Clear Sky issues

[FourAces]

Originally Posted by Kidslovesatan

The V-Sync had no effect. I also get misalignment on 1280x800, its most noticeable on the Viper 5 as the ironsight is quite a bit down and slightly right to where the cross hair dot comes in un-zoomed. However neither 1280x1024 or 1024x768 is suffering misalignment. BTW scaling is switched off.

Send me a screen shot of each and send me a copy of the weapons directory. I can fix them now, but you will have to do the testing. PMing you my address.

[FourAces]

Devs Hate Vista 64
"Also the Devs seem to hate Vista 64......

from the FAQ on the Russia forum

Q: Why such a problem with Windows Vista64?

Answer: Vista64 even by itself enough crude operating system. Continuing new versions of drivers to correct minor and major defects. We try to promptly report all found defects producers drivers, but correcting some of them do not depend on us. We would recommend not to play into the Vista64, at Vista32 game works much more stable. All that depends on us, we will correct."

Problem with lighting/shadow and Fix for it

Spoiler:

I'm getting this annoying "circle" of shadow that follows me around. Everything within a 15-foot radius of me is darkened and it moves with me everywhere I go outside. Oddly enough, the problem goes away when I'm indoors.

http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/750...6escapeyu7.jpg

These are my current specs

AMD x2 6000
8800 GTX (174.12 drivers)
2 gb DDR2
Windows XP SP2

I'm running the game at 1680x1050, no AA, and every other setting as high as it lets XP users go. No Vysnc. I have also installed the 1.5.0.3 game patch.

What is happening? I tried searching around and I couldn't find anyone else with this problem.

AND FIX

Well, in case anyone else has this problem in the future, I've solved it.

With the help of tweakguides.com and the settings from my SoC installation (which did NOT have the problem), I narrowed the issue to these console commands:

r2_sun_depth_near_bias
r2_sun_depth_near_scale

They should be set to .00001 and 1, respectively.

But then there is this Destroyer of a Bug

"I hope they just fix the bugs that make you loose all your upgrades when you switch zones, or when you get an upgrade in another zone, it will override all of your previous upgrades and make it like you're starting to upgrade the weapon from scratch.... very VERy annoying."

And then there are these, which do not appear to be bugs but crippling of gameplay.

"there are no enemies in a anomaly field"

"(although, with great disappointment, I must admit that anomalies are completely abscent from CS atleast in the first 3 zones, being Swamp, Cordon, Garbage)."

"you can pretty much know EXACTLY where they (artifacts) will be, and will be there ONLY! It's in the anomaly "fields". You can see these a mile away, you can COMPLETELY avoid these if you wish, and I have never seen an enemy or mutant stumble into one yet. Disappointing.

I was happy to see a random emission, and excitedly ran to the nearest anomaly field to see if it had moved, or changed, or respawned new artifacts, anything... (as per the books, which talk about the zone DRASTICALY changing after emissions, including new mutants, in new locations, with new artifacts, and anomalies.

nothing.

but I feel it's use is completely squandered due to the game's design flaw which, instead of building on the ideas of SoC and Oblivion Lost mod, seem to have taken it in a new, less interesting direction. I have to say that right now, the game plays like a Battlefield 2 level, with bots. You control points, do some side missions, and find the rare artifact. But you can do all of this absolutely fear-free of running into anomalies, or having something appear in a place where you were before."


"Hopefully a mod will come out that adds moving anomalies and spawning artifacts, I'm sure the russians are already working on something."

Here is a crash and fix

Spoiler:

---QUOTATION---
I keep getting this error with multiple save files after a while.

Expression : m_available_count
Function : CID_Generator<unsigned int,unsigned char,unsigned short,unsigned char,unsigned short,0,65534,256,65535,0>::tfGetID
File : e:\priquel\sources\engine\xrgame\id_generator.h
Line : 92
Description : Not enough IDs

My game is patched and I have the translation. I have no clue what could be causing this that I could fix because it seems the engine just ran out of ids.
---END QUOTATION---


That's a known bug caused by the never ending spawning of massive amounts of ammo in the crates around every base and camp.all that ammo eats up all the object ID's if left unchecked

this fix forcefully removes the excess surplus of ammo and only leaves a set minium amount left in them every time you save thus freeing up ID's needed.

