S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly - Explore the Zone with a 3D PDA and Companions
How to Play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly: A Guide for Beginners
If you are a fan of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, you might have heard of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly, a stand-alone mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat that aims to be the most stable and customizable experience for fans of the series. It's powered by the Monolith 64-bit engine, a custom fork of the X-Ray engine. In this article, I will provide you with some tips on how to download, install, and play this mod, as well as some of its features and mods that you can try.
Download and installation
The first thing you need to do is to download the mod from its official website or from ModDB . The latest version is 1.5.1, which is a stand-alone and full repack. You don't need older Anomaly updates, you don't need to install it on other stalker games. Saved games from version 1.5.0 Beta are compatible and you can continue your journey in version 1.5.1. The download consists of three parts that you need to extract into one folder. You can use any archive program like WinRAR or 7-Zip to do this.
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Once you have extracted the files, you can run the game by launching AnomalyLauncher.exe in the main folder. The launcher will allow you to choose your renderer (DX8, DX9, DX10 or DX11), your language (English or Russian), and your resolution. You can also access the options menu from the launcher to tweak more settings like graphics, sound, controls, gameplay, etc.
If you encounter any problems or bugs while playing the mod, you can report them on the official Discord server or on ModDB. The developers and the community are very active and helpful.
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Gameplay modes
One of the best things about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly is that it offers a variety of ways to play the mod. You can choose from three main modes: story, sandbox, and warfare.
Story
If you want to follow a narrative-driven experience with interesting quests and characters, you can choose story mode. This mode features four chapters of Lost to the Zone storylines that were added in version 1.5. They are:
Part 1: Living Legend: a famous stalker has returned to the Zone. Pursue him in order to obtain his invaluable knowledge.
Part 2: Mortal Sin: a sinister faction emerges from obscurity to take over the Zone. You are among the few who can stop them.
Part 3: Operation Afterglow: the Zone attracts a lot of attention. However, some people believe that its many secrets are best kept hidden.
Part 4: Hollow Boundaries: play as a member of a foreign force to investigate and reveal the secrets of the Zone.
You can also assist your faction and complete their questlines in this mode. The majority of quests will offer info about your targets before accepting, in addition to new types of quests such as assassination, rescue, delivery, etc.
Sandbox
If you prefer a more free-form and open-ended experience, you can choose sandbox mode. This mode allows you to explore the Zone without any story or faction restrictions. You can create your own character and choose your starting location, faction, equipment, and difficulty. You can also enable or disable certain features like emissions, blowouts, dynamic weather, etc. Sandbox mode is ideal for those who want to create their own stories and adventures in the Zone.
Warfare
If you enjoy a more action-packed and competitive experience, you can choose warfare mode. This mode is based on the Call of Chernobyl mod's warfare feature. It allows you to participate in a large-scale war between factions for control of the Zone. You can join any faction and help them capture territories, defend bases, raid enemies, and more. You can also customize the warfare settings like faction relations, reinforcements, victory conditions, etc. Warfare mode is perfect for those who want to test their skills and tactics in the Zone.
Customization options
Another great thing about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly is that it offers a lot of customization options for players to tailor their experience to their liking. You can tweak the settings from the options menu or from the in-game PDA. Some of the settings you can change are:
Difficulty: you can choose from four difficulty levels: rookie, stalker, veteran, and master. Each level affects the damage, accuracy, health, and behavior of enemies and NPCs.
Survival: you can enable or disable certain survival mechanics like hunger, thirst, sleep, radiation, bleeding, etc. You can also adjust their rates and effects.
Economy: you can modify the prices of items, weapons, armor, repairs, etc. You can also change the availability and quality of loot.
AI: you can alter the behavior and intelligence of enemies and NPCs. You can also change their population, spawn rate, detection range, etc.
Miscellaneous: you can change various other aspects of the game like time scale, weather cycle, emission frequency, head bobbing, crosshair, etc.
Besides the settings, you can also use addons to change the experience even more. Addons are optional files that add new features or modify existing ones in the mod. You can find a lot of addons on ModDB or on the official website. Some addons are compatible with each other and some are not. You should always read the description and instructions before installing any addon.
Features
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly has a lot of features that make it stand out from other mods and games in the series. Some of these features are:
3D PDA
The PDA is your main tool for navigating and surviving in the Zone. It shows you your map, inventory, quests, contacts, statistics, etc. In Anomaly, the PDA is fully 3D and animated. You can see your character holding it in your hand and interact with it using your mouse. You can also zoom in and out of the map and rotate it freely.
Lost to the Zone storylines
As mentioned before, Anomaly features four chapters of Lost to the Zone storylines that were added in version 1.5. These storylines are based on a series of books by Balathruin, a fan fiction writer who created his own stories set in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe. The storylines are fully voiced (in Russian) and have multiple endings depending on your choices.
3D UI for detectors
Detectors are devices that help you find anomalies and artifacts in the Zone. In Anomaly, detectors have a 3D UI that shows you a holographic display of the surrounding area. You can see the location and type of anomalies and artifacts on the display. You can also switch between different modes of detection depending on your detector model.
Mods
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly has a lot of mods that enhance or change various aspects of the mod. Some of these mods are:
Graphics
If you want to improve the visuals of Anomaly, you can try some graphics mods that add new textures, shaders, lighting, weather, etc. Some of the popular graphics mods are: - HD Models Addon: this mod adds high-quality models for weapons, armors, NPCs, mutants, etc. It also