0 of 0
About this mod
NPCs now spawn around the player in 860m radius, Closer range(100-200m) will be 1 to 2 common unit spawns mostly. Midrange(150-400) It's more likely to see small groups/packs. (400-600) Lower chance to spawn in Poltergeist, PseudoDog, Burer, Deer etc. The more exotic larger mutants have the lowest chance to spawn so you can work around them.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
S2 1.3.2 patch - No Changes to Configs should be fine to use
1.6.2.5 Beta - Swamp Scenario Timing/Weights - April 25
Thanks for sticking with me and continuing to help with testing. Very much appreciated. Let me know if Swamp is too busy now.
Warning!!! Now edits - ItemGeneratorPrototypes.cfg
Optional Files->ALife_Found_A_Way_1.6.2.5 Beta
1.6.2.4 Beta - Lair Goals / Spawn Qty / Corpses - April 23Increased MaxSpawnQuantity Min/Max Bayun by 1-2 depending on current quest rank Lair Goals Experiment for Mutants - Shay offered some sound logic Alife Population Config is setting lairs goals based on how many a faction/mutant type control at one time. Added Giants, Controllers, Chimera, Bayun, Deer. Adjusted all mutant lair goal numbers to try an limit how aggressive exotic mutants are vs common mutants & humans. Hopefully there will be less exotics taking control of multiple lairs and multiplying this way. Reduced a number of ALifeLairMaxNPCCount from greater 8 to 6 or less. I believe this is influencing how often npcs are sent to expand to other lairs. Disabled DestroyCorpse - The other corpse timers should still despawn them at max after 100 minutes. Looted corpse should despawn around 10-15 minutes. This should resolve the issue where some corpses would only be visible after a save/load. Updated MHM Patch / MasterMode Patch!! Make sure to remove/replace current MHM Patch pak if using MHM.
1.6.2.3 Beta - Spawn Qty / Alife Lair Min & Max - April 22Reduced MaxSpawnQuantity Min to 0 for Exotic Mutants to make them rarer. Added MHM Patch Translucency Fix for Standard AIO Updated MHM Patch / MasterMode Patch!! Make sure to remove/replace current MHM Patch pak if using MHM.
1.6.2.2 Beta - Lair Expansion / Reduced Delay & Timeout - April 17
1.6.2.1 Beta - Spawn Delay - April 17
1.6.2 Beta - Spawn Delay/Director Timeout/Lair Expansion - April 17
1.6.1.8 Beta - Bug Fixes / Additional Timing Changes - April 12
1.6.1.7 Beta - NPC Loadouts / 40 Max Actor Ver - April 6
Please post any feedback and I'll try my best to help or make adjustments if needed.
1.6.1.6 Beta - Timers/General Change - March 30th
Well thanks to Linxz we can now adjust the timing on lairs. Now we have lair/territory control/expansion without the absolute chaos. Probably going to need some tweaks and there are probably some bugs. Which with current S2 is going to be some what difficult to figure out if it's a vanilla issue or not. Feedback will help a lot either way.
Well the issue is a bit more complicated than I originally thought. It's not scenario timing that's the cause of the problem. Some where between S2 1.2 to 1.3 and the various experimental changes in 1.6, Lairs and Lair Expansion have become very active. It's not the number of initial NPCs/Mutants existing at those lairs when you walk up to them being a problem. Instead it's sort of turned into faction/territory warfare. Which from observation and not interfering it quiets down after 8-10 mins of a group taking control of an area. I'm still trying to find some kind of solution that slow/limit the amount of skirmishes happening. It's a bit overwhelming in its current form. Even if you just try to let the AI do it's thing and not get involved it can
still be too busy. Here's a 30 ish minute recording from a recent test to give you an idea what's going on.
1.6.1.4 Beta - Spawn Timing - March 24th
So after running tests yesterday it appears some how the lair changes and old spawn additions have influenced spawn timing. Now it appears to be too quick again for about the first 5-10 mins in a new area before settling down again for the next 15-20 mins. I have some suspicions as to why this. However unless I discover something new the only way I can mitigate it is to increase spawn delay a bit more. I'll be working on that for later today.
