The STALKER series is known for its active community support for mods that add new features, and STALKER 2 is no exception. One of the recent interesting mods for it is «A Free Play Mode Attempt,» which adds free-play to STALKER 2 and essentially turns it into a sandbox.
The STALKER series is known for its active community support for mods that add new features, and STALKER 2 is no exception. One of the recent interesting mods for it is «A Free Play Mode Attempt,» which adds free-play to STALKER 2 and essentially turns it into a sandbox.
As Destructoid notes, virtually none of the STALKER games in their original form had a full-fledged sandbox mode. Only Call of Pripyat had the ability to explore the world after the story was completed, but that is more of an exception than a rule.
Even in the new STALKER 2, there is a de facto point of no return, but modders who value the freedom of exploration are already trying to find a solution. Created by modder Ekkaia, the mod " New Game Start — A Free Play Mode Attempt " allows you to start a new game with a choice of location, equipment, faction, rank, money and other things at your discretion, achieving a kind of «free play» mode. The modification skips the tutorial and prologue and disables the main quest of the game (which can later be activated at will).
«I know there are still many flaws, but I want to release the ‘first version’ as best as I can, as a ‘proof of concept.’» Ekkaia explained that New Game Start is meant to be a «call for community collaboration» to get more people involved in the project as quickly as possible.
He added that his modification is intended for people who have already completed the main game.
«Depending on which faction you belong to, you can complete secondary missions (under the blue banner), repeatable tasks/quests offered by some NPCs, and explore the Zone with its many undiscovered secrets, mysteries, and details,» Ekkaia explained.
He added that the faction system in STALKER 2 is underdeveloped and urged not to place high hopes on it. A Free Play Mode Attempt works together with other mods that improve the base game, such as «Modular Hard Mode», «Desolation», as well as with improvements to the A-Life system — «Shay’s Living Zone» or «A-Life Found A Way». However, the developers of STALKER 2 continue to release updates and patches to the project that will break the work of modifications.
