S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg mod

Hello, stalkers!

Time has passed us by once again. It's been exactly one year since S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg was fully released! I recently took some time to sort through my notes to put together this article.

Some may call this a WWII-style shooter that's begging for its own multiplayer iteration. Others may call this a bootleg Day of Defeat mod. I call it the first step on a long journey that's ahead of us.

While developing this mod, there were some things that were due to be included. Nothing major, like S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl did prior to its release, but some smaller bits that ultimately never made it into this mod. I did some digging around in my notes and I was able to find the following...

Oh, and the text that's been written in bold below are the parts that I've annotated around my original notes. Everything else, minus my final words on the subject, is what one would call my original "as-is" notes. I've tidied them up so they don't look like the ramblings of a mad man (though looks can be deceiving).

I don't recall seeing many modders release stuff like this, though that could easily be attributed to my recent visits to the Brain Scorcher. I still believe that this'd be an interesting read for anyone who's interested in cut content for games and mods in general. The contents of this article are not exhaustive.

CUT TRAILER MONOLOGUE:

**Was presumably going to be added to either the first trailer or second trailer for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg and be voiced by myself (though, I'm not a voice actor).
**Most likely, it was going to be added to the first trailer for this mod.

"Eisenkrieg. Iron war. These men have tools and motives behind using them. Each of them have had their lives put at stake to achieve the goals of their superiors, the goals of their nations and their people.

There are those who are successful in their mission, returning to be greeted by members of a proud and grateful nation. On the other hand, there are the many who have fallen in the line of duty.

Our flags, uniforms and weaponry may be different, but our methods will always remain the same. We have to take the lives of others while hoping that we are able to save countless more in the process.

Casualties. Those who are killed in action. They become statistics. It's a lot of weight to carry when in reality you're almost certainly going to become part of a statistic. One dead man is just as lost as the next.

For now, we aim to not burden our minds with the many questions we have. We've got a job to do. Blood must be spilled. It is our enemies' blood that we must spill. This is war. This is Eisenkrieg."

**This is probably one of the few sets of notes I've made about any of the trailers prior to filming and editing them.

CUT GAME MODES:

**Some game modes were due to be added in the form of addons that could be inserted into the mod. I've included everything on these below. There's no guarantee that these would be implemented, though it's not a 100% "no" from me given that I've really enjoyed making this mod.

Notes dated 02/05/2023:

- Could include game modes as an addon (not compatible with story mode; attempting to select this will default to the Axis Assaulter class once the player spawns into the game).
- Easter egg bodies will not be accessible.
- Only Dead City is accessible in these game modes (not compatible with the story mode).
- All game modes are to be self-inserted into the player's installation of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg.
- All game modes come in a single package along with the original configs folder and main menu screen of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg for players to revert any changes caused by these game modes. If a game mode is installed from this package (minus the original files for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg), then it will have the name of the game mode on the main menu screen (at the bottom of the screen).
- Saved games may not be compatible between game modes, and thus a new game is highly recommended when changing these. Players are prompted to overwrite their S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg install with the original configs folder and scripts folder OUTSIDE of the configs folder (to alter the main menu screen footer text after changing between game modes; both are detailed above), then insert the gamedata folder of a different game mode to prevent crashes from conflicting changes between game modes.

The cut game modes are as follows:

PANZERSCRECKS ONLY: Everyone has a Panzerschreck equipped. Ammo for it is very plentiful, has no weight and cannot be dropped (prevents lag). Player spawns with a lot of ammunition.

EXTREME FOG: Fog is even more thick and AI sight range has been dramatically reduced.

SNIPERS ONLY: Only sniper rifles will be equipped by the player and AI.

PISTOLS ONLY: Only pistols will be equipped by the player and AI.

SUBMACHINE GUNS ONLY: Only submachine guns will be equipped by the player and AI.

SHOTGUNS ONLY: Only shotguns will be equipped by the player and AI.

TACTICAL MODE: No sprinting. No radar. Weapons are highly prone to kill targets with a single shot.

ARCADE MODE: No sprinting. CS:GO style of movement. No aiming unless weapon is scoped. Player can move and jump higher. Jumping affects player's stamina.

GUN GAME: Player's weapon randomly changes every 15 seconds. Ongoing effect until the player dies.

GUN GAME ALPHA: Player's weapon randomly changes after every kill. Ongoing effect until the player dies.

HIGH NOON: Players and AI will only have access to the Model 10 (Smith & Wesson Model 10) revolver and the Model 1873 (Winchester Model 1873) lever-action rifle.

OLD SCHOOL MODE: Reminiscent of the iconic game mode from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Jumps and health of both players and AI will be higher, but weapon classes will remain.

VANILLA MODE: All damage values, ammo types and player immunity are changed to be more like the original three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.

Also, have the Vanilla Weapons Patch as an addon that introduces vanilla weapons back into S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg again, each with identical characteristics to those found in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Chernobyl.
**As of 20/07/2024, plans for this are on the drawing board, though they are yet to be implemented in this mod.
***No plans or notes were made about implementing the above game modes into the "Battle of Yanov" expansion, though I did think about possibly implementing them one day.

CUT "BATTLE OF YANOV" DLC SOUNDTRACK:

I also put all of the music I make for my mod preview videos here in this playlist: www.youtube.com

The music above appears to be unfinished. It was inspired partly by the combat music from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. I didn't implement the music above into the "Battle of Yanov" expansion for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg as I didn't feel that it would fit into the mod, though I have refrained from getting rid of it. I really don't like getting rid of any behind-the-scenes stuff and largely do my best to keep as much as I can.

FINAL WORDS:

My final words in this article, but NOT necessarily my final update on this mod. A lot of other notes on this mod can be found in the design documents that I had published a while ago.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg Design Document (dated 12/04/2023): www.moddb.com

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg Design Document (dated 02/05/2023): www.moddb.com

I'm currently in the process of working on other projects, though returning to Eisenkrieg is not out of the realm of possibility. Much bigger things will be viewable on the horizon one of these days. Much bigger things. However, while I know a lot about the Zone, I can't put everything here. You'll just have to trust me on some things. If you're bursting with questions, have any feedback or just want to say "hi", feel free to drop me a DM or get in touch via my socials.

With the recent announcement and release of the Guerrilla Weapons Pack for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Chernobyl (1.4.22) modification (more info on that here) and the recent launch of my Mod Bytes series over on my YouTube channel, we are set to see a bright modding future ahead of us.

For those who wish to stay updated on what I'm working on, I've left links down below to my YouTube channel and Twitter account. I have a lot of stuff planned over the coming months. These, along with here on ModDB, would be the best places to reach me.

- Modder's Playground YouTube: youtube.com/@moddersplayground

- Modder's Playground Twitter: twitter.com/ModdersPlaygro1

On that note, thank you all so much for stopping by. I'll be sure to see you all soon.

Much love, Jacob_MP.