Mod 1.5.4 & 1.6.1.4 Beta! - March 23th
Mod 1.6.1.3A Beta! - March 20th
Mod Beta 1.6.1.2! - March 15th
Mod Beta 1.6.1.1! - March 13th
Mod Beta 1.6.1! - March 12th
Mod Beta 1.6! - March 9th
I've been working on a build in parallel to 1.5 that uses a variable that changes the behavior of spawn director. What I mean by this is it enforces more control over the scenarios in an area so they can generate more regularly without turning into horde mode. I'm still in the process of tuning the timing for this build. It's getting closer so I thought some of you might enjoy giving it a try and providing some feedback.
I've incorporated the changes from 1.5.2 test to help prevent Memory usage increases that lead some to a memory leak. I've also adjusted the timing/weight for contextual actions(wandering, searching, life animations). The overall spawn timing might be a bit fast yet for some.
Feedback is appreciated. Let me know if you're running into new groups too often or sizes are too big. Perhaps you want more spacing in between encounters.
Hope you have fun!
Mod Patch 1.5.2!
Mod Patch 1.5!
MHM 2 Compatibility
Mod Patch 1.3!
All paks have been updated for Game update 1.2
Mod Patch 1.2!
Patch 1.1.1!
*1.1.1 is a HotFix for AIGlobals.cfg*
We still edit these cfgs in whole currently:
AIGlobals.cfg
CoreVariables.cfg
NPCSpawnerPrototypes.cfg
ObjPrototypes.cfg
./QuestNodePrototypes/DESPAWN.cfg
./ALifePrototypes/ALifeDirectorScenarioPrototypes.cfg
./ALifePrototypes/ALifePopulationManagerPrototypes.cfg
./LairPrototypes/GenericLairPrototypes.cfg
It started with a drop of Stalker DNA
After Flic and I both finished helping with Shay's Living Zone, we started experimenting to see if spawn range could be extend. Every new answer came with a new puzzle to figure out. As the experiment continued we ended up with something that should be closer to A-Life 1.0 and allow spawns to feel more natural. We managed to keep most if not all the scenarios intact, but spawning at an appropriate distance. Hopefully this will help avoid that forced spawn feeling when you stumble into one (HumanVsMutants, Lair Battles, etc...).
We also included new scenarios so that the more exotic mutants have a small chance to show up like Deer & Pseudogiant. To balance them we have them spawning further way from the player's initial/current location so that as you move towards a new location you can pick and choose whether you want to engage something or move around it.
Sauce..
The main ingredient of this mod is a tier system deeply tied into the radius from the player which allows us to restrict and command certain enemy types the player can run into depending on the Distance which will be explained below. This Radius was allowed after rewriting the way the Director is configured. Planned with a tier system in mind both in scalability and chance.
Imagine a large circle around the player representing the radius 860m; within this radius are smaller radii leading up to the player's restriction zone for spawns. This field defines the area where offline interactions are pooled, though these offline simulated interactions are currently limited to a range of 400 meters.
What happens when you start moving?
As you move forward you should start to see humans & mutants do their own thing. Maybe 1 or 2 in the first 100-175m. Next some smaller groups and packs that were spawned in around 150-400m. Then there is a low chance to spawn in Poltergeist, PseudoDog, Burer, Deer, etc... 375-750m. The more exotic/larger mutants have the lowest chance to spawn(475-750m). However since they have their own goals you might encounter them sooner if they happen to be traveling by. Video shown above displays leaving the starting zone for the first time and how the tier system generated the upcoming interactions ahead of time based on distance.
Lesser Zone & Swamp
Fear not my fellow Stalkers, we've also tailored the spawn scenarios for the Lesser Zone & Swamp. To avoid overwhelming the smaller areas, some exotic mutants have been removed and the timing set to a slower rate.
Lairs
Respawn after clearing a lair has been increased to give you time to look around and loot. However that doesn't mean you should hang out and have a picnic. It's best to finish up your tasks and move on before something comes looking to avenge their fallen companions.
VS
There is a rare chance for this to happen still in the midrange. I believe we also lowered the number of participants. Hopefully this will allow it to feel like you've stumbled into a small skirmish rather than a war.
