These Games AI are 15 Years Apart

[@ZoneSlug]

Again I’m not trying to hate, just pointing out where I’d like Stalker 2 to be in the future updates. The small details make a big difference for me.

[@carlos-dr5803]

Totalmente comprensible mi estimado caballero, usted está haciendo un grandioso trabajo con estos vídeos, un gusto

[@ZoneSlug]

@@carlos-dr5803 Thank you very much!

[@khelgarironfist3301]

S2 is a downgrade in many aspects and barely has any upgrades other than graphics. That is sad in 2025

[@perkele7192]

​@@khelgarironfist3301 i wouldn't call graphics update because now it looks like any soulless modern game.... lighting, colour palette looks amazing in old games

[@thanhvu2377]

More updates bigger game size

[@thespacedisland5746]

Wow that old AI was insanely impressive

[@ZoneSlug]

It was really good, even for today

[@Lengleyy]

It was top 2 AI of the year, first place took original Left 4 dead. So yeah.

[@Art_Korobochka]

@ The best AI was in the game FEAR 1

[@Lengleyy]

@@Art_Korobochka For real ? Maybe i remember it wrong.

[@Xtoxinlolinecronomicon]

​@@Art_KorobochkaYes, which is still one of the best besides old stalker even today.

[@CharcharoExplorer]

BTW - one thing that forgotten here and its VERY hard to test. Original STALKER NPCs could switch weapons and ammo types based on what they are fighting and range. So for example if the player is VERY heavily armoured they will switch to AP rounds. If the player is behind walls they may switch to AP and blind fire into the wall. If a mutant approaches them and they have a shotgun they may switch to it. If ALL they have is a shotgun and a pistol and someone is shooting at them from afar they switch to the pistol to fight back. I talk vanilla here, no mods.

[@ZoneSlug]

You’re right that would be very hard to test 😂 thank you for the insight!

[@zonelegend7174]

​@@ZoneSlugYou can test it in Shadow of Chernobyl. At final at CNPP at some point you will encounter Monolith fighters with RPG. After shooting they tend to take cover and reload, but if threat is too close they will switch to pistol

[@shulcer2006]

1th thing is easy to test, just try to door kick hospital in Gauss gun quest in CoP, and you will see that Monolith snipers change their SVDs and SVUs to pistols when you get too close to them

[@DERBUERO]

they mostly have bread and pistol ammo xD nothing to change to there i guess

[@Leantenant]

They also can run out of ammo and then change weapon. Or refuse to take better gun cuz they dont have ammo for it.

[@zoneoperator]

In the old game, if a pack of dogs came after you and you jumped on top of a truck or pile of boxes, they would circle around below you trying to find a way to get the player. In STALKER 2 the moment the mutant AI detects you're unreachable, they run away and hide from your field of view. Once you come down, the AI auto detects you're reachable now and the mutants come out to attack you. But hey, at least we have photo realism in the game now 😒

[@ZoneSlug]

Yeah I don’t like that, blind dogs running and hiding behind a car so you can’t shoot them

[@Ultravenom1]

I like it more this way. Mutants are smart, why allow themselves to be shot?

[@GHST-rj4pe]

in the og stalker there was photorealism, in "stalker" 2 there is no photorealism, only typical cartoon graphics ue5

[@jaydenshepard7928]

@@Ultravenom1Because they arent supposed to be smart past a certain point if they are a pack of dogs? Them searching for a way to get up to you and bite you is realistic behavior for that enemy. Would these dogs have AI chips in their brains that can assess with certainty that they could not reach you in a tough spot in a few milliseconds by analyzing the geometry of the obstacle a person is on and have them choose the exact best way to deal with that and maximize their survival? The same way at the same speed across hundreds or thousands of different dogs spread across an entire region?

[@Bbbbbbbbbbhhhhhhh]

@@jaydenshepard7928Tbf, do we really know what the zone has done to the intelligence of the dogs? Personally, I don’t really know which way I prefer, then trying to get you seems like it makes sense but so does them running away. We have no way of telling how intelligent the animals have become.

[@matthuang4632]

modern gaming be like: upgrade visuals, downgrade everything else.

[@thebakedtoast]

*develop through war and death threats *

[@Nefikon]

@@thebakedtoast Laugh from far away, man

[@RavingRazik]

@@thebakedtoast Yeah that war Czechia is waging is no joke.

[@themtube9455]

Agreed. Another good example of that is Cyberpunk 2077. Graphics are 10/10, the rest is a 5/10 at best.

[@Klovaneer]

@@themtube9455 well they spent 3 years and 2.0 is proper good, just gotta remember it's not GTA

[@SoulsBourne101]

Not to mention they took away the Deep Crouch so now you can't sneak on enemies anymore and vice versa. Everything and everyone acts like a turret with legs

[@thisisrahrah381]

Gung ho games smh

[@Ccberry98]

I really like stalker 2, but man did they take 10 steps back in terms of AI and world interactions. I really hope this is patchable, the AI is what made the originals so great in my opinion.

[@Zamalshkay]

yeah man, i knew originals were great but didnt know it in detail like this, after discovering Zone slug channel iv observed and watched a lot of content about old stalkers and comparisons thanks to slug, and iv decided that stalker 2 is a good game, but could be so much better with these things ironed out. so i uninstalled it. ill get back to it in 2-3 years when all DLC is out and most of if not all AI behaviors, bugs and quality of life things are either fixed or better than old ones. i really believe GSC can do it again. i fell in love with the zone on this version of stalker 2. i cant even imagine how great of an experience it could be in future. i cant wait. all the best

[@yourtags4876]

maybe i am bluffing but someone said that the xray engine was built around ai and a-life

[@notahuman369]

Stalker 2 is basically just a linear shooter. Sure, you can explore, but what's the point? I finished the game without doing really much of anything outside of following the main story. That's not stalker to me.

[@098Xzibit]

It will take a few years to get Stalker 2 to that level, assuming if they even want to do something like that, You're looking at a Cyberpunk2077 situation, only after many years we got the game that was promised.

[@DERBUERO]

for what i observed the bots in Stalker 2 work more in formation as a group.

[@hunterstruck399]

This was literally the comparison video we didn't know we needed. What a great way to get the message across without having to write a novel to try and explain your position. I feel like this perfectly expressed a lot of feelings on behalf of all og stalker fans, myself included. Thanks for sharing this, I stand with you on this stalker

[@ZoneSlug]

I appreciate that! Let’s make our voices heard and hope for the future

[@jholybigjesus]

Yes I still play the old games my favorite is anomaly it's bulletproof the modded engine runs for days at a time with no crashes.

