COP compared to SOC? - TTLG Forums

Maxmillion on 4/12/2009 at 22:15

I've read the big thread on COP and people's impression from playing the Russian version, and I see that a lot of people are enjoying it. I am thinking of getting this game when it comes out in English. If someone could directly compare the different elements of SOC to COP and answer some other questions, that would be very nice indeed.

For example:
*How desolate is COP? In SOC, some areas, like the bar or the duty vs. freedom sections were filled with people, while some were quiet and empty except for the occasional wild mutant. On average, is COP less empty, more empty, or similar?
*Do humans still take an entire clip to bring down unless you headshot?
*Any new mutants?
*Does COP take longer to finish than SOC?
*How do the sidequests compare?
*Are there still factions that fight each other?

Thanks in advance.

mothra on 5/12/2009 at 01:30

- soc and cop density is hard to say. i would say equal, maybe cop has less enemies, maybe more but in the same scale compared to the maps, some locations where you defenitely expect enemies are completely empty, so, yeah, I would say less

- the thing with the clip depends on the gun, the ammo and the upgrades you use but bodyshots, especially the chest don't do a lot of damage. BUT considering the armor some of those guys are carring, I would say it's ok, maybe less than soc.

- you have:
dogs, pseudodogs, psidog (that spawns other pseudodogs), snorks, controller, burer (gnome), chimera, the little hamsters (whatever they are called), pseudogiant, poltergeist, tesla/fire variations, bloodsuckers.

most of them have new "moves". chimeras leap and can launch their victims a few meters into the air (glorious), dogs get help, bloodsuckers can suck on you where you are stationary for a short time, loose health and can be attacked by other monsters. pseudogiants pound the ground and make you fall, burers throw stuff and snatch your weapons - hillarious....apart from the "mission" monsters you only have to go out at night, evil will come to you :ebil:

- cop is shorter, the sidemissions are better imo, main story is OK, they refined their storytelling/branching (not the dialogues or characterization)
but it's smaller in scope and content, but not on atmosphere and awesomeness.

- sidequests are the shit. don't get me wrong, it's still "go there, do that, come back" but multi-part/multi-map with exploration and little sidequests inside it.

- factionwar is toned down, there are a few spots duty/freedom fight over but apart from that they only fight when they meet during emissions over hiding spots, which is cool since your character is neutral/friendly to everbody (even bandits) and can just watch and enjoy the mayhem.

- another nice feature is that NPCs actively loot bodies and after firefights you have to be quick to get all the goodies. the artifact searching/hunting was improved, with better and cooler anomalies and more inventive ways for you to find artifacts with even some puzzles thrown in that lead into a moebius level, you will see what I mean.

Maxmillion on 5/12/2009 at 01:49

If your character is neutral to everyone, what humans does he fight? Are all fights with human beings optional?

Koki on 5/12/2009 at 08:42

Quote Posted by Maxmillion

I am thinking of getting this game when it comes out in English.

For the last time: Call of Pripyat as of December 2009 is available completely translated, by combining (http://stalker.filefront.com/file/Call_of_Pripyat_FULL_English_Translaition;105893) Tagaziel's FULL English Translation mod and (http://www.mediafire.com/?zy2tfcdzk2z) english voice files which were bundled with the polish release of CoP.

Do note that the voices are of horrid quality but (http://www.gsc-game.com/main.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr3&thm_page=1&thm_id=927&page=11&sort=ASC&sec_id=16#22128) final.

- What mothra said. It's hard to compare, in SoC you had enemy "camps" of up to ten people in several places on the map, in CoP they wander around in groups up to three people. But again, as mothra said, there are many places where I was going with the "Well, here comes a big fight" mindset and then found not a living soul. So, CoP is less populous.
- No. Firearms were buffed all across the board because there is no "progress" of accquiring them anymore. If you know where to look, you can get a LR300, Vintorez, or even Dragunov five minutes into the game, and NPCs from the start carry AK74s and Enfields. There is a small problem with accuracy, but it disappears as soon as you upgrade(and repair) the weapons some.
- There are two new mutants(Chimeras and Burers) but more importantly, mutant AI has been greatly improved so that each behaves differently. For example, good old Pseudodogs are not just Blind Dogs +1, they will create phantoms of themselves which will attack you, while the real one will stay at a safe distance.
- I've no idea. It took me about two and a half days of constant playing to finish CoP the first time around which is little over 30 hours, and I skipped some parts of Pripyat. I simply don't remember how long it took me to finish SoC.
- Now that's a fucking silly question. They don't; It's like comparing quests in jRPG to quests in, say, Bloodlines. There is simply no comparision.
- Yes. In Creek Bandits fight with Stalkers and in Jupiter there is also Duty and Freedom added to the mix. But all that happens when two opposite groups meet. There is no outright faction war(Freedom and Duty occupy same location anyway).

