Dark Signal for me. Sound, atmosphere and A-life are core to the STALKER experience. It will be even better if they meet their goal of porting features over from Call of The Zone.
Ngl , there're a lot of moments in gamma, like travelling through Jupiter in the evening and seeing the sun coming down over quarry as the sunlight's hitting the fog that's slowly filling the quarry up, when you think - "I'm cool with Stalker 2 being delayed"
Here's a toast to Soulforged for creating Anomaly, which is an awesome undertaking for which I am very grateful. I'm playing the earlier Expedition modpack right now, which seems very tolerant of added mods. The new version, which uses Anomaly 1.5.2, does not like added mods so still playing the older version.
With EFP's recent 4.0 release, I think it's nudged out Dark Signal as my favorite mod pack. It's been way more stable compared to the other 2 and I really like the balance around economy, trading, and crafting. You can be hyper efficient and grind tasks to purchase a good gun or you can scavenge and clean parts to craft your own shooter for a fraction of the price. Both are viable. And the gunplay is just *chef's kiss*. Feels like it was built for Merc runs.
I remember I got introduced to anomaly through a friend, he recommended expedition so that was the first mod pack I played. I remember playing it for a while, understanding nothing and dropped it, then I picked it up cause I was bored about a month ago and got invested almost as soon as I actually made progress in great swamps and felt like I was really making it places, always a great feeling I wish more people could enjoy.
Stalker 2 won't play anywhere near as intense as these mods, lets be honest. HOWEVER, after it's release, give it a year or two and modders like Grok will turn it into what we have for Gamma, EFP, etc but with an updated engine, graphics, gameplay, and mechanics. I can't wait honestly.
I've been playing EXP GAMMA lately and it's a blast! Admittedly I did tweak the difficulty down a bit but the combination of Gamma's mechanics and the visuals from Expedition are amazing. Was a pretty easy install too!
Using the EXT plugin/mod on the Gamma discord. The GAMMA EXT comes with a readme to set it up and then it's just dragging a couple files and running a couple commands with the EXT tool
Dark signal is the one close enough to a custom mod list I has before it kept crashing after a few hours. So that was my first good reason to like it, second is definitely the sound, thunderstorms, anomalys, mutants and guns have never sounded so good. Tried GAMMA for mabye a 7 hour playthrough before I got sick of the progression and craft system(not for me). But I did try old world and it was definitely a treat, nice to go back to roots in a way.
Baseline Anomaly with a few small mods added for me. Gives the most freedom for adding/testing small new mods, and I know it best so I can fiddle with the AI settings depending on what I want out of each playthrough.
I just started playing a heavily modded anomaly and it’s my first stalker experience…..and it’s literally one of the best games I have ever played……it’s got me hooked like no AAA title has ever had me hooked before…..big thanks to Grok and the whole modding community!!
at first i really liked gamma but then efp 4.0 released and i fell in love with it , and even if expedition looks incredible its really light on the mods , doesnt change anything in therms of gameplay
Gamma is as close to "The perfect FPS" as I've ever seen. I really don't think there's anything besides a few bugs/performance issues that I'd change. Probably x-ray's fault more than gamma. The progression system and depth of mechanics is literally perfect.
the economy is a little erm stupid? I mean, they tried too hard to make sense of all the gun ban thing. But lets be real, how the fuck the black market can pass a shit ton of gun parts and attachments but not a single pistol. Also, what about stalker selling guns from other death stalkers? Also, some mutants are a little broken in terms of stats, like their ridicolous speed that don't match the default animations, an snork is dangerous than a Chimera, for real, as they can agro your legs running in circles at point blank range. Other aspects like the awfull amount of weapon sway can be solved by tunning the mod sliders, but not these. They should implement traders selling armor, but making it ridicolous expensive and not a single item in top notch condition (most guns are used anyway) so players outside of cordon have some chance of getting an early automatic rifle, instead of reliying 100% on RGN Jesus.
@@ScudForEver The lore follows the tuned progression mechanics. Not the other way around. As far as mutants, I personally enjoy the game because of the challenge. Now that I have a monolith nosorog fully upgraded and all the fancy guns, I feel way more accomplished and satisfied because of how far I've come. Gamma isn't for everyone, but it's definitely for me.
@@dicktater4801 well, not everyone have a high end rig with 144 fps monitor. Aiming at some mutants with their clunky floating speed is a seroous accesibility problem for lots of people. Same case for stutter from a-life spawns.
@@ScudForEver bro, I'm not trying to be elitist or anything, but if you're looking for accessibility in a game like stalker, especially an even harder mod pack, idk what to tell you. I don't even know what you're arguing for. All I said is that I really like it. You can disable reshade and use minimal graphical settings to improve frame rate. It's extremely customizable. At the end of the day, if you don't like gamma, it was free anyway.
@@ScudForEver also, don't let snorks ruin the game for you. Eventually you'll get better armor and weapons that make those encounters easier. Then you'll actually feel like you've gotten stronger. It's all part of the experience man.
Expedition was my first foray into mod packs. It was fun and visually impressive, but there was a lot of jank and most of the equipment values were off in the inventory screen, so you had no idea how much of a boost you were actually getting. Gamma has been my favorite because I just needed a really new experience. Plus I'm a gun nerd, so I get giddy when I find the exact bolt carrier I needed to fix that FAL variant I never used to use because I could just buy a SCAR with all the money I got from selling whatever I found in Garbage on my way to sell an arsenal to Duty and a bundle of artifacts to Sakarov while I wait for him to finish my helmet. Stalker 2 will finally give us a new story, an updated map, and a hopefully less janky engine so the mod makers can push their insanity further.
