S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl - What are you all thinking? Thread

This is a follow-up to the Far Cry thread I created, which caused quite a bit of hype regarding the game. This time we are talking about the cool looking game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl (http://stalker-game.com/).

Overview

Genre: Survival FPS/RPG
Release Date: 2nd half 2004 (Q3 - Q4)
Publisher: THQ

"...We rejected the linear level-to-level passage in favour of such freedom of action and movement as seen in 'Elite', 'Daggerfall' and 'Fallout'. Players will travel an immense territory of a zone stretching for 30 square kilometers, explore it, gain money and experience, move along a free "non-stiff" story line towards the game final..."

FAQ

Stalker-game.com

World

The world of the Zone is a huge derelict territory of half-ruined buildings unruffled for 20 years, woodlands and anomalous greenery. The Zone world features neglected underground and ground laboratories, dead military bases and proving grounds for new technologies. Radioactive land is covered with ulcers of scorched earth, poisonous fogs, deadly gravitational anomalies. This is the world of a disastrous industrial and ecological catastrophe. And in the hub of this man-caused hell the wreckage of Chernobyl atomic facility rests.

We create the Zone based on reconstruction of Chernobyl atomic power plant and the 30-kilometer zone around it. Players, while progressing through the game, will see the Dead Forest, cities of Pripyat' and Chernobyl, sneak inside the Chernobyl atomic facility sarcophagus, go through the memorable areas, really existing in the epicentre of the tragedy to have occurred some 16 years ago.

We do our best to reproduce the atmosphere of industrial and ecological catastrophe of Chernobyl in detail, so, undeniably, all the zone sights will be easily recognizable. Photos and video materials acquired during our trip to Chernobyl provide ample of information to meet this very purpose, ensuring the textures and architecture are of utmost realism.

Gameplay

The player travels over immense world of the Zone, its all locations joined into one global map. He can choose any route and will not be limited in his traversing the Zone. The player will be offered free exploration full of generated and scenario-imposed tasks, participation in the eerie events of a murky world.

The player will become a stalker, a guy who earns money from shoveling embers out of infernal oven of Chernobyl Zone. Returning from the radioactivity-blazing Zone, he will sell anomalous formations to underground dealers and scientists in research camps on the Zone border.

With the money procured, the player will purchase equipment, weapons and protective suits allowing him to reach previously inaccessible areas.

This is a role-playing game without growing experience of your character, without changing characteristics and levels. We want the player to develop his real mastery, moreover Stalker is an FPS/RPG game and much depends on his ability to fight. Changing characteristics, levels and player's experience, to our mind, would destroy the realism we try to create. As far as the rest is concerned, this is almost a normal PRG game where players travel the Zone, collect artifacts, weapons, reveal anomalous zones, communicate and trade with NPCs etc.

Artificial Intelligence

We see AI in our game as a system of realistic character behaviour. Game characters live in a world the player can only drop into, they have their own joys and sorrows. We thoroughly work out artificial intelligence for the player never to feel artificiality of the happening. This principle basically refers to our approach in general, and not only to efforts on AI. We work out all the possible actions of the player and prepare natural reaction of characters to them. As character would react in life, so as he should react in the game. If the player attacks and kills one of the guards, the rest will go to seek hiding, radio their headquarters, and won't stand still, or what's worse, run out towards the player.

Communication with NPCs

The Player's communication with the game characters will serve an essential part of the gameplay. By means of communication the player will find out important information, acquire tasks, trade or make deals to accomplish a task co-operatively. Apart from humans, the player will also be able to communicate with sapient mutant creatures.

The game will be strongly influenced by communication and NPCs' attitude towards the player. For example, under a bad attitude, trader will refuse to trade or will charge an exorbitant price, and stalkers will open fire as soon as they recognise the player.

Trade

Trade will be realistic, as you are given a chance to purchase, exchange or sell everything: ammunition, equipment or artifacts. You can trade with the army, dealers, stalkers and scientists. To give you an idea how this will look in the game: the player comes across with a veteran stalker in the Zone, they greet each other, agree to remove weapons, then come closer to each other and start trading. They exchange phrases through a communication system. Soviet roubles will go in the game as the currency.