[@hunterstruck399]

@@jholybigjesus just reached like 100 hours on my merc playthrough. It's been such an amazing progression. Next playthrough I'll deselect story mode so I can do the doctor x quest lines as well as the usual main quest!

[@pathos2853]

@@jholybigjesus Eh anomaly feels more like mmo-ified stalker and the repair grind is dumb imo though I see lot's of people enjoing it. Check out OGSR for another great engine. Really hard though.

[@huejackson8371]

Yah like I would still rather play gamma over the new ones. Zone feels dead and more like an ubisoft open world than anything like the original stalkers

[@bradenhagen7977]

I kinda miss how unique each region was too. See one URE5 forest youve seen them all.

[@ZoneSlug]

@@bradenhagen7977 I know what you mean, the older regions felt very distinctive not just a colour change

[@AmanaraDev]

Not the engine's fault, but the developers.

[@bradenhagen7977]

@AmanaraDev While I belive you are 99% right, unreal has a pretty universal look to much of it so stalker ends up looking like really of the UE5 games. I think it's like moving from a unique older car to a modern SUV. Sure it has tons of unique and great features but they all look quite similiar.

[@thiagosoares6526]

URE5 16x time the details but empty at the same time

[@DJB1izzard]

​@@bradenhagen7977 I hate UE5 as much as the next guy, but FInal Fantasy 7 remake/rebirth challenges that notion

[@nomnomNACHO]

One of the things I loved about the original games is how the zone felt. It felt like yoy were part of the happenings of the Zone, things would happen even if you were not there. In Stalker 2 it feels like everything is only happening around you.

[@ZoneSlug]

@@nomnomNACHO yes exactly, I really want it to feel like it was again

[@ChukiTheErmine]

It was pretty cool, when you got quest kill some guy at some other location(you were at Rostok factory and he was at Wild territory) and some mutants do it before you even get to his location(to Wild Territory). Quest is done, Zone's life is keep going - another stalker ain't making it to home. That something that was really cool and show you that Zone has it own life while you weren't even near to a location of this events.

[@stevenrempel]

with gamma, its a living breathing world. with the graphics mods, gamma is better than stalker 2

[@Killicon93]

When stopping in a bush in the OG trilogy to survey your surroundings it could oftentimes feel like you were making a nature documentary as you witnessed mutants and stalkers living out their daily lives.

[@mohaglade4892]

I feared that STALKER 2 when they said it's on UE5 that it won't have the AI frameworks needes like in xray engine. And that's exactly what happened we got another Far Cry game

[@SaintJulesDay]

The contrast is extreme. How much is GSC being GSC and how much is Unreal Engine 5? I just made a video essay on this, the 1.000 things just… missing from STALKER 2. The comparison gets even worse if you compare it to other titles like Metro Exodus or mods/packs like Anomaly, EFP, GAMMA. I think the game has a serious identity crisis.

[@tobykornreich2719]

%100

[@mrlnl13]

UE in no way prevents them from implementing gameplay features

[@Elinzar]

Dont blame the tools blame the carpenter for either A: dont know how to use his tools or B: not choosing the right tools This is 100% on gsc

[@TopSecretName]

I disagree with the idea that the game has an identity crisis. It plays exactly like an old STALKER game just with fancier animations (and worse enemy AI).

[@All_Mighty672]

Speaking of Anomaly, it was the only Stalker I played before 2 and what stunned me about 2 was that there was no ‘butchering’ of mutants for meat, hide, and special parts for selling, eating, or quests (With RARE exceptions) It seems like such an obvious mechanic that I was surprised 2 didn’t have it.

[@blackwater4100]

the most insane AI I have ever experiences was in STALKER Anomaly (vanilla). I actually retreated from some fights since I was getting sourrounded or supressed while other enemies advanced on me so I actually had to fall back in order to not die. absolutely nuts AI. They also kept me busy fighting a larger group while one or two retreated from the fight just to flank me and kill me. They were also camping if only one was left from a group and after the fight when I thought I was safe I looted the body just to run into a last enemy hiding in a corner waiting for me to kill me. Best AI experience I ever had. Tough fights where a group was actually dangerous to attack.

[@ZoneSlug]

Yes this is what we want but I guess the broadest possible audience will it allow

[@AlanQSmithee]

My favorite moment was when I was distracted looting a big blue chest and a bandit snuck up on me. He could have shot at me the moment he noticed me but he silently crept forward to get in close range, and it was too late for me to react by the time I noticed him. I wasn't even mad.

[@Leantenant]

Is this mode have some updates to ai? I guess such behavior i was meet even in original games( I usely playing on master).

[@blackwater4100]

@@Leantenant Yes, Anomaly has AI upgrades. Vanilla Stalker does not have these AI behaviours to that degree.

[@Leantenant]

@blackwater4100 Idk, tactics of original ai is still impresive. So I even wonder like what is looking better ai. Maybe i need check this anomaly mod, since I lost my hope in stalker 2 I started playing mods(before only played vanila). But before anomaly I have olr 3.0(want to check working and deep a-life) and olr 2.5 to finish.

[@GamerBravo7]

I also like that in older games after fights, NPCs sit down for a moment to be sure that danger is over, and only then start looting or healing allies. Also grenade throwing based on radius has much more sense.

[@ZoneSlug]

Yes exactly, small details like that are important, not just instantly start casually walking away

[@Theholdguard]

That's right, the grenades thrown by NPCs are one of the reasons I often get killed

[@fourlion_everywhere]

NPCs range of throwing grenades could use some variety imo, if player can choose to throw far or close then NPCs should have the options too.

[@fourlion_everywhere]

OH and maybe when player is trying to retreat make it possible for NPCs to throw grenades at the feet of the player, ahead of them and not just straight at the player

[@joaopedromh_nok]

Sneaking used to be a goated mechanic. Many times you would hear them approaching you quietly without shooting, and as soon as you turned back the NPC would react to being noticed and start shooting. Unreal 5 mustve been their worst choice for this game, because its incapable of rendering more than 5 NPCs at once without dropping the FPS below the 30s

[@OsaculnenolajO]

I don't think it's a UE5 issue man.

[@Saturnit3]

I kinda believe they tried to just make a "benchmark game" like Cyberpunk, a game that would push PCs to their limits so they would have a chance to say they excelled in something. This way, they knew the game would always be relevant and just gather fame for their next releases. I can't think of any other reason why they would choose UE5 and not try to optimize it one bit, they even failed at that too bc the game looks stale and soulless while at the same time is not used for any benchmarks because it is mostly CPU bound and terribly unstable. What we have in our hands is not a Stalker game at all save for few rare instances/moments. The game smells corporate and is as shallow as a puddle. On hardest difficulty I am running around with 20 stimpaks 20 bandages and am bursting with ammo. Looking at the quest marker on the compass at the top of the screen and energy drink sprinting my way there. What is this.

