Echo Workshop

About ◈ Echoes

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

Love this series!

Since each game gives a pretty bad overview of all the factions in the game, and the wiki is too long, I've compiled a list myself:

Name Background Goal Hostility
Loners Nomadic Stalkers drawn to the Zone for treasure and survival. Seek riches and artifacts, live off the Zone. Neutral
Bandits Raiders and thugs, ranging from petty criminals to organized groups. Exploit and rob other Stalkers. Hostile
Duty Paramilitary group founded by ex-soldiers to combat the Zone. Contain and destroy the Zone to prevent its spread. Neutral
Freedom Anarchistic group fighting for free access to the Zone. Promote freedom and study the Zone's anomalies. Neutral
Ecologists Ukrainian scientists funded by external organizations. Study and understand the Zone through scientific research. Neutral
Military Ukrainian military tasked with Zone containment, but deeply corrupt. Prevent unauthorized access and exploit the Zone covertly. Hostile
Mercenaries Professional soldiers for hire, working for the highest bidder. Perform various operations for payment. Neutral/Hostile
Monolith Fanatical cult worshipping the Zone and protecting its secrets. Defend the Zone's center and its mysteries. Hostile
Clear Sky Secretive researchers focused on understanding the Zone's origins. Study and control the Zone's anomalies. Neutral/Hostile
Renegades Splintered groups of anarchists with no clear structure. Survival through raiding and chaos. Hostile

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

The developers released the source code for most of the XRay Engine before they "shut down" (they came back).

And while the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are great, they're also pretty janky. There are some forks of the original engine that aims to improve the experience, but they're all pretty hacky. And none of them supports all 3 of the original games, so you will need a fork fo each game in the series.

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

A fork of the original engine and a stand-alone experience.

It combines all 3 of the original games into one big map. Most of the original story is missing and is replaced by a custom one. It's also more of an open-world experience, based around the A-Life AI.

Most S.T.A.L.K.E.R. overhauls are based on Anomaly.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R G.A.M.M.A.

Damn, that's a lot of punctuation marks!

A mod of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly.
Or technically, a collection of mods for Anomaly.

It improves the graphics and visuals, animations, sounds, soundtrack, and also overhauls the gameplay loop by heavily leaning into the survival aspects of the game. Water, food and sleep are very important. You can build your own hideout. Weapons can be picked apart, and there's cooking and crafting.

It's pretty janky, and since it uses Anomly + a lot of mods, it's very easy to mess things up by editing in-game settings that some mods might rely upon.

At some point in time, I might write a custom configuration file and share it here.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

A fantastic sequal!

It's less about survival and the open-world, and more about the comprehensive story, which takes you through the world. But I believe that once the official SDK is released we'll see something like G.A.M.M.A. for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, as all the pieces are already there.

Even without the official SDK, there are lots of community mods.
I currently recommend the following mods, which only tweaks and adjusts things, and does not give you any unfair advantages:

Until an official SDK exists, you should remove each mod when there's a new patch!