Getting Started: First Steps in the Zone's Code

Welcome, fellow stalkers, to the wild world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl modding! With the official Zone Kit (ModSDK), you have the power to tweak, customize, and expand the Zone in exciting new ways. Whether you dream of altering weapon stats, changing textures, or creating entirely new items, this guide is your first step into shaping the Exclusion Zone.

You are able to download the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl ModSDK called the Zone Kit from the Epic Games Launcher. For this, you do not necessarily need to own the Epic Games version of the game; the SDK is shared via the Epic Games Launcher, for you to start creating your Modes on Windows.

In this article, we'll cover everything you need before you start and how to create your very first mod project.

Before you begin: Prerequisites

Modding S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 requires a few key things. Make sure you have these ready:

1. The Game: You must own a purchased copy of the base game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
2. The Zone Kit: You'll need access to the official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Zone Kit. Make sure it's installed.
3. Plenty of Disk Space: Modding involves extracting game content and creating new files, which requires significant storage. Have approximately 700GB of free space available on your hard drive.
4. Short Installation Path: Due to technical limitations, the path to your ModSDK project should be as short and simple as possible. Avoid complex or long folder names. A good example is C:\ModSDK

Important note: The first time you launch the Zone Kit, it will begin extracting game content. Do NOT interrupt this process. Let it complete fully, as this is essential for the editor to function correctly.

To potentially speed up the launch times of the Zone Kit, you can add its installation folder to your Windows Defender exclusions. Follow these steps:

1. In the Start menu, open Settings.
2. Navigate to Update & Security → Windows Security.
3. Open Virus & threat protection.
4. Below Virus & threat protection settings, click on Manage settings.
5. Scroll down to Exclusions and click on Add or remove exclusions.
6. Click on + Add an exclusion → Folder.
7. Navigate to your Zone Kit installation folder and click Select Folder.

While the editor is powerful, there are some limitations in the current version:

• No possibility to edit levels yet.
• Any blueprint-based mods are not supported in the game at this time.
• No possibility to work with audio projects yet, but it’s possible to modify existing game audio.

Creating your first mod

Ready to start? Follow these steps to create a new mod project in the editor:

1. Launch the Zone Kit.
2. Look for the "Create Mod" button on the top toolbar and click it.
3. A pop-up window will appear. Here, you'll select a template. Currently, only the "Default" template is available – select it.
4. Next, you need to choose where your mod will be saved and give it a name. Select the directory (you can optionally leave the default path), and enter a title for your mod. Do not use special characters or spaces in the mod title.
5. You can optionally fill in additional details:
   • Author: Enter your name or nickname.
   • Description: Write a brief summary of what your mod does.
   • URL: Provide a link to your website or a project page if you have one.
6. By default, "Show Content Directory" should be selected. This is helpful as it will automatically open your mod's main folder in the Content Browser after creation. If you uncheck it, you'll need to navigate there manually later.
7. Click the "Create Mod" button at the bottom of the window.

You should see a confirmation message in the bottom-right corner indicating successful creation.

In the Content Browser (which should have opened automatically if you left "Show Content Directory" checked), you'll see a folder with your mod's name. This is where all your mod's files will be stored. If you didn't check the box, you can find your mod's folder by navigating in the Content Browser to: All → Plugins → [YourModName].

Well done! You've created your first mod project. Now you can proceed to creating and editing content for your future mod to begin making your vision for the Zone a reality.