[@Furman2137]

​@@Saturnit3to be honest, if you werent completely clueless in old stalker you'd end up with a fuckton of supplies too

[@Blackraven6]

100% agree with you. They took worst engine for the game for the sake of somewhat good graphics. They have literally sacrificed the main thing of the game - gameplay features.

[@Blackraven6]

@@Saturnit3 Nope. There's nothing banchmarky about it. It's just a cashgrab on the franchise. They knew old fans would by it anyways so they used nice graphics and animations for the sake of luring newbies. Somehow it was very obvious from their trailers that it's a pretty low quality product compared to originals. So a lot of old fans here didn't even bothered to buy it. Wop wop wop woooooop... Fallout 76 at least tried to be something decent. Failed miserably for years, but tried... Ofcourse it is possible to fix all the issues and people would by a proper game. Would the fix it? Dunno. Honestly - kinda doubt it. It would take them a lot of time. And time = moneyz. But I hope so. Currently doesn't even seem to be worth modding.

[@ovoj]

We are just casually moving backwards. It's sad to see

[@adfkzaha24]

UNREAL ENGINE 5 BABY!

[@Снайпер_Хренов]

​@@adfkzaha24SO NEXT GEN!!111

[@egordon7543]

@@adfkzaha24that has nothing to do with this

[@eclipsegfxable]

@@egordon7543 Seems it does when devs only seem to care about visuals rather than the real shit they should be working on

[@doanamo]

​@egordon7543 It does. It makes developers lazy. In this age we have more and more "game developers" who are only capable of toggling checkboxes in Unreal editor, without understanding underlying tech that makes games. Studios are now investing less into in-house tech because "Unreal does everything better with enough plugins" and they end up with technically unimpressive games (insert surprised pikatchu here). It wouldn't be half as bad if Unreal wa actually good, but it's not.

[@LeonYuL]

I used to buy, upgrade and give the best weapons possible to the NPCs I recruited before I head to Pripyat

[@Theholdguard]

Same

[@antaress8128]

How did you give them weapons?

[@Theholdguard]

@@antaress8128 drop near them or with donate option

[@LeonYuL]

@antaress8128 drop under their feet

[@Hollo0w]

@@antaress8128 i guess you just throw it next to them and they automatically pick it up and switch to it

[@dragonsgaming5921]

I love how when hes sniping and gets shoot at while retreating he looks back to not trip and fall down

[@ZoneSlug]

@@dragonsgaming5921 Me too it’s the small things I love

[@Lomni]

Funny (or perhaps sad) how the original trilogy and F.E.A.R. have some of the best NPC combat behaviour that is (to my knowledge) unmatched in any other fps game released since.

[@Haddedam]

Arma is also very advanced and on another level.

[@hade2332]

@@Haddedam headshot through a bush at 1km type of level (expert AI is scary)

[@Haddedam]

@hade2332 yet they see movement, walk right by you if you are in a tall grass, use leapfrogging, suppression, flanking etc. Sure they can't drive(exactly like a real marine) but they are by far the most intelligent ai in vidya

[@realbr1koo]

F.E.A.R. didnt actually have an extremely good AI, it was ok. What the game made good is to make you believe it was more impressive then it actually was.

[@Haddedam]

@realbr1koo fear ai for the first time explained what it was doing and most players for the first time saw inner workings of the ai. Kinda like hl1 grunts

[@La3inivetc]

Old ai way more difficult and realistic, that's actually visible, and man, why in stalker 2 npc are don't talking anymore... They have so much dialogs in trilogy, and now they have 3 unfunny anecdotes, and 7-9 usual phrases for fight, i need more

[@ZoneSlug]

I wish they would have kept the text dialogue options also, it added a lot of depth, you could ask where they are going or what they are doing and they would tell you

[@high-level-content-maker]

@@ZoneSlug In Call of Pripyat, I always loved asking random NPCs everything I could. But now, in stalker 2, there’s just one option: “What’s new in the Zone?” Yes, text-based menus must exist, and I firmly believe they will when modding capabilities are opened.

[@matheussuzuki1046]

The new "cheeki breeki" is "ponaslash!"

[@boxkicker7784]

@@high-level-content-makerthey used to actually give you relevant information too. When you ask them wants new in the zone in Stalker 2, most the time they just saw something pretty useless and random. Sad.

[@high-level-content-maker]

@@boxkicker7784 Well, the phrases do change as you progress through the game and its events. But it’s still not up to the level expected at the end of 2024

[@theshrimp9041]

I remember a very impressive detail in the old AI. NPC spamming their weapon's trigger while falling. That was part of a large pannel of death animations, very satisfying to watch when it occurred.

[@tiortedrootsky]

Some phrases are hard to translate with proper nuance. 1:10 "hold on brother, i'll fix you up now" 1:24 something like "bon voyage, s-er" 2:52 "somebody!" "come here!" (help!) 2:55 "relax, we'll all be there" "dont disperse, wait" 3:02 "so, dude, what do you have there?" "help! somebody!" 3:11 "no need for all this to rot away, as i see it " Thank you for your work!

[@IPlayIronAssault]

Dang

[@kolohatky]

Thanks for your researches! Hopefully, devs will see this too. But I think they already know it and will be updating AI and other mechanics.

[@ZoneSlug]

@@kolohatky No problem! Yea hopefully they working on this stuff

[@bananaborn4785]

5:19 its gonna take A LONG WHILE before stalker 2 is even remotly as good as stalker trilogy

[@zemotika]

It’s only a matter of time before we get anomaly 2 and I’m really looking forward to that

[@prezlamen7906]

I doubt itll ever be even a bit close to how originals were. Itll prolly be dropped. Modders will try and mane anomaly or gamma though but at this point theres no reason for anyone to buy this crap. Just pirate it.

[@VikingKong.]

It never will be. The senior programmers and graphic designers and animators have probably all moved on to another project already. Modern games rarely see this kind of polish after release, the only changes you'll see now are easy tweaks to existing code and some numbers being changed. The skeleton crew left behind will only be capable of small superficial changes, minor balance updates and easy bugfixes.

[@Kasgigz]

Modders will make the game better before the devs even finished planning major patches (if any)

[@citricdemon]

​@@VikingKong.the senior programmers were killed during the war. this is a ukranian game. they've been developing it in a war zone.

[@johbowfor]

Stalker 2 needs to be marked as early access.

[@alexdemyanenko8467]

if this game was not ukrainian and was released by ubisoft or EA it would have 20% positive reviews on steam.

[@realbr1koo]

No.. The game is still amazing despite some things lacking.

