S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Developers
	GSC Game World
Publishers
	THQ
Engines
	X-Ray Engine
Release dates
Windows	March 20, 2007
Reception
Metacritic	82
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Eastern Europe, Post-apocalyptic
Series	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl	2007
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky	2008
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat	2009
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha (Unofficial)	2014
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl	2023

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action and shooter game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.

Installing Zone Reclamation Project is greatly recommended as it eliminates most bugs without modifying the game's experience.

General information

TweakGuides guide

Official forums

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		American release.
Retail		SecuROM 7 DRM on European copies, StarForce 4 DRM on Russian copies. All DRM methods are removed by the multi-patch.
GamersGate
GOG.com		Serial key for multiplayer shown in the game's library entry.
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam		Some CD keys can be redeemed on GOG.com
Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable)

StarForce DRM for this game does not work on modern versions of Windows (see above for affected versions).

Essential improvements

Patches

Unofficial v1.0008 Patch

Compatible with Zone Reclamation Project.

Unofficial patch by "Codebro" that provides some fixes to the renderer and gameplay.

v1.0006

Although this is an official patch, it was recalled by the developers due to the extra bugs it caused. It should only be used to gain the optimal multiplayer experience from the game (most servers use v1.0006). Do not install this patch otherwise.
This is the version that Steam and GOG come with.

v1.0005

This is the latest official patch for the game. It is best suited for Single Player.

v1.0004

Some mods only work with v1.0004. Only use this patch if those mods have no updated version that work with newer versions of the game.

Downgrading from v1.0006

A guide on how to downgrade a copy of the game to v1.0005 or v1.0004 can be found in the GOG.com Community Discussions.

The Multi-Patch replaces the GameSpy master servers and optionally forces Vsync. The GOG.com and Steam versions are already patched, however the Steam version of the game still has broken Vsync implementation, to fix this go opt-in, in the most recent beta branch.

Skip intro videos

Start game with -nointro parameter

Zone Reclamation Project

Keeps the game as vanilla as possible.

Fixes many bugs present in final version of game.

Improved UI and controls.

Xetrill's Modified LuaJIT library

Users have reported increased performance, especially with script-heavy mods.

It can crash some more complex mods like those in the NS/Soup family.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%PUBLIC%\Documents\stalker-shoc\
GOG.com	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Stalker-SHOC\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/4500/pfx/

CD key, language and GameSpy ID are stored in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\GSC Game World\STALKER-SHOC

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%PUBLIC%\Documents\stalker-shoc\savedgames\
GOG.com	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Stalker-SHOC\savedgames\
Steam	<path-to-game>\_appdata_\savedgames\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/4500/pfx/

The save game data location can be changed by editing fsgame.ltx in <path-to-game>.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Video

Basic video settings

Advanced video settings (Vsync and 60 Hz frequency not visible)

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Some HUD elements may be stretched.
Multi-monitor			Some HUD elements may be stretched.
Ultra-widescreen			Gameplay is 21:9 but the HUD is 16:9 stretched.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		67.5° Vertical - See Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use Borderless Gaming or similar software. Note: The game prevents use of hotkeys, and tries keeping its window on-top.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Only functional on Static lighting. SSAA, up to 4x, but limits internal rendering resolution to 2048x2048. For AA use either MSAA which is available in Nvidia Inspector (via 0x00001041 flag), SGSSAA (via 0x0000D0C1 flag) or Dynamic Super Resolution from Nvidia/Virtual Super Resolution from AMD.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		In-game Vsync option is broken. Use the Multi-Patch to fix it.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		No frame rate or refresh rate cap.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)

Field of view (FOV)

Install FOV Switcher[citation needed]
Download FOV Switcher and extract it. Copy the appropriate exe file to the <path-to-game>\BIN folder and launch it. To restore the settings to default, use the patcher again.

Install unofficial 1.0008 patch
Download unofficial 1.0008 patch. Replace XR_3DA.exe in <path-to-game>\bin. Run the game and open the console with ~. Enter fov x where x is the FOV you want to use (75, 90, 110 ect).

