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We've got to talk - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 downgrade
- Thread starter Kupfer
- Start date
ZehDon
Member
Does STALKER 2 have problems? Yeah, it absolutely does. Are players totally justified in saying "It's too broken for me"? They absolutely are. But this? This is a garbage inhumane opinion. I'm not trying to be funny, or rude, or even hyperbolic. You need to take a step back and recalibrate because you've lost sight of things.
Fess
Member
Are you using an unusual controller? It says on Steam that it has partly controller support, always a red flag, but I tried a bit on the living room PC using an Xbox Series X controller and saw no issues.
Jesb
Member
I game on GFN with a 8bitdo ultimate. It works flawlessly on every game pretty much.
Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
Let's be thankful that the game went on sale and it was not a project canceled by the war.
Some of the staff also died.
I would buy it if I had Xbox, I'll wait for the PS5 version or I'll build a powerful PC and enjoy it at 4K 60 fps
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hyperbertha
Member
It's a special system designed for those players who can't get A Life.
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Fess
Member
Hmm could be the controller or an Nvidia issue but I have GFN I’ll experiment a bit after breakfast.
Update:
Jesb
you’re right, on GFN it doesn’t even work with a standard wired 360 controller. I can see that it gets some input by pressing a stick, labels switch to A/B etc instead of F/Esc, but I can’t even get past the license-blah-blah page, needs a keyboard to reach the title screen.It’s likely Nvidia not playing well with that partly controller support red flag. Works through Steam in a native install.
Anyway I started the game with kbm. Super laggy and low fps. Switched to Medium gfx, restarted and tried again. Still barely playable. So streaming seems like a bad choice either way.
This is the old founders subscription. It could be better on higher tier subs I guess. But that’s just me being kind and not slamming something I don’t have any experience in. I sent in a report after quitting the session.
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Moses85
Member
Ukrain is a big country, they dont have their Office at or near the Frontline…
The Game was not completly developed in the Ukraine, this is promotional blabla.
Feel Like I'm On 42
Member
This is what is such bullshit (and the the A life system being seemingly not working). War or not don't blatantly false advertise.
Boss Mog
Member
They will have the war as an ironclad excuse and basically nobody will be able to blame them. I feel like the game will be getting praise based on that as well. We all know the modern game "journalists" all have a Ukrainian flag in their Twit... er BlueSky bios so it will likely get a free pass on its shortcomings.
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What an idiot.
Holy shit... there's no way you're this messed up in the head to not realise that everyone from Ukraine will be mentally and some physically, impacted by the war regardless if they were in it or not.
The amount of you Sony shit fanboys downplaying this like they were waking up to the smell of roses with petals falling down.
Fuck out of here.
cormack12
Gold Member
M1chl
Currently Gif and Meme Champion
In whatever state the game is, its still better than any Westoid slop which came out in recent years. Same with Cyberpunk, its was a mess, but the game itself, albeit downgraded had simply no competition. Same with this one. So you can cope however you want.
And for someone to say, that they were in safety of Prague, yes some where, some where in still in Ukraine, because they were fighting themselves (which was shown in one of the trailers), but even if we overlook this big thing, their families were still back home. Some members of the team had their families in cities like Mariopol, which is completely cut off from outside communication. So I can't imagine, the stress and what are/were they going through. Western devs are walking out, protesting and crying, when coffee machine is broken and here they actually did make the game in these gruelling times and somewhat its talked about that in such a nonchallant matter, like its not a huge achievement.
And last few days makes me think how much anti-CE Europe bias are there in media or if its not that, its platform warring, albeit both are probably related, given that MS deserves huge props for additional funding. They've been great partner even for us back when making first Kingdom Come, other big names don't touch Central/Eastern Europe with 10 foot pole (pun intended), although with names like 2K Czech, CD Projekt Red these times are slowly changing, however its still pretty much apparent, that we are in no way treated like those from the west.
