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S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chernobyl

WilyKit said:
Whats the engine update supposed to do?
Click to expand...

UE 5.5.4 build from March 2025. Improved performance. STALKER 2 is using an early build. Apparently 5.8 brings larger performance increases and may finally help with shader stuttering, but that came out in June so I assume STALKER 2 will continue using the older build. Still better than 5.1 or whatever the game currently uses.
 
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The newer engine has improved lighting and shadows. I don't know if it will have hardware enabled lumen support but it might based on the v5.5.4 engine. It will have better optimization which could translate into larger draw distances and expanded online AI. I would assume they would have to have better draw distance and online AI in order for the binoculars to be useful. It looks like new vegetation models are being added to the game and I would assume performance is better than before based on the performance upgrades that other games have received from a similar engine upgrade.

This video goes over some of the upgrades.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e23CE0J33k
 
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finally the new engine patch!...(y)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl- Back to the Zone Showcase | Update 2.0

Crowning the evolution of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl since launch, Update 2.0 'Back to the Zone' and the new engine version bring the biggest overhaul to how the Zone looks, feels, and lives...in addition, 2.0 introduces AI improvements, three types of binoculars, new weapons, fog weather, in-game statistics, highly customizable difficulty settings, and numerous quality-of-life features...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjbNiV-bbbs
 
polonyc2 said:
finally the new engine patch!...(y)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl- Back to the Zone Showcase | Update 2.0

Crowning the evolution of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl since launch, Update 2.0 'Back to the Zone' and the new engine version bring the biggest overhaul to how the Zone looks, feels, and lives...in addition, 2.0 introduces AI improvements, three types of binoculars, new weapons, fog weather, in-game statistics, highly customizable difficulty settings, and numerous quality-of-life features...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjbNiV-bbbs
Click to expand...

New foliage is more flowery? *shruggs*

I don't see a huge difference with "lighting and exposure." What's that supposed to demonstrate? Tweaked global illumination? Things that would normally reflect light aren't nearly as dark now? You can see details on the tractor a bit better. The environment still doesn't light up due to a muzzle flash from any source.

I also couldn't tell what "mutant subspecies" brings. I guess it's a reskin or model variant. Bloodsucker still looks like a Bloodsucker. Flesh still looks like a Flesh.

The fog and light rain are welcome though.

The new weapons made me realize I didn't actually try using most of the weapons on my playthrough. I stuck to using just a handful. My next playthrough I'm going to address that.
 
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Absalom said:
New foliage is more flowery? *shruggs*

I don't see a huge difference with "lighting and exposure." What's that supposed to demonstrate? Tweaked global illumination? Things that would normally reflect light aren't nearly as dark now? You can see details on the tractor a bit better. The environment still doesn't light up due to a muzzle flash from any source.

I also couldn't tell what "mutant subspecies" brings. I guess it's a reskin or model variant. Bloodsucker still looks like a Bloodsucker. Flesh still looks like a Flesh.

The fog and light rain are welcome though.

The new weapons made me realize I didn't actually try using most of the weapons on my playthrough. I stuck to using just a handful. My next playthrough I'm going to address that.
Click to expand...

here are more details about what is included in the 2.0 update...

https://www.stalker2.com/news/back-to-the-zone-2-0-update
 
Absalom said:
The new weapons made me realize I didn't actually try using most of the weapons on my playthrough. I stuck to using just a handful. My next playthrough I'm going to address that.
Click to expand...

I used all of them. Problem is some guns are just pointless to use late game. Feels like a dated game mechanic to me, I recall the original was like that as well. But things like the AK-74 or M4 become more or less useless late game which is dumb. Especially if you spend time getting unique accessories. Once you get the Malyuk and Carmel the rest are useless. It is one of the many things that made the game a slog and make it feel very repetitive. I doubt they will change the AI much or spawns, because those things make the game feel like every encounter is the same but slightly randomized.
 
