Ironman Mode

[zezolovsky]

Mod idea: Ironman Mode.

The issue I have currently is that there's not really any reason to be cautious or really prepare because if you die, you just reload your save. Where does this hole in the ground go? I can just jump in blindly, if I die no biggie I just reload. Is there a monster in that building? I'll check it out, if it has hard enemies I'll just reload and come in prepared.

An ironman mode would be a game you play without reloading from start to finish, which you can already do but it's not really achievable at the moment.  The game is not designed that way and there is no way it can be done in one go without dying even once. Even in rookie difficulty there are plenty of ways to insta-die (special anomalies, falls, drowning...).

Instead the game should make failure very punishing, but not run ending. Here's what the mod would do:

- Simple version: upon death, instead of dying the screen goes to black for a while, and then the player wakes up with low health, all their stuff has been looted (empty inventory) and their equipped gear's is wrecked (minus 50% or 100% condition).

- Complex version: a more immersive way would involve maybe having a scripted stalker come to your body, then waking up at the doctors or in the nearest bed, perhaps with a line of dialogue plucked from the game files. Much more complicated to implement I think.

Another way of doing it could be like in The Forest. In that game, when the PC first dies, he wakes up captured in a cave hanging upside down, but if he dies again in the next few days it's game over. If he survives for a while then he gets another second chance. Perhaps something similar could be done for Stalker 2.

Just my two cents, I think something like that would make the game much more engaging because right now, nothing is ever at stake for the player.

I know how to program but I've never modded anything and I wouldn't know where to start with something like this.

[unboundedbounds]

Good idea, in the mean time you could emulate this yourself, anything particularly punishing you could get a mod like less fall damage. Just be careful around anomalies until you get good armor easy early on (especially if you dont mind a long run to yaniv) and then artifact hunt for extra resistance against anomalies.