So, here we are. Its been 3+ VERY long years for me working on the TK mod but finally the final beta build of TK2.Zero: Singularity is almost here. Any final aspects to be done or tweaks that may need to be made will come in the form of a patch at a later date, but for all intents and purposes TK is now about 95% finished. The ensuing list is just everything I can remember regarding changes vs. vanilla Stalker: SoC.
Changes include:
- Entirely new weather system.
Perhaps not as seamless as other weather mods, but none the less very nice and fits well with what you would expect of a nuclear fallout disaster zone. (Just wait until you get to places like Yantar and Radar ;) )
- Realistic Sun positions & Moonlight.
Yep, each time of day is greeted with a realistic sun / moon position in the sky, and at night when the sky is clear or fairly clear, you will get moonlight.
- Enhanced X-Ray rendering & Shaders.
Through much pains, I have finely tuned engine paramaters for the VERY BEST visual experience from LOD, to foliage, bloom effects, Global Illumination and much more. Also included are Sky4ce shaders with customised settings to even further enhance visuals.
- Particles.
Particles in TK have also undergone somewhat of a overhaul to make things look as realistic as possible. I've also optimised particle effects where possible to cut down on "stall time" (ever blown up a lot of explosive barrels clustered together only to have the game seem like its crashed then resume? That shouldn't happen as muc anymore.)
- Helicopters.
These suckers don't show up often, but when they do be VERY cautios of them.. sometimes they will fly you by paying you no attention, other times they will let rip at you with a hail of rocket and gunfire.
- Enhanced textures.
Almost every texture in the game I have painstakingly hand edited to add extra details, and in other cases outright replaced the textures.
- High resolution foliage.
Sick of the nasty low resolution bushes and tree branches? I replaced them with high resolution versions. The results, as you would expect, looks great.
- Fully customisable true-to-life weapons.
As best I can, every weapon in Stalker has been rebalanced (accuracy, firepower, attachments, chamberable ammo, etc) to represent their real world counterparts.
- real gun names.
Does exactly what is says on the tin.
- Unique bullet ballistics.
Ammo in Stalker now has more of a purpose than simply "killing things". Namely, characteristics for each type of ammo has been adjusted. If you are having trouble taking a enemy down, switch ammo types. This also means AP ammo is just that, Armor Piercing. If a NPC starts shooting at you with these deadly metal shards, grab cover, and fast.
- New nightvisions.
The default green nightvision has been replaced with one thats far less straining on the eyes, but still realistic. The Monolith suit also has its own battery powered nightvision.
- Blowouts & PSI emissions.
Blowouts get more deadly the further into the game you get, PSI emissions.. I'll let you discover those for yourself ;)
- New ambient level musics.
I wanted to make TK as scary as possible, and this doesn't mean doing cheesy things like throwing hordes of mutants at you. Instead, I opted for new level musics on certain levels (Garbage and Dark Valley for example). Combined with advanced lighting techniques and the specifically designed weather system, things can get pretty intense.
- Highly advanced A.I.
A.I. in TK is truely diverse, and perhaps too smart for its own good employing flanking tactics, pincer movements, etc, when there is oppertunity to do so. Things don't end there either, NPCs will also "flush" you out by tossing grenades, and believe me, you DON'T want to be sitting next to a grenade when it goes off. The game will not sit by idle "waiting" for you to accomplish a given task either (for example, saving Nimble) if you don't get there in time, Nimble will die. You will also see certain factions of NPCs help eachother out from time to time (Duty and the Military for example) as well as the Military taking much more of a active role, especially in Cordon when you could see soldiers patrolling all the way from the base to the bridge.
- Simulated Stealth
Its said stealth in Stalker is impossible. While some mods have added a crude form of Stealth by messing with NPCs vision I've added what I call "Simulated Stealth", although it does a fine job of what real stealth in a game should be and it DOESN'T mess with NPCs vision. To enter stealth mode, just crouch down and approach your target from a blindside. Like real stealth, making noise (this includes switching weapons), bungling around with your flashlight on etc, are all indicators to giving yourself away. I'm not going to tell you how I've made such a elegent stealth system, thats for me to know ;)
- Deadly snipers.
Just don't get in their (very long, they have scoped weapons after all) line of sight, period. If you do, expect a couple swift and well placed shots to the head.
- Mutant food chain.
Sometimes you will see mutants fighting eachother and chowing down on their fallen foes - including YOU!
- Advanced "Rouge Stalkers".
A feature many of you love, so I improved it :) Now its possible to earn "trust and friendship" with neutral Stalkers. How? Give them medkits if they are wounded, and help them out in firefights. Kill enough of your common foe with that NPC involved, and he will turn "green" on you. :)
- "Low power" flashlight.
Its very atmospheric, you'll love it.
- Tough mutants.
Some mutants are extremely tough and conventional tactics will NOT work.
- Adjusted weapon scopes.
All rifle and sniper scopes have had their zoom values changed.
- NPCs can throw grenades and use medkits.
- Sleeping & dreaming
Go to sleep just to pass the time or to recover health, but beware of where you sleep!
- Sound overhaul.
You can't miss this one ;) some of the finer touches you are bound to notice is how rain fades in and out depending on if you go under a tree, enter a building, etc. Some things you won't be able to notice but are in effect is I have gone through every single sound giving it its very own audiable distance properties for much more realistic reactions from the AI.
- Effective silencers.
Silencers really do work. Put one on and you will notice the noise made by your gun is reduced. Just like real life having a silencer attached also effects the firepower of your gun. On the plus side, enemies can't all come homing in on your position as quickly.
- Headshots mean headshots.. usually.
Ever been using a high calibur weapon and been certain your shot was a headshot yet your foe still lives? That won't happen anymore. The only exceptions to this rule are heavily armored enemies and most mutants. Zombiefied Stalkers will go down in one shot to the head. A small example; You have a Fort12 pistol, nothing spectacular but it gets the job done. NPCs with light head protection will go down in 1 shot, but try using that pistol on a NPC geared up in heavy armor or a Exoskeleton? You will need to get them in the head multiple times to breach their head protection.
- Tough "Icon" NPCs.
I've given some NPCs their very own protection paramaters so they won't die very easily. Some of these NPCs include Fox, Wolf, and Bes.
- Traders have stock unique to them.
Each trader has items no other trader does, and each trader has specific items they will pay better than any other trader for (eg, Skinflint pays well for weapons). Be sure to check back with your stockist regularly as some new items become for sale at different points of the game as well as traders restocking on various ammo types they didn't have before.
- Campfires emit a proper lightsource.
Ever notice how campfires and the like don't emit any lightsource in the vanilla Stalker? TK addresses this issue so all possible lightsources emit light in a realistic manner.
Theres almost a endless list of other changes, but they will become apparent as you play the mod. Keep your eyes peeled!
As for when the beta will be available, I have a few things to test then I will upload it.