Manually patch xrGame.dll

Multiply your desired FOV by 2, eg. 45 degrees x 2 = 90. Convert the value to hexadecimal, eg. 90 = 5A. Open <path-to-game>/bin/xrGame.dll in a hex editor app (e.g. HxD). Search for the hex string "42 F0 A7 C6 3D", which should be found at address 53C59B if the game is unmodified. Change the value preceding it to the desired value, eg. "5A 42 F0 A7 C6 3D" Notes As a precaution, make a backup of <path-to-game>\bin\xrGame.dll before editing it.

Notes

It is highly recommended not to play online with the FOV hack installed.

Clipping issues are more noticeable.

Input

Controls menu

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Disable through console with "cam_inert 0".
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio menu

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		SFX and music only.
Surround sound		Up to 7.0 output
Subtitles		fan made subtitles and cc (not compatible with ZRP)
Closed captions		fan made subtitles and cc (not compatible with ZRP)
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 2.0. HRTF can be used without any audio card with some modification. See Use OpenAL Soft's HRTF.
Royalty free audio

Use OpenAL Soft's HRTF

Replace OpenAL32.dll file

Set up OpenAL Soft HRTF by following these instructions. Place soft_oal.dll to <path-to-game>\bin and rename it to OpenAL32.dll, replacing the existing one. Launch the game. Go to the Options→Sound and change the Sound driver to OpenAL Soft and restart the game. Open up the developer console using ~ and scroll up using the Page Up key, if the message says SOUND: OpenAL: Required device: OpenAL Soft. Created device: OpenAL Soft then the OpenAL Soft device is used and with it, HRTF mode as well.

Use Rapture 3D

Use Game Edition
Install Rapture 3D, put rapture3d_oal.dll and replace OpenAL32.dll in the game directory from. Choosing OpenAL in Sound options may be needed. Rapture3D Game has only six predefined HRFT methods and will not allow raw ".mhr" files.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Some unimportant non-conversation speech is Russian.
Belarusian				Fan translation, download. Taraškievica. Available in both Cyrillic and Latin.
Traditional Chinese
Czech
French
German				Some unimportant non-conversation speech is Russian.
Hungarian				Fan translation, download.
Italian
Japanese				Fan translation, download.
Polish				Official polish voice–over translation
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation, download.
Russian
Serbian				Fan translation based on original Russian and Ukrainian versions. Available in both Cyrillic and Latin.
Spanish
Turkish				Fan translation, download.
Ukrainian				Official translation patch from GSC, download. Already included in Steam version, and available as an extra on GOG.com. Duty, the military, mercenaries and the Monolith still speak Russian.

Network

Multiplayer servers can optionally use BattlEye anti-cheat protection.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		32
Online play		32	Use the Multi-Patch to replace the GameSpy master server.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	3783, 6515, 6667, 13139, 27900, 28900, 29900, 29901

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

Issues fixed

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for advanced tweaking and fixing issues in this game.

"Unable to connect to master server" error

The GameSpy master server has been shut down; use the Multi-Patch.

Toggle aim down sights

Create AutoHotkey script
Download AutoHotkey Copy the code to the clipboard (CTRL+C). Open AutoHotkey, go to File>Edit script, paste the code in Notepad. Change "Fallout4" to the "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl" in the code (for other games, edit by title written in start bar of running game). Go to File>Reload Script in AutoHotkey. Notes AutoHotKey must be run as administrator to work.

Mouse Delay and bad frametimes

Selecting normal or full dynamic lighting will cause the game to saturate the CPU by one core, which will cause stutters.

Set lighting to Static Lighting

Key bindings lost every game restart

Change savegame/config folder permision
Find folder: STALKER-SHOC In Vista and above, in: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Stalker-STCS\ or %PUBLIC%\Documents\ In XP and in CoP: %PUBLIC%\Public Documents\ Just copy and paste these locations to the Windows address bar and press enter. and RBM on folder>uncheck read only>apply for all>OK

Glitchy shadows using widescreen resolutions

Edit User.LTX[citation needed]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open User.LTX. Change r2_sun_near to 20.. Value can go from 1 to 50 and experimentation with it might be required to avoid further shadow issues. Change r2_sun_near_border to 1..

Steam version does not launch on Windows 10/11, BugTrap reports error at 0023:000DB95E

Mandatory ASLR prevents game from running
Open Windows Defender. In App & browser control, open Exploit protection settings. In Program settings, add an exception for XR_3DA.exe. Disable "Force randomization for images (Mandatory ASLR)".