I like that even after all this time the biggest complaints I see about GAMMA are just a check box and a few sliders away from not being an issue. These people are why games nowadays have most your screen covered in notifications and a 20 min tutorial on how to Jump and Crouch, and I bet they still mess that up. What I need is a Modpack that makes my eyes not bleed so I can finally stomach through Shadow of Chernobyl. Im looking at Autumn Aurora 2.
I personally run an ever expanding mod pack of my own creation. Currently only got around 50 mods, which I plan to expand as I explore the incredible amount of mods the stalker community has given us.
Recently EFP has kinda felt like a identity crisis with the UI looking like a coloring book and all these rapid changes amongst other things. But that's just my opinion so you can disagree, but I was playing since version 2, Expedition feels too bloomy so GAMMA is kinda where it's at now.
Agreed man, I've tried a lot of mod packs and honestly I 110% prefer GAMMA over all the other mod packs. The staggered progression and focus on actually slowly building up your gear makes it much more satisfying.
I know a lot of people shit on it, but I really like GAMMA's no guns in the shop feature. I like the sense of progression it gives and I like the feel of pump actions, old smgs, and old rifles as much as I like the modern guns. It forces me to use them a bit more instead of me buying an aek or an94 as soon as I can in Cordon
Mods like EFP/Anomoly/Gamma are so far removed from the original that if people's expectations are this style of gameplay then they are going to be disappointed because that's literally not what Stalker is about.
@@re-birth8865 I don't like to think about that but, my first comment didn't really convey what I really liked about it. I like it because that difficulty provides a lot to the atmosphere, like you are in a very unforgiving and cruel world.
I still wish there was a mod called "Oink Oink Fleshy Piggy" where you played as an evolved fleshpig and your goal was to go around and rub your bulging eyeball on every other lifeform in the Zone, thereby transforming them into fleshpig versions of their original selves. And you'd be able to smell as well as see with your eyeballs! In gameplay terms, that would basically be similar to Batman's "detective mode," allowing you to spot and identify fried, foe, and food around corners and through walls and whatnot.
For people curious about gamma. Rant, enjoy: Anomaly is cool because it integrates YOU the player into the world as one of the many stalkers. GAMMA does a lot to make you feel separate like, why can everyone use broken guns but me? I tried to play it but you can barely turn off mods to your liking since it is all interwoven at this point. 1: The skill system don't fit the game and it ruins what was great about vanilla where by having no exp or leveling you actually immerse and make smart decisions. 2: Ballistics suck, some enemies will be damn near immune to bullets just because you don't have AP. there is no such thing as bullet-proof only bullet-resistant this is dumb because the aim was realism. 3: You can't buy weapons because "GAMMA is supposed to be hard", yet MAGS isn't part of GAMMA experience so.. skill issue my ass. 4: It really ruins the immersion when artefacts have very childish effects that would fit better into a sonic fanfic and I think one is even named after modders, called "Arszis belssing" or some shit. (Good modder tho) 5: Some anomalies were changed and new ones added? and some look mediocre and stand out, there is this one green tripple orb thing that just looks like a powerup from (insert generic cartoony 1999-2005 videogame) 6: They also try to reanimate all the weapons and not always for the better, they have added and made overly-animated SFM style animations and I guess it is cool for the erratic tiktok generation where everything need to look and move like fortnite dancing with bright colours. (This started a trend where now every animator is trying to make weapon animations make you feel like you shoot guns but also enjoy dick). 7: Monster energy drink theme, and what kind of ashole names the whole thing after his own name? G in gamma is for grok. As if it is his own thing and not a huge mod effort with many modders modding annother huge modeffort called Anomaly. That's just egocentric imo. 8: Their discord staff, mods are for some reason always rude/snarky even if you do your best to understand. Probably a biproduct from all the idiot kids who came in from genz youtubers videos (not this one since this is targeted for stalker fans) kids who don't know how to install a modpack even though the instructions are very clear and straight foreward. I never thought the community would get people who want to mod away mutants because they wanna play Tarkov, thanks GAMMA. Left that discord pretty quickly tbh. It just bugs me that there is a huge mod effort with all the amazing modders and instead of making the best STALKER experience, all this potential is wasted on trying to make the best Tarkov experience. Play anyother modpack if you love STALKER, seriously.
Expedition 2.0 is lit. Never played stalker before but I'm hooked. Started with just anomaly mod and then put expedition ontop of it. Game looks incredible, AI is smart and feels like a living thriving world. Only made is as far as yantar in my 15 or so hours so far but seen some sus shit not gonna lie. 10/10 game
expedition is wonderful i feel like expedition on top of gamma would be dope theres some nice visuals in gamma too but having all the other mods along with expeditions visuals would be cool
I like GAMMA, but I find that the neverending grind can be a problem. Literally every time I try to do something significant, I find something that stops me in my tracks. Gotta repair my armor because the crack in my visor won't go away until it's above 97%. Gotta clean the trigger on my 1911 so it won't jam while a Chimera is removing my liver. Gotta buy some ibuprofen because medkits don't really heal limbs and the AI loves to aim for your legs. Every little thing turns into a rabbit hole and before you know it, two hours have passed and you've done nothing. But it's a ride and a half, and I'm here for it. EFP is next, because I'm a glutton for punishment.
Heh, that’s why people like GAMMA so much. Every task can turn into an ordeal, and before you know it you spent a few hours looking for artefacts, or knife fighting snorks lmao
STALKER GAMMA is easily my game of the year, and it completely blows the competition out of the water simply because its free. The amount of total crap I've spent +$50 on is obscene, and to know there are games as complete and immersive as GAMMA out there that are free is insane. If you like shooters at all and aren't playing Anomaly or GAMMA right now then you're really missing out.
