GSC Game World, the developer behind the eagerly awaited *STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl*, has rolled out a substantial update, Patch 1.2, to address a whopping 1,700 issues and enhancements, with significant improvements to the A-Life 2.0 system. This latest patch touches every corner of the game, from balance and locations to quests, blockers, crashes, and performance, promising a smoother and more immersive experience for players.
Since its launch in November, *STALKER 2* has been met with a positive reception on Steam and achieved 1 million sales. This success is all the more remarkable given the challenging conditions faced by the Ukrainian studio following Russia's invasion in 2022. Despite its warm welcome, the game has been plagued by bugs, with the A-Life 2.0 system being a focal point of concern.
The original STALKER game introduced the A-Life system, which dynamically managed AI behavior throughout the game world, creating a lifelike simulation of the Zone. GSC Game World promised that A-Life 2.0 would elevate this to new heights, offering unprecedented emergent gameplay. However, upon release, players found that A-Life 2.0 fell short of expectations, leading to questions about its implementation.
In response to these issues, GSC Game World spoke to IGN about the shortcomings of A-Life 2.0 and committed to rectifying them. Patch 1.1 was a preliminary step in December, and Patch 1.2, now available, continues this effort. Below are the detailed patch notes for this update.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl Update 1.2 Patch Notes:
-----------------------------------------------------AI
- Fixed a bug with A-Life NPCs unable to properly approach corpses. Now they can pick up the best loot and weapons from them, and switch to more powerful weapons.
- Improved corpse looting behavior for NPCs.
- Fixed an issue where NPCs could loot body armor and helmets from corpses.
- Fixed an issue where NPCs could not loot the corpses of NPCs from another faction.
- NPC shooting accuracy reconfigured.
- Bullet dispersion accuracy reconfigured for all distances and all weapons.
- Added randomization of accurate shots in bullet sprays.
- Reduced wall penetration from certain NPC’s weapon bullets.
- Improved Stealth.
- Fixed an issue where after a melee attack, the NPC could end up behind the player.
- Adjusted the time of identification of the player character by NPCs.
- Fixed an issue where NPCs at Malachite location could notice players at a long distance and through objects.
- Improved mutant behavior in combat.
- Fixed an issue where AI wouldn't avoid obstacles and get stuck during scripted combat.
- Fixed an issue where jumping mutants could get stuck in the air in certain conditions.
- Fixed Controller ability not working through grate doors.
- Fixed mutants being unable to attack in certain positions.
- Fixed an issue where Chimera could jump through objects.
- Fixed issue where Chimera did not use jump attack.
- Fixed an issue where Deer summons could spawn in the player's field of view.
- Fixed an issue where Poltergeist could activate an anomaly and receive damage from it.
- Fixed an issue where mutants with ability to jump were running around the Player on elevated, unreachable surfaces.
- Fixed an issue where Pseudodog couldn't create summons when retreating.
- Added roar ability for Controller.
- Fixed an issue where A-life NPCs did not heal friendly wounded NPCs.
- Fixed an issue where A-life could spawn corpses near the player.
- Fixed an issue that could cause A-Life NPCs to have access to quest locations.
- Fixed the absence of some characters that could lead to a blocker during walkthrough of the main line.
- Fixed an issue where A-Life militaries could spawn endlessly near Rookie Village.
- Fixed the issue with a stuck guard NPC in the doorway at the Skadovsk location.
- Fixed issue where more rats spawned in the lair than there should have been.
- Fixed an issue where NPC may get stuck after loading saves made right after Emission ends.
- Fixed an issue where weapons grabbed by the Burer ability would disappear.
- Fixed an issue with NPC animations when walking upstairs with a gun in hand.
- Improved animations for some mutants.
- Fixed that player takes damage near the NPC that is going through zombification.
- Fixed an issue where NPC may be stuck in the doorway after emission and block player.
- Fixed an issue where shooting at mutant limbs could stretch them.
- Fixed use of NPC rifle stand position when standing with a pistol.
- Fixed an issue where NPCs could spawn in front of the player at the Sphere location.
- Fixed NPC's repeatable cover animations.
- Fixed an issue where NPCs would stop in doorways on Rostok.
- Fixed NPC's walking animation during stand in combat.
- Fixed an issue where enemy NPCs did not react to flying bullets.
- Improved open world combat with Pseudogiant near Abandoned Science Campus at Prypiat.
- Fixed an issue where an NPC with a closed helmet could eat, smoke, and drink through the helmet.
- Fixed an issue where animations of death from an anomaly could be missing for some mutants.
