full dynamic shadows are used tbh I think my mod makes the shadows look better than float32 can anyway. Puter is still messed up, as soon as I can catch my m8 I'll grab that ddr2 stick off him to revive my puter.


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## Frogger (Aug 16, 2007)

Ket I'm going to reinstall this game next wk so i can have a go with your mod ....looks like fun!!


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## Ketxxx (Aug 16, 2007)

I'll work on the mod some more once I finished with prowler. Hes mostly rebuilt now, just some tweaks to do.


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## pt (Aug 16, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> I'll work on the mod some more once I finished with prowler. Hes mostly rebuilt now, just some tweaks to do.



don't forget about my bios mod


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## pt (Aug 16, 2007)

forgot turning off the flash light


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## Ketxxx (Aug 16, 2007)

Holy crap pt.. that screenshot looks.. horrible. You got a lot of settings on medium or something?


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## pt (Aug 16, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Holy crap pt.. that screenshot looks.. horrible. You got a lot of settings on medium or something?



aa turned off, 'cause crosshair disappears when i turn it on
and static lightning 
btw, the original screenshot (in .bmp) looks much better


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## zekrahminator (Aug 16, 2007)

I was gonna say, I could make a better screenshot in Garrys Mod.... .


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## Ketxxx (Aug 16, 2007)

Naw its not that.. image quality just looks horrible on that 2600XT.


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## affinity0 (Aug 19, 2007)

the mod shot 1




default max shot 1




the mod shot 2




default max shot 2




the mod shot 3




defualt max shot 3




the mod shot 4




default max shot 4

some screens for comparison. All sliders for grass density and lighting distance are maxed.
Radeon HD2900XT 1GB DDR4


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## Ketxxx (Aug 19, 2007)

The first final mod version should be available soon, I'm just doing some playtesting with it. So far it looks ok, and FPS are increased quite nicely compared to earlier versions. The areas I took FPS measurements from before any modding also show an FPS increase with my mod, even with all the extra details and eyecandy.


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## pt (Aug 19, 2007)

same settings as before
it doens't look so bad


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## DRDNA (Aug 19, 2007)

Ketxxx....stilll  waiting  for  your  finial  WOW  this literally  is  the only  game  that  wanted  to  have  2GB  of  ram  or  it  glitched  around...Doesnt  like  1GB  at  allTwo  GB  and zoomazoomzoomOh  ya  and maybe  M$ flight  sim  will  run  better


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## InnocentCriminal (Aug 19, 2007)

I hope your mod doesn't make this game too bright - I like the dark, creepy atmosphere. Once you've released the final mod (will that be the release or is it a beta?) I'll have a bash then on my lovely newly refresh installation. ^^


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## affinity0 (Aug 19, 2007)

I actually took a big hit in performace. particularly around the entrace to BAR (Restok) Where the guard hold off the mutant dog packs. i would get in the teens. With out the mod never hit below 50. Somthing is up. not a gain from what i can tell. I do thinks its overly bright as well.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 20, 2007)

I'm not sure why you experienced FPS drops like that, I never saw anything like that in the previous versions when I was testing them. From memory the lowest I ever saw was 24FPS, and in duty territory it hung around 40. If you havent already you should OC your CPU and memory, STALKER appears to be very sensative to that. I'm not sure whats going on, but I have noticed STALKER will freeze at exact points in the various levels (always repeatable) but it doesnt freeze as long with an OCd CPU. Ideally you should OC your CPU anyway, its going to be bottlenecking that 2900XT pretty bad.

As for the "brightness", thats r2_gi coming into effect, or in lamens terms, global illumination. What global illumination actually does is deploy a much more realistic form of lighting, where light sources indirectly reflect off and light up other surfaces and areas. Of course, being a much more realistic form of lighting, how much certain things are illuminated will also depend to a degree on how strong the light source is, from how far away the light source is shining on its surface, and even what colour the surface is, say if the surface is white, and a torchlight shines on it from close, it will be rather bright as white reflects light remember boys and girls


----------



## DRDNA (Aug 20, 2007)

the realism of blinding light


----------



## Ketxxx (Aug 20, 2007)

Perhaps, yes. But when was the last time you could look directly up at the sun without being blinded, wearing sunglasses or squinting?


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## affinity0 (Aug 20, 2007)

my CPU is overclocked, 2.6 is all shes got. I know its a bottleneck for it, im waiting for phenom. Im just not much of an Intel guy. Besides, I dont think more overclock on my CPU is going to be  improving my framerate with your user file. Considering it does just fine stock and in every other game. Even in oblivion with his res textures (Quarl TP3) which looks amazing and i run it with 16x AF and maintain 40-60 outdoors.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 20, 2007)

The STALKER engine isnt the most efficient engine in the world you have to remember, its not bad, but with details at the levels I have them at and with all the extra eyecandy, its doing a lot of work. Your 2900 wont exhibit bottlenecking problems in other \ older games simply because the game either A: doesnt have enough polygons to start showing the bottleneck, or B: the engine is more efficient anyway. As resolutions increase in other games, thats when you will be able to see the bottlenecking more clearly. Any resolution in most games below 1600*1200 with a 2900 or 8800 is just not going to show the bottlenecking as the graphics card is too CPU limited. Another example is with PT, you can see in his last screenshot hes getting 87FPS, granted shadows are only static, but his GPU is not bottlenecked by his CPU, hence why even a 2600XT is pulling almost 90FPS.


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## affinity0 (Aug 20, 2007)

your moded user file, note 55 FPS lower right corner.




max default note 118 FPS lower right corner

all settings in driver control panel are the same. It is not because of my CPU, something else is wrong in that file.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 20, 2007)

No, nothing is wrong in the file. The ltx file simply controls whats used or not by the xray engine. Comparatively, you can see the xray engine doing a hell of a lot more with the modified ltx file vs vanilla, not to mention the much crisper textures in the modified ltx file. Whats up with the AK anyway? By that stage I had already done enough exploring to have a GP36


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## affinity0 (Aug 20, 2007)

idk, i just like my scoped AK, i have had other options.its the upgraded one from strelok's stash


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## Ketxxx (Aug 20, 2007)

The GP36 has a scope fitted to it as standard  The modded AK is nice though, very fast firing. All the same I'll stick with my FN F2000


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## affinity0 (Aug 20, 2007)

dont guess i ever made it that far to get that gun, ooh well, back to playing....since i wont be playing it after tommorow....mmmm BioShock goodness


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## pt (Aug 20, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> The GP36 has a scope fitted to it as standard  The modded AK is nice though, very fast firing. All the same I'll stick with my FN F2000



where did you found that?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 20, 2007)

The FN F2000? you only find it right near the end of the game unless you use a modified trader file to be able to buy it.


