STALKER in the home stretch?

[Varsity]

According to fansite Stalker-World (site buggered, scroll down to the end for content), STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl has reached Release Candidate status, where the developers consider the game complete and subject it to rigourous testing with the help of their publisher.

We got some information that GSC had recently finished its work on Stalker. The final build has the whole storyline, 20 levels and all of the features. With other words final version. The only thing missing are the videos, they will be made by THQ with the balancing of the game.

Along with it we expect the PR campaign to begin. This means that everything is in THQ hands and S.T.A.L.K.E.R should be released in 6-8 months.
By level-based, they mean that the 30km^2 game area is split into streaming levels of 2km^2, not seperate maps (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showpost.php?p=170303&postcount=25).

Editor: Allow me to redirect you to a more proficient fansite (http://stalker.myexp.de/en/index.php) where the English is not buggered. STALKER's launch window is still set for no sooner than Fall of 2006.

[subgenius]

Ain't gonna hold my breath on this one. Would love to see it all pan out though...

[UnderHero5]

Well, if it's not going to be released for another half a year or more I wouldn't really call it the "home stretch".
Hell, it could get canned by that time. It's happened to other "completed" games.

I never knew why people were so excited for this game. It's always looked very mediocre to me.

[MrPoo]

A friend of mine and I had pretty well written this off, after repeated delays and other letdowns.
I wouldn't mind seeing this at some point this year.
Although Armed Assault 1&2 has much higher priority for us. :)

Here's to hoping it ends up turning out as well as that alpha that had been floating around... word has it that it was pretty slick.

[Triprotic]

8-6 months balancing?

wow. must suck a lot.

i'm still quietly optamistic about this game. but it probally should have been released about 12 months ago for it to make sort of splash.

[zyzyx]

Rigorous Testing? An Eastern European game. I doubt it. It'll get rush released shortly after the first playtester makes it to the end of the game.

[carneconcarne]

20 levels? Doesn't sound like the game I read about.

[Draft]

Yeah, levels? WTF. The whole point of the game was its big, persistent world.

[MrPoo]

Depends on just how big the levels are.

Operation Flashpoint being a prime example.

(ok, call me optimistic)

[holysin]

Levels huh?
What the hell hapenned there?

[dark_inchworm]

It's a platformer now, didn't you hear?

[baz]

Levels might be main quests or something... I'm hopeful. Still, plenty of good games to keep me occupied in the meantime.

[Borys]

Levels?

It must be a new STALKER game then.

[Klade]

This reeks of the publisher stepping in and saying give us a product by X date or your all fired.

Prepare yourselves for something that doesn't even remotely resemble the product originally hyped. It might (I say might) still be based in russia..

[GigaFuzz]

Prepare yourselves for something that doesn't even remotely resemble the product originally hyped. It might (I say might) still be based in russia..

If it was based in Russia then something HAS changed. Chernobyl is in the Ukraine.

It would be a shame if this game was released and wasn't actually very good. When I first read about it, I thought it would be fantastic, but as time goes on, I can't help feeling it's not going to be quite as fantastic as it was initially hyped as.

[51|RandoM]

The eggs of hype, once more slip through grasping fingers and crash upon the concrete of reality.

Is this the only software industry that regularly features REVERSE feature creep?

[Rafer]

I have this feeling the game is going to turn out like a less buggy Trespasser, that game was suppossed to be a big world without levels and advanced A.I. determining the gameplay, which sounds neat in theory but in practice they weren't able to make a fun game out of it. On a positive note there was a leak a couple of years ago and it ran really smooth and the art design was great, it didn't look like any other games out there.

[Worldcrafter]

Remember, STALKER supposedly possesses an A.I.-regulated homogeneous gameworld. If the beta build is level-based, it means the developers have failed to create the ambitious A.L. (Artificial Life) simulation and have reverted back to the traditional by-the-level presentation.[/I]


Perhaps, but don't forget HL, HL2, Morrowind and others are level based games, that present the world as homogeneous. Perhaps the "levels" aren't your traditional, get from point A to B, but are instead seamlessly connected. I would imagine you could still build AI that is influenced accross these levels. I played around with a leaked alpha copy, and it seems that's the way this game has always been structured. Huge environments that suddenly stopped where the next level should be loaded, except the alpha was too early for that.

I'm not saying it's going to happen, I'm just pointing out that the term "level" doesn't always mean "completely isolated parts of a world that are only connected by loading screens". So it might be a bit premature, to say the least, to completely dismiss a game based on one word semantics. How about we wait for more info before reading "The STALKER that could be" its last rites.

[megaman]

This reeks of the publisher stepping in and saying give us a product by X date or your all fired.


