Once A STALKER, Always A STALKER: Surviving My Own Kind Of Zone news

Good day, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s.

Swallowed By Life

As time weathers all things, so too did it erode my ability to work on this project. No, hold your breath, this isn't a break-up speech. Following some rough personal turmoil, I relocated to a new area, and whereas I used to work-from-home, I now have a regular office job like everyone else.

To be brutally honest, that is where most of the delays have been coming from. I have vastly expanded responsibilities at my job now that I am there in person.

Once A STALKER, Always A STALKER

There is good news, however. My divorce tried to kill this mod, and that failed. My moving across the State I live in tried to kill this mod, and that failed. And finally, my aging rig (which blew a power supply and had to have some other components replaced) tried to kill this mod, and that, too, failed.

To celebrate not being "dead", I decided I would grab a new CPU (one which I believe will be much better at handling the extensive work needed in this mod) and that would jump-start a wholly new perspective on development.

Whereas in the past I must admit that a lot of things were half-organized and mainly driven by, "when I had time", I think I want to try a new approach to the development. One that is overall more organized, more streamlined, and easier to get into (as a developer).

Since returning to an office environment, yes - I may have less time than I ever had before. But the *good* news is, I also now have a much, much, much finer appreciation for what some good organization, an encouraging word or two from all of you, and a desire to see this project make it across that hallowed finish line that eluded so many STALKER mods before this one.

The Holding Of Breath, and the Calm Before The Storm

All-in-all, you are all wonderful for sticking it out. The one thing I am constantly reminded of is that we are *all* survivors. We are all STALKERs, and we are all part of a community that loves to keep the "Zone" alive. Every one of us who still enjoys these games does so because STALKER gave us what many games today still haven't; and that's a massive experience where our very survival depended on our quick wits, our ability to survive on-the-fly, and a game that nourishes our very will to live.

What does all of this mean? It means that, "it's time to get back to the business of making one of the best Clear Sky mods out there".

Look for updates coming in the next few weeks, and this time - barring a tornado dropping on my house, a flash flood sweeping my neighborhood away, or a real-life nuclear apocalypse - I'm pretty certain we'll be able to share some of the latest and greatest from our work we've been doing.

With this in mind, I am armed with new tools, and a renewed zeal for crossing that fairy-tale finish line - I believe we will see the Zone in ways we haven't seen it before by the time I am able to make M.I.N.E. yours.

Very sincerely, with heart-felt thanks for your time and patience,
-"Doc" Blizzard