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## pt (Aug 20, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> The FN F2000? you only find it right near the end of the game unless you use a modified trader file to be able to buy it.



where specifically, and what type of ammo does it uses?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 21, 2007)

NATO rounds. You only come across it in the bunker on the way to the wishgranter.


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## pt (Aug 21, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> NATO rounds. You only come across it in the bunker on the way to the wishgranter.



inside chernobyl interior?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 21, 2007)

Yea, the bunker is the level right after you battle your way through the entrance of the chernobyl nuke plant. Before you ask, yes, the FN F2000 has a scope, is the most powerful of all the assult rifles, I think its the 3rd most accurate assult rifle, and has a built-in 40mm grenade launcher. Your all-in-one saturday night special 

ed - update for the final ltx mod file: Its coming along. I'm just trying to reoptimise the global illumination as I found some rather spectacular settings that are ultra realistic, but it cripples framerates. I have another version that seems to be all good, but you guys tell me if you want to try that version, or wait to see if I can get these ultra realistic global illumination settings working good.

Hers a screen for the ultra realistic lighting, notice how the light from the lamp is cast in the background. But, FPS is crippled.. for now anyway


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## Ketxxx (Aug 22, 2007)

The first final release is finished. However I cant post it atm, my PC went stark raving bonkers and has seemingly corrupted its own BIOS.. again. So until I can attempt a hotflash on the chip with an asus board or get a replacement ROM chip, yer all a bit screwed.


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## DOM (Aug 22, 2007)

I dont get it how ppl always have shit happen to there comp 

Hope you get it shorted out 

But I also wanted to say I was getting a fps drop in the game too


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## DRDNA (Aug 22, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> The first final release is finished. However I cant post it atm, my PC went stark raving bonkers and has seemingly corrupted its own BIOS.. again. So until I can attempt a hotflash on the chip with an asus board or get a replacement ROM chip, yer all a bit screwed.



Sorry to hear that..I hope you get it sorted....cant you  slave the drive that has the ready mod and grab it with the PC your online now with


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## Ketxxx (Aug 22, 2007)

Nope, this PC doesnt have SATA. I'm very pissed off with my AW9D Max absolutely flipping out like it has. All I done was attempt an OC setting that at worst would cause the PC to not boot, and somehow the board corrupted the BIOS. Abit REALLY have to come up with a solution to these problems. Even just supplying a pre-flashed spare ROM chip would do the trick.


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## ww2 (Aug 22, 2007)

Well, since the russian version of 1.0004 is already out anyway, maybe it's a good idea to wait for the english one before you release your tweaks.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 22, 2007)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> I dont get it how ppl always have shit happen to there comp
> 
> Hope you get it shorted out
> 
> But I also wanted to say I was getting a fps drop in the game too



You will get an FPS drop in some areas, and others you will get a small boost, such as when you visit the trader. Vanilla I got about 28FPS, and now its 33FPS even with lots of ramped up details.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 22, 2007)

ww2 said:


> Well, since the russian version of 1.0004 is already out anyway, maybe it's a good idea to wait for the english one before you release your tweaks.



Does that patch actually do anything useful?


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## ww2 (Aug 22, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Does that patch actually do anything useful?



Allegedly it fixes several bugs, adds dual core optimizations and improves fps by 10-15%. See two translations of the changelog:

1)

http://board.oblivion-lost.de/showthread.php?t=11233 (that one has the bit about dual core).

2)


			
				Siro said:
			
		

> Let me check if the Russian patch is out.
> 
> EDIT: It indeed is out!!
> 
> ...


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## ww2 (Aug 23, 2007)

Ketxxx:

All versions of the patch have been released. Hope you get your motherboard fixed so things can get going on the mod development.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

I did fix my board, then I decided for safety I would reflash the BIOS chip, flash went fine and I restarted, after which the board wouldnt POST.. again. Keeps getting stuck on post code 02, which is a reserved fuckin address so I dont know why its bein a bitch atm


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## driver66 (Aug 23, 2007)

On my abit AB9 pro code 02 is for memory errors. Hope that helps


----------



## InnocentCriminal (Aug 23, 2007)

Ketxxx, have you tried your mod with the 1.0004 patch? This brings great improvements to my frame rates, so I can only expect it to help with this mod. I still think it's too bright though.


----------



## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

driver66 said:


> On my abit AB9 pro code 02 is for memory errors. Hope that helps



Thanks  checking award post codes it says 02 is reserved, but good to know for future reference. 02 for memory errors does sort of tie in as one of my modules is very fussy, doesnt need extra volts or anything like that, its just a tart compared to the other module. The board is back posting at the bootblock (not that the bootblock works, its never let me reflash from floppy :\) so I'm just doing what I did last night, clearing CMOS, removing all power and battery, and taking the ROM chip out.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

InnocentCriminal said:


> Ketxxx, have you tried your mod with the 1.0004 patch? This brings great improvements to my frame rates, so I can only expect it to help with this mod. I still think it's too bright though.



Thats been fixed in the final version


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## driver66 (Aug 23, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Thanks  checking award post codes it says 02 is reserved, but good to know for future reference. 02 for memory errors does sort of tie in as one of my modules is very fussy, doesnt need extra volts or anything like that, its just a tart compared to the other module. The board is back posting at the bootblock (not that the bootblock works, its never let me reflash from floppy :\) so I'm just doing what I did last night, clearing CMOS, removing all power and battery, and taking the ROM chip out.



Hope you get er figured out!


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## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

I better do  rather annoying the BIOS threw an epifit like that. I should track someone down who has a spare ROM chip the abit DOS utility can recognise they dont mind parting with, would save all this hassle. Dont spose you have a spare ROM chip do you driver?


----------



## driver66 (Aug 23, 2007)

No but i believe if you contact tech support I've "heard" that they will send you one for free. 
Actually I've "heard" that ALOT. Seems they are A1 with support


----------



## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

Yup, they looked after me good when I got my AW9D Max and the BIOS was naffed. Sent my chip to them and had it back 2 days later  Just a shame the BIOS on their boards isnt half as reliable as that 

Any good excuses come to mind to get them to send me a new chip? I was thinking of saying the BIOS has become corrupt on my ROM chip, I attempted a hotflash procedure from DOS with the following switches; /py/sn/Wb/cd/cc/cp on another AW9D Max I own but the board still wont boot with the chip, so its very likely the ROM chip itself has died.


----------



## driver66 (Aug 23, 2007)

I read alot on Abit's forums that they just tell them they had a bad flash and they shipped them a new one Grattus
Read many instances of that!