Send big files the easy way. Files too large for email attachments? No problem!

add the gamedata folder to your main CS install and if you have not already done so set the fsgametx up to use the gamedata. every time you save from then on in will free up the ammo caches and prevent the game from running out of ID's

I forget right now who the author of the fix is.Found it on a Russian forum.

Just for a laugh

Spoiler:

Not really a complaint I guess but here goes:Zombies..... they can crouch... it's stupid looking. they walk around acting all zombified and shit. suddenly one crouches and it looks like he's a perfectly normal NPC but still grunts and moans... my Girlfriend looked over and asked if he was taking a dump.you would not believe how much I laughed. while I was laughing the Zombie stood up and staggered straight into a whirligig and got blown to smithereens. that one will never crouch again. then I had to explain to my GF that no, NPC's don't shit in CS like in the sims.

life in the Zone.. fun isn't it?

"Crossfire is not set up for CS yet. FFS disable one of those cards and you will get better performance then your getting now till a xfire profile is created by the ATI driver team and actually utilizes it for CS"

The Good, The Bad, but no Ugly

Spoiler:

Good:
Weapon and armor upgrades. Very cool

Nights are much darker. Make sure your not home alone.

Fast travel. Stalker absolutely needed this

Money is easier to make early. After leaving Bog I had about 18k
Lots more missions

Joining factions. I was able to join the faction in Cordon.

AI throw grenades. Still needs some work but atleast they can throw them now.

Changes to existing zones. The changes were enough to make you explore to see what had changed.

Variety of AI weapons. After leaving the bogs you begin to see more variety in the weapons the ai carry. Nothing to crazy though so you won't be getting the best weapons. But you will see guys carrying the obokan (sp?) pump shotguns and the vintorez among others.

Bad:
Many crashes. I never had this issue in SoC until I played certain mods. In CS it is a common occurance

Corrupt savegames. Early on this was not a problem but after about 15 hours of play I got to a point with one good save and no matter what i did after that all savegames were corrupt.

Buggy missions. Many of the missions cannot be completed because they are failed before you can reach them. Very frustrating.

Amazing ai accuracy. I often found the ai throwing a grenade over a wall at me and it landed directly at my feet. I guess they have esp. Also, using a scoped rifle against the ai at about 40 yards they still had pretty good accuracy with iron sights.

No eating or sleeping. I was very disappointed...

The most frustrating thing besides the savegame issue is the missions failing before you reach them.

I can live with 1 crash to desktop every hour or so. It sucks but I can live with it but the last 2 issues must be fixed. I am not a CS basher. I still think this game has promise but needs some patches. So I am crossing my fingers and waiting to see what happens.

More crashes and description of why CS is a Shooter not Stalker

Spoiler:

It certainly needs more work. I have had two corrupt save game files now. My last one was saved in the Clear Sky camp in the Marsh. I had played around with weapon upgrades and just loaded the save game after experimenting. It then dropped to the desktop. When I reloaded and tried the save game it crashes straight back to the desktop when "Synchronizing". Shame as I was really beginning to enjoy this. From what I have seen after taking the main encampment back from the Bandits, which I didn't have anything to do with as I was off exploring, there is way too much combat going on. From the start I followed a group that left the fishing hamlet who proceeded on a rampage across the Marsh, not stopping for anything. It was fun to help out but the pace is much quicker than SHOC was.

Please GSC, get another patch out so I can continue playing.

What is the detector for then?

Spoiler:

My only gripe so far is the anomalies, infact the complete absence of them. I know this is a year early blah blah but come on, this is a survival game right? I mean GSC have implemented the detectors but so far its only come in use once! After you leave Swamp the rare anomalies you DO find have no artifacts in them anyway, very disapointing.

"Well I can't even get out of the Marshes because of the constant CTD. This game is an absolute bugfest. What a joke."

And now you are up to date as of page 40 of the GSC forum's Clear Sky complaints & criticism thread. This is being compiled here in the hope that some of the fixes might help other, and that these issues will be fixed. It also helps since GSC is down half the time since CS was released. It is also easier and faster to read this way.

