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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky cover
Developers
GSC Game World
Publishers
Deep Silver
Engines
X-Ray Engine
Release dates
Windows August 22, 2008
Reception
Metacritic 75
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.: Clear Sky on HowLongToBeat
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky on IGDB
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky on MobyGames
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky on Wikipedia
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.: Clear Sky is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action and shooter game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.

General information

Developer's forum
TweakGuides guide
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
CD key
TAGES Solidshield DRM. StarForce DRM for Russian release.[1] Install patches to remove the DRM on retail copies.
GOG.com key
Icon overlay.png
Windows
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
CD key
Serial key for multiplayer shown in the game's library entry.
Windows
Green Man Gaming
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
CD key
Comes with 1.5.10 patch preinstalled.[2] TAGES DRM is reported to be inactive.[3] Some CD keys can be redeemed on GOG.com[4][5]
Windows

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest version of the game is Patch 1.5.10. This version allows for additional effects with DirectX 9 rendering that were previously reserved only for the DirectX 10 renderer. It also fixes many game breaking bugs, improves overall performance and fixes some problems with Tages DRM.
The Multi-Patch replaces the GameSpy master servers and optionally forces Vsync. The Steam version is already patched.

Skip intro videos

Use replacement files[citation needed]

Apply the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky intro skip.

Modifications

The Sky Reclamation Project (SRP) is an unofficial patch which fixes bugs that remain in the latest official patched version of the game.

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Stalker-STCS\
Steam <path-to-game>\_appdata_\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/20510/pfx/[Note 1]
CD key, language and GameSpy ID are stored in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\GSC Game World\STALKER-STCS

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Stalker-STCS\savedgames\
Steam <path-to-game>\_appdata_\savedgames\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/20510/pfx/[Note 1]

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

In-game general video settings.
In-game general video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
67.5° Vertical - See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Use windowed mode and -no_dialog_header command line argument.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Up to 4x MSAA + Transparency Anti-aliasing.
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.[6]
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

Changing FoV[citation needed]
  1. Download FOV switcher.
  2. Copy it to the installation folder.
  3. Back up the original xrgame.dll.
  4. Run fov_switch.cmd.
  5. Use the mouse wheel to scroll through all available variants.
  6. In the opened window enter the number from 1 to 52 depending on your game version and chosen FOV.
  7. To enable the external cam in singleplayer mode (by F6-F8 buttons), enter these commands in console:
bind cam_1 kF6
bind cam_2 kF7
bind cam_3 kF8

Input

In-game control settings.
In-game control settings.

Audio

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
SFX and music only.
Surround sound
Up to 7.0 output[7]
Subtitles
Closed captions
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
1. Go to the main OpenAL Soft page and download openal-soft-****-bin.zip and bz2 archive.
2. Unpack soft_oal.dll from bin\win32 directory in archive, rename it to OpenAL32.dll and replace the existing one located in <path-to-game>\bin.
3. Create a folder called openal in %APPDATA% and unpack the hrtf folder from the source code archive in there. Create a new text file in %APPDATA% called alsoft.ini and add the following line:
[general]
hrtf=true
4. Save it and then run the game.
5. Go to the Options→Sound and change the Sound driver to OpenAL Soft and restart the game.
6. 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.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Czech
Retail only. link #1 or link #2
French
German
Hungarian
Retail only. Includes optional Hungarian voice-over translation. Download from here.
Italian
Polish
Features optional Polish voice-over translation.
Brazilian Portuguese
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 types

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

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 3783, 6515, 6500, 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.: Clear Sky (DX9).
vorpX
G3D
Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.
Devices
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Issues fixed

"Unable to connect to master server" error

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

Crashes on DirectX 10

Using Nvidia inspector, delete xrengine from the clear sky profile and add it to the call of pripyat profile.

Steam version does not launch on Windows 10/11, BugTrap reports error at 0023:00125311

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

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c, 10, 10.1 Bound to the lighting renderer. DirectX 10.1 support was added in version 1.5.06.
Shader Model support 1.x, 2, 3, 4
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics Open Dynamics Engine
Audio OpenAL
Multiplayer GameSpy

Modifications

Ironsights v1.0

It adds back Iron Sights for the pistols like the previous game

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 2000 SP4
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz
AMD Athlon XP 2200+
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce FX 5700
ATI Radeon 9600
128 MB of VRAM
DirectX 8.0 compatible


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/20510/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (20510) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

  1. FILEnetworks Blog: S.T.A.L.K.E.R : Clear Sky (English) - Cracked or not? - last accessed on May 2023
  2. Planning to buy Clear Sky - Steam Users' Forums (retrieved)
  3. GamersGate version has no DRM - why Steam? - Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023
  4. GOG.com - Forum - Reclaim your games. DRM-Free! - last accessed on 2022-12-06
  5. Verified by User:Aemony on 2022-12-06
    Based on testing in 2022 this still works, but probably requires a CD key purchased from an older batch from around 2015 or earlier.
  6. New 120Hz Games Report - last accessed on May 2023
  7. PC Gaming Surround Sound Round-up - last accessed on May 2023