Right now my pc broke :( but when it is repaired i absolutely will try dark signal, i dont like so much the hardcore experience of gamma and efp Pd: you should do a review of the old world mod pack, it makes anomaly like the older stalker games
@@WaveysGamingAdventure It's an addon for anomaly 1.5.2. It's an overhaul aiming to capture the atmosphrere and gameplay of the original stalker series. I think u would like it it's pretty fun in my opinion.
I would love to see you struggle in Misery mod for Stalker Call of Pripyat. It's where Anomaly had the inspiration to combine the gameplay and the levels of Call of Chernobyl.
@@WaveysGamingAdventure I tried repeatedly to complete the Call of Pripyat campaign in Misery without a single death. It is, without a doubt, the most difficult and intense gaming experience I have ever had, knowing that a single mistake ends the game and takes you back to square one. I never succeeded.
@@WaveysGamingAdventure dude i've been on a kick lately, half through reading the book, finished the og three back in the summer and now i'm doing these three mod packs and might do a playthrough of the og's again with the translated gunslinger mod. i'm hoping it'll carry me right on through till december ROFL
Tried playing GAMMA and was REALLY not a fan, as a lot of the changes seemed to me to be "I like playing with this setting so now it's mandatory" and I really just didn't like or enjoy that. I enjoyed the freedom of vanilla. Would dark signal be better for me? No economy changes, just want the game/gunplay to feel smoother and look better.
@@WaveysGamingAdventure Thanks for the reply! I played with it a bit and actually much preferred being able to find guns of variable quality and choose which parts to remove (makes more sense and feels better to play imo) I'm going to try toying with the mods a bit to fix how dark the lighting is but other than that it seems great! Thanks for the recommendation and the content!
Currently i can only play original anomaly for my potato laptop with several addons, just like you said "Why you limit yourself". My potato limiting my self hahah.
HI, I'm new to Anomaly. My history: I loved Misery 1.2. I though it struck a great balance between scavenging for ammo/resources, but I was turned off once Misery went full on "survival simulator" with the bloat of new items. Would you recommend I start with Anomaly vanilla, or start with Dark Signal? Also, is it ok to try all 3 of these and have independent saves with each?
Mmm vanilla Anomaly is nice for just starting out, just to get your feet wet and to have the most stable experience Dark Signal is nice, like really nice but has a few issues here and there that might impede your gameplay if you’re not persistent enough. And yes you can absolutely have all of them with their own saves
PC is completely out of commission, and old, but I'm planning on replacing it soon. STALKER is one of my favourite games of all time. I'm looking to get into Anomaly when I get it and am trying to figure stuff out beforehand. Dark Signal looks like the perfect mod pack for me, was just wondering if it was possible to get EFP's weapon variety alongside it? I like the idea of having all that choice for equipment. Sorry if it's a dumb question.
So Dark Signal and EFP do have a fair bit of overlap in terms of the weapons, but EFP does go a few steps farther. In terms of getting all the EFP weaponry in Dark Signal... that might be a considerable undertaking. I would probably say no, but there is most likely a way.. if you have the knowledge and patience to try and work through issues.
@@WaveysGamingAdventure Thanks so much for the reply. Really helpful. :) I might give it a try down the line, but to start I'll just stick with Dark Signal in that case. If there's some overlap between weapon mods, I can imagine Dark Signal has a good weapon selection by itself. Thanks so much for your reply man. :)
does expedition graphics only works with efp 4.0??? expedition's visuals are simply stunning and impressive... im a sucker for photorealistic visuals..
Me: sees wavey's upload notification. Also me: checks his last vid. 4 weeks ago. Also Also me: totally unacceptable... Missed you fam. Now that EFP version 4 is out we need some gameplay. K thanks killer ❤️
On a side note Stalker OSGR Gunslinger latest mod is fire af if you wanted to switch it up from the newer Stalker versions. Been getting over 100 fps and its straight fire honestly. Check it out if you get time
i had dumb bugs in gamma where I aim down a scope and it resets my sensitivity and even when i die, gamma is cool and all but is packed with bugs and takes for eer to download for no good reason
I will admit I find GAMMA overwhelming and hard to get to grips with, but personally I dislike a lot of the ideas that I was able to learn. This is my own personal opinion, but to me, the most important thing with immersion is making everything you do in the game as tangible and tactile as possible (despite it being a video game). I feel like a lot of the new game mechanics (like even something as simple as magazines) are too menu divey and constantly rip me out of the experience. Would be really awesome to see these game mechanics be reworked so it uses a menu as little as possible, even though that is a huge, and probably impossible undertaking.
Well they already have stated that they will open for modding, since they know that modders helped stalker to be alive over years but also increased revenue due to TH-camrs playing it
I've been playing G.A.M.M.A. for a few weeks, but somehow it's not the right thing for me.... Survival game mechanics have never been my cup of tea and unfortunately it has been confirmed here. Should I possibly try Escape From Pripyat, I would like to have more gun-play... but I haven't tried the standard Anomaly yet either.
For me I just want a modpack that is not EFP or Gamma. IMO they're categorise in my eyes as OVERHAUL mod. I just want a simple mod. What the people in gaming call Vanilla+ for the Base game
Dude great video, I don't think there's anything like it on YT, in English at least. I've only played gamma and efp of the packs, I like elements of both. Also did you just say: Egscape from Pripyat? Do you also 'axe' people questions? lol.
@yetzerhara_666 it does run off Anomaly 1.5.1 version still. I never had any issues running it and very recently downloaded and tried it. Just make sure you follow the directions carefully.