[FourAces]

From the Bug thread

Sudden and constant crashing and fix

Spoiler:

---QUOTATION---

I played for several days without major issues, but today the game has suddenly started crashing very often. Sometimes after an hour, sometimes after 10 minutes. It is most noticable when I re-enter the Marsh level. I've applied the "free ammo" fix regarding ammo and it hasn't helped.

This is the error code I've gotten from the logs

FATAL ERROR

[error]Expression : fatal error
[error]Function : CScriptEngine::lua_error
[error]File : E:\priquel\sources\engine\xrServerEntities\script_ engine.cpp
[error]Line : 73
[error]Description : <no expression>
[error]Arguments : LUA error: ....t.a.l.k.e.r. - clear sky\gamedata\scripts\_g.script:973: bad argument #2 to 'format' (string expected, got nil)


stack trace:
---END QUOTATION---


Well, thanks to the (translated) posts from a Russian forum, I've fixed the problem.

If anyone else has issues with crashing and their log (xp directory: C:\users\public\documents\stalker-stcs\logs) reports a similar issue, put these files into your gamedata/scripts:

RapidShare: Easy Filehosting



Can you please be more specific on where to put these script files because i would also like to try them and see if it solves my crashing problems.
---END QUOTATION---


In the folder where your game is installed.

So it would be like c:\games\stalker - clear sky\gamedata\scripts

If you don't have a gamedata folder in there, make one. Then make another inside called scripts and put them there.

You'll also have to modify your fsgame.ltx file, which would be in (again, for example) c:\games\stalker - clear sky. Open it with notepad and change the line

$game_data$ = false| true| $fs_root$| gamedata\

to

$game_data$ = true| true| $fs_root$| gamedata\

That makes it so your game will recognize and use the gamedata folder you've just created for the scripts. It will also be where mods (hopefully coming in the future) will be installed.

Too many script bugs

Spoiler:

I'm consistently getting a CTD at the same point, right near the start of the game.

I have just gone back to the swamp for the second time where you have to help the Clear Sky faction defend the outpost from Bandits. The first time I ran there, killed the enemy and then looted the bodies. After maybe 30 seconds, if that, it crashed to the desktop. It doesn't even let you send the crash logs to GSC! I also found that it had corrupted my quicksave to boot.

I restarted the game, deleted the quick save, which didn't work as I tested it before deleting it, and then went back to my latest normal save. I tried the same mission again, this time the fire fight happened a little closer to the barn. Killed them all again, with a satisfying point blank range shotgun blast to the chest on one of them which made him fly, and the same thing happened a few seconds after the acknowledgement we had pushed the bandits back.

At this point I gave up and am waiting for another patch. It seems to be another one of these scripting bugs I have been reading about here over the last few days. BTW I have the latest drivers for everything. I checked only yesterday knowing this was coming!!

Flashlight bug

Spoiler:

Well, just want to say that the "flashlight bug" is here, again
In some cases it is possible to spot the flashlight of the NPS's throughout
the day,usually on the ground around them.

Confirmed Too many script bugs

Spoiler:

---QUOTATION---
I'm consistently getting a CTD at the same point, right near the start of the game.

I have just gone back to the swamp for the second time where you have to help the Clear Sky faction defend the outpost from Bandits. The first time I ran there, killed the enemy and then looted the bodies. After maybe 30 seconds, if that, it crashed to the desktop. It doesn't even let you send the crash logs to GSC! I also found that it had corrupted my quicksave to boot.
---END QUOTATION---


I've got exactly the same problem. I expected to get at least a couple of hours into the game before CTD, but this is pathetic. I cannot understand how the game was released in this state.

I checked my logs, but no sign of error reports! All I get in C:/shared docs/STALKER-STCS/Logs is xray_blocks (my username) - with no sign of fatal errors, and a load of MDMP files (whatever they are!) So I can't even post a report here for help....

To those thinking about buying this game, DON'T! It's a waste of money until (if) they bring out a patch that actually works.

Who'd thought it, the trolls on these boards were right all along

Many complaints about the Submit Bug button not even working!


DX10 buggy, DX9 stable?

