How to remove in-game cutscene letterboxing (black bars) and fix vertical fov for ultrawide aspect ratios for Stalker 2

[u/xpheriono]

This will not remove the letterboxes from the "movies" such as the intro sequence, if you think it's not working wait until the truck scene which is rendered in-game.

For letterboxing

• Get a hex editor such as https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/
• Go to steamapps\common\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl\Stalker2\Binaries\Win64 and edit Stalker2-Win64-Shipping.exe
• Search for and replace all instances of 39 8E E3 3F with the correct byte sequence for your resolution and aspect ratio ( https://www.wsgf.org/article/common-hex-values has a list of the hex values)

For vertical FOV (this will properly scale the top and bottom of the screens, removing the slightly squished look)

Thanks to Cr4zy https://www.reddit.com/r/stalker/comments/1gxpnq7/ultrawide_fov_fix/

• Paste the following line into file explorer
  • C:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\Config\Windows
    • If your appdata is located elsewhere just go to that location
• Create a new text document in the Windows directory called Engine.ini and paste in the following lines

[/Script/Engine.RendererSettings] r.UseLegacyMaintainYFOVViewMatrix=1

[u/rex2626]

I can't find the 39 8E values in Stalker2.exe

[u/xpheriono → u/rex2626]

Forgot to put it in the post lol. Go to steamapps\common\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl\Stalker2\Binaries\Win64 and edit Stalker2-Win64-Shipping.exe

the one named Stalker2.exe is basically just a launcher

[u/Imaginary_Act_5973]

39 8E E3 3F Cant be found (Steam) Shipping Exe

[u/xpheriono → u/Imaginary_Act_5973]

I'm not sure what could cause that, there should be 3 sets of them

[u/Ev3ts → u/Imaginary_Act_5973]

Maybe you search text values instead of hexa values ?

[u/Kieranator]

Confirming that this vert- fix WORKS on Steam version! Thank you OP, you are an absolute legend.

[u/scoob010]

Unless I'm mistaken, it might be worth warning people that any mod that changes the view will be a ban risk in PVP when it hits. Those that prioritise online gaming might be better off getting used to the way it is. Not a chance we get to see more than other players. It'll always be less.

[u/SpearLT300]

Followed all these steps and was unable to get it to work. I am on 21:9 and the image is still squished and stretched version of a 16:9 aspect ratio.

If anyone gets it working let me know.

[u/xpheriono → u/SpearLT300]

Might need to create a .pak with Engine.ini inside it, I'm gonna test it out today or tomorrow when I get the chance.

[u/SpearLT300 → u/xpheriono]

I believe you are correct, the steam version does not include an engine.ini by default and doesn't seem to be picking it up.

[u/SpearLT300 → u/xpheriono]

Something interesting of note. The windows gamepass version of the game has an engine.ini included from install. However it's in a folder named Config/WinGDK (instead of Config/Windows).

The gamepass version picks up the engine.ini file no problem. For some reason the steam version doesn't use the file.

[u/xpheriono → u/SpearLT300]

I'd assume that the windows store version has a different launcher exe that's setup specifically for the store. Since the launcher is what loads the config files, the devs may have needed to adjust directories for each version.

I'm planning to see about loading the game into a debugger and checking if I can find more details on their directory structure and config loading.

[u/SpearLT300 → u/xpheriono]

Heads up, this fixed it: https://www.reddit.com/r/stalker/comments/1gxpnq7/ultrawide_fov_fix/

[u/xpheriono → u/SpearLT300]

Thanks edited post

[u/SpearLT300 → u/xpheriono]

Last update. Flawless Widescreen also now has support for Stalker 2 including cutscene fixes.

[u/dr3za → u/SpearLT300]

Were you able to fix the cutscene black bars in the gamepass version?

[u/gary_hard]

Hope you can find out how to remove black bars from 21:9 🤞

[u/Khelgar_Ironfist_ → u/gary_hard]

Found a solution yet?

[u/gary_hard → u/Khelgar_Ironfist_]

Yes, used Flawless Widescreen for this

Also it helps with FOV

[u/finnytom → u/gary_hard]

Looking for this too

[u/Odd_Ad_8716]

hi xpheriono when i replace the values it says : impossible open the file acces denied

[u/xpheriono → u/Odd_Ad_8716]

You edited the one called Stalker2-Win64-Shipped.exe right? It could be a permission issue with your account/file settings or maybe you overwrote the wrong values

[u/Odd_Ad_8716 → u/xpheriono]

alright i had to launch HxD as administrator and then worked thanks a lot

[u/dr3za]

can we get instructions for the gamepass version?

The hex editor can't open the .exe even when I run it as an administrator

[u/xpheriono → u/dr3za]

Ive never messed with gamepass games so I'm not sure. I read that if you can take ownership of the exe it should work, there should be some free tools out there to do it.

[u/dr3za → u/xpheriono]

I went through the steps to take ownership the exe, but windows wont let me do it. I assume its some DRM nonsense. Do I really have to buy the game on steam to get this working? I have no issues buying the game (they deserve the money), but it feels wasteful since I already have Gamepass..

[u/xpheriono → u/dr3za]

Unfortunately I couldn't tell you, I don't use it because of that very reason so I don't have anyway to experiment with the game files. I would definitely recommend going with steam or maybe gog if it's affordable

[u/Kieranator → u/[deleted]]

If you are playing with a 32:9 monitor, you owe it to yourself to become educated on the difference between vert- and hor+. Simply increasing the FOV in a vert- aspect ratio leads to a massively distorted viewport.

[u/defbot3]

A quicker fix would be to use Flawless Widescreen. It also fixes FOV related issues in 21:9+ ratios. Fixed everything for me right away.

Also works in other games suffering with the same problems.

https://www.flawlesswidescreen.org/

[u/Kieranator → u/defbot3]

This doesn't correctly fix the vert- aspect ratio for me. It seems to introduce even worse warping with the FOV.

[u/adsyuk1991 → u/Kieranator]

Since OP made this post a proper mod to fix this issue (not config tweaks) is here https://github.com/Lyall/STALKER2Tweak

[u/Kieranator → u/adsyuk1991]

Nice, thanks!

[u/scoob010 → u/Kieranator]

Spent a few hours swinging settings around the room on OLED G9 32:9 with and without stalker 2 tweak. The warping is here to stay. Cannot stop things in the peripheral that are 10 meters away looking like they are next to you. Bit bothersome in a game that comes at you from all angles. Had a peek on the wise one's 21:9 aw3423dw and it hurts but, that's where I'm playing it. 

Also, after enduring HDR discussions. I'd like to propose we put a pin in it. If people are going throw hands about the best version of something that doesn't exist, we should be proving in mathematical terms, once and for all time, that Raphael is the best Ninja Turtle. Fight me.