Negatives of artifacts/mutant parts versus benefits

**Master** Posts : 931 Join date : 2017-06-03

Hi, In my opinion, it seems to me that the balance of detriment to benefit may have changed regarding mutant parts and artefacts. I was playing today and was surprised to find artefacts with 10 in red of radiation. Yet electro tears, which used to be good for a balance against radiation, now need about 5 against 10 red artefact radiation attributes.
I have an idea, since not all of the negative artefacts go in a white case; that would be a couple of stashbags woven with lead thread. Into one could be tipped mutant parts, and into the artefacts that cannot be put in the white cases, and whose 'negatives' prevent them from being useful. At one time impact and rupture in the sense of material tearing where considered essential. Now, it seems to me to be anti-radiation is essential as long as all the other negative attributes can also be countered. Another way of doing this, which would also encourage "cooking artefacts" is to simply write down a new set of values for artefacts/parts and thus improve the pleasures of playing. The forgoing suggestions and opinions are mine, and I appreciate others may well disagree. Hopefully it will lead to the penalties of mutant parts and artifacts to be reduced sufficiently to make Stalkersoup more fun. Thanks and Regards TrueB

**Novice** Posts : 10 Join date : 2023-04-29

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Hello, can I ask you a technical question?
How technically difficult is it to set up friendly npc's and merchants on the cop map, I've been meaning to ask this while watching the many ns series mods and soups, if you have the time, could you please answer this confusion for me? I'd appreciate it.

ued1945 wrote:: Hello, can I ask you a technical question?
How technically difficult is it to set up friendly npc's and merchants on the cop map, I've been meaning to ask this while watching the many ns series mods and soups, if you have the time, could you please answer this confusion for me? I'd appreciate it.

Hi ued1945.

I'm not sure what you are asking here. What do you mean by 'the cop map'? If by cop you mean Call of Pripyat, I think all of the maps from that game are included in StalkerSoup - the three main maps being Zaton (called Backwater in StalkerSoup), Jupiter, and of course Pripyat.

As for creating NPC traders and other friendlies, that is certainly something the developers could do if they wished. However, the main StalkerSoup story is nearing completion, and as far as I know there are no plans to add to the current Backwater and Jupiter maps. (Caveat: I am not one of the developers, and this is just my best guess based on what little I know.)

Having said that, TecnoBacon has said that StalkerSoup will support future DLCs, so it is quite possible that these and other relatively-empty maps could become the home for new stories based in the StalkerSoup universe.

**Novice** Posts : 10 Join date : 2023-04-29

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I was indeed referring to Call of Pripyat, but I wanted to ask whether adding merchants and friendly npc's to these maps is technically difficult or not, as I noticed that all the full map mods (coc-like) made on top of the Shadows of Chernobyl engine generally don't have friendly npc's and merchants on non-Shadows of Chernobyl maps, which is why I wanted to find out if it's too cumbersome or if the engine is old and makes it technically difficult.

It is certainly possible to add NPCs to STALKER mods, and many of the NPCs in StalkerSoup and similar mods have have been added or modified by the various developers along the way. Unfortunately my meagre LUA programming skills are far too rusty, but perhaps someone else with more up-to-date knowledge can explain better.

As I understand it, the main reason why many of the northern maps in StalkerSoup are relatively empty and lacking friendly NPCs is due to STALKER lore* rather than to programming difficulty.

*Following the Chernobyl accident, a 30Km Zone of Alienation was created around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and most of the civilian population within the Zone was evacuated. Only now are explorers, treasure seekers and others making their way back into the forbidden areas. Most enter the Zone through the southern entrance at The Cordon, which is why most of the population is currently located in the south.

The more northern areas are, for the most part, still uninhabited; but a few hardy individuals and secretive factions are beginning to appear in those areas. Eventually, as the reclamation of the Zone progresses, settlements will no doubt appear in these remote areas, and Stalkers and others will gather there to live and trade.

We will have to wait for future DLCs to see how that plays out in StalkerSoup.

In addition to pchester's explanation, my own take on this, as part of the Dialogues team and not a coder, is that the reason many imported maps in StalkerSoup not only lack facilities, but also don't even work properly, is that the job isn't simple - otherwise it would have been done by now

Once you get beyond Level 0 in StalkerSoup - that is, when you leave the Dead City through the underground tunnel - many of the maps, mostly imported from CoP and other mods, feel flat, unresponsive, and not as interactive (breakable glass, using stash bags, opening doors, etc) as those you're already familiar with in the game

TB is working on what he calls 'smart terrains' - which I'm guessing means bringing all the new levels up to the same working standard as the old ones

It's not the only problem with imported maps, either

There are 53 maps in StalkerSoup, of which (I think) at least 19 did not come from SoC, Clear Sky, or CoP. The others were imported from other mods, and not one of them contained a description. It fell to the Dialogues Team to write a geo-socio-political history of each new region, connected with all the other maps, to create a new 'Unified Zone' in terms of each map's connection with the StalkerSoup storyline

So it begs the question that, if the original map creators didn't get around to writing basic descriptions, how much more difficult must it have been for them to actually get these areas to work as well as the original maps? affraid

**Novice** Posts : 10 Join date : 2023-04-29

Thanks for your patience, but I've been researching ns mods lately and found that SOC's old xray engine generally has cop maps with only enemies and no friendlies, so I just wanted to ask you guys why that is.

**Master** Posts : 931 Join date : 2017-06-03

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Hi, it seems rather strange to have discussion about areas of the zone under a heading relating to negatives of artfact/mutant parts versus benefits, whereas a discussion on the subject especially in my opinion the 400% negative appetite given with anti-psi positive.

**Novice** Posts : 10 Join date : 2023-04-29

I don't really understand what you mean by anti-psi positive, could you elaborate on that, if you don't mind?

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