STALKER NEWS - December 31st, 2021 (End-of-Year News!) - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

SFZ Project developers released a special episode themed around the New Year, called Lost Story. The mod is based on a winter setting, featuring a warmth/cold system and a new in-game location!

After the theft of a certain artifact—our protagonist, Prince, ends up finding himself in a place unknown to him; everything is covered in snow, with bone-chilling temperatures. Our protagonist has no other choice, but to adapt to his new environment and try to survive... and to remember his main goal — escape.

P.S. The lead developer says they will try to get the new episode translated to English soon! (Source)

- Happy New Year everyone! Another year of development is finally coming to an end, and finally we've completed all main development work. We carried out a full-on beta test, which told us the project was in working order and in an acceptable state, and that's if you take into account its sheer complexity and volume. BUT, it also revealed that some refining was still needed. However, this stage wouldn't take too long.

In other words, the development is almost at the 'home stretch'. But more specifically, here's our current roadmap for the project: 1. Fixing bugs found in the beta; 2. Another test run of the main plot; 3. The release of OLR 3.0.

All the best next year, stay in touch.

The BTTS devs have published their December newsletter (in English)! It contains a lot of info, videos and images on the mod and the progress that has been made on it, so go check it out! (Article)

An informative post on development progress, accompanied by new screenshots, has been published by the developer of the modification The Land of the Emerald Dawn!

The development of the storyline has been underway for the past few months. Original plans to fully complete the main story over the fall could not come to fruition for a number of reasons largely related to the developer. However, a fairly large part of the storyline has already been implemented. Whether it will be finished by the end of the year is another question, but the developer will try to do his best, despite his busy schedule in real life.

In parallel with the story, side content is being developed to bring the world outside the quests to life. CS-type stashes have been added in addition to the type of ones from CoP. Cyclic quests, stalker & mutant camps have also been implemented - all of this is currently either done or in an active development stage. Work continues on introducing new engine features. The final list will be revealed closer to the end of the development.

Practically all the locations are finished except for the last one. The game's UI is completely redesigned. The developer will do his best to have the mod released before April 2022. Whatever happens, work is still underway. (Source)

Well, friends, here comes the end of the year 2021. For some it was a success, for others not so much, but at any rate, we survived it, which is already a success in and of itself. So I congratulate you.

I wish you that in the new year, on all fronts of your life - personal, work, educational and creative - there is only good news and wins.

Let's move on to what we are here for: mods. For most of the year, we've been working on a story. In places it's not much different from our demo released at the end of 2019, but we managed to get to the stage of a fairly solid prototype, which has around 70% of the plot finished. On one hand, that's a lot less than I would have liked, but on the other hand, it's still a lot, at least for me. Engine edits are actively being implemented, which will optimize the mod and offer new features.

So the work plan for 2022 is to make the most of it before S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is released. There will be blood, sweat and tears, and I will have to possibly give up on some things, but it will be the home stretch. It wouldn't be nice to try your patience anymore.

There will be no trailer or any other kind of video this year, because I tried to put all my effort solely into working on the mod, so please forgive me. But I can share with you that mock medieval location. It's empty and not very well optimized (plus Skygod is on), so get ready to lower your settings. But maybe it will inspire someone to do something. Happy holidays to everyone, I hope to see you in the new year!

- Good day, friends! On the eve of the upcoming holidays, we want to wish you a Happy New Year and a Merry Christmas!

Over the past year, we've managed to achieve a ton in terms of New Project's development. A lot of important decisions were made this past year — we transitioned to the Gunslinger weapons pack, divided development into 3 stages, and divided the mod itself into 3 interrelated chapters. Over the past several years, the team has been hard at work with the in-game locations—which gets tiring with all the monotonous 3D work. However, this year we finally decided to break the ice— and begin populating locations, implementing the main storyline, side quests, and other activities. All developer efforts are now put into creating an interesting, quality storyline, which will be centered around the freedom of the player.

We love what we do and we hope that in future our project will bring you a lot of positive reactions and a thrilling experience.

Once again, happy upcoming holidays and a great day! As little New Year's present, we bring you some new screenshots from our reworked Cordon.

