STALKER 2, the empty world running simulator

[Arctic™]

I see a lot of takes in here, stuff like:
Game bad! vs game good!
Less or more broken than CP2077
Performence issues exist vs. Don't exist
Etc., etc., etc.

Main gripe: I can get over a lot, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ performance, broken AI and 1995 spawn system, very basic game mechanics and repetitive useless loot(1000th vodka, yaaay!) .... But Jesus Christ almighty! I can't take any extra minute of being forced to run through this empty map devoid of anything really interresting, incl. any resemblence of life, and I have explored almost all of it sprinting juiced on energy drinks ;)

Extra take: CP2077 had issues, I should know, had it pre-ordered and played day 1, but the world was alive and immersive, even if it was just some basic repetitive fake AI. Here, it's "enemy spawn behind you for 1000th time, just ignore and run away!"

To finalize this: For ppl out there saying "StAlKeR iS pOstApo Gaiiiiim! hAs to biiii EmPty!" ... No it's not ... there is normal world behind the wall and trading between mainland and zone works, devs were just lazy is all. Best visible when comparing game world of base Stalker 1:SoC vs. Stalker 2:HoC

EDIT: Thanks to Spiritfarer for the video link,this makes it even more hilarious to prove the point!!!

https://www.reddit.com/r/stalker/comments/1h8yc10/i_wouldve_saved_the_zone_days_ago_if_skif_had_a/

[Squid]

Origineel geplaatst door CadaveR:

Origineel geplaatst door Arctic™:

That's the problem, they are NOT supposed to spawn in. They are supposed to be in "offline" mode and "pop-in" to online mode when you get close enough, e.g. 150 meters or so

Old games maps were a lot, lot smaller. enemies and creatures spawned too with that system, but given the tiny distance from the edges you wouldn't notice that. Try to apply the same system with the open world of s2 and wait for your cpu to crumble.

enemies didn't really spawn in, offline went online by either the player entering the map, cordon to garbage or by the NPCs sent to the players map via the A-life director. this is why it was possible to clear the map of mutants and we wouldn't see another mutants till the next active map or kill all NPCs and only see new ones arriving via the entrances. the only spawning was to repopulate NPC pools.

[DyD&Marina]

Origineel geplaatst door CadaveR:

Origineel geplaatst door Deranger:

And your cat died in the 80s too!

My first Blocked Member of Steam too, such a shame to miss out on such golden insights of a Troll.

You know right? Never argue with them, they will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

The fact is there no arguing only an account(Deranger) trying to hide Developers words and hopefully will be banned for trying to hide developers interviews and lying about what Developers have said.

Lying in this way, with this interviews from Developers so clear about how A-life worked in older Stalker and how is not working in stalker 2, is only sad and a waste of time.

The article where are confirmed the problems of stalker 2 is in the link below, the article confirm how original A-life work is three posts above.

https://www.ign.com/articles/stalker-2-dev-gsc-game-world-explains-for-the-first-time-what-went-wrong-with-a-life-20-and-why-it-was-removed-from-the-games-description-on-steam

No lies can hide Developers interviews and his attempt are really worrysome and maybe there is some hate from him to Developers, which is even more worrysome considered their country situation, which maybe is the reason behind his lies.

[Warp'Ean the Thirty-seventh]

World in Cyberpunk 2077 is not interesting at all. I had no wish to return to game after completing main story. Empty alive city.

But S.T.A.L.K.E.R. world is magic for exploring. Every time something interesting in this dead world.

[CadaveR]

Origineel geplaatst door Warp'Ean the Thirty-seventh:

World in Cyberpunk 2077 is not interesting at all. I had no wish to return to game after completing main story. Empty alive city.

But S.T.A.L.K.E.R. world is magic for exploring. Every time something interesting in this dead world.

I love cyberpunk but yes, the whole point are the stories the game want you to live, going around doing "nothin" but exploring is fun until boredom happen.

[DyD&Marina]

Origineel geplaatst door Warp'Ean the Thirty-seventh:

World in Cyberpunk 2077 is not interesting at all. I had no wish to return to game after completing main story. Empty alive city.

But S.T.A.L.K.E.R. world is magic for exploring. Every time something interesting in this dead world.

At the very start maybe, but stalker 2 have a problem of balance actually on how items dropping/are placed, there is no reason to explore after the first 2-3 zone you explore thanks to main quests, you will have too much resources, ammo and even money.

Cyberpunk 2077 thanks to the "diablo like" system of weapons give for more time reason to explore.

I'm near to explore the fourth zone and i have thousand of ammo, hundred of food and game throw to me dozens of weapons and enough armors i never needed to repair any armor and i repaired i single weapon only because i don't want to change it, all of this at Veteran, which after the patch is alot easier.

Developers should fix the progression of weapons and armor which is too quick and reduce resources around the map, to give for more time a reason to explore.