Game Features

The whole world living its own life:
- Man-made calamity, corrupt nature, psychological and physical threats, anomalies, odd deadly phenomena, mutated creatures, stalkers, military cordons, scientific camps.
- Vast territory of the Zone.
- Absolute freedom of movement with imperceptible level loading.
- Dynamic day-night switching system
- Dynamic weather effects as rain, wind, fog, etc.
- Generation of events, tasks, artifacts
- Anomalous energy blowouts, peaks of anomalous activity, migrating anomalies.
- Anomalous areas

Unique creatures and characters:
- Unique abilities of creatures as group intellect, telepathy, telekinesis etc.
- Behaviour and life simulation for creatures and characters.
- Characters and creatures move around under control of global intellect.
- Impressive script.
- Non-linear storyline.
- Several endings of the game.
- Events happening regardless of the player's actions.
- Game time system

Equipment
- over 30 types of weapons
- Unique weapons and their influence on enemy.
- Weapon upgrades.
- Devices and protective suits.
- Trade in weapons, artifacts and equipment.

Engine:
- 300.000 - 3.000.000 polygons per frame
- Dynamic shadows and lighting
- Characters are correctly shaded by objects
- Powerful physics engine, i.e controlling vehicles, detailing objects, bullet ballistics, skeleton animation, etc.
- Realistic AI, i.e characters' behaviour is adequate to environment and events happening around. Soldiers patrol the Zone perimeter. Stalkers travel the Zone independently of the player collecting anomalous formations, trading, communicating and fighting. Mutants increase their population, migrate in Zone, eliminating stalkers, soldiers and each other.
- Motion capture animation

Storyline

Game Script written by Sergey Ivanov

April 12, 2006, 02:33 p.m.
Chernobyl zone was lit by an intolerably bright light. The clouds were evaporating in the silver bright sky with a thunder and earthquake to follow. People fell on the ground facedown closing their bleeding eyes and ears. The glow spread over an immense territory which was subsequently called the Zone. People ran away saving their lives. It looked like a radioactive explosion at the nuclear plant occurred. The army sealed off the Zone...

The explosion epicenter was a kilometre away from the nuclear plant. Obviously, some tests had been held there and they caused the disaster. Presumably, the entire personnel died within seconds, but still there was a probability of survivals among the staff. It appeared impossible to arrange a rescue operation, as the Zone was characterized by strange energy disturbances posing mortal danger to the explorers. Attempts to use robots were unavailing. Several months after the accident the crisis situation peaked when the Zone abruptly grew five kilometres bigger. People from nearby towns and villages were urgently evacuated, and the peril of a difficult-to-imagine scope loomed over the world.

Year 2008
The Zone exploded, radioactive clouds covered vast territories. A dreadful amount of people, animals and forests perished. Thirty kilometres of the area got cordoned off by the army, scientists failed to explain what had happened. The Zone grew, various death-bearing anomalies were spotted inside. Some invisible force tore living beings apart, inflicted awful blood-sputtering wounds. Expeditions faced mutant animals, unlikely to have appeared in the Zone through natural course of evolution. The catastrophe, mutants, anomalies, contamination… Everything appeared to be a consequence of some eerie phenomenon…

Year 2010
First expeditions can enter the Zone several kilometers deep without mortal danger . Amateur researchers, marauders and poachers, called stalkers, show up. They move around the Zone searching for various anomalous formations, i.e. artifacts, they would sell to various organizations.

- Edited By frosty_theaussie On Sat 28th, Feb 2004 @ 9:34:06pm

Also, good news. Soon I will be receiving an information with modding information for STALKER, and it will be a ModDB exclusive!!!. I e-mailed Oleg Yavorsky, and being the kind developer that he is, he has passed on my questions to THQ, the American publishers of STALKER. I will pass on the information as soon as I receive a reply from THQ.

Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 15:55:03 +0200
From: "Oleg V. Yavorsky" <**************>
To: ************** (I'm not telling you my e-mail!!!)
Subject: Re: Fw: STALKER SDK / Editing Tools

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your e-mail and your interest in supporting our technology,
much appreciated. We do think of supporting mod development and count
on support of guys like you. I've forwarded your e-mail to our
publishers THQ, they should get in touch with you soon.

