Night vision

04:10h on a clear morning near the Bar with no NV.

Same as above but with first generation NV.

Same as above but with second generation NV.

Night vision or NV is a suit accessory that appears in all S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.

Overview

• The player starts the game with a Flashlight as part of their basic equipment and a standard Leather jacket which has no Night vision capability.
• Although the player starts out in daylight, this obviously changes as the game progresses. Weather conditions may also deteriorate and impair visibility.
• Underground locations may be poorly lit.
• A flashlight can mitigate these shortcomings, but Alkaline batteries are short in supply early in the game and have a lifespan of 3000 seconds (50 game minutes)
• The use of the flashlight will also compromise the player's stealth against NPCs.
• For these reasons alone, it becomes desirable to wear a suit that also has some form of Night vision.

Types of NV

First generation

• As may be seen in the images, 1st Gen NV provides a better world view than no NV but the image is noisy and green which is less than restful on the eyes.
• It is a lot better than nothing.

Second generation

• This shows up as a more restful and less noisy violet enhanced world view which is much superior to the 1st Gen NV.

Enhanced second generation

• This type of Night vision is only available in the Developer's Cut.
• The view is even less noisy.

Notes

• Night vision operates on the principle of photomultiplier optical enhancement. Without ANY light there is nothing to enhance so their operation in exceptionally dark areas will be boosted by flashlight use.
• Night vision accessories do not use any battery power nor add any mass to the player's suit weight.

Availability

The concept of providing Night vision capability for armour has changed significantly from Lost Alpha (-v1.3003) to Developer's Cut (v1.4000+).

Lost Alpha

• In Lost Alpha suits come either without any NV capability or with First or Second generation NV by default.
• Unique suits may not be upgraded, all other suits are upgradeable to at least First generation NV.
• NV capability is only available through upgrades, there are no NV devices.

Suits with NO NV as standard

• Leather jacket
• Bandit jacket
• Mercenary suit
• Monolith suit
• Wind of Freedom suit
• PSZ 9d Duty armor (coded but deprecated)

Suits with First generation NV as standard

• Berill-5M armoured suit
• Exoskeleton
• Guardian of Freedom suit
• Kombez Freedom M2
• Military armored suit
• PS5-M "Universal Protection"
• PSZ 9Md Universal Protection
• Reinforced suit
• SEVA suit
• Stalker suit
• SSP-99M suit

Suits with Second generation NV as standard

• Exoskeleton PNB-4UZ (Fang suit)
• SSP-99 Ecologist

Suits upgradeable to Second generation NV

• Exoskeleton
• Military armored suit
• PSZ 9Md Universal Protection
• SSP-99M suit

Developer's Cut

• In Developer's Cut suits by default come either without any NV capability or with First, Second or Enhanced second generation NV.
• Upgrades to the NV capabilities are only available for the Exoskeleton (First generation to Second generation) and the Exoskeleton's prototype (None to First generation).
• The Developer's Cut introduced Night vision devices.
  • A specific slot on the player's belt can be fitted with such a device.
  • The slot works similar to the slots for detectors or binoculars, so a Night vision device can be used with different suits.
  • It is not possible to use an NV device with suits having built-in NV capabilities.

Night vision devices

• PNV-01 "Vampir" (First generation)
• 1PN42 "Blue Moon" (Second generation)
• ANV-01 "North Star" (Enhanced second generation)

Suits with NO NV as standard

• Bandit jacket / Mail jacket
• Berill-5M armoured suit / Healing Berill
• CS-1b body armour
• CS-2 body armour
• CS-3a body armour
• Exoskeleton's prototype (upgradable to First Generation)
• Guardian of Freedom suit
• Hunter PS5
• Leather jacket / Skinner Anomaly
• Leather trench coat
• Mercenary suit
• Monolith suit
• PS5 "Duty" Suit"
• PSZ 9d Duty armor
• Shield of Freedom suit
• Soldier suit
• Stalker suit / Ghost suit / Cheap stalker suit / Tourist suit
• Wind of Freedom suit

Suits with First generation NV as standard

• Exoskeleton (upgradable to Second Generation [-v1.4005] / Enhanced Second Generation [v1.4007])
• PS5-M "Universal Protection"
• Reinforced suit
• SEVA suit
• SSP-99 Ecologist
• Wind of Freedom suit

Suits with Second generation NV as standard

• SKAT-9
• SKAT-10
• SSP-99M suit

Suits with Enhanced second generation NV as standard

• SKAT-9M
• SKAT-10M
• SSP-100M / SSP-10

Trivia

• The SSP-99 Ecologist may be downgraded to First generation NV, clearly a bug (Lost Alpha only).