[@amogusimpostor7961]

​@@realbr1koo "Some things" Have you actually watched the video?

[@johbowfor]

@@realbr1koo It can be good and unfinished at the same time, but it is definitely worse in some ways, as the video demonstrates.

[@adamdoran1398]

@@amogusimpostor7961 yeah "some things" the games still good an complete just because the enemy AI isn't as good doesn't mean they are completely braindead like chill. i know its hard not be be a shitter online but try not to be.

[@joeo2533]

2:39 woah, old AI looks back before backing up? There was a lot of work put into the old games.

[@GugureSux]

Yup. And this is the whole reason why us oldfags honestly think that gaming has only declined. Paying attention to small details, going above the "good enough" mediocrity, was a driving force of game makers of the past. The amount of small details and interactive elements in some even older classics, such as PS2's Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill games, still impresses me to this day.

[@nickyranda1171]

Old Stalker devs used one point of view: Simple rules create complex varieties of events I think that was the reason why trilogy is so good

[@ZakuMichael]

great video, ive noticed a lot of these things aswell. amazing how we have AI in everything but games over 20yrs old has a better NPC action flowcharts then anything out now

[@MatadorShifter]

1:36 this is such a small but an impressive mechanic

[@Ghost-jh5nh]

The game definitely needed more time...

[@spicydong317]

Guessing they were running short on money for production at this point This is why they rushed this release despite like 1-2 years of delays already...

[@thenom6648]

Well it’s not like the Ukrainian game company had a war or anything…. While finishing their other best game before it (Metro exodus). So you got to give them credit of how much they done.

[@thenom6648]

@@spicydong317that is one of them, while also having to relocate to a entirely new studio to not have everything they had back at home. So it makes A lot of sense, and they are doing their best to update it.

[@eajjoutlaw]

@@spicydong317 well I mean, if that’s the case, they released it perfectly. They made a huge profit so hopefully that will give them the means to REALLY improve the game. That’s me being hopeful.

[@zacokick]

@@thenom6648 The Metro series is made by A4 Games, a studio created by an ex-GSC employee and SoC director, Andrew Prokhorov, GSC did not make Metro Exodus. HoC could have been baked mlonger, but 15 years is pushing it, and they very well could have been in financial trouble with the war and all.

[@dedli_midi]

AI got outsourced to the "free-labor modder's department"

[@magnusberge]

Coming from STALKER Trilogy and GAMMA, this STALKER 2 AI and lack of A-Life killed STALKER 2 for me

[@boomdaddymaxwell]

Absolute facts

[@newt4050]

Same here, I was right not to expect much from stalker 2 hype

[@khelgarironfist3301]

And that 90 meter enemy render distance

[@xXSilentAgent47Xx]

This is why you dont buy trash from day one. Wait months when be on sale. Pirating the games is better.

[@velvetinedrapes4359]

@@xXSilentAgent47Xx The last sentence is the only real option

[@renaudalarie4283]

Awesome video! I knew the Ai was great in original stalker but there's a lot of things I had no idea theyr were doing

[@ZoneSlug]

Thanks a lot :) yes they were ahead of their time

[@tommyjacob5704]

in the first shadow of Chernobyl at the end of the game i remember looking down to looting a dead body and a npc walked strait in my back whitout shooting and when i saw him at the last moment he head shoot me and killing me whit one bullet.....i never knew if it was AI scripted

[@ZoneSlug]

I did hear that enemies sneak up on you with out shooting you in the back sometimes

[@enter1323]

NPC will sneak up on you if you aren't looking at them in soc. Unsure about the other games.

[@GugureSux]

The AI in old STALKER trilogy is NOT scripted. The A-LIFE praised as one of the most dynamic and believable AI solutions for a reason. I've seen sneaky breekis literally prey my butt and strike when I'm not looking. I've witnessed a single enemy survivor quietly camp near their fallen brother's corpses, not making a peep until I was looting their buddies bodies. I've also seen NPCs guard the entrance to the room I was last spotted at, only to get tapped in the back thanks to my low-crouch sneaking skills.

[@serror3416]

Wow... Now I understand why everyone was raving about A-Life, and why they were so disappointed after playing stalker 2. This is a significant difference.

[@DarkDoomguy]

Stalker 2 will never be as good as the originals, because the original team, especially the programmers that pushed really hard for all the AI in Stalker to make the game feel more alive, have left a very, very long time ago.

[@dutystalker]

It may seem like the Brain Scorchers did more than we've expected, Stalker! Join Duty! Help us prevent such Anomalous interactions in the zone! Do your part in saving the planet and rework the AI!

[@dustinm16]

This is a great video highlighting some excellent points of reference for improvements. I hope the A-Life adjustments and improvements continue till we reach a similar level of immersive AI.

[@ZoneSlug]

Thank you I hope so too

[@MetalDresser]

There is so much more. There is also a need for rest among both mutants and human NPCs. You can track mutants in the OG games and watch them find places to sleep. In Stalker 2, mutants and human NPCs can be spawned sleeping, but afterwards they can't go back into sleep mode because they're simply not meant to “exist” for that long. The same applies to hunger. Mutants can be spawned in places to eat, but this is only a spawned action. They don't eat on their own for the same reasons. It's really such a shame because it made all the Stalker games really special. I also feel a bit betrayed because there's practically no interview where the awesome new A-Life system isn't mentioned and what we get is this action bubble spwan nonsense. I really hope they do fix it, but I'm starting to lose hope.

[@ZoneSlug]

Don't lose hope brother, It will just take time.

[@OCinneide]

@@ZoneSlug We need to be vocal about what we want to see. These are CORE things which are the foundation for AI. At the moment there are NO systems in place to even attempt to implement anything like this.

[@telephonefan4559]

@@ZoneSlug cope bootlicker

[@krist141]

one is a generic "AAA" slop made on urine engine 5, the other is an icon of eastern gamedev crafted with soul and dedication

[@huks9380]

I wouldn't call it AAA slop. It is better than most of the trash nowadays, but I am still a little disappointed.

[@GugureSux]

@@huks9380 It's slop at its worst. I knew that things would only go sour when the original team was sacked back in 2012 and Sergei started headhunting a new team, burning the old promises of NOT going the console-trash route. Hell, they even started shilling PAID DLC & BOOSTER PACKS for this thing, years before the release!

[@prezlamen7906]

​@@huks9380How is this better than modern trash? Like whats your requirement for a game to be good? This is just a sandbox with random npc spawns with basic academy homework ai, that needs 4080 or 4090 to run ok natively and looks like crap. Is that your requirement for a game to be good?

[@xXSilentAgent47Xx]

This is how The Witcher 4 will be. And there's Silent Hill 2 remake that has more details than original game like enemy damage that has dragging bloods on floor an water quality.