Start New or Continue?
We feel like it might be best to start with a fresh playthrough. This will likely give you the fullest experience from start to finish. However you should be fine to use this while continuing an existing save. Though it might take a little to adjust your playstyle.
We also highly recommend our friend Ani HVX's MHM(Modular Hard Mode) mod when using our mod with a fresh start
https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/88
Are You a Runner?
Well you might not see much on you're initial run, but once you pause at a POI, Lair or quest the spawn director should start to catch up and fill in around you.
Why Didn't We Catch Everyone Else Up Yet?
By the time we had it figured out, cleaned up, and tested enough to know it was fully functional we ran out of time. The Devs are working on a new patch that could come out any day now. So we wanted the community to at least have the option to see and try it for what it is. Hopefully the Devs next patch will allow it to keep running the way it is, only they know. To our fellow modders give it a try, we'll do our best to explain what's going on so you can integrate your own vision/ideas. It's your turn to take the torch again and hopefully push the A-Life we have available a little further!
INSTALLATION
How to install
Download the version that you would like Extract the .pak file out of the zip file Place the .pak file inside your stalker 2 mods folder located inside your stalker 2 installation folder:
GamePass: DRIVE:\DIRECTORY\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2- Heart of Chornobyl (Windows)\Content\Stalker2\Content\Paks\~mods
Steam: \steamapps\common\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl\Stalker2\Content\Paks\~mods If no ~mods folder exists you need to create one in the Paks folder
Alters:
AIGlobals.cfg
CoreVariables.cfg
NPCSpawnerPrototypes.cfg
./ALifePrototypes/ALifeDirectorScenarioPrototypes.cfg
./ALifePrototypes/ALifePopulationManagerPrototypes.cfg
./LairPrototypes/GenericLairPrototypes.cfg
1.6.2.5 Beta - Swamp Scenario Timing/Weights - April 25
- Re-balanced Swamp scenario weights.
- Reduced Spawn Delay for Swamp scenarios to match Global scenarios.
Thanks for sticking with me and continuing to help with testing. Very much appreciated. Let me know if Swamp is too busy now.
Warning!!! Now edits - ItemGeneratorPrototypes.cfg
Optional Files->ALife_Found_A_Way_1.6.2.5 Beta
1.6.2.4 Beta - Lair Goals / Spawn Qty / Corpses - April 23
- Adjusted MaxSpawnQuantity Min/Max for Exotic Mutants from 0/1 to 1/1
- Increased [color=#00ff00]MaxSpawnQuantity Max
1.6.2.3 Beta - Spawn Qty / Alife Lair Min & Max - April 22
- Increased MaxSpawnQuantity Max by 1 to 2 for most NPC/Standard Mutants depending on current rank/main quest progression
- Poltergeists - Let me know if you see them out in the wild. Made some experimental changes. Hoping it will allow for more than the standard type on a regular basis.
- Reduced a number of ALifeLairMaxNPCCount from greater 10 to less 10. I believe this is influencing how often npcs are sent to expand to other lairs.
- [color=#ffff00]Reduced Initial Respawn time from 480 to 180(Vanilla) - Trying to resolve an issue where some Points of Interest that should have spawns like military checkpoints weren't there right away. Making them seem deserted.
1.6.2.2 Beta - Lair Expansion / Reduced Delay & Timeout - April 17
- Increased Lair Expansion Time from 150 to 175
- Increased Lair Expansion Radius from 1720m to 2150m
- Increased Alife Lair Search Radius from 1300m to 1625m
- Reduced Spawn Delay from 10/55 to 5/35
- Reduced Lair Battle Chance from 50 to 40
- Reduced Post Spawn Director Timeout from 25/54 to 10/40
1.6.2.1 Beta - Spawn Delay - April 17
- Reduced Spawn Delay from 10/75 to 10/55
1.6.2 Beta - Spawn Delay/Director Timeout/Lair Expansion - April 17
- Increased Lair Expansion Time from 120 to 150
- Increased Lair Battle Chance from 45 to 50
- Increased Spawn Delay from 5/25 to 10/75
- Increased Lair Expansion Radius from 860 to 1720m
- Increased Alife Lair Search Radius from 650m to 1300m
- Reduced Post Spawn Timeout Min/Max from 20/80 to 25/45
- MHM Master Mode Patch added - AniHVX
- Updated MHM Patch!! Make sure to remove/replace current MHM Patch pak if using MHM.