They have a fair bit of overlap. But GAMMA makes you rely you the repair & crafting systems to progress and maintain your equipment. EFP has the magazines, as well as more weaponry.
All these mod-paks ar really fun to play but i really enjoy the vanilla, i try gamma but no it too hard core, i also try out old world it brings back the feeling of the original stalker series that one is a good modpack but for some reason i end up removing and play the vanilla version 😂.
me a OG stalker fan, go to the Anomaly fanbase and ask: i like to make anomaly play like stalker with a new campain anomaly fanbase: link 2014 mod for the SoC.....
Dark signal runs off Anomaly version 1.5.1. When you go to the Anomaly mod page it only has the most recent version which at this point is 1.5.3. I have kept the older version on an SD and I am not sure, but I believe you CAN still download the older version from moddb. Make sure you read the instructions carefully and it will work. The modpack is only compatible on the older version..
Me who still cant just download anamoly in the first place cuz u need a torret with modbs page being used to death XD, but if i get a chance id like to try them a eventually.
@@WaveysGamingAdventure thanks man, its not all so bad I downloaded Misery 2.2 a couple years back (would suggest it if you like a wildly difficult mod that doesnt have as much polish as others)
See I would love to play Dark Signal…IFFFFFFFFF it wasn’t so broken. I downloaded it just like the instructions wanted me to and I never was able to get into the game
I'm not gonna lie, I don't like the milsim/crafting/body health/we made healing 50x more complicated stuff and I'm hoping STALKER2 doesn't run that way. I prefer QOL stuff with the UI/HUD, visual/audio stuff, A-Life/AI improvements, and improvements on maintaining and improving the atmosphere of the Zone.
Gamma is an F- you simulator, so nah. EFP 3 was perfectly balanced but I think EFP 4 has too much fluff and it a pain to configure, if only EFP kept its strengths but kept it simple we'd have a winner... but because it doesn't, well the winner is Dark Signal for me.
Dark Signal for me. Sound, atmosphere and A-life are core to the STALKER experience. It will be even better if they meet their goal of porting features over from Call of The Zone.
Truth
Sadly it seems all development has been halted for a while now.
I find that gamma and efp overhaul to much of the normal anomaly experience, with dark signal just enhancing the experience
Ngl , there're a lot of moments in gamma, like travelling through Jupiter in the evening and seeing the sun coming down over quarry as the sunlight's hitting the fog that's slowly filling the quarry up, when you think - "I'm cool with Stalker 2 being delayed"
I like being as close to vanilla as possible while improving it.
Thank you, you helped me choose Dark Signal, and hoping to do my first Invictus run.
Best of luck my friend!!
Here's a toast to Soulforged for creating Anomaly, which is an awesome undertaking for which I am very grateful. I'm playing the earlier Expedition modpack right now, which seems very tolerant of added mods. The new version, which uses Anomaly 1.5.2, does not like added mods so still playing the older version.
With EFP's recent 4.0 release, I think it's nudged out Dark Signal as my favorite mod pack. It's been way more stable compared to the other 2 and I really like the balance around economy, trading, and crafting. You can be hyper efficient and grind tasks to purchase a good gun or you can scavenge and clean parts to craft your own shooter for a fraction of the price. Both are viable. And the gunplay is just *chef's kiss*. Feels like it was built for Merc runs.
I will freely admit, the gunfighting in EFP is crispy
I remember I got introduced to anomaly through a friend, he recommended expedition so that was the first mod pack I played. I remember playing it for a while, understanding nothing and dropped it, then I picked it up cause I was bored about a month ago and got invested almost as soon as I actually made progress in great swamps and felt like I was really making it places, always a great feeling I wish more people could enjoy.
That genuine fear that STALKER 2 won't compare to mods built up for the past decade and a half
Hey at least it’ll get us a new map and a brand new engine
I'm sure grok will be hard at work once stalker 2 releases. Imagine gamma in stalker 2 with one open map...I'm so ready.
Most of these mods barely resemble the original concept of the series, don't expect Stalker 2 to be a milsim survival and you won't be dissapointed.
Calling vaporware, don't hate me.
Stalker 2 won't play anywhere near as intense as these mods, lets be honest. HOWEVER, after it's release, give it a year or two and modders like Grok will turn it into what we have for Gamma, EFP, etc but with an updated engine, graphics, gameplay, and mechanics. I can't wait honestly.
I've been playing EXP GAMMA lately and it's a blast! Admittedly I did tweak the difficulty down a bit but the combination of Gamma's mechanics and the visuals from Expedition are amazing. Was a pretty easy install too!
Using the EXT plugin/mod on the Gamma discord. The GAMMA EXT comes with a readme to set it up and then it's just dragging a couple files and running a couple commands with the EXT tool
Dark signal is the one close enough to a custom mod list I has before it kept crashing after a few hours. So that was my first good reason to like it, second is definitely the sound, thunderstorms, anomalys, mutants and guns have never sounded so good. Tried GAMMA for mabye a 7 hour playthrough before I got sick of the progression and craft system(not for me). But I did try old world and it was definitely a treat, nice to go back to roots in a way.
Hearing a lot about Old World, will have to check it out
Baseline Anomaly with a few small mods added for me.
Gives the most freedom for adding/testing small new mods, and I know it best so I can fiddle with the AI settings depending on what I want out of each playthrough.
