{"id":1236384,"date":"2026-02-26T18:33:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/MYiZuUgwYvSsy9Arn4WiWn"},"modified":"2026-02-26T18:33:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:33:02","slug":"stalker-2-artist-kickstarts-the-zone-kit-modding-scene-with-a-flood-of-glorious-nonsense-mods-featuring-shrek-cj-and-you-guessed-it-thomas-the-tank-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stalker-2-artist-kickstarts-the-zone-kit-modding-scene-with-a-flood-of-glorious-nonsense-mods-featuring-shrek-cj-and-you-guessed-it-thomas-the-tank-engine\/","title":{"rendered":"Stalker 2 artist kickstarts the Zone Kit modding scene with a flood of glorious nonsense mods featuring Shrek, CJ, and\u2014you guessed it\u2014Thomas the Tank Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It’s a big day for Stalker 2<\/a>, which saw the return of A-Life in the big 1.5 patch<\/a> as well as the addition of the absolutely massive (as in, bigger than my whole entire primary SSD) Stalker 2 Zone Kit<\/a>, a modding toolkit that will enable users to “modify existing content or create new experiences\u2014animations, weapons, mechanics, and even wonders of the Zone.”<\/p>\n

Even though the Zone Kit has been out for less than a day, there are already dozens of new Stalker 2 mods available on Mod.io<\/a>, and for much of that early rush you can thank Sanekum<\/a>, a prolific modder who appears to be Aleksandr Silantev<\/a>, a self-described “senior brick artist<\/a>” who is more formally credited as an architecture artist and outsource art manager at GSC Game World.<\/p>\n

It’s cool that GSC is putting the effort in to kickstarter the Stalker 2 modding scene, but what I really enjoy here is the work Silantev has chosen to share with the world. These are classic <\/em>mods, baby.<\/p>\n

CJ from San Andreas<\/a>? Check. Shrek<\/a>? Check. Thomas the Tank Engine<\/a>? You better believe that’s a check. You can replace boars with Sherman tanks<\/a>, or rat swarms with cans of meat<\/a>, or turn Siderovich into a sort of centaur thing, except instead of a horse body it’s more of a messed-up mutant deer\u2014the Sideerovich<\/a>, naturally. You can also turn him into a handgun<\/a> if that’s what you’re into.<\/p>\n

There’s even a version of recent “Italian Brainrot” meme Crocodilo Bombardiro<\/a>, which went so viral on TikTok earlier this year it’s spawned everything from songs to gaming shovelware<\/a> to Kerbal Space Program designs<\/a>. The original meme<\/a> contains a disgusting reference to bombing kids in Gaza that seemingly hasn’t prevented the “character” from gaining rapid popularity, appearing in nearly a dozen<\/a> Steam meme games already.<\/p>\n

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\"Crocodilo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Aleksandr Silantev (Mod.io))<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For its part, the Stalker subreddit seems to prefer the Strelok E3 hairstyle as “peak,” and you know what? Fair enough.<\/p>\n

Can’t believe Stalker 2 got peak mods on day one of modkit release<\/a> from r\/stalker<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n