- Updated LNA Vanilla Patch!! Make sure to remove/replace current LNA Vanilla Patch pak if using LNA Vanilla.
MHM Note: Use MHM_Patch_Difficulty_Translucency_Bug_Fix_P.pak and either MHM_Patch_ALife_Found_A_Way_B_P.pak or MHM_MasterMode_Patch_ALife_Found_A_Way_B_P.pak depending what version of MHM you are using.
- Increased Notify NPC Spawners Distance from 40 to 65m
- Increased Lair Expansion Time from 90 to 120
- Increased Lair Battle Chance from 35 to 45
- Reduced Alife Deployment Distance & Spawner Radius from 15m to 8m
- Reduced Post Spawn Timeout Min/Max from 25/85 to 20/80
- Reduced Lair Short Min/Max from 480/930 to 405/810
- Reduced Initial Respawn time from 540 to 480
- Reduced Max Respawn Time from 720 to 660
- Updated MHM Patch!! Make sure to remove/replace current MHM Patch pak if using MHM
1.6.1.8 Beta - Bug Fixes / Additional Timing Changes - April 12
- Post Spawn Timeout Min/Max increased 15/45 & 25/85 for scenarios
- Increased Lair Short Delay Min/Max - 480/930
- Increased Initial Respawn Time to 540
- Increased Max Respawn Time to 720
- Updates to MHM Patch Pak for latest version 2.0.8M
- OxideX8 found a typo - Fixed some lairs not spawning
- Reduced Navmesh from 500 to 275. Hopefully reduce some odd pathing behavior - Vanilla is 250
- Lair Expansion Time reduced from 150 to 90 - Might need to increase to 120
- Resting Lair Initial Spawn Time set to 60 (Ex. Camp Fires)
- Set Lair Population Min/Max 1/10 & 4/10 depending on Lair Type
- Reduced Lair Faction/Mutant Spawn Quantity Min/Max by half per Rank to limit how many units per spawn each cycle
- Updated MHM Patch Filename to help avoid someone using the patch for 1.5.4. Make sure to remove/replace current MHM Patch pak.
1.6.1.7 Beta - NPC Loadouts / 40 Max Actor Ver - April 6
- Fairly certain the timing is in a decent place based on recent internal testing
- Figured out a solution to spawn nodes sometimes getting stuck spawning/despawning npcs. This was related to the spawn director running out of near by places to send them to expand.
- Added Max Actor 40 version to zip to help those who need to use a less ram
- Added NPC loadout balance changes so the old npc spawn setup for lairs. Should match closer to the release version of S2 but will retain the variety of weapons per NPC Class (Close Combat, Sniper, etc)
- Added armor options to NPC loadouts for better variety
- Zip now included LNA Vanilla Patch if using LNA
- Zip now includes Modular Hard Mode(MHM) AIO patch instead of requiring a separate download if using MHM
Please post any feedback and I'll try my best to help or make adjustments if needed.
1.6.1.6 Beta - Timers/General Change - March 30th
- Two versions will be included - One with Max Actors 60 & another with Max Actors 100. The one set for 100 allows more consistent passive behavior contextual spawns. This is more noticeable after recently visiting a hub or being near a hub. However for example in and around Zalissya this leads to increased ram usages about 0.5-1.5gb more.
- ALifeDeploymentDistance = 1524 - Down from 300m - After further testing I believe this just tied to squad deployment
- NPC Spawner cfg: Spawn Radius = 1524.0 down from 30m to match ALife Deployment Distance
- ALifeStartSimulation = 12.0 - Back down from 36 - I believe this causes a delay for initial lair population. Might be best at 24 to match main time settings. Vanilla is 48. Needs more testing
- GenericLair Spawn delay timers increased
- Short Delayed Spawn Chance set to 1%- Down from 5% - Less chance of pile up situations from initial testing.