----------



## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

Any linkys? That way I can concuct the perfect story  I dont want to send my existing ROM chip in again because A: I think its a bit dodgy anyway, B: I'm using a BIOS I modified myself with extra options *whistles innocently* and C: I just want a spare ROM chip the DOS software will recognise


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## driver66 (Aug 23, 2007)

http://www2.abit.com.tw/page/en/contact/technical.php
or
http://www2.abit.com.tw/page/en/contact/index.php?pFUN_KEY=18000&pTITLE_IMG=


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## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

Ta


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## driver66 (Aug 23, 2007)

Hope they hook you up


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## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

Me too; heres the story I fed them 

_Hi,

I updated my AW9D Max BIOS to v1.5 from V1.3, and upon restart the system would not POST, halting on post code 02. I have removed the battery, set CMOS jumper to "clear" and removed the power cord from the back of the PSU. The system still refuses to POST. I have verified all other components are functioning properly in another AW9D Max I own. I have also using a DOS boot disk tried a hotflash procedure using both BIOS 1.3 and 1.5 on the ROM chip that has become corrupt using the following switches; /py/sn/Wb/cd/cc/cp with no success. Using the other ROM chip shows the mainboard is also fine, so I can only assume the original flash procedure ruined the ROM chip. Is it possible to obtain a new ROM chip for my board?

Thanks _

Hopefully that'll do the jobby


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## driver66 (Aug 23, 2007)

Sounds good


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## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

Yup, lets just hope it isnt some really anal tech that reads the email, I hate those types.


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## DOM (Aug 23, 2007)

wont they ask have you tryed your ROM chip from the working mobo in the one that doesnt boot ?

cuz you can right ? if you had two ROM chip ?


----------



## Ketxxx (Aug 23, 2007)

Yup I explained that in the email I sent them.

"I have also using a DOS boot disk tried a hotflash procedure using both BIOS 1.3 and 1.5 on the ROM chip that has become corrupt using the following switches; /py/sn/Wb/cd/cc/cp with no success. Using the other ROM chip shows the mainboard is also fine,"


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## DOM (Aug 25, 2007)

Do I need a SSP-99 Suilt to cross in to The Dark Valley ?  just wanted to make sure before spending the $


----------



## pt (Aug 25, 2007)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> Do I need a SSP-99 Suilt to cross in to The Dark Valley ?  just wanted to make sure before spending the $



nop
just take some anti rad artifacts


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## DOM (Aug 25, 2007)

pt said:


> nop
> just take some anti rad artifacts



does it matter how much the % is cuz I dont got any with a high %

cuz can I just make a run for it lol

do you got a pic of the artifacts you used and name ?


----------



## pt (Aug 25, 2007)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> does it matter how much the % is cuz I dont got any with a high %
> 
> cuz can I just make a run for it lol
> 
> do you got a pic of the artifacts you used and name ?



just make a run for it
i used 2 of the low level ones


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## DOM (Aug 25, 2007)

pt said:


> just make a run for it
> i used 2 of the low level ones


I made a run fir it didnt even get alot of rad.  I thoght it was worst then that


----------



## AsRock (Aug 25, 2007)

mikey8684 said:


> Im not sure why but this is happening ... only started when it started to rain !!!
> 
> 
> any ideas ?!?!?!?!?



I've seen that with my old 7900GTOCSC it was coursed by the fan blocking up with dust there fore making it over heat.


----------



## Ketxxx (Aug 26, 2007)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> Do I need a SSP-99 Suilt to cross in to The Dark Valley ?  just wanted to make sure before spending the $



Nah you can wander about freely really, just make a run for it with a regular STALKER suit on an you will be fine.


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## Agility (Aug 27, 2007)

Hey ketxx how's your PC eh? Btw you should have the habit of updating your files at your first post  Nice mod though. 10/10


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## Agility (Aug 27, 2007)

I kinda wonder though is there ANY mod that improves the visual graphics (not lightings. I meant realiastic walls and bricks .etc) WITHOUT them adding trash like upgraded damage or whatever stuff.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 27, 2007)

My mod increases detail textures without actually replacing any of the existing textures. Essentially the mod makes full use of whats already available without adding masses to the filesize. PC is still borked too. Gonna email abit tech for the UK today. The form I filled out on the abit site only lead to a response from someone who it seems like barely understands english as I detailed attempting a hot-swap process that didnt work, and the response was to try a hot-swap process.. go figure :\


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## Ketxxx (Aug 29, 2007)

New BIOS chip is winging its way to me from Abit, so hopefully itll arrive tomorrow and the first final after a few rechecks will be good to go.


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## Ketxxx (Sep 2, 2007)

Here are some screens to have a look at. Final version I'll put out when I'm satisfied with a few areas I'm working on still.


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## Ketxxx (Sep 2, 2007)

Thats real strange  you tried increasing voltages a little more with your OC? Could be theres slight instability that isnt enough to cause problems, but enough to effect performance.


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## DOM (Sep 2, 2007)

well its only when I boot @ 3.6GHz and take it down with ASUS AI SUITE the lower I go from 3.6GHz the more FPS I get  cuz 321X8 is the lowest it can go or I have to restart but 3.6GHz is stable


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## Ketxxx (Sep 2, 2007)

Meh.. thats STALKER for you. Its funked up like that. If your not already using it go grab the new patch, might sort that problem out as it addresses FPS issues.


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## DOM (Sep 2, 2007)

yeah im on 1.0001v right know but im going to update to 1.0004v when I finish it 1st 

so.....?


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## Ketxxx (Sep 2, 2007)

Its been long awaited by some, but finally its here and I deem it suitable for the title v1.0 final. Needing no introductions, just grab the attached file 

Note: Ultra quality version is suitable for graphics cards equal to or better than a 1950Pro @ 650\1.5GHz. On a Pro of that spec FPS shouldnt dip below 25. High quality version is for those needing to squeeze a few more FPS, I'll let you decide if theres a noticable difference or not. This kinda goes without saying, but, give me feedback


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## DRDNA (Sep 3, 2007)

Ketxxx,Well a couple of things 1920x1080 gives weird horizontal lines all the way down the screan....I also ended up with your control setting easy fix reset to defaults....I had to go back to original file


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## Ketxxx (Sep 3, 2007)

No idea about the horizontal lines, nothing in the file should cause anything like that. As for the controls, thats inevitable and without doing a bazillion ltx files with various controls, I'm not doiong anything about that


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## DRDNA (Sep 4, 2007)

went back to original file and horizontal lines go away...The lines look like what happens when frames are going very fast with out vertical refresh being enabled.Hmm could it be possible you have the FPS going that fast on my rig??? I will have to re-add the file and try it with graphic cards set with vertical refresh always on and see what happens.


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## DRDNA (Sep 4, 2007)

Ketxxx , Vertical refresh on always on CCC fixed the issue! So I'd have to say you did a great job now frames are so fast in 1920x1080 with every thing up that i get tearing from FPS !!!!!!!!Once I lock n Vertical Refresh then all is sweet!!Again vary nice job in optimization


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## Ketxxx (Sep 4, 2007)

Quality is the name, optimisation is the game  if any of this isnt very erafdable ime sory, im a bit pissed


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## DRDNA (Sep 4, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> if any of this isnt very erafdable ime sory, im a bit pissed



Not sure what "erafdable " means , but I'm srry ur upset..I hope you feel better though!Again thnx for the great mod and I was using ultra file and love it...wonder if this will play smooth with 1gig ram with your mod??? I know I had to upgrade from 1 gig to 2gig in order to get this game smooth with out ur mod.