Thank you for all the support!

Sincerely yours,
EMS Team

Greetings!

Summing up the results of 2021, I would like to note that it was not easy for the project, but one of the most productive years for all the time of development. Brief theses:

- a lot of work has been done on the level design and 3D art component (new environment models, new mutant models);
- various improvements and fixes for engine and graphics systems (stability, support for modern technologies);
- various game innovations (new sound effects, new character voice acting, new animations);
- elaboration of the quest component (introduction of new mechanics for the joint completion of tasks);
- creation of tools to speed up the development process (Task Editor is a tool to simplify working with quest scripts, SDK with real-time lighting).

Unfortunately, recent years have marked a media "lull" for the project, but the current status of the development pushed us to reconsider priorities, and we decided to become more open to dialogue with the community. The team felt that a good starting point would be a new development report, which is currently being handled by some developers.

This year we took part in the event "AP-PRO Showcase 2021", which was held by the portal "ap-pro.ru " in honor of his 12th birthday. A video was prepared for this event, in which our team tried to show some of the aspects and innovations of the project. In addition, the video was the announcement of the second development diaries.

In the report, we will talk about the current state of Ray of Hope, highlight in detail most of the changes that have occurred in the project since the release of the first "development diaries", share some future plans and try to answer the most exciting questions from the community.
The release date of the second Ray of Hope development report is January 2022.

In conclusion, the development team wishes you all a Happy New Year! We wish you more decent game releases next year, fewer unjustified release delays and a good FPS.

See you soon in the second development report!

Sincerely yours,
Ray of Hope Team

On behalf of the OGSR community admin, Happy New Year to everyone!

I think now is the time to announce the OGSR Gunslinger update which will definitely come out in the New Year. On this occasion, I recorded a video demonstrating the main innovations that have already been made in this version.

Yes, the video is bad quality, with lags, bugs and quiet sound, but it is in the process, the final quality does not match, a lot will still be improved and redone. At the moment, I don't have time to cut a beautiful trailer.

I wish you all the best in the New Year, good mood and health!

OP-2.2 will have a search box in the stash UI as a new quality-of-life feature! This is a feature that will come in handy, considering how much the player has to interact with their stashes during gameplay.

Additionally, item icons in stashes can now be turned on for each backpack separately—meaning icons will be displayed only in stashes where the feature is turned on by the player—which makes it all the more comfortable to use. A more clearer look into the new stash system can be seen in the screenshots posted below. OP-2.2's release date is still unknown as of yet, but the project is in its very final stages of completion. (Source)

Friends!

Today is a big day. With pleasure, pride, and little sadness, we want to report that ARG (Alternate Reality Game), which we worked on for so long, is finally come to its end.

A year and a half of work constructing ciphers, audio and video recordings, pages in social networks, and entire sites with a double bottom. Thousands of lines of text and code, scribbled tables in Miro, maps and various parcels, schemes of relationships between multiple characters, and many more things.

Besides, about characters: we've assumed a certain role for ourselves. We couldn't announce that ARG is our official activity without spoiling the atmosphere of mystery and authenticity. But now, in the end, we can confess and reward the winners.

The final series of riddles and ciphers led «decoders» to the documents about events in the Zone and unique concept-arts that we want to share with all the stalkers!
Stalker2.com

But ARG wouldn't be it without a cipher inside of a cipher in the cipher. And the first ones who succeed to the «true ending» are:

1. Kaleb
2. Chiki
3. HappyNewHa1ber
4. Merrymaniac
5. Odnakko

The winners will get S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl Retail Ultimate Edition and some commemorative prizes inside and outside the game.

This story was created alongside you. We want to express gratitude to all who worried about Veniamins fate, helped SIRCAA or Problesk, worked on both sides, looked for media seeds in our posts, decrypted them, or just watched what was happening from the side.

It was unforgettable!

To the Project Manager
Professor █████
from the Head of the Security Service of the Complex ███
███

Explanatory note about the unpredictable situation in the complex

On July of this year in the complex No. ███ there was a critical failure of the power supply system during the project, which led to the evacuation of personnel and the loss of test specimens in the number of individuals.

