Stalker 2 is a massive hit on PC with a peak player count of over 117K on Steam alone. Even though this is available on Game Pass as well, it’s clear that the dedicated folk at GSC Game World have a hit on their hands.
The PC version has the standard settings we’ve come to expect from other Unreal Engine 5 titles, which means there are a few things that can’t be adjusted or disabled. Here is how you can adjust the FOV beyond the in-game value in Stalker 2 and disable the vignette post-processing effect.
Adjust the FOV in Stalker 2
By default, players have the maximum in-game value for field of view in Stalker 2, which is 110 and usually the case in single-player shooters. However, if you aren’t satisfied with that, you can push it beyond the limit using a simple tweak.
- Make sure Stalker 2 isn’t currently running.
- Head over to the following location:
C:\Users\[WINDOWS USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\GameSettings
- Open the ApppliedSettings.cfg file using a text editor like Notepad or Notepad++
- Search for “FieldOfView“, and set its value to your desired FOV value. For example, we’re setting it to 130, and it should look like this:
FieldofView = 130.0
- After you’re done, save the file (Ctrl + S) and close Notepad
- Relaunch the game, and the FOV will be adjusted to your desired value.
Here is a comparison between the maximum 110 value, and 130:
If you readjust the value in-game, it will be modified in the configuration file, and default to the maximum value of 110.
Disable the Vignette Effect in Stalker 2
Vignette is one of the many post-processing effects that are applied in modern releases to increase immersion. This isn’t always positive and should be something players can toggle. Thankfully, we can disable the constant vignette applied to the presentation by creating a configuration file.
Head over to the following location:
- Make sure Stalker 2 isn’t currently running
- Head over to the following location:
Steam
C:\Users\[WINDOWS USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\Config\Windows
Game Pass (Xbox App)
C:\Users\[WINDOWS USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\Config\WinGDK
- Here, create a text file called “Engine.ini“, and make sure its extension is set to ini instead of txt.
- Open the file using a text editor like Notepad or Notepad++
- Paste the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.Tonemapper.Quality=0
- After you’re done, save the file (Ctrl + S) and exit out
- Relaunch Stalker 2 and Vignette will be removed from the presentation.
Here is a comparison with the default vignette enabled and after the configuration file edit.
This edit does not disable the vignette effect that shows up when you crouch to go into the stealth position.
Additionally, if you want to disable the forced depth of field effect, you can add the following line to the Engine.ini file as well.
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0
If you want to re-enable these effects, follow the steps above and remove the lines from the Engine.ini file or delete it entirely.
Both of these adjustments give more control to players and we hope that the developers add these options and toggles in a future update. You can further improve your gameplay experience by disabling mouse smoothing in Stalker 2 as well.