- AgentSpawnNavMeshQueryDistance increased back to 500 from 400
Well thanks to Linxz we can now adjust the timing on lairs. Now we have lair/territory control/expansion without the absolute chaos. Probably going to need some tweaks and there are probably some bugs. Which with current S2 is going to be some what difficult to figure out if it's a vanilla issue or not. Feedback will help a lot either way.
- GenericLair Spawn delay timers added/adjusted
- GenericLair Set instant scenario spawn chance to 0.0
- Old Build Variable - PlayerNotifyNPCSpawnersDistance set to 10m
- Old Build Varaible - ALifeDeploymentDistance set to 300m
- AgentSpawnNavMeshQueryDistance lowered from 500 to 400 - Hoping this will lower the chances for some stuck pathing instances
- AlifeFactionGoals - Aggressive/Normal/Defensive numbers reset to vanilla
- ALifeStartSimulation increased from 12 to 36
- Lair Expansion Time to Player Min/Max increased from 120/180 to 330/370
- Increased scenario Spawn Delays 45/100 and 60/143 - Not sure how much these will play a role in this build
Well the issue is a bit more complicated than I originally thought. It's not scenario timing that's the cause of the problem. Some where between S2 1.2 to 1.3 and the various experimental changes in 1.6, Lairs and Lair Expansion have become very active. It's not the number of initial NPCs/Mutants existing at those lairs when you walk up to them being a problem. Instead it's sort of turned into faction/territory warfare. Which from observation and not interfering it quiets down after 8-10 mins of a group taking control of an area. I'm still trying to find some kind of solution that slow/limit the amount of skirmishes happening. It's a bit overwhelming in its current form. Even if you just try to let the AI do it's thing and not get involved it can
still be too busy. Here's a 30 ish minute recording from a recent test to give you an idea what's going on.
1.6.1.4 Beta - Spawn Timing - March 24th
So after running tests yesterday it appears some how the lair changes and old spawn additions have influenced spawn timing. Now it appears to be too quick again for about the first 5-10 mins in a new area before settling down again for the next 15-20 mins. I have some suspicions as to why this. However unless I discover something new the only way I can mitigate it is to increase spawn delay a bit more. I'll be working on that for later today.
Mod 1.5.4 & 1.6.1.4 Beta! - March 23th
- Simple Model Grid Vision decreased to 180m from 400m - Believe this is main contributor to reported stutter
- Enabled Enemy Noticing Variable from old build - NPCs ignoring potential enemies seems to be vanilla behavior since S2 v1.2.1, happens less in 1.3
- MinALifeSpawnDistance decreased to 90m from 98m - Was causing some NPCs to not spawn/respawn.
- Added Old Build NPC faction spawners back in with a low chance to be included in squad. Should add some additional variety. - 1.6.1.4 Beta
- Changed Lair MaxSpawnQuantity to use a range per rank for more variety - 1.6.1.4 Beta
Mod 1.6.1.3A Beta! - March 20th
- Increased Spawn Delay to 30/120 & 45/128 for Exotic Mutants to help spread them out if the director decides to favor one too often.
- Sometimes POI would spawn extra owners
- Removed PlayerNotifyNPCSpawnersDistance variable from CoreVariables.cfg - 1.5.3
- Updated Alife Grid Vision decreased to 575m from 860m / Simple Model grid Vision increased to 400m from 250m
- Increased Simulate Physics Distance to 200m
- Disabled Enemy Noticing Variable from old build / Thought it was contributing to npcs ignoring each other may have been bug with S2 v 1.2.1
- Commented out all spawn scenarios with 0 weight
- Increased spawn delays to 20/80secs & 25/85 secs for various scenarios - 1.6.1.3
- Removed new 1/2 sec delay from stealth kill parameters - Stealth already works with translucency fix no need to make npcs dumb for 1/2 sec
Mod Beta 1.6.1.2! - March 15th
- Sometimes POI would spawn extra owners
- Removed PlayerNotifyNPCSpawnersDistance variable from CoreVariables.cfg
Mod Beta 1.6.1.1! - March 13th
- Reported that spawns around POI were too quick yet. Made the following change that should slow things down when at POI
- Increased Spawn Delay for Local Scenarios to 65-115sec from 15-64secs
Mod Beta 1.6.1! - March 12th
- Stripped out vs scenarios besides the 2 for swamp.
