S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl's 1.5 Patch is out, bringing a range of adjustments and fixes—but what’s truly capturing our attention—and our storage space—is the first phase of GSC Game World’s modding toolkit.
"Shape the Zone in Your Way with the Stalker 2 Zone Kit," GSC Game World said. "Modify existing content or craft entirely new experiences—animations, weapons, mechanics, and even the Zone’s most mysterious wonders."
Sounds amazing? It is—if you’ve got 700GB of free space, on top of the 160GB needed just to install the base game.
GSC explained that, as part of its collaboration with the modding community, they’re releasing uncompressed assets so modders can work with the original files—ensuring higher quality and greater creative freedom."The size of the mod kit stems from the in-game assets being left uncompressed for mod creators," GSC told PC Gamer. "It’s a large game with vast assets, which naturally leads to a substantial download. The Zone Kit is currently in Phase One, and we’ll look into optimizing its size in the future—if feasible."
"Yeah, we launched the Zone Kit as Phase 1 because we want to build it alongside modders," a community rep noted on Reddit. "It already offers a lot of functionality, but this is still just Phase One. Phase Two will bring even more ways to reshape the Zone through the Zone Kit."
"Underneath the technical issues plaguing STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a unique greatness," we wrote in our S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl review, awarding it 8/10. "It stands out as a refreshingly brutal shooter that draws you in with its immersive atmosphere and leaves you deeply invested by the end of this long, grueling journey." Read more on how S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has changed everything for the studio amid the full-scale invasion of Ukraine here.
