If you’re thinking about diving into modding, prepare your PC — you’ll need an enormous amount of storage, and that’s putting it mildly.

GSC Game World has released a major new patch for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, upgrading the game to version 1.5. This update introduces major improvements to the A-Life system, which was in pretty rough shape when the game launched in November — to be polite about it.

Life in the Zone is now simulated for all characters, not just those in the player’s line of sight. Characters continue living, pursuing goals, and eventually meeting their fate — so you might bump into familiar stalkers again. Players can now see more A-Life characters resting or interacting in various locations, adding to the immersion and authenticity of the world.

Characters will no longer respawn right in front of you. If you clear out a mutant lair, the mutants won’t magically reappear moments later. The A-Life Director won’t spawn characters at the edge of your field of view anymore. Instead, respawning will occur farther from the player, while the Zone remains populated. The visualization range has also been slightly extended — now characters appear fully animated and equipped with their weapons, helping reduce pop-in and making transitions smoother.

In addition, the patch brings a host of bug fixes and technical enhancements, particularly in terms of performance and support for ultra-wide monitors. But arguably the biggest highlight is the release of the modding toolkit, the Zone Kit. It’s now available on the Epic Games Store and lets users create new animations, weapons, mechanics, and more. Mods can then be shared via the Steam Workshop or Mod.io. The former isn’t live yet, but Mod.io already hosts 43 mods. Just one catch: it needs 700 GB of space. Not a typo. Seven hundred gigabytes.

At Gamescom, GSC Game World also confirmed that cross-platform mods, multiplayer mode, and hardware-based ray tracing would be added post-launch — and one of those features is already in place.

Source: WCCFTech, Steam, Epic Games Store