According to the report of the lead researcher ███: "The incident occurred during routine experiments to regulate mechanisms of epigenetic repression-activation of hypertrophic neocortex processes and increase neuroplasticity of test subjects through exposure to alpha-psy waves, according to Protocol No. ███.

Due to unforeseen and previously unrecorded properties of the subjects, the psi emitter device of Model No. ███ encountered resistance on their part, which resulted in overloading of the complex power supply system and a series of short circuits".

Unfortunately, the flaws in the backup power system had an effect in weakening the protection of the test subjects' cells, which caused panic among the laboratory personnel. It was decided to evacuate the number of employees and further special measures to resolve the problem, but by the time the SB response team arrived, no prisoners could be found inside the complex.

All necessary work to trace the lost test subjects, as well as to identify and prosecute those responsible is already underway and under personal responsibility.

Date: ███
Signature:

Operational Report of the MIA Force Operation on the Occurrence of an Unclassified Potentially Dangerous Natural Phenomenon on the Territory of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

On September 16, 2006 following numerous confirmed losses of personnel of scientific, technical and security personnel of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, consecutive complete loss of communication on July 26, August 12 and 26 with the AFU brigades who performed the task of cordoning off the CZ3 territory, perimeter. No.4, No.6 respectively, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine approved the execution of the special operation, the plan of which was proposed during the unscheduled meeting of the representatives of the state security apparatus of Ukraine on August 28, 2006.
Under the leadership of the Northern Operational and Territorial

Command, the military reserve was formed on the basis of the 1st Independent Tank Brigade, 30th Independent Infantry Mechanized Brigade, 54th Independent Reconnaissance Battalion, and 72nd Independent Mechanized Brigade to ensure that the main objective of the operation was achieved by a sapper and tactical platoon, 2006. The command had a priority task to deliver the carrier of the special tactical experimental fuse (hereinafter the "charge") to the epicenter of the phenomenon (which according to preliminary reconnaissance was within 3 km from the 4th CNPP reactor) with the following activation of the explosive device, the full evacuation of personnel and the victims identified during the operation, with whom the communication was lost since June 10, 2006. The detonation of the charge was planned on the signal from the commanders of the structural subdivisions of the reserve to cross perimeter No. 4 in full strength, or in case of complete loss of communication with the personnel during the operation after activation of the charge.

On September 18, 2006, within 2 hours of crossing the perimeter at the Dityatki checkpoint at 9:00, the main operational force of the AFU reached the village of Zalesje without encountering any resistance. At 11:15 a.m., the main coordination headquarters of the operation received urgent news from Central.

…Geophysical Observatory about the "abnormally fast formation of the storm derecho" over the CNPP area. While informing the operational forces via radio communication, the radio broadcast was gradually filled with white noise until it was completely impossible to communicate at 11:21. It was immediately followed by a storm-like explosion of unclassified nature with a probable epicenter on the CNPP site, visually recorded at all checkpoints up to 40 km away. Communication with the operational forces inside the perimeter was resumed at 15:44.

Based on the data received from the operational forces personnel within a day of radio communication being re-established, the authorized coordination headquarters of the operation decided to acknowledge the failure of the operation on September 18, 2006 as a result of numerous losses of personnel and lack of information about the status of the charge and doubts about its location on the territory of the CEZ. Also, in order to further minimize losses of the personnel from the certified threats, the order of the Ministry of the Interior №2 dated 19.09.2006 prohibited the organization of evacuation of victims from the territory of the CEZ. A proposal was put forward to create a "Chernobyl Anomaly Zone" with a reinforced perimeter at a fixed distance from the Chernobyl NPP and the corresponding control-organizing state services in order to completely isolate the territory.

day of fetus development: 30

when preparing the fetus between the embryonic and fetal periods, its already possible to draw conclusions about the significant influence of psy-emission on the process of organo- and morphogenesis
the most notable change is deviations in the formation of the skull: a noticeable increase in size of the brain which is followed by the change of the jaw to the likes of predator types or primates. besides, the anatomy of the cervical part of the spine allows speculation about the conjoining of the cervical and thoracic parts in the process of following morphogenesis.

