Stalkers!

Highlights

• Mutants can now use corpse-eating animation if there are dead bodies nearby.
• Mutants now have an “alert” state if something is happening near or approaching them.
• Improvements to human combat:
[list]
• Fixed numerous bugs and problems with cover usage for NPC. Now they can properly use available covers, always try to hide before shooting, and don't rush forward when not needed.
• Characters use trees as cover.
• Updated combat and cover animations to look more fluent and fast.
• Improved flanking pathfinding and transition to close combat.
• Close combat has become tougher on Veteran and Stalker difficulties.
• Fixed issues in communication and actions synchronization between characters in the squad.
• Characters now communicate tactical actions and reactions more clearly in combat.
• Human characters throw grenades when they want to flush out the target, not on the cooldown.
• Squads now have a finite number of grenades, depending on their rank and faction (bandits have significantly less than military).
• Human characters are able to attack mutants in melee. They use kick melee attacks against smaller mutants.
• Human characters can kick players who are crouched.
• Human characters look around for a brief moment, searching for enemies after combat ends, then proceed to the post-combat activities like looting and healing wounded.
• Humans are no longer able to snipe with shotguns. Fixed problems with pellet dispersion and non-natural ballistic distances.

AI and Combat

• Fixed erratic behavior of A-Life NPCs after attacking enemy lairs.
• Fixed an issue where A-Life NPC didn't move after transitioning to offline.
• Improved mutant behavior during combat.
• Fixed an issue where a Flesh mutant was hiding to ambush the Player after they avoided a jump attack.
• Fixed an issue where a swarm of rat mutants were ignoring the Player after loading a save made near them.
• Improved path building for NPCs in offline to avoid them getting in restricted areas.
• Fixed an issue where an NPC was able to stay alive after falling in a wounded state underwater.
• Fixed an issue where mutants' bodies were jumping/shaking/stretching after being killed by shotgun or grenade.
• Fixed an issue where patrolling NPCs could clip with each other.
• Blind Dogs are now playing peaceful barks when not in combat with Player.
• Fixed issues where NPCs were clipping or going through doors while in combat.
• Fixed an issue where mutants were able to get stuck searching for enemies after escaping combat during emission.
• Fixed an issue when NPCs could be stuck in ambush pose.
• Adjusted aim for the NPCs that are in low cover.
• Fixed an issue when the NPCs could stay idle after receiving critical damage.
• Adjusted shooting range of NPCs depending on their weapon.
• Adjusted shooting from cover for the NPCs.

Balance

• RPM-74: increased armor piercing value
• Explosions now cause more damage on high-ranking targets
• Increased RPG damage
• Decreased lethal distance for grenades
• Increased concussion distance for RPG
• Added some silencers into stashes.
• Added Khors the possibility to upgrade Zircon Suit.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to install physical protection upgrades twice for PSZ-9I Falcon armor.
• Rebalanced stashes in Zaton region.
• Improved regeneration and spawn of random anomalies after emission.

Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance

• Made performance optimization of light and shadows in multiple regions and locations.
• Improved LODs for grass in multiple regions.
• Performance optimization for light garland at 100 Rads Bar.
• Some other Under the Hood CPU performance and optimizations tweaks were made.
• Fixed an issue where bullet hit decals would not appear on certain parts of Mutant and NPC bodies.
• Fixed an issue where a Vortex arch-anomaly was throwing NPC corpses under terrain.
• Fixed an issue where an anomaly spawned by an Electric Poltergeist was invisible.
• Fixed an issue where stamina was spent even if action wasn't available.
• Fixed generic issues where NPCs were unable to reach a scripted animation pose if it was located too far.
• Fixed an issue where Zombies were able to fall under level geometry.
• Fixed an issue where sounds of raindrops were playing for certain props located underground.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to stuck behind the door in Sidorovich's bunker.
• Fixed an issue with the HUD opacity option not working.
• Fixed an issue where dynamic shadows cast by flashlight appeared jagged.
• Fixed an issue where some effects could stuck on the player after loading a save.
• Fixed an issue where some effects could not be applied to the player after loading a save.
• Fixed an issue where increment in Psi Protection was displayed on armor stat bar when selecting Radiation Protection upgrade on some exosuits.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get to Prypiat ahead of time by jumping over the railroad cistern on Yaniv.
• Fixed an issue where a broken weapon didn't have a red background when equipped.
• Fixed Trader items being sorted after cancelling trade.
• Fixed an issue where no technicians in the game were able to install "Extra Barrel Upgrade" to SVDM-2 and Lynx sniper rifles
• Fixed an issue where mutants with telekinetic abilities were unable to pick up or throw items or corpses directly at Player.
• Fixed an issue where Bayun didn't deal any damage during his Jump Attack.

