Z.O.N.A: Origin News

[p]Changes and Improvements:[/p]

• [p]Added a safety check to the dialogue when traveling to the Dawn base. Now, if the player does not finish the dialogue and does not confirm that they need more time before heading to the base, and then leaves the location, the dialogue will start over. Previously, if the dialogue was not completed, after leaving the location the player could no longer travel to the Dawn base with the guide.[/p]

[p]Stalkers, Happy New Year![/p][p]The Zone is changing — and so are we. Thank you for your support, ideas, and feedback. Thanks to you, Z.O.N.A Origin has become better. May the anomalies be kinder to you this year, and may your loot be richer![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]New Features:[/h2]

• [p]A New Year event has been added. You can start it by talking to the Snowman at the “Free Stalkers” base. The event is available from 08.12.2025 to 12.01.2026. Completing it rewards you with a unique golden AKS-74U.[/p]
• [p]A small New Year-themed location has been added. It becomes accessible after completing the event.[/p]
• [p]A new type of zombie has been introduced. It appears only during the New Year event and has increased resistance to damage compared to regular monsters.[/p]

[h2]Changes and Improvements:[/h2]

• [p]The quest to find Brodyaga’s missing group has been improved. Now, even if the player doesn’t respond to the radio message and doesn’t contact Brodyaga, the quest will still be considered completed after clearing the base.[/p]
• [p]Minor adjustments to the quest where you deliver the disk to Iskra at the “Dawn” base.[/p]
• [p]Small fixes and improvements to the loot system.[/p]

[p][/p][p]The leaderboard has been reset — it’s the perfect time to claim the top spot![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h2]New Features:[/h2]

• [p]Added a new loot item — the old Soviet toy “Soviet Cosmonaut.” It can be found both in certain raids and across the Zone.[/p]
• [p]Added a new loot item — “Onion.” It can be sold for a good price or used to restore a small amount of health and satiety. Most importantly, the onion has an almost magical effect: it fully restores psi protection and temporarily raises it above normal limits. Stalkers joke that with such an aroma, even the Zone itself prefers to keep its distance.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Changes & Improvements:[/h2]

• [p]Fixed a rare issue in the quest where you deliver a hard drive to Iskra. If the drive was left at the base and not picked up immediately, it could disappear.[/p]
• [p]Texture quality is now automatically set to the highest level when launching the game for the first time. Previously, players could experience blurry textures at around 5 meters. The issue was caused by the game setting the lowest texture quality on first launch, requiring players to manually increase it — something not everyone noticed right away.[/p]
• [p]Minor improvements to the main menu.[/p]
• [p]Improved physics on the “Ghost Base” level.[/p]
• [p]Improved physics on the raid level “Military Town.”[/p]
• [p]Fixed the description of the “STALKER” artifact — psi protection values now display correctly.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that prevented the proper pickup of the Z.O.N.A Project X DVD disc.[/p]

[h2]New Features:[/h2]

• [p]Added a new type of cookable food — potato. Like other food, it can be cooked on a stove using a pan, over a campfire, or boiled in a pot. You can find it both in the Zone and during raids.[/p]
• [p]Added new loot — an old Soviet football (soccer) ball. It can be found in some locations of the Zone and in certain raids. You can sell it or relive your youth a bit and play with it.[/p]
• [p]Added new loot — a tennis ball. It can be found in some locations of the Zone and in certain raids. You can sell it or play with it for fun.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[h2]Changes & Improvements:[/h2]

• [p]By player request, a note was added to the briefing of the final mission stating that once you complete it, you won’t be able to return to the previous locations.[/p]
• [p]Updated the quest description about O.S.Z., as some players didn’t fully understand what to do next to unlock the storyline.
  Previous:
  “Sedoy asked for some time to find out more about O.S.Z. I’ll wait for his message. There’s always something to do in the Zone. Maybe go on a raid?”
  New:
  “Sedoy asked for some time to find out more about O.S.Z. While he’s busy, I’ll have to wait. Nobody sits idle in the Zone — there’s always something to do. Rumor has it that a stalker called Shram is looking for me. Maybe I should find out what he wants.”[/p]
• [p]Increased the sound range of impact hits on enemies from 18 meters to 36 meters, making it easier for players to understand when a hit registers. Making impacts audible at any distance is impossible — otherwise you would hear fights between factions from across the map.[/p]
• [p]Increased the sound range of headshot impacts from 18 m to 36 m.[/p]
• [p]Increased the sound range of armor/helmet impacts from 18 m to 36 m.[/p]
• [p]Extended the evening time period on locations: previously 18:00–21:00, now 17:00–21:00.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with the CQ19 box, which was removed from the game but remained in the backpacks of some players, making it impossible to pick up.[/p]
• [p]Minor improvements to OpenXR.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][h2]Weapons & Ammunition:[/h2]

• [p]Improved VSK-94 — now more accurate in two-handed burst fire and has lower recoil compared to AK-series rifles. Recoil weight distribution has also been refined.[/p]
• [p]Improved AS “Val” — recoil adjusted in both one-handed and two-handed modes. In two-handed mode it is much more accurate during burst fire.[/p]
• [p]Improved CZ Scorpion EVO 3 — reduced recoil in both one-handed and two-handed modes, making it excellent for close-quarters combat.[/p]
• [p]Improved Saiga-9 — slightly reduced recoil in both modes.[/p]
• [p]Improved AKS-74U and AKS-74U “Gift Edition” — slightly increased recoil, reduced muzzle gas effect, and improved weapon physics, making it feel more realistic in hand due to updated weight distribution.[/p]
• [p]Improved AK-74M — recoil reworked in both one-handed and two-handed modes for both single and burst fire.[/p]
• [p]Slightly increased backward recoil for AK-74 and AKS-74.[/p]
• [p]Slightly increased backward recoil for OTs-14 “Groza”.[/p]
• [p]Reduced burst-fire spread in two-handed mode for AK-74.[/p]
• [p]Improved recoil weight distribution for M4 and M16.[/p]

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[h3]Changes and Improvements:[/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue on the raid location “Abandoned Village” where the player could sometimes lose all items and become unable to leave the area after transitioning. The problem was caused by the procedural loot generation system. Special thanks to players Conserva and Anomalous for reporting this issue.[/p]