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 4, 2007)

lol by pissed I meant drunk , and I think "erafdable" was meant to be "readable"  feel free to post some screenshots with something like fraps running ppl, always good to see how the mod is performing out in the wild.


----------



## DRDNA (Sep 4, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> lol by pissed I meant drunk , and I think "erafdable" was meant to be "readable"  feel free to post some screenshots with something like fraps running ppl, always good to see how the mod is performing out in the wild.



ALright I will do some screenies after work ..


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## Ketxxx (Sep 4, 2007)

Ok. I'm not sure how noticable it will be but I changed how the xray engine does shadows compared to the betas. Hopefully it'll add to realism. With some more work I should be able to make FPS better too.


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 5, 2007)

Who else has tried the mods? I would be very interested to see two identical screenshots, only one using the ultra quality and one using the high quality mod with something like fraps going.


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 10, 2007)

This mod is NOT meant to run silky smooth, its realism to the max. Global illumination has been extensively optimised, but FPS still suffers (its the xray engines problem. Patch 1.0004 may help) I have not tested this with the new patch, only 1.0003. Based on that patch I recommend AT LEAST a crossfire X1950Pro or XTX setup overclocked. To see an example of the global illumination, just go visit sidorovich and look at the lamp in the background


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 10, 2007)

This was probably unexpected, but here is 3 updates for all modified files. Changes include more optimisation and a better day>night shift.


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## Ketxxx (Sep 10, 2007)

Ok, this is the last modified ltx file I will do based on the 1.0003 patch. All global illumination paramaters have been redone to give similar visual results to the NextGen mod, without the performance hit when NPCs or the player uses a flashlight. Suitable for overclocked X1950Pros or better. If your still suffering from sever FPS drops, simply switching from full dynamic lighting to object dynamic lighting should fix the problem. There is very little visual difference between full dynamic and object dynamic lighting, except of course the obvious, object dynamic lighting offers a 20FPS or so difference. For curiousity, anyone running a 2600XT or similar, I would be interested to know FPS with this mod and object dynamic lighting.

Ed- To aid in deciding between lighting methods without a lot of playtesting, heres some screens which should help.


----------



## pt (Sep 10, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Ok, this is the last modified ltx file I will do based on the 1.0003 patch. All global illumination paramaters have been redone to give similar visual results to the NextGen mod, without the performance hit when NPCs or the player uses a flashlight. Suitable for overclocked X1950Pros or better. If your still suffering from sever FPS drops, simply switching from full dynamic lighting to object dynamic lighting should fix the problem. There is very little visual difference between full dynamic and object dynamic lighting, except of course the obvious, object dynamic lighting offers a 20FPS or so difference. For curiousity, anyone running a 2600XT or similar, I would be interested to know FPS with this mod and object dynamic lighting.
> 
> Ed- To aid in deciding between lighting methods without a lot of playtesting, heres some screens which should help.



err, i deleted my stalker iso image by mistake 
i need to get it again


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 10, 2007)

You should know PT that using static lighting isnt recommended in the slightest.. mainly because if you select static lighting STALKER enters DX8 rendering mode.. hence your "almighty" DX10 card is actually running DX8..  just an FYI.


----------



## DOM (Sep 10, 2007)

object dynamic lighting looks better then full dynamic lighting in those pics or is it just me ?


----------



## pt (Sep 10, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> You should know PT that using static lighting isnt recommended in the slightest.. mainly because if you select static lighting STALKER enters DX8 rendering mode.. hence your "almighty" DX10 card is actually running DX8..  just an FYI.



thanks for the info


----------



## InnocentCriminal (Sep 10, 2007)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> object dynamic lighting looks better then full dynamic lighting in those pics or is it just me ?



I guess it's your personal preference. They're aren't really any defining shadows, but there are in the Full Dynamic Lighting picture.

I prefer the latter.


----------



## DOM (Sep 10, 2007)

InnocentCriminal said:


> I guess it's your personal preference. They're aren't really any defining shadows, but there are in the Full Dynamic Lighting picture.
> 
> I prefer the latter.



wait I take it back lol the full dynamic lighting is better on shadows and the way the gun looks


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 10, 2007)

Full dynamic rules, but is poorly optimised. Object dynamic, while poorly optimised, doesnt use as much poorly optimised code, hence better (acceptable) FPS  The last mod I done was based around full dynamic being used, I crimped everywhere to try and gain as much FPS as possible, its not getting any better performance-wise I'm afraid


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 12, 2007)

New file for STALKER 1.0004. Unknown if this is compatible with STALKER 1.0003, it should be, though.

Changes:

- Image tweaks
- Global illumination optimisations (5-6FPS increase in the bar)

Let me know how she does


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 12, 2007)

My bad, looks like I forgot to add the attachment.. twas very late here when I made tht post


----------



## Heldelance (Sep 14, 2007)

This looks sweeeeeet!
Where do I download this and is it in Beta or what? Also, what do I need to download with it? I've got vanilla STALKER, version 1 I think.


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 14, 2007)

Latest version is 1.04 which you can grab from post 181  just extract the user.ltx file to your STALKER-SHOC folder, overwriting the old user.ltx file when prompted. I strongly recommend you to get the 1.0004 patch as well. Keep an eye on my STALKER weapons balance mod thread , I intend to rework STALKER so it can be played as it was MEANT to be played


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## DOM (Sep 14, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Latest version is 1.04 which you can grab from post 181


I think its 1.03v

Well it works on mine and im still on patch 1.0001v  


But the thing is I cant pick any items at the bottom from the left side when I have to scroll down  its cuz im at res. 1680 X 1050 ?


Also whats the best over all armor you can get from the trader ??


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 14, 2007)

Might be your res, its fine for me @ 1280*1024. Personally I think the best armour overall is the SEVA suit or the modified SSP99 suit. Exoskeleton is cool, but u cant sprint in it and it has low radiation protection.


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 15, 2007)

Version 1.04 will be available soon. My aim was to implement ultra-realistic lighting with global illumination without a sever performance drop, which I THINK I have now managed to do. Testing in the tunnel with all those burner anomalies shows even with 3 of them triggered plus my torchlight, FPS doesnt dip below 15 on my 1950Pro. So a X1950XTX or better should be able to very comfortably handle it. Once the mod is made available feedback on FPS in testing situations would be greatly appreciated


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 16, 2007)

What global illumination effects do you like best?