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Flogger23m said:
I used all of them. Problem is some guns are just pointless to use late game. Feels like a dated game mechanic to me, I recall the original was like that as well. But things like the AK-74 or M4 become more or less useless late game which is dumb. Especially if you spend time getting unique accessories. Once you get the Malyuk and Carmel the rest are useless. It is one of the many things that made the game a slog and make it feel very repetitive. I doubt they will change the AI much or spawns, because those things make the game feel like every encounter is the same but slightly randomized.
Click to expand...
I used the Clusterfuck for like 80-90% of the game. You can get it pretty early on too. Found it long before I got a lucky Saiga drop. Once I got the Saiga, then the problem of killing mutants efficiently was solved. Maybe a bit too early now thinking about it. Got them both before going to the Monolith base or Icarus for sure. I still had fun, but my playthrough would have been more challenging if such weapons weren't accessible early game. I didn't even try to glitch things like getting any early Diamond Exo suit (before they patched it). Money ended up being a non-issue for me. I was filthy rich even by mid-game.

The only fight that I struggled with was the Strelok fight. I didn't realize you could cheese him with the Gauss until after the fact.
 
Absalom said:
I used the Clusterfuck for like 80-90% of the game. You can get it pretty early on too. Found it long before I got a lucky Saiga drop. Once I got the Saiga, then the problem of killing mutants efficiently was solved. Maybe a bit too early now thinking about it. Got them both before going to the Monolith base or Icarus for sure. I still had fun, but my playthrough would have been more challenging if such weapons weren't accessible early game. I didn't even try to glitch things like getting any early Diamond Exo suit (before they patched it). Money ended up being a non-issue for me. I was filthy rich even by mid-game.

The only fight that I struggled with was the Strelok fight. I didn't realize you could cheese him with the Gauss until after the fact.
Click to expand...

I think I have that. I found around 2-3 unique HK416s. I have a lot of unique ones. I have a nice MP5 as well but if I recall it was still too weak to be useful late game. To me the biggest issue is 90% of the game just feels like you walk someone and they carelessly placed spawns for NPCs and each fight plays out very unbelievably. Just they were just standing and waiting for you for eternity. Only a few of the set ups, like the one where you can be a sniper in a tower and choose a factions side, felt like a unique or plausible scenario. Otherwise it just felt like walking into randomly spawned enemies. Game started off strong but as time went on the BS really got tired for me, and the shallow core gameplay became very apparent.

But the power plant itself is enough to renew interest for me.
 
The main problem is that the weapon stats are really not very helpful in determining what weapons are best. There is a lot dependant on ammo type as well, and those differences aren't really made clear anywhere.

You can kind of get away with using whatever in the late game if you use AP ammo and aim for the head.
 
polonyc2 said:
while the new engine and features are great news, no hardware ray tracing is very disappointing indeed
Click to expand...

Not really all that necessary for this type of game. Especially with the performance. This update should improve performance though, and that is the main advantage. Possibly a bit less stuttering but I will say STALKER 2 for me ran very smooth with very limited stuttering. Frame rates were a bit low for my preference, but with DLSS it ran decently.
 
Finished up my 3rd playthrough (have done all main endings now except the "extra" one), cleared out everything and reinstalled fresh, ready for 2.0.
 
Flogger23m said:
Seems like a big performance boost. 18-25 frame rates or so walking around in this settlement at 2:33.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB0XH85Sg_c

A whole lot more trees as well. Which is nice in some areas, but kills visibility at range in others. But I assume it is what they intended, especially for the Red Forrest.
Click to expand...

Everything appears more dense now. There is some artistic tradeoff here though, because now the Zone looks more "healthy" to me. Everything appears much more green, lively and thriving. Gone are the scraggly trees with barely any leaves. Might be an improvement for Red Forest because a thicker forest IS more spooky.

I'm going to be in the minority here, but most of the lighting tweaks make it worse. Hear me out, it's nice to be able to see things but when everything around you reflects light no matter what it breaks immersion for me. If I go into a poorly lit room, it should be dark and hard to see. Forces me to make use of a flashlight for sure. Some of the underground tweaks I like because the overhead fluorescent light should light up the area. So, it's a mixed bag of sorts. I think SIRCAA looked better before.

I mean, wtf is reflecting so much light here? The two concrete posts? Is there a mirror offscreen to the right?
1787164883639.png


The new color tweaks make everything look warmer with warmer colors. It's a subtle thing to use a color filter, but it gives everything a reddish or yellow hue as opposed to a more neutral color balance. Again, maybe that works for Red Forest but that's a specific region of the Zone and not the entire Zone. I think they went a bit overboard with the color tweaking. Maybe I'm missing something such as the time of day was dawn/dusk. Something tells me it's static global though.

