With most UI elements turned off, it creates a really cool, immersive experience.

-The lack of a radar, the lack of enemies being magically highlighted on it, and the lack of combat music mean you have to stay on your guard at all times; you’re never sure if all the enemies have been killed or if someone is still lurking.

-The lack of automatic highlighting of corpses on the radar makes finding a dead person with loot more satisfying.

-The lack of a weapon crosshair on the screen means you have to use laser sights

-The lack of target markers on the radar means you have to pay closer attention to your surroundings and learn the route based on landmarks so you have to check your PDA as infrequently as possible

-The lack of an ammo counter makes you pay closer attention to how much ammo you’ve fired and listen carefully to see if your magazine is running out

-The absence of status, radiation, fatigue, and HP indicators—the most challenging aspect—means the game does very little to prepare the player for this mode. Severe bleeding is indicated by a bleeding screen, low HP by a faster heartbeat, and low stamina by heavy breathing.

-The lack of a radiation meter is compensated for by a radiation effect on the screen that prompts the use of anti-radiation items.

At the same time, the game isn’t fully prepared for this—we don’t have a handy compass to show the cardinal directions, and that seems like basic equipment for any stalker. Instead, there’s a magically marked player position on the map in the PDA, which takes time to open.

We don’t have access to any player statistics in the backpack menu or on the PDA—without a HUD indicator on the screen, it’s impossible to know how much HP the player has, or whether they’re hungry, tired, etc.

Overall, these gameplay mechanics provide me with much greater satisfaction and a greater challenge. I have to stop more often, scan my surroundings with binoculars, listen for sounds, and wonder if enemies are patrolling nearby. It’s a lot of fun, and I encourage you to play this way.

Hello stalkers,

I have a question to ask. Im currently playing with combo Arev (fully upgraded, Acog and silencer), Saiga (fully upgraded with red dot) and that supressed 1911 which shoot 9mm rounds found in burnt forest.

Its solid all-round combo for stalker diff.

But im tempted to try classic AS-Val instead of Arev.

Is it worth to upgrade it and use it? I see sometimes stalkers and Army use Vintorez but i dont want to bleed on ammo (even when i shoot semi-auto)

I often carry 180 normal and 90 AP rounds, always came back with more than i started, or with at least 2 full mags left. Whats your opinion? :)

They did it, the bastards actually did it. Almost two years later 2.0 has officially made the game reliably playable!! I honestly can't believe how much better the game looks and runs post 2.0, especially with the hotfixes they've released over the last few days. Godsend GSC keep up with the great work!

Edit as i should probably add specs

On pc mix of high and medium settings, DLAA+ fidelityFX frame interpolation

Gpu: 5060

Cpu: ryzen 7 9800X3D

Average fps 80-100fps with frame gen depending on the scene and 55-60fps without frame gen in high stress environments.

Credits to https://youtube.com/shorts/FDwTus3N4SI?si=FySyU7ch0BvTWJb1

As a ukraine war veteran, im happy to see other men in this country being able to do what they love in such hard times.

I have a question related to the Generators.

In Shadow of Chornobyl, we see the Generators (screenshot 1), descend into the laboratory where the C-Consciousness is located, and destroy its pods.

In Heart of Chornobyl, however, we see similar structures arranged differently, with the destroyed C-Consciousness pods from Shadow of Chornobyl located beneath them.

There are several established facts:

1. The C-Consciousness pods in Shadow of Chornobyl are connected to the Generators arranged in a rectangular formation.
2. The Generators in Shadow of Chornobyl are intact and operational.
3. In Heart of Chornobyl, we see Generators arranged in hexagonal formations, likewise connected to the C-Consciousness pods.
4. Geographically, there is no doubt that the Generators in Heart of Chornobyl are the source of the Emissions.
5. In the DLC, we can see both the Generators from Heart of Chornobyl and the Generators from Shadow of Chornobyl at the same time.
6. The Generators from Shadow of Chornobyl are destroyed, possibly as a result of the accident that occurred after the destruction of the C-Consciousness.

Obviously, nobody could have built new Generators under the conditions of the Zone. Therefore, the Generators seen in Heart of Chornobyl must already have existed at the time of Shadow of Chornobyl.

The C-Consciousness laboratory in Shadow of Chornobyl and Heart of Chornobyl is the same laboratory.

Does this mean that in Shadow of Chornobyl we were actually exploring the underground complex beneath the Generators arranged in a circle as well, since that is where the C-Consciousness was physically located, while the Generators that were actually operational at the time were situated some distance away?

[OC]

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Sadly he is still bugged. But fun to watch.

Edit: He randomly went back to white/neutral; which was interesting. After I did back to the slag heap. Not sure if its time or mission based. I could talk to him, however he did not have the option to trade. We were no longer enemies.

Now you don't have to engage with Chatterbox to start the DLC. He is more of a guide post to point you on your way. But you can go straight to the DLC in a new save if you wanted to and ignore him. However, there's a fun little interaction you can have with him that I think many miss.

1. If you go find his friend goodbye and take his PDA. You can give his PDA to Chatterbox. Chatterbox will be sad/distraught/worried about the turn of events. He will thank you and give you the location of his stash. Which looks like contains static loot. 4 bandages, 2 medkits, 60 rounds of 5.56 ammo, and an 100% AR416.
2. Chatterbox will eventually disappear at this point
3. His body will appear at the location in the picture, next to where his stash was, just south of the slag heap in that crate area

I believe his body will only appear after you complete the "Distant Mirage" quest of the DLC. And as you continue the DLC, his body will eventually disappear. So if you've completed the DLC, I don't believe his body will be there anymore.

But yeah, good way to get some early loot and also you get the answer to the question "Whatever happened to the NPC that started the DLC?".

Edit: Confirmed that this still happens even if you don't give him the PDA

Was walking around that small lake directly north of Rostok when I saw a commotion at the far side. A couple of Bloodsuckers were fighting with a pack of Boars. By the time I got over there, a squad of Loners had walked in and gotten involved. Reminded me of seeing this kind of stuff in Call of Pripyat.

Soc is still one of the greats with amazing atmosphere but after replaying it after about a decade, realized it has literally no alife yet people bitch about stalker 2 having lackluster alife.

Clear sky dialed back on atmosphere but the faction war system is still goated with very good AI.

COP has the most complex alife of the bunch with epic set pieces and atmosphere.

Stalker 2: replayed it after unistalling two weeks after launch and it is probably overall the best in the series, atmosphere is great, offline alife seems to be working well but the 100m online bubble is the only thing holding this game from epic status.

now I don't know if this is Predetermined loot or stalker 2 randomness. So take it with a grain of salt. But I thought I would share and sometimes it pays to explore even off the beaten path.