XBX S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 - 21 November 2024 stalker

[dwwaino]

I'm similar. I've had a few nudges telling me to go to Pripyat but from experience that will accelerate me to the end of the game. I'm still picking up as many side quests from camps as I can, hunting for stashes I've got marked (admittedly not doing this as much as too often the loot has been junk, so only if they're on the way to something) and checking out locations that often have either a smaller blue side quest or an artefact.

Bloodsuckers are really my bitch now, don't know why some people get scared of them. 4 or 5 short range hits with my modded M860 Cracker and they're dead. Even that mission where there were 3 in the basement (at least there were for me), two sleeping standing and one patrolling, I just lobbed a few grenades in then pulled out the shotty and blasted when they got close. They still hit me a few times, knocked me down and I had to patch bleeding a couple times but it was really nothing. Great thing about the M860 is it's also only two shots to drop a fleshie. I'd love a sniper but I'd rather the shotgun and the cool modded AKM you get on the water tower from the really early mission. It has a scope so it's kind of snipery. The burer hobbit things can get stuffed though.

 

[dwwaino]

 

[T2B_]

Apparently the next patch will have some ALife related tweaks.

They haven't given a time frame on it yet or the exact nature of it, but it will be a sizeable patch apparently. I wonder what they will tweak first? I assume maybe just spawn distances at first while they're still trying to optimize.

 

[dwwaino]

I hope whatever it does reduces some of the more hardcoded spawns. For example the field north east of Zalissy where an artefact spawns there is a guaranteed bloodsucker to spawn there. When I farm the spot I tend to sprint in and sprint out so I don't have to fight it.

 

[T2B_]

I hope whatever it does reduces some of the more hardcoded spawns. For example the field north east of Zalissy where an artefact spawns there is a guaranteed bloodsucker to spawn there. When I farm the spot I tend to sprint in and sprint out so I don't have to fight it.

Does seem to be a favourite of the devs. i.e find stash or artifact = bloodsucker ambush

 

[dwwaino]

I'd like a general enemy tweak too. Firstly their detection range and ability is a little extreme. Once you're spotted by enemy humans it's 9/10 times a fire fight. Also when the bullet trajectory from enemies is calculated it seems to be where you are and not where you are going. I assume when they're getting the trajectory location they're getting the player location. This feels like an oversight when they should be storing the player location at the time the enemy fires as a variable and using that for the trajectory location. At the moment it feels like enemy bullets have tracking and getting hit by shotguns over 50m away like they're sniper rifles is pretty poo.

 

[dwwaino]

This is too good. The snorks look horrifying.

 

[dwwaino]

Swamps is the first area where I haven't really had a good time. I'm sure it's by design but constantly bogged in water, can't see over the reeds, enemies everywhere and really churning my supplies. Going to cost a fortune on repairs by the time I get back.

 

[dwwaino]

Finally got out of the swamp. In the end I couldn't be bothered with stashes or anomalies, I was so banged up and running low on stuff I just kept chugging energy drinks and ran out with no idea what was chasing me at times lol. I swore I'd never go back.... then I noticed I left the Journalist's stash/side quest thingy (I think from pre-ordering?) there. I was RIGHT there too at Clear Sky. derp lol. So will have to go back at some point.

Also not sure if I made a bad decision in the following part of the main quest. It was against my own judgement but I was making the decision based on how I've been roleplaying Skif to that point. I guess we'll have to wait and see the consequences...

 

[T2B_]

The Swamp was one of the most atmospheric and creepy parts for me simply because of that old church. I was there right on sun down, low ammo, with some wild life showing up. Couldn't see shit so waited it out there until sun up. Was quite an experience.

 

[dwwaino]

The Swamp was one of the most atmospheric and creepy parts for me simply because of that old church. I was there right on sun down, low ammo, with some wild life showing up. Couldn't see shit so waited it out there until sun up. Was quite an experience.

only thing that did my head in at the church was the wildlife would periodically respawn which did my head in as I tried working out what to do. I'm not sure if it changes but for me it was a few boars and those stupid hopping rats. Had the hallucination cat thingy originally too but I think that was a unique spawn to the church.

