At release, the world of Stalker 2 is teeming not only with mutants and anomalies, but also with bugs. A first update should fix a lot of that soon.
You’re in luck, stalkers: you’re in the Zone’s good graces! That’s because a first update for Stalker 2 is set to be released later this week to address some pressing issues. While there is no exact release date yet, the developers have already published some patch notes We summarize the most important changes for you.
Fewer crashes and bugs
Most of the upcoming changes relate to technical issues that Stalker 2 still suffers from:
Apart from that, there are also balance adjustments and minor improvements. Here is an overview of the most important patch notes:
- Various crashes related to memory allocation issues will be fixed.
- Softlocks and bugs in some main quests will be fixed, blocking game progress.
- Graphics bugs, such as headless NPCs, clothing with incorrect textures, or broken facial animations, will be fixed. In addition, the quality and stability of various graphical effects will be improved.
- Quest notificationswill be displayed correctly, even in dialogues.
- The behavior of NPCs has been improved, for example when searching for shelter during an emission.
- Weapons with upgrades and modifications are now more valuable than their standard versions.
In addition to the outlook for the next patch, the developers also reveal what is planned in the updates that will follow. Among other things, A-Life is to be improved, an NPC system that already ensured a lively and dynamically changing zone in the predecessors. So far, there has been little sign of A-Life. Apparently, the system is not yet working as intended.
Preliminary Patch Notes
Bug fixes, including:
- Memory allocation issues and bugs that previously caused the game to exit unexpectedly, particularly related to rendering, skeletal meshes, and quest-related cinematics.
Main quest progression fixes, including:
- Several main quest progression blocking bugs, NPCs stuck in objects, incorrect quest markers, and quest cinematics issues.
- Reworked main quests (such as Visions of Truth or A Minor Incident) to ensure smooth transitions and avoid rare cases where players cannot progress.
Made gameplay and balance adjustments, including:
- Correcting the price of weapons with upgrades installed compared to their value without attachments.
- Behavior of NPCs, including how they act when they have no protection during emissions.
Cutscenes and visual fixes, including:
- Infrequent missing facial animations, misplaced NPCs, and visual glitches such as severed heads and clothing getting caught on something.
- Visual effects quality and stability improvements.
Softlock bug fixes, including:
- An issue where players could not close the trade screen after placing ammo in the wrong slot while playing on a gamepad.
User interface improvements, including:
- Quest notifications now display properly during dialogue.
- Fixed texts and missing interaction prompts.
To be fixed in future updates:
- Bug fixes for analog stick dead zones.
- A-Life system fixes.