GL effects 1, its not very noticable in the first pic but the tiles are quite noticable in reality, 2nd pic is a SS of the light flicker.

Pros: Torchlight has a much lesser FPS impact (+14) than GL effects 2.
Cons: Some may think without the light flicker GL is too dark





GL effects 2, lighting is constant, flicker doesnt appear that noticable

Pros: Some may like it brighter
Cons: FPS impact when torchlight is on


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## pt (Sep 16, 2007)

the 2nd


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## Ketxxx (Sep 16, 2007)

Bastard.. GL 2 makes my work harder  depending how things go GL2 may be scrapped anyway if I cant get FPS up enough when the torchlight is on


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 16, 2007)

Ok heres 1.05. Its a compromise between GL 1 and 2, which should lead to best possible image quality and FPS


----------



## Ketxxx (Sep 17, 2007)

Retweaked global illumination again, works a lot better now, at a slight global illimination effects cost.


----------



## Heldelance (Sep 18, 2007)

I'm confused, with all the stuff you're trying to achieve with this mod...
How come the file is so small??? I'm used to downloading like 50+ meg files for mods


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## Ketxxx (Sep 18, 2007)

Ket is smart  instead of being stupid and making my own engine changes, I'm utilising what the xray engine is already capable of, enabling disabled engine features, adjusting paramaters for maximum visual quality and performance (something that was a real bastard with global illumination) and adjust existing enabled features for better visual results. Thats how I've managed to (IMO) have shadows that look far superior to the float 32 mod under full dynamic range lighting


----------



## pt (Sep 18, 2007)

alll hail ketxxx



ps: how's my bios


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## Ketxxx (Sep 18, 2007)

Havent looked at it yet, its on my todo list


----------



## pt (Sep 18, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Havent looked at it yet, its on my todo list



today todo list?       
i just need extra voltage on mem and ram
and i'm going to try the mod as soon as i get s.t.a.l.k.e.r. again


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## Ketxxx (Sep 18, 2007)

I'll try. I have to go out in an hour or so then I may be out all evening and night (sex is on the cards )


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## pt (Sep 18, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> I'll try. I have to go out in an hour or so then I may be out all evening and night (sex is on the cards )



i will send my av after you 
can you do a mod (later) for medium settings with the most fps possible?


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## Ketxxx (Sep 19, 2007)

Ket doesnt work that way, max settings @ max ffps only, will take forever otherwise. urgh im drunbk.


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## bassmasta (Sep 19, 2007)

wow, i'm getting bad crashes with 1.6


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## Ketxxx (Sep 19, 2007)

If you mean 1.06, that file is for STALKER 1.0004. I've been using 1.06 for some time and STALKER works perfectly.


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## bassmasta (Sep 19, 2007)

i'm on 1.0004 in vista


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## Ketxxx (Sep 19, 2007)

Strange, theres nothing different in 1.06 from 1.05 aside from different global illumination parameters.


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## bassmasta (Sep 19, 2007)

yeah, i noticed that in the arena the lights flickered from bright white to dull grey as i moved, too.  i'm back on 1.03, but i liked everything but the lighting in 1.06


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## pt (Sep 21, 2007)

i goty stalker again!


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## Ketxxx (Sep 21, 2007)

Start testing!


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## pt (Sep 21, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Start testing!



OMG, I CAN PLAY WITH ALL MAXED UP INCLUDED THE LIGHTNING AT 19FPS!! 
hurray for mods, patchs and drivers
going to put dinamyc lightning since it looks better in your pics
btw, wich mod should i use of yours?


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## Ketxxx (Sep 23, 2007)

Always the latest  only roll back if you get problems with one of the ltx files.


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## Widjaja (Sep 25, 2007)

The engine mod does make the game look better. . .
It doesn't make the game pause anymore than it does though does it?


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## Ketxxx (Sep 26, 2007)

Nope, for me at least its helped stop the pausing.


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## Widjaja (Sep 26, 2007)

Well that's enough for me to download it.
I'll post the verdict afterwards.

Update:-
I'm using the latest Ultra engine mod.
I'm in the X16 mission at the moment.
I'm playing it at 1024 X 768.

Pros:-
So far the pausing has been greatly reduced and the fps has definitely gone up.
It's alot more playable now, I haven't come across a one second pause yet and most of the areas where the pauses are supposed to occur are not.

Cons:-
Moving the mouse seems sluggish seems of carry on a bit after I have stopped.
Cut scene where you passout at the bus goes crazy when with the guy from the labs gets his last measurement readings.
Might go through it again and take a screen shot of it.

So far you have made Stalker alot more playable for me.
Would be good if you could sort out the laggy mouse movement.


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## Ketxxx (Sep 26, 2007)

I'm not sure what the deal is with the mouse, my copy of STALKER has always done that, the mad crazy thing when you pass out has only happen for me since I used patch 1.00001 and onward, so is probs a slight bug with the patches.


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## Heldelance (Sep 27, 2007)

Tried the mod last night (Sorry Ket, haven't tried the gun one yet, will try tonight. Better not screw up my game!!! Jokes )

Alright, here's my final judgement.
*Iron Chef verdict music starts playing*

- Cleared a lot of the loading, reduced the time for others.
- Looks a helluva lot better than vanilla.
- I'm playing with it neaaaaarly maxed out! (AF is still on 4 or was it 8?)
- FPS is pretty damned high at a constant rate.
- Simple installation and small file size.
- I seem to be having problems with some of the anomalies, some of them are REALLY invisible.
- The game is a little scarier now. 

Final Verdict: I give it an 8 / 10. You'd get a 10 if you also added a music pack.


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## Widjaja (Sep 27, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> I'm not sure what the deal is with the mouse, my copy of STALKER has always done that, the mad crazy thing when you pass out has only happen for me since I used patch 1.00001 and onward, so is probs a slight bug with the patches.



Man that sucks.
I have patched stalker from 1.01 - 1.03 - 1.04 and I don't have those issues.

Mouse movement is crisp with my LTX file and I don't have that crazy cut scene issue.
So it comes down to something in your LTX file which is different from my one besides what you have already tweaked since you have had this issue for a while now.


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## Ketxxx (Sep 27, 2007)

Its not my ltx file, I thought it might be that so I let the game make a new one, still did the same thing


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## Widjaja (Sep 27, 2007)

*Ket try this LXT file*

Try a copy of my LTX file.
I have attached it so you can see the difference with the mouse.
I tried your 1.0 and 1.06 and they both have the laggy feel to the mouse which mine does not and the cut scene is still crazy.

If you notice a difference with my LTX file I will have to try the LTX file from my bro as his game runs pretty much flawlessly.

Very strange.

View attachment WidjLXT.zip


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## Ketxxx (Sep 27, 2007)

Will do, I'll get on it when I can.


