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

[anvi]

Ban reddit

 

[Zarniwoop]

The fuck is Alife?

https://web.archive.org/web/20080228032107/https://aigamedev.com/interviews/stalker-alife

I'm not sure why they claim it's implemented in the build we are playing but that bugs are hampering it. It's clear while traversing the world space it's not functioning that way in the slightest. It'd be an easier answer to swallow that it wasn't at a workable stage yet, and that they opted to switch in random close-proximity spawns that are transient as a bandage. Game has a solid core but it's held down by how undercooked the systems are overall. To play at this point you may as well only follow MQ mission string and hope it doesn't break.

Meh, sounds like the first game then. It was pretty much unplayable when it launched.

 

[randir14]

I'm starting to think that using the higher end gear is pointless without any kind of upgrades. Anything that isn't a Ak74U and a PMM is just made out of glass that will lose 20% of its condition just to shoot a handful of bandits. To make things worse, I've only just realized that all gear takes passive damage from anomalies.

I was wondering why upgrades had both "reduces wear and tear" and "reduces wear and tear from external sources". I guess the latter is the anomaly damage.

 

[Gerrard]

I'm starting to think that using the higher end gear is pointless without any kind of upgrades. Anything that isn't a Ak74U and a PMM is just made out of glass that will lose 20% of its condition just to shoot a handful of bandits. To make things worse, I've only just realized that all gear takes passive damage from anomalies.

I was wondering why upgrades had both "reduces wear and tear" and "reduces wear and tear from external sources". I guess the latter is the anomaly damage.

Using melee with guns also damages them.

 

[Lyre Mors]

The game wasn't ready, and the fact they pushed it out the door knowing that full well was slimy. As much as I despise early access, if they felt the need to do so, that's probably the route they should have taken. I'm someone who played the first STALKER day one, and seeing all the people saying "oh, I see you're new to STALKER. You didn't expect it to be broken? Ha! Let me tell you about the good old days!" is incredibly annoying, not only because they probably didn't play the first game day one and broken as fuck like I did, but also because defending a game that's been in development this long with "lol, it's stalker" is incredibly foolish. I wouldn't care if it was simply buggy, but having core features that aren't functional is unacceptable for a full priced game.

Some of the hyperbole in this thread is silly, and even in its current state it's still a better FPS than the vast majority that are released, but I'm certainly not a satisfied customer. I'll be waiting until it's either patched up or modded into the proper state before I play it more. It's taking a lot of will power to not launch it, but I know there's a better experience waiting for me in the future, one way or another.

In the meantime, I'll probably be picking up Blood West again to somewhat satiate the craving that's been worked up inside me. Highly recommend people check it out if you haven't yet. I'm sure it'll be on sale in a couple days when the Steam fall sale starts.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The game wasn't ready, and the fact they pushed it out the door knowing that full well was slimy. As much as I despise early access, if they felt the need to do so, that's probably the route they should have taken. I'm someone who played the first STALKER day one, and seeing all the people saying "oh, I see you're new to STALKER. You didn't expect it to be broken? Ha! Let me tell you about the good old days!" is incredibly annoying, not only because they probably didn't play the first game day one and broken as fuck like I did, but also because defending a game that's been in development this long with "lol, it's stalker" is incredibly foolish. I wouldn't care if it was simply buggy, but having core features that aren't functional is unacceptable for a full priced game.

I have a preorder D1P SoC box on my shelf. I treated it like I treated this and many other games: I booted it to see how it runs, then when I felt it needed time, I shelved it until I felt it was where I wanted it. It's not great, but it is what it is. I don't do it with all games anymore like I used to (digital sales make that crazy talk), only when I want to support a dev or project.

The only time it grinds my gears is when it gets abandoned or just forever remains dog shit. My backlog probably exceeds my natural lifespan at this point, so whatever.

 

[Lyre Mors]

The only time it grinds my gears is when it gets abandoned or just forever remains dog shit. My backlog probably exceeds my natural lifespan at this point, so whatever.

Being passionate and caring about your hobby and releases you're excited about is a sign of good health. Yeah, we all have an endless backlog at this point, but it's more about looking forward to something new, and justifiably expecting it to function as it was advertised.