Spoiler:

i dont understand why when i put on enhanced FDL (DX10) mode, the words on the screen dissapear (i cant even read my current mission when i press tab) and annoying glitches come up everywere. im sure i have a good enough pc. anyways, i gave up on this so im just sticking to the stable and lower mode (enhanced FDL) which works perfect.

Up to date at end of page 4.

And from random threads

Patch breaks as much as it fixes

Spoiler:

I think I might uninstall tomorrow and try an unpatched playthrough. Problem is though, that 1.01 patch does offer a lot of vital gameplay fixes, but preliminary reports seem to indicate a rise in instability, and savegame corruption.

I really hope the mods here can strike up some communication with GSC and tell us what's going on. Otherwise, this game is going back for a refund, simple as that.

[Soul_purifier]

Omg I can't belive what I am reading.

If this is indeed true then I am heartbreaken that my beloved STALKER has been butchered..........

I really am close to tears because I cannot stand it anymore. CS is actually counterstrike?? Bullshit!! I wanted another STALKER experience not this crap. This is by far the worst game I have ever purchased. And I assure you I bought alot of games but this is by far the worst because of the amount of dissappointment I got.....

I really am in tears.

[Kidslovesatan]

I haven't had much problems and I'm using Vista x64. Plus I've used the detector to find artifacts outside of the swamps.

[Chubbachup]

Originally Posted by FourAces

Modding a weapon a few times is not. Slapping ten mods onto a weapon would be monstrous. I cannot even imagine how you could mod ten different parts of a weapon without getting very detailed. The barrel, firing mechanism, weights, muzzle (flash suppressor/silencer), clip, scope are the basics, and Grenade Launcher for some rifles.

I am not saying the idea of weapon mods is bad, just that they went overboard (if 10 is allowable for all). I am sure it is moddable thought, so it can be 'fixed'.

One description was a weapon that used a smaller rounds at higher accuracy (a given), but with longer ranges and doing more damage. If you increased the barrel length you could theoretically get a similar range, but longer? Doing more damage is right out. I can imagine seeing SMGs converted into assualt rifles, but being held in one hand due to their SMG classifications. I just hope the incorporated the ability to take a mod off a weapon you find and use its part(s) on one of your weapons.


Update: The NA (not sure about EU) CS release date has been delayed even further to Sept. 29, 2008. This is of course subject to change, since this is the third delay. Once again, it is better patched and working than crashing all the time. Please post anything that you find that might help those who already have it, such as the proper way to configure the graphical settings (which order). Thanks!

For what it's worth: I'm personally not comfortable with the whole concept of weapons basically being total crap until you apply numerous upgrades by the end of which you should have something a bit better than they should have been in the first place (also, is it just me or does each class of weapon look to be very "samey" to begin with?) - so the approach I'm taking is to set the weapons basic configs very similar to SHOC and then tone down the effect of uprades - so upgrades will be definitely worthwhile pursuing and using, but not absolutely vital for making the weapons viable.

[Chubbachup]

Disregard what I said about base dispersions needing adjustment - the condition of weapons has a larger effect in CS than you'd think.... so default accuracy settings are actually not too bad with fully repaired weapons. The weapons COULD be more unique - I'm looking at that still.

[Ummma]

So, after playing for a while, I have a few questions/gripes..
Just for reference, I'm playing on the easiest level (because I suck at these games), on Full dynamic DX9 lighting (My graphics isn't quite good enough for 'improved' FDL, and I don't have DX10..)

Food is everywhere, yet I've never had to eat any. Is that due to your 'abilities' with the blowouts?

Speaking of blowouts, there was 2 in the very early game, and now none for a long time. Do they just stop happening?

Anomolies: where are they? there was a few in the swamp, and some very nasty looking fire thing and killer fog in the dark valley, but nothing else?

Faction Wars: I was doing some jobs for Freedom - something about taking some antennas. As soon as I had left the compound, one of the tasks was cancelled. I continued to the second, and that got cancelled. The same as the wars in the swamp - I found I was never fast enough to ever reach any non-scripted battles before they had won it themselves. I could do with a rocketpack to ever be involved with one of these events!!

The game does have some nice sounding systems, but they do need modifying - particularly the faction wars and anomalies. The only cash I get is from the few quests I can complete (too many get cancelled) so I never have much money for armour or anything. I would like to harvest artefacts for cash, but I've only ever found one. I detected a second, but I can't afford to upgrade my suit enough for the radiation there - if I can upgrade it enough at all (it is a very hot area).