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## bassmasta (Sep 27, 2007)

laggy mouse? i had to turn my dpi from 2500 to 400 and put the slider all the way to the left so i wouldn't freak out trying to aim up an inch with this mod


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## Heldelance (Sep 28, 2007)

I just noticed something annoying while playing last night...
Whenever it goes to load the level, it still takes a while even with the mod. I'm running the release version before 1.06, does 1.06 clear up a bit of the in game loading? It's just annoying when I'm running around and it stops a bit to load.


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## Widjaja (Sep 28, 2007)

Heldelance said:


> I just noticed something annoying while playing last night...
> Whenever it goes to load the level, it still takes a while even with the mod. I'm running the release version before 1.06, does 1.06 clear up a bit of the in game loading? It's just annoying when I'm running around and it stops a bit to load.



Even with the GTS it has that pause going on. . . .didn't really expect that especially with your specs.

What I meant by laggy mouse is I would move the mouse and then the a fraction later the target would move and when I would stop the target would keep on moving a little bit making aiming a nightmare.

Not speed wise although yeah I had to press the mouse button to 400dpi too and set the sesitivity to the very left.

Ket will be trying out my file to see if he notices any change.
The game still pauses with kets modded file but not as much for me.
The major improvement in his file is the fps.

I'll have to get my bros file and see what happens.
Although the fact he has a GTX probably helps out alot.


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## Heldelance (Sep 28, 2007)

I'm running with everything on max, that could be one of the problems.
I'd say it's the game and not my system because even in a massive firefight with many people, it doesn't really have any problem. It's only at some points that it stops for a bit and has that disk thing appear.


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## Heldelance (Oct 1, 2007)

Solved. I used the latest ltx and I turned grass shadows off (they sucked anyway) and lowered the grass count (I couldn't find guns that people dropped). I'm thinking it's those things coupled with the fact that I've got AA on full and AF on 8 or 16 I think...
Also, my screen size was 1280x1024


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## Ketxxx (Oct 1, 2007)

I cant help the pausing, I fixed it up best I can. Loading times I would assume are due to the game having to decompress then load all the textures, you can extract the files, but weather the game will work correctly afterward, I dont know.


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## Heldelance (Oct 1, 2007)

Okay, not solved. Tried it again, but all it does is make my FPS go much higher. (Still doesn't help with load pausing) It's not all that bad anyway.


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## Widjaja (Oct 1, 2007)

No Stalker aint ALL bad just the load pausing is a damn irritation.
Whats worse is it appears to be these type of game that do it.
The freeroam type which really suck because I like the freedom in those games.
I tried my brothers LTX and it's the same as mine.
Pausing in areas where there are NPCs coming up dead or alive.
I don't believe FPS is the issue but the textures which makes the smooth fps drop.

Don't know why your copy of stalker makes the files the way it does ket.

I thnk all games have gone downhill with optimization for PCs.
My bro has a high end rig and can play most games without stutters which I think is not good enough.

You fork out big bucks only to find a game which you enjoy besides the stuttering, stutter even more than your  old rig while the other games you don't like so much which are more system intensive are playing without a hitch wtf?


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## Heldelance (Oct 2, 2007)

I tried playing Stalker, full settings on 1024X768...
Good god the FPS just spiked (though the loading was still just as bad). I still don't play it on 1024 though, my computer still pumps out a great amount of FPS on full settings. 
One question though, does anyone know what settings I should put the AA and AF to? I had a friend tell me that setting both to max was just a waste because it just reprocessed stuff that was already processed.


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## Ketxxx (Oct 5, 2007)

FPS spike isnt sometrhing I can help, my goal was to make things lookg much better and still remain playable.


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## Ketxxx (Oct 7, 2007)

Of all the modded files, which version have you guys liked the best in regard lighting methods?


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## DOM (Oct 7, 2007)

Im using the last one I think 1.06v the fire is really bright


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## Ketxxx (Oct 7, 2007)

Thats the global illumination, the more fires that are activated such as the burner anomalies the brighter surrounding surfaces are. I'm still trying to find the best balance for GL.


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## Ketxxx (Oct 7, 2007)

New GL settings and adjusted mouse sensativity which should fix the "nausea" some ppl were mentioning. If there are any weird "bright" areas or any weird happenings in general SCREENSHOT it so I know exactly what I'm looking for, makes bug fixing much easier.


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## Ketxxx (Oct 9, 2007)

Ok.. so 10 ppl have grabbed the new file and none will comment on how its doing?...


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## zekrahminator (Oct 9, 2007)

Don't feel bad Ket, that happens a lot of times when I post news .


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## Ketxxx (Oct 9, 2007)

I need feedback, otherwise I cant fix any bugs can I?


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## Ketxxx (Oct 9, 2007)

Here we go, probably the final ever ltx mod, all packaged up this one with a readme and screenshots


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## pt (Oct 9, 2007)

i finished the games 2 times, i'm playing medieval 2 total war now


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## DOM (Oct 9, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Here we go, probably the final ever ltx mod, all packaged up this one with a readme and screenshots



so is this an update of ltx mod 1.08 final.zip  ?? cuz I havent tryed that one yet and if it is I'll try it and let you know how it is


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## Ketxxx (Oct 9, 2007)

Yup, its updated since 1.08, new global illumination settings, and hopefully a fix for the "nausea" some ppl mentioned about.


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## DOM (Oct 9, 2007)

okay i'll test it right now


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## Ketxxx (Oct 9, 2007)

Cool. Feel free to take snapshots and heavily scrutinise


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## DOM (Oct 10, 2007)

well the only thing that needs work is the fire I think 

but do you know what I can use to show bmp files at 1680X1050 ??


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## DOM (Oct 10, 2007)

cuz I got like 30-40 screens shots


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## Ketxxx (Oct 10, 2007)

nope.. bmp are huge. probably better to just convert the files to high quality jpg. I can correct light easily, the problem I always had with GL is how performance crippling it can be even on very high grade cards.


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## DOM (Oct 10, 2007)

how do I convert the files to high quality jpg.  cuz I used fraps to take them


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## Ketxxx (Oct 10, 2007)

Download irfanview, simply open your bmps with it and save them as jpg


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## DOM (Oct 10, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> Download irfanview, simply open your bmps with it and save them as jpg


lol I just did that 



























But they look better in the pics 

But the fire looks kind of gay on this one lol


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## Ketxxx (Oct 10, 2007)

keep them screens comin  I'll be able to use them for reference.


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## DOM (Oct 10, 2007)

I'll post the rest tomarrow there not of fire  But its look nice  

here im just having lil fun with the snork lol
















I like how the sky looks here


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## Ketxxx (Oct 10, 2007)

Good innit?  The sky took me a while but even I'm rather satisfied with the final results  will look forward to the rest of the screens


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## Widjaja (Oct 10, 2007)

Ket
Did you try my LTX file?
And notice the difference with the mouse?


