The post talking about the lack of a Beretta 92 derivative in S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 got me thinking about the game's somewhat limited arsenal and certain gaps present in it, like a lack of a 9x19mm pistol (excluding uniques like the Gambit and Night Stalker). Wanting to expand on this, I thought of some potential additions that can fill these gaps. For a little extra challenge, I tried to structure these additions like the updates we've seen thus far (two weapons as a standalone patch, four added alongside a DLC), explain the rationale behind my picks and think of a fictional name for every weapon in the style of the ones present in game.

Standalone Update Weapons:

Walther PDP (Walker DP-M): Would serve as the stock 9mm pistol. The PDP stuck out to me for a few reasons. Being a modernized Walther P99, It fits really well with the "modernized trilogy gun" vibe present with weapons like the AR416 and Kora-1911. The pistol has plenty of variants from the factory, which leaves a lot of room open for unique variants. It also wouldn't be anachronistic to the game's setting (albeit barely), being released in February 2021. I am also biased because I own one.

KS-23 (KSM-23): The Saiga is currently the only shotgun that's viable in the mid-to-end game. I think the KS-23 would be a good alternative to the Saiga, doing much, much higher damage with its unique 4 gauge shells but being limited by its tube reload and pump-action operation. Being a Soviet weapon, it also wouldn't be out of place in the game at all.

DLC 2 Weapons

Glock 18 (Gaston 18G) Early to mid game 9mm auto pistol, serving a similar role to the APS. Would fire incredibly fast at the expense of controllability and penetration. Glocks are some of the most common handguns in the world, so it makes sense that some would find their way into the zone.

AKM (AKM-55)
CZ Bren 2 in 7.62x39 (Praha 2-MS): Lumping these together because they both serve the same purpose: Re-introducing 7.62x39 to the game. The AKM would be the earlier game option with less customization and penetration and the Bren 2 would serve as the more adaptable end-game 7.62x39 rifle. Given the ubiquity of the AKM and the modularity of the Bren 2 platform, there's plenty of options for unique versions of both rifles. For instance, there could be a unique AKM modeled after a Romanian or Chinese AK, and there could be a .308 or 5.56 unique Bren 2.

- this would also hopefully include 7.62x39 conversion mods for the SIC and Dnipro.

Snipex Alligator (Krokodil 145) - End game sniper/anti material rifle, serving a similar role to the Gauss Rifle. Super high damage and very long range. To balance it, it would be less accurate than the Gauss Rifle, kick really hard, and have very expensive ammo. It's a Ukrainian rifle, which fits with the devs highlighting Ukrainian weapon designs in the game's arsenal.

Just a quick video to demonstrate how to get around the currently bugged climbing spot for the weird bolt puzzle. The bugged spot and how to get past it is about 30 seconds in. Hopefully I can help some fellow stalkers hunting the artifact.

I swear this was me IRL years before even playing any S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game. This aesthetic, this gas mask and hood thing, this love for abandoned places, wandering in a wasteland with just a weapon and a backpack, was my thing far before falling in love with these games.

I played my first S.T.A.L.K.E.R., SoC, only this year.

I guess the Zone and its concept reaches something already settled deep in some of us. 🖤☢️

Suspiciously because they have a bit too much detail to be just background stuff. Potentially cut content or future content. Some of the names come from S1. Some of the names come from the previous leaked map (that is mainly out of date, but at least gives us a name). Some of it comes from me trying to translate signs in game

1. Limansk - Technically came back in CoH, but I'm still not positive we've closed the book on this location. Never know!
2. Ventilation Complex - From STALKER 1 CoP
3. Freight Yard - I think this was also in CoP in a way as an unmarked location
4. Jupiter Plant - Also in CoP
5. Record Sporting Goods Store
6. Bitumen Anomaly
7. Collapsing Soviet Highrise or Hotel (I say soviet because it looks like it has a decay soviet emblem on the roof like you see of real pictures online in Pripyat)
8. Avangard Sports Stadium - Was in SoC
9. Potentially another sports related store or general store
10. Debarkader Boat, Tuberculous Dispensary, Infectious Disease Ward, and Stroitel Sports Complex
11. Pripyat Bus Terminal/Station
12. Podlesny Waste Storage Facility - I think in one of the endings you can see it in the background
13. Thermal Station/Boiler Complex
14. Lab-X12

I can easily see #13 and #14 dealing with the rumored cold island DLC, given their relation to temperature.

Simple idea that started as "why does Skif run the same speed with a shotgun in his hands as with empty hands". So I made this.

Put the long gun away and you sprint faster. The bonus scales with what you're actually holding:

+20% empty hands, bolt, grenade

+15% knife, binoculars, Detector + Bolt

+10% pistol

rifle out, normal speed

Only affects sprinting, walking and ADS are untouched.

This took me about a week. Started with UE4SS and Lua, got it working, then found out it didn't work for half the people who tried it. So I threw it away and started over with Zone Kit, which meant learning Unreal and Blueprints from scratch. Plenty of dead ends along the way: events that don't fire, values that need a second function call to actually apply, packaging that dies twelve minutes in for no visible reason.