[@huks9380]

@@prezlamen7906 Just goes to show how low the bar is nowadays.

[@guldank]

Great content. Looking forward to watching this channel grow.

[@ZoneSlug]

@@guldank Thank you I appreciate that a lot

[@SMGJohn]

They actually nerfed the AI in ShoC, disabled grenade throwing and the occupance of flanking. The AI could also in the early builds, disengage and camp in a corner to surprise attack you, but this was not fun design for the testers, so they turned it down, it would still happen though and I remember thinking the AI was so annoying popping up out of nowhere and hiding everywhere, as a kid I thought it was bad AI. But in reality it was just too good.

[@SpartanMozi]

Great video, sir. I'd like to point out some things: 3:25 - I've been told this does actually exist. For example, one person I know said he saw a Bloodsuckers limp 1:09 - I never got dialogue even if I myself saved them until the latest 2-3 patches - I think it is possible for this dialogue to be bugged. I did not check game files for voice lines related to it, so I can't say for sure. In general, there are improvements to be made. I think some of these problems could also be borked AI. For example, they never loot bodies for me. I feel like the AI can do a lot more actually, but they just don't. But we will see in the near future, it is good GSC is dedicated to improving the game and AI in general (not just A-Life related components)

[@ZoneSlug]

Thank you! Yeah I think a lot of stuff might be there just bugged like you say especially looting and stuff, it makes me optimistic knowing GSC are dedicated to the long term development of the game!

[@euserhitzel3219]

What I don't understand is the inconsistancy of the bugs. So for some they never loot bodies, but I have seen it multiple times and even on youtube etc. I have never seen a Mutant limping they just attack until they die. I really don't know if the complexity of those bugs is so high that they are not happening for every player. I never had any bugs with quests and I'm pretty far into the story, but I read a lot about progression locking quest bugs. I don't know If they could have ported the A-Life from CoP to stalker 2 with adjustments for the open map. Also the battle behaviour isn't that great, but they do flank and are trying to get around you to shoot you in the back, that happend to me also often. I think the AI in battle works better in a compound with buildings or in those buildings. Sry for the long text🤘

[@ZoneSlug]

@ No problem, I'm not sure what is happening. For me I had A LOT of bugs that broke quests for me so I had to restart from early saves, yes very inconsistent.

[@TheYamiks]

very cool showcase : thank you!

[@ZoneSlug]

No, thank you! ❤️

[@rmhj01]

Shadow of Chernobyl will always be in my heart for this exact reason. I remember so many times needing to be the ultimate stalker. Needing to Outflank Flankers, needing to frantically run cover to cover, as the enemy force would have 4 people giving cover-fire, as the rest were splitting left and right, using cover to their advantage, trying to get closer and closer to my position as the first team is still suppressing me behind some broken car or piece of rubble. That allowed me to tell my stories of fierce and brutal skirmishes, guerilla warfare, and tactics just to survive the harsh and unforgiving zone. I genuinely loved sharing my stories to fellow fans, and that's how you have a story, without even an ounce of dialogue.

[@sanabil3884]

All the things in old stalker NPC combat is acheivable. I think there will be a huge A.I combat overhaull that will not only bring the old set of features but also introduce new NPC behaviours. I HOPE.

[@ZoneSlug]

I’m hoping too!

[@Ccberry98]

I’m praying for this 🙏🏼

[@Desiderium]

This is a very heavily needed and very important video, highlighting almost every reason why Stalker 2's A-life is inferior in every single possible way to the original games (and Anomaly and its offshoots.) Hopefully GSC fixes things up.

[@HaXeDick]

The current GSC is nothing like the Original GSC so there is no chance.

[@DarkDoomguy]

Stalker 2 doesn't have a-life. The people who made A-life were never on the stalker 2 team, they quit a very long time ago.

[@he2a]

​@@DarkDoomguyit's not that simple. while partly true, they can implement true A-Life if they want in stalker 2. But the problem is that XRay engine was tailored to support A-Life. Implementing it in Unreal will completely tank performance to single digits even with a very beefy CPU. There is already huge performance drop in crowded areas like Rostok where GPU gets heavily bottlenecked by sheer number of NPC. While part of the reason lies with Unreal's handling of AI, other part lies in the scale of the game. Stalker trilogy had disconnected maps so simulation wouldn't go overboard. In Stalker 2, it is a single map so any offline simulation that is happening would span entire map. I think there is scope of improving the offline simulation and combat AI can definitely be improved but it will come at a performance cost.

[@Psycho7452]

@@he2a Then they shouldn't use UE. Simple as. Game was not standing out much when it came to story but it was standing out thanks to atmosphere and A-Life. GSC simply fucked up on so many levels it's not even funny anymore. Engine choice and seamless world was their biggest blunders in my opinion.

[@prezlamen7906]

​@@he2aWhats sad is all those npcs that tank performance are basically code academy basic homework level.

[@thisisrahrah381]

Call of duty 2 enemies were fucking magnificent, they crouched to avoid headshots, they’d even dolphin dive or hit the floor upon suppression and then get up and keep running Launch sneak attacks, play dead U throw a bunch of grenades into a room and think u cleared it and upon walking inside they all are still alive crouched behind something and start firing Hit flanks, infinite Waw type grenades when u hide Used hella dialogue to describe the situation Cod 2 AI was a diff breed

[@snakebae6259]

the AI was the literal one thing that stood out so much to me in the old games. crazy to see what it has been downgraded to...

[@Assassino275]

Stalker 2 is absolutely pathetic, the devs should honestly be ashamed

[@bababooey9825]

I give them slack where it's due but 2000+ bug fixes in 2 updates isn't good. And the game feels no different.

[@Assassino275]

@@bababooey9825 They rushed the game and fumbled it, the fact they're so proud of the woke crap they added in as well

[@polomarco7053]

@@Assassino275 could you tell me more about the “woke crap”? Is it that almost all npc got black hair and look like metissed peoples? I have a few suspicions of my own.

[@volodymyr639]

@@Assassino275 just curious, what woke crap are you referring to?

[@Assassino275]

@@volodymyr639 POCs, women, anti Russian content etc. Just stuff they added for the sake of it. Guess they thought it would excuse such a bugged game

[@alarminglyfastmovingskelet7289]

Thank you for covering the combat AI. The developers definitely took note of your videos on A-Life so here's hoping the combat AI gets some love too.