Also in terms of mutations that show interest there are tumors in the region of the right temporal lobe. according to the results of histological research, this protoorgan is similar to the faceted eye, however it still differs in cell structure compared to the analogs of insects.

with the goal of detailed learning of the nature of phenotypic changes, samples of tissues have been sent to the laboratory complex Agroprom Research Institute for molecular analysis.

…we don't have enough raw data, we must continue experimental works

Suslov: By way of objection Doctor Kaymanov has words to say.

Kaymanov: We started to design synchrophasotron back in old times without an assignment and without knowing how to do so. You can't oppose scientific researchs and engineering works.

Saltykov: We don't have bases close to the continental part of the USA, but the task of early detection of an ICBM launch from the territory of the main enemy has been done by DUGA-1 since 1971, a prototype of OTH in Nikolaevo, and it's done succesfully

Ratmansky: Partly...

Saltykov: I'll continue. That's why I would set a task of suppression the launch rather than late response to it. Realization of such task for our country is vitally, extremely important. That's why, despite the lack of many raw data, we need to take the risk and create a prototype. I ask you to make every effort and provide resources to continue the work on the project near the CNPP.

Highlighted:

Circled: Kaymanov - HIM
Above 'Saltykov': Minister of Defense?
Below 'Ratmansky': State Acceptance of Production (Gospriyomka)?
To the left: DUGA?
At the bottom: Transcript of the Central Committee meetings on the construction of the 5I32(5N32) over-the-horizon focusing emitter

Ostapov K.C.: Our detachment was advancing along the set route, we have already fulfilled exactly one third of the set plan of measurements. The fog had been there since the morning, but as we approached the point the visibility decreased noticeably, to 10 meters at most. I was the second to go, and I could only hear the last soldier in the column by the sounds of the meters. And how could I not hear them, [deleted], if they started ticking like mad already on the third hour? Even back then they were beating out 180 X-rays, and we only wore raincoats and rubber boots, filters are long outdated, only Alekseev had a closed-cycle filter, and even that...

Morozov A.R.: Konstantin, we all understand, but let's get to the point. When was the first contact recorded?

Ostapov K.C.: As we approached the thicket at point 8/12D. At first the sergeant noticed ripples in the fog, it's like ripples over the asphalt in the heat. I had noticed them before, but thought it's because of lack of sleep. And when we approached at a distance of 15 meters, have already considered it, but… how glad that at least one photo has appeared, so would not risk even to describe it by myself - I would immediately be sent to the mental hospital in Pavlovka. In general, it is like a round aquarium or bubble such translucent, it hangs at 3-4 meters from the ground. But instead of water and fish there was something incomprehensible in it, as if it was compressed air with all kinds of small debris from the ground, and everything was rotating, trembling continuously inside and the air was rippling around. The squadron was given a stop command, then we spent 15 minutes trying to contact the center, but there was nothing but interference on our frequency. And on the rest of the frequencies too. That's when Alekseev decided to act heroically, and moved to this bubble to do his measurements… poor guy. I would have stopped him if he was my guy, but these academics are not under our subordination, well, the task of measuring everything unusual was his. And as soon as he approached the object, he was lifted off the ground, he began shouting and flailing the air with his hands and feet, but I did not let my guys to help. They wouldn't have made it in time anyway - after 5 seconds there was a loud pop, the bubble rolled away and he was shattered in a way that no landmine could have done. I think it was that clap, or maybe it was the shouting, that made those scums, those mutant bitches, come at us from the thickets.

Morozov A.R.: I'm begging you not to use terms you don't fully understand. It has already been confirmed that we call them unclassified representatives of fauna.

Ostapov K.C: Yes, yes...whatever you want to call it, but these unclassified representatives of yours looked as if the stew from our rations had grown four paws with hooks on the ends, and they had more eyes than any fauna I had ever met! I gave the command to fire on the first visual contact, but the shock and the fog cost us two soldiers.. Private Tereshchenko died before my eyes...

one of those things ripped his belly open, and they dragged Sergeant Prokopenko alive into the fog behind the trees... Maybe that great guy saved our lives with his heroism, may he rest in peace - 10 seconds after I lost sight of him, a grenade exploded from the other side. We'd already killed a couple dozen of them, and who knows how many more of them we had left had scattered into the thicket. We immediately regrouped, took Tereshchenko's body with us and headed for KIl #7. I decided to give up the task because...

