I just bought the first stalker game off amazon and I've heard that it's very buggy but there are fan patches that smooth these over. I was wondering if anyone could point me to these because I couldn't find anything on google.
Not sure if this is the latest version - Oblivion Lost But it's supposed to be one the best mods for the original Stalker, and I have to agree. It fixes a few things and adds a lot more too. However, be warned it makes the game a lot more brutal. As for community patches, I don't know of any, but you should be ok with the latest official patch tbh. linky
Try playing vanila 1.0 or 1.4 first, oblivion lost messes with the game a bit. ZRP on the other hand is as close to a community patch as it gets, but it introduces some handy features. Again you should try the vanila game first.
Oblivion lost is fantastic! Thoroughly recommend it. The original stalker wasnt *too* bad with bugs clear sky was the bad one. Just get the 1.6 patch from the official website and you'll be good to go.
I installed the 'Complete' Mod: http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-complete-2009/news/stalker-complete-2009-release
Does this one affect the game much in the way of gameplay because I want to be able to play the game as it's 'supposed' to be played first.
Dosen't affect it other than fixing a few broken quests and bugs that were never fixed by the official patches.
The normal patches should be on the SoC website still, or Fileplanet, but as for mods, the Complete Mod 2009 is the way to go.
+2 Epic mod, except the sound is a bit smingy. To the OP I'd play vanilla, with the complete pack, then start messing about.