Back to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – Summer 2023 Update news

Back to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Summer 2023 Update

The hot summer of 2023 turned out to be bright enough for the project. By tradition, we present to you a summer news report. Enjoy reading!

We continue to enhance and improve maps. This time, the following changes have been made:

Bar «Stalker» level received another addition - the Factory Area was globally expanded.

We have opened most of the rooms and buildings: garages, warehouses, workshops and offices. All of these places are filled with different equipment. During the storyline, the Player, together with a stalker-partner, arrives to the territory of the Factory and looks for mechanical parts. For now, this level is the largest in the project.

The Dark Valley level was filled with a lot of details. In particular, we completed the interior on the territory of the «Kristall complex», one of the main points of the map. The main part of the complex is filled with various technical equipment, while the other part is industrial. It has acquired a huge number of details: Soviet posters, machine tools, etc. The Dark Valley with its dark and gloomy appearance shows that a once stormy life and powerful presence of the proletariat were in full swing here. In our realities, this industrial area has become one of the largest bases of the «Monolith» group.

Finished the interior of X-18 (DarkLab). The laboratory received several new rooms, a ventilation system (through which you can bypass some anomalies and monster fights), as well as new content and updated lighting.

Reworked the geometry of the laboratory under Cordon (Escape) level. The sublocation itself was made from scratch. The player will get here by one of the story quests.

Pripyat is gradually changing. Various rooms are filled with details and props, and the streets of the city (which was mothballed in the past) are equipped with various items of the Soviet era. We are planning to make an "internal expansion" for this playable location. The plans are to transform residential buildings into full-fledged rooms with glass and interior, and not “boxes with stretched textures”. In some places, we will make detailed rooms with secrets and hiding places.

The old Dark Valley got a new look due to filling and detailing. This level is one large industrial zone: a pumping station, a factory warehouse, a construction site, a huge garbage pit with a dried-up pond, and much more. Among themselves, the stalkers call this territory the "Dead Valley", due to the huge number of hostile factions and mutants.

In the southern part of the map, we see the “administrative building”. One of the most terrible clans of the Chernobyl Zone made this their home - the group known as "Black Slugs". They enjoy a bad reputation due to the criminal past of many members of the group.

In the north, on the territory of the warehouse, one of the field bases of the Mercenaries is located here. They do not let strangers into their territory. Upon spotting a threat, they give them 15 seconds to vacate the area or they will be fired upon.

All levels of the project are generally refined: special light sources are placed to create more complex lighting, destructible props and breaking glass are placed, and on top of all that, texture unwrapping and geometry are corrected. Overall, levels look much more complete, all due to these changes.

Work on the storyline did not stop, and by the summer it was gaining momentum at a prodigious rate! At the moment, the first and most of the second acts are fully playable.

The complete passage of ready-made quests (Cordon - Yantar) so far takes about 5-6 hours of real time (secondary quests do not count). Overall, we rate the storyline at 65% complete.

Now the storyline is being tested by other members of the team. Testers note the high complexity of the environment, locations and the details themselves, and in general they positively evaluate the work done on the project.

New models of Kalashnikov pattern assault rifles and variations thereof have been added to the modification, namely: the Romanian PM md. 63, Hungarian AMD-63, Polish AK-74 Tantal. These assault rifles of a more specific variety have better characteristics than the original generic AKM or AK-74.

These models are a few of many unique examples of weapons found in the Zone. But due to the scarcity, the more rare examples will likely be presented in single copies.

A shortened version of the MP5 submachine gun. The main feature of this SMG is its size, thanks to which it can be placed in a pistol slot. The disadvantage of this submachine gun is the recoil and accuracy of fire, so it will be useful only at closer ranges.

The assault version of the OTs-14 «Groza ». The underbarrel grenade launcher was replaced by a vertical foregrip, which ensures better accuracy of fire and less recoil.

We have updated the animations for the OTs-14 «Groza», VSS Vintorez, and AS Val, and added missing animations for Kalashnikov rifles, other rifles, and shotguns.

We created our system for Stalker-Guiders.

Guiders won't be on all maps. Their services will not be cheap, but not so expensive as to not be accessible to the normal stalker. The variety of locations where the Guider can go with the Player will open as you progress through the storyline.

Ported the healing system from CoP (boosters). Now the effect of the first aid kit (and all other med-items) will work gradually, and not immediately after taking it. Most likely, we will add new medical drugs. For example, we have "psi-stabilizers" planned, which can temporarily reduce the effect of psi-radiation on the Marked One.

The development of dynamic weather cycles continues. At the moment, 4 cycles are ready:

1. Clear
2. Cloudy
3. Rainy
4. Thunder

All 4 weather cycles have several variations (as a result, 12 dynamic weather sections have been made). The weather itself is now divided into two versions: static and dynamic lightning . This was done for a more detailed setting of the weather on static lightning, since the parameters conflict with each other.

We update and improve the light sources on the game levels themselves. Basically, this refinement is made only for static lighting. Thanks to the competent setting of light and colors, the altered lighting of levels has become much more pleasing to the eye.

For now, that's all the news we have for you. You can support the project by subscribing to Boosty. People who supported the project will be among the first to get access to exclusive content and news!

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