[CadaveR]

Origineel geplaatst door Squid:

Origineel geplaatst door CadaveR:

Old games maps were a lot, lot smaller. enemies and creatures spawned too with that system, but given the tiny distance from the edges you wouldn't notice that. Try to apply the same system with the open world of s2 and wait for your cpu to crumble.

enemies didn't really spawn in, offline went online by either the player entering the map, cordon to garbage or by the NPCs sent to the players map via the A-life director. this is why it was possible to clear the map of mutants and we wouldn't see another mutants till the next active map or kill all NPCs and only see new ones arriving via the entrances. the only spawning was to repopulate NPC pools.

To be hones it was very basic in SoC, CS fleshed out it more. A big problem here is the size of the zone. I'm curious to see how they'll manage that.

[DyD&Marina]

Origineel geplaatst door CadaveR:

Origineel geplaatst door Squid:

enemies didn't really spawn in, offline went online by either the player entering the map, cordon to garbage or by the NPCs sent to the players map via the A-life director. this is why it was possible to clear the map of mutants and we wouldn't see another mutants till the next active map or kill all NPCs and only see new ones arriving via the entrances. the only spawning was to repopulate NPC pools.

To be hones it was very basic in SoC, CS fleshed out it more. A big problem here is the size of the zone. I'm curious to see how they'll manage that.

Another attempt to hide the true and saying Developers are lying, this how A-life worked in Shadow of Chernobyl.

"More interestingly, the whole system is universal and applies to all combat in the game. Guided by the A-life system, NPCs live their daily lives: monsters roam the zone in search of food; stalkers go around collecting artifacts, fighting enemies, doing their daily jobs; camps and army posts go through their routine lives with members patrolling or sitting at the campfire playing songs on the guitar."

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/stalker-shadow-of-chernobyl-updated-qanda-anomalies-and-artifacts/1100-6167562/

Really trying to attack the Developers in this way, attempting to saying they are lying, only for a "political" hate.

[Keitzy]

Origineel geplaatst door Arctic™:

Origineel geplaatst door Squid:

just got back on SoC RadioPhobia mod and damn it's so much better than this, i see NPCs walking to and throw objectives and felt apart of something, even the story of SoC has the player as an unimportant rookie at the start, this does later change but Stalker 2 the player becomes the hero as soon as they step foot on the zone, and also things like bloodsuckers are like the Brotherhood of Steel from Fallout 4, essentially signalling that its a game based on that particular franchise constantly using them lazily.

honestly i'd recommend returning to the older franchise, anomalies are a real danger, meds are a prised possession as well as most gear, the grind just feels hands down better.

Eactly man, I got back to GAMMA, especially since new update change so much for the better.

I don't need Stalker 2 to be so complex but FFS! Game is jsut empty. In GAMMA, I accept task to eliminate mutant nest from a random stalker passing by and then it completes on its own because other NPC was passing by the nest and slaughtered them. Or going to places finding loot, S2 = vodka/bread/sausage/beer/etc. over and over and over again ... in GAMMA I am finding tools, gear, weapon mods, etc. ... simply I enjoy the exploration because it is rewarding :D

Yep spot on. Even better with taskboard mod too, you can open PDA and select tasks to do.
especially getting butcher missions and the mutants fight each other or someone passing by and don'tr even need to the quest, just hand back in to Butcher. plus roaming bandits that run into Duty or Loners, especially when you've got Spring Cleaning.
Plus npcs will push to places you just cleaned out. There is always something happening in GAMMA. Plus, tasks, you can always get tasks to do and you can fix your weapons by stripping weapons for better parts and replaces the ones in them. You can buy a portable workbench and craft and fix your weapons and kits in the middle of the zone. Companions, so good.
I keep coming back here to see if any one has got anything close to GAMMA in S2 but its a pipe dream

[Squid]

Origineel geplaatst door Deranger:

Origineel geplaatst door DyD&Marina:

Like i said is normal younger players not understand how original Stalker working.

Actually Stalker 2 not have simulation of Npc and no persistent npc, so is working on random spawn encounter like a ubisoft/bethesda game.

This is a how the game work, by admission of developers itself confirmed the actual A-life was radically reduced for performance problem and is even bugged, your denial will not change the thing.

Yes, one element is shared in spawn system, and A-Life 2.0 will be less noticeable than many seem to think (unless you do some serious testing upon inclusion like following one NPC, which the speed runners finding all the issues on game will NOT be doing).

But that is it in this comparison in the context of our conversation.

Similar spawn system =/= comparable games in the context we are discussing. And please, you said this bears no resemblance to the original trilogy (A-life not being anything like each other between OG games, and not even mentioned in SoC which this is more a successor to). I respect your conversation but some is overblown such as that part. So being lazy I could say you do not understand how the original Stalker worked.

What am I denying exactly? We know there is no proper A-life in game at present and people either point to the Encounter system (non persistent), events from POI/Quest (non-persistent) and Settlements (NPCs very much persistent).