This game is ripe for a modding/fix!

[FourAces]

Originally Posted by Ummma

Food is everywhere, yet I've never had to eat any. Is that due to your 'abilities' with the blowouts?

No just a startling lack of reality.

Originally Posted by Ummma

Speaking of blowouts, there was 2 in the very early game, and now none for a long time. Do they just stop happening?

They are all scripted, so if you follow the storyline (if you can call it one), then you will experience them more regularly. Of course since you are locked after going to Limansk, you should NOT go there until you are ready to end the game.

Originally Posted by Ummma

Anomolies: where are they? there was a few in the swamp, and some very nasty looking fire thing and killer fog in the dark valley, but nothing else?

This is one of the largest complaints, and will be fixed either by the Devs or the modders.

[

Originally Posted by Ummma

Faction Wars: I was doing some jobs for Freedom - something about taking some antennas. As soon as I had left the compound, one of the tasks was cancelled. I continued to the second, and that got cancelled. The same as the wars in the swamp - I found I was never fast enough to ever reach any non-scripted battles before they had won it themselves. I could do with a rocketpack to ever be involved with one of these events!!

And this is the largest complaint. No game tester was listened to in the releasing of this version.

Originally Posted by Ummma

This game is ripe for a modding/fix.

Actually in its current state, if it crashes regularly for you, it is ripe for returning. If it is not crashing then stick with it and wait for the patches and mods. My money is on the latter, but I am a little biased.

@Chubba - Hopefully the weapons are not total crap, and there are many variables in the SOC weapons, so they can be differentiated. If the Devs do not then the modders will.

[FourAces]

More fun with GSC forum, is their constant request that you re-login. Once you do that it dumps you back to page one, so if you need to post, note the page you are on.

You need one of these for the game to run for very long.

Baconbuster's collection of script fixes can be found here.

Kudomiku's script fixes can be grabbed from here, and the thread for them is here.

Somehow the 40+ page thread of bugs and problems on GSC's forum has disappeared. Instead there is a 18 page one, that supposedly covers all problems since Sept. 3. I guess it was a good idea to echo the major problems here after all.

With support like this, who needs Bandits?

Spoiler:

Have still not fixed this BSOD issue,

Tried to play game again last night, and as sonn as I talk to the guide and enter the swamps WHAM, BSOD, AGAIN! Starting to get really annoyed now.

I have tried to submit support tickets (three times since saturday) via the Deepsilver website, but no reply, or even a reciept of my ticket.

Have tried to email Koch Media UK (Twice) directly at their UK office adress... no reply.

Have gone against my better judgement and tried to phone their £1.50 per min support number and got automated message saying they were closed (this was over an hour before the game manual and website stated they would be, and due to my job I cant call at any other time)

Never pay for support. Reverse the charges or return the item as defective. When it is defective there cannot be a restocking/reshelving fee. You get a full refund. You can always buy it again later, and probably cheaper (even used).

Patches require another restart

Spoiler:

Not at all like SoC, it’s much worse, SoC had some bugs but they usually only broke a side quest or something trivial, this has game over scripting errors that corrupt saves forcing restart after restart after restart, oh and to add to that the incremental patches they are putting out, you got it they invalidate your saves too.

Come back in a year’s time for Patch 1.6.1 and it might work.

Make sure that you are using the script fix AND this

Spoiler:

When you tested the scripts did you edit your "fsgame.ltx" file, if you didn’t you may want to try them again with the following change.

Go to…

Drive Letter:\Install Directory\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky\

Open up the fsgame.ltx by right clicking and selecting “Open With…” and select Notepad.

In this file you will find a line that looks something like this…

$game_data$ = false| true| $fs_root$| gamedata\

Change the word “false” to “true” so it looks like this…

$game_data$ = true| true| $fs_root$| gamedata\

Now save the file and close notepad.

This will now let the game see and use the fixed scripts.

Cordon of Doom!

Spoiler:

Game stopping glitch.

Hello everyone. Now, before you all start making assumptions and such that I haven't read the forums. I have, and I've looked around. I actually went back about 8 pages and apparently I'm not the only one who has come across this glitch that makes the game unplayable.

