[Release] S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg demo is now available! news

Greetings, stalkers!

Today is a very special day. June the 20th is now upon us, and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg demo is now available!

For those who haven't yet been brought up to speed, I've included the gameplay trailer below. To all of you who have been watching this space over the last two months, feel free to skip ahead. A few bits of info from my previous article on this mod (available here) have made their way into today's article, namely the info under "Some Extra Goodies", though I do feel that it'd be best to jog the memories of those who are itching to get themselves onto the battlefield.

As highlighted before, I do reiterate over some older info, though these headings below contain some new info for you to check out: "A New Demo", "A New Experience" and "The Upcoming Release".

A NEW DEMO:

The new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg demo has now been made available to give players a taste of what it is like to play this mod. With the full release being made available on the 20/07/2023, players may also find some value in downloading the demo for any extra goodies (detailed below), even if they plan on waiting until the full release to finally start playing. Nonetheless, the demo will remain available, along with any extra content, even after the full release as I want to keep S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg as accommodating as possible for you all.

The demo only makes use of a small selection of weapons in comparison to the full release, with a couple of surprises here and there. Also, no story elements have made it into the demo, so players won't have their experience spoiled if they wish to try out the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg demo for themselves.

Addon support will be available from the 20/07/2023, alongside the full release. However, there are no encrypted files in the demo (or the full release, for that matter), so players are free to tweak and edit their experience right out of the box or leave the files as is and continue playing (remember to back up your files before making any changes). On that topic, I'd love to hear what you lot get up to. Feel free to drop me a message or tag me in a post on any of my socials (linked at the bottom of this article) if you have anything to show me.

A NEW EXPERIENCE:

Only two classes, one from each side, are available in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg demo.

This class is the most versatile; the Assaulter class makes use of assault rifles and battle rifles, allowing players to take on their enemies from different ranges. All four classes will be made available for each side once the full release is upon us.

Still, players are also able to pick up weapons from their fallen comrades and enemies. Their selected class only influences which weapons players spawn with, so playing as an Assaulter unit using a pistol or sniper rifle wouldn't result in the player getting themselves riddled with lead.

Like the full release, the demo of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg also includes Casual Mode and Hardcore Mode. Casual Mode is on par with Novice difficulty from the original three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games while Hardcore Mode greatly reduces your damage resistance, making a quick death a lot more probable. The latter option will make you just as vulnerable to damage as your enemies, so don't be afraid of encountering bullet sponges in battle!

I've also decided to allow the player to play on either side of the conflict in the demo, too. I didn't want to limit players to playing under one side as I thought that it'd hinder their experience. I've also kept the optional Ironman Mode feature in the demo (inherited from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Chernobyl, available here), so players can still experience a true sense of mortality while they're waiting for the full release.

Playing in Ironman Mode will delete the player's saved games made with their chosen Ironman Mode character upon death. This does not affect other saved games (as long as Ironman Mode is disabled and said characters haven't already died). Ironman Mode also cannot be toggled on or off during gameplay, only via the character creation screen.

SOME EXTRA GOODIES:

This section borrows info from my previous article (available here), so you're free to skip ahead if you're already in the know about the extra stuff that I've included with the demo.

To show my many thanks to those who have downloaded the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg demo, I'll be including a few extra goodies to go along with it. This will include four S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg desktop wallpapers (compatible with 1280x720 and 1920x1080 resolutions), an exclusive skin pack for your weapons (compatible with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg demo and full release, also includes backups of the original textures), some additional development screenshots and a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg themed printable A4 journal that you can use to document your experiences on the battlefield! Now that I think of it, I haven't been able to pinpoint the location of any working printers here in the Zone...

The exclusive skin pack that comes with the demo also pays homage to one of my past mods, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Universal Golden Weapons. This mod, available here, allows players to give any of their in-game weapons a shiny golden texture. It's compatible with all three of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games and includes resources that allow users to make their own golden textures from the comfort of their own modding workspace!

All of this content will be available early for those who download the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg demo. Future downloads of the demo will still include all of the aforementioned goodies for those who simply want to take a peek into what cold and chilling fate awaits them on the battlefield.

THE UPCOMING RELEASE:

The full release will be made available, alongside its story mode, on the 20/07/2023. I've been plotting this for a while, so I'm sure it's going to be worth the wait!

On this date (and the days that follow), I'll also be releasing any design documents of this mod, where possible. These will be available via my ModDB profile, available here. Furthermore, I'd take great care upon reviewing these documents as they will most likely spoil your experience of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg if you were to take a look at them without playing the story first.

Closing this article, I'd like to thank you all for your support thus far. While S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg certainly isn't a massive mod and doesn't possess the depth of modifications like STALKERSOUP, Anomaly or MISERY, I do hope that the demo and the upcoming full release will bring you guys many hours of fun and excitement. For those that are eager for more, be mindful that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg is only the tip of the iceberg (excuse the pun) and is only the first chapter in the turn of events that are due to unfold in the future, so you're more than welcome to stick around for the ride.

Literally, there's so much to unpack here, it's unbelievable (and I don't mean the file size of the demo or the full release).

Before you go, I'd also like to clarify that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg requires S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Chernobyl (1.4.22) to run. This applies to both the demo and the full release. Be sure to take a look at this tutorial on how to install this here for the mod itself and here for its latest patch (patch 1.4.22) if you haven't already (credits to TeamEPIC). I've taken great care to include installation instructions in all of the mods that I've had the pleasure of making and releasing, so there should be an extremely low likelihood that any confusion may arise (of course, there's no shame in asking for help).

To finish off, I'd like to thank you so much for giving this article a read. I do hope I've answered any questions regarding the development, demo and upcoming full release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg. If not, feel free to get in touch!

For those who wish to stay updated on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Eisenkrieg, as well as my other works, I've left links down below to my YouTube channel and Twitter account. Feel free to stop by for a chat or ask me any questions that you guys may have.

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

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

Thank you all so much for stopping by. I'll be seeing you all once this mod is fully released!

Love you all, Jacob_MP.

Disclaimer: None of the stuff in this article or this mod is tied to GSC Game World or the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise in any way. This is just a fan-made modification made by one guy who has too much free time on his hands.