--
Best regards,
Oleg Yavorsky
Senior PR Manager
GSC Game World
www.gsc-game.com
www.stalker-game.com
www.firestarter-game.com

Oh, how jolly nice of him!

any minimum system spec?

Seeing as we won't be seeing it for another four months, at least, they are pretty vague as of now. I'd say, at least a Radeon 9600 or GeForce FX5600 for most of the pretty graphics, and a 1.5Ghz CPU.

I got ge force 4 MX and 2.5ghz 512MB ram

- Edited By azz0r On Mon 1st, Mar 2004 @ 1:26:12pm

It'll prolly work on your rig if you turn the graphics down.

Firestarter is a cool game btw

Looks like Stalker is going to be a very good game. Ambitious new features will probably make it one of the most remembered games of this years we live now in.. I'm really forward to see it... And I love the storyline.

Damn, when will it be released?

well, huh, nice graphics, runs fast, big good looking outdoor areas, nice atmosphere... who wants anything more?:)

Damn, when will it be released

Look at what I wrote, lazy

Pretty high specs there...
when you say 'won't be seeing it for another 4 months' does that mean until its released or what? I was under the impression it was going to be released after HL2

*Sigh*

I wrote this at the very top:

Release Date: 2nd half 2004 (Q3 - Q4)

Let's see, this month is March. Then we have April, that's one month, May, that's two, June, that's three, July, the last month for the first half of 2004, equals to four months. So at the very least, it won't come out for at least another four months. And there's every chance that it may slip into 2005 as well, no one knows for sure because the fiscal year which this is slated to be released in starts in May 2004, and ends in May 2005.

heh..
silly me.

I need a new computer

ill use my dads prolly.. he recently upgraded to 3ghz, 1gig of ram, and a GeForce FX5600

Ive never seen so many greys and greens before, I almost yawned. Completely hyped boring game.

I thuoght it looked quite cheery and the fact the area you get to walk and venture around

and think of the mods

Ive never seen so many greys and greens before, I almost yawned. Completely hyped boring game.

Wow, y'know, that statement could completely apply to Far Cry. If you changed green to red, that could apply to Doom 3. If you changed the green again to 'gay developer', it'd apply to Valve and Half-Life 2

was he saying that about stalker?!?!?! off with his head!!!!

you can say that hl2 is an overhyped game, but not STALKER...

azz0r wrote: Ive never seen so many greys and greens before, I almost yawned. Completely hyped boring game.

That's reality for ya.

BartNowciu wrote: you can say that hl2 is an overhyped game, but not STALKER...

Half-Life 2 wasn't overhyped. It had a reason for it. Now the fact that it was shot down due to who knows what, that is just disappointing.

- Edited By RatoN On Tue 2nd, Mar 2004 @ 2:58:04am

azz0r wrote: Ive never seen so many greys and greens before, I almost yawned. Completely hyped boring game.

Another retarded comment from azz0r.

Ever seen stalker on the front cover of a mag?
Ever actually seen anything said about stalker in any magazines?
Ever seen it talked about on any popular news sites?

I know I haven't.

STALKER was on the front of PC PowerPlay, an aussie PC mag, recently. They absolutely loved it, and hyped it to bits in the preview:

"We want STALKER to be good. We want it to be good so badly. And yet, the game is SO ambitious and SO massive in scope, we cannot help but feel scared for GSC. In the cutthroat game of computer game development, for every modestly promoted Deus Ex there have been a dozen Daikatanas, SiNs andRed Factions... Which is more important to them, to produce a genre-busting, definitive game that no bastard will bother playing, or a smash-hit shoote for brain dead... types too smashed to bother thinking about their games?

Said Yavorsky (GSC Developer, Russia), "We'd like to both, actually. Anyway, if we achieve only one of the two we won't be disappointed. It is a way worse when you get none." That's so true. Good luck guys."

Go out and buy it, it's PCPP #97. You should listen Oleg Yavorsky speak about STALKER, even in the short e-mail he sent me. He's so nice and is so knowledgable.

I would if I lived in Australia

i need a new comp too.

and it hasn't gotten that much hype

CHECK THE NEW WEAPONS VIDEO:) VERY NICE:) Media.pc.ign.com

- Edited By operativex On Wed 3rd, Mar 2004 @ 5:36:49pm