- Fixed an issue where Lex Legend and his group could not return to the quest location after the end of Emission.
- Fixed a problem that made it difficult for rats to move in narrow places.
- Fixed an issue where Burer could snatch a quest weapon from the player's hands.
- Fixed an issue where NPC could start searching for an enemy after warning players to hide weapons.
- Reduced spawn rate for Bloodsuckers before the completion of the Behind Seven Seals mission.
- Fixed the issue when NPC can block a doorway in the Quiets camp after the combat.
- With additional 70+ issues fixed.
Balance
- Weird Water arch-artifact anti-radiation effect was reduced.
- Fixed issue when a grenade could deal damage to Burer when the shield was active.
- Now NPCs need fewer shots to kill Pseudodog summon.
- Increased frequency of Jump Attack for Blind Dog mutant.
- Rebalanced pistols and silencer attachments.
- Decreased spawn rate for NPCs in exoskeletons.
- Reconfigured the number of armor NPCs are wearing. Increased the chance of spawning low and mid-tier armor, while the chance for top-tier armor to spawn was reduced.
- Increased damage from radiation depending on accumulated rad-points.
- The chance of spawning NPCs with high-tier weaponry in early stages of the game was reduced.
- Added ability to trade with additional NPCs at Hubs.
- Economy tweaks for *A Job for the Barkeep* repeatable missions on Veteran difficulty.
- And a few more minor balance tweaks were made.
Optimization and Crashes
- Fixed FPS drops during boss fight with Faust.
- Fixed an issue with performance drop on closing PDA or Pause Menu.
- Slightly improved performance by disabling navigation mesh rebuild properties for multiple objects.
- Fixed memory leak related to item manipulation.
- Fixed over 100 EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION crashes and other errors, including some other minor memory leaks.
- Fixed input lag after enabling VSync with enabled FidelityFX Frame Interpolation.
- Added Framerate lock during the pause menu, main menu, and loading screens.
- And some other optimization tweaks.
Under the Hood
- Player's flashlight now casts shadows on objects.
- Fixed the issue where relationships with NPCs didn't change.
- Changed names of some ammo types.
- Fixed the issue where the title could unexpectedly freeze during dialogues.
- Fixed the issue where some quest logic couldn't start after the NPCs death.
- Improved transitions from cutscene to game.
- Fixed a generic issue where mission logic could break if Player gave an item to an NPC via dialogue option.
- Fixed the issue where the dialogue with NPC was closing after exit from the Trade/Upgrade.
- Fixed an issue where the Player was teleported outside the playable area.
- Added custom Aim Assist logic for invisible targets for all supported controllers.
- Fixed an issue where save backups could be missing after losing game saves.
- Fixed NPC's broken animations while smoking.
- Fixed an issue where NPC could teleport outside the playable area of the map.
- Fixed achievement to sneakily clear the lair.
- Fixed the issue where In Game saves become corrupted after deleting local saves and unsuccessful cloud saves sync.
- Polished PDA models look in low light areas.
- With over 100 other improvements implemented in both sections: Optimization & Crashes, and Under the Hood.
Story
Main Story Line
- Fixed an issue where Col. Korshunov and/or Cpt. Zotov could not spawn during the Wishful Thinking mission.
- Fixed a bug that caused the reputation with Sultan bandits or Shevchenko stalkers not to increase after completing the Three Captains mission.
- Fixed an issue that caused Scar NPC to be hostile to the player during the Visions of Truth mission.
- Fixed an issue that prevented players from a stealth walkthrough during the *Shock Therapy* mission due to being identified by NPCs instantly.
- Fixed an issue where the final dialogue with Gaffer could not start during the *On the Edge* mission.
- Fixed an issue where objective Kill Dalin remains active after Korshunov kills Dalin during the *Down Below* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Inductor could despawn if Skif goes too far from it during the *Hot on the Trail* mission.
- Fixed a bug that made the stage of killing monolithians non-optional during the *The Eternal Shining* mission.
- Fixed an issue where the player Character was able to jump down the pod chamber after taking the elevator during stage *Find Cartridge* with no possibility to take the elevator back up during the *Legends of the Zone* mission.
- Fixed an issue where the dialogue with Dr. Dalin and Col. Korshunov was looped during the Wishful Thinking mission.
- Fixed an issue where the player could not trade with Wreck during the *The Boundary* mission.
- Fixed an issue where the doors to STC Malachite could not open during the *A Minor Incident* mission.
- Fixed multiple issues that could cause NPCs to move during the dialogue with the player.