Morozov A.R.: You made the right decision, this is not up for discussion. Let's take a break, and then our colleague from the █████ department will join us.

Highlighted:

Three question marks: Where is continuation?
At the bottom: Transcript of the interrogation of the commander of the Spike-3 reconnaissance group about personnel losses during Operation Perimeter.
Circled: 2006

To the Supervisory Board

REPORT CARD

The events of the Zenith operation can be viewed with absolute certainty as one of the greatest failures in the history of our mission. The entire responsibility for the losses during the Zenith operation lies solely with professor D.V. Dalin and his subordinates in the scientific wing of NIICHAZ.

As a consequence of their negligence to the responsibility entrusted to them during the Zenith operation, the Ward forces have almost completely repeated the collapse of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the operation of 2006. Disabling the Generators was a critical element in achieving our goal, but as a result we not only lost our armored and air reserve, but also shattered the trust of allied Perimeter Security Service and Duty forces.

I look forward to your decisions soon regarding an internal investigation and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

18.11.2013

REPORT CARD

Thanks to the consistent and strict adherence to the strategy created by our efforts, as well as the noteworthy professionalism of Colonel Korshunov, we were able to conclude the long-awaited D4 treaty. Under our auspices, a truce was concluded between the two most dangerous and numerous factions, Duty and Freedom. Moreover, a group of followers of the so-called Strider is now ready to assist our mission and has been reorganized into the "Noon" faction, aimed at operations to clean up particularly dangerous and contaminated areas. Guaranteeing their loyalty and subordination would be irresponsible on our part, but in the short term we have reached an agreement in the common interest.

I propose that we set a date for a face-to-face meeting to discuss our next steps regarding newfound "allies." a namely:

1. Logistics of equipment supply
2. Assignment of responsibility for control and collection of data
3. Planning of operation "Zenith"
4. Recruitment of field agents from among the illegals.
5. Personnel changes in formation "Ward".

1. In cases where surgical intervention or an experiment with pain irritation is expected, anesthesia should be performed before the specimen is tied to the machine.

2. The calculation of the anesthetic agent should be per kilogram of sample weight. The name of the substance and its amount must be recorded not only in the protocol of the experiment, but also in a special card No. 3-18.

3. During the experiment, when it turns out to be longer than originally planned, additional administration of anesthetics is mandatory.

4. During experiments involving the use of psi-radiation, with the exception of those aimed at establishing the maximum perception limits of Psi-A by samples, it is recommended to pre-administer the drug No. 11/4.

5. At the end of the acute experiment, if it ends with the death of the sample, the experimenter is obliged to kill the specimen before the anesthetic agent expires.

6. After the end of the surgical intervention, the specimen must be transferred to the postoperative protected room on a special stretcher that excludes the possibility of tissue displacement, sutures divergence, obtaining mobility, etc.

7. If the specimen may experience pain in the postoperative period, the experimenter should anticipate this possibility and prescribe analgesics or anxiolytics.

Secrets of Chernobyl is a newly released story mod based on the OGSR engine, with an added weapon pack, weather mod and a radio in some locations in the style of old mods. The author says the mod will take up to 4-5 hours to fully complete. The plot is about an experienced stalker named Dimitri, whose job is to find out the cause for the third great emission of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Together with the help of Sidorovich, he'll have to solve this mystery. (Source)

New screenshots of the Shadow of Chernobyl Redux graphical mod—which will release on the December 30th! This project not only intends to improve graphics, but also make gunplay and gameplay changes. Shadow of Chernobyl Redux is currently being developed on the OGSR engine.

Update: Author said it was postponed due to bugs. (Source)

Strelok's Group mod team released a fresh video for the prehistory of the plot, told by the famous character, Ghost. The video clears up Strelok's motivations for his repeated attempts to break through to the Zone's center.