I just started playing a heavily modded anomaly and it’s my first stalker experience…..and it’s literally one of the best games I have ever played……it’s got me hooked like no AAA title has ever had me hooked before…..big thanks to Grok and the whole modding community!!
at first i really liked gamma but then efp 4.0 released and i fell in love with it , and even if expedition looks incredible its really light on the mods , doesnt change anything in therms of gameplay
All true, i did like EFP 4.0 quite a bit
Gamma is as close to "The perfect FPS" as I've ever seen. I really don't think there's anything besides a few bugs/performance issues that I'd change. Probably x-ray's fault more than gamma. The progression system and depth of mechanics is literally perfect.
the economy is a little erm stupid? I mean, they tried too hard to make sense of all the gun ban thing. But lets be real, how the fuck the black market can pass a shit ton of gun parts and attachments but not a single pistol. Also, what about stalker selling guns from other death stalkers? Also, some mutants are a little broken in terms of stats, like their ridicolous speed that don't match the default animations, an snork is dangerous than a Chimera, for real, as they can agro your legs running in circles at point blank range. Other aspects like the awfull amount of weapon sway can be solved by tunning the mod sliders, but not these. They should implement traders selling armor, but making it ridicolous expensive and not a single item in top notch condition (most guns are used anyway) so players outside of cordon have some chance of getting an early automatic rifle, instead of reliying 100% on RGN Jesus.
@@ScudForEver The lore follows the tuned progression mechanics. Not the other way around. As far as mutants, I personally enjoy the game because of the challenge. Now that I have a monolith nosorog fully upgraded and all the fancy guns, I feel way more accomplished and satisfied because of how far I've come. Gamma isn't for everyone, but it's definitely for me.
@@dicktater4801 well, not everyone have a high end rig with 144 fps monitor. Aiming at some mutants with their clunky floating speed is a seroous accesibility problem for lots of people. Same case for stutter from a-life spawns.
@@ScudForEver bro, I'm not trying to be elitist or anything, but if you're looking for accessibility in a game like stalker, especially an even harder mod pack, idk what to tell you. I don't even know what you're arguing for. All I said is that I really like it. You can disable reshade and use minimal graphical settings to improve frame rate. It's extremely customizable. At the end of the day, if you don't like gamma, it was free anyway.
@@ScudForEver also, don't let snorks ruin the game for you. Eventually you'll get better armor and weapons that make those encounters easier. Then you'll actually feel like you've gotten stronger. It's all part of the experience man.
Expedition was my first foray into mod packs. It was fun and visually impressive, but there was a lot of jank and most of the equipment values were off in the inventory screen, so you had no idea how much of a boost you were actually getting. Gamma has been my favorite because I just needed a really new experience. Plus I'm a gun nerd, so I get giddy when I find the exact bolt carrier I needed to fix that FAL variant I never used to use because I could just buy a SCAR with all the money I got from selling whatever I found in Garbage on my way to sell an arsenal to Duty and a bundle of artifacts to Sakarov while I wait for him to finish my helmet. Stalker 2 will finally give us a new story, an updated map, and a hopefully less janky engine so the mod makers can push their insanity further.
I like that even after all this time the biggest complaints I see about GAMMA are just a check box and a few sliders away from not being an issue.
These people are why games nowadays have most your screen covered in notifications and a 20 min tutorial on how to Jump and Crouch, and I bet they still mess that up.
What I need is a Modpack that makes my eyes not bleed so I can finally stomach through Shadow of Chernobyl. Im looking at Autumn Aurora 2.
When you mentioned sandstorm i just thought of how great it would be to spam intimidate in anomaly
I personally run an ever expanding mod pack of my own creation. Currently only got around 50 mods, which I plan to expand as I explore the incredible amount of mods the stalker community has given us.
Recently EFP has kinda felt like a identity crisis with the UI looking like a coloring book and all these rapid changes amongst other things. But that's just my opinion so you can disagree, but I was playing since version 2, Expedition feels too bloomy so GAMMA is kinda where it's at now.
Agreed man, I've tried a lot of mod packs and honestly I 110% prefer GAMMA over all the other mod packs. The staggered progression and focus on actually slowly building up your gear makes it much more satisfying.
I know a lot of people shit on it, but I really like GAMMA's no guns in the shop feature. I like the sense of progression it gives and I like the feel of pump actions, old smgs, and old rifles as much as I like the modern guns. It forces me to use them a bit more instead of me buying an aek or an94 as soon as I can in Cordon
Stalker 2 has some big shoes to fill from the modding scene of it's previous installment
Mods like EFP/Anomoly/Gamma are so far removed from the original that if people's expectations are this style of gameplay then they are going to be disappointed because that's literally not what Stalker is about.
@@adamm2091 lmfao ong
EFP and Dark signal are my favourite. But nowadays I am just enjoying vanilla anamoly with graphics and QOL and gun mods.
It’s always nice to go back to the basics!
I mod my own with something similar to all these mod packs. I pick and choose from the mods I love and trash the ones I hate. Great video.
I gotta go with gamma, it is so “realistic” in the sense that it took 20hrs for me to have a working automatic weapon
Yes very realistic to pick up a gun someone literally just shot and it's broken
@@re-birth8865 I don't like to think about that but, my first comment didn't really convey what I really liked about it. I like it because that difficulty provides a lot to the atmosphere, like you are in a very unforgiving and cruel world.
@@re-birth8865 the change the drop condition in the MCM
I still wish there was a mod called "Oink Oink Fleshy Piggy" where you played as an evolved fleshpig and your goal was to go around and rub your bulging eyeball on every other lifeform in the Zone, thereby transforming them into fleshpig versions of their original selves. And you'd be able to smell as well as see with your eyeballs! In gameplay terms, that would basically be similar to Batman's "detective mode," allowing you to spot and identify fried, foe, and food around corners and through walls and whatnot.
Oddly specific, but sounds intriguing
what
For people curious about gamma.
