STALKER 2 OMEGA - Expanded Zone Capabilities

A versatile solution for extending STALKER 2 capabilities. Improves almost every aspect of the game.

Vision

OMEGA is a hand-crafted, compiled, end-to-end solution for anyone looking for an improved and balanced STALKER 2 gameplay experience. Based on the discoveries made by real heavyweights in the amazing STALKER community - check out our Thanksgiving section!

Keep in mind that the game is currently in alpha mode, so expect frequent fixes, deletions, and feature additions, and even bugs. Not to mention, the game itself is currently undergoing a large-scale reworking.

The main goal of OMEGA is not to make the game simpler or more complex, but to correct and balance the gameplay to make it correct and enjoyable. Of course, this is a subjective topic, and there will always be Sidorovich, who believes that every stalker should suffer from misfortune. Fortunately, this is not the case.

Experience

Each aspect of OMEGA is well documented and structured, leaving no blind spots. You can look at this table to see exactly what has been changed, how it differs from the vanilla version and how it affects the gameplay:

So let's highlight the most important changes.

The specific figures are not specifically stated, as they may change during the rebalance process. You can find the current values in the spreadsheet.

Complexity and economics

The economy and distribution of loot are the main pillars of the game... and they're completely broken. Several changes have been made to resolve this issue:

Reduced strength damage.

Reducing the cost of modernization and repair in general.

The cost of upgrades from friendly factions is much cheaper.

Consumables, cartridges and medicines were less frequently found on corpses and in hiding places.

Consumables and medicines are slightly more expensive (but still available). Bullets are a little cheaper.

Artifacts are much more expensive.

The payoffs for the plot and side quests have become more tangible, so you now get a decent reward for your work.

Everything scales based on the complexity you choose. In addition:

You can sell badly damaged items, but not completely destroyed.

All stalkers now have much more money, so you can exchange valuable items with them.

The cost of moving quickly is greatly reduced.

Healing, restoring endurance, eliminating radiation duration now occur slower when using items, but give a little more.

Combat and AI

Other foundational elements of the game are combat and AI. You've guessed it, they're broken too! Because it is much harder to fix, we approached the problem with several solutions:

Reduced the maximum health and armor of the mutants, so they are no longer bullet sponges.

As for people, damage to the body, limbs and head increased: this option will appeal to lovers of accurate shots.

The use of grenades by enemies depends on their rank, but they are thrown much less than in vanilla.

In addition, NPCs are no longer exclusive snipers, so distance plays a large role in the dispersal of bullets. The same goes for zombies.

Freedom of movement

The weight of the wearable items was significantly increased, as well as the thresholds of the margin.

All quest items now weigh 0, all cartridges, medicines and grenades now weigh 10% of the vanilla values.

Endurance is restored faster, with different actions requiring much less endurance.

Now you can jump over many new objects, but not all: jumping was approached intelligently and with care.

Fixed stealth: you are now slightly less visible depending on weather conditions, posture and type of cover, but nothing that could break the game.

The scattering of the player's weapon is slightly reduced.

Significantly less damage from falling.

Living World

The day-night cycle x1.5 is longer (1.5 hours).

The number of weather crossings has been increased.

Improving quality of life

Increased viewing angles when climbing stairs and in free view.

Vertical sensitivity is unified with horizontal sensitivity.

The distance of interaction with NPC has been increased.

Melee distance for knife and butt unified and increased.

The detectors now have a slightly larger range of detection and display of the artifact.

Removed the effect of the radiation screen below 20% exposure.

Compatibility (download separately)

See the list of mods below.

Compatibility Note: This is a large and complex mod, and it is probably not compatible with other mods. You can find the names of all modified files in our spreadsheet above.

Future plans

At this point, any attempt to tweak A-Life 2.0 will break the system too often. We will solve this problem when things are more stable.

Rebalancing the ballistics of the weapon.

Installation

Navigate to the STALKER 2: HOC installation folder, and open the /S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl/Stalker2/Content/Paks/ folder. If you don't have a "~mods" folder in it, create one (remember to include "~"!). The final path should look like this:

Steam: /S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl/Stalker2/Content/Paks/~mods/

GamePass: XboxGames/S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2- Heart of Chornobyl(Windows)/Content/Stalker2/Content/Paks/~mods

Unzip the mod archive, then copy the ".pak" file from the mod to the "~mods" folder.

Enjoy the game!

The mod should work with existing saves and can be deleted at any time, but remember it's a Stalker and everything can always go wrong. Just in case, back up your backups.

Made in Ukraine

I've always been a big fan of the STALKER series, and even all the horrors of war that go through every day, as well as all the losses suffered, have not been able to kill my love for this game. If you think OMEGA has helped you, please consider supporting. It means a lot in such difficult times. Seriously, thank you!

Words of gratitude

OMEGA wouldn't exist without the STALKER 2 community and the work they put into fashion research and development. A huge respect to everyone who makes the gameplay better!