And to answer your question about whom to shoot in the face: Most human fights come from questing, unless you really want to play a Robocop and start shooting every Bandit you see, or you join a faction in Jupiter and start mercilessly slaughtering the opposition. Other than that, it's mostly mutants and a few zombies here and there.

mothra on 5/12/2009 at 12:02

some quests require you deciding which faction to help but if you keep it to those quests, you will always stay neutral at least. I'm friend with Duty now and Freedom is still OK with me. and there is a new, mysterious faction having interest in the zone that tie into the main plot, so you fight them and the monolith of course. On master in the beginning it's best to find a elevated postion, take your binocs, watch the show and then rush to loot the bodies. that way I got good weapons and a better detector within an hour. and exploration gives you even more powerful weapons. but the meat are the upgrades. they make your vintar a onehit-kill wonder, money you get from quests but the most from artifacts. in my 2nd playthrough I'm swimming in money. I could use the guides all the time but I still like to wander to my objective, so many funny things can happen on the way there.

Tenkahubu on 6/12/2009 at 21:43

Sounds like a lot of it can be found in the Oblivion Lost mod for SoC.
Particularly the added mutants.
I wonder if CoP was influenced by that mod, but then it is mainly stuff that was originally intended for the first STALKER anyway isn't it?
Any graphical/performance improvements? How do they rate?

mothra on 7/12/2009 at 00:15

i'd say more influenced by AMK, since they are ukrainian as well. gsc doesn't dwell on their own english forums, only DonReba there to relay infos and requests (who has his special mention in the credits).

graphical improvements are only visible on dx10 and above and with 64bit systems, the engine also scales with your VRAM it seems since I have seen screenshots of the game with the same settings and OS, like mine but a better graphics card and the distant textures were sharper. I like the style, although popping and low-res in the distance are still too pronounced for my taste. but the lightning and props/architecture/maps are top-notch. I love how they even restricted nightvision since some locations don't have any light at all and you HAVE to use the flashlight exclusively. I'm playing it the 2nd time and it is just a blast through and through.

Koki on 7/12/2009 at 06:32

Quote Posted by Tenkahubu

Sounds like a lot of it can be found in the Oblivion Lost mod for SoC.
Particularly the added mutants.

God I'm beginning to fucking hate the OL.

Yes, a lot of the features were previously added by AMK(Which OL ~~stole most stuff from~~ was inspired by), which doesn't change the fact that a game built with said features in mind will always beat what is essentially a hackjob.

And don't even start me on the mutants. Yes they "restored" Burers and Chimeras, and what do they do? Burers have a ranged attack and Chimeras are essentially toughter Boars. Whoop de fucking doo.

[Edit] Because everyone should try this at least once.

(http://tinypic.ws/viewer.php?file=81011212897741866568.jpg)

Inline Image:

http://tinypic.ws/images/81011212897741866568_thumb.png

bukary on 7/12/2009 at 14:45

Quote Posted by Koki

If you know where to look, you can get a LR300, Vintorez, or even Dragunov five minutes into the game

So... where? I'd like to have one, please. :)

mothra on 7/12/2009 at 14:54

vintar is found in the burning village on the first map.
I won't say where. just look for yourself you lazy fucker ;)

It's on the roof of one of the burnt down houses, which you can only reach by scaling a pole on the side that gets you ontop. it's the same house you find 2 articats in and the only one with part of its roof left

Koki, what did you wanna show with the picture ?

I agree though that the RPG is the best way to deal with that chimera and later it is my weapon of choice for the sniper-mission. who needs a headshot when you can just explode everybody.