Ukrainian game development company GSC Game World has released a roadmap of game updates for the next six months. Players can expect both completely new features and favorite "features" from previous installments of the series.
Ukrainian game development company GSC Game World has released a roadmap of game updates for the next six months. Players can expect both completely new features and favorite "features" from previous installments of the series.
The development team continues to improve the game's optimization, so they plan to update the game engine to Unreal Engine 5.5.4.
“The update will allow you to use new tools to improve the Zone, and most importantly, optimizations in the latest version of Unreal Engine 5 will provide better stability and performance,” the company said in a statement .
Among other things, the player's inventory will be replenished with binoculars and night vision devices (NVDs). Both devices were available in the original STALKER trilogy, but in the release of Hearts of Chernobyl, players had to rely only on long-range weapon sights and a flashlight, which upset some veterans of the game. As a result of the addition of NVDs, non-player characters are now less likely to be able to see the player in the dark if they do not have this device.
Another bonus for experienced stalkers will be the return of the highest difficulty, "Veteran." The player interface will also undergo changes, the A-Life system, which is responsible for the behavior of NPCs within the "Zone," and caches and their contents will also be redesigned.
The developers promise to calibrate the day-night cycle and add new weather conditions. In addition, new anomalies will now appear in the "Zone" territory, previously in one of the patches the anomaly "Water Electric Tornado" was already added.
For modders, the Zone Kit will be updated, as GSC assures, it will enter a second phase, which will bring support for audio modifications, improve compatibility between mods, and add a toolkit for creating narrative elements. This will allow you to create custom stories and import them directly into the game.
GSC warns that due to the transition to a new version of the engine, the release of updates may be delayed and asked players to be understanding.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl was released in late November last year and sold 1 million copies in its first two days. Despite numerous bugs, the game has gradually received positive reviews from players, with nearly 89,000 players on the Steam platform currently rating the game as “very positive.”