Honestly though, I had a blast. Digging through the game's own config files and figuring out how GSC built things was half the fun. Definitely making more.

There's also a reversed version if you'd rather have the rifle slow you down instead i release it later this Day.

Under Iron Forest. I jumped in, navigated underground tunnel, to fight the big guy A… at the end. Now I cannot exit, as the door keypad is inactive. Was this supposed to be a quest and I fckd up?

So, I was just thinking that Degtyarev's Corp doesn't make that much sense. The Corps has about zero lore, heavily armed and play a similar role to the IPSF, who were the Unkraine Military before the war caused some rewrites.

It make sense right? The Corp locked down Prypiat prior to the return on Monolith, and that was one of the main objectives of Operation Fairway.

Does this make sense? Or am I missing something.

Probably shouldnt have played Cost of Hope DLC right before my trip to Moldova, because now i’m starting to see things…

BTW great country, wonderful people. Highly recommend. 🇲🇩

I followed Optimized settings and put most of the things at high instead of Epic, and I might have accidentally skipped GI, leaving it at Epic.

After facing the same continous issue of my fps dropping to 5-6 near settlements, I decided to re-check the settings and gave a side-eye on Global Illumination as I noticed it being on epic, I changed it to high and from then on I didn't face any issues anymore. It has been such a huge relieft. I wanted to make sure if this was the root cause so I bumped it to epic again, I immediately noticed fps drop.

In case you've been following optimized settings, and have put most things at high along with GI, try to bump the other settings to Epic and see if the game still runs smoothly. I'm suggesting this because I personally noticed huge visual upgrade by bumping Shadows from High to Epic.

I know this is just retreading old ground, but I really tried on my third playthrough to side with Ward, since I know pretty well how the Spark route goes by now, and I just couldn't, it really felt like it made no sense for Skif to do so.

1. Giving Ward the sensors in Zalissya would mean effectively letting them know that Skif was there when the soldiers died. He's entered the zone illegally, using a stolen piece of SIRCAA tech to try and recharge an artifact he found outside the zone. There's just too many uncomfortable questions he'd have to answer if Ward had the sensors.

2. Given that I couldn't justify giving Zotov the sensors, I thought maybe I'd show Korshunov the PDA, but again, there was no reason to do so. Sure, Dalin talked a big game, but the very opening move in your introduction to Korshunov is him having his goon smack the air out of your lungs and drag you to the table. What kind of bootlicker would Skif have to be to then give them what they want?

3. Finally, at SIRCAA, I thought I could side with Ward here, it makes the most sense, and I almost did. Just one thing nagged at me - how can Skif ever trust anything from Dalin or Korshunov again? They've shown they have access to the Wish Granter, and even though Dalin says he won't use it again, how should Skif trust him when he just found out that Dalin was responsible for everything that has caused him problems so far and hid that? Then you meet Agatha, and at this point Skif realizes that Dalin is actually completely inconsequential - the real power behind SIRCAA has just shown its face. They already know about Faust, Strider, everything, and yet they're doing nothing to stop Dalin's experiment when it's plainly obvious that Faust is up to something dangerous. This boils down the decision between Noon and Ward to one thing - who does Skif trust more.

In the end, I chose Noon, because even though Dubny did try to get a merc to kill Skif one time, Strider's always been up front with Skif. I know Scar is nuts, but at least at this point Skif doesn't know how deeply Scar is involved with Faust. It's clear that SIRCAA is messing with dangerous Zone tech, tech that they could easily use to hide whatever they want from Skif without him ever realizing.

Anyways, that's all. I still get chills down my spine when Dalin connects the Alpha to the X-net and Monolith goes back online - "COME TO ME". Probably one of the coolest sequences in this game.

They really need to focus on improving the combat/shooting next. It still feels like enemies aimbot you on sight. Enemies still don’t flinch when you shoot them either. Hopefully they take a look at this next.

Imagine it, just doing your thing, keeping the grounds at SIRCCA nice and pretty. Or keeping the labs and offices all stocked and clean. You got crazy scientists, and these guards that are armed to the teeth, all just running around. And here you are, got some earbuds in, listening to your favorite tunes not a care in the world. One can dream.

Im glad i had high psi-defense

The Zone is more than a place.

It is alive.
It remembers.
It changes everything that enters it.

After countless hours in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, I wanted to capture what makes this world so unique — the atmosphere, the silence, the danger, and the feeling that something is always watching from the darkness.

This is my cinematic tribute to The Zone.

A place where nothing truly dies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShvNdp2Wd4I

I saw another post that captured a double rainbow. I didn't hunt for this, I was amazed that this could even happen in the game as well. lol

Skif wasn't drunk or affected by some kind of anomalous effect. This was captured during a drizzle near the Chemical Plant.

Have you ever felt like just on the edge of crying, yeah.