However, it seems that people seem to come across it at different stages of the game. I seem to have come across it fairly early myself.

So here's the actual glitch: I'm currently in the Cordon, making my way to the garbage. So, I go the end of the cordon to enter the garbage - the usual things comes up "Move to another location - Yes." So, I click yes. Unfortunately, it refuses to load the Garbage and just boots me back out to the Cordon again and I'm kind of clueless as to how I should actually get around this problem.

If there were console commands to warp me to the garbage, that would be superawesomeamazingfantasticoolios . But I highly doubt there are.


Got the same problem myself. I walk up to the entrance, and instead of the usual Yes/No alternative, i only have Yes as an option. When selected, it refuses to let me through, and just kicks me back to where i would have been had i entered from Garbage. Worth mentioning that i can't see the transitions marked on the map either.

Bandit Trader is a theif

Spoiler:

I also noticed that I couldn't even get money for slug rounds and dart rounds, I'm not sure if that's just the economy in effect or something weird was going on there too.

Bug Reporting Tool, Security Concern?

Spoiler:

Also I would like to upload crash reports when the game does it but I don't use windows mail so the bug report thing is useless.

CS + DX10 not ready for public consumption

Spoiler:

Finally the Dx10 features need a lot of optimizing haha, made my computer freeze trying with Dx10 features when I can run Crysis

Weapons Mods may be bugged

Spoiler:

Oh oh oh, one just last final thing!! The weapon upgrades are bugged. I can't unlock the second tier of upgrades. I follow the "this requires fallten 50%" for example and I buy what I need but it doesn't unlock the second tier .

Save Corruption in Yantar - Beware of possible Spoiler (for real)

Spoiler:

Well i made a quick save in psi field area in Yantar level.
Trying to get one stash
When reloaded, i had permanent psi field attack,no matter where my position was in the level. The only solution i found was to load previously saved game.

Dynamic Lighting = Crashes? Could this be the secret of stability?

Spoiler:

I don't know if somebody said about this bug, but I have a problem with Full Dynamic Lightning:
I had a lot of game crashes after a few minutes of playing. After some time I've noticed that game works good ONLY with a static lightning. When i turn it to dynamic lightning then I it crash after some time.
I'm using windows XP SP2, AMD 5200+, 2 GB of RAm and Radeon 3850 512MB graphic card with new drivers. I also have a lot of fre page file space for Windows.
Anybody knows how to fix this bug? i can play without crashes when I use static lightning, but I want dynamic lightning with no problems
I heard that a lot of people have a problem with this dynamic lightning, so maybe someone knows a soultion for this problem?

If so then this IS a beta, and you can all put it on your resume.

One Pi$$ed off developer

Spoiler:

Dear GSC's devs.

Well, what can I say, you've really set new heights today.

really. you should be proud. It takes real talent to create a product like Clear Sky.

I've worked as a developer for a good few years now, and that's given me a lot of lessons in production, some of which were learnt the hard way.
Somehow, despite SoC's shall we say... unique product stability, you seem to have managed to create another title, without learning a single thing. Today, I've had the "pleasure" of playing Clear Sky.... and I've had the infuriation of wasted hours, as after exploring my way through the marshes, I've discovered that on talking to the Guide to take me to Cordon... he doesn't. in fact, I've talked to him about 10 times. I've even headed away, and done a systematic sweep of the entire map, eliminating every single creature, and NPC I could find to ensure there wasn't something left over. All effort, wasted.
Patching to 1.503 and finding that the patch notes failed to mention that save-games were unreadable with the update is just adding insult to injury.

There's a term we use in my studio for that. it's quite common in the industry. it's called a Grade A bug.
in less formal terms, it's called a game-breaker. a fuckup. a critical fault. a right cock up, a piece of shit work, a P45'er (for those not in the UK, that means "you're fired" ) .... this is royal fuck-up territory.
And you just released with cat A bugs still in there. CTDs, we got 'em , game-breakers, oh yes. QA department pissed all the time? probably.