- Upped battle step from 7 to 10 to help encourage small fights breaking out naturally.
- Reduced Human squads from 2,4,5,6 to 2,3,4,5
- Timeouts/delays are the same as last version. However it should now avoid devolving into super busy chaotic fights.
Mod Beta 1.6! - March 9th
I've been working on a build in parallel to 1.5 that uses a variable that changes the behavior of spawn director. What I mean by this is it enforces more control over the scenarios in an area so they can generate more regularly without turning into horde mode. I'm still in the process of tuning the timing for this build. It's getting closer so I thought some of you might enjoy giving it a try and providing some feedback.
I've incorporated the changes from 1.5.2 test to help prevent Memory usage increases that lead some to a memory leak. I've also adjusted the timing/weight for contextual actions(wandering, searching, life animations). The overall spawn timing might be a bit fast yet for some.
Feedback is appreciated. Let me know if you're running into new groups too often or sizes are too big. Perhaps you want more spacing in between encounters.
Hope you have fun!
Mod Patch 1.5.2!
- Warning Requires merge if using mods that edit ObjPrototypes.cfg - No merge needed when using MHM Patch
- MHM has released an updated patch - March 12
- Increased weight and lowered timeout/spawn delay for contextual actions(wandering, searching, campfire, life animations)
- The following adjustments are to limit memory usage and prevent increasing the chance of memory leak for some:
- Alife Minimum despawn set back to 400m
- Set Alife Directory Default Despawn NPC back to true
- NPCs with simulation range was set back to 400m
- Set corpse square meter range back to vanilla.
- ** Longer Days - Use Feliche's Real Longer Days - This will let you skip merging CoreVariables.cfg and it doesn't effect spawn or quest timers.
Mod Patch 1.5!
- Warning Requires merge if using mods that edit ObjPrototypes.cfg - No merge needed when using MHM Patch
- Added battle weight changes (Organic VS)
- Broke some offline/online restrictions that allow npcs to move between states easier
- Despawn delay adjustments that should limit culling
- Fixed miss configured scenarios that weren't able to spawn
- Adjusted squad expansion Min/Max
- Reduced Lesser Zone Timeouts/Spawn Delay
- Reduced Exotic Spawn chance, don't worry you'll still run into them
- ** Longer Days - Use Feliche's Real Longer Days - This will let you skip merging CoreVariables.cfg and it doesn't effect spawn or quest timers.
MHM 2 Compatibility
- *Patch has been removed. Ani makes updates regularly.
Use the patch from MHM 2 that's included with their mod: zzzzzzzzzzzz_MHM_Patch_ALife_Found_A_Way_P.pak.
Make sure the patch loads after the Main A-Life Uh.. Found A Way pak file.
Mod Patch 1.3!
All paks have been updated for Game update 1.2
Mod Patch 1.2!
- +Includes Physical Materials Translucency fix from Stop NPCs X-Ray Vision and Other Collision Tweaks
- *Reduced Alife Expansion Distance and Time to Player (Should keep spawns in a tighter patrol area from their initial spawn location)
Patch 1.1.1!
*1.1.1 is a HotFix for AIGlobals.cfg*
- +Increased timers on Exotic spawns (Chimera, Deer, Pseudogiant)
- *Reduced global roll-over chance for lairs from 50% chance down to 20% chance, this should have an impact on rollover overlap
- *Reduced Scenario Weight for Exotic Spawns (Chimera, Deer, Pseudogiant)
- *Re-arranged Timers between common and exotics, this should make exotics feel more exotic.
- -Removed Exotic spawns from global lessar entirely, they were already pushed out, but some seem to of made their way into hobo land.