[@mike.hawk_]

The OG ai had me dumbfounded consistently. Best example was me knowing there’s a guy outside the door, me aiming down sights at the door waiting for him to push… Motherfucker low crouches into the doorway obstructed by my gun model and pelts me in the face with buckshot. It always felt like these AI enemies were alive

[@12CadetSpaceCadet]

that old AI was amazing. I hope GSC will do something about AI in Stalk2. Because there is no immersion without A-life 2.0 at all :(

[@playerunknowen7965]

nope they wont

[@yasuosaito4680]

Back in the day they added mechanics just for fun, but nowadays all resources are spent on visuals

[@PosranaRegistrace]

And the visuals does not seem all that great compared to let's say Clear Sky running on DX11

[@IllemDaFunk]

It's wild how the gaming industry seems to be the ONLY industry that refuses to learn from previous work and buildjng on what they've seen work. Gaming has become a circus of reinventing the wheel to the satisfaction of no one but executives and shareholders, because we keep buying this stuff. I hope the devs can bring Stalker 2 to glory.

[@alfonsogomezmontoya1]

Stalker 2 needed 1 or 2 more years of development, i hope the 2 dlcs that are planned will bring a lot stuff from old stalkers, like nightvision, binoculars, pda statistics, faction relations and of course improvements in the AI overall

[@Chinothebad]

Assuming they do to this game what SoC got in standalone expansions like CS and CoP, one can only hope those get improvements on top of the devs understanding how the engine works and everything.

[@SamaelVR]

This is why there are still a ton of old games that hold up.

[@bababooey9825]

Honestly, besides the war there's no excuse for the game to be in this state. They've been putting this game thru development hell for 10+ years and this is the result? The AI was more intelligent in the gameplay previews. Except in the previews they'd actually miss too.

[@t1m0fey_p3dan3]

Didn't know it's 2028. Development began at 2018. Unreal engine 5 came out few years ago. So they didn't have a lot of time

[@bababooey9825]

@t1m0fey_p3dan3 games been in development since 2012 if we're gonna get technical

[@loooolks]

I don't understand why someone writes about justifications related to the war, if the original release date was before the date of the war, plus the game was being developed far from the war zone. before the declaration of war, the game should have already been ready, but as a result, we received several postponements and the current state of the game. It should be a shame.

[@bababooey9825]

@@t1m0fey_p3dan3 development started in 2010-2012 actually.

[@bababooey9825]

@@loooolks it was supposed to come out a couple months before the invasion I think, and usually by that time most devs are polishing the little shit. These last couple updates fixed "2000" bugs and yet this shit feels the same outside of stuff spawning right in front of me. It's a miracle this game honestly came out but tbh they spent almost 100 million to make it. There's not a snowballs chance in hell they'd cancel it. We just have to wait a year. Most likely more. Cyberpunk still gets updates after all.

[@Glawkamolee]

these videos never miss, thanks for these.

[@OptimizingNetwork]

Hey, man 🙂 Based on this video I searched into the files and found something that can perhaps fix some issues with cover and what is missing right now is the retreat option. What I found literally right now there is a parameter that will make an enemy retreat if percentage of his squad is taken out. Considering we don't measure people by percentage it would be something like: in 4 man squad, if 75% enemies are offed by real player = 1 enemy begins to retreat, but...if the squad is bigger than the parameter may not trigger as it was 5 enemies. BUT! The parameter is set to 100% now, meaning the whole squad needs to be wiped off before an enemy "chooses to retreat", and how would it retreat when you are looting his body? These videos are pretty valid for a modder like me, so directly/indirectly you are impacting my next set of mods that I am thinking of. I am working like 4 mods in parallel right now. Feel free to check them out on my channel But keep posting these videos, as they raise not just observational questions, but also design wise that perhaps could be within game files, and TRUST ME...I have been DIGGING all kinds of fun stuff that is clearly been cut or omitted. I fixed many behaviors that were broken, and now it is performing way better. My only concern is if the new update break all of my mods, hopefully no, or there will be a ton of copy and paste

[@ZoneSlug]

Really good to hear the work you’re doing, not sure why they would disable it by putting it to 100% behaviours must be broken or something, Keep at it! Looking forward to looking at your progress

[@antaress8128]

You are great!

[@OptimizingNetwork]

@@ZoneSlug Thanks, man! I found there is a parameter that is turned off for "Offline" firefights, but turning it on breaks mutants, so there is still either another limitation somewhere, OR there is identical parameter in another file that is conflicting with turning it on in another file. I found a lot of interesting stuff, I don't want to blow this up in the comments, because I value my work and until I test it, I really don't want people to jack my ideas and hard work and call their own, but bro, these videos of yours get me thinking, so I have been looking extensively in files, and there is a lot of good stuff in there By the way, I sent this exact video to GSC and they responded to me, and said they are in process of working on mutants and NPCs extensively, so that video of yours will be useful, along with all the data I am submitting to GSC as well. Since I am in those files, I found a lot of parameters that are broken and I fixed a lot of it and told GSC about it too

[@OptimizingNetwork]

👍

[@jeef5222]

​@@OptimizingNetwork you have my deepest respect for working on such a community driven game. Absolute legend. Thanks for your efforts in advance

[@UmUs]

Older stalker games rock, crazy how underrated they managed to stay

[@RedSiegfried]

Watching modern enemy AI makes me appreciate how great it is. It's just like playing against most humans, because most humans suck. Stand out in open, hold down trigger, get killed, complain how game is buggy and broken. Accurate.

[@itz_Metaa]

At first I was enlighted that the dialogue adds a lot. After the whole video I'm amazed by how much is missing, the small details all contribute to the atmosphere. It's fascinating how the AI behaves in CoP! To be honest, I never even noticed because it just felt so natural even after many playtroughs of CoP. I really hope they will extend upon the current model and add all these and more, since the foundation is there already to make the most immersive game of the decade.

[@ZoneSlug]

@@itz_Metaa The stalker community is amazing so I have no doubts!

[@itz_Metaa]

@@ZoneSlug Yeah, I'm too counting on the community. Even if they don't add these minor details after they end the game's lifecycle and official support, I have high hopes that the community will make mods that could make the game so much more than intended.

[@MasterSniper087]

Thats what the mainstream wants and does. Better graphics, everything else is just extra. And LOTS of shooting everywhere you don't have to think, just let us give you dopamine to try to make you addicted. Thats not S.T.A.L.K.E.R. That's the cod and fortnite style. We don't need more of this shit. S.T.A.L.K.E.R was about realism and hardcore, with a post-soviet, lonely and cruel world to let you immerse in that lil anxiety. And the modding community fulfilled all of our dreams that the x-ray was able to hold. I hope that these modders will be able to make a S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Anomaly or something...

[@Kriegerherz]

Playing Stalker 2 made me download Anomaly and Gamma. It needs way more time, game‘s so fucking raw.