Also they are clearly working on A-Life why there is a lot of talk about how its not even in game:
steamcommunity.com
And for someone to say, that they were in safety of Prague, yes some where, some where in still in Ukraine, because they were fighting themselves (which was shown in one of the trailers), but even if we overlook this big thing, their families were still back home. Some members of the team had their families in cities like Mariopol, which is completely cut off from outside communication. So I can't imagine, the stress and what are/were they going through. Western devs are walking out, protesting and crying, when coffee machine is broken and here they actually did make the game in these gruelling times and somewhat its talked about that in such a nonchallant matter, like its not a huge achievement.
And last few days makes me think how much anti-CE Europe bias are there in media or if its not that, its platform warring, albeit both are probably related, given that MS deserves huge props for additional funding. They've been great partner even for us back when making first Kingdom Come, other big names don't touch Central/Eastern Europe with 10 foot pole (pun intended), although with names like 2K Czech, CD Projekt Red these times are slowly changing, however its still pretty much apparent, that we are in no way treated like those from the west.
Also they are clearly working on A-Life why there is a lot of talk about how its not even in game:
Info regarding future patch :: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Events & Announcements
View full event information here: https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/1643320/announcements/detail/4455843903878203416
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Redneckerz
Those long posts don't cover that red neck boy
You know he aint addressing or taking responsibility for this take because that kind of take is banworthy and the risk of doubling down on it is too enticing.
More props should be given to the mere fact the game even made it to release.
BigLee74
Member
He doubled down by not even apologising before signing out of the thread. Embarrassing, and another for the ignore list.
Team Andromeda
Member
Spot on
Senua
Member
Fess
Member
I would say that game critics are more negative than regular players going by reviews. I assume review code was really bad and it’s not a woke-positive game so no free points from certain folks.
Most players are clearly enjoying their time with it, it’s sitting at mostly positive on Steam even with launch bugs and jank, and CCU numbers are good and people are returning to play more every day, peaked at 119k recently.
The good thing is that the dev has spoken about working on fixes. So things will only improve. And it’ll be out on Playstation 5 too soon so the warriors can put down the weapons as well.
Boss Mog
Member
So basically Xbox players are the beta testers while PS5 owners will get a more polished version of the game that will most likely include A-Life from the get go. I just don't get why they couldn't delay it further so it released in a more complete state? The war is a completely understandable reason, especially when you are actively fighting in it like many of the devs have been. Did MS force their hand? If so that would be pretty shitty. And frankly the image MS is creating with the release of incomplete games or games that were far from expectations is one that is really hurting the XBOX brand.
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M1chl
Currently Gif and Meme Champion
MS isn't publisher of the game, its just that type of 3rd party partner. Its self-published. I am assuming GSC chests aren't bottomless, so they had to release in some form. Also given how gaming community acted when Cyberpunk got delayed multiple times, also didn't set the best precedent for delaying your game. Etc, the factors are handful.
Fess
Member
Going by some talk in the OT the game is more stable on Xbox but MS just paid for a timed exclusivity, 3 months going by a court leak, they’re in no position to force them to do anything regarding the release date.
YeulEmeralda
Linux User
Come on man we know that games release unfinished nowadays.
Check out the game in a year.
Baldurs Gate 3 took took 15 patches, Owlcat is finally done with Pathfinder after 3 years.
Don't play on release.
Check out the game in a year.
Baldurs Gate 3 took took 15 patches, Owlcat is finally done with Pathfinder after 3 years.
Don't play on release.
Gojiira
Member
I’d say the biggest issue is the lack of any innovation whatsoever, its just a shallower version of the previous games with worse Ai.
Now benefit of the doubt given the war in the Ukraine and the devs have confirmed A-Life 2.0 is bugged and not working sooooo hopefully it will be fixed but who knows. This could just be a meh release and 6 months from now it will be great but who knows.
simpatico
Member
OP, you say you're an old STALKER fan, but then you say you honestly expect a polished experience anywhere near the launch window.
Only one of those can be true.
