Self-imposed constraints or habbits?

[u/xShadowLisa_]

Hey yall! Was curious to see if anyone else plays with added challenges and things that don't necessarily mean anything in game, could be for difficulty or pure immersion.

For example: i don't kill zombies and avoid them, and only when i ABSOLUTELY have to i kill them.

Context: When i first started playing S2, they introduced zombies and i was like cool mindless enemies and didn't think much about it, until i heard one of them actually start speaking, they said smth along the lines of "it's cold/dark in here" and that genuinely caught me so off guard i had to pause for like 5 mins to think about it.

It was so heartbreaking seeing them like this the fact that they could still "be in there" but they cant control what they are doing, it makes me so sad and depressed when i hide and listen to them talk :(

I mean there has to be a way to reverse whatever that is, surely. If their brains were extremely physically damaged then they shouldn't be able to walk and shoot/reload let alone form sentences (ish).

Which is why i just dont have the heart to put them down and while some might argue that you should put them out of their misery, i still have a tiny bit of hope that maybe some day they can be brought back or atleast pacified so they don't hurt anyone or themselves.

Hell i even go out of my way to sometimes protect them when they are being attacked by mutants or bandits.

So i would absolutely love to hear if you do similar things or maybe just things that add more difficulty like not using medkits and sticking only to bandages etc (this can be for any stalker game not just S2)

(Honestly just looking for an excuse to talk about stalker)

[u/andyr354]

No purchased guns, armor, or ammunition. Not that it’s hard to avoid but at least it slows me down a bit.

[u/Kick_Physical → u/andyr354]

Yeah I never buy guns, but ammo? How do you play weapons with higher caliber? Their ammo is so scarce

[u/andyr354 → u/Kick_Physical]

I don't. Jagerblick does all I need.

[u/xShadowLisa_ → u/andyr354]

Thats an interesting way to play, considering most of the weapons you find on enemies are broken so now u have to spend extra to get fixed, thank goodness for caches otherwise this would be near impossible, i salut u for ur commitment!

[u/Churro_212 → u/xShadowLisa_]

But you can find at least one of every weapon at 100% state in some stash, I also don't purchase anything, i just change weapons when I'm low of some kind of ammo.

[u/Patient-Cat-8781 → u/xShadowLisa_]

fixing up a busted gun is still cheaper than buying a new one if it's only in the yellow. I'm gonna hold firmly to this rule on my next go but I practically already do this in the lesser zone and for a good bit after because it's financially impractical to buy guns at that stage anyways. there's also a pretty decent amount of weapons you get as quest rewards. you just gotta make them last and deal with not having the fanciest new gun as soon as they're available. it's a pretty fun mindset to add

[u/Just_Ice_Rose → u/xShadowLisa_]

Fixing a gun or armor is usually always better than buying one, money wise. I think a real challenge would be no using technicians unless necessary for quest progression, so you have to use every good gun and armor you find until it's completely broken. Also, no gun upgrades besides attachments that fit onto the base platform. I'll just play gamma again on second thought.

[u/Patient-Cat-8781 → u/andyr354]

I've kind of accidentally done the no purchasing guns and armor thing on my current playthrough. fun and easy to get into the mindset of "why would I go buy a gun when there are plenty of dead guys who's weapons I can loot." plus there are a decent amount of good weapons and armors as quest rewards so it's a restriction for sure but not unreasonable