Rant, enjoy:
Anomaly is cool because it integrates YOU the player into the world as one of the many stalkers. GAMMA does a lot to make you feel separate like, why can everyone use broken guns but me? I tried to play it but you can barely turn off mods to your liking since it is all interwoven at this point.
1: The skill system don't fit the game and it ruins what was great about vanilla where by having no exp or leveling you actually immerse and make smart decisions.
2: Ballistics suck, some enemies will be damn near immune to bullets just because you don't have AP. there is no such thing as bullet-proof only bullet-resistant this is dumb because the aim was realism.
3: You can't buy weapons because "GAMMA is supposed to be hard", yet MAGS isn't part of GAMMA experience so.. skill issue my ass.
4: It really ruins the immersion when artefacts have very childish effects that would fit better into a sonic fanfic and I think one is even named after modders, called "Arszis belssing" or some shit. (Good modder tho)
5: Some anomalies were changed and new ones added? and some look mediocre and stand out, there is this one green tripple orb thing that just looks like a powerup from (insert generic cartoony 1999-2005 videogame)
6: They also try to reanimate all the weapons and not always for the better, they have added and made overly-animated SFM style animations and I guess it is cool for the erratic tiktok generation where everything need to look and move like fortnite dancing with bright colours. (This started a trend where now every animator is trying to make weapon animations make you feel like you shoot guns but also enjoy dick).
7: Monster energy drink theme, and what kind of ashole names the whole thing after his own name? G in gamma is for grok. As if it is his own thing and not a huge mod effort with many modders modding annother huge modeffort called Anomaly. That's just egocentric imo.
8: Their discord staff, mods are for some reason always rude/snarky even if you do your best to understand. Probably a biproduct from all the idiot kids who came in from genz youtubers videos (not this one since this is targeted for stalker fans) kids who don't know how to install a modpack even though the instructions are very clear and straight foreward.
I never thought the community would get people who want to mod away mutants because they wanna play Tarkov, thanks GAMMA.
Left that discord pretty quickly tbh.
It just bugs me that there is a huge mod effort with all the amazing modders and instead of making the best STALKER experience, all this potential is wasted on trying to make the best Tarkov experience.
Play anyother modpack if you love STALKER, seriously.
Expedition 2.0 is lit. Never played stalker before but I'm hooked. Started with just anomaly mod and then put expedition ontop of it.
Game looks incredible, AI is smart and feels like a living thriving world.
Only made is as far as yantar in my 15 or so hours so far but seen some sus shit not gonna lie.
10/10 game
expedition is wonderful i feel like expedition on top of gamma would be dope theres some nice visuals in gamma too but having all the other mods along with expeditions visuals would be cool
I like GAMMA, but I find that the neverending grind can be a problem. Literally every time I try to do something significant, I find something that stops me in my tracks. Gotta repair my armor because the crack in my visor won't go away until it's above 97%. Gotta clean the trigger on my 1911 so it won't jam while a Chimera is removing my liver. Gotta buy some ibuprofen because medkits don't really heal limbs and the AI loves to aim for your legs. Every little thing turns into a rabbit hole and before you know it, two hours have passed and you've done nothing.
But it's a ride and a half, and I'm here for it. EFP is next, because I'm a glutton for punishment.
Heh, that’s why people like GAMMA so much. Every task can turn into an ordeal, and before you know it you spent a few hours looking for artefacts, or knife fighting snorks lmao
I need Soc remaster, all of this mods is actually personal preference
STALKER GAMMA is easily my game of the year, and it completely blows the competition out of the water simply because its free. The amount of total crap I've spent +$50 on is obscene, and to know there are games as complete and immersive as GAMMA out there that are free is insane. If you like shooters at all and aren't playing Anomaly or GAMMA right now then you're really missing out.
Imo i feel like EFP is the best experience for me due to how much i love tarkov and post apocalyptic games
Right now my pc broke :( but when it is repaired i absolutely will try dark signal, i dont like so much the hardcore experience of gamma and efp
Pd: you should do a review of the old world mod pack, it makes anomaly like the older stalker games
i have anomaly with the aggressor mod pack, and i think its the best set of mods ive used as of now, but im def trying EFP
I actually been playing the Ultra Zone modpack by Dario Ajducic. Which is more in line with vanilla gameplay, but makes the game look great.
I'm gonna install it and give it a try tomorrow bc gamma won't stop crashing
Do you consider trying out the old word addon? Its pretty cool.
Hmmm don’t think I’ve heard of that one
@@WaveysGamingAdventure It's an addon for anomaly 1.5.2. It's an overhaul aiming to capture the atmosphrere and gameplay of the original stalker series. I think u would like it it's pretty fun in my opinion.
I would love to see you struggle in Misery mod for Stalker Call of Pripyat. It's where Anomaly had the inspiration to combine the gameplay and the levels of Call of Chernobyl.
Ahh yee ol’ Misery
I played Gunslinger a while back, that was fun. Been a hot minute since I’ve looked at Misery
@@WaveysGamingAdventure I tried repeatedly to complete the Call of Pripyat campaign in Misery without a single death. It is, without a doubt, the most difficult and intense gaming experience I have ever had, knowing that a single mistake ends the game and takes you back to square one. I never succeeded.
A mod that lives up to its name.
GAMMA on ironman with lifegranter everyday and Hardcore ai aim - good times + adding some cool mods ... thats it for me
EFP for me , its really fun
so amazing people still put in so much into this game
Honestly these days im playing all of them, played anomaly a few times, going through gamma, gonna do efp next
Nice!