[@sashamakeev7547]

3:16 lemme pick up that AKSU..... yeah thats a nice TRs301

[@ZoneSlug]

@@sashamakeev7547 yeah 😂

[@TopSecretName]

One thing I've noticed while playing STALKER 2 is that if you engage a group of enemies that is already in a skirmish with allies they seem to prioritize attacking the player regardless of the situation. I've seen bandits with immediate threats right next to them that still feel compelled to shoot me instead despite being like 30ft away.

[@LiterallyLozyl]

The dogs growling at me when I enter their territory in Clear Sky was when I know STALKER is special

[@Олег-л2п8ч]

4.22 Glowing eyes of the bloodsucker and pseudodog, it seems that this is not in Stalker 2, as well as many other good things that were in the previous games of the series, which causes great bewilderment. Edit: Dead mutant cat's eyes glowing in the dark confirmed

[@ZoneSlug]

I would like the glowing eyes back but minimal so bloodsuckers can still ambush you

[@DraxTheDestroyer]

Aaaand this is exactly why I don't pre-order games anymore. I still haven't bought S2 and will wait until they show us some respect.

[@Nero_Graves]

The grenade reaction in the old game they really run for their lives

[@riloegaming]

The visuals and audio of Stalker 2 make the zone feel very immersive... but rather empty. Having just played SoC right before 2 - if the new game had the AI complexity of the old, it would truly sell the zone as a living place

[@Zeon081]

ShoC ai is not even that good. most of the game is scripted. but CS and CoP ai is on a whole another level. though admittedly CS is buggy af.

[@shahar_3411]

This needs to be spread. These are things that could definitely be fixed with updates.

[@TheAwast2]

Does anybody remember there was a really good Oblivion Lost Mod for SoC with all the cut out mutants and weapons, where you could use also vehicles like jeeps and even the Mil-Mi 24 helicopter it was also possible to go back from Prypjat and NNP to the map before they added also a trader in Prypjat and weapons you find only in NNP like the FN F2000 i think in game it was called the FT200 could be found much earlyier in game i think it was on top of that building Jantar where you could go Underground in Lab X16, even if you beat the game it was possible to still play and enter all maps after it, this Mod was fucking great

[@B1SCOOP]

I remember playing the mod on my first SoC playthrough back in 2009. IIRC it was the one of the first total conversion mods that fully unlocked A-Life and blowouts. Any other open world game I've played afterwards felt like it was missing something (maybe except CoP and Anomaly).

[@Leantenant]

You could try OLR 3.0 Pretty interesting mod I guess. Author says that's he recreate stalker of 2002-2004. (So there is a really functional a-life(much better than in original trilogy), vehicles, hadcore mechanics, and other cut content) Although it's still in beta(which started in first or second month of 2024). And author somewhere lost.(I hear that's he was working on this mod for more than 10 years(since spring of 2013). There also still playble olr 2.5 which is more like original game but still with builds features.)

[@mrssirens]

Man, I really hope they fix this stuff, the ai and its interactions was a gigantic part of what made the prior games so cool.

[@he2a]

The most amazing thing I saw long back in vanilla CoP Zaton. Once I encountered a controller in one of abandoned areas surrounded by zombies. I killed all zombies but the fight with controller was stretched out. I broke both my weapons and down to my pistol, my armor was semi broken too and I was halucinating a lot. So I decided to cut losses and run towards the ship and sleep it off. I entirely forgot the encounter and after a long time I was just scouting an area and I saw Shevchenko full of zombies and the controller in the ship. Long back I cleared the ship off bandits and was full of stalkers. Now it became a controller nest. I checked the nearby location where I encountered the controller and it wasn't there anymore.

[@fkykas]

The things that we see in old stalker is what is interesting to me, I don't care that much for just visuals. I think the devs thought that they need to take atmosphere and enhance it using UE5 because most will not notice the details. Or knowing that the development was really difficult, they decided to do what they can to finish the game and then fix it if its successful. I hope so.

[@QzLn]

That's why i bought Stalker 2, finished it and got back to modded STALKER like EFP, GAMMA, and recently RADIOPHOBIA 3....

[@OptimizingNetwork]

Hey once again 🙂 I found a parameter in the files that actually addresses an injured NPC, and based on the wording it looks like it is a damaged enemy that will struggle to walk, and it even has a value, but considering I have not seen any animations in the actual game, it means that it's there, but as a placeholder. It would be applicable to mutants too. Injuried NPCs will have an animation in the future, I think. There is also a looting radius where NPCs are supposed to loot, it is rather small, so it may be the reason why nothing happens. I will be testing it soon, to see if bumping the radius up will make a difference, and also revive radius is super small (less than 10 meters), so if friendlies don't see NPC clinging to life from really close they won't revive them currently, buffing the radius and will report back. I bumped up looting to 25 meters and reviving to 37, let's see if it makes a difference

[@theshrimp9041]

22k view in 4 days, good job! Every one of you should send that video to GSC gameworld, they really need to see that

[@yupyeah6991]

I never played the original stalker and just played the second one because of gamepass and after seeing all these videos comparing the two games I’ve got to say the original stalker looks genuinely so impressive. Looking forward to getting it soon and getting that first experience

[@playerunknowen7965]

try it, you will be realy suprised (if you want to play the best game then try call of prypat)

[@Mattshea13]

Yeah I’m not gunna lie, I’m still in the early 10-15hr range of the game in Garbage. (Minor spoilers) im on the mission where I need to choose to kill Roosevelt, shah, or varan. I already was kinda annoyed by varan so I walked out of the facility to talk to Roosevelt’s right hand man that was ousted from the group and is/was an alcoholic. After killing him, I returned back to varan facility to kill him. I snuck in knifed the dude in the watch tower. Which no one saw but then a danger state was initiated by people I couldn’t see. Soldiers started running around looking for me (but didn’t know where I was but did?) idk. Then I got into the actual building where varan was. And I started killing people, they were in a combat state but didn’t see me even if I was standing in the open and shooting their comrades right next to them. Then once clear soldiers started spawning behind me in the same room. Idk 0:30

[@kingcrack5343]

Which one were u playing?

[@Mattshea13]

@ playing stalker 2

[@zerohour980]

1:50 throws grenade, everyone > INTENSE BREATHING SOUNDS

[@ZoneSlug]

😂

[@justmrcurly]

i was so hyped about stalker 2 but after release when i watched the game play videos, i changed my mind and start to playing G.A.M.M.A.

[@boi8328]

I remember the day I entered the Red Forest, saw a Loner wave at me before being quickly swiped and taken away by a bloodsucker.

