Q: What patch is AtmosFear 3 compatible with?

A: It is recommended to patch the game to 1.6.02. The mod has been created and tested on this patch only.

Q: What DX version is this mod compatible with?

A: AtmosFear should look the same on DX9 and DX10 (Full dynamic llighting). It can be also used with DX8 (Static lighting) but the shadows won't have accurare direction.

Q: Should I uninstall previous versions of AtmosFear before installing AF3?

A: Yes, it is highly recommended to uninstall previous versions of AtmosFear as AF3 uses different config and textures filenames. Keeping previous versions will cause the previous configs and textures to load as well. Even if they not used anymore. It will raise the RAM demand and loading times twice.

Q: Is starting a new game necessary?

A: Yes, with AF3 it is REQUIRED to start a new game.

Q: Is loading user_atmosfear.ltx required?

A: From version 3 there is no user_atmosfear.ltx anymore. Correct settings are loaded when a new game is started.

Q: The sky is too dark, the ground is too bright. Why?

A: Go to AtmosFear Options menu > Other options and load default color balance and brightness settings.

Q: The sun rises at west and sets at east, nights are too short, days too long etc.

A: In AF3 the sun has the correct position acording to geographical/astronomical date. It requires replacing the game renderer DLLs with fixed ones. It is done during the installation.

Q: Are the fixed DLLs considered as crack?

A: Not at all! The fixed DLLs merely re-enable the sun position to be configured from the config files. They don't remove any protection. You still need an original game to play.

Q: Why is the NPP visible north of Pripyat while in real world it is south-east?

A: In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe NPP is north of Pripyat according to maps available in Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky.

Q: Why it takes so long now to load save game?

A: The mod adds 120+ sky textures sometimes in high resolution (depends on chosen option). That's why.

Q: Game crashes after installing this mod

A: On systems with less than 2GB of RAM 'Out of memory' problems could occur. Do not install hi-res textures unless you have at least 3GB of RAM and decent GPU.
The same apply to 32 bit systems where xRay engine can allocate maximum 2GB RAM
Other cause can be incompatibility with other mods.

Q: I've got a problem with AtmosFear and other mod

A: AtmosFear needs to be properly merged with other mods.

Q: AtmosFear is included in other mod or compilation and I've got a problem with it

A: Contact the author of the compilation. I don't take any responsibility for unproperly merged AtmosFear.

Q: Do I need to start a new game?

A: Yes, AtmosFear 3 requires starting a new game.

Q: Why the ground/plants textures look different than those on the screenshots?

A: All screenshots have been taken using Absolute Texture Packs. Download them here: Absolute Nature 2 Texture Pack, Absolute Structures Texture Pack

Q: What is the performance hit with AtmosFear 3

A: This can vary depending on the machine/system. Some people report increase of framerate of about 10% some report FPS drop.

Q: When using the nightvision during the night I can see ugly square patterns on the sky.

A: They are bitmap compression artifacts. Nightvision screen effector raises the brightness enourmosly. Especially in dark areas where the compression artifacts appear the most. I did my best to reduce their appearance but unfortunately I can't do anything with the bitmap compression.

Q: Sky textures have discolorated patches especially in gray areas

A: This is because I've used 16bit sky textures to reduce the RAM demand of the mod. 16bit palette replaces some gray colors with slightly purpleish, greenish color equivalents.

Q: Why there are no ultra resolution textures anymore?

A: The only advantages of ultra textures were slightly better looking skyline (with NPP etc.) and slightly sharper stars. The clouds are blurry anyway so there is no reason to expand the skyboxes resolution. And the RAM demand (and loading times) with ultra res were enormous.

Q: Would you release ultra resolution textures later?

A: No. Period.

Q: Where can I find more answers?

A: Read the thread on the official GSC forum