Stalker Clear Sky Music
Pit Gebeyaw
A group of stalkers, for the first time, reaches the very heart of the Zone-the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant-and triggers a cataclysm on the brink of a catastrophe. An immense blast of anomalous energy transforms the Zone: the once reliable and relatively safe roads are no longer so, the landscape is wiped clean by outbursts of anomalies, and previously unknown areas appear on the Zone map. Stalkers and expeditions perish or end up isolated within the lost territories.
The ambiance achieved in this expansion is unparalleled. The merging of the old riffs with the new ones is seamless and contributes to a high degree of both tension and nostalgia. The new music tracks add a depth of hopelessness, foreboding, and dread that only careful sound craft could achieve. Absolutely a must-have.
This is incredibly beautiful, I am blown into orbit by how good it sounds. You really know how S.T.A.L.K.E.R. music is supposed to sound, it's awesome. Other music mods don't come close to the original music, but this one does, I am very grateful for your work. Keep in touch.
-Hal
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Shadow Quality: This slider determines the appearance of shadows cast from dynamic lights in the game, with the higher the quality the lower your FPS. The difference between the lowest and highest setting on this slider is difficult to capture in a static screenshot - in general the difference is not major, the most noticeable effect being that low quality shadows are blockier and slightly less distinct, and tend to shimmer more as they move. Note that you can further customize shadow quality by directly choosing shadow map resolution sizes with the -smap1536, -smap2048, -smap2560, -smap3072, and -smap4096 command line switches covered in the Advanced Tweaking section.
NPC Flashlights: If this option is enabled, Non-Player Characters (NPCs - i.e. any computer-controlled characters) can use flashlights similar to the one you have. While this increases realism, in scenes with multiple flashlights and in particular with dynamic lighting enabled it also reduces FPS. If you find heavy combat scenes are becoming quite 'laggy', you may want to disable this option, but note that this also makes finding the enemy slightly harder at night or underground, since you can't track them or see them approach just by their torchlight.
Disable Detail Textures: Not available unless you use the Static Lighting render mode, this option allows you to enable or disable Detail Textures, which are an extra layer of detailing on the surfaces of some objects, only visible when examined close up. For example with this option unticked (i.e. Detail Textures enabled), looking closely at a stone wall will show very fine grain; with it disabled the wall is much smoother. Disabling Detail Textures can be useful in further improving performance on very old or slow graphics cards.
Detail Bump: This option controls the use of Bump Mapping to enhance the realism and depth on detailed surfaces such as on pitted stone rocks or metal-covered objects. As the screenshot comparison above shows, when enabled, the rusted metallic surface exhibits a lot more detailing than when it is disabled. This comes at the cost of some performance, so it can be disabled to improve FPS if needed without a major drop in realism. Note that the general appearance of surfaces is also affected by the Textures, Detail Textures, and Steep Parallax settings.
Steep Parallax: Parallax Mapping is a technique to improve bump mapped surfaces even further, making them seem deeper and more realistic. Steep Parallax mapping makes the depth of the surface even more pronounced. In Clear Sky the most noticeable impact of this setting is on brick walls, as the screenshot comparison above shows: when switched On, the bricks clearly have more depth, although this may come at a slight reduction in FPS. You must quit and reload your game for a change in this setting to come into effect.
Sun Quality: This setting controls the overall quality of sunlight in the game. In practice I found very little visual difference when altering this setting between High, Medium and Low (even with a full restart of the game between each change). However performance was noticeably better as the setting was lowered, so you may wish to lower this setting for a performance boost without any real degradation in image quality. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
Sun Rays: Only available in the new Enhanced Full Dynamic Lighting modes, this option controls the general quality of Sun Rays, also called 'God Rays' by some people. The screenshot comparison above shows the difference in image quality at High, Medium, Low and Disabled - the only truly noticeable difference is when it is Disabled, otherwise the other three settings look much the same. Performance improves noticeably however the lower you take this setting, especially during the early morning when these rays are visible and hence performance is at its slowest. This setting is very important - just setting this option to Low for example can mean the difference between unplayable and playable FPS in early morning scenes. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
SSAO: SSAO is Screen Space Ambient Occlusion, a technique used to make a scene much deeper, richer and hence more realistic. In practice this means that shadowing and depth effects in particular are visually improved, although sometimes the difference can be subtle. As SSAO is increased using this setting, it can noticeably reduce performance due to the extra processing requirements on your graphics card. An animated screenshot comparison of SSAO at High vs. SSAO Disabled is provided to demonstrate the clearest difference: ClearSky_SSAO.gif (640 KB). Note in particular that with SSAO Off, the entire scene is lighter and more 'flat'; with SSAO at High, everything from the background scenery, to the ground, to the Stalker in the middle of the scene have more depth and substance. However obviously if you really need the extra performance, then lowering this setting or even disabling it altogether can be a quick way to gain FPS without totally ruining image quality. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
Soft Water: This option controls whether the edges of bodies of water in Clear Sky have softly blended, realistic edges at the cost of some performance, or hard unrealistic edges. The screenshot comparison above shows the difference. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
Soft Particles: Similar to the Soft Water setting above, this setting controls whether particle effects such as smoke and dust are more subtly blended with their surrounding environment, as opposed to having hard edges In practice if you find that you are getting slowdowns in foggy/smokey areas, as well as during heavy combat, you should disable this setting. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
Depth of Field: If enabled, when you go to reload your weapon for example, because your focus is supposedly on your gun, the background will be slightly blurred in a custom Depth of Field effect. The screenshot above shows how this effect works, blurring the background slightly as the foreground and your weapon remain in focus. It may reduce FPS slightly when in effect, but more importantly it can also be distracting and make visibility difficult if you are trying to spot enemy positions while reloading, so you may wish to disable it for that reason. Alternatively you can customize the Depth of Field effect, even apply DoF permanently to the game, using the various r2_dof_ settings as covered in the Advanced Tweaking section. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
Volumetric Light: Volumetric lighting gives light sources greater volume, making them look richer and interact more realistically with objects, casting appropriate shadow lines. The most prominent example of volumetric lighting in Clear Sky is the way sunlight streams through branches and other solid objects as 'God Rays'. However this setting doesn't actually affect those sunlight rays, they are controlled by the Sun Rays setting (see further above). Instead this setting controls the light rays from other light sources, as shown in the screenshot comparison above. When disabled it can improve performance in areas with light sources. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
Wet Surfaces: When enabled, this effect greatly increases the realism of wet surfaces, at the cost of a slight drop in performance. As the screenshot comparison above shows, during rain, when enabled, water covers the car body with a slick sheen that runs down the right side, and displays raindrop splashes on the hood; when disabled the car has no real sign of water coverage. This effect really does make a noticeable difference during rain, covering all manner of surfaces with realistic water flows and shine, and is generally worth the minimal drop in performance. Note that you can customize the way this effect looks using the r3_dynamic_wet_surfaces settings as detailed in the Advanced Tweaking section. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
Volumetric Smoke: This effect, when turned on, allows smoke to flow more realistically, and react dynamically with the environment. For example a fan blowing through smoke makes the smoke go through realistic patterns of movement. It is difficult to capture in a screenshot, so see this YouTube Video to better examine how it works. Enabling this option comes at the cost of performance loss in areas where smoke is visible, so if you notice severe slowdowns in smoke or fog-filled areas, turn this setting off. You will need to quit and restart the game for changes in this setting to be implemented.
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