Most people aren't going to notice these graphical tweaks, but they might appreciate any performance gain.
 
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I much prefer the more "lush" and colorful look, I always ran with the Spring season in GAMMA and I had mods previously in S2 to make it more "green", so this change really works for me.
 
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4K Epic, 8K Epic FGx2,x3,x4 DLSS4.0-4.5

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NnKDXdIZcs&t=186s

Intro, Specs & Stuff - 0:00
Side by Side (2.0 version vs previous version) - 0:39
4K Epic / DLAA (DLSS4.0) - 1:38
4K Epic / DLAA (DLSS4.0) / FG 2x - 7:58
4K Epic / DLAA (DLSS4.0) / FG 4x - 12:48
4K Epic / DLAA (DLSS4.0) / FG 3x - 16:45
4K Epic / DLSS4.0 Q - 17:18
4K Epic / DLSS4.0 Q / FG 2x - 19:39
4K Epic / DLSS4.0 Q - 20:44
4K Epic / DLSS4.0 P - 22:34
4K Epic / DLSS4.0 P / FG 2x - 26:34
4K Epic / DLSS4.0 P / FG 4x - 27:39
4K Epic / DLSS4.5 P - 28:29
4K Epic / DLSS4.5 UP - 31:53
8K Epic / DLAA (DLSS4.0) - 33:15
8K Epic / DLSS4.5 P - 34:33
8K Epic / DLSS4.5 P / FG 2x - 36:13
8K Epic / DLSS4.5 UP - 37:46
8K Epic / DLSS4.5 P - 39:13
 
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Absalom said:
Everything appears more dense now. There is some artistic tradeoff here though, because now the Zone looks more "healthy" to me. Everything appears much more green, lively and thriving. Gone are the scraggly trees with barely any leaves. Might be an improvement for Red Forest because a thicker forest IS more spooky.

I'm going to be in the minority here, but most of the lighting tweaks make it worse. Hear me out, it's nice to be able to see things but when everything around you reflects light no matter what it breaks immersion for me. If I go into a poorly lit room, it should be dark and hard to see. Forces me to make use of a flashlight for sure. Some of the underground tweaks I like because the overhead fluorescent light should light up the area. So, it's a mixed bag of sorts. I think SIRCAA looked better before.

I mean, wtf is reflecting so much light here? The two concrete posts? Is there a mirror offscreen to the right?
View attachment 820969

The new color tweaks make everything look warmer with warmer colors. It's a subtle thing to use a color filter, but it gives everything a reddish or yellow hue as opposed to a more neutral color balance. Again, maybe that works for Red Forest but that's a specific region of the Zone and not the entire Zone. I think they went a bit overboard with the color tweaking. Maybe I'm missing something such as the time of day was dawn/dusk. Something tells me it's static global though.

Most people aren't going to notice these graphical tweaks, but they might appreciate any performance gain.
Click to expand...

Agreed from what I see.
 
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This is the right time for my second playthrough. The first time was back when this came out. I thought it was in respectable shape all things considered but all told I know I'm in for a bit of a treat now. I appreciate the performance tips videos/settings, too.
 
III_Slyflyer_III said:
Are there still plans to add hardware RT? Or no? If so, I'll just wait for a sale and a future update, if not, might as well go for it now and play through the DLC.
Click to expand...

2 years ago they talked about it possibly being implemented in a future patch...but nothing official after that...I think with the latest patch that the game is in the best shape and there's no point waiting around for hardware RT...plus it'll probably require a beastly GPU

Slava Lukyanenka: We are going to have software ray tracing. As for hardware ray tracing, it's too early for us, but we are experimenting with that. We are trying to have it on the release date, but it is highly unlikely you will have it at launch. But NVIDIA DLSS will be there

https://wccftech.com/stalker-2-is-g...ss-platform-mods-and-multiplayer-post-launch/
 
I can't say for sure that the issue is gone, but I did a Verify Files on Steam and it found a handful to re-download. Since then I haven't noticed the LOD issue. Weird thing is that this was a completely fresh install of the game - I deleted everything, including config files and saves, all game folders, all mods, etc. So I don't know why it would have been bugged like that.
 
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