Main & Side Quests, Open World Encounters

• Fixed an issue where objective Find Spirit could not end if the player talks to Spirit again right after finishing dialogue during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue where [spoiler]Faust[/spoiler] was not appearing on the roof of Comm Center during bossfight in Once More Unto The Breach mission, if Player distracted him with a grenade.
• Fixed an issue where [spoiler]Scar[/spoiler] didn't approach Visiograph to start dialogue with Player during Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where Snork's collar wasn't counted as collected if Snork's corpse is already despawned in In The Name Of Science mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get stuck closed behind two bunker doors in airlocks during The Last Step mission.
• Fixed an issue where Max Saturday was already dead and despawned for some users during The Lost Boys mission.
• Fixed an issue where a part of the world was missing at the exit from an underground teleportation room near Death Valley in certain conditions during Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death mission.
• Fixed an issue with an unresponsive [spoiler]Korshunov in A-pose after the bossfight[/spoiler] during the Down Below mission.
• Fixed an issue when A Matter Of Honor mission wasn't completed if the player killed all Duty members after repelling the Monolith attack.
• Fixed an issue when Skif could die from bleeding in cutscene after the [spoiler]bossfight with Korshunov[/spoiler] during the Down Below mission.
• Fixed an issue where the door leading out of Noontide base was locked during the Just Like The Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented re-entering the tunnel after it was opened by a scanner during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue with missing Richter during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue with inability to progress the walkthrough of Just Like The Good Old Days mission if the fuse was thrown out of inventory.
• Fixed an issue where the Ganja mission The Freedom Colosseum was absent if the player character teleported to Rostok via guide.
• Fixed an issue with the inability to talk to Dubniy during the Hot On The Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue with a locked bunker during the The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue when it was unable to talk with Roosevelt in the mission Legends of the Zone.
• Fixed an issue where the "Get to the helicopter pad" journal objective was not ending during the Law And Order mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player's Camera could get stuck panning at Darwin's corpse, if Player did save/load during an encounter mission at Ruined Bridge, Backwater region.
• Removed redundant invisible collision in the middle of Ganja's bar at Rostok base.
• Fixed an issue where Richter and Warlock's comments in A Tough Awakening mission could get stuck resulting in permanent Emission weather after Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue where friendly NPCs were not interactable during Dawn Of A New Day mission if Player threw grenades inside Rostok Depot.
• Fixed an issue where emission shelter at Noontide base didn't protect Player after save/load during Just Like The Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue where repeatable missions from multiple vendors were stuck on the reward stage.
• Fixed an issue where Player couldn't talk to Squint during A Needle In A Haystack mission if they sold his artifact.
• Fixed an issue where Gray's Last Hunt mission was not finished if the deer mutant was despawned.
• Fixed an issue where Player was unable to give a briefcase to Sultan during The Mysterious Case mission, if they killed ambushing stalkers before talking to them.
• Fixed an issue where the game didn't progress after talking to Senkevych in the Like A Moth To The Flame mission due to the missing radio operator NPC nearby.
• Fixed an issue where a marker was missing on Richter during the Bring the collar to Richter journal stage of A Minor Incident mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get stuck in a basement near a cemetery during the Eye of the Storm mission.
• Fixed an issue where [spoiler]Scar[/spoiler] was not appearing at the Malachite secret entrance after clearing out X17 in the Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player could leave [spoiler]X17 lab[/spoiler] via elevator without a way back during assault in Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where Akopyan refused to talk with Player during A Big Score mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player wasn't able to progress the story after reaching Generators during emission in Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to break cutscene with the pod and stuck in the room with Richter during The Last Wish mission.
• Fixed an issue where [spoiler]the dialog with Scar[/spoiler] was not available for some users during the Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue when the On the Edge mission could start after the death of all stalkers [spoiler]in Zalissya[/spoiler].
• Fixed an issue when the All That Is Left mission could not be finished if the player agreed to throw Wardens body into an anomaly.
• Fixed an issue where [spoiler]Strelok[/spoiler] was dashing too often and almost didn't attack Player during [spoiler]his boss fight[/spoiler].

Technical Updates

• Improved pathing for NPCs.
• Minor polishment and improvement for scripted NPC animations.
• Human characters that turn on flashlights are now slightly more illuminated and visible in the dark.
• Improved sound obstruction for grenades thrown outside from indoors location.
• Added a new emission shelter in Chemical Plant's dining room.
• Added emission shelter to technician room at Ranger Station, Zaton region.
• Improved facial animations and realism.
• Improved impact sounds for the bolt.
• Removed redundant blur effect on Player's vitals stat panel during trade.
• Added Player's vitals stat panel in the trade menu.
• Added new death animations and sound effects for electricity, acid, bullet, and rat bites' damage.

We thought that these updates deserve their own spotlight, please be ready!

• Fixed an issue where shooting at sausage props produced blood particles
• Fixed an issue where ducks could fly into the water after being shot at.