@@WaveysGamingAdventure dude i've been on a kick lately, half through reading the book, finished the og three back in the summer and now i'm doing these three mod packs and might do a playthrough of the og's again with the translated gunslinger mod. i'm hoping it'll carry me right on through till december ROFL
Tried playing GAMMA and was REALLY not a fan, as a lot of the changes seemed to me to be "I like playing with this setting so now it's mandatory" and I really just didn't like or enjoy that. I enjoyed the freedom of vanilla. Would dark signal be better for me? No economy changes, just want the game/gunplay to feel smoother and look better.
Yeah Dark Signal hardly changes any actual gameplay aspects. The one change was the condition of guns on drop, but that can be changed
@@WaveysGamingAdventure Thanks for the reply! I played with it a bit and actually much preferred being able to find guns of variable quality and choose which parts to remove (makes more sense and feels better to play imo)
I'm going to try toying with the mods a bit to fix how dark the lighting is but other than that it seems great! Thanks for the recommendation and the content!
took me a month but i was able to mix EFP 3.0 and gamma the result feel like a new entire stalker game
😳
My advice for my fellow stalkers,
If you hear a dozen of overlapped monolith callouts, GET OUT OF THERE IMMEDIATELY.
Any game will live forever with good and loyal players
Currently i can only play original anomaly for my potato laptop with several addons, just like you said "Why you limit yourself". My potato limiting my self hahah.
🥲
Holy shit expedition looks like real life
Very cozy channel. Cheers!
Glad you like it!
HI, I'm new to Anomaly. My history: I loved Misery 1.2. I though it struck a great balance between scavenging for ammo/resources, but I was turned off once Misery went full on "survival simulator" with the bloat of new items. Would you recommend I start with Anomaly vanilla, or start with Dark Signal? Also, is it ok to try all 3 of these and have independent saves with each?
Mmm vanilla Anomaly is nice for just starting out, just to get your feet wet and to have the most stable experience
Dark Signal is nice, like really nice but has a few issues here and there that might impede your gameplay if you’re not persistent enough.
And yes you can absolutely have all of them with their own saves
Just in time I want to play stalker anomaly again
PC is completely out of commission, and old, but I'm planning on replacing it soon. STALKER is one of my favourite games of all time. I'm looking to get into Anomaly when I get it and am trying to figure stuff out beforehand. Dark Signal looks like the perfect mod pack for me, was just wondering if it was possible to get EFP's weapon variety alongside it? I like the idea of having all that choice for equipment. Sorry if it's a dumb question.
So Dark Signal and EFP do have a fair bit of overlap in terms of the weapons, but EFP does go a few steps farther.
In terms of getting all the EFP weaponry in Dark Signal... that might be a considerable undertaking. I would probably say no, but there is most likely a way.. if you have the knowledge and patience to try and work through issues.
@@WaveysGamingAdventure Thanks so much for the reply. Really helpful. :) I might give it a try down the line, but to start I'll just stick with Dark Signal in that case. If there's some overlap between weapon mods, I can imagine Dark Signal has a good weapon selection by itself. Thanks so much for your reply man. :)
SO, which is YOUR favorite then?
Dark Signal (:
@@WaveysGamingAdventure my man
does expedition graphics only works with efp 4.0???
expedition's visuals are simply stunning and impressive... im a sucker for photorealistic visuals..
I’m not sure, you can try to put it in but it can cause a lot of conflicts
Me: sees wavey's upload notification.
Also me: checks his last vid. 4 weeks ago.
Also Also me: totally unacceptable...
Missed you fam. Now that EFP version 4 is out we need some gameplay. K thanks killer ❤️
Hahaha it’s funny you say that cause I looked at that myself and I was thinking… wtf i havent uploaded a video in a month lol
@@WaveysGamingAdventure got us over here twiddling thumbs. Smh. lolol. Glad you're back homie
On a side note Stalker OSGR Gunslinger latest mod is fire af if you wanted to switch it up from the newer Stalker versions. Been getting over 100 fps and its straight fire honestly. Check it out if you get time
try wltr modpack, its quite "Tactical" i think it might be harder than gamma
Would wish I could run any of them nicely :C
Yeah, I'm getting tire of gamma already. I might try EFP and expedition
i had dumb bugs in gamma where I aim down a scope and it resets my sensitivity and even when i die, gamma is cool and all but is packed with bugs and takes for eer to download for no good reason
How did you get the aug scope to look 3D on efp at the end 5:05
I will admit I find GAMMA overwhelming and hard to get to grips with, but personally I dislike a lot of the ideas that I was able to learn. This is my own personal opinion, but to me, the most important thing with immersion is making everything you do in the game as tangible and tactile as possible (despite it being a video game). I feel like a lot of the new game mechanics (like even something as simple as magazines) are too menu divey and constantly rip me out of the experience. Would be really awesome to see these game mechanics be reworked so it uses a menu as little as possible, even though that is a huge, and probably impossible undertaking.
I wonder if stalker 2 will also have mods. If there will be as much mods for stalker 2 as we have now i will need a new pc lol
Gonna need another SSD lol
Well they already have stated that they will open for modding, since they know that modders helped stalker to be alive over years but also increased revenue due to TH-camrs playing it
0:47 "Quit EFP already"
funny thing when i tried dark signal its just all gray and the inventory is broken lol
I've heard that before, I forgot what causes that but yeah I know. It's a shame really, the modpack was nice but got abandoned pretty early
Why my Dark Signal looks like vanilla game graphics wise? I have everything according to instalation guide and maxed out :(
I've been playing G.A.M.M.A. for a few weeks, but somehow it's not the right thing for me.... Survival game mechanics have never been my cup of tea and unfortunately it has been confirmed here. Should I possibly try Escape From Pripyat, I would like to have more gun-play... but I haven't tried the standard Anomaly yet either.