That being said, I don't regret my purchase (I got it on a pretty nice sale), as I know the game is at least a good foundation as a mod platform. I do have faith the issues that I have with the game will be resolved, particularly with the amount of criticism they're receiving for those specific things. It's absurd they released it in its current state, but they are showing a clear investment in the community regardless. I'm annoyed, but I'll check back in a few months and probably have a great time.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

I have a preorder D1P SoC box on my shelf. I treated it like I treated this and many other games: I booted it to see how it runs, then when I felt it needed time, I shelved it until I felt it was where I wanted it. It's not great, but it is what it is. I don't do it with all games anymore like I used to (digital sales make that crazy talk), only when I want to support a dev or project.

i have a super mega maxi deluxe metal box of wonders edition which has pretty much everything related to the game they could fit inside, barring an ak-47, bought by the time clear sky had been out for a while. i own a full game, working, feature full, paid on my terms, for a price i deemed right relative to its quality.
i still apply this behaviour and it hasn't failed me ever. only problem: last time i bought anything like that, witcher 3.

 

[Gerrard]

The game wasn't ready, and the fact they pushed it out the door knowing that full well was slimy. As much as I despise early access, if they felt the need to do so, that's probably the route they should have taken.

They couldn't release it in early access and also on Xbox pass at the same time.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The game wasn't ready, and the fact they pushed it out the door knowing that full well was slimy. As much as I despise early access, if they felt the need to do so, that's probably the route they should have taken.

They couldn't release it in early access and also on Xbox pass at the same time.

Are you sure about that? I'm no expert on Game pass, but the times I've had a freebie trial code there were games I'm pretty sure that were EA elsewhere and were noted as previews or something on there. (Could've been demos though, like I say, not 100% sure either way.)

 

[Brickfrog]

I would bet that there were contractual obligations that prevented them from doing EA. If Microsoft paid to keep Stalker 2 off of ps4 then they damn sure wouldn't want steam to get an early release.

The more I play stalker 2 the more frustrated I get with it. The current version of the spawning system really does kind of ruin the simulation. Gonna put it down until the patches/mods get into full swing. I think I'll give EFP a try.

I'm looking forward to coming back to it though. There's a good game in here somewhere. Devs have promised modding tools and STALKER has an insane mod community so I still have confidence.

 

[Gerrard]

The spawns really get on the nerves after a while, there also seem to be some areas where the spawns are way more frequent. I had 3 groups of bandits and one Ward appear within 10 minutes of trying to get a stash in one PoI.

The game wasn't ready, and the fact they pushed it out the door knowing that full well was slimy. As much as I despise early access, if they felt the need to do so, that's probably the route they should have taken.

They couldn't release it in early access and also on Xbox pass at the same time.

Are you sure about that? I'm no expert on Game pass, but the times I've had a freebie trial code there were games I'm pretty sure that were EA elsewhere and were noted as previews or something on there. (Could've been demos though, like I say, not 100% sure either way.)

I'm not, I just assumed that MS doesn't release unfinished games as full products on the Xbox.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I would bet that there were contractual obligations that prevented them from doing EA. If Microsoft paid to keep Stalker 2 off of ps4 then they damn sure wouldn't want steam to get an early release.

The more I play stalker 2 the more frustrated I get with it. The current version of the spawning system really does kind of ruin the simulation. Gonna put it down until the patches/mods get into full swing. I think I'll give EFP a try.

I'm looking forward to coming back to it though. There's a good game in here somewhere. Devs have promised modding tools and STALKER has an insane mod community so I still have confidence.

The spawn thing is a big deal. The similar bug got patched out pretty quickly in Star Wars Outlaws. I think it took a bit longer in CP2077, but it was also a more severe version of the bug - much more similar in appearance to the S2 bug. SWO's version didn't impact me much and disappeared right away, but the CP77 one actually made me take a break for a bit until they sorted it out.

Similarly, I'm waiting for them to deal with it in S2 too. That's a game ruining experience, assuming it doesn't just happen in CoD "cinematic" areas with endlessly spawning reinforcements which is a shitty thing to put in this sort of game imo. They shouldn't have designed it that way in the first place.

 

[Brickfrog]

The spawns really get on the nerves after a while, there also seem to be some areas where the spawns are way more frequent. I had 3 groups of bandits and one Ward appear within 10 minutes of trying to get a stash in one PoI.

I found a building in "Central Checkpoint" that will cause enemies to endlessly spawn immediately outside when you enter it. I thought this was super annoying but I was willing to put up with it. I'll grab the loot and leave. Lame, but whatever. The straw that broke the camels back for me was having npcs spawn 20 feet away from me at sphere as I was looting. Having shit spawn on top of you on some sort of timer is maybe the most annoying mechanic I've ever seen in a shooter/rpg/simulation/whateverthefuckthisis.

I think you're right about it happening in certain flagged areas. It doesn't seem to happen when I explore the zone.