- Fixed an issue where Spark squad did not attack wardens during the *Visions of Truth* mission.
- Fixed an issue where objective Bring the Shah's PDA to Varan could be marked as completed after trading with Huron during the *King of the Hill* mission.
- Changed Chimera's behavior during the *Ad astra per aspera* mission, now it should retreat after losing a certain amount of HP.
- Fixed an issue where Ocheret ignored the battle between the player and Ocheret's squad.
- Fixed an issue where A-life NPCs could spawn in Claw during the *Dead Frequency* mission.
- Changed positions of Ward guards near the entrance to X18 lab during the Answers Come at a Price mission.
- Fixed an issue where the monolithians were not present outside the Enerhetyk Palace of Culture during the The Road to the Foundation mission.
- Fixed an issue where the stage "Discover the whereabouts of the escaped Wardens" of the *Shock Therapy* mission remained active after killing Beard.
- Fixed an issue where Player could lure Chimera into a peaceful zone and make it non-hostile during *The Road to the Foundation* mission.
- Fixed an issue where scientists constantly attack player during *Visions of Truth* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Noontiders would not become hostile if a friendly NPC was killed in front of them near the entrance of Noontide base during the Hot on the Trail mission.
- Fixed an issue where phantoms were spawned in front of the player during the *Eye of the Storm* mission.
- Fixed an issue with auto completing *Three Captains* mission right after taking it from Sonya Kalyna.
- Fixed an issue where Players couldn't finish *Shift Change* mission, if they didn't talk to Jumper at WPS after killing Hog's squad.
- Fixed an issue where Zakhar Babay and Akopyan could end up dead or missing with no ability to finish *Deceive the Deceiver* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Player was still able to ask Beard about missing wardens after killing them in *Shock Therapy* mission.
- Fixed an issue where *Just Like the Good Old Days* mission would not progress if the Player exited Shelter base via roof route.
- Fixed an issue where Strider disappeared instantly after completing *Dark Times* mission near Doctor's hut.
- Fixed an issue where *Find a way into Prypiat* objective would not finish if the Player reached Prypiat via shortcut during *The Boundary* mission.
- Fixed an issue with a missing encounter mission at a checkpoint near Icarus Camp.
- Fixed an issue where Hosha Mohyla could one-shot Player during *Answers Come at a Price* mission.
- Reduced amount of rats at Offloading Terminal during *The Road to the Foundation* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Rainy weather persisted through the rest of the game after completing *The Boundary* mission.
- Fixed an issue where several stashes, markers, and journal objectives were not completed/removed after completing *Budmo!* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Pomor could die during *The Poppy Field* mission.
- Fixed an issue where aggressive Strider was present near Doctor's house after a cutscene during *An Act of Mercy* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Warden guards near the fence had no reaction to Player sneaking right in front of them during *Answers Come at a Price* mission.
- Prevented issues where corpses with important quest items could get despawned during *Bullseye* and *Shift Change* missions.
- Fixed an issue where Strider was dead/missing at Ranger Station during the *Extreme Simplicity* mission.
- Fixed an issue where psi-effect applied on Player would not disappear after completing *A Light in the End of the Tunnel* mission.
- Fixed an issue where *Talk to Chornozem* objective failed from the start and picking up PDA from Chornozem's corpse wouldn't progress *Answers Come at a Price* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Dark would not help Player to fight the Pseudogiant which blocked progression in *Legends of the Zone* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Player was not able to interact with Shcherba during *In the Name of Science* mission.
- Fixed an issue where a cutscene with Scar at the Sawmill during *Back to the Slag Heap* mission would not start properly.
- Fixed an issue where Skif could die from bleeding effect after bossfight cutscene with Korshunov in *Down Below* mission.
- Fixed an issue where during the Strelok branch of *Down Below* mission journal entry in PDA would have Ward branch description instead.
- Fixed an issue where Player was unable to give Sultan his briefcase after killing ambushing stalkers too fast in *The Mysterious Case* mission.
- Fixed an issue where mercenary squads would not spawn on the way back from Faust's cell during *Just Like the Good Old Days* mission.
- Fixed an issue where optional journal objectives to fight off Ward/Spark remain active if one side dies due to emission during *Extreme Simplicity* mission.
- Fixed the issue of stuck Dr. Kryvenko during the *A Long Overdue Visit* mission.
- Removed the ability to use guide during the *The Boundary* mission while assault is going.
- Fixed the issue where Richter is absent or dead during the *To the Last Drop of Blood, A Minor Incident, The Boundary* missions.