Can you really blame them..how long has this been in development?
This game never sounded very real to me with the far fetched claims especially from a developer with no dependable background..
Really a case of taking in more than you can chew and that could have been said even if this was from a proven dev house..
But i still hope it's somehow differnt from the run of the mill crap we get these days and close to what they always made it sound like..

[Liquidize105]

Perhaps, but don't forget HL, HL2, Morrowind and others are level based games, that present the world as homogeneous. Perhaps the "levels" aren't your traditional, get from point A to B, but are instead seamlessly connected. I would imagine you could still build AI that is influenced accross these levels. I played around with a leaked alpha copy, and it seems that's the way this game has always been structured. Huge environments that suddenly stopped where the next level should be loaded, except the alpha was too early for that.

I'm not saying it's going to happen, I'm just pointing out that the term "level" doesn't always mean "completely isolated parts of a world that are only connected by loading screens". So it might be a bit premature, to say the least, to completely dismiss a game based on one word semantics. How about we wait for more info before reading "The STALKER that could be" its last rites.
Could be, maybe they meant "zones" which is what you're alluding to, but the "reverting to level-based game" comment is from an interview with their Russian PR.

[MrPoo]

I'm with Worldcrafter. Let's see how the levels are arranged/played out.

Heck, even if the levels are smaller than expected, or less "connected" to one another, and the game's physics, story, and--most importantly--gameplay is awesome, I don't care. Anachronox and Operation Flashpoint are still two of my favorite PC games of all time, and neither is totally open-ended.

I'll be a bit more willing to make an opinion on this once I see a new video or alpha/demo.
I mean, if people were so crazy about Quake4... come on... give this a chance. What do you have to lose?

[raVen]

Could be, maybe they meant "zones" which is what you're alluding to, but the "reverting to level-based game" comment is from an interview with their Russian PR.

That's what I'm hoping, it's been known for a long time that the world map will be broken into large chunks which require a load screen to cross...

[Bumbuliuz]

The 6-8 months thing is way too weird. It´s not suposed to take that long to bugtest and finish a game.

[DeadPixel]

There was a stolen alpha released a year ago or so, does anyone remember if it had any traces of this AI system they raved up? Seems like that alpha was actually a working engine, are they lost in an endless loop of features?

[raVen]

And after reading a recent interview it seems like that's the case;

'Q11) 30 squared km. - how much is it (length, width)?

The zone is stretched rectangle. Level size is about – 2 square km. There will be 18 levels and this gives 30 squared km. or something close to it.'

[Schnoogs]

I've been waiting a long time for this game and I'll keep on waiting.

I waited an extra year for Half Life 2 and it's one of the greatest gaming experiences of my life.

Patience.

[Varsity]

And after reading a recent interview it seems like that's the case;

'Q11) 30 squared km. - how much is it (length, width)?

The zone is stretched rectangle. Level size is about – 2 square km. There will be 18 levels and this gives 30 squared km. or something close to it.'
Phew. Updated the news post.

[Syl]

I think that the translation of "Zones" was just said as "levels", i'm hoping its still just one giant-ass game.

I still want it.

[MrPoo]

Not giving up hope yet. Gaming goodness may yet still prove possible.

[Thenetcase]

The 6-8 months thing is way too weird. It´s not suposed to take that long to bugtest and finish a game.

Actually it almost ALWAYS does. The problem is that the game is on the shelf selling during that bug-test period and thousands and thousands of people are doing the bug-testing for FREE.
So, I'd rather sit back and wait an extra 8 months while professionals do a job that I don't really want to do and don't get paid for anyway. That way I can have a more pleasant experience when the game finally rolls across the retail floor at the nearest Gamestop.

-TNC-

[mister_slim]

Actually it almost ALWAYS does. The problem is that the game is on the shelf selling during that bug-test period and thousands and thousands of people are doing the bug-testing for FREE.
So, I'd rather sit back and wait an extra 8 months while professionals do a job that I don't really want to do and don't get paid for anyway. That way I can have a more pleasant experience when the game finally rolls across the retail floor at the nearest Gamestop.
Not to mention they said 'balance'. It's my opinion that the amount of time spent playing multiplayer is directly proportional to the time spent testing it before release. It could be called the Blizzard Rule, though I'm tempted to call it the Romero Rule.

[dead]

I'm still holding my breath for oblivion

[Lunar Blue]

So, I'd rather sit back and wait an extra 8 months while professionals do a job that I don't really want to do and don't get paid for anyway. That way I can have a more pleasant experience..

Same here, i have no problem waiting for a quality product. What the hell is "waiting" anyway? You sit under an umbrella for 8 months outside a retailer? :)

[mpsmith]

I still have hope for this game- it's still not as visually amazing as it was initially but it still has a very dark but beautiful look. Very unique- and if the gameplay is anything more than half of what was promised it'll kick ass.