You can certainly give regular ol’ Anomaly a go. But EFP is quite good.
Are you streaming tonight Wavey? Ohhhh i've sent off my Santa wishlist, ive asked him for a Wavey community Discord
Ahh sorry buddy, i’ll be streaming this week
where to find expedition stand alone
For me
I just want a modpack that is not EFP or Gamma. IMO they're categorise in my eyes as OVERHAUL mod.
I just want a simple mod. What the people in gaming call Vanilla+ for the Base game
Dark Signal my friend. That’s the one
The best modpack in Anomaly is..
Old World Addon
Imagine STALKER 2 open for mods.
Hi, I download the Anomaly and install the gamma but its too slowly. Which the Best mod for meg if I want lot of guns,combat and I like the Explore.
I would try out Escape From Pripyat!
Dude great video, I don't think there's anything like it on YT, in English at least.
I've only played gamma and efp of the packs, I like elements of both.
Also did you just say: Egscape from Pripyat? Do you also 'axe' people questions? lol.
Does Dark Signal still allow for the buying and selling of guns?
Sure does
@@WaveysGamingAdventure Sweet, and is there anyway to add the Gunslinger guns to Dark Signal?
how i are ínstall dark signal
thank you now im know difference.
its not possible to play dark signal anymore?
i just cant everything crash no matter what
@yetzerhara_666 it does run off Anomaly 1.5.1 version still. I never had any issues running it and very recently downloaded and tried it. Just make sure you follow the directions carefully.
whats the biggest difference between EFP and Gamma? ive seen both and liked both but cant afford both
What do you mean 'can't afford both'. They are totally free games, nothing to buy.
@@jbrou123 timewise and storage wise my friend
@@yevanasvetya5486 Get GAMMA if you like crafting and survival, EFP if you want more combat focused gameplay.
They have a fair bit of overlap.
But GAMMA makes you rely you the repair & crafting systems to progress and maintain your equipment.
EFP has the magazines, as well as more weaponry.
xray engine is magical
Do I need to get base game stalker first then the modpack or just play the mod pack
No, everything is standalone and anomaly is free. That you will have to download and then whatever mod pack.
All these mod-paks ar really fun to play but i really enjoy the vanilla, i try gamma but no it too hard core, i also try out old world it brings back the feeling of the original stalker series that one is a good modpack but for some reason i end up removing and play the vanilla version 😂.
You'd forgot Old World Addon.
Was just told about it actually!
Might check it out
me a OG stalker fan,
go to the Anomaly fanbase and ask: i like to make anomaly play like stalker with a new campain
anomaly fanbase: link 2014 mod for the SoC.....
Sons of chernobyl, a custom modpack in spanish
somebody can hel me i dowloda the darks sing mod but the game so dark and i dont no how can solve this problem.
Dark signal runs off Anomaly version 1.5.1. When you go to the Anomaly mod page it only has the most recent version which at this point is 1.5.3. I have kept the older version on an SD and I am not sure, but I believe you CAN still download the older version from moddb. Make sure you read the instructions carefully and it will work. The modpack is only compatible on the older version..
LOL! look at the comment section, so many buttthurt on GAMMA lol
Me who still cant just download anamoly in the first place cuz u need a torret with modbs page being used to death XD, but if i get a chance id like to try them a eventually.
Dang sorry to hear that!
@@WaveysGamingAdventure thanks man, its not all so bad I downloaded Misery 2.2 a couple years back (would suggest it if you like a wildly difficult mod that doesnt have as much polish as others)
Dose dark signal includes new gun model's?
It has the older version of boomsticks and sharpsticks so in a way yes. Vanilla weapons are still vanilla looking..
so I can download escape from pripyat and expedition? Would my 1650 explode? haha
I have a 1650 and was able to run both. Depends if you can handle 35 to 40 fps
Love gamma but recently dk why but FPS go from 60 to start to unplayable 20fps. Smh, even tried just playin anomaly and still drop suddenly
Hmmm that’s awfully weird
I always notice FPS drops in areas with high populations
See I would love to play Dark Signal…IFFFFFFFFF it wasn’t so broken. I downloaded it just like the instructions wanted me to and I never was able to get into the game
Hey I know, it’s a shame really
The project got abandoned
T.h.e. z.o.n.e is also a VERY good modpack
Hmmm i'll have to check that out maybe
What about Redux?
I wish I could play G.A.M.M.A; the installation procedure is one step away from being a black ops zombies easter egg walkthrough.
I'm not gonna lie, I don't like the milsim/crafting/body health/we made healing 50x more complicated stuff and I'm hoping STALKER2 doesn't run that way. I prefer QOL stuff with the UI/HUD, visual/audio stuff, A-Life/AI improvements, and improvements on maintaining and improving the atmosphere of the Zone.
What's complicated? Use a Medkit to gain health, use a Bandage to stop bleeds, and use a Fentanyl to fix limbs.
Gamma is an F- you simulator, so nah. EFP 3 was perfectly balanced but I think EFP 4 has too much fluff and it a pain to configure, if only EFP kept its strengths but kept it simple we'd have a winner... but because it doesn't, well the winner is Dark Signal for me.
Wavey since we’re best friends, can I borrow ₽212?
Sorry buddy, I’m broke now!
Personally right now I'm just trying to mix both EFP with some of DS mods, love of both not to try
Sounds like a good time!
Dark Signal looks most interesting. EFP sounds like a pain in the ass. And GAMMA is THE pain in the ass (installing it that is).
For GAMMA you literally click three buttons and wait?
great game but very old
Redux
i play vanila
Disgusting