Personally, I'm thinking the game was so taxing graphically that they disabled A-Life to get some performance efficiencies and threw in a generic radial spawn system. Me? I'm playing Call of Pripyat ABR in this launch window and STALKER 2 next Autumn. I think that's the veteran move. I know, requires some patience and restraint, but it's worth it.
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GudOlRub
Member
I completely understand why hardcore fans of the series might be completely put off by this game but I think I may have a bit of insight why people are enjoying this game.
I'm not a hardcore fan, I played the OG trilogy and enjoyed those games but was never really THAT into them, I'm disappointed that A-life is broken in this one and the muzzle flash and flashlight missing shadows annoy me quite a bit but still I'm enjoying the game a lot, the gunplay is 100 times better than the previous games and the map is a lot more fun to explore, it not being segmented into strange sections is so much better.
The combat it still challenging which is refreshing compared to most AAA games of this style, probably thanks to it not being RPG'ed and not having to level up and unlock skills to explore. And the atmosphere of the Zone is bland and yet super immersive at the same time.
So overall the core mechanics and feeling of the game are solid and I think that's why casuals like me and newbies to the series are enjoying it, the foundation is very good, after a few big patches I think this game has the potential to be one of the best "pure" AAA singleplayer FPS around which unfortunately is quite a rare breed of games these days.
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Jigsaah
Member
I have never played a STALKER game before so maybe I could add that perspective. I didn't even know what A life was until this thread and me doing some research on the topic so maybe I would make a good control group.
There is plenty to love about the game without the A life thing. Even though it is not working properly in game, it's still pretty cool to see that sometimes my encounters in the game are sometimes interrupted by the game basically...playing itself.
So there are times where I'm in a dialogue screen with a mission npc and the dude just breaks conversation to fight a pack of blind dogs or some mutant or members of another faction that happen to be in the distance. It's always a spontaneous WTF moment that honestly I haven't seen happen in any other game I've ever played. Some people may say it's immersion breaking, but I think it's actually more realistic and it doesn't happen very often. I do notice that sometimes enemies seem to pop up out of nowhere. These instances happen very frequently after you complete some goal or objective like getting a stash or finishing a quest. Staying in one place too long seemed to lure enemies to your location that you just cleared as well. It got to the point where I must have had like 15-20 bodies piled up inside and outside a building that I ended up hiding in because the guys just kept coming. Again, me being new to the series, part of me thought it was kinda off, but ultimately it didn't ruin my experience or impression of the game. It is a bit strange that enemies spawn in and can almost spot me instantly. Stealth in the game is not really a thing. I don't know if this is par for the course or not.
I'll say nothing about the dialogue other than I love how many branching choices you get to make that seem to have a real time effect on how you proceed through the game. I made some that I now regret to an extent because there are people missing from the game now that probably could have benefitted me in some waym but now I kinda gotta live with the fact that I'll never get to explore that in this playthrough. These choices are not just major story decisions either. They happen at every both the main story and side quests.
Other things that seem strange is that emission storms happen way too often when I'm hoarding loot and can't move very fast. I have died a couple of times because of my greed and I would say I thought it was both cheap but also a welcomed challenge to figure out how to survive but still get to sell my loot. Overall I thought it was a positive thing.
As far as the performance, I opted to played at 1440p DLSS on quality with Epic motion blur settings and a capped framerate at 120fps with frame generation on. Using the high preset. I'm playing on a 4090 and a 9800x3d. I would think my experience is much different than others but the game is pretty smooth but I can still tell there's some polishing to do. My first session, every time I looked at the ground my screen would distort. I dunno if there was an update, but that only lasted for the first day. It's completely possible that I just had a faulty launch and needed to restart the game.
There is plenty to love about the game without the A life thing. Even though it is not working properly in game, it's still pretty cool to see that sometimes my encounters in the game are sometimes interrupted by the game basically...playing itself.