In what world do you believe this was a product suitable for release to a gold master?

do you even have a QA department? are you aware of bugtesting before launch? Frankly, if I were to see "GSC QA employee" on someone's CV, I'd be inclined to pass them over for a job right there. To describe the QA you have done as substandard is an insult to substandard departments, and god knows I've seen enough. This is plain, incompetent production, and frankly, there's a QA manager and a line manager who should be looking for new jobs come monday morning.

preferably in shelf-stacking, because they sure as hell are'nt competent in running a studio.

I have'nt decided if I'm going to return this to the shop on monday or not yet. I might try another speedrun, see if I can get through that game-breaking bug in a new game.
Suffice it to say, next time, if you dont go under from this trainwreck, I'll not be buying on launch. I'll leave it till it's in bargain-bin, as modders might have finally done what you should've done in beta.

and the fact the mod community for SOC has been so strong is a testament to the potential of your products, which you seen to gleefully be pissing into the wind. Sure, cut a corner for profits... but if you cant afford to hire a QA department, go back to b-grade titles, and stop playing at releasing AAA content when you dont have the infrastructure to run a studio with a competent QA team.

Good luck staying solvent after this mess, you'll need it.

yours,
an unimpressed studio staffer, pissed off at your product.

According to Siro (GSC moderator)
"GSC have frequent contact with their fans on the Russian forum and do take into account the desires of their fans, hence the iron-sights removal for pistols (many complained that they were useless and hard to see), factions wars (many wanted faction wars), and etc.

The devs hardly ever look here, so you're only wasting your time.

And some people actually do enjoy the game despite its flaws. I'm starting to think most people expected a little bit too much. The game's not half that bad, in my opinion."

So if you're not Russian (Ukranian) you're crap! <Scottish Accent>


"---QUOTATION---
Where and how do we need to post so the devs WILL see what we're typing?
---END QUOTATION---

Siro- "You'll be better off calling their English PR department."

Call a PR department to get them to listen? PR spin, they do not record.

Another Game Dev

Spoiler:

---QUOTATION---
GSC have frequent contact with their fans on the Russian forum and do take into account the desires of their fans, hence the iron-sights removal for pistols (many complained that they were useless and hard to see), factions wars (many wanted faction wars), and etc.

---END QUOTATION---

Erm, I have no complaints about the iron sight pistol use, or faction wars that has absolutely nothing to do with my comments, Siro.

I have complaints about the grade A critical bugs that riddle this programme, issues which tells me as a professional games developer that someone in a QA department isn't doing their job, and are releasing this on the public when it shouldn't even be scheduled for a gold master.

Siro does admit some flaws in CS

Spoiler:

Now, as for the other, more important problems, stem from the programmers that neglect to fix obvious bugs and game-breakers, too.

Me, though, I haven't met any of those game-breakers, though. GSC is far from perfect, and their game may be not as good as hoped (well, it is damn bad in some respects)...

Another Message

I agree that GSC's quality control sucks. I just never experienced CTD's and etc. I noticed this sad trend with many Eastern European devs.

I am sometimes amazed at how some obvious, glaring bugs aren't fixed.

A Paying Customer

Spoiler:

For the record, when I can actually play the game it is very enjoyable. But when you are fighting random CTDs etc. it somewhat takes the sting out of it. I don't think anyone would say the buying public expecting the game to work out of the tin is is expecting too much. The point is the game should never have been released in the state it is and I have very serious doubts about the quality control involved at GSC. It seems nowadays it is far cheaper to let the buying public do the beta testing for free rather than hire paid staff to do it.

I totally agree with Suzerain on this one. I work in the IT industry for a large pharma company and if I was to produce work like this I would most probably be out on my ear.

I have asked this question many times in the past about previous games released in, how should I put it, "a poor state of affairs", and once again "How did the beta testers not notice all these problems?"

Either they did notice the problems and GSC didn't/couldn't fix them, perhaps time contraints, the beta testers didn't notice them (boggle!) or they didn't do enough testing on a variety of platforms.

As I think Kanyhalos pointed out, there is a bug that was fixed by the community ages ago for SoC which is now back in there now!

I made a prediction that the old stealth bug would be back in there but I haven't had a chance to try that yet. The one where you sneak up behind an enemy, quick save, then reload and everyone in the vacinity instantly knows where you are. To my knowledge that never got fixed and I'm willing to bet my left nut that it's still there.