- Fixed the issue where some phrases were missing during the *On the Edge* mission in the final dialogue.
- Fixed the issue where Dalin could be stuck at one place during the *Visions of Truth* mission.
- Fixed the issue where Objective “Return to Gaffer” is impossible to complete during the *On the Edge* mission.
- Fixed the issue with infinite reward from Gaffer during the *On the Edge* mission.
- Fixed the issue where NPCs were blocking the doorway during the *On the Edge* mission.
- Fixed the issue when Gaffer could exit the building and start fighting during the *On the Edge* mission.
- Fixed the issue where several Warlock NPCs could be present in the clubhouse during the *On the Edge* mission.
- Fixed the issue where some Monolithian NPCs weren't attacking the player during the *An Act of Mercy* mission.
- Fixed the issue where Dalin didn't inspect Ozerskiy`s body during the *Visions of Truth* mission.
- Fixed the logic of radio messages from Scar after the Bossfight with Faust.
- Fixed an issue where infinite psi-effect was applied to Player after completing *A Light in the End of the Tunnel* mission.
- Fixed an issue where monolith troops didn't spawn after activating substation during the *Happiness for Everyone* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Sgt. Metlov was missing in a place of Diode during the *Back to the Slag Heap* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Skipper's mercenaries squad didn't attack Player on returning Emitter to Lodochka during *Just Like the Good Old Days* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Scherba was missing at Dvupalov's office during emission in *In Search of Past Glory* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Player was unable to progress during *Dangerous Liaisons* mission if decoder was sold.
- Fixed an issue where Player was unable to interact with Dvupalov to give suppressor's blueprint during *In Search of Past Glory* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Player could get softlocked during the *Dangerous Liaisons* mission.
- Fixed an issue where mercenaries squad near Brain Scorcher spawned right in front of Player after accepting a collar collecting mission from Shcherba.
- Fixed an issue where Player was able to get stuck behind two NPCs in Zalissya's shelter during *A Race against Death* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Player was unable to start dialogue with Dvupalov or Scherba to return suppressor during *In Search of Past Glory* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Dr. Kaymanov and Strider could disappear during *An Act of Mercy* mission.
- Fixed an issue where the objective "Fight off the Monolith assault" was getting stuck during *The Boundary* mission.
- Fixed an issue where *A Big Score* and *Deceive the Deceiver* missions were able to start twice and have contradicting objectives.
- Fixed an issue where Prof. Lodochka was not interactable at toxic waste storage during the *Hot on the Trail* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Bandits were starting to fight at Slag Heap if Player escorted Zakhar Babay after emission in *Deceive the Deceiver* mission.
- Fixed an issue where *Take the instruments to Mykolayich* objective failed after talking to Gaffer in *On the Edge* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Ricochet died in Zalissya's house after the second monolith wave during *On the Edge* mission.
- Fixed an issue where the objective to complete the request without killing the Monolithians failed after hitting monolithians during *An Act of Mercy* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Monolith soldiers were able to spawn in front of Player during *Visions of Truth* mission.
- Fixed the issue where friendly NPCs could be stuck at one place during the *The Assault on the Duga* mission.
- Fixed that mercenary NPC were spawned in inaccessible areas during the *Legends of the Zone* mission.
- Fixed an issue where some zombies were able to get stuck in an idle state during bossfight with Scar.
- Improved AI behaviour of Korshunov during bossfight with him.
- Improved Korshunov's shield during the bossfight with him.
- Increased Korshunov's armor during bossfight.
- Tweaked Col. Korshunov health points during bossfight in *Down Below* mission.
- Improved Scar's aiming behaviour during bossfight with him.
- Fixed an issue where Strelok was able to dash outside the playable area of the arena, blocking bossfight with him during *The Eternal Shining* mission.
- Fixed an issue where Faust's clones could be transparent during a bossfight if the Object Details graphic option is set to low.
- Fixed an issue where the stage "Talk to Korshunov" could get stuck when player returns to Korshunov via elevator during the Visions of Truth mission.
- Fixed an issue where hunting could not progress after interacting with Borodulin while he is moving to the hunting spot.
- Fixed an issue where Strider could block the entrance to the warehouse during the Hot on the Trail mission.
- Fixed an issue where Scar could be missing at Rostok Depot during the Take the Emitter to Scar stage of Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
- Fixed an issue where the monolithians could not spawn when the player escaped X-5 lab during the In Search of Past Glory mission.
- Fixed an issue where Korshunov could get stuck during the bossfight.
- Overall, over 300+ quest issues were addressed within the Main Story.