Unofficial v1.0008 Patch crashing

When using this patch the game may freeze when going to the game's menu
Open the console with ~ Enter menu_fps_cap 0, the default value is 60 if needed to revert the change.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	1.x, 2, 3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Open Dynamics Engine
Audio	OpenAL
Multiplayer	GameSpy

Disable head bob

Modify User.LTX
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open User.LTX with a text editor. Change cam_inert to 0. Save the file and launch the game. Notes It can also be changed while in game using the console cam_inert X where X stand as a value, which you might want to translate into 0.1

Change sway/bob values
Go to <path-to-game>\gamedata\config\misc Open effectors.ltx with a text editor. At the top will be values for amount of sway/bob for walking, running and limping. Changing run_amplitude to 0.0050 and walk_amplitude to 0.0040 works well. Save the file and launch the game. Notes Default values: run_amplitude = 0.0075 walk_amplitude = 0.005 limp_amplitude = 0.011

Enable FPS counter

Use command console[citation needed]
Open the in-game console by pressing ~. Enter: rs_stats 1

Shorter load times

Start game with the -noprefetch parameter[citation needed]

Modifications

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series has garnered a dedicated following which includes a very active modding community, mostly in Russia, however translations are available for most of the popular mods (commonly found in the GSC forums). The best way to determine which type of mods you will enjoy is by first trying the vanilla game (with ZRP for bug fixes). Below are some basic recommendations.

Preparing the game for mods[citation needed]
To use mods with S.T.A.L.K.E.R., you will first need to edit your fsgame.ltx - file found under the installation folder. Go to the installation folder. Open fsgame.ltx with a text editor. Find line: $game_data$ = false| true| $fs_root$| gamedata Change it to: $game_data$ = true| true| $fs_root$| gamedata

Notes

If the mod comes with an executable, you may need to point it manually to the correct installation folder. If it comes as a file package, extract and copy the mod's contents into your gamedata folder.

To patch your mod or to add new ones on top, overwrite and merge your installation's gamedata folder with the new one.

Using Smart Mod Manager[citation needed]

Download the program at Codeplex. The program installs the mods from .zip or directly from the folder. It will warn you if there are issues with other mods combined; then you have to choose one of them. First select the game (S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl or S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky) Set up the right language, version and folder of the game Go to the game tab and install mods from .zip or folder. Enable/Disable mods also possible in the manager

L.U.R.K

Considered to be unforgiving in difficulty.

Revamps many game mechanics, including enemy AI and ballistics.

Shaders Max

May be incompatible with some other mods that alter shaders.

Many improvements in visual quality.

Can be combined with other mods to increase visual fidelity.

Incompatible with ZRP 1.07.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Complete

Overhauls many game mechanics.

Fixes many bugs present in the original game using an old version of ZRP.

Many improvements in visual quality.

Comes with a simple installer.

Not compatible with newer versions of ZRP.

STARTER PACK

A compilation of mods including the Zone Reclamation Project, Old Weapons Renewal 3 for SoC, Photo Realistic Zone, Stalker Weather Overhaul, STALKER Shaders MAX 1.06, and FOV Switcher v17.

Lots of improvement in visual quality

You need to rename "wpn_ak74u.ogf" to "ak74u.ogf" to change AKS74u's world mode.

Autumn Aurora

Overhauls the graphics, sound and gameplay.

Built on the newest Zone Reclamation Project's core.

Redesigned AtmosFear for ShoC to match the autumn style.

Holds an official new Absolute Nature for ShoC.

Oblivion Lost

Like Lost Alpha it focuses on getting closer to the old Oblivion Lost which was planned by GSC back in the days

Total Freeplay, Improved A-Life, New Levels, Extended Main Storyline, Reality Enhancement and Graphics Improvement.

Priboi Story

Total conversion mod with new storyline.

Old Good S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Evolution

New locations and weapons. Intended to recreate a highly atmospheric Zone with the highest possible quality, stability of the game, rich gameplay and loyalty to the canons of the Sci-Fi genre.

Legend Returns

Set between the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. It includes a return to the atmosphere and general feeling of Shadow of Chernobyl, in addition to several new gameplay features, completely new questlines, a leveling system, and restored content from build versions of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	2000 SP4	XP, Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon XP 2200+	Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	6 GB	10 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce FX 5700 ATI Radeon 9600 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 8 compatible	Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0 compatible