As you say, the modders will be along to fix things soon enough, and I think BaconBuster has already started on that front, so thanks to him for that.

In short, who do I think I am? A paying customer, just a paying customer.......

If you reward bad behaviour then that is all you can expect.

Faction Wars broken?

Spoiler:

What i want right now is for as much to be fixed and for the faction wars to actually work, that is my greatest wish.

Whadda mean you don't want crosshairs?

Spoiler:

1) Fancy playing with cross hairs off like I do? Then be prepared to have to adjust that option EVERY TIME you start a new game or fast travel with a guide - because the game just does not want you to enjoy your own settings. How that got past QA is beyond belief.

Dev's Perspective (Good and Bad)

Spoiler:

eesh. what a mess.

Let me be slightly clear on thing - the "well why don't you do it" issue.

I do.

I'm not going to list my full CV, but suffice it to say that I've worked as an artist, from a low-level texture-monkey with a digital crayon up to being an art director, I've done my share of reeking turkeys, and I've done AAA titles which have made in excess of 1/2 a billion dollars. I work on a daily basis on titles the scale of CS, and bigger.

and in that, I see the flaws in CS. Reading this thread, the outpouring of anger is palatable, there are die-hard GSC fans, those who've loved SoC for years, who feel physically gutted by the product that has been shovelled at us. CS is not a product that should ever have been released in the state it is: it needed considerably more polish before reaching gold master, there are Grade A game-play bugs, there are countless B and C grade bugs sitting riddled through the entire product, and while you can get away with a good few C's, and even a B or two, no product can justify having grade A bugs visible on launch like CS has done so.

Doing so, GSC has shown an obscenely callous disdain for their customers, the very people on whose market their pay-checks depend. I've seen a lot of studios go down in horribly, messy ways, after backers pulled the plug when a product flopped, and the negative responses that have swamped these forums are exactly the sort of responses that can kill a studio.

Furthermore, to be frank, Siro, I'm afraid that your tone towards aggrieved customers has been appalling. I'm pretty certain you don't mean it, but there have been statements there which, frankly imply "my game has been great, so we don't care what you think". and there are few things that anger a customer more than being told their hard-earned cash has been wasted, and the public face of the company couldn't care less. The tone only antagonises already angry customers, and in doing so, you are actually casting GSC in a negative light at the worst possible time.
Sincerely, I hope you work out a different tone of writing, and I know that's not easy, particularly as I presume English isn't your first language, but at the moment, that tone is inflaming an already hostile situation.

Now, let me be perfectly clear. GSC have done a good job, the parts I've seen are spectacular, technically accomplished, and again shown a high standard of work. simply put, all that hard work has been ruined, by the lack of care and attention in the product QA department, who it seems have failed to do their job.
Now, I understand fully that it may not be their responsibility, I've seen too many studios who will hire teenagers to run the QA on underpaid over-worked hours because "it's only the testers". I'll give GSC a piece of advice for free: your QA department are your front line troops for protecting your company product from the public, and investing in more experienced staff there will reap you a far greater reward than investment in any other department, in terms of product reception. You need a QA manager who is willing to put his balls on the line and say "this title is not ready for release" and hand it back to the coders, even when the publisher is screaming down the phone for deadlines and milestones. If that means more crunch, so be it, if that means a reduced margin and more staff hired, so be it.

And that advice is too late for Clear Sky. Perhaps, it's too late for GSC.

and you know what? if it is, I'll be so damn sorry to see you go, because you have produced two fucking amazing titles, coders I know in the very highest echelons of the industry have praised the innovative ideas (and promptly taken your white-papers, and improved on them), SOC and, if it gets fixed, CS are both gems, unique among the identi-kit FPS clones.
There's a phrase an old art director of mine used to use: "you can't polish a turd, you can polish all you like, it's still a piece of shit". and it's true. and that's the real shame of CS. it's not a turd, it's a shining gem of a game, priceless, in this age of cynical marketing and soulless design by product and demographic and focus test groups... but it's a gem that's been liberally hidden inside a turd that GSC should've polished off, not left it to modders to do their dirty work.

Remember, if you find something, share it. Especially a fix!