When it was finally time to leave it was a total mission. I kept losing my bearings despite the compass. I couldn't see over the vegetation and was constantly getting bogged in waste high water. It was so stressful but it was the closest I've felt to the dread I experienced in the original games.

What did you do at the ranger station after if that's where you had to go next?
after speaking to Scar and Strider and the camp getting attacked by Ward I decided to side with Spark. I thought about just running away as apparently it was optional, and then I wanted to side with Ward but that would have seemed out of character for my Skif since he chose to side with the Stalkers at Zalissya at the start. And then Scar helped him at the Sphere and we obviously just spoke to him at the Ranger station. I don't like Spark though as they remind me of a slightly less bad version of Monolith. However in this playthrough I think I'm siding with Spark. Apparently Ward have the best ending though? I went out of my way earlier to do some quests for Ward so maybe I'm not yet completely on their shit list.

 

[T2B_]

only thing that did my head in at the church was the wildlife would periodically respawn which did my head in as I tried working out what to do. I'm not sure if it changes but for me it was a few boars and those stupid hopping rats. Had the hallucination cat thingy originally too but I think that was a unique spawn to the church.

When it was finally time to leave it was a total mission. I kept losing my bearings despite the compass. I couldn't see over the vegetation and was constantly getting bogged in waste high water. It was so stressful but it was the closest I've felt to the dread I experienced in the original games.

What did you do at the ranger station after if that's where you had to go next?
after speaking to Scar and Strider and the camp getting attacked by Ward I decided to side with Spark. I thought about just running away as apparently it was optional, and then I wanted to side with Ward but that would have seemed out of character for my Skif since he chose to side with the Stalkers at Zalissya at the start. And then Scar helped him at the Sphere and we obviously just spoke to him at the Ranger station. I don't like Spark though as they remind me of a slightly less bad version of Monolith. However in this playthrough I think I'm siding with Spark. Apparently Ward have the best ending though? I went out of my way earlier to do some quests for Ward so maybe I'm not yet completely on their shit list.

Its funny, I also originally sided with the Stalkers early on but at some point, I think after Garbage, I went pretty full Ward. I've never trusted Dalin and the scientists in general, but I really like Colonel Korshunov, who's seemed tough but fair and like he mostly has his head on straight and actually cares about his men which won me over a bit, whereas most everyone else seem a bit crazy in some way. I was still trying to be fairly neutral at times, especially as I liked what I saw early of Strider and his men, Strider especially. But yeah when push came to shove and I had a choice of Ward and Spark, I ultimately sided with the Ward. At this point, especially with my Ward badge I've flashed a handful of times, I feel like one of them or some sort of sheriff haha.

 

[dwwaino]

Its funny, I also originally sided with the Stalkers early on but at some point, I think after Garbage, I went pretty full Ward. I've never trusted Dalin and the scientists in general, but I really like Colonel Korshunov, who's seemed tough but fair and like he mostly has his head on straight and actually cares about his men which won me over a bit, whereas most everyone else seem a bit crazy in some way. I was still trying to be fairly neutral at times, especially as I liked what I saw early of Strider and his men, Strider especially. But yeah when push came to shove and I had a choice of Ward and Spark, I ultimately sided with the Ward. At this point, especially with my Ward badge I've flashed a handful of times, I feel like one of them or some sort of sheriff haha.

I saved only shortly after this encounter. I'm sure I've got a few quick and auto saves before making my choice and you've convinced me to change it for the very same reasons lol. Now that I think of it more I did feel like I bonded with them more doing stuff for them at Icarus.

 

[dwwaino]

Thankfully this game carries multiple quick and auto saves. Randomly picked an auto save 10 minutes behind my latest manual save it was right at the moment we were talking about so I was able to switch team. That was actually eating at me all day so now I feel better.

 

[T2B_]

Thankfully this game carries multiple quick and auto saves. Randomly picked an auto save 10 minutes behind my latest manual save it was right at the moment we were talking about so I was able to switch team. That was actually eating at me all day so now I feel better.

Ha yeah at least the game is a little forgiving on saves.

I'm not sure how exactly well my choice of allegiances will play out but it felt right to me at the time and still does. Without giving anything away, as I think I might be a bit further on in the main quest, my choices are still being tested, in different ways. Something the game does do well is have enough moral ambiguity at times and not give everything away all at once, there's a lot of grey morality and different but conflicting perspectives between the factions and even individual characters. Often feels like some tough decisions have to be made rather than just choosing to be a "good" or "bad" character.

