Developer GSC Game World has released the new Expedition Update or patch 1.7 for Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl which comes with whole new additions including improvements and upgrades across all aspects of the game plus over hundreds of bug fixes as well. Stalker 2 is also set to release on the PS5 on November 20 and it’s possibly the main reason for this massive new update which can significantly improve your overall experience with the post-apocalyptic, open world shooter that came out almost a year ago.
The new patch has boosted Stalker 2’s A-Life system which is the in-game AI to now enable new territory control activities and faction battles, bringing more realism in the game in many ways. There’s also the new ‘Master’ difficulty setting along with an Expedition Mode and both are sure to make the game even more replayable, plus there’s an overhaul for the in-game photo mode too.
NPC vision and overall combat mechanics have received quite an upgrade as well, making stealth far more viable and useful in Stalker 2. The game’s UI has also had several changes to increase readability for multiple stats which will make for a more streamlined experience for players.
Check out some of the patch notes including details on the game’s performance fixes and optimizations:
Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance
- Fixed an issue when player was able to die instantly after fast travel.
- Fixed visual issues for Vortex anomaly.
- Fixed an issue when Player was unable to install x8 scope to Mark I EMR rifle.
- Fixed an issue when magazine adapter for M860 was not displaying.
- Fixed an issue with delayed reaction of the mutants when killing them by using shotgun.
- Fixed an issue when game could freeze during the emission start.
- Fixed an issue when title was becoming unresponsive if Skif was knocked down by mutants while sitting near the campfire.
- Fixed an issue where the backup files could be sorted randomly after reopening the backup menu.
- Fixed an issue where the cursor could not be controlled after placing a custom marker using gamepad.
- Fixed an issue where the notifications about receiving notes could remain on the screen infinitely.
- Fixed an issue where, if the Numpad 5 and 2 keys were assigned to move forward/back, rotating the camera up/down would also be triggered.
- Fixed an issue where some steel casings lying on the ground could appear totally black.
- Fixed an issue where some metal objects could change their color on approaching.
- Fixed an issue where the changed input binding for NVG did not work during the dialogs.
- Fixed an issue where the aim assist could turn off after opening the pause menu.
- Fixed an issue where the player could not activate NVG via mouse wheel while climbing a ladder.
- Fixed an issue where the psy effect could remain after leaving the dangerous area for some users.
- Fixed an issue where some players could gain unkillable state after some points in the game.
- Fixed an issue where a very loud sound effect of a running water could be heard around the Swamp area under SIRCAA and around the Swamps region.
- Reduced resources consumption before cutscenes start.
- Performance optimization regarding the projectile hitting the surface.
- Performance optimization of damage dealt by grenades.
- Fixed an issue that caused performance issues with item objects inside anomalies.
- Fixed an issue that caused Flashlight to appear above the head of NPC with NVG.
- Fixed infinite loading on the save that were made in 100 Rads Bar.
- Fixed the impossibility to make two saves in a row after overwriting or deleting the previous save.
- Fixed Infinite loading screen on saves made on Noontide base.
- Fixed an issue when aim assist was not functional after loading of saved game.
- Fixed over 90 crashes.
Optimization
The list below is just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of things were done under the hood to increase performance on all platforms, setups, and graphic presets.
- Optimized Foliage Meshes (changes in performance may be particularly noticeable in the Red Forest).
- Optimized Foliage Materials.
- Optimized Rostok buildings (Architecture meshes and collision improvements).
- Optimized Duga region buildings (Architecture meshes and collision improvements).
- World streaming optimizations on most intense locations (Zalissya, Rostok, Slag Heap).
- Optimized Lighting on Slag Heap, Zalissya, SIRCAA, Rostok.
- Optimized NPCs skeletal meshes.
- Optimized Grooms.
- Optimized and adjusted Skeletal Mesh budgeting.
- Optimized usage of Morph Targets.
- Optimized Tick Rate of simulated Components by prioritizing visible primitives with higher screen size.
- Optimized update of items used in Contextual Actions.
- Optimized Cloth Simulation.
- Optimized animation update of placed in world Skeletal Meshes.