Again, game is not for Tik Tok style attention spans. Actually so much going on even with a limited system which does not make it like a Bethesda(story)/Ubitsoft(Action/pointless actions to keep you busy for sake of completion). Stalker 2 (and OG) is a patient person's game in context of what the game brings from day one to this very day; why do you think there are so many mechanics and Tips relating to this design choice.

because we can clear a camp and patiently wait all of 5 seconds for a group to spawn. but seriously just today i got back on SoC with a new save, rookie village, went to kill bandits. taking every measures to avoid getting shot as to avoid using my soul medkit. same with my ammo lining all shots up and kicking myself for missing. Stalker 2 isn't high stakes like it used to be. in stalker 2 running into an anomaly early game is just cause for frustration not for loss of health but time, stalker SoC running in to an anomaly early game means one less med kit which is something that actually matters. and the NPC inventory are actually interesting. bring back scarcity.

[lockwoodx]

The jump bug that randomly spawns weapons into your inventory also spawns baddies. Actually had it save me once when I was being chased by annoying psi dogs and 3 snorks spawned out of thin air but decided to engage each other and ignore me.

oh and a-life feels back on, it's just the game is programmed super shallow relying on engine suite features with highly predicable behavior. It can be fleshed out but will take manpower and it's the holidays so I don't expect much until spring.

[DyD&Marina]

Origineel geplaatst door Squid:

because we can clear a camp and patiently wait all of 5 seconds for a group to spawn. but seriously just today i got back on SoC with a new save, rookie village, went to kill bandits. taking every measures to avoid getting shot as to avoid using my soul medkit. same with my ammo lining all shots up and kicking myself for missing. Stalker 2 isn't high stakes like it used to be. in stalker 2 running into an anomaly early game is just cause for frustration not for loss of health but time, stalker SoC running in to an anomaly early game means one less med kit which is something that actually matters. and the NPC inventory are actually interesting. bring back scarcity.

Many people here never played Shadow of chernobyl, not known how A-life worked, or how was more strictly balanced, making you want to explore with caution to avoid getting hit and waste medikit and bandage or even ammo.

In stalker 2 i have over 100 bandage and 100 medikit and i litterally use bandage for healing because the game throw dozen to me.

This game need really to be more in line with original Stalker and reduce basically everything, too much things around to the point, exploring is not needed.

[God Module]

Origineel geplaatst door Deranger:

Origineel geplaatst door DyD&Marina:

Not really Developers confirmed it, A-life create a different type of open world which made the original Stalker famous.

Actually Developers confirmed A-life is not working in stalker 2, so stalker 2 is missing the characteristic open world of a true Stalker game.

Considered stalker 2 is missing the entire open world of a true Stalker game, can't be called stalker, is a ubisoft/bethesda style game with random spawned encounter spawn from air(confirmed by developers) with Stalker name sticked on it.

Yet you are wrong since SoC had a very rudimentary system set in small maps, not the A-life of CS or CoP. Not the A-life of mods. Not the A-life of Total Overhauls.

The world can see you don't really know SoC or Stalker series or its history and gameplay. Saying A-life made SoC (Stalker) is both untrue and based on a lie.

We all know A-life 2.0 has been a setback, but what exists without it is generally a decent enough alternative for now.

Tell me you didn't play the originals without saying you didn't play the originals

Imagine downplaying SoCs revolutionary AI just to defend Stalker 2s garbage Ubisoft tier spawn system lol

[lockwoodx]

Origineel geplaatst door DyD&Marina:

In stalker 2 i have over 100 bandage and 100 medikit and i litterally use bandage for healing because the game throw dozen to me.

Medical supplies are the primary source of currency generation. You're not suppose to hoard them.

[Upiór]

Origineel geplaatst door Arctic™:

I see a lot of takes in here, stuff like:
Game bad! vs game good!
Less or more broken than CP2077
Performence issues exist vs. Don't exist
Etc., etc., etc.

Main gripe: I can get over a lot, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ performance, broken AI and 1995 spawn system, very basic game mechanics and repetitive useless loot(1000th vodka, yaaay!) .... But Jesus Christ almighty! I can't take any extra minute of being forced to run through this empty map devoid of anything really interresting, incl. any resemblence of life, and I have explored almost all of it sprinting juiced on energy drinks ;)

Extra take: CP2077 had issues, I should know, had it pre-ordered and played day 1, but the world was alive and immersive, even if it was just some basic repetitive fake AI. Here, it's "enemy spawn behind you for 1000th time, just ignore and run away!"

To finalize this: For ppl out there saying "StAlKeR iS pOstApo Gaiiiiim! hAs to biiii EmPty!" ... No it's not ... there is normal world behind the wall and trading between mainland and zone works, devs were just lazy is all. Best visible when comparing game world of base Stalker 1:SoC vs. Stalker 2:HoC

1: SoC is way better. Just i feel like 2:HoC its just early access in 1.0v

[DyD&Marina]

Origineel geplaatst door LockwoodX:

Origineel geplaatst door DyD&Marina:

In stalker 2 i have over 100 bandage and 100 medikit and i litterally use bandage for healing because the game throw dozen to me.

Medical supplies are the primary source of currency generation. You're not suppose to hoard them.

I have over 70k and game throwed to me so many weapons and armor i never needed to repair them except one i'm keeping because i like it, i not have any reason to sell them.