Over the last few days this project has been debated by some of us at the GSC forum, I'm writing this as a word of warning to fellow Stalkers.
Although we cannot be entirely sure at this point something needs to be said as the project in question is now taking money via Kickstarter,
A recent video release about the Areal project from West games was put on U-tube (link below) and as you can see 99% of the source material used is from the three Stalker games. GSC has been contacted via one of there rep's at the GSC forum regarding the project and it seems others on other sites have also voiced concern regarding the matter, So we wait for a reply, You should do the same before handing over your money. There's no rush the kickstarter project has a month to run.
My advice,
They have only just opened there kickstarter project so we have roughly a month before it closes, Wait and see how things pan out, Don't just throw your money after something we all want. Wait and see how it stands up under scrutiny.
My opinion,
I do not trust it and what they've given us in there initial project release adds up to nothing, The only things they've created for Areal that we've seen is some concept art, The majority of assets on the video and the kickstarter release page are not original items made for there project but copyright protected resources from Stalker which it seems they may have found a way around by employing the concept artists who made them. At the moment it does not look like a project that could be delivered on.
I will post an update once we learn more.
Be careful with your money and keep an eye out for scams.
Thanks for sharing the info for those unawares! I'm holding my bets until I see more. GSC and Vostok have engaged in finger pointing immediately without real evidence, and conspiracy has fueled a lot of the initial doubts, which have since spiraled into general concern over the project by word of mouth.
Looking on their VK page for the game, at least there is this:
Vk.com
If that is an in-game shot on there engine why doesn't the video show anything other than clips that we know are on the Unity and X-ray engines?
Like everyone else I want it to be genuine but it's that need that conmen will prey on.
This fella was heading up Nuclear Union last year. That looked great and promised a Stalker like environment just to get cancelled, And here he is a year later offering the same thing again and this time wanting the money up front.
Didn't West Games say they were waiting to show things on the 26th, and that the kickstarter page was a draft? I figure they got such positive initial response that they decided to put up what they had in a more public light. Then the finger waving began out of what little info there was.
We'll see tomorrow if West Games actually makes its statements.
Guys, also more damning evidence that this is a huge scam. In the promotional video for AREAL, they show so-called devs working on something. The footage they are using is not this so-called proprietary new engine they were bragging about. It's actually from Unity engine's Post-Apocalyptic Environment demo that comes with Unity: Youtube.com
Wow...thanks david (if I am still allowed to call you like this), I haven't heard about this before, but I'll definitely try to keep track on this so-called "project". Wasn't really aware of scams in our community.
Lol, what is this, insta-downvote? Get some balls, to whoever did this, and try to reply in a full sentence. Cowards...
You can call me what you want and have an up vote from me :)
Thank you, nasha ;)
For Areal, unfortunately, at the moment I smell Arat.
Honestly that concept art looks cool, I haven't seen it before either so I assume it's a legit new made piece of art, but like everybody before me said that video smells of obvious scam.. and it makes me very sad :(
Then watch the vid, I couldn't even watch 1 minute without shaking my head and saying: "Nope, nope nope".
I looked at their website and was convinced this is a scam.
Possible Scam, but Kickstarter page is still online... nothing adds up
BEST BET IS DO NOT GIVE MONEY AND WAIT FOR A COMMERCIAL RELEASE
Seems like a scam, been more or less confirmed by GSC. And many things seem fake. Infact, are they even developing the game? The screens of them "developing" Areal are just from a unity3d scene