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## Ketxxx (Oct 10, 2007)

I got lazy, just uninstalled STALKER, reinstalled and immediately patched to 1.0004 and off it went no probs.. ahh well, one less issue for me to worry about


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## DOM (Oct 10, 2007)




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## pt (Oct 10, 2007)

very nice

i might try stalker again just for the eye candy


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## DOM (Oct 10, 2007)

lol yeah I had everything at max but the grass down cuz at max it looks to grassy and cant see the good on the floor also its at 1680X1050  I like my SyncMaster 22" 2232BW


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## Ketxxx (Oct 11, 2007)

Holy shit... them screens are damn impressive.. I dont know why I'm drooling considering I made the mod, but there you go lol


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## Ketxxx (Oct 11, 2007)

New final release will be released shortly, just a few very minor bug fixes will be the only changes


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## Ketxxx (Oct 11, 2007)

1.2 final. At this stage I consider this the last ever release.

Changelog:

+ Torchlight fixed (dont ask me how I managed to miss this one)
+ Tried sharpening distant textures a tad more
- Fixing the torchlight may reduce world "haze" (see below pic), which I used to help hide jaggies.


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## LYNCHIN (Oct 11, 2007)

*tHANX*

I just found this thread and WOW!!  Nice work.  I installed your latest "ket STALKER Realism Mod" over Stalker Vanilla And it seems to work great.  I want to patch the game to 1.4 but I can't afford to loose my saved Games.  Being a Dad only affords me so much time to play games.  I still haven't finished this game Yet.  I did get a late start though.  And now it looks alot better and run very Fast compared to before.  I have all the in game settings on max, And forced 16AF and 8QAA in CP.  Unless something is wrong, I have V-sync on and it is running smooth a butter.   I would like to use your Ultra Quality mod, but I need V1.4 don't I?  If I can use them, can you explain how to install them?  And what exactly is your "user mod 2.01 zip" And is there any other mods for better Detail that I missed in this thread,(so mant diff files?)  Thanx for all your hard work.
On a Side note, Anyone Have a link for a BIOSHOCK game?


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## Ketxxx (Oct 11, 2007)

All files in this thread are my realism mod, many were beta and only hit proper final stages @ 1.1. If you like this mod you should check my latest mod out I'm working on Here  FYI the STALKER 1.0004 patch wont harm your savegames, only patch 1.0003 was incompatible with 1.0 STALKER saves.


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## DOM (Oct 11, 2007)

Ketxxx said:


> All files in this thread are my realism mod, many were beta and only hit proper final stages @ 1.1. If you like this mod you should check my latest mod out I'm working on Here  FYI the STALKER 1.0004 patch wont harm your savegames, only patch 1.0003 was incompatible with 1.0 STALKER saves.


so can I go from 1.0001 to 1.0004 cuz ive been on 1.0001 with all of these files lol


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## joinmeindeath417 (Oct 11, 2007)

good job man even if your finished concidering you did it just to do it!


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## Ketxxx (Oct 11, 2007)

@ DOM, yep there shouldnt be any problem applying the 1.0004 patch. As it turns out I may not be quite finished with this yet, I want to mess around with the haze effect a bit.

@ JMD417, *takes a bow*


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## Ketxxx (Oct 17, 2007)

Any other noticed bugs? Hows the "haze" effect? Still strong enough to take the sting out of the jaggies?


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## Ketxxx (Nov 4, 2007)

K.E.T. STALKER realism mod v1.25

Changes:

- Enhanced shadow depth
- Fixed shadow bug
- Enhanced Parallax mapping

See screenshots in .zip for eyecandy


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## cpo_sharky (Nov 19, 2007)

Just bought the game, installed it, and patched it with 1.0005. Will your realism mod v1.25 work with this new patch?


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## Ketxxx (Nov 20, 2007)

It should work fine, as far as I know patch 1.0005 only makes very minor changes, patch 1.0006 is what everybody is waiting on.


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## cpo_sharky (Nov 21, 2007)

Ket, can you give me more details on how to install your mod please? Can't seem to find the stalker-shoc file/folder. Thanks, Sharky.


<EDIT>
Nevermind, just read your read-me file.


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## Ketxxx (Dec 1, 2007)

New version incoming once my transition to XP64 is complete. No major changes, still compatible with STALKER v1.0 -> v1.0003. Biggest difference is tweaked shadows


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## Ripper3 (Dec 28, 2007)

Going to take advantage and  use the fact my nice shiny new HD 3850 is working well, and play STALKER again, hopefully without any hickups.
Hopefully everything will work just fine, got some mods, and now downing this, jsut before playing, I'm on v1.0005, forgot you had better luck with 1.0003, but I'll try my hand with this.
Hope you release a new version soon, but if not, this one looks mighty fine if the above shots are anything to go by.


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## Ketxxx (Jan 4, 2008)

I'll be releasing an updated file soon. Just tinkering with my Twilight K.E.T. mod atm, once I get the next beta for that finished I'll put a new realism mod out that should work fine with all versions from 1.0003.


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## Ben Clarke (Jan 4, 2008)

See guys  I told you Ket was alive! 

So this will work with versions after 1.0003 as well?


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## Ketxxx (Jan 4, 2008)

Should do.


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## Ben Clarke (Jan 4, 2008)

Nw we just need to get T.K.E.T working, and we'll be fine.


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## Ketxxx (Jan 4, 2008)

Dont hold your breath, its at 215MB and I'm still calling it a beta


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## Ketxxx (Jan 6, 2008)

V1.35 final

Changes:

- Specular enhanced for added realism on metal surfaces
- Minor shadow tweaks

To come in 1.4 final:

- Maybe slightly more enhanced specular
- Greatly enhanced shadows, this will basically be pushing the X-Ray engines ability to draw detailed shadows to its limits.

Compatibility:

This should work with 1.0003, 1.0004, and 1.0005.

As usual feel free to post screens and let me know of any bugs there may be.


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## Ketxxx (Jan 7, 2008)

FYI big surprise in store for 1.4 final, I found some new techniques that are giving some rather impressive results


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## Ketxxx (Jan 7, 2008)

This mod is the result of some tweakings, it looks damn impressive but it has its flaws. The flaws are nothing to do with the mod but expose lighting bugs in certain areas. I'm not sure on exactly all the bug areas exposed, I just know one area, the arena. Its immediately noticable and very obvious, when you enter there are strange light anomalies all over. For this reason, as impressive as the results are, I recommend using the final 1.4 when I release it, it doesnt have AS impressive lighting, but it also doesnt show any bugs and performs better.


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## Ben Clarke (Jan 7, 2008)

I have to admit that looks impressive. And lighting in the arena.... just say the radiation absorbed by the STALKER's suits began to affect the atmosphere and messed up the lights?


