Hey Stalker,
It’s incredible how quickly time flies – the year is already coming to an end. For many of us, there was one particular highlight: the long wait for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has finally come to an end! At this point, we’d like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the entire team at GSC Game World for a successful release!
The past 12 months have also been an exciting time for us, with a lot happening both in terms of mod development and in real life. A very special highlight came at the beginning of the year when one of our team members started their own family, and we welcomed a new little Stalker into the world. <3
There were also moments of uncertainty. You’ll probably remember: the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. TOS were updated, and it was initially unclear how this would affect the DayZ-Stalker mods. Fortunately, the situation has been resolved. In the meantime, we’ve also received official confirmation from GSC Game World that our mod project is not an issue for the time being.
Another milestone was our first collaboration with another project, StalkerSurvival. Since then, we’ve been exchanging ideas, sharing resources, and dividing tasks – such as the development of the Central Loot Economy for the Sievert Zone.
Current State
But what has actually happened since the last DevBlog? The asset team has been diligently working on collision optimization for the assets. Currently, about 3,100 assets feature fully functional and individually adjusted fire/view geometry as well as roadway geometry. Additionally, we’ve continued work on the LODs (Level of Detail) for the assets, creating the appropriate LODs for around 1,200 assets.
Another significant and time-consuming task has been fine-tuning the shader settings for the trees. We primarily use Stalker vegetation assets instead of DayZ vanilla vegetation. To ensure these are properly lit under various lighting conditions – whether morning, daytime, night, cloudy, or rainy – we had to make precise adjustments. The current results are not yet entirely perfect, but we’re already very satisfied with them.
As we are planning an internal full-scale alpha test of the southern section of the map in the first quarter, more on that later, we focused on reworking and finalizing this area. The zones Border Zone, Cordon, Meadows, Swamps, and Darkscape have been adjusted accordingly to be ready for testing
Soundtrack
We’re thrilled to announce that Tension is creating an exclusive soundtrack for the Sievert Zone! Tension is not only a DJ, music producer, and personal friend but also a passionate DayZ and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. player – making him the perfect choice for this project.
His musical journey began with genres like hip-hop and metal before he later delved into drum & bass and house music. This diversity is reflected in his music, giving his sound a uniquely eclectic style. These inspirations not only shape his career but also the sound he’s crafting for the Sievert Zone.
For more information and, most importantly, his music, feel free to check out his Bandcamp or Instagram!
For the Sievert Zone map, Tension is composing ambient soundtracks that, much like the DayZ soundtrack, will be directly integrated into the game. We’re incredibly excited to share this special sound with you!
Anomaly Mod developed by ModFactory.
Mutli rvmats
No DevBlog is complete without a little deep dive into a DayZ modding topic! Have you ever heard of RVMAts or even Multi-RVMATs? If not, no worries – and if you have, feel free to skip this section. Let’s start with a simplified explanation.
.rvmat files, in simple terms, are responsible for the visual representation of 3D assets. They act as material files that define how surfaces in DayZ look and behave. You can think of them as a bridge between the textures, the 3D asset, and the game engine. For example, the previously mentioned settings for vegetation are also defined within .rvmat files.
A special type of these files is Multi-RVMATs. With a Multi-RVMAT, you can process up to four different textures within a single .rvmat. The major advantage is that this reduces the number of so-called „draw calls“ – the calls sent to the GPU. Fewer draw calls mean less load on the graphics card, which in turn improves performance. Additionally, Multi-RVMATs can also incorporate ambient occlusion textures, making the rendering even more realistic. Buildings, for example, are a great use case for Multi-RVMATs.
To let the Multi-RVMAT know which texture to apply to which part of the asset, an SRGB mask – black, red, green, blue – is required. This mask uses the four colors to define the positions of the textures. Each color of the mask represents a specific texture, allowing the DayZ engine to determine which texture should appear on which part of the asset.
Since creating Multi-RVMATs and preparing the assets can be quite time-consuming, we’ve developed our own Blender add-on. This tool optimizes our workflow and significantly speeds up the entire process. The following video provides a brief insight into the workflow within Blender.
Custom Assets
We’ve also been working on additional custom models – some have been started, while others are already completed…
Renegade Cooperation
We’re excited to announce that we’re welcoming the Renegade Team as another cooperation partner. The Renegade project runs both a Stalker-Survival and a Roleplay server, aiming to develop new creative ideas and approaches to deliver an immersive Stalker experience in DayZ.
For more information, server IPs, developer previews, and more, feel free to visit the Renegade Discord!
Since the Renegade Team is already working closely with the Stalker-Survival Team, it was a natural step to expand this collaboration. Currently, the Renegade Team is supporting work on the Central Economy. Additionally, other exciting projects are in the works, such as interactive objects for the Sievert Zone. You’ll definitely hear more about this in the next DevBlog!
What’s Next for 2025?
As already mentioned, we’re planning a comprehensive internal test at the beginning of next year. This means that the Stalker-Survival and Renegade teams will prepare a test environment featuring all planned Stalker mechanics. After this internal testing phase, we aim to evaluate how the map feels in play, identify areas that still need improvement, and determine the next logical steps. Our goal is to gather valid test data to make well-informed decisions about how to proceed.
If we decide to release the southern part of the map to the public – which is by no means decided yet – we want to ensure that the map is in good condition. This would allow us to focus more on further development instead of balancing and bug fixing.
In conclusion, we’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you for your support! We’re looking forward to the day when we can explore the Sievert Zone together with you.
Thank you for reading our DevBlog. Have a great start to 2025, take care of yourselves, respect those around you, and as always:
Good hunting, Stalker!