Stalker 2 devs reassure players: Yes, A-Life 2.0 is in the game, no, it's not working right, and yes, fixes are on the way

GamesFPSStalker 2Stalker 2 devs reassure players: Yes, A-Life 2.0 is in the game, no, it’s not working right, and yes, fixes are on the wayWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Scar looks ominously into the camera, face bathed in a flame�s red glow.

For those new to the world of Stalker, A-Life is essentially the underlying system of simulations that governs the behaviors and interactions of NPCs and monsters in the game. “The gist of the A-Life is that the characters in the game live their own lives and exist all the time, not only when they are in the player’s field of view,” OG Stalker programmer Dmitriy Iassenev said in a 2008 interview about the original Stalker with AIGameDev (via theWayback Machine).

A-Life is ambitious, powerful, and—surprise!—janky as hell. It’s also central to the Stalker experience: For as weird and glitchy as they get, the Stalker game worlds feel alive to me in a way that no other game has matched. When something funky happens that obviously wasn’t supposed to happen, it’s often equally clear that itcouldhave happened in the messy stew of the Exclusion Zone, and the fact that it did happen kind of makes sense—and as often as not those unexpected outcomes brought me an odd sort of joy.

“There are several known issues with A-life 2.0 system that we are aware of and are working on fixes/improvements,” GSC Game World community manager Mol1t wrote recently on the Stalker Discord. “We know that this system is very important to the Zone having an immersive atmosphere, and we will do our best to fix the known issues.”

(Image credit: Mol1t (Discord))

There are several known issues with A-life 2.0 system that we are aware of and are working on fixes/improvements. We know that this system is very important to the Zone having an immersive atmosphere, and we will do our best to fix the known issues.

GSC Game World repeated that point earlier today in a post on X:

(Image credit: GSC Game World (Twitter))

Hey.We are working on upcoming updates, and the A-Life system will also get updates. We are hearing your feedback, and we are sorry if your first experience with some aspects of the game has not been smooth.But we would ask you to stay with us, that is really important to us.

OneReddit postthat caused particular consternation noted the removal of a reference to A-Life 2.0 on the Stalker 2 Steam page. GSC Game World didn’t address the removal directly but I think the most likely reason, as numerous redditors pointed out, is simply that Stalker fans know what A-Life is but nobody else does, so having it in there is more likely to cause confusion than do any good.

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That, folks, is A-Life in action. It doesn’t get any more Stalker than that.

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