 

[dwwaino]

Ha yeah at least the game is a little forgiving on saves.

I'm not sure how exactly well my choice of allegiances will play out but it felt right to me at the time and still does. Without giving anything away, as I think I might be a bit further on in the main quest, my choices are still being tested, in different ways. Something the game does do well is have enough moral ambiguity at times and not give everything away all at once, there's a lot of grey morality and different but conflicting perspectives between the factions and even individual characters. Often feels like some tough decisions have to be made rather than just choosing to be a "good" or "bad" character.

I remembered there is also something I wanted to find out about Icarus. When you first go there and are looking for some dude and you end up getting directed to the main building. I didn't even think about exploring the other buildings first and after I went to the med bay


there were some crazy guys and said the real captain had been taken into the swamp and shot (I thought maybe I could find him but there are so many swamps and couldn't find anything) and the other was apparently the guy I was looking for originally. Trying to talk to them didn't give any new dialogue but I'm hoping if I keep going with Ward then something about that will resolve unless they're just talking shit.

 

[T2B_]

Patch 1.1 just dropped! Over 1800 fixes!

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl - Major Patch 1.1 is here! - Steam News

Over 1,800 fixes and adjustments, including the first iteration of A-Life fixes.

store.steampowered.com

 

[T2B_]

110gb lol

 

[T2B_]

A-Life fixes​

• Fixed the issue with spawning NPCs behind the player's back.
• Players can now encounter roaming NPCs across the Zone more often.
• Greatly extended the distance at which A-Life NPCs are visible to the player.
• Fixed the aggressive optimization issue that prevented A-Life NPCs to exist in Offline (out of player's visualization range).
  • In Offline mode, A-Life will continue to advance towards their goals over time.
  • Players may now have opportunities to encounter A-Life NPCs they've previously met by following in the same direction as the NPCs.
• Improved A-Life NPCs navigation in Offline using GameGraph (global AI navigation map):
  • Fixed multiple issues where NPCs would fail to follow or find a path to their designated goals.
  • Fixed several issues with NPC being stuck in Online-Offline transition state,
• Enhanced A-Life NPCs' motivation to expand territory and actively attack enemies and mutants.
• Fixed issues that could result in fewer A-life NPCs encountered than intended.
• Further contextual actions improvement to ensure seamless transitions between Offline and Online states for NPCs engaged in these actions.
• The groups exploring the Zone are now more diverse regarding possible factions and group sizes.
• Fixed issue that while roaming over the Zone, Human NPCs didn't satisfy their communication needs and talks.

And some other development related improvements.

For a first lot of A-Life fixes, it's an impressive list

Yes I'm a bit excited lol

 

[dwwaino]

damn, should have started my download when I got home

 

[omgfridge]

110gb lol

what the hell is this update? better be life changing

everytime I think its done, it says updating/installing. then rinse repeat.

 

[T2B_]

what the hell is this update? better be life changing

everytime I think its done, it says updating/installing. then rinse repeat.

There's also been a couple smaller updates since that mega update lol, mainly to fix some crashes (1.1 unfortunately introduced a crash while shader compiling bug).

 

[omgfridge]

There's also been a couple smaller updates since that mega update lol, mainly to fix some crashes (1.1 unfortunately introduced a crash while shader compiling bug).

lol yeah its finally done, im very OCD with my steam updates, was holding up my other updates after being away for work. 3 weeks off now so hopefully get more time to put into this.

 

[dwwaino]

I love how personable the title for the 1.1.1 patch was when they realised 1.1 introduced a couple bugs lol.



They are working on this way faster than anyone expected. The updates are huge but they are making sweeping fixes.

 

[dwwaino]

Just on the factions and the grey areas the decision making gets tough because

if you want to destroy the Monolith you have to side with Noontiders and spark, but if you want to side with the Ward you have to help Dalin and SIRCAA (maybe this changes later, I'm only entering X11 now after turning on Noontiders). It's like being asked if you want a punch in the face or a punch in the balls for $100. You get what you want but there is a price to pay either way.