- -Removed Exotics from local to prevent global and local overlap
We still edit these cfgs in whole currently:
AIGlobals.cfg
CoreVariables.cfg
NPCSpawnerPrototypes.cfg
ObjPrototypes.cfg
./QuestNodePrototypes/DESPAWN.cfg
./ALifePrototypes/ALifeDirectorScenarioPrototypes.cfg
./ALifePrototypes/ALifePopulationManagerPrototypes.cfg
./LairPrototypes/GenericLairPrototypes.cfg
It started with a drop of Stalker DNA
After Flic and I both finished helping with Shay's Living Zone, we started experimenting to see if spawn range could be extend. Every new answer came with a new puzzle to figure out. As the experiment continued we ended up with something that should be closer to A-Life 1.0 and allow spawns to feel more natural. We managed to keep most if not all the scenarios intact, but spawning at an appropriate distance. Hopefully this will help avoid that forced spawn feeling when you stumble into one (HumanVsMutants, Lair Battles, etc...).
We also included new scenarios so that the more exotic mutants have a small chance to show up like Deer & Pseudogiant. To balance them we have them spawning further way from the player's initial/current location so that as you move towards a new location you can pick and choose whether you want to engage something or move around it.
Sauce..
The main ingredient of this mod is a tier system deeply tied into the radius from the player which allows us to restrict and command certain enemy types the player can run into depending on the Distance which will be explained below. This Radius was allowed after rewriting the way the Director is configured. Planned with a tier system in mind both in scalability and chance.
Imagine a large circle around the player representing the radius 860m; within this radius are smaller radii leading up to the player's restriction zone for spawns. This field defines the area where offline interactions are pooled, though these offline simulated interactions are currently limited to a range of 400 meters.
What happens when you start moving?
As you move forward you should start to see humans & mutants do their own thing. Maybe 1 or 2 in the first 100-175m. Next some smaller groups and packs that were spawned in around 150-400m. Then there is a low chance to spawn in Poltergeist, PseudoDog, Burer, Deer, etc... 375-750m. The more exotic/larger mutants have the lowest chance to spawn(475-750m). However since they have their own goals you might encounter them sooner if they happen to be traveling by. Video shown above displays leaving the starting zone for the first time and how the tier system generated the upcoming interactions ahead of time based on distance.
Lesser Zone & Swamp
Fear not my fellow Stalkers, we've also tailored the spawn scenarios for the Lesser Zone & Swamp. To avoid overwhelming the smaller areas, some exotic mutants have been removed and the timing set to a slower rate.
Lairs
Respawn after clearing a lair has been increased to give you time to look around and loot. However that doesn't mean you should hang out and have a picnic. It's best to finish up your tasks and move on before something comes looking to avenge their fallen companions.
VS
There is a rare chance for this to happen still in the midrange. I believe we also lowered the number of participants. Hopefully this will allow it to feel like you've stumbled into a small skirmish rather than a war.
Start New or Continue?
We feel like it might be best to start with a fresh playthrough. This will likely give you the fullest experience from start to finish. However you should be fine to use this while continuing an existing save. Though it might take a little to adjust your playstyle.
We also highly recommend our friend Ani HVX's MHM(Modular Hard Mode) mod when using our mod with a fresh start
https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/88
Are You a Runner?
Well you might not see much on you're initial run, but once you pause at a POI, Lair or quest the spawn director should start to catch up and fill in around you.
Why Didn't We Catch Everyone Else Up Yet?
By the time we had it figured out, cleaned up, and tested enough to know it was fully functional we ran out of time. The Devs are working on a new patch that could come out any day now. So we wanted the community to at least have the option to see and try it for what it is. Hopefully the Devs next patch will allow it to keep running the way it is, only they know. To our fellow modders give it a try, we'll do our best to explain what's going on so you can integrate your own vision/ideas. It's your turn to take the torch again and hopefully push the A-Life we have available a little further!
INSTALLATION
How to install
GamePass: DRIVE:\DIRECTORY\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2- Heart of Chornobyl (Windows)\Content\Stalker2\Content\Paks\~mods
Steam: \steamapps\common\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl\Stalker2\Content\Paks\~mods
Alters:
AIGlobals.cfg
CoreVariables.cfg
NPCSpawnerPrototypes.cfg
./ALifePrototypes/ALifeDirectorScenarioPrototypes.cfg
./ALifePrototypes/ALifePopulationManagerPrototypes.cfg
./LairPrototypes/GenericLairPrototypes.cfg