[@malaizze]

I think you should do a comparison video looking at the mutants. One really striking thing about them in S2 is just how badly designed they are, having lost large parts of their original balancing and character. Alongside human enemies, mutants in S2 need a total rework. It’s ridiculous that none of them have a real jump attack anymore. Even the chimera is beaten with a stack of boxes.

[@dannyzero692]

Same thing with half life 2's AI along with Half life Alyx's AI too. The old AI was incredibly impressive. They flank you from one side, pushing you into the corner where you have little room to maneuver before bursting through a destructible object to finish you off. They shoot explosive barrels near you to damage you. They threw grenades the moment you sit for just a bit too long in the same spot. etc.

[@morbid6944]

Totally different generation of developers worked on Stalker 2 and it really shows.

[@KERAAK35]

Thank you for bringing this up and showing. That is why I stopped playing after just a few days after the release. As I really want to play the real finished game, where all works & have a lot more common sense :)

[@deathhulk88]

who needs good ai when you have grenade spamming laser aim enemies in stalker 2 the way they make enemies more difficult is give them marksman rifles and sniper rifles and they are spamming it like they have a bump stock attached to it pretty immersion shattering

[@Hollo0w]

I fckn hate laser guided grenades in it, it's annoing af. Couple it up with wallhacking enemies whos shooting at you through cover and every fight becomes a total clustertruck...

[@deathhulk88]

@Hollo0w the grenades are easy enough to dodge the infinite amount they can throw is a problem another thing is the red/yellow weapons they carry never jam despite them being almost broken btw bullets penetrate light objects i taken down a few behind cover

[@Hollo0w]

@@deathhulk88 ye but isn't it kinda pointless?(Hardest difficulty) i mean shooting through objects. Like 90% of the game most of the people trying to manage inventory so they don't get stamina debuff. So naturally most of the people carrying barely enough amount of ammo and also you don't get them from enemy, you don't get them in crates(you do, like 10 rounds per crate, until late game). Also having constant spawn of full exo wearing monolith soldiers doesn't help, good luck killing them through walls with 5.56/5.45 rifle, each of them takes full mag to the chest. I learned that bolt action rifle is the most reasonable gun to use, it's one shot every human npc to the head, it's durable. Sure .308 costs a lot but you usualy get like 5-10 rounds from monolith late game, which is enough for bolt action. As for grenades you're right, they don't do much damage, but stun and the fact that they spam them left to right makes it annoing af 🤦

[@deathhulk88]

@Hollo0w i don't shoot through stuff often only when i see one hiding behind something usually they are behind solid cover also the bolt action is good just wish i would have gotten the holemaker attachment for it before malachite was locked down pretty stupid only one vendor sells it btw don't take body shots on exos or anything in that matter i always aim for the head kharod with full pen upgrade takes down exos fast even with regular ammo

[@Happy_Sailor639]

Everything went into that one ak dissassemble/assemble scene.

[@BrusMag]

Мне понравилось во второй части, что мутанты прячутся от тебя, когда не могут достать(запрыгнул на высоту) Хорошее видео❤

[@АлексейЯковлев-з6э]

Мне это тоже нравится, хоть нереалистично, но лучше уж так, чем они будут просто бегать вокруг, а ты в них стрелять.

[@Bbbbbbbbbbhhhhhhh]

The older AI used to surround you so much. I remember getting in cover and never feeling like I could rest because the AI would be moving to circle you. Breaking line of sight could be a death sentence, especially at the start of the game.

[@Zariston]

Good job on the video comparison, shows nicely how Stalker 2 is beta at best.

[@H4zZ4rDGaming1]

in the older game the sneaking always scared the shit out of me haha. i thought the fighting was over so i start looting, and then a bandit walks into the room and blasts me

[@karlgerg2626]

all my homies HATE unreal engine

[@przemek2573]

It is not unreal engine fault. It is devs not implementing features in it. Whatever the official reasons for that are.

[@SrAntonio301]

Unreal engine is just a tool. It’s the developers job to use the tool wisely that decides if the game is good or not.

[@OSTemli]

@przemek2573 90% of unreal engine game are bad Only good are very casual type game

[@sourkefir]

​@@OSTemliIt's the devs being lazy. Only thing you can blame UE5 for is shitty performance for games with Nanite enabled. Then again, still the devs' fault, since they chose to just use Nanite instead of graphically upgrading games themselves.

[@sourkefir]

The hate on Unreal is just stupid. Yes, there's problems with Nanite (a ton, not denying that), but in the end, most other issues are dev faults. You can just not use Nanite. All in all it's a fantastic engine, not without flaws, but still a very good one.

[@georgyalice434]

We are waiting too bro

[@zlostnypopolnik]

Practically, over the years they could have easily built a new game on 64-bit X-Ray and no one would have complained. Maybe it would look even better than it does now, because remember one thing. No one will ever be able to imitate the atmosphere of the old STALKER, which is also thanks to the engine.

[@Art_Korobochka]

Metro Exodus was made using a modified X-Ray engine. So GSC are Stupid

[@zlostnypopolnik]

@@Art_Korobochka I don't think they chose UE5 just because it's easy to use. I can see how "easy" it is to use when nothing works properly. There are a lot of unanswered questions and strange decisions. We all know what a modified 64 bit X-Ray can do and it doesn't just have to be Metro, but also mods for old STALKER games. Bloody ray tracing bullshit.

[@Art_Korobochka]

@@zlostnypopolnik You're right. The race for beauty does not mean quality

[@zlostnypopolnik]

@ Exactly. The fact that graphics often mean nothing has been proven many times in games. I probably don't need to introduce pixel games and Minecraft to anyone. I have a hunch. I think right now some maniac is thinking about porting the STALKER 2 story to the 64 bit X-Ray engine.

[@Diszzzon75]

UE5 is easier to use because it's made to be easy to use, particularly for realistic triple AAA games(compared to most other engines out there). Also you can use it for free as an individual, MEANING that people already know how to use it and can be hired without the need for training. Also if you have your own engine you have to maintain it, which costs a lot of money and time. That's the same reason why studios like CDPR are switching to Unreal. The trade off, of course, is that you lose the specific advantages that your engine had over Unreal, but they probably made the decision that it is better for the long term health of the studio to focus their resources in game development rather than both game and engine development and maintenance.

[@PetroIv20]

WOW. Really impressive. The greatest explanation of shrinkflation I have ever seen.

[@419chris419]

Modern gaming have lost AI smarts. Which is ironic since this is the age of AI getting more popular.

[@tailfirst]

With wounded enemies, I spent a LOT of time in my CS Mod Chuppa Clear Sky not only implementing NPC looting but tweaking wound and bleeding factors to cause injured npc's, which was very cool when it finally worked. THAT's something that impresses me in Stalker 2 - ie. that wounded NPC's is definitely a thing.