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## Ketxxx (Jan 7, 2008)

If people like it great, but I wont be doing anymore to that experiment because of the level lighting bugs in areas. So its clear that experimental release was going to be the big surprise for  1.4 final, until I discovered the horrible lighting bug in the arena. So instead 1.4 final will bring;

- Lighting optimisations (more realistic and providing more scope for multiple light sources)
- Parallax mapping tweaked (looked a bit "too bumpy")
- Further improved shadows

For my notes only;

- Lighting optimisation 100%
- Parallax mapping 100%
- Global Illumination optimisation 100%
- Enhanced shadows 0%


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## Ketxxx (Jan 7, 2008)

Heres 1.4 final. Shadows I havent finished, but they have been tweaked a little. No idea when I will get time to complete shadows but I thought I would release this as a final 1.4 anyway as there are some nice performance gains with this version. For the user.ltx file to "stick", you will likely have to load a saved game from a previous area, then re-enter, or at very least exit the area you are in and re-enter.


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## Ketxxx (Jan 11, 2008)

Does somebody want to do a small test for me? I'm just curious if someone could run 1280*1024 res and compare 1.35 to 1.4 for performance with multiple (4) burner anomilies triggered. This is for both my own curiosity and to help maybe further optimise global illumination.


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## knowledge123 (Apr 11, 2008)

Ketxxx said:


> Does somebody want to do a small test for me? I'm just curious if someone could run 1280*1024 res and compare 1.35 to 1.4 for performance with multiple (4) burner anomilies triggered. This is for both my own curiosity and to help maybe further optimise global illumination.



I can do 720p, if you want ? 
I'll need a savegame, though, I don't think I have one with 4 burners.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 17, 2008)

Up for the last installment of this project (will be released soon)


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## MilkyWay (Aug 17, 2008)

yas! thanks mate


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## Ketxxx (Aug 18, 2008)

Internal testing of my final realism mod is underway. An open beta will be released in a day or two.


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## Ketxxx (Aug 18, 2008)

Here it is, anyone using the v1.4 mod will immediately notice the improved lighting. One area to see the improved lighting is in sids basement. Look where the lamp sits right next to the Groza.


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## INSTG8R (Aug 20, 2008)

You know I have had STALKER on my STEAM for a long time. I played it a bit then hadn't touched it in half a year easy. I grabbed Mass Effect a couple months back and really enjoyed the "RPG' ness" of it. But having played thru it 3 times now I needed something a bit different.

Well Im well into it again and I tried the FLOAT32 mod that seems to be the popular one. While it looks alot nicer it made my game start hitching so I remembered this mod Ket had been working on. Im glad too see he is still keeping at it.

Will let you know what I think seeing as it will be "fresh" for me either way.


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## MilkyWay (Aug 20, 2008)

Cheers


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## Ketxxx (Aug 20, 2008)

I can still make this mod better.. but now its getting to the stage of X-Ray struggling to handle it, especially the global illumination. So with that in mind, based on feedback of v1.4 of the mod I'll tweak GI until it looks the absolute best without killing FPS and after that I'll have to call it a day for this mod. Further eyecandy improvements will be implemented into TK 1.1.


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## Ben Clarke (Aug 20, 2008)

Ket - If you still need hosting, gimme a shout, I have 80GB sititng here for you to use...


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## MilkyWay (Aug 20, 2008)

i think you should mod the new stalker since its bound to have a better engine than shadow of Chernobyl

i know you hate it but seems like youd be able to get more out of it


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## Ketxxx (Aug 20, 2008)

From what I've seen, CS doesn't have anything special, shaders have been updated for more shadows and to make things look prettier (these shaders can be used with SoC) perhaps a few slightly higher quality textures, but apart from that the engine has not changed, just uses a lot of things SoC had disabled (which are re-enabled with this mod) and a couple DX10 bolt ons. Hardly groundbreaking stuff.

@ Ben, once I've sorted TK1.1 out I'll be needing that space  I'm gonna try to do stuff like the blog and have a hardcore session with TK1.1 tomorrow fixing bugs. Not that theres many of them, the couple there are just take a lot of effort to fix - their not simple by any means, especially the C stack overflow.

In the meantime what you guys can do is test out v1.4 of the realism mod and TK1.1 pre-release and give me lots of feedback


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## ShogoXT (Aug 21, 2008)

Hey ket, in your opinion, what is the better base graphics engine currently for games? Im not sure if I like the looks of stalkers engine, but I have heard it gives you alot more to work with.

What do you think?


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## Ketxxx (Aug 21, 2008)

For customisation, X-Ray is extremely good. The engine Crysis uses is supposed to be quite good too. I'm sure the UT3 engine is also pretty good to use. Overall my fav has to be X-Ray, you can do a lot with it. Its a very picky engine but once you get to grips with it you soon realise the kind of graphical realism its capable of. Which in a nutshell, is photo-realistic realtime rendering.


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## MilkyWay (Aug 21, 2008)

unreal engine 3 is superbly easy to use but is also good that if you leanr the advanced parts you can do more things with it, most of the basic things in it do me fine coz im making a huge ass map thats supposed to be a an empty warehouse

im going to add a slime pit with something either a u damage or a weapon, only way to get to the middle of this pit will be a jump pad or just wing it using a vehicle

i did a lot of it then ma pc crashed, then i tried to do it again the editor got strange not letting me subtract or add to the map which i need to make a room

later on im going to add a second room and a vehicle elevator so that you can send vehicle up or down to either room

CTF will be tricky but i might just make 3 rooms then add flag rooms to the top and bottom, the main room in the middle will have the slim pit ect

then i could even add in other things such as a small out door area much later on


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## MilkyWay (Aug 21, 2008)

thought you said x ray was extremely un optimised


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## INSTG8R (Aug 21, 2008)

Well it runs alot better than FLOAT32. I can't say overall how the look of it is. I have been in Vantar and chugging thru underground labs and such thru the night with it. I can say I like the lighting at night(tho I felt the flashlights had a bit longer throw before) I felt like they just sort of hit a wall and could light no further. Im looking forward to a bit less gloomy weather so I can see it in full effect.


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## hat (Aug 21, 2008)

cool, 10fps when hanging out with Sidorovich!!


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## Ketxxx (Aug 21, 2008)

MilkyWay said:


> thought you said x ray was extremely un optimised



It is very un-optimised, it doesn't mean you still cant make things look amazing though, just expect to see really pretty stuff at the rate of a slideshow


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## Ketxxx (Aug 21, 2008)

hat said:


> cool, 10fps when hanging out with Sidorovich!!



What you expect from that 86GTS  I would stick with 1.35 if I were you, 1.35 is meant for older cards, 1.4 is for new cards


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## Monkeywoman (Sep 16, 2008)

would this work with the 1.0006 version? i had already installed the patches because i was having problems online and i dont knoe how to rollback the patch.


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