Editor's note: the video might get English captions in the future. (Source)

Winter Tale is a newly released winter-based horror mod. Players are offered to experience the Zone's winter in a non-linear story with an eerie atmosphere, easter eggs, and unique freezing gameplay, with added survival and horror elements. Winter Tale takes place in a new and original location we've not seen before in other story mods! (Source)

The mod will be set in the autumn of 2012, two months after the events of Call of Pripyat. The protagonist of the mod goes to the Exclusion Zone in search of a healing artifact, it being the only way to cure his illness. New quests will be accompanying cut-scenes, new UIs, professional voice acting, and the mod feature modified old and new locations. The story takes into account the events of the original story. Other features include a new UI, updated graphics, a weapon pack, some new gameplay features and a unique soundtrack. The mod is expected to be released in February.

It should be noted that the developer of the mod has already released a small story mod called D.E.V.I.L.R.Y. and has also announced a project called Dark Times, which will be developed in parallel with D.E.V.I.L.R.Y. R.E.M.A.K.E. (Source)

Return to the Zone author announced a new story expansion called "Memory", which will take place across three different locations, with several hours of gameplay in mind. The creator hopes to release the story expansion before STALKER 2 comes out... in the meantime—you can go check out this small teaser he released, as well as a few screenshots:

The developers promise a new storyline, which is likely to be centered around a rare artifact. The story will be enhanced with cut-scenes, voiceovers and various quests. It may take about 15 hours to complete the entire storyline, additional quests and various other things.

The quests will take place on 6 game levels: the Perimeter (Cordon from the Builds), Garbage, the Abandoned Village, the Dark Valley, CNPP outskirts and a hidden location. Some of these maps are made entirely by the developers, and the already existing areas are said to be redesigned.

Other features announced include a redesigned UI, sounds and graphics. Special work has been done on lighting and weather, with an emphasis on photorealism and quality. Weapons have been given more complex and harsh recoil, which is accompanied by appropriate visual and sound effects. The mod's release is scheduled for the first half of 2022, and the readiness of the project is at around 50-60%. Additionally, it is worth noting that the mod is being developed by one of the developers of "Farthest Edge". (Source)

A new patch (1.6.1) has been released, contains some essential fixes and two small additions. The English translation was also released too, which doesn't have any compatibility problems so people can play with both languages without any problems (Spanish / English). (Patch and Translation)

This is a fan-made remake of a well-know mod, with not only improved graphics, but a more modern weapon pack as well; all of these you can see in the screenshots the author provided. One thing to note is the release date is still unknown. The original mod was released in 2013. (Source)

A new project from the developers of Catalyst: Complementation was revealed yesterday on the 30th of November - the date which marks exactly one year since the release of the first mod!

November, 2008. The Exclusion Zone has become a myriad source of wealth and state secrets. Interest in the Zone exploded like never before. Seeing its potential, one anonymous client contracts a group of stalkers—an experienced bunch who managed to prove themselves—to descend into the dark depths of the Zone with only an outdated map and a rough estimate of coordinates. One of the stalkers in this group goes by the handle of "Gray", a figure who is known for his rather quarrelsome nature and incredible luck. He will play the most important role in this journey...

The main highlights of this project are two new locations ("Blackwoods" and "Boundary" by Grez), a new plot with cutscenes and side quests, updated visuals and sound redesign, and character voice-overs, along with other smaller innovations. The project is planned for release in 2022. (Source)

Another Reality authors uploaded their new version of the video shown at the AP-PRO Showcase event, featuring the newly reworked and improved arena.

The 3 new modes are called "Quick battle", "Tournament", and "Team Tournament". (Source)

A new story addon, named "Book of the Dead", was released for the current version of Dead Air! The story is told on behalf of a writer named Levitsky, who ended up in the Zone to collect writing material for his own book. Over 100 story quests in total were added with custom-written dialogues—all of which will be displayed on the player's PDA. Additionally, many new gameplay features were added in, which made the game much more hardcore than its "vanilla" counterpart. The following features are: a magazine system, bone fractures, blood analyzer and more. The blood analyzer allows the player to detect diseases and discover new mutant abilities. (Source)