So there are times where I'm in a dialogue screen with a mission npc and the dude just breaks conversation to fight a pack of blind dogs or some mutant or members of another faction that happen to be in the distance. It's always a spontaneous WTF moment that honestly I haven't seen happen in any other game I've ever played. Some people may say it's immersion breaking, but I think it's actually more realistic and it doesn't happen very often. I do notice that sometimes enemies seem to pop up out of nowhere. These instances happen very frequently after you complete some goal or objective like getting a stash or finishing a quest. Staying in one place too long seemed to lure enemies to your location that you just cleared as well. It got to the point where I must have had like 15-20 bodies piled up inside and outside a building that I ended up hiding in because the guys just kept coming. Again, me being new to the series, part of me thought it was kinda off, but ultimately it didn't ruin my experience or impression of the game. It is a bit strange that enemies spawn in and can almost spot me instantly. Stealth in the game is not really a thing. I don't know if this is par for the course or not.
I'll say nothing about the dialogue other than I love how many branching choices you get to make that seem to have a real time effect on how you proceed through the game. I made some that I now regret to an extent because there are people missing from the game now that probably could have benefitted me in some waym but now I kinda gotta live with the fact that I'll never get to explore that in this playthrough. These choices are not just major story decisions either. They happen at every both the main story and side quests.
Other things that seem strange is that emission storms happen way too often when I'm hoarding loot and can't move very fast. I have died a couple of times because of my greed and I would say I thought it was both cheap but also a welcomed challenge to figure out how to survive but still get to sell my loot. Overall I thought it was a positive thing.
As far as the performance, I opted to played at 1440p DLSS on quality with Epic motion blur settings and a capped framerate at 120fps with frame generation on. Using the high preset. I'm playing on a 4090 and a 9800x3d. I would think my experience is much different than others but the game is pretty smooth but I can still tell there's some polishing to do. My first session, every time I looked at the ground my screen would distort. I dunno if there was an update, but that only lasted for the first day. It's completely possible that I just had a faulty launch and needed to restart the game.
Wolves hunt in packs
Member
This definitely not how it should work imo, no logic in enemies suddenly storming you once you turn an item to end a quest, i had 6-7 dogs entering building/windmill the second i did some quest related action, that can't be what the devs intended.. makes no sense.
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Kupfer
Member
May one no longer criticize a game for missing features that were previously actively promoted, just because players might see it as an attack on their enjoyment? If you enjoy it, fuck this thread and play it.The only apt response:
You could read the Steam reviews to see positive impressions from longtime fans of the franchise. You could see from initial analysis of the geographical spread of players that a good chunk of players are coming from Eastern Europe where the franchise is popular.
But…”who is this for”?
My goodness, I’ve said multiple times that I don’t think the game itself is bad, but surely it should be acceptable to clearly state that it’s flawed and has undeniably undergone a downgrade.
Then I wonder why it’s so broken or why it was promoted in the first place, only to be deliberately removed from the Steam description a week before release. It just doesn’t add up at all.
One possibility: maybe an A-Life framework is hidden somewhere in the code, but it’s definitely not developed or has been deactivated because they couldn’t finish it. Instead, they likely replaced it with this dice-roll spawn system because it’s simple and quick to implement - and apparently, it’s enough for many players.
I have absolutely no problem with "rough edges" as a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fan - that’s part of what makes the game what it is. But that’s no excuse for the absence of previously advertised features that are deeply rooted in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.
That can't be the excuse for missing feautures when releasing a full price game.
Absolutely. But they actively advertised something else, something more fleshed out.
All we can do is hope.
But that’s not a state of affairs that can or should be excused.
Has the brain scorcher a.k.a. industry affected us so much that we now have to accept unfinished games and be grateful that we’re getting anything at all?
Some people here seem to have thrown in the towel, judging by the comments - settling for so little already.
Yes, thankfully, you see that being said more often. The foundation seems to be there, and as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t want to deny the game its merits. But it has to be okay to point out that it’s not the game that was being advertised just two weeks ago, as essential S.T.A.L.K.E.R. features were cut at the last minute.
I REALLY hope that in a few months, the game will become what I had expected.
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When i praised the other guy for making the most clueless post id seen here in months, i had no idea that feat would be eclipsed within hours!
when it rains, it pours.
I specifically quoted the part of your post where you questioned the people who were playing it, and if they were long time fans of the franchise.
You’re free to hate the game all you want. But the part I quoted? Hilarious.
Kupfer
Member
Well, with your "only apt response," you're implying that I want to take the fun out of the game for players, which is not the case. Also, the OP refers to the factually missing or broken features that were previously advertised, so I wonder who - or how - one can simply overlook that.
Furthermore, I'm not reacting strongly emotionally, angrily, or even "hating" the game here - what nonsense.
I appreciate every comment that also highlights positive aspects of the game. However, the main focus of a thread about downgrades is, of course, downgrades. The question I initially mentioned simply stems from my lack of understanding, which is why, aside from wanting to discuss downgrades, I also want to gather opinions. In this thread there are also some great examples of positive opinions and perspectives, from
Bry0
,
Fess
or
Shadowstar39
for example, that I hadn't considered before.You can do without the cynical "hilarious." Instead, you could simply contribute constructively to the topic and share your thoughts on my thesis regarding the downgrade.
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The fact that you couldn't even spell the country's name right shows just how much thought you put into it before spewing this nonsense.
Wolves hunt in packs
Member
consoles makes it hard to not code your game to have enemies coming out of the blue and chase you like maniacs?
And if so how's thousands of games over the years released on consoles managed to avoid this?
Kupfer
Member
I don't understand that 'consoles' fault'-opinion either, which would, conversely, mean that missing / broken A-Life couldn't be fixed - which, apparently, according to the developers' statement, is going to happen. Whether one wants to believe that is another matter.
I mean even the Switch manages to run the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy with A-Life and dynamic flashlight shadows.
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Wolves hunt in packs
Member
Not to say that fixed hardware like consoles doesn't have limits, ofc there are, and perhaps their vision couldn't be done on current consoles hardware... but there are so many things that not make sense in the game that to blame consoles as primary reason seems off. even if you can't make your ai or what it called, what they did make isn't good enough.
Moses85
Member
The fact that you couldn't even spell the country's name right shows just how much thought you put into it before spewing this nonsense.
It’s simply a fact: not all of Ukraine is affected by the war. In many parts of the country, life is possible as it was before the Russian invasion.
It has nothing to do with me not being able to spell Ukraine correctly—that was my phone’s autocorrect.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Your phone should log you out of GAF while it's at it. It'll only be for the better.
- A lot of the devs spent days or weeks living in shelters
- Some employees chose to fight in the war, some even died for it
- They had to completely up-end their work from one country to another in trucks
- Despite that many of them continue to volunteer to fight in Ukraine
- The game was also a notoriously well known target for Russian hackers during development
simpatico
Member
Accepted? No, I didn’t buy it yet. I will when I get the sense that it’s where I want it to be. I can’t imagine any vets expecting this launch to be very different. It’s hard to get mad at something that was 100% predictable. This is the classic launch experience for every game in the series.
I just modded up a new run of Call of Pripyat though, so I’m pretty familiar with what I like about a STALKER game. It looks like 2 will be able to get there. The main barrier for me is if UE5 will be as moddable as X-Ray. Fixing spawns and damage values alone seems like it would cure a lot of it.
Gojiira
Member
Yeah Im sure 6months to a year it will be better, and very likely closer to the originals. Though the combat really needs to change fundamentally, currently its difficult because enemies Hitscan which is just lazy and not fun. They need to change that to be projectile based. But that does tie into the currently meh ai. So we’ll see, Im sure they’ll fix it.
Kupfer
Member
In early leaked gameplay footage I've seen projectile / ballistic based gunmechanics. Did they scrap that and use hitscan right now?
Skifi28
Member
The game drops to 40fps on a 7800